Kelly Nelson Photography

One of the things I’m learning as I continue to develop my photography skills is how much I enjoy the telling of the story.  I love taking the pictures that capture the emotion and the love between family members, but I also love taking pictures of the details that describe this moment in time.  Often as parents we want a picture without the dirty favorite blankie, or without the pacifier in their mouth, but sometimes those are the pictures that really remind us what our children were like at a given stage.  Many a mother struggling to potty train has been told that our child “won’t go off to college wearing diapers”, and while the potty training may not be a memory that you want to relive forever, the same thing applies to many other childhood phases.  In a blink of an eye, Thomas the Tank Engine becomes replaced by superheroes and sits alone in the toybox.

I spent some time this afternoon trying to capture some of the details of my Kindergartner and the things that matter the most to him right now.  This was a lot of fun and something that can easily be done in a free afternoon.  They may not be the pictures that you frame and hang in your living room, but when you look back through your photos years from now you’ll probably have some great memories of what was important to you (and to your kids) today.

Big C got several packages of Legos for Christmas.  A month ago I had to sit with him and talk him through each step as we followed the instructions.  The other morning I got up and found this whole battalion already assembled and ready for action.

He has also become a master at Wii Mario Kart.  He has single-handedly defeated almost every challenge in the game.  He’s working on unlocking his final few challenges right now.  His skill is apparently becoming widely known, as his friends have invited him over several times to have him help unlock things on their games.

Like most kindergartners, he is working very hard on developing his reading skills.  It’s amazing how quickly it comes when it finally clicks.  There’s no more secret spelling going on between his dad and me with Big C around.

This is the growth stick hanging on his wall.  We love measuring him every three months and marking his growth!

This is our newest pal.  His name is Poe.

When your kiddos complain that you’re taking too many pictures of them, enlist them to help you with this detail project.  I even inspired my boys to get their cameras and take pictures of their favorite things too.  They both took a lot of pictures of the TV… but it’s fun to see it all from their perspective.

This has been quite a winter.  I can clearly remember when D and I were considering our move back to Virginia from the Atlanta area.  One of the things we were looking forward to was snow.  Having grown up in the Mid-Atlantic, snow was a normal part of my childhood.  I can still remember waking up in the middle of the night and peeking over at my window.  I didn’t even have to look out the blinds.  I could just tell by the glow.  If it was pink – it was snowing!  I would get up early on snowy days and we’d sit around the kitchen hoping the AM radio station would say we’d be able to stay home.  Now, we get the notices by email, a robo-phone call, and constant streaming of closings and delays on tv.  Kids today have it so easy… :)

I am sitting here right now watching the snow fall for the third time this week.  We had a few inches of powder last Saturday, followed by a few more inches on Tuesday and a day off from school on Wednesday.  Yesterday they called school off at 4pm for today as the predicted “crippling snowstorm” made a beeline for Loudoun County.  They’ve moved to round-the-clock coverage on the local news stations so that they can report on the fact that there are no groceries on the shelves.  The way they’re reporting on this storm, you would forget that we lived through the same thing a month ago.  Big C told me the other day, that he thought it might be ok if we lived somewhere that didn’t have a lot of snowstorms in the winter.  Like maybe the beach.  That’s sounding pretty good to me right now.

I’m sure I’ll have more images to post after the weekend, but I can’t let a whole week go by without posting.   First off, these are a few from last weekend as the snow came down.  I overexposed the first one, but I love the action shot.

These last two are from after the mid-week snow.  Compared to the weekend snow which we swept away with a broom, this stuff was really sticky and made great snowmen.  We got an accessory kit for Christmas, which has really come in handy!

For those of you in our area, stay warm and enjoy the weekend.  If you’re somewhere warm, and thinking of commenting on how nice it is where you are, please don’t rub it in too badly!

Today was kind of a bummer of a day.  My little guy has been battling something all week and woke up this morning feeling pretty bad.  He rarely sits still, but spent much of the morning curled up in my lap – combine that with the fact that he didn’t want to eat lunch, and I knew something had to be wrong.  We got an appointment at the pediatrician’s office, and it turns out he has an ear infection.  Not that it’s good news, but at least now we have an antibiotic and can fight off the crud he’s been dealing with since Monday.

This afternoon, after Big C got home from school and Little C woke up from his nap, the three of us sat at the kitchen table for a while eating snacks, and playing.  A little snack always makes everything better!

Although I’ve told you several stories about Big C, I’ve been remiss in taking and posting pictures of him.  He willingly posed for one picture this afternoon, giving me his official Picture Smile.

Now that D and I got iPhones, he occasionally gets to play with D’s old iPod Touch.  Here he is deep in concentration.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  Hopefully everyone here will be healthy enough to enjoy ours!