Friday, December 22, 2006

Merry Christmas!

Our first official gift opening is tomorrow. Thus starts the Christmas rush. Guess we'd better finish up that last minute shopping! It's been a wonderful year for our family. Full of changes, but very fulfilling. Our girls bring so much joy to our lives!


For those of you who haven't yet received our card in the mail - don't feel left out! I haven't mailed them yet. This is so unlike me, but this year has been absolutely CRAZY with my photography business, and in the mad holiday rush I didn't have time to devote to hunting down addresses, etc. I'm just considering them "Holiday" cards and hope to have them out by new years!


Until then, here's a peek. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Reading Quiz Results

What Kind of Reader Are You?
Your Result: Literate Good Citizen

You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.

Dedicated Reader
Book Snob
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You?
Create Your Own Quiz

Monday, December 11, 2006

Tis the Season...


Answers to a Christmas email from a friend... Feel free to copy and paste & send on!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or artificial? Love real trees, but ours are artificial & pre-lit!
3. When do you put up the tree? Typically, the day after Thanksgiving, this year I had it up the week of Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? the 26th - Mallory's birthday is the 27th, so I want Christmas to be over.
5. Do you like eggnog? No.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I always felt blessed at Christmas - not one thing stands out... maybe a Holiday Barbie.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? No
8. Hardest person to buy for? The men...
9. Easiest person to buy for? Mom :)
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Slippers come to mind...
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas (hands down!)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually in November... this year... um... haven't started yet.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom's millionares.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear
17. Favorite Christmas song? Sleigh Ride
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Depends... we've done both.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel on one, bow on another.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? both
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? shopping traffic/crowds
23. Best think about this time of year? Giving attitues and an increased focus on family.

Friday, November 24, 2006

It was one of those moments...

when I realized Clara was all too quiet...



Monday, November 13, 2006

Meme from Mim. =)

What was your first childhood pet?
A puppy named "Pickles"

What was your favorite comic?
As a child? Not sure really. Probably Peanuts.

What was your favorite childhood book?
Too many to list! A few favorites were "The Troll Music" by Anita Lobel, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, Mr Pine's Purple House by L. Kessler, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day by J. Viorst & "Pickles the Fire Cat" by E. Averill

Did you have an imaginary friend as a child?
Yes. Her name was Jenny (I think!)

Did you play an instrument as a child?
No. Played Clarinet in band starting in the 6th grade.

What was the first hit single record you bought?
I don't remember. I wasn't really big into pop music as a child/teen.

What tune sums up teenage summers?
I don't know... "Paperback Writer" comes to mind and I can't get it out of my head now to think of other options. =) I always had my nose in a book.

What was first pop concert you went to?
The first concert I went to was a Chicago concert after I was married.

Fave teenage TV program?
Loved watching Wonder Woman as a child... as a teen, I can't remember a real favorite. In college it was Friends/Seinfeld.

Were you a naughty or a good girl at school?
Good, of course.

Miss Popularity, Artsy Pants, weirdo or geek, which of these groups classify you at secondary[high] school?
Probably geek... I was president of the Math Club. Wasn't "popular" but always had a small group of friends. Didn't ever have an Anne/Diana friendship, though.

Girl most likely to [as in year book]?
Didn't make the most likely to list, but I imagine people would have expected me to be successful with whatever I did.

What color did you paint your bedroom as a teenager?
The walls were mauve - had forest green and burghandy accents.

Very first paid job ever?
Babysitting

first REAL job?
Retail knick-knack store

Have you ever been really drunk?
Nope

Did you smoke dope?
Nope

A stupid thing you did?
I was pretty straight-laced ijn high school.. I'm sure there were things I did that were stupid, but no one thing really sticks out in my mind.

Left handed or right handed?
Right handed.

Board game player?
Occasionally

If you came to visit me what would we do?
Hang out with my kids during the day... go shopping, hang out at Starbucks in the evening after the girls were asleep & the spouses stayed at the house to watch them.

So how about you?What were you like as a child and teen? What would we do if we visited?

Monday, November 06, 2006

Mallory's First Day



For those of you who I haven't talked to in a while, it may come to a surprise that we enrolled Mallory in public school. I still believe that homeschool is probably the best option for her, but it looks like I'm going to be joining the work force soon. After much prayer and consideration, we made the decision to make the move.

Today was her first day, and she LOVED it. She was very excited and it exceeded her expectations. God was taking care of us when he put Mallory in the same class as her friend Cami. They even get to sit next to one another. I hope that doesn't become a bad thing!

Here are some pictures from her first day...



Thursday, November 02, 2006

The rest of the story...

Here are the rest of the girls Pumpkin patch pictures:

http://lauraodom.photosite.com/OctoberPictures/

Be sure to click "View Full Screen" to get the full effect of the slideshow!

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Curious Clara


Clara is definitely my little monkey. She climbs in and on everything! I find her in the bathtub, in cabinets, on top of chairs & couches, you name it, she can climb on it. She keeps us on our toes, and is cute enough to get away with it. =)

Monday, October 30, 2006

What should I be when I grow up?

Found this on a friend's blog... thought it was interesting...

Your Scholastic Strength Is Evaluating


You are great at looking at many details and putting them all together.
You are talented at detecting subtle trends, accuracy, and managing change.

You should major in:

Statistics
Speech
Conflict studies
Communication
Finance
Medicine

Statistics - I can see that. Love crunching numbers (I know, I'm odd).
Speech - Well, my real major was communication disorders, so that covers Speech Pathology. Not sure if that's what they mean or not.
Conflict studies - No way! I avoid conflict like the plague. I hate confrontation.
Communication - ?
Finance - Wouldn't hurt, since I do own my own business.
Medicine - nope, too squeemish & unsympathetic.

What Should You Major In?

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Pumplin Pickin' Time


We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch last week.
Here are a few pics of the girls:



Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Baseball Buddies

(Okay, so I know it's softball, but it didn't sound as cute that way)...

Mallory has a new best bud ~ our neighbor Cami. They are so cute. They're always talking over the fence, scheming, etc. Both girls are in Fall Ball, and last night our teams played each other. The girls were too cute. Each time one was a runner, they would wave to each other as they passed on the field. We all went to dinner after the game and had a really nice time. It's amazing how much more "neighborly" we've become once pushed a little by our children!

Here's a shot of Mallory and Cami on the field together:

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Rainy Day Blues


We had quite a gale come through yesterday. Mallory was very concerned that our house was going to flood ~ but we made it through okay. We learned that our house is actually on one of the highest points in the street - as the water completely covered the road except for a little bit in front of the house. Good to know, I suppose.

These are just a couple of pics I took and played around with... trying to learn the ins and outs of the "Channel Mixer" in Photoshop.


Thursday, October 05, 2006

Welcome to OZ...

Presenting the latest cast members in the Odom Family production of the Wizard of Oz.

Mallory Odom does a stellar job of capturing the true essence of Dorothy from Kansas. She has the part down to a tee - including her sidekick Toto and of course, Ruby Slippers.

The Scarecrow will be played by Lila Odom, who does have a brain, but does a great job of disguising it in those oh-so-two year old moments. She has been practicing being "floppy" for the performance.

Making her theatrical debut is Clara Odom, who will be playing the part of the Cowardly Lion. She has the "running away" from the scene down PAT already! Plus, she's just plain CUTE, if I do say so myself!

Click HERE to see the rest of the Oz photo shoot!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

My sisters get all the good stuff...

I realized this morning as I was working that Clara had gotten "too" quiet...

I found her in the kitchen floor. She had reached up to the table and pulled down what was left of Lila's yogurt from breakfast - which convieniently still had a spoon in it.



Clara was totally digging it and surprisingly hadn't made too much of a mess.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

We're moving!

I've decided to move my blog & to make it more "business friendly" as I cover the adventures of my photography business. The new address is - http://lauraodomphotography.blogspot.com/ Please visit me there!

This one will stay active as a family/personal blog. Continue to look for my random musing and cute kiddoes here.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Shall We Dance?

I've recently added wedding photography to the list of things I enjoy doing. It's such a rush and so different than doing children's portraiture. (Don't get me wrong, I big puffy heart taking pictures of children, but it's a totally different genre and I'm having fun!)

Here are a few dancing shots from this weekends wedding reception that were some of my favs:

Father/Daughter dance

The entertaining groomsman
B&G last dance


B&G last dance


Thursday, August 31, 2006

A is for Apple...

Promo I'm using for my September Open House event:

The rest of the girls pics from my test shoot can be seen HERE.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Word Play - G

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Geronimo - not only the name of an American Indian chief, but the name we gave a turtle that happened upon our back yard as a child and that we claimed as a pet. We set up a little swimming pool for him and everything. I must have been 8 or 9. It was a red-eared slider, which are pretty common here in Texas.

Gestation - The gestation period of an elephant can be almost two years long. Considereing how miserable I was during each of my pregancies, it's something I can't even fathom. And I have a lot of modern convieniences that elephants don't have... speaking of Elephants, Mallory informed us today that she wished she had a real elephant, and that they don't make that much of a mess - to which Kevin informed her how big an elephant's bowel movements are. Such a scientific household we have here.

Green and Growing - I heard someone say in a speech once that you're either "Green and growing, or you're brown and dying." I thought it quite profound, and it's one that has stayed with me. Here's a shot of Mallory's "green and growing" bean plants.

Grain - The sand-like or granular appearance of a photograph. You will have more grain with a photo taken at a large ISO (film speed) and it is more pronounced the larger the image. Here's an example of a photo with grain:

Saturday, August 26, 2006

I have studio lust

Random musings from me this morning. Kevin took the girls to Angleton this morning to play with their grandparents while he went in to work for a bit. Which leaves me ALONE. While I'm supposed to be cleaning the house getting ready for some clients, I just decided to take a moment to enjoy my glass of Diet Dr. Pepper in peace and quiet and type out some random things I've been pondering.

I have studio lust. It's getting BAD. I'm at the point where I have steady enough business that my living room/studio is in a constant state of disarray. I would be so nice to just have a place where I didn't have to re-set-up all my "stuff" for each new shoot. I really feel like there's a market here in Pearland as well. There's no major photography studio that I know of here. Yet, it would still be a major leap of faith. I think I'm going to start looking into the cost of leasing in some of the different shopping strips around... but again, that's a major commitment and I'm still afraid that one day people are going to wake up and decide I don't know what I'm doing and stop calling for appointments!

I took this shot this week, and I'm really pleased with it. Newborns are my absolute most favorite things to photograph. They are so very sweet! This baby was a little angel, and mom was so trusting in my ideas and let me just put him up on this shelf! The blanket he is laying on was on started by his paternal grandmother who passed away shortly before he was born. Check out his precious little froggie shoes! So so darling!

When I grow up, I want to be this photographer: http://www.whispersphotography.com/ I adore her work. It's totally the look that I aspire to.

And one more random photography tidbit - I'm updating the galleries on my website. It takes a while to do each one, so I'm going slowly, but I have the first four converted to the new "look" - take a peek and tell me what you think. http://www.odomnet.com/photography/galleries.htm

Oh, and I purchased some new stuff this week. Can't wait for the man in brown to come knocking at my door! I bought a new camera body, another new L series lens, and a Quantum 2x 2 battery pack for my flash/camera. All things that will be very helpful in the wedding I have coming up this next weekend. Yay!

Okay, I suppose that's all I can get by with for now. Life with three girls does take its toll on the house when you skip housework to work on pictures too many days in a row!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Some pictures from Clara's 1st birthday party:


The cake ~ lovingly made by Nana.
Not so sure about the cake...
Get me outta here!!

Friday, August 18, 2006

The Happy Scientist


Mallory shows off her bean sprouts. They're growing well!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Science Anyone?


As we all know, Mallory takes after her Daddy - she loves Science, which she did NOT get from me. In fact, I'm so not a science person that I save all the science up from an entire week and each 5th day or so we have "Science Day" where we do all the week's science in one day - including the experiment. Of course, she loves Science Day, and thinks I do it that way just to have a "fun" day every now and then. Today was the first of several bean experiments. She's been looking at the beans every couple of hours since we put them in the jars, and was SO excited when one's skin started to split open. Will keep you posted on this oh-so-exciting event...

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Word Play - F


First Birthday - I am having a very difficult time believing my baby is about to be ONE. Even harder to believe that next year she'll be walking about and talking up a storm as Lila is now. Clara is so much fun. She has so much personality!

Favorites: Drink - Diet Dr. Pepper * Authors - Nick Kelsh & Nicholas Sparks * Bible Verse - John 16:33 * Ice Cream Treat - Marble Slab's Cheesecake ice cream with graham crackers, cherries and caramel mixed in * Restaurant - Benihana * "Downtime" activity - Scrapbooking * Vegetable - Zucchini * Band - the Beatles * TV Program - The Amazing Race * Color - Green * Attire - comfortable jeans and an Old Navy t-shirt.

f-stop - the number representing the aperture portion of a camera setting/exposure.

Four O'Clock - the "witching" hour at my house. The one where the kids are most wound up and I'm most ready to have Daddy home!

Frozen dinners - a staple in our house lately. I actually have been cooking two fresh vegetables a night, so it's not like I'm not cooking at all... But for the main dish, I've been warming up Lean Cuisine meals for both Kevin and myself. The kids get different main dishes each night - usually some variety of chicken. It sounds horrible, but they're really not that bad. The LC Panninis that we had last night were YUM-O.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Guess WHO???


Can you tell who was Photoshopped into this picture???

Pics from Birthday #30...

The kids and me with my birthday cake. (Clara was already asleep).

Our Dinner Destination:
Amanda (my "younger" friend by two months) & Me:

Girls Night Out. Totally worth the 2000 or so calories! YUM!

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Happy Birthday to Me.

Some interesting facts found here about my date of birth...

Happy Birthday! You entered: 7/27/1976
Your date of conception was on or about 4 November 1975 which was a Tuesday.
You were born on a Tuesdayunder the astrological sign Leo.
Your Life path number is 3.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2442986.5.
The year 1976 was a leap year.
Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/31/1976 and ending 2/17/1977. You were born in the Chinese year of the Dragon.
Your Native American Zodiac sign is Salmon; your plant is Raspberry.
You were born in the Egyptian month of Paopy, the second month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).
Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 29 Tammuz 5736.
The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 18 April 1976.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 2 March 1976.

As of 7/27/2006 1:26:06 AM EDT
You are 30 years old.
You are 360 months old.
You are 1,565 weeks old.
You are 10,957 days old.
You are 262,969 hours old.
You are 15,778,166 minutes old.
You are 946,689,966 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
Alex Rodriguez (1975)
Triple H (1969)
Maureen McGovern (1949)
Peggy Fleming (1948)
Betty Thomas (1947)
Bobbie Gentry (1944)
Jerry Van Dyke (1931)
Norman Lear (1922)

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.28845401174168 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)
There are 365 days till your next birthday on which your cake will have 31 candles. Those 31 candles produce 31 BTUs,or 7,812 calories of heat (that's only 7.8120 food Calories!) .You can boil 3.54 US ounces of water with that many candles.
In 1976 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US.
In 1976 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.
In 1976 in the US there were approximately 2,152,662 marriages (10.1%) and 1,036,000 divorces (4.9%)
In 1976 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is Ruby The Mystical properties of Ruby
Ruby is said to open one's heart to love. Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
Your birth tree is Cypress, the Faithfulness Strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give, happy,content,optimistic, needs enough money and acknowledgment, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered,unruly, pedantic and careless.

There are 151 days till Christmas 2006!
The moon's phase on the day you wereborn was new.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

M&Ms (aka Medal Moms)

My best friend and I have recently started our own club. We call it "Medal Moms" (aka M&Ms). Why you ask? Well, because we have taken to giving ourself "medals" quite frequently. (We expect the notification for the mom of the year awards to be arriving in our mailboxes any day now).

How do you get medals? And what are the rules for us Medal Moms? Well, we decided to make a list...

1. You must read and adhere to THE book. (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child).
2. Any time your child goes to sleep (see number 1), you earn a medal.
3. If you are spending the night at your girlfriend's house because your spouses are frolicking around out of the country, and you get all FOUR children asleep by 8:00, you get a BIG MEDAL and a LARGE Diet Soda from Sonic AND you get to watch a girly movie and cry.
4. When you get aforementioned four children all ready for church ON TIME not only once, but TWO Sunday's in a row, you get a medal.
5. If your child eats Eggplant, you get a medal.
6. If you survive an outing to lunch without being banned from the restaurant, you get a medal.
7. If you have a clean bedroom closet, you get a medal.
8. Medals are earned for each beautiful scrapbook page documenting your adorable child through photos and journaling.
9. If you can do all of the above on less than 6 hours of sleep a night, you earn a medal.
10. All rules of the M&Ms are subject to change without notice as the Medal Moms see fit. After all, we are the BOSS of our club.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Word Play - E

EEEEEEEEEEEEE

Eggplant - I actually like eggplant. Kevin's not too fond of it, so I don't cook it very often. I enjoy getting it at restaurants, though, so since Kevin was out of the country, I got some recently and grilled it. Not perfect, but pretty good for my first attempt. Clara ate it anyway - so guess it was okay. Of course, she'd probably eat a bug if given the opportunity, so I don't know how well I should go on her reccomendations.

Eating - As a general rule, I eat when I'm stressed. However, I'm pushing a significant age milestone this month, and I decided it was time to take control and lose the weight that's been packing on ever since I got pregnant with Lila. I am proud to announce that I have lost 16 lbs. to date this month, and am no longer being controlled by food! It feels pretty good. Of course, I need to find something else to do when I'm stressed now... too bad my natural instinct isn't to want to clean!

Early - The time of day my children wake up.

Mommy's Helper

Mallory used a knife for the first time tonight. She was SO proud!
She chopped up the zucchini for dinner. Yum.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Cutie Patooties



The girls with their buddy Jacob.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

DDDDDDD

Dictionary - I can't remember the last time I actually picked up a physical dictionary. Oh, I use dictionary.com a lot and the spell check in Word, but the actual thick dictionary sitting on my bookshelf is getting dusty. I wonder if they'll eventually be completely replaced by their digital counterpart. Now, I know there are ebooks - but I don't see them completely taking over. Curling up with your laptop is not nearly so cozy as curling up with an actual book. But for reference material... well, it just might.

Dirty Laundry - Believe it or not, I currently only have ONE load of dirtly laundry. Wright it down. It doesn't happen often.

Domestic - I try my best to be domestic. I have a great admiration for those Betty Crocker types that always seem to have it together. Their homes are not perfectly clean, but they're generally in order, they cook dinner more often than not, they grow their own gardens, they're crafty, they homeschool, and yes, they have a system for landry... that's who I want to be when I grow up. Except I don't like the reality of it. I don't have the patience for gardening or craftiness, I'm more of a pick it up at the store kind of gal - oh wait, since having child number three I don't go to the store very often, which leads me to the lack of home cooked meals. Thank goodness for Schwans. Oh yes, and those same Betty Crocker types have perfect children who obey the first time they're told without talking back. And they don't fight and they're quiet during church services. Even their two year olds. Ok. I made that part up... I don't think there is such a person. (Actually, I lie - I do know ONE.)

Diez. Spanish for ten. I had to get that one in somehow. How else could I share a cutie patootie picture of my 10-month old?

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Name Game

Made these for the girls' room...