Double Digits

The day is almost over, and what a day it has been. My little man is now ten years old. That little peanut who spent his first days struggling to breathe in the ICU is now a swimming sensation (to me, anyway). The sweetie who was once content to play with blocks and watch Bear in the Big Blue House on TV is now programming robots and watching all of the tweener shows on Nickelodeon. And that little mama's boy - well, he's still a mama's boy. :)

Today was all about celebrating Grant's first decade. We started off with a breakfast of french toast, his favorite. Then we spent several hours at the MOST in Syracuse. This evening the boys had dinner from Fajita Grill (the adults in the house are a bit burned out on that particular place, so I made pasta). Now he is involved in his new Wii game - Lego Batman. What better way to spend a day?

And now I feel old. I have a child who is ten. Where has the time gone? And of course, there are pictures...

Grant as a newborn...


...at 5 years old...


...and last month...


Next thing I know he'll be going off to college. {sigh}

My boys

The latest pics of the Marriner brothers...

Griffin at Soccer

I've been so busy with portrait sessions lately that I've barely used my camera for anything else! But Saturday Griffin finally had a soccer game that wasn't held in the pouring rain, so I brought the camera along. His skills have really improved this year, especially on defense.

In the goal...

Here it comes...

Got it!

Eye on the ball...

Almost got it!

Is anyone surprised that he landed on his butt after this one?

A break in the action.


So that's how I spent part of my Saturday. Hopefully later today I'll have a chance to post a sneak peek of Saturday afternoon's portrait session - doggies!! And then if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll put up some pictures of the fall color we saw at Beaver Lake yesterday. It was beautiful!

The Big Yellow Bus

Although yesterday was the first day of school for most kids, Griffin's real first day is today. In our district the Kindergarteners go only for a couple of hours on the first Wednesday, and instead of taking the bus they are driven to school by their parents. Yesterday Griffin and I got to meet his teachers and see his room, and there was an orientation meeting for the parents while the kids spent a little time in their classrooms. Then after a trip through the cafeteria line we got to go home and wait for Grant to finish his day. Griffin likes his teachers, his bestest best friend from preschool is in his class, and in general he seems comfortable with the whole thing. I congratulated myself on getting through the whole process tear-free.

Oh, but today. Today is the real first day. The first day on that big yellow bus. The first day of him trying to find his classroom. The first day that he'll be there for the whole six or so hours. The day that he takes those first steps toward independence. It was not a tear-free day. There were a couple tears early this morning, before Griffin was even up. And a few more after he was on the bus, as I walked back into this big, empty, quiet house. Too quiet. So I've turned on some music and cranked up the volume.

And I'm counting the minutes until 3:30.




Of course there were pictures...


Waiting for the bus.


Such a big first step for my little boy.


Almost to the top...


A quick look back at Mom.

My Kindergarten Boy

My little baby went off to Kindergarten today. :(

I have more pics, but lack the energy to post them right now. Maybe tomorrow. For now, here is Griffin modeling his new Transformers Bumblebee backpack...

The weirdness that surrounds me...

Baseball helmet, Transformers pajamas (in the middle of the afternoon), piano keyboard. For Griffin, these three things naturally go together. Well, at least his piano teacher can see that he's practicing.

Slacking off

Yes, I've been really bad about posting this week. But this week and the next couple of weeks are going to be crazy busy for me. Grant is attending two weeks at the Sheldon Institute at the college in Oswego. He went last year and had a blast, and he was very excited to go again. This year he got to pick his own classes, and he is taking Intro to Physics (his favorite class), Exploration in Painting, another art class called "3-D Adventures" and a life science class about predators called "Nature's Bad Guys." I'm glad he's enjoying it - and actually learning something in the summer! - but the schedule is wearing me out. We all have to get up extra early (lord knows I need all the beauty sleep I can get) and then there's the twice-daily trip to Oswego to drop off and pick up. In between trips I've been swamped with doctor and hair appointments, Griffin's swimming lessons, grocery shopping, processing client orders, returning emails... I need a nap! :)

So yeah, it's been a bit busy around here and I haven't had time to do much "leisure photography." But I do have a session scheduled for tomorrow morning that will be a bit different, so stay tuned for that. For now I'll leave you with my favorite picture of Grant from a couple of weeks ago, converted to black and white. A 16" x 20" of this image will soon be gracing the wall of my living room.

More Bubbles!

Yup, the boys were outside playing with bubbles again today. They love them. But really, is there anyone who doesn't like bubbles? I don't think so. And if I come to your house to take pictures of your children, there's a very good chance I'll be bringing some bubbles along with me. :)

Christmas in July

Well, I broke my streak of posting every day this month. :(

Unfortunately yesterday was not a great day for finding time to post. I had a very ... challenging ... day with my boys. Let's just say I was mentally exhausted by the time I got them to bed. Is it time for them to go back to school yet?????

Speaking of that, does anyone remember the Staples commercial that showed the father jumping around in the store aisles, gleefully gathering all of the school supplies in his cart, while his miserable-looking children trudged along beside him, all to the sountrack of "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?" When I used to work full-time I thought that commercial was amusing, but never fully understood the message. After this, my second summer home with the kids, I totally get it. :)

Anyway, the other thing that kept me from posting yesterday was that I was busy designing these! Here is a sneak peek at the line of holiday cards that I will be offering this year. Cards are 5" x 7" and will be available as flat, postcard-style cards, or as folded, greeting-card style cards. Both can be customized with your family's holiday greeting on the reverse side or on the inside. More samples and full pricing information, as well as holiday order deadlines, will be posted in the coming weeks.

Skipping Along

OK, this rainy weather has just got to go. We haven't even left the house today! I was hoping to get up to Beaver Lake with the kids sometime this week. Tomorrow's forecast looks promising, so maybe we'll end up going.

For now, here's a photo of Grant from 2006, which also happened to be that year's first-prize winner in Beaver Lake's annual photography competition. It was the first time I had ever entered a photo contest, and I was floored when I found out that I had won! It was very cool to go the the Golden Harvest Festival that year and see my picture up on the wall with a blue ribbon hanging from it. And Grant thought he was hot stuff when he saw it printed in the Post-Standard. :)

My Grant

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this little boy? He is my sweetheart, my lovebug and even at nine years old he still loves to cuddle in my lap. He's brilliant, handsome and, as you can see in some of these pictures, a future candidate for orthodonture. :) I can't believe that in a few short weeks he will be starting 5th grade. Where does the time go? It seems like just days ago that he was my little peanut, stuck in a box in the newborn ICU, fighting so hard to stay with us while we prayed that he wouldn't leave us so soon after coming into our lives.

Now he has left that struggle behind him, with little trace of the prematurity remaining. His asthma is gone. He is growing like a weed, and hopefully his stature will soon catch up with that of his peers. Or at least get him tall enough to keep his little brother from passing him. For now, he is just a nomal nine-year-old boy. He loves his video games, and his Legos, and his silly TV shows. He is a swimmer, a self-proclaimed "mathlete" and a future engineer.

And he loves to spin. Yes, spin. He loves to be dizzy and silly. So that's what we did yesterday. We spun around...

...and around...

...and around...

...and around...

...and then fell down.

I do love this boy so much. I love him when he's silly...

...and serious...

...and happy...

...and just plain handsome.

And I love those eyes!!

And most of all, I love that he loves his Mom so much. :)

The Boys at Beaver Lake

This trip into the archives brings us this picture from last summer, from one of our many family trips to Beaver Lake Nature Center. I love that place. There's always something new to explore, and Grant loves going to summer camp there. On our walks you will usually find the boys running ahead, scaring away any nearby wildlife and generally acting crazy. But for this one brief moment they were calmly walking along the trail, hand in hand. A rare sight, indeed. :)

First Day of School

This entry from the archives goes back to last September, on Grant's first day of fourth grade. He looks so much older here than the little boy that he is and always will be in my mind. And you must take note of the shoes. They were his favorite part of back-to-school clothes shopping because they were Converse and because name of that style was the "Grant." :)

Griffin at the Fort

Things have been quite hectic this week in the Marriner household. It's our busiest week of the summer and I can't wait until it is over. Griffin has soccer camp each morning, and both boys have swimming camp in the afternoons. To top it all off, we are getting ready for a camping trip to the Adirondacks with the Cub Scouts this weekend. Needless to say, I've been running a bit short on time to find new pictures to post here. For the next few days I'll be dipping into the archives for some of my favorite pictures from the past year or so. And don't worry, I'll schedule posts to be released this weekend while I'm gone as well. :)

Today's archive photo was taken just over a year ago at Fort Ontario. At that time I had just scheduled my first (of many) portrait sessions at the Fort, and as I usually do with any new location I went there a few days ahead of time to check on lighting and to get some ideas going in my head for some of the shots I wanted to take. Grant was in school at the time, so Griffin was forced to come and be my model. And it shows in his "Are-you-almost-done-Mom???" expression. :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Griffin, along with the rest of the Marriner clan, wishes you a safe, happy and fun Fourth of July.

Griffin Marriner - Soccer Star and Ladies Man

Last night I finally retrieved the images from my new point & shoot camera that my kids got me for Mother's Day. My old Kodak bit the dust a while back and I had been missing having a camera in my purse for times when I didn't want to lug the big camera around. This new one takes decent pictures, nowhere near the image quality of the 40D, but it's good for casual, everyday shots.

One of the things I came across on the memory card were pictures from a couple of Griffin's soccer games. He's in the Under 6 Division of the Fulton Youth Soccer League, and this is his second season playing. I have to say his skills have increased dramatically from last year, when it was a struggle just to get him to get his foot on the ball. Now he's always in there trying to get at it...

Of course there are times when he's not on offense and there's not as much action to keep him occupied. At those times he just stands around...

...and flirts with little blond girls. No, I don't know her name, but he's been sweet on her all season. What is a Mom to do?? :)

And for those interested in viewing three minutes of a youth soccer game, here's a clip of Griffin and his team in action...

Bubbles!

As I mentioned yesterday, Grant and Griffin got new bubble blowing contraptions on a recent trip to WalMart. Remember the good old days when you had to actually blow bubbles?? Now they have these gadgets that are battery-operated and do all of the work for you. Oh well, they had fun with them anyway.



Bubble war!!