learning toughness at school

If she hasn't learned anything else (which by the way she has) I know she just had a lesson on toughing it up. This is what I found when I picked up her up from school. It doesn't look near as bad as it was really. Another kid "collided" with her and she was the one resulting in injury. Poor thing. I guess she was pretty shaken up, and the teacher actually wanted to call me... but the school said no, since she didn't need to go to the hospital. :( Funny she hasn't complained too much. That's not like her! Now if she could toughen up like that at home.... ;)

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

It all started for us about 7:00 this morning, and considering the kids were up until 9 last night... that was WAY to early! And they were NOT going to let us sleep in. Any other morning, sure. But not today. Naturally. After some breakfast the boys took off to help a friend move into a new house. So us girls, girlified! We have pink sugar cookie hearts, and pink milk. Heart shaped sandwiches, and heart shaped cards. Pink clothes (however I don't know if Nutmeg will get her way all day...I'm in pink pajama pants!), pink painted nails, and now.. a very valentiney hair-do. I think the boys are going to be very glad they escaped for a bit! Nutmeg has 2 hearts in her hair, one on each side, and Ase just has one on the top. It was so easy, and super cute!

Paying it forward

I got this from my friend Becky. I thought it was so cool, so had to jump on board. Thanks for inspiring us all do good! You always have! :)

Pay it forward...

This is how it works..... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise (but if there is anything in particular you like, let me know!) BUT, in order for you to leave a comment on my blog, you have to post this on your blog first. (That means that sometime during this year you will send a gift to 3 people as well.) Get it? So, the first 3 people to comment on this post will be the lucky ones!

blue

I don't even like the color blue. But I guess, to be fair it was supposed to be purple. Not blue! I did like it though. A lot! I was so bored with my hair, and have always wanted to put some color in it. But my husband, as much as he is an amazing person, was completely against it. Why, I'm not sure. Not very professional he'd say. Um... hello! I work at home. How much more condusive could it be. So I decided to get some purple put in. Just a couple hidden streaks in the middle. And I wanted a really deep purple. One that you'd look at and say "Is that purple? No it's just black... wait. I think it really is purple" type of purples. Yea, it wasn't. It was blue. Very true, blue. Again, I really didn't care. But Matt really did. He just kept repeating that it will wash out soon. Which it does, sadly. But the poor guy. He's been waiting for it to disappear, which it nearly has, to find me today saying I'm going to get some more color back on there. Yea, I think he's glad to go on another trip! But now I'm back to picking any color I want. I've done blue, so I'm trying to decide what else to go for. I might just give the purple one more shot. If that doesn't work... I'll do something else. Or, if Matt is lucky enough I'll just let it all wash off. I will have to admit though. It's a little addictive! So to those who kept asking for a picture of the blue... this is all I have. You really couldn't see it, despite what Matt said. I even circled it to help out. Yes, that is blue you see! Maybe. If you can see it!

If I posted any more

I have a feeling, No, I know this is what my husband was going to do if I kept posting any more pictures on my blog that weren't "us". :)

But first I just have to point out that this is my blog. I didn't start it to be the "family blog" although most of what I post is about my family. I just wanted something for me, and of course, I have to post pictures of my kids because they are such a HUGE part of my life! Besides, have you found a post on here that he did? Nope. So really, I am still putting my foot down that this is mine! But as a compromise....

I went ahead and started another blog for the photos I do for/of others. Maybe this will keep us all happy? It's worth a shot! So anyway, bookmark the other one too, and please feel free to check out, leave feedback and whatever. I LOVE hearing from all of you no matter what you say! The link is on the top right, or follow it below. But PLEASE don't forget me here too! Love you all!

www.diatphotography.blogspot.com

100 days and not looking back

So last week Bug hit his "100th day of school". It was a big deal! I even was lucky enough to be able to go in and help with the festivities during class. The kids have been waiting so long for this day. I think it's cute. Makes me wonder if we did the same thing when I was in Kindergarten and I just don't remember. Funny how you could forget something that at the time was a HUGE mile marker. Either way, I had to get some pictures in his hat he made. Know one thing I love about this kid. He just doesn't care what others think. He wore this hat all day at school, when most had taken theirs off, and didn't care one bit. He even wore it for all of lunch. And when I went to pick him up from school... yup. Still wearing it! I hope that self confidence sticks.

This happened first thing that morning....

He said: "Mom, today's your lucky day."

Me: "Why is that?"

Him: "You get to go two places today mom. To my class to help, and to YW! That really is a lucky day for you!"

Me: (really thinking that I must get out more, but impressed at his thoughtfulness).









this would have to be one of Bugs best friends. And it couldn't have worked out better that I love his mom to pieces and they live right across the street. May neither of us EVER move!

swapping kids

(*if you're looking for the pictures that used to be here of "miss C", they've been moved to my new photography blog.. so check it out there! Or just follow the link on the top right. dia.T.photography. Either will get you to the same place!)

NO, I don't want to swap kids really. (And please make sure you read that as swapping and swatting. Completely different!) I just do on Monday and Thursdays for a few hours. It's a great break, and it gives me a chance to go and volunteer in at Bugs school. So Mondays I send little Ase off, and on Thursday I gain one or two. It works great. It's one of my good friends I swap with, so there is no stress, and besides... we get to hang out a bit after the swap. It's been great. Oh, and she has 3 kids all roughly the same age as mine, however all girls. Not that that has stopped anyone.
No.
All the kids love to play together regardless. So yesterday when I had the girls, I just couldn't help but try taking a few shots. My kids are so sick of me trying with them, it's getting to where I almost have to beg. So it was refreshing and these girls crack me up! They are so hammy in front of a camera you couldn't get just a frozen smile if you wanted to. I love it. It is a lot of fun, and in the end there are a lot of really fun pictures, and a lot that.. well...get sifted through!

So anyway, I just had to post of few... so now you know what my Thursday's are full of!

(again, check out the new blog for those photos)

We Care

So I had a really funny mail experience the other day. I went to get the mail, and there was only one thing in there. If you've ever had damaged mail, the post office ever so kindly put that mail in a little bag that says how much they "care" about your mail, and how they regret the damage and hope it didn't cause any inconvenience. Right. And normally there is just a little tear or something.

So I look in the bag. There is a strip about one inch wide left of the envelope. Just the part showing the address to mail to.

????

How did they keep just the middle? And they still felt they needed to deliver this? So I open my strip of paper, and there is a Christmas card (well, a very small portion of the card). It talked of someone moving, and about a new job. Good. Good things to know about your friends. I was laughing so hard. It was just too funny to get this little strip in the mail, with an apology, assuming that would make up for it. It really made my day.

Shouldn't someone get their stamp price back? But I guess they'd never know who to give it to now would they?

On to three wheels

We were outside the other day, and what do you know. Ase just hops on to what is usually Nutmegs trike, and just started pedeling. We've tried to teach her before, but she just didn't get it. I guess she just needed to do it on her own time, because there she went. It was rather funny though, watching her drive into the grass quite a few times before she understood that she was stearing (or in her case not) the trike. A little backwards, but hey, we don't judge in this family! And she discovered how much she doesn't have to pedel at the end of the driveway, she can more or less coast down the very small hill!

Just one more sign my baby is growing up.

"so beautiful and happy"

In this dress, Nutmeg said she feels "so beautiful and happy", and really wanted me to take some pictures of her in it. Outside. It was cold. I mean, it's only January! So we headed out into the small patch of sunshine we could find. Usually you try to stay out of the sun, but this was the only way we could tolerate the cold. She wouldn't wear a coat. Of course. And, she really wanted Ase in them. I don't need to remind many of how well these two work together. Lets just say the whole experince was.... interesting. But she really wanted these photos, and it wouldn't be right if I didn't share in her hard work. So here it is!


(yes, that is ase's foot in the way, and yes, nutmeg pointed that out immediately. taking it personal of course. but anytime I can get a genuine smile, in a photo of that girl, then its a keeper.)





(nutmeg was trying every trick in the book to get ase to smile!)

yEa!

I couldn't get these pictures to load for some reason, so I'm just now putting these on, although I found out a bit ago. Do you remember this awhile back. Well, two photos won some cash. Not too bad for throwing something together last minute! I was disappointed I didn't take first... but really. Come on. First time, what can you expect! :) These weren't my first two picks either, which is funny that I wanted the ones I liked better to win over these, but hey. I keep telling myself it doesn't really matter. The one in the umbrella, I actually have a better version of, but didn't want to hand it over to Abbott... so I changed it just enough...

thank you babe

To my wonderful hubby. He knew what I wanted, and delivered. Between him and Santa I can't complain. Santa brought me a new portrait lens I've been really wanting.... and I love it! f/1.8! No more lighting problems inside! It does a really great job, now it's up to me to figure out how to use it best. And then Matt got me a new camera. I don't know that I needed a new one... but it sure is a good one! Yay! Now I guess I REALLY need to figure out how to use all the programing on it. I'll be doing a lot of reading. Any suggestions on easy ways to figure (and remember) all this stuff out would be great. I just can't seem to retain some of this info! Anyway, here are a couple shots I took of Makenna with the new lens and camera. I had to do no photoshop! (well okay, I did change the black and white, but that's it!). What do you think?

Smile

Matt comes home tonight.
:)

What's that sound?

My poor baby has been stuck with this terrible cough for a week now. The kinds that keeps us all up all night. The kind that we couldn't seem to figure out what to do to make better. I finally take her to the doctor and.....
Pneumonia.
Yup. Hats off to some good parenting over here! It's amazing though. Two days on antibiotic and the cough is SO much better! I guess there was a reason she was being so bloody miserable to be around. I probably would have been too...

Shots

This poor girl of mine. We went in for her yearly, and of course had to get shots. Just two. Just two. Lets just say she doesn't handle the doctors so well. She had to have a CT scan once and they actually had to get three drugs in her, just to calm her down enough to get the IV in. Well, yesterday wasn't any better. All those spots on her face... that's not picture there, those are popped blood vessels. Nice. Very nice. You should have seen what her face looked like after the CT scan. This is nothing! Anyway, it took 3 of us to hold on to her, and we could have used more. Every time we have to do shots of any type, the nurses always impressively say she is the strongest 5 year old they've ever seen. I should be proud. Right? At least I don't have to worry about her with the boys. I KNOW she can take care of herself!

It cracked me up though. She really wanted me to take pictures of her, and she had to do her hair herself. There were green clips of any type she could find, all over in her hair. It cracked me up. And then she'd pull all these funny faces, trying her best to do her "Hannah Montana". How could I say no? So after her modeling, we went downstairs to watch her first viewing of High School Musical. I just couldn't do it before then. I'd seen it once, and couldn't stomach another. But for some reason, maybe just because I was watching it with two very intrigued girls of mine, it wasn't so bad. I think we're gonna have fun over the next few years!

My Family

So now that the Christmas cards have gone out (feel free to raz me if you don't get one in a few days!) I can safely show you some of the other pictures which didn't make the cut. Personally, it wasn't my fav that got picked for the card. Don't get me wrong.. it's not bad. Just not the one I'd pick. Probably because I'm the one who has a bit of a funny face. Really, I'm just laughing a little. Nothing TOO bad, or trust me. It wouldn't have made it on the card at all. But it was everyone else's favorite, and majority rules on this. It happened to be the best one of all the others. O-well. So back to what I was saying.. I just thought I'd show you a few of the other takes. Finally. Man I love this crew! And thank you Molly for the great picts!

~and yes, I don't know what is going on with the pixels on this blog right now... I can't seem to post clear pictures right now. :(

Every tree needs a train

Or should I say every boy needs a train. This year the kids got to open up an early Christmas present. Well, actually a few early ones (oh yes Aunt April, the kids do love the chocolate calendars as they call them...!) bug the infatuation has to be the train. Matt has always wanted to get a train to set up around the Christmas tree. And every year we wait until we can affored to get one. Well. This year we got one as a gift. I don't know who was more happy. Matt, or the kids. Especially Bug. The minute he gets home from school, this is where I find him. It's adorable really. And he'll stay occupied watching that train go around the same track until the others are begging him to come play with them. Thank you Grandpa!!!

Missing a friend and her baby

So I am just missing a friend of mine. It's been awhile since we've gotten to hang out. Too long I think! Last time I was there I took a couple of photos of her new baby, which by the way did NOT turn out! I just couldn't wake the sleeping baby to get better pictures. O-well. So me and my boredom while sick was determined to make one of them work. I actually like how it turned out. What do you think?





this one I'm not sure about... some times yes, other times no. So here it is anyway, but definitely not as good as the first.

Family photo time

I got to shoot my first family a bit ago. THANK YOU for having faith in me! They were awesome on this freezing cold morning. I do hope they are happy, because we did have some lense issues, causing things to not fully focus. Rats. If you ask me though, there were oodles of ones to choose from. Here are some I really liked...







and just one of the girls having fun!

girls being girls

It's been a good Thanksgiving. So much to be happy about. We had family here this year, which was a first (other than the year we flew my mom out because Nutmeg was born and it just so happened to be over Thanksgiving!) and hopefully not the last. Four families, including us were able to celebrate together. AND the biggest was probably that Matt was home for an entire 10 days!!

I've been sick the last couple of days, and I mean was only cohearent 3 hours on Friday and maybe 4 on Saturday type of sick, and now am awake but have no energy. So I was browsing through photos I still needed to catalog, and I remembered these. They make my heart happy. Nutmeg is putting her Hannah Montana make-up on Ase, so they can both rock out to music together. It was so sweet. This may happen with your kids often, but not mine. Ase was in absolute heaven for a bit. She was finally on the same level as her amazing big sis.

Mmmmm.
Makes me just want to hug someone (but maybe just a nap will do today)!