California, Part deux

When we first decided to take a little vacation we had a place that we wanted to visit in mind.

I'm sure you are thinking Disneyland. Why wouldn't we go there if we were in So. California?

But you would be SOOOO wrong.

We went to the Reagan Library, silly!

Believe it or not, this place is really cool. The kids had no idea who Ronald Reagan was, but we think we were able to teach Thomas a little about him. We blasted through the museum section to get to the main attraction we were going to see.

Was it the podium?

or the trivia game about proper dining etiquette?

No...

We went to see Air Force One.

Which was too big to get a picture of with my camera. I left my camera bag hidden in the car and only brought my camera with my 35mm on it. You can kind of see in in the background of this picture that Clara took. (she's getting good - not bad for a 3 year old!)

Steve heard the airplane was a new exhibit and thought Thomas would enjoy seeing it. We actually all enjoyed it.

and after 3 hours it did this to our kids....

California

Last weekend we called a TIME OUT! We had been so busy with "stuff" and felt like our family time was suffering. We made the decision to lock up a messy house and drive down to California. The kids were so excited to go and couldn't wait to get in the car.

Luckily we were blessed with 2 children who travel very well - as long as we have plenty of junk food, games, and DVD's to watch. I traveled very well because I had my laptop on the trip and was able to do some editing on the drive down.

Once we arrived at out hotel room the kids and Steve jumped into their swimsuit.

The kids had a great time in the pool - even if it was WAY too cold.

I decided to pull the plug when they started turning purple and words couldn't be formed because they were shivering so bad. They kept telling up they were fine and not cold at all.

I kept telling them they were a bunch of liars.

more to come.

Steve's Birthday

In an attempt to return to the blogging world, I must update. There are lots of things to update about, but If I try to post each one I'll never get around to it.

The biggest event we had during the month of May was Steve's birthday. He turned the big 41. I planned a nice BBQ with rib-eyes. Unfortunately I didn't plan changing the gas tank and ended up with Little Caesars $5 pizza.

Guess how many times we had to light the candles before he was able to blow them out himself?

Easter Sunday

As late as Easter was this year, it seemed to sneak up on us. It was a fun day.

I am constantly amazed at how much these two love each other. It's not that I don't love my brothers, but we never would just walk across a room and hug each other. They had a system while hunting eggs. It wasn't even planned. If Clara found a green, blue or other "boy" color egg she would run over and give it to Thomas. Thomas did the same thing with the pink and purple eggs.

Breakfast was Strawberry French Toast - very good. I even cut the bread thin for my husband.

Clara did her own hair - you couldn't tell, could you? Luckily I was able to eventually get the headband off.

My handsome boy. He is getting so grown up.

This was our failed attempt at a family picture with the remote. Next time Steve says, " Is the tree in the way, I'll listen."

Springs Preserve

On Friday I took the kids to the Springs Preserve. This is a large park / nature sanctuary / allergy nightmare right in the middle of Las Vegas. The kids had a great time, except for the part when I walked into the bat cave.

Don't worry. I made it out alive, which is a good thing because I was then able to enjoy...

Thomas practicing his Pope wave,

a little crack in the sand

and my daughters ingenuity.

life.

I can't believe how long it has been since I REALLY updated this blog. Truth is, I have been busy.

A good busy.

The weather has been beautiful and I am taking advantage of taking the kids to the park and playing in the sunshine before it turns into an unbearable heat. We've enjoyed the parks, walks, and hanging out with the doors and windows open.

The kids are growing like weeds.

Thomas is becoming a little man. As much as it pains me to see the changes in him, it is fun to see the growth he is making. His face is changing, it's not looking so little anymore. He is reading like a champ and is one of the top students in his class. He LOVES to read - books, magazines, comics - just about whatever he can find.

Clara is full of it. What is it? Anything and Everything! She loves to talk and sing. She is constantly asking me to listen to the "new song she just made up." I can not believe how long her legs are getting. The pants we bought for her in the fall are now barely covering her calves! It has been so much fun watching her grow and learn. I love the 3 hours a day that we have to be alone together while Thomas is in kindergarten. She shops with me, loves to help me with cleaning and laundry, and also loves to sit on my lap and help me edit photos. She is a joy.

Steve has been working hard and has recently started back up on his bike now that the weather is nice. He loves coming home from work and playing with the kids. He is an incredible dad and very supportive husband - I love him.

(courtesy of Steve. I am teaching him to be my second)

I have been busy with the kids and with my photography. I decided to start taking it seriously and try to start up a business. It's funny, as soon as I decided to take the plunge the jobs started coming. I have had constant work since the beginning of February and am enjoying the people I am working with and the things I am learning. A few weeks ago I applied to be a volunteer photographer for The F.I.L.M Project. This is a non-profit organization that provides family portraits to families who are about to lose a loved one to cancer. The organization is just starting up and will not go public until this summer, so I have not had a chance to volunteer yet, but am honored at that chance to do this for people. I had to submit test photos and my website for review so I was a very nervous about getting critiqued, but was thrilled to learn I had passed the review board.

That about sums life up right now. I am sad that I haven't kept up with blogging because I enjoy doing it, but hopefully I will get back in the swing of things and start updating it more regularly.

Clara's Eyebrows

Since having children I have become a pro at trying to keep cool when things like this happen.

life is wonderful...just busy.

'member me?

Life has been crazzzzzy. Yes, so crazy it's worth extra z's! We're alive, we're well, just trying to keep our heads above water!

The most exciting thing that has happened in the 2 weeks of radio silence...

This stubborn little girl FINALLY decided she was ready to be potty trained! When I say decided, I mean she came to me wearing her panties one morning and said she wasn't going to wear diapers anymore. We haven't had any accidents since that morning. Easiest. Potty. Training. Ever. (If you don't count the months of her screaming whenever I placed her on the toilet to give it a try. )

Joy of Love - Day 17 on Day 26

Not quite 10 days late, but I'm trying to get back on track. The theme for this day was staying in. What do we do when we are home? This is one of the kids' favorite things to do, color on the sliding glass window. Clara is using her window crayons, they are much messier than the window markers.

I don't remember the last time this window had a proper cleaning. The only time it is clean is when the kids need a blank canvas. I think the dirty background is a great backdrop.

A week in the life

No surprise on my end, but I have really fallen behind on my assignments for the Willette class. I have some of them ready to go, just no motivation. This past week was full. So, because I can't properly compose a paragraph right now, I am going to pull out my magic bullets for this post.

* Last Friday WPPI started. For those of you (who like me a year ago) who don't know what WPPI is, it is the big ol' photography convention / trade show that comes to Las Vegas once a year. I attended WPPI-University. It was for people in the process of setting up their own business. It was fun, but it was intense. I didn't even go to all the classes because my brain started to overload. If I would have sat through one more class I may have walked out to the casino and handed some drunk man my camera and told them to have fun.

*Sunday was my birthday. The big 36. I can't believe I am heading towards 40. Not possible. Here is where I should insert that I had a great day, but I had to speak at Church. Because I had been so busy the whole weekend, I was up at 6 am trying to put my thoughts into some kind of outline that made sense. The talk went well, but I was so HAPPY to be done with it.

After church we came home and had out little family party. Thomas had decorated, Steve and Clara baked a cake and Steve BBQ'd some steaks. It was a nice, quiet night. My favorite.

* On Monday I was back at WPPI to attend the trade show. I wasn't really excited to go walk around and look at stuff I couldn't really afford, but I heard that they would have speakers at many of the major booths. While I was there I started listening to this woman at the SONY booth. She was fantastic. I went back for her second presentation and was blown away with everything she was sharing. I decided to approach her after the talk and tell her how much I enjoyed her and how much I learned from her. We were talking with one another and she invited me to a luncheon she was having on Wednesday. I grabbed her bio information and came home and googled her. I had NO IDEA who I was talking to. Her name is Me Ra Koh and she has been featured on Oprah and is a correspondent for the Nate Berkus show. I poured over her website and decided that this luncheon was something I had to attend. I am so glad I did, it was fantastic. She invited 60 women to a garden luncheon in honor of her scholarship program she developed a couple years ago, SOAR. We ate lunch, she spoke, and then she took us out to shoot a bride and groom. She gave us her tips and tricks and just spent time working with each of us. Not only was she there, Dane Sanders, an amazing lifestyle photographer, was there as well. After she shared her tips, he shared his advice for about 30 minutes. I learned more from the two of them in the 2 hours I was at the luncheon than I did all weekend. It was a great way to end the convention.

Hopes and Dreams

Conversation while at the dinner table last night...

Clara: I want big arm pits like yours when I bigger. Mine are so small.
(lovingly said as she cupped my right breast in her tiny hand)

Thomas: She means boobs.
(said so matter of fact - no shyness or silliness)

Question Steve and I asked each other after the kids were in bed?

Who taught Thomas about boobs?