Year in Pictures 2009

Another year has gone by, and I end it with some of my favorite images from 2009. Please enjoy the slideshow as much as I enjoyed making the images. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Click above image to be brought to the slideshow, or click HERE.

Eat your dinner

Typical facial expressions from Kayla when we tell her to finish her dinner.

(and yes, those are rollers in her hair, and a hair net on her head. She wanted curly hair lol)

Run, like no one is watching......

What I wish to be young again, running around without a care in the world....

Becoming a train conductor on that imaginary train track........

Conquering that mountain.....

even if it's only a few feet high....

Kung Fu fighting against that imaginary opponent....

Chasing after bubbles like they were butterflies......

Having that slight fear of crossing that wobbly bridge...

Imagining a slide as a roller coaster that you never have to wait in line for...

Swinging so high you feel like you can reach the sky.......

Until your parents tell you that it's time to go home......

"Just 5 more minutes!"

Hope everyone got what they wished for from Santa this year : )

He's gonna find out..........

.......who's been naughty or nice. Unfortunately, these 2 have definitely been naughty this year.

In all seriousness, as Kristin is getting older, she seems to behave a little better (or at least around us). Kayla on the other hand.......you hear of terrible 2's, well she is a terrible 3....x 2. I was hoping that threats of Santa watching her would help, but it hasn't worked so far.

When asked what she wanted from Santa for Christmas this year...Ice Skates. Ice Skates? She has never set foot in a skating rink, let alone seen a skating rink. I wonder where she got that idea from. We couldn't find "play" ice skates, so we got her some roller skates instead, and we'll be taking them iceskating before the end of the year.

When we asked Kristin the same thing...A camel. A stuffed animal camel to be exact. Oh, and some boots like her mom has.

Merry Christmas!

Scoot

Two years ago, Kristin was riding on her training wheel enabled bicycle: http://kristinandkayla.blogspot.com/2007/08/photo-sharing_24.html Now, she's scooting along on her scooter that she got for her birthday last month. She has grown up so much, and I still can't believe how time just flies.

"You, change your mind, like a girl changes clothes...

and you have a mess, like a pinch I will know. " That is Katy Perry's song "Hot n Cold" according to Kayla.

listen to her sing:

So the whole family is sick, and Kayla probably got the worst of it but she's recovering nicely now, thanks to Tamiflu.

Yawn

Almost time to go trick or treating.

Little Red Riding Hoodlums

I know it's a day early, but Happy Halloween! Be safe!

goofballs

Kristin is such a goofball. When she is preoccupied with something and you call her name, she always responds with this face:

This weekend was a hectic one. Two back to back birthday parties. One was a farm theme, so this is what Selina came up with as an outfit for Kayla. I drew in the rosy cheeks and freckles with some lipstick and washable marker.

Just a quick update on the books. Océ has generously offered to drop ship the books for me, so I'll be submitting the names and addresses to them shortly. Yay!

Happy Birthday Kristin!

Kristin turns 6 today. Per her request, we went to Children's Discovery Museum for an early Birthday celebration yesterday. As usual, she was all cheesy smiles when we got there.





I love these little hats.







I love the look of amazement on her face. I think she was playing with the big etch a sketch machine they had.









I forget what these are called, but Kayla was captivated by the running horse.

We are siamese if you please....

Sharing. It's a difficult concept for these 2 to grasp. I can't just buy one of anything anymore, things are always purchased as a set. If not, I'll never hear the end of it. I need to figure out how to get them to share.

_________________________

Poop.

What is it with kids and their fascination with the word. Kayla has started to use the word in a variety of ways, mainly as an insult. "Poopoo head", "Poopoo Baby", or just "POO!"seems to come out her mouth when she's upset or in an argument with Kristin. She also uses the term in different situations:

Like when she is feeling constipated. "My POO is not working."

After she farts and doesn't have the urge to poo anymore. "Daddy, I'm not Poo-Poo-ish any more."

Books

Thanks for the overwhelming response to the books. Once I get the books from Océ I''ll go ahead and send them out in the order I received the emails. There is a limited quantity, so if I run out, I'll send something in lieu of the book. Sorry to all the out of country people, but I should have mentioned that I won't be shipping outside of US.

Check out this cool table and chair they made from recycled cardboard (sorry for the iphone pic):

The kids are gonna get a kick out of the table, just not sure how much abuse it can take. I hope they'll be all smiles when they see the book (like after they get face painting).

I'll fly with you

I'm in Chicago right now, away from the 2 K's. Never thought I'd miss them so much : ( The reason why I'm here? To attend Print09 on behalf of Océ North America. I'll be signing books they produced using text and images from my blog.

They have generously offered to print a few copies for me, so if you'd like a copy of the book, please shoot me an email with your name and shipping address (I'll cover the shipping costs for the first 10 people).

From their press release:

September 8, 2009 – Trumbull, CT– Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announced that it will produce a fully-finished full-color book live at Océ Booth 1863 at Print 09. The photo book, "Where's My Birthday Cake?" is being printed on the Océ CS665 Pro color system, showcasing the system's amazing speed and color quality for high-visibility projects like photo books.

The book transforms a photographic web log, created by professional photographer Jason Lee, into a full-color case-bound book featuring his daughters Kristin and Kayla, illustrating how digital book production technology is fueling self-publishing trends that transform digital content like blogs and digital photos into books, creating a high-quality permanent artifact.

Social media experts estimate there are currently some 200 million blogs on the Web, a number that is growing exponentially. Meanwhile, with the ongoing migration from analog to digital photography, people are looking for ways to preserve their digital photographs. In both cases, cost-effective digital color printing enables bloggers and shutterbugs to cost-effectively memorialize their work.

When Jason Lee's mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006 and couldn't spend time with her granddaughters, Lee began snapping pictures of Kristin and Kayla and posting them to a blog to share with his mother. What started as a blog evolved into a more complex personal project documenting the children's growth using a variety of lighting techniques and showcasing Lee's creativity and talent as a photographer.

At Print 09, Océ is transforming Lee's blog into a stunning, full-color case-bound photo book, highlighting the exciting opportunities available to bloggers, self-publishers and photographers who want to publish digital content. "I had always planned on creating an album of the images in my blog to present to my mother," said Lee. "I love the idea of producing a book that transforms something transitory like a blog into something permanent, preserving treasured digital images of Kristin and Kayla in printed form forever," said Lee.

As an industry leader in the fast-developing field of digital book printing and publishing, Océ is demonstrating live production of "Where's My Birthday Cake?" at Print 09. The book is being produced in an automated digital production workflow that produces color interior pages two-up on 12" x 18" paper and color covers on 11.5" x 38" stock on the Fogra-certified Océ CS665 Pro color production system to deliver an unmatched balance of outstanding color quality, speed, throughput and support for a variety of media. The imposition and workflow is managed by Océ PRISMAprepare™ software and the Océ PRISMAsync™ color controller, enabling end-to-end document preparation and production from pre-press to fully finished books, which are case-bound using On Demand Machinery case binders.

A limited edition of "Where's My Birthday Cake?" is being produced at Print 09. The author, Jason Lee, will be in the booth on September 15, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM signing copies of the book. To experience the work of Jason Lee and view more images of his daughters Kristin and Kayla, visit www.kristinandkayla.com.

the 5 year old 1st grader

Well, actually she'll be turning 6 in about a month. Kristin just finished her first week of school as a first grader. I still can't believe my little girl is in 1st grade already. She started in a different school this year, but luckily some of her friends also transferred to the new school. Instead of a 10 minute drive, we can actually walk her to school now. I'm excited to see how much she'll be learning this year.