The end is in sight...

With the exception of a few details, most of the remodeling of our house is complete. My plan is to do a before/after slide show, but things are a bit crazy right now with the new business...so here is just a sneak peek!

Hmmm...

"So Cooper, how is school?"

"Good"

"Have you met any new friends?"

"Yep, I have three new friends. They are Mohammed, Abdul, and Ahmed."

Congratulations Mark

Grandpa Mark threw a killer party on Friday to celebrate 25 years of Dakota Bumper.

Great Conversation

Just added to my list of favorite things is this new product called TableTopics. I just got them last weekend and think they are such a fabulous idea! In general, I don't think we (as a society) engage in great, stimulating conversation often enough. It really is a skill, and I am hoping to teach my kids (and maybe even my husband) to value a great conversation. We are planning to use them around the dinner table to provide some topics besides what did you do at school today? Some of the questions are "what do you complain about more than anything else?", "if you only had 5 more years to live would you change anything about your life?", "would you choose to be the worst player on a winning team or the best player on a losing team?", "has anything bad ever happened to you that turned out to be for the best?" I got the original edition, but some other editions are family, couples, teen, and girls night out.

Big Day

Get your copy today!

Here we go!

My photography website is officially live, so take a peek!

rialeephotography.com

You might think of this as the beginning of my journey, but to me this also represents the culmination of a lot of hard work. A lot. So, just for a minute, I'm going to sit back and be a little bit proud of myself. Feel free to share the link with anyone you think might find it of interest. I am off to the Junk Bonanza in the cities for the weekend to see if I can find any good treasures for our new house!

A day late...

Here are the kids on the first day of school...even though it was yesterday. All reports indicated that the first day was "awesome!"

School Starts Tommorow

We had a great "last weekend of summer". We spent time at the pool and the lake, went to a parade and a football game (which felt more like fall), cleaned the house and garage, and went out for our annual "first day of school eve" family dinner. Tomorrow starts the days of waking up early, bus rides, homework, fall sports, getting to bed early, and best of all eating lunch at school! (That's best of all to me since I am tired of making it!)The boys played alittle water football with their cousins at the lake this weekend.

I went shopping today to stock up on snacks for the kids to take to school....perhaps I went alittle overboard?

Something New...

my photography blog is up and running. Still working on the "official" website...should be ready by next week. My loyal readers will be the first to know when it's live; I'm super excited for everyone to see it.

Webkinz Summer

Summer is coming to an end...it went way too fast at this house. The kids were busy with lots of things this summer, but the thing that kept them the busiest were their Webkinz. If you have a child anywhere from preschool through middle school, you most likely know what they are. But for those of you who don't, they are little stuffed animals with a special code that you enter on the Webkinz site. Then you can name your Webkin, buy and decorate rooms for them, play games to earn points (which means you can buy more stuff) and connect with other kids online who have Webkinz and send them notes and gifts and "play" with them. It actually is a pretty cool site with lots of ways for the kids to be creative, but it has become a mild obsession with our kids so we've had to set some limits as to the amount of time they can use the computer. We have several different species of Webkin dogs, a hippo, a bear, a pig and a platypus.

Bummed

This little white shack that I used quite a few times this summer for photo shoots was torn down yesterday. It was the perfect spot with cool doorways and windows and interesting textures for backgrounds. I think they should have asked my permission before they destroyed my "studio."

The Sweetest Boy

The kids were laying in bed with me this morning and we were talking about the dreams we had the night before. When I asked Cooper if he had any dreams last night he said, "No, cause I prayed for black last night."

It doesn't get any better than this...

...the girls had a blast at the party last night. There were lots of giggles and squeals; I even had to wipe the kiss marks off the tv this morning. Troy Bolton is SOOOO cute!

You'd have to be living under a rock...

...to not know that the premiere of High School Musical 2 is tonight. Kennedy has been planning her big birthday party since this spring when we found out the premiere date. I'll post photos tomorrow!

Birthday Girl

Baby Girl...seven?

Untitled from rialeeczi and Vimeo.

Look who we hung out with this weekend...

Well...not really...but my mom did stand five feet from Angelina and Maddox when they were in Border's downtown Chicago on Sunday. While she was hanging out with the Jolie-Pitt's I was attending a workshop with the famous Chicago photographer Audrey Woulard. Business is going well; I am currently working non-stop trying to get my website designed and online.

Take a peek

Hey Bonnie...I know you are anxious to see your photos; the rest should be ready tonight!

Still Working

The number one question I get asked lately is "So, is everything done at your new house?" The answer........."Um, no." Here is what they are working on today.

The Princess

...in her new room.

twins

Kirsten...just in case you were checking, here are two of my favorites from today!

Must be rough...

... to crawl out of your bed and head straight over to the "game zone" for a little PS2. That early morning school bus is going to be quite an adjustment come September.

Sneak Peak

Erin...here are just a FEW shots of your gorgeous girl. I know you will be checking the blog for them! The rest should be ready soon...thanks for the fun time!

PS...you can see Ella's entire shoot by clicking here.

New Photos

Check out the slide show on the O'Cs blog...see the link list to the right.

Let the Good Times Roll

Stunning

This is for you Cindy...

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!