Vote for me!

I'm pulling out all the stops to get friends, fam, and strangers to vote for me as the area's Best Photographer!

So if you read my blog, like my work, think I'm the sha-zizzle, or even if you don't...Vote for me, purty please???

:)

Vote HERE.

New Phone Number

I could've sworn that I posted this on here, but it's vanished into the blog-o-sphere.

We have new phone numbers.
So in case you missed the email (from two accounts), and the Twitter, and the Facebook update, and the Facebook message, and the post on the biz blog......you apparently live under a rock.

Steve-o: 229-669-8544
Me: 229-669-8545

He needs "your things"

On the way to pick up O from school yesterday, Tyler started yelling and hollering in the car (normal).
AJ: What's wrong Ty??
Ty: DRINNNNKKKK!!!
AJ: You need a drink?
Ty: DINK. *unintelligible blabber*
AJ: mom, tyler wants a drink of milk. We need to get home so he can get a drink from your things.
Me: My things??
AJ: yeah, you know - your things. That babies drink from.

Um.
Yeah.
We had to have a little talk about that.
I think he was a little confused.

Videos, Videos, Videos....

The other day you got a bunch of picture tidbits...so today here's some video tidbits.

Last night the kindergartners and 1st graders at Owen's school had a little performance revolving around Dr. Suess.
Here they are singing Dr. Suess We Love You. In case you don't recognize Owen, he's the cutest one. Right by the boy in the wheelchair.




Here's another song...I think it's called Open Me...or something like that anyway.




And the last song they sang, The Tutti Ta Song....it's the weirdest song ever. But I guess the kids like it. They surprised a couple of the teachers and made them come up on stage and sing it with them. It's funny only because you look like a total moron while you sing the song and do the motions.



Speaking of music, here's Tyler as I attempt to catch him in the act of dancing. He's really funny, because when a fast-tempo song comes on he breaks it down and dances like a wild man. But if you try to video tape him, or take pictures...he looks at you out of the corner of his eye and slows everything down to a little booty-shake. LOL


Here he is again - this is just to show family far away how big he's getting. His vocabulary is expanding every day. He's sitting on daddy's lap here, looking at the laptop - trying to get dad to turn on The Wiggles on Youtube.


And just because you haven't seen or heard from AJ in awhile...here he is after Owen's performance last night. We stopped at Sonic on the way home to get the boys dinner and he was goofing around. As always.



Here he is on the first warm day of spring, outside hitting balls with Steve. I think he only hit one in this video, but give him a break. He's only 4. And he's a little rusty. :)
And yes, he's wearing pajamas.
and giraffe galoshes.
And steve would like to point out that he's a swing hitter.



Have a great weekend!

Some Tidbits For Ya....

A few random things about #1 and #3 for you today.....
AJ is out of town with Steve-o...and has been for two days - so that's why there's no pictures of him from today.

This picture of tyler makes me smile because it's just very....Tyler. With that doofy look on his face and his mouth hanging open. I'm surprised bugs don't fly in there.

couple weeks back, Owen lost his first tooth. Scary pic, yes - but this is what he gave me when i asked him to show me the hole.

Here he is, looking gorgeous and very Ralph Lauren.

Birdhouses that we painted over the weekend.

My favorite from today....

Happy St. Patrick's Day. :)

Garden 2009

In no particular order, because Blogger is being weird and I'm too tired to re-arrange.

Here's our garden that we did last week.

Many thanks to:

The horses from a client's farm: for your poop

Erica: For use of your truck to pick up said poop

Casey:  For taking photos

My husband: For working tirelessly until it was done

AJ: Who worked his little hiney off all day on the garden, happily and without complaint. He even got a sunburn.

Boys

My friend Melissa sent me this blog post that she read somewhere the other day and I thought I'd share it here.
Please note that I DID NOT WRITE THIS. AND NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT WITH A 4TH BOY.
Just wanting to clear that up for the skimmers who won't read the whole thing and think that I wrote this.

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When our first baby was born a boy…I was very happy knowing that any other children we would have in the future would be under the protection of an older brother.

When our second baby was born a boy…I was glad our oldest son now had a brother to play with.

When our third baby was born a boy…I decided that God must have something special in mind for our family. THREE boys?

When I was pregnant with our fourth baby…you can just guess what everyone around me was saying.

“Going for a girl this time?” “Finally going to have a sister for all those boys?” “You’re having a girl, right?” “I bet you’re sure hoping for a girl this time!”

With each of my pregnancies…we waited to find out whether the baby was a boy or a girl. We loved the surprise…though no one around us did. ESPECIALLY when I was pregnant with our fourth! Everyone was dying to know if we were finally going to have a girl!

When our fourth baby was born a boy…they laid him on my chest…and all my husband and I could do was laugh for joy that God had given us yet another son!

Boys are so sweet. Boys love their Mamas like crazy. Boys think their Daddys are the best. Boys….ah boys. Boys bring such joy.

Whoever said that only little girl clothes are cute…and that you can never find any cute little boy clothes…never saw all the adorable outfits at my blue baby showers.

And I dare say…there’s a little something to be said for being able to run a comb through their hair real quick before dashing out the door. No bows or braids or hair doo-dads to keep track of.

I love how boys play (now that I’m used to it!). Our house is usually noisy, rough and fast…there’s not a lot of tip-toeing or sitting down quietly to color pictures at the table.

Generally…I find that the male greeting (between my boys and all of their friends who come over to play) has little to do with words…and a lot to do with grabbing onto and pulling one another down to the floor into an immediate wrestling match.

I’ve learned to look the other way…smile…and shake my head about so many things that I used to fear would turn into a trip to the Emergency Room. Boys play rough…they can’t help it. They make noise…it oozes out of their pores.

Rolls of wrapping paper become swords or light sabers. Toast and grilled cheese sandwiches are chewed into the shape of little guns. Math books become drums. Little pink erasers become race cars.

Everything (everything) becomes a competition…who can finish their milk first…who can put their jammies on the fastest…who can get from the kitchen to the living room without touching the floor.

It’s one big, loud, ball game at our house all day long…and I wouldn’t trade it for all tea parties in Boston.

I consider it a huge honor to be the mama of boys. Boys who we pray will grow up and be Godly leaders some day. Boys who we pray will be Godly husbands and daddys some day.

Oh…and some day…I’ll have daughters. Some day…four of your daughters will grow into godly young ladies who will marry my sons. I’ll take them shopping and we’ll cook and do hair together.

Until then…I’ll just continue to feed mountains of mashed potatoes and huge stacks of pancakes to all these boys while they make all the noises with their armpits that they are so good at making and while they laugh at all the things boys can’t help but think are funny.

They are…boys.

Boys who have completely and totally won my heart.

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Cool, huh? Echos my thoughts exactly. Except that part about doing hair with my future daughter in laws. Cuz that's weird.

I will definitely NOT being doing hair with grown women anytime soon.

I love our boys and I've said before that I hope to have (at least) one more child in the future....and it would be just fine with me if it was yet another...boy.

Domestic Violence

I heard on the radio the other day an advertisement for a local women's shelter. The commercial stated that somewhere in the range of 50% of women will be victims of violence from a partner at some point in their life.
I don't doubt that statistic necessarily, but I was surprised that the number was that high. Then again, I don't think I've ever known anyone who's been a victim of domestic violence. Or maybe I have, and just not been aware???

Anyway....out of curiosity's sake:

Post Secret....Round Two

Remember back in October when we did the Post Secret thing??  That was fun, eh??

I thought since blogger-land appears to be at a standstill lately, we'd liven things up and have a Post Secret post...Round Two.

If you've never done this, you can click on the link above and read the post from a few months back, but the basic gist of it is that you post a comment anonymously and reveal a "secret" - it could be a thought, a dream, a confession, a fantasy, a fear...ANYTHING that you've never spoken aloud or told anyone else.  The great thing about "secrets" is that everybody has 'em. You just may not realize it or have thought about it before.

The "rules" are simple:

1. Post anonymously - I don't want to know which one of my friends has a secret nipple ring, thanks.

2. No judgments - feel free to comment on other people's secrets - "me too!" or, "I know how you feel" etc. etc... but any comments that are judgmental in nature (I can't believe you did that, You're a horrible person, etc) will be promptly deleted.

3.  The secret must be about YOU - not a global secret that you think all of humanity might have, or something that you think "somebody" must have a secret about - this is YOUR secret, and no one else's. :)

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So....do it! I love these posts - spill it anonymously in the comments....I can't wait to read 'em!

And if you want to check out the REAL Post Secret....you can do that HERE. (warning: Rated PG-13)

Ty

Looks like we've got another train lover in the making......

Loved this one:

Evolution of a laugh

Sick Boys

AJ was sick over the weekend...chills, fever, achiness, extra whiney. :) Today has been his best day - he'll probably be back to normal by tomorrow, but of course this morning when Owen woke up, he wasn't feeling good.
They both crashed on the couch this afternoon - a rare occurance indeed.

Why do the boys get such great eyelashes??

Big Boy Bed

Over the weekend, Mr. T moved into his big boy bed. The first night he slept in it, as I crept from the room I looked back and felt a lump in my throat. No more crib, baby's gone....and this little toddler has taken his place. :( We all know that it makes me want another.....but that's just not gonna happen anytime soon.

I just used some bedding that we had tucked away in the linen closet - the headboard is the back of his crib. I've still got a couple of design elements that I want to add to that wall next to the window, but I'm still looking around for just the right thing. Part of me wants to buy him new bedding, but that part of me is struggling with the part of me that is content with what we have.
At the foot of the bed is the rocking chair, but we'll probably move that out soon as the days of rocking him are becoming fewer and fewer. His room is WAY to tiny to waste space with a bulky piece of furniture that we don't use.

He's done really well sleeping in there. Things aren't quite as good as they used to be, since we have to sit in there and wait for him to fall asleep, but at least he's not needing us to actually lay in the bed WITH him to fall asleep. I just tell him goodnight, give him a kiss and hand him his extra binky. He must have at least one binky in his hand to fiddle with as he falls asleep. He's also partial to his Kung Fu Panda blanket that my parents got him for Christmas. My mom and dad seem to have a knack for blankets - Owen's blankie that he STILL sleeps with to this day was a baby gift to him when he was born.

The cat was a total fluke...she's completely terrified of Tyler, but the allure of a soft warm spot to sleep in the sun was too much for her to handle and she hopped right up there for a nap.


Have a great Tuesday!

A Monday Morning Funny For Ya....

Bizkit the Sleepwalking Dog