Kristi Mangan Photography

5/52 & 6/52.... Clowns & Family Fun....

Ooooh, I am getting behind with my 52 week project... time to play catchup!  Today's post will cover teh first 2 weeks of February.  I took the pictures, just didn't get them posted.

5/52 - Clowns

The first week in February, Paige had a circus day at her preschool.  All of the 3 & 4 year olds performed a lovely circus for the parents.  Paige's class was the trampoline act.  They did an amazing job & Paige just loved dressing up like a clown.  I particularly liked when I brought home the wig & she said... "but momma... I don't want to cut off my hair to wear that".  Love those crazy thoughts!  Thankfully, no hair was cut in the process, but she does look mighty cute in her homemade clown get-up, huh? 

Here's one snapshot of me with my little clown cutie! :)

 

6/52 - Family Fun!!

Last weekend we decided we needed some good old fashioned family fun... so we planned a day together at Lion Country Safari!  The kids had an amazing time & so did Patrick & I.  We packed a picnic lunch & enjoyed spending the day together.  The highlights were when an ostrich knocked on Ellie's window during the drive-thru safari part.  We also really enjoyed feeding the giraffes.  The rides were definitely a hit too.  Overall it was an awesome day!!!

All in all, we've had a great start to the month of February..... Now I just need to get better at updating my 52 week project! :)

 

4/52 - "the carousel"

Recently, our little family has re-discovered how much fun it is going to Downtown @ the Gardens.  We enjoy being outside... walking around through the shops, the variety of restaurants, and most importantly... the new carousel!  The carousel is a BIG HIT in our household & the girls are giddy when you mention we are going there! 

Ellie is a creature of habit with the carousel.  She *always* wants to ride the flamingo.  Paige likes to try out different animals.  Tonight she picked a pretty white horse named Buttercup.  She liked that Buttercup had a little butterfly on its nose. 

After the carousel ride, we enjoyed a tasty dinner at TooJays.... where Ellie was just cracking me up as she dug into my coleslaw.  I love that she is so willing to try new foods! 

This is a typical weekend evening in the Mangan household... an enjoyable family outing! :)  I look forward to many many  more carousel rides with the girls this year! :)

3/52... New Hats

I always love the opportunity to work with new ETSY sellers.... and I was delighted to be able to have my girls debut 2 of the newest hat styles over at Heartsmiles.  Abbie is the girl behind these gorgeous creations!  I purchased my first heartsmiles hat back in November for some newborn sessions that I had coming up and quickly fell in love with the bright colors & adorable designs.  I contacted her about custom making a new hat for my oldest daughter and I was surprised and thrilled with the TWO new hats she sent for my girls!  They are so well made, gorgeous, soft yarns, and the colors are just perfect!  Nice & bright, just like I like them!  I definitely would recommend these hats to anyone who is looking for something unique!  Here are two of my favorite images of my girls "modeling" the new hats... Thanks Heartsmiles for creating such great pieces!  

Be sure to check out Heartsmiles on Facebook too!

 

2/52 - "doll"

It seems like my girls are just growing up... faster than I thought they would... right before my very eyes.  I cannot believe my youngest daughter, Ellie is already a fast & furious 2-year old - with a 2-year old attitude!  Just a minute ago she was my sweet and cuddly baby who was attached at my hip and loved to snuggle.  Even though she is growing up & becoming more independant, she still holds on to a few things that are very much her "babyhood".... one of my favorite things about her is that she MUST sleep with "doll" each night.  "Doll" is a sweet little plush doll with yarn hair.  Ellie loves feeling the hair and rubs the yarn as she puts herself to sleep.  She has done this since she was about 6 or 7 months old.  We have 2 "dolls" and she definitely favors one over the other.   Whenever she goes to sleep she asks for her blankie and "doll".  I love that she still needs her doll.... and I love that she calls her "doll".  I was so happy to capture the snapshots of Ellie with her doll... even though she is growing up & in her big-girl bed now... she still needs "doll". 

1/52 - what makes them smile....

This year I wanted to try a new little project…. Project 52.  This will be my weekly reminder to stop & notice the little things going on in my life.  Each week I will post about something in our lives … the posts will definitely include a picture or two and the little story that is going on behind the picture.  I am hoping this will help me to remember just why I started down this photography journey in the first place…. To capture memories for my family.  The pictures won’t always be wonderfully perfect portraits… some will be, some will be snapshots… heck some may be cell-phone pictures…. But they will all be special to me because they will remind me of a moment in time.   I hope you’ll enjoy going along on this weekly journey with me through 2011. 

 

Yesterday while eating lunch with the girls, they started talking about best friends.  I love having these little conversations with the girls because it is so fun to hear their responses to questions like this.  Paige told me that her best friend is Allison (a sweet little girl in her class at school).  Ellie’s response was that her best friend is Mickey Mouse…. which I LOVE because that is SO.ELLIE.  When I asked the girls who my best friend was I was surprised that Paige responded “Aunt Min”…. which is the correct answer!  I love that she is so intuitive at only 3.5 years old! 

When we were headed out for the evening (a very fun evening at Downtown @ the Gardens), I took a few pictures of the girls all dressed up before we headed out…. Typically I know I can get smiles out of children when I say the names of their favorite movie or TV characters…. But that doesn’t always work for my children because I use it too often…. So yesterday after our lunchtime conversation, I decided to start talking about their friends at school…. The girls LOVED this & started laughing & repeating their names.  Ellie would say “how about Miss Kathy… how about Miss LeeCee… how about so-and-so”….. it was adorable.  I love knowing what makes my girls smile…. And I love that my girls are sociable & friendly and that they love school! 

So here are my favorites from my week 1/52 project…. I love these images & I love knowing what made them smile in these images!!