sports season

has begun here!
riley's in soccer...


i love his hair flowing in the breeze here... lol


and violet's in softball! she did great at her first game, even getting a base hit!



her face when she hits the ball just cracks me right up ;)



this of course means that my schedule consists of: picking up kids from school, driving them to practice, going to another practice and/or game, finding some sort of time for dinner, getting homework done in the car or while riley practices, and trying to get to bed at a decent hour. repeat almost daily.

but i tell you what, these kids sure are fun to watch!

New York, New York

it's a helluva town...


my favorite photo :)


waiting for the train to take us in to the city... we totally weren't supposed to be able to go, but circumstances allowed us to get here. We got a ride from some locals to the train station and got there just in time to get a train to Penn Station...


We decided to chance it - and with 15 minutes to showtime, we took a cab to Broadway to see what show we could get in to...


And with just 3 minutes to spare we ended up at the Minskoff Theater to see The Lion King!!! AAAAAAAAAH!!! It was incredible. Amazing. I cried the entire first act. I think it was the combination adrenaline, being in NYC, and the beautiful production! WOW.


At intermission it really sunk in - we were looking right onto TIMES SQUARE!!!!


Afterward, we went into this little deli and had THE MOST AMAZING GYROS EVER. Mary was especially enamored of them ;)


And Lisa could *not* get enough of the street vendors selling purses. Yes. She bought all of these. Five dollars each. :)


And at the end of the night, I successfully hailed us a cab to go back to the train station!

It may have been just six hours on a Friday night in New York City, but I will never forget it!

Off to New York...

for my first trip there ever! I am so excited I can hardly stand it!
Technically I am just going to Long Island (for a scrap convention), but there is a chance we'll get to go into the city for a bit! Oh I hope so!!!

I'll be back Sunday... hopefully with photos! :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good:

WE CAN NOW PARK TWO CARS IN OUR GARAGE!!!!
We got rid of God-knows-how-much-crap we've been hoarding since our move. Dumb stuff we've been hanging onto for who-knows-why. The front of our house has 6 LARGE boxes filled with trash, as well as our rolling trash bin and another trash can. Aaaaah. Feels so good to purge!

The Bad:

Titus is still teething. Every time we leave him for a moment, he finds something new to chew on. At least it's keeping us on our toes as far as cleaning goes - anything left out is fare game to become a puppy teething ring. And that can be bad when it's an old photo of your hubby.

The Ugly:

Looking through all my business licensing paperwork, it seems as though I will have to go back (insert pukey emoticon here) and change an aspect of them. Currently I have a license to do photography ONLY. No selling of photos (just found that clause buried under some Nevada Revised Statute paperwork they handed me), so if I want to do more than offer a CD of my clients' images, I will have to get the "selling" portion of my license added. I think that's another $150 or so. Right now I think I will be okay with what I have... but I was hoping to be able to offer my clients the option of getting their Christmas cards and other photo-related gifts from me. Hopefully it won't be a mega-hassle. But since I've been there before, I am sure it will be ugly.

Start your own business in 44 EASY steps!

1. Print out all the forms off the Internet
2. Fill them out
3. Reprint the one you filled out wrong and fill it in again
4. Look around the house till you find your checkbook in a random drawer
5. Head down to the Department of Taxation
6. Take a number
7. Wait about 2 hours
8. Finally get called up to the counter
9. Find out you were supposed to have applied for a "fictitious firm name" with the county first.
10. Thank the lady behind the counter for letting it go this time
11. Fill out a new form since the one you already did twice was still wrong
12. Receive completed tax form
13. Drive to the county offices
14. Thank Jesus that there is no wait
15. Fill out forms to establish business name "Speckled Bird Art"
16. Pay the lady $22
17. Receive completed form
18. Drive to the city offices
19. Get lost looking for City Hall
20. Scrounge through the car for enough loose change to feed the parking meter
21. Get to the Business Licensing division offices
22. Take a number
23. Get called up to the counter
24. Show the lady the forms
25. Find out you first need to go the the Planning Division for a permit for home occupancy
26. Get directions to the office
27. Leave City Hall and drive to planning division
28. Take a number
29. Get called to the counter
30. Receive completed form
31. Drive back to city hall
32. Rejoice when no one has taken your parking space so you still have 40 minutes on your meter!
33. Go back to the Business Licensing office
34. Take another number
35. Get called up to the counter again
36. Find out you also filled those forms out wrong
37. Re-fill out the forms after nice lady whites out the entire section you screwed up
38. Receive paperwork and bill for $280
39. Write check to the city
40. Find out you have to go upstairs to the 6th floor to pay the check.
41. Take the elevator upstairs
42. Wait in line for your turn to pay
43. Pay the city and get a receipt
44. Wait one week for the Official Business License arrives at your home!