One Year Olds

Here are some of my favorites from shoots this week. These little guys are cousins.

Just call me Bobbi Villa

After watching me put together several "assembly needed" pieces of furniture, hang shelves, mirrors and pictures over the last few days, Cooper said...."Mom, I think you should be a worker instead of a camera lady!"

baby girl...

off to camp. We hope she is having a great time at Bible Camp! I'm off to pick her up tomorrow.

Ahhhhh

Just what I needed. For my birthday (yes, if you can believe my birthday passed without so much of a mention here on my blog) my husband got me a manicure, pedicure and a massage. So that is how I spent my afternoon today, being pampered and trying to forget about my never-ending to do list. Then I met the girls out at the country club for supper and a friendly round of Texas hold 'em. (I was the first one out...Tim will have to give me some poker lessons.)
After spending a week trying to get the hot tub up and running (and then having to call the fix-it man and pay a hefty repair bill) it is now fully functional and the kids can finally have those hot tub parties they've been planning since we moved in. Last weekend we spent lots of time with friends, made a trip to the lake and Zorbaz, and did a few projects around the house. Yesterday we spent a steamy afternoon at the pool and a gorgeous evening at the Redhawks game. I guess I have been lazy and have no pictures of any of these events, so I took a photo of the cute Matt Cullen bobble-heads we got at the baseball game.

Lovin the new place...

Work in Progress

You don't realize how often you use your kitchen sink...until you don't have one!

Moving ADD

That's my self-diagnosis. I cannot complete a project...I will be working on something in one room, and walk into another room to get something and see all the things that need to be done in that room and start doing those, and then go to another room for something else and the same thing happens...all day long! The good news is we are all moved in...our stuff is here anyway. Not necessarily put away, but here. All of the painting and flooring is done, and this week will be lots of cabinetry and counters and plumbing work and hopefully the rest of the electrical. The kids will be coming back from "Camp Grandmas" where they have been all last week (with Grandma Sandi the first half and Grandma Laverne the second half) so I have been working hard to get their rooms ready. On the agenda for tomorrow is to finish the basement and clean out and organize the garage!

Moving Weekend

The work has begun...

We officially became owners of our new house yesterday and immediately began the renovations...with a little help!

Dear Tim,

Remember when we were 18 and I had time to make and decorate a cake for you? Anyway, I hope you have a great day...see you for lunch!

No More Daycare

Sad and exciting all at once.

Summer Fun

Look what Cooper caught...

Cooper caught this little guy WITH A NET this weekend at the lake!

My Kind of Weekend

This weekend Tim was gone for his big "Fruitbowl" golf tournament and the kids went to the lake with grandma and grandpa...and I got the house all to myself! I got lots of organizing and packing done...all without having to make a pot of mac and cheese, or wipe crumbs off the floor, or hear someone whine that they are bored!

Lucky Boys

Last night two of Carter and Cooper's coaches from hockey camp came to pick them up, took them to the Dairy Queen, and then took them to their house to play Guitar Hero. Today, the boys' Spud buddies, Sean and Tanner picked them up for a lunch and knee hockey play date!

This Week...

...we have Bible School, hockey camp, golf lessons, volleyball and baseball. And mom has picking out carpet and flooring, choosing paint colors, ordering furniture, and locating the perfect light fixtures. All this in between driving the kids all over town... atleast I have the week off!

It's Official

We're moving. If you've wondered where I've been the last week, we've been busy finializing the sale of our home, buying a new house, and doing a little rendition of the show "Clean Sweep". The big rummage sale this weekend was a smashing success with the gorgeous weather. Now we have lots less junk to move. I even took 35 bags of clothes and toys to Boys Ranch today. The next couple of weeks will be filled with packing and boxes and lots of heavy lifting. We have to be out by July 2nd!

Party at Ria's

Today we are having a big ice cream party to celebrate the end of the year...we made it! Here is a picture of the parent's end of the year gifts. Such cute kids!

September to May

Last Day!

Ooo la la

Matthew is giving a clinic on how to treat a girl! It was Kennedy's helper day at school yesterday and she was celebrating her birthday because it is in the summer. (She brought Krispy Kremes for treats!) This is what Matthew left her in her cubby for her big day! We have one impressed little girl.

Memorial Weekend

We are already half way through the week, but I thought I'd tell you a little about Memorial weekend at our house (photos soon.) We had a relaxing weekend, slept in (I did anyway) watched lots of movies, Tim got some golfing in, went out to dinner at Johnny Carino's with friends, played outside, grilled at the park with the kids and more friends...overall it was fabulous!
Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids, and Friday is my last day of working full-time! After that I will go to one day per week and I am so excited and looking forward to getting lots of stuff done in my free time.

Baseball

Arn't they tough?

Daily Basis

It's Done!

I finally finished and delivered the video; I can get my life back!
Here are some photos from a shoot I got to do last weekend. (BTW...these are the angels from Hawaii that I mentioned in my last post! Thanks again you guys.)

I've got some catching up to do

I haven't blogged all week....every free minute (I mean EVERY; just ask my family) and lots of middle of the night hours have been spent on my computer. When I was asked if I could put together a little graduation video for one of the boys' buddies on the Spuds hockey team I replied, "No problem!" Um......wrong. Big problem. Everything that could possibly go wrong with this video has, and it is still not burning correctly and the party is on Saturday. You could say I feel a little pressure. I do have a new 160GB hard drive and 2GB of new memory thanks to some angels from Hawaii! But so far, the problems just continue. The thoughts on my mind go something like this: @*^#*@#! Anyway, enough ranting. Here is a photo to tide you over until I can get back to my regular blogging schedule.

Coopy Crockett

Decisions Decisions

Photography, Daycare, or Both? What do you think? For those of you that know us, you know that our life has been full of uncertainties lately. Not good for me...the uber-planner. On my mind lately, among loads of other things, is whether or not I should take a risk, put myself out there and start a photography business. I have more and more people ask me to take photos of their kids, and I am passionate about it, but can I make a living doing it? I did end of the year photo shoots today with the kids...I love to be able to capture the different personalities of each child. Erin-stop reading; it's suppose to be a surprise.
Feedback is welcome....so are potential investors!
"There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone."

Can't Wait

Here's something I'm looking forward to......the release of Ocean's 13 on 06.08.07

Par-Tay

Little Hugh

Here is Cooper last night having his bedtime snack.

Shoulda sent my vote

Twelve

To our beautiful smart and talented daughter...we love you!





Kate on Vimeo

Happy Birthday Boys

Here's a tribute to our boys as they celebrate their 8th birthday!





C&C turn 8 on Vimeo

Future Scoops Employee

Kennedy wanted to go shopping today because she had money burning a hole in her pink sequin purse. She bought herself this cute wooden banana split set and has been having the best time playing ice cream shop. Auntie Sheri...I think you may have to hire her in a few years!
Scoops opens for business next weekend! Don't know what Scoops is? Check out the link to the right!

Birthday Fun

Katelyn had her birthday party last night at the YMCA. The girls got together for some rock climbing, pizza and dance dance revolution. Hard to believe she is going to be 12 next week.

cool

Did you know that there is a website that will help you find a good fitting pair of jeans? At zafu.com you can answer a few questions about your body type and how you like jeans to fit and they will give you a list of jeans suited to your shape. That should save a lot of time in the dressing room trying on pair after pair of ill fitting denim! The top two on my list were Lucky Brand Classic Bootleg jean and "Honey" by Joe's Jeans. I think I might order them just to see if this website delivers what it claims to... I guess they've had almost a million women try on jeans from more than 90 brands. What I found funny was that my all-time favorite pair of jeans is Gap long and lean, and they were nowhere to be found on my personalized list. Hmmm.

Kennedy's Political Statement for the Day

Is it really too much to ask?
Peace.Love.FrenchFries

You're Wearing That?

If I had a book club like Oprah, I would recommend that all mothers and grown daughters read this book by Deborah Tannen. It explains so much about what makes the mother/daughter relationship so difficult and rewarding at the same time. The book asks the question, "Do we ever stop caring what our mothers think?" and suggests that even after our mothers are gone there will still be situations where we will find ourselves asking, "What would my mother think of this?"

"A daughter wants to feel that her mother is proud of her, thinks she's okay. So any evidence that her mother's approval is less than total can be hurtful, and hurt can swiftly convert to anger. But how could a mother think her daughter is perfect, doing everything right, every moment? All human beings could improve in some ways at some times, and people close to us are the most likely to see those ways. This means that the closer a mother is to her daughter, the more opportunities she sees for improvement--all the more because she wants to see things go well for her. But anything she says to help her daughter calls attention to perceived weaknesses, and that is the opposite of approval."

This book was so relevant for me right now as I can understand both points of view. As a daughter, I still seek my mother's approval while as a mother Katelyn and I are starting to clash on ideas about how she should act, dress and fix (or not fix) her hair etc. The author says that most daughters she interviewed for the book felt that the number one thing moms criticized them about was their hair! Why do we as mothers care so much about how our children(especially girls) look? She reasons that it is because one of the criteria by which we as mothers are judged is the appearance of our children-they represent us to the world. If they don't look "presentable", we are not doing our job as a mother. This was so funny to me because my kids have actually said to me..."Mom, we don't want to wear these clothes. We don't always have to look 'decent'."

Here is the catch 22 of a mother/daughter relationship:

The main complaint from daughters about their mothers: She is always criticizing me. The main complaint from mothers about their daughters: I can't open my mouth, she takes everything as criticism. THAT is why it's difficult!

Hooray!

Last week we got a notice in the mail that after ten years, we finally made the LAST payment on Tim's student loan! Only ten more and mine might be paid off!

fast.fun

Daddy was away for work this weekend so the kiddos and I headed down to grammies house for some fun. Our plan was to spend the day at the zoo. Note for next year...check what time the zoo closes before you go. As is typical for us, we arrived at the zoo at 3pm and found out that it closed at 4pm. But we packed as much fun as we could into that hour! Oh well. Grandma took the kids to a movie Saturday night and I got to do my favorite thing....nothing. Sit by myself on the deck and read magazines; perfect! Thanks grandma!