Chronicles of a Mamarazzi

Silence is Golden

2012-01-18T07:38:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I made an honest effort to turn the TV off when the kids are around. You see, I grew up with the TV on and frankly when there is no background noise I get a little antsy. So when the TV began severely limited a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I prepared myself for fits and a lot of whining. However, I got none of that.

I didn't make a big deal out of turning the TV off and limiting their time in front of it, in fact I made no mention of my plan. I just did it. And Honest To God, they didn't even notice it. Nor did they ask for the TV to be turned on.

What did they do you ask? They played. They imagined. They created. All things kids should do. And, I may be completely off base about this next assumption, but right around the time when I turned the TV off, Bennett's behavior improved 3 fold, if not more. I think when he's engaged, using his brain and his body, he's a much happier boy. Go figure :)

Now I find myself turning on the TV at the end of the day for just a little down time for them and they will watch for a few minutes, then they are off creating, exploring and imagining again. Off goes the TV and shame on me for even thinking they would need the TV!

Of course my kids aren't unplugged from technology. Nope, not in a house with 2 Macbooks, 2 iPads and 2 smart phones. Plus they have their own gaming system and DVD players. They love the games I have on my iPad and find them gravitating toward the educational games if you can even believe that! I think they feel proud and productive when they are able to play games that use their brains. Imagine that! They also love their Leapster Explorer. But the key to all of that is, they get a time limit, 20 minutes on the iPad (and that's mainly for my sake, since I'd like it every once in a while). Brian and I thought we would have to limit the DVD players too but they rarely ask to watch a movie on them. In fact, they like to listen to their music instead. Works for me!

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that it's definitely easier to do than one would think. And what you are left with is happier, more creative and inventive little kiddos! I'd love to say I'm not here to brag, but I do feel entitled just a little to brag about this feat. My kids love TV and I thought it would be like pulling teeth, but we overcame and quite easily.

OK, lastly I did my own unplugging of sorts too. I LOVE my iPhone. Seriously, it's amazing. But after a while, all the buzzes, rings and beeps were really getting to me. Last week I silenced it. Yup, I don't hear a sound coming from my phone, I don't even have the ringer on. When I want to check it, I do. I'm not alerted to every email, FB message or post, text, etc. It's heavenly. My life is already more peaceful. I highly encourage you try it. You will definitely piss a lot of people off missing every darn phone call, but it will be OK (as long as you call them back I suppose). It's like my own personal form of yoga LOL!

Anyway, enough of that. How bout I leave ya with a picture or two for good measure? Cause really, what's a post without a picture?

I have no idea who took this picture, or where it came from but I saw it in bridge (I suspect Bianca took it). It was overly underexposed but I still saw the beauty in her silhouette. Such a sweet little lady. So I processed it cause I loved it. And I love it still.

And my little photog. I am hoping to start teaching the girls some photography this summer. I'm glad we kept that ole Canon!

Instagram photostrips and a freebie!

2012-01-14T10:17:00.001-06:00

I saw a tutorial on Pinterest for making a photostrip and had to make my own. Easy peasy, but of course I couldn't think of it on my own! So I decided to make one. Super easy, and such a fun way to present your instagram pictures. Here are a few of mine:

I call this one, FUNNY FACES.

Pizza Night.

Life.

So, do you want to make your own instagram photostrip? Well, I've decided to give you my template I created.

Download the photoshop template:

Photostrip

1. Open the pdf file in photoshop.

2. Click "file", then "place" and choose your photo. Be sure your photo layer is on top of the layer that you want it to go into.

3. Position or resize photo if needed and go to "layer" and then click on "create clipping mask". Your photo will instantly be placed behind that nice box shape I created.

4. Move photo as needed and continue with the other 3 boxes.

VOILA! You have an instastrip! Enjoy.

Nature at its finest

2012-01-13T09:40:00.000-06:00

The weather here in MN has been unseasonably warm, think low 50's in January! It's been incredible if you ask me. If only winter could always be like this, I would probably begin to actually like the season.

On Sunday, I ventured out to the local nature center with Bennett and Annika (Bianca was home sick). We walked and explored for over an hour. Annika climbed trees and balanced on downed logs. Bennett ran with his walking stick. The kids and I savored the lovely weather and the seemingly untouched nature. It was wonderful.

Of course I took pictures too! Duh.

I loved this view on one of the paths. So pretty.

We found a heart shaped frozen puddle. Nature provides such amazing things if you ask me.

This just doesn't look like winter in MN, looks so warm and inviting!

Who needs balance beams?

The fresh air is so good for this guy!

My little monkey child hanging on a tree.

My little explorers leading the way with their walking sticks!

Climbing again!

Jump!

Fungi.

Moss.

The nature center has these awesome handmade teepee's all over the place hidden in the trees. The kids love them.

This girl has no fear when it comes to climbing!

Jumping!

If, or when we get some snow, we are heading back to do some snowshoeing. I can't wait!

New blog title: Chronicles of a Mamarazzi

2012-01-12T20:59:00.002-06:00

I'm seriously considering changing the name of my blog to Chronicles of a Mamarazzi. What do you think? My kids consider me a mamarazzi and basically what I do here is share pictures, right?

Anyway, first up is the B and B wrecking machine playing with shaving cream. This is seriously one of my favorite activities. I am a very tactile person and it is so stimulating to the senses (knock it off perverts!). It is a great things for the kids to do. Unfortunately, Bennett can only handle it on his hands for more than 2 minutes and then he is done. Bianca on the other hand could play all day. I think next time I will give him some cars to drive in it, that may capture his attention for a bit longer!

Give it a try!

Fun AND educational!

2012-01-12T08:08:00.002-06:00

Yep, your kids probably would never believe you if you told them things could be fun and educational! I know my kids can't believe it when we are having fun and I tell them we are learning too. It's wonderful yet oh so sad at the same time. Since when did learning something have to be boring? I'm an eternal student of oh so many things, I could never imagine a day in my life if I wasn't learning something new.

OK, so onto my share. I know you are just dying to know! I volunteer weekly in Annika's classroom and I usually am there around the time when they do literacy stations. My job was to hang with the "silly sentence" group. I just thought these were brilliant! The kids got a huge kick out of making long (grammatically correct) run on sentences that were beyond silly.

I picked up Silly Sentences yesterday at Lakeshore Learning Store for less than $10. So far Bianca and Annika have come up with some doozies. The best part is Annika knows how to use them so she is teaching Bianca.

The set comes with sentence starters such as "the" and "a", a variety of adjectives and verbs, some adverbs and plenty of different nouns such as house, frog, caterpillar, etc. It even comes with different punctuation marks to complete your sentence. Oh, and the best part, some of the the's and a's are capitalized so that they know to capitalize the beginning word of a sentence. Wonderful!

Lastly, these pieces are formed like puzzle pieces so the child will know if the sentence is incorrect because they won't fit together properly. For example, putting "the a jumped clock" together wouldn't work because it's not grammatically correct. Of course Bennett doesn't care, but he's still young!

So, head out and pick up this fun and educational game!

Call me crazy...

2012-01-11T11:10:00.000-06:00

In 20 days we will embark upon our homeschool journey. I'm sure many will call me crazy, but I'm OK with that. Honestly, I thought homeschoolers were nutso too until I actually considered doing it. The more research I did, the more time I invested in the plight, the more I began to think of it as the best thing I could do for my kids.

My initial reason for homeschooling (and is still very much a front runner for top reason) was that I wanted to be with my children. Annika is gone all day and both her and I would rather be together. When I told this to Brian, his response: "So, you want to homeschool just because you want to be with the kids more? Is that the right reason?" To that I responded, is there a better reason? I don't want to pull my children out of public school to shield them from reality, nor do I think that our schools are insufficient. It's quite the opposite. Sure, I would love to keep my kids "little" for as long as possible, but I think homeschool can open up the world to them. They can experience so many things they wouldn't be able to in a standard school setting. Think: meaningful field trips, ability to travel together and explore our world, volunteer opportunities within the community.

I also believe very strongly in our school district. We have amazing teachers that are truly invested in our children. We have only had a fantastic experience with teachers, peers and other parents. I also believe that not everyone learns in that environment. Annika learns just fine, but could be doing so much better. She needs 1x1 time and individual attention and she just can't get that in a classroom of 24. Bianca on the other hand just may thrive in that environment. We are up in the air about her. Bennett I think will be labeled as "naughty" or hyperactive. I don't want him to always be hollered at because he is an active little boy. He will thrive learning kinesthetically. Only I can give him that opportunity.

In April, I will be attending a homeschool conference in St. Paul. I look forward to learning as much as I possibly can and fully preparing myself for what is to come. The kids are all very excited and enthusiastic about this opportunity. I've already made several connections with other moms and a few groups out there dedicated to homeschooling. There are so many opportunities to get involved in, you'd be surprised at the number of people who homeschool.

Coming up next... My homeschool philosophy and how I will go about all of it! Oh, and wish me luck. I'm going to need it!

Resolve

2012-01-03T08:19:00.000-06:00

I had a whim of an idea to make my resolutions via Instagram photos. In case you haven't heard, but I adore Instagram. What a great way to share pictures without feeling the stress of perfection. Photo not perfect? Who cares, it's an iPhone pic!

So here are my 2012 resolutions, via pictures!

Sparkle: I want to shine at all I attempt to do in my life. I WILL be proud of my accomplishments and I WILL learn from my mistakes.

Creativity. I will foster my creativity and feel inspired by ordinary things. I want to instill this trait in my children as well. Despite what you may think about yourself, everyone has some sort of creative bone in their body. I once believed I was not "creative". Today I stand before you a photographer, a sewer (totally not a seamstress yet), a novice crocheter and lover of all things crafty.

Unique. I want to figure out who I am without the judgement of outside sources. Who do I want to be? I want to find my unique style in photography as well. My mission for my business in 2012 is to hone in on my unique style as a photographer. This will be tough, but worth it in the end.

Fibers. This one is simple, I want to continue to create. For myself, for my family and perhaps even for others in the distant future.

Growth. Become a better version of me. A better mother, a better wife, a better friend. Most of all, be a better Michelle.

Whimsy. Allow myself to feel like a child again. I want to see the world through their whimsical eyes. How much more interesting would this world be if I could accomplish this one!

Fun. Allow myself to have more fun. Sometimes life gets in the way of really enjoying all the small moments. I am going to try very hard to enjoy it all.

Self-confidence. Find it somewhere in my being to truly be satisfied in my own skin. This is very difficult for me and honestly may require counseling. I am my biggest critic and I don't like being that way. This will be a long road for this one but I must resolve to try.

Movement. Exercise more, in any manner. I don't want exercise to be a swear word anymore! I have this problem, you see, exercise for me has always been, go big or go home. I have the mind frame that if I am not pushing myself to the limit, it's not worth it. That mindset has got to go. Any amount of movement (even walking) makes a difference in my life, and it's ok to take a walk instead of a run some days. Some is better than none, that's for sure.

2011 was a fantastic year for me and my family. 2012 WILL be even better. Want to play along? I'd love to see your resolutions via pictures. Resolutions are so much more fun when you can visualize them, so what are you waiting for? Go get snappin'!

A letter to my mother...

2011-12-25T16:30:00.000-06:00

Dear mom,
Growing up, Christmas was always my favorite holiday. It was always filled with family, memorable moments and of course the gifts, oh the gifts galore! We never went without, as far as I remember. I know I was never always a grateful child, I know there were moments when I acted like a spoiled brat and didn't appreciate what I receive. And knowing that, I am grateful for a patient and loving mother.

Now I am a mother. I have 3 children who are incredibly lucky (and spoiled). I work hard each Holiday Season to make each better than the last. I try to hard to create and purchase memorable gifts for them so that they have amazing memories they can look upon in the years to come. This year I had a revelation. I do all of this because of my mother. I follow in her incredibly giving and loving footsteps. Some may call us crazy, some may call our kids spoiled, but for us, it's making memories. I hope and pray each day that they will remember the amazing family memories amongst the gifts they receive each year, for that is what I remember the most. Sure, I got some amazing presents each and every year. From American Girl Dolls to that feather bed comforter I was dying to have, but the times I remember most are the times we spent as a family.

I hate to admit, but after 6 years of being a mother, I just finally came to this realization. I finally put myself in my mother's shoes. I finally realized what all her effort was for. It was for us and our smiles and excitement on Christmas morning. I don't do any of this to impress our neighbors, or friends, I do this to relive Christmas through my children's eyes, because honestly, there is no better thing than this.

For all that my mother taught me (and she taught me a lot in the realm of gift giving, just ask my dad), this is one of my most favorite lessons learned. I'm sure at this point both my dad and Brian are grimacing but I truly enjoy every last bit of chaos that Christmas brings. It makes me happy, and I am always sad when it is done. For me, Christmas started with Jesus' birth, but ultimately it's a time of family and giving and everything I do is because of my mom. Thank you mom, I love you.

Michelle

My Week in iPhone Pics

2011-12-04T17:39:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that since acquiring the iPhone 4s I have been an Instragram junkie. I just love how quick and easy it is to take a picture (a good quality one at that), edit quickly and share. It's fabulous, especially when I don't want to lug my big guns out and take a "professional" style picture for my records. It's been liberating to not care that a picture isn't "perfect" and that I can still capture those random, yet special moments we experience.

So here is my week in iPhone pics.

Bennett is always sitting and by the fireplace, and now he always requests that I take his picture while doing so. Strange kid. PS, I made that shirt!

Tree Skirt our elf was found riding my rooster. Silly elf.

Bianca looking oh so adorable waiting to go into school. I made the ear warmer too!

Our Christmas tree.

Tree Skirt was sort of naughty! Bennett did not appreciate the doodling.

Bianca got to try her dance costume on this week.

Another one, goofy kid.

I just had to get this for my adorable nephew.

What we woke up to today. Boo!

Tree Skirt made himself comfy in our Kleenex box. Smart little guy!

I thought I would also throw in some more of my recent faves that aren't from this week. You know, since I haven't been on here for a long, long while!

Bennett has always chewed his blankie while sleeping. Brian hates it, and his blankie stinks terribly but it reminds me of how small he still is :)

I just love this face, it's so Bianca.

Chandler giving auntie the bird at his newborn photoshoot.

Toothless Neekypie. Love it!

Daddy and Bennett at the bowling alley. Go Vikings!

My sister shortly before she had Chandler.

Bud and I like to take pictures while we wait to get Bianca from school. I like this one.

The face, the arms, the stretch. Ahhh, I love it all!

Sleeping with his butt in the air! Love it!

Who knows. She's goofy.

Me pretending to run after I ran the Diva Dash 10k. I'm weird, I know!

Finding Bianca likes this makes my heart smile. Sweet.

Bianca, she's so dramatic.

Dude close up! LOL!

Sleepy boy.

Play along with me and post your week in iPhone (or any phone for that matter) pics. Leave me a comment if you did! I would love to visit you!

A few pictures...

2011-12-03T15:28:00.001-06:00

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this November, but this one gets me every time. The kids and I were playing go fish one night and I caught Bianca with this look. I just love it, my little card shark!

Go enter all the fun over at The Paper Mama.

The theme over at ISO this week is Thankful. Right now I am very grateful for many things, but I feel incredibly lucky to have become an aunt in the last month. I got to be in the room while sweet Chandler came into this world and photographed every last detail. It was an amazing experience and I feel very lucky to have been there. He was one handsome little dude too!

Go join in on all the fun over at ISO. There is an awesome contest going on right now to win a super sweet camera strap cover!

Fact: I'm Awesome!

2011-12-03T15:10:00.000-06:00

Wahoo, my photo:

won The Paper Mama photo challenge of "smile"! I'm glad she loved it, it's a keeper, that's for sure! I feel loved! Thanks Chelsea!

Wordless Wednesday: The lazy bum edition

2011-11-30T20:04:00.002-06:00

Go join in on the fun over at The Paper Mama.

Another Challenge!

2011-11-26T19:17:00.000-06:00

The Paper Mama definitely has some fun challenges and last week I happened to be a favorite for my entry. YAY!

And when I read the theme for this week: Smile, I knew exactly what picture I would be posting.

I love, love, love this one of my sweet Annika. She was being so goofy when I snapped this and I totally captured the essence of Her. Her toothless grin, her non-existent eyes when she smiles and her awesome freckles. I just love her.

Go check out the other entries over at The Paper Mama and join in on the fun!

Black Friday? PSHHHHT...

2011-11-23T19:44:00.000-06:00

I've never really been a big participator in the Black Friday hustle and bustle. Making my way through crowded stores at the ass crack of dawn just doesn't really appeal to me, even if the deals are good. I did it last year and considered doing it again this year but I've come up with a new idea.

I'd like to declare Friday as a stay at home and use what we have day. Meaning, get your craft on using only things you have in your home. I have so many skeins of yarn, so many yards of fabric, buttons, papers, eyelets, etc, why shouldn't I stay home and make gifts using supplies I've already *paid* for. I think it would be irresponsible for me to go spend more money, right?

Just to get your juices flowing, I did a little researching or you.

Here are a few ideas (courtesy of Pinterest) for you and your crafty self! All of these can be found on my DIY Holiday Gifts board on Pinterest.

I love these lovely ideas for making a unique case for all of our technologies. What a beautiful way to store your iPad or iPhone!

I really wanted to make these coasters for Mother's Day but never got around to it, maybe now's the time!

Holy cuteness, buttons + bobby pins or clips for that little lady in your life? Too cute!

Old frame + spray paint + ribbon + scrapbooking paper = awesome place to store earring, other jewelry or bows. I made one of these for my studio, it looks much prettier than tossing them in a bag!

Old t-shirt turned into a scarf! Brilliant and fun!

Love all of these ideas!

These little bows are too adorable, too easy and can be used for just about anything!

These last two are the gifts I will be giving all of the kids' teachers (5 of them!). Soap in a mason jar + pretty hand towels would make me one happy gal! I've already put together one of the towels for myself and I love it. I bought some pretty vintage fabric (already cut in squares) for a buck or so at an antique store, done! Wahoo.

These frames are super easy, and that bag looks super easy.

I just love this for that little fella or gal in your life. I just might make my sweet nephew one of these!

And we can't forget the dudes in our life. I love that license plate key holder. Bennett would LOVE that! And those handtowels for men? Awesome.

So dainty!

And every coffee or tea drinker needs one of these. How easy to whip up? And, it's helping to reduce waste!

I love all the awesome ideas used with buttons. I've seen buttons used to make monogrammed framed pictures (which each of my kids NEED). So easy and it really makes an impact.

These puzzle piece necklaces look so simple, an eyelet, old puzzle piece and a chain. My girls would love this as a gift and I just might be making them for them! Maybe a keychain for bud.

I made something like this last year, but put a picture on it as well. Mod podge is a girl's best friend, I promise.

A no sew bow pillow? Please! How cute is this?

Ok, so what will you make on Black Friday?

All I want for Christmas...

2011-11-21T08:25:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I know we haven't hit Thanksgiving here yet, but I'm super stoked for Christmas. Our tree is up, and our house is decked like Christmas threw up in here. It's awesome and it makes me happy.

The other day Brian asked what I wanted for Christmas and I replied "You give me $100 and I'll hand it back". Sound familiar for your house? Kinda ridiculous if you ask me, but yes it's the thought that counts. See for me, I really can't stand the thought of giving a thoughtless gift. Gift cards? No way (even though I know everyone loves them). I always want to find the "right" gift and that can be a source of stress for me at the holiday season. I am often modest and don't really make a list of things I want because really, I have everything I could ever need right here. However, to make the gift giving a little easier for those I love I devised a list, so here goes!

Boots like these Nine West pair. Love them! I have yet to own a nice pair of shoes (besides my running shoes).

I could also use a good pair of winter boots. Lord help me, I know I'll have to go out in this weather eventually! I love, love, love these Merrell boots. They look so cozy!

I so need a new necklace with my kiddos names on it. I adore this one by the Vintage Pearl, although at $82 I think we could find something more affordable! I just love the vintagey look of this one though :)

I "need" this album by Adele. She is amazing and she brings me to a calm place in this house of chaos.

And, since I have so many hobbies that bring me Joann Fabrics I could definitely use giftcards for my purchases! It sure would help a gal out!

So, what's on your list this holiday season? Have you started shopping? I haven't even started a list yet. Stay tuned for "must haves for the kiddos this Christmas" list!

Challenge, challenge, challenge!

2011-11-20T19:47:00.000-06:00

I love me a good photo challenge. It just so happens that the picture I chose happens to work for both the ISO photo challenge of LOVE and The Paper Mama challenge of Family. My 3 kiddos are everything to me, even considering Bennett has been a devil child as of late. So here is my entry for this week!

Aren't they just dolls? I took this in October and I couldn't be more in love with it!

Go join in on the fun this week at ISO and The Paper Mama!

So much to do...

2011-09-18T18:39:00.000-05:00

And so little time. Honestly, I have so many things that I want to do each day and I struggle to find the time to satisfy all of this. I feel very lucky to be a stay at home mom who can actually attempt to do all that I want to do in this lifetime. For example:

-I wanted to become a photographer, so I did. Luckily, I have 3 really adorable and willing subjects that have allowed me to grow and learn. Business is really busy right now, I'm not complaining because I love what I do but wow, I feel it will never slow down.

-I want to be as involved in the kids' schools as I can be. Currently I volunteer at all 3 schools and am in the process of learning what it's all about to be the Volunteer Coordinator at Annika's school. I will be taking over next year. I'm really nervous as it's a pretty involved position but I think I will regret not doing this. At that point, both Bennett and Bianca will be there during my 2 year stint. I also volunteer weekly in Annika's classroom and frequently at the preschools.

-Crafting. Currently I am slightly obsessed with creating things. I taught myself to crochet about a month ago and have been a crocheting fool ever since. This weekend some friends taught me to sew and of course now I have another new obsession. I ordered a sewing machine and snatched up some super cute fabrics, now I'm just waiting for it to come tomorrow! I'm dying here, I just want to create, create, create.

-Housework. This is never ending and I feel like I never get anywhere with it. The floors are always dirty, the bathrooms are always nasty and the dishes are always piling up despite my best efforts. I could really use a live in maid.

-Keeping the kids happy and occupied. This is a full time job in and of itself. I swear, at one point they could really occupy themselves nicely but now they depend on me for entertainment. What's that about?

-Exercise. Basically it's non-existent. I really need to work on this, just gotta figure out where it all fits in!

So that's what is on my mind. Here are some pictures of recent projects I've done.

A cute little winter hat for my favorite dude.

A newborn beanie in a lovely hand spun, hand dyed yarn. It's beautiful.

A purdy bulky pink hat with a delicate flower embelly. This is really cute on little Miss.

A lil' punkin hat in a soft twisty yarn. Super cute.

A candy corn hat in a bulky yarn, I really like how this turned out, the pic doesn't do it justice.

A noodle baby hat and a punkin' hat for my soon to be nephew. Can't wait to see these on him!

I've listed some of these hats on my FB Page as ready to ships, or ready to replicated so if anyone is interested in commissioning me I'd be happy to do it!

That's about all, Happy Sunday folks!

School Days

2011-09-15T18:19:00.001-05:00

Bennett and Bianca began preschool this week. Bennett is just starting and Bianca is on her last year at the preschool. For some reason, Bennett starting preschool was really hard on me. The reality that my last baby was hitting such a huge milestone made me quite sad and incredibly nervous. Of course he did just fine and couldn't have cared less that I was there, but still, he's my baby.

I had to get the standard shots I've been taking since Annika began preschool, a shot right in front of our orange door. Here's Bianca at 4 1/2 and beginning Pre-K. Seriously, how on earth will she be in kindergarten next year?

And the baby, my sweet and goofy little dude Bennett. He loves school. He was ready to go at 7am, backpack on and almost in the car. Funny kiddo, he just loves having something that's his own and school is that for him. It makes him feel big and independent. I love this boy.

Bennett already hard at work at school! Of course he heads straight for the cars!

Bianca on the other hand was quite nervous. She switched locations this year which meant new teachers and new friends. She's adapted quite well and we all know she's not a shy lady.

As my children grow and learn, I can only hope that they are happy, well adjusted and willing to learn. As long as all those components are all there, they will do amazing things in their lives. I love all you little munchkins!

ISO Week 9 and Paper Mama Photo Challenges

2011-09-14T08:32:00.000-05:00

This week over at ISO the theme is silhouette. Since I'm lame and didn't have time to go out and shoot, I went and found one from August. Clearly I love shooting these though since I actually had something in the ole' archives! This is my pouty Bianca on the dock looking oh so dramatic in the evening sun.

This week over at The Paper Mama the theme is "remember" in honor of 9/11. I took a different take on it. My sweet Bennett just began his first year of preschool. I'm in utter shock and dismay at how that is even possible and where the last 3 1/2 years went. But I need to remember that he's still small and willing to hold my hand. He just loves his blankie and puppy and it can be found dangling from his mouth mostly anytime. It's a quiet reminder of his littleness (is that even a word?). I vow to remember each day that no matter how grown up they all may seem, they are still small and need their mommy!

So what are you guys waiting for? Go join in on all the fun!

A favorite!

2011-09-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

A while back I entered a photo challenge over at The Paper Mama, the challenge was "summertime". I just realized now that my picture was chosen as a favorite. So, since I'm a proud mamarazzi, I'm going to post my button today, only many weeks later! Yay. This was the picture I entered:

Thanks Paper Mama for choosing my picture as a favorite!

MIA

2011-09-08T20:22:00.000-05:00

Since I've once again been MIA, this post is going to be all bullet points. It's the best I can do people! Since the last time I posted we've been up to:

-I went on girls weekend with my St. Olaf gals. We always have a great time when we are together. We drank, boated, ate, drank some more, went to bars, golfed, shopped. You catch the drift. It was awesome. I miss them already! The best part is my freshman roommate KJ made it back from Greece to join us!

-The kids got sick, really sick. They had high fevers, sore throats and were throwing up. First Bennett, then the girls. It was a rough 4 days.

-We spent the Labor Day weekend with family. I caught up with my aunt from Florida and that's always a good thing in my book.

-Annika started her first day of 1st Grade. She was so brave and confident. I'm just so proud of my sweet girl.

-Bianca and Bennett met their teachers. Of course we know them all, but they got to go visit their classrooms and take a little ownership of it all. They start next Monday.

-Scheduled an evaluation with the district speech therapist for Bennett. Hopefully we can get some help with his language. He's made great strides this summer but I really don't think he's still where he should be. Let's not even discuss his independence and behavior, that's a whole post in and of itself.

-Work is booming, once again. I feel very lucky to have my career.

-I decided to take on a new role at Annika's school (and soon to be Bianca's and Bennett's). I am shadowing the current Volunteer Coordinator and will be taking over her position beginning next year for the following 2 years. Of course I should add new things to my docket! Why not.

-Bianca started dance today and Annika starts next week. I love catching up with the dance moms, it's a guilty pleasure of mine.

-I'm hosting a baby shower for my preggo sis. Baby Chandler is due in 7 weeks, I will be acting as labor coach, videographer and photographer. Should be an awesome experience.

-I'll leave you with some pictures of Annika's first day! She is so grown up and beautiful.

Annika wanted to prepare her lunch for the first day of school.

Doesn't she look thrilled?

Cheese!

Look at her! Oh my goodness.

Annika and daddy waiting for the bus.

There she goes!

Seriously, there goes my baby. My heart broke a tiny bit there. So sad. She did great though.

A whole week AND Happy Saturday v.2

2011-08-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a week since I posted. Naughty, naughty! I know it's not Saturday and once again I'll be posting my Happy Saturday on a day other than Saturday, but I like doing it and it's a good way to recap the week.

1. Getting caught up on work for the week was really nice! I tackled something like 8 galleries in 2 days! Go me!

2. Buying more yarn. That may not seem to exciting, but I am loving this crochet business!

3. Having a date day with Bianca. We got pedicures and had lunch together. She loved it, as did I!

4. Adding 3 more sessions to the docket last week, one of them being an itty bitty newborn (ok, not so itty bitty at almost 11 pounds).

5. Spending the day at the cabin, catching some rays and relaxing on Friday.

6. Having our annual White Trash Meets High Class Party at the cabin with tons of our friends. It was a hit and we all had a fabulous times. The costumes were awesome!

7. Awesome fireworks enjoyed from the comfort of our own beach. Can't beat that!

8. Ki-Chi-Saga Days and authentic fried cheesecurds, yum!

9. Ki-Chi-Saga Days parade with the kids, they collected a lot of candy!

10. Beautiful August weather, warm days and cool nights.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Saturday

2011-08-15T16:58:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I completely missed this on Saturday, but it's never too late to talk about what made me happy last week.

So here is my Happy Saturday v.2

1. Heading up to the cabin on Tuesday and spending the week being lazy and somewhat relaxed.

2. Picking tons of cucumbers and zucchini squash from my cabin garden!

3. Crocheting like a mad woman. So far I've made 5 hats and some flowers. I'm currently working on a hat for Bennett.

4. Thrift Shopping with my mom.

5. A boat ride and wine with the kids and the in-laws on a perfect summer day.

6. Laying on the hammock with Bianca looking up at the clear blue sky, followed by a bonfire and smore's.

7. Snapping pictures of my sister's baby belly!

8. Eating with the family at The Drive In in Taylor's falls.

9. Napping and snuggling with Bianca on a warm summer day.

10. The farmer's market.

Snapshot Sunday

2011-08-14T08:14:00.000-05:00

The goings on in our family. Very picture heavy post, so hold on tight!

ISO Challenge!

2011-08-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

This week over at ISO, the challenges are "flare" and "feet", 2 of my most favorite things. I've been dinkin' around all week and finally "took the challenge" this evening. The sun was right, the feet were dirty and it was an all around success!

Go check out the other entries and join in on the fun! ISO: In Search Of.

Here is my entry for "feet".

We've spent the week at the cabin and baths are here and there, and you can definitely tell when looking at their little tootsies. The kids were on the dock fishing so I snapped some shots of their dirty piggies. There is just something about dirty toes that get me every time!

My entry for flare was tough since I am known for catching some awesome flare. I just adore it and am slightly addicted. I got a lot of really dramatic shots as the sun was setting but this one of Bianca was my favorite. It just may be applied to canvas for her room :)

You have one more day to play along. I know I can't win but I still love to take the challenge. AND, if you are a photographer and want to be a guest judge, message us at iso_insearchof@yahoo.com, we'd love to have you!

Days like today...

2011-08-11T18:21:00.000-05:00

Can kiss it. Seriously, these kids are acting like monsters. Whining, crying, fighting, yelling, crying, whining, sassing, ughhhh! I feel like all I've done is yell and threaten and yell some more. What I find even more ridiculous is that I had to first drag my 6 year old kicking and screaming into her room, then a few minutes later I had to drag the 4 year old kicking and screaming into her room as well. It's tiring carrying "big" kids up a flight of stair when I am already all worked up to begin with.

I am currently at the cabin and have been 2 nights flying solo. Brian just finally got here and we are enjoying a drink on the deck while the kids FINALLY play nicely.

Pray for my sanity folks, I am going to need all I can get here.

Look what I can do...

2011-08-08T16:52:00.001-05:00

I found a tutorial this morning for an elf hat, one I've been wanting for my studio. The size says 12 month to 3 years and I guess I totally missed that part because the whole time I kept thinking, no way is this going to fit a baby! It was actually a pretty simple pattern and took a total of about 3 hours (I'm still kind of slow). I ran out of yarn so no ear flaps for this bad boy, but won't this look darling on a little toddler, maybe a naked little toddler? I think so. I love the colors, it could work well for both boys and girls, I could even throw a cute little flower on there. I used lighter yarn than her so mine turned out looser fitting altogether. But that's alright, it is still cute. And doesn't Bennett make for a cute little model?

(Don't worry, I will remove the tail there, I just don't have the right size needle to weave it in yet).

I'm pretty impressed with myself. A few days ago I had no clue how to crochet, and look, I actually made something useful!

I'm also working on this cute beanie for myself right now. I wanted to learn looser stitches, turns out they are pretty easy. So voila! If I can crochet, so can you!

Happy Saturday

2011-08-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

My Sister-in-Law Kristi has been doing a Saturday post highlighting things that made her happy during the week for quite a few weeks now. Since I'm sitting her on a Saturday night alone, drinking my wine, I thought it would be a fun thing to do to kill time. So here we go!

Happy Saturday Week 1:

Things that made me happy this week:

1. Seeing one of Brian's cousins for the first time since we traveled to AZ, she was in town and it was nice to see her, as well as other family members.

2. Doing a reshoot of a sweet newborn and getting the shots we wanted, score for me!

3. Enjoying the company of some friends on Wednesday evening.

4. Spending the day at the beach on Thursday.

5. Getting back to blogging and spending more time documenting life as it happens.

6. Wednesdays, they always make me happy.

7. Annika's birthday party.

8. Bennett's booooosh (his fluffy head of awesome curls).

9. Bianca volunteering to clean up, going to sleep without whining and generally being a sweet angel of a girl.

10. Seeing my great aunt and uncle. I haven't seen them in years and it was really nice to visit with them.

And since a post isn't really a good one without a picture, here are a few from our photoshoot from last weekend for Annika's 6 year old session.

Happy Saturday all!

Annika's Party

2011-08-06T07:45:00.001-05:00

Last night we had Annika's kid party. She chose the theme of Princesses, namely Rapunzel since she loves the movie Tangled. We had my 3 kids and 3 other little girls for a total of 6 littles running around here.

We started by decorating crowns with foam stickers, jewels and sparkly glue. They all had fun being creative. After that we headed downstairs to do hair and nails and put on princess costumers. My sister helped out with the nails while I did hair. I let the girls choose their hair-do then they got to have pink gel and sparkly spray in their hair to finish it off. I even let them have some princess lip gloss for a finishing touch.

As a favor, I took each of the kids' pictures and sent it home with them in a little picture frame. I think the moms were more excited, but oh well!

Here are the shots of my kids. They were naturals, the other little girls didn't know what to do, kind of funny. I guess they aren't used to a mamarazzi!

Bennett had to wear one of my baby ties for his costume. Silly boy.

For dinner we made individual homemade pizzas on pitas, had fruit and corn then finished it off with cake and ice cream.

I literally took about 5 pictures as I was too busy facilitating and enjoying. Sometimes that is what you need to do, take a step back and enjoy life.

On another note, Bennett loves playing with girls. It's all he really knows. So he had just as much fun as the girls getting his hair and nails done and playing all night with 5 other little ladies. He's soooo gonna love this when he's 15 and the girls are having sleepovers! That's my silly boy.

Back to Blogging!

2011-08-05T08:01:00.000-05:00

So, Nicole challenged us all to get back to blogging and while I love the idea, I'm just not sure I'll make it. But hey, it's worth a try, right? So, we are supposed to post 3 times a week and comment on 3 blogs a day. That's pretty easy in theory. I really do love the blogging community and it's oh so much fun to go back and read my posts. It's so easy to forget things that happen in life. Plus, I've been connected with some really awesome women through the blogging world. It's so weird to say I have a connection with all these women since we've never met, but we truly are friends and it's wonderful. I even got to meet a blogging friend several years back when I visited Colorado. It was so awesome to actually meet Nicole in person and even more awesome that we got along so well!

So, enough rambling and on to my bland post for the day.

I've been wanting to learn how to crochet or knit for quite some time. It stems from the idea that if I knew how to do it myself, I wouldn't have to spend a fortune supplying my photography business with baby hats every other week.

So yesterday was the day, I started to teach myself how to crochet. I'm pretty proud of myself. I've learned a few stitches (albeit not well) and managed to start a scarf, we'll see how it turns out! This is my first ever chain:

It's totally not cohesive in how tight the stitches are, but hey, not so bad. The scarf I started last night looks pretty darn good. Once I get the single stitch down pat, I will practice the other stitches. They are much more difficult but produce bigger stitches which I am very interested in.

If you have any tips or tricks, or awesome sites for learning, please share!

Happy Friday all!

Summer Fun

2011-08-02T19:10:00.002-05:00

I just made a video of some of our summer fun. Check it out!

ISO Week 3: Low Angle and Sweet

2011-08-01T08:09:00.000-05:00

This week's themes over at ISO are Low Angle and Sweet. Of course my pictures all have my kids in them, but that's what I do! I take a million pictures of my kids because I'm the mamarazzi! Despite not being able to win, I still like to play along cause what's a photo challenge if you can't participate? Alright, here goes:

My entry for Low Angle:

Bianca can be such a goof. It's a good thing you can't see up her nose I'm so low!

And my entry for Sweet:

Bennett didn't do a whole lot of roasting of the marshmallows, he'd put it over the fire for literally 1 second, then eat it. Then ask for more. Silly kid.

Go play along at ISO!

Summertime

2011-07-25T17:22:00.000-05:00

This week we at ISO are proposing the challenge of "Summertime" and it just so happens it is the same theme as The Paper Mama's photo challenge. So here I am, uploading what I believe to be the epitome of our summers, catching fishies at the cabin. Annika is our resident fisher-girl. She loves fishing, she puts her own worms on, she catches more fish than anyone and she even takes the fish off the hook. More than I can say for myself!

Of course I can't win for the ISO challenge, but I could win for The Paper Mama's. So, go check out both challenges and enter to win bragging rights!

ISO

2011-07-19T17:06:00.001-05:00

Nicole and I decided to create a Photo Challenge Blog. We have named it ISO (aka... In Search Of). Please go check it out and we'd LOVE to have you join us in a photo challenge! Now, don't worry, I'm not eligible to win and technically you can only submit one picture, but since I can't win, I don't care! This is just to show you a sample of a self-portrait. Plus, I get to use this fun button to prove that I participated! I can't wait to see these all over the place!

Now get snappin'!

Our silly lives...

2011-06-28T07:45:00.000-05:00

How could a girl not love these guys?

Rainy days

2011-06-23T17:37:00.000-05:00

It's been rainy and cold around here. In fact I can't even confirm that it hit 60 degrees here today. I was very tempted to turn on the heat. Yesterday wasn't as cold but it was much rainier. We spent the whole day inside because of it, and because of the little sicky on the couch.

When Bianca is sick, she is by far the most pathetic and adorable thing you will ever see. I know I shouldn't enjoy any part of her being sick, but I do love how quiet and sweet she is. She's all better now, but she's still pretty sweet.

Bennett playing with is cars. This is the norm around here.

Doesn't he look like he's up to something here? Man is he cute! Too bad he's been a horrible little stinker lately.

This illustrates what a car says...

This...

Resulted in this...

Annika had to have a tooth pulled on Tuesday to make room for some adult teeth. This is the 4th tooth she's "lost". She was so amazing. They gassed her, numbed her and then put novacaine in and she had no clue they even pulled a tooth. She did great. I'm very proud of her bravery. The tooth fairy rewarded her with a buck, in which she proceeded to hold onto all day long, until I snuck it into her piggy bank. Funny kid.

Today wasn't much better as stated in my previous post. Tomorrow I am heading up to the cabin no matter who is sick. I think a little sun and some fresh air will all do us some good. I can't wait for the weekend, that's for sure!

What a week...

2011-06-23T17:23:00.000-05:00

Let me preface this post by saying that I love being a mom, it's the best job in the world. But some days (ok well most days) it's the most exhausting thing I've ever done.

Let's back up several days. Ok, one week ago today. Brian left for the cabin to meet up with some of his friends, some of which live out of town. They drank, played poker and relived their glory days. I only wish I were there, these guys have become some of my best friends as well. On Friday, he headed down to Carleton for his 10 year reunion and was gone for the weekend. I stayed up at the cabin with the kids. We did a lot of playing, bike riding, gardening and relaxing. It wasn't all that bad single mom'ing it despite the lack of internet and tv available. We all survived and enjoyed ourselves. Sunday morning Brian arrived at the cabin bright and early bearing fresh donuts from the local bakery. Fast forward a few hours and Bennett becomes irritable and cranky so I put him down for a nap at 11am. He passed out for a few hours and when he woke we headed to Brian's parent's for a Father's Day dinner.

Within minutes of arriving, I realize Bennett is burning up with a fever. Of course he only wants me and he passes out in my arms for over an hour. Poor boy. He never sits still and the fact that he's napped 2x in a day is not good. He actually perked up quite a bit and seemed a-ok. We figure he's got a virus and chalk everything up to that. Now we are onto Tuesday night and Bianca is half sleeping in the living room at dinner time. Uh oh, here we go again. Not too long after she starts burning up with a fever. She literally passes out at 6pm until 7am when she's burning up again. Just in time for Brian to head out of town again.

Brian leaves yesterday morning and I've got a 3 year old and a 5 year old to entertain while my 4 year old sleeps the day away. Yep, she slept until about 5pm last night and was feeling much better. I thought, "Yay, we are finally done". Silly me. I totally jinxed myself. She woke up throwing up today, most likely due to an extremely empty stomach. At about 10am today, I think we are all in the clear, until Annika starts complaining about an extreme headache. She exhibits no signs of any other illness so I gave her some ibuprofen and hoped for the best. She seemed to do a little better this afternoon so we headed off to Costco to shop for the weekend. You could clearly see she was ill. Poor kid passed out in the car on the way home, I carried her in and put her in bed and now, could you have guessed it, she's burning up.

Honestly, we can't catch a break. Oh wait, I can't catch a break because did you catch the part where I've basically been single mom'ing it since last Thursday? Oh yeah, how could I let you forget. At least we are racking up some frequent flyer miles for my dream family trip to Hawaii!

And, if you've gotten this far, you definitely deserve a picture. This picture is to remind you (and me) of better days. Enjoy!

Sick and rainy day...

2011-06-22T18:58:00.001-05:00

Today we spent the day at home, inside, all day long. Bianca was fever ridden and dead to the world in bed with a fever of 103.7. I decided to bide the time we would do some baking. In theory, the kids would have helped and we would have been one big happy family, but alas that was not so. I did all the baking and the kids did the eating! Somehow I think I got the bad end of the deal!

I originally decided to make 3 different things: banana muffins, vanilla cake batter truffles and honey wheat bread, but the bread recipe looked like it would take way too long and frankly I like the bakery up at the cabin enough to not give it a go. So banana muffins and vanilla cake batter chocolate truffles it was.

The cake batter chocolate truffles have been something on my list for a while and can be found here. They promised to be easy and quick and that they were! Plus, they are divine. I made them small as she instructed and I'm glad I did as just one is rich enough even for a cake addict like me! These are definitely a good thing for a party or a shower of sorts. They would be a hit. The kids and I (and my sister too) thoroughly enjoyed them!

Now I know I've shared the awesome Banana Bread recipe on here that I normally use, it is heavenly and I swore I would never stray away from it. Now I know why. I tried to cut down on some baking time by trying this recipe. It sounded good and the only substitution I made was by using wheat flour but the muffins were pretty bland and tasteless. Next time, if there is a next time, I would definitely increase the amount of bananas used. I like the recipe because of its simplicity, it literally took me about 5 minutes to whip up, but the results were pretty lack luster and I have high expectations for banana breads. Bennett sure likes them though so I guess that counts for something!

And poor Bianca, she's so darn cute and pathetic when she's sick. I was pretty worried about her though, she had such a high fever and such extreme lethargy. I'm hoping now that she's perked up a bit that she's on the mend. Poor kiddo.

Have a great Wednesday night all!

All about Annika

2011-06-20T08:49:00.000-05:00

Since it's been awhile since I've done any sort of blogging I thought I would do some kiddo updates. I'll start with Annika since she's the oldest and she's changed so much in the last year.

Annika finished up her kindergarten year about a week ago. She went in shy, emotional and very afraid. So afraid that I was worried she was turning into me (a worry wart with anxiety issues). It pained me to see her so afraid of new people and kids, and especially new situations. She almost closed herself off to everyone but us. I contacted her teacher and the school psychologist and they both agreed she would benefit from some small group time with other little girls like her.

It turns out, all Annika really needed was time and a little encouragement. She started reading and excelling in math and I think those 2 things really boosted her confidence level. She made a few close friends and one day she even got in trouble for talking too much! I was happy to hear it, that's for sure!

The other thing I really credit for her coming out of her shell is dance class. It was a small class of kindergartners at our local studio. I would watch her laugh and have fun during that hour and my anxiety level started to drop as well. By the end of the year, she led those girls onto stage for the recital and was a little leader. No tears, not afraid of the hundreds of people in the audience. I was so proud of my sweet 5 year old. She was a star. So much so, they've asked her to audition for competition next year. We'll see what happens, she doesn't have much interest in competing yet and I'm not going to push her.

Right now Annika enjoys all things girly. She loves to color, play dress up, do puzzles and play go-fish. She loves bugs, especially worms and butterflies. She started riding without training wheels last weekend and is already riding like an old pro. This summer she'll be dancing and playing tball. It's fun watching her learn and grow and become an independent little girl. She's my sweet, goofy and loving Annika Leigh and I couldn't be more proud of her!

And for my dad...

2011-06-19T08:42:00.004-05:00

I also feel extremely inclined to mention my own dad today, for without his help my existence would be, well, it would be non-existent. Lord only knows the crap he put up with having 2 daughters and a slightly nutty wife (love you mom). He's incredibly patient and hard working. He was trusting and allowed me my space to not only succeed in life, but to make my own mistakes as well. He taught me to play basketball and practiced day in and out with me, only to watch me choose dance over the game. He sat through my recitals and dance competitions and didn't miss a single basketball tournament. He'd pick me up from college when I was feeling homesick, he's helped me move in and out of various homes in the past 13 years. He is the handiest man I know and can fix anything from a leaky toilet to a gas fireplace.

Most importantly, he loved and respected all of us women amidst the chaos and we are all lucky for that. He's a great man to call my dad. Love you dad, Happy Father's Day!

Ode to my babies daddy...

2011-06-19T08:19:00.002-05:00

Oh babies daddy (aka Brian, the man of my dreams, babe, hon, bri), how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1. You rock the John Deere and are totally serious about it!

2. But know how to have fun with it too. You are just a big kid at heart.

3. You are the fire-starter and marshmallow roaster extraordinaire. For that the kids adore you.

4. You can touch fire with your bare hands.

5. Look sexy in your Twins hat.

6. You can play a mean game of C.A.B.I.N (although I will beat ya every time).

In all serious though, I couldn't have asked for a better man to call my friend, my husband, my soulmate and last, but definitely not least, the daddy of my 3 beautiful babes. He's caring and compassionate, he's patient, he's smart and successful. He loves me despite my craziness and all my flaws, he sets an example to our children on how a man should treat a woman. He shows them simple things like how to kick a ball or ride a bike with more patience than I have in my body. He works hard so we can live the life we live yet he's charitable and giving to those in need. He kisses owies and reads bedtime stories and executes bath time better than anyone I've ever seen. And even though he may be gone more than he's home, his presence is always missed and longed for by myself and the kids and that is how you know he is a good man and an amazing dad.

We love you babe, Happy Father's Day.

Ribbit, ribbit...

2011-06-18T20:18:00.000-05:00

Bianca found this little guy hiding out in the garage at the cabin today. She loved and squeezed that thing until I thought she would smoosh him to death and then I made her release the poor little guy. For as much as my girls love princesses and coloring and all things girly, they equally love bugs, worms and little critters. Why, just yesterday on our bike ride, Bianca almost caused a 4 bike pile up because she stopped dead in the sidewalk to pick up a worm. She rode the rest of the way with that poor worm in the palm of her hand.

Now Bennett on the other hand? He hates all things squirmy, buzzy and hoppy. He gets freaked out. Who would have thought my boys boy would be squeamish about nature. Life is funny that way! Happy Saturday all.

Confessional

2011-06-16T20:58:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure that what I'm about to tell you is considered a sin by any means, but I need to get somethings off of my chest. As of late, I've come to realize have some major addictions in my life, it's really quite ridiculous actually my NEED for these things in my life. So tonight I am confessing to blogland.

-I am beyond addicted to ice cream, no joke. I could eat it for every meal. Target has an Archer Farm Sugar Cookie ice cream that is to die for. When I buy a carton of it, I literally eat the whole thing. I will not share.

-Wine is my vice. I love my wine, it makes me happy. I enjoy sitting on my deck while the kids play, drinking a good glass of wine and reading a book. It's a vision of perfection in my book.

-The talk show The Talk. I love it. I DVR every episode and I wind down with it at night (of course with my glass of wine).

-Warm summer sun, I adore it, it makes me happy. When I see that evening light shining off of the kiddo's heads, I get a warm fuzzy feeling.

-Target. Nuff said.

-Pungent cheese. Feta, gorgonzola, etc. Love me some pungent cheese. Last weekend I made a strawberry spinach salad with walnuts, gorgonzola, red onions and poppyseed dressing. It was divine.

-The cabin. It's peaceful, quiet, relaxing and simple. I am addicted.

-Reading Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult books. I just finished Safe Haven last weekend and LOVED it. Good read and now I'm working on another couple of books. I really do love to read.

Alright, so some of those things aren't terrible addictions to have, but between the wine, ice cream and the cheese, I may just grow to be 400 pounds! Wowza. What are some of your vices and addictions? Help me feel better here guys!

Relax

2011-06-15T07:34:00.000-05:00

When I'm not at the cabin, I find myself wishing I were there. We are happy there. We are relaxed there. We are unplugged there. No tv, limited internet and just a whole lotta fun!

From the moment we wake up in the morning, we are outside enjoying the day. I drink my coffee on my back deck looking over the lake while the kids play. They ride their bikes, they play in the sand, they create forts in the shrubs, they play pirates with an old water ski rope. Their creativity is at its highest and they never cease to amaze me. The best part? They don't even ask for the tv. I love it.

Some mornings we all take a walk to the local bakery that is 2 blocks down. We each pick out a donut and I stock up on fresh baked bread for the weekend. It reminds me of simpler times, wonderful times.

At the cabin, we barely pause our playing for lunch. In the evening hours, Brian and relax with a beer while the kids play on. We start the fire, grab a blanket and go roast marshmallows. We snuggle up on the edge of the beach and enjoy the sunset. After all the marshmallows are roasted, we take a soak in the hot tub.

Life is good. Cabin life is good.

I'm baaaaack!

2011-06-14T08:06:00.000-05:00

What we've been up to:

-Went on vacation in March with the family to Arizona. We had a blast, the weather was fabulous and we spent a lot of time with Brian's family whom we never see. We created a lot of great memories together.

-The girls had their first dance recital in May, they did so well. Annika has been asked to try out for competition. I think we'll pass this year, maybe next year!

-Annika graduated from Kindergarten. It was very bittersweet and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how I can possibly have a first grader. Time surely flies.

-We bought a cabin! Yay. We've been in it for 3 weeks now and we are loving every minute of it. It's relaxing (no tv), fun and we are already creating great family memories. I am looking forward to spending our summer there.

-I've been working a decent amount. A lot of my regulars are graduating from my baby plan right about now, kind of sad! One of my regulars is starting all over with a new little girl. I love it! It makes me happy to watch these families grow.

-That's about it, the kids start soccer, tball and dance this week so life is about to get very hectic. We are going to have a great summer!

-Hopefully I still have some readers here, if you are still here, send a shout out! I'd love to hear from you!

-And lastly, some pictures from the cabin!

I call this "payback's a bitch". Annika started it!

Bianca chillin' on the deck.

Dude and "his" tractor. He thinks it's all his!

Ahhh, an un-solicited hug!

Tractor rides are so much fun!

Wow, check out his attire. Schnazzy huh?

An impromptu photoshoot with the lovely backdrop. She's so pretty.

Not the happiest of pictures.

Dude couldn't wait for his turn!

Thanks for reading ya'll!

2010-11-30T14:40:00.000-06:00

I found this beauty

2010-10-25T07:37:00.003-05:00

Hiding in my September folder. I just ignored it and didn't even notice it. Lucky for me, I had to go back to edit our apple orchard pictures and it was just sitting there, waiting for me. I'm so glad I found it, it's a new favorite!

Fall Pictures

2010-10-22T19:16:00.003-05:00

I always try to get the kids in the leaves and attempt some nice fall pictures. I like to embrace the colors and the crisp air, as fall is my favorite season. I try to take it all in because I know it will all be gone before I know it.

I took the kids out last week and holy crap were they terrible. I have never had more horrible children to work with. I also have less patience with them as well. Despite the screaming and tears (all mine) I managed to get some usable shots.

Enjoy.

This is where it got tricky. Little stinkers!

It's been way too long...

2010-10-22T18:21:00.003-05:00

You know how when you let something go for too long you tend to just keep going in that same fashion because it's too overwhelming to try and pick up where you left off? Well, that is what is happening here. I can't possibly rehash everything that we've done since the last time I blogged so I've been putting it off. So the easiest thing to do is to just start from where we are today.

About a month ago we had to have our cat put to sleep. He was extremely diabetic and we just couldn't maintain his future lifestyle. He wouldn't tolerate the insulin shots we would have to give him and he kept peeing on our couch and the carpet. It just wasn't a good situation and I'm positive life is better for him in kitty heaven. About a week later we gave our lab/rott up for adoption. That was rough but that too was for the best. Tucker is in a good home that gives him lots of love and attention, and exercise.

Since we've been a one dog family life has been fantastic. I've been able to devote time to Sarge. He is part of our family again and he gets to go to the dog park and play. He's in puppy heaven, that's for sure. It's been great for the kids too, they get to climb trees, run through the forest and paths and work off their energy. It's a win win, especially since the weather has been so great. I snapped a bunch of pictures yesterday too hoping to get something for the holiday card!

So not a perfect shot but I love it anyway! Such monkeys!

Annika and her walking stick. She was such a good explorer.

I just find her to be so beautiful! I love this lady.

My 3 explorers.

Bianca moping, she wanted to climb trees again.

Cheese!

So sweet!

Holiday card take 1

Take 2

Take 3

So not perfect but I love them all. That's life and you will never get my 3 kids to cooperate. Believe me, this took bribes and that's all I got!

Brian and I recently took a vacation to Hawaii. We spent 6 days in paradise and it was one of the best vacations we've had so far. We truly valued every last minute of our vacation. We relaxed, drank by the pool, spent quality time with good friends, witnessed nuptials, went snorkeling a bunch, flew in a helicopter, swam with giant green sea turtles, watched the sunrise, watched the sunset, ate amazing food, saw a luau, slept, and got some sun. Like I said, amazing. I was not ready to come home, at all!

Here are just a few of those shots.

Me drinking coffee on the beach.

The best Mai Tai's ever! I drank A LOT of these!

Our snorkeling boat. I just adore this shot!

Sunrise over the Maui mountains.

A fun shot, dirty dancing style! I had plenty of Mai Tai's before doing this!

Not our helicopter, but it was still cool.

We flew under this, it happened to be a double, but it was hard to capture.

Tons and tons of waterfalls.

The fire portion of the luau, it was amazing.

You can see all my Hawaii Pictures here.

Now, I'm back to reality and while I loved being on vacation (and really, really want to go back), I missed the kids and am immersing myself in them. We have been spending a lot of time outside, reading stories, doing puzzles and trying to keep the tv off. Bianca and Annika are both starting dance, after 2 months of gymnastics, so that is keeping us busy as well.

That's all for now folks. I hope I still have some readers out there :)

It's a giveaway!

2010-09-20T19:31:00.001-05:00

I'm hosting a lovely giveaway on my new project, Mom's Sippy Cup. Go check it out!

Friday night fun...

2010-09-03T19:56:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week I was telling Annika about my baby blanket. Her baby blanket is yellow, and mine just so happens to be as well. My mom chimed in and added that my blanket had to be sewn back together quite often because I loved it so much. Annika's baby blanket is getting very ragged with holes here and there and the silk fraying off the edges. She loves that thing but I'm not sure how much longer it will last. I decided I would let her use mine so I dug it out tonight. Sure enough, patches were falling off all over the place, but it's still a decent blanket. It's nice to see my kids loving it as much as I did. This is a special thing for me to watch.

Take 1

Take 2

Can you tell how red Annika's face is? A side effect of her medication is becoming easily overheated. The kids were running around and being crazy tonight and she quickly turned red and got very hot. It's crazy.

And of course, Bianca was up to her old tricks and once again I just have to share it. She is such a nut.

Happy Friday all and enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!

No words needed...

2010-09-03T16:32:00.001-05:00

Kindergarten

2010-09-03T08:09:00.003-05:00

Last night I went to Annika's school for a parent meeting. It was basically a get to know the teacher for the parent's of the kindergartners. I had met Annika's teacher once before and had wonderful things about her from other parents. She's been teaching Kindergarten for over 30 years and is a bubbly high-pitched voice little lady who absolutely loves kids. Not exactly my type, but I just know that Annika will feel safe and loved and just grow and thrive in her care.

I've been quite emotional the last 12 hours with all this information swirling in my head. I'm not ready to give my baby up for an entire day. I know it's the way of life and that everyone does it but it hardly seems fair that someone else gets her for more hours than I do! I know she will have so much fun and learn so much and my thoughts are selfish but I can't help it, I will miss her a lot.

I know I mentioned that Annika will be attending all day Kindergarten and after last night's meeting I know we made the right choice. It seems these days that Kindergartners have less and less time to play because of the increasing curriculum. It's a double edged sword if you ask me. I think the foundation to learning for a kindergartner is found through playing and it's hard to fit that all in when only there for 1/2 a day. I love that she will get to focus more on the curriculum but still have time to socialize, explore and play. Those are the things that kindergarten is about, right?!

Before Annika's 5 year old wellness check I was really worried about her pee pee problem. She was still wetting her pants on a daily basis and the jury was still out on whether I thought it was behavioral or medical. The doctor asked how she was doing and I said the same ole, not good. We stopped her meds long, long ago because they didn't work and were going to try new ones but our insurance WILL NOT pay for them (jerks). She the doctor said we should give the old ones another go, just at a higher does. I got home that night and gave her her first dose and she hasn't pee'd her pants since. I am in utter shock and amazement at how well they work and am really kicking myself for every time I yelled at her for peeing her pants. Clearly she really couldn't help it. So now I send her off to kindergarten fully confident that she won't have to worry about that.

Last, I've decided to be a weekly volunteer in Annika's classroom. Bennett and Bianca will be going to my MIL's each Tuesday so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to be a part of her schooling. I made sure to ask her if she was ok with me coming for a few hours each week and she was more than thrilled (secretly I am loving that she still wants me with her). I really am fascinated in the kids classrooms watching them interact and it really is nice to see what they do each day. I don't want to be one of those parents that are totally clueless about their child's schooling. I want to play an active role and luckily I can because I am able to stay home with the kids.

I just had to get this all down in the blogosphere, so many emotions are churning in me right now. The countdown to K has begun and I truly can't believe that this day is actually here. Wish me luck!

My new project...

2010-08-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

I've started a fun new project, Mom's Sippy Cup. Go check it out. My vision isn't 100% narrowed for it yet, but I think for the most part I'm going to share all the things I love in life, from photography (tips, favorite pictures, tricks, etc.) to entertaining and decorating. For now I kind of feel it's all over the place but I think as I get more into it, I will hone in on what I want to do with it. The fun part of it is I want to make it a collaborative effort with all the other ladies out there who take an interest. I'm really excited about getting submissions from readers and I wouldn't be opposed to taking on a few other bloggers to share in this endeavor. I think it could be a fun place for other mommies to share things that make them happy.

So if you know of someone who would be interested in reading it, please share! And don't forget to follow me on Twitter too! My name is momssippycup, let me know if you have trouble finding me!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2010-08-22T08:49:00.002-05:00

You'll never hear me claim that I'm a morning person. I don't really like to wake up on someone else's terms and it takes me a bit to really get going. That being said, I do love the newness that each morning brings. The promise of a good day and the new memories that will be made. The kids still have that sleepy eyed look and are relatively still calm from their night's slumber. For those reasons, I love morning. The day has yet to be scarred from fighting, tantrums, spilled milk and yelling. Morning is good.

Today was no exception.

I love these shots of Annika. By chance I discovered I could capture her reflection in our countertops. I just love it.

Bennett never took a nuk. He was always too stuffed up to ever want to suck on it. Instead, he started sucking/biting/chewing on his blankie. And much to Brian's disliking, he still does it. I know it's terrible for his teeth and it makes his blankies horribly smelly but for me it's a sweet reminder of the baby that's left in him. I think it's cute and I'm not ready to let go of it quite yet. I want to remember it forever, this picture helps!

My sweet diddles in the morning. She is usually pretty cuddly and extra loving.

I love this shot, while it's far from being technically perfect, it's perfect in my heart. She just loves that damn fat cat and most mornings you can find them both right in that chair.

Dude watching some t.v. He got the couch today as Bianca snatched the chair first. They all fight over the chair and who could blame them? It's big and comfy and is the perfect spot to watch morning cartoons.

Happy Sunday!

Good dog...

2010-08-12T17:19:00.002-05:00

It's no secret that I can't stand our dog Tucker. He's hyper, overbearing, annoying and has been peeing on our carpet. Tucker is a good dog, a sweet dog and he is wonderful with our kids. But I'm literally at my wits end. I contacted an agency last week that never got back to me and just happened to stumble upon another agency today. I scoured their site and learned about all the details into surrendering a dog. I got very nervous and decided against it. Then a few moments later I went back and looked again. Then I decided it was going to be ok. So, I made the call. The site said to leave a message and I would get a call back within 24 hours. I got a call back in less than an hour.

The call went well. She asked some questions about Tucker and I told her over and over again my concerns about giving him away. You see, Tucker is a lot to handle and it takes a patient and active person to be his "mommy or daddy". I want him to be happy, I want him to be loved and I want him to have a good quality of life. We aren't mean to him, but we don't give him attention and love because he's so damn annoying. After talking with her for close to 30 minutes we decided to get the ball going.

I asked if I could be his foster home so she'll be getting back to me on that. I just feel it will bring more piece of mind to me. Brian thinks we should just let someone else do the fostering and that it will be easier just to cut ties. It just makes me sad to not know what will become of him. I have this inherent need to know that he's going to be cared for.

So, what are your thoughts? Should I just let him go and trust that these people will do a great job placing him? FYI, they have a 4% rate of re-homing, meaning they only have to re-place 4/100 dogs placed due to it not working out (pretty good stat). Or, should I pursue being the foster home? Ultimately that means I will get to pick who he goes to. Please help me feel ok with this. I am such an animal lover that it is really hard to come to terms with this failure of sorts. Thanks readers!

Kindergarten

2010-08-11T07:45:00.002-05:00

If you know me at all, you can probably already guess how I feel about Annika starting kindergarten in less than a month. While this is such an exciting time for her I am really panicking and feeling helpless and sad :( Don't get me wrong, she is going to have so much fun and learn so much and that helps ease my mind a lot but I am just not ready to give my baby up.

I registered Annika for all day kindergarten yesterday. We originally just had her registered for regular, half day but after talking it over we felt it was a good thing for her to go all day. She will have more time to practice her skills, socialize with friends, have more time for things like music, gym, art and library. Overall, it just makes sense. But, I just don't think it's fair that someone else gets to spend more time with her than I do. I am going from all day with her, to just a few hours a day and that kind of sucks. I know, every parent does it, but we don't have to like it, right?

A lot of my anxiety stems from being a little scared FOR her. She will get on the bus in the morning with all the school aged kids, maybe get her little self lost in the shuffle and get scared and miss me. I know that's speculation but it's a fear of mine. I need to know she's safe and someone will be looking out for her when I can't. I also realize that this is a common thing for parent's to be worried about and that I'm not alone. That helps me rationalize these feelings a bit more!

Then, she will be at school all day, without me! She has an over active bladder so I'm fearful that she will wet her pants and get made fun of. That might be my biggest fear, I just don't want her sweet little feelings to get hurt.

Next, she will eat lunch at school. This kid is the pickiest kid of all time. I'm afraid she just flat out won't eat. I've decided to send lunch with her to save a bit of cash though since we are shelling out so much already to send her all day. So hopefully that will help with Miss Picky Pants.

And last, she'll ride the bus home. Let's just pray she gets on the right bus. That's all there is to that!

I feel a lot better now that I've gotten my fears out in the open. Please offer some words of advice if you've done this, I could use some positive thoughts to ease my mind! For now, I'll just be working on finding adorable clothes to dress my big kindergartner in this year. At least that part is fun, right?!?!?

This and that...

2010-08-06T16:59:00.002-05:00

We got some bad news yesterday about the purchase of the lot. It turns out, it's not buildable per our standards so we've decided to withdraw our offer and move on. There are many things that have caused us to do this (won't go into great detail here) but we just couldn't take a $130k gamble on something like that. It's not worth it. And, besides all of that, we have yet to sell this place. In fact, today I was ready to call it quits. Selling a house is not only physically draining but extremely draining on us emotionally. It's just getting to be too much. The showings, the "comments", the people down the street listing their house for $65k less, it's just getting old. I don't hate our house, in fact I really love it here. I love our neighbors, I love our city, the neighborhood. Of course there are things I'd change (no lake, busy road) but this is where we had our babies and they have grown up here. The girls are registered for school and I like knowing what's going to happen and where they'll be. I love our district, it's a great district with great teachers and administrators. It just isn't quite our "dream home". Oh well, I need to learn patience!

Today was a total administrative assistant day for me. I scheduled dentist appointments for all 3 since the girls are due this month, I picked up a flash for the wedding I'm shooting tomorrow, I grocery shopped (THAT was fun), got the rest of Annika's kindergarten documents together so she can start, registered Bennett for ECFE (hoping we get in a class), attempted to find some activities for these kids to do this fall, updated our calendars with school stuff so I can stay organized. This stuff all takes time and my brain is kinda fried. Now I'm enjoying a nice Blue Moon and getting dinner ready.

I'm shooting a daytime wedding tomorrow and while weddings aren't my forte, I'm kind of looking forward to the day ending around 4 or 5! The ceremony starts at 11 which is so cool! I'm pretty excited and the couple is pretty awesome! My SIL Kristi is coming along as well. She's going to observe, and shoot and kind of act like an assistant. Don't worry, I won't boss her around, I want her to be able to shoot and get some experience. I'm pretty excited for her.

Sunday we are having an open house here. Nothing usually comes from them, but it gains exposure. However, at this point, we have no where to go anyway so we aren't in much of a hurry! Brian wants to go the the Senior Golf Tourney at the TPC in Blaine. There are some big names that will be there, including Arnold Palmer so I think we will head over there for a bit. Brian's grandparent's live on the TPC so we will be able to hang there to escape the crowds. Should be interesting to say the least!

While I was updating our calendars today I had to find out the dates we are going to Hawaii in October so I logged into Brian's Delta account and I got really excited because it said 60 days until departure. Seriously, 2 months! I can't wait. It is going to be so fantastic to spend 6 days in paradise with the hubs. We are going to completely treasure the time away. One of the best parts is that we are flying both ways first class. How nice. Flying to Hawaii sucks but first class can make it a whole lot better!

Alrighty, I will be done boring you with all the details of my mundane life! Happy Friday all and enjoy your weekend!

Fingers crossed...

2010-07-27T17:27:00.002-05:00

Brian and I are in the final stages of purchasing some lake property. We've been going at it with the sellers for over 3 weeks now, but I just signed the final purchase agreement today so it's 99% official. Since it's lake property, we are still waiting to hear about where the high water mark lies in order to determine if we will be able to build the house we want or not, but other than closing it's pretty official. I didn't really want to mention it here until it was mostly official, but being that it is I thought I'd finally share some pictures!

This is looking toward the lake. That shed is on our lot, but it will be removed. We will have 90 feet of lakeshore and .6 acres of land (more than 2 times more than what we have now).

Looking at the back of the lot, our property extends up the hill to a main road. We won't build on this but it's nice scenery and provides a lot of privacy. Our lot is at the dead end of a road that will barely fit 2 cars on it. Besides the lake, this may be the biggest selling point for me. No more yelling at the kids on their bikes about cars coming their way. I just love the idea of this road being safe for the kids to play on.

Obviously we will need to clear those weeds, but I actually look forward to it!

We have a fair amount of mature trees on the property and I'm really hoping we can salvage most of them in the building process. The seller will be removing 2 dead trees for us as well.

I'm heading back up there tomorrow to take another look at what will hopefully be the location of our future dream home! I will probably try to get some better pictures too so stay tuned!

Happy Birthday Annika!

2010-07-20T07:51:00.002-05:00

Today Annika turns 5 and I truly can't believe that she is that old. I really can remember her birth like it was yesterday. Today Annika is everything a mother could dream of. She's sweet, goofy, incredibly smart, loving, playful, and well behaved (most of the time!)! It's a joy to have her in our lives. She is 100% the oldest child and plays her role well. She can be bossy at times, but she's just practicing her leadership techniques! She is getting to be so independent and outgoing. It's fun to watch her transition from a shy toddler to a confident child.

Today Brian and I woke Annika up to wish her happy birthday. She got some 1 on 1 time with the 2 of us before Brian headed out to work. We let her open a small gift today (what fun is a birthday without presents?). She opened a Zhu Zhu Pet named Jilly, but changed her name to Pinky. We don't have huge plans for today. I think we will make a cake together and then for dinner Annika has requested that we order pizza.

Later this week we will be having her kiddy party. I'm keeping it simple with some snacks, treats and these for the kids, along with a seed mix to bring home to plant a flower in the pot. I'm not doing goody bags because let's face it, it's crap and I don't want that stuff around my house anymore than anyone else! Annika has requested the theme of her parties to be "roses" and "all sorts of flowers", so I'll be making these for decoration and calling it a day. What's great is I will reuse them for her family party on Saturday! The kids can play, swim and eat then all go home! It will be nice and simple.

Then on Saturday is her family party. It will be nice to see the whole gang. We haven't hashed out our menu yet as Annika is requesting Papa Murphy's and Dominoes and I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't mind Papa Murphy's but I really don't like Dominoes. So, perhaps we'll do a Dominoes for the kids, then make some homemade pizzas for the adults. That way, everyone is happy!

I will leave you with a few pictures I took of my 5 year old! Happy Birthday sweet Annika Leigh. Mommy and Daddy love you!

Monday 4.5.2010

2010-07-13T10:37:00.002-05:00

On Monday we packed up the mini-van (last trip before turning it in!), 3 kids, 2 dogs, a cat and all our crap, and headed to WI for a little mini-vacation at the cabin. We rented a cabin across the street from my parent's cabin. When we arrived, we drove in and drove right back out. It was dingy, dirty and looked abandoned and had a junk everywhere. We drove over to my parents and set up there. It was cozy but we all made it work.

We spent the day outside riding the tractor, swimming, having water balloon fights. The kids had fun, and the adults did too!

Bennett kept calling my dad's tractor his own. It was cute. He was very protective of it!

There were a lot of wagon rides going on!

I love this shot! They are too cute!

Beebs with the bug catcher.

We decided the kids were old enough to introduce sparklers. We went over all the precautions first and let them have a go.

All fun and games!

A little apprehensive at first.

But mesmerized nonetheless!

OOOPS, someone dropped the sparkler and stepped on it. Ouch. She got a nice little blister from it.

Later that night we started a fire and did some more sparklers and my dad put on a mini fireworks show. Once again Bianca could have cared less but the rest of us enjoyed it. Annika snapped some pictures too, she is quite the little photog!

She stopped momentarily to pose for me though!

This was a terrible idea! Luckily nobody got hurt!

Beebs had to take some shots too!

Our first day of vacation was a success. Stay tuned...

Sunday 4.4.2010

2010-07-11T20:54:00.002-05:00

On the 4th, Brian and I decided to take the kids to fireworks for the first time ever. We were all very excited about the experience and while it was fun, it may have been more painful overall. Bennett was scared for about half the show. He kept saying 'noooo', 'get away' which was pretty cute. It soon turned to 'wow's' though and that made me happy. Bianca didn't like the noise, at all. She really could care less about fireworks. Boo to her! Annika LOVED it though. She wanted them to go on, and on, and on... She even requested fireworks for her birthday party. Hmm, she may be a bit disappointed!

Overall, I'm glad we went. Here are some pretty crappy shots from the night!

No actual shots of the fireworks though because I really suck at taking pictures of them! Hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

Saturday 4.3.2010

2010-07-10T10:20:00.002-05:00

My titles are going to get really interesting at this point, but it's the only way to stay organized with all these vacay pics.

On Saturday, I had a quick session in the morning then my vacation officially started. We headed up to the lake early and spent the entire day outside. It was gorgeous. Absolutely perfect. The kids swam and played in the sand, I floated and drank beer. I told you, it was perfect.

Grandpa Jim pushing the girls around in the water chairs. They got a kick out of this!

Bennett preferred the sand to the water.

Who needs sand toys when you have recyclables?

Taking a snooze on the boat!

Being sassy, as usual!

Christmas card shot?

Sometimes I just can't get enough of his cuteness!

Stay tuned for day 2!

These Boots are Made for Walking

2010-07-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is how I found Annika the other morning! This girl's got style!

Wonderment

2010-07-09T18:27:00.001-05:00

I was going through my pictures from our little vacay and I knew instantly that this would be a forever favorite:

I just love her look of wonderment and amazement. This was our first year doing sparklers with the kids and while it had it's setbacks (details later), overall it was great to see the excitement in their eyes. For just a moment, we all got to be kids again. Now that is priceless!

Drawing

2010-07-09T08:28:00.004-05:00

Annika loves drawing. She draws and colors all the time. When coloring in a coloring book, she uses the right colors and stays within the lines. But her true love is drawing. She is constantly asking for a plain piece of paper to draw on. She is incredibly talented for a child her age in my opinion! In fact, I'd wager that she can draw better than most adults! Check out this masterpiece!

Whoa Nelly!

2010-07-02T09:14:00.003-05:00

I made a decision several weeks ago to stop blogging. I was done, no desire left to put my thoughts and pictures out there for the world to see. My decision was 2-fold. First being that I kept getting creepy comments with Chinese symbols that linked to something that was most likely perverted and that bugged me. Even after I enabled the word verification I still got them so I assumed it was a creepo on the other end. Second being that I just don't have time or the desire to write here. Of course, 2 weeks or so have passed and I'm itching to blog. I guess once a blogger, always a blogger.

For the most part, most of you have seen all that we've done through Facebook and that seems to be *almost* enough for me. But randomly throughout the weeks I've had things I've wanted opinions on, or things I want to shout to the world but Facebook hasn't been the proper outlet for it so here I am, back at it.

So first a topic of business that I need to discuss. This post will be the last post that will be public. I have a lot of you on the private list but if you aren't and want to still read (if I even blog) let me know, I will add you.

So, what's been going on? Well, quite a bit actually. Our house is still on the market. We have quite a few projects going on to make the house more marketable. We have new Silestone countertops going in as we speak. So far they look fab! Once they are in place, I have a new tile backsplash that I am putting in myself! Yep, I'm going to do it! I'm really excited to see it all pulled together, I think it will look great. It's a bummer we are doing it for someone else though (hopefully)!

Today Brian and I are heading slightly north to walk a lake lot with our realtor and put an offer in on it. This lot is perfect (I hope so anyway) and I have grand dreams of living there. It's on a quiet secluded road and is at the dead end of it. I can picture my kids playing in the street without me screaming at them to watch for cars! It's on 90 some feet of lakeshore on a cute little lake in Lindstrom, MN. It's about 25 minutes further north of the cities than where we are now, but lake life just might be worth it! No Target for miles though :(

I have been incredibly busy with business. I shot a gorgeous wedding in Two Harbors last weekend and it went really well. I was very happy with the pictures! I had a newborn session earlier this week and I have an engagement session tomorrow morning. Busy busy!

On Monday, Bri and I are taking the family to western WI for a few nights for a little summer getaway. I'm excited to have a nice relaxing time enjoying the outdoors for a few days. Life needs to slow down a bit, that's for sure.

So since you made it this far, I think you deserve to be rewarded with a picture or two! We took the kids strawberry picking a couple weeks ago. I love this tradition we started last year and I think the kids do too! Happy Friday friends!

Da Twinkies...

2010-05-27T08:15:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, we got to take Bennett to his very first Twins game thanks to his Uncle Jeff. Jeff is a season ticket holder and is sharing the wealth with his family and friends! It was great for 2 reasons, 1 we got to see the new stadium (which is pretty amazing and I'm not a baseball fan at all) and I got to see the excitement through Bennett's eyes. He was beaming the whole time. I'm not sure if he was so happy to be at the game, or if he was just happy to get ALL of our attention! Either way, it was a special treat for all of us.

Bennett got to see the sights like this! Special little guy!

This is what he looked like most of the time!

He's got his ticket!

The 3 of us hiding from the rain!

Uncle Jeff and Bennett! We had great seats by the way!

Do I look amused?

We got rained out so we took off! It was nasty out there!

We had fun despite the rain and I can't wait to go back again!

Sisters

2010-05-19T10:32:00.002-05:00

When I found out I was pregnant with another baby girl, I thought how great would it be if my girls could be bestest of friends? Many people said good luck with that, sisters fight, a lot. I agreed, my sister and I did our fair share of fighting and didn't become friends until we were much older (like college aged). I didn't think I could be so lucky to have girls who were best friends. But I am, I really am. Sure, they fight like sisters, but they love like best friends. They seem to know what the other is thinking. They pretend and dream together. It truly is the most wonderful thing in the world. My hope for them is that they always remain best friends, despite being sisters. I tell them all the time how lucky they are to have a best friend in their very own home. So many children don't have siblings and they should feel special to have each other. Let's hope it stays that way!

Bennett

2010-05-19T10:23:00.003-05:00

Oh Bennett, my baby boy. Where do I begin? This boy is full of life. He's always on the go, he never stops. He adores anything with wheels on it and his favorite phrase is "moom taw" (vroom car). He takes after his big sister Bianca in the feisty department. He throws a good tantrum and knows how to get what he wants. He plays the role of 3rd child very well pulling on my heartstrings everytime he smiles at me. He has the best dimples a kid could ask for and an incredible smile. His curly blonde hair rounds off the perfect little package known as Bennett.

He calls himself "dude" and knows he's two. He copies everything his sisters say and has an eagerness to learn. He still doesn't speak all that well but he sure tries with all his heart. He speaks in sentences but it's hard to understand at times causing frustration for all. He knows what he wants to say and has it in his head, he just can't form it in his mouth. I'm hoping the therapist coming next week will have some answers for us!

Bennett is the most strong-willed person I have ever met. He is constantly challenging us with something new and holds strong. I thought I was strong but this boy has got me trumped! I hope and pray that he will always use his will and stubborness for good things and that those qualities take him far in life (like his daddy). He is a little lover, always good for a hug and a kiss to whoever asks. He adores his sisters and looks up to his daddy.

The Dude:

Bennett, you make me laugh, you make me cry, but one thing is for sure, you make me the happiest mama in the world! Love you bud!

Bianca

2010-05-19T10:13:00.002-05:00

Bianca, B-diddles, diddles, Bubs, diddle bubs, B. Whatever you call her, she's still super sweet! Bianca is such a little lover. I could snuggle her wonderful squishiness all day long. She just has a fabulous cuddly quality to her. Good thing is, she loves to snuggle! Underneath all that sweetness is an intense fiestiness. This girl has fire in her blood. She is strong willed, she knows what she wants and is incredibly independent. She is a drama queen to the core. My hope for her is to always carry those qualities throughout her life. It will take her far and you know she will always achieve her every goal when she puts her mind to it.

Sometimes I forget how small she still is with her big attitude. It really hit me last night after I put her to bed. She came out for a drink of water (for the 100th time) and it annoyed me. She looked up at me with her big puppy dog eyes and she just appeared so tiny and innocent. It was hard to remain upset with her when she seemed so tiny. Sometimes I think she is much older than 3. She has an old soul and is such a compassionate little thing. She is beyond smart and articulate it really makes you forget she's only 3. Beebs, you are such a joy to have. You bring so much to our lives and always keep us on our toes. You are full of surprises and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Annika

2010-05-19T08:10:00.004-05:00

Annika is coming up on her last 2 days of preschool. On one hand, I'm very excited for summer vacation. The freedom to lounge around all morning and take our time getting places. On the other hand, I'm not quite ready for Annika to be done with preschool. It's hard to fathom how I have a kindergartner. It really seems like just yesterday I was meeting my sweet little lady for the first time. No one really warns you about how fast time will actually fly with these little ones. I wish I could find a pause button so I could stop things for just a moment!

Anyway, I took the kids on a mini-photoshoot the other day. We biked to the park for a picnic and to play. Of course I didn't tell them I needed to capture them as they are today (cause I never take enough pics). Plus, the weather is finally gorgeous here and I seriously love the fluffy dandelions!

Annika is so cooperative when I want to take pictures. I am so grateful for that and I know it won't last forever so I need to take advantage of that while I can!

I am such a proud mama to my Annika. She is so smart and creative. She literally could color and draw all day long, except when she's playing with her dolls. She is a sweet little girl with wonderful intentions. She says hi to everyone she meets and greets everyone with a big beautiful smile. She loves making new friends and is the best big sister to Bianca and Bennett.

We had company over this weekend and as they were leaving Annika said to them (without prompting) "Thank you for coming over, it was so nice to see you again". I just about fell over after hearing her say that. It gave me a huge sense of pride.

Annika can do so many things and needs me less and less. She can swing all by herself and that brings a lot of pride to her. She tells everyone she knows that she can pump her legs. She rides her bike like a champ and wants to go without her training wheels. I keep telling her that's going to be a daddy job! She climbs on EVERYTHING like a little monkey. If it exists, she will climb it. No joke!

I just love watching Annika turn into a confident, intelligent and happy girl. She isn't so small anymore and someday will be taller than her 5ft1 mama, but she will always be my baby. My hope for Annika is that she continues on in her life as the friendly, confident and brave girl she is today. I love you Neeky Pie!

The third...

2010-05-12T09:45:00.002-05:00

Lately I have been struggling so much with my beautiful and "spirited" third child. To say that this boy is strong-willed is a huge understatement. I've always considered myself to be a strong willed person, but this boy has got both Brian and I trumped. Big time!

Bennett is a very sweet boy. In general he means well, but he's stubborn and doesn't like to listen. He's smart and physically strong which is turning out to be a wicked combo. I have a hard time physically controlling him when he's throwing his tantrums, that's just how strong he is. And he's loud, oh so loud.

So, what has he been doing lately? Let's start with his defiance. Now, I take part of the blame for being a little more lenient with him than I ever have been with the girls. Timeouts just became a regular thing for him. I'm not sure why, but I just feel like he's still a baby. In treating him as such, he still acts very much like a baby. Just recently I was talking to Brian about how much Bennett acts like a baby. Ok, so I know he's only 2 but his behaviors are really frustrating. I know his lack of language skills are making things so much worse since he can't communicate his wants and needs very effectively. But he's made major strides in that department so I feel things should be getting better, not worse.

Next up, bedtime. I bought Bennett a super cute race car toddler bed last week. He loved it, except he doesn't want to sleep in it. I think he's a little scared with the change so I even gave him the choice to sleep in his crib again. Now nothing is good enough, well besides my bed which he screams "mama's bed" over and over and over again for hours on end at bedtime. Now, Brian and I have never let our kids sleep in our bed for bedtime. I'm not sure where he's getting this from, or why he thinks he's entitled to our bed.

So, a recap of last night (the last 5 nights for that matter):

7:30 pm Put him in bed, he screams hysterically but stays in bed
7:45 pm He comes running out screaming mama's bed
7:50pm Brian installs safety lock on his door
7:50pm-8:30 screams at door trying to get out, finally passes out on the floor in front of door with light on
8:30 Brian goes in to put him in bed and turn off the light, wakes him up and the screaming continues
8:45pm I go back in and calm him down, try to talk some sense into him (no success there). Leave because I'm getting no where
8:45-9:15pm screaming ensues and he finally passes out in bed with the lights on.
9:15pm I go shut lights off and think he'll sleep really well after all of that
12:15am Realize I was dead wrong when he tries to get out of his room again. Go in, put him back into bed and turn the light off again.
12:30 back asleep, probably on the floor, who knows at this point
6:15am up for the day screaming and trying to get out again. I leave him in there so he gets the point that I mean business.
6:30am finally get up with the little turd and talk to him about the terrible night. Goes in one ear and out the other. I'm sure we'll repeat again at nap and again at bedtime tonight. Dear Lord I need HELP!

For most kids it would take a night or two of this, but it's going on 6 nights and I'm so exhausted, both physically and mentally. His bedtime antics combined with his bad behavior during the day has got me not enjoying my sweet and cute little guy. I don't like feeling this way about my child. I feel like I've exhausted every option. Do I need some professional help here, perhaps the Supernanny? Am I doing something wrong? I refuse to let him come to bed with me. That's a can of worms that will never get opened. Help me people, help me! This sucks.

If you've gotten this far, I applaud you. I seriously do. You deserve a medal! Thanks for listening!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T15:04:00.003-05:00

I always look forward to Mother's Day. I like having a day that's devoted to the hard working mommies out there. Mother's are a special breed and it takes a pretty special woman to be a good mother.

This year I woke up feeling much different about being a mom. I didn't want the day to be about my kids and husband waiting on me hand and foot (although that's not half bad either). I really felt blessed to have my 3 children in my life. I enjoyed them, smiled with them, laughed with them and really just relished in how lucky I really am. They make me very happy and while life with children can be extremely trying and difficult at times, I wouldn't change any of it. I was blessed with the ability to have babies quite easily and for that I am grateful. So on this Mother's Day I truly realized how awesome the last 5 years of motherhood have been for me.

The day started out fantastic. Bennett ended up in my bed bright and early (5:40 am). So we snuggled and slept in until after 7. Brian got up with the girls while Bennett and I snuggled some more and he whipped up a batch of apple donuts and bacon (seriously delish). The kids colored me picture upon picture for Mother's Day and I love every last one of them. Brian gave me a gift certificate for a massage to a local salon. I can't wait to redeem!

I headed out with the girls to brunch with some very special ladies in my life: my mom, my grandma, my sister and my aunt. We enjoyed the wonderful company, great food and mimosas.

The girls and I returned home for a little naptime before heading up to the lake for a celebration with Brian's family. We literally lazed around for almost 2 hours and it felt great!

We then headed up to the lake for some great company and great food.

Kristi and I did a quick photoshoot for an interview she's doing. Isn't she just beautiful?

We also took a timeout to take some pictures of the gorgeous flowers in the neighborhood!

And what visit to the lake would be complete without actually being on the lake? We hung out on the boat for a while and the kids did some fishing and playing on the beach. It was peaceful and very fun!

Life jackets, so we can be safe... (1st prize goes to whoever can guess what that's from!)

Annika's "sand castle".

One of the many snail shells the kids were collecting!

This kid loves fishing! She talks about it all the time. She actually caught a foot long large mouth bass earlier this week! Crazy. She threw it back, not bass season yet, shhhh don't tell!

Senior Capitan of the Frangelica!

Fishin' with grandpa!

And lastly, my favorite. The man of my dreams watching the kids. I wouldn't have my wonderful life without him. Thanks for making this Mother's Day a memorable one!

User Review: The Perfect Dog

2010-05-04T16:49:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I caught an infomercial about a dog training system. I swear, the infomercial could be about testicular implants and I would still get sucked in and need to have it! But anyway, we have major issues with our dog Tucker. He's a rott/lab mix and is insanely hyper and 100% the alpha dog of the house (which includes me unfortunately). He chases cars and is extremely aggressive toward other dogs. He's actually busted through the invisible fence 3 times and bit other dogs. Tucker is an incredibly sweet dog and is really great with the kids but Brian and I just can't have a dog around that acts like that. He gets completely out of control and it scares me. So, before I can really get rid of him and before we get sued over him I need to try everything. So I read a lot of reviews on The Perfect Dog Training System and I fully understood the type of training it is. I read the negatives and the positives and all the positives seemed to weigh out the negatives. Some people thought it was intimidation training, but it's a dog eat dog world and he needs to know who is boss! So, if I have to intimidate him a little, so be it.

So I got the system today, watched the DVD immediately and got to work. The 2 most important pieces to the training are getting your dog to NEVER pull on the leash. So we worked that for maybe 5 minutes, 10 max and he got that down instantly and that alone made him a much better dog. I know you are thinking that's crazy, but it's true. Even when I didn't hold the leash, he was right by my side calculating my next move and thinking of where he needed to be. Now that is amazing for him.

I then moved onto the 2nd most important part, "down". That was much more difficult to achieve and we are still working on it. But, he's starting to get that if he doesn't listen, I will correct him physically with a pull on his modified pinch collar and he doesn't like it.

The true test was to get him to go up and down the steps in a controlled manner. Normally he runs as fast as possible up and down without any regard to who is on them. I'm terrified he's going to knock a kid down. He went up and down the steps several times very slowly and one time he even walked behind me. It was seriously amazing.

Lastly, we are done with our training for the day but my mother in law brought Bennett and Annika home. He got a little hyper so I walked him away from the action, put him in the "down" position and told him to stay (per the training as well) and he actually did really well. I praised him a lot and he remained calm around my MIL and is still calm right now.

I'm liking this new calm dog. He is listening better at basic commands as well and this was only after 1 hour of work today. It's amazing. For those of you interested in this, I will update again soon!

A girl and her doll...

2010-04-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

Annika (and Bianca too) love pretending. They especially love playing with dolls. They love their little polly pocket dolls, only they are in the form of the Disney Princesses so it's just extra icing on the cake for the girls.

I just love listening to them pretend in their high pitch voices. It really is just the epitome of childhood the way these girls pretend. It's so adorable.

What is funny about these pictures is that Annika requested that I take these and I obliged just to make her happy. These were also taken at least a month ago and I just re-stumbled upon them tonight and fell in love again.

Our house went on the market today late this afternoon. Earlier today we got our carpets cleaned so the carpets are soaked and all the furniture was moved. At about 3:40 I got a call saying someone requested a showing at 4pm today. Well, I couldn't say no, the house literally just hit the market about 10 minutes earlier. So I ran around straightening up, putting furniture back in place, making beds, getting Bennett up from nap, loading the animals in the car, turning lights on and we got out with 1 minute to spare! It was crazy, but I guess that's life now. Let's hope it all pays off in the end, sooner rather than later! It was an eventful day to say the least. I am anxious to hear about the showing so hopefully we'll hear something soon.

Alright, I'm pooped for the day. Have a nice night everyone!

A little helper...

2010-04-27T08:18:00.002-05:00

Apparently Bianca likes to help with laundry! That's a good thing, right? She just climbed right up there and sat there the whole time. What a nut!

And, you've probably noticed my new edges for my pictures. I've been wanting this action set from MCP Actions for quite some time and I just bit the bullet. They are fun to play with, that's for sure! I've got some tweaking to do, but so far I really like the look!

Happy Tuesday friends.

Happy Birthday

2010-04-27T08:12:00.002-05:00

To my awesome and loving husband, Brian! Actually, his birthday was on Sunday but I'm just getting around to wishing him a happy birthday here! And of course what post would be complete without pictures?

On Saturday night we celebrated with pizza and some brownies. I made up a brownie sundae for Brian and put a candle in it. The kids sang Happy Birthday to him. It was by far the cutest rendition I've ever heard and unfortunately I wasn't video taping it :( I just love Annika's face in this shot. She's really into it!

On Sunday, I made some cupcakes for Brian and we headed to his parent's house to celebrate with his family. We had a yummy lasagna dinner and of course the cupcakes.

Yes, I had better shots of Annika eating her cupcake, but this one is too funny not to post!

Happy 31st birthday babe! We all love you and appreciate your hard work!

Sunny days are here...

2010-04-26T20:59:00.003-05:00

I know I'm not alone when I say that I seriously love sunny days. But, I do. I really, really do. It's a huge hit in our household when we can spend all day outside, in the sun.

My number one boy is obsessed with the outdoors. When he's not outside, he's longing to be. How adorable is this shot with him and our big dumb dog Tucker?

While shooting in mid-day sun is normally a nightmare for photographers, I'm loving doing it as of late. I am getting some gorgeous shots and will be breaking the camera out more during the noon hours. Just look at how bold her hair looks here!!! Beautiful.

And I just love how Bennett keeps his sunglasses on. It's funny, he'll keep the sunglasses on, but refuses a hat. Weird kid.

What's horrible about this time of year though is the darn ticks. They are seriously the devil. We've had 6 attached in our house plus several more of the creepy crawlies just around. I bought some bug spray and we will be dousing ourselves with it from now on. The pediatrician said a 30% volume of Deet is good for the buggers. They really creep me out and I would like to just crawl into a hole until they all die!

Anyway, I've been slacking a lot with the camera. I need to get it out more and get a bit more creative with the kiddos.

Our house officially goes on the market tomorrow. We've been working our butts off to get it ready and it's about 95% there. Just a few more tasks and it will be good to go! I love our house and will greatly miss it and our neighbors but am really excited about what the future may hold. It will be an adventure, that's for sure.

Anyway, I'm exhausted. I need to get some sleep, but I've got a post a brewin' for this blog and will have 3 sessions up on this one this weekend! Crazy and busy!

We Heart DQ

2010-04-23T20:58:00.003-05:00

We are a DQ family. And, in case you don't have a DQ near you, it's only the yummiest little place on Earth (next to Coldstone). My kids adore ice cream (can't figure out why:)). We frequent there on nice warm days, and even not so nice warm days as it's never too cold for ice cream, in my humble opinion!

Here are some shots of the kids enjoying some of the creamy stuff!

Our Dairy Queen has some cute little wooden bears and benches for kids to play on. Of course the kids insist on it, but it really is fun to watch them. The littlest things can amuse my babies!

Seriously, don't they just look adorable and soooooo happy?!?!?

Did I mention that I simply love warm days?

A little video!

2010-04-13T19:08:00.001-05:00

I get such a kick out of this video. The kids love rolling down the hill on the side of the house. Note Bianca's great form, Annika's "advanced" form and well, Bennett gave it a good try, that's for sure!

Holy Crap Batman

2010-04-13T18:18:00.004-05:00

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, that's for sure. Let's recap:

We bought a new car. I love it. The kids love it. Bennett, well he's just slightly obsessed. He looks forward to riding in it every day! Too cute. It's a Lexus RX400H. It's a hybrid and so far it has exceeded all my expectations.

This seriously made Bennett's day. He loved watching it come off of the truck! And I guess I did too!

We decided to sell our house. I've been cleaning, organizing, repairing, packing and donating like a madwoman. You should see my daily list of to-do's for the next 3 weeks. It's crazy. We are aiming for a May 1st list date. Wish us luck!

I'm trying to finish up my 6 client galleries and get discs out so that I can send my computer in for repair. I finished up 2 today and have 4 more to do. Plus I need to mail discs out to everyone and I have another session scheduled for Saturday! Ouch. I am meeting with a bride and groom this weekend and need to meet with another couple for their pre-wedding consult for their May 8th wedding. My schedule is filling up and while that's great, life is getting away from me!

My hubs and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on the 10th. He surprised me with a night away. We stayed downtown at the Hilton, had a fabulous dinner and some great convo, just the two of us! It was just what the doctor ordered and we both had a great time.

Brian at dinner.

My dinner, it was awesome! Spinach and egg noodles, a romano white sauce, baby peas and ham. Yum!

Brian's meal, a filet mignon sandwhich on chiabatta bread and home made fries. Looks delish!

And our dessert. Molten chocolate cake. My all time fave!

And me while we were having drinks.

Speaking of anniversaries, I got Brian a new point and shoot as a gift. It's nice to have a p&s around for times where I just don't want to be a good photographer! It feels good to just snap, upload and share! Mostly all of these pics in this post are from the new camera.

Annika testing out the camera. I swear, I'm always wearing this workout gear!

Brian got a pic of me and my boy! We were snuggling after nap one day. It lasted a good 30 minutes too! Amazing!

It's been gorgeous here so it's been nice to get outside. The kids love it and I love it just as much!

This girl loves to climb. She's really a monkey!

Cool dude in his shades!

Some more random shots from the new camera!

Um ya ya!

Well, that's about all I can muster up about now. Good night.

350

2010-04-10T07:33:00.002-05:00

Apparently this is my 350th post here on blogger. I wish I had something monumental to talk about but alas, I don't! I've been a very bad blogger lately. I just can not find the time to come here, hash out my thoughts and post pictures. It seems like such a daunting task each time I think about it! We have had a ton of new developments in our lives and unfortunately they are consuming our time.

First I want to mention that today I have been married to the most wonderful man for a whole 6 years! In our 6 years of marriage, our lives have changed so dramatically. Before marriage, we were just 2. Right after marriage we started having babies and now we are 5. It's been an amazing 6 years living the dream with the man of my dreams. I am one lucky gal! Happy Anniversary my love!

Second, we have decided to put our house on the market. Brian and I have always had a dream of living on a lake and now is the time to buy. I really hope that now CAN be the time to sell too. We've met with a few realtors, got lots of opinions and fortunately for us we have a huge support system in our family and friends who are all really encouraging. So, Brian and I are cautiously optimistic that if we price our house right, we will be able to sell and perhaps even relatively quickly! Wish us luck. We are aiming for a May 1st date of listing and my stomach is in knots. It's such a big thing, but hopefully it will lead to living our dream.

I plan on doing a virtual tour on here once I get a chance to post pictures of our sale ready house! Feedback will be great. And for those of you who are in the midst of selling, or have recently sold, any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Our last selling experience was miserable and I am bound and determined to make this one more pleasurable!

So what are our plans? Glad you asked. Brian and I have been searching for land on the lake his parents live on. We plan to buy a lot, or a tear down and build our "forever home". We have so many ideas but the process is going to be long and tiring, I know that for sure. We will be homeless for a while and that freaks me out a lot.

Another thing that has got me thinking about is school for the kids. Annika is currently enrolled for kindergarten here in our current district. Do I keep her here for kindergarten or enroll her where we hope to eventually be? Bianca is also enrolled in her second year of preschool and I hate to pull her from it. We love our preschool and the teachers and it will be hard to find something comparable in my opinion.

Speaking of the kids, they are super excited about selling this house and getting a new one. One would think they would be sad to leave the only home they've ever known. Nope, not my kids. They must have the same bug Brian and I get. We get bored easily and crave change. I guess the kids are cut from the same cloth.

Anyway, that is what we are living right now. It's very exciting and a tad scary. Wish us luck. Tonight Brian and I are sneaking away. He got us a nice room at a hotel and has a great dinner planned. I'm excited to have a kidless night and actuall sleep in. It should be refreshing! Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Hippity Hoppity...

2010-04-06T17:34:00.002-05:00

Happy Spring!

ZZZZZzzzzzz...

2010-04-02T19:25:00.002-05:00

This is how I found Bianca yesterday, on the most beautiful day of the year! Passed out cold on the living room floor. Adorable! I just love sleeping children!

Annika and her friend

2010-04-02T19:23:00.001-05:00

So cute!

Bianca vs. the Jump Rope

2010-04-02T19:22:00.001-05:00

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-02T14:53:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Brian's parent's, Brian and I took the kids to a local Easter Egg hunt. While it was completely disorganized and chaotic, the kids had fun and that is all that really matters! It was a nice day for an egg hunt, the weather was a tad crisp but it felt nice.

They made the kids wait a really long time to get started, but we were entertained by this Guy:

Scary you say? I agree!

Annika waiting patiently.

Bianca being stoic.

Peek.

Bennett wondering "what the hell is taking so damn long!".

Annika wanted to take a picture with her sister, but Bianca refused, and that made Annika upset!

Annika and Grandpa Jim.

It's go time! That's the only egg Bennett picked up. There were so many kids and so little eggs, the hunt literally lasted 3 seconds. And, I'm not exaggerating that number!

Annika got her face painted like a bunny. Seriously, this picture makes me laugh every time!

And just because she's so pretty!

I've got a whole slew of spring pictures to post, so you might be lucky to hear from me 2 times in a day! Now that must be a record!

8 days

2010-03-24T15:47:00.002-05:00

It's been 8 days since I've blogged. Believe me people, I wish I could have been blogging. To say that I'm overwhelmed is a major understatement. Not sure I have words to describe how I'm feeling. I need a break. Not necessarily a break from my kids or that sort of break, I just need a break from everything that is pulling me in every different direction. Luckily, spring break is next week and we can just have a chill week here at home. Trying to balance everything we need to do in a day is proving to be more difficult with the nicer weather. My obligations are being put on the side burner to spend precious time outside. Not complaining on that front at all, I love that part of being a mom. However, there is always work, or housework, or working out on my mind. Notice the word "work" in each of those statements? Can you tell playing is more fun than anything "work" related? No brainer there.

I finally got around to editing some of my own pictures for a change. I love taking picture of my kids, in fact I take way too many. And then when I actually have to spend time editing pictures, I have to do it for my clients. Here are a few from the last week or so. I am loving getting outside and taking pictures again. It's wonderful!

My beautiful Diddles. She fell off her bike last week, nailed her head on the ground and the handle bar landed smack dab on her lip. She split it open and had a mighty fat lip going for a few days. Thank God for helmets though or we would have had a concussion on our hands. You can see the marks where she hit. After that fall, I will never let the kids ride without em. And, neither should you!

She is just so full of life!

And this guy, he is just growing up way too fast. Doesn't he look like a big boy here?

Stamp on the forehead look, it's the new in thing, you know!

Bennett loves his new shades. He keeps them on really well and looks pretty cool too!

Annika LOVES riding her bike. She is super fast and really good at it. Bianca does great too, a little slow but pretty good for a 3 year old!

Isn't she just gorgeous? I can't help but notice how much older she's looking nowadays. Her baby face is disappearing and she's turning into a beautiful girl. Extremely bittersweet.

And the Dude. Man, he loves his cars. He's always playing with them. Isn't he adorable in this hat? Well, I think so anyway!

Last weekend Brian and I got a night out, thanks to Lifetime Fitness and their Parent's Night Out. We visited a great restaurant in White Bear Lake called Acqua. It was amazing. We had great wine and an awesome 3 course meal. It was a nice night to get out and we enjoyed each other's company. We will be doing a review for Kristi's Twin Cities Restaurant Blog, when we get around to it!

Brian and I watched New Moon last night. It was pretty slow but I'll be the first to admit that New Moon was my least favorite of the 4 books. On Friday, Brian's mom and dad are taking the kids so that I can go out with some girlfriends. We are going to the Twin Cities Wine Expo. I'm super excited about this night out. Who doesn't love great company and good wine.

Well, I'm just about blogged out now. Happy Hump Day all!

Totally Random

2010-03-16T11:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday it was 60 some degrees and gorgeous here. Unfortunately I was confined to the indoors recovering from the stomach flu. Boo. Being sick really sucks. I did get caught up on some work but I would have rather been playing outside with the kids, by a long shot!

This weekend we celebrated Bennett's 2nd birthday with our family (pics to come). We had a nice time and ordered pizza making it the easiest party ever! We've gotta do that more often.

I've been thinking for a while now that I need a separate computer for my business but I haven't wanted to make that leap (it's a big hit financially), but I've filled up both our internal and external hard drives with work junk which is making our computer run REALLY SLOW. It's irritating. So, I've been shopping for computers and deciding whether or not I really want to spend the $. I haven't really been shopping per se, I know what I will get but it's pricey. I might just jump head first and do it. Other photogs out there, do you have a separate computer? The sucky part of being your own boss is that there is nobody to provide you with the supplies you need to run your business. Hmmm. Food for thought.

And lastly, some random shots from the last few weeks. Nothing spectacular, it's all I've got though!

Bennett is sooooo cool talking on the phone in the heart shades. He's so funny!

He likes playing ball. No surprise there!

And Bianca posing, she's getting good at it!

Being weird. I found her at the landing of our stairs all covered up like she was sleeping. Goof.

Happy Tuesday friends.

2 Whole Years!

2010-03-11T17:03:00.003-06:00

Can you even believe that this tiny little guy:

The one that barely fit that adorable hat, is 2 today? I can't believe it, it's simply not possible! I'm not quite sure where the past 2 years have flown to!

Today, Bennett is a crazy, walking, talking toddler. A full blown TODDLER!

Bennett still doesn't talk all that well. He has a ton of words, some recognizable and some not but he's still not really stringing words together. He says "thank you (insert name here)" and that's the most he'll say together, usually. Sometimes he'll surprise us with sentences but for the most part he is a one word man!

So today Bennett, I'd like to say to you:

You are smart; sweet and loving; polite; rambunctious and energetic; funny and oh so adorable. Don't change a thing (well maybe quit with the kicking). You give us a run for our money but that just shows us that you are ambitious and like to dole out a good challenge. You love your sisters and fight oh so well with them. You play the role of little brother well. You've got yourself one proud mama. I can't wait to see what type of little boy you'll turn into. I love you and I hope you have a happiest of 2nd birthdays!

Love your mommy!

Sunday Snapshots

2010-03-07T09:38:00.004-06:00

Stepping on Cheerios has started Sunday Snapshots and this week's theme is imagination. This is an easy way to blog on a busy weekend day. So here it is, my picture for the theme "imagination".

I could never get sick of watching Bennett play with his trucks. I'm not sure why I'm so fascinated with this, but I absolutely adore his love of everything truck. He will drive them anywhere because the road possibilities are endless for my boy!

Go join in, I'd love to see what you've got for the week!