The Many Faces We Have

 

Excited Us

Awwww. This was the Pumpkin Festival last Sunday. At the entrance parking field they had a hill with different Halloween cut-outs. I saw a little boy getting his picture taken in front of one, so I forced my own personal cuties to go and pose for me.

Then I got jealous of the future picture and made Brian let me have a shot with MY PUMPKIN!

Father/Daughter Talk

I found this picture in someone else's photos on facebook today. I thought it was so cute! This was an hour before the wedding that I sang at with Dan in August. Brian looks like he's explaining something to Skyla, and Skyla looks like she's got the same face she'll have on in ten years from now when her Dad is trying to get through to her. Ahahhhahaha no, of course not.
She'll be a perfect teenager like I was.
(need I say *wink wink?) 

Real Scary

This was too silly not to photograph and post. Skyla got some stickers from her Grandma in the mail today (the stickers were in the mail, not her grandma), and did not hesitate for a split-split-second to use them all immediately. She doesn't hoard and save like her father and I do---so much so, that we end up with expired gift certificates and candies, and dusty moth eaten clothes (not true, but just making a point). She dives in fearlessly and finds a way to use a very common object as something totally new and entertaining. This time, she applied these cheerful stickers as false nails. They hung off the ends of her fingers, resembling claws---and just to make certain you were truly frightened, she added a couple of front on faces to her palms and then pasted a smile on her own gleeful face as she teased the camera.
Oh......my Skyla...

Merry Goes 'Round

Here she is on her zebra horse at the PUMPKIN FESTIVAL!!! We took tons of pictures of all the fun things we got up to this weekend, but I've got to sort them all out---so bear with me...like you always do....

Two's Company

Weddings, weddings, weddings! We've been to a few this summer, and made sure to document it for you! There's a shot in here taken of the two of us BY SKYLA, again. She's dreadfully good I say. Then she joined the frame immediately following, because the poor girl doesn't know which side of the camera to be on. 

 I like going to weddings with Brian......................I just like Brian...........I love my family. I'm so happy. AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!

 

Then the last pic shows Skyla on the dance floor (first couple!) with Tiger Lily, holding hands as they ALWAYS do. Her constipation smile is because she wants me to stop asking her to hold still so I can take a damn picture. Constipation smile or not, I got one....

Say Cheese

These are some snaps from my update-the-headshots day. None of them have been cropped or touched up (notice stray hairs) yet, but at least I'VE UPDATED THIS BLOG WITH SSSSSOMETHING!!!

Ha Ha, Very Funny

I went to do some headshots this week, and needed some happy ones in the group----so I decided to grab a pillow, and turn and listen to the most hilarious jokes I've ever heard in my life. I've always loved jokes from an INVISIBLE PERSON. Yes, I had a jolly old time frightening my photographer as I asked questions to, and even was interrupted by---NO ONE AT ALL. It made for a fun afternoon, so I was happy.

Jump For Joy

Well, it's gone and happened. The first day of school. We were running around like usual (if you've ever gotten to know me, you know what I'm like) at the last second remembering other things that still needed to be done before we could leave the house---like labeling her shirt, and putting a SANDWICH in her lunchbox along with the pre-packaged snacks---and, taking a photo of her jumping for joy outside when we were locking the door to finally head off. A walk of glory for Skyla, a little gloom for mommy, and a DADDY WITH A DAY OFF WORK!!!! HE got to come too!!!! It was his only day off this week, and instead of sleeping in like he VERY much needs/likes to, he got up of his own accord to be a part of Skyla's big day. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW what a great dad.
One of his last minute things was to use the outside light for a shot, so I snapped one of him snapping one.



Here's her personality again. Can't keep the damn thing in for a second.

And here, Here's the MONEY SHOT!!!!

Let Me Introduce You

This is (from left to right) Jan, Dave, and my nutty self. Jan is who I worked for when I was bartending at the big televised theatre called the Hammersmith Apollo. He's getting married to Dave's sister this month. So Dave got me a job with him last year, and I really appreciated it. It was so fun. Funny thing about this picture is that none of us told each other to do funny faces or hand gestures---we just assumed these positions.

This here is Rachel. Rachel is Dave's sister, and Jan's future wife in about two weeks. She's a sweetie pie, and she works in the box office for the West End theatre shows.

This is Dan at his gig last night. Dan and Dave are like brothers to Brian. They were living together when Brian and I met, and they warmly welcomed me into their home and immediately took me in to their "family." Dan has recently heard me perform at an open mic gig in London, and has since then asked me to sing at Rachel and Jan's Wedding with him---he wrote the song, and we're re-writing a bit of it together. I'll play piano and sing, and he'll play guitar and sing. It will be the first song of the evening to start the reception party off.

This is Jen. Jen is Dan's girlfriend, and Brian's replacement in the household of past Dave/Dan/Brian's. She's my closest girlfriend here, and she's MOVING south to study teaching the little shit... The little girl is Tillie. Her full name is Tiger Lily and she's Dan's niece. He LOVES her to pieces, and since she's only six months younger than Skyla, when the girls get together they have a nice time. Dan and Dave are "Uncle Dan and Uncle Dave" to Skyla. Auntie Jen has watched Skyla for Brian and I a couple of times now, and she's from a family of 9 kids (she's the oldest), so she's PRETTY good with the wee ones.

Never mind that girl in the middle. The one on the far left is Lou. Louise is Tillie's mother/Dan's sister. Whenever there's a function, we are the staples. Dan, Dave, Jen, Brian, Me, Lou, Jan and Rachel.

This is Carley. She's also one of our group--she's Sean's girlfriend. SEAN is JAN'S little brother. I worked with Sean and Carley at the Apollo. They're VERY nice. I don't have a good picture of Sean I'm afraid, so the one of him in the red shirt is the best I could do by cropping him out of the background of another.

Lastly for now, on the left there we have Mikie. He's a grade school friend of Brian's from Felixstowe that has always kept in touch, and they are silly together. Mikie came all the way over to America to see us get married last year, and only about a month later he had proposed to his girlfriend of seven years. We attended THEIR wedding this weekend. It was gorgeous. I'll do those pictures next. Mikie's always been super nice to me. He's a P.E. teacher and coach at a high school in Oxford.

Sweet Memories

Where is this? Oh just at PIZZA EXPRESS!!!! I love this place. We were out to dinner with Mom for her going away party, and I snapped this whopper of a sweet picture with her daddy before we had our dessert. Skyla always has a cheese pizza, salad, dough balls dipped in garlic butter and apple juice for dinner when we come. Then they bring her a frothy milk mug with cocoa powder on it so it looks like a fancy coffee, and they give her some ice cream to finish the heavenly experience off. That face of hers in the bottom photo is similar to mine when I hear we get to go to Pizza Express...