Photoshoot with three Trofholz boys

I had so much fun meeting up with these charming young men bright & early Saturday morning!

 I was really excited when their mom contacted me in regards to "shooting" their pics.

 The is the "middle-man" Nick.

 Are they all so handsome or what?

 Such sweeties

 can  you tell who the "crazy man" of the family is here??  :-)

 Sometimes it's difficult to decide to go with B&W or color...so here I went with both  :-)

Mom & dad watch from afar.

 Macho man Charlie

The little Tofholz boy, Nate  :-)

 A sweet brotherly love moment.

I think this one is among my faves from the morning  :-)

***

My little photo biz is really taking off...

Sherri Harnisch Picture Taker web site

Word of mouth advertising is the BEST!  I figure if I could do one shoot every couple weeks or so, that's good enough for me.  Just enough to keep a little more busy and have a little bit of fun with it - Plus I learn something new about my camera at every shoot  :-)

ProCare3 Swim Therapy

Last week Casie (Vollen's momma) set up a private Swim Therapy session with her Physical Therapist at ProCare 3 Pediatrics for our Down Syndrome group.  There were 7 little ones total who showed up to participate in the "3 & under" class.  We had a FUN time!

We have learned and read that aquatic therapy can be extremely beneficial for our little one's with Down Syndrome.  Water therapy can enhance strength, endurance, and social skills.  It can encourage productive movement and expand sensory experiences.  Not only can it increase function in the areas of OT & PT, but new research shows that a child's speech can also benefit greatly by exposure to the water and utilization of proper breath control techniques, blowing bubbles, hearing their echo on the water, etc...

McKenzie & Joe check out the pool.

Vollen is READY to go!

Macy had a great time in the VERY warm water...it was like 99 degrees and so was the room.  Very comfortable.

Heather, the PT, went over water safety rules, demonstrated a few proper ways for our little ones to enter the water, how to get them used to the water, she showed us techniques to work on and improve breath control, and showed us several positions for water play and muscle strengthening and toning.

It was a JAM-PACKED hour!

Macy wasn't quite sure about these "noodle" activities just yet.

 I am so glad and thankful that Casie was able to get this class arranged for us all.  This was the first of it's kind offered here.  Heather made it very cost-efficient for us all too.  :-)  Water Therapy with other places for children with special-needs can be quite costly.  (And I'm not sure how most insurance plans recognize it's necessity, we all know how "FUN" it is to deal with the insurance company after-all!)  I discussed the idea with my Early Intervention team, they looked into it, considered it, but at the end of the day were unable to facilitate it (at least not yet).  I think their rejection of it was mostly due to liability purposes.  Which is understandable.

Bubba showing off his muscles to McKenzie, who was spectating the swim class.  The PT used him to demonstrate several skills to the rest of the class, he did a GREAT job and set a shining example for the rest of the little ones.

Well hello Miss Eisley  :-)

That's sweet Harper looking in the camera's direction.

McKenzie, Eisley & Claire talking about how much fun they had learning to swim  :-)

And she's done..."let's go home now - places to go, people to see" she says.  :-)

 THANKS CASIE FOR SETTING ALL THIS UP...AND THANKS FOR SHARING THESE GREAT PICS TOO  :)

 ****

After Swim Class we met up with the Mallory's for some weekend camping out at Two Rivers.  It was a GORGEOUS night!!  

Little Miss Macy woke me up and had me cuddling and watching over her closely for a few hours in the middle of the night though.  She, out of the blue, developed a cruddy cough, had shallow, deep, quick breathing, her chest rising and falling more than usual, and had a real raspy voice.  I was prepared to take her in to Urgent Care first thing in the morning.  But the strangest thing happened around 5:00am.  She, all the sudden was back to 100% normal.  No more cough, or labored breathing.  hmmmm.  Our theory is that the extremely warm water and hot/humid pool room (which was like a steam room) loosened up some flem/crud that she had been building up, and she (with her narrowed airways) was having a hard time "passing it".  Apparently it PASSED at 5am.  whew.

All is well now!  The Silly goose had me worried for a bit though  :-)

Barn Burn!

The Harnisches have a couple farm places up in Snyder, NE.  Joe's dad, Jerry, still farms the land each year...Corn & beans...about 100 acres or so (I think). This compliments his job as a college professor nicely.  I don't think Grandpa Harnisch likes "down-time".  I know that his sons like to getaway from their "suit & tie" jobs and run out to the farm to help plant, harvest and just keep the property cleaned up.  Joe LOVES throwing on his old (tight ankle jeans) and boots.
The North farm place (where Fritz & Orlinda raised their four boys and lived most their life) had a few old wooden barns that have fallen in on themselves over the years.  Most of the good wood and windows have been retrieved from the piles, but now they just need to GO!
So, the local Fire Department came by and took care of it for us  :-)

 The firefighters hosed down the house, all the surrounding buildings, trees and grass in effort to preserve them.

 This is the Chicken Coup nearby (back in the day this was a fully operational farm with all sorts of animals, chickens, dairy cows, etc)...this coup did NOT get burned down, I just liked how the sun sun was setting behind the trees so I took it's picture  :-)

 setting it ablaze!

 It's building up...

 Mason watches and waits...

 Mason looking closely into the lens (I told him there was an elephant inside)...hehe

 Cousins Ash & Autumn

 Macy says "Let's get this PARTY STARTED!"

 Macy teasing uncle Ja

 Our little Diva girl, who is so cool she has to wear shades  :)

 Hi Macy!

 hosing it down to keep it under "control".

 The sun setting behind us.

 Most of our gang spectating.

 Movin' on to another barn down the hill

 Macy felt like pretty "hot stuff" sitting in the front seat of Grandma Harnisches car!

 Spraying the trees above with water...they got a little torched to say the least...but I think they're gonna be okay.

 that's a hot door...do not open it.

 Jerry, Ja & Joe standing by.  (I think there is some sort of unwritten rule that states, when out at the farm one must wear dirty old tee's and really old jeans).

 Looks like Ashlynn is taking a pic  :-)

 why not?

 McKenzie thinks that's pretty cool.

 Mason and McKenzie try very hard to kick, rock and push this hay bail down...to no avail.

 best seat in the house!

 Mason was doing the robot for me.

Pretty girls!

 look, I exist!  Joe took a pic of me  :-)

 This was toward the end of the night (Macy had been taking a nap with Grandma)...she looks a LITTLE tired, don't ya think??

 Grandpa and his girl (one of nine at least)  :-)

 Darkness has set it...it's just about time for this Harnisch crew to take off!

 One last shot before we leave...this is the view from the highway.

I set the shutter speed was really slow here, it took about 35 seconds to complete this shot.  Had to keep it VERY still so it would not be too blurry.  I think it turned out pretty cool  :-)  Weird how it was pitch dark, but somehow the sky looks lit-up and blue.

*******

It was a gorgeous night out at the farm!  Great to catch up and just "chill" with the family as we watched a piece of history burn to the ground.  Probably a little bittersweet for Joe's dad who grew up here.  At least it was only three buildings, there is still plenty left to the farm place!