Saturday, September 26, 2009

Learning new stuff is hard....

.... when you have four kids running around. Not only is my brain thinking of what to make for dinner, how many loads of laundry that need to be folded, which cries are real or fake, it has to learn something new. I'm trying to teach myself how to use Photoshop for my new business. Does anyone know if there's a software program that keeps four kids from fighting over my lap?

(Stuff I've made with Photoshop)


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Laney's first Field Trip!

Laney's very first field trip was to The New Mexico State Fair! She was sooooo excited to go. Olivia and I went with her class. I gave Lane the choice of having Olivia come or stay home and she said she wanted Olivia to come.

Laney's teacher is a very smart woman for choosing these tied dyed field trip shirts. There were so many classes there from several different schools, and this class was the only one with tied dyed. That little boys name is Jacob G., not to be confused with.......

Jacob C. who is Laney's new best school friend. I knew it would be a boy. She gets along so well with all kids, but she plays well with boys. She just likes all the cool stuff boy kids do like, skateboarding and light saber duels. This little boys parents were there also and I told them we hear about Jacob C. all the time. They said Jacob talks about Laney all the time, too!

They played duck, duck, goose. You can tell by Laney's face that she kept getting skipped over.

The teacher kept saying, "Pick someone who hasn't gone yet." Laney still didn't get picked. Then the teacher said, "Raise your hand if you haven't been picked yet."


And Laney gets picked!!!!!

Go Lane, Go!


We watched a performing pig show. This was actually way cuter than I thought it was going to be. The kids all loved it and the crowd was packed.

Who doesn't want to watch a pig skateboard.

This was a six month old performing pig that they got to pet after the show.

This little girl is Jacob C's little sister. She and Olivia hit it off.

Laney had the chance to come home with me. She instead chose to go back to school. I love that weirdlo. (name that Disney movie)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Pictures of myself (Gag me with a spoon)

Anyone else hate to have their picture taken? I love taking pictures, but hate pictures of myself. I figured I couldn't ask others to pose for me if I myself didn't like to have my picture taken. I had my husband take these for me. I set up all the settings, he'd take a picture, then I would run and see if it turned out alright. I'm starting my own photography business and needed some pictures of myself for my new photography blog http://livilanephotography.blogspot.com/.

I don't think I've had any pictures by myself since my wedding seven years ago. Then I was pregnant for an eternity. Those years of being pregnant are now a blur. After each pregnancy I told myself I'd lose the 55 lbs (or 60-65 whatever) I gained. Then I'd get pregnant again. Now the blur is starting to clear and I've aged and my body has carried four children. In my mind, I should be getting back to the way I was when I got married. Right?

How wrong I am! I feel like God is teaching me to be happy with myself. To see past my own crow's feet. (I had no idea I had crow's feet until I looked at these pictures.) God gifted me with my children and I need to be proud of the body and face motherhood has given me. Yes, that's right, I said face. Anyone Else's nose shaped different after having kids?
Now that I can see past my own disfigurements (I know that's a strong word, but if you could see the hangy down thing that my stomach has become, you would agree) I can hopefully see other people in a new light, too. Free photography tip: Got big hips? Hide them by throwing a few kids in front of them.

I'm not saying that I won't try to stop losing weight, I will. I do find comfort in liking myself despite my chubby cheeks. Losing weight will be healthy instead of being so destructive to myself esteem. Did you know I saved all the clothes I could fit into before I got pregnant with Laney? Talk about torture! Those clothes will probably never fit me again and I'm totally ok with that.
(All these pictures are black and white because I've realized my teeth are yellow. I'm blaming the coffee addiction.)

Thank you and Good Night!
Love Yourself

Friday, September 11, 2009

A visit with Mima and the botanical gardens

This past weekend my Mom came for a quick visit. We had a blast and all of us really missed Mima. (We missed Papa too, he had to work this weekend!) I think these pictures speak for themselves. So feel free to browse and join our botanical gardens adventure.