The Nino File » Portrait

The Official Big Graduation Remembrance [School]

ninophile — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 15:52:12 +0000

Whatever my duties around here, I’ve been quite remiss in fulfilling them at least since Holly ran her Alaskan marathon. And while I’d love to say that it’s because nothing much has been happening around here, I cannot tell that lie. I have been waiting on some official photos and such to come my way, but it’s been about 1 part waiting on stuff and 7 parts lazy. But all that ends today, probably.

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since Madysen graduated high school. And while my photos and video of the happening were awesome, the official video and photo are, well, more official. But I’ve spared you the trouble of reliving all 150+ minutes by cutting down the ceremony to ~~the best~~ 3 minutes.

Wishing you’d have been there for the whole thing, I’m sure. And now for the official graduation photo.

Bam!

It’s Here, Baccalaureate is Really Here [School]

ninophile — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:56:14 +0000

Really hard to believe we’ve gotten this far. Seems like not too long ago, Madysen was still my baby girl–and she listened to at least a portion of what I said. But this evening, she’ll officially graduate from high school. And she’ll do so with a lot more honors than I graduated with.

All of the graduation stuff really got started last Sunday morning with the Baccalaureate Service held at the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Dallas Arts District. All of the kids got to attend as did Holly’s mom and Grandma Flossie.

The service was nice with the keynote address by Donovan Campbell, former Marine and author of Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood. We managed to get seats on the aisle that Madysen entered and exited, but Madysen and the lighting failed to cooperate.

Then it was time for lots of celebratory photos.

(Nice choice by whomever chose the spot near the recycling wall plaque.)

And because we are the worst parents ever, we made all the kids pose for a handful of pictures. You can see the pain increase in Speed’s face with each picture.

Even one of Madysen with all the Speed women.

Sufficiently drained from all of that, we went to a brunch for Madysen and 24 other graduates at the Brook Hollow Golf Club.

Emma graduates from elementary school today as well. Not sure we’ll make it through the day.

Thanks, But No Thanks: School [Portraits]

ninophile — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:23:52 +0000

How many freaking portraits do they really think I’m going to buy in a school year? I already bought them in the fall, and I regret that considering the cost and quality. No way I’m buying these from the spring.

2nd grade Emma

4th grade Layla

School Portraits: Some Are Too Cool For Them [Portraits]

ninophile — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:52:08 +0000

Even though we have crazy kids running around this place, only the two sweet little girls have school portraits taken. And, for the record, I think that school portraits are a huge and ridiculous racket. Instead of a purchasing an overpriced and oddly assembled picture package, we paid a pretty penny for a CD for one picture in three different finishes. Outrageous for the price.

Anyway, Emma’s second grade portrait.

Layla’s fourth grade portrait.

Our Little Artist: Emma Paints Portraits [Funny]

ninophile — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:16:20 +0000

Anyone else feel like all I do is document the kids’ sporting events? Not today.

On Sunday, for whatever reason, Emma decided she wanted to paint portraits of the family. She started with me, then did Madysen, then abandoned the rest of the family. Instead, she painted a picture of a friend, her mother, and her regular babysitter. Finny girl.

Reminds me of her drawing of Layla in the future. (For the record, Madysen’s head is much bigger than mine.)

Carry These Pictures Set To Music [Video]

ninophile — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:31:24 +0000

I posted a bunch of pictures from a great birthday party photo shoot that Layla was a part of in early July. She also received this slideshow of those great photos. Enjoy.

[Originally posted January 29, 2008]

Carry These Pictures: I Never Had a Birthday Party Like This–Thankfully [Portraits]

ninophile — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 02:50:16 +0000

You know me as a photo savant. And considering that I have this gem in my repertoire, who can argue? They say that a poor craftsmen blames his tools. Which is true–except for in this case, it is the fault of my tools. But I digress.

Humility forces me to recognize that there are some who, on rare occasions, can exceed even my lofty heights. About two months ago, Layla got to be part of one such occasion. As part of a friend’s birthday, the friend (Anna) had four girls partake in an afternoon photo shoot.

The photos, taken by Andie Hamilton, are amazing. Below are just a few.

My favorite (and Layla’s):

Thanks Andie for the great photos. And, Anna, thanks for letting Layla in on the fun.

[Originally posted August 15, 2007]

The 2007 Tulips Were Much Better [Dallas]

ninophile — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:06:43 +0000

So last year around this time, we went to the Dallas Arboretum for its Dallas Blooms event. But we went too late to see the tulips in bloom.

On Sunday, we all went back and had much better luck. The tulips, my favorite flower, were incredible. (Madysen claimed it was effiminent (my word, not hers) for me to have a favorite flower. Poppycock!) Emma was our tour guide, continually showing us where we were on the map.

The grounds are quite pleasant in their own right.

Saw some wildlife too.

And got some good pictures of the kids. Most were a little too staged by us (i.e., Holly).

By the end, they were a little less statuesque.

After, we had a great lunch at Chuy’s. Speed didn’t finish his “Big As Yo’ Face” burrito–again.

New Home, New School, Only Some New Portraits [Portraits]

ninophile — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 18:55:34 +0000

Prior to the 2006-07 school year, we had purchased school pictures of the kids. See, e.g., the 2005-06 school portraits. But for whatever reason, we only got some school pictures for this year. I know things were crazy with the move to a new house on the first day of school in a new school district and maybe the school picture process was different with Madysen and Speed in 8th and 6th grades, respectively.

Whatever the reason, here’s what we’ve got. Layla’s 2nd grade portrait at Hyer Elementary and Mrs. Zmigrosky’s class picture:

And Emma’s Hyer Kindergarten portrait (her first school portrait!) and Miss Zadina’s class picture.

Funny that Emma and Layla had teachers whose last names started with “Z.”

[Originally posted August 12, 2011]

Speed’s New Club Team [Soccer]

ninophile — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 18:21:00 +0000

[Note: No idea why I'm posting these pictures from Speed's 2006-07 club soccer team in mid-2011.]

Speed’s 2005-06 club soccer year went okay, but there was one particular issue having to do with the coach’s son being on the team that made returning to the team impracticable. So the Little Rock swamp scrimmages spelled the end of our time there.

And because he wanted to keep playing, we had to find anew team–a time-consuming and unfun process. E.g., the time we went to a practice of a team looking for a striker and Speed volunteered to play leftback. He ended up at the remnants of the team that he was going to play for the year before, but it didn’t quite make the year before.

Texans FC Blue 95B was it. Not exactly a step up (they played in the same division as Speed’s old team had), but he already knew and like the coach along with several of the boys. And the practice facility (as well as the league fields) was just a couple of miles from our house. That is, until we moved 25 miles south with 95% of the club year to go.

In fact, so much of the season was left that the club took team portraits the weekend after we moved.

The next 10 months of 3-4 games/practices a week were not nearly as enjoyable as they should have been.

[Originally posted August 12, 2011]