I hope not :]

I had one of those, "go-back-to-sleep-once-the-older-kids-are-in-school" mornings, and upon wakening; found my youngest watching her cartoons like this. That doesn't make me a bad mom does it?!!?

Pumpkins

While my mom was here, we headed took our yearly trip to Burts. It was sad because the kids had be counting down the days until we went, and when we got there... there was a lot of grumpiness. Too many missed naps. :( All in all though, it went well. The kids picked out their pumpkins, we went for the hay ride, and we of course had to take some pictures!

My mom

I'm really behind. Really. :) There is so much that has been going on around here, and I just can't seem to get here to talk about it. Then it gets almost overwhelming in thinking of all I'd like to talk about. So in typical me fashion, I'm just going to throw so much out there at once! A bit ago, my mom flew out to watch the kids while Matt and I took off to NY for a few days. Then I was lucky enough she got to stay for a little longer so I could actually have a chance to see her! It was awesome. Of course, before she left I had to snap a few pictures of her and the kids. They LOVED having her here and keep talking about when she is coming back. Sad to say, I don't know when that next chance will be. So THANK YOU mom for coming to our rescue!! Everything about it was awesome!

We love you!

(and this picture is my absolute favorite. The look that I have always wanted to capture, but is hard to get "the moment" with a camera in the face. I have always loved this expression on her.)

where did the sun go?

it's been hard around here to stay motivated. the sun has disappeared for quite awhile now. we saw it for a few, and then gone, yet again. but today will be good. i'm making it good. who needs the sun anyway (besides all living life forms. i'm not talking about them). i have my list of things to get done. and they will. well on the way already. this isn't a huge overly developed list. i tend to do that and fail before i can begin. this is attainable and doable. must be done. so here i go. and i'm leaving all blinds and curtains shut. why? so i can just imagine the warm sun out there. maybe that will help. i guess on a good note, it's not dumping rain right now!

When the dust settles

So, we haven't made it too far. The stairs have been sanded. They've been ready for the next step for the last week. I just haven't made it to the store to get supplies. Sigh. This is when it's hard with kids. They are napping, need rides, in bed for the night, need to eat. Something. So here is how we've sat. {crossing fingers} We'll have it done sometime this week. So until then, here are the pictures of sanding. My men at work. See, this is how you do it. Start it, and then pass it over. Sorry for the butt shots. The best is that layer of dust. Can you see that? ALL OVER THE HOUSE. So glad I deep cleaned two weeks ago. Totally worth it. Right.

Let there be light

Si I guess I really don't have that much to talk about, although I really wanted to say something. I seem to be so busy lately, but it's a good busy. Taking pictures, going to class, running the kids everywhere, birthday parties, church stuff. You know the grind. And lucky for me this week I had one of my favorite people in the world at my house. :) Love her and her fam to death. So that was awesome. My kids (and well me too) were sad it was so short. And get this. We went up to the pumpkin patch and totally forgot the camera. I suck! Luckily we're going up there again on Monday. Maybe Wed on early release day, if we dare wait that long. The longer you wait, the less there. So we'll see! Anyway, I guess I'll put on a few photos I took for class. This one was a fun assignment. Light drawing! Just wish I was taking more pictures of MY kids for a change!

Bored, and didn't know it

I just couldn't take it one more day. Really. I stood at the bottom of my stairs, with my list of things to do, in hand, and just couldn't bring my self to do it for an other day. I will no longer vacuum those stairs. They have been in desperate need of a re-do, and I just hadn't bucked up to the challenge. This was the day. The same day I had a million other things that really did need to be done. But no. I threw a fit, and this is how it looks. Because of this temper tantrum, I now have 7 blisters, and almost ready stairs. Matt can't get back into town early enough. I have a project waiting for his help. Wahoo! It's been way to long since we've done this. I forget how happy it makes me. :)

(Okay, so this is the before, but I have to give the disclaimer that I had already started ripping out the

upper stair carpet. So all that mess in NOT how our stairs usually look. I swear!!!)

I know you're dying to see how they turn out. You are, aren't you! Give me the weekend and hopefully we'll be looking at those beauties next week. Or, at least somewhat more beautiful. :)

Missing out, but second best

Two of the biggest photographers in the children market put together this workshop called Learnfest. A 3 day workshop. I wanted desperately to go, but it didn't play out in the cards for me, and it looks like this will be their last one. :( However, I was able to get my kids in to be models for their workshops. Ase took one day, and the other two the next. Just being there those few hours 1-made me sick I didn't go to the whole thing, 2- so inspired I was grateful just for those two hours 3- determined to talk them into just one more workshop! Aside from just getting to watch these amazing women in action (which for me was the best part) I'll also get some pretty amazing photos of the kids. Yay! Tamara Lackey is one of the photographers, and has actually posted a few photos from the workshop. Just a small preview of what's to come! You'll have to check out her blog to see the pictures she has up! The first is actually me there holding the reflector, with Nutmeg and Bug sitting in the grass. Tamara is the blond closest to them. I'd say the one with the camera, but you'll see, there's not just her. A little intimidating to have 20 cameras aimed at you! If you scroll down further you'll see 3 of Ase and under that 2 of her and me (I was not supposed to be in these... and was rather embarrassed I didn't get ready.. but I'm so glad they threw me in there!). Then down toward the bottom we have Nutmeg. LOVE that last one! One day I'll be there... you'll see! The other photographer is Audrey Woulard. If you haven't heard of either of these, and you are in photography I think you're hiding under a rock. They are the stars in the industry. I'm waiting to see if she posts anything and I'll let you know!

And since I can't post without a picture..

this was for my class. The theme was lost. I ended up really liking it!

More alike than previously thought

So I've been working on some photos for an assignment. Not going as easy as thought, but I'm getting some fun stuff in the process. I was setting the girls up for a frame I was trying to get, and I was a little taken aback by this first photo. I know it's not necessarily a good photo, the colors off and everything. But I couldn't help but notice, their profiles are so similar. From the front they are very different, but the side. Wow. And the second I just love. As much as Nutmeg didn't want to be there, she can't hide that she might actually be enjoying herself! :)

We've had it up to HERE

So we are now flooded. The good 'ol GA can't seem to find that balance between flood and drought. Hopefully it will find that happy place soon. Until then, school has now been cancelled.

WHAT?!?!

I was amazed we were even able to drive and get the kids today. It was absolutely crazy. This was at the end of our driveway. Well really, at the end of every driveway and in every gutter. It completely covered my feet up to my ankles. Nuts. And can I just say, we are SO tired of the rain.

Trying

So I'm trying to see the rainbow here. It's been a rough week altogether. I can't wait for Monday, and a new start. I was trying desperatley to get out of this rut we're all in, so I grabbed Nutmeg and took a few photos. It did help... but it's gonna take a stronger dose of something to completely get us out. It's a start atleast! Enjoy.

Finding ourselves. Yet again.

So this was a happy Labor Day. Yup. Actually, it wasn't all bad for the weekend. Just on the actual Labor Day itself. Our car was broken into, and my purse and Matt's wallet were both taken. Luckily we only had $40 in cash in there... but, once again we had to close all accounts, and again, we lost who we were according to the world. No license, no bank accounts, no credit cards. And it was a holiday, so we really couldn't fix anything until the next day. It was not fun. And insurance really isn't going to help, since it won't meet the deductible. So here we are again. Same place we found ourselves just over two years ago with the break in of our house. So someone, please tell me.. do we have a target above our heads I just can't see, or what?

There were 6 other cars who were hit (we were at the sub pool), and get this. One poor guy had just had this happen to him 2 weeks ago, and it happened again that day. I think it sucks worse for him right now. How do you explain that one to insurance? "Yes, yes I know... I'm an idiot." Poor guy.

The good thing is, we did get to hang out with family that day. So it helped to relieve a little of the stress. Ahh. Happy flippen Labor Day.

So this week has been filled with sick kids, one at a time of course. Lets drag this out as LONG as we can, and reclaiming who we are. I think we've finally arrived. Again. Can we please stay for awhile this time? Please?

So here is some window glass (i had no clue it really looked green)... which let me tell you. Flies in all directions. So it appears. And also the weapon. So nice of them to leave it for us. Now if only I knew where their car was...

Tub Thinking

Today was a scrub the the tub kind of day. Which is good... it really needed it! But while Ase was playing in one of the clean tubs, and I was scrubbing another, I had a peaceful moment to think. And it reminded me of something which can relate to me again, at this current point in my life. A long time ago I used to scrap book. Then I got busy. So I just kept collecting more stuff to scrapbook with, but never actually doing it. I would mark pages and pages of scrapbook magazine for ideas. I kept reorganizing supplies thinking that would get me going. But it didn't. Never did. Once I made the transition to digital cameras (years ago) I could never get past the pictures. I was too stressed on picking the right picture, how big to print it, how many per page, etc. It's really not that big of a deal.. but I was completely stuck. Finally one year I'd had enough. I didn't want to be weighed down by this guilt anymore. The guilt of NOT scrapbooking. I wasn't something just for fun anymore. I now needed to because I'd invested all this money and space to this hobby. I'd convinced Matt I needed a table just to work on it, or another storage system for the supplies. I was so far behind it was going to be impossible to catch up and scrapbook in a way that I would like. And if nothing else, when it came to scrap booking, I liked it, but didn't love it. As said, it stressed me out. I'm a perfectionist. So what did I do?

I sold it.

ALL OF IT.

Storage systems, paper, cutting tools, everything. I knew if I didn't commit... I'd start collecting stuff again. I needed this gone. Lucky for me we had a garage sale coming, and the scrapbook stuff? First things gone. Two people came and wiped it all out. That should have been a sign right there that this was all for something more. All I knew at the time was that I felt so much better. This weight really had been lifted. And not just that but I had more room in my house too! And you know what I did? I really started trying to take pictures. It wasn't a consciouse discision, but something that just came out. It wasn't until over a year later that I was able to look back and see how it all fit together.

Once I let go of something I really didn't need, I was able to let something much better (for me atleast) in. As soon as that scrapbook stuff was gone, I actually started trying to learn my camera. I started taking more and more pictures. I even started slowly taking some for others. Hind-sight I can see the photographer inside of me trying to find a way out... but I never listened! I was always drawn to photos. I have collected frames unknowingly for years (just take a peak in my closet!), all those scrapbook magazines I'd bookmarked? All with PICTURE ideas. It had nothing to do with the scrapbook layout. :) Ever since Bug was born I was always setting him up in funny little displayes, trying to get something greater than I could create. Looking back, it was always there.. I was just too busy listening to a nagging, tired voice instead.

Don't get me wrong though. I truely am grateful for my scrapbooking stint. Without it I wouldn't have constantly looked through pages of photos I wanted to create. I wouldn't of had something to occupy me until I was ready. But I am grateful. Grateful I did let go when the time came. That I didn't hold onto something longer than for the time I needed it.

So here's to letting go, and welcoming in the new. Whatever it may be!

iN thE sUn

These aren't new, to me atleast. They are from our summer vacation. Around here we've had nothing but rain. Maybe that's why I was drawn to these. Nothing but sun and playing in the sprinklers. Mmmmm... I could go back to that about now!

Free time? What mom do you know?

So what have I been doing now that the kids are in school? I wish I had this huge awesome list to share. But of course, I don't. I will say however, I have managed to keep the house clean for the last three weeks! Really! So far so good. And the kids haven't been late to school, although we've had two close calls with alarms not going off. I hung a bunch of stuff in the house. Been very efficient in my shopping and returns. Actually went to the post office. TWICE! Kept up on the bills nicely. Worked out (not completely in a routine yet.. but close). And blogged twice (which lately that's doing quite well now isn't it?!). So no, not some awesome list... but I am happy with it. Very happy with it! I won't mention what I have on the list TO DO. I mean, really. When you have this to compete with, it's hard to turn her down!

and I do have to say, there is just something emotional for me, in this first picture. Maybe because she just looks older to me? I can't figure it out.

oUR sUmmEr iN a DaY!

So there is no way I'm gonna catch everyone up on our summer... so here's how it's going down.

(in no particular order of course)

In the Summer of '09 we:

Visited 8 states

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. Alabama

4. Utah

6. Montana

7. Wyoming

8. Idaho

Went to the pool day, after day, after day

Celebrated the 4th of July

Went to Bear World

Went boating twice

Rode the Heber Creeper

Celebrated 4 birthday in our family and 3 with extended family

1. Pa

2. Diana

3. Aunt Kristi

4. Matt

5. Grandmom

6. Ase

7. Bug


Attended a wedding (See photography blog)

Saw the Grand Tetons

Blew out Matt's knee

Visited Yellowstone (stinky guysers!)

Took swimming lessons

And kissed a horse

So there you have it. Highlights of our summer. As much fun as it all was, sometimes, it just feels good to be home!

I did it, I did it,

I did it, Yay! (put up a new post that is)
Are you just about sick of that last post yet? Her going to cheer camp was exciting, but really... not THAT exciting. :) The summer months have just gone way to quick and are back in school. *sigh* So here are the kids, on Monday before heading out to school. 6:30 in the morning is WAY to early if you ask me... but doesn't look like there's much chance. We can't even really hope for a snow day here. So Bug was SUPER excited to go to school. He was up and dressed before my alarm went off. Crazy nut. Nutmeg on the other hand... well, lets just say the nerves set in. And don't let the pictures fool you. I don't know how she pulled those out because, she cried at the drop of a hat and wanted nothing to do with getting ready. But at the same time, was excited. It was rough. She just kept telling us she was too shy and nervous. When we got to classes, Bug was outta there. No biggie for him. Then off to drop Nutmeg off. She was being very brave and strong, putting all her stuff away just like they told her to do. Then they sent her to the table to color. She was very aggressively coloring. I knew it was all she could do to not cry right then. Matt really wanted to go and give her a hug goodbye, not realizing the fraility of the situation and that's when she broke. Clinging onto his legs. Tears streaming down her face. Not about ready to let go. It was really sad. They ended up kind of prying her off his leg so he could leave and we left her there. Piled in a heap on the floor. Crying. Lucky for me we've done this before in Pre-K. So I was some what prepped. But it's still hard to leave your little one on their first day, like that. Well... she is loving it now, so it's all okay! Wow. A Kindergartener and a 1st grader!

Go! Nutmeg Go!

I little while back Nutmeg actually did a cheerleading camp. If you knew her, you'd realize this was a BIG thing! She doesn't like to take any classes, let alone a cheer camp. It was really cute though. I am not and advocate for cheer, I'll be the first to tell you.. but hey. She actually wanted to do something. So I decided to support her. And it went well! We'll have to see if maybe this has opened her up a little more. Maybe.

the circus clown car

We've been doing a lot this summer, and I have no intention of being able to catch up with it all. I know I would just be setting myself up for failure. So I'll just keep posting some here and there sprinkled with a few of the "real time" activities. This one was a fun picture to try and work out. A couple of weeks ago my mom, dad, and baby brother flew out here to visit. We all hopped in the car and drove 12 hours to see my sister in Texas. Crazy would be the only word for it. So I had to capture us all in the car. Matt wasn't able to go since he had work.. which I will say; it helped a lot with car space. One more pair of long tall legs in the car might have been one too many. Really though, the drive when respectably well I'd say. The kids did much better than I anticipated! We had a bunch of outtakes trying for this picture as you could only imagine, but this was the closest to having ALL of us in there. Too bad I hogged so much of the camera and didn't give my dad a little more face time. Sorry dad!!

Happy everything to my man!

So I've been mia for a bit again. Summer has taken it's hypnotic trance over me and I can't seem to find myself sitting in front of the computer AT ALL! But I've missed all of this, so I'm trying to get myself to be patient and sit here for at least 5 minutes. Tops. I just couldn't go without saying how much I love Matt. Really. Sunday happened to be his birthday andFather's Day. Something he was not happy about. He wanted his two special days to be just that. Two. And Sunday is never the fun day to have your birthday on anyway. Poor guy! But we tried to make it special and have fun anyway, so hopefully it worked. :) I wanted to get a picture of all the kids with him, which is NO fun. He was actually a very good sport for me, which was a pleasant surprise. You would have thought it was my birthday! It was naturally the kids. But o-well. Those things are what makes the portrait, right?! And then Bug really wanted to take some pictures too... so he was the one behind the camera taking of Matt and I. It was so adorable to watch him "work the camera". We were trying so hard not to laugh! Too cute!