Two Brunettes and Two Red Heads

I heart faces-Flowers

2011-05-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time choosing a flower photo. I love taking pictures of flowers and have several rose bushes in my backyard. This photo is unedited. "Raindrops on Roses and whiskers on kittens.......these are a few of my favorite things."

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE I HEART FACES WEBSITE TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL MAY FLOWER PICTURES!

Want to see inside my brain?

2011-01-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

I figured this picture is probably the most expensive picture ever taken of me so I'd better post it! That is my brain people! A picture of my brain! Raise your hand if you have a picture of your brain. I've never had a picture of my brain.

I have a C2 fracture and it's pretty evident where the fracture is. That is a topside view. (That black whole in the middle is my esophagus. Now that you've seen my esophagus, I'm pretty sure that makes us best friends.)

Horrible picture, but this is me at home. I think we've all adjusted to our new temporary life with the halo. I hate this halo, I'm not gonna lie but I'm thankful for life. I'm glad to be home with my family. I'm trying hard to not complain, there are so many things I miss.

I miss not being able to pick up the girls and squeeze them.

I miss not being able to look up at my husband and give him a kiss.

I miss snuggling in bed or on the couch.

I miss not being able to put things where they belong.

I miss not being able to do laundry and put it away where I want it.

I miss showers.

I miss real clothes.

I miss brushing my hair.

I miss being able to get up and do the things that I want.

I miss getting a full nights sleep.

I know that I will be able to all these things again. I know others live their whole lives not being able to do these things for themselves. I just miss them and will appreciate them more when I get them back.

Here are a few pictures of the car. It's actually hard for me to look at these. Even though we survived and where protected, the horror of that moment is relived. The two little girls where sitting in the middle, where the car looks almost untouched. Except for the windows. Amazing.

You know another thing that hits me when I look at these pictures? A car is just a car. It can be destroyed in a minute. Things we hold onto in life are not as important as we think they are.

The driver's side.

The driver's side again. It's been a month since the accident and the anxiety and fear gets better. I hope that by seeing these pictures people will maybe drive a little more carefully. Even though outside forces can cause an accident, I think we should take more time on the road. Be patient, be kind to other drivers.

This was my first brace. The chin part caused a pressure sore. A pressure sore is kind of like a bed sore. I have a picture but it's really to gross to show. It looked like a hole in my chin and was purple and black. Blech!

Because of the pressure sore, they had to put me in a halo. I still don't know how long I have to wear this. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I'm taking vitamins to try to heal this baby up as fast as possible. When you think about it, it really is cool that in time your bones heal themselves.

How time flies

2010-12-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

My oldest baby girl is really 7? Every year I ask her to stop growing. She just gives me that sweet Laney smile and says, "Awe Mom!"

The Christmas Jesus was at the wheel

2010-12-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and I just tucked my sweet babes into bed. We read the story of baby Jesus from the bible and I sang Away in a Manger. Never in my life has the power of Jesus name been so sweet to me. I've been a Christian most of my life, was raised in church, a "Jesus is the reason for the season" type of person. Looking back, I realize I never really understood how much Jesus loves me, us, humankind.

We moved to New Mexico two years ago with four very small girls. Far from the comforts of family to lean on in a strange barren land. At first it was very hard living here, trying to adjust and very uncomfortable. Let me pause to tell you that if you find yourself in uncomfortable place in life, God is probably about to take you on a journey. A journey that is painful at first, but if you stop and let him show you things that you need to change, beautiful things can happen. I'm amazed at the things God has shown me about myself in the past two years. Issues I've held onto for most of my life. Issues I still wanted to hold onto, control and fix myself. Some are stupid issues, some are bigger and more important. I have issues with church people and what the body of Christ is, and personal attitude issues to name a few. Anyways. I knew he brought us to Albuquerque for a reason. The biggest reason was to grab hold of my attention and work on my heart.

On December 7th, just a few weeks ago, I was in a rollover car accident. I had my two youngest girls in the car with me, Savanna 4 and Addison 3. We were on our way to pick up my oldest two daughters, as they were about to get out of school. Driving down a busy and traffic filled road, a car came into my lane causing me to veer out the way. Even after adjusting my car, the other car still didn't see me and I over corrected trying to get out of their way. It's happens so fast. A glimpse. I knew I no longer had control over the car and we were starting to flip. I called on the name of Jesus. I prayed, "Jesus, please protect my babies!" That is the last thing I remember until I was being rescued from the car and even those memories go in and out. I kept asking about my girls. "Are my kids ok?" The voices kept telling me that they were being looked after. I knew I was injured and they just say that so they can keep you calm. Going in and out of consciousness, I was airlifted to the hospital. I arrive at the ER. I can answer questions. My clothes are being cut off.....I keep asking for my girls. Then my husband is there. "Babe, have you seen the girls? Are they ok?" He says, "They're fine, there's nothing wrong with them!" "They are absolutely perfect!" I know my husband would tell me the truth, but it seems impossible that they would be ok. "There's NOTHING wrong with them?", I ask.

A witness told my husband that our car flipped at least five times. Five times and my babies have no bruises, no broken bones, nothing. (Savanna bit her tongue and Addy had a little scratch by her mouth, probably from her teeth.) They were released from the ER that night. I had just been at a MOPS Christmas tea earlier in the day and the back of my suburban was full of glass teacups, plates and serving platters. My husband tells me they were shattered inside and out of the car. Pieces of tea cups all over the road. We roll five times and pieces of glass are flying everywhere and my babies are perfect. Every time I think about it, I cry and a feeling that I can't describe comes over me. Every part of me knows that Jesus was sitting in that car with us. Jesus, I will never again underestimate the power of your name and the power of the love you have for your children. My babies are perfect.

I have a C2 fracture, which just means my second vertebrae down from my head is fractured. I have to wear a halo for 6-12 weeks and full recovery won't be for another 6-9 months. I was released from the hospital four days after the accident. Every nurse and doctor that cared for me told me how lucky I was to not have sustained more serious injuries. They tell me that most people that have a car accident as serious as mine, don't have the use of their legs. They tell me that some don't make it out alive. They tell me that I was lucky. It wasn't luck. It was a miracle. Jesus was sitting in that car with us.

His love and his power isn't just for me and my family. He's there for you. Waiting for you to notice him. Let go of the control you are trying so hard to hold onto. Jesus, the most beautiful name I know.

This Christmas I crashed our only car. This Christmas, I'm not able to pick up my kids. This Christmas, I have a dirty head with big scabs. This Christmas, I'm missing a fingernail that was ripped off during the accident. This Christmas, I lost my diamond wedding ring in an accident. Yet this is my favorite Christmas ever. This is the Christmas that Jesus sat in the car with us and my babies came out unharmed. This Christmas is all about sweet baby Jesus. Born on a midnight clear. O Holy Night. Nothing in the whole world can compare. My family is home, safe, warm, together, alive. We are thankful and blessed beyond measure.

Merry Christmas

My new favorite picture

2010-10-13T07:05:00.001-07:00

The New Mexico State Fair 2010

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T09:00:00.001-07:00

You know fall is approaching when....

2010-08-26T16:39:00.001-07:00

.........the hot air balloons start showing up.

Laney's First Day of 1st Grade

2010-08-18T07:25:00.003-07:00

We just sent Laney off for her first day of school! Laney is excited for her first day of First Grade. Olivia doesn't start until Monday.

Laney

2010-08-18T07:25:00.001-07:00

A 3 year old is just a 2 year old but smarter.

2010-08-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

My baby turned three this week. I am mourning the loss of not having a two year old. Seriously. My baby will never be two again. She didn't want to hold my hand on her birthday. She changed her clothes three times on her birthday. My baby is big girl.

Pink gel food coloring is a staple at our house of four girls. (Staple, get it?) The birthday girl gets to request what she wants for her birthday breakfast. It's usually pink pancakes.

All in all, I think she had a really good day. She rode the carousel at the mall. Opened presents. She even took a birthday nap.

Instead of cupcakes I made these ice cream cone cake pops. Courtesy of Bakerella. If you've never heard of Bakerella, you must go to her blog and learn how to make all sorts of fun treats. Click here for her tutorial on these. Hers are WAY better than mine. Don't judge.

They look cute and actually tasted good too!

The chocolate ones with chocolate coating were REALLY good.

Now both of my youngest are both three for a few weeks. Until Vannies turns 4.

Who drank all my coffee creamer?

2010-08-06T14:00:00.001-07:00

Mama has good ears. I'm sure every Mom is on the listen for certain sounds throughout the day. When you have a newborn, you learn that different sounds that they make mean different things. As they age you learn that they have a fake cry, and a hurt feeling cry, and the real hurt cry. You also learn that some noises mean TROUBLE. Like silence, and the sound of the fridge door hitting the wall.

Mama (coffee addict)- "Who drank all my coffee creamer?"

2 yo and 3 yo (new creamer addicts)- "Not us!"

Mama- "But I can see it dripping off your face!"

Monsoon

2010-08-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

It's monsoon season here in the southwest. I love monsoon season. The clouds roll in in the afternoon and we've seen some pretty amazing storms.

There was a night were the storm was all around us. It was raining or lighting above us, the perfect time to try and catch some lightning on "film".

I took hundreds of photos just to get these handful of lighting shots. Like hundreds and hundreds of black pictures I went through and deleted.

It was worth it though, to see the power of a storm.

Last night a monsoon rolled in and Savanna said, "You don't need to be scared of lighting 'cause Jesus makes lighting."

(These photos are unedited. These were the true colors that the storm and lighting produced.)

Book Club

2010-07-23T06:45:00.001-07:00

Summer book club is going great! I forgot to take pictures at "The Help" book club.

This months' book was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

I really, really loved this book. It's been a long time since I've read an all around good book like this one. It has clean romance, humor, and touching war stories.

Thank you to my friends who read this months' book! I am having sooo much fun.

(That's my friend Gina. She is pregnant with baby number 5. I think she is the cutest pregnant lady ever.)

Fishin' with Papa

2010-07-20T14:31:00.001-07:00

We recently stayed in Flagstaff, AZ with my parents for a few days. My Dad took the girls and I to a fishing hole. (Hole+water+stocked fish=fun!)

Located in Oak Creek Canyon. If you are ever in Arizona you must drive from Flagstaff to Sedona via Oak Creek Canyon. Oak Creek Canyon= one of my most favorite places in the world.

The girls loved fishing!

Look at Savanna's face! She's all, "There's a fish in there!"

They caught 3 fish in like 5.2 minutes. Now that's my kind of fishin'.

(Olivia may or may not have gotten a hook stuck in her finger.)

Fishing is really hard work.

Really, really hard work.

After you catch your fish, you take them to this really nice lady who cleans them and gets them ready for you to cook. The girls watched. Then the nice lady put the fishy's still beating heart on the window for everyone to see. Like the heart is beating outside of it's body!!! Then the nice lady eats the fishy heart.

California and cute little two year olds

2010-07-14T06:25:00.001-07:00

We recently visited our family in Northern California. It was fun to watch all the cousins play. They pretty much lived on the trampoline.

Addy and Logan are both two. Both the "babies" of the family. Both have pacifiers. Both have blankies. They love each other. The were sooo sweet to one another. I don't think I saw them fight over toys once. If one would find the others blankie they would search high and low until the owner was found. I mean, really, how cute can they be?

God Bless America

2010-07-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

I heart Faces-BABIES!!!!

2010-06-14T08:43:00.001-07:00

It's no secret that I love newborns. I love the way they smell. I love the sound they make when they are nursing. I even love the sound of their cry. I did this newborn shoot awhile back and couldn't pick my favorite, so I let my girls pick. I saw my friend Sarah's blog this morning and had to join in! (Sarah and I went to middle school together in Kansas. We are both PK's!)

If you love babies like I do, then please waste many hours drooling over them at I Heart Faces blog.

Time for Tea!

2010-06-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

My sweet Olivia turned five last month. She is such a girly girl and wanted a tea party.

We set up in the backyard. I used yards of fabric I had for the tablecloths.

We invited our girly friends.

It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. All these little girls knew exactly what to do. They sat and chatted and mixed their tea.

Marvin wore a tie for the special occasion and doubled as the butler. :)

I made these flowers out of napkins and I found the tutorial HERE.

I made these cupcake toppers in Photoshop and had my mini helpers cut them out. I got the cute vintage tea cup graphic on my favorite blog HERE, The Graphics Fairy. If you look closely, the teacups have Olivia's name on them.

I got all of the tea cups and saucers from the Goodwill for 50 cents. That way they had real tea cups and I didn't care if any of them got broken. But I have to say, all these little girls had really good manners. See those little salt shakers? They actually had sugar in them and everyone had their own sugar shaker. By the end of the party, the girls were just eating sugar straight from the shaker! So cute!

I made real crumpets. If you have never made crumpets, they are delicious! Kinda like thicker pancakes. We spread lemon curd and raspberry jelly and then cream on top of that.

Olivia had a great time and enjoyed her friends. Thank you to all her sweet friends that joined us. Happy fifth birthday, Livi!

Take some time to breathe

2010-06-12T14:47:00.001-07:00

The month of May really kicked my bottom. (I only say bottom 'cause the other word is not the one we use in our house.) So much happened and when you have small kids it makes small events take so much more energy. You all understand, right?

When I first started blogging I NEEDED to blog. I needed to know I still had some brain cells. I needed to feel like I was speaking and someone without temper tantrums was listening. We've been busy with our first child in school, MOPS, I photographed my first wedding (yay!), and normal life stuff. Blogging became just one more thing on my long list of things to do. I have missed it and will continue to post more.

Lane graduated from Kindergarten! She did so good and I am so amazed at what they learn in a year. The first year you send your first child off to school can be hard on you. We had to adjust to having a separate schedule for one child. I couldn't just volunteer in her class whenever I wanted because I had other small children that I couldn't take with me. She had to ride the bus and I worried if she got to class ok. The year is finally over and we have a few months off to breath. Next year, two kids in school. I can't believe that have gotten this big already!

In May, Josh and I had our 8 year wedding anniversary. Marriage is not boring, that's for sure. And don't let people tell you that you will get tired of waking up to the same face everyday. I love waking up to that man's face every day.

Olivia turned five, and Addy Mae is completely potty trained. So we have just been taking a little time to relax, play with some rolly pollies, and breath.

(Olivia and Addy on a field trip to the Aquarium with Laney's class. This is the same Aquarium that is shown in the movie Crazy Heart. It was filmed in ABQ.)

Summer Book Club!

2010-05-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

I had this fabulous idea for a summer book club! After researching some books, I've finally made the book choices and I hope you all like them too. If you've already read them, will you still please join us in the discussion?

We are going to read one book a month and have one meeting a month to discuss the book. If you don't live in my area and want to join along, I will post discussion questions here on my blog and post pictures from our book club meeting and you can give your input in the comments at the end of the post. Now, to introduce the books:

June's Book

The Help. I haven't read it yet, but have heard a lot of good things about it. It's set in the Civil rights era in Jackson, Miss. A young white author and recent college grad returns home to write a book. She decides to write a book, a compilation of stories from the help, the mistreated black women who raise the white children.

The meeting for this book will be on Monday, June 14th, at 7:00 p.m. That gives you 3 and a half weeks to get this book and read it.

I got this book at Costco. This is the most expensive of the three books. I wanted to keep it under $15 a book. I'm sure you could also get this book from the library or buddy up with someone else and share the cost of the books. I will be happy to loan my books out as soon as I'm done reading them. (At the end of the post, I'll talk more about where you can purchase the books.)

July's Book

This is a book I kept eyeing over and over again at Costco. I did a little research and heard some good things. It's a series of letters, back and forth between the author in the story and other people in the Society. It's set in war times. Some say books written in this style can be hard to follow but I've heard this book is well written. It sounds interesting and if you would like to read more reviews, check them out at amazon.

The book club meeting for this book will be on Monday July 12th at 7:00 p.m.

August's book

The Red Tent. This is a book that was recommended to me by two of my book worm friends. Both of them said this was their favorite book of all time. I've wanted to read this for over a year and haven't yet. Some of you may have read this before. I can't wait to read it! Go over to amazon and read the review for this one also.

The meeting for this book will be on Monday, August 9th at 7:00 p.m.

Where to purchase books:

I purchased The Help and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society at Costco. The Red Tent I got at Barnes and Noble for $15. I got all three books for $36.98. However, if you order all three books from www.amazon.com at the same time, you will get free shipping. The cost of the books at amazon are, The Help $13.72, The GLPPPS is $5.99 (paperback), and The Red Tent is $10.20. It's $29.91, if you order from amazon and you'll qualify for free shipping. Not to mention they come right to your front door!

Details:

Book club will be at my house. If you want to join, email me or facebook message me and I will send you my address. My email address is (staples underscore michele at yahoo dot com).

I choose 7:00 p.m. to give the moms time to feed their families and get little ones ready for bed. My children will be here, but my husband is going to keep them locked up in the other room to watch a movie. (Not literally locked up.) Kids would never be banned and it would not be a huge deal if you brought them, but you might enjoy yourself more if your children were not in attendance. I need a monthly baby fix, so please bring your squishy babies for me to hold.

Snacks, drinks and coffee will be provided. Book club is open to anyone, if you would like to invite a friend. I just need to know how many people will be coming.

Please, please join me in food, fun and semi-intelligent conversation!

(I had to spell check intelligent.)

Michele

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T01:00:00.001-07:00

To all the Mother's Who....

2010-05-09T15:35:00.001-07:00

These were my gifts from Laney. One she made at school. I am so thankful for a homemade gift that someone else helped her make! The other gift Laney made at home, holed up in the playroom. Scroll down for a close-up.

That would be q-tips and cotton balls wrapped in tampon string. She said they were to put in my purse, in case I need to clean out my ears sometime. She didn't have any rope to tie them up, so she used "those thingies". Don't you just love being a Mom!?

Meet Marvin

2010-04-28T08:17:00.001-07:00

We got a dog. We are technically fostering him, but we are pretty sure we are going to adopt him. We just need to take him to the vet and make sure he's healthy. We went to an adopt-a-thon this weekend to just "look" at puppies. Josh has been wanting a basset hound but we were still up in the air about getting a dog and maybe waiting one more year until the girls were older. The basset hound rescue was there and we went over to pet them. Josh spotted Marvin, Marvin spotted Josh, it was love at first sight.

He's a basset hound/beagle mix. He's 18 months old and fully house trained. I don't think we could have found a better fitting dog for our family. He's the perfect size, not too big to knock the girls over and not too small to get squashed by the girls. Marvin loves the girls and the girls love him. He's very patient with them and lets them love on him. He sleeps in our bed or Olivia's bed at night. He's already been dressed up like a princess and a jedi.

He's awesome on a leash. Laney walks him to the bus stop every morning. Marvin hears when the girls wake up and goes in to kiss them. I can't even tell you how calm he is.

Addison was a little scared of Marvin the first day. She wouldn't get off the furniture without being held. So Josh calmly and slowly introduced them and showed her that Marvin won't hurt her. (She saying, "No Daddy, he bite me!")

He started with a leg touch. She freaked and then laughed.

And now she's on the ground petting him and sitting next to him!

She's still a teeny bit scared if he sneaks up on her or jumps on her bed.

Giggles

2010-04-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

Addy was napping and the other three were supposed to be having quiet time. Instead, they were fighting and I needed them to be quiet so Addy would take a good nap. I warned them that if they didn't watch their movie and continued to fight, I would make them all take a nap. Of course they continued to fight. I turned the movie off. Made them all close their eyes and get under the covers. I got up to check on them and Savanna was asleep (or so I thought) and the other two were still wiggling. I proceeded to tell them to stop wiggling and go to sleep. Savanna, who is still asleep (or so I thought) says, "I asleep Mama!" She's a really good faker! I had to laugh and everyone else laughed and they did not take a nap that day.

Teeth Happenings

2010-04-19T07:03:00.001-07:00

My first baby has lost her first tooth. It has been slightly wiggly for weeks, and got extremely wiggly the past few days. She has been saving money for a camera and knew the tooth fairy would bring her money. Several kids in her class have missing teeth, so she was ready to lose it. She asked me to pull it out!

Since Laney goes to school and has seen other kids lose their teeth, she was fully prepared to lose one. Savanna and Olivia had no idea you lose teeth and new ones eventually grow back. So when I pulled it out, Savanna's jaw dropped and she didn't understand. She said she does not want to lose her teeth.

The tooth fairy left a scroll of a hand written note and five dollars. (After the tooth fairy researched on facebook what the going rate for a first tooth is and then ran to the closest grocery store for some cash.) The note said, brush your teeth and you only get $5 for the first tooth because it is extra special.

I had a little bit of an emotional connection to her tooth that I wasn't expecting. Do you keep or throw away your kids teeth?

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T08:05:00.001-07:00

Laney

Olivia

Savanna

Addison

This is the only decent picture of the four of them. I let everyone pick out their own Easter dress this year. Savanna picked a WHITE dress. Of course the messiest kid picked the white dress. I couldn't change her mind and her dress was covered in chocolate by the end of the day.

Easter egg hunt at home.

I dressed Savanna that morning and I put her dress on backwards. I didn't notice until after we came home from church.

I made carrot cake cupcakes.

The day was so perfect. We went to church as a family. New Mexico is very windy this time of year and there was almost no wind that day.

I heart Faces-Dramatic Black and White

2010-03-30T07:43:00.001-07:00

I have four girls. Girls can be very dramatic. I was getting prepared to take a bridal photo shoot and the girls were drawn to the backgrounds and props. This is Savanna in dramatic black and white.

Go check out the other dramatic black and white entires at I heart faces. Click the link below to be taken to their site.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-24T08:04:00.001-07:00

I heart faces-Angles

2010-03-23T08:57:00.001-07:00

I took this photo at Explora, a children's hands on learning center. I had to enter it in the Angles I heart faces challenge! There are almost 600 other entries that you can go check out on their site. Click the link below to check it out!

Love, Love, Love!

2010-03-10T12:42:00.001-08:00

(A little sample of an engagement session I did a week and a half ago. The future groom was a Marine. I may have told a stupid joke that goes a little like this, "What do you do when you get stuck inside an elephant's stomach?" "Run around till ya get pooped out!" That's what happens when your photographer has small children at home. She tells really lame, toddler age appropriate jokes.)

Sisters that bike ride together, stay together.....

2010-03-07T09:47:00.001-08:00

One sister learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! We are so proud, Laney. I took some pictures of her learning and thought I would share this one.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2010-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't been super busy, but a tad bit busier than normal. I've missed blogging though. It's just that something has to give every once and awhile, right? I can keep my house clean and not blog or blog and have a messy house! Ha! I'll just show you in pictures, what we've been up to lately.

Last week I went with Laney on her school field trip to a Chinese restaurant for Chinese New Year.

Josh made a bunk bed for Olivia and Laney! That's exciting stuff over here. "We" are actually going to build another bunk bed for the other two and just have them all sleep in the same room and the other room will be their play room. Josh still has to stain the bed.

I read this five book series last week. It's a kid series about a boy who is drawn to an underground world with gigantic rats and bugs. It was very good. If only I read my bible as fervently as I read fiction.

I'm learning to sew! Finally fulfilling my new year's resolution from last year. Two lovely and talented sewing mommas from our MOPS group are teaching a sewing class. It's so much fun to learn from and take a class with friends.

I may have become addicted to fabric.

This is the sewing project I'm working on right now. Can you guess what I'm making? When it's all done I'm using them as a prop in my next photo shoot with the girls!

I've also been working on going through all my cabinets and closets and getting rid of stuff we don't need anymore.

I did an engagement shoot for a beautiful couple this weekend. The bride has beautiful red hair! I will post some of those in the next couple of days.

(P.S. Mom, I got a new sewing machine. It was gonna cost a lot of dough to have the other one looked at. Josh told me just to get a new one.)

Wordless Wednesday, NM blue skies

2010-02-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

V-day

2010-02-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day in photos! Josh and I don't really do Valentine's day for each other. However, I love pink, red and hearts and so do the girls. So we do a little something for them! Share the love!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Take a picture, it will last longer.

2010-02-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

It snowed here last Thursday. It was the perfect snow day. The roads weren't messy, but it snowed just enough to make everything beautiful. And it snowed all day long. It rarely snows here so I took thousands of pictures. Take a picture, it will last longer.

Snow is yummy!

I realize the red heads are wearing coats that look like I bought them in 1982. My husband said, "Babe, why did you buy them coats with shoulder pads?" And I said, "I bought them on clearance at Dillard's two years ago for $6." Sometimes, I see a good deal and don't bother to try things out to see if they fit. Who knew they still made coats for kids just in case they had gigantic shoulders!

Let's eat snow together! Yum!

Her Daddy "accidentally" hit her with a snow ball.

It was very traumatic for our very sensitive baby.

Daddy likes to throw snowballs at our girls.

Our girls are smart and run inside and hide.

Tulla the cat even came outside.

Josh likes to throw her in the snow.

Weirdest snowman of all time.

Laney came home from school. Her first instinct was to throw a snowball at me.

Just like someone else I know!

It really was the best day ever.

Laughter really is the best medicine.

2010-01-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't been inspired to take any pictures since Christmas. You see, my kids have been sick. It's January and they have runny noses, chapped lips and cheeks and eye crusties. Who wants to photograph that? I made them laugh and took their picture, anyways. Then I turned them to black and white so you can't see the gross stuff. Laughter really is the best medicine.

I heart faces TEXTURE

2010-01-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

My new favorite thing is adding texture to photos. So I was very excited when the I heart Faces challenge this week was texture. I almost used this picture as our Christmas card this year. I opted for one with the girls looking at the camera instead. Because Grandparents like photos of the girls faces! Click on the I heart faces button bellow to view the other entries or enter yourself!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about doing a resolution post for the past couple of weeks. Do I really want to write down things that may not get accomplished? Here's last year's resolutions. I did not loose 30 lbs in 3 months. I weigh exactly the same. I did not learn to sew. We did not make more money this year than the last. I did not magically grow more patience for my children. I did further my photography!! Thanks to fabulous friends and family that took a chance on me. I truly hope God continues to bless my business in the coming year.

Looking at last year's resolutions kinda makes me look like a failure. Then I start to think about all the lessons God has taught me this past year, and I realize that God had bigger resolutions planned for me. I am so thankful for the things he has been showing me about myself. Things he has probably been showing me my whole life but I am just figuring out. When he first started showing me things, it felt good and refreshing. The more he started to work on me, the deeper the lessons went. It started to get painful and I wanted them to stop. Who wants painful things that you've buried away to be brought up again and dealt with? Literally, I remember one week I was so joyful and thankful that God was revealing things to me. The very next week I emotionally asked him to please stop. Some things are still too personal to share, but I am going to share some. Lord, please don't stop working on me.

1. There is more of me to give to my family and to others. I am a stay at home mom who cooks, cleans and consoles all day long. How much more of myself is there to give? Isn't being a mom of four small girls enough? God is showing me that with his help, there is more of me to give.

2. I really hate being removed from my comfort zones. It makes me cranky and irritable. However, if I let God remove me from those comfort zones and then I'm open to what he has for me beyond them, my whole thinking and view can be completely changed. (A quote from Beth Moore's Esther bible study, "Any time God calls us to die, His purpose is to reveal larger life.") Calling us to die, for me, doesn't literally mean to die, but certain perspectives and perceptions to die. To die of ourselves.

3. I need to be a transparent Christian. I had already been feeling this and then I started Beth Moore's Esther bible study. Here is one of her phrases from that bible study, "One of the most important ways of fulfilling our destiny, will be transparency." Transparency for me means, when I make a mistake, I need to own it and learn from it. And when I'm going through a trial I need to share with others what I'm going through. Maybe someone is going through that same trial and we can learn from one another. I can count numerous time where I didn't feel comfortable sharing something personal with a fellow christian or family member. Fear of being judged or fear of how you will be perceived is worth it if it helps one other person.

4. My husband really knows what he's talking about and I should listen to him more. Don't get me wrong, I think a marriage is equal but just because I'm running the household doesn't mean I know everything. This economy has clinched our budget. I can't even begin to tell you all the lesson's I've learned from this one hardship. At first I just wanted more money in our bank account and that would fix everything. Then I started to realize that this hardship was one of our biggest blessings. For me anyways. We can live on less. The most important realization was that my husband has had really sound financial ideas for our family and I never thought they were important. It was really a bunch of small things that added together could have changed things for us. I've always know my husband is a real gem and God blessed me when he put us together, but he has never once been bitter or held any of it against me. I would have. If it was something I had been telling him for years and he didn't listen. I'm still blown away that he lovingly waited for me to learn that lesson on my own. What is it about finances that makes people too embarrassed to talk about them? That was hard for me to write.

5. It's ok to be emotional. I am a very emotional person. For years I've been embarrassed about it. (Maybe I should be embarrassed that I cried over blue alien babies when we were watching Avatar the other day.) God is teaching me that he made me this way for a reason. So I can feel what others are feeling. Empathy. I am more open to God's voice when I'm in an emotional state. It's ok to cry and to feel. Why do we feel the need to make our children stop crying and tell them that it's not ok to feel what they are feeling?

Wow! God's resolutions are so much more powerful than my own. I have so many more personal things to deal with that will probably take a lifetime to change.

My resolution for 2010: That my resolutions' be God's and that my heart and mind be open to them.

Laney's 6th Birthday and Family comes for a visit!

2010-01-07T09:53:00.001-08:00

We have had a busy two weeks off from school! Laney turned 6. We survived our first birthday party. The last birthday party Laney had, she was 2 and it was a home birthday party. Usually for birthday's we decorate the kitchen table in the birthday child's decor and let them pick a fun family activity for that day. She wanted a bounce house birthday, so that's what we did. It was a blast, despite the fact we forgot the party favors and Laney's Mom decided to make her birthday cake.

Our family from California came for a visit! It was wonderful. The cousins had the best time and remain close friends. We miss them terribly. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures the past two weeks, because I just wanted to enjoy Laney's time off from school and our family.

A Christmas letter

2009-12-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

As a mother of four small children, I've always longed for a day when my kids could finally do something for themselves. A day when we could take them out in public and they don't always make a scene. I longed for a day when we could make gingerbread houses and I didn't have to be the only person who is able to actually understand the concept of making a gingerbread house without destroying it. A day where we could go to a Christmas eve candlelight service as a family and actually enjoy it. This is the first year where I've had glimpses of life outside of small children land. It's a very overwhelming feeling when you realize that your children REALLY will not be small for long. I've been looking at pictures of the girls from last Christmas. They have grown so much in the last year. I'm overwhelmed with pride, nostalgia, love, and longing. Josh and I are so blessed to be their parents. Suddenly, I don't want to let them grow up. I want four kids in diapers again.

Addison: The only child we have in diapers right now. She's playing the "I'm the baby" card for as long as she can. We are loving every minute of her being two. She's a mamma's girl and I love her for it. She is by far the easiest two year old we have ever had. She warms everyone she meets with her big brown eyes and tiny voice. Her sisters have finally welcomed her into the big girl club and she couldn't be happier. We love you Addy Mae.

Savanna: She is definitely our most unique child. I mean that in a very loving, motherly way. Sometimes, it's hard for me to explain her personality. Have you ever seen the movie "The Family Stone"? The character that Rachel McAdam's plays is how I see Savanna when she's older. She loves her family. She is very loyal. Once you pass her test, she will love you for life. She's just one of those kids who's a very good judge of character and is choosy about who she lets in her life. The characteristic trait that she shares with her Daddy. She's very loving and sweet. She's a Daddy's girl. Sharing has been her biggest challenge this year. We are certain she will master it by next Christmas. We love you so much Savanna Grace.

Olivia: This picture of her is very true to life. She is our sweet girly girl. That's saying a lot when you have three sisters. She loves to wear dresses. She tells me I look pretty. She's the most affectionate and would never hold back a kiss or a hug. She wants to get married and kiss boys. (I know, I know. Poor Josh.) She loves to dance and looks like a ballerina. As soon as we possibly can, we are going to put her in ballet. She is very musical, loves to sing and plays her imaginary musical instruments. Olivia Claire, we love your fairy, imaginary, girly ways. xoxo

Laney: She is the coolest kid. Seriously. She started Kindergarten this year. And as much as I miss her at home, she is doing really well and loves school. I could tell that math was her thing. Her teacher confirmed that fact at our parent teacher conference. Her teacher also said she is the nicest most genuine child in the class and is consistently wanting to help others. Wow! The best compliment ever. As most parents know, Josh and I cannot take credit for it. She has a heart of gold. She remains an avid Star Wars fan. She turns 6 in four days. By far the most responsible sister. Laney Rose, we are so proud to be your parents. Love you to the moon and back. (P.S. If it's not too much trouble, could you please stop growing up so fast.)

Merry Christmas from the Staples family. December 2009

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

Our four little angels, would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy our festivities, from throughout the month, through these photos!

Christmas card outakes

2009-12-22T20:52:00.001-08:00

Taking a Christmas card photo of four children ages 5-2 is no easy task. Usually I'm lucky to get one good photo and the rest are outtakes. I took the time to take them so I'm gonna post 'em.

Excuse me! Excuse me miss two-year-old-who-has-way-more-important-things-to-do-than-listen-to-her-mother. Can I have your attention please?

Now webkinz are very reasonable photo subjects. They sit perfectly still and listen to instruction. The reason there is a webkinz photo is because Laney made me promise to take it or she wouldn't let me take her picture. I'm a wonderful mother who never bribes her children and they know who's BOSS!

Laney is the most photogenic. I think.

There's just one little problem. She doesn't like to have her picture taken.

(Do you like her Christmas dress? I got it on clearance last year at Target for $7!)

I almost used this picture of Savanna for our Christmas card. It's so..................her.

As the resident two and three year olds of this house, we would like to take a moment to say......

we are really cute.

Olivia either uses her head shot pose or this one.

I heart faces-Pet catagory

2009-12-13T22:49:00.000-08:00

There is this wonderful place down the road that sells pumpkins and Christmas trees for the holidays. Galloping Grace Youth Ranch does an amazing job running it. We take the girls there to pick pumpkins and to get our Christmas tree. I'm amazed how they turn a boring corner on a busy intersection into the best place on earth during the holidays. Aside from selling pumpkins and Christmas trees, they have all this super fun FREE stuff for kids to do. Including a horseback ride for the kids. We went on Sunday and the horses had these adorable reindeer hats on. Just in time for the I heart faces pet week!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Windy cold day = Hot Chocolate!

2009-12-08T15:56:00.001-08:00

Laney had a 2 hour school delay. No snow, but very icy roads.

We stood at the bus stop to wait for Lane. The wind was very, very cold.

The perfect after school snack on a cold and windy day.

The Beard.

2009-12-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

I didn't use to like it when my husband grew out his beard. I know that's weird, but now I'm in love with his beard. He's so handsome with a beard. When people see me with the girls and I'm without my husband, they ask me if he has red hair! Picturing my husband with red hair makes me laugh. He does have red hair in his beard, though!

The other night I looked over at my husband and thought, " Wow! Have I really been married to this man for 7 and a half years?" "Did we really have four girls together?" I didn't ask myself those questions in a "who is this person I'm married to" way. But in a "time flies and I'm such a lucky girl" kind of way.

I like the beard.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, making and eating it. I love family togetherness. And this year I'm a little more thankful for Thanksgiving itself. I think lately I've been noticing how selfish society and the human race has become. Just think about how our culture is starting to view marriage. When did marriage get so selfish? Society suggests that if we don't get what's ours than we need to get out. We've stopped being thankful and we've stopped giving of ourselves to others. God has been reminding me that I have more to give to others. I don't have to be snappy to customer service people at the store or the drive-thru window operators. I'm also reminded this year of all the families that have to eat Thanksgiving at their church or soup kitchen, because they can't find a job and put food on their own table. Hard working families that are trying to make ends meet and simply can't. Families that might lose their homes. Those same families are probably more thankful for the blessings that they do have instead of complaining about what that don't have. Here is my list, in no particular order, of what I'm thankful for:

1. My husband, for loving me unconditionally and showing me what true love really is. That man has been my rock in so many hard times.

2. My loving and faithful God, who will turn my tables of sorrow and grief into tables of joy and rejoicing. If I let go and let him.

3. My children who have taught me so much about myself. I'm thankful for the love I feel for them. That love has blessed me beyond measure.

4. My home, even though sometimes I think it's too small, because at least we have a safe and happy home.

5. Our extended family who also loves our family unconditionally. I have to say I am so blessed with awesome parents and awesome in-laws.

6. My MOPS friends and MOPS itself. I've meet true friends there that don't judge me or the way I mother.

7. The few pounds I've gained the past month, because it means that my family has food and our pantry is full.

8. We have really nice neighbors. Neighbors that we could rely on if there was an emergency.

9. I'm thankful we have one car because at least we have a car that fits our whole family. A car that has been good to us and hasn't needed any repairs. (So far.)

10. I'm thankful for my family's health.

11. I'm thankful for my husband's job even though I sometimes complain that my husband gets home late, because what would we do if he lost his job like so many others have. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Lord for his job.

12. I'm thankful that God has been leading me places that are out of my comfort zone, even though it's very uncomfortable and scary, so I can someday fulfill the plan he has for me.

13. Thank you Lord for giving me a gift of photography. I want to use it to bless others. Let it be a blessing to my family.

Dear Lord, I pray for those families that are struggling to put food on their tables this year. I pray that you bless them. Please show us what we can do to bless someone else this year. Don't let us ignore that little voice that tells us that the person we sit next to in bible study can use a gift that we may have. Even if it's someone we know who can't pay their electric bill and are too ashamed to say it. Let us be Thankful for the things and blessings that we have and to complain less. Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-25T06:36:00.001-08:00

I ♥ Faces

2009-11-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

This weeks category over at I heart faces is sun flare. I had to enter this picture. It's my header picture and one that I took of the girls to resemble fall. And to me nothing resembles fall more than the way the sun shines differently. And actually it's more like sun wash.

Sweet Potato Casserole

2009-11-23T13:35:00.001-08:00

My favorite Mom makes this recipe every Thanksgiving and it's very, very yummy. It's almost like desert. Please make this for Thanksgiving this year. It's one of those dishes that makes my food loving husband, a very happy man.

Ingredients:

3 large yams, peeled and cut (You can substitute 2 large cans of yams and make life easier. But fresh yams are best.)

1 cup of sugar

1 stick of butter, softened (Did you hear me? ONE WHOLE stick of butter!)

1 egg

1 tsp of vanilla

1 tsp allspice

Topping ingredients:

3/4 cup of flour

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of softened butter

3/4 cup of chopped pecans

1. Boil yams on medium high heat until softened. Then smash them.

2. While yams are boiling, make the topping. Mix flour, brown sugar, and pecans. Cut in butter. (Mom says to mix it with your fingers.) Set aside.

3. Mix the smashed yams, butter, sugar. Mix well, then add egg, vanilla and allspice.

4. Pour into casserole dish. Spread it our evenly. Then spread topping over the top.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or so in a 350 degree oven.

Decorating, five year old style

2009-11-23T13:27:00.001-08:00

My five year old watched me put up the Christmas decorations. She decided to put some up of her own. Her Hello Kitty was not only on these pictures in the hallway, but on every wall in our home.

She even decorated her tree in the room she shares with her sister.

She decorated it with pink toys! The Tinkertoy tree topper is an especially nice touch.

SLEEPOVER!

2009-11-16T12:46:00.001-08:00

Laney has been DYING to have a sleepover. If you have girls you will understand that she was possible literally dying to have a sleepover. Most of our little friends are too young for sleepovers. They would miss their much loved Mama's too much. Insert new friend Bethany, here. I'm good friends with her mom and the kids have never played together because they go to school. She's a couple of years older than Laney, but they get along famously. Can I just say that sleepovers are a lot of work for the mom, but totally worth it when you see how much fun they are having.

Pancakes for breakfast.

This would be my front row seat view to the fashion show of the year.

One word: SASS!

I even let B and L paint their own toenails! My favorite Bethany quote was when Olivia asked what that smell was, referring to the nail polish, Bethany said, "That's the smell of beauty."

Trying to be a Money Saving Mom!

2009-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

I know that this year several families have a very tight budget. Ours included. I ran across some deals today that I wanted to share with everyone. There are a couple of websites that I ran across where you can check for deals everyday on your own. Here they are:

www.coupons.com (This site has grocery, health and toy coupons. Today I printed a $5 off coupon on a My Little Pony purchase of $20, and some other Playskool toys.)

http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com

www.moneysavingmom.com

www.frugalfreebiesanddeals.com

Deals:

1. If you order a pizza from Dominos.com you can print Hasbro game coupons upon checkout. (You have to order your pizza online.) I got a $5 off coupon for Connect 4x4. The game is normally $20. Toys R Us (until tomorrow only) is giving a $10 gift card when you spend $25 on Hasbro games. (Order a pizza tonight and shop at Toys R Us tomorrow!)

2.( Target) With the Purchase of 5 selected Glade air products you get a $5 Target gift card. If you click HERE You can print coupons for Glade that you can use on top of Target's promotion. For example, one of the coupons is for $1.50 off two Glade jar candles and one is save $1.00 off Two Glade Plugins Scented Oil refills. You can use those coupons on your five required Glade purchase and get the $5 gift card at check out. (I like this one, because I use Glade candles all the time.)

3. Now through 12/6/09, you can cash in $40 worth of change at the Coinstar machine, select a gift card instead of cash and you will be awarded a $50 gift card. Basically they are paying you $10 to chose a gift card instead of cash. They have good gift cards like Amazon.com and Starbucks. Not a bad Christmas gift that was purchased with change lying around your house. (Coinstar machines are in most grocery stores. They are big, green machines usually located at the front of the store.)

4. 50 FREE 4x8 or 5x7 Holiday Cards! Even the shipping is free. This coupon code expires November 30th. Go to www.SeeHere.com, upload your own photo and design your own card. At checkout enter coupon code freebies4mom-1109 and it will be free! (I found this one on http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com)

I had to share these deals because they are products that I actually use and apply to me. Hopefully they apply to you. The key with coupons is to use them on top of a product that is already on sale.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

2009-11-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite muffin recipes for fall is this one. I got this recipe a couple of years ago, off one of the baking company's website and I can't remember which one. It's super easy, super yummy and only calls for five ingredients!

1 package of spice or carrot cake mix

(I prefer spice. I used carrot here because it was on sale.)

1 can (15 o.z. of pumpkin)

3 egg whites

1/3 cup of water

2/3 cup raisins or craisins

I actually used fresh cranberries, but have used craisins in the past and they are just as good.

It's all about what you have on hand.

Combine cake mix, pumpkin, egg whites, and water until moistened.

(It says to beat on low speed for 30 sec. Scrape bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. I just mixed mine by hand because I failed to read the directions.)

Fold in cranberries.

Bake for 18-22 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees.

(I could eat the batter all by itself. It's really, really good.)

Halloween with Friends!

2009-11-06T08:35:00.001-08:00

One of my good friends' husband was going to be out of town for Halloween, so I invited her and her three kids over. Not that I wouldn't have invited you Heather if your husband was in town. :) I'm so glad they came over, because the kids had the best time. So did I!

We made these cute little paper dolls that you could dress up in their Halloween costume. I got this free printable from http://babalisme.blogspot.com/.

Trick or Treat!

She was Taylor Swift. My little girls got confused and kept calling her Tyler. Her real name is Bethany.

I like me some CANDY!

I thought Addy would be scared of Trick or Treating, but she LOVED it!

Roasted Pumpkin seeds

2009-10-31T12:58:00.001-07:00

I sauteed one clove of garlic in a little bit of olive oil. On medium heat.

Then I added two big chunks of butter. I think it was like 4 TBLS. I'm sorry I didn't measure. I'm an eyeballer.

Then I added 3 big spoonfuls of brown sugar. Stir.

Add 1/4 tsp of allspice (I would of used cinnamon, but Addy is allergic to it.) Stir.

My house smells very, very good right now.

Add the clean and dry pumpkin seeds to the mixture in the pan. Stir.

Pour onto a greased baking sheet(I sprayed mine with cooking spray). Sprinkle a handful of salt over the top. And put into a pre-heated oven of 250 degrees.

Roast for about 30-40 minutes.

Yummy. I'm using mine for a topping on pumpkin soup tonight. Happy Halloween!

Last year's Halloween

2009-10-31T12:50:00.001-07:00

I have several SD cards that are full of pictures that I need to save to a disc. I was loading some pictures onto the computer today to free up one of my discs. How funny that the pictures on here were from last fall/Halloween. Oh My Gosh! My kids have gotten so big in the last year.

Addy at the same pumpkin patch we went to this year.

Wow! That year went by really fast. Were my babies really that small?!

Snow Day... well snow hour

2009-10-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

It snowed here yesterday! This was the view from my kitchen window at approximately 2:30 p.m. I love snow and I love taking snow pictures.

My red headed children weren't napping or they would have missed the "snow storm".

It was for reals snowing. Big, ground covering snowflakes.

Snowflakes in the eyelashes.

Addison woke up at the very end, but still got to see it. In fact, she woke up, went to Laney and Olivia's room, looked out the window and said, "Oooooh!"

This was the view from my kitchen window at 3:45 p.m. We still had hot chocolate and warm pie for snack when Lane got home from school.

Finding ways to save for Christmas.

2009-10-25T19:58:00.001-07:00

I know this year, Christmas is going to be hard for a lot of people. I know several families hurting in these hard economic times. I've been entering different contests and trying to find ways to get good deals, so we can save on Christmas this year.

I just found this thing called Swagbucks. There is a button on my sidebar. You install it on your toolbar and use it as your search engine and you can earn Swagbucks. You can then use your swagbucks for prizes. One prize is a $5 Amazon gift card. It takes like 45 Swagbucks to get a $5 gift card. And all you have to do is do searches through them instead of your normal search engine. It's worth it to me to try. Go check it out at

This year's Halloween costumes.....

2009-10-22T11:14:00.001-07:00

This year we are reusing costumes we already have. Laney wanted to be Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars the Clone Wars, but I talked her into being Princess Leia from last year. Her costume actually fits her better this year. I love this Star Wars fan.

Both girls wanted to be Snow White. Thankfully we had two Snow White costumes. They still fought over one of the dresses. I try to take their Halloween pictures before the day of Halloween. That way they can have fun and not have their mother in their face with the camera all day.

Addy had a choice of Jessie from Toy Story 2 or a ballerina and this is what she picked.

(I got all the vintage Halloween clip art from HERE, and the background from HERE.)

Pumpkin patch

2009-10-18T20:13:00.001-07:00

Today was pumpkin patch day. Really, it doesn't get any cuter than this. She asked me to put her piggy in her overalls.

There is this pumpkin patch down they street that is so awesome. The build it on a corner lot from scratch. It's a fundraiser for a horse ranch that helps kids. They have all sorts of fun free games. This was the ring toss.

Up next, the corn maize. (And more of Addy's cute piggyness.) I so DID NOT go into the maize to get a picture and then realize that I was the parent that was supposed to wait on the outside for the kids to appear. I then DID NOT proceed to get lost in the maize and briefly freak out that the kids were going to make it out first.

The bean bag toss.

They also have free horse back riding, but Addy was too little, so she rode the pretend horsey. It was actually for ropin', but even Daddy couldn't master that one. There was this adorable little boy ropin' everything in sight and I almost took his picture. But then that would be weird and I wouldn't want some other mom taking my kids picture and posting it on their blog. I'm pretty sure his parents were the ones that run the horse ranch.

Maybe she was thinking the same thing that I was. I wish I was Pioneer Woman and lived on a ranch in the middle of nowhere! Or maybe she was just thinking about how much she wished she was playing that game.

The red heads about to high five on their separate horses.

Wait for it...

There it is!

We did it!

My adventure girl on her horse. She just got back from helping to save a little girl that was lost in the corn maize. Be still my heart.

See? It was actually a little warm today. I was excited about fall adventures and dressed us too warmly.

Family

The girls wanted to carve their pumpkins. We said no. They then wanted to clean the pumpkins with baby wipes. I said yes. They did this with the baby wipes.

This is the pumpkin Savanna picked out of all the pumpkins. I'm pretty sure it was THE smallest pumpkin there.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

2009-10-14T07:10:00.001-07:00

One of the very cool things about Albuquerque, is the Balloon Fiesta. It's every year in October.

You can purchase tickets and be at ground zero where they blow up the balloons and take off. They start very early in the morning. I want to go in the future, Right now, I don't really think it's time to get four small kids dressed and then try to keep track of them in the middle of thousands of people. Maybe next year.

We did park on a cliff, early in the morning, wearing our jammies, where several of the balloons land. It's awesome and free!

Addie's there too, just behind some one's head.

It was a little chilly.

All those tiny dots are all the balloons in the distance right after they have taken off. Or lifted or whatever you call it.

Handmade Hair bows

2009-10-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Remember me tweeting about making hair bows in the car?

These are them!

I made them specifically for these pictures.

I got the idea for them HERE. And they were very simple and easy to make. They were also inexpensive. I picked material from the quilters quarters so it was already cut and I could pick several different materials.

Learning new stuff is hard....

2009-09-26T12:24:00.001-07:00

.... 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)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-23T15:37:00.001-07:00

Laney's first Field Trip!

2009-09-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

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)

Pictures of myself (Gag me with a spoon)

2009-09-20T21:14:00.001-07:00

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

A visit with Mima and the botanical gardens

2009-09-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

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.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Third Child turns 3!

2009-08-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

Anyone else have a child who is the easiest and the most challenging at the same time? I can't explain it, but that is the best way to describe this child. She's a princess but not the most proper princess. She reminds me of Iggy from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. Even after she's out of the bath, she some how still looks dirty.

She's a peach.

She's one of a kind.

She loves Sleeping Beauty and she just turned 3!

Good Morning birthday girl. She choose cereal for breakfast on her birthday. I'm mean seriously, close your mouth child.

Laney wanted Savanna to open her presents before she went to school.

I played with fondant for the first time today! It's like edible play-doh for grown-ups. It was a blast.

I think her Sleeping Geauty (that's how she says it) cupcakes were awesome. Sometimes you have to toot your own horn, right?

Make a wish big girl! When I was shopping for a birthday card for her I kept picking up the cards for four year olds. She's acts so much older than she is. It truly doesn't feel like she only turned three.

We invited the neighbors over for cupcakes. I made 24 cupcakes and we all know who would eat them if they were sitting around. Mama, that's who.

Kindergarten Shenanigans Part 3

2009-08-28T19:59:00.001-07:00

Her first week of school was really good. She loves getting up in the morning knowing she is going to school. Tonight she told me she wishes there wasn't a weekend so she can go to school tomorrow.

She did get in trouble on her second day of school, but we won't put it on her permanent record. Her teacher said she did much better the rest of the week. We took Laney to school this first week and I would walk with the other girls to pick her up from school. The school is 3/4 of a mile away and Laney would ride her scooter back home. She kills me on the scooter.

Today I let her ride the school bus. She has been dying to ride it. Here she is waiting for the bus.

Boring Bed Pictures

2009-08-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sure there are much more exciting things to post about. Like the weather or a fun new recipe. Or ....... I don't know, I'm not very exciting! I had to post these pictures, because they make me smile. Sometimes it's easy for me to get wrapped up in the craziness of having four young children. We mothers need to relax, take a breath of fresh air and rediscover simplicity. Right? Don't listen to me I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Having four kids so close in age has taught me................ that I don't know anything and I feel like I'm always flying by the seat of my pants!

Laney's first week of school has been emotional and chaotic for me. All the girls have been getting up early for unknown reasons. My husband has had a very busy/hectic week at work. The plus side, I have three kids napping right now! I have a moment to myself to look at pictures I have taken this week. Time to relax and enjoy the simple and beautiful moments of my girls that I can sometimes capture on camera.

Yes I realize there is neither a red head or a brunette in this picture. I like taking pictures, it relaxes me. This is my blog and I say you have to look at my boring bed pictures! (That is Savanna's new bed that Josh made, by the way. I got that quilt on clearance at Pottery Barn Teen last year. The next best thing to homemade.)

This is Addy Mae's bed. We moved her out of her crib/toddler bed into this more functional toddler bed.

This quilt was handmade by Grandma Sherry. And the bunny was hand knitted by Addy's Great Great Aunt Mary Ann. (We can take a Great out if it makes you feel better.) Actually, I think it's a bear but the girls call it a bunny. Thank you for making these treasures for my kids. I like putting real things made by hand and love, in my girls rooms.

Take a little time to enjoy the simple things in your life. It just might make your busy/crazy day go a little smoother.

Kindergarten Shenanigans Part 2

2009-08-24T11:33:00.001-07:00

Laney's first day of school. I don't know how it happened but this day came way too fast. Just yesterday Addy was a newborn and I had three girls in diapers and one still in pull-ups and people would tell me school was right around the corner. I thought I would be happy to send one off the school, but I was totally wrong.

Round two of emotional outburst and sobbing was last night. It was a good thing, because today I only shed a couple of tears after she was gone.

Look at how big and grown up she looks. She took her own shower last night and picked out her clothes. She brushed her own teeth and got herself dressed this morning.

Baby I hope you are having the best first day of school and I can't wait to see how your day was when you get home.

Daddy took her to school.

This would be my husband asking me if I want her to be late on her first day of school because I was taking pictures.

Olivia just realized her favorite Laney will not be hanging out with her all day.

She's still a little touchy about it, but is excited to walk and pick her up from school later.

What I will not be posting here is the very cheesy picture I drew for Laney's lunch box. My husband and I had a good laugh about it last night. I'm not a very good artist and let's just say it looks like a Kindergartner drew it.

i heart face challenge- Nostalgia

2009-08-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Nostalgia..... I have to admit that I took this photo, just for this weeks challenge, but I have good reason for it. I love the 1950's. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to have been born in the early 50's. We had this old house when we first got married that had the original yellow, black and white tile in the kitchen with the original stove and the ironing board that came out of a cabinet in the wall. How I miss that house. Now I have four girls who love to wear dresses and aprons and I can't help but take a nostalgic 50's photo of them. When I was growing up we lived in a small town in Kansas. (We moved around a lot.) When I say small I mean very small. But it had this really cool soda shop. I think it was part store part soda counter. Like straight from the 50's, where someone serves you from behind the bar. A little grape soda never hurt anyone right? For extra fun, go over to i heart faces blog to see other Nostalgia entries!

Kindergarten Shenanigans Part 1

2009-08-21T22:31:00.001-07:00

We ventured as a family of six to meet Laney's Kindergarten teacher. I have to admit I had a little, but understandable, emotional breakdown the night before. I know people see mom's cry when they drop off their Kindergartner's and they think they understand why. I'm not sad because I'm worried about Laney fitting in, I'm not sad about some other lady getting to see my daughter for most of her day, I'm sad because for the past 5 1/2 years I have gotten to know the coolest little wanna be padawan (Star wars, people get with the program) ever. She's sweet, she's independent, she has a heart of gold, she's sassy, she wants to be a Jedi, she loves hello kitty, she thinks that becoming a Kindergartner means she can walk to the mailbox by herself, and I am going to MISS HER!

She brought her own camera along. She wants me to "upload" her pictures to the computer. (Her words not mine.) I'll do a blog post next week of her pictures.

I figured bringing the kids along would give the teacher a good idea of what Laney's life is like at home. Wonderful and totally crazy. This is where my baby will be drinking water from during the day while two little red heads will be turning my fake blond hair........grey.

This is Ms. Barbara. I feel much better after meeting her teacher and seeing her classroom. She is very nice and has a lot of patience. I know because she let our other three children play in her classroom, and flush her potty and pound on the computer keys, and color on the table with a dry erase marker and she never once lost her patience.

This one of the play areas.

They also have a real kitchen where they cook and do science experiments.

The classroom was awesome and I know Laney will have a blast. Did you know at the end of the year Laney will know how to read and do simple addition and subtraction? I distinctly remember studying colors and shapes in my Kindergarten class.

Camping in the backyard!

2009-08-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that camping in our backyard was a total blast. If you have small children, you must camp in your backyard. It keeps the kids busy. You can make a real meal in the kitchen, you can put babies that need to sleep in their own bed, in their own bed. And my favorite of all reasons...... you can use your own potty. I won't go into a lot of details, but I have a very clear memory of myself peeing on the outhouse floor rather than the open hole in the ground. I'm not a big fan of porta potties or deep poop holes in the ground. No, I will not tell you how old I was when this happened!

The kids loved helping to put up the tent (my idea of helping is probably no where close to what parents of older children consider helping.)

They loved playing inside the tent.

See, we are all smiles.

Yes, we found all these sticks in our backyard. A tree had been cut in our backyard recently and all these little branches were left behind.

She was a little OCD about the placement of the sticks and I have no idea where she gets that from.

We roasted marshmallows.

Addy ate a HUGE amount of marshmallows.

Taking fire pictures is way more fun than making the fire. I don't think anyone else in my family agrees with that, though.

If my children knew what ghost stories were, they would have been telling them. But they don't. They somehow knew that you're supposed to hold the flashlight in your face and tell silly princess with a jedi friend with a pet webkinz stories. And sing Jesus loves me/the itsy bitsy spider.

My husband built a bed

2009-08-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we were visiting the neighbors behind us and the dad was in the garage building a loft bed for their pre-teen daughter. I am so glad we went over there at the exact time he had all his tools out. It made my husband miss all his lovely tools that are packed away in our garage. On his next day off, he started making a bed for one of our girls. (Thank you Tanya for asking your husband to make a bed, because it planted wonderful ideas in my husband's head.)

He used no plans. He made all the measurements and designed the bed himself. I'm so glad someone in our household is good at math.

Tools are cool. For him, not me. I just like to see what he can do with them.

We had three girls in one king sized bed. It worked for awhile, but Olivia and Savanna.... let's just say, they needed to be separated.

Tada! I've seen my husband remodel houses, but I had no idea he could do this. I'm praying for a children's bed company in the future.

Savanna got the new bed. He will be making one for each of them in the future. He's already working on new designs.

Photoshop Trial

2009-08-19T09:21:00.001-07:00

I downloaded a free 30 day trial of Photoshop. I knew I shouldn't of done the trial until I could afford to buy it. I love it and am hooked. I have 16 more days to play with it for free. I wanted to show you some before and afters of some of my favorite pictures that were already great but needed something extra. I still have a lot to learn so some of these aren't perfect, but fun nonetheless.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Addy Mae

2009-08-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned it's really, really hard to get good pictures of a two year old.

With my other three children, I already had a baby when they were two. I'm am really enjoying Addison's age. I decided to take pictures that would remind me what she was really like when she was two.

Like, I really want to remember how her hair curls in the front when it hangs in front of her face.

And how long her eyelashes were.

And how chubby her cheeks were.

And how big her brown eyes were.

And how much I'm gonna miss seeing her with her blankie and baba (pacifier).

Photo shoot gone south!

2009-08-10T09:24:00.001-07:00

For Addison's birthday this last Friday, we went to the Botanical Gardens to have a picnic lunch. I thought, "What a lovely time to take her two year old pictures." I like to dress the girls up in different outfits and take their pictures at different locations. I guess I forgot she's two now and has a mind of her own. I did get these, which I think capture her twoyearoldness!

This week at I Heart Faces. Week 29

2009-08-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

This weeks challenge is crazy, funny, silly faces. I had to enter this one one of Savanna. If I had to choose one picture to express the nature of this child, this one would be it. Click on the I heart faces link below to see the other entries!

The P family

2009-08-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

These are our dear friends, The P family. My husband has known Jill since junior high and Dan since high school. They just had their second baby boy. Being we were going to be in their neighborhood, I asked them if I could take pictures of their family to get some more experience under my belt. It had nothing to do with wanting to hold, smell, cuddle their newborn baby. Thank you Parish family for letting me invade your space and take up your precious time with your new family of four.

A blast from the past!

2009-08-05T13:04:00.001-07:00

Three days after we got back from vacation, my husband made me do the dirty deed. The dirty deed of cleaning out the garage. I hate cleaning out the garage. We have four kids and junk accumulates in there. My husband usually ends up doing the dirty work while I do important stuff, like look through old pictures and memorabilia. Isn't he a lucky one? Anyways. I ran across stuff both Josh and I made in Kindergarten! How appropriate, being we are about to send our oldest to Kindergarten!

That would be Me drawn by me. Remember you're Me book from Kindergarten? You had to draw your family and list your favorite foods and colors?

Josh's Me book.

Josh was supposed to draw his family. Dear Mother in Law, who is Kerry and what have you done with her? I do think that after 7 years of marriage and 9 years of being in your family, I should meet this family member. I can only imagine the things Laney will tell her Kindergarten teacher about us. I wonder how many family members she will dream up.

I have never, and will never, claim that I am an artist. My brother is much cuter than that in person. My parents have aged a little.

He had to settle for driving the family Suburban.

I would have made a nice teacher. However, I do get to teach my kids important stuff. Like how inappropriate it is to be naked all the time and that boogers are meant to go on a tissue not their clothes.

I can't wait to see what Laney makes in Kindergarten. And a big shout out to my mom and Josh's mom for keeping our Kindergarten artwork. You both get two gold stars!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-05T06:55:00.000-07:00