K3

Linked 52: Romance

2012-02-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

Ummm. . . romance is a foreign language in my house. It made this weeks prompt a little difficult. Maybe when I'm ready to think about dating again romance will become a part of my vocabulary. Without much inspiration right now, I went kind of generic on this one. Who doesn't love candles? I love the tray too - it was a Valentine's gift one year. ♥

Be sure to check out these other ladies to see their take on "romance": Michelle, Stacey, Andrea, Tracey, Heather, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Kristin, Amanda, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, Heidi, and Lena

Linked 52: Body Parts

2012-02-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

Here I am. I'm a little late with my post today because I may have fallen asleep on the couch last night before getting my photos edited or my post started. I tried this morning but my computer was not cooperating, so here I am now. Maybe I should be a little more prepared and take my pictures before Thursday night but let's be realistic here -- I'm a procrastinator. Always have been, always will be.

Back to the topic at hand -- body parts. One of these days I may step in front of the camera but for now I will use my two favorite subjects. I couldn't decide which body part to use. I really love their cute little feet and toes and the little dimples that they have on their lower back right above their bum. I went with the eyes. If you ever read our escapades on here you'll know that James is quite a character. That mischievous look and the glimmer in his eye.

Joe has always been more serious and quiet than his brother. He has these eyelashes just like his dad. Barely a curl in them at all. I ♥ them.

Be sure to check out these other ladies to see their take on "body parts": Michelle, Stacey, Andrea, Tracey, Heather, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Kristin, Amanda, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, Heidi, and Lena

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentine's Day I will be celebrating with two amazing gentelmen. I'm pretty sure there will be points in the day when I'll really miss having that special someone in the romantic sense, but I don't want to dwell on that. I have two adorable little guys that love me and I'm blessed to be able to spend the day with them.

I was prepared with the Valentine's this year. We had them all ready to go last week. Joe went with Phineas and Ferb and James chose Angry Birds. The kid cannot stop talking about Angry Birds.

James did really well writing his name and Joseph was excited to write one out to Grace (his crush).

Joe doesn't like lunch at school tomorrow so I made him a homemade lunchable. I hope he likes these. :)

We don't have anything special planned but a heart shaped pizza might be in store. I wouldn't mind just snuggling up with my babies on the couch and watching a movie.

Here's a photo from a little Valentine project we are working on. :) That kid cracks me up.

I hope you all have a fabulous day with your loved ones!

Linked 52: Quiet

2012-02-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

So you would think that because I had the day off I would have been much more prompt with this post. You would have thought wrong. Ever the procrastinator, I waited until the last minute.

Quiet. My life is not quiet. I am not quiet. I enjoy quiet but it usually only comes when the boys are at their dad's house. The noisiest of the boys is James. Takes after his mama. Never shuts up. :) Has a loud voice, just like his mom. The only times he's quiet is when he's eating something (he has to really like it or food will not quiet him), watching TV, or sleeping. If you've seen any of my comments on facebook then you know that the little stinker usually talks to himself in his room / comes out to bother me until about 10:30 each night so quiet doesn't happen quickly there either.

I did catch him in a rare moment of quiet today though. We had just come back from getting his hair cut (don't get me started -- they cut it shorter than I wanted and I'm sad) and he was eating his sucker. I turned on Mickey Mouse for him so I could pack the rest of our stuff to go out of town. It was a nice moment of quiet. A rare one, but nice.

Be sure to check out these other ladies to see their take on "quiet": Michelle, Stacey, Andrea, Tracey, Heather, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Kristin, Amanda, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, and Lena

linked 52: sleep

2012-02-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Sleep. It's a beautiful thing. A thing that I wish I had more of.

I love watching my children sleep. They are so peaceful. If you know James, you know that peaceful is hard to come by. I'll take what I can get. My children have very specific sleeping routines.

Joseph has always gone to sleep well. He's always stayed in his when it was bedtime and was/ is quiet. Now that he's in school it only takes him about 2 minutes to fall asleep because he's so exhausted. The one thing that Joe wants at bedtime is his monkey. His name is Coconut. Sometimes called Coco, mostly called "Monkey." He was never really attached to anything when he was a baby/toddler. He only really attached himself to Monkey when his dad and I separated. I'm thankful to Monkey for helping him through a rough time. Monkey and Joe do all sorts of things together, he snuggles with him, he uses him as a pillow, he tries to sleep like him. See below:

I had to use this picture because it made me chuckle.

James. James tests my patience every night at bedtime. He always needs one more drink of milk or to tell me something really important like next Wednesday he would like to wear his skateboard shirt. Anything for him to get out of bed one more time. James has what he calls his "night-night." or "night." It's a lovey blanket. A random Christmas purchase when he was 6 months old . . . he has never looked back. He got so attached to his night that I thought we should have a backup. He's not particular as to which one. (He does prefer the blue kind. We have one other kind that will work if a blue one is not available.) I went out and bought one then ended up ordering one and getting two so we ended up with 4 nights. It's always nice to have a backup.

Instead of playing with my speedlite I thought I would try to work with whatever light I had. They are not my favorite from a photography standpoint but I love how they embody my kids.

As if this post isn't lengthy enough. I thought I would share some other pictures about my kids and their crazy sleeping habits/positions. The evidence:

Hmmmm. . . I wonder where they get that from?

Be sure to check out these other ladies to see their take on "sleep": Michelle, Stacey, Andrea, Tracey, Heather, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Kristin, Amanda, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, and Lena

Judgement Day

2012-01-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

On Friday Joe came home with a couple of gems in his backpack.

This was the first one:

He's joining a reading group. One of three kindergartners. In lieu of a Christmas Card letter bragging about my children, I'm doing it here and now. Oh, and I'm just getting started. His reading was tested in October to see where he was at for the accelerated reader program. (He's been reading since he was four. I'm laying it on thick now.) Anyway, he tested at 2.5 - a second grade level. Now he gets to join this reading group. So proud.

FYI - As much as I can brag about Joe and what a rockin' reader he is, I can't take much credit for it. It just kind of happened.

Also in his backpack . . . report card! His first one. Judgement day. He has the option of getting S+, S, S-, and N. This is what it looked like:

Are you looking at all those S+s. I am. :) Math and reading is where he excels - just like his mom. Evidently in order to work up to getting straight S+s he needs to work on Spanish, singing, and social studies. Funny thing, he did very well in the task management section. So not like his mother on that one.

Bragging is done for the day. I think. I do have to mention a few cute things that Joe said / did this weekend that gave me a chuckle. For as much of a smarty pants as he is, he still can't get some things straight.

-- He has this book swap at school where he can bring books in and exchange them for new ones. At least half a dozen times he has referred to it as the book SWAMP.

-- James was running around in a Santa hat (yep, that's how we roll on the weekends) and was talking about being the boss because he was Santa. Joe says that Santa isn't the boss so then James declares himself to be Barack Obama and the boss of everything. In retaliation Joe says, "Oh yeah, well I'm Jesus and he's the boss of Barack Obama."

These are just the ones that I remember. I try to write them down right away but my laziness overruled everything this weekend.

Now I just need to decide how to reward my little guy for a job well done. Money? A special dinner out with just mom? I'm just not sure.

linked 52: Tired

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of things:
1st -- I'm totally on time this week. Are you shocked? I kind of am.
2nd -- I totally took this with my phone. Way better quality than my old phone. I kind of like it. It's no instagram but it'll do. (I haven't picked up my camera in a week and that's not normal.)
3rd-- I took this week's prompt totally literally. I thought about photographing someone that was tired, something that made me tired, or something of that sort. I decided on where I go when I'm tired. My bed.
4th -- I'm evidently really into using the word "totally." :)

Here you have it. When I'm tired, this is where I go. To watch a movie and relax, to read a book and relax, to escape from my kids and relax, and to sleep. :) This view is the other side of the bed. The spot I get shoved to when the kids climb in. Just looking at it now with my soft orange comforter and my fluffy pillow makes me tired all over again.

Be sure to check out these other ladies to see their take on "tired": Michelle, Stacey, Andrea, Tracey, Heather, Jenn, Jessica, Amanda, Kristin, Amanda, Sara, Tracy, Lesli, Janet, Naomi, Rhonda, Rose, and Lena

linked 52: Breakfast

2012-01-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

It was a long day yesterday and I didn't get this post done for today. Add together a full day of work, not getting off until 6, and dinner with a friend. . . here we are. My goal is to be more prepared next week.

I was thinking about this breakfast prompt and felt at a loss a little. The boys were at their dad's house and my pancakes didn't look very photogenic on their plate. What to do? I took a pic of our fall back breakfast. You know, the breakfast you eat when you don't have anything better to eat. Your go to breakfast when you have less than minutes to eat, get your shoes on and get out the door.

I'm ~~in denial~~ pretty sure this is not the healthiest breakfast I could give my children. Yes, that's a pop tart you see in my little breakfast bucket! Don't judge.

I have a rotating schedule so on the days I go in late, I usually ~~make~~ assemble breakfast -- a bagel, some toast and yogurt, a waffle, something like that. The days that I go in early . . . you're looking at it. At least I know they'll get something a little more substantial at the center. I guess my saving grace is that I make pancakes every Sunday. And now you probably know more about my breakfast than you ever wanted to. :)

Since I'm so late today, I don't have the whole list of all the "linked" blogs. Head over to Stacey's blog and check out the list.

A Little Wednesday Randomness

2012-01-18T19:05:00.000-08:00

So it's Wednesday, I haven't blogged in awhile, and I'm in a random kind of mood.

A random picture:

They boys goofing off with their cousins after Christmas. They talk about Noah and Eli constantly. Noah's on the bottom left and Eli is on the bottom right. Random dude in the middle. Alright, so it's not a random dude, it's Noah and Eli's friend. They had so much fun that day.

We played Mario Kart last night and I seemed to have lost my Mario Kart skills. I know it shouldn't matter, but it makes me a little sad.

My mom is on vacation and I miss calling her.

I eat peanut butter (at least a small amount) almost daily. Could I find something a little healthier to obsess about?

Winter showed up today. I'm not enjoying it. Brrrrr. (I'm the mom that sent her kid to school today without any gloves because I was working on autopilot this morning and when he handed them to me I stuck them in his brother's coat.) Felt like a terrible parent. My feet are cold.

I told you this was random.

Crying at American Idol right now. When they make it to Hollywood I feel so proud of them and it chokes me up. Why must I be so emotional?

Joseph pulled the tongue out of his gym shoes this week. The cheap ones from Target. The only ones he will wear right now. The cute converse leather ones aren't good enough, the gray ones and the navy ones hurt his feet . . . aggghh. I had to go buy some ugly shoes from Target because that's what he wanted and I was not going to spend more if he is going to be so picky right now.

Why won't Joe stop eating? About a half an hour after every meal he tells me he's hungry again. The size 5 jeans that I bought him for school that were long are now high water pants.

I keep seeing previews for "The Vow" and I think I would like to go see that.

I have no plans for the weekend. Does anyone want to do anything?

I was going through pictures and found some pictures from my trip to Minnehaha with April this fall. Maybe I'll share more later but I thought this one captured my personality.

A Baby! (not mine)

2012-01-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

It seems that everywhere I turn around lately there are babies. I love babies! My baby making days are over, I think. I would kind of like one more but I have my hands full with the two I have, I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and (probably most importantly) there's no man in my life. It does take two to tango. I've been blessed with two beautiful children and I'm grateful for that.

Back to the subject at hand -- this baby.

I had the opportunity to take some newborn shots last week. A friend of a friend booked a lia sophia party with me this fall and during the party I was talking about my hobby. She called me later to set something up. This was my first time doing the newborn thing. My uterus might have skipped a beat or two. :)

He didn't really want to sleep so we had to change up some sleeping shots that we had in mind. Here are just a few that we did get. I think these next two are my favorite. (I totally need some photoshop help. Does anyone have a good class to take?)

He's cute, right?

Best Face of 2011

2012-01-10T17:59:00.000-08:00

This is totally last minute but I thought I'd throw in one of my favorite face shots from 2011 for an I Heart Faces challenge.

Twins! (Not the baseball kind)

2012-01-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

I've been going through my pictures from Christmas but haven't had time to organize them enough to post them yet. It's a goal for this weekend. I did take a handful of pictures of these cuties. Love them.

The twins. Two years old and adorable. I took some pictures of them this summer. I didn't share then (I don't think) so I'll share a couple now. (My cousin and his wife's children)

Daddy and the kids. . .

Miss Olivia . . .

Bryan

The family

They have such different personalities. Olivia is more outgoing but tends to be a little camera shy for me. Bryan is more reserved and gives me a sly smile. They are adorable. Their parents are pretty great too.
More pics of my crazy family to come. :)

2012, Here I Am!

2012-01-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

I decided that one of my goals for 2012 is to make sure that I'm actually in some of the pictures that I take. I'm not getting any younger and before I know it I'm not going to be able to remember anything. Wait. I can't remember anything now. I might need to find the other piece of my tripod before I can totally fulfill this goal though. :)

I took a picture of myself this Christmas. It was weird. I really took it to show off my fancy new Christmas present -- my speedlite. I got to play with it a little bit but I definitely need more practice.

Here I Am!

Here are my thoughts:
I'm wearing some cute jewelry. I had been looking for a place to wear those earrings. I can thank my Lia Sophia career for those. :)
I am so pasty looking that I had to make it black and white.
Why am I holding the camera so weirdly?
What is going on with my eye? Why is my eyelid looking so droopy? No, I was not drinking.

Your thoughts?

2011 Year in Review

2012-01-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

Warning: lengthy post / lots of pics

I follow a blog that has a weekly scavenger hunt (for photos). I have yet to enter said scavenger hunt. There is an end of the year scavenger hunt / year in review thing going on over there so I thought I'd join in. There are 25 prompts for pics that you've taken throughout the year. It took me a long time to go through everything, but I'm glad I did. It brought back so many great memories. Here goes . . .

1. Me

I do have pictures of my whole face but I thought I'd be a little different here. Not really sure what prompted me to take this pic in the first place, but here I am, untamed eyebrows and all.

2. I Love You!

There's a lot of people that I love, but my kids are always first. This was taken at the apple orchard and is one of my favorite pictures of them this year.

3. Still Laughing . . .

The boys both did baseball this summer. James made the age cutoff by about a week. He was by far the smallest kid there. It always gave me a chuckle to see his tiny little body out there, especially with this big helmet. He just kept tilting his head back and forth and when he would run it totally fell over his eyes. Too funny. :)

4. Winter Wonderland

Evidently I didn't take many pictures of snow at the beginning of the year. There hasn't really been any now for me to take pictures of. This was taken this spring. That's right, snow in the spring. I do love freshly fallen snow on a tree though.

5. Birthday

The wee one's birthday. Grandma thought it would be funny if he licked the cake. It was.

6. Friends

I evidently don't take pictures with my friends. Or maybe I just don't have a social life. Or maybe both. I do love the pics that Amy and I took while walking around the U. She's been one of my besties for 23 years. Our anniversary is on January 10th. Yep, we have an anniversary.

7. I Was Inspired . . .

There are many people that I get inspiration from. There are also places and things that inspire me. Like this picture. I am inspired everyday to take photos. It has become evident over this past year from taking pictures for friends -- engagement, family, kids, and even a wedding, that my passion lies with children. Maybe I should have come to this realization earlier considering my job is working with children. I love capturing their personalities. When I capture a photo like this with her innocent face and beautiful eyes, it inspires me to do more.

8. Spring Fever

I got the kids some rainboots last year. I wonder why they didn't have them before. What's better than spending an afternoon jumping in some puddles?

9. Travel or Vacation

Vacation? Hahahahahaha. What's that? Seriously, it's been a long time. I did do quite a bit of traveling in 2011. I made a couple of trips to South Dakota, one to North Dakota, one to Wisconsin, and quite a few trips back home. I felt like I was in the car quite a bit. I took this pic of the boys on one of our trips to see my dad.

10. Summer Days

The end of summer signals that it's state fair time. I love some corn on the cob in the summer. This picture taken at the state fair is on of my favorites. I love that James is so focused on the corn that he's oblivious to the fact that Joe looks like he's ready to take a bite over his shoulder.

11. A Day In My Life

Since I just posted this photo of James recently, I decided I better pick something else. This photo is, of course, from James. What to do with this child? What to do? He is definitely my ~~naughty~~ challenging child.

12. All Smiles

I love this little guy. I love his twin sister too, but there is something about this one . . . This was taken when I had the privilege of taking photos of my cousin and his family. Looking at him just makes me smile. :)

13. Autumn Harvest

I do love some pictures in the fall. I wish the colors were better in here but I sill like it.

14. Family or Home

So this is not my favorite picture. I love some things about it. I love that Joe is being silly and I love that James is holding my hand. I do not love that I was wearing gauchos and therefore look like a tree trunk. I also like that it isn't just my normal "hold my camera out with one hand and snap" kind of picture.

15. Celebrate!

I had the honor of taking some wedding photos for an old friend this past labor day. Just some snapshots of them throughout the day. There are other pictures that I might have liked the lighting or positioning better but I love the look of their daughter on this one. Pure love and joy. They have a wonderful love story that spans over a decade so it was truly a day to celebrate!

16. Let's Do It Again.

This summer my cousin and her children came to visit. The two girls came on one trip and her son came on the other. (Now she has a fourth!) When the girls were in town we had the opportunity to take them to the park to play. She's my closest cousin and I was sad when she moved back to Chicago. I loved that she was able to visit and I think we should do it again.

17. I Miss You.

My sister. She moved to Georgia after her wedding just over a year ago. I miss having her nearby. When my brother-in-law gets deployed this spring she is moving home. It's going to be nice to have her close again. It's harder to pick on her when she's so far away. :)

18. Beautiful

I just love the simplicity of this.

19. Dress Up

I never really have an occasion to dress up for. I thought about using the Mario and Luigi picture from Halloween but then I came across this gem. Be sure that you don't miss the one clip on earring. He was proud of that.

20. Macro / Close Up

I don't do too many of these kind of shots. My kids were obsessed with this lady bug though and requested that I take a picture of it. I'm sure it would have turned out better with a macro lens. Mom, are you listening? Take notes of these things for future birthdays and Christmas.

21. Holidays

I had to get on the holiday bokeh train this year. I love lights. I love bokeh. Good combination.

22. My Favorite

This is my favorite picture of the year. I love the tiny water bokeh that I get. It melts my heart that Joe put his arm around his brother and this was an unplanned shot. They've been fighting so much recently, it makes it nice for me to remember times like this. Love!

23. Don't Ever Change

My curious boys. They ask so many questions and are so curious about everything. The "Why?" question gets annoying sometimes, but I love that they want to gain more knowledge. They are always eager to learn and I hope that never changes.

24. Just Because . . . So There.

The picture that doesn't fit into any other category. My favorite picture of Jackson from this year. With just a tiny bit of snow still glistening on his fur, he looks so cute. Kind of makes me want to get him a treat. How can you not love that face?

25. Hopes and Dreams

My hopes and dreams for 2012 . . . that I can be as brave as this little guy. So excited at the first day of school, not anxious from the thought of change. Totally different to how I act in those situations. I'd like to take a few lessons from the kids in that way, to just go with the flow and see what happens. I also hope to be more organized, more selfless, more PRESENT, more thoughtful . . . just more. Even if it's just a little bit more.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:42:00.001-08:00

Merry Montage Christmas

Click here to browse Shutterfly Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Seriously.

2011-12-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

This is my life.

I love him to death, but . . . seriously?

I'm sure he'll love this when he gets older. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-12-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

My babies are getting big! Last year's pic on the left, this year is on the right. Yes, I'm that mom that dresses her children alike. Hey, I was never blessed with a girl to dress in dresses and headbands and all that cute stuff so dressing these two alike is my substitute. :) Pretty adorable, don't you think? I might be a bit biased.

(Sorry for the poor photo quality -- these pics were scanned.)

Friday: I'm thinkin' . . .

2011-12-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

that it was her birthday and she could cry if she wanted to. (My darling niece Amelia that we got to visit over Thanksgiving.)

Lots more people thinking about lots more stuff. Check out the list over at Stacey's blog.

Thursday: I'm thinking . . .

2011-12-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

that I miss having a dog around. Thanks to April for letting me dog sit this little cutie tonight. I'm also thinking I don't miss barking or little doggie presents. :)

Wednesday: I'm thinking . . .

2011-12-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

that I really, really miss my sister. Umm . . . and maybe her crazy husband. :) Can't wait until she comes home.

Tuesday: I'm thinking . . .

2011-12-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

that I could use a little more sleep. I wish I could sleep as soundly as these two. :)

(Thanks to Stacey for the invitation to link up.)

** I know that it's been forever since I've blogged. Things have been a little crazy but I'm hoping to catch up.

Light

2011-10-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. -- Aaron Rose

The Other Child

2011-09-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

I've posted so much about Joe lately I just wanted to make sure that I didn't forget the other child -- my James! He's such a little stinker, full of personality. Love him to death one minute and want to sell him on eBay the next. I think I'll keep him though. :)

Apple Picking with the wee ones

2011-09-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

I took the boys to the apple orchard today. You never would have guessed from the title though, right? We went to Aamodt's apple farm. I hadn't ever been there so it was nice to go somewhere new. Last year we went to Apple Jacks and I think I liked it a little better for the boys.

We saw a friend from Joe's soccer team while we were there, pet some goats, played on the swingset, took a hayride, bought some apples, picked some apples, ate some popcorn and then some more stuff that just made me tired. The kids were great. No fighting / bickering. :) Love these days with the kids.

Again with the laziness of editing so I just made a quick collage. Love the picture of the two of them together and am thinking it needs to go in a frame. :)

Sculpture

2011-09-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

I've been on a little bit of a blogging break. No particular reason though. I always have good intentions of posting something and then comes the editing part. Well, I guess that's a reason. I have a feeling that I'm just going to have to just post stuff straight out of my camera. I'll have to do that AND make a decision. That's my other problem -- I have a terrible time deciding which pics to use. If you know me well you'll know how indecisive I am. Ugh.

I actually looked through pics and did a little editing with these. About 2 weeks ago I took the kids to the Sculpture Garden. It's one of my favorite places in the city. I think the kids enjoyed themselves. This is the proof. :)

We took some silly photos:

Some pics around some of the sculptures: (yes, James has shaggy hair. He says that he wants to grow it out like his cousins, Eli and Noah. I like it a little longer but I feel like I'm going to break out in hives -- hair touching the ears drives me nuts.)

We took the foot bridge over to Loring Park, had a little snack, and looked at the ducks. The boys were very curious because the ducks let them get very close. Look at the devlish expression on James' face. Totally him.

We even managed to get in a family picture. :)

Kindergarten!

2011-09-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

So my countdown is done and kindergarten is here. I finally feel like I can breathe because the anticipation is over. He made it in, he made it out. No catastrophes. Good deal.

It was a restless night. Joe was tossing and turning and I kept having dreams that we were going to be late. (We were not.) I had decided that we needed donuts to start off kindergarten. Don't we all need donuts when we're starting an adventure?

(Not editing any pics tonight because I'm not motivated -- these are straight out of camera.) Should have made a collage but that motivation factor comes in again.

We had to snap a few pics before school.

I was doing pretty good after all this. Mike, James, and I walked him into his room, talked to his teacher briefly and got him settled in. The teacher took his hand to lead him to his table and we left. This is where the tears came in. Me, not Joe. (I'm sure you're not surprised.) I had 3 crying episodes before 10am, each one worse than the first. I got to work and got busy which is what I needed. I made it through the rest of the day tear free. I was even able to sneak out of work to pick him up from school. I thought a good first day of school deserved a little ice cream.

I love him so much!!

ONE!!

2011-09-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yep, one day until kindergarten. Well, it's one night now. We tried on clothes for tomorrow. I held it together (sort of). We talked about how he needs to listen to his teacher and do his schoolwork. I held it together (sort of). We talked about how excited he is to meet new friends. I held it together (sort of). We talked about riding the KinderCare bus back to me at the end of the day. I held it together (hanging by a string here). I gave him a kiss goodnight and tucked him in. This is where I lost it.

I know that I'm not the first mom to go through this and I know that I'm won't be the last. This has been a rough year for us and I'm so happy that we have pulled through everything together. My "baby" has grown so much and I'm so incredibly proud of him. Overflowing with love right now. :)

Resting up for the big day. . .

2

2011-09-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

2 days.
2 days and I just realized that we don't have a first day of school outfit. I've bought jeans and a bunch of long sleeved shirts but nothing really for that first day. What!? I've been so prepared with all the school supplies and everything that I forgot that all important first day. I guess I'll be doing a little shopping tomorrow. :)

For this cute little (yet big enough to be a kindergartener) guy:

4,3

2011-09-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

I was so buys making sure all my camera stuff was ready / charged for today's wedding that I didn't get time to do my #4 post. I know you were all anxiously awaiting. Reading my post was going to be the highlight of your Friday night. Sorry to disappoint folks. :)

I'm combining 4 and 3 because I feel like it. Because I didn't have time last night / forgot. Because I'm leaving for Wisconsin shortly and will not have time to do it later. Because I said so.

This is it though. The final weekend as a preschooler. And he's with his dad. It's Ok. He'll come home on Monday and I make him snuggle with me all afternoon and evening so I can prepare myself. I fully understand that I'm the one that needs to be prepared because he already is.

Even though I'm not directly with him every day, I get to see him for little snippets of time throughout the day. I always sympathize with the parents of infants that drop off at the center on their first day and cry because they are leaving their baby. Tuesday will be that day for me. He's been at the center since he was 6 weeks old and I've had 5 1/2 years to really get attached to seeing the little munchkin daily.

Since I'm doing the two in one thing here I'm pretty sure that I should share 2 pics. This one I took this summer at my mom's and I love it because it's pure Joe. (Didn't have time to do any editing on these pics.)

Here's a pic of us from the state fair. More to come on the fair later. . .

5

2011-09-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

OMG -- We are down to 5!! Ahhhhhh!!!!

Deep breaths, Carla, deep breaths.

He's so excited to start school and I'm excited for him. I think. I might be hyperventilating because my baby is leaving me, but it's ok. It is. I think.

Really, I am excited for him to start this journey but I can't help thinking that time has gone by so fast. I decided to flash back today to a couple of my favorite baby photos of my baby. (and Jackson too) :)

6

2011-08-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Was a little busy today so I didn't / don't have time to write a bunch today. My little peanut only has 6 days left before school.

Looks like he's sittin' around waiting for something. School perhaps? :)

7

2011-08-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

Seven days.
One week.
168 hours.
10,080 minutes.
Too many seconds to count.

(I might have cheated a little on the math -- the effect is the same without having to think too hard.)

:)

That's right -- 8!

2011-08-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

So tonight we had Joe's back to school conference. Like an open house / meet your teacher, only we had a scheduled time. We got to bring all of his stuff in and get it situated for when he starts school next week. We signed all of the emergency information, got his pin number for lunch (which he's keeping under lock and key because they told him he wasn't supposed to share it with anyone), and went to the book fair. Do you want to know the most impressive thing that happened during all of this? You'll never guess. I didn't cry. That's right. I held it together. For today anyway. :)

He's so excited, he's jumping for joy!

9

2011-08-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yes. I've started a countdown. It will be just be a love fest dedicated to Joe before he leaves me forever. :) In all seriousness though, let me show you what had me crying in Target a couple of weeks ago.

Pencils. It was the beginning of the school shopping and it all hit me. As I put the pencils in the cart I got a little choke up. Maybe more than a little. Just nine more days. I'm kind of hoping I'll hold up like I did at graduation. I cried so much about graduating before I actually graduated that when it came time for commencement I was good to go. I'm hoping this goes the same way so I don't make a fool out of myself come Sept. 6th. Not that I didn't already make a fool out of myself in Target. :)

Who wouldn't miss seeing this face?

10

2011-08-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

That's right -- 10. Ten short days before my baby goes to kindergarten. Not sure where the last five and a half years have gone but they seemed to have gone by too quickly. Trying to squeeze in all the time I can with him before school. Next Tuesday will be the first day of the rest of his life. The years will fly by so quickly with brief summer breaks in between and before you know it, he'll be off to college. Some of you may be thinking I'm being a little over dramatic here, but I'm pretty sure I'm just the right amount of dramatic for me at this time.

Love him so much.

i heart faces: Pet Week

2011-08-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

So it's pet week over at I Heart Faces and although it's not a new photo, I thought I'd share my most recent favorite photo of my Jackson. It was taken a couple months ago on one of the last snowy days this winter. I love how there's little bits of snow/frost on his fur. Just a quick photo taken in the car but I love it.

Wild, Wild West

2011-08-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

The boys have week long "camps" at school. This week was Wild, Wild West. We made "Wanted" posters for the preschoolers and school age kids. They turned out really cute. We were all supposed to dress up Friday too. Some of us did. We don't have a lot of western wear at our house so we stopped at the store and got bandanas. Jeans, white shirts, and bandanas -- easy enough. I had a hat to wear and James wanted one too. After refusing to buy the overpriced pink foam cowgirl hat at Michaels for James, he was not happy with me. Yep, I said pink foam. I told him he could try on the one at school. The one for the pictures. He took it from my office first thing and didn't take it off all day. He wore it to the assisted living center during their field trip, he wore it outside to play, if we let him he probably would have worn it for nap (see picture below). His teacher was able to wrestle it away long enough to let the other kids take pictures. Who didn't want to take one with the hat? Why James, of course. He is so difficult. I wanted to get a pic of us all together but it just didn't happen. This is what I got. (And by I, I mean the teachers at school because my children don't really want to cooperate and I think they're getting sick of me shoving a camera in their face.)

The "napping" . . .

The "Wanted" Poster. Because posing for one just would have been too hard. Pretty sure that he might be wanted for wearing the hat like that. (The band goes inside the hat James.)

Joe. Pretty sure he might be wanted for picking on his brother.

And me. I think I might be wanted for showing up to the fair like this. To be fair to me, my hair had been in pigtail braids and under a hat all day. Not really sure I could've went without it. I do love hats.

I'm Way Behind

2011-08-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

Ok. So my cousin Jennifer came to visit me twice at the end of Spring / beginning of Summer. It was great to see her and the kids and even though she had another agenda while she was here we enjoyed the time we had. I feel bad that I have not taken the time to blog about it and post the pictures. You may think that I'm going to do it now. You're wrong. The kids are up and that stuff has to wait until they are sleeping.

My reason for bringing up their visit is that "Beautiful Eyes" is the theme at I Heart Faces this week. I thought about taking a new picture but honestly when I think about eyes I think about these ladies. My cousin and her 2 daughters. Her son is also blessed with these beautiful eyes but he was not with on this trip.

Love, love, love these eyes. Love, love, love these girls.

A little bathtime convo. . .

2011-08-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

The conversation went a little something like this:

Joe: Mommy. I have two balls. (while pulling at them)
Me: (Long pause) Yep.
Joe: What are they?
Me: Ummmm. . . They're testicles. But I guess you can call them balls too.
James: I have two balls. I have two balls. I have two balls.
Joe: (Pulling at them)
Me: Please don't pull them though.
James: I'm not pulling mine, I'm squeezing them.
Joe: I'm squishing them.
James: Look at me Joe. Look at me! (all while rearranging and yanking on them)
Me: You can't do that. You will hurt yourself.
Joe: Look at me mommy. I'm holding them gently. (while cradling them like a baby)
James: Not me. I'm pinching them.
Joe: How will it hurt me mommy?
Me: Tomorrow's a daddy day and I think he would love to talk to you about it.

The end. (I hope)

And this is why I should have had girls. :)

Best Friends

2011-08-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

So I've always wanted to enter a photo challenge, do a 365 project, or something like that. Not sure why I haven't ever tried but I thought it was about time I got off my butt and did something.

The theme at i heart faces this week is friendship.

I know that my boys are the best of friends (when they're not fighting). It sure seems to me like these little cuties are too. I did a little photo session with Kari and her family on Sunday and the girls had such a good time running across this bridge. I love how Syd looks back to her sister to encourage her along. So thankful that I got to take their pictures and catch these moments.

What we do at our house.

2011-08-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Ever been bored on a Sunday night? Well. . . we were tonight. We cured our boredom with a little bath time photo session. (The poses were their ideas.) Have so many other post to do / pics to show but this is my perfect ending to a great weekend. (More to come on that later.)

Joe was into participating a little more than James. I was just loving it all.

The little guy . . .

The not quite as little guy . . .

Happy Sunday everyone!

And so it begins . . .

2011-08-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

So . . . my "baby" is starting kindergarten in a month. One month. ONE MONTH people! Where did the time go??? I'm an emotional person to begin with but I feel like this might take my waterworks to a whole new level. I hope that I the tears will come now so I don't make such a fool out of myself that first day of school.

The boys had their last day of baseball on Wednesday and they got to play a game (they were just practicing skills before). Everybody had a turn to bat and everyone had a turn to run the bases and score. It should have been no big deal then when Joe ran across home plate. But it was.

When he crossed that plate his face beamed with pride and my eyes welled with tears. Thank God I was all Jackie O with my sunglasses on. I glanced around and did not see any other parents with my problem. It just all hit me at once. He is really becoming his own little person and I'm so incredibly proud of him.

My kindergartner:

*sigh*

Baseball FUN-damentals

2011-07-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

We love the parks and rec system at our house. I put Joe in soccer whenever it's offered and he's done a sports sampler thing too. This summer a FUN-damentals class for baseball was offered (their title, not mine) where the boys could be in the same class. They both got gloves and were super excited for baseball to start. I took some cute pics this time but they did not want to pose for a pic together or for one with me. :( I suppose it's OK -- it was HOT that day. I'll try to get one with me in it next week. Here are a few (too lazy to do any editing though):

They started off by running the bases. . .

James had to wave on the way by.

Then they practiced some fielding and daydreaming.

And we can't forget to take time to play in the sand.

Time for batting practice.

And then I took more pictures. You're shocked, I know.

Finish out the night with a few family photos.

Can't believe they are getting so big. Well, one of them seems to be getting big, the other one still looks like a peanut compared to the other kids. :)

More About the Weather

2011-07-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Talking about the weather as much as I have been these past few days makes me feel like my grandma. Weather is always a hot topic with the senior crowd. :)

Just thought that I would share that this weather is making me feel like this:

It's making the boys feel like this:

Heard that tomorrow is supposed to be the last of the super hot days. I hope so. We're looking forward to getting back to this:

Stay cool! :)

Hot Days and Mosquito Bite Randomness

2011-07-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

One day (not too long ago) it was nice enough to lay out in the sun. To check out my pedicure against the clear blue sky.

Pretty sure it's time to go those piggies repainted. Please refrain from commenting about my stunted little toe, I might get a complex or something. Going right along with that feel free to also keep any comments about how spread apart my toes are to yourself. I see the looks I get when I go in for a pedicure and they don't even have to use those toe separator thingies. Back to the topic at hand -- is there a topic?

Do you see how I can just lay there? It was that one nice summer weekend we had -- you know, the one between the cold and rainy weekend and the stifling humid one. What we Minnesotans call summer. One perfect temperature weekend. Ugh. Hope that we can have some more.

Had to make this one big so you could hopefully see his cheek -- what the heck? Big and swollen. What is in these Minnesota mosquitos that makes my baby blow up like this. We had this ear incident:

Then the cheek from above and now we're onto his foot. Ugh. Anybody have any good ideas for this?

Randomness but it's what's on my mind right now.

Engagement Pics

2011-07-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today in the muggy, icky heat we all went to Minnehaha to take some engagement pics. Lynn's (Mike's stepmom) daughter Jamie is getting married next May to a great guy named Shane. They asked me to do the engagement pics. I'm surely not a professional but am happy to take this opportunity to learn more. I was having a few camera issues but I think we were able to get some good pics. This is for Lynn (because I know she is waiting). :)

Minneapolis!

2011-07-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

So I had an idea to fill one of those photo gallery things for your wall with photos from Minneapolis because as much as I hate the weather in the winter, I really do love this city. I love wandering around and finding new things, visiting places that I used to go to that bring back great memories, and making new ones along the way. Tonight Amy and I wandered around St. Anthony Main and I took pictures of this part of the city. I remember watching fireworks there and going to movies when I was in college, having drinks in the bars down there, etc. It's been awhile since I've walked around there and it was nice to snap some pics and get a little exercise. When we were done we went to Chilly Billy's frozen yogurt place in Dinkytown. Delicious! I strongly recommend a trip there. Here's a few of my favorite pics.

4th in Fairmont!

2011-07-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

After more than a decade of spending the 4th of July in either the cities or Mandan I traveled down to Fairmont for the weekend. We left on Sunday and came back today. It turned out to be a great weekend. We spent the most of Sunday at the lake with family taking rides on the boat (thanks Dave and Rhonda) and the jet skis (thanks Christi and Kyle). I skipped the jet skis but enjoyed a boat ride. I was just happy to visit with everyone since I don't get to see them as often as I'd like.

After all of the swimming and boating we broke out the mini grill for dinner. We had some hot dogs, chips, s'mores and bacon. Yep, that's right -- bacon. Eli insisted there be bacon. Is there ever a bad time for bacon? Anyway, we headed over to my aunt Marlene's house and watched a firework display courtesy of Scott and Marti. We also had more s'mores. :) The kids loved it -- the only bad part was the mosquitos.

Monday consisted of hanging out in the backyard with the boys and a bbq. The boys had a good time playing in grandma's pool and then playing with all of Olivia and Bryan's toys at their house. We did attempt to watch the fireworks that night but the boys were tired and fed up with the mosquitos so they didn't last very long. Great weekend with family!

James got new Jibbitz just in time for the 4th. :)

A little collage of the beach fun that was had.

A few pics of us having our little picnic.

Love this one of Joe's sandy little feet complete with Toy Story bandaid.

Don't know why he just sat in the water but I found it adorable.

One of my favorites. I didn't even ask them to do it -- that makes it even better. :)

More Birthday Business

2011-06-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

I think this will be the last of the birthday posts. You never know though -- I took a lot of pictures that I might want to share. Plus my baby is so darn cute how could you not want to hear more about him and his day. :)
We had James' b-day party last weekend at Oak Hill park in St. Louis Park. The boys and I went there often last summer to go to the splash pad there. (They don't really love water so the splash pad is perfect for them.)

We ate a little lunch and then it was time for presents. I had bought James a pirate treasure chest (he's obsessed with Jake and the Neverland pirates on Disney) and made a little treasure hunt for him at the park. Amy helped me make pictures and tape them around the park. The boys had a great time going on the hunt but I didn't get very many good pictures.

James was hysterical opening his gifts shouting "Woo Hoo! Just what I wanted." He even did it when he opened the clothes. Last year it seemed that Toy Story 3 threw up all over his party, this year it was Cars 2. A nice chunk of his toys revolved around the movie and we're very excited to go see it. :) After presents we moved onto cake. He loved his cake. (Of course it was the Cars theme.)

Yes, he's licking the cake. Grandma told him to do it.

Missed a candle picture in the collage. So we'll just add it in here. :)

When we were done with the cake we moved onto the splash pad. They got in about a half an hour of play before it started raining. I took some pictures of their water play and then took some with their grandparents, them with their dad, and even got some with me in it. We were lucky to have all the parents from Mike's side there for the party.

So glad that it didn't downpour during his party. So thankful for all the family and friends that could be there. So happy that my baby boy had a great day.

O.M.G. James is 3!

2011-06-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 3 today! We had a party for him this past Saturday (post with pics to come soon) and just did a mini celebration at home today. Since the boys are with Mike on Wednesdays and I work at 7 in the morning we celebrated very early. I had saved a couple of cars for him to open as a present this morning so he had a present and grabbed a doughnut for him last night at the grocery store. Simple but perfect.

My sweet baby James . . .

You are mischievous. (you get that look in your eye)
You can't say the "k" sound. It's dar for car and such. You also say Otay instead of Okay. :)
You pick on your brother constantly and at the same time you idolize him.
You're attached to your "nights". You have 5 of them.
You only want to drink milk and will have a fit if you can't have it.
You want to do everything by yourself.
You are SO stubborn. (Not sure if you get that from your dad or from me.)
You like to climb on everything -- my little monkey.
You are a flirt.
You know how to spell your name and will tell everyone. J-A-M-E-S!
You recently went through a period where you only wanted to sleep on the floor.
You get so excited about things and you're currently saying "woo hoo" every time you get excited.
You like to snuggle with me (although not as much as I would like).
You are the most perfect 3 year old for me. :)

Happy Birthday James! I love you all the way to the moon and back.

My baby

2011-06-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a little early but wanted to do a post before bed. My baby turns 3 tomorrow. Yes people, I said 3! I can't believe it. I get all emotional thinking about it (when don't I get emotional?). I decided to go back and look at some of his baby pictures. That just made me more emotional. Where's my baby? *sigh*

Every time I look at this I feel my breath catch. I feel so proud that I had a part in creating this life. My heart is overflowing with love. Happy Birthday to my baby boy.

Happy Father's Day!!

2011-06-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there! Wish I could see my own dad today but will have to settle for a phone call.

Here is what the boys and I did for Mike for dad's day. As much as we might have our differences and what not, he is always there for the boys and I'm so thankful for that. I hope that he likes it -- who could not love those two little munchkins. :)

Unfortunately I do not have an updated pic of my dad and I but I do have one of him with the boys from April. Notice the boys eating candy -- that's because papa D is the candyman.

Happy Father's Day!

What was she thinking?

2011-06-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

So my boss has a daughter that's graduating. She asked me to take her daughter's senior pictures. What was she thinking? It's definitely one of my favorite hobbies but to take pictures of something other than my children was a little nerve wracking for me. Plus she's my boss -- that's just more added pressure. We had an overcast day while we went around Burnsville and took pics. Here's a little sample. I hope she's happy. :)

She's cute. To be a senior in high school again . . . .

Memory Lane

2011-05-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

So my walls in my living room are empty and I have been wanting to fill them with pictures of the city. Of my favorite places and memories. Today Amy and I hit the U to take some pictures. We took a little walk down memory lane while we were there -- walking past our old apartment, our old dorms, all the staple places that were there when we went there and all the new places that we were clueless about. Here we go:

Toes painted . . . ready to go!

We started off in Stadium Village (by where we used to live), made our way to Dinkytown, then to the Washington Avenue bridge and back. Familiar and new all at the same time. These are just a couple of places that we passed. :)

I also took some random pictures too.

I love the colors of these sign posts. I'm sure there's paper on there from when I was there.

I love the structure of this picture. The lines of it.

Some flowers outside of northrop auditorium. I love how the sky looks so white in the background.

Some random pipes outside of the parking garage. There is something about the hard black metal and the curves and the lock that I just love.

One last picture. Had to try to get a couple of Amy and I together. One of my favorites:

To nap or not to nap?

2011-05-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

I can tell you what my decision is -- to NAP!

I had the day off today (trying to use my vacation time before I lose it) and had plans for errands and such to run during the day. I figured that I would drop the boys off at school for a little bit and take care of my stuff. A funny thing happened -- they didn't fight this morning. :) I was putting things away and they were helping and, most importantly, not fighting with each other. I scrapped my plans and just hung out with them all day at home. We didn't really do anything in particular, we were just together. That was enough. :)

Back to my original topic -- nap. Joe has pretty much grown out of naps and I thought James had too but he started napping at school again. He doesn't go to bed when I want him to when he naps but he's much more pleasant when he does. On our lazy day today I let the boys watch a movie in my room for rest time. I could hear that napping was not going on so I decided to go in and lay down with them. One fell asleep. You would think 50% would be good, right? Wrong. That one was me.

I figured naptime was done then. I was wrong.

Can you see the little bit of drool? I love it.

Well . . . it's evident James could still use a nap. Where is he you ask? He sat at the table to eat a snack and this is what I found.

That's the view from under the table. When you're tired, you're tired. (Don't mind the crumbs.)

Spring Has Sprung??

2011-05-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I was wearing a winter coat last week and then I turned my air conditioning on yesterday. Only in Minnesota, right? I think spring is here. Or is it? I could go right back to the big coat or deal with the flip side of over 80 degrees with high humidity. Whichever it is we've chosen to take advantage of the nice days we've been having. This past Friday we went to April's house to go on a walk with the dogs. We then had an impromptu barbeque dinner in the backyard and played with the footballs. Super night!


Look -- we got to break out the shorts! Those are some white legs.


Bugs, bugs, bugs! Looking for and squishing ants.

MY LOVES!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! Friday night movie night was great. We first went over to April's house to take a walk with her and Bailey since we had Jackson for the evening. We had a nice walk and then an impromptu dinner on the grill. Great company, great weather, and great food. When we got home we had another showing of Tangled. Pretty sure I fell asleep after about 15 minutes.
Saturday was fantastic! The weather was beautiful with the boys very excited to wear shorts. We took a very long walk with Jackson with a stop at the park to play. We came home and had lunch on the patio and then James actually took a nap. :) Low key afternoon and evening with another movie.

Mother's Day -- it had its ups and downs. There were a few more downs than ups, but I'd like to focus on the positive instead of the constant fighting, "I'm 2 and think I'm 15" tantrums, and pure sassyness. Back onto the positive. I got to sleep until 8 today. Woo hoo! I got to take a shower without anyone interrupting me. We got in a little play time at the park before it rained but didn't have time for our picnic. We came home and had a little living room picnic. We got to spend some time at April's house. We ordered pizza for dinner. We watched the Amazing Race together and the kids went to bed without a fight. Focus on the positive. Like this:

Massive Meltdown

2011-05-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

I posted something on facebook about this earlier last week. About the massive meltdown that James had while getting his hair cut. My previous post (about Joe's haircut) mentioned how James had a meltdown that I was cutting Joe's hair and that he was not getting it cut at Snip-Its. The kids are big fans of Snip-Its. I decided after that fiasco to not try to cut James' hair myself. I thought I could avoid a meltdown (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha) and I don't trust myself to cut with scissors which is how James needs the top cut. What an ordeal.

We got there and had to wait awhile and James was a perfect angel. "Is it my turn yet mommy?" "No honey, not yet." "Otay." Then it was his turn. The screaming started as soon as they put the little seat belt on him in the chair. Many forms of distraction were tried -- they all failed. His face was beat red as he screamed and cried out "I want to cut my hair at Grandma Judy's house" repeatedly. Um, didn't you have a meltdown at Grandma's house? I literally had to hold his head while the judging eyes of all the parents in the store stared at me. Trust me, I wouldn't have done it if he was actually scared. I know the difference between the "I'm scared" cry and the "I'm two and I only want to do what I want" cry. It was a long process but we made it through the cut.

James calmed down, they both got their prizes and suckers and then James apologized to the stylist. I turned to thank her again on my way out the door only to have her tell me that I hadn't checked out yet. That's right, I made her listen to my screaming child and try to cut his hair while he was all wiggly and then I wasn't going to pay her. Ugh. I felt mortified. I was so happy that James had calmed down that I forgot all about the paying part. I made sure to give her a bigger tip. (so much for the idea of cutting their hair on my own to save money)

James was pretty exhausted after all of that and he fell asleep in the car. (Note to self -- no more hair cuts on days that he doesn't nap.) He normally wakes up when I get him out of the car but he just kept right on sleeping. From 6 pm that night to 4am the next morning -- just in time for the royal wedding (or the cartoons that I turned on for him while I kept on sleeping).

I didn't get any pictures during the actual haircut but snapped a few when we got home.

My attempt

2011-04-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

I have all sorts of pictures to go through from our Easter weekend in Fairmont which I'll get to posting later this week I'm sure. I thought I would share a piece of our weekend -- my attempt at cutting Joseph's hair. We normally go to one of those kid hair places that costs $16 per kid (2 in my house) plus tip. Of course they get their hair done at the same time so that means tipping two people. I don't mind tipping and I don't mind paying for a good hair cut. I just mind because my finances have changed. My mom and Arnie had some clippers so I thought I'd try on Joe. Joe looks better with short hair because his is thick and gets unmanageable when it gets long. James' hair is better with a little length and I'm a little scared to do his. In true James fashion as soon as I started cutting Joe's hair James threw a tantrum about how I couldn't do it and I needed to take him to Snip-Its (the normal hair place). I made James take a nap and went back to finish. It took me forever because I was terrified of having a bald child. He did not end up bald. Relief for me. I'm have some control issues and I'm very particular about some things. This turned out to be one of them. I'm trying to let it go and accept that I didn't do to bad for my first time. Joe's not crying at his reflection and no one is laughing -- that's success I guess.

The before and after. Don't mind the chocolate mouth -- he got a treat for being a good "patient."

Ick

2011-04-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

November . . . . . . . . . pretty

April . . . . . . . . . . . . icky

Egg-cellent Evening

2011-04-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Easter is next weekend already. It seems to have come up quick even though it's so late this year. We hadn't colored eggs yet so we got busy doing it this evening after the boys came home from their dad's house. They didn't come out looking very perfect but they're perfect enough for us.

We only had one pink one because I didn't read the directions about how to make the pink dye work effectively. Oops.

We got the dye ready.

We put the eggs in. (and watched)

We took the time to make silly faces while the eggs were soaking.

We tried to take a family picture. . . go figure.

All the while Donkey Kong and Princess Peach watched. Mario and Luigi couldn't make it because they're currently lost and Toad and Yoshi are in the infirmary but that's another story.

Then we took out the eggs and admired our finished product. Nothing flashy, just plain colored eggs. You know, like we used to do back in the day. Our one little enhancement was to write our names with crayon.

All in all, a successful activity with no fighting. :) The best kind of all. Happy Easter everyone!

RAIN!

2011-03-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had rain. Yes people, rain. It was a nice change from snow and a sure sign that spring is here. Or so I thought until I looked out the window this morning. Ick. That's neither here nor there though, we're talking about rain.

The boys were at their dad's house this weekend and I was wondering what we could do when they got home. It only made sense to put the rain boots on and go splash in the puddles. Why not? They had a great time and came in with soaking wet pants. (If you follow my facebook updates this would be the night we ate dinner and I was the only one wearing pants.)

The kids had to keep making sure I was really saying that it was Ok for them to jump in the puddles. I know I'm uptight sometimes but that's why I bought the rainboots -- to have a little fun. :) Can't wait until it gets warm enough that we can splash in the puddles without big coats and hats. Happy Spring everyone!

Weekend Out of the City

2011-03-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went down to Fairmont for a little R and R. By last weekend I mean the weekend that happened over a week ago -- I'm a little behind. I've been busy and haven't taken the time to write which I really like doing. I also haven't taken the time to take pictures which is one of my favorite hobbies. :( I'm taking the time now.

Anyway, back to my story. I planned to go to Fairmont initially to do a Lia Sophia party. I've just become an advisor recently (needed to find something to keep me busy when I didn't have the boys and help fill up my bank account at the same time) and my cousin's wife Lori said that she would host a party. Thanks Lori! We had a great show -- I was able to bank a little money and spend time with the girls. The weekend turned out to be so much more than a great party though.

Friday night I got to hang out with my mom. I had such a great time!! It's rare that my mom and I get to hang out -- she works weekends which is when I end up going home. She had the night off and we hit the town! Ok, it's Fairmont, how much "hitting the town" can you actually do. We went to the Legion for a meat raffle. That's right folks, a meat raffle. You may have seen me post about it on Facebook. I had a few too many drinks (3 -- I don't have much of a tolerance), ate, and then had a few too many more. I won pork chops and steaks in the meat raffle and the best part of the night is that my mom paid for everything. Kidding here folks, the best part was hanging out with my mom (the not paying anything part was just a bonus).

Saturday was the party and then my dad came to town. Woo hoo! I hadn't seen him since Christmas so it was great to see him. He had hair! I didn't take a picture because I was preoccupied with everything that was going on but I will be going to visit him in a month and will take plenty of pictures then. We went out to dinner that night with my extended family -- loved getting to see everyone. Got to see them again on Sunday for brunch. An added bonus . . . my uncle from California came to town so I got to see him too.

I know that you're thinking that my weekend couldn't get any better than that, but it could. The icing on the cake is the fact that I got to bring Jackson with me. I don't get to see him very often and since it was Mike's weekend with the boys it was nice to have some company along. Jackson never complained about my singing in the car either.

Isn't he the cutest? ( I might be biased.)

The only downfall to my weekend was the weather on the drive home. It cleared up after awhile but when I got out of the car I saw that the snow / ice had attached itself. Thought it was a kind of cool pattern. Thanks for listening to my wordiness this evening.

Where did he come up with that?

2011-02-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

These children keep me in stitches. The things they come up with sometimes are priceless. One of my favorites came from Joe. He was about 3 and he had cars all lined up between the coffee table and the couch. I said "Why are you making a mess?" He replied "You call it a mess, I call it a party." Where did he come up with that?

Some recent ones:

In the bathtub I asked them who looked like a wrinkly old lady (that's usually what Joe says he looks like after a soak in the tub) and James quickly shouted "Mommy!" He must have seen the look I gave him and he quickly changed his answer -- "Grandma Judy?" I just had to laugh . . . (sorry mom).

After bathtime Joe looked in the mirror and said "Daaaaaang, I'm hot." Excuse me? Later he said that he was just saying he was tall but I know what I heard.

My dad has recently undergone chemotherapy and lost his hair. I talk about it often to make the kids feel more comfortable with it. Their dad's brother is also bald (by choice). When we talk about it James always gets excited and says "Papa D has no hair, Uncle Mark has no hair, and daddy has no hair in the middle." Contrary to what some people might think, I did not teach him this. (I do think it's a little amusing though.) His teacher is so sweet, she has been teaching him to say that daddy does have hair in the middle because she doesn't want James to hurt his feelings. (We love Ms. Jean.)

More to come from my two little munchkins later. I have to savor these precious moments with them -- time is flying by fast.

Pre V-Day patience

2011-02-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days. You know you've all had them. One of those days where everything seems to drive you crazy and your patience wears thin. I should have expected it after yesterday. Yesterday was nice and relaxing and the kids kept their fighting to a minimum -- What more could I ask for? I could have asked for a whole weekend of that type of behavior and peace.

Our day started off with pancakes as it does every Sunday that they are with me in the morning. We did cinnamon pancakes today instead of our normal chocolate chip. . . . maybe I should have started the day with chocolate. The boys play and fight. Are you really surprised? My patience is wearing thin . . .

Time for the Valentine Day cards. Yep, we waited until the last minute. Again, are you really surprised? I had Joe write his name out on all of his cards and let James color his. Some of my patience returned.

Lunch time. James did not eat anything. Sometimes it's so frustrating. Little bit of patience gone with that one. More arguing and whining. More patience gone. Time to make our Valentine cupcakes to bring to the teachers at school tomorrow. We, of course, had to eat some. (I did make James eat something before he could have a cupcake though.)

Does it look delicious?

Naptime. Did either one of them sleep? NO. Why would they? I did get about an hour of peace as they laid in their room reading books. Welcome back patience. :) I went to tell them they could be done resting and it looked like a library threw up in their room. Ugh. We tried to play a game but there was screaming (it was happy screaming but it still was not what I wanted to hear) and running and craziness. Just not the day I wanted to hear it. It was driving me crazy. Enter one-on-one time. Something Mike and I do with the boys every other weekend. Joe went to daddy's house this weekend and I got some one-on-one time with James. It's kind of relaxing to just have 1 kid. Patience slowly returning.

Joe returns. Lots of picking on his brother. I have the cure -- bathtime and bedtime. No naps had them both falling asleep quickly.

Patience -- it really is a virtue, isn't it?

Sing a Song

2011-02-06T15:48:00.000-08:00

So I picked up my little munchkins from their dad's house this afternoon and went to run a couple of errands with them. The were a little high strung. We were able to calm down but they still had a little silliness left in them (they probably get that from me). The car was full of music on the way home but the radio wasn't the source. They started off singing some sort of Happy Birthday remix to April whose birthday is today and we planned on calling when we got home. In true Knudson boy fashion as soon as we got home and called April they both were silent. If only she could have listened to them in the car -- it was too cute.
When the birthday song celebration was done they moved into an original song:
Joe: "I am BIG!!"
James: "I am LITTLE!!"
Joe: "I am BIG!"
James: "I am LITTLE!!"
Joe: "I am the best! No, I mean mommy is the best!" (and I didn't even have to tell him to say that)
James: "Mommy!"
Joe: " I know lots of stuff. Eight minus one is (long pause) . . . seven. Four plus four equals eight. Nine plus nine equals . . . "
James: "I am LITTLE!" (keep in mind that this is all in song)
Joe: "seventy?"

As much as they drive me crazy this type of stuff just makes my day. A made up song that lasted a couple of minutes on a car ride home. Love my boys! :)

Girls, girls, girls!

2011-01-26T20:19:00.001-08:00

I love my friends! I had a fabulous weekend and just went out for a fabulous happy hour.
Friday night was spent hanging with Jen and Amy at Amy's place-- having a drink (pretty sure I was solo on that one) and watching a movie. I also might have gotten a little crazy and become a cat photographer -- evidence below.

Gotta love a fire.


Taco dip deliciousness was important to the evening.

As was dessert.

Sebastian -- sporting my hat.

Abby -- playing in the tunnel.

Saturday consisted of GTL minus the T (this is a Jersey Shore reference people, and I don't even watch the show). Gym, Tan, Laundry - we didn't do the tan part. That means April and I hit the gym then hung out at her house so I could mooch her laundry. (Thanks April!)

Saturday night was more of the same as Friday night -- same people, same movie watching activity but this time it was at my place. I suggested wine to my guests and they agreed. Little did they know that Mike still has all of the wine glasses and I haven't bought any. This is how "klassy" we got. (yep, I did it. I spelled classy with a k because this deserves it.) Have you ever had your wine out of a Batman glass? Yes, I throw a good party. :)

Tonight I got together with some high school friends for happy hour. Gotta love happy hour! It was great to see them and reconnect. It's nice to have people to talk to that have been through / are dealing with the same things that I am in my life. It's like a nice little support group and I totally appreciate it.

I'm so glad that I'm blessed with such great people in my life!

My Christmas Wish

2011-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ok. I know I'm a little late here but I wanted to make sure I shared this wonderful moment from my Christmas.

There are a lot of things that I could say that I wanted for Christmas, but nothing I really needed and if I narrowed it down to just one Christmas wish . . . that was easy. I would wish for my dad to have a clean bill of health. I don't know if you remember my post from this fall ( I would put a link in here to it but I don't know how) about my dad.

Look -- here we all are this summer.

Long story short -- We found out at the very beginning of June that he had cancer. It had spread. The cancer started in his sinuses and had spread to his lymph nodes. That's how he found out -- he found a lump in his neck and had a biopsy. He went through 7 weeks of radiation and about 6 rounds of chemo. It took a terrible toll on his body. His last chemo was a couple of weeks ago and had hit the 100 day mark (right before Christmas) after radiation to go in for a new PET scan to find out if all the treatments had worked.

Unfortunately he ate before his PET scan that was scheduled before Christmas so we had no news at Christmastime. He rescheduled for the Monday after and I anxiously awaited for the news. My dad called and started in with some trivial chit chat -- get on with it already Dad! He then told me the wonderful news that the scan came back clean!!! That was exactly the news that I was waiting for! Woo hoo!! He can finally be on the road to recovery. I couldn't have asked for a better end to my Christmas. My Christmas wish came true. :)

Christmas Extras

2010-12-31T19:06:00.000-08:00

Silly me. I missed a couple of items in my Christmas post. I forgot this super cute picture of the boys and Santa. It's not so clear because it's scanned but I'm sure that you can still see that cuteness coming through.

I'm really glad that they're not scared to sit on his lap. Joe was the first time or two but now does it like a pro -- that's surprising if you know how reserved Joseph is. Love it.

The other thing that I forgot to mention in the last post -- my sister. How could I forget? You might remember that she got married about a month ago. Still can't believe it myself. Right after she got married she up and moved to Georgia. My brother-in-law is stationed in the army out there. Needless to say, after just moving she did not make it back for Christmas. :( I missed her. There's no one else that can shake a present with me the way that she does. It's our thing. We shake the presents and guess what's inside -- we have a high success rate. It irritates our mother which makes it all the more fun. It just wasn't the same without her. Since I couldn't get a picture of us this year I thought I'd share one from last year. Love you Gin.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

I thought now that the new year is approaching I should finally get around to posting something about Christmas. After all of the festivities were done -- we opened presents on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday -- I realized that I did not take very many pictures. Considering I've been known to take 100 pictures on an afternoon to the park, it was very strange not to be snapping away. I think that I was too "in the moment." I'm okay with that. I had a wonderful time with my family.

A White Christmas? . . . we got it.

The snow helped set the mood -- thank goodness my drive wasn't bad. Last year I had to leave town a day early to beat the snow. It did look beautiful though.

Holiday spirit? . . . we got it.

I do love a decorated tree.

Two adorable boys? . . . we've got them.

Of course, I had to have them match. Cut me a little slack here people -- I didn't have a girl that I could dress up in all sorts of cute little outfits. Dressing them alike is my substitution. :)

Santa? . . . We got him. (or rather, we fed him)

We like to offer Santa an alternative to cookies because we think that he might get sick of them. This is what we put out at grandma's house.

Presents? . . . we got them.

Joseph asked Santa for Legos this year. This is what Santa brought. It amazes me how he can read the directions himself. I pick the pieces out for him (to speed the process along) and he follows the picture diagrams. He made this himself. :)

James asked Santa for cars this year. He got cars and a track. That Santa -- he always gives the best gifts.

A few more pictures from the long weekend. The boys sleeping on Christmas Eve, Joe with some of his favorite presents (a Batman blanket and Batman hat and gloves), James hiding by the chair and with his "mink" (pink is a favorite color right now) car. The got everything that they wanted and more.

What? You want to know what I got? I got the best gift ever, but that deserves a post of its own. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Razzle Dazzle

2010-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Do you remember that beautiful Thursday night that we had about a week and a half ago? If you're like me, you have a hard time remembering what you had for breakfast. Bear with me here, I should have posted this awhile ago but haven't gotten around to it.

If you remember that beautiful night, you'll remember that it was about 30 degrees that night. Thirty degrees in December! What to do? The Holidazzle of course. I don't remember the last time I went. I'm pretty sure that it was before I had children. I wanted the boys to experience this wonderful Minneapolis tradition. They enjoyed it and I loved watching them enjoy it.

My little cuties.

I love this picture of Joe with the lights of the parade behind him.

A little blurry but I love downtown at nighttime.

James had to wave at everyone. So cute.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2010-12-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

Brrrr.

Again, I say -- Brrrr. How in the heck did it get so cold?? Thankfully the boys and I had a chance to go outside and play last weekend before it got so frigid. I loved watching my little peanuts play in the snow. Well, I loved watching them until James started falling down because there was too much snow and it was hard for him to walk and his mitten kept falling off. It was fun while it lasted anyway. A few pics from our day:

'Tis the season

2010-12-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas.
One of my favorite times of the year. I have most of my Christmas cards addressed and ready to go (the stamps are another story though). I have started my Christmas shopping and my wrapping. Love to do Christmas baking but haven't started yet. Have started decorating -- probably won't finish until Christmas. I'm trying not to get stressed out this holiday season -- go with the flow. Trying to remember what Christmas is all about. With all that's happened this past year with my marriage, with my dad, financially -- spending time with my loved ones is my top priority.

'Tis the season -- For giving, for loving, for laughing, for sharing, for celebrating, for family, for love.

For all of my followers (yes, all 4 of you) I thought I would leave you with a few pics that didn't make it onto the Christmas card this year.

Joe was cold. I'm that parent that freezes their kid to try to get a quick pic.

Had a hard time trying to fit all our heads in. Had to go with the self timer.

Reasons for Thanks

2010-11-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving.

A time to remember all the things we are thankful for. (Although I feel like I should be doing more of this on a daily basis.) It's been a rough year for me but I still have an abundance of things to be thankful for. A few of my things:

My children (love them so much even when they drive me nuts)
My family (even the crazy ones)
The fact that my dad is getting the treatment he needs to fight this terrible disease.
Mike's family (so happy that I can still hang with them)
My friends (pretty sure they're some of the best people on Earth)
My job
A roof over my head
Food on the table
A reliable vehicle to drive
Cherry coke (yes, this makes my list)
The ability to have a decent relationship with Mike through all of this
My camera (it gives me lots of joy)

The list could go on. No matter how rough things get in my life I know I always have things to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My Ginny

2010-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

So my sister Ginny got married on Saturday. Yep, that's right -- married. Can you believe it? I'm still grasping the concept. Married and moved halfway across the country. It's easier for me because we haven't lived in the same area in years. It's a different story for my mom. Serious empty nest syndrome going on already. (That's why I got a call before 8 this morning with her in tears.) Wish I could be there to comfort her. Mom's are the best.

Why am I rambling? This is about Ginny and the beautiful bride that she was and the beautiful wedding that she had. I felt honored to be a part of it. I had a great time. Got to meet my new brother-in-law. Seems to be a good match for Gin -- only wish I had more time to get to know him a little better. Got to see family. Love to spend time with them. Got to dance. Everybody knows I like to shake my groove thing. The best part -- got to be a part of this new chapter in my sister's life. Love you Ginny and Nate!

A few pics of the fabulous day.

Aren't they cute?

The first dance.

The father / daughter dance. Awww. . . .

The ladies. Katie, mom, Ginny, me, and Stacey

My baby.

The mischief maker.

Christian -- my nephew (kind of). The hit of the dance.

Dean and Stacey. Cute pic of you two.

Me and my momma.

My favorite one -- Me with my lovely sister. Think this one might have to go in a frame.

My baby sister

2010-11-16T22:16:00.000-08:00

4 days. That's it. Four more days until my sister is a married woman. Can I call her a "woman" if she's only 20? She seems so young to be getting married but I have all the faith in her and Nate that they're going to go the distance. Of course this would be easier had I actually met my soon to be brother-in-law. If my sister and mom love him, I know I will too.

It's just crazy . . . Ginny -- married? When I went off to college she was going to preschool. Sometimes it's hard not to think of her as the little girl she was when I left home. I'm super excited for her and this new chapter in her life but sad that she's moving half way across the country. It's not going to be the same at home without her.

Good luck Ginny -- I love you!

The Last of the Nice Days

2010-11-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was beautiful. This weekend was beautiful in a different Christmasy kind of way. (Still not ready for it.) Back to last weekend -- The weather was warm and only sweatshirts were needed. Of course my little peanut would not take off his hat. From October to April it seems to be a permanent fixture on his head.

We decided to take advantage of the warm day so we headed to the park. I snapped some pictures of my loves and even tried to get a little family photo. The pure joy on their faces melts my heart. Some of my favorites . . .

Halloween!

2010-10-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

I like to do a theme thing for Halloween. Last year we went as the characters from Madagascar . . Alex (Joe), Melman (James), and Marty (me). What to do this year . . .

BATMAN! Joe is very into Batman at the moment. He's never watched any of the movies or cartoons but that doesn't matter. He's go the batcave and the guys that go with it. Joe obviously had to be Batman. I was able find a Robin costume for James which left me questioning what I was going to do. I saw the mask and though -- Catwoman. Easy for me because I could just wear all black -- you didn't really think I would wear a catsuit, did you?

We had a party after school on Thursday, they had a party in school on Friday, decorating cookies at Grandma's and Grandpa's on Sunday afternoon then off to Pump It Up for a Halloween jump, and then trick-or-treating. I thought Halloween was just a one day thing?? :)

Fabulous Five!

2010-10-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

My little peanut turned five today. Where has the time gone . . .

Joseph:
You're shy, until you get to know people (kind of like your mom and dad)
You look like your dad
You're so smart -- reading already (and if I had to guess it is probably at a first grade level -- holy cow)
You're not the nicest to your brother but when you choose to be, you couldn't be a better brother and friend to James
You ask lots of questions
You're into Batman, Toy Story, books, and anything related to skateboarding
You've started to wean yourself off of naps and that's not my favorite
You're such a problem solver -- you really think about things to find an answer
You've got the greatest belly laugh
You've got lots of hair like your mom
You have a hard time keeping your pants up because your skinny like your dad
You're very independent
You are my little peanut and I couldn't love you more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH MIKEL!

Some pics from today and Joe's birthday . . .

Staples

2010-10-14T20:19:00.001-07:00

I jinxed myself. I jinxed the family. Last weekend I mentioned how I was shocked that neither of the kids had needed stitches yet. Then came today . . .

the hole. I'm not trying to be graphic but it was one of the grossest things that I've seen. When his teacher brought him to my office and I saw the blood I figured that I would clean it and find a gash. When I saw a hole, I couldn't hold back my tears. You can't see that well in this picture but I could kind of see inside his head. My poor baby.
We went to the doctor, they numbed his head, cleaned it out, and stapled it up. 5 staples -- his first war wound. The staples can come out the day after his 5th birthday -- 5 staples for a 5 year old.

The staples. The picture quality is quite poor because I was using my phone and it doesn't have the best camera. The fact that my subject wouldn't stop moving didn't help either. As my assistant said -- I have my own little Frankenstein for Halloween.

I'm so thankful that everything turned out ok.

Fun with Play-Doh

2010-10-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

We had nothing better to do tonight than to play with play-doh. The kids were playing by themselves for a while but when Joe was trying to make a beard I knew that I had to jump in to participate and document.

James sporting a lovely little beard. (I guess that's to go along with his ketchup mustache.)

Anyone need a kiss?

At least it's not a unibrow!

Most definitely my favorite. How cute is my little guy?
The play-doh -- for sure my best purchase in the past couple of weeks -- $2 for 8 tubs. Gotta love something that lets them be creative.

Jackson

2010-09-26T22:03:00.001-07:00

My Jackson. I was never really a dog person until we actually got a dog. I always loved cats but Mike was allergic. He really wanted a dog so one year for his birthday . . . I got him a dog. Jackson quickly became an important part of our family. Such a good dog -- he rarely barks, only has to go outside a couple of times a day to use the bathroom, and loves everyone. It didn't take me very long to become a "dog person." (or at least a "Jackson person")

When the boys and I moved out I really wanted to take Jackson with. It didn't turn out that way and I miss him terribly. I have had Jackson to the apartment a couple of times and love having him around again. I don't love having to take him out to potty because I live on the third floor but it's worth it to have my Jack with me for a few days. Love you Jackson.

Stuff

2010-09-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been a busy one. I really think that the only thing I got accomplished is getting my sister's wedding invitations done. At least it was a big thing to get done.

Why do I still feel crappy? My throat is feeling much better but the pressure in my ear is really getting to me. Even though my throat feels better while I'm just chillin and stuff I still can't swallow much. You would think that I would just be dropping the pounds then right? Right? Wrong. My pants are still tight. If I'm going to have tight pants then I would like to be able to eat all the deliciousness that comes with having tight pants.

My super great friends came to help me with the invitations. How did I get so lucky to have the most wonderful friends in the world?

And the most wonderful kids? The boys were with dad this weekend and I missed them bunches. I think it's because I'm not feeling the greatest and they always make me feel better. James keeps asking to look in my mouth so he can see my sick throat. He even went to go get the thermometer so he could see if I had a fever. Too cute.
Joe read his socks. No big deal, we all know he can read but he read them upside down. "George was here." Upside down? Really? What am I going to do with this kid?

We had a little photo shoot about a week ago and I was able to get some cute new pics of the boys. I'll leave you with one of my favorites.

Dad

2010-09-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

My dad. We haven't really had that father / daughter bond that a lot of dads and their girls have. The divorce was hard on me and while I didn't blame my dad it took me a long time to get over it. Having him move out of town didn't help things. I understand things a lot more now in my adult life and my dad and I have really developed our relationship. When I made the decision that it was time to move out of my house, my dad was there for me -- physically helping me move and emotionally being my shoulder to lean on. I will never forget that because it meant so much to me to have his support.

My dad has cancer. He called me Memorial Day weekend to tell me he had to go in for a biopsy. I didn't even have a clue that this bump that he found was going to be anything so major. The results came in -- cancer from his sinuses. I didn't even know such a thing existed. It had spread to his lymph nodes (hence the bump he had felt on his neck) but no further. Ok. Where do we go from here?

He started 7 weeks of radiation and 3 rounds of chemo in July. He just finished a week ago. I saw him before his last week and he was so out of it. He went in that Monday with a blood sugar level of 24. I shudder to think what could have happened with it being that low. He is diabetic so it adds another level of complexity to the cancer.

I went back to see him labor day weekend. I dreaded the drive out there again but helping my dad was worth it. The weekend started off well and then slowly declined from there. Sunday night and Monday morning he really had trouble eating. (They had put in a feeding tube before treatment had started but it got infected so they took it out.) All that radiation to his neck has left the inside and outside burned. I was hoping that the healing process would take over and the pain would start subsiding. I think it gets worse before it gets better.

He went back to the hospital Wednesday. Trying to keep thinking positively and praying. It's just to help him get nourishment. Once he is able to eat and keep things down he will be back at home and really on the road to recovery.

Talking on the phone is hard. It's him but it's not his voice. He can't talk very much because it hurts. I should have called him today but I didn't. Feeling really guilty but it's too late to call now.

Dad -- I love you and am thinking about you.

Try Again

2010-09-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

So I started a blog but I wasn't loving it. I thought I'd try again. I'd like to share pictures and all the cute little things that my kids do. Photography is a hobby of mine so I'd like to share some pics too -- most are of my children anyway. I hope that my family and friends enjoy my photos, stories, and thoughts. I just hope I can navigate my way through the complexities of blog design.

Our journey begins here. K3 -- as in Knudson 3 -- Carla, Joseph, and James.