We're Back from Chicago

We’re back from Chicago!!!

Back? We didn’t even know that you WENT to Chicago…wait, have you been there this WHOLE time?


Ummm..no…we went on a:

“Daddy’s been traveling so stinkin’ much that we all were missing seeing him and Mommy is going crazy cooped in the house editing picture until her eyes bug out at 2 in the morning, so we’re taking off for a 6 hour drive to a hotel with a pool and shopping stores galore in order to spend some much needed time together” vacation.

We’re back now and I’ll elaborate on our “chirstmas fun” in a bit..

But first, I need to say.... “WOOHOO…the crazy photography season is coming to a close…

This, in literal terms means, that my family will now have clothes to wear that don’t stand up on their own in the corner of their rooms…we will eat things other than mac and cheese, frozen pizzas and other such “meals’ that come pre-packaged and ready to go…the office will resume it’s more “organized’ look as envelopes, receipts and packaging tape are efficeiently tucked away until next year…Mommy’s library bag will come back out and be filled with novels for her to enjoy over the winter months…and finally, snuggling will again resume late at night as Mommy will actually be able to come to bed at a decent hour! (I’m sorry if that was TMI on that last note, but it makes me happy)

After unpacking, multilple loads of laundry, cleaning out the fridge, changing what I can only explain as Mt. St. Helens erupting in Little Munchkin’s diaper (this is what traveling does to people)…I am happy to announce that our house is on it’s way back to the “nice” version of HOME!

Another added benefit is the fact that I may actually be able to get back to updating our family blog. Granted, I do have a wedding edit to finish up and a few loose ends, but nothing like the past 3 months…

And so…I leave you today with this…in the hopes that I”ll be back tomorrow to give you the scoop on our Family Adventure in Chicago…

I hate shoe shopping and praise for single-moms

I've been to 3 Payless shoe stores, Sears, 2 Targets, and 3 Kohls attempting to locate shoes for my eldest daughter so that she can "put to rest" the hot pink croc from the summer that she's been wearing daily to school.

To NO avail...

Too big, too tight, a picky spot, they slip off, I can't run in them...the list of excuses is long and we are still without shoes...I'm sure I'll be getting a call one wintry day with tears b/c snow has squished through the croc holes.  What must the school staff think of me?

All this has been happening amidst my husband's travel schedule---which in my humble opinion---has been grueling!

And this my praise for single moms...

At 11, 1, 2:15, 3:30, 4, 5:30 and 6:40 IN THE MORNING

As I scurried down the hallway to attend to my screaming 3 year old due to:
~" I Neeeeeeeeeeeeeed my daddy"
~"My bummy itches"
~"My toe hurts..put some cweam on it"
~"I"m not sleepy anymore"
~"I close my eyes and it is scary"

As my sweet Peanut sobbed down the hallway at 2am complaining that her ankle was in "terrible pain"...

As my brain was trying to compute all that was occuring in the wee hours of the morning trying to process and make a plan:  Do I schedule an x-ray?  Do I scrap my plan to continue to shoe shop the following day? Can I just sit on my bed and eat chocolate until my Italian Stallion comes home?

I became painfully aware of just a sliver of what single-moms must deal with on a daily basis...

At a parent/teacher conference recently my husband was stopped mid-sentence as he politely & apologetically explained that he has been traveling much as of late...

The teacher explained that she was accutely aware of when he left and when he returned based on Peanut's demeanor.  Apparantly she is rather subdued & sad in class when her daddy is away...

This "season" has been rough...I don't htink I realized the impact it has had until we're now nearly at the end...

The holiday times will actually be a respit from the hectic schedule.  I think we've all been in survival mode & using any defense mechanism in order to push forward...

I know in my heart that compared to others, my troubles seem miniscule & in light of God's bigger purpose & plan, this IS just a season...

I suppose I'm more frustrated with my responses and reactions...

How much more I am aware now of my NEED for Christ and to have the peace in the storm and to guide my girls to that peace as well...

although, I can't help but wonder if just ONE pair of shoes wouldn't just help the situation a weeee bit...hmmmm???

What I've been up to

To clarify, especially to my darling friend Marla, the "surprise" mentioned at the end of this post does NOT indicate anything with regards to a pregnancy!!!  Think more in the arena of "trip" or "excursion" for our family rather than adding to the NUMBERS of our family...just wanting to set the record straight!

It's been awhile.

Let's see if I can recap up to this point...

My eldest turned 9.
I edited a family photo shoot on the computer.
Sweetpea had a Science test and did super.
I photographed 2 families at a park.
Peanut figured out how to get herself all the way across the monkeybars.
I edited the two family photo shoots and shot another wedding.
We broke out the Wii and it turns out Little Munchkin is an AWESOME bowler and frisbee thrower.
I edited some more in front of the computer.
Sweetpea had a sleepover birthday party and we "camped" out in the living room in our HUGe tent.
I had some more photo shoots.
We had some friends over for dinner and I ate some good white chicken chilli.
I posted the shoots on facebook and my website/blog.
We cleaned the house and the girls whined about putting away their clothes.
I may or may not have cursed at the computer.
I sat down and sped read a book...and am now currently watching Harry Potter.

I do hope to get back to a regular routine after Thanksgiving...and I'm looking forward to a surprise coming in up December...details TBA later:) 

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday SweetPea

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

You changed my life!

You made a dream come true!

I found a part of me in you!

I thank God for entrusting you to me for these years on earth. 

I watch you grow and learn and succeed and fail.

I watch you cry and want to take away the hurt.

But, I want you to be strong and so instead of taking it away, I just cry with you and remind you that not only do Mommy and Daddy love you...but, Jesus loves you more than we could ever imagine.

I cheer for you!

I probably drive you INSANE with my craziness!

I'm pretty positive that I embarrass you at times...and then I see you smile...so at least I know you don't think I'm completely crazy!

You are compassionate, thoughtful, and friendly.

You are demanding of yourself and give grace to others.

You are dramatic and sometimes overreact (and I have NO idea where you get that at all!)

But, I love the emotion sweet one!

You are loved beyond what you could even imagine!

Happy Birthday!

Rapunzel

My older girls were in the play, Rapunzel, last week.

Oh, and welcome back Ms. BlahGGER who doesn't show up for days on end...

Ahem...yes well...I'm sorry for that...the snot that has built up in my nose has apparantly brought in luggage and set up residence in my entire sinus areas...which now allows me for yet another excuse for my absence of late....

And so...where was I?
Yes...LAST week, my girls were in a play...Let me begin by saying that it OVERJOYED...no...it THRILLED my soul that my daughters wanted to PERFORM!  I know, I know...it's pathetic, selfish, "all glory to me-ish"...but, I just sooo wanted to "Show the world" (or at least the handful of parents and grandparents that crammed their bodies into the teeeeeny, tiny room) the fact that my girls DO enjoy applause and can be in the spotlight...

well...they kinda like the spotlight...

If the spotlight is center stage and they are down the hallway, in another room, in a group of other kids doing something completely different than acting in a play...

So

Where does that leave us with regards to the play itself and PERFORMANCE night?

They thoroughly enjoyed each and every practice...they read their lines at home and practiced in the car...they're looking forward to the new Disney movie, Tangled...all the "stars" were in our favor...

This was Peanut on the night of the performance...up on stage...

What?  Can't you see the PURE JOY that exudes from her very soul?

Yeah, she was doing everything in her power to hold it together and not lose it to tears...bless her heart!

They DID have fun though...and I DO have pictures to prove it...I'm thankful that the play was "low key"...and there weren't more than about 30 people in the room to watch...just their crazy mother hopping all over the place taking flash pictures and blinding everyone for miles made them resort to rolling of the eyes and stern looks!

I am happy though...so proud of them for trying something out of their comfort zone...for making new friends...for challenging themselves...

And although Italian Stallion deemed the watching of the HOUR AND A HALF performance a tad, "painful"...I, for one, was thoroughly pleased and bursting with love for my girlies...and then we went home and had pizza and ice cream...

The End.

Randomness

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:" ~Ecc.3:1

I'm not sure if photography and christmas cards fall under the complexity and context of this verse, but I'm going to hope so...perhaps it catagorizes itself under vs. 6 where there are times to search and give up, keep and throw away? 

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the outlet that photography affords me...and although it is with great pleasure that I help create memories for families...and it is often with giggles and Ah-Ha moments that I design cards...Well, I have to admit that it takes time...and apparantly, a lot of it...

Italian Stallion reminds me that it is a season...the FALL season to be exact...the time when everyone wants those family photos so they have them for those long winter months when everyone is holed up in the house dreaming of spring...it just takes a lot of my time and therefore other things have to go...

The blogging being one of those things...I knew coming into this time that it'd be hectic, but I had high hopes...what I didn't figure into the equation were the mounds of laundry, multiple scooter rides and late night games of rummikub with the girlies...and therefore...I've been a bit lax when it comes to blah-ing to all of you...(or at least the handful of people that happen to stop by here every once in awhile)

I want to interject here as I write b/c my husband has just pointed out specific dynamics of our children...Let me set the stage:  Sweetpea is in the top bunk in her room yelling for us...why?  Well, because Peanut has gone over to lay down with Little Munchkin in the purple room b/c Little Munch apparantly needed some cuddle time with her sister...Sweetpea is yelling to tattle on Peanut.  Peanut however has fallen asleep...SOUND asleep in Little Munchkin's bed...Little Munchkin, upon hearing Sweetpea's weak yells for Mom and Dad, decides it is HER duty to overpower those pathetic cries and scream at the top of her lungs that Sweetpea NEEDS us...all the while, Peanut, the reason for all the noise in the first place, remains utterly and soundly asleep, oblivious to all that is going on around her...

Just wanted to throw that in there...this is a nightly occurance...fun times!

And so, that's just my little explanation as to why I may be incredibly sporadic in the coming month(s) with regards to the blog...I want to return once the sessions have settled down...I'll come back and let you know the Italian household happenings as I am able...

IN the meantime...here are a couple of things I've enjoyed lately and would LOVE to expound on them in the future:

You've GOT to see: How to Train a Dragon  (awesome movie)
Read: Sarah's Keys (oh, my...heart breaking, but incredibly vivid and well developed literature)
Play:  outside in the sun when you can...jump in leaves, scooter down the street, have a bonfire and eat smores...

See you soon!

What I've been up to

I know I complain verbalize some discomfort when I feel rather swamped with "stuff".

I've had some "stuff" lately.

My Italian Stallion has had a lot more travel this month (and will continue to do so until month's end) which is not only out of the norm for him, but tends to send me into a landslide of  "woe is me" and cries of "will it ever end"???

Amidst the 'drama', we have had some fun moments and I thought I'd share...

first off:  Apple Pie

I'd like to say that we picked the apples ourselves as we jovially went to the orchard and picked our bushels...

but that would be lying...

Meijer's produce department was the closest we got to the orchards this year...so I cheated and then made a pie...

it was good and we ate it...

and so did some fruit flies who decided to permanently move into my kitchen.

Next:  Family Pictures

I have that love/hate relationship with our family pictures...

Love because, duh, I love pictures

Hate, because I think by the time the picture taking is complete both myself and the rest of my family want to wring each other's necks...ahhh the love

Child Labor is next on the list...we like to grow 'em strong and resiliant...

We find that the best way to do this is to put them to work...

Visits from long lost uncles who move away to California and then come back and complain about the midwest weather in the middle of a soccer game when he's only really been gone one month and there's NO WAY his body has gotten used to his "glorified" Cali-weather...just because it happens to be a "bit" cold and blustery and rainy...

but, we love him anyway!

More child labor...cuz sometimes you just need a break!

That's what's goin' in my neck of the woods...

How about you?