Mangos and Pink Ones

I always seem to forget things when I sit down at the computer to blog. Things that I specifically want to document; I guess because there's always so many! Yesterday was no exception.

 Olivia has a nose like a blood hound (just like her mama and her big bro!) and is always picking up on new smells. So she always will ask "What's dat smewin?" As in "What's that smell?"

So I will answer her and she either says "Oh I wike dat" or "I don't wike dat."
Example 1: I wipe down our kitchen counters with a vinegar/water mix. She always comes in and says "Mama, what's dat smewin?" And I will answer "vinegar" to which she crumples her nose and says "I don't wike vinegar."
Example 2: I will be putting on perfume and she comes into the bathroom and says "Mama, what's dat smewin?" I say "My perfume" and she says "Oh! I wike perfume."
These are just 2 examples. We have conversations like these all.day.long.

Yesterday she was reading a new book from the library and kept coming into the kitchen where I was to ask me what something was that she had never seen before. And she always left the room saying "Oh I wike dat." It was presh.

Today when I put her in her chair for lunch, my necklace bumped her in the nose and she said "I sure wike your pwetty neckwace. She makes big comments like this a lot.

She calls Flamingos "Mangos" and Penguins sounds like "Pink Ones."

We went up to the school earlier today to help bag candy for the Kindergarten booth at the Fall Festival this weekend. When we were finished up one of the moms left before any one else and Olivia tells her, "Bye tanks for coming to help."

Her favorite game to play and by far my LEAST favorite, is to run and hide under her bed from me when it is time to change her diaper or her clothes. She thinks it's hilarious and wont stop doing it. I hope her daughter does the same thing to her one day :)

When someone does something she doesn't approve of like take her seat or her book or whatever, she spouts out the most indigniet "HEYYYYY" you can imagine.

When she tries to talk over you (which happens A LOT in this household) and Jon or I tell her to be quiet that it's so-n-so's turn to talk, she depressingly says "OhhhhKayyyy", drops her head and goes back to eating or doing what ever.

She randomly will tell me "I wuv you so much" followed up with a tight squeeze and and a kissy sound. See? See why she's just the best thing since sliced bread???

And when she hugs you she ALWAYS rubs you on your back. Sweetest thing ever.

She does not allow the door to her room to be open while you are singing her songs for nap or bedtime.

Even though her screams can traumatize you and she can cock an attitude faster than she can say "Hey!!" we love her so much and are so thankful and grateful the Lord blessed us in giving her to our family. This Mizell bunch wouldn't be the same with out her. It wouldn't be the same with any of our little wild indians. We have some pretty amazing youngins.

P.S.

The picture below is a great example of why it has to be like breathing to you to always check (or change back) your point of focus. Ahhhhhhh!!!!! It's cute any way but I almost can't look

at it because of how even more cuter it would be if her body was in focus in stead of the patch of grass behind her. . . .

And she says "HUMPH"!!

Olivia has started doing so many new things and saying such big words lately I felt the need to document some things. She's growing way way way too fast and feels so big in my arms at night when I sing to her now that I just want to freeze time. This age is exhausting but so fun!

She stomps her feet and folds her arms and says "Humph it not fair" at any given time. 

She has a bad habit just in the last week of spitting when she gets angry but I've just about got that one "Nipped in the bud."

She still asks for that juice cup first thing in the morning and I still give it to her but we don't take it with us any where any more and she drinks water out of a big girl cup at supper time.

She all of a sudden developed a taste for pickles and now asks for them all.the.time.

She hums 50% of the time lately. Especially if she is concentrating on something or just enjoying her self playing with her toys.

She still loves to read.

She still thinks she is as big as James and Audrey and any other kid she is around. Resulting in a mother who should be skin and bones by now. (get it?!)

She is still the life of the party and has really started making us laugh by making funny noises with her voice while she is talking.

She is scared of loud noises and runs and hides from them if she can. Although Audrey got her to stand still and not be scared of the hand dryer in public restrooms any more which is huge for her.

She still naps and sleep like a champ at night. I had a mild panicking thought the other day when I realized she is inching closer and closer to cutting that nap out.

She loves sparkly things and music and hair accessories. She still talks all the time about being 3 and being able to go dance like Audrey.

She figured out how to swing on her belly the other day and it's just the best thing ever to watch her do it. To watch those short little legs swinging in the air, almost able to touch the dirt.

She was riding in the barbie jeep with Audrey the other day and started begging to drive. I told Audrey to let her at least try it and to help her. Well they switched sides and Olivia took off. She was driving all over the yard; I was so amazed!! Then Audrey had to go in the house so James took over for her. As she was running she shouted over her shoulder "James be sure to press the gas pedal for her!" I laughed so hard. It looked like little Peanut was driving that thing and the whole time her big sister was gassing it up for her. Hahahaha!!!!

She loves to talk on the phone to who ever and loves to play Starfall on the computer. We make pumpkins and dress turkeys and watch flowers grow, just like I did with the twins when they were her age. Remembering things I did with them when they were her age makes this whole growing up process even harder. I look at Olivia and then look at James and Audrey and it almost takes my breathe away. It's happening so quick.

The best thing she's started doing lately is an obsession with hugging and kissing a hundred million times before she goes to bed. I sing our usual songs and put her in her bed, cover her up and say good night. I get almost out the door and she shoots up and says "KIIIISSSSSS!!!!!" So I go back and she throws her arms around my neck pulling me down and kisses me twice on the mouth, then hugs my right side and then kisses me again and then hugs my left side. She does this about 10 times and sometimes, when it's been a long day, I secretly wish she'd hurry up or not feel the need to do it so many times. But I know it wont last forever so I stand there and let her. She also does it with her daddy when he puts her to bed so you know he loves that.

We went to a pumpkin patch with some friends last Sunday afternoon and had such a fun time! Olivia especially. Imagine that! She got to jump in a bouncy house (thankfully there no other kids than our little group in it at the time) and paint a pumpkin. She loves to paint and hummed the ENTIRE time she worked. I need to let this child paint more.

WARNING: Picture Overload

If I could only eliminate the need for sleep, bathing, eating and if I had a speedy jet plane that could transport me and my kiddos to where ever we needed to go in an instant, I could be Super Mom. Or Super Woman. Or, I could just be proficient and productive 24/7. But since I cannot escape any of these things, I guess I'll just keep doing what ever it is I've been doing and hope that at the end of the day or week or month I'll have something to show for it. Maybe I should just have my self cloned 10 times and I'd be set.

Any hoot. These last few weeks have been busy with a capital B and I have been lazy with a capital
L A Z Y. Those two things do not mesh well together. Not at all. Especially when you've got an extremely energetic 2 year old with you all.the.time.

Last time I promised some pictures of the ideas I had in store for James and Audrey's 6th birthday so here ya go!! I had so much fun coming up with the ideas (some from pinterest, some my very own!) and Jon and I had the BEST TIME EVER making them come to life!!!! These are totes going to be family traditions now for every birthday!! (I am the worlds worst at remembering to charge batteries on my camera's. Had to use the small one early in the morning resulting in some blurry pics. My sincere apologies!!!)

I had been working with Olivia for the last few days to get to her to believe and accept the fact that it was James and Audrey's birthday and not hers. Something that is quite hard for a 2 year old to wrap their mind around. But I made some progress the day before and so when i went to get her up to go upstairs and wake up J&A, she was SO excited!!!! She was all into it and sang HB to "J&A" and not "me" haha!! But around the time of the gift unwrapping she started to derail and by the time we sang HB with the candles in the pancakes, she couldn't take it any more and started BAWLING her eyes out. It was pitiful and hilarious all at the same time. If I had had the video camera rolling (we really gotta invest in one that's NOT in the camera we r taking pics w/) I am 100% certain that we could have one a sum large enough to pay for her college education. It was that good.

After our morning festivities we rode to school in a "painted" van and even though we didn't get many honks (Note to Self: put the word HONK on the BACK of the van next time!) they still thought it was the best thing ever!! They wore little badges all day, Olivia and I took cupcakes to share with their class mates during recess, they got out of school early, they got to eat Japenese food (the fire place as they say) and then they got to go do a little bday shopping at Target. It was a blast of a day and they both said it was the best birthday they have ever had. Now that is what Mama's like to hear!!!

I swear, as soon as they turned 6 years old, they have grown 3 feet. It's amazing how much they can change in the blink of an eye. They seem so big now. *Sigh*

Bowling for Birthdays

Over the weekend Jon's parents came to visit to spend a little time with the twins for their birthday. I told y'all last year that I was OVER birthday parties and making cakes. Well if you didn't believe me then, maybe you will now :) We told James and Audrey that could each pick one friend to go do something fun with on their birthday. We came up with several ideas and had settled on a different one for each of them to do. Then Mrs. Susan called and said they wanted to come see them and she wanted to take them to do something on Saturday. That's when the forever turning wheel in my brain clicked. A few weeks ago they got invited to a bowling party but were unable to attend. They were 100% bummed and said "But we've never been bowling before and want to see what it's like!!" Sooooo, Ol' Mama here decided it would be more fun (not to mention a lot easier) to just take those two friends they had picked and go bowling with SuSu and PawPaw. They thought it was the best idea EVER so yay me!!!

We did have a great time and I "killed 2 birds with 1 stone" which how I like to roll. Pun intended. :) We were there for 2 hours, got a delicious pizza and 2 pitchers of drinks and SuSu brought a King Cake. The boys, James and Maddox, never lost interest in bowling. While Maddox enjoyed putting the ball on the little slide thing for kids James B. picked that ball up almost every time and slowly let it roll each time. And they never missed a turn. The girls on the other hand, Audrey and Katelyn, lost interest after the 1st hour which was after they ate cake and opened their few little gifts. Then they were much more interested with dressing up like a Princess. I tried my darndest to get Audrey to let me snap a few pics of her bowling with her crown and gloves and earrings on but she wouldn't have it!!

I have lots of special surprises in store for the birthday twins tomorrow and can't wait to share them (and hopefully some pictures) on here!! In the mean time here are a few pics from our 1st time bowling!!

Slow and Steady

I have always known that it is one thing to have family and friends encourage me and tell me what a wonderful job I do at taking pictures but it's a whole different ball game when you put yourself out there for professional strangers to critique your work. I joined a forum called Clickn Moms a few weeks ago and quickly realized this was something I should of done a long time ago. The atmosphere there is friendly and encouraging while at the same time chock full of things I have yet to learn. There are plenty of ladies who are team members that are encouraging yet honest with you. I have had a goal in mind of formally starting my business on September 27th of this year. That quickly changed after a critique of website yesterday. I have worked hard at building my site but knew I have reached the point where I could no longer continue building it with out some input from people who know the business. So, yesterday I posted a link to my site on the forum asking for serious critique. I do not have my head in the clouds and think that I have it all figured out. I KNOW I still have a long way to go and honestly want help. I geared my self up and was willing to take what ever anyone dished out. While no one was straight up mean to me, some were a little abrupt with their critique and while they offered valid points they didn't follow up with any thing encouraging. THAT can be hard to take, even if you are ready and willing to take it.

I honestly have a desire to be the best that I can be and want to continue learning so that I can keep moving forward. A photographer that I follow and just love to death offered a break out session on Clickn Moms that I purchased for a relatively cheap $50 and in no way regret that purchase!! Last week I also signed up for an online class on Manual Shooting at CM that starts in October and I can hardly wait for it. There is also a Lightroom class that I am going to take in November that has me drooling at the thought of it!! Money is an issue for me simply because it is. This venture of mine obviously has to be paid for out of pocket so I have to wait for the right times. I've known for a while now that because I am such a slow learner I have reached the point of not being able to truly move forward in my skill on my own. I'm okay with that because I truly want to get better and start producing consitently. And there is so much about Lightroom that I do not know and am painfully slow to learn on my own. I made the decision to start shooting in RAW instead of JPEG to hopefully be able to do a better job in post processing. And I can tell such a difference. I struggle with white balance and it's much easier to correct when doing post processing with a RAW file.

While I will keep on keeping on (because slow and steady wins the race) I will not formally start my business this Friday. I probably wont do it until the first of 2014 sometime. While I am a little bummed about that, I'm okay with it because I keep going back to an experience I had with a "professional" photographer a few years ago. While the fee she charged wasn't too astronomical and I got all my images on a CD, she only produced about 3 good pictures. I've kept that experience in the back of my mind ever since I started this journey to becoming a professional photographer because I never want to get that type of reputation. While I know I am sure to encounter clients that are difficult I want to know that I KNOW what I am doing. I never want to take someones hard earned money and not produce at least 15-20 images that are worthy of being blown up and hung on a wall for families to enjoy for years to come.

I feel the need to also add that while I still have a long way to go, I would not be where I am today with out the love and encouragement from all my family and friends on Facebook and who read my blog. And to those friends and family that have allowed me or even asked me to take pics of you or your sweet kiddos, I owe SO MUCH to you. Thank you for saying how beautiful your pics were even when they were not. Looking back at some of the earliest stuff I did.....ugh! Cannot wait to improve and do some re-do's!!!! And there are a hand full of you who, if you had not said such kind things about my photography on such a regular basis, I never would of thought that I am talented enough to try and make my dream come true and I would never of had the courage to take the steps to start making it happen. So from the bottom of my heart I thank you all for your love and support and kind words on a daily basis. I will forever be grateful to you!!

I know I keep rambling but I just want to say one more thing. Yesterday was gloomy around here for the afore mentioned reasons and the fact that the people who we had high hopes of buying our house have basically cooled their jets and are taking the time to look at a few other houses. They haven't formally told us we are no longer an option for them but I just have this gut feeling that we wont be by the end of the week. Boo hoo!!!! Today while Olivia and I were in the big T doing some grocery shopping I stopped at Chick Fil A for lunch. As I was pulling up to the window to pay I had the thought to try and bless some one else's day since my day was not looking so bright. So I paid for the lady's lunch that was behind me in line. I've never done something like that before but what a blessing I received for doing it. I hope my intentions were pure because I honestly wanted to help someone. She drove a nice car and looked nicely dressed so I'm sure she could afford her lunch but you never know what people are struggling through in life and perhaps she needed to have something nice done for her. Or maybe not. Maybe by me, a complete stranger, showing an act of kindness towards her she will in return have compassion on someone who really and truly needs it today. Or another day in the future. And by all of this the Lord's undying love, mercy and compassion will shine through and He will be glorified. I hope you all have a blessed day and week!!

A day in the life....

Yesterday I sent Miss Olivia on a preaching trip with Grandaddy and Nonie who have been at our house this week. Jon is going up to the meeting tonight and will come home tomorrow so he will bring our little sunshine home!!! I was a little amazed at just how deeply I miss the little thing. We all were in fact. It's just been to darn quiet around here with out her. Supper last night was almost subdued with out her little voice interjecting her thoughts and opinions every few seconds!!!

I sent her mainly because James and Audrey have a birthday party to attend at one of those bounce house places and since Jon will be gone and can't keep her I was concerned about taking her and being able to keep up with her and "mingle" with the other parents. Not to mention give James and Audrey any attention they might need.

So the plan was born to send her off with her grandparents to her aunt's house. She was all in and even though she had a little trouble going to sleep last night because I forgot to send her pack-n-play all reports of her well being have been great!!! Another plus to her being gone today is that I was able to go and volunteer in James and Audrey's class this morning. I was going to stay all day but we are showing our house to a couple who are coming back for the 2nd time and I needed to get some paperwork in order before tonight.

I am SO glad that I didn't listen to my selfish heart about just laying around today and folding laundry. It was so great to get to be apart of my babies day at school and see 1st hand just what it is that they do every day. I was AMAZED and even though I know it, since I am married to an educator, teachers do not earn half of what they are worth and catch way to much flak for the jobs they do. Wow. I knew that we got the best Kindy teacher at the school but I didn't know just how great she was until I got to watch her in action. She has an awesome command over the students. She's all business but at the same time very compassionate!! She will be getting some pretty great presents from us at Christmas and the end of the year, LOL!!! Also, the Kindergarten assistant def doesn't get paid what she's worth. While Mrs. McCaskill is busy teaching the children and keeping them in line, Mrs. Bowen is grading papers and checking homework and doing all the busy work that goes along with teaching. There is no way just one person could do the whole job of teaching Kindergarten.

We are so blessed with an amazing school. Not only for my husband to work but for our children to get an education. The class they are in this year is a great class. Even though I was only there for a couple hours on a Friday, I saw how well behaved all the children are. I helped with a craft project and didn't have a hard time with anyone. No one was grabby or rude. They just did their thing and giggled and truly enjoyed their little play time! And that's another thing. In K, they don't get a lot of play time cause there is so much work that the State requires them to accomplish every year. It's quite ridiculous but I think Mrs. M gives them a good balance!!

I was blessed with today and look forward to more times to be able to go up and be a part of their world at school. Hope every one has a great weekend!!!

P.S. Sure wish I had my babies skin color :) Ain't they purdy?

From the ground up

Creating your own business from the ground up all by your little old self is awfully hard. Especially when you are slow like me. But I hope in a few months or years even it will all be worth it!! That's what I've been doing all day today and my leg is numb to prove it. I had someone keep Olivia for me because it is impossible to get any thing done with her awake. I had the same someone keep her a day last week as well so I'm getting close to having it finished. That's exciting. Yay!!

Still planning on launching this "career" of mine towards the end of September and I have been thinking about setting the date to September 27th. Our anniversary. Our 10th anniversary to be exact!! They are both kind of a big deal and I think it might be nice if they co-inside with each other :)