I'm so excited...

I bought a website template for my photography business.....so I'll be working on that over the next few weeks...and in addition to that I will be starting another blog specifically for my photography where I will post sneak peeks of sessions I have done as well as any news/updates etc...

All I ever wanted in life is to be happy and taking pictures makes me so happy...Katie Mathews Photography is becoming a reality and I feel so blessed to be able to use my God given talent to make a little money for my family and to make others happy with my storytelling images...

Happy New Year everyone!!

This one is for Ed....

I sent this adorable picture to Diana tonight and Ed said..."doesn't she ever take pics with their clothes on?"

He was giving me grief of course because my son never wears shirts (and at night you can rarely find him with much on..he loves to be in his bday suit)....but tonight at Grandma's...the boys took a bath together....so this is a very tasteful pic that I think is cute as can be..what do you think? :)

I did chuckle as I looked through my last few blog posts though....my son isn't wearing a shirt in a few of them...lol

Four Generations

This week we are lucky enough to have my Grandma, Aunt Ann and her boyfriend John visiting from Minnesota.....we had a gorgeous day today - it was almost 80 degrees!! This afternoon we went to the beach to take a few pictures, but most importantly, we wanted a 4 generations picture....Anthony & Edwin, Diana & I, Mom and Ann, and Grandma.....we are so blessed that we are all alive and well :) Thanks to Dad for taking the pics..here are a couple to share....

New Toy(s)!!!

I got lots of new camera toys for Christmas...I'm spoiled rotten...so I made Anthony be my model tonight....whatcha think? (The colors in the background of the one pic are the lights from the Christmas Tree).... I'll post Christmas pics this weekend...this was just a quickie post before bed...

It's Christmas Eve.....

And my little man is sick :-(

He has a bad ear infection and he's coughing and sniffling and he's downright miserable...but I think some presents will help make him feel better...good thing it's Christmas Eve! Tonight we will go to the Mathews Family Celebration...it's always a fun time...Mom, Dad, Diana and Edwin will be joining us too and we're all going to go to the Children's Mass at 4pm...a great way to start the 2 day celebration....tomorrow we will go to Jimmy and Judy's for breakfast in the morning and exchange gifts and then tomorrow afternoon we will go to Diana and Ed's to exchange gifts and have dinner with the rest of the family..unfortunately Ed has to work today and tomorrow (the life of a Chef...) and Grandma, Ann and John will be arriving in Raleigh (from Minnesota) around 3:30pm tomorrow so we will have a late dinner and gifts...but that's ok....it'll stretch out our time together....

Well time to go finish wrapping a few gifts....I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and stay safe..I wish we could be with all of our family and friends at this time of year, but since we can't..know that I am thinking of you today...

Love to all..
The Mathews Family

P.S. Here's another funny "out-take" from our Christmas card shoot...just cracked me up!

It's almost time....

I don't know who is more excited...Anthony or ME!!! Only one more day until Christmas Eve...wooo hooooo.....

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Look what I got!

My hubby sent me this beautiful Chrismas arrangement at work today - what a surprise! It smells so yummy....Diana just happened to have her camera with her so we took a couple of quick pics...

Some Ramblings

Wow...things have been busy lately....I've done 3 photoshoots in the last month and have had to proof/edit the pics....then I took pics last weekend at our work 5K so I've been on the computer a lot but no spare time for blogging....

I also haven't taken any recent pics of my son...crazy huh? But I'm planning to take some this weekend so I will post them soon....

I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season and isn't getting too bogged down by the hustle and bustle..I'm trying my hardest to not try to do everything, but that's easier said than done.....

This weekend we will be doing our annual Gingerbread house so I'll be sure to post some pics of that...I think we might do a gingerbread tree too....Brian and Anthony always do the fun stuff and I take the pics...this year I want to play too :)

well that's it for now....just wanted to say helllooooo out there!

My turn for celebrity look alikes...

Diana and Jenny did this awhile back..today I saw Jody Dobo did one so I figured I'd give it a try....one of mine was Gerald Ford but I couldn't bring myself to leave that on there....what's up with that?? lol

Kids Say the Darndest Things....

Here's the conversation between my son and I tonight...completely out of the blue..

Anthony: Mommy, are you going to have another baby?
Me: Maybe, why? Do you want me to?
Anthony: Yes, I want you to have 2 girls
Me: You do?
Anthony: yup

Fast forward 10 minutes.....we're now in the house (we were in the car before)
Me: So, Anthony....you want me to have 2 babies?
Anthony: Yup
Me: Last night you said you wanted me to have 3 baby girls
Anthony: I changed my mind
Me: Oh, ok - well, you'll have to tell Daddy
Anthony: Ok......well how are you going to make those babies?
Brian & I: Ummm...well....umm....when 2 people love each other a lot....they kiss n stuff and God gives you a baby
Anthony: Well, do it right now!
Me: Umm....hey....it's Bath Time!!! Let's go get in the tub...

hahahahha

Why I live in NC...and not Duluth, MN

Ho Ho Ho

Last Friday night, Mom treated all of us to "Enchanted Airlie"....

Airlie's ancient gardens are transformed into a visually stunning wonderland of theatrically illuminated large oaks, small native trees, and elegant displays. What could be more enchanting than a glittering landscape of lighted oaks and twinkling displays in a post-Victorian garden setting? Enchanted Airlie promises an evening of simple pleasures for all ages. Leisurely nighttime strolls through 30 acres of tastefully decorated gardens are enhanced by live entertainment. Santa greeted the children and listened to their holiday requests in the North Pole tent.

Anthony & Edwin loved seeing Santa....Anthony got shy and didn't have much to say...Edwin just kept staring at him.....here's one pic of the 3 of them....(I'll post some more later)....

O Christmas Tree...

Here's a few pics from our little trip to pick out a Christmas Tree....as usual, Anthony ran around and wouldn't let me take his picture (except for this Power Ranger stance)...
We picked out a nice tree (on Sunday) and came home and decorated it...when I get through those pics I'll post some...but for now...here's some from the tree lot...
Also...on Saturday, Diana, Jenny and I went through some of Anthony's old clothes and this cute overall outfit is one of Anthony's old ones and so are the boots..notice the scuff marks...so cuuuute!

Testing, 1, 2, 3

Hey...So I'm playing around in Photoshop tonight and wanted to upload this cutie patootie picture of Josh - the newest Mathew's Family member...he belongs to Brian's cousin Tammy and her husband....I took this on Turkey Day....more pics and blogging to follow soon...hopefully still tonight....

Still here....

Hey all...
I've been a blog slacker but I'm still here....I don't like to post if I don't have a pic to include, but I haven't picked up my camera in over a week.....I'm still battling tremendous pain...mostly in my back....I've been to the pain mgmt doctor/back institute..I had to have an MRI last week and I'm still waiting to hear the results.....the back pain has been bad enough that I ended up staying home from work on Friday and I've been working from home every afternoon for the last few days...so I've just been too drugged up and miserable to care about blogging...sorry...

My boys are doing good....Brian is excited to get the Christmas decorations put up....how is it almost time for Christmas already? I just can't believe it....!! Anthony was going through the Walmart Christmas Wish Book last night and picking out everything he wants....he wants everything...haha...well that makes shopping easy....

Next week Dave and Jenny are coming for Thanksgiving...we're so excited to see them....again..I can't believe it's time for Thanksgiving already....but I'm so looking forward to it...I get almost a whole week off from work and get to spend time with 2 of my favorite people (and the rest of my favorite people)....

I'll try to take a pic or two tonight...in case you forgot what Anthony looks like..haha.....

L'il T

Last night I was editing some pics from Anthony's Tball games and trying to get the rest of the pics posted to the site for the parents and coaches....I ran across this one of my sweet little boy and thought I'd share it....

I usually watch 30 min of the game in the stands and the other 30 min I go in the dugout with the team and take pics from the doorway to the field...Anthony always gets a little shy and serious around the other kids.....and every once in awhile he poses for me (on his own)...

Today is Friday...wooo hoooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Trick or Treat...

We had a great time Trick or Treating last night in our neighborhood....Anthony and Daniel (neighbor) are both 4 (almost 5) and it was so cute to see them go from house to house with no fear....last year they still wanted Mom & Dad close by....

We also had little Mr Pumpkin Head join us for his first Halloween...he looked absolutely adorable....his suit was so soft and fuzzy and he actually left the hood up...

After trick or treating in our neighborhood, Diana & Mom took Edwin to Trunk or Treat...I was too beat by then and we hadn't had any dinner, so they went on without us..sounds like they had a good time...we had dinner and called it an early night...

Enjoy the pics...these were just my favorites...I have about 75 more..haha...gotta love digital!!

Happy Halloween!!

It's that time again...halloween!! On Saturday, we went to the annual Sun Coast Cruisers Cruise In at Arbys.....Brian won best costume 3 years in a row.....!! My husband is quite impressive with a few boxes....he came up with this idea on Friday night...we went and got some boxes and within an hour or two he had this made!

The next picture is of Anthony...he is the Blue Power Ranger...it's very important to get the "blue" in there...apparently the blue PR is the leader...Anthony refused to let me take his picture on Saturday night so I was glad to find that Brian brought home the polaroid pic that they took of Anthony at the fall festival at his preschool on Friday night....he won 2nd place in the costume contest!

And last but not least...there is Pappy...a.k.a. the Sun GHOST Cruiser....cute huh?

Tonight we're going to do some trick or treating in the neighborhood and then I think we might go with Diana to a Trunk or Treat at her church...

Tball ended last night - it was so much fun and such a great season, but I think we're all glad it's over and we get our evenings back again...(to post blog entries?!?)

Love to you all and stay safe on this spoooooky Halloween!!

So cute...

I was just looking through some pics I took today and I just love this one...I hope Diana & Ed like it too :)

Another weekend...another pumpkin patch

Just a quick picture from the Pumpkin Patch today...this is the one we usually go to....it's at a church close to our house and they always have lots n lots of pumpkins (unlike the one last weekend where they were all spread out)....Anthony insisted on holding Edwin a couple of different times...

We have tball tomorrow night and tuesday night and it's Mom's bday tomorrow so I probably won't get to post again until the middle of the week...I know I've been a bit of a blog slacker lately but it's because I've been extremely busy with a big event at work (I'll post more about that later)....

Have a great week everyone and Happy Birthday, Mom!

Our Day at the Farm....

So yesterday we went to this place called Mike's Farm...it's about an hour away in the country....they have a restaurant (the old farm house)....gift shop, petting zoo, an old barn where "cowboy earl" sang songs to the kids....there was a hayride out to the pumpkin patch....it was really fun. Diana and Edwin went along w/Brian, Anthony & I....we got there at about 2pm because earlier in the day we went to Aunt Kathy & Uncle Donnie's (Uncle Donnie had to look at Diana's car for her - he saved Diana about $500 so that started the day off great)... Ginger was in town so we got to see her and her little preggo belly and Angie and Harry were there too. We haven't been over there for a while so it was nice to see them and they loved seeing Edwin & Anthony....
At the farm we had a great day..the weather was gorgeous and on the way back from the pumpkin patch (on the hay ride)....Edwin fell asleep on me....I of course loved it! We went to Jacksonville to Red Lobster for dinner after the farm (we don't have Red Lob in Wilmington)...and we got home around 7:30pm last night....a long day but it was great...I'm so glad that Diana (and her boys) live here....I can't imagine life without them close by....I wish Mom and Dad had been able to go but we'll hit the local "pumpkin patch" one day this week....
Now we just need Jenny & Dave to move down here and life will be perfect :)

Here's a few of the pics from our day....

Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend....Mom and Dad went out of town for a wedding (in Hickory), so after work on Friday we went with Diana and Edwin to eat and then we went to Michaels for a little bit...I love friday nights because I actually relax a little bit knowing I have 2 whole days off before going back to work....

Before we went to dinner, Diana wanted to have me take a picture of Edwin in this cute little track suit from Aunt Annie....before we knew it..it turned into a little impromptu photo shoot...here are some of my favorites....(how could any of them be bad...look at the subject..haha)

Fall is Here!!

I'm so excited that fall is finally here....we had a beautiful day here today....right at about 73 degrees...we took a little road trip about an hour away to a place called Mike's Farm (out in the country). We took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch - it was so fun. I'll write more later and add more pics, but here's a couple from our day.