This family.....

totally "gets" how I work a photo shoot...it may just very well be my new favorite family shoot that I have done so far. Mom and dad (aside from being absolutely gorgeous) were a totally "go with the flow" couple and were up for trying new ideas and bringing a freshness and newness to the shoot...it was hands down an amazing, amazing time for me...these photos for me sum up exactly what I want to capture for people...it does not matter that they are not all looking, or smiling, or posed...it matters that you can totally tell that this family LOVES each other and have some seriously special bonds formed and THAT is what I love seeing in these photos...and they have the most adorable girls...I cant wait to do more!! Thanks so much you guys!!! and by the way...arent these two little girls just beautiful??? I think they look like little angels!!!

Keith Urban

So my friend Trish called me not too long ago asking if I was busy on Friday, Sept 14....I was not and then she screamed (literally) that we were going to a Keith Urban concert...now I am definitely a fan of country music but was not really a huge follower of Keith Urban....but ummmm, yeah NOW I definitely AM!!! The concert was amazing...two and a half hours of Keith himself performing and it was AWESOME!!!! The first song he came out and started singing and they had his face projected onto a HUMONGOUS screen I kinda freaked out a little bit inside because I was actually AT a Keith Urban concert.....and there he was!!!!! It was so inspirational and I loved every single minute of it!! Here are some shots.......Trish is a friend of mine that reminds me of the quote "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver the other is gold"....I have a feeling her and I will fast be "gold" friends...I'm so very lucky!! :)

oh, and for the record...i LOVE banjo music!! :)

At home with mom.....

This is what little girls get to do when they are home all by themselves with mommy in the morning....Safeway pink donut with a chocolate ribbon and of course, a starbuck's ice tea for mommy....YUMMY!!! :)

My Preschool Girl

So yesterday was Karlee's first day of preschool...the FIRST thing she says to me when I woke her up in the morning (with eyes still half closed) is: "Your preschool giwl is weady for pweschool mommy"....she has been ready for preschool for two years now and although I could have waited one more year for her to go I dont think I could have made her wait anymore. She was SOOO excited.....she wore her "sparkle pants" and "sparkle shirt" (which she has worn at least five or six times prior to school starting because it is her favorite outfit by far right now), her brand new converse shoes (that she picked out herself) and a HUGE Dora backpack on her back....she walked right in, hung up her backpack, and got to playing...definitely NOT the norm for this mommy who is used to having a little girl stuck to her leg for at least the first half hour...I was so proud of her....she was so proud to be there...picked her up and she had a "first day of school" paper visor on her head and a HUGE smile on her face...so so sweet....I think the whole experience wore her out big time however, because after lunch this is what my "preschool girl" looked like....fast asleep with her Dora backpack safely underneath her head....I think preschool was alot of hard work :)



ETA: The pictures at the top are what happens when a certain someone (me) does not change her settings on her camera and is running late getting everyone to school so snaps the shots and does not check them afterwards....BUT it is about the memories anyway right??? (I can thank my friend Karen for that mentality!!)

Remembering.....

Today my heart has been so heavy remembering 9-11-01. It was a day that rocked me to the core of my very being...the first time that war and terrorism was a very real thing and also made me realize how very much I took my freedom and being an American for granted. I am ashamed to say that I think I may again take it for granted all too much but today is a HUGE reminder not to...to remember the lives that were lost on this awful day six years ago and to remember the lives that have been lost since in defending our country and what we stand for. I will never forget that day....I had a little three year old girl and a tiny little one year old girl snuggled on the couch with me watching Disney channel...we were completely oblivious to the outside world..one little one on either side of me...the phone rang...it was Alex pretty much hysterical and I remember he yelled at me to turn on my TV and hung up the phone. I went upstairs to see what he was talking about and I felt a sickening feeling in my stomach because my dad was in New York at that very moment...still gives me chills...I pretty much watched in horror with my mouth wide open because what I saw was complete chaos...no one knew what was happening yet and then, the second tower was hit and it was again mass hysteria all over...I was freaking out about dad...it was a long time before we heard from him but I will never forget it was one of the only days I have heard him cry...he rented one of the only cars left in the area with some other people he had been traveling with and drove all.the.way.home. It was an emotional reunion a few days later to say the least. I can only imagine what it was like for those who had to wait and hear about the loved ones they had lost so today...I was remembering all of those people and I was remembering all of the soldiers who risk their lives every day because of this one moment in our history and not only am I remembering...I am also very, very thankful.

First day of School

Anyone who knows me knows I hate the first days of school...it is so hard on me to be without my kiddos....some people think I am a total nut case for not being happy that they are gone for so long but I really really do miss them and every year it gets worse because THIS year Ems and Nats are both in school ALL.DAY.LONG. :( Anyway, I miss them like crazy right now, am praying that they have good friends to sit with at lunch and play with at recess, and just overall praying for them in general. So so hard to let go but they were both so excited this morning too. Natalee was nervous in a quiet way and could not really eat too much of anything...was super quiet and shy when I dropped her off in her class but started to put all of her supplies away like her teacher asked...Emilee thought she was getting the flu again because her tummy hurt so bad until I explained it was just being nervous and then she was OK with that....She was able to get a desk right next to her best little bud Brianna so I think all was well in her little world by the time I left...and thank goodness I still have two little sweeties at home today (Karlee does not start preschool until a little later this month) and I am very thankful that my last two sweeties still have each other this morning (right now they are building a little pillow and blanket fort right next to me)...as much as they all fight I think they would be lost without each other! :)

Before I forget.....

I wanted to make sure I remember every single detail of our week together with the Hawkins family. Candy and I have been friends since we were sophomores in high school. Our families have not seen each other since 2004 because unfortunately we live 800 miles apart and driving to see each other is not an easy thing with four kids in the car (or three like they have)...ANYWAY they finally made the big ole trek out to see us and we had an AMAZING time, like an unbelievably amazing time...I dont think there is another family I could spend 24 hours a day for eight days and still want more. During their stay we had sooo many things happen...I just want to get it all down so I dont forget a thing. During the time they were here the tooth fairy had to visit our place three times (one for Emilee and twice for Justin who lost his very first tooth, and his second tooth the next night!!), Rylee had a raging fever for the first two days of their visit (ended up being those two year molars coming through), Emilee threw up one night we were at the beach (story of my life this summer but she was insistent it was because she swallowed so much water in the hotel pool!), and Natalee woke up with both eyes swollen shut from an eye infection she somehow managed to get.....and we STILL had an amazing time (truly!!). We went to a baseball game at PGE Park..the weather was perfect, not too hot and not raining thank goodness..we of course ate all the appropriate baseball food...hot dogs, peanuts, snow cones, pretzels...and then it was off to the beach for the next few days...the weather was not so good the day we left...super rainy in fact, but we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and then ended up eating at Mo's in Cannon Beach that night (I am always blown away by the ocean view in that place--so so beautiful!!) and then off to our hotel in Rockaway for lots of swimming and the easiest bedtime we have had with our kiddos in quite some time!! Had to make a quick laundromat visit as everyone ended up falling in the water at some point with their only sweatshirts we brought!! LOL! The next day we headed to Seaside (thank you Mindy for calling in those eyedrops for Natalee!!) for some bumper car driving, shopping, salt water taffy, and OF COURSE fudge (for me!!) and then the weather turned amazing...amazing for the Oregon Coast..we headed to Cannon Beach to play and our kids ended up waist deep in the ocean playing for hours and hours and it ended up being SUCH a magical day...could not have been any better!!! Then it was back to the hotel for more swimming and we closed the pool down that night...I remember how the pool was always a huge highlight growing up...funny how that never changes!! The next day it was time to head back home just in time for the grown ups to have an adults only evening....MUCH needed after entertaining seven kids for the past few days!! We headed to Jakes for dinner (where Candy ended up having a WHOLE crab-SUPER yummy) and lemon drops *smile* and then it was off to the movies to see the third BOURNE movie (total must see by the way)....was SUCH a fun night...The next day we headed to Oaks Park for the day...it was a pretty hot day but the kids of course had a blast (we talked about how funny it is that our entire vacations are spent entertaining our kids now....makes me want to say thanks for all those vacations to Disneyland growing up mom and dad!!) Everyone ended up "winning" at least one stuffed animal which of course, is VERY important!! The next day ended up being a total relaxing day at home...MUCH needed....the kids played outside all day and us grown ups started planning an adults only trip--I think it was at this point I probably started whining entirely too much about how they needed to stay an extra day and I am happy to say my whining paid off because THEY DID!! We learned an awesome new game called Mexican Train that you play with dominos and I am pretty sure that we will be playing it tonight and all weekend long with whoever we can talk into playing with us!! So since we had a whole extra day together we ended up heading to Lloyd Center the next day for Candy's worst nightmare...some back to school shopping! Thankfully everyone got at least two new outfits for school before we were done and it was back home for more Mexican Train and our second batch of no bake cookies (MMMMMMM...I am craving more as I type this!!) They left early the next morning and I of course went through the next few days with a HUGE lump in my throat and was pretty depressed for the next couple of days..Candy and I NEVER say good bye because honestly...it is just too painful and I hate hate hate seeing them leave and I hate that we live so far apart because I love them so much *sigh* I feel so lucky to have such an amazing friend with an amazing family--not one fight between any of our kids the entire week...now that is just unheard of! I miss them something fierce and am so thankful that there will be more opportunities soon for us to be together that are already being planned...it makes it easier to be apart for now...I am fortunate enough to know that my friendship with Candy and her family is a once in a lifetime friendship...words cannot even begin to express how much I feel for each and every one of them....and before I start crying again I am going to share some of the "catch your breath" moments that I caught during our week.....Love you guys!!! We all miss you soooo much! :)