Top Ten | Hannah

And last but not least ... Hannah-bug!

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It's been so fun to actually capture these kinds of natural shots! The shutter-speed on my new camera is so much faster and it makes a huge difference with kids. It's also doing really well at taking clear pictures without flash in low-light situations.

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her "art studio"

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Having fun with a new setting called "background defocus"--my other camera would occasionally do it for me on macro shots, but not for regular portraits. It's a speciality of DSLRs, but technology makes it possible on my Sony. :)

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Having a blast rolling down the hill together--they unhooked hands after just one roll though. ;)

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Love this girl! She's growing up so fast.

Top Ten | Matthew

By random selection, Matthew's up next. :)

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Not perfectly clear, but fantastic for the circumstances. I had music playing as we busied ourselves about the house, and Matthew's whole face lit up when he heard "This Little Light of Mine." So excited to capture his smile as he put up his "light."

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Loving my 16x zoom! I was standing by our porch steps--Matthew was past the shed at the edge of our property.

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Matthew loves Toby. :) And Toby loves Matthew.
Mommy loves capturing a clear picture of boy + dog.

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This little guy just makes me smile! :)

Top Ten | Peter

By random selection, Peter's up first. :) A soccer ball has replaced the shovel in the last few weeks as Peter's recreational tool of choice. As usual, he goes at nothing half-heartedly. ;) I'm quite excited to be able to capture him in action! :) (And I'd love to bottle some of his energy!) :)

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Top Ten | My New Camera

I am blessed to be the very excited owner of a new camera! Woo-hoo! Many thanks to my hubby! :) He actually gave me money towards it at my last birthday, but it's taken me this long to settle on what I wanted to purchase. The picture quality of the DSLRs was tempting, but the price point was not, especially since I knew I'd be keeping it in auto-mode 99.9% of the time. So then I started looking at advanced "point-and-shoots." After reading many reviews, I settled on a Sony DSC-HX9V. I am very pleased with it. Somehow I don't think you're interested in seeing all 573 pictures I managed to take in less than 24-hours of owning my new camera. But, here's my top ten floral (+ Toby) shots ... over the next few days I'll post my top ten of each of the kids from that first round of pictures.

For now, enjoy the colors of spring from my backyard ...

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Top Ten | Travels @ (Almost) Two

A few of these already made it into my 365 Project, but they're still my top ten for our trip, so ignore the reruns. :) My old camera which was still our only camera on this trip was particularly cranky, so I was particularly thankful for the pictures I managed to capture. I was never certain when I picked it up to take a picture if it would actually take one for me. :)

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The big question: What did Matthew think about his plane ride?

Well, the funny thing about plane rides is that you really don't realize you're on a "plane" when you're sitting in your seat. ;) So although I'm pretty certain he didn't quite grasp the whole "plane" concept, Matthew enjoyed looking out the window and reading Harold and the Purple Crayon and playing with his green tractor and playing with Legos and playing with his green tractor and reading Harold and the Purple Crayon and playing with his green tractor and reading Harold and the Purple Crayon and looking out the window and reading Harold and the Purple Crayon and playing with his green tractor ... ;) And Mommy thoroughly enjoyed being able to enjoy all of those things with him--a dozen times over--and not be distracted by many of my normal responsibilities of mommyhood. :)Life definitely got more exciting in Philadelphia. Our original connecting flight was delayed which meant we were going to miss our third connection which was to land us in Syracuse. So, the airline kindly booked us on an alternate flight which took us direct from Philly to Syracuse. That flight, however, was also delayed, so Matthew and I got to know the F-terminal of the Philly airport quite well over the next few hours. ;) Matthew loved watching the airplanes and trucks driving around.

My most interesting (disconcerting?) experience was when I realized that the very courteous gentlemen I had spoken with just a bit in the waiting area were actually plain-clothes officers escorting a prisoner to Watertown. !!! I guess there was a reason I had felt safe around them. (They strongly reminded me of Uncle Pat, which now makes good sense considering that he's a retired officer!)

Matthew was still going strong when we finally took off from Philly around 7:30 ... after having arrived there at 1:00. :)

I may be slightly predjudiced, but I heartily believe Syracuse, NY is one of the prettiest cities at night! We were privileged to fly in on a clear night so that we got to see the lights from the air.

Love this picture of Grandma and Matthew! Love it even more knowing that he climbed up of his own volition. :)

Also love this picture of me and my parents. :) I'm sure my sister and I heard it a dozen times if we heard it once--the family resemblence is quite strong. ;)Matthew and Mommy thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa as well. :) And the kids are most definitely enjoying the trucks they sent home with us ... particularly the firetruck. (Kinda funny considering that that's the only one with batteries ... hmmmm ...) ;)

Matthew was definitely enjoying Grandpa more after having spent the last day riding in his truck, but he was definitely of the opinion that wrestling and picking flowers were more fun than posing for a picture. ;)

However, by the time we arrived home late Wednesday afternoon, Matthew was quite happy to cuddle with Grandpa in a horizontal position. :)

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On the other hand, this trip was about family, and the fellowship all around was a blessing. It's been a long time since I've seen most of my Dad's family and it was good to catch up again.

Aunt and Uncles ...

Cousins ...

Our family ...

My Grandma and Grandpa ...

Matthew with his cousins, Sam and Bryce (who happened to be standing on the step above him--the height difference is most definitely not that large!) :)

Thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship and thankful to have been able to be there.