Things to do when you're home sick

I had no doubt that at least one of our children would fall victim to the sporadic weather lately and it ended up being C. Many of you know about his frequent nose bleeds because I have blogged before about them, but one of the common occurrences that accompany them is impetigo. Little boys are famous for not being vigilant about washing their hands and though we try, C is no exception so the bacteria from his hands coupled with the irritated membranes in his nose can lead to this type of infection which is highly contagious. So, after taking the obligatory trip to the doctor for his antibiotic syrup and cream prescription we went to Target to get them filled and pick up some activities to help with the boredom onset since according to C, he wasn't sick at all.

Frustration

Like a broken record, I will say I am so sorry to have been so preoccupied with M's volleyball that I have neglected my blog yet again. I had planned a huge rant about my issues with this particular club but I have decided to hold my tongue which is new for me. Instead, I will post a few images from her last tournaments that she actually played in and then give everyone a dose of Lola along with one of she & T that he will surely kill me for. So if you come back in a week and it's gone, you'll know he discovered it!

Brrrrr....

The temperature outside this morning when M should've been waiting for the bus was 26 whopping degrees which is stinkin cold round these parts so the fab mom I am told her that I would take her instead. Daddy of course thinks I don't let them tough it out enough and maybe he's right but still, 26 degrees is COLD! An hour later when I took the little two the temp had only climbed to 28 and so I was able to snap the teeny little ice crystals on a small patch of clover in our neighbor's front yard. Don't ya just love macro lenses?

Colors....

More light and color balance testing today which is frustrating because I am trying to calibrate a new monitor AND check a new camera at the same time...ugh. The monitor is a huge lcd which is sitting on a desk next to a window...nothing like stacking the deck right? Can you tell how lazy I am lately? I didn't feel like messing with my drops so it's white again (or gray since I didn't light it). More test shots, more M torturing! Please excuse the 'do she had only gotten off the bus about 10 minutes before these were taken so no time for primping!

Say hello to my little friend...

Ok, so I should have posted this pic two weeks ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to put this baby down. Even though her price tag was about half as much as the big daddy, I adored her immediately and once again, the big gun was sidelined. I know I should sell it, but I just can't. I keep waiting for it work out between us and now with my feelings for this one, a reconciliation isn't looking promising. Not to mention the timing of her arrival..the day before I had a wedding to shoot...HELLO, so meant to be! Anyway, here she is 2 weeks old and loved completely...Miss 5D Mark II

Burnin Down the House...

or at least you'd think that's what we were doing! This past Saturday was T's bday and after spending most of it at M's volleyball tournie, I had hoped he would come home to a clean house...nope, not even to a cake. In fairness to me about the cake, M had a very bad day and I thought it best to wait for her to bake it not to mention that the frosting she swore was in the pantry, was not and dad had to stop at the store to buy his own frosting. I had asked him a couple of days ago if there was anything special he wanted for dinner and since I still hadn't gotten a definitive answer, we waited until nearly 6:30 before he finally decided on what we would have which thankfully only required a phone call. After dinner and counting out blankety-blank candles and lighting those *many* candles, we sang a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" and in one impressive breath, the candles were extinguished.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Evans :)

Holiday Tidings from Lola

I hadn't tested the new camera with my lights yet, so I decided to torture Lola for a little while this afternoon. Aren't you glad I did? It is sooo hard to be mad at her for anything (though we manage it when necessary). She is such a good girl when it comes to having her pictures taken. All you have to do is say the words, "Lola, treat?" and she gives you the sweetest expressions. Don't think I don't have to pay up though; as soon as I put the camera down, she runs to the kitchen cabinet where her treats are and barks...lol!

It's ok, you can say it.....awwwwwwwwe!

Since it's still the Christmas season around here...

I supposed I would take a couple pics of this year's decoration additions. Every year, I add an ornament each for the kids hopefully showcasing whatever they are currently involved in. This year, I added a new family one too which I just thought was adorable after seeing my girlfriend order on for her clan.
The bummer is that the little boy playing the video game I ordered for C never came in and this was the best I could do by the time I found out...

This year I also had to completely redo my tree theme because in year's past, I have put the tree in the formal living and dinning room which was decorated in pearl white and gold. Given that those rooms are now forever my studio, we had to put the tree in the living room which has typically been burgundy, forest green and gold. So guess what, I went ahead and changed that too to classic Christmas colors, red & green.

I absolutely had to have this...

The kids all got new stockings from PBK and picked out new holders with M picking a moose (why for abercrombie, of course). Oh and by the way, her ornament was of a volleyball player, no surprise there!

I also added a couple houses to my little village; here is one...

It makes me sad to put it all away, but honestly, I am soooo ready! At least we took the outside ones down last weekend so we aren't advertising how lazy we are to passers by.

Less than cooperative...

This evening I wanted to take a couple pics of the C man before he got his haircut tomorrow, but he was having no part of it. This was the best I could get out of the four he allowed me to snap.

Rip Stick

So she was supposed to be showering, but clearly the pull of the rip stick proved too powerful. Looks like another late night after a two hour volleyball practice and then plex training for 30-45 minutes on top of that...great. I've gotta say though that she has shown amazing determination with this thing. She is so glad that she and her bff can ride them together now. According to T, it's not as hard as it looks once you figure out how to get on it. I don't even want to know how he has acquired this knowledge but I have a sneaking suspicion he has taken a spin on it himself.

The last hurrah

Yesterday was the last day of winter break and we had discussed a possible trip to the movies the night before but once the girls got up, we discovered that they had been planning and scheming into the night to come up with a new plan. The decided that since almost every other school district was back in school, today would be a great day to go hang out at Main Event. The only problem being that M had a book to finish by today that she had been putting off for her entire break. After bargaining and promising to read the whole way there and back, I relented and took them for a quick outing.
Brrrr...it was very cold and wet outside!
We grabbed some lunch first to be sure we had our strength for play time...

What trip is complete without stopping in the picture booth?

Unfortunately, this one wasn't working and the girls never got their pic. :-(

One of Main Event's many activities, Lasertag. I sat the first round out.

They road the virtual roller coaster three times and twice designed their own rides with lots of twists and flips. It was hilarious to stand outside and listen to them scream!

A quick round of trivia in which I was the victor...go me!

Then on to bowling...

Where B showed us who was boss!

Lastly, another trip through the laser tag arena and this time I joined in to though I didn't fare well as my gun wasn't firing for the first half of the game. No matter, we all had a blast and I am glad the girls talked me into it.

On a side note, M finished her book and passed her test this morning with flying colors...it's all about motivation!

Our kids are just a teensy bit spoiled

It is has always been my firm belief that spoiled is a state of mind which can not be measured by how much you have but what you do with it and how you treat it that matters. I still believe this. Will my children share every single one of their belongings without being threatened or bargained with? Without hesitation. Can they handle being told no whenever we are wandering around some random retail shop? Absolutely, though I wouldn't claim they were exactly happy about it these are children not saints. I will also fully admit that they are not told no as often as they should be. Are my children expected to respect their possessions by not abusing or wasting them or by leaving them lying around? You betcha though I will also admit that no one accuse them of being neat freaks. So, do I think that by most other people's definition they would be qualified as spoiled? Probably. But in my opinion, just a touch. I have seen many, many children with far less who refuse to share, scream bloody murder at the whisper of the word no and are prone to demolishing every toy they have when unhappy with it's performance or simply inclined to do so but because they have fewer items to destroy society does not label them "spoiled." I disagree. Perhaps this post is in some weird way a opportunity to justify the latest toys my oldest and youngest have acquired. A local merchant who lives in the neighborhood needed to get rid of the last of his holiday stock and we were in a position to purchase them. In truth, I had planned to buy a new bedroom suite with the money and as I am often guilty of, I spent it on my children instead. Am I over compensating for the unabashedly selfish mother I had as a child who only took me to the mall with her so she had someone to carry her bags? Yup and I don't regret it one bit. You can bet your bottom dollar that M & C will be expected to earn the right to ride them by showing responsibility and taking care to ride them properly and with the appropriate safety precautions. They are equipped with remote kill switches and governors to control their maximum allowed speed. That last bit of information was for the benefit of the grandparents who are reading and shaking their heads at this decision... :-)

Clearly we need to school little man on watching the road, not the handle bars. After this picture was taken, I was so impressed by the way he handled on coming cars in both directions. He stopped immediately and threw it into reverse to make room for the approaching vehicles. You know T was proud!

No need to worry that my middle cutie was having jealousy issues, she has a spunky little pink & white dirt bike that daddy still needs to do some maintenance on and she prefers the quickness and maneuvering of the smaller 4 wheeler anyway.

These last three were obviously taken today when the temps dipped in to the forties instead of the gorgeous 80 we had yesterday!