"CHEESE!"

As a photographer, doing portraits of my own children can pose some unique challenges.

Heck, it is BEYOND frustrating!

I can get anyone else's children to smile, laugh, look at me, be cute, etc... but my own?? Let's just say... We do eventually manage to get the cute pictures, but "Scary Mommy" has been known to rear her ugly head from time to time (ok. pretty much every time.)

I have come up with solutions to many of our picture taking dilemmas & have honed my photoshop skills enough to even do our own family portrait (see the family picture on this page). Believe it or not, I did it with the timer & a few hours of photo shopping :)

There are somethings you don't have a choice but to pay other people to do.

Like the Santa picture...

Being a creative person has an element of a controlling nature to it. I know this. I can admit it. I want our pictures done MY way.

THIS does not help alleviate my concerns about letting other people do my pictures:

Click on picture for closer look...

Are you KIDDING me?! I paid $9 for THIS?!

I have cute kids, it doesn't take much for them to look decent. Surprisingly, Brynlea wasn't even crying... and this is what I get.

Oh well, it is a memory, I suppose *letting go, letting go* sigh...

She's on the Move!

Well, it played out pretty much how I thought it would.

The tree has been up for 5 days...

Brynlea has started crawling.

It is a very primitive army crawl, but she is moving herself along at a pretty good speed. She is my earliest crawler - she will be 9 months old on the 2oth. Averie crawled around 91/2 months (after she had already started pulling herself up to standing - we wondered if maybe she wouldn't crawl) & Evan was a lazy 10 1/2 months old before he was on the move. Though I have a feeling he was on the move before that, just never when there was a "person capable of carrying me" within eye-shot.

Both of them only crawled for about 6 weeks before they were taking their first steps. Let's hope Brynlea stays in the crawling stage a little longer than THAT!

So without further delay, here she is in all her glory:

Kid Comparison

We all compare them. We try not to in an "scale" way... as in - who measures up better - but we all do it.

I'm finding with the addition of my newest little cutie that the comparison is often looks. I get it. She looks like us. She belongs to us - the DNA is all ingredients from the same "pot" so to speak.

What I find somewhat amusing is that anyone who has an opinion, seems SO adamant that their's is the only accurate one.

Averie is the funny one because I grew up in Abbotsford - so people knew me as a child. Graham grew up in Richmond - people there knew him as a child. When we are in Abbotsford - Averie is a DEAD RINGER for me... when in Richmond... you guessed it - she's a dead ringer for Graham.

It's funny because when I look at pictures of Graham & I as children we don't look at all alike :)

Now Brynlea gets the QUADRUPLE whammy - not only compared to Graham & I, but also her siblings.

The most common sentiment is that she looks like Evan - I personally see a lot of Averie when they were the same age... but I really think she has her own look.

My children definitely look like a "set" - but I wouldn't say a "matching set"...

More like a "coordinating set" LOL

But here's a sampling of each of them at the same age - 7 months old.

You decide...

let me know what you think!

The Santa Call

I have a very distinct childhood memory that my mother denies happened.

Thankfully, my sister backs me up by having the same recollection & my mother has a... shall we say, "fading" memory. Anyway, regardless of what my mom says... this HAPPENED.

My sister, Shannon (2 years younger than me) & I had been particularly challenging this day. I don't recall our sin...

(as is the case with most of the "punishing" I remember - the punishing is MUCH more traumatic, therefore it has the sticking power in the memory)

But Mom was MAD... it was near enough to Christmas for the "Santa Threat" - you know, "Santa's gonna put you on the naughty list", "You're gonna get coal in your stocking", etc...

This particular year, Mom upped the anti...

On the kitchen phone, which at the time looked exactly like this:

Hey! Don't laugh! It was very stylish in our 70's "Buttercup Yellow" kitchen (yellow appliances even!):

My mother CALLED Santa Clause! While we literally crawled on the floor at her feet BEGGING for her not to, she actually had a conversation with "someone" where she identified herself (She actually said, "It's Me - is Santa there, please?") & was then "put on hold". I am NOT kidding!

We were TERRIFIED!! My imagination went WILD - suddenly imagining Santa being pulled out of some important meeting to come to my mother's call. Would he be angry at being interrupted?? Would we REALLY be put on the naughty list?? And the all important... My mom knows Santa PERSONALLY?!?!

We were beside ourselves! I don't think up to that point in my life I had felt THAT level of panic. While "on hold", my mom asked us if we were going to stop this behavior & be good.

"YES! YES! Anything you want! We will never do anything bad EVER again!"

She then acted as though someone came to the other end of the phone... "Oh hi, it's Michelle. Everything's OK. They say they're going to be good. (Then the clincher) - I'll call back if I need you. Bye, Santa"

Whoa! That was a close one... what a relief!!

***************************************

It was much later in life that I realized what level of deception had actually taken place that day - we joked about it with my mom a lot over the years - always fun to have an example of your mom being... um, less than honest - for lack of a better term :) I think that's why she probably denied it happened.

I've always thought of it as being pretty creative parenting actually.

Why bring this up now???

I made THE Santa Call tonight.

My Evan is the bluff caller. While going to bed, he was carrying on & I made the "Santa threat":

Me: "Evan, do you want me to tell Santa to put you on the naughty list? Then you won't get any presents."
Evan: "Yes."

I went to the bedroom & got the cordless phone. I walked back to stand in front of the bedroom door & dialed random numbers (Evan started to whimper). While the operator's recording babbled something in my ear about being unable to connect the call, history repeated itself. And while I was "on hold" with Santa - my little one BEGGED me to reconsider. I could see that same look in his eye as his imagination went wild.

Tonight I discovered the magic of the "Santa Call"...

Boy - it works like a CHARM!

(Am I evil?) :)

Baby Tricks

I have often been told a story of when I was younger (probably somewhere around the age Brynlea is right now - 7 months)...
It goes something like this: My Dad trained me to "blow raspberries" & I apparently would do it on command. I think it may be one of my Dad's proudest achievements. Probably because it would've irked my mom. LOL

So Dad... this post is for you. We have not trained Brynlea to do this - it seems to be something she has started doing when she is frustrated. Maybe we created a gene...

Anyhoo... it's a pretty good laugh! Enjoy...

I Can't Swim!

It's swimming lesson time again. We always take a break from Averie's swimming lessons over the summer with the *idea* to restart with the school year... however, LAST year we didn't restart until closer to the END of the school year, so we're at least off to a better start this year.
We also decided to start Evan with swimming lessons as he (more than anyone else in our home) will need to burn off energy as much as possible over this long fall/winter of being cooped up in the house - or we will all suffer the consequences. No. Seriously...

So, we have everything figured out... I have examined at length the swimming lesson schedule, consulted with my darling hubby as to which time slots work with his schedule (he needs to be home to watch Brynlea) - we have spent LOTS of time hyping Evan up for it & getting him excited, Averie is already excited & making us promise DAILY that she will be signed up for & starting swimming lessons soon, we have the money... now to actually GET there to register them...

One problem... have I mentioned that October is one of my busiest portrait seasons?

I'm technically only doing photography part-time... in October it has this funny way of creeping into INSANE full-time! In fact, I should be photo-editing RIGHT NOW... I have SIX completed portrait sessions lined-up for photo editing as I am sitting here. But I need a break... so I am blogging instead :) Back to that tomorrow...

Oh! One more embarrassing fact... the rec center where they have their lessons is literally ONE block away. If our place had one more floor, I could SEE it from our house.

Anyhow, I digress... I didn't manage to get there to register them until this morning, which happens to be the day this session starts (I went to register them at 10am, lessons were at 4pm)...

Due to a slow-on-the-uptake Mother, all of Evan's age group classes were FULL!! Great! So, we've been psyching the kid up for 2 weeks about it & now Averie will get to do swimming lessons (again!) & he won't?! (AGAIN!)...

So I have sucked it up & am doing what any decent mother would do - putting on a swim suit (UGH!) & having "Mommy & Evan swim time" while Averie is in her lesson. (By the way, I also have already signed him up for NEXT session! :))

*****************************************************

We arrived at the pool today & amid much excitement - got Averie off to her lesson. Evan was practically vibrating he was SO excited! We go to the change room to quickly change & come out - he can't decide which pool to go to first (there are 3 - wave pool, baby pool & hot tub) I explain them as "cold pool, warm pool, & hot pool". He picks "warm pool" - we head over there, hand in hand, with him bouncing & skipping all the way. I lift him into the pool, then follow him in. I watch him - the water comes up to just below his waist - he looks kind of awkward. He stands there & crosses his arms, sort of squats down in the water, waves his hands around in the water a bit... then he stands up, puts his hands on his hips & with this really confused look on his face & says, "Mommy... I can't swim!" Like in all of his excitement, it had never occurred to him what he would actually DO when he got in the water!!

He is SO funny!

Gratitude

I heard a psychologist on a radio talk show yesterday who said, "The average person says 'thank you' approximately 100 times per day - if you work in an industry that deals with people, it is probably closer to 300 or 400 times per day."

The thought occurred to me after hearing that - thank you doesn't always equate with gratitude. Just like "I love you" can become more a closing on the telephone than a proclamation of emotion, if the words are not held as special.

So, I want to to be very clear today...

I am GRATEFUL for my body - in all the frustration it brings me for not "looking" how I wish it would, yet I have health - for the fact that I have been pregnant quickly every time I've wanted, that I have had healthy, uneventful pregnancies & beautiful healthy babies. This is mindblowing for me still - we can MAKE another human... amazing.
For my ability to dance & sing & generally enjoy all that is around me.

I am GRATEFUL for my husband - there were times in my life that the thought of being this consistently & unconditionally loved seemed beyond what I was capable of receiving... then he came along. He is my absolute favorite person in the world & I would not be all I am without him. For the father he is and all that he contributes, financially & otherwise to keeping our family balanced. For often watching our children all day on what equates to his ONLY day off in the week, so that I can pursue my dreams & enjoy my talents.

I am GRATEFUL for my marriage - for the simple ease of our relationship. For our ability to talk & communicate without fear of rejection or reprisal. Someone once asked me after Graham & I got engaged how I knew that this was "it" - I replied, "Because it's like breathing." It's literally the easiest relationship I have ever had - to quote Ever After, "He is my match in every way." I have never, in all my time spent with Graham, had to pretend for ONE minute that I am anyone other than who I am. He knows me better than anyone else, & loves me completely.

I am GRATEFUL for my children - as every mother believes, I have the children that were MEANT for me to have. As a family, we are a perfect match. I am so grateful that my children generally want me to be happy with them. They CARE that I am pleased with them. We have our good days & bad, but in general I truly ENJOY my children. I am SO grateful for that.

I am GRATEFUL for my religion - for all it has taught me about myself & my relationship with God & my Savior. For the security that gives me in my life & the help it gives me in teaching my children about who they are & what they should strive to accomplish in this life.

I am GRATEFUL for perspective - for my ability to disect a situation in my life - good or bad - & (sometimes with spiritual support) come up with reasons that help me to learn from these experiences. For my ability to look to the future & have a clear idea of what I want my children to remember about their childhood & the clear goals to accomplish it.

I am GRATEFUL for good friends - the support that they are to me & the "sounding board" when I need it.

I am GRATEFUL for family - both that which I was born into & that which I married into.

I am GRATEFUL for employment - the fact that my husband has a job that both allows me to be home with my children during the day & also allows HIM to be home as much as he is to be an active role in our childrens' lives & to support me in creating & running my own business. The fact that people (sometimes strangers) allow me into the most personal times in their lives to capture their memories is something I will never take for granted. And then they PAY me for the privilege! I am truly blessed.

The more I think about how much I have, the more I realize how little I am without...

My cup runneth over...

Parenting Crisis

I had a strange situation occur yesterday & after a few conversations about it with friends, decided a vent & some opinion seeking were in order. For those of you who have seen my Facebook, or heard the story already, I apologize for the repetition. This is the fully detailed version.

As you may recall, Averie attends a school that requires uniforms. Therefore, the PAC committee runs a consignment store out of a tiny room in the school - it sells new stuff from their "official" uniform provider & all the "crested" items that you couldn't get just anywhere - as well as used stuff on consignment. So Averie is very keen on getting a crested cardigan & my MIL generously donated the funds to get one. The only problem is the consignment store is only open a couple of times a month. Yesterday was one of those days.

So, we headed to the little room after I picked her up from school - Brynlea in my arms, Evan in tow. At the back of the tiny room is a small "toy area" where they have set up some donated toys that kids can play with while Mom shops. Averie & Evan headed back there, where maybe 3 other children were already playing. There was about 3 women from the PAC committee in there helping people with orders/purchases. I turned to look at the kids (they had been over there for less than a minute) & there was a little boy (I'm going to guess somewhere between 2 & 3 years old) with his hands on Averie's cheeks. I noticed her face was concerned & then realized he was pinching her cheeks. When he let go, she turned & looked at me. I said, "Are you ok?" She immediately started crying & ran over to me. One of the other women said, "What happened?" & an older boy that was over there said, "Jack pinched her face." Now, I wasn't making a big deal out of it & honestly, thought Averie was carrying on a little (she can be tired & overly emotional after school).

Apparently, "Jack's" Mom wasn't in the room at the time, she had left to go do something else in the school. One of the other women told him to apologize & he came over attempted to say sorry. I pretty much brushed it off.

A couple of minutes later (Averie wasn't crying anymore) - it was our "turn" to get them to grab what I wanted to purchase. I wasn't sure what size cardigan we needed so they pulled out a couple sizes for her to try. When she turned to the side to put her arm in the sleeve, I suddenly saw this:

I believe I said something like, "Oh my gosh!" And turned her to the other side, where I saw THIS:

I was DUMBFOUNDED!! This was a COMPLETELY unprovoked attack (Averie hadn't even TOUCHED the toys when it happened) by a complete stranger! I couldn't believe it!

The child's mom had returned by this time & when she heard me exclaim, she came over & was shocked also when she saw the damage. She brought "Jack" over to see it & pointed out to him what he had done & how it hurt, etc. She was obviously flustered & embarassed (who wouldn't be?) & exclaimed, "I don't know why he keeps doing this! The past few weeks he has been SO aggressive."

Pardon me?? "KEEPS?" As in: he does this frequently??? This is when my mom rage started bubbling up. I was cordial as she apologized profusely, got our stuff & left.

I don't want to be one of those mothers who is like, "MY kids would never do that!" I know my children aren't perfect by any stretch BUT... my children would NEVER do that!! They would never attack a child they didn't know with that kind of aggression for no reason! Maybe I just have very mild children, I don't know, but I found it rather shocking.

This whole situation bothers me for 2 reasons:
1) I never know how to deal with a situation like this. My immediate reation is to be polite. To appease the flustered embarassment of the mom as I CAN understand how mortifiying it would be. I feel however, that I am then undermining the fact that my child was hurt IN FRONT of her. I mean, what happened to her was WRONG - completely! By me sort of making light of it with the Mom, am I teaching Averie to just let things like that go?
When we got to the van, I made a BIG stink about how naughty that had been for that boy to do that & how shocked & surprised I was that he would do that... but is that enough? Shouldn't she see me do that right away??

2) When I looked over there & the boy was obviously REALLY hurting her - she was just STANDING there! She didn't say anything or do ANYTHING until I asked her if she was ok! I am sure she was in shock as much as any of us were, but when I realized how MUCH he had hurt her, I couldn't believe she just TOOK it!
The rest of our conversation in the van had to do with this type of problem solving. That if someone is hurting you, you CAN push them away, or yell at them, "THAT HURTS ME!" etc, & I had her practice some of the things she could say.

It really upset me to think she had been hurt like that & just stood there! I know it has to do with the differences between her & my personalities (I would NEVER just stand there - he probably would've gotten a black eye or something!) - in general, I LOVE that Averie has such an easy going, even tempered personality, but when I see something like that it worries me. I want to teach my kids (especially my girls) that there is a DIFEERENCE between being mean & being assertive. As in, you CAN be nice AND assertive. And it is not unkind to require people to treat you a certain way (as in treat you WELL).

I just hope our conversation in the van helped...

So, my question to you is - how would YOU deal with this situation? How do you think a situation like this SHOULD be handled?
What is more important - the feelings of the mother, being polite, or your child who is a victim?? I'm not sure on this one.

I sure am still sick about it EVERY time I see Averie's face!

An Update on the Sleep Situation

I am EXTREMELY happy to report that Evan now has 6 stickers in a row on his chart!!

He has gotten up only TWO times total in the last 6 nights! And a quick reminder of why he needs to stay in his bed & he heads back there without much fighting at all. What a big boy!!

One night I was laying in bed as Brynlea had started to fuss & was debating about whether she would settle on her own or whether I needed to do the "soother locator" thing. I finally rolled over & sat up. By the pale light of the nightlight in the hallway...

Evan was standing in my bedroom doorway! Just standing there... not making a sound! It was all I could do to stifle a scream! I startled so bad, I fell back on the bed... I thought I was in a scene from "The Sixth Sense" or something!

So, once my heart restarted, I took him back to bed & explained that if he really needed something, he could call me. I had visions of the poor boy standing in the hall all scared from a nightmare or something, but not wanting to give up his sticker by actually coming in to our room. Poor little guy!

But he is doing SO great & is so proud of all his stickers. He talks about it all day! We are so proud of him, too!

My entries may be a little sparse over the next few weeks as I am officially into another "busy season" for photography. Pretty much all my free time will be spent photo editing. It will slow down soon, though - I'm in "head down-plow through" mode. I love it!!

I am so blessed to get paid to do this!

I am hoping to get a blog going for my photography business but it is just way beyond what my multi-tasking ability can handle right now - maybe in the slwer part of the new year...

Tata for now!

I.... Need.... Sleep....

“Sleep is like the unicorn - it is rumored to exist, but I doubt I will see any” - Author Unknown

It's been going on for about 2 weeks now....

As Yosemite Sam used to say: "Tha's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!"

Between Evan, who has suddenly become some kind of insomniac & Brynlea, who isn't quite sleeping through the night yet, my nights have been going something like this (NOT an exageration!):

Midnight - ish: go to bed (I know... that part's my fault - night owl, what can I say?)
1:40am: Brynlea cries - get up, go to her room; feel for her soother in the dark, find it & find her mouth in the dark; give blanket; turn on aquarium (like a mobile but way better) - go back to bed.
2am: Evan is standing by my face "Mommy, I wanna sleep in your bed."
"Fine." He climbs in the middle; I cover him... he kicks covers off, tosses & turns, then settles; I attempt to go back to sleep...
2:20am: Evan - "Mommy, I wanna go back to my bed."
"Fine - go then."
*whimper* "Carry me?"
"Fine..." I carry him back to bed, cover him, give him a kiss - bonk my head on the upper bunk making my exit. Back to bed.
2:50am: Evan is standing in my face "Mommy, I have to go pee."
He can't go on his own yet. I get up, help him with his pants, lift him onto the toilet (oh, you bet he sits... if I have any say in it, he'll sit as LONG as I can get him to!), then sit on the edge of the tub, close my eyes a little... wait till he's done; help him down, fix his pants - follow him back to bed. Cover him, give him a kiss... manage to avoid bonking my head, but whack my arm off the door knob as I leave their room... Back in my bed.
3:25am: Brynlea cries - get up, go to her room; feel for soother in the dark, find it & find her mouth in the dark; give blanket; turn on aquarium (I am trying to wean her of night feeding) - go back to bed.
3:50am: Evan calls out!! "Mommy! I need my blanket!!" Fear of him waking the others makes me leap out of bed - lose my equilibrium - almost fall over - stub my toe on the eliptical trainer... head into their room, step full weight on a some dumb piece of polly pocket or something - try not to cry out - fix Evan's blanket - TRY to explain that he needs sleep - "Please go to sleep Evan" - give a kiss - bonk head on upper bunk - back to bed.
4:30am: Evan is standing by my face "Mommy, I wanna sleep in your bed."
"Evan!" he whimpers
"I scared"
"Fine." He climbs in the middle; I cover him... he kicks covers off tosses & turns, then settles; I attempt to go back to sleep...
5am: I wake realizing I am almost falling off the bed - I'm teetering on the edge & have a little knee in my back. "Graham!" I whisper.
"huh?"
"Can you pull Evan to the center of the bed?" No response.
"Graham!"
"huh?"
"Please pull Evan closer to you!" He gently pulls Evan over who stirs, rolls over & resettles.
5:40am: Evan - "Mommy, I wanna go back to my bed."
I push Graham's shoulder, "huh?" he says.
"Please take Evan back to bed." No response. "Graham!"
"Huh?"
"Take Evan back to bed , please." He sits up.
Evan says, "Carry me." Graham tries to navigate the dark room, with Evan in his arms & no glasses on. Stubs his toe on the eliptical. Climbs back into bed 30 seconds later.
6am: Brynlea cries - debate about getting up & making her a bottle; decide to give it one more try - get up, go to her room; feel for soother in the dark, find it & find her mouth in the dark; give blanket; turn on aquarium - go back to bed.
6:35am: Brynlea cries - she's had enough. I go get her & take her downstairs; make a bottle, grab a diaper. Sit in the rocking chair with her & doze while she drinks the bottle. When it's done, I lay her on the ottoman & change her diaper. Take her back to bed, feel for soother in the dark, find it & find her mouth in the dark; give blanket; turn on aquarium - go back to bed.
6:50am: Graham's alarm goes off. He gets in the shower.
7:15am: Averie is in my face, "Good morning, Mommy. I'm hungry."

And the day begins.

Evan then sleeps in until 8:30am or later.

This is NOT working for me. I am woken up somewhere between 6-10 times a night between 1:30am - 7am. Kill me now!!

It's actually worse than it was when Brynlea was newborn!!

I have started a sticker chart. Every night that Evan stays in bed, he gets a sticker. After 2 weeks he gets a package I was saving for Christmas (I may not MAKE it to Christmas if this keeps up!). It contains 2 wooden Thomas the Tank Engine trains & 2 Thomas DVDs. If you don't know why this is significant see HERE & HERE)

He was all fired up before he went to bed about it.

Wish me luck!!

Off to bed I go...

Boogie on Down!

Evan's preschool on Thursday had the opportunity to go on a field trip to a free concert by childrens entertainer, Charlotte Diamond. I was able to bring all my kids & it was SO great!

Waiting for the show to start, we ran into some of Averie's preschool friends from last year & Evan's drop-in friends... Connor, Kate & Brooklyn.

Averie & Evan getting 2 of their "Four Hugs A Day" - one of her songs


Averie & Brooklyn

Averie BEGGED me to let her follow the other kids up onto the stage, but I wasn't sure if they were supposed to. I finally relented & she made her way up there. Charlotte started handing out these little instruments & Averie got one, then she told all the kids without instruments to go down off the stage & she started to sing La Bamba. So there's Averie with her little maraca, or whatever dancing away RIGHT in front of her!
I got a video clip of it & the another of the kids dancing away. They had such a great time!
Sorry for the poor quality, I only had my still camera with me, but it does video clips. Watch for Averie, she was already in her uniform for school as we had to go straight from the concert to drop her off at school. She's hard to miss!

After the show, Charlotte very graciously posed for pictures with any kids that wanted & gave them little autographed cards. SO fun!

It's Always About food...

I'm starting to notice an unintentional "theme" to my blog... it should change before too long :)

While I have been obsessing about getting LESS food into me, my little baby has turned 6 months old this week (I can't believe it!!) & we have delved into the world of solid food with her.

It was interesting how it came about as I can remember being very eager for my other 2 to start solids... both of them had *attempted* rice cereal by around 5 months.

I think it may have been my desperation to get some more sleep making me eager :) By number 3, you forget what a full night's sleep was like - the desperation fades.

I knew 6 months was approaching... I had picked up a box of rice cereal at the store a couple weeks ago, but just didn't feel that "push" - you know?

So, we were visiting at my cousin's place one afternoon last week while Averie was in school. She has a daughter just 6 weeks older than Brynlea & a son Evan's age. The boys have fun together when we visit.

She had prepared lunch for her kids & I was sitting beside her 4 year old at the table & holding Brynlea. She suddenly was going crazy for the food! Whining, trying to grab the spoon - put her hand in the bowl... she had never done that before!

My cousin kindly offers us some of the cereal her baby has been enjoying. She probably thought,"Geez, Lady. Quit starving your baby!" lol

I offered the cereal to Brynlea & she DOWNED it!! Ate the whole thing. Hardly any of it came back out - she was DEFINITELY ready.

So, we have started giving her one meal a day & so far, so good. She has only had Oatmeal, Rice cereal & pureed peaches. The peaches were a little tart for her I think :)

Here's a video clip:

Haircut!

It was time. Graham has been begging me for some time as he LOVED Averie's haircut when I had it cut as she entered Preschool...

GOSH! She is the cutest thing EVER!

Then I had another realization while looking for a "before" picture for this entry... when I went looking for one, realized that Averie almost NEVER had her hair down. It is ALWAYS up - hence, the need for something new... so a repeat picture is the best I have for "before"...

But here it is...

While we were in Olympia this past weekend, I decided it might be nice nice to take advantage of Grandma's hairstylist skills & get Averie (and myself) - trimmed & tidied up a bit...

Here is Grandma working her magic & all the hair that was cut...

Here she is right after... but not styled...

Here's a couple to give a better idea with it styled...
CUTE CUTE CUTE!!!

Thank you Grandma!

Oh! And my haircut...

Tidied & shortened the layers as I hadn't had it cut since I STARTED growing it out... eesh!
I still want to get some color done & the layers will help a lot as I recover from "postnatal MOLTING!" lol
Not all the way there but a definite improvement... thanks again, Mom!

All Aboard!! It's Train Day!!

I admit it. I can be a bit of a crazy mom sometimes. When my kids show a real interest in something, especially if it's something that is within my capabilities to provide, I get immeasurable joy from helping them experience things & create memories with them.

Therefore, due to Evan's current obsession (click HERE for a reminder) & to the fact that my sister has raised 2 train obsessed boys (& knows all the cool train stuff), I took my 3 kids & headed south to Olympia on Friday right after I picked up Averie from school to spend the weekend & dedicate Saturday to my son's current love... trains.

The day was to unfold like this:
9am - leave Olympia & head north to Tacoma (about 40 minutes) for the Maritime Fest, but most importantly the Tacoma Rail Open House .
12pm - leave Tacoma & head south, past Olympia to Chehalis to visit the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum. Most importantly, for the steam locomotive being operated there & providing rides!
2pm - back to Olympia for Percival Play Day - a family day at Percival Landing Party, full of free fun - bounce houses, tumbling buses, toy making, treats, etc - They even had custom fit bike helmets to be purchased for FIVE dollars!!

The day went off without a hitch! Couldn't have gone better. We arrived in Tacoma & were able to immediately board the first guided train ride around the tideflats of the morning... didn't even wait in line! We had a fantastic time touring the facility & getting to see the trains close up. A train club had incredible electric train sets set up & Tacoma Rail gave out amazing FREE loot bags to each of the kids, which contained ALL of the following: A slinky, a pen, a pencil, a lanyard, a pin, a frisbee, a t-shirt & a cardboard engineers' hat. Awesome!

We left Tacoma & headed south to Chehalis (about a 50 minute drive) during which the kids were entertained by the on-board DVD player & "Thomas & the Magic Railroad".

Once again, we arrived in Chehalis & were able to board the steam train immediately- it took us on a 30 minute train ride & left with in 5 minutes of us boarding. Once again, no line-up & we had the coach pretty much to ourselves.

And to top it all off... the entire day cost me a total of... $8!!!

Here is a slideshow of our great adventure...

Our Little Contortionist

Here she is... our little contortionist :)

I had an interesting revelation a few weeks ago. I was holding my cousin's adorable baby who is just 6 weeks older than Brynlea, & I laid her on the ground in front of me... she immediately flipped over onto her tummy & started kicking her feet eager to be on the move. SO cute!

But suddenly it occurred to me, that NONE of my children have done that! Hence, my first 2 were late crawlers (Averie at 9 months, Evan not until 10 1/2 months). They all have the ability to do it... these just choose not too. They roll side to side... but don't opt to roll all the way over... yet they still manage to get around... sooner than most crawlers actually. Instead they do what we refer to as the "Backwards Inchworm" - Brynlea, however, gets the highest back arch of all my kids while performing this maneuver. It's pretty impressive!

Here's the front view... she especially does it when she's trying to look at something. Here, she got interested in the camera.

Do they get ANY cuter than this?! What a little angel!!

Here she is in action!!

That is just NOT fair!!

I had done the unthinkable...
I sent my first-born off into the world... well, to Kindergarten... We were even into the swing of things... & I had done what I thought was not do-able (by me anyway)... I didn't shed a single tear! I'm not really sure why not... those of you who know me well (and most of you do) know it isn't exactly difficult to make me cry. Heck, if I listen to the country music station for more than 20 minutes, I will have welled up at least once!

I don't know if it was the time-crunch, or just the fact that I KNOW she is totally ready , but I just felt excited for her... maybe it's because I have a little baby, so I don't really long for her to still be that way...

BUT...
I was dutifully going through her backpack today - you know, the FORESTS-worth of paper that comes home daily from teacher, school, community, etc, etc... and in the bottom of her backpack was a folded piece of yellow paper & on the outside it said, "For My Mom".

I opened it & read the following story...

Thoughts At The Bottom of a Beanstalk

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut & a brand new book bag.

Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack's first day & he was a little nervous. So was his mother.

Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day & how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His mother thought it looked big, too. She swallowed. Maybe she should have held Jack out a year...

Jack's mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder & smiled down at him. She promised to stay & wave while he started climbing. Jack didn't say a word.

He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem & slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. He balanced there for a moment & then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third & soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves & stems with never a backward glance at this mother.

She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside.

"Sometimes," she thought, "it's harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk."

She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack & maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing.

"I'd better not. What if he saw me?" She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that, after all this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk & that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications.

"It's not so much that I'm worried about him," she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's just that he's growing up & I'm going to miss him."

Jack's mother turned to leave. "Jack's going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life," she told herself. "Today's the day he starts practicing for them... and today's the day I get to start practicing too: cheering him on & waving goodbye."

A cute story for sure, but now... you tell me... How fair was THAT?!

Needless to say, my tear-less letting go came to an abrupt end!

I miss my little girl! :(

Evan's favorite thing...

Evan is OBSESSED with trains! Thomas & friends in particular, but any train will do. He asks us at least 10 times a day about buying more trains and/or track for his ever growing collection.

We plan to take him on a VERY special "train day" soon... stay tuned for a post on that one.

For now, here is him performing the song he sings all day & is his request for his "bedtime song" EVERY day!! (Please ignore my untidy house... it was laundry day :P)

Super cute!!

Evan's first day...

Man! September is such an emotional roller coaster in the Mom department.

Today was Evan's first day at preschool & he was on his own for 1 hour (next time it will be a full class) - he did awesome! As much as I sometimes can get to feeling "un-needed" by my independent & easy-to-adjust children. It sure is nice to be able to leave knowing he is perfectly happy to stay there.

Here's a fun little show of his big day!

Averie's first day...

First let me make this perfectly clear... I am NOT A MORNING PERSON! I have spent much of my life wishing I was, but in recent years have just resigned myself to this fact. I CAN get up early, but it is a BIG struggle for me. Only understanding this fact can help you understand how much I love my family...

The day started very early... around 6:15am. As Graham is a teacher it is also a "first day back" for him. A goal I have, & memory I want for my children is for them to get their absolute favorite breakfast the morning of their first day back at school... no matter the sacrifice in the sleep department for me :)

This year the request was... blueberries pancakes (made with fresh blueberries & with REAL maple syrup) YUMMY!!

With "slow entry" to kindergarten, Averie's ACTUAL first day was yesterday, but it was just a brief orientation for parents (& kids) from both morning & afternoon classes. There wasn't any time spent in the classroom or anything. So, we consider today her "official" first day...

Averie in the entryway at her school

Today was 1 hour long with 4 other classmates to "adjust " to the whole school thing...

Here she is outside her classroom by herself & with her classmates - being greeted by her teacher, Ms. C.

The pictures never end!! :) Ms.C wanted a picture of her, too for use in the classroom...

First things first - she was to find her hook in the coat room, find a classroom book to take home & "sign in " to her own special book...

Finding a book..... and "signing in"

Then there was "teacher time" as Ms.C called it - a brief interview to see where Averie is "at" in her learning. She was asked to recite the alphabet, start at 1 & count as high as she could (30). was shown a dice for a brief second & asked what number it was (after it was gone) - & got that one correct everytime! - and given a simple word math problem...



What a big girl! I was so proud as she used her manners, listened well, & learned the new routine very quickly. She'll be on her own on friday...
I think that's when I'll get emotional...

Might as well... JUMP!

We decided it was about time to bust out the Jolly Jumper for Brynlea. She's hit the age where she wants to be upright most of the time & our arms pay the price!

It took her a couple minutes, but she figured it out & LOVED it! She loved the fact that she could turn & look out the window, or turn back & watch TV... and jumped like crazy! Her first tiny taste of freedom, I suppose. Got herself really good & tuckered out for nap :)

Here's a video clip... I may replace it with a better quality one... but it'll give the idea of how CUTE she is anyway :) Our little ballerina!