Click on the title of the blog post to view the entire entry.
Meet Luke. He was four weeks to the day when I photographed him last weekend. Check out that head of hair! He has a natural “spike” going on. I remember Isaac’s hair did the same thing. I had such a great time chatting it up with this family. Mike, Luke’s dad, is an aspiring amateur photographer. If you know me, you know how much I love to talk photography- well, I just love to talk! Seriously, this family was so much fun to be around. Thanks for having me Mike, Megan & Luke!
Little Lola is six months old! Can you believe it?! It seems like I just took these photos of her at the hospital. You can see how much she’s grown by looking at these photos and these. How adorable is that furry little hood she has on?! I have more photos to go through, but I couldn’t resist posting this one :).
. . . here are some photos of Truitt circa 2001. In fact, these were taken with my fancy 1.0 megapixel Sony Mavica (which took a floppy disk). I’ve been feeling so guilty that I haven’t posted all week! It’s just been very busy. However, I will have *fresh* photos this weekend for sure.
How cute is that kid?!
First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who commented on my original “Josh” post. 108 comments and that number keeps going up!!! That is incredible! And I know that Josh reads every single one. So, I wanted to give you all an update on how Josh is doing in Iraq. When Josh first arrived in Iraq there was a time when he was not allowed to tell anyone where he was stationed. For the most part, Josh has been able to call and e-mail his friends and family on a pretty regular basis. Not long ago his mom and dad received this link (click here) from Josh which finally pinpointed his location. He had been working to help secure the town of Al-Haswa. Once the town was secure, Major General Rick Lynch took CNN on a walk through. Josh was one of the soldiers guarding the major during the broadcast. Pretty cool, huh. Josh is still patrolling the streets of Al-Haswa and I believe that is where all the above pics were taken. It’s pretty incredible to see just what Josh is seeing. I’m so glad he took a camera (you know I would have). It may sound strange, but I think Josh is really enjoying being a soldier in Iraq. He says that the Iraqi people are much nicer than they are often portrayed on TV (imagine that). I’ll keep the updates coming. Josh, if you are reading this keep snapping those pictures (You have a great eye! These are awesome pics!). Stay safe and be strong. The Speelman family prays for your saftey every night as well as so many other families.
Yep, this is a Joe Speelman original. I was grocery shopping on Sunday and got a call from Joe. He said, “You’re not going to believe what your son is doing.” I said, “Which one?” (you just never know in this house). I guess I should preface this by saying that my boys need very little sleep. Owen never naps (at home). On occasion he’ll fall asleep in the car, but for the most part all three of our boys require the minimum amount of sleep (I’m sure this will change once they are teenagers). Joe said that he gave Owen a snack at the table. After a while it became very quiet in the kitchen, never a good sign. Joe came downstairs to see what Owen was up to and found him all curled up and sound asleep on the chair. Seriously, this NEVER happens! Joe took about 75 pics with my camera :). I was very impressed. He switched lenses and settings and even used my big ole flash. All his hard work paid off. This is a great shot!!! Owen slept about 45 minutes. Of course that night we put him to bed at 8:30 and he didn’t fall asleep until 11:00! That’s the price we pay for naptime!
Last night was the much anticipated Pinewood Derby race. It was a pretty incredible experience (since I only had the “Girl Scout” experience). Weigh-in was at 5:45pm. Everyone was scrambling around trying to add weight to their cars (5oz. max) including the Speelmans. Once the official weigh-in was complete they started a series of three “heats.” Each car got to race three times, once in each lane. Isaac’s car came in second twice and third once (the yellow arrows indicate Isaac’s car). Needless to say he did not advance to the finals, but he didn’t seem one bit upset. All the boys chanted and cheered for their friends during every single race (my ears were ringing by the time we left). Emotions were running high, that’s for sure. I loved Isaac’s friend Liam’s reaction before and after his race (second to last set of images). Truitt hung out with Caroline and his friend David. Owen ran around the school gym “shooting” (basketballs). Oh, and I actually helped out in the final race capturing the “photo finish”. My photo backed up the judges decision (check out the back wheels in the image).
Isaac and Joe have been working diligently on Isaac’s Pinewood Derby car (Owen helped too). It’s finally finished and ready to race! Check back for the race results . . . they’re coming soon!
. . . and it’s ril-wee, ril-wee bad. Carowine said she’s not my friend.” Truitt told me this last night at dinner. Some of you may know that Caroline and Truitt have been “first love’s” since Kindergarten. Truitt talks about Caroline ALL the time. They play together, go to Speech together, even hang out at birthday parties together. So I ask Truitt why Caroline would say this. He responded, “She told me- Why don’t you stop lovin’ me and just start likin’ me!” I was internally cracking up. I said, maybe you shouldn’t tell her you love her anymore.” Truitt said, “I don’t anymore.” Then he said, “But she still plays with me at recess.” So I guess all is well. By the way, this photo is courtesy of my mom. They do make an awfully cute couple :).
Before Christmas I discovered a store in Oakley called “Flags USA”. I knew I had to take Owen there, so last Friday while the big boys were in school we headed out on a field trip. Needless to say, Owen *LOVED* it. They had two displays filled with little flags- one for every state, country, democrat, republican and even a race car flag. I told Owen he could choose five flags- he chose an American flag with gold fringe around the edges, Panama’s flag, a Vietnam Veterans flag, an Air Force flag and a race car flag. Then we bought a little stand to display them. He’s been carrying them around ever since and even sleeps with them (I usually take them out of his bed after he’s asleep so he doesn’t get poked).
