justification process

So this new found love of taking pictures was very unexpected and out of character for me since i've never been known to be artistic. Ever since Lily was one year old, I've done my girls pictures. I hated going to JC Penney, half the time to go home because the baby wouldn't stop crying, and then when i did get pictures, only getting to pick one or two poses for way too much money. Doing it my self, I could do whatever I wanted with the pictures for almost nothing. I really want a digital SLR camera but they can cost up to $1000 for what I'm looking at, not to mention classes just to learn how to use one. Sam is so supportive and really wants me to have a hobby, but i really need to be sure before I dedicate that much money towards a "hobby". So, I just wanted to share some of the pictures T let me take of her beautiful kids. Seeing if I could really enjoy doing this is part of the justification process, so I am so glad she let me give this a try. I just used my old camera and photo shopped them like crazy. I ended up having a blast doing it. I've only ever done pictures for my own kids and the one infant ones i tried doing for my cousin. Anyway, I usually end up screaming at my kids before it is over. I figured I probably just wouldn't enjoy doing kid portraits, but I had a blast doing it for someone else's kids and they did such a good job. Thank you so much T for letting me give this a try. It got me one step closer to me justifying getting a new camera. If there is anyone else out there who would let me do an amatuer photo shoot for free and just to give me experience, please let me know!

New Shoes!!

Sam brought home our christmas gifts from his brother and kind of his sister. Nate had us for Christmas but Camillia wanted to pick out the gifts, especially for the girls. The shoes were a major hit. Lily just kept asking if she could were her new shoes everyday. I love my frames as well. No offense Nate, but I'm glad Camillia took over the picking out part. Guess Sam would've faired better if Nate picked the gifts, but if Sam's 3 girls are happy then he is happy. Thanks guys for the throughtful gifts!

Untitled from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

Just to further explain how much they loved their gifts. The next morning I found Marah in her crib in nothing but her diaper trying to put her boots on which Lily had given to her. She wouldn't come out of the crib until I put them on her.

This is how Lily came out of the bedroom. Both pairs of shoes were in the bedroom from the night before because they just had to have them close by while they were sleeping. Lily did pretty good getting herself dressed. The first thing she asked was if it was time to go to school yet cuz she was just way excited to show off her new shoes to her friends.


ballerina from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

I just loved these pictures of them playing dress up that same morning. It's a ballerina with big black boots!

cameras, cakes, blessings ....

Marah loves her $3 camera she got for being good on our last trip. This is her taking a picture of me taking her picture.

Last week we had YW at my house and made birthday cakes for the 2 girls leaving us. Lily was way serious about decorating her cake. She just loves to create things. Maybe she'll add some artist(ness) to our family. She did a great job!

Marah proved to me that she can not do without a nap. I've never seen her just fall asleep anywhere like that. There is just something about it when a kid falls asleep like that. Such a peaceful feeling or something?

Her hair is getting insanely long again. I mentioned cutting it while we were up north. Later that day in the bathroom she said emphatically that princess' have long hair mom! I love her long hair but it is pretty difficult to do. Guess we'll just trim it again. Maybe give a little of it to Marah.

Here are some pics of the baby blessing Lily and I missed for little max. Lily got really sick right before we were leaving, so Sam decided he'd still go and take Marah with him. Do I have an amazing husband or what! I don't think there are too many guys who would offer to take a crazy 2 year old like marah on a 3 day road trip. We were also hoping that Marah could stay away from the sickness that way. I'm surprised Sam was able to leave because as he was saying good-bye and lily was sitting on his lap she said the most heartbreaking thing. Her eyes were feverish, her voice was all but gone and it was all she could do to tell her dad: "it's better for us to be together as a family." How much sadder can you get. She was pretty upset about staying behind, but she got to do anything and everything that she wanted that weekend and so did I actually. Lily couldn't talk and Marah was gone, so it was a very relaxing weekend for me. Sam and Marah had a good time hanging out and I'm glad they had some good one on one time. Bad news is that Marah ended up getting the same sickness by Sunday. I really want to thank her aunts, grandma and great-grandma for being there for her when I couldn't. It broke my heart when I found out she was sick and she didn't have her mom but Sam told me how wonderful her 'other' mom's were at the blessing, so thank you all!

Maiden Voyage

Sam finally got 'Blue Ball' up and running. 'Blue Ball' is what Lily decided to call it. This picture is just for show, they didn't really ride it by themselves together.

Lily did amazing! She was never scared, she just took off with it.

I love this picture of Sam and Marah.

This is Sam giving Lily last minute instructions.

Sam drove it up to the parking lot where we tried it out. This picture really shows how small it is, or just how big Sam is :)

ridin' 4-wheeler from Roxy Long on Vimeo.
You always learn things after the fact. We kinda just let Lily go for it. Most of you parents out there are probably immediately thinking how stupid we are, don't worry I agree. It doesn't go very fast but we didn't consider centrifugal motion. The video shows how Lily would turn it too sharp which would make it whip around pretty fast, and then the poor little girl doesn't know to straighten it out or let off the gas. After I stopped recording, she tried it again and got going too fast on the turns, Sam tried to grab the 4-wheeler to stop her and she went flying off. She cried for just a second but wanted to get right back on. I'm way proud of Lily, but not so proud of us parents. We learned and stayed with her from then on. She loved it and was pretty disappointed when we headed for home.

4-wheeler from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

Marah also loved it! She just sat on it while Sam led it around. I'm still a little concerned about the whole thing but it sure was a hit with the girls. We'll have to be really careful with it, but I actually think they'll learn a lot of responsibility and confidence with it.

Christmas Break 2008!

We had an incredible Christmas and it's always sad when it's gone so quickly. Here are just some of the pictures of our fabulous time!

Uncle Jeremy came and the girls just loved his attention.

Mars-bars trying to be like her favorite Aunt Whits.

Following tradition, the girls get to open their new p.j. presents on Christmas Eve. I decided to let them open their presents from their Grandma L. because I knew they were blankets and thought they would like taking them to bed the night before Christmas. They were the cutest blankets ever and the girls absolutely loved them. Sam and I got one as well and the girls made sure we all wore them where ever we went that night and then on to the next morning. So, thanks grandma for the awesome gifts. The girls have slept with them every night since Christmas as well.



Christmas morn from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

You know.... I really thought Marah would like this wig for dress-ups....I was wrong.

This is a contraband gift from my mom that she got from the sherriff's office. It got a good laugh and I'm sure Sam will have fun using this guy as a target.

This picture is obviously leading up to the next.

Yep, it's what it looks like. The girls got a fourwheeler from grandma and grandpa!! It was a surprise for Sam as well because it is just as much a gift for him as it is for the girls. Mom is not so sure what she thinks but Sam is definitely excited. It needs work so we haven't tried it yet. Marah and lily both got helmets, gloves, and goggles, so stay tuned for their first ride.

bobble head from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

four wheeler from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

This is my all time favorite picture of the day. A picture of sisters holding pictures of sisters. These were the tear jerker gifts of the day as well. I guess when my dad saw this picture of his 'roxy' girl and his 'rock climber' girl climbing rocks together, he knew he had to do something with it. If you know my dad, you know his love for rocks and just how many meanings there are behind this gift for me. In fact, he always tells me the reason he named me roxy was because of this love. Anyway, the one on the left is a frame he actually made out of rock and they both say 'rock on'. I was amazed. It's gifts like these that you never forget. Thank you so much mom and dad for making such an awesome gift.

Little Marah just loved cuddling with Uncle Jeremy while he was here and I loved this picture.

Lily and her Aunt Sarah.

We went sledding at the school during the break and had lots of cheap fun.

snow jump from Roxy Long on Vimeo.

I was so proud of Lily for being brave enough to jump off. She is usually such a chicken.

Couple days later, Sam, me, and a couple friends ditched the kids and got to try out my awesome new snow shoes that Sam got for me (and him). We had a pic nic on this gorgeous spot and then had a blast sledding down some fun hills on the way back. I'm excited to get out and explore some more. We want to try to rig our bike trailer into a sled so we can take the girls along.
The following is just a slide show of a bunch of other pictures I liked.

Two Months in a Glimpse

This slideshow is just some of the pictures from the last two months since i've been so behind. It includes Mar's 2nd b-day, thanksgiving, christmas tree 'shopping', and the girl's showing off their amazing gingerbread houses. I was pretty impressed with how creative lily got with her house. Anyway, i'll try to stay more updated now that things are slowing back down.

Gorgeous Baby!!

Okay, so there are a lot of things I have not posted yet but I wanted to put some of these pictures up real quick. My cuz was kind enough to let me attempt to take some pictures of her beautiful new baby. I'm just learning how to use photoshop and have a lot to learn but here are a few of my favorites. I wanted to post them so that my cousin could see some of the finished ones. She got pretty upset right at the beginning so we didn't get very many but there were a few that turned out.

This one of mom and babe is my favorite.






I have a lot to learn about photography and editing but I have a blast doing it and am very grateful to K for letting me give it a try.