Surprise Visit from Papa

We recently learned that Brooke will not be able to continue being our nanny. So, we've been looking for another nanny. So far we've had about 40 applications, and we are sorting through those applications and trying to make a lot of decisions. In the meantime, my mom returned to help us out. Auntie Ann and Lori (and Lori's husband, Harvey) are also helping us. I really don't know what we would have done without them these last few weeks!!

Anyway, Mom spent this past weekend with us. Papa decided to drive down and surprise everyone with a visit. So on Sunday when we got home from the zoo, Papa walked out to welcome us home. The babies were very, very excited to see Papa, and insisted that he hold them all!




Whenever Papa comes to visit the babies, he stops by Krispy Kreme. He comes to the house with doughnuts and official paper hats. These babies can recognize a Krispy Kreme box from a mile away. They will even wear the hats (at least for a little while) if it means getting a doughnut. . . .

Piper was cautiously happy to see her doughnut, and quickly remembered that she really likes doughnuts.






As expected, Henry tore into his doughnut.






Rosemary was very excited about her doughnut -- but not as much so about her hat.






Not surprisingly, Rosemary quickly started showing signs of the sugar. . . .




After we started seeing the other kids developing signs of a sugar high, we decided that everyone should go outside to run off some of that energy.






Papa decided to teach the babies how to roll down a hill. Piper was a little hesitant, but we think she liked it:





The Hammer thought it was great!





Then it was Rosemary's turn. . . .





All in all, everyone had a great day!!

Back to the Zoo

This morning we went to the zoo. The zoo is under construction, so we were a little limited in what we were able to see during the time we had at the zoo. First, we went through the petting zoo area. . . .




The goats particularly liked Rosemary. Rosemary was not a huge fan of the goats.



Then we headed through the Alabama Wilds. . . .








Then we took the kids to the play area and let them run around for a while.









We had a great time getting out and playing. I can't wait for Spring to be here for good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My friends Cathy and Amanda are beginning photographers, too. It's great to have others in the same place -- and to hear about lessons they learn and tips they discover. For the last few months, I've been very disappointed with my indoor pictures. They are better, but still just not quite right. So last week my interest was piqued when Cathy e-mailed Amanda and me about a lens that she was going to get for her Canon. According to Cathy, it is supposed to be a low-light lens that is great for portraits, etc. and is very reasonable priced. She said that Nikon probably had a similar lens. Immediately I thought that this would be a great way to improve my indoor pics. Luckily, Amanda acts as Gary's spy and notified Gary of a potential gift opportunity (DISCLAIMER: Gary denies that anyone is his spy, so I'm just making an educated guess about the whole spy thing). So, for Valentine's Day, I got a new lens -- a Nikon 35mm/f1.8. I opened it right up and started taking pictures.

The first thing I'm learning is that I'm going to have to be very careful when focusing -- when the lens is opened up it has a very shallow depth of field, which means that I have to be very sure that I'm focusing properly (which is not so easy with moving kids). But, I am very, very pleased that I was able to take these pics inside without a flash, and just opening up the shutters on ONE window (more so for catchlight than for light):





Henry is not wearing a shirt because like a true male he has learned that his sleeve is also napkin. He had just helped his Daddy finish up a bowl of oatmeal, and managed to end up with a sleeve covered with oatmeal, so the shirt came off. I do have one picture of Henry in a shirt though, when Henry figured out that the lens was not his Valentine's Day present, probably because I wouldn't let him play with it:



But everyone was happy when the babies got to open up their Valentine's Day cards from Auntie Ann. They were all very excited about them!!







I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!!