I decided to take Jonathan's senior pictures this year. Over the years, we have had 4 sets of senior pictures done with some awesome results. The photos are really nice, but the prices kept creeping up every year, and the expectations from the photographer were humbling. They all acted like I should be buying great big wall portraits for my home, and spending lots of muulah on the senior photos, cuz, like, it's the only time they will be a senior in HS, and well, most of my kids didn't really care. I guess the last straw was when Liz's photographer charged $40 to send a photo of her to the school, by e-mail no less. I knew at the very least I could do that.

So Jon and I went out one day, months ago and we had fun taking some shots. Jon is a typical boy and thought going out in whatever he had on was just fine by him, thank you very much. It took some talking to get him to change in to ONE other outfit. I'm glad, because those photos turned out the best. I still haven't had time to photoshop them and take out the blemishes on his face, but I did e-mail one to the school, and have about 90 others saved on the computer. They aren't photographer quality, but I think they will do just fine. I wish I could have had more time with him, more outfit changes, and time to go to a park, or a different setting other than just around the house, and I still want to get another zoom lens and some filters for my camera, but all in all we didn't do too bad. You can see his personality in his smile, and that is what matters most.

D.C. Zoo

While we were in Washington, Drake took us to the DC Zoo. It's a great zoo. Just the right size for a couple of hours of walking and seeing the animals. And it's free!!! Nice!, only parking was $16, and the snacks were so overpriced. But we had a wonderful time. The animals were fairly active, and kids had a good time watching them. We saw lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! A building with aquarium animals, and my favorite, the komodo dragon. The dragon was great. The kids on one side of the glass, and the dragon on the other. Unfortunately there is some glare from the glass on the pictures, but it was still fun to see the kids nose to nose with a real dragon. We even saw some pandas. They had cows and horses too. Weird.

At one point in the zoo we were wandering around outside looking at the animals, and I came around a corner and they had a big computer monitor there, separated into 6 sections. They had different cameras around the zoo and were capturing pictures of animals and 'things'. I took and look at the monitors and saw . . . myself! I was in the zoo. I was laughing and called Rem over to see, the monitors changed, and then Rem was in the zoo too, Drake came around the corner, the monitors changed, and there were Rem, Drake and I all on the screen. It was quite funny. Rem grabbed the camera and took this shot. So, I guess what my mom said years ago is true, I am a monkey in the zoo.

We had fun, and have hopes of traveling down again soon. Now that I have made the trip on my own, it should be easy to do again.

Great Falls, VA

On Veteran's Day weekend, the 4 youngest and I escaped to Washington DC to visit Drake, see old friends, and have some fun time together. This is us at a state park called Great Falls, in Virginia. Just behind the kids you can see the Potomac river. We arrived at the park and we were amazed at the number of folks out enjoying the beautiful fall day. Though it seems we are in the wilds, we were surrounded at all times by tons of people. Think Boughton Park with everyone in Bloomfield there at the same time, and you may have an idea of what it was like. We had a ball though. It was quite the hike.

Our journey began on a nice, flat trail, an easy walk with a canal on one side of us, and the Potomac on the other. We took a side trail to the real 'hike' and we had a ball. It started out nice and easy, pretty soon we were stepping over rocks, then stepping on rocks, and in the photo of the kids climbing the boulders, that is the trail. Oh, and to the right of Rem and Madi, well, it's a drop a couple of hundred feet into the rapids of the Potomac. Just below Madi's elbow, you can see the rock wall on the other side of the river.

Photo #1, me hiking the hard part of the trail, Rem was on the trail below me and took this shot.

Photo #2, the easy part of the trail and the beautiful fall day it was.

Photo #3, the kids on an overlook of some of the rapids. We saw kayakers there. Fun.

Photo #4, some of the local wildlife, a monkey in a tree.

Photo #5, me and the handsome guide.

Photo #6, hikers on the medium part of the trail.

A Day At the Park

A few weeks ago it was a gorgeous fall day, and toward evening with nothing to do, Madison and I decided to go for a walk in Boughton Park. I grabbed the camera and we headed out the door. The sun was in the west, the leaves were just starting to change color, the day was perfect for some 'Mom and Me' time, and I had fun experimenting with lots of shots.

Funny how the setting sun with its play of light and shadow looks so different on the actual picture than through the lens of the camera. Because of that, some photos that I thought would be really sweet, turned out kinda lame, and others surprised me with what they did capture. Here are a few of our favorites.

Steele Momma Breaks Out

So, I love reading The Sweet Life of Zac and Sarah so much I decided to start a Blog for the Steele Family, so you all can stay updated, in-tuned, and informed. Besides, I know that you miss us all and wish you could see us more often. Now you can. Just put us in your Links page and click to see us anytime you wish. How fun is that??

Halloween was a blast. Hunter was the "Angel of Freddie Krueger". How creative is that. Hunter and Maddie went through the halloween costume box, and created their own versions of a halloween costume. Hunter was unique. That kid just has an imagination. I tried to get a photo, but he ran off too fast to start collecting that candy. I will try to get him to put his get-up on again so I can get a photo - it is precious. . . long black tunic, fairy angel wings, krueger mask, and 'beautiful' hair. Half-way through trick-or-treating he took off the krueger face and just called himself 'beautiful'. That kid has no hangups, loves the color pink, and is definitely all boy.

Maddie pulled on a shiny silver tunic, wrapped a purple belt around her waist, and a mideavel crown around her hair, and called herself 'tinfoil' girl. Something like that. Had a friend who took a photo, will try and get a copy later. We had fun walking the town on that balmy halloween evening. I dressed up too. Had a ball greeting people who had no idea who I was. Everyone tried to give me candy when all I wanted to do was shake their hand and say hello.

All-in-all, I'd say Halloween was a big success. Now that it's November, wish ELIZABETH a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Congrats! on your special day. 19! Woo Hoo !!

Love to all, Momma Steele