andersontopia: May Randomness

Soccer wrapped up in May and one of the funnest things was showing up for one of the last games -- and who do we see? Darik's cousin Mandy and her son Isaac was on the other team. Isaac from last year's reunion that was inseparable with little El? Yeah, him. Ellie ran around a bit and had some fun and Isaac? Soccer SuperStar! Seriously one of the best kids I'd seen play soccer all year! After the game Mandy and I wanted to get a few pics of the kids together and Mandy got Isaac to give Ellie a little smoocher - her face turned SO red!!! It was adorable.

Also during this game? Ellie refusing to move - so Darik picked her up and swung her like a pendulum. Didn't really work too well.

I'm practicing with my depth of field for a little bit. I had to get a pic of my creative lunches - I've found the kids always eat a little better if their food makes em laugh. And having KK around? Other than her appetite for messy berries, we LOVE having a little sister around!

I took a photography workshop that Dave Bagley (the guy who took our family portraits last year) held with his friend. I learned how to move into manual, and these are my shots after coming home right after that workshop.

I have had some frustration -- having photography as a hobby and having a daughter that refuses to be photographed -- but I guess I can get practice even if she covers her face or turns her back. These two collages capture two things that are VERY important to Ellie at this time: Buttercup and Art. She LOVES painting!! We checked out a picture book from the library about impressionist painters and now she asks to see "Monet's paintings." Cute.

In addition to finishing (mostly) the bathroom, we decided to replace the Kitchen flooring - and since D just learned how to lay tile . . . obviously that was the cheapest option. It was not without a little drama and surprises that increased the cost (darn 18 inch tiles and having to rent that stupid tile cutter) but it was still cheaper than dropping $1000 for wood.

Here are a few of our in-progress shots - we were SO HAPPY to get rid of the stained, torn linoleum. Ellie had a hard time deciding if she wanted to be Cinderellas or Sleeping Beauty on the floors.

Another favorite thing about May? Ellie got to have a preschool field trip to see her best friend, the HELICOPTER!

At the end of May Ellie had her pre-school graduation. We are glad we decided to put her back in preschool after a little break. Here are her class pictures, and below are shots from their graduation where they performed with AWESOME SONGS! I took some videos of that, too. I can't believe she'll be in Kindergarten soon!

Mindy and her family came down to Pocatello to have Dave Bagley take their family pictures - I had just had a horrible day and had planned on tagging along to learn a few things . . . but my battery died in my camera and Ellie needed distracting so we went to the Greenbelt - it was hard for me to help with the photoshoot when I was entertaining Ellie the whole time, so it was a bust. But I'm glad I got to see the Rose family.