December recap... so far

Without further ado.... the photos!


Right when we walked in the park we got to meet Goofy!


We went to the Town Hall to tell them we were there for Riley's birthday... and they told Riley he had a phone call! When Riley picked up the phone, GOOFY was there, wishing him a happy birthday!! He was so excited!


Violet and I *rocked* the teacups!


On Tom Sawyer's island... ;)


Violet wanted to be the photographer too :)


We did breakfast with Minnie and friends! Always so much fun :)


At California Adventure, Violet got to be a part of the High School Musical pep rally!


The ferris wheel was so much fun - we opted for a "non-swinging" bucket and had a wonderful view! Riley loved anything that involved the feeling of flying, including this ride and "Soarin' Over California." (he was *exactly* 40 inches tall... just perfect to ride nearly everything!)


Violet on the Mulholland Madness ride with Max Boardman... this girl *loves* roller coasters. She rode this particular one tons of times, and we even rode on California Screamin! She loved it... in fact, as soon as the ride was over, she yelled, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!" We got her a rollercoaster pin for her stocking, since this was definitely the Year of the Rollercoaster for Violet!


And the coolest moment - Riley got selected to be part of the Jedi Training Academy!


He got a robe and a light saber and learned the ways of the Jedi...


Always use The Force for defense and protection!


Then, suddenly, STORM TROOPERS CAME RUSHING IN!!!


The Jedi moved all the kids over to the side and the stage lifted up with smoke and music - and OUT CAME DARTH VADER AND DARTH MAUL!!! They were trying to woo the Younglings to the Dark Side!


Darth Vader asked Riley to join the Dark Side, but he said NO!


Riley stood his ground, and with the help of his Jedi Master teacher, defended himself against Darth Vader's attacks!


In a few short moves, Riley DEFEATED Darth Vader! Then Riley was awarded with a certificate saying he has graduated from Jedi Academy as a Padawan! To commemorate the occasion, he got a special pin for his stocking - Jedi Mickey :)


The best part about doing Disneyland for 3 days? We got to do all sorts of random stuff we never did before - like the Davy Crockett Canoes! Woohoo!! :)

This trip to Disneyland was really wonderful and magical and fantastic. We really had a fabulous time together as a family. And it will only get better! Now that Riley can go on almost every ride, we really get to experience Disneyland on a whole new level :)

Of course, there's been more to December than Disneyland! I've been photo shooting like a crazy woman. One recent one included a visit with Mr. Kringle himself... I got to spend some time with him and tell him all the kids wanted for Christmas. He said he would do his best, and that the kids will definitely have a special Christmas gift from him this year :)


And just last week, it SNOWED in Las Vegas. But not our side of town, alas. So instead, the kids and I headed up to the mountains for some snowman building. Tomorrow we're heading back up there to do some sledding :)


I am sure I won't be updating this before Christmas, so I will see you next week with all our happy Christmas photos. Until then, have a wonderful, safe holiday! And I promise to be a better blogger for the new year :)

I know

I owe everyone Disneyland pics, but I have been crazy busy working on clients' photos & haven't had time to pull the snapshots off the camera we took to Disneyland. Rest assured, they are coming, I promise!!

I did want to share a milestone from today, though... cause no one will believe me unless they saw it. I cut my son's hair.





Now hopefully no one will mistake him for a girl anymore!!!!

Happy, Happier, Happiest!

I LOVE DISNEYLAND!!!

We had so much fun...
Riley is *exactly* 40 inches tall... which means he can ride nearly everything!!! We rode on Star Tours, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder... all the biggies except Indiana Jones! Of course we got to see Captain Jack in the new (and VERY COOL) Pirates of the Caribbean ride... and this was the first time we rode on the Nightmare Before Christmas haunted house! OH MAN that was fantastic!!!

Of course we did the kid rides - Small World, Dumbo, and Peter Pan (Violet was so excited to finally ride this one, after being scared last time!), Alice, the Teacups, Mr. Toad, Casey Jr. and Storybook Land (which we did at night and it is SO MUCH MORE MAGICAL at night!!)... LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED it all!!

The kids even got to do interactive stuff like train to be a star wars jedi and be a part of high school musical :) :)

pictures to come - our internet is wonky now. :p

Today is a great day! :)

Violet has a half day of school
Riley has school too...
I am doing a few last-minute errands while the kids are in school.
Then we will come home, straighten up the house a bit,
Finish last-minute packing,
go to Violet's parent-teacher conference,
then pile in the car... to go to DISNEYLAND!!!!
We will be at the Happiest Place on Earth from Thursday through Saturday!
Then we are going to Grown-Up Disneyland (aka IKEA!) on Sunday!!!!

WOOHOOOOOOO!!!
Be back late Sunday night! yippeeeeeee!!

Attempt #438 and 439

at getting a decent picture of the kids...





s i g h . .. . .. . ..

Updates & Such.

Violet lost her Mega-Tooth. Very cool. Tooth Fairy gave her a $2 bill and a bonus Disney dollar - just in time for next week's trip to Mouse-land :)

Riley's class had their Thanksgiving feast today. I thought it was Wednesday so I was not prepared - had to run out real quick and grab the veggies I had promised to bring, then realized as he was doing the "Gobble Gobble" dance that I was so unprepared I didn't even have a camera with me. Augh!!

I have been crazy crazy busy with photo sessions. Thank goodness the holiday ones are almost over and I will be able to breathe a little easy. Whew.

We did our family photo shoot at Redrock yesterday. 400 shots. You think there would be one where everyone is a) looking and b) smiling... but, well, there aren't so many. LOL. There were still a few good ones... so it wasn't a bust. Heh. Oddly enough, it was Violet who gave me the most trouble. Never would have suspected her!

I am on Green Bean Casserole duty for Thanksgiving. Would you believe I have never made it before? Took me forever to find those durn French Fried Onions... but I did, finally :) Hopefully I can figure out how to make it. Can't be too hard, right?

The inlaws are coming for Thanksgiving.

I am in major clean and purge mode. I want to just throw everything away. It's insane.

The Thursday after Thanksgiving we will be in Disneyland.
I.
CANNOT.
WAIT.

I am 75% done with Christmas shopping. I am very proud of myself :)

Back to photo editing...

Cooties

Our house if full of cooties. Ew. Violet had the pukes on Friday. I got them Saturday night, Riley got them Sunday, and Rick got them Sunday night. All sorts of grossness over here. 12 hours straight of puking for each of us.

I had to cancel two photoshoots this weekend. Waaaaaah!

I am finally feeling better. Sort of.
I don't want to eat anything - but I am forcing myself to partake little by little in the BRAT diet, just to have something in my stomach. Let me say that although I appreciate the 6 pounds I lost in one night, I do not recommend trying this at home as a weight loss remedy.

Off to drink some gingerale.

Working on our family pictures...

I thought these were cute of the kids :)

Confidential to my family...

Dad. It's been 6 months. Again. Time to post a blog update. :)

Mom. Did you forget how to use blogger? I think it's actually been longer for you.

Melinda. An update was promised last week. Um, hi. You are in Korea. I live for your blog updates.

Liane. You *are* back in town. Again. Blog.

Carl. How's that Abercrombie job going? Maybe if you updated your blog we'd know.

Rick. Okay. that was a long shot.

And my update: Violet is well on her way to losing tooth #2 and 3 at the same time... When her bottom teeth grew in, two of them came out fused together. And they are very loose, which means they will be coming out together. Soon. I heard the tooth fairy gives out $2 bills for stuff as special as that. We'll see...

Christmas Card Designs!

Click on the link to go to my site - the card designs are in the "portfolio" section.
Anyone who has had a session with me in the past can also order cards, too!

Loads of pictures

As promised, Halloween...


Riley was a trash man :)


The best part? He got to be a trash man on trash day. Let me just say that those guys thought he was the cutest dude ever!


This is him saying "I'm a trash mam [sic]!"


Violet was Snow White... like the wig?



This was just before going to her classroom for her school party - Riley wanted to be in costume, too... but this time as Tigger...




He would not walk anywhere. It was all hopping, all the time!

Poor Lonely Pluto...
While in Riley's classroom, Liane and I got a glimpse of this poster on the wall...



Okay. Look a little closer...

How sad is that??!

Finally, the big finale...


Reeeeally wiggly...


Violet doing the last tugging...


And it's out!!

Guess what?

Violet lost her first tooth!

Pictures to come... of the tooth, and Halloween. :)

Every time

I go to a trade show, I come back in a funk. I don't want to scrapbook or be online or *DO* anything anymore. Maybe it was cause I was most likely up till 2 am every day the week before the show getting ready... maybe it was the intensity of being there, seing everyone, and seriously being on the go from the moment I wake up to the moment I would go to bed (which is usually never before midnight). Maybe it's the laundry and cleaning I come home to... (which, by the way, I am wayyy on top of right now... the laundry is ALL done and all the bathrooms sparkle)... or maybe it's just real life and everything. Regardless, I have definitely been in a blogging and emailing funk. But that is not for lack of things to share. So, here's the rundown of everything and stuff...

• We are getting a pool table on Monday! WOOHOO!! It will go in our dining room, so we are getting rid of our dining room table. Which brings me to the next point:
• We are selling our dining room table set!
  
  If you are interested, or know anyone who is, let me know! We will try and move it this Saturday at our garage sale. (Segue now):
• We are having a garage sale on Saturday morning! Getting rid (hopefully) of our dining room table, little tikes play stuff (turtle sandbox, pool with slide, kitchen set, and kids cozy couple convertible), lots of old scrapping supplies, and a few odds and ends.
• Violet's got a few more softball games left in the season. If you aren't busy on a saturday late afternoon or evening, meet us at the field and watch some really cute kids trying to throw, catch, and hit. It's a riot.
• Riley's a little soccer dude. And he is hysterical. His games are on Saturday mornings (except for this Saturday)... and if you want to see him playing, just let us know and we'll send you a schedule.
• I just came back from Memory Trends, a scrapping trade show in town. Crazy fun and busy and cool. I had the most fun in an old fashioned photo booth at one of the vendor's displays. I think I went back 40 times! (I know I owe people some scans! They are coming, I promise!)
• I got to be roomies with April Peterson, one of the finalists for Scrapbooker of the Year. In fact, I was her date to the big winner's reception! She is a great roomie and it was a fabulous time! :)
• I want a photo booth of my own, in my living room. Wouldn't that be so stinking fun??! Everyone who comes over has to take their pictures in it! So much cooler than a guestbook. And then I could rent it out for weddings, birthday parties, and mitzvahs. ;)
• My photo business, Speckled Bird Art, is doing great! I still have a few openings left in November... so if anyone wants Christmas photos done, send me an email!
• The inlaws are visiting this weekend. Pray for my sanity as I get ready!
• Carl and I are working on converting part of my garage into a studio for Liane. We painted the walls the other day. It looks like a Rothko painting. Freaking ROCKS!!! I can't wait to get it done for her so that when she comes home from her trek she can come over and just be CREATIVE with me!
• I got an email from the trekkers! Bhutan was great and they are done with their crazy long 2 week hike. They are meeting with one of the queens (!!!) today and then will be going to do sightseeing and shopping and touristy stuff in Thailand, then heading to Bali for a little R&R before coming home. Que vida...
• I am working on some cool things scrapbooking-wise that will be a lot of fun. More on that when I can share!
• I went to the Gilcrease Orchard this year with Riley and a couple friends. Some pumpkin poacher had stolen all the pumpkins, so we couldn't get any there, but there was plenty of apple picking and zucchinis! I came home with two zucchinis. They were a minimum of 18 inches long. I used 1/4 of one in dinner last night, and that was still too much for what we were making. My poor family will be having sauteed zucchini, zucchini bread, zucchini salad, and much more before the week is out. lol
• I've been working out 5 days a week consistently, and I am starting to feel like there's been a bit of a payoff! Now if I can make it through Halloween candy season without blowing it...
• I am late for picking up Violet from school, so I have to go!! :)

Yet another tag!

My friend Ursula tagged me, so here goes!

List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets:

1. I have dimples on the back of my shoulders. Everyone who sees them comments on them. And here I thought all this time that everyone had them. Turns out that's not the case!

2. Once, when I was a kid, I thought I would try and go for the world record of standing on your head. My sister Melinda would time me and I would be there, in the living room, on my head for quite some time. I got up to about 12 minutes once. Apparently, though, that wasn't enough to break the record.

3. I am related to pirates. Really! Way back in the family tree is a pirate named Claude Bonnet who once conquered Madagascar and was made king... but his reign didn't last long. He was overthrown after a few years.

4. I have vivid dreams every night. In color. My favorites are the ones where I am flying. It's crazy cause in my dream I totally get that feeling you get on rollercoasters when you are going down the track - I imagine that must be what it feels like to be in a dive when you are flying.

5. My dog Barabbas never needs a leash. As long as I have a ball in my hand, he is completely under my control. He doesn't even care if there are other dogs around. All he sees is the ball.

And now I tag...
Mimby
Joelle
Shontell

Get on it, girls! :)

I know it's been awhile,

But I have been busy...

on my new website! Come check it out ;)
(click on the image below)

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!