Reed Family

My pretty ballet princess :)

2012-01-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hannah had her first "real" ballet recital, on a real stage, and yes, she was a real ballerina! She was so worried the whole week before, she kept telling me, " Mom, I have stage fright!" But we practiced a little and and her fear tuned into excitement. She loved every second on the stage. I can't help getting so excited for her and her journey to find her talents. Love you Hannah, you are my little star!

I could not choose between color and black & white, so I put both versions. :)

Video of one of Hannah's dances. For all our grandma's and grandpa's! :)

Tap dance

Gators!

2012-01-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

We went on a boat tour of a swamp in Georgia. It was so fun and our "boat captain" looked like he was from the show Swamp People. Ha! We only saw a few gators, but the scenery was beautiful! When we got on the boat the clouds looked like they were going to burst! They did right in the middle of our tour, but the calm after the storm was amazing!!! It was like nothing I had ever experienced. Definitely something to be remembered! It just so happened that they were having a little "open house" that day. The kids got to play games, make a fan, and eat some yummy food!

This is after the storm.

Sea world, St. Augustine, Beach, Disney Halloween!

2012-01-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

One weekend we drove to Orlando to go to Sea World for the day. It was really hot, but the shows were amazing! We had a blast!

There is nothing in the world that makes me more happy than being on the beach with my family!

We had SO MUCH FUN!!! It might have been the best Disney night we had! We came into the park at 7pm and stayed until mid-night! It was so magical! We did not get back to our hotel until 2am, all kids still away! All hoped up on Disney magic!

Caleb: Jack Sparrow

Hannah: Queen of Hearts

Porter: Buzz

Sandy toes and salty kisses

2012-01-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting these up. I love each and every picture and wish that I could share them all with you but I am sure that it would be over 1000 pictures! It was so much fun looking though all of them and reminiscing with my kids! I have decided to post pictures within several blog posts. Here is group number one!

Hannah turned 6 on Thanksgiving day!

2012-01-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah. She is so sweet, kind, smart, loving, creative, happy, determined, sassy, fashionable, funny, organized, helpful and much much more. She really is a gem. So happy she came into our family. It would not be the same without her! Love you sweet girl!

We had a Night Owl party! All the girls came over at 5:30pm in their PJs! We made pizza, played night games with glow in the dark necklaces and watched Pixar short films in a fort with Christmas lights....made by me! (It was the most awesomest fort ever!!!)

I made all different felt Owls for each girl to take home. So it would be fair, I wrote a different number on 8 glow in the dark stars. They each had to find one star. That number was the number of the wrapped owl they got to open. Each took a turn opening their owl. Then they adopted their owl, giving it a name and a birthday. Each owl also had a poem to go along with it. They had so much fun! I still see the girls carrying around there owls. It makes me so happy!!

AWESOME FORT!!! Pictures does not do my work justice!

Hannah lost her first tooth on her birthday! She could not have been happier!

This was our first time in 10 years of being married that we hosted Thanksgiving! We had Jacob and Robin over for dinner. So happy to have family so close! Love you guys!!!

It was very merry!

2011-12-28T13:37:00.000-08:00

I am going to feel so much better once I get these pictures up! This is what we have been up to this month. It has been a busy one, but very special. We created lots of great memories! We missed our wonderful families during this holiday season, but are so thankful to have great friends to share it with.

Love you all!

Last week.

2011-12-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

I am so behind on editing and posting that I have no idea where to begin! We have had birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, parties, visitors, Disney, sea world...you name it and I bet you I have not posted it! So I thought that I should just start anywhere!

So here it goes...Last week was the last week that I took pictures for the rest of the year. I was so excited to be able to snap some fun pictures of my kiddos! This what we were up to!

Caleb got a dictionary from school and has set a goal to read the whole thing!! He has been leaning lots of interesting words! Love his determination!!

Porter LOVES trains! He is always begging someone to go down stairs with him, so that he can play.

For some reason Yoda keeps popping up in our nativity....

Porter loves to take down and set up the nativity. He is learning so fast.

It snowed the first big snow of the year. The kids were so excited....too bad we only get freeze dried snow here! We also took care of a little friend of ours. They pretended to be sisters the whole 3 days! Love these girls!!

We went to Wendys for lunch and got a puzzle, so of course they wanted to put it together the minuet we got home! Porter wanted his own.

Could not deiced if I liked the color or black and white more, so I posted both, why not.

Caleb does not like to get his picture taken, so when he lets me I try to snap a ton!! He is getting so big and so handsome! I feel so lucky to have him in our little family.

The Photo shoot flop

2011-12-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

I think that the pictures can explain it best...

I had visions of cute, happy, smiling kids for my beautiful Christmas cards this year, it did not turn out so good.
It still ended up with a cupcake. That is when I saw the smiles...huh.
Oh well. This is the truth. Now the cat is out of the bag.

in between

2011-11-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

In between phone calls, a million client emails, tens of thousands hours of editing, car pool, ballet, spots, piano, photo shoots, cleaning and more cleaning, baking, encouraging, serving, birthdays, Thanksgiving, and a million other things, I managed to squeeze in some playing time. If you can't tell, I am hanging by a string! I am spread pretty thin, a lot of things get thrown to the way side, some things that should not be. Hannah's birthday landed on Thanksgiving this year and it was hard to make a feast and celebrate her birthday the way we wanted too. I still have to edit those pictures, but thought that this would do for now. Her big present this year was to go to the American Girl store and pick out a doll! I have to admit that this has been a dream of mine too! We were able to go with some friends, which made it even sweeter! The girls excitedly picked out their dolls (laughing, talking, squealing and jumping up and down) and then we had a birthday party at the American Girl Cafe (more of the same...not sure if the adults were more excited?!)! Everything was perfect. I can't even explain all the happiness that was their. The details, the pink, the mini cups for the dolls, the food, the cake, the goodie bags. Totally worth every smile! We will remember this forever!

Hannah got Julie. She carries her around everywhere. Consistently brushing her hair and changing her clothes. :) Love this girl!!

Some how I have the most amazing friends. I don't know what I would do without them. Love this picture of us.

back

2011-11-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

We are home and just starting to get in the swing of things again. Man, let me tell you, it has been hard! We came back to cold winds and cool temps. I thought my warm beach memories would help me though the winter, but looks like it might make it worse! I am still sifting thought thousands of pics from our vacation, so for now this is what we are up to! New hats, coats and gloves and enjoying the last few blades of green grass!

birthday boy

2011-11-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to celebrate Porters birthday at Disney World. It was a pretty darn happy day! I know that I have said this way too much, but he has just grown way to fast. Its like just yesterday he was born, but feels like he as always been in our family. What a happy, entertaining boy he is. I am feeling pretty lucky to have him. Love you bud!!

My baby

2011-10-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Porter will be 2 on Halloween. I won't lie, I am sad. He is my baby, my little buddy. Love this kid. I wish they did not grow so fast. I will admit, he is really quite the little stinker. But when he is asleep, awwwhhh, can't get enough of him!!

I {love} this pictures of him. He has such long eyelashes and deep chocolate brown eyes. Love the little grains of sand by his ears. Love.

bliss

2011-10-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

This is from the first time we went to the beach. It was heaven. We went in the evening. The sun was warm and golden and the water was nice and warm....salty, but warm. Perfect for making memories. We have been trying to get the beach or swimming pool each day....so far we are 8 for 8!!

I am pretty sure that I won't be coming home....

2011-10-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

See ya later alligator!

2011-09-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

This may be my last post for a while! We are headed to sunny FL for a month! Yay! I am sure that I will post a few pictures here and there, but am planning on taking the month off and play all day at the beach, I know it sounds like a dream!! But before I leave I wanted to post some pictures of Caleb's footballs game. He only got to play 2 games because we are leaving, but he made every minuet count!! This last game he scored a touchdown! After the game he said, "That was my last game.....and I ROCKED!!!" Love this kid!

Yes, it is that cold here....winter hat cold!! Glad we are leaving!

Here is Caleb's touchdown!

Home is just this sweet.

2011-09-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

I don't get to go home very often, and almost was too much of a wimp to make this trip. It is funny how much stronger you get when you take a trip by yourself. You start thinking,"Man, I am awesome!!" Why did I think that I could not do this?!" Then the time comes to flying home....that is whole other story, I don't feel like going into the gory details. My trip home was pretty awesome. I managed to space out my time well enough that I was able to see everyone that I planed on. Maybe not long enough, but just enough to satisfy me. My kids had so much fun and I had a blast catching up with friends and family. I even managed to take a few pictures! Ahhhh, my family... love you guys!! Thanks for making the trip so easy and for taking off work and responsibilities! (Sad I never got any pictures of me and my BFF Merissa, love ya!!)

My little brother...what a cutie!! Love you Jayden!!

Cousinly love!!

Grandpa's house!

2011-09-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

How could you not love it there?!

Lots more pictures to come, just feeling a little over whelmed at the moment! :)

Playing catch up - Summer

2011-09-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

Is there a reason why summer goes by so fast and winter d-r-a-g-s on forever?!!! I absoluityly LOVE summer! Bare feet, sun shine, popcycles, water fights, running, laughing, playing....what is there not to do in summer?! I am enjoying these last few days of warmth. Soaking it in like a sponge. Ahhhhhh.

What a handsome man! Love this suit! I think that I am pretty lucky.

Time

2011-09-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have mixed feelings about back to school. I am excited for my kids to have a new adventure, but sad that they are just getting older....old enough to go to school....all on their own. I have always had a hard time with change.

That being said, I am so proud of my kids. They has such special spirits. They are my joy. I don't know what I would do without them. They make me a better person. I am so thankful for that. I love you Caleb and Hannah. You will do great. You will do new things. You will meet new friends. You will be everything I know that you can be.

Meet my new 3rd grader!

Porter wants to be just like his brother. What a little cutie!!

Meet my NEW Kindergartner!

I am glad that it is still "cool" for mom to be at school.
(Can you tell which kid will let me take their picture?)

Yours Truly

2011-09-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to get a picture of me for my website.....I put it off until it bugged me. It ended up being really fun! It was kinda nice not to worry about where to go, what to bring, and just plan not having think about anything. A photog friend of mine, Ashley Hawkes of Hawk Eye Photography took these. She did an amazing job. Loved every one of them! Thank you Ashley you have amazing talent!

A dream.

2011-08-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

That is what it was....a dream! SO happy. Here is how it turned out! Love.

August

2011-08-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

I knew that there was a reason why I still live here. August is the perfect month in MN. Wish it could be like this year round!

Boundary Waters - Where boys become men!

2011-08-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

My sweet boys and grandpa went to the Boundary Waters a few weeks ago. They all had so much fun. It was a ton of hard work but totally worth it! Caleb's favorite things were playing cards in the tent and hi head lamp! He also enjoyed kicking both the adults tails in catching the most fish!! This is somthing that will be remebered forever!

( I know that there are more pictures somewhere, just can't find them....so I am sure there will be more to come!)

He is so big.

2011-08-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

My little guy is growing up fast. I know that I say with a lot. But he is. He is almost two!!! Where has the time gone? I know that I will cherish these pictures forever. Porter did not let me get too many, but one is all I needed. Pure joy.

Porter was so fast, a blur really! He would not dare look at me. Little stinker!

Oh my boys..

2011-08-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

The other night I took my little Porter out for his 18 month pictures....I know, I am a few months behind, hey you never know 22 month old pictures might become popular! He did not want to look at me, but brother, yes. Stinker! Oh well. I got one or two good ones. But for now I will just share this one with you. I love this. Brothers.

Poor kid was dripping sweat. His hair was soaked. Poor kid, he is a sweaty one.

My little man

2011-08-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Porter is a walking tornado! He seems to get into everything! Tossing clean folded laundry out of baskets and drawers is his favorite! He has also taken up loud, screechy screaming. It makes your ears ring, you know the kind. Oh, the child!

The other day the kids were coloring, of course Porter wanted in the action. So after drawing on Hannah's picture a few times (Hannah crying rolling on the floor while Porter is pinching her arm) I pulled him down his very own coloring book. He loved it!! He really is sweet....when he is not screaming, throwing, biting, hitting, pinching, kicking and anything else you can imagine. :)

Caleb was working on his own project. He is growing up so fast. Makes he sad and happy. He is such a good little boy!

Happy curtains.

2011-08-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

When you stay at home all day and stare at your walls and each room you kinda get board with stuff. This is something that men will never understand. "Why are you always spray painting something?" Do you really have to be asking me that?! Can't you see?! Does it not bother you that we have been looking at the same picture in our kitchen for 5 years??!! I am not always one who welcomes change well. But this, this I do.

If you are a fellow min-a-snow-dian you know what I am talking about when I say one word.....winter! (Gross I can't believe that I just wrote that! Gag!) Well. It will come and when it does I am hoping that my new kitchen will make me fill like I am in huge bowl of sunshine. Doesn't that sound delicious!

I know that you all have been holding on to the edge of your seat to see this amazing, sun filled, even in the depths of winter kitchen, looks like! :)

well. here. it. is.

Curtains: made from fabric from Hancock

Light: Ikea

Large chalk board: made by yours truly....old frame from goodwill and a bottle of spray paint

Pictures: framed flowers from Wild Flowers of America book

High Chair: old turned new with a yummy cover! Fabric from Hancock

Paint: Nantucket Mist (gray) by Dutch Boy

behind

2011-07-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on pictures. We have done so much this summer and looking though all these pictures makes me so happy. My kids have loved every second of being outside soaking up some good ol' Vitamin D. Here is our summer in fast forward!

My sweet little Hannah is learning to ride her bike without training wheels! She is so confident!

Our Garden is thriving! This thing is Kurtis's baby! He tends to it every night. It's that farmer in his blood!

We had such a fun 4th! We are so lucky to have such sweet friends to play with. We partied for 2 days! Now that's the way I like it!

I rented a snow cone machine for a work party and got to keep it for 3 days! My (I) kids loved it!!! For some strange reason we have no snow cone shacks here! You can all feel sad for us now! Yum, that was a good 3 days.

Hannah planned a pajama party for a few of her friends. I absolutely loved watching and listening to these sweet little girls! We watched Tangled, ate popcorn, snuggled, jumped on the tramp and ended it all with dancing and a pillow fight. It was a blast.

One night my 2 older kids were outside and Porter and I hung out in the kitchen making chocolate cake! I love spending one-on-one time with my kids. Porter was a great helper.

We try to eat breakfast outside every morning. It has been so fun.

Yes, Porter loves olives....but that is not the point of this picture....see this red wall, well say good bye to it! I spent 5 hours the other night painting it a light gray! I have totally redecorated my kitchen! I looks amazing!!! Pure happiness! Oh yes, there are pictures to come!

because

2011-07-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

Hannah is quite the little drama queen. She can me extremely happy one moment and be rolling on the floor screaming the next. She tests my patients most days, but I can not live with out the girl. I am scared to think what it will be like when she goes to Kindergarten in the Fall. I can't believe that she is old enough to go to school. Seems like yesterday when I put Caleb on the bus for his first day of Kindergarten. I am going to miss that girl.

mine.

2011-07-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

I love the light right about 7:30pm. It is just breathtaking. If I could bottle it, I would. I have been dying to experiment with the sun and also wanted to play around a bit with Hannah. Of course Hannah was game! She is such an amazing model. She knows it too! On the drive to the location we talk about what we want to do and how each picture should make a person feel when they look at it. Then when we get there she is on. She will throw poses at me that blow my mind!

Glad she is mine.

Glad she loves it just as much as I do.

Just plain glad!

Tons more to come! Could not stop editing!

{camping} mommy style!

2011-07-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

Swinging

Playing in the fire

Hiking

Hot dogs

doritos

watermelon

a little rain : made s'mores at home over the gas oven!

My kind of camping!

daddy's day

2011-06-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

My kids get so excited when it comes to any holiday...any reason to celebrate. They went all out for fathers day! Kurtis was spoiled with cards, presents, pampering, food, you name it the kids thought of it! Kurtis really enjoyed his day. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful man in our lives. We think that you are the greatest dad ever! Love you!

Porter was being a little stinker and refused to let Kurtis hold him...or sit by him for that matter. I think that he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

Pictures of Hannah from the same day. She is always wanting her picture taken. I don't mind too much.

You make me want to dance

2011-06-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hannah and I went to the Taylor Swift concert in St. Paul last week. It was SOOO fun! She is truly amazing and very entertaining. We sang at the top of our lungs, screamed high pitched screams and even bought a shirt to remember it all. It was a pretty dang awesome girls trip!

Thanks Hannah for coming with me! I love you!

We had horrible seats, but sometimes it pays to have a really good zoom lens! That thing is like magic!!

Well spent

2011-06-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

I took a week off from shooting just to be with my kids. It has been nice break. I have been having a lot of fun taking pictures of them. I realized that my poor kids don't really have many pictures of them just being kids.

Here they are just being normal....no bribes or anything!

I throw A LOT of Hannah's art work away. She comes home with her backpack bursting full of papers, Styrofoam, yarn, beads, ect. I try to save some of it, but most gets tossed. Sad but true. If she ever knew she would not be happy.
While walking though Hobby Lobby the other day I spotted these canvases on sale. The idea popped into my head. That very day she painted this masterpiece. It is so her. I {heart} it. It is now hanging over her dresser in her room.

Because I know that you have been dying to know what I eat for breakfast! I love this cereal from Trader Joe's. It makes the perfect "fill-you-up" meal.
ps that is Greek yogurt. yum.

And while we are on the subject of things I love. I just finished reading this book.
The Forgotten Garden
by: Kate Morton

It is like 500 pages but SO good! You need to read it.

Simply beautiful

2011-06-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

My Bedroom....

crisp

clean lines

white

peaceful

getaway

I have been dreaming of a new bedroom.

These were my requirements.

Life just gets so dang busy.

I felt like I had no peaceful place to retreat to when I need it. I wanted a room that was a breath of fresh air, a place where Kurtis and I could talk and laugh at the end of a long day, a place that I could go to feel peaceful. Well, I think that I did it. The price was well worth it.

Pure Happiness.

What I did: I bought a old book of watercolor paintings of wild flowers. Then framed the yellow flowers I liked. Bought the frames and mats from Micheals. The frames were $7 for two! I made my bedspread with A LOT of help from a friend. I never would have been able to do it with out her. The idea came from a bedspread from Anthro. Made it from 2 sets of king jersey nit sheets and a duvet. I bought the yellow flower pillow....the thing that started it all, and the blanket at Target. My gray pillows were made from martial I bought from IKEA. I already had the brown squares on my wall from my last "creation". :)

I have a huge room.... so why not put a couch in it?! I feel really fancy with it in there. I stole this from a friend that was getting rid of it. With only a few "take it to the dump" remarks and a lot of eye rolls from Kurtis, it make it to my room.

The gray pillow is again made from material that I bought from IKEA. The material that I bought with the thought of using it as a backdrop. I got one use out of it....now its on my bed! I think that I like it better there anyway.

I spray painted my dresser gray and painted my nobs with off white spray paint.

My curtains have a very long story..... they were once red. I spent a whole lot of money on them so I did not want to buy new ones. Thankfully they were white on the back. So I just flipped them around. My friend sewed on a gray stripe on the top and bottom to cover the red. She also did the same to my bed skirt.

If any of you know Angela, she told me she would never sew a bedspread like mine again. ;) A bribe may work..... don't tell her I said that.

While I was taking the pictures of my bed, I turned and saw this. I actually got all misty eyed while editing these pictures! They are just getting so big.

There you have it! I still have a few little things that I want to add and tweak but that is pretty much it! I love my room.

First week of summer

2011-06-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

I have sworn in the past that my kids are going to put me in my grave early.....but when I look at these kids, I feel so happy to just be their mom.

This week was the first week since my kids got out of school. I had lots of plans for playing, but we really just played at home and enjoyed each other.

Porter loves this car. He say's "WEEE" when he rides it.

Porter just learned how to clime up the stairs and slide down all by himself. He is very proud of that fact!

It got up to 102 this day!! The perfect day for playing in the sprinklers all day. The kids just ran from house to house playing in each water activity! They were all smiles! I thought Porter would not like it but he LOVED it. He absolutely loves playing with the older kids.

The neighbors and my kids playing McDonald's. :)
I can't tell you how good the sun feels. I have a feeling this is going to be a good summer.

buy Hannah

2011-06-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Hannah's sign she made.

I did not help her at all.

Love how she wrote buy Hannah.
Love how she yelled at each car that drove by.
Love that Porter wanted to sit by her and "help"
Who would not want to buy some Kool-Aid from these two?
She made $3.50

Porter wanted her money. Her face cracks me up!

family traditions

2011-05-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Growing up we had a few family traditions that I just loved. Family bike rides on the Green Belt was one of my favorites! I am hoping that my kids will love them just as much. So far they do. :)

We have had very few nice days here and this morning was one of them. I love to see my kids playing together. Porter thinks that he is one of the big kids and gets mad when he can't join in. Thankfully the kids let him tag a long. (most of the time)

when you really want something, you better be prepared for the consequences.

2011-05-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to get a new family picture......start the whining, dirty faces, crying, excuses.... now.

It is like pulling teeth to get my family together for a picture. Heaven for bid I ask them be nice to each other for an hour while we attempted the imposable.
A big thanks to Angela for taking these for us. It was a lot of work, Porter was NOT happy the entire time and you can tell in each picture. What I can I expect.... I asked for it.
Until next year...

Has this ever happened to you?

2011-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is our stove, and yes that is melted plastic. Poor popcorn bowl.

Have you ever had 3 minuets to clean your house before someone comes over? Have you ever been so desperate to get your dishes out of the sink that you put them in your oven..... and then FORGET that they are in there? Well that is exactly what I did. Now whenever I turn on my oven it smells of melted plastic.

In Kurtis's words,

"Smelling this can not be good for us."

(Sadly this is not my first time!)

On a higher note..... Kurtis and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! We had a great night, we ate out at 300 and 1st. Yummy! We also decided to buy bikes for each other. Ever since we bought them we have been on some really fun family bike rides! Our kids love it!

(Picture taken on our cruse in November....have yet to edit those pictures! I am so behind!)

cause you know in California there is somthing better for us all

2011-05-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

There is just something about a girl trip that makes me just happy saying those simple two words. In February (I know that was forever ago, I am slow!) I went to LA(all ALONE!) to visit one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Angela, Merissa and I had been talking about doing something like this forever....well it finally happened. Merissa moved to LA do to a internship there and Angela and I thought we had to visit. So away we flew, away from all responsibility, cold, snow, children, and husbands. It was a trip that I will never forget and still dream about today! You can tell, though these pictures that I was obsessed with anything that was alive and of course the food that we consumed, yum, I am hungry. :)

We ate at The Ivy, which a is a popular (& yummy) restaurant where celebrity's go and movies are filmed. It was decorated so cute!

We also got our make up done at Sephora by a really strange man. It was a blast none the less!

It was amazing to see all the fruit trees. Merissa had a grapefruit and lemon tree in her backyard! I brought my kids home some lemons. :)
We went to the beach one afternoon. The water was cold, but the sun and sand were so warm. Nothing wrong with a little vitamin D. Even if my hubby is a dermatologist!

If you can't tell by now, our trip was based around where we were going to eat next. We also did a fair amount of shopping. In fact one day we shopped for 11 hours! It was a dream come true!! The shopping was amazing!!

For some reason I was obsessed with this picture. Love the car reflected in the window, love the multicolored roof, love the vintage feel it puts off. LOVE.

The LA temple was huge and beautiful. So glad we stopped to see it. We went into the visitors center and were attacked my the sister missionaries. They wanted all the details of our trip and how we met our "doctor" husbands. It was funny!

Thank you Angela and Merissa for playing with me for those 3 short days! Love you!

she thinks she wants a sister

2011-05-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

But I guess Porter will have to do! Aren't his earrings lovely? It was funny to see how still he was being.

Hannah loves to get all dressed up and LOVES when other people notice how "beautiful" she is. I think that I might be raising a vain child. :)

Porter is obsessed with his "ball" shirt. I asked him to show me his ball shirt and this is what he did. Also, if you look closely you can see his ouchy on his baby finger. Poor boy was just trying to keep with with his big brother outside. Porters next love, next to any ball, is his Binky. I think that I am going to have a hard time breaking that habit.

Hannah likes to be little mother hen. Porter is in the stage where he wants to do everything himself. All the codling from his sister is not working for him. I hate to admit it but the boy has a mean pinch. Mean....

But after is is all said and done (and he is asleep in his bed) he really is a sweet little guy.

All my kids are going like weeds. I am so thankful for them.

Caleb is a really good helper. He loves everything boys do. He as become a very good reader and LOVES math! Really, who is this kid..... I was nothing like him. I have to admit that he is a lot like his father. I know this pictures quality is horrible, but I had to post it anyway. Just shows how sweet he is. I would not trade him for anything!

There is something about the sun....

2011-05-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

...that just fills your soul with joy.

This one is by far, one of my favorite pictures! These two are such good friends. They would spend every second together if we would let them.

I love each and every one of her freckles on that sweet little nose. She likes them too.

bed heads

2011-05-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

I love the sweetness that bursts out of my kids when they wake up from good nights sleep. The other morning I woke up to my three kids snuggling me in bed. The sun was so soft and pretty coming though my window. I am so happy I took these pictures. These will be a wonderful memory.

My little Spring Chickens

2011-05-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

After I got everyone's photos edited from my Easter Mini Shoot I finally got around to doing my kiddos! The older two kids loved the chicks, but Porter was terrified of them. Poor little guy. Once I took the chicks away he would try to get down, to say the least he was not having very much fun. To keep him put I just kept stuffing crackers in his mouth. :)

It was a sad day when we gave away our three little chicks! There names were Butterscotch, Rosabelle & Penelope. We got them when they were just a day old. Such sweet little babies!

After I had cleaned up Porter finally decided that he wanted his picture taken!
These last 3 pictures where edited with a new action set! I personally love it! What do you think?

my little helper

2011-04-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Porter loves to play in the dishwasher. Putting away the silverware is a perfect job for him. He thinks so too.

I know that it might seem that I am dead, but I am not!! Yay! I am slowing coming back to life! I had a VERY busy past few weeks! Including: planning, buying, calling, and putting together all the food for our school carnival (will never do that again!) shooting a wedding, getting ready for and shooting my mini Easter shoot, taking care of a sick kid, and taking care of a whole herd of farm animals (just a few chicks and a bunny, but it felt like a lot more)! and that was just ONE weekend!!!! I am now neck deep in editing! Thank goodness for chocolate and skittles! They never fail me on these late nights! I have some really cute pictures from my Easter shoots. I will post them soon. In the mean time you know where I will be.....here on my computer..... editing, and editing!

It is about time!

2011-04-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hello Spring.....it's me, Jolene.

So glad that you are here.

Next time don't take so long.

SPRING

I bought these Gerber daises at Sam's. Best $8 I ever spent!

Caleb's Baptism

2011-04-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

It was so nice to see our family for this special occasion. Caleb felt so loved! His baptism day went really smooth. We played the video and Hannah gave a great talk on baptism. Kurtis baptized Caleb and all went well, no feet popped up or anything. It was perfect. We could not be happier parents!

Caleb wanted to go eat at all you can eat pizza after the baptism. Everyone ate until we wanted to burst!

Here is the program I designed. I love the way it turned out!
Front and back:

Inside:

For my birthday boy

2011-04-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

I know that I have been slow to get these posted. I have finally gotten around to looking at them! Caleb had such a fun birthday. He partied all day long!

It is tridtion in out house for the birthday kiddo to wake up to a birthday poster on their door and balloons. I had fun drawing Caleb's...can you tell? He loved it! He asked for pancakes for breakfast. There were so yummy. I love birthdays!

I brought cupcakes for Caleb's class and then surprised him and took him to lunch and his favorite restaurant, Jimmy Johns. (gotta love the food in his mouth!) He has been known to eat 2 whole sandwiches!! The boy can pound those things!

That night we had a party at Chuck E Cheese. It was really fun for the kids.....as for Kurtis and I.....we may not ever do it again. :) (At least until I get talked into it for the next birthday!)

I make Caleb "better than......uh birthday cake" birthday cake. It was so good! Don't judge me by my cake decorating skills please!! Caleb loved it, and that is all that matters, right?!

Caleb had a really good birthday. He got so many phone calls, cards and gifts from family members and friends. We are blessed to have so many people love our family! Thanks to all of you who sent cards in the mail. He felt really special.

I asked Caleb to hold up his favorite gift. Of course it was the nerf gun. Ever since he got that thing we have been playing a game called "deer". It is where the kids run all over the house(like deer) and I try to shoot them! They get points if I miss and I get points if I hit them! It is so much fun!!!

I am a proud mama. He is such a good boy! I love you Caleb!!!

When it comes down to it

2011-03-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this hat. The day that I got it I took these pictures of Porter. He, at first, did not love the idea of having a hat on, but in the end (with lots of treats and help from my mom) we made it work!

Porter has a pretty cute fake cry, love that he covers his mouth. I am such a mean mom!

My mom and my little brother came down for Caleb's baptism. It was so nice to have them here for a few days. I did not seem like long enough. I am always sad to see them leave.

My mom and I had tons of fun shopping, laughing and chatting. I love her!!

I will always treasure these pictures that we got of Porter and her together. As a child I remember my mom always reading to us no matter how late it was or how many long Berenstain Bears books we picked. It is one of my fondest childhood memories. I now love to see her reading books to my kids.

Hannah loved the fact that she got to dress up grandma. Grandma had just as much fun as Hannah did! Love her laughing in the first picture!

My little brother Jayden and the kiddos. They had a lot of fun together. We miss you!!

The diffence a day makes.

2011-03-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

Has any one seen my baby?
.....because I seemed to miss placed mine.

I don't know where the years have gone. My baby is the big 8 years old today. sigh I can remember every detail about Caleb's birth. Maybe that is why it does not seem like that long ago or maybe because he was our first. Whatever the reasoning behind it, I am just glad that his is ours, forever.

There are few things that you should know about Caleb.

He has a very kind heart and is often the peace keeper in our home. (which can be a daunting task because of a certain someone....not going to name names now.)

(this is his announcement for his baptism)

Caleb can do without a photo shoot, and most of the time does. He did, however consent to this one. I am thankful he did, he is so handsome in his new suit!

He can eat an entire pizza by himself. Don't let those skinny little legs fool you!

Caleb still gets excited when he gets a new lego set. He will open it up right then and there to build it.

Command and Conquer......need I say more. (It is embarrassing really how much he likes this game.)

He is a reader. He will stay up at all hours of the night reading AND reading. Until I have to march up stairs and tell him to please turn off his light.

Caleb is getting baptized. For some reason this makes me feel old.

We love you so much Caleb and are so happy that you chose to come to our family. Happy Birthday!!!

This is the video that I made for his baptism.

mine.

2011-03-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

I LOVE using natural light. It is just beautiful! I can't wait to start shooting outside! Hannah was getting dressed after a shoot and her skin was just glowing! I could not resist this little beauty! She is one sassy little thing, but looking at this picture you would never be able to tell.

How would it be?

2011-03-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hannah has always begged and pleaded for a sister, to state the obvious I have never been able to give her one. Well, I recently found out what it would be like to have another girl. Our dear friend Caroline came over to stay for a few days and we had so much fun playing. Of course what would a 3 day play date be without a photo session. I bought the girls matching outfits.....yes, yes I did....and I loved it!! They were SO cute!! They went around telling everyone that they were twins. (sorry I got a little of course there) We did a lot together and she made even cleaning "their" room more fun. These two little sweethearts will forever be sisters!

Caroline's mama makes all these adorable outfits. They are to die for!! More from this sessions to come on my photo blog.

the boy

2011-03-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

He gets into EVERYTHING!!! Today I was upstairs for not more than 5 minutes and when I came back down I was horrified! He had unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper all over the house! This little guy is cute but a very curious little sinker!! He also loves to play with little things, like money, Hannah's snap beads, Hannah's sqinkies, balls, come to think of it, pretty much anything that is Hannah's. :)

Porter is almost 16 months and has 6 teeth, fast feet and long soft hair,(which I love!) He is a rock star! ( I got this shirt at the Gap on clearance and fell in love with it.)

Caleb and Porter are such cute little friends. Caleb always says, "Why does Porter have to take a nap, it is more fun when he is awake!" Love. Happy. Content.

The new Chief Resident

2011-03-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

Kurtis was named the new Dermatology Chief Resident! It is big news at our house! We are so proud of our daddy! We love you!!

We are in love with Hannah's new style of make-up. :) What do you think? ( I could not decide what picture I liked better...black and white or color, so I posted both!)

Yesterday

2011-02-25T09:11:00.000-08:00

I have become so busy with shoots lately that I have not had time to take pictures of my kids just being kids. So this is what happened in our house yesterday. Nothing exciting, just a lot of playing, goofing off, and crafting.

Hannah crafts, draws & colors 90% of the day. She loves it. She has been wanting to learn how to sew, so off to Hobby Lobby we went to get this little sewing kit. This is how far she got before giving up for the day. :)

Porter's favorite game is to throw anything down the stairs or between the railing. Yesterday it was this foam arrow. Most throws landed straight up! Hannah thought it was just amazing! 30 minuets later....he finally came down the stairs.

Caleb has been telling me all about this "fish" they were making at school. He finally brought it home and it was so cool! I love all the detail he put into it. It makes me want to join his art class! Good job buddy!!

Caleb has been playing basketball for a few weeks now and has been playing in his gross school shoes. I finally took pity on the kid and took him to get a fancy pair of b-ball shoes. He has been running, jumping, and skipping around the house in them for the past two days.

Playing peek-a-boo behind my backdrop.

Poster LOVES playing my my studio. He thinks it is his playground. I had a newborn shoot yesterday, so I had a few things set up. He climbed up in the beanbag and just sat there all proud. How could I not snap a few pictures. He is such a ham!

Thank goodness Hannah is so cute, because she has been a real stinker lately.

So there you have it, our day...not exciting but lively enough for me.

As for me, I have had so many new photography adventures. I have been hired for 3 weddings this spring! I am very excited and nervous all at the same time. I also have been working on setting up a mini shoot for Easter. All these things plus my daily work keep my head swimming. Each night I die for an hour or 2 on the couch. I am so thankful for such a good husband who loves and takes care of me when I am in crazy town!

Kurtis has been working hard at work and taking on a lot of moonlighting shifts. He is also looking around for Derm jobs. Yes, it is almost that time! Wahoooo!! Kurtis has built shelves down in our basement, ripped out our hideous rose colored bathroom and replaces the vanity, sink, and toilet. (all of which were PINK!) He is also kept busy with his church calling. Between all this he still finds time to take our family out for dinner, play with the kids, and take me to the movies!

It's a love thing

2011-02-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

I know that I am late in posting these but I just had to anyway! My kids (me) worked really hard on their Valentine's this year. It was fun to see the out come and Caleb got a lot of "cool" s for his! Kurtis was kind enough to buy me flowers. Sadly, I never snapped a picture of them! I hate when I do that! It was nice day over all. Caleb was sick and had to miss school, poor boy. He was sad. Thankfully (after passing it around the whole family) we are all feeling a little better.

Presidents Day

2011-02-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

My sweet little Hannah was sitting in group time in preschool on Friday. They were talking about Presidents Day.
Teacher: Who can name a President of the United States?
Hannah confidently raises her hand....
Teacher: Yes, Hannah?
Hannah: President Tomas S. Monson.
Teacher: No.....
Hannah totally confused...

Hannah came home and told me this story and then said, "Mom, I WAS right, huh!"

Love this girl, love her innocence, love her everything.

Happy {HEART} Day!!!

2011-02-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

My kids love each and every holiday and I have to admit that I get just as excited! I remember just LOVING Valentine's Day at school! It just makes you feel so special! I had to get some sweet shoots of my kiddos. This shot did not last longer than a half hour, but I think that it work out just fine. I could not decide what pictures to post, so I posted all of them. :)

Family Pictures

2011-02-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

When we went home for Christmas vacation we had to get a family picture. It was harder then I thought it would be to set the timer on the camera and run into the picture! But it was worth it none the less. I love my cute family and am so happy we were able to visit!

The kiddos with their uncle Jayden. Yes, he is 8 years old and such a cute little boy. Last year Caleb told his teacher that he went to visit his uncle who was 8. She did not believe him and told him that he was confused. It was so funny how determined he was to prove her wrong. He took a picture in the next day! :)

My brothers and I. I am the oldest, but not the tallest!

Master piece in the works.

2011-01-31T21:05:00.000-08:00

Who new my little man would love to color as much as he does. It is so cute!

sigh

He climbed up on a container to get up to the table.

Hannah helped him pick a few crayons and he went to work.

The finished product. L.O.V.E

Pigeon Pete

2011-01-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

Meet Pigeon Pete.
He came to our house for a visit.
Hannah was so ecstatic.
She has been waiting and waiting......
She wanted to give him his own personal photo shoot.
All the props, poses created by her.
She could not be happier.
Pete follows Hannah everywhere.
He wants to do everything that she does.
Pete has to go back to school tomorrow.
She is already sad about it.

When there is nothing else to do....

2011-01-24T09:34:00.000-08:00

We have been trapped inside our house for way to long. My kids are sick of the snow and the cold and have asked me one too many times when spring is going to be here. Hannah asked me today if Valentine's Day is in the spring. She cryed when I told her no. I feel the same way. So to make the best of the cold and the snow we decided to play with water and food dye. The kids had fun mixing the colors (getting it everywhere) in containers and muffin tin. We then put it outside and waited until it froze. Once it froze we popped the ice out and made ice towers with them. It was fun and gave the kids something to do outside.
Happy long winter everyone!!

Hannah "kissed" the metal on the trampoline and ripped half of her lips off. It was horrible. She came running in with a mouth full of blood! I had no idea what happened until about a half hour later when she stopped crying. We then had a long talk about not putting your mouth, lips, tongue, and what ever else she can think of on cold metal. I don't think that she will do that again. Poor girl. You can tell how painful it was for her to smile.

This picture has nothing to do with snow, and it is really kinda creeping looking, but I had to post it!! I found these nail stickers at Walmart the other day and just fell in love! They are not hard to put on and you don't have to do any painting!! I have had mine on for 2 weeks and they still look great. So if you are brave enough to go to Walmart then pick up some of these! They have tons of other patterns. I have zebra print on my toes!

it is still winter?!

2011-01-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

I know that I am going to have hard time with these next (long) winter months. I always have hated the snow, cold, ice, bitter wind, and freezing temps, but it seems this year it has really gotten to me. I can truthfully say that I loathe the winter months. I am ready to go swimming, ride bikes, blow bubbles and play with sidewalk chalk. Summer come save me from this winter insanity!
To say the least my kids relatively like the snow, but lately it has been too cold to play outside. The snow here is not fun to play in because it is mostly made up of layers of fluff and ice. So I thought that we would bring it inside and build little snowmen. It was really fun and my kids got their creative juices flowing!

We used glitter glue, colored water in a spray bottle (my kids fav winter tradition!) melty beads, baby carrots, and colored Popsicle sticks. Now we wake up to these little guys staring though the window at us every morning!

{New}

2011-01-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

I often think of January as fresh start, breath of fresh air, new. I have a new look on life. I want to start on this new crisp white piece of paper, I am ready to paint a beautiful picture. I looked around my house, I looked at my family, I looked at myself and asked, what do I want to do this year? How can I make things better....new again? I thought that I would start with my house. It was calling for help under loads of clutter. I started to gather things here and there, and soon I had a mountain of things sitting in the middle of my floor. I made up my mind that I would not be sad or angry with myself, but happy that I was bettering our house. And by doing so, bettering me and my family. We took loads to the Salvation Army and to the dump. Ahhhhh! It was so refreshing. I was surprised how much better I felt and I was only half done!

My newly organized closet. I still have a lot of cleaning out to do.

Next, I wanted a change..... I have wanted to get some crazy red highlights for a year now and have never been brave enough to just do it! Well I did..... I {heart} them!!!

My new walker..... It is a whole new world for my little guy! The problem that he has "run into" is that everything sharp and pointy is right at eye level! He met our bedside table.(each day it seem to get more purple!)

New phone/data plan/book/ect
Kurtis has been in love with some sort of hand held device since I met him. He has entered into the Droid world, and he is more than loving it! We have yet to talk about his goal for the year. :)

Hannah....

Hannah has found a new love for Ballet. It is so fun to watch her learn a new thing and just run with it. The other day we bought her NEW ballet shoes.....she calls them her "real" ballet shoes.

Me: Hannah what is your goal this year?

Her: To be a singer on the radio and get rich.

What's yours mommy?

Me: To be always patient and organized.

Her: ..... that's a weird goal.

New Facial Expression.

I know... this face... she is our clown! She will often call someones name and you will turn around to look at her and she will be making this face.... I just can't help but laugh every time she does it! You know you are laughing too. :)

Newly discovered artist!

Caleb's goal for this year is to become a better artist and to get a 3 on his report card for handwriting.

Caleb really does not like coloring or putting in any effort into his hardwritting. He reminds me so much of Kurtis, no time for the "girlish" stuff when there is so much to learn. He loves math, reading, science and history. Art is at the bottom of this list. :)

This picture blew me away. He usually does not take the time to color every inch of his paper.

I love it.

Can you tell I’m still in the optimistic stage? I am and I’m excited… Excited for endless possibilities and thrilled (and yet secretly slightly disheartened) to know that the only thing that could frustrate my resolve is me. But for right now I am doing all I can to at least start, thinking...doing. I love this quote that I found on my friends blog and I thought that it explaned what I want this year.

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day."

Happy New Year!!

For the beauty of the Earth

2011-01-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

While at the cabin in Island Park, Idaho I went out to play with my Christmas present! I got a 35mm prime lens. It has the most beautiful depth of field! F1.8!!! I am in heaven! I love it to pieces! Here are some pictures I snapped.

One day early

2011-01-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

That is right, our family was just that special! Santa came a day early to our house. We made a special request to the big man and he came though! The kids were so excited! We spent all morning opening presents, eating butterscotch rolls, and playing with our new toys.
This year we bit the bullet and bought a xbox 360 with the kinect. It turned out to be the best deal of the year. We managed to get it for a fantastic price, which made it a little easier on our wallets. The kids (Caleb) about fell over! It was so fun to see their faces.
The next day (Christmas) we flew out of Rochester to Salt Lake. We then drove to Twin Falls to see my family. It was SO much fun to see everyone. I had a blast with my mom. We shopped, crafted, watched movies, played games, ate yummy food (Cafe Rio!!!), and just plain chatted! We even managed to get a family picture! After a few days in Twin we drove to the Reed Cabin in Island Park. They had a ton of snow and it was freezing...... not really my cup of tea, but we still had fun! There was a lot of snowmobiling and game nights, and yes, lots of junk food! After two days there we drove to Idaho Falls and spent time with the rest of the family. More food, more games and more chatting! (I came home feeling like a cow.) We managed to get home at midnight Sunday night.
Long Story: We got to Salt Lake to find that our fight had been delayed. We then knew that we were going to miss our connection. Which happened to be the last fight of the night. Once we got to MN we had to race across the whole Minneapolis airport to catch our connection and it truly was a miracle that we made it. Thanks to a really nice employee who drove us in his speedy little car and then carried ALL of our bags while I pushed all our kids is a wheelchair to the entrance. Once we got on the plane it stood in line to be de-iced for a HOUR!!! We finally took off and landed in Rochester 15 minuets later. (We could have walked home faster!) It was one crazy long night. We were happy to get tucked into our beds when we got home! Here are some pictures from our trip! (I am sad that I don't have more) Thanks to all our family for traveling, cooking, planning, and hosting us. We had so much fun with all of you!!!

Porter eating Santa's left over cookies.

While looking up these pictures I found pictures from Kurtis's phone! I am so happy!

On the plane!! Hannah was so excited!

When we went to bed one night we discovered that the cat decided to cuddle up on Porters legs.... we all had a good laugh!

Gwen and Porter

Derek, Kurtis, Christi

My man....need I say more?! (whenever I ride in this stance I feel like a complete idiot, how come he looks so good?!)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas

and a very happy new year!!

Hannah always though she was a princess

2010-12-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hannah was so excited when I told her this idea of "The Princess and the Pea". She could not wait for her turn to get on this huge stack of mattresses. When the time finally rolled around (after what she thought was the LONGEST photo shoot) she could not hold still. She loved every second of this shoot. And it made it even better when her friend Caroline showed up! Angela and I had so much fun thinking about this photo shot and she was kind enough to let me barrow her large stack of hand made (by her!!) quilts. It really made the picture.
Here are a few from the shoot.

medium List

2010-12-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

Hannah as been so concerned about the naughty and nice list. The other day I asked her what list she thought that she was on. She told me that she was probably on the "medium list" because she is not good all the time. I tired really hard not to laugh, because she was very serious about it. Come Christmas we will see what she gets.....a big chunk of coal ( I found some at Walmart!!) or a strawberry short cake set. What will it be?!

On to other good things...... Hannah got a rock tumbler for her birthday from her Uncle Jacob and Aunt Robin. Little did we know that it takes 4 WEEKS for complete the "tumbling"!! After about 14 days of listening to the rocks tumble, tumble, tumble..... (there was a lot of tumbling) Hannah decided that she had enough waiting. We took the rocks out and rinsed them and this is what they look like!! They are so pretty and Hannah absolutely thought that it was worth the wait. She has been busy making necklaces and rings for friends and family for Christmas. She is in rock heaven!!

(wish I got a picture of the "before")

I got out my tri-pod the other night and took some pictures of our tree ornaments. I know that you were really wondering what was on my tree this year! ;)

Do you think he likes candy?

2010-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

This little guy loves to give hugs, and he is so fun to hug, especially when he is in his fuzzy pjs! His cheeks in the last picture just kill me!!

20+ inches of Snow!!!

2010-12-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

Really need I say more?! I can't believe it! Church was even canceled, and the snow plows were taken off the roads because of the wind and and snow conditions. I might not make it one more day stuck in the house with my kids! I juts might go crazy!!!

Here is our back yard, notice how deep the snow is around our trampoline!

The view from our front door. Now that is a big drift!

It was a lot of work to dig out our drive way. You can see how much snow we got by looking at how high it is on Kurtis. That is after 3 shovelings(and a wonderful neighbor with a snow blower)!

I dug out some snow pants from our winter box for Porter. They were perfect! He was dying to go outside. Porter did not stay outside for long, because all though it looks warm out it was freezing!!! The high was 2 degrees!

My litte guy was so happy to be out of the house. I love his smile. His whole body gets happy!

I had to add this last picture of Caleb because it is so funny! Caleb loves to be outside working along side Kurtis. I love how he wears his ski goggles. I love that his front teeth are going in. I love this happy boy.

( I was just informed by my dear husband that school has been canceled tomorrow..... HELP!!)

A lot of snow

2010-12-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

When it snows here is really SNOWS!! We got dumped on a few nights ago and tonight we are supose to get 6-10 more inches!! My kids are exploding with excitement, me I am dreading it! Why you ask?
Now let me educate you on on a MN winter:

1. the snow WILL NOT melt until at least march....yes, you are allowed to cry with me.
2. a lot of the time it rain/hails then snows.... we are talking a lot of ice, everywhere.
3. the snow is no fun to play in because the snow is in layers of ice, snow, ice, snow (you get my point)
4. you step outside and your lungs feel like they are going to expolde, due to the -40 degree windchill
5. ... need i say more?! It is dang COLD!!

My two older kids have braved the cold, fluffy-non mold-able-snow, and ice for the past few days. I could not help but take a few pictures of them all bundled up. Porter also experienced the snow first hand. He put his little hand right in it. Poor guy, did not know what he was getting into!

This is what our fire place normally looks like. Notice the Binky at the end, Porters contribution.

My Christmas advent calender

2010-12-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

My sisters-in-laws found a great pattern for this advent calender. It took me forever to get it done, but I did it, the day before December! I love the way it turned out, love everything down to the little brown pom-pom! Here is the pattern if you want to make it for next year. (We changed the pattern just a bit, but the ornaments are so fun and easy patterns.)

I cut this "days till Christmas" out of felt and it took forever!!! Will never do that again! I do like the way that it turned out. I made this pocket for all the stories that goes with each ornament.

The finished product!

Always behind

2010-12-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

never ahead!

We had such a fun Thanksgiving. We are lucky enough to have family close by to spend the holiday's with. After 5 years going without on most holidays, it is nice to have some family to share it with! We traveled to the cities to spend Thanksgiving with my brother Jacob and sister-in-law Robin. She cooked a yummy meal, and with just a little help from we put on a beautiful dinner. The kids had fun playing hide and go seek, soccer in their unfinished basement, and xbox. The adults had fun chatting, eating, and playing games. And of course what would Thanksgiving be without Black Friday!!! The best day of the year!!! Robin and I had a blast shopping, stealing some great finds and getting a little lost!! (wink, wink) All I can say that it is worth getting ALL your Christmas shopping done in one day! (I get all excited just thinking about it!)

We also had Tangled birthday cake for Hannah's birthday! I had fun making it and Hannah about died when she saw it!

My 5 year old - Hannah

2010-11-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hannah likes the smell of:: yummy soap, princess body wash, cookies in the oven, and flowers

Hannah likes the taste of:: cookies, muffins, brownies, lemons, meatballs, and soda

Hannah likes the sight of:: butterflies, Christmas trees, stars, crayons, snow, animals, grandma on the computer and glitter.

Hannah likes to hear:: bee's buzzing, the oven, Taylor Swift, birds and mommy reading
Hannah likes the feel of:: fur, blankets, warm fire, kittens, and grass.

Hannah had a great birthday. We went to my brother and sister in laws house and had a party. We ate a Tangled birthday cake. And saw the movie Tangled. I was a great birthday. Hannah can't get over the fact how big she is now. 5 years old.....a whole new world. Not a toddler any more, a big girl. We love you Hannah. xoxox

one FANCY birthday party!

2010-11-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

It is nearly impossible to not fall in love with the wonderfully written Fancy Nancy series, and after reading it you may find it hard to resist the urge to add a little more extravagance to your life. For Hannah's 5th Birthday Party we decided that the most spectacular way to celebrate was dolling up and going Fancy Nancy Style.

Our party consisted of a lot of fuchsia (a fancy word for purple) and exquisite (a fancy word for fancy) ensembles. I had so much fun planning for her party. We picked out lots of pink and purple Ribbon, Streamers, balloons, flowers, fingernail polish, fancy food and Pink Cupcakes. As all our little Fancy Nancy's arrived we decorated party bags with sparely stickers and markers. Next we went to Charm School, where they learned to curtsy, to walk with proper posture with books on their heads, to drink with their pinkie fingers lifted and learned some fancy vocabulary and French words. Then we escorted them into the Ooh La La Salon for their glitter hair, sparkly eyes, finger nail polish and lip gloss. And of course you can't go to a tea party with out Accessories!! They all got long gloves, mini tiaras and necklaces, so Posh! Then the girls were escorted to the pink and fuchsia tea party! They were all dolled up and we enjoyed a very fancy luncheon of flower and bunny shaped sandwiches, fruit and yogurt Parfaits with fancy umbrellas, carrots and olives with frilly toothpicks. We served hot apple cider as our "tea". I purchased all different tea cups at Savers for 49 cents. Each girl got to take theirs home with them. They felt very special! The kids loved it...especially Hannah!! We ate fancy Pink Cupcakes topped with Tiara's. We opened presents and it was already time to go home! All of the moms were nice and let them play the last game, pin the jewel on the Tiara. We covered their eyes with a pink boa! Hannah is still playing it today! I don't think it could have gone any better....the girls all left wanting more, loaded up with their Fancy Accessories and a Fancy Nancy Coloring pages.

It was a success and we has so much fun doing it!

One of the girls found these cute photo props that I just made! I think that it is so funny that half of the girls chose the mustache! I love this picture! (now you can see how small my little studio is! They did not all fit! Oh well! :)

We celebrate Hannah's real birthday on the 24th. We are going to see Tangled and go to Mall of America! Isn't it fun being a girl!

more than the world

2010-11-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

I feel so blessed to have these 3 little people in my life. I love them more than anything in this world.

I took these pictures just in time. It snow the next day.

I don't know how it happened!

2010-11-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

We have a one year old!! Ahhhhh! I can't believe how fast that year went by. That first year of life is hard and so amazing all at the same time. We don't know what we would do without this little guy. He loves to smile, laugh, and ANY kind of ball. (hours of entertainment contained in one bouncy ball! A mothers dream!)

We love you Porter!!

your my buddy....right?

2010-11-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Halloween this year was very different. We did not go out with a lot a of friends or have any parties. It was just the us. We has just gotten home from our cruise so I had not planned anything. We just trick-or-treated and had fun, cold fun. :) We did carve pumpkins and eat caramel apple. As you can tell Porter really liked both!

One year baby boy

2010-11-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that the year has gone by so fast. It seem like he as always been here. Love this boy. He is so happy and has such a sweet smile. He loves to play with any kind of ball. He bounces them around for most of the day. I think that we have a spots fan on our hands! Love you Porter! xoxoxo

I thought that I would share this video/sideshow that I made for his one year old birthday. You will need a Kleenex! (This song has become my new thyme song. Can you ever get enough Taylor Swift?)

It was hard to leave paradice

2010-11-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

We had SO much fun on our cruise to the Bahamas! I am dying to go back!
It was beautiful......

Halloween decor

2010-10-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

I was not to excited to set up my Halloween stuff this year. So I decided to do it a little different. I bought some candy and put it in vases that I already had. Then the kids and I made up names for each one. The kids had a blast making them up! My favorite is "witch toes!" I places the jars on a tray that I already had from Target and then just added a plant and a candle opera from Targets dollar section. This turned out to be a great table decoration and the kids (and Kurtis) love to snack from it.

This year Hannah wanted to be another princess. So I talked her into being Rapunzel. We made her hair out of yarn and a headband. Really simple and so cute! I was going to make her dress, but then decided that I was crazy. I did find this dress at Savers for 10 bucks, which I thought was decent. Hannah loves her long hair and loves to pretend that Caleb is her prince. She loves to see Caleb get all embarrassed by it! I still need to take Caleb and Porter out to get some pictures of their costumes!

Patience

2010-10-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

This video brought tears to my eyes. I have been having a hard time with patience lately. I feel like I am always waiting....waiting (which is hard for a person like me, who likes instant gratification)

This video brings comfort to me. I am so thankful for these inspired men that bring us these true to life lesson and heartfelt messages from our Heavenly Father.

All Porter!

2010-10-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

You love to walk with help

You want to eat everything in sight (food and dirt)

You love every kind of ball

You love playing with your brother and sister

You get a kick out of really silly things

You are 22 pounds

You love your mama

You can say "da da"

Perfect light

2010-09-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

You know when you get that gut feeling that winter is coming...even though you look out your window and the sun is shining? Well, I have had that feeling for the past week. I have been trying not to hyperventilate. It hurts my heart. I hate, hate, hate the cold. I have begged Kurtis for years to get me away from these horrid Minnesota winters. Yet, here we are. This will be our 5th winter here and it is already 5 to many.

So since I am on the count down until winter I thought that I better get out and take some pictures for Porter's One year...yes, I said it, he is going to be one!!! Now that is spooky! :)

I took this picture today and just could not wait to post. So here is a peek into his shoot!

I am seriously in love with this kid!

just because

2010-09-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

I found these pictures that I took a while ago. I got so bust with other pictures and shoots that I did not finish my kiddos shoot! Here are a few, they were so cute I could not help but post them!

What a charmer!!! I love this girl. She started ballet this fall and just loves it. She is taking it with a good friend, which makes it even more fun!!
Today we got the Friend Magazine in the mail. Hannah took it and sat at the table to look though it. I was busy talking to Kurtis and making dinner, when she asked me for a piece of paper. This is no uncommin request, she makes about 5-10 pictures a day. She LOVES to color and draw. Anyway.. the next thing I knew she was looking at the art in the friend and was trying to draw the pictures in the magazine! She really has quite the talent. She is my girl alright!

She calls me stinky ravioli (who knows why!) and Kurtis poppy seed. She is the family comedian.

Holiday Family Sessions

2010-09-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Sessions times: 10am and 5pm

Dates and times are filling fast. So don't wait!! (If these times or days don't work for your family, let me know and we can work something out.)

Contact me to make your appointment. jobows at gmail dot com

My baby...

2010-09-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

is playing TACKLE football!! I can't believe that they let them play so young here. It is just plan crazy! Kurtis was counting down the days that his boy would be playing football. Well, it has finally come. He had his first game on Saturday. Caleb had a lot of fun. He was a little timid at first, but then got into it at the end. I think that his favorite part is that his dad is his coach.

Caleb is #33 which was the same number as his Uncle Derek. He just could not stop smiling when I told him this. He thinks that he has the strength of two men now! ;)

(There is a reason why I am not a spots photographer!)

The game was right in the middle of Porter's nap. Poor guy was just so sleepy. Notice the small brooms that he has for eyelashes!

Your a genius!

2010-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Most of our dinner table conversations revolve around different episodes of Phinies and Ferb. (This ridiculously cute cartoon that the kids have LOVED watching this summer.) I do have to say that I even find it quite funny. They enjoy quoting certain lines from the cartoon, which usually results in a very long story of where and what episode it came from. Their favorite quote this week as been,
"Your a GENIUS!"
I really don't mind this one because being called a genius all the time can really boost the ol' self esteem! So come on over when your feeling a little unwanted and looked over, my kids are sure to toss this great quote your way! :)

AND since this was the first week back to school I found my topic to be right on track. My sweet Caleb has started 2nd grade. He is already loving his teacher and having so much fun doing math. (not my favorite subject, so I try hard not to be surprised when he asks to do math problems!) He as an astounding 32 kids in his class. Kurtis and I are not too happy about this fact, but can't really do anything about it. Thankfully Caleb is a pleasant kid to have in class.
Some pictures of the first and second day of school. (Caleb woke up at the crack of dawn every day this summer, so of course the first day that he has to wake up early, I had to shake him awake at 8am!!)

Hannah is going to her second year of preschool. She LOVES school. Her favorite subject is art (a girl after my own heart!). One of her teachers is our neighbor and are the same teachers that Caleb had when he went to preschool. Her teacher is also going to take care of the kids when we go on our cruise. Hannah is beside her self excited about this!
The night before school we set out her clothes and she was so giggly and happy. I love me sweet girl!