Looky Looky!

Just put a teaser up on the biz blog, but I'm SO excited about this new project that I'm working on! :)
Over the winter, I had this idea to rent an underwater camera housing for a couple weeks in the summer and offer pool shoots to new and existing clients. It would be a package deal...you'd get a DVD with a combination of video and still shots set to music, with a $$print credit and maybe a few extra prints...something something...I hadn't exactly figured it all out yet.
So I started scouring the internet for a place where I could rent a camera housing. The place that I usually rent gear from wasn't carrying housings anymore so I was totally bummed as I perused the 'net looking for something because just to RENT a housing for about a week would run me in the $600 range. Would i make that money up in sales from the shoots? I wasn't sure....1 week wasn't very much time to promote and squeeze in enough shoots to make my money back.
SO THEN I thought, "well, heck. I live in Georgia and it's warm here 9 months of the year. Why don't I just BUY a camera housing?" Lord knows I'll have plenty of opportunity to use it.

So I did.
And a video camera housing too.

And with a fluttering heart, I read (and re-read, and re-read again) the directions, packed my cheapest camera and a decent lense into that baby and sank it into the pool. GULP. I might as well have taken $1200 in cash and dunked it in.
NO WORRIES!

It worked like a champ - no leaks, no problems and we spent several hours practicing with it. Casey and I played with the video camera, and the regular camera - Steve and the boys were our subjects and they swam their little hearts out.

3 hours and 2 minor sunburns later and we had learned a few things and were ready to hit the pool again the next weekend with better methods (boat anchors, bungee chords, flippers, dive masks, weight belts, wider-angled lenses.....don't ask).

We hit the pool again yesterday with even more success and I'm starting to feel like this could be a REALLY cool thing. How many photographers do YOU know who can take professional photos of your family UNDERWATER??

Anyway....the end product isn't ready to show to the world yet, but I think it'll be pretty cool. A combination of shots in and out of the pool combined with video....I think it would be an awesome treasure for any pool-lovin' summer-lovin' family.
Plus I think the options for creative portraiture are endless.......I won't even tell you the wild ideas I've got in my head for THAT.

What do YOU think??

A.J.

Couple more to see as a teaser on the blog.
And don't YOU feel special because you guys are the first I've told about it. :)
And I'd love feedback....do you think it's a good idea? Would you pay money for it? What do you think would make it even cooler? What would give it more value for you?

AJ's 5 yr. Old Pics

More on the biz blog.....
And more to come once I get around to editing the rest. :)
Life is busy.
Good...but busy.

5 Years Ago This Day...

He came into our lives.

Owen was 6 months old when we unexpectedly got pregnant (we're good at that) with baby #2. Shocked, we were attempting to process that news when about 2 weeks later that baby was lost. And with that loss came questions that got us thinking....about what it would be like to have another. What it would be like to have 2 children, siblings close in age. A pregnancy that we had actually planned. LOL :)
The loss of that unknown baby led us to a surprising desire for another child.

9 months later....AJ arrived.

He slept in our bed from the day he was born -- a habit we just recently broke him of about 2 months ago.

He was born with startling blue eyes...a trait I expected to fade over time and turn into creamy brown - like mine, like his daddy's, like his brothers. Today, he is the only blue-eyed member of our family - a characteristic that I bring up frequently and praise for it's uniqueness. I always want him to be proud of his individuality.


He is full of life and laughter, thrilled by the smallest of things - a frog on the side of the house, a trip to the park, a rainbow in the sky - all are exquisite and exciting and worthy to be shouted loudly about.

He is sensitive and caring - willing to give you the shirt off his back. His eyes fill with tears and his lower lip trembles when he realizes that he's hurt his brother or done something naughty enough to warrant disapproval from us.

He is snugly and physically engaging - willingly giving hugs or begging for tickles or a wrestling match.

He is a patient big brother, playing with Ty while Owen is at school - whether entertaining him with his silly antics or sharing his cars, he is thoughtful enough to play with the things that Tyler would like, not what he would like.

He is funny and loves jokes - telling us lies with a twinkle in his eye only to shout "JUST JOKING!!" a minute later with uproarious giggling.

He is all boy - lover of legos and trucks and dirt and Star Wars. Imaginative and playful, most often around the house in costume or a land of make believe - "puming" you with his guns (it's the gun sound - "pume, pume") or "swording you" with his light sabers, jumping from furniture and racing around with his blanket around his neck like a super hero.

I can hardly believe he is five years old already.

Happy Birthday Skittle - we love you and are so proud of you and the man you will become.

Some pictures from the last 5 years....


And some snaps from his birthday celebration over the weekend:

He needs "your things"

On the way to pick up O from school yesterday, Tyler started yelling and hollering in the car (normal).
AJ: What's wrong Ty??
Ty: DRINNNNKKKK!!!
AJ: You need a drink?
Ty: DINK. *unintelligible blabber*
AJ: mom, tyler wants a drink of milk. We need to get home so he can get a drink from your things.
Me: My things??
AJ: yeah, you know - your things. That babies drink from.

Um.
Yeah.
We had to have a little talk about that.
I think he was a little confused.

Videos, Videos, Videos....

The other day you got a bunch of picture tidbits...so today here's some video tidbits.

Last night the kindergartners and 1st graders at Owen's school had a little performance revolving around Dr. Suess.
Here they are singing Dr. Suess We Love You. In case you don't recognize Owen, he's the cutest one. Right by the boy in the wheelchair.




Here's another song...I think it's called Open Me...or something like that anyway.




And the last song they sang, The Tutti Ta Song....it's the weirdest song ever. But I guess the kids like it. They surprised a couple of the teachers and made them come up on stage and sing it with them. It's funny only because you look like a total moron while you sing the song and do the motions.



Speaking of music, here's Tyler as I attempt to catch him in the act of dancing. He's really funny, because when a fast-tempo song comes on he breaks it down and dances like a wild man. But if you try to video tape him, or take pictures...he looks at you out of the corner of his eye and slows everything down to a little booty-shake. LOL


Here he is again - this is just to show family far away how big he's getting. His vocabulary is expanding every day. He's sitting on daddy's lap here, looking at the laptop - trying to get dad to turn on The Wiggles on Youtube.


And just because you haven't seen or heard from AJ in awhile...here he is after Owen's performance last night. We stopped at Sonic on the way home to get the boys dinner and he was goofing around. As always.



Here he is on the first warm day of spring, outside hitting balls with Steve. I think he only hit one in this video, but give him a break. He's only 4. And he's a little rusty. :)
And yes, he's wearing pajamas.
and giraffe galoshes.
And steve would like to point out that he's a swing hitter.



Have a great weekend!

Boys

My friend Melissa sent me this blog post that she read somewhere the other day and I thought I'd share it here.
Please note that I DID NOT WRITE THIS. AND NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT WITH A 4TH BOY.
Just wanting to clear that up for the skimmers who won't read the whole thing and think that I wrote this.

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When our first baby was born a boy…I was very happy knowing that any other children we would have in the future would be under the protection of an older brother.

When our second baby was born a boy…I was glad our oldest son now had a brother to play with.

When our third baby was born a boy…I decided that God must have something special in mind for our family. THREE boys?

When I was pregnant with our fourth baby…you can just guess what everyone around me was saying.

“Going for a girl this time?” “Finally going to have a sister for all those boys?” “You’re having a girl, right?” “I bet you’re sure hoping for a girl this time!”

With each of my pregnancies…we waited to find out whether the baby was a boy or a girl. We loved the surprise…though no one around us did. ESPECIALLY when I was pregnant with our fourth! Everyone was dying to know if we were finally going to have a girl!

When our fourth baby was born a boy…they laid him on my chest…and all my husband and I could do was laugh for joy that God had given us yet another son!

Boys are so sweet. Boys love their Mamas like crazy. Boys think their Daddys are the best. Boys….ah boys. Boys bring such joy.

Whoever said that only little girl clothes are cute…and that you can never find any cute little boy clothes…never saw all the adorable outfits at my blue baby showers.

And I dare say…there’s a little something to be said for being able to run a comb through their hair real quick before dashing out the door. No bows or braids or hair doo-dads to keep track of.

I love how boys play (now that I’m used to it!). Our house is usually noisy, rough and fast…there’s not a lot of tip-toeing or sitting down quietly to color pictures at the table.

Generally…I find that the male greeting (between my boys and all of their friends who come over to play) has little to do with words…and a lot to do with grabbing onto and pulling one another down to the floor into an immediate wrestling match.

I’ve learned to look the other way…smile…and shake my head about so many things that I used to fear would turn into a trip to the Emergency Room. Boys play rough…they can’t help it. They make noise…it oozes out of their pores.

Rolls of wrapping paper become swords or light sabers. Toast and grilled cheese sandwiches are chewed into the shape of little guns. Math books become drums. Little pink erasers become race cars.

Everything (everything) becomes a competition…who can finish their milk first…who can put their jammies on the fastest…who can get from the kitchen to the living room without touching the floor.

It’s one big, loud, ball game at our house all day long…and I wouldn’t trade it for all tea parties in Boston.

I consider it a huge honor to be the mama of boys. Boys who we pray will grow up and be Godly leaders some day. Boys who we pray will be Godly husbands and daddys some day.

Oh…and some day…I’ll have daughters. Some day…four of your daughters will grow into godly young ladies who will marry my sons. I’ll take them shopping and we’ll cook and do hair together.

Until then…I’ll just continue to feed mountains of mashed potatoes and huge stacks of pancakes to all these boys while they make all the noises with their armpits that they are so good at making and while they laugh at all the things boys can’t help but think are funny.

They are…boys.

Boys who have completely and totally won my heart.

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Cool, huh? Echos my thoughts exactly. Except that part about doing hair with my future daughter in laws. Cuz that's weird.

I will definitely NOT being doing hair with grown women anytime soon.

I love our boys and I've said before that I hope to have (at least) one more child in the future....and it would be just fine with me if it was yet another...boy.

Sick Boys

AJ was sick over the weekend...chills, fever, achiness, extra whiney. :) Today has been his best day - he'll probably be back to normal by tomorrow, but of course this morning when Owen woke up, he wasn't feeling good.
They both crashed on the couch this afternoon - a rare occurance indeed.

Why do the boys get such great eyelashes??

AJ: Lost Deer-ism

On the way to pick up Owen at school yesterday, we were driving through a (sortof) wooded subdivision, when I saw a deer standing in the middle of the road.
I pointed it out to AJ so that he could see it, just as it darted across the road and into someone's yard. We slowed to find it in the bushes.


As we drove away,
AJ: Whoa. That deer is SO lost.
Me: Lost?
AJ: Yeah, Santa is gonna be mad that 'dat deer is here in GEORG-ia instead of at the North Pole.

AJ: Cow Milk-ism

Friday nights have become "movie night" in our house for myself and the boys. Steve-0 is typically gone on Friday nights, and somewhere along the way the boys and I have got in a habit of renting a movie, spreading blankets out all over the living room floor, popping popcorn, burning a fire (and sometimes making s'mores) and watching a movie together in the dark.

Tonight after dinner, the boys hurriedly put on their pajamas, and were pulling out blankets into the living room for our movie while I cleaned up dinner. We were letting Tyler watch a Wiggles before he went to bed and the boys were watching with him as I finished the dinner dishes.

As I'm wiping down the counters I hear the "Moo, I'm a Cow" song come on the t.v. It's a cartoon version of the show and it shows the cartoon Wiggle guy milking a cow......none of our kids had ever seen this particular video because we just rented it today. So the song comes on.....and suddenly AJ erupts in moans and loud laughter.

AJ: laughing hysterically and simultaneous incredulity) OH MAN!!!!!!!

Me: (Coming into the living room): WHAT is so funny?!

AJ (yelling): THAT COW IS PEEING ON THAT GUY'S HAND!!!!!!! OH MAN!!!!

Owen (observantly nonchalant): That cow has lots of pee-pee's.

*just at that moment, the song finishes and the Wiggle Cartoon Guy lifts a glass of the milk he's just squeezed from the cow and drinks it.

:::::::RIOTOUS LAUGHTER ensues::::::

Me (laughing): It's not PEE....it's MILK!!

AJ: Oh. Right. I thought it was pee. *And then he grins sheepishly*

That one had me laughing really hard.

AJ: Spank your Butt-ism

I haven't been blogging much because....I don't like this blog. The font is small...and it's GREEN.....and....it hurts my brain to look at it. I'm planning on switching back over to blogger - clean, white, bright, and LARGE. But I haven't had time. I've been so busy the last 2 weeks...photo shoots come out my ears, photo editing backed up a mile long, and trying to get the senior website set up to launch by the weekend (don't know if that's gonna happen), that I've had no time for much of....anything. I've been staying up until midnight, 1, 2am every night for a week, and getting up at 6 or 7 am with the boys....it's wearing me down, big time. *sigh*

I've enjoyed a relaxing morning with AJ and Tyler. When Ty went down for his nap, AJ and I had a play-doh date and now we're settling in on the couch for some cartoons and a snack. AJ was trying to tell me something about a movie on t.v. AJ frequently makes me laugh because he says things, or begins to talk about things and I'll have no earthly idea what he's talking about. And if you try to ask him questions to figure it out, it makes him so mad and he gets completely exasperated with you. The funny thing about it is that HE IS THE ONE who makes no sense, but if you try to figure out, he treats you like you're a complete moron and all why can't you understand what I'm telling you?? Then, I get to laughing at him, because his exasperation is so hilariously indignant and he gets really mad and usually dismisses me with a "WHATEVER".

(Madagascar 2 Commercial begins to play)

AJ: I want that movie. I liked it.

Me: I liked it too. It was funny. Maybe we could buy it when it comes out on DVD.

AJ: NO. Not THAT one.....the one before that.

Me (thinking of the movie shorts at the beginning of the Madagascar movies): You mean the short penguin movies at the beginning??

AJ: NO. MAMA. You're not LISTEN-IN' to ME.

Me: Sorry! I'm just trying to figure out what you mean.

AJ: (huffing loudly in exasperation). UGHHH. If you keep not listen-in to me, I'm gonna spank your butt. Really. Hard. Five Times. With a spoon.

Well then.

That's Random (An Aydenism)

Yesterday, as I'm cleaning up the kitchen, AJ comes around the corner:

AJ (sternly): Mom.
Me: yes?
AJ: Everybody in this house has a peepee but NOT you (as he pats where my "peepee" should be).
Me: Yes, that's true.
AJ: Because Daddy has a peepee, and Owen has a peepee, and I have a peepee, and Tyler has a peepee.
(as an afterthought):And Cooper has a peepee.

Me: Yes, that's right. Why don't you think I have one?
AJ: I dunno.....I think's it's becawse you are a goyle (girl).
Me: You're exactly right. Thanks for telling me.
AJ (walking away): You're welcome.

A Lovely Fall Day

Yesterday took the boys to Chehaw for a picnic and some fun at the park and the "zoo". The weather couldn't have been more perfect and it was nice to get out for an afternoon of fresh air and good times with my 3 favorite little boys. :)
Sorry for the watermark on some of these....I posted them on my biz blog too so I stamped 'em. :)

We were having fun doing some self-portraits...

Conversations with AJ

Last night, at the pet store in the mall:
Looking at some puppies, who come up to the window and start jumping and biting at them through the glass:
Owen: oooohhhh! They're so CUTE!
AJ: Oh look! They love me!
Owen: Can we get one mama?
AJ (sadly): We can't, Owen. Daddy doesn't like puppies.

LOL! :)

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Last night, right before falling asleep:

AJ: Mama, we need a goyle baby (girl baby)
Me: We do? Why is that?
AJ: Because we don't have one!
Me: Well, what would we do with a girl baby in this house?
AJ: Love her, and rock her, and pway wif' her.
Me: Hmmm.....maybe. We don't have much room for a baby here. Our house is pretty full with 3 boys, don't you think?
AJ: No, we have room for more.
(thinking)
She can stay in our room!! IS that a great idea?
Me: It's a brilliant idea. We'll talk about it some more another day. Goodnight.
AJ: G'night.

------------------------
This morning, AJ was watching one of those weird/gross cartoons on Cartoon Network. One of the characters loudly farted (freaking hilarious, apparently - although I usually miss the humor). I puckered my face up in disdain and looked over at AJ with the stink eye.
He looks back and says, "WELL!?! It wasn't ME!"
------------------------
Today, driving in the car - AJ notices the speed limit sign as we drive by and announces it to the car.
"The speed limit is firty here!"
{no one responds}
AJ (louder): I SAID, THE SPEED LIMITS IS FIRTY!!
Me: Okay AJ, thanks.
AJ: Are you goin' firty, mama?
Me: Yup, I'm going 30.
AJ: Lemme see
Me: You can't - you have to stay buckled in your seat.
AJ: Or the po-leese will get me.
Me: Yup.
AJ: And they'll catch me, and get me, and take me away........to the dentist.

(click to enlarge)

Random Thoughts on a Monday Afternoon

Why We Can't Have More Kids:

This morning, the boys were up at 5:40 a.m. (dang that Daylight Savings) so I got up and made breakfast before school. In one, hour-long time frame, they consumed the following:

6 Waffles
3.5 bowls of cereal
Approximately 1/4 gallon of cow's milk
1 cup of Almond Milk
A good deal of O.J.
And I'm fairly certain that before I got out of bed they snuck some Halloween candy from the top shelf of the pantry.

My 5 year old, 4 year old, and 1 year old.
ATE ALL THESE THINGS.
And this is why we can have no more.
Because if they keep eating like this, we'll have to start eating paint chips for snacks between meals.
Just to make the groceries last longer.

And before you say it Megan, yes, I KNOW that it only gets worse.

------------------------------
On Talking Southern and Other Speech Related Matters:

Further evidence that Owen is talking like a southerner, yesterday he announced to us that it was his turn to take something to school for "show and tail". This was after he counted out 10 of his trains:
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, TIN"
Meanwhile, AJ has apparently taken on the speech of a Bostonian/Brooklyn-ite (it's a mix between the two), saying things like "I need a glass of wata-uh" or "let's play cahhhs (cars)" or "Cooper is our dauwg"

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Do You Read My Biz Blog?
If not, then how come?
Help me come up with some topics for my Photography 101 series. I'm going to try to post something once a week along the lines of a tutorial or tips 'n tricks type thing, but I'm not really sure where to start. Last week I did just a general "How to take better photos of people" type of post, but this week I'd like to start in on something slightly more in-depth. Any ideas?

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What's going on with all of you guys?

Videos for Your Viewing Pleasure

Here's some semi-recent videos for the fam up north (and anyone else who cares to watch):

Dinner and A Nap: Starring: Tyler Nowack as....Himself



And Tyler Again, In Dinner and some Music:


This one is titled: Thank you Uncle Rob and Aunt Manda and CREW for my Early Birthday Present....Starring Owen Nowack. With guest appearance by AJ Nowack.


Here we have initial sword fighting with daddy:


And finally, The Triumph of Obi-Wan-Kanobi:


Enjoy. :)

This Will Be One for His Senior Page in the Yearbook....

This evening, I came upon this scene.......

Wonder what he's reading??


Rolling Stone, of course.

PopTart Aydenism

Poptarts are bad.
They have no nutritional benefit whatsoever, there are 200 calories in just one, and the #3 ingredient in them is high fructose corn syrup (be still my heart. literally). We never buy them.

Except for the last month, when I've searched for a last minute easy breakfast on those mornings that we're running late for school. If anyone has suggestions for healthy fast alternatives (i.e. eat in the car) for a kid who doesn't like muffins or granola bars, I'm all ears.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I don't approve of PopTarts.
And I'm ashamed that I buy them.

Just now....

AJ: Can I have a poptart?
Me: Hmmm.....I dunno.....

AJ: Are poptarts hewffey (healthy)?
Me: No, they are not.

AJ (thinking): Oh.
AJ: Well, I'll just be fat then.

Scratch, scratch, scratch

We are DEFINITELY in the itchy stage. Yesterday he was whining whining whining about it being itchy so I bend a wire hanger so he could stick it down in there and scratch away (it's a curve edge, not a pointed end). Later that day I found him with a plastic spoon sticking out the top of his cast. I pulled it out and asked him,

WHAT is THIS?

Him: A spoon

Me: I see that. Why is it just stuck in there like that?

Him: For the ants.

Me: Ants???

Him: So they can crawl on the spoon and get out of there. So they stop itching me.

Me: Right.
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Later, I videotaped him scratching away at it, but while I was putting laundry in, he set up the camera on the kitchen table and videotaped himself scratching it. :) LOL

He's very excited to see himself on the computer with the video that he made all by himself. So grab some popcorn. Call the people who nominate for the Emmy's. Without further ado, I present to you:

ITCHY CAST:

AJ's First Big Break

Well, Like I said before, I've been surprised that we've never had to make a trip to the ER with AJ before, considering his supreme athleticism/circus-act type behavior.
Alas, his 4 years of blemish-free medical history came to a halting end on Thursday afternoon when we were having some wrestling/jumping time on the bed while Owen was at school and Tyler was sleeping.

I tossed him up, he stuck his legs out in front and put his hands down to land on his butt on the bed...but something went wrong and there was a crack sound...and then lots of crying. And the rest..as they say: is history.

Big thanks to Amy Lynn for watching Tyler for me and to Erica for picking up Owen from school so I could take the A to the hospital.

When we arrived, we got in SO fast I couldn't believe it, after several past trips to the ER I was preparing myself for a very long afternoon. Apparently, they don't like to hear a 4 year old crying loudly in the waiting room because we had barely signed in and sat down before the triage nurse called our name. (**Note to self: cry loudly if you ever have to go the ER***)

He had been crying/whimpering for about an hour by the time they were done with the x-rays, etc. etc. and left us alone long enough that he passed out from exhaustion:

[Poor quality because they were taken with my phone]

They put it in a soft cast and a sling and referred us to the orthopedic doctor, whom we saw the next day (again, big thanks to amy lynn and erica for doing a rerun from the day before). He's been REALLY grouchy, REALLY whiney, REALLY ouchy all weekend so it wasn't until today I got him to let me take some pictures.

This face should give you an idea as to his general mood for the last 4 days:

But he perked up after a minute and started being his cheesy self

Whew. I'm glad that ordeal is over. He'll have to wear the cast for 3-4 weeks and we go back on Friday to take another look at it and make sure it hasn't moved or shifted around.

Hopefully this will be his last broken bone.

But somehow, I don't think so....

What the heck are you talking about??

Here's some from AJ the other morning. And if you know AJ...the kid never stops talking. And boy can he tell some wacked out stories. Half the time, I have no clue what he's even saying but he has a SERIOUS imagination.

This morning he was in my bathroom and he started going off about "girls like mermaids, mama"

Me: Oh, they do, do they?

AJ: Yeah. Because girls are mermaids and so girls LIKE mermaids and they SWIM like mermaids.

Me: Okay, I can buy that.

AJ: NO, you don't BUY it mama! It's mermaids. People's don't like mermaids, mama.

Me: I thought you just said that girls like mermaids.

AJ: NO. NOBODY likes mermaids. Peoples don't like mermaids because they are BAD. And they swim in the water like this (starts waving his hands around and thrashing about) and they get the peoples and the peoples don't like them.

Me: I have no idea what you're talking about.

AJ: *sighing* It's the mermaids, mama. The mermaids.

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The funny thing about AJ and his stories is that he is SO adamant, and he tells them and talks to you about this random stuff so earnestly. And he gets this patronizing voice and you can tell that it's taking every ounce of patience in his body to explain this to your simple and feeble mind -- the kicker being that 90% of the time IT MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.