Hanging in there...

I am not a crier. I should qualify that. I am not an adult crier. I might have been a crier in high school, but I soon figured out that I don't really feel better afterward. In fact, I feel pretty lousy when it's over. I can't breath out of my nose, my eyes throb, and I usually end up with a headache. So I try very hard not to cry. I think the last time I cried was right after having Jake. The pregnancy hormone cries just can't be prevented! Well...I've been crying...since last Thursday. It's been a long few days. I don't mean that I am crying non-stop. Life must go on around here. I just have had my cries every day. I just can't believe this time has come. Where did 18 years go? How could she be moving out? She does claim that she's coming home every 3 weeks. I am going to hold on to that! She said something tonight that really made me think...and made me excited for her. She said, "I'm going to do big things, and this is just the start." How can I be sad when she says it that way? I have no doubt she will do big things. She has a long road ahead, but she is exactly the type of girl who will get it done.

She found this shirt at Target and thought it was appropriate. Kate has rediscovered dairy since not testing lactose intolerant.

My basement guest bedroom is college central right now.

Kate got some loving from Izzy today, too.

This morning Jake said, "Is Izzy gonna come ober?"  I said, "Yes."  He said, "That's esciting!" This is why it's exciting...ideas like this...

Those would be pop out letters from the floor mat in the basement.

I have a photography workshop to attend tomorrow. I'm really excited about that and about my fall bookings. I will need to stay busy once my baby girl is gone! I know what you are thinking...Jake will keep her busy. No doubt!

Great Ideas

I decided to follow this Martha Stewart recipe to make cupcakes from scratch for Kate. She can't have boxed cake mixes or canned icing because of the fructose intolerance. I seriously had no idea how complicated this project would be. I think I dirtied every mixing bowl, measuring cup ( I own 3 sets.), and measuring spoon (also 3 sets) in my kitchen. Jake got bored with the project quickly and entertained himself by spinning knives and playing balloon games.

I used the yummiest chocolate.

I just wasn't very happy with the results and the resulting mess. There was vanilla on the floor to be cleaned.

There was chocolate on my shirt to be cleaned.

The icing looked yummy, but the sour cream was too much. I could taste it in every bite.  I should have known I wasn't going to like that when I read the list of ingredients. The cupcakes tasted a little floury, too. After I made them, I realized that they would have to be refrigerated. What a pain that is.

If it were up to me, I would have thrown away the recipe. Kate seems to like the cupcakes, so I think I will be making them again. I won't be wearing white next time.

Last night we had our third party since the end of May. We're getting really good at throwing them together and cleaning up the mess.  We celebrated 4 family birthdays and Kate's goodbye. I didn't pull my camera out until pie time. I made ice cream pies which are always a family favorite. I did have to shop around a bit to find pie shells and toppings that didn't contain high fructose corn syrup. I can't actually take credit for the pie pictured. Baskin Robbins made that one. My 2 pies weren't out of the freezer yet. They don't look quite as perfect as the BR pie. ;)

When the kids lined up along the island, I just had to grab the camera. They looked so cute. Here are a few of my favorites. This first shot cracks me up. Everyone is busy,  but Jake is just focused on the candles.

I know...it looks like Izzy is holding a lit candle. I promise she is not.

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?