Taylor...

We dodged the rain on Main Street last week! I'm so glad we didn't cancel this shoot! It ended up being a gorgeous day once the rain shower was over. Taylor was laid back and so cool. She's a natural beauty with a bright future. It's so much fun to spend time with seniors. I'll let you in on a secret...senior shoots are probably my favorite type of shoot. I love listening to their plans and dreams. I love hearing about senior year...the dances and the boyfriends. I love being part of their special and final year of high school. Good luck, Taylor! Enjoy this time...enjoy the process!

I've had a request...

I was asked to update this blog. Of course, this dear friend could pick up the phone to find out how I'm doing, but she would prefer this blog update. ;)  Love her anyway!!

My kids are so cool. Really. They are way into the music that Dan and I love. A highlight for Kate a few years ago was a trip with Dan to see Billy Joel and Elton John in Arizona. Yes...they took the trip just for that concert!  Jake inherited the cool, too. He likes to jam to Billy Joel most evenings after dinner. If you ask him about his favorite music, he will say Billy Joel and the Beatles.

We will work on how to hold the guitar eventually.  Jake is a music guy. He can sing along to all the popular songs right now. He sings constantly. I really see music in his future. I will be very surprised if he doesn't play an instrument. Speaking of instruments...my friends on Facebook had lots of opinions about my latest musical purchase. I bought Jake a beginner drum set. I would say 50% thought I was crazy...including my loving sister. The rest supported the idea. The set has arrived and will be part of Jake's Christmas surprise. Yes...I am done shopping for him. Be jealous now. This is the only time I will be ahead during the upcoming holiday season, I'm sure.

The house is still a work in progress. A lot of things are getting done next week. The new leather pit arrived for the family room, and I picked a light to go with it (with my SIL, Kathy's help). I'll post more pictures later when everything is finished. I have to thank my sister, Emily, my cousin, Kathy, and special thanks to my sister in law, Kathy, for all the help!! Check out my sister in law's website if you need some decorating help.

Kathy Wagner Interiors

Kate LOVES both the pit and the light. This is her favorite spot.

My poor girl is still having lots of ongoing health problems as she adjusts to her new diet, deals with bladder issues, and takes supplements to improve her tanked vitamin and mineral count in her body. Please keep her in your prayers. It's very frustrating for her and for all of us. She's struggled with her health since second grade. I'm hoping for a break for her soon. I'm just so proud of the way she handles it all.

Jake is showing an interest in regular legos now. He told me to check out his "awesome house".

He brought home some great artwork recently. I am so thrilled that he loves school and is eager to go 4 days a week. I love his birds nest with eggs. The bottom picture is one traced heart and a few free hand.

Kate and I squealed with excitement when Jake brought home his first practice worksheet. I didn't expect this and was thrilled to see it. I have trouble getting Jake to work on letters at home, and I'm hoping this extra exposure helps. We were very impressed with his A's. I have been working with him on the letters of his name...when he'll sit for it.

 

This was particularly impressive since his last effort looked like this.

This was the card Jake picked out for Dan's birthday. That right to left, backwards, upside down, and 2 lined signature is a doosy, huh?  I'm not sure if that's how you spell doosy, but I can't think of a better word.

By the way...here's the front of the card for his daddy. Jake picked it out himself.

So...the A's were exciting after Dan's birthday card. But...then the B's came home. Ouch.

It's obvious that we aren't spending the time. I'm just relieved that he'll have another year of preschool to figure it out. Our plan is to hold him back since he has a summer birthday. We would rather he be older in his class and not younger.

Jake is really improving in one area...on the soccer field. He's learning to hustle and dribble the ball down the field. I took a few pictures at last week's game. I'm just posting the shots from behind because I am too lazy to blur the team name on the front of each uniform.

Just remember...no matter how old you are...you are never too old to sit on Grandma's lap and hear a story. It's especially effective when you are trying to make your brother jealous.

The W Family...

Mom called me to book a mini session before Samantha left for college. What a great idea!!  Having these memories is awesome, and Mom is a jump ahead on Christmas cards! I love that!

I loved spending time with these three. I can tell this is a close and loving family.

Catch up time...

Things have been crazy busy around here.  We are doing some updating to the house which has required a lot of my attention and organization. I've ordered furniture and have been juggling delivery dates to coordinate with other things going on around the house. My goal is to have everything finished by the time I host Thanksgiving. Since a few of my new pieces are custom, they will take a long time to complete.

While all this craziness has been going on, we got some results back on Kate indicating a bunch of food allergies that we weren't expecting. She, in addition to being intolerant to fructose, is also allergic to peanuts, soy, and corn. There are others, but those three are the ones that require the most attention immediately. Soy and corn are in everything...everything easy. This means that more of my meals will need to be prepared from scratch. I've spent a lot of time at Whole Foods recently and online searching for recipes that we all will enjoy. We started making our own cream sauce and have experimented with ingredients. It is so much better than jarred sauce! The time and planning are what throw me. I don't like to cook, but it just isn't an option anymore. I want Kate to eat healthy, and I want all of us to eat together.

Jake started school last week. He was so ready to head out the door, that I got very little cooperation for pictures.

We squeezed in a trip to the Science Center on Labor Day. The weather was gorgeous, so everyone was at the Zoo. We outsmarted them. ;)  Before we could leave, we had to stop at our tornado siren for the 11am monthly test. I can't imagine any other family does this but mine!

The highlight at the Science Center is always the coin deposit. You could take him there to just do that, and he would be happy.

We were having dinner on September 11 when Kate mentioned the 9-11 memorial display at Art Hill. We decided to jump in the car and head to Forest Park to see it. I'm so glad we did.

We watched 10th Anniversary coverage on and off throughout the day. We had to be careful when Jake was around. He managed to see the buildings on fire and stared at the tv screen so intently. We tried to give him a general explanation, but it was so hard to put into words without scaring him. I found it all hard to watch anyway. It's 10 year later, but the feelings come right back.

I also managed to pull off a studio shoot with Jake in his soccer uniform.