Tell me it isn't true!

Summer has come and gone. Today was the last day of summer for us all. :( No more running in the yard barefoot, or playing in the sprinkler....it's really gone. How do I know this? Well, because it SNOWED today!

Time to dust off those snow boots and grab a cute hat, because it's Fall! And well, in Colorado that means snow.

Here's a fun summer pic I took of my little Em a few weeks ago.

Mount Rushmore

Labor Day weekend we decided to finally make the 7 hour trip to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. Peyton has been asking to go for over a year. As you can see, all she wanted to do was stick her finger up George's nose. :)

We had a great trip. We loaded up the camper and spent 3 nights in Rapid City. We did a few of the touristy stuff, but for the most part we just enjoyed being together. I have a ton of pics but these are by far my favorite.

The top one cracks me up everytime I look at it. That was her very own creative pose for the picture and it turned out perfect. Total Emily shot!

The one of Andy is his reaction to kicking ALL our butts at cards. What was funny was that he had no idea what he was doing, but managed to pull off 2 wins in a row! Crazy!

Home Sweet Home!

I'm back home and back to reality. Our 8 day vacation was better than we could have imagined. We had such a great time and the kids first experience at the ocean was fantastic!

I came home to a calendar overload. Immediate orthodontist appointments...turning expanders and retainers, birthday planning for my son, Field Day and testing at school, Brownie meetings and Sleepovers at the Zoo, client updates, editing vacation pics, preparing for my photo workshop in a few weeks.......i could go on, but I think y'all get it! It is totally true what they say about losing more and more brain cells with every kid. If that's not reason enough to stop at 3, I don't know what is!

I didn't go crazy with pics from our vacation. Most of the time we were doing things that made it hard to bring a camera along. I have a few, but you'll have to wait to see. I'm completely swamped with stuff right now.

Head em' up, Move em' out...

...is what my dad always said to get us out the door. I'm so ready for those same words to cross my lips tomorrow morning at 4am.
We'll be on our way to sunny Florida for a week of soaking up some sun! We'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, driving all the way to LA for two nights with my parents (Nannaw and Pappaw) and then getting back in the car on Monday morning to drive the last treck to Florida. We'll spend 4 nights in FL and then we'll head back home, but this time taking the route that will take us through Little Rock to see Grandma and Aunt Becky & Uncle Ferris, plus my sweet nephew, who I have yet to hold!

It will be tons of fun and even more driving! I think total (CO to FL) is somewhere around 28 hours. Needless to say, with 3 kids ages 8, 7 and almost 4, there will be plenty to do in the car. At least I hope! Jimmy has maxed out his Ipod with tons of audio books for the two of us, while the kids will have their own private theater in the back (thanks to Caci). The kids also have there own personal video game systems (2 Nintendo DS's and 1 V-Smile) for their own enjoyment.

I have just recently (like since wednesday night) taken up crocheting. My neighbor gave me a little mini lesson on how to make granny squares. I'm proud to say I have the pattern memorized, and I'm on my way to making the cutest little something you ever saw. The pic above shows my 2 day progress. Not bad, huh?

I also have two great books that I'm hoping to read for bookclub while on my trip. This month's book is "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" and the other for June is "The Shape of Mercy".

I won't mention the snacks that will be consumed on our long drive....just know, they will do nothing for my bikini clad figure on the beach next week.

....oh, but I did get my very 1st mystic tan today. I read and then reread the directions as to not pull the classic "Ross" from that great "Friends" episode. We'll see how I did in the next 24 hours. :)

I will be out of the office, so to speak until May 18th. If you need to book an appointment for a photo shoot please send me an email or voice message and I will get back to you when I'm back.

Day Dreaming

Lately, I've been finding myself day dreaming about my June trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I am anxiously awaiting my first ever photography workshop (put on by Amy Wenzel)....really, my first ever "business trip" if you will. I know, I'm a dork. But seriously, I've been a stay-at-home mom for over 8 years now, and I've never flown anywhere without the little munchkins tagging along. I'm super excited!

Anyway, that is where my mind has been today. I'm so anxious to leave and even more anxious to learn all I can in 2 days with such a fabulous photographer. Now, if I can just get my hands on that Shootsac I've had my eye on for months I'll be ready to go!

My new favorite blog!

As you know I post a lot of my favorite, most inspirational, photographers on the right side of my blog. I look at them daily.... ahem, lust over them daily. I really do get inspired just reading their thoughts and seeing the beautiful images they post. It helps me, so much. Ok, sometimes, if I'm honest I walk away feeling depressed by the amount of stuff I still have to learn or figure out. But, usually I do just feel uplifted.

One of my favorite photographers on my list is Brenda Acuncius. She has such a cool eye and is so creative. She is actually the photographer I bought my first ever action set from....I love them! Anyway, she was recently interviewed by another photographer, Drew B. Brenda posted the link to this new site called, "Momtog" where her interview was posted. I became instantly blown away at this cool new find.

"Momtog" is a great site that is just for Mom Photographers. It was so cool to sit there and read through the site (which I did in one sitting) and know that there are other mom professionals that love being exactly that, Moms with a cool, fun job on the side. It is such an informative and fun site to visit. I would highly recommend it to any of you, whether you are a professional "mom" photographer or not. Just enjoy!

Learning patience.....

Patience is a virtue, isn't that what they say. Well, I'm lacking in that category. I'm the one that needs things to happen yesterday....always have been. Right now, I'm trying to patiently wait on my lens to come in. It is stuck in Illinois somewhere and hasn't moved for almost 24 hours. And if that wasn't enough, my friend Kristen (fabulous photographer) has just informed me of a workshop that Amy Wenzel is putting on in June. I have been looking for a great workshop to attend for months and it would be so great to go with a friend and enjoy the learning experience together. Bad news is, I have to come up with a good chunk of change to pay for it and also my plane ticket to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

So.......the wait goes on!