Kristi Eckrich »

The boys and I had a lot of fun celebrating Easter with my family last weekend.  Corey was unfortunately left out of the equation, as it was his on-call weekend for work.

On Saturday afternoon, we dyed eggs.  We decided to try one of those “swirly” dying kits this year, which turned out some really pretty eggs.  The problem, however, is with the cooking oil that’s required to achieve the swirled effect…the eggs are left with a rather messy oily coating.

Trevor insisted on wearing his tie-dyed t-shirt to match the eggs we were making!

On Sunday, we headed down to Waynesboro for our annual Easter dinner get-together with my mother’s side of the family. This Easter was extra-special since our little Ella was able to participate in her first egg hunt! She had a blast and knew just what to do!

“I know there’s something in here!”

Ella with her new “guck” (a.k.a. duck):

My tree-climbing kiddo could not resist climbing my grandmother’s large dogwood tree.

My mother wanted a “nice” photo of her three grandchildren together on Easter. By the time I got a chance at this, all three kids were tired and grumpy from the festivities and the resulting photos were, well…not so nice! The following represents the best of the batch!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter with your families, too!

Aaron’s class made candy houses in school last week, and he’s been so proud of his handiwork!  He insisted I post the photos up on my blog, so…here you go!

The front:

The back:

The artist himself!

The boys and I colored eggs today, and tomorrow we will be celebrating Easter with my family in Waynesboro.  It’ll be so much fun watching my 13-month-old niece, Ella look for eggs!  I’ll be taking lots of photos, which I hope to post here on the blog this week.  Happy Easter!

Trevor tested for his yellow belt rank in kung fu this evening, and he passed with flying colors!  Corey and I have been so proud of him and the accomplishments he has made since beginning kung fu lessons almost a year ago.  Congrats little buddy and keep up the good work!

Performing the 28 animal movements sequence, an integral part of the yellow belt rank test:

Meditation:

Rank Certificate:

Trevor with his head instructor, Shen Shung Cochran:

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending and photographing my niece Ella’s dedication at her church! She was so pretty in her dress, and was very well-behaved through the service (although a little sleepy LOL!)

Ella with Dad:

Snoozing before the service :

Ella and Pastor Joe:

Another snooze with Grammy :

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

As I was going through last summer’s photos, I came across this photo of a huge Dobson Fly I found last July as we were coming out of the Colonial Commons movie theater in Harrisburg. We had just taken the boys to see “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Not only do I love bugs – especially the more unique and uncommon ones (I know, go ahead and say “Ewwwww!”) – but I also *must* photograph my unique finds! So, here I was at the theater, without my camera, so what’s a bug-loving photographer to do in this situation?!? Why, grab a random paper bag out of the car and bring the critter home to the camera, of course! Although this female Dobson Fly did not enjoy the 30-minute ride home in the least, she was quite happy once I let her out and started taking photos!

Trevor has been taking Kung Fu lessons for about 2 months now at the Carlisle Kung Fu Center. Contrary to popular belief, Kung Fu is not the same as karate, but rather, is one of many various forms of martial arts. An excerpt from the Kung Fu Center web site states: “Pai Lum Kung Fu, also known as White Dragon Fist Style Kung Fu, is a traditional Chinese martial art that has been passed down through generations of the Pai family. The late Grandmaster Daniel K. Pai had devoted over 50 years to the development of the Chinese martial arts. His family’s system of kicking, sweeping, punching, blocking, and joint locking techniques provides a means for development as a complete martial arts practitioner.”

“The emphasis of Pai Lum is on achieving maximum results with minimum effort. Pai Lum develops:

* A healthy mind in a healthy body
* The ability to defend oneself
* Increased self confidence and self discipline
* A peaceful way to vent tension and aggression
* Patience in all aspects of life
* An understanding of the body and it’s unlimited potential”

In the short time that Trevor has been studying Kung Fu, we have noticed a marked increase in his self-discipline and respect for others around him. These were two issues he was previously struggling with, in school as well as at home. I recently took my camera along to class to catch Trevor and some of his peers in action. He looks forward to each and every class!

Chi Kung breathing exercises:

Practicing the reverse thrust kick:

We are hoping that Trevor will continue to enjoy Kung Fu as much as he does now!

I can say it’s now officially spring at our house, as we finally made our annual trek to Home Depot and Lowe’s to buy flowers and hanging baskets for our front porch! The “find” I’m most excited about this year is my pot of purple and cream calla lilies with speckled leaves. I’ve never before seen callas of this variety…they are gorgeous!

One of the many random mushrooms that keep popping up in the garden:

This is the little “garden guy” that was left behind by the previous occupants of the apartment we moved into when we got married. When we moved into our first house 2 years later, we decided he had to come with us. When we moved again to our current house, he, of course, came with us once again! I like to think of him as our little “good luck in life” charm since we found him when we were first married and he’s still with us.

Happy spring!

Every year we have Easter dinner at my grandmother’s house down in Waynesboro, which is followed by an egg hunt for the boys. This Easter was special since it is the first Easter Ella was with us!

Aaron taking a break to check out his loot:

My grandmother’s squirrel feeder made for a tricky little hiding spot!

Of course, there are always the difficult-to-find, out-of-reach eggs to keep the boys “on their toes” ha ha!

Our sweet little Ella:

Making a silly scrunchy face for Memaw:

“I see you, Aunt Kristi, with that big black thing in front of your face again!”

Next Easter should be fun when Ella will likely be able to find some eggs of her own!

I recently had the opportunity to babysit my niece Ella (like my bro and sis-in-law really had to twist my arm!) and of course, there was no way I was leaving without photos! Here are a few from the evening:

The boys both enjoyed holding Ella for a bit:

Getting sleepy!

Peacefully sleeping:

Blowing icky milk bubbles!

The monkey on Ella’s cute little crib mobile!

I took these photos nearly 3 weeks ago when Ella was about 9-1/2 pounds. She just had a checkup this past week and the little stinker is now 12 pounds! I have some photos from Easter that I want to post this week, and her face is looking much fuller than in these photos. Even though I’ve raised two of my own babies and know all to well how fast they grow, Ella seems to be growing even more quickly because I don’t get to see her everyday. Time for another babysitting gig, I say!

Before I finally (after a month!) get around to posting some photos, I have an announcement to make. I’ve already told my friends, family, a few colleagues and a client I ran into at the store…but it’s time I make it known to everyone. This year I will not be taking any paid photo sessions. My original goal for this year was to cut my work hours back and gradually work in more photo sessions; however, with several huge projects being taken on at my day job it’s just going to be too difficult to run my photography business. I refuse to try and spread myself too thin and get myself to the point where I’m giving less than 100% to my clients or my day job. Not to mention my family!

Another factor that weighed heavily into my decision was the fact that I have neglected my own personal photos for what seems like forever. I would really like to take the time this year and get caught up on personal photo editing and (gasp!) perhaps even get them scrapbooked!!! I’ve also been dying to get some coffee table books printed up featuring some of our recent family adventures!

I certainly hope no one gets the impression that I’m going away forever. It’s just for this year only! Next year I will most definitely be cutting my work hours back and putting a huge effort into getting my business back up and running. This will also give me the time to get some of my coworkers at my day job trained in some of my responsibilities so that I will be in a position to cut my hours back when the time comes.

Anyway, without further ado, I wanted to post some photos I took of Ella when she was a week old (a little belated, I know ). Enjoy!

A nuzzle with Dad (notice the red hair connection!):

Ella and her beautiful mama:

Gotta love those tiny fingers:

Yesterday I babysat Ella while her mom and dad could go out for their first “post baby” date. I took lots of photos with my new 5D MarkII which I hope to be sharing in another day or two!