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 :)

Organizing

One thing I love about having a big house is that we have three bathrooms. Two down stairs and one up stairs. When James and Audrey first moved up stairs, they started using that bathroom. I never took the time to clean out the drawers and put their own stuff in there. I finally got a little fire in my bones a few weeks ago to do that very thing!

Before pictures of the drawers in the vanity. I have no idea why most of those things are were in there or how long they were in there. They are so random....

Coffee can that actually had coffee in it. Baby powder. 

An empty toilet paper roll and a half used bar of soap.

Light bulbs, a few random barrettes, vapor rub pads,

an empty soap box and votive candle?

Empty shampoo bottles, a lamp and some decorative 

jars that I bought many moons ago.

The after pics. I am pretty satisfied with the outcome

and wondering why I didn't do it sooner! The twins

just love having their own drawers with their stuff in them!

Even when girls are just 5 they still have way more stuff

to store than boys do! 

Didn't realize this one was not turned right. Oh well,

just turn your head a little and you can see!

I also decided to invest in two Planet Box lunch boxes for James and Audrey this year and all 3 of us LOVE them!! They have yet to bring home any leftovers which is what I like to see!!

How could I?

How could I forget to include in the post from yesterday probably the cutest picture ever taken of this little muffin! This child has the cutest little thighs and hiney cakes ever! She's built so differently from James and Audrey. They both have slim legs and things. She's got tight ones. It's totes adorbs.

I had the thought last night that I really need to be including my Project Life photos on this blog as well.  Just for safe keeping! I will probably add 4 or 5 at a time. Not post them here every day like I do Facebook. But here is the one from yesterday's project and a few others I took at the store! I know people think I am crazy walking around taking pictures while grocery shopping but the store has some amazing documentary photo ops!!

For convenience sake

For the last few months now Olivia has been interested in using the potty and wearing panties. This made me very excited because I remembered how easy her big sis was to train and I just knew if she was already interested it would be a breeze.

WRONG.

I knew that Summer time was not the time to do it so I said when the twins start back to school I will tackle it. So, last Friday I did. As soon as she got her minnie mouse panties on she had to go so, she went in her potty!! Oh so easy this is going to be, I said to myself!! Ha. Ha. Ha.

She had around 6 or 7 accidents that morning, one including the good old poopy kind. I would ask her if she had to go and she would say "No. I done." Meaning "I already went in the potty crazy lady. Why would I do it again? Quit asking me."

By the time it was the time to go get James and Audrey she had started telling me, "No, I not! I done!!!"

After a few days of this I've decided that she's not ready. Actually, she's just too busy for it. I mean, who wants to stop what they are doing to get up and go to the bathroom? It's so much easier for her the way things are. I've also decided that she's not going to be as easy as her big sis. Not by a long shot.

This is what the potty gets used for the most times in a day. A stool.
At least she thinks out side the potty, errr box, right?