Some pics with the new camera and lens

Holy Smokes this thing is sweet!! I took some pics with the new camera today, just snapshots really, cause my kids are not cooperating, but even they look awesome. Now the lens is got a little of a learning curve on it, I am so used to using primes, it's going to take some time and practice to get used to this thing. The one of Ben I have the new lens and it just looks funny to me, but I'll figure it out.

A Case of the Sickies.

So yesterday morning Ben woke up sick, like real sick puking for five hours straight. It was awful and weird, cause not something you expect in summer, but he's better now. So while he was sick, in between puking, actually when I took this, I think he was on the mend, I took some pics of him and Jack. My camera has a case of the sickies too, which makes me super sad, cause I bombed an entire photo session because of it. I had a shoot on Sunday night and came home to find that all my pictures were out of focus. I almost cried, instead, though I finally ordered the Canon 5d. I can't wait, it should be here tomorrow, which is good, cause I have more shoots this weekend.

A few from yesterday's session

So I finally got to take some good friends of ours family photo's. WHEW!! It is so challenging getting four people to look at and smile at the camera all at the same time. Needless to say, I didn't get a ton with everyone cooperating, but I did get some good shots. Can I just say, "Hello, Mr. GQ" and no Shannon, I'm not talking about you. This little guy is going to turn some heads, and Miss E was being a total stinker, any shots I got of her looking at me were sheer accident. I need to figure out a way to be more entertaining.

holga & friends

holga & friends
Originally uploaded by llear

I took some pics with my Holga at a friends birthday party, not the best people camera, but still had fun with it.

Sad Day for the Hand...

So for those of you that have been to our house, you've probably at one time or another seen the pink hand that was on the ceiling of our stairway for maybe 2 or 3 years. Well I decided since we are trying to sell our house I should probably try to get it down. Now this thing was not easy, it is several feet up and sticky as hell. I had envisioned it having gotten hard, but it was still sticky as hell, which explains why it was hard to get down. Anyhoo, I finally got it down, so I thought I'd take a pic to commemorate this momentous occasion.

Maternity Photosession

I wish I could have looked this great when I was prego. I got to take pics of this beautiful mama and her four year old. Thanks K for letting me get some experience in this. It is very different working with adults who actually do what you tell them to do. Kind of scary actually, cause you have to know what to tell them to do. I can't wait to meet the little sweety, just a few more weeks and hopefully I will get to take some pics of her too.

"Take Me Out To The Ballgame!!"

Buy me some beer and nachos and I'm good to go:) Seriously though, we went to a Cardinal game this weekend with friends of ours that have season tickets. They were awesome seats, super close and right down third base line and there was a great view of the arch. We had loads of fun, until the downpour, but we were troopers and stayed for most of the game. We had to finally call it quits when our clothes were so wet, we weighed an extra couple pounds. The only thing that could have made it better was if the team actually played a little better, I mean we left when it was 13 -1 and we were losing and wet so decided it was pointless to stay.

Rosie Thomas Rocks!!!

Another phenomenal artist has given me permission to use a song for my photography website. I am so excited, Rosie Thomas has quickly become one of my favorite artists. Her voice is so pure and sweet, I just love listening to her music. So when I found out she had a song on a kids cd, I jumped at the chance and asked permission to use it on my website and she, or her "people" said sure. She and Damien Jurado, have a sweet little number called "Small As Me" and it just fits perfectly. I am so excited, now two of my favorite artists are one there.

Coming Soon, Marketing Brochures...

So I am getting super serious about my photography business, and am lining things up to have a busy summer. I spent a couple hours last night putting together a marketing brochure that I plan on sending to clients after they book a session with all the info needed for the session. I am super excited and it wasn't too difficult because I bought a template from one of my favorite sites. I'm almost finished, there are two pages that I'm not happy with, so before I send it off to print, I will work on those, but here's a sneak peek. It will be a 5x5 tri-fold, so use your imagination.

Scene's from summer....

Sometimes it's the joy in the little things that gets you through the day. We've had a pretty good week so far being out of school for summer. I was a little frustrated in the beginning of the week because of all the bickering, but I guess I just have to entertain them. We painted a great big card board box yesterday, which the kids loved. I put it in the driveway, gave them the paint and said have at it. Then we washed my car, and played water guns and water balloons. It was a great day and today has been much of the same, Popsicles and water balloons, lunch outside on the patio, we'll make this summer fun for sure. I guess next I'm gonna have to bravely put on a swimsuit, despite my weight gain, and head to the pool. WooHoo!! Summer!!

"Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming!"

So we got a fish today! Technically it is Maddison's, in that she claims she will take care of the cleaning of the bowl and feeding of the fish, but I give that all of a week. We will see, our track record with fish is not very long, but this one is pretty. The kids named it Dory, after the movie "Finding Nemo". Hopefully it will last a little while, cause it is a nice addition to the bathroom.

Live your life to the fullest...

Because you never know how long you have on this earth. I am a big fan of singer/songwriter Katie Reider, and she is suffering from a rare tumor. Her story is so sad and heartbreaking, I just had to share. If you can take a look at this site, she needs all the support she can get for her family, she has two small children. I can't imagine going through something like this, so hug your loved ones today and be thankful for your health.

a girl, a phone, an and aging old mom....

That's what I feel like when I look at these pictures. Maddison is one the phone pretty much 24/7 so I thought I should document it. I can only imagine it getting worse over the summer since she won't have that day to day contact with her friends. I'm sure we will have to make up some new rules regarding phone usage over the summer. On another note, I hate the picture of me on my new website, Andrew took it and my camera was set to manual focus and we didn't know it, so it wasn't very good to begin with, so I gave my camera to Maddison today after school and was like here get a good one of me. Well she did fine, although subject looks like she's got a few years on her. Dude, when did I get so old. WOW!! do ya see the wrinkles around the eyes and mouth?? I can't believe this is me and not only that, I have seriously gained weight and my short hair cut accentuates that fact. Anyway, wonder which one you thought was better, if you want to give your opinion, be gentle, though.

Lisa Loeb Rocks!!

So I have this new website for my photography business and I was wanting to put some really good music on there, you know not just the stock generic stuff. Anyway, I'm a big Lisa Loeb fan and she has this awesome children's cd called "Catch The Moon" and I thought, "what's the worst that could happen, she'll say no". So I went to her website, emailed her people and asked if I could use her song on my site, and SHE SAID YES!!! It's actually a really great album, especially for a kid's cd. Click on the pic and you can head over to Barnes & Noble to buy it. Isn't that the coolest. I feel so cool now, I'm so glad I did it, you know it just goes to show sometimes in life you have to take a little risk.

Because Bubbles Are So Fun!!

Sometimes you just have to blow bubbles. I love catching kids in the act of blowing bubbles, the concentration and sheer joy is so fun to capture. These two were having a blast today enjoying the weather and the bubbles.

WOO HOO!!!!!

I have pretty much spent the entire weekend working on my photography website. I revamped it and made a much more professional one. It is so exciting to have one that is what an actual website is supposed to look like. So take a look if you'd like, I would love any feedback.
www.leighlearphotography.com

Cleaning House....

My Internet home that is, I am working on a new website for my photography, I hope to have a real live website soon. I was going to say by the end of the weekend, but man this is complicated. I have purchased the template/hosting thingy and have been plugging in pictures and words and all that good stuff, but I am ready to pull my hair out at this point. I have been pretty busy with sessions, so I thought it was to time to upgrade to a more professional site, I had no idea it would be this much work. I think in the end, though, it will be worth it, if the end ever come.
On another note, we've only had one showing of the house, and I am getting kind of bummed. We put a contract on a house, so hopefully ours sells pretty quickly. I am seriously considering the statue of St. Joseph, it's some Catholic thing that all my family believes in, and at this point I am thinking it might be the way to go. Oh well, ta ta for now.....

Portrait session...

So I took a beautiful little baby girls pictures today. It was totally exciting for me, because it was raining, I had to use my flash. I think they look great, and I learned that I shouldn't be afraid of m flash. Baby's are so fun, it's a good thing I get to take pictures of them often, or I would have to have another. This little cutie was easy as pie to take pictures of and she is beautiful as well. Really, is there anything better than little baby tootsies?

Softball season is here....

And man am I sore. It is quite sad and pathetic how sore I am from just one game, but it's true. We had our first game of the season and I got my old position of first base back, last year I mostly played second, and it was nice. I caught almost every ball that came my way, minus a couple of out of control ones, and I hit every ball that was pitched to me. Unfortunately, I didn't make it on base for all of them, got picked off a couple of times. Man, my first hit was great though, and I had a blast. It's frustrating, though, every year I promise to be in shape before the season starts, and every year I fail. My back is sore from swinging the bat, and my legs are sore from actually having to run the bases. It sucks getting old, and it sucks even more that I am the oldest one on the team. Good times:)

Piano

So I was trying to get one of those really cool pictures of our piano with only part of it in focus, but I think I didn't actually get enough in focus. I don't know how you get that perfect shot, this clearly isn't it, but it point out to me just how dirty our piano is. As you can see, I have had a really boring day, Andrew worked and the kids have been watching movies and basically entertaining themselves.

New Music...

Don't know if you've noticed my music playing in the side bar, but Rosie Thomas might be my new favorite artist. I love, love, love her voice, her lyrics are so completely beautiful. I love it so much that I went out and bought two of her cd's and only two because that's because all Barnes & Noble had. I will eventually own all of her cd's, she is awesome.

House??

So we put a contract on a house this week, but of course it has a contingency on ours selling. I am a nervous wreck, they had an open house today, so we took the kids and the in-laws to see it and I'm in love with it even more. I hope our house sells super fast cause I love this house, it's perfect. It's so surreal to imagine living in a house that's new and fancy. It has a pantry bigger than our bathroom, super cool landscaping and just so clean and nice. Wish us luck.

To write or not to write.....

I write, because that's what I do to be well, to heal, to vent, sometimes just to breath. I mostly write poetry to vent, or just get it out there. Often times I question whether or not I should put it out there, especially know now that my mother reads it, but if I don't put it out there, then I am filtering sometimes my truest feelings. I never intend to hurt or anger anyone with my writing and a lot of the times it's fictional. I rarely put a disclaimer on those that are fictional, so if your reading something that I've written and your worried about me, don't I'm fine and sometimes I just write and the things I write aren't always pretty.

I feel like I could collapse....

I can't even imagine how bad Andrew feels, because he is working nights and only slept from 7:30am until 12:30pm. No naps in between, just constant hard work, in a house that's like 78 degrees right now I might add. What's all this work for, you ask, well we are getting our house ready to put on the market. That's right, after 6 or so years we have decided it's time for a move. We have seen houses sell and be resold in this neighborhood and still no kids, I think since we've lived here five houses have sold surrounding us and all of them filled with retired people. Not that I have anything against retired folks, we love our neighbors, in fact we often sit around in the cul-de-sac with them and have "happy hour" with drinks and snacks while the kids run around and play. The thing that's missing from that scenario is other kids for mine to play with. Anyway, long story short, a house right next to some of our best friends is for sale and it's in neighborhood crawling with kids, so we thought we'd give it a shot. It may never happen, as we have to sell our house first, obviously, and the market sucks, but we're gonna give the good ole college try. In the meantime, I have been cleaning up, decorating and just generally fixing the things we should have done a long time ago. It looks so nice right now, I don't even care if it sells.:)

Spring Cleaning....

Ahh the joys of home ownership. We have been cleaning house for what seems like weeks. We've cleaned the storage room, the garage, worked on the yard and yesterday and today I have been painting. The one benefit of my son marking on the walls with permanent marker is that if forced me to dig out our paint and since I had it out, I figured why not touch up all the yucky spots. I've painted trim, walls, and doors, it's amazing what a little paint will do. Our house is looking almost new it's so clean. Surely I've lost wait with all this cleaning and grooving to great cleaning music, I've definitely sweat enough to lose a couple pounds.

Weekend at my parents

So I spent the weekend at my parents house, I hadn't been home since Christmas, which is crazy considering they only live two hours away but life has been hectic. Anyway, we went for a group birthday party for Ben and three of my nephews. It was a great seeing everyone and the kids had a blast. My dad always entertains them with fire and water and fish, you good guy things. My mom wanted me to take pictures of my niece while I was there, because she didn't have any for her wall and I had been meaning to do it anyway to get some older kids in my portfolio. She is 14 and it was her prom the night before we took these, so her hair was still curly from the fancy do she had. She is a knockout and was easy to take pics of, we will do a to be continued, because apparently there is grease on train tracks and she sat on the tracks for some of the pics and it got all over her clothes so we had to cut it short, but I did get some good ones.

Four Years Ago.....

I was in the hospital having my last baby. The youngest of my clan, and the one with the most personality was born at 1:30pm four years ago today. He is my little wild man, the one with no fears and the one who loves so passionately it can knock you over. He adores his big brother and follows his every move, sticks up for him against their big sister and is the biggest dog lover you'll ever meet. He has such an intense personality, I can only imagine the amazing things he is going to do when he grows up. In the mean time he loves playing outside and with his big brother and sister. He loves Star Wars and pirates and Indiana Jones, he likes to ride bikes and dig in the dirt, he fears nothing and his favorite food is cereal and peanut butter and jelly. Happy Birthday my little man, 4 today, 16 tomorrow, it goes by in such an instant.

New Car!! New Hair!!

So we just signed all the papers on a brand spanking new Ford Escape. We decided against the Jeep, because in order to afford it, we were going to have to get a used one. I drove an Escape today and there was actually a little more room in it than the jeep and it gets better gas mileage. It's bizarre just how expensive our van actually was because this is and 08 Escape with like 3000 miles and our payments are cut in half for the same amount of time we had left to pay on the van. Pretty good deal. Car shopping is so exhausting, though, so I think I'm going to take a nap. Oh and I got my hair cut today. Super short, you might not even recognize me.

New Car??

So we have been looking at getting a new car. We've spent the better part of this week looking and driving several different cars to replace our minivan. Not that we have to, but it has a pretty hefty payment and we don't have to have the extra room now that we are down to just a booster seat for Ben. It is a very nice car and the kids love the dvd player and think that life will not go on without one, even though we have one of those portable one's that we can take anywhere. So anyway, I think we have singled it down the the new Jeep Liberty's, which is a cute little SUV, but get good gas mileage or at least the same as the van. It all depends if our awesome car dealer can find us a slightly used one, I say slightly because the one we are looking at is a 2008 and it is super cool. It has what they call a "sky slider roof", which is a fancy way of say the whole freakin roof slides back. It feels like a convertible, but it also has four wheel drive and to sweeten an already sweet deal, it will cut our car payments in half and will be paid off in a couple of years. Pretty awesome right, oh and it will also upgrade our cool factor from driving the mom mobile around for like 7 years. :)

Writing

So I wonder if this urge I have to write is a way for me to avoid reality. I need to find a job, a real job and yet I just seem to get more and more obsessed with writing something. I don't seem to have a problem writing poetry, I can whip out a poem in about five minutes, but try to write some fiction and the blank page just stares at me. It's almost as if it's taunting me, daring me to even try. I think I could write essays or magazine articles, but there's something about writing dialogue that has me stumped. It's funny because I read constantly you would think it would just come naturally, but I can't even seem to get a conversation out. I read the blogs of other writers, fellow blogging writers and I get a little jealous of their progress. One just celebrated the finishing of their novel and I was like wow, I want to write a novel when I should be like that's so great, I'm so happy for you. Oh well, just some thoughts I've been wrestling with, I will write something eventually.

Earthquake??

So around 4:30 this morning here's what I'm thinking as I wake up to the whole house shaking. My windows are open and we live fairly close to the tornado alarm and it wasn't going off, Andrew is working, so I'm thinking do I call him maybe the alarm is broken. I thought it was just some serious wind. Jack comes strolling in, "mom why is the house shaking?", I don't know Jack it's just the wind go back to bed. A few minutes later it stops and I just think huh weird wind storm. Sleep, Sleep, Sleep. Andrew comes home and I ask was there some kind of tornado or something last night? No, was it around 4:30? I'm like yeah why, he says "all be damn, there was an earthquake, we had calls last night and just thought they were crazy". Who would of thought we'd have an earthquake in Missouri. I can remember as a kid doing all the drills and people buying earthquake insurance because they thought the New Madrid fault was gonna cause an earthquake. Crazy.

Life

Have you ever had a life experience that changed you forever. Like seriously you think you might not recover from it. It is so profound that everything you ever held true about life, you now proceed to question. Every belief you once held dear has become another doubt your not sure you can survive. It's amazing how the littlest things in life can come along and change everything you ever believed in. I don't know, it's crazy this thing called life. Just a thought to ponder, not that I'm speaking from experience, I'm just saying.

What my son does when he's supposed to be sleeping...

So I had a girls Bible study meeting last night and of course Andrew was working, so we had it at my house. It was scheduled around 8:15pm so the kids would be in bed.....sleeping. Well the best made plans and whatever, that didn't happen. I head upstairs around midnight to find this lovely artwork on my wall..........with permanent marker. Good times.

Yeah!!!

Juno came out today, and I of course bought the movie. I can see many nights of watching this movie. I'm super excited, it's been a long time since I've purchased a movie, but this one's well worth it.

Look What I Found!!

So I had a very productive day today. I have this little "flower garden" in the front yard, where once there was a tree. It came with

the house, I think I have improved it immensely, but I still really didn't like it. It just didn't feel like it should be there, not to mention everything I plant there the moles in our yard think it's a personal invitation to dinner. So today I got the bright idea to put a little fish/flower pond there. There was already this giant sinkhole where the moles had eaten a plant from the bottom to the point of destruction. So I went to Lowes and bought a little pond kit, with the fountain and everything. I dug the hole myself and put the pond in place and it will be beautiful when I am finished. I think I am even going to put some fish in there. Anyway, while I was digging away at this hole, I come across the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen. I am not kidding you I think it's possible it was a tarantula. I'm not sure, but it was huge, so of course I took some pics. Now this thing was huge and I don't particularly like spiders, so these are not great pics, I was a little shaky.

A New Poem

Sometimes a poet comes along and changes your life, Mary Oliver has done that for me. She has inspired me to write more, better and often the words that are within me. I only hope that someday I can write poetry as profound as hers. I have been writing a lot this month for National Poetry Month, and mostly it's been crap just to get something on paper or screen. It has, however, given me seed for future poems, and just the realization that I have the ability to do it if I put my mind to it. This most recent poem I have read is truly profound, I recommend it to all. Here's just a snippet, but the last line is truly the most stunning, I'll let you read it yourself.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.
--Mary Oliver

Conversations with an almost 4 year old....

Our lunch conversation today was so funny I had to write it down. He really never stops talking, but at least it's interesting right? He was eating his pb&j and grapes when I sat down with my sandwich and Dorritos, being the unhealthy example that I am, and he of course wanted some chips. I obliged and we proceeded to eat happily. He then said:

"Mom, you should plant these chips in your garden....that would be so tool (cool)"
"Ben, I don't think chips grow in the garden."
"I know, they grow in the mud....hee, hee,....no they grow on the bird feeders"
"Your silly, Ben"
"I know, I was just joking"

Sneak Peak!!

I had the wonderful opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful little baby G yesterday. Can you call a little guy beautiful, well as you can see, he is. Anyway, it was so much fun and he was so adorable, it's a good thing my biological clock can't tick anymore:) cause this little guy would make me want more. In other exciting news, I got my Kris Delmhorst cd's finally, she is so awesome. I don't think she's made a bad cd, or song really for that matter.

Will it ever stop raining??

I am patiently waiting for the rain to stop. I am pretty sure you could actually go swimming in our yard now, there's a small lake in the back. I am ready for it to dry out a little so I can plant my garden, put our basketball goal in the ground, get out and take some pictures. There's tons of things I want to get done, but this rainy weather is stinking it all up for me.

NKOTB Reunion!!??!!

So I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, cause I was actually a little on the old side to be so into these guys, but I had pictures of the New Kids On The Block, like Maddison has pictures of the Jonas Brothers on my wall. I was an official member of their fan club and can't believe I just found out about this reunion tour. I will seriously take my daughter to a concert if they come close enough. I think they've aged quite well, definitely better than me. They are hotties aren't they?

"I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales"

August Rush we just watched this, and it might be my new favorite movie. It is absolutely amazing, I basically cried the entire movie. The title of this post is my favorite line in the movie, and oh my gosh, the little guy that plays August, I could just eat him up. He is adorable, and has dimples you could get lost in. Everyone should see this movie.

Great Day, Great Weekend!!!!

What awesome weather, I love this time of year. The weather is perfect the excitement of summer is just around the corner, barbeque's are a plenty. Time with friends and family and sitting around a fire. Life is good. We had a great and productive weekend. Saturday, Andrew cleaned out the garage, while I cleaned out the storage room. Then he and I went for a bicycle ride on the green way, however we did take a detour, which included five too many hills. Later we went over to friends house and had an awesome grilled dinner and sat around the fire pit and had S'mores. Today we did the church thing and then came home put the kids to bed and then I went on another bicycle ride, solo, this time on the Katy Trail, it is so beautiful. I am totally frustrated that I didn't bring my camera, but didn't know if I could manage both, as I was still pretty sore from yesterdays ride. I got a little worried when about 15 minutes into it, I started seeing vultures flying overhead, as if they just knew I would keel over any minute. It went great, though, I rode 30 minutes one way and turned around thinking I'd have 30 minutes back. In the future, I will know to take account of the wind, cause it took about 40 to get back. It was awesome, though, and I'm excited that I am getting back in shape before softball starts.

Another shot with the Holga

Here's one of the boys, with the Holga. I can't wait for my film to arrive tomorrow!! I am seriously considering developing my black and white, I have researched it and I think it's totally doable. Saturday we are cleaning out the storage room and I think I can set up a dark room in there, no problem, I will just have to hold off on the enlarger until I have more funds.

Got the Prints Back from my Holga

Yeah happy day!!!! I got my prints back today. They were actually much better than I expected, I was really afraid they wouldn't turn out at all. I did have some trouble with advancement of the film, most of them run into one another, but hey it just adds to the charm I think. I will get it down eventually. Having gotten these back, I can't wait for my film to arrive, I got mostly black and white and am super stoked about shooting all black and white.

Holga Happiness!!

So I took my first batch of film in to be processed today. We will see if it turns out, I'm crossing my fingers. Hopefully there will some worthy of posting, but I'm not promising anything. What a total pain to get film processed these days. It totally makes me want my own dark room all the more. I can't even buy the film I need, I actually had to order it online, because nobody carries it anymore. It's so sad to me, the thought that film might actually become extinct in these digital times. While I am all about technology, believe me, I love everything digital, there's something to be said for the excitement of not knowing what I am going to get when I get the prints back. There's also something totally amazing about creating those prints yourself, which again, is why I think I just need to build my own.