How Is He 13???

They say that patience is a virtue....and although I wholeheartedly believe that, it just doesn't happen to be one that I have.  I have mentioned on more than one occasion that Zachary gets birthday pictures taken every year.  Once they are taken, the waiting is brutal.  Last night....OH HAPPY NIGHT!!!!  There was goodness in my inbox.  Jesse of Jesse Leos Photography never disappoints!  He captured some incredible images of Zach....I keep wondering where in the world my little boy went, and how in the world he is 13?!?!?  These were all taken in the arts district in downtown Dallas and Klyde Warren Park.

I am not ready to share the bulk of them yet....still deciding on Christmas cards...but here are a few that made me smile.  Jesse always takes a few just for fun, and years from now I am going to love looking back at them and everything else he captured!

I imagine that I am not going to be too popular when Zach sees this post!  If you would like to see more of Jesse's work, you can see his galleries here: Jesse Leos Photography.  Have a great weekend and stay warm....it is actually in the 30's and raining here in Texas today....say what?????

Some REALLY Late Link Ups

Disclaimer:  In my defense, I did start this post on Monday when these link ups would have been MUCH more relevant....better later than never, right???  Sorry, not sorry!

I will apologize in advance if you are sick and tired of me and my links up, but hey if it gets me to post...let's just roll with it, shall we?  And, this will be a fun post...packed with pics and yes, I took them ALL with the big girl camera which may or may not be totally obviously!   OK, here goes....for the first time, I am linking up with Sami for:

You know how sometimes your eyes are bigger than your stomach?  Well I am not sure what to call my weekend, but it was the activity equivalent to that.  I crammed way too much into my weekend - most specifically one day of it.  My Saturday morning started with a catch up breakfast with one of my besties....6:00 AM no less...our schedules are killing us, but we made it work!  I ran home to pick up Zach and we hit the road.  Wortham, TX bound to be exact.  It is about an hour and 45 minutes from home and the site for Tough Mudder Dallas 2013.  

If you don't know about this obstacle event, click the link and learn about the insanity that is Tough Mudder.  It was crazy....there were people of all ages and sizes - some were wearing costumes.  

It is an obstacle course like no other and before you start wondering how the chick that can't even RUN a 5K got herself into this pickle, I was just a spectator and picture taker.  Three guys from my office were participating and I volunteered to try to get them some photos.  In my opinion, the best part of TM is that they stress that it is not a race, it is about supporting each other and getting through it.  Over the course of the day I saw countless times when Mudders were helping other Mudders complete an obstacle whether they were teammates or not and I loved that.  Tough Mudder is also a huge supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project.   I don't know how anyone could argue with that!  Two of these guys were Tough Mudder virgins....the one in the yellow - this was his third!

Here is just a big photp dump sampling of the pics that I captured Saturday....I wish Zach and I would have made it to more of the obstacles....but I will do better next time.  I am already seriously considering volunteering for 2014.

First obstacle

Arctic Enema....no, I did not make that up

Prior to the Cage Crawl

Cage Crawl....scary if you are claustrophobic

The guys giving each other a boost - Berlin Walls....yep there were two

Funky Monkey

The final obstacle - Electroshock Therapy

THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!

I loved this sign....and this day was definitely release form worthy!

And I can't forget this guy....he was a trooper!

Zachary had a soccer game at 8:oo PM that eventually got rained out.....crazy weather blew in.  By the time we got home it was about 9:30 and the last event on our list was my dear friend Holli's Halloween party.  We were exhausted and add to that the the wild weather and I made the decision to stay home.  I felt terrible and know that I missed a great party!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for Zach's annual birthday pictures.  We went to Dallas in the arts district and managed to squeeze the session in even with the threat of rain looming.  This was our fifth year having them done with Jesse.  We are thrilled with his work and I only wish that I had started taking these side by side photos the very first year we started with him.....Zach was only 9 then. :(

We got to meet their new son, Ollie (I wish I had taken a picture).  They recently adopted him from Uganda.  He is precious and so obviously an incredible blessing to Jesse and Rachel. Congratulations to this new little family!  By the time we got home from Dallas, we were pretty spent and managed to get a little resting in on Sunday afternoon before gearing up for another week!

Even though it is really late for it I am linking up with my girl Holli for:

Just for Holli and in honor of Halloween tomorrow, I am going to the spooky side.....seriously, who doesn't love a little "Thriller"????  Love you, Holli!!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Hello....lashes!  Why do boys have all the luck?  This makes my heart sing........stay tuned - more Jesse genius to come!

www.jesseleosphoto.com

Show Off Your Shot - Yes, I Am LATE

Happy Friday!  Yes, I am screeching in at the last minute for this link up.  I had wanted to do it earlier in the week, but believe it or not, I already had posts scheduled.

And before we get to the link up...please stop by my 200 Follower Giveaway if you haven't already.  There are over $100 worth of prizes including a $25 Etsy gift card and $30 worth of Starbucks gift cards.

I took this picture last Saturday and I love it!  I really didn't know how I would work it into a post - at least until I got the pictures from the session sometime next month.  Then, I remembered Rachel's weekly link up:

 

Jesse has been taking Zachary's photos since he was 9 (yearly, right around his birthday) - so doing the math, this was our 4th session with him.  My how time does fly.  I am proud to be in the group of original customers of Jesse Leos Photography.  He and his wife Rachel are just plain good people - simple as that (not to mention that Jesse is a fabulous photographer).  You can read more about them by clicking on the Photographers that Rock link on my nav bar up top.

 

 

I don't know why I never thought of taking their picture together before, but I think it will become a tradition now.  I think my camera phone did a pretty awesome job!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.