It's just so hot.

It's been really hard to keep the boy busy when we can't get outside. The temperature has been around 100 degrees for days.

This did the trick today...a bag of balloons.

After he tired of kicking them around the house, squeezing them until they popped, and a number of other activities, I had the great idea to throw them in the bouncer.

The only problem occurred when it was time to turn the bouncer off and head out to dinner. We decided we needed to celebrate. Kate has been studying like crazy for a chemistry placement test. She's been so stressed about chemistry which is the freshman year weed-out course for pre-med. She took the online test today and got a 60%. That's a REALLY good score! She was expecting a 20%!!  I never thought we would be out celebrating a 60%, but that was the plan. Jake wasn't too keen on the plan at first. When I turned off the bouncer, I got a lot of this...

Isn't he just pathetic? I just want to scoop him up and take a bite out of him. That lower lip and those cheeks just make me melt!

I decided to get dressed up a bit for dinner.  These next two shots are inspired by Kelle Hampton. If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to. She's an amazing person, mom, and photographer. The link is at the right. Her blog is called "Enjoying the Small Things".

I chose one of my favorite pairs of summer shoes for dinner tonight. Are you laughing yet? My digi friends know that I have issues with pictures of adult feet. Well...I couldn't resist. I love the shoes, and I love the dark polish. I'm sick of the summery pinks I've been sporting since March. Are everyone's feet as veiny as mine? Yuck.  Like the new rug? I finally replaced the foyer rug that we've had for YEARS. I always drag my veiny feet when it comes to changes around the house. Dan has always made fun of our foyer rug with the big "W" on it. He says that depending on how you enter the foyer, it looks like we live at the Marriott. 

I also wore my new necklace from Karen. It's the coolest thing! You can't break it no matter how you bend it. You can bend it into any number of shapes. This is what I did with it tonight...

Thanks again, K! mwah!  By the way...there is my third baby...the bad ass 24-70mm. LOVE IT!!!

I have been in the BEST mood this week! I have no idea why. I'm just enjoying the run. Izzy and Jake were AMAZING on Tuesday. They played and got along beautifully all day. I got so much done!

I decided a vintage conversion would be pretty on that picture.

My sweet man...

His Sissy has been working hard to keep him busy, too. She's trying to spend lots of extra time with him before she leaves. You can see this when you pass her bedroom door.

The candle man comes in and out whenever he wants to play with her candles. 

Kate did me a huge favor this week. She made templates for the invoices I would need for my business. I am so grateful!!! Thank you, my love! mwah!

Jake is going to my mom's tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to another productive day! I am excited about the bookings I have for the fall! Yay!

Weekend Recap

I found a high school notepad next to my desk with this written on it.

See that heart on the bottom? I'll take it! I don't hear "I love you" much anymore from my daughter, so that heart meant a lot to me. This note is a keeper!

I mentioned Sherman.  Here he is.

But he is also here:

Jake decided a few weeks ago that he's a cat. He's been randomly crawling around and meowing. I asked him his cat name, and his answer sounded like Sherman. After seeing a similar cat at Joe and Tiffany's house, I bought Jake the above cat at Target. It's almost scary how real this thing acts and looks. He purrs, meows, licks his paw, blinks his eyes, and rolls over so you can scratch his belly. I'll be curious to see how long this cat thing lasts with Jake. I think it all started because Izzy decided awhile ago that she is Spike the dog. I guess Jake felt he needed an alias, too.

Jake had two birthday parties yesterday. One was an outside water party. I got these shots. The first one is his friend, Jake. My Jake couldn't quite get the hang of the slip and slide. He just kept walking it. Aunt Brownie gave him one for his birthday, so I need to break it out this week and let him practice.

The second party included a reptile experience. Jake had a hard time paying attention and sitting still during the presentation, but I did get some great shots of him with the snake. I think he was a little too eager at first. The reptile guy caught him before he grabbed the snake!

I'm looking forward to lots of fun this week. I have a photo shoot...unless this awful heat delays it. I'm also hosting a family party Friday night to celebrate the August family birthdays. It will be a great chance for everyone to say goodbye and good luck to Kate, too.

So close...

In just 2 weeks, my baby girl will move out of our home. Sometimes I feel like I'm in denial. I just can't imagine that it's time. I am so happy for her and so excited to see what she'll do in the future, but I know that our family will never be the same. It will be SO lonely here. I know what you are thinking. How can it be lonely with my little man running around. Believe me...I will be lonely. I am trying not to dwell on it because I get too teary. I'm taking one day at a time, and I know that I will just have to get use to our new normal.

Kate asked a junior friend from her old high school to send a Facebook message which she had written about my business to other girls in her junior class. The message was perfect, and I was so touched. She did all of this on her own without a prompt from me. She also helped me update my website tonight. I was thrilled that she was interested. She felt that the details on my website were geared mostly to kids and wanted to make sure the teens felt included, too.

We shopped again today. She picked up a few more things for her dorm room. I finally think I found window treatments for the front of the house. Kathy, I need you to check them, please. I bought one. :)

This page I scrapped got a lot of attention this week in the galleries. It was even picked as a Gallery Standout. The problem is that I can't look at it without getting teary.

 Check it out at DesignerDigitals.com

These two are going to miss each other so much. That makes me happy and sad at the same time.

I've been working on a few new projects for my business that have really occupied my time this week. First of all, I am offering videos of the sessions I shoot. They are set to music and are just awesome. If you haven't seen one, check me out on Facebook (my business page), or send an email to the address on the right. I'll hook you up. I'm also now offering photo books and storyboards. Here are a couple of samples.

Aren't those storyboards in the bottom picture fun??  They are 5x10in and mounted on white foam core. Of course, they are fully customizable. The pink wall is my backdrop. The flooring is actually a very soft rubbery rug. My handyman gave me the painted baseboard piece to use. I can't wait to pose a little girl on this set! These storyboards are now sitting on a shelf in Izzy's room.

I will try to make it back this weekend to tell you about Sherman. Some of you might have met him already. ;) Jake has two kid parties tomorrow. It will be an exhausting day for both of us.

A Project for Kate...

When Kate was in high school, I always designed covers for her binders for each subject. I would usually choose tropical themed background papers, because that is what she loves. I was so touched and surprised when she asked me to do it again for her college binders. They are printing right now. Here is a sample.

Jake put me in my place this morning. I was in a rush to get ready for the funeral of one of our sweet Sisters. As usual I didn't allow myself enough time. Getting Jake out of the door always takes longer than I think it will. We were upstairs, and he was walking around naked. I think the time was 9:17am, and I planned on being out of the door by 9:10 at the latest. I was yelling...I am good at that. I told him over and over to put his underwear, shorts, and shirt on. He was ignoring me, watching tv, and jumping between the chair in our bedroom and the bed. I knew I also still needed to comb his hair and brush his teeth, so I was getting a little panicked. I told him at least 20 times to get dressed. Finally I sat down with his shirt in my hands and struggled to get it over his head. What I said went something like this. "Get this shirt on right now. I've told you over and over to get ready. Why do you always make me late? We can't ever get out of the door on time. Your underwear and shorts should have been on a long time ago. We still need to do your teeth and hair. BLAH BLAH BLAH" Now...you can just imagine my tone and volume while this rant was going on. All of a sudden, he grabs me by the shoulders, looks me straight in the eyes with his face close to mine, and says, "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!"  I just had to laugh. This baby always seems to know how to remind me of what's important. I think I need a new plan when we need to be somewhere at a certain time.

What do you do when it's 102 degrees and you are stuck inside all day? You let him blow off some steam in the evening. We were getting ready for bath, when Jake noticed that the sprinkler system was running in the front yard. I thought... what the heck! 

Of course he was in his underwear! Were you really surprised? In fact, we had to find his underwear and put it on his naked body before he could go outside. If anyone has tips on how to keep your 3 year old boy dressed, please pass them along!

Do you think he might be a little excited?

Trust Issues...

When will I be able to trust him? He's 3 years old now. I know I was able to trust his sister at the same age. I still can't leave him alone in a room without wondering what he might do. He doesn't always pull these stunts, but it's often enough that I know I need to keep my eye on him. I am thanking God that he didn't flush! BTW...they are tissues...and...yes...he knows better.

We took Jake to his first Cardinals game last night. It was the perfect evening. I was excited to be going as a family. It seems we are always doing things with friends or with an extra teenager along. That is great, don't get me wrong, but we rarely do anything just as a family. It was a nice change especially since we are so close to saying goodbye to Kate.

We got so lucky with the weather last night. The humidity was low, and the temperature was in the 80's. It's been such a hot summer here, so this beautiful evening was such a gift. We got to see a winner. There were 2 home runs...one by Pujols.  It was also the night that Whitey Herzog's number was retired, so it was fun to see that, too.

He was a bit serious when we got there. I think the crowd and noise were a bit overwhelming at first. He was amazed by the seats and the fact that they opened and closed on their own.

He got to see the clydesdales bringing Whitey in.

There were suckers, game discussion, and texting.

There was lots of water and consequently many bathroom trips.

There was Build a Bear. I know...this should not be part of the ballpark experience. However, it kept him occupied for a long time. I couldn't get a shot of his Busch Stadium bear, because he refused to take it out of it's house.

There was ice cream...this was after a hot dog.

Sissy even shared her iPhone for some game time.

Much to our relief and surprise, there was excitement when the home runs were hit and the fireworks were shot. He even clapped! It could have gone either way. Jake is not a fan of fireworks. He will tell you that he likes them, but he is lying!

In fact, recently in said, "Mommy sometimes I have dreams. I dream about fireworks." I'm sure those are pretty much nightmares for him! The July 4th holiday wasn't as bad for him as last year, so I think he is definitely maturing. We'll see what next summer brings!