Blue Shirts, Blue Bruises!

I found the I HEART FACES BLOG  a couple weeks ago and missed entering the challenge for last week, but looks like I might make this weeks challenge BLUE! So sad to say it is NOT a brand new photo, I am reviving a photo of Ethan from school last year. (Hopefully that doesn't make a difference in the challenge, I'm sure new photos are always best, but I just love this one!)

I think the blue in his shirt pops in this photo and then if we want to be a little symbolic LOL the big goose egg on his head is turning black and blue right before our eyes!


P.S. Edited blog post to add that on this weeks challenge, Week# 38 Blue I am #459 Blue Shirts, Blue Bruises! Happy picture viewing!

Tinkerbell Sleeps

Some days I just think the days whiz on by me (us). Between drop offs and pick ups it seems like we are always on the move. Today wasn't any different. Miss Bella and I both had a busy day (me...helped the kids with school pictures even though it all ran pretty smooth; I gained a couple quick volunteer hours) and Bella had a busy day of school, lunch at Burger King, home to watch Swan Lake for I swear the hundreth time and then of course a nap. I was able to transport her to the car and she stayed asleep.....so Little Miss Tinkerbell had a nice nap... that is until brother got in the car. It all worked out since we had to make a pit stop at the grocery store!

(And mom I was stopped at a light so NO I wasn't driving and taking photos)

I keep telling myself I will be better about posting so I'm working on a first day of school post with lots of photos and a summer reading post from Ethan. He was a super reader this summer!

My Baby Girl is in Ballet (and turnips)...

Oh how quickly the time between posts... still have a ton of photos to share! I am thinking I will just have to jump around a bit and post as I can.

First my baby girl has been talking about taking Ballet for over a year now (yes seriously) so we finally decided to sign her up (runs like the school year does). She goes once a week for 45minutes. So two weeks ago we were pumping her up to take her first ballet class, we talked about how mommy will wait in the waiting room (soo bummed that we don't get to sit in and watch). We are on the way there and I decide to look at the packet of information (yes I know I shouldn't be doing this while driving) and notice that it says it ENDS in about 20minutes from then. I hurry and call them and make sure of what time the class starts and stops and yup I so very much screwed up Bella's first ballet class. So I hurry us over there and they let her get in on the last 10 minutes of class. Poor girl she was soo confused as to why she didn't get to "dance" longer. I kept explaining to her how sorry momma was and that next week it would be all better.

Thankfully I don't think she will be traumatized by this experience and seemed to really enjoy herself on her 2nd day (granted she had a cold and sure wanted her Momma to take her instead of Daddy) but all ends well.

Here are the photos I snapped after her 10 minutes of ballet class. As you can see she wasn't too happy.

Of course we can't leave the boy out of the picture....

Last year in Kindergarten Mrs. M read a great little story about turnips (no I don't have the name), but she said every time she reads the story she also has the kids eat fresh/raw turnips. Surprisingly the kids always love it, Ethan included. So of course he wanted to plant some in our small little garden. Here is the fruits of his labor:

They weren't perfect (had to cut quite a bit off of them), but we were able to eat a little bit... I guess all in all I would call it a success!

My Dream....

First of all I love this photographer and the photos she takes: Andrea Burns now just too bad she isn't anywhere close to me....

I have followed her for quite some time and she just redid her basement into her photo studio...ahh if I could ever clean out my "craft room" could it at some point look anything like this: Andrea's new studio.

Now speaking of photos... I have soo many to share and so much that has happened in the last few weeks. We went on a 2 day vacation to the beach, our local state fair, Ethan started first grade, Bella started preschool (both with minor homework), I am doing some part time work at a daycare to fill in for a friend, Ethan is playing soccer and Bella has started ballet. So needless to say we are back to our regular busy schedule!

Here is a photo of both kids....because well a blog post is so much funner with photos.

Miss Bella!

Mr Ethan!

I just love my babies! =)

and well how could I not post this video of Bella singing a song she learned at school....(hoping to get a little bit better video later...this one was taken with my phone)

Brothers and Sisters

As August is coming to a close the kids I think are finding that maybe they have spent just a little too much time together this summer (w/out the help of the other kids at daycare). They are seeming to argue more and more every day. Ethan is pushing, hitting, "spitting" more and more every day and well Bella is becoming quite the tattle tale these days. A couple weeks ago I took the kids to a the local city hall/police station/pond/park .... small pond with concrete sidewalks all the way around. The kids were so accomodating with me as I followed them around with my camera (I know what is new) =)

They wanted to go play on the playground soo bad and just didn't understand that it belonged to a daycare so we couldn't just go in and play....

This is so both of the kids! Ethan all smiles and "posing" for me and Bella with a tight hold on her blanket (not sure what will happen when she starts preschool in a couple weeks), covering her ears....she does NOT like loud noises! (The building across the street was being torn down).

P.S... You have to love it when kids dress themselves. Bella has quite the fascination with tucking her shirts in (I am sure I should be thankful since she has to wear a uniform to school and it required to be tucked in), but sometimes her choice of patterns and then adding the tucking factor....well can just be "dorky" LOL.... but cute and well documented!

Fun Friday...

We packed up our bikes and a few extras (soccer ball and snacks) and headed to a local bike/walking/running park. It has tons of great trails and pathways to ride our bikes on. Bella fell asleep again on the back of my bike and Ethan just rode like crazy, well except for when he had to stop (every 5 minutes I swear) for a water break or to eat the wild blackberries growing everywhere! Otherwise we had a GREAT TIME just hanging out and then headed out to PIZZA! Yummy! All in all a great Friday!

Thank goodness the kids really don't mind having their pictures taken. Heaven knows I have my camera everywhere with me. Both kids even stopped on the playground and said, "Mommy take my picture here!" .... Ahh gotta love them!

I won't bore you with all of the pictures right now, but here are 3 of them that I really liked!

Gotta love the vintage Clyde the Glyde shirt. We have had it for years and finally fits him!

This one I barely caught him while he was climbing up the ladder... he was so excited to see if I got him or not.
Don't you just love her cheesy smile!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

More Hair....

So we must just be at that age.... Tonight I had finished the dinner dishes and excused myself to the bathroom and when I came out, Bella was stretching this pink Goo around her. I told her to stop and put it away, we don't wrap it around ourself. To which Ethan exclaims, "Izzy already has it in her hair!" So argh he was right!

I pulled as many little hairs out as I could and this is what we ended up with:

Thankfully it was in the back and I don't think you can tell we had to cut a chunk out!

Maybe this will be the last of the hair incidents!

Backpacks and Hair

I wonder how you are supposed to know for sure when something is a sign? When your kids are bored, ready for school to start again or go on a play date?

Last week I thought the kids had been playing just great, heck they even seemed to be getting along pretty good and Ethan walks down the stairs wearing his Hooks baseball hat and his backpack (and his compass and Sunny the prairie dog hooked to his shorts). He informed me that he was LEAVING...well after Bella's birthday party and he got his little ninja guys (I told him that I would get him and a freind (and his brother) a couple treats.... It didn't matter that is still a couple weeks away. He told me he was going to his Papa Jim's. We tried to tell him that he worked a lot around the house and that he kept his house super clean. It wouldn't be like when we went over to visit, that Papa wouldn't have as much time to play, and that he would have to keep his toys picked up! Ethan said that would NOT be a problem, that he only had 11 toys he was taking to keep track of!

Good Luck Bud... we'll see you soon! =)

As you can see he packed well, besides a few small toys he remembered to pack a pillow, a baby blanket, a handful of books, his Nintendo DS, and of course deorderant! Gotta remember the important stuff!

So a little back story: Grandma Peggy lets the kids cut paper, literally just cut paper (Miss K -- preschool teacher loves that) so we bought a few new school supplies and a new pair of scissors was on the list for Bella. I decided she could keep those at home and we would get knew ones to take to school.... so when she asked to cut paper I was like why not (used last Sunday's ads).... I ran upstairs to load some pictures onto the computer and was talking to above said Grandma (1st mistake), when I came back downstairs, minutes later, I noticed whips (is that a words) of hair on the floor... I scolded her, but let her keep cutting her paper! I snapped a couple more pictures and while all was calm with her and Ethan I ran back upstairs (2nd mistake), I came down to THIS! I was not happy and made sure Bells knew how wrong it was to cut her hair! So needless to say the scissors were up for a few days (you could say they were in a time out) and then as you can see from the picture below Miss Bella did her own timeout; which she was not very happy about.

At least with Bella I know she listens to me (or I think she does)! For the next couple of days at odd moments during the day she would come up to me, give me a hug and then apologize to me for cutting her own hair. As you can see from above, thankfully the spot in her bangs that she cut, you don't even really notice! THANK GOODNESS!

I have lots more pictures to share and tonight we are officially moving both kids into their own beds... yes we have tried before, but this IS IT!

I am sure I will have a few stories to share about both kids! Wish us Luck!

Reading....

Well my new obsession seems to be reading. Now that I am not working I have been able to sneak in quite a bit of reading. Both kids absolutely love going to the libary (we have two in town, one small and one big one). Keeping track of what books we have is another story. We do have the "library box" and for the most part the kids are great about keeping the books in the box.

It is a lot of fun to watch the kids pick out books. Bella now knows where "her" books are at. She walks up to the shelves and just literally starts grabbing books! She doesn't open the book and I don't know if she really even looks at the front cover much. With all that said she has picked out some great books. Some that don't even really make it out of the "library box" but others she almost has memorized by the time we have to take them back.

Ethan on the other hand (probably because he is reading his books) takes his time. Granted he is pretty much just checking out The Magic Treehouse books. He is hoping to read the WHOLE SERIES this summer. I haven't actually wrote down and marked off the ones he has read, but it looks like there is 28 books in the Magic Treehouse Series and 14 in the Merlin Missions part of the series. I can't keep them all straight so I will have to consult with the boy to figure out for sure which ones he has read. (By my count I think he has read 14 books total, so 14 out of 42). Some of the books he can read in one sitting, but he still has quite a few not sure if he will make it all the way through them before school starts.)

It is fun to watch. He read for about 2 hours of our drive to vacation and about 3 hours on the way home (It is really only a 3-3.5hr drive). Also if he remembers to bring a book in the car he will start reading as soon as he gets buckled in!

Having a little extra time on my hands I have remembered that I do love reading.

I have been really loving anything by Kristin Hannah.

So far I have read: True Colors, On Mystic Lake, Firefly Lane, and The Things we do for Love. I am a few chapters into Between Sisters and it is seeming to be as good as the others. Firefly Lane and The Things we do for Love have been my favorite two so far. (They were read in the order listed) I cried at the end of Firefly Lane (I know some don't want to feel that way in a book, but as long as it is good I don't care). The Things we do for Love I think should be a must read for all moms, especially those adoptive moms. I truely didn't read the description/summary of the story (and for those of you that check out my links...don't read too much information) I like to read it as it happens and NOT know ahead of time. Lets just say I finished it late at night, holding Bella and tears a flowing =). A must read I think!

(Mom if you are reading I can re-check it out if you want to read it!)

I have only heard good things about Jodi Picoult. Well I guess I shouldn't say it like that either you like her or you don't. I really want to read My Sisters Keeper before I see the movie. Well lets just say so does the rest of my town. There are a ton of hold on this book... I have been tempted to buy it and then just loan out or resell it.... we'll see! She touches on controversial topics, but I have read from a lot of people that have loved her books!

Another good author/book I have heard good things about is Kate Jacobs. (Here is also her own website.) Again lots of holds so sticking with whatever comes back to the library first.

After all this book talk I had better get to bed....busy day tomorrow. A couple hours and a picnic lunch at the riverfront park (playing in the water feature) and then we are making a library run. (I think Ethan has finished all his books and I am going to see what else they have from my list.)

What are you reading?

Back from Vacation....

So we are back from vacation and there is still soo much to do! We had an amazing time as always. Lots of goodies to eat, hot tub and swimming pool, inflatable jump houses, bumper cars, dark light (where your white clothes glow) miniature golfing and of course bike riding! I think our final tally was 68 miles on our bikes. Ethan did amazing and rode his new spiderman bike the whole time.

I have hundreds of pictures to go through, but these 4 caught my eye right away so they got edited first. =)

A few weeks back I noticed a small gap appearing in his somewhat perfect little smile and low and behold there was an adult tooth coming in already behind it. The baby tooth became loose thankfully and while on Vacation it was barely, literally hanging on by a thread. So when dad asked if he could pull it, Ethan said, "OKAY". Here is what we got a semi toothless boy!

There was soo much to do on vacation, but poor Bella had to miss out on the bumper cars. They really jolted you around, but the funny thing is 2 years ago they had let her go on them with me... So needless to say she did lots of pouting when Ethan and one of us was riding.

I think this was Bella's last year on the baby seat on my bike. Her feet just miss reaching the petals on the tag-a-log so there she sat. Almost always with her blanket, even though it was in the 80's or 90's the whole time she had to have it. Worked out okay because for the most part it covered her shoulders and neck from the sun and a burn. This night we took an evening ride near the airport and loved the fact the horses were loose in the field and came right up to the fence. Ethan even got to feed them some "weeds" that were there by the fence. Poor Bella missed the whole thing.

and can't leave out Dad.... Just taking a break while the kids played at the park. It was hot and a long uphill climb to the park.

I have edited a few more pictures but will save them for another day with a few more stories from vacation.

Bellla from 3 to 13

Ahh Miss Bella... It is so funny it seems lately her personality has doubled. I mean she was a character before, but now even more so. Her little attitude and humor and little Bella-isms are really showing.

It seems like lately my postings on here have been far and few inbetween (spending too much time updating FACEBOOK) and then when I do post it seems to be a lot about Ethan so here is one of many new posts about Bella!

I simply LOVE this photo. It is her, it is the expression she gives quite often. She opens her eyes up wide and you can't help but giggle/laugh at her and then she busts up laughing her cute little laugh! I have been meaning to order some photos put onto a canvas. Maybe this will be my first one. (Just need to pick out a favorite of Ethan and have them done at the same time)

You should hear this girl talk on the phone....She carries on real conversations and even calls Todd all the time (aka Dad). Lately though her favorite person to call is MARSH (have no idea where that came from though) and we can't help but laugh every time she says it. All we can ever think of is The Brady Bunch and Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!

Oh and if you need a reminder of Marsha Marsha Marsha video clip check this out! (Gotta love YouTube)

The kids have been loving our beautiful weather and being outside. I soo need to get them out there more. This night Bella brought her back pack FULL of Barbies and play food. They had their own little tea party out on the deck! Gotta love their little imaginations. Soon enough it will be her and her friends sitting on the deck talking about BOYS!

Here is to many more nice summer days and better blog updates!

BOYS RULE!

During the last week of school they had a field day...

They did lots of fun stuff including face painting as you can see! Ethan asked for the Boys Rule all on his own! He found the plastic fangs in the play room and he had to wear them.

I love them and how he is trying to be oh so tough!!!

P.S. I had never seen it before but they used colored pencils and water for the face painting. (I might have to try that at home, wouldn't the kids get a kick out of that!)

Weekend Recap....

Weekends seem to go by soo fast and thankfully the past couple of weekends I feel like we have got a few things done or at least it seems like we have accomplished something!

Saturday morning got started off with a little bit of cleaning aka mostly vacuuming; which turned into both boys getting haircuts. Dad was great, he got the camera and shot a few pictures from his lawn chair (yes it has been beautiful here so Ethan got his hair cut outside)

I am soo loving his new super short hair do... I think next time we will go super short on the top too. Next we headed off to a nearby town for a birthday party of one of E's classmates! It was at a great indoor playground ... they even had a face painter! As you can see Bella enjoyed being turned into a princess. Thankfully she didn't throw much of a fit when we had to wash it off later in the bath.

Sunday we did the normal church and then Uncle Jay and Aunt Cara (and the boys) were up so we headed to Grammy & Papa's house to visit, eat, and play a little. Ethan (and Bella) sure enjoyed the little kiddie pool. It was a pretty little pool, but that didn't stop either one of them from playing in it and having a great time...

Now onto Monday morning.... It will start like any other morning; getting up and getting for daycare and school. The difference will be me NOT working right now. Yes the economy has hit us. So you stay at home moms...what is your schedule like. LOL tomorrow I am hitting the grocery store and taking a nice long walk! Oh and can't forget I am throwing in a load of whites in the laundry.... =)

So wish me and us luck on my new work-less adventure. We were not quite expecting this so expenses aren't where we would want them to be in a one income situation and that I find a new job soon (secretly I will love spending some time with the kids over the summer). Everything happens for a reason just not a 100% sure what this reason is just yet! =)

P.S... In my last post I showed you my new water bottle (which I use multiple times a day) and my new grocery sacks from Glamorous Groceries .... I have used my polka-dot one a ton. It holds soo much and oh ever so stylish!

I love Starbucks and great new Etsy find....

So most people know I love my Starbucks coffee. My coffee of choice is usually either a hot or cold Venti Iced White Chocolate Real Carmel Mocha, no whip. I love my new find at Starbucks... a 16oz hard plastic (double walled so it doesn't sweat all over the place) cup. It looks just like the iced plastic cups!

I was going to link you up to the Starbucks site, but they are out of stock and I'm sure if you Run ... Now... go! LOL you will be able to get one at your local Starbucks!

Here is my other fun find Glamorous Groceries. Debbie is the mom of twin boys on Ethan's soccer team... cute and good little soccer players. We have been talking at the games and she told me about her etsy site... Then she was super nice and gave me a new grocery bag....

Yes Miss Bella is sleeping ever so uncomfortably in the top of the shopping cart!

First of they are HAND MADE, super cute, and LARGE. You can fit soo much into them! After using this right after she gave it to me, I went and bought one for myself! OMG Check out how cute it is... Don't have personal pictures yet, but here are the ones from her etsy site:

Glamorous Groceries

Won't I be styling at the grocery store.... I look forward to purchasing more!
If you purchase, please let her know how you found out about her site!

A picture a day...

So I originally revamped my blog so I could focus on my photos. Focus on learning more about my camera, how to take picture in all manual, in general to take better pictures. Well as you can tell I took a nice long breafrom blogging and will admit I quit making sure I took a picture everyday...yes I take so many pictures that I'm sure most days are still covered.

My reason for all the explaining....I'm going to post a bunch of my favorites in the last month or so....just a heads up. Don't worry I won't post them all! I'll just link you up to my 365 photo gallery!

I look forward to sharing some of my favorite photos!