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! =)

How did my day go, you ask?

Ok, so you didn’t ask. Let’s just pretend that you did, for the sake of my blog post.

Now. How did my day go? Well, let’s see. I woke up this morning with intentions of going to church, going to the grocery store, taking Nate to work the concession stand at some ballgame for the Honor Society, cleaning up a bit, shooting a Senior Portrait session, and getting some orders placed. Since I didn’t lay out church clothes last night, I woke up a little bit behind schedule, but got up & starting getting everything picked out, ironed, etc. YES, I have to pick everyone’s church clothes out. Seems everyone here is either fashion challenged or color blind, other than me (of course). So after fussing & fighting with everyone, ironing 6 different outfits & getting in the shower to discover that someone (named Jackson) squirted out all of my shampoo & conditioner, I resolved that I would not be going to church TODAY. At least everyone else was ready. I figured I would just have to pray on my way to the grocery store.

So. All the boys head to church. Me & Cassidy were about to head to the grocery store, get all loaded up & then UGH! Can’t find my darn keys! I was stranded until the little culprits returned… It *is* Sunday right? Not Monday - SUNDAY? Right?

Anyhoo, needless to say, only about 3 things on that endless to-do list got done today… BUT (and that’s one big but) while I was stranded I talked the baby girl into a 30 second photo shoot! (now that’s what you call a mini session! ha!)

Oh & P.S. - Miss Kaitlin (from yesterday’s post) won 2nd Alternate & Miss Photogenic!! Congrats Kaitlin!

Payback, courtesy of my imac webcam. Don’t blame me for the gross sepia-ish color. That would be Miss Cassidy’s choice

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.

…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. =)

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.

Snapped this one of my baby before I went to work yesterday morning… when I uploaded, I thought to myself…. “WOW, she looks so much older in this picture!” - but just chalked it up to not wanting my baby girl to grow up. Then Jackson walked by the computer and says, “Mama, is that what Cassidy’s gonna look like when she’s older?” Guess it’s not just me. =)

P.S. - I’m back to working on my new website, so you’ll be seeing lots of changes ’round here soon =D

I think that one day I’ll be able to look back on this dark period of my life and learn some valuable, mind-altering, earth-shattering lesson.

But right now, all I wanna do is cry. Alot.

The past 6 months of my life have been an absolute roller coaster of emotions. Memories that I’ll never, ever forget…. and some that I wish I could.

I’ll admit that I’m not the funnest person to be around right now. I try, I really do. I honestly feel sorry for my friends - those that have cared enough to stand by me through it all. [you know who you are...] Everyone has their way of trying to cheer me up, and although I can’t say it always works, I am MOST appreciative of the attempts.

I will say, this puts a smile on my face every time though….

I’ve been all nostalgic this morning, looking through old blog posts & stuff… & realized, I’m such a slacker! I used to be soooo good about posting - & it’s so nice to go back through & see how the kids have grown. Here’s a quick shot in the backyard of my baby girl - taken back in April - the wind was blowing that kids hair EVERYWHERE. Not the best shot of the bunch, but I never did edit any of the other ones - BAD MAMA! Gotta get to that…. just as soon as I clean up the water she just poured in the floor - ugh! =)