HARD TO BELIEVE!

It is hard to believe when your own kids are growing up, getting through elementary school, now almost completely done with middle school and into high school. Yikes....! But when boys become young men and you are photographing these young men for their senior pictures, its

hard for me to believe that just 4 short years ago these young men were playing baseball with our youngest son Clayton. Let me introduce Blaine to you. Blaine is very special to me because we share the same birthday, so I never forget when he turns another year older! At age 13, Blaine stood about 5'8" and weighed probably 150 pounds. Let me introduce an even more

special young man to you, our youngest son Clayton. Clayton at age 9 stood about 3' 6" and weighed probably 60 pounds. Clayton has grown up playing baseball for the Buckeye Valley Youth Baseball Association, and this particular year, Clayton and Blaine both played, and played against each other. Blaine was a pitcher (an incredible player), and Clayton was up to bat. Every time Blaine pitched, Clayton would back up slightly, because that ball was coming

across the plate extremely fast. Steve and I would laugh and tell him to step up to the plate and hang in there. He looked at us as if he were saying, "are you crazy?" I don't remember if Clayton ever hit off of Blaine, (probably not), but I know for a fact Clayton caught a fly ball in center

field that Blaine hit, so it was quite exciting. After the game was over, I had to have a picture of Blaine and Clayton standing next to each other, and here is that picture!

 I went through my photo archives and found it.  Needless to say, here's my "little" Blaine who graduates in June from Buckeye Valley. He did awesome and I was honored to be able to photograph him. 

FIRST SNOWFALL......

OK, so we woke up to a "dusting" of snow on our ground today here in Delaware. It was just that, a dusting.....

I love the first time the snow falls, how it quiets the ground and the noise outside. It is so peaceful. While we haven't had that first snow "fall", the dusting this morning was pleasant to look at. 

I have been busy taking family pictures for Christmas cards, and while I can't really show them to you, we're running out of time to photograph families for card deadlines. So, make sure you call this week to get scheduled before the end of November. Of course we can still photograph your family for gift giving portraits, but the Christmas card deadline for submitting your orders is December 1st. Don't wait any longer to get scheduled!

We are looking forward to celebrate Thanksgiving next week with Steve's sister and most of their family, and Andrew's best friend and his family are coming over from Indiana. A total of 11 people, including my family will be here for dinner. I haven't made a turkey in probably 13 years, so I am SO EXCITED to prepare that turkey!! Hmmm.....maybe I will take pictures of the event!!!

LITTLE LEAGUE FOOTBALL SEASON ENDS!

Well, it is officially over for the 2008 little league football for Big Walnut. Last Saturday was Super Bowl and the final championship games for the Junior and Senior Divisions. Thanks to all of the parents who support this incredible football league. If you have a son or daughter who is even slightly interested in playing football or cheering from ages 5 - 6th grade, you want them to be at Big Walnut! Our youngest son Clayton, played in this league for 7 years. You learn the basic fundamentals of football and it has been so much fun watching these kids enjoy their game and cheering. Even though Clayton is no longer in this league, he truly misses the games at this field, and the people, just the whole atmosphere. 

This year the junior division champs were the Broncos and I've posted just a couple of pictures from the games. The senior division champs were the Browns, and if the NFL Cleveland Browns could play anything like these boys did, well.....we might have a winning team! Congratulations to both teams and check out the website for them if you want to sign up for next year. www.bigwalnutfootball.com

FALL DAYS!!!

FALL DAYS!!

Well, last weekend sure seemed like it was prime weekend for fall colors, but I think that we are going to be able to squeak out another couple of weeks of beautiful color! Rest assured, this season has been quite busy, and NOT a lot of rest. But that's great because we're trying to get families and senior portraits taken with the beautiful color. I just had to share these images of some of the seniors I have been shooting. Lots of fun, personality and WOW factor!  Pretty soon we will all be cozied up by the fire sipping hot chocolate!!

RACE RESULTS

OK, so I just logged onto the race results from the New Albany Walking Classic. My time was actually 1:25:05 for the 10k walk. I am very pleased with my results. My friend Linda finished the same time, however she placed 241 out of 1994 walkers, and I placed 249th out of 1994 walkers. In the female category I placed 166th out of 1584 females. Not bad for a first walk race! 

October brings a whole new level to my business as I am still photographing seniors and families for fall colors. I'm squeezing people in here and there, so if you still want to have your family or senior photographed with the beautiful fall colors coming out, now is the time to book! Weekends are extremely limited right now, but just give me a call and we will work out a time that is good for you! New samples for Christmas cards have arrived as well, and they are joyous! Love the new designs!

NEW ALBANY WALKING CLASSIC

I did it!!! I completed the 10k walking classic yesterday morning, along with my friend Linda. Beautiful morning for a walk. The weather was cool and crisp when we arrived about 7:45 am, but by the time we started on our walk, it was quite warm! We finished in our own personal record time of 1 hour, 28 minutes and ....seconds. I'm not quite sure what our final time was, but it should be posted soon. We did very well for our first ever walk race. We received a medal at the finish line, and Linda indicated it was the first medal she had ever received, so she was proud of that, and rightly so! She lead the race ahead of me the entire time, and carefully planned our pace. It was great, and I must admit I am a little sore today, but am doing just fine. 

After we completed the race, I headed over to Worthington Christian High School for the Columbus Crusaders Pasta Dinner. WOW!!! Load up on carbs after a race. It was great and I'm telling you it is the best past around. All you can eat salad, pasta, drink and dessert. Next fall, you will have to plan to come.

After I hung out for the Silent Auction, I headed home to photograph sweet Hannah for her senior pictures. Hannah, a senior at Worthington Kilbourne was fun and brought lots of outfits. Look for her pictures soon! They turned out fabulous, and she was glad to be done when we finished up. 

After photographing Hannah, well.....an evening at home resting and doing laundry. It was a long day for sure! Today, I am playing "catch-up" and trying to get pictures downloaded from taking action shots on Saturday at JR Smith Park for the BWYAA football league. 

WIND STORM

We had scheduled a cookout for Sunday afternoon, right about 3pm. I cancelled it after looking at the weather forecast, and boy am I glad I did! The aftermath of Hurricane Ike hit central Columbus area, and we were without power for only 10-12 hours. Well, we weren't actually without power because years ago Steve had wired our house to hook up a generator, because

 we do lose power quite often out here in the country. So after hearing our neighbors generators running, we decided to give it a try, and WOW, we had power for the entire house! We had to watch the Cleveland/Pittsburgh game, and while it was not a good outcome for us Browns fans, it was nice to be able to watch the game, while doing a load of laundry too! 

The boys were out of school Monday-Wednesday, which left Clayton helping Dad clearing the trees, while Andrew worked at his job at Chick-Fil-A. We had 4 - 5 trees split and we lost portions of these trees. It makes me sad to lose any trees, because they truly help keep our

 house cool, and they are great shade trees for photography! Sometimes I think I wouldn't mind losing some of our walnut trees, because I bet we have 1000 walnuts laying on the ground, the driveway, the back patio, the front sidewalk......you get the idea.

I still have friends that don't have power, and that would be awful. My prayers are with you!

Check out our pictures, and a couple of these images Andrew shot. He is becoming the budding photographer!

WALKING CLASSIC

Okay, on Sunday, September 21st I am going to walk in the New Albany Walking Classic, which is a 10k walk, or 6.5 miles. I have been training since the end of June, following their training schedule. I have to admit, I have really enjoyed walking, and sometimes I mix it up with a jog, but not too often! But since August and September tend to be the jump start for my busy season, this past month has been quite difficult getting my training in! It will be a week tomorrow since I have done any walking, and I fear I'm going to be close to last on Sunday. But that's okay. The whole purpose for me was to join some of my girlfriends and striving towards a goal, and having a sense of satisfaction, and to keep us disciplined with our walking schedule. The other "problem" was that my one friend, didn't sign up in time so she got closed out of the walk. That is a bummer, and I was really looking forward to us walking together. We will just have to sign up for some other cause and walk in those too!! So if you want to come out Sunday to cheer me on, the walk begins at 9am on Fodor Drive. 3000 people walking....yikes! Good Luck in finding me!!

SUPER 16!!

Well our Andrew turned 16 back in June, and he has been counting the days to get his driver's license. After a couple of months of "in class" and "driving" classes, on August 21st we drove to the Ohio BMV to have him take his test. While we were waiting for the examiner to come and take him out, he was already deciding that he wasn't going to wear his school uniform shirt to have his picture taken for his driver's license. I was laughing at him and applauded his

 confidence that he was going to pass. Two days prior to his test, he parked my car in our garage, got out and headed into the house with the lights on and the car running! Oh yikes....

He not only passed with 100% on his driving, he only had 2 points taken off his maneuverability test because he started over. 

It is very "unnerving" to watch your 16 year old pull out of the driveway the next morning, with his 13 year old brother in tow. That's where our faith in God comes in. I don't know why I think God needs my help, so I continue to pray for safety and protection in all of our family's lives!

MO HALL FOOTBALL JAMBAREE 2008

Back on August 16th, the Columbus Crusaders Middle School teams attended the Mo Hall Football Jambaree held at DeSales High School. We have 3 middle school teams, and this event hosted 6 teams where they played 10 offensive and 10 defensive plays each. There were 2 teams from the Dayton area and one team from Columbus and the competition was fierce. I had the pleasure of meeting Ohio State's own 2005 graduate Maurice Hall. Maurice introduced himself to me while I was standing on the sidelines and was so kind and great to talk with. I found out that we both graduated from Brookhaven, although my graduation was a lot earlier than his! Maurice holds various football and cheerleading camps during the summers, and you might want to check out his organization's website at www.willyouwin.org. He was very gracious and allowed me to snap a picture of him and Clayton along side each other. Thanks Maurice!

CRAZY BUSY!!

Sorry it has been awhile since I've posted, but I just want to review my past week or so with you. I know we are all busy, and I want you to know that I hope to get to blogging next week. Some major milestones have been accomplished in our family. Summer has ended and the boys started back to school this past Wednesday, August 20th. Surprisingly, they were ready to go back, but mostly to see their school friends that they don't get to see too much during the summer. I have been composing the football program for the Columbus Crusaders the past 2 - 3 weeks, which is finally complete as of today. All 60 pages. 

Andrew got his driver's license yesterday, so this is the official announcement to stay off the roads!!  Ha ha....seriously though, he aced his driving test, and had 2 points taken off of his maneuverability portion, just because he stopped and started over. He drove himself and Clayton to school today. Of course I took pictures, but will post them next week too.

Clayton had a football scrimmage last Saturday, and was pleased to meet Maurice Hall, former running back for OSU!! Super nice man, and even posed for a picture with Clayton. His first football game is in September, with another scrimmage scheduled for tomorrow. 

I will be photographing the BWYAA football league Saturday and Sunday, after just finishing up photographing the Columbus Crusaders, from 5th-12th grade.

So, I promise I will post next week with pictures!!!

FOOTBALL!!!

OK, so it has truly begun. The 2008 football season. Just finishing up baseball season, (which is my favorite sport) we are in FULL swing with football. I'm not just talking about our youngest son Clayton playing for the Columbus Crusaders. (www.columbuscrusaders.org). On our way home from our family vacation, we were able to throw in an added bonus trip to Cleveland to attend the "Cleveland Browns Family Night". A great place to see the players up close and personal as you can see from the pictures , but even better to get autographs from those players. And as fate would have it, determined Clayton

 was able to obtain autographs from Braylen Edwards, Josh Cribbs, and                                        Derek Anderson!       

You see, Clayton's middle name is Mathew.....hmmm....if you know anything about the Cleveland Browns you will know that there was a linebacker by the name of Clay Matthews....(which all of this info came out of my husband's mouth after the birth certificate was signed!)  Regardless, we had a fantastic time for our first time attending family night, and we will definitely return. It was great and gave us a kick start to football season, which I do love too!

VACATION TIME!

Alright, so we've just returned home from our annual vacation to Gull Lake. 4 years in a row now, and we've already booked our reservation for next year! What is Gull Lake? A beautiful spring fed lake, complete with gorgeous sunsets and sunrises (so I'm told on the sunrises), where we rent a house for a week with 8 other families, mostly friends from our kids' school. But the whole purpose behind Gull Lake is Gull Lake Ministries. "Vacation with a Purpose". A non-denominational family church camp, located in Michigan, and you have to check it out! The weekly schedule includes family huddle, break out sessions for kids in their age groups ranging from infants through senior high school, incredible teaching for the adults, family fun theme nights like "Funtastic Olympics", great food, great water time, incredible time for walks, bike riding, and a recreation field that includes a zip line, screamer swing, climbing wall and pamper pole. And yes, I've done all of those activities except the pamper pole! Its only a 4 1/2 hour drive from our house, and its a great time to regroup with your family. Our kids INSIST on this vacation every year. They LOVE it! Check out our pictures and check out GullLake Ministries at www.gulllake.org  OH - I O !!! We were after all in Michigan, so we have to leave some OSU Buckeyes trails!

Welcome to my blog site! Since I am a digital photographer, I know that I should be completely up with all of the latest technology. Believe me, I have come a long way. My 16 year old knows far more than I do, and since I don't utilize any of the popular online communication sites, I thought it would be best to publish my own blog. This is where I will let you know what is going on with my family, and my business, Siders Photography.

I will introduce my family to you and let you know that I have been married for 19 years to Steve Siders. He is a true artist and has his own concrete construction business. He has the best "concrete swirls" around!  Stamping, coloring...ooh la la....it is fun to see his creations. It is a very physically demanding job, and while he has already had one hip replacement, he continues with pouring and designing and we appreciate all he does.

Andrew is our 16 year old and is scheduled to get his driver's license next month. Am I ready?

Does it matter? Oh, I am bittersweetly excited as we all journey through another phase of life. Needless to say, lots of prayers will be going up minute by minute! Andrew is truly an artist as well as he is a sophomore in high school participating in plays, choir and being social. He is currently enrolled in Saturday morning art classes at CCAD (Columbus College of Art and Design) and he is my inspiration. He puts motivation and thoughts into my head and pushes me to be extremely creative with my photography. I hope to incorporate him into my business.

Clayton is our 13 year old and has more energy than any kid I know. He played 6 baseball games in 5 days, then started this past Monday at OSU for basketball camp. Friday and Saturday this weekend he is playing in a 3 on 3 basketball tournament, along with a doubleheader baseball game Saturday afternoon! He then has about 2 weeks off and football practice begins in August. He doesn't sit still for very long and one day he came home from school in his usual fare stating that his science teacher (Mrs. Gilliland) told him he would probably own his own business someday. "Those who have lots of energy usually end up owning their own businesses",  she told him. Hmmm.....I do wonder what she was really trying to tell him!

Animals?  Oh yes, we have those too. 1 dog and 4 cats. We will get more into that later.