Nana came over

Nana came over Friday, May 7, to give Emma her birthday presents since she was headed out of town for the weekend.



Putting on her new clothes from Nana.



Nana and the kids.



Emma got a a Kai-lan doll.



And some cute monkey flip flops. Here first pair-she's so proud.



Nana with the special birthday girl.

All Boy

Playing around with Emma's birthday gift bags and cards.




He loves to ride the rocking horse.



Jayten headed outside with the girls awhile back and came in with his first strawberry-right on his forehead. Poor little guy! I'm sure there will more of those to come.

Jumping in

Standing among the big boys after the girls' dance recital.

To quote the FLYLady, "I'm not behind, I'm just jumping in where I'm at." So, just a few things Little J is doing now. Have been meaning to post for awhile now.
-He has figured out how to scoot a bench over to the counter and climbs on it. He's able to reach almost everything-including 8 cups of rice crispie cereal waiting to be made into treats (fortunately, I caught that one in time). He can also stand on his tiptoes and reach the cups of water or juice his sisters leave on the table. Haven't caught one of those yet.
-He can say a few words or is at least trying some new ones-daddy, shoes, dog and cat.
-He loves animals, pointing at the cats and the stray dog the ranch has adopted. I say the ranch because he lives down at the compound and gets fed there, but follows the guys around on the Kubota and four-wheeler. He was living on my porch, but that didn't last long. The guys named him Old Jack. He's a nice dog-German Shorthair.
-He LOVES to be outside. It doesn't take long for him to find the dirt, rocks and sticks.
-He likes putting things in and taking them out of bags. He can occupy himself for quite awhile with this game.
-He's totally a monkey, trying to climb up everything-including the top of the toilet tank!
-at his 15 month check-up several weeks ago (ok, maybe I am behind), he weighed 22 lbs. 8 oz. and is 31 3/4 inches long. He seems really tall for our kids. Maybe that's why he can reach things on the counter-even without a bench!
-he is such a happy kid-lots of smiles and laughs.
-I can usually still get him down for two naps, one around 10 a.m. and later about 2. But, we're close to being one nap a day.
-He likes carrying Josh's magazines around and pointing at the cows.
-He can throw a ball-and likes throwing just about anything-we're working on that. He loves to hear the noise when things crash to the floor!
-He can shake hands, wave bye-bye, give five and almost has the fist pump down (thanks to his uncles!)
-He known to throw a few tantrums, usually bend backward and dropping to the floor, but I just walk away so it's pretty short lived. He's definitely getting more vocal about his sisters taking things away from him though and is starting to fight back.



He can climb up on the rocking horse and ride it all by himself.

Birthday parties!

Opening presents



E received a Tinkerbell sleeping bag from M,C, M & M. She was so excited to have one of her own now.



The theme was simple, shades of pink and flowers.





Me and my girls



Uh oh, Little J found the new hockey stick E received from Jared, Stephanie and Mya.



E and her cake



I took the pom poms out of the girls' rooms to hang from the ceiling and decorated with some wall decor and flowers. Nothing fancy, but made things look more festive.



Yum! Enjoying her cake and ice cream!


My birthday girl!



The kids made placemats to eat their snack on each day.



Handing out the cupcakes for snacktime at school.



How old are you today Emma? Four!



Enjoying the mini cupcake she picked out.



MJ and I made these cute favors with toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. They were stuffed with ballons, stickers, trinkets and candy.



Handing out her party favors.

E had so much fun with her school friend and family parties. Thanks to everyone for making her birthday special!

Mother's Day

I had a relaxing Mother’s Day and spent all day with the kids and Josh. I have been working so much lately and admittedly quite distracted. It was nice to not worry about deadlines or photo orders and what not and just hang out as a family. It was just what my soul needed. Josh had surprised me with some new boots and jeans. And the kids gave me a new necklace. Both of the girls had made cards at school, which were very sweet. That night I had Josh take these photos of me and the kids.







Now, the photographer in me, sees everything wrong with them technically. But to the mother in me, they are perfect! I didn’t even edit out the wrinkles or anything. Ha! I did lighten the color a touch and cropped them down just because the background was a little busy and the colors clashed. These photos will probably not be blown up to 20X20 for my wall, but they will be printed out and placed on my desk. They will be enjoyed! A few things I want to share about photos.

1) You should take a photo with each of your children alone. I would have liked one with all of us, but I also love that it was just me and each one of them. You will love having such a personal memory of you with each child-no matter how old they are.

2) PRINT your pictures. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but really just print them. And don’t worry if you don’t have a place to put them just yet (organizing and scrapbooking is great, but that’s a whole other topic). In the digital era, we are all guilty of taking a ton of pictures, but not doing anything with them-me included. Who wants to sit down at a computer screen to look at little Johnny and see how much he’s grown through the years?! I think it is much better to have a pile of prints stuffed in a box or drawer then sitting on a computer. Digital media does get corrupted over time and those files can be lost. Not that I think prints in boxes are great, but at least you have those prints. I'll save my storing and displaying prints discussion for for another day.

3) Enjoy your family, make lots of memories, print those images and share them!

Hope everyone had a very blessed Mother’s Day. I have always said motherhood is the greatest and hardest “job” I will ever have, but it is simple the best.

Last weekend

Things are going well here. Last weekend was great. We spent time in the morning at the school’s Spring Fair. MJ sang with her class in the morning, then she marched in the parade after lunch. She had a great time. The weather was gorgeous and we had fun seeing friends and family. Later that evening we celebrated Emma’s 4th birthday at the house. We grilled skirt steak marinated in a cilantro honey lime dressing, and I homemade beans. Josh’s Grandpa brought scallops wrapped in bacon to grill also. Those were awesome! I also asked a friend’s MIL to make homemade tortillas and I whipped up some homemade margaritas. Yum! Since E’s birthday was on Cinco de Mayo, we went with that menu theme. She picked out a cake from Walmart. I swore I’d always make the kids’ cakes, but time was not on my side last week. And she just loved it when she saw it and thought it sounded better then Mommy making the strawberry cake she originally asked for. Okay, well then. The girl knows what she wants. She had a great time and we enjoyed seeing everyone.

This weekend E is staying with Nana and MJ went to a dance competition with Grandma Carla and Aunt Michelle. She was very excited and when I talked to her last night was having a great time. She said she really enjoyed seeing all the other performances and the costumes. Josh, Little J and I did some grocery shopping last night then slept in this morning. Ah, that was nice. Today, I’m working on a directory for the Idaho Angus Association, although there was a brief stint to clean up the kitchen and pull some weeds. I get a little distracted. Ha! Tonight is a family photo session with a new client; I’m really excited about it. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Happy Birthday Little E!

It's crazy to think today we're celebrating E turning four years old! It just is amazing how fast time goes. I still remember it like it was yesterday though. Stay with me as I reminisce. I had had contractions all day of the 4th, but they weren't enough to stop me from running errands, dropping off a publication at the printer and cleaning my house! Then, in the middle of the night my water broke. I wasn't due for another two weeks, so I wasn't even packed yet! Josh and I got around, called Carla to come stay with MJ and then by the time we were ready to leave, the contractions were much stronger. We got to the birthing center and she was born 30 minutes later! She has been independent from birth! Ha!

She is truly a delight, sometimes a challenge, always adorable and very curious. We love her so much. She does pretty well fitting into the middle of our family. She likes to do things on her own, make snacks, cook with mom, and play with babies, playdough or outside. She adores her big sister and her baby brother. She loves going with Daddy to check the cows, but craves Mommy time too. She makes me laugh every single day.

Today we took cupcakes and party favors to school for her classmates. She was so cute asking each one if they wanted one and handing them out. We took her 4-year portraits last week, and I'm so glad we did as our weather has turned crazy-again! It was the last beautiful day we've had lately. She was finding our daffodils that were past their prime, but she loved smelling and holding them anyway. She stood in the yard looking out at the cows and talking about seeing Daddy working.

We're looking forward to celebrating tonight as a family and with the rest of the gang on Saturday. Happy Birthday Sweet Emma!