A Promise

Today we made up for the missed rainbow from the other night. It was a great rainbow too. If you look to the right of it you can see another one beginning to form also. So I got two for one. I took five minutes to take pictures. Mind you I am on a busy road kids in car and its starting to sprinkle, but it was so worth it. In those five minutes it became even better. In the end we could even see purple as pictured above. Rainbows are great reminders of the promises of God. This being that God will not flood the earth again as he did in the days of Noah. Eli was happy to listen to my story of Noah and the Ark on the way to town. Speaking of listening to stories. That boy has just become a delight to have in the car. Instead of having a one sided conversation I now am able to have him involved and I am loving it!


Today was an exciting day! I decided to not let the bugs get to me and well I did a lot less vacuuming and house cleaning. Probably because well I am so over it and we are not finding a thing. That does not mean I going to completely stop but I may slow down a little bit. Two week ago before we found out we were had fleasm, we picked up a book of plans for a sandbox for the kids. Well then the fleas hit and it got put on the back burner. This week Aunt Di called us and asked if she could buy the kids one. Such a blessing it was. So today was the day her and her son came out to put it in. Eli adores Aunt Di. She adores him too! Eli was so excited she was coming. So they got a sandbox. It was such a blessing too. I know they will enjoy it as Eli loves the one at Aunt Toni's and Lilliana has loved playing in the sand at the park.


Now we have our own little area of beach and paradise............we can pretend we do at least:) It was fun spending time in it. I knew I would, but Eli had a meltdown when it was time to go in for a nap. We are going to have to work on that. The first thing he said when he got up was, "Go play in sandbox?" That did not happen as we had to go to the bank.

As we were walking to the car Eli picked up a maple leaf. He then explained to me that the leaves are all going to change colors and fall off. Then the snow comes. Such a smart boy! We have been talking about this for about a week so I am glad he finally understands.


After the bank I came home and made dinner. Anthony was working late tonight so halfway through dinner I decided I was taking the kids for ice cream. I had grand plans to go to King Kone and sit outside and eat it. Then, I went outside and the clouds were dark so I knew it was going to storm. So we headed a different direction and got Culvers instead. It worked out well because I like Culver's ice cream better. It is actually custard. Eli dressed himself and got his own shoes. He must have been being creative today. Since he had pajama bottoms on and water shoes.


Eli was a big help. He was so good too and ate his ice cream with very little mess. He was very interested in the little kids next to us though so I did not get much conversation out of him.


I even let Lilliana have her first taste of ice cream. She did not seem very impressed and honestly was more intent on watching her brother. She would scream at him to get his attention and just go crazy. I let her sit on the table as I did not feel like trying to juggle a high chair two ice creams and two kids. I may be super mom sometimes but tonight I thought I would leave the costume in the closet.
She ended up just becoming very interested in her toy. Everybody had to stop and talk to her and Eli. They are magnets for this. I love that everybody loves my kids but sometimes it can be very distracting for them. Tonight I had a hard time getting Eli to focus on eating because of it. Thank goodness he is not shy though.


I also played little piggies with her. I just started with the first one and she got a big grin and began laughing. I had not even started the tickle part. The girl loves to play little piggies that is one thing I have learned.


The ride home was very enjoyable. We did see an accident so Eli was thrilled he could see the police, ambulance, and fire trucks. He also told me all about the clouds, that it was getting dark, the colors of the signs, the rain, the moon, and so on. He was great. Now they are safely tucked in their beds and I am going to relax. I am exhausted! I can't wait to see what exciting things we come up with for the weekend!

Breaking Point

I am at a breaking point with the fleas. Yes, I know this is the week they should be hatching but its annoying me. I am sick of finding anything. Thankfully they are dying. I hate spraying the stuff I have to to kill them but I don't know what else to do. My poor dogs are prisoners to their kennels and do not get to enjoy us or we them.

All that to say I was invited by a dear friend of mine to start attending a mom group at a local church. Today was the first meeting. It is called Refresh. It was such a blessing and so much fun. I can't wait for the friendships I will make. We had a great devotional today. It really helped me realize I will get through this trial of bugs. It could be worse we could have found our house crawling with them...we did not. We could have been getting bites....we have not. Phil. 4:13 is my motto these next few weeks, " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."


I did a Senior photoshoot this week. We had a blast and I learned a lot. This was my favorite shot.....


She is beautiful and was a fun first senior to do. She thought I was nuts at time but was game for whatever.

Last night Aunt Toni called me to say there was a rainbow outside. Anthony was getting home late so Eli was still up. I grabbed him and my camera and we ran out to look. Unfortunately the trees covered it, but we got to see this....

I was impressed I was able to capture this. It is straight out of my camera no editing at all! I am getting better shooting manual since the last time I did sunsets I had a difficult time capturing the exact colors!

The kids have been great the past couple of days. They have been real joys to be around. Lilliana's top two middle teeth have popped through so she was cranky but still so fun. If you look at her and smile she fake laughs. Its hilarious. She is loving solids. Although she is not liking all the baby food I made but would rather eat real food. She is swiping everybody's food and screams if she can't have it.
She loves teething biscuts and just chews and sucks on them.


Eli is into Peanut butter and jelly sandwhices lately. He will eat them morning noon and night.


They both adore each other and if one is asleep and the other awake they are bored. She looks for him and he asks about her. If he goes to Aunt Toni's she cries until he comes home and then she is happy as can be. They are already becoming the best of friends. I love them.

Bring on Fall

Labor day weekend..........the last great weekend for camping, lake trips, and just plain summer fun. I wish I could say we did some grand thing this weekend to give summer a last HOORAY, but we didn't. Instead we cleaned, relaxed, and ushered in the fall morning crisp air.


The vucuum became a another piece of furniture in my house this weekend. In order to make sure no fleas or flea eggs are still in my house we have been vacuuming a lot! Still not finding them in the house and nobody has bites so that is good. We have found one each on the dogs though so we are taking all precautions. I know we will all be glad when the dogs can be part of the family again and are not banned from being around us. Yes, I may be being paranoid but I don't want any chances.

Saturday morning we woke up to two very happy kids although this picture does not really tell that. They were having a blast together and just enjoying each other's company.


Anthony and Eli spent the afternoon playing Legos. Eli built an airplane. Since our vacation he talks about flying on an airplane to go see Grandma Jenny, Grandma Nicole, Tosha, and Chloe. These names always come up but sometimes there are other names thrown in there. He loves playing with "daddy's blocks." I dread the day he finds where Anthony keeps the legos and he gets into them on his own.


Saturday night we had to run to PetSmart to get some more flea stuff. There is a big pond right by the store and Eli watched the geese fly into it. He thought that was so cool.
We also found a snake. We went to dinner where Anthony and Eli thought it would be fun to hide from my camera. They were playing but it was cute. We also discovered Lilliana has figured out how to get her toys with her feet if she can't reach them.



It was a great evening out. Of course the car ride home we had to listened to Eli's favorite............


Eli loves Veggie Tales. He has forever. Every car ride he asks to listen to them. Needless to say its getting time for some new ones! I am sick of the ones we have.


Weekends always mean pancakes at one point or another. It can be late at night, in the afternoon, or breakfast but we have them at least once. It is somewhat of a tradition we have started. Eli loves to help me make them now. This particular time was at night. I don't remember which day but Eli went to bed and woke up hungry so we spent time making pancakes.
  Of course they had to be topped with Chocolate Chips. These are the moments I love. It may have been 11 at night and Eli should have been in bed but we had a blast together making pancakes and then eating them. Those are the special times I love and try not to miss with my kids.

This year I did not do a garden. I just knew after having Lilliana it would not happen. We had stuff come up where the garden was last time though. It seems like the zucchini and pumpkins mixed and this was the result................

There are some more like that growing and then one that is shaped like a pumpkin but really dark green. Needless to say Eli got a big kick out of it.

I also was able to finish my editing of Lilliana's six month pictures. These ended up being a bit of a nightmare. I had some real issues with the baseboard not being right. So I tried re shooting it twice. Much to my dismay neither time came out as great as this first time. So my dear and wonderful husband sat down with me and with his amazing editing skills salvaged these. They are not the best they could be but I needed to do better with my camera. I still love them. The idea came to me when Eli one day was playing with cabbage on his head. Lilliana looks like a cabbage patch doll so I just had to do it. Eli also got in on the action. He was so funny too and loved doing it.

Weekend, Weekend, Weekend

Yes this is the chant I am chanting. Normally I could take it or leave it. Granted I can be home everyday and don't have to set an alarm to get up for work. My alarm is two wonderful little blessings. This week has been busy though and the kids have decided 6 and 630 is an appropriate time to be up after waking several times both of them at night. Yes I feel like a zombie!!!!!!!!! I have been a little busier too. I forsee the future if I make anything out of a photography business and it means we are going to have to split up the work in the house. I do a lot of the cleaning and cooking and taking care of the kids but this week I realized I am going to need some time un interrupted to edit. The next two months are going to be a test to see how this is really going to work. I may abandon this whole idea all together. I knew it was going to be work. I may even have to change my game plan too. Its going to be either take the plunge head first or be done completely. We will see...........

All this getting up early has meant sunrises. Eli woke me up one morning and said he wanted to go outside to see the sun rise. So I grabbed the nearest clothes for us both and we put them on to run outside. Unfortunately it was a cloudy morning.

We had fun. Eli insisted I take one picture of the clouds. He kept telling me, "mom, take picture of clouds and sun." I love this kid. He is already learning what to take pictures of. This it he exact picture he wanted....

He spent a few minutes watching the cars go by and pointing at them.


Lilliana has been cranky from teeth. She has drama drama drama..........


Since Eli has been getting up in the night he passes out randomly on the couch because he is tired!
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Lilliana is taking after her brother when it comes to the dog bones. As a baby Eli would find them and chew on them as much as he could. I would try stopping him but he would crawl and find another. We finally put them away. I guess it is time to do the same again as Lilliana found this yesterday and loved it. She screamed after I took it away and she only had it for about 20 seconds.


Eli went to to a bounce place yesterday. I was supposed to do senior pictures but we ended up rescheduling as it was so hot and humid I did not want her to have a glistening face and sweaty armpit spots. Lilliana and I enjoyed some time together.


The girl loves her feet lately. She lays there and swings them and talks to them and grabs them. She still does not chew on them but the talking to them is just funny.

Anthony loves Legos. He has a huge tub full of them. If I said he has thousands I don't think I would be far off! He decided Eli was big enough to finally bring them out. So they played. I unfortunatly did not get a picture. I just was pooped and just watched. They had a blast and I know there will be many many many more times of this. Anthony loves to build and Eli loves to help and watch.

Yay for the weekend! Although I have a feeling we will be doing more work than anything as the plan is to bomb the house again. Thank goodness for little boys with big smiles though:) Eli told me as I was vacuuming and cleaning his room today,"thanks mom, I love you!" He made my day. I may be sick of cleaning for fleas and over doing it but I know I am doing it for the the health of my family and so my smiling, grateful, happy little boy does not get bit! Happy weekend everybody!

My Great Plans........

I said I had great plans for those sunflowers! Well here they are...........................




I had the priviledge of doing some maternity photos there on Monday. It was VERY challenging! I had a hard time and we took a lot of pictures but because of lighting and the shadows from the flowers it made it a little difficult! We had so much fun though.

I will be doing some more for her and her family when the colors change. I also get the priviledge of photographing this little boy when he is born. I am so glad she was such a willing subject for my ideas.




We have a busy day ahead. I will be sewing today for Mo Dia Diapers. I need to get out of the house. Eli is off at a bounce place with the daycare kids. I have a Senior Shoot tonight. It is just all around busy. My house is still a wreck but I need to get out today.