My little ladies

Everyday that passes is another day that my babies grow into ladies. We went to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm today for their Pumpkin Festival. I can't believe how big my girls are getting. They have changed so much in the last year. Sometimes I look at them and wonder where the time went!

Evacuees and Pedicures

Mimmie enjoyed the massaging chairs.....and the drink!

My grandparents evacuated on Friday to avoid Hurricane Ike. Since we received no rain even from the storm we all took off for the nail salon. Mimmie and I enjoyed a Margarita and a pedicure. The kids got a mini manicure and flowers on their toes. :)

Clara's Bible

Clara was presented with her Bible at church last Sunday. All children who are 2 years old, 1st graders and 6th graders are presented a Bible at the start of the school year. Clara was so excited because this is her first "real" Bible. She has spent the week "reading" her Bible. Last night she told me she was half way done. Wow! I'm impressed :)

100 things to do before I die

I just read that Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss, passed away after falling and hitting his head at the very youthful age of 47...Wow. Talk about not ever being promised tomorrow....
I have had my list completed for quite some time...it was one of the first things I did after Bryan and I separated. Reading about Mr. Freeman's sudden death made me pull out the list and up date it...I was excited to see that I have actually accomplished some of the items on the list. I also needed to revise 2 things (one was duplicate, one no longer mattered.) Here is my list of 100 things I want to do before I die....

1. Throw a huge party and invite every one of my friends. May 5, 2007
2. Make love on a forest floor.
3. Shower in a waterfall
4. Attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans
5. Make love on a train
6. Attend the opera in a major US city
7. Learn to ballroom dance properly.
8. Fall deeply in love -- helplessly and unconditionally.
9. Drink beer at Oktoberfest in Munich
10. Spend New Year's in an exotic location.
11. Hike the Great Wall of China
12. Own one very expensive but absolutely wonderful business suit.
13. Scuba dive off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
14. Have one of my photos hang in a museum
15. See the ruins of Pompeii
16. Attend the ballet in a major US city
17. Show up at the airport with a bag and some cash—by a ticket to a random place and travel there just for the hell of it.
18. Photograph the Northern Lights
19. Kiss someone I've just met on a blind date.-Completed 10/2006
20. Meet someone famous.
21. Have sex in a 5 star hotel
22. Have sex in a sleazy motel
23. Learn how to play golf
24. Cruise on Route 66
25. Party at Carnival in Rio
26. Visit the pyramids in Egypt
27. Fly first class.
28. Dance in the rain
29. Visit NYC once in each of the seasons-Fall 2005
30. See fall foliage in the north east
31. Eat Dim Sum in San Francisco's Chinatown
32. Kiss my love in the Eiffel Tower
33. Have great seats to see a Broadway show
34. Go whale watching in Alaska
35. Master the Karma Sutra
36. Take a cruise
37. Call in sick when I am not ill
38. Buy diamond jewelry from Tiffany's
39. Visit Washington DC in the Spring when the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom
40. Get married to a wonderful man who will take care of me and the girls
41. Tour a vineyard and stomp grapes to make my own wine August 2008, stomped grapes
42. Visit Michelangelo's Sistene Chapel in Rome
43. Eat and drink my way through Italy
44. Kiss the Blarney Stone
45. Ride on the Orient Express
46. Get out of debt-In Progress
47. Experience a White Christmas
48. Go on a photo safari in Africa
49. Send flowers to someone for no reason
50. Have flowers sent to me for no reason
51. Visit my family's castle in Germany
52. Have one of my photos published
53. Run a 5k
54. Retire
55. Eat truffles
56. Take a candlelight bath with a friend
57. Sleep under the stars
58. Ride the Trolleys in San Francisco
59. Raise my children-In Progress
60. Have grandchildren
61. Visit all 50 states
62. Eat real jerk barbecue, preferably from a roadside jerk hut in Jamaica itself, smoky, tender and spicy enough to make you cry
63. Get a massage on a beach
64. Love my job-In Progress
65. Take care of someone who was totally shit faced
66. Visit all 7 continents
67. Buy everyone in a bar a drink
68. Stay up all night talking with a lover and watch the sun come up together
69. Spend an entire weekend completely naked
70. Buy a new car with cash
71. Be kissed a midnight on New Year's Eve
72. Take a girls’ weekend trip some place tropical
73. Join the mile high club
74. Sit front row, center at a concert of my favorite band/artist
75. Drive the Autobahn
76. Learn to snow ski
77. Visit a Concentration Camp and meditate there
78. Visit Africa and help a child left orphaned by AIDS
79. Sunbathe on a nude beach
80. Do something kind for a complete stranger and expect nothing in return
81. Take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon
82. Invest in the Stock Market
83. Spend 3 months getting into optimum shape
84. Swim a mile
85. Save all of my change for an entire year and then use it to do something frivolous
86. Attend a fashion show in Milan
87. Swim in the Dead Sea
88. Explore the Smithsonian Museum
89. Witness the launch of the Space Shuttle
90. Let someone feed me peeled, seedless grapes
91. Write a love letter
92. Spend a day at a spa getting the works
93. Get a passport
94. Photograph a polar bear in the wild
95. Wake up early, pack a breakfast picnic, hike up a hill/mountain and watch the sunrise
96. Wake up next to someone who makes my world a better place.
97. Have my garage organized enough to park my car in it
98. Landscape the yard and create an incredible patio area with a water feature
99. Pay for my children to go to college
100. Continue to revise this list so that I continue to try new things!!

First day of School 2008!

Today was the first day of school for my big girls....FIRST AND THIRD GRADERS!!!!!

Started the morning off with a healthy breakfast...frosted flakes for Clara and honey nut cheerios for Emmie....
we remembered apples for the teachers
the traditional shot in front of the garage for Mama--I was begging them to be sweet...
backpacks and booties....
Cheese!!!--goofy grin from the first grader. She was all smiles today!
someone is too cool for school....

okay Mama---that's enough, you can go to work now......

My babies are getting too big! Seems like only yesterday they were in diapers and now they are chasing boys on the playground.

Biker Babes

My girls jumped in on the end of one of my recent shoots. My friend Joanne and her boyfriend Lance wanted a shoot with the Harley. My girls were in awe of the motorcycle. Lance was so sweet and told them that after we were done with the adults' shoot they could take a few pictures on the bike. Emma took the opportunity to run upstairs, change her clothes and do her hair and makeup. Clara was content jumping on the bike as is, although I did insist that she wash the blizzard off her face before any photos were taken.

Missing 2 little girls

Well, my babies have been gone for 6 days now and I really miss them! They called me this morning to tell me that they were having a good time and that they missed me. I will get them back on Sunday and I'm sure I'll give them a death hug!

Who knew that you could love something as much as your kids...seems like I love them more and more each day!

**photo credit to Amy with her awesome cell phone camera skilz! :)

Alamo at dusk

I'm in San Antonio for some continuing education. It's a great conference and my boss and I are all excited about the stuff we are learning and how it can help our clients. The other night I took the opportunity to walk around the Alamo and snap a couple of shots. Tomorrow afternoon I plan on going to the other missions around here and take some more pictures.

I hadn't been to the Alamo in years, but the second I saw the mission it took me back to my first trip with my grandparents when I was a young girl. It was a hot summer day and we ate snow cones while sitting on the wall outside the front of the Alamo. I was slightly disappointed because I thought it would be larger ;). Ironically I was speaking with a gentleman from Scotland who also thought the Alamo would be larger.

A girl's gotta have her girls!

I'm lucky to have some of the best girl friends in the world. We played around in the studio after dinner the other night and got this shot...

I love my girlfriends. My girls laugh with me, cry with me. We bake food for each other when someone is sick, had an operation, lost a loved one. We watch each other's dogs. We watch each other's kids. We rate the boyfriends in our lives...we listen about the blossoming relationships. We help sew the "voodoo dolls" of our exs and plot schemes of what we will do if we ever see him again. We vent about our husbands, our jobs, our co-workers. We laugh until we snort. We drink too much wine. We pray for each other. We worry about the choices we all make. We are girlfriends---which are just the sisters that God forgot to give us. I love you ladies!

All I want for Summer is My 2 Front Teeth!

Poor thing...wonder how she will eat her sandwich tomorrow?!! She's officially toothless.

When you bake Daisies you get Brownies

Twist me, turn me, show me the elf...I looked into the water and saw MYSELF!
Clara getting her Brownie pin and a kiss from Mama!

Clara's Daisy troop Bridged to Brownies last Thursday night. I am very proud of my new Brownie. She was beaming with pride herself--full of joy and a desire to live a "Girl Scout Life". The sheer innocence in a child is amazing. She is on a mission to be the "best girl scout she can be!" (And she told us that much during our celebratory dinner at Fudruckers!) She does not judge, she does not gossip and she accepts everyone in her life for who and what they are. Lessons that many adults could learn from a 6 year old girl. I'm proud of you Clara!!!

Bridging Brownies

I had the honor of shooting Brownie Troop 972's Bridging Ceremony on Friday evening. Bridging is when a Girl Scout is promoted to the next level. These girls will be starting the fourth grade. Their leader, Bobbi, asked me to shoot the event. It was a great time. The ceremony was held at Berry Springs Park in Georgetown. I absolutely love the park and plan on shooting there again.


Time to leave the Brownie Vests behind!









New Juniors!!

blue eyes x 2

these photos speak for themselves...

Spring time in Central Texas

You know it's spring time in Central Texas when you spend your evening in your "safe room" because of bad weather...Tonight I've been watching the weather non stop....however, when the hail reached penny sized, the lightening lit up my room, the lights flickered off and the rain was falling sideways I knew it was time to move the girls to the downstairs bathroom. After about 20 minutes the storm moved on and I was able to get the girls back to bed...Clara slept through it all. Emma was watching me on my laptop as I was watching radar. I am thankful that the weather has passed...hopefully my car won't be damaged from the hail.

Post Wedding Detox/Belated Mother's Day Post

It's been a wild ride over the last few days. We were in Houston for my cousin's wedding from Thursday through Sunday. The girls and I are totally whipped...even today. I feel like I am behind on all things I want to do. I did however get the wedding pictures edited and most of them uploaded to my website--(go check them out http://www.susanwolferphotography.com/ ) My liver has finally filtered out all of the wine I consumed over the weekend and I think I will survive :). I wanted to make a post on Mother's day but I am just now getting around to it!

She's not my mama but she fills in the blank....My Mimmie is my rock. She is the one person, besides my kids, that I talk to every day. She often knows my thoughts with out me saying a word. She has given me more advice than Dr. Phil ever could. My grandmother taught me how to cook, sew, do laundry, can pickles and tomatoes, make jelly and love all people. She's covered my butt with clothes, kissed my ouchies and written a check without me asking because she knew I needed some help. Mimmie took me to church and helped me learn to love the Lord. Mimmie always reminds me that I'm her heart...and in reality she is my heart too. We have shopped and laughed, cried and celebrated...and through it all she has been a wonderful example of what a wife, mother, grandmother and child of God should be like. Most people are blessed to know their grandparents throughout their childhood. I am blessed to know my grandmother as an adult.

Sidewalk Science Lab

My child....she's so excited about little things. Tonight it was the bird egg they found on the sidewalk. It looks as though this little birdy met an untimely demise with a fall from a tree or with the neighborhood kitty. Well Emma took great delight in looking at the developing chick. She was thrilled that she could make out the little birdy eye and the yolk in the egg. I love to watch the wonder in her eyes as she discovers things in the world....even if it is a squished bird egg.

I guess that I was most tickled by Emma making me come back into the house and get my camera so I could take a picture of the bird guts so she could remember it...

My Obsession--from Shutter Sisters

One could say that my obsession is photography in general. I go through these phases of taking pictures of certain things. Lately it was wildflowers since it seemed that every weekend had me outdoors with the girl scouts.

If I had to pick one obession right now I would say it's eyes. I love to photograph eyes. I am on a current mission to photograph 100 different people's eyes. I have a way to go...

Monarch

This turned out to be a shot worth laying on the ground for. The girls were wanting to go and I saw this butterfly out of the corner of my eye. I told everyone to be still and quiet and I got down on the ground in front of the bush where the butterfly was flitting about. After 5 shots of the bugger with it's wings closed it finally opened up and I got the shot!

Jumping in feet first......

I never really thought that I would become a blogger...I mean, I have a ton of stuff to do as it is....between the demands of being a single mom, scout leader, paralegal, etc. I have a full plate. But I don't get to scrapbook as often as I want to and I still take 100s of pictures a week. This is an opportunity for me to showcase my favorite photos, write about what is going on in our lives so that it's documented and hopefully grow as a photographer. I can't guarantee that I will update this daily...but I will try to update as often as I can!!!