Team Photos

We sure like getting action shots of the boys when they play soccer.

Marty covered their game last week and got a lot of great pictures.

       But this time of year we also do the team photo shoot.  This is the mainstay of our photography business.  This is when the kids line up and have individual portraits done, and parents order their photo packages and buttons and other photo products.  Last week we did the team and individual photos for Sam's team, for the third year running.

We like to use a backdrop for individual photos, but this year the parents requested we take a full body shot with a natural background and the foot on the ball.  So we did.

Doesn't he look great? And what a fantastic photo!  (Taken by Marty!)

The team poses for their standard formal portrait.

Then the FAVORITE part for every team, every sport that we do: The jump up in the air picture. 



Always accompanied with a "YEY!!!"

Don't you love the energy on those faces?  (And this was after one hour of running around the soccer field in extremely HOT hot sunshine and the kids were getting tired.

YEY for team photos!

Chocolate Mice

Benny came home from the school book fair with a new, very exciting object. He got a light-up moon.  But wait, that's not all.  The moon comes with a remote control.  But wait, there's more.  It shows all the phases of the moon!

He was very excited about it because they are studying that very thing in school.  So he was able to walk me through the waxing and waning and quarters and such with an outstanding visual model.  It's very nice.

After we played with that a while we got busy on a much anticipated project:  Chocolate Mice.

Gram sent us a Halloween cookbook and chocolate mice are one of the creations inside.  The boys chose that for their first recipe.  But wouldn't you know it, I could NOT find the string licorice required for mouse tails. I also could not find the tiny red candies needed for eyes or ears.

So we decided to make chocolate hamsters.

Of course we have an adorable model right here at home:

And the reason we made chocolate hamsters if because I had some Good and Plenty candies for use for the tails.  We planned to use pink for the tails and white for the eyes.  Okay, it sounded a little flimsy, but we hoped it would work.

We got busy melting and stirring.  We shaped, we burned our fingers, we worked and made a giant mess. 

And we ended up with....

Imagine the chocolate squares are eyes...and the white things the ears.....

Okay, they were sort of a disaster.  But they tasted great!  And the kids were happy. And that's really the only end result required in a situation like that.

 

Goalie On The Job

As promised, Benny gets his turn with an entry all his own.  Benny had his third game of the season this past weekend.  He played great.

It turns out that Benny is a wonderful goalie.  Very brave, very quick, very tough.

The coach's have let him know how much they value what he does.

We watched his game this weekend and Marty took these pictures.

He's got it all under control, no worries...........

Good job, Benny!

Sam's Soccer Time

Fall soccer season is well underway.  With a month of practices behind us, this week we jumped into games.  Sam's games started this week, so this post is all about him. (Benny to follow.)  Sam's first game of the season was in Blue Ridge, against the Fannin kids.

The kid were up for the game, focused, and ready to play.  They got out there and had a great time.

They also won the game, and Sam scored a goal.  But honestly, for Sam, though he enjoys winning, he simply enjoys PLAYING.  His night does not hinge on win or lose, it only relies on getting on the field.

He's definitely a team player.  And though by the end of the season I'm pretty sick of sitting at the soccer fields, dealing with tired sweaty kids out late on school nights, and keeping up with soccer gear, it's all very much worth it.

Here's to a good season!

School Project

We have been very busy the last couple of weeks working on Benny's first big school project.  He had to study the Plains Indians and then make a replica of their village.

He got really into it and worked very hard on his project.  He made these teepees and drew the designs on them.  He designed the size and layout of his village.  He planned the pond and he glued down the sand.  He glued down the paper for ground cover and then placed all his little indian people where he wanted them.

I helped by buying the supplies, helping him gather and study material on the indians, and fielding the hot glue gun.  I also sculpted a couple of lumpy horses for him.

He finished off by writing a short essay on the Plains Indians, what they used for housing, and why.

Tomorrow I pack him and his project up in the car and drive him to school.  He can hardly wait to show his classmates!

Good job, Benny!