Welcome to the family...

We are (or I should really say Uly is) the proud owner of an African Dwarf Frog.  It's pretty darn adorable.

We went to the Orem Summerfest carnival last weekend - or was it the weekend before???  Anyway, Uly got to play a game where he tossed balls into cups.  You know the one.  If he got a ball into a cup, the prize was a frog.  He didn't make any of the balls into the cups but the girl who ran the game must have thought he was adorable because she gave him one anyway.  What a nice girl!  She made his night.  He forgot all about the rides and only had eyes for his little froggy.

On our way back to the car, we asked Uly what he wanted to name the frog.  Uly randomly pulled a word out of his head - Arnolkardis.  So that is our frog's name.  Arnolkardis.  Or is it Arnolcardis?  How do you verify the spelling of a word that comes from the mind of a 4 year old?

Welcome to our family, Arnolkardis!

Here is a picture to show how adorable he is:

Here is a picture to show how very small he is.  This is a normal sized fish bowl.  You know the kind...  You may recognize this fish bowl it was previously seen in another post earlier this year about Uly getting fish for his birthday.  And then how I killed them.  He still tells people, "My mom killed my fish."  Anyway back to Arnolkardis... He's teensy weensy.  Do you see him on the bottom left corner/side of the bowl?

Below is proof that Ben is still the Ben we all know and love...  He had his first Utah game last night.  For a small group, I think he had a fun time.  I'm probably going to get in trouble for posting this... hehehe.

Fun Weekend

So we had a blast last weekend - in fact, we're pretty much having a blast every single day.  When Ben is out of work, it's always hard on the pocket book but extremely good in the family camaraderie department.  We love having Daddy home!

These are a few photos from last weekend; Art City Days parade, Orem Summerfest parade, and a Fathers' Day picnic.

Waiting for the Springville parade to start:

Waving to the parade people:

Gar picking up candy in the street:

Uly's hand with a piece of booty:

Mag's most recent trick.  He's excellent at clapping. 

Question:  How do you know he's the third kid?  

Answer:  When he starts licking soda off the ground, mom grabs the camera instead of picking up.

This is baby Olea, nicknamed Coke.  Not because of anything to do with these photos.  Really.  

Kristina, I have more of these.  Too many to email so I'll burn you a disk.

Hot Air Balloons

We live in this cute little town called Springville aka Art City.  Every year they celebrate their exhistance with a week long party.  There is a carnival, art shows of all kinds, parades, pancake breakfasts, concerts and a hot air balloon shindig.  

This morning I woke Uly and Gar up and got them dressed and out the door with a juice cup and a bagel in record time.  We went to the Springville Jr. High School and watched a whole bunch of hot air balloons set up, inflate and ascend into the heavens.  It was so much fun.  We really had a good time watching those balloons float off into the blue. 

We even got to go on a little ride ourselves.

Above is a photo of the inside of the balloon we got to ride in.  It didn't turn out very well but you can kind of see the flames.

The very first photo is of our favorite balloon.  It is in the shape of a pink pig.  We love that one!

We're looking forward to the parade and carnival tomorrow!  I'm also hoping I can squeeze in an art show and maybe a concert tonight.

Helping Dad on the Car

This post is just another way to share with you cute pictures of my kids.  No shame there, right?

Here are a few of Gar "helping" Ben work on the car.  He's just too cute.

Share and Share Alike

So Trena and Meghan's posts about music made me want to hear what you listen to.  Anyone want to share their favorite Pandora stations?  I want to hear your favorite station.  Send a share link to me at jessicastier@hotmail.com and then I will send one to you with my current fav station.

Deal?  Do it now...  :)

Am I addicted to posting?

This magnificent thing is Ben's delicious sandwich.  It was truly a work of art.

I just really like this photo.  It is overexposed and out of focus but I tried to salvage it by messing with some of the settings.  If you squint at it, it is a great photo...

Friendly Brothers.  Sitting on the balcony talking to the neighbor kids.
This is Gar.  Juice, Spongbob and his bike.

Model Uly.  Another photoshoot at the park.  I'm sure there will be many, many more.  We walked to the park and played here for a while today

So, since I've been thinking about Momshots.com 24/7. I have been posting on my family blog a whole lot more often than I used to.  I am trying to use my camera on a daily basis so I end up with a million photos of my kids.  What do you do with photos?  You share them.  This is me sharing...  :)

Cute Boys

Ben located the USB cable for my little camera and so I downloaded all the images.  It was holding like three months worth of images - so many that my card was full.  It was like having a time machine getting to look at all the pictures.

Here are a few adorable ones:

This is a shot of all the Stier boys except for Mag.  From left to right: Garland, Owen, Sam, Ulysses.  Sam and Owen are Ben's brother Chris's sons.  We were lucky to have them at our house for Owen's 4th birthday and for Easter.  It was really fun.  We love having them here.  We wish we didn't live so far away!!!

This is what Gar did for a while.  He refused to use the little toilet or the insert toilet seat.  He'd just stick his bum down into the bowl.  It was pretty cute.  He's pretty cute.

This one is more proof of just how cute Gar is.  He's all snugly with a blanket (knitted by Auntie Olea as a present to baby Gar) and a juice cup.  To this boy, this the image of true happiness.

The Birth of Momshots

This is a bit anticlimactic but I wanted to share with you a little project I am currently working on.  It is a blog that focuses on learning how to take better photographs of my kids - or as I call them Momshots.   

This is just the very beginnings of the site so when you view it imagine a great bit "Under Construction" sign in flashing letters at the top of the page. We have plans to make it into a really cool place in the future.  Right now it is just a pretty low key blog.  We will be making changes often until we get it right.  My cousin, Kristina and I will be working on it and developing the blog and site as we learn how to take better photos of our kids.  We will share Momshots, tips for getting better photographs, tips for post processing, tips for all kinds of things photography related.  In the future, we will have interviews of professional photographers and pick their brain on how to get great pictures of our kids.  Those are just a few of the ideas that you will see on Momshots.com.

So I just wanted to put this out there.  There will be many, many changes to the site over time but in the mean-time, this is my new baby.

Also, If you would be so kind as to put a link to it on your blog, that would be really cool.  

Happy Birthday!

Uncle Dwight's 60th birthday celebration was on Sunday afternoon.  While they were at church we all hid in the backyard.  When they came home we jumped out and surprised him with a birthday party.  The weather was hot and beautiful.  It was a really nice and fun afternoon.

Happy Birthday to you!
Yummmm!!!  
This is my Aunt Pam and Uncle Dwight.  They sure are a cute couple, aren't they?

I've got to have it...

I just discovered a company called Tay Lighting. They make these lamps using a layering process of fiberglass and hand painting. I also read that they use fabric and laser cutting to create their designs. Wouldn't one of of these pendant lights look great over my future dining table in my future house? I think so...
Or how about a set of these on my future bookcase in my future living room?

The Camera Question...

You may have noticed my recent photos. Brace yourself because there will be many, many more. I'm on a huge photographic binge right now. I'm trying to learn how to use a "real" camera and at the same time trying to learn composition and all the other challenges that make a snapshot art instead of just a snapshot.

I have two cameras, but the images you've seen recently are from a Nikon D100. It is a digital SLR and in 2002 it was the awesomest (I am aware that this is not a real word) camera around. It is now 2008 and after going to a class at my local camera shop on how to use an SLR, I realize that it still is a totally awesome camera.



Ben got it when he worked at Bizee Boys. He used it to take product shots of items such as the Abenergizer.
He has lovingly handed it over to me. He even refers to it as "my" camera (as in Jessica's camera, not Ben's... Did that confuse?).

The other camera I have is a great little point and shoot called a Nikon Coolpix 3500. However it's been dropped a few times and doesn't have a lens cover thingy anymore. It's really more like Uly's camera. He has used it more than I have recently. He takes some amazing photographs with it. I really like to give him the camera and see what he sees. However, the current problem with this camera is that I don't have any way to get the images off of it. Long ago I lost the USB cable. Supposedly it is in one of our bins of cables, but that's more like a black hole. I had a card reader on my computer but it recently just stopped working. It was from Circuit City. Maybe that's why they went out of business... So, until I get a new card reader, I can only remove images from the SLR and that's more fun for me to use right now anyway. So that's what you get.

So that's the longish short version of the camera story.

Uly & Gar at the park...

I can't get Gar to sit still for any length of time. So these are all action shots. I love the one of him running.

Frst Tooth

Happy Mothers' Day! I have wonderful mothers in my life. I have a great mom who has set a really good example for me. I also have a great mother in law. I have it made!!! I love you both.

Also, today is the day that Magnuses first tooth broke through the skin. He is growing up. I can't stop it.

Boy Pictures...

Nothing really to update, I just wanted to show you all some new photos of The Boys.

Uly the Pengquin

Here is a photo from our ward's primary carnival. Uly is a pretty cute penguin. I sure love that boy!!!

Our Song of the Day

The boys and I are singing this song today. It makes us want to get out and run around in our great big beautiful world.

Who Lives in a Pinapple Under the Sea?

Super Heroes

 

 

 

These are my Super Heroes. Maybe it is time that I make them real capes...

The Business of Being Born

If you are pregnant, going to be pregnant, know someone who is pregnant, know someone who is going to be pregnant, or just generally like babies (do you get the picture?), watch this movie.

I feel like I'm a pretty educated person when it comes to childbirth. I am pro-natural childbirth, not because it's some kooky thing to do but because I believe it is the very best way to bring a baby into this world. I am a large proponent of getting really educated on the birth process. I believe it is best to understand what is happening to your body, the babies body, the why's and the how's. If you are looking for a really comprehensive childbirth class, I can not stress enough how confident and comfortable with the process after taking Bradley Childbirth classes you will be. After our classes I was completely confident with my birthing abilities and my husband's ability to assist me. In fact I felt and still do feel, that if Ben had to deliver my baby with out the aid of a birthing professional I and the baby would be totally safe and fine.

The birth of my last baby was so empowering. It would be my dream that every woman would get to feel that high, that strength and that love. It was truly awesome.

My first two births were good experiences but they both pale in comparison to how great it was to birth my third baby in the comfort, quiet and love of my own home. After that experience I will never willingly go back to an OB/GYN to deliver any of my babies. After that experience I can't imagine giving birth any other way. My only regret is that I didn't make the decision to have a home birth for my first two babies.

So, if you would like to know more about why I think this is the best decision for a healthy pregnant woman, check out this DVD. If you have a Netflix subscription, you can watch it directly on your computer - it is in the Browse Instant section.

Watch it. Make your own decision.