Auction Photo Shoot

Last year Camden was attending a Baptist preschool. Every year they have a silent auction during Thanksgiving time. I decided to auction two photo shoots. Little did I know what I was getting into. It was a very complicated process just getting a hold of the families who won. Once we were in contact, finding a date and time that worked for both families was even more challenging. The first family I had their shoot in May and just completed the second photo shoot in September. I'm glad we were able to make it work. Both photo shoots were a lot of fun.

D Family

Mr. L

Check out more photos of the D Family and Mr. L on my photography blog.

My D Boy

There is so much to say about this kid. He keeps our life interesting. He is so loving and happy. There is another side of him we have been trying to figure out the past year. It has been a challenge for me. I keep being told that he is just a boy and that's what they do. I don't usually like that reply because it does not answer anything for me. I enjoy my alone time with him while the girls are at school. He is a much more relaxed child. Here are a few photos he allowed me to take.

He loves books.

He is also very curious.  He will touch everything especially the things I ask him not to.

No I did not pose him. I was able to grab this photo as he was rolling over. He is quick.

He thinks it is fun to fall down.

TEEEETTTHHHHH!!!

HEEEAADDDD!!!!

He thinks he jumps so high.

How Do Other Mom's Work?

There is always a time during a month that I hit a wall and I feel like I am barely above water. I don't understand how other mom's make it work. Between my three kids I can't seem to keep up with all their needs. There are many mom's that have more kids, do more than me, and have more challenges. I have both Camden and Dallin needing occupational therapy and speech therapy. I keep them going because I do feel that it is helping them a lot. However it is challenging to make those appointments weekly. I felt Brooklyn needed something other than attending her siblings therapies weekly. I signed her up for a Fall Volleyball league. I volunteered to be the assistant coach. I did it for the love of my daughter and the sport. Is there ever going to be end to all this running around? I know people will say enjoy it while its here. I think it is pretty hard to feel joy when most of the time I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off. I think I might make one of these calendars. I have my electronic calendar that works some of the time. I think the act of erasing daily task might motivate me more. Here's to hoping I have a productive day.

Fun With Dad

Fun with dad does not always happen as often as my kids would like. However when it happens the kids love it even if for ten minute time slots. I am thankful for a husband that does his best to give his time to us.

I think the smiles say so much. 

Cary Scavenger Hunt

Our family had the opportunity to participate in the Cary Scavenger Hunt this past weekend. We more often avoid activities of this nature. We have fabulous kids with real struggles with spontaneity and transitions. We would have no tears if we could have the clues before hand and map out a plan of action. With this being a real competition for many others the clues before hand is not an option. We definitely were off to a rocky start. With not knowing where we were going and the in out of cars was not fun for a few of the kids. We were very close to calling it quits. After a few times of extreme tantrums we decided to take it very slow and take in all the cool things Cary has to offer. I love the history that is right around us.

Local pharmacy in downtown Cary. They have a soda fountain and yummy hot dogs. 

Random art.

First high school in Cary.

We found the oldest known cemetery in Cary that dates back to the Revolution. It is in the middle of neighborhood on a beautiful circle. There is also a small cemetery in the middle of one of the parks that I have frequently walked and ran the trails. I know its weird but I love cemeteries. I find them very peaceful.

Dallin was feeling very patriotic. 

Proof I was involved. I finally made an appearance. 

Little did we know that our slow poke attitude won us a prize for being the lowest scoring team. We won four tickets for the Triangle Food Tours. Yahoo!!!!

Overall I am glad we did it and hope to do it again. 

Camden's First Day of School

Camden is the main reason why we switched schools. We chose to have her placed in a Cross Categorical Kindergarten class. What does that mean you ask? I have no idea. My basic understanding is for those kids that don't need the constant care but would be lost in a regular developing Kindergarten class. Camden has come a long way but still struggles with grade level requirements. She has her CCK class and also attends a regular developing Kindergarten class for her specials and some letter instruction. She also has both speech and occupational therapy outside of school. She is a very busy child. She comes home pretty wiped out and ready to hit the sack much earlier than her siblings. She is a very happy girl most of the time and is learning to work through a lot of her issues. We are very proud of her.

Yoga

I love Yoga. Its really great when you have a great instructor. Here is a photo of my kids and I in the backyard. We just randomly bust out in yoga poses in our backyard. No not really. There is a store named Athleta that I love. I love their clothes for my exercising. It is a shame that I own better workout clothes than my everyday clothes. I took this photo for a photo contest. I hope I win. I could really use a $200 gift card for their store.

I had the privilege of leading some of the Young Women in my ward in a yoga workout. I have never done it before. I don't know all the special names for each pose. We made up our own names. We had a lot of fun and definitely worked up a sweat.

Brooklyn's First Days of School

I am a slacker when it comes to posting First Day of school photos. It was very stressful for all of us. We moved to a new school so both our girls could be together. Brooklyn was very unhappy about the move originally but I think she is coming around. She is now in third grade. She works so hard to accomplish everything her teacher expects. Her teacher is very proud of the fact that she gives lots of homework. I on the other hand do not appreciate it. I hate homework more now then I did when I was in school. She is such a great big sister to Camden. She is usually holding Camden's hand as they walk up to the school from Carpool. I could not love this girl more. Well I guess I could on those days I lose my patience.

We Like To Jump

There is not a lot of time for being active once school starts. I have a new theory on the obesity epidemic. I think the homework that is given out is helping with the rise in obesity. Same with the testing that is required to gain federal funding. By the time homework is finished its time for bed.

As a mom I like to allow my kids as much activity as possible. One of those activities is jumping. Its fun and a workout. My kids love it almost as much as I do.

Nutrition

I think growing up I was unique when it came to my food preference. Saturday night in my family was usually take out night. With five kids at the time, McDonalds was the majority vote. The only thing I found good there was their milk. I always went with my dad those nights and got take out at his favorite Chinese restaurant. During homemade meals I loved eating the vegetable except green beans. I always thought I hated green beans until I had them fresh and roasted.

I never was too concerned about my food intake. My mom did a good job of offering healthy snacks and meals. It was not until I was married and preparing for my own family that I really dove into nutrition.

I am not one of those moms who loses her baby weight in the first few months because of nursing. My body for some reason likes the very curvaceous body type. Those curves are not always in the ideal location. After each baby my body eventually loses most the weight just as I decide to get pregnant again.

I have seen all over Pinterest the most bizarre and extreme ways of losing weight. I am so disappointed when I see a friend pin one of these starvation/binge ways of losing weight. The only way that my weight has come off each time is having a well balanced meal plan heavy on the vegetables. Good protein, good fat, lots of veggies, little fruit, little grains, little dairy, and very little added sugar. I also need my vitamins. I take a B12, B complex, Vitamin D 5000iu, and omega 3,6,9. I had my blood tested to see what areas I was low. It helps a lot with my daily energy and metabolism.

I was burned out from school after I graduated with my PE degree. I thought my undergrad was just fine and I never wanted to go back. I still get a pit in my stomach every time I drive past Arizona State University during visits home. Finally a few months ago I was bit with the education bug. I finally found a subject that I would love to go back to school for. Nutrition, specifically pediatric nutrition.

Our bodies are pretty amazing. I want to learn how food effects our bodies. I want to know what foods are good for different behavioral problems. I want to know the real science behind it. I want to better prepare meals for my family and help other families to do the same.

I am hoping this new desire to attend college will be a reality in the next few years. For now I will just have to stick with trial and error and picking apart different nutrition articles.

What Do I Want to Be?

Lately I have been thinking an awful lot about what I want to be when I grow up. I completed my undergrad degree in PE when I was pregnant with my first, Brooklyn. I never had an opportunity to teach other than student teaching because of many moves and more kids added a long the way. While I have been fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom I have gained many new skills and interest. I am going to start using my blog more to share different projects I have been working on along with updating with stories of my family. I am hoping this will help me find what I am truly interested in doing after my kids don't need me so much.

I am going to start with my love for home design. Its something that I had an interest in when I was younger but was discouraged when a designer said there is a lot of drawing that comes with the job. One of my biggest weaknesses is allowing others dictate what I can and can't do. I have never been known to be a great artist so I assumed I would have been horrible in design. Which lead to never pursuing that line of work.

My first project I will post is my curtains. Curtains are expensive. I have expensive taste. I finally found some curtains that were under $100 per panel that I really liked. Adding up the number of panels I wanted I still would have been spending up to $300. Thanks to all the tutorials people place on the internet I decided I would attempt a much cheaper route and would make curtains out of drop cloths. My inspirational curtains were from West Elm.

I loved the simplicity and the black trim. 

I bought two 12x9 drop cloths to make two 4ft panels and four 2ft panels. I have a 6x9ft piece left over for other projects. I bleached the panels a few times, washed with lots of softener, and added peroxide. I dried with dryer sheets. It lightened the cloth and softened the curtains. I then ironed and sewed black double fold quilt bias tape. Since I am too cheap to buy curtain rings I just glued fabric loops onto the back. Here are my images. 

I'm glad I only spent around $60 dollars rather than almost $300. When I have the time I will iron them out better. Maybe my mom will iron them when she comes to town.