Since I know everyone has been on the edge of their seat just *WAITING* for me to post pictures of my kids… thought I’d make good on my promise. Here’s a few snapshots of the kiddos enjoying the beach!

Just in case any of you are looking for a super cool condo in Orange Beach, I highly recommend Phoenix West! It’s right on the beach… PLUS has a super cool water slide, lazy river & zero entry pool! The units are UBER nice too…. around 2000SF so everyone isn’t right on top of each other. We’ll definitely be going back!

I have been DYING to post this picture! I planned this for mother’s day, and while it didn’t turn out exactly like I planned (*sigh*) I still LOVE it! I got a huge 40×60 2 1/2inch gallery wrap & an 18×27 1 1/2inch gallery wrap for my mom & mother-in-law. They were delivered a bit early just so I could share my excitement! So without further adieu, adoo, a-do (WHATEVER!) here you go… brace yourself….

*I KNOWWWWW!* All together now…. “awwwww”. ♥ Gee thanks. Makes a mama proud. Especially since this mama has been trying for a quarter of a century to get a picture of her kids together! =)

It’s hard to believe that 9 years ago today, my first child came into the world… on one hand it seems like he’s growing up way too fast - on the other, it seems like he’s been with me forever. I honestly can’t remember what life was like without a child!

We always have a small cake on their birthDAY and then the bigger fancy cake at their party. It’s a tradition =) This morning I drug all the kids into the kitchen to sing the birthday song… then we proceeded to have birthday cake for breakfast! That’s right folks, I’m all about nutrition.

Tucker at 9:
unorganized ~ fights constantly with Nathan (& Jackson, but not quite as much) ~ loves his sister & will do anything she asks ~ forgets to brush his teeth ~ makes good grades ~ always tells the truth ~ is addicted to Nintendo DS ~ couldn’t care less about girls ~ fakes asleep in the car when we get home ~ still gives me hugs & kisses ~ thinks his Dad hung the moon ~ is skinny as a rail ~ hates to get his face wet ~ whines about EVERYTHING ~ has freckles across his nose & is getting a few splashed on his neck ~ is the whitest white boy you’ve ever seen ~ is always inventing things ~ tries to prove himself ~ is still my baby!

Once upon a time there was an evil nanny who was always harassing her beautiful, talented, kind photographer daughter to get pictures of her even MORE beautiful, talented and ki… well - let’s just go with beautiful & talented - grandchildren.

Where was I? Oh yeah.

*So*. The beautiful talented daughter decided one day that she would surprise the evil nanny with a lovely picture of her grandchildren. (Although I’m not really sure why the daughter would offer up such a nice gesture since the evil nanny abandoned the daughter with SIX CHILDREN and went to Target.) However, she didn’t let this abandonment damper her kind heart. No, no… the daughter was determined to capture the perfect picture of all six grandchildren.

The daughter failed miserably. THE END. Hey, all stories don’t have a happy ending =)

After that tragic story I can’t leave you without something to make you smile…. my super cute niece & nephew, Trinity & Haden. ♥ them!

And this is not the result of me lying on a muddy ground to please my niece. Promise. She really CAN fly.

The kids have been driving me crazy asking me when their elves were gonna come back. Generally, Santa doesn’t let the elves come stay with children until after Thanksgiving, but he must have heard my kids begging! They arrived in the mailbox today, equipped with magic pencils (they were HUGE!) and a book for Cassidy.


Ignore the nasty faces, we had just finished eating ribs


It seems attitudes immediately get better around here when the elves arrive - here’s Jackson sharing PS3 time with Wyndham. <3

A bit of elf history - blog posts from last year

Adventures of Wyndham & Axel
Elf-scapade

…is impossible when you have 4 kids. *sigh*

In EVERY.SINGLE.PICTURE. one of the kids (usually Jackson) is running away, blinking, swinging to hit someone, picking his nose, or something of that nature. I did get a pretty funny one after one of the boys ummmm (can I say this on here?) passed gas - Cassidy was holding her nose. I won’t mention which one did it for fear of causing him to hate me for the rest of my life.

You know that perfect picture you have in your mind, the one where everyone is just sitting there with beautiful, oh-so-natural smiles on their pretty, clean little faces? Yeah, me too. We didn’t get that. Oh well, it’s not perfect. Which is *totally* us. =)

We’re drug-free Y’all! [Red Ribbon Week - Day 3]

Hillbilly Nate


Had to get a butt shot to show you guys the back Nate’s gonna kill me for this…

Hillbilly Tucker (who isn’t in the best of moods in the mornings, might I add….)

(PSSSSSSSSSST….. see that poll… over there in the sidebar? <---------- GO VOTE!)

It’s Red Ribbon Week at White Plains Elementary!

If you know me, you know I HATE drugs… so we try to be supportive of anything anti-drug in my home. I forgot to take a picture yesterday (Don’t let drugs turn your life inside out!) … but I couldn’t let them get away this morning without breaking out the ole 5D.

Today’s theme - “Tell me a story of a drug free world!” Mission: dress up as your favorite storybook character. Without further ado, I give you Harry Potter & Jengo Fett -

3 reasons you SHOULDN’T be laughing right now:
1. It’s just NOT NICE. =)
2. They decided what they were going to dress as, not me.
2. Costumes are slim pickins’ - we had to improvise Harry Potter with a vampire cape (we snatched off some gargoyle thingy), a wand (stick) out of the back yard & some coke bottle glasses that should come in handy tomorrow (HINT HINT). Yes, those bad boys are going to work double-duty.

STAY TUNED…

Ahhh, fall break. Nate’s spending the week with his Mawmaw & cousins, the boys are going camping with Dad… so I took the entire week off with the intention of relaxing, getting some of my photog “stuff” done - and absolutely NOTHING else - no cleaning (okay I can never escape this…), no cooking (I got bored & whipped up a feast fit for Thanksgiving by Tuesday), and definitely NO public outings with the kids. Camping lasted all of one day, because Eric simply couldn’t take it any more. We actually got date night on Wednesday - dinner & a movie! By Thursday, we decided to go to the zoo. Naturally. Because boredom makes the brain mushy.

BUUUUUUT, I’m thinking - perfect photo opp, right? Wrong. I didn’t charge my battery & my camera died about 30 minutes into our little trip. My husband thought it was quite funny. (I did not. Hmph.)

I decided to snap some shots of Cassidy on the way there while I had her all strapped down…
this is what you call a severe case of P.C.S. (Photographer’s Child Syndrome)

Heh. Revenge is sweet….

Ohhhh, I’m kidding, totally kidding. I don’t torture my kids with 20 foot snakes. Pinky swear. I did giggle. Quietly, though. PROMISE!

I thought these stinkers would quit fighting long enough for me to get a PERFECT PARROT shot, but noone really felt like cooperating. *sigh* Nice bokeh, though. =)

This little guy was cute (and STILL)… hey, it’s not easy being green. (snicker)

The Lorakeet exhibit - the kids LOOOOOVED this!


Tucker was really mad because this one little guy just stayed with him even when his nectar cup was empty. Then - Jackson to the rescue - he yelled & ran him off. Tucker kept insisting that it was his new “pet bird” and he would have stayed with him forever if Jackson wouldn’t have run him off. What are little brothers for?

Just showing you that I actually *do* attempt to photograph my children. They just don’t cooperate. Grrrrrrr.

And the last shot of my 3 rugrats before the camera battery died (boo!):

By the time we got home, I was so exhausted that I fell into my bed & straight into a coma…. *sigh*

So we planned a 6Flags trip for the next day…. ugh. We never learn.

I had good intentions… I set out on a mission to get a few pics of the kids for the GAP casting call - too bad it ended before I had a chance to sit down & enter, but ANYWAY, I did get some funny pics.

Don’t let the innocent look fool you, folks.

At first I thought “oh my goodness, she’s gonna give him a kiss!” I was about to enter a state of shock when I realized…

she was just perfecting her choke hold.

I’m so proud of Tucker, he made the A Honor Roll on his first report card!!! He definitely got his brains from Mama. This is him “not smiling” for the camera… he’s trying SOOOOO hard to be serious…

he couldn’t help but crack a grin =)

And last, but certainly not least, my mischevious little stinker “Shackson” (as he likes to call himself). He informed me today that the next time I got on to him, that he was “just going to be Nanny’s mama”. LOL!!! I’m thinking he’s trying to disown me or something???!!!