Samuel's Day

It's 12:31am, and I'm sitting here thinking. Today is Samuel's birthday. He turns 6 years old. I remember this time 6 years ago, starving because my c-section required that I not eat 12 hours prior to it. I remember thinking of how in less than a day my life was going to change. It did. For the better. I was scared of that c-section because for JM's I had not been awake. This was my first birth to actually experience. I did not know what to think or expect, yet I had a child already. How strange was that?

Samuel came into this world charming everyone. He melted hearts immediately, and I remember breaking the rules that first night and climbing out of my hospital bed so I could pick him up...or just to stare at him.




He grew so fast, and I had my first digital camera (luckily) to more than capture all those wonderful memories.











I can tell from looking at these photos when I upgraded cameras and when I started learning more and more about photography.



Hard to believe he was just about 4 here. He's not changed too much has he.


these are all from 2007....



This was just a short 1 year ago...





Then we have 2008...











So, Happy 6th Birthday my special little man! I love you more to the MOON and BACK a gazillion million times.

Katie ASKED me to take her photo

TOTAL PKS, but you know, I love them anyway.

*not processed, not intended to be Hi-key, just put out there for your enjoyment.

Okay, I need to take the kids on a field trip.

I'm looking to take the kids on a fieldtrip and I'm trying to figure out WHERE. See, we have 3 larger cities we can get to. One we live in, the other 2 are both roughly 1.5 hours away...oh wait...4 larger cities if we stretch the distance to roughly 1.5-2 hours away.

2 have a zoo
3 have a botanical garden (maybe all 4 do)
3 have science museums
4 have childrens museums
1 has an aquarium

all 4 have bloggy friends in them - homeschooling ones, adoption ones, photography ones, and Mommy group ones.

Field trip MUST be on a weekday, most likely a Monday.
Gas is still somewhat limited in nature.
House is on the market, and keeping it clean has been a joy. Not.
House is on the market, thus finances are a little tight as moving expenses are being saved for...

Ideas? Post a comment and I'll moderate if you put exactly WHICH city I should go to. :) If you think you are near me, and most of you know if you are, if you are FREE on Mondays let me know as well. I'll moderate comments for this one.

Looking at Monday October 20th I think.

OH yeah, we have a membership that is reciprocal for the 3 science museums. We've had zoo memberships, and could be persuaded again to get them.

Random photos

Katie finally got someone to rock with her. Can you tell she was excited?



LOL...makes me smile


For once, a game a checkers...but they've been playing chess against each other all the time. Begging to go to Chess club. I punish them for not doing school work with not going to Chess club. How sad is that?!


JUMP!

Oh we are so in trouble...

Do you realize what she's working on figuring out?! *faint*

for those who traveled with us, this outfit was one I carried with us and when it was too big I was so incredibly SAD that she'd probably never get to wear it. It's 12-18 month Gymobree. Do you NOTICE how big it still is on her? Does anyone want to GUESS what her closet looks like...with all the shopping I did last fall from clearance racks? umm..yeah.

Is anyone else just slightly worried?

You know...about the economy?

Is anyone else sick and tired of election stuff already?

Is anyone else just ill over what those on Capital Hill are doing?

Who is ready to hibernate until January 2009? LOL

My Week

*found this in archive from middle of September...and no, life has NOT slowed down*


Monday - Cleaning, straightening up, packing to move things to storage...pick up clothes from consignment sale, clean some more - that evening, working on editing photos and orders

Tuesday - class photos (group shots) at kids school for yearbook (I'm both the photographer AND the yearbook editor), run home to have them do schoolwork, back to school for more class photos, run them to karate, during Karate run back to school for more photos, home to drop kids off with Dh, run to doctor for annual exam, drop off prescription meds (we finally talked about that asthma problem in China), run home to eat, take JM to Karate for his gold belt test (he got it), to grocery store with JM and Katie (Samuel went with Dh to a softball game) for food...then home....oh yeah, more photos to edit and order.

Wednesday - at home through morning which means CLEANING and school work, church activities did some work on the yearbook stuff while the kids were busy with their activities, LOTS of business related things and catching up on schoolwork, oh yeah, edit photos and order late last night

thursday - class photos at school, home, deposit money, lunch, class photos at school, karate, class photos, back to karate, back to school for more class photos, home, edits on photos yet again, mow the yard, talk to a friend about Disney trip, more edits on photos...probably orders as well....oh JOY.

Friday - CLASS PHOTOS all day long at the school, leave to get lunch, back for the afternoon (remember katie's pack and play for a nap), get home around 3:30-4pm. Clean house...get ready for soccer photos and session in the AM (call them to verify), oh...and EDITS on photos.

Saturday - 8:15 - soccer photos, 9:30 session, Matilda Jane trunk show at Noon, home to clean & pack up house...and edit photos.

Sunday - church. clean. cook. edit photos. order photos. design wedding album.

This is a typical week except for the class photos, but it seems like I have something going on each week like that.

I found Katie's Thanksgiving outfit...errr...outfits

Matilda Jane

I bought the following:

This DRESS for now

and then this SHIRT in 2t with these PANTS in 18months to wear now as well. You'll have to scroll down to see the pants.

Now, all of this will mix together in various ways to go with this DRESS in 2t for wearing...hopefully longer than this year.

If only October 20th would get here, then I could post photos of Katie in these clothes. Thanks to the generosity of friends who have given Katie hand me downs, plus what I bought last year thinking it would fit last year (fits this year)...I could splurge like this.

Dh might shoot me though if I continue...I had to promise this was IT. Well, until the next trunk show of boutique clothes. Does anyone know how to block certain websites from my computer? Or, rather, how to unblock them once Dh blocks them?! LOL Seriously though, I'm done with Katie. JM, on the other hand, is growing. He'll need a few jeans, a winter coat, and maybe a few shirts this winter. Samuel is good to go.

Want more photos?

Taken Monday Sept 29...see I'm trying to stay slightly current.

Many faces of Samuel

okay...some photos to make the masses happy

GREAT big brother huh?


Look - a rare photo of ME (I was the sacrificial adult to take the 3 older boys on the water ride...the one you get soaked on)


Brave girl...bad lighting, bad photography skill, GREAT memory!


They guided us around Dollywood. Too cute!

All photos from Labor Day weekend - we went to my parents and then to Dollywood with my siblings (and my nephews - one is the blond boy with Samuel).

She isn't all tomboy though...no really!

The girl LOVES a good dress, the swirlier the better. If it's pink all the better. She loves hair bows (for a time).

She LOOOOOVES baby dolls. She sits and looks at the American Girl catalog for hours, pointing to the Bitty Baby dolls saying "I wan it. Wan bay-bee." When a company kids catalog, hanna anderson, or kelly's kids catalog come in the mail, she insists she gets to look at them. She loves her toy kitchen. She loves her stroller.

She wants to play with balls with the boys, take karate, play star wars, and pirates. She loves the playmobil sets, and loves the gaming systems. She wants to read stories about Spiderman and friends, cars, trucks, etc. At least she LIKES books!

As someone once said, "In my world Cinderella plays soccers and holds her own with the boys." Yeah...THAT is my girl.

Yes, she'll probably get the Dora Ball pit from Santa and instead of the pretty pink Disney princess castle, the kids will get a joint gift of the Star Wars tent. I'm sure the baby dolls will go to the Star Wars tent, I'm sure she'll have her own lightsaber before she's 3. She'll just be wearing girly clothes for it. LOL

Toy "browsing" for birthdays and holidays

As we're approaching birthday season here, we took the kids "browsing" for toys that they would like. It's always interesting, and fun to see what they pick out each year. We get some new ideas, and recycle a few others.

Playhut has new tents this year, and I was thinking that Katie would surely love that pink Disney castle one for Christmas. Surely she would, I mean we had to drag her away from the baby doll aisle. She loved the Princess tea set. She loves pink. This castle ya'll was PINK overload.

Her reaction? eh...it's okay. OOOH Look at that Star Mountain Ball Pit though! That was exciting. *at least it's Dora?*

Then, she got excited over the Star Wars command tent. STAR WARS YA'LL! I have 2 boys...I'm Star Wars'd OUT.

I asked Katie, do you like the Castle? Held it up even. She shook her head NO. Pointed to the Star Mountain Ball pit (it's DORA at least). NOOOOOO! Pointed to the Star WArs tent that Samuel was in raptures over..."YESSSSH!"

*bang head*

Life is Busy!

I'm running around today (well this week actually) like a crazy woman trying to juggle all my responsibilities. Yet, at the back of my mind, constantly, is Susannah and her parents in China.

I had a physical recently, and the doctor told me that I MUST slow down soon that she was worried about how much I'm trying to do. I think I might agree, but I have no idea what to cut out! None. I love doing everything I am, but man something is going to have to give somewhere...especially this week! I keep telling myself that September is going to be one of my worst months for being busy...and really after this week I should slow down some. At least I won't be driving 70+ miles a day around town.

Space Mountain closed for renovations?!

We’re a Disney family. We love going to Disney. Absolutely love it, and the kids? they’re already thrill ride junkies (might have something to do with sensory seeking stuff? maybe?).

So, Sameul is just about 44 inches, meaning he can FINALLY ride Space Mountain!!! That quintessenial rollercoaster of Disney. Just thinking about it makes me SMILE.

I read last night, while planning, that as of January 2009 they are closing it for renovations…for a long time.

Our next trip? February 2009.

*gasp, choke, faint*……*SOB*

Samuel will NOT get to ride Space Mountain, the classic Space Mountain…EVER! Never ever.

So…what are we doing? We’re in the midst of building a house, saving frantically for downpayments, and we’re looking into going to Disney during December for a quick trip…the in-laws live about 4 hours from Disney. We *could* make it down there for a short trip so that Samuel can ride Space Mountain. He just HAS to ride Space Mountain, and I can’t have him wait until our next trip…I mean that would be like making him wait to ride Space Mountain for a whole 12-18 months LONGER! *blush*

BTW, Disney is REALLY crowded the week of Christmas. Really really crowded and that is the only thing stopping us at this point. We never go when it’s crowded, we love going with only 10 minute MAX waits. Not to mention financing the trip...hmmm...so much to think about!

DROOL!!!!!!

I'm drooling over this, but will need to wait at least a year.

Canon 5D MarkII

It's only a mere $2700 for the body alone, or $3600 for the "kit" lens with it (it's an L lens and as I have it, I could go for the body alone).

SWOON over these features:

LIVE HD video capture
SILENT shutter (oh my gosh for those weddings!!!!)
Ability to choose a smaller RAW format
AUTO cleaning sensor

and that's about as far as I got before I had to close it before I went and hit "buy" Dh would shoot me.

*PS still thinking of Susannah...*

PRAY HARD!

Susannah is in the hospital and not doing well at all. Her mother had to push to be able to even meet her. She's not doing well at all, pulse ox stats WITH oxygen are 60-90%. The hospital is NOT even nearly what we're used to. Leslie needs as much support, good thoughts, prayers, etc. as you can spare.

My heart is breaking for her, and I'm incredibly worried about them getting home.

Hey...I'm "Snap" if you get that strange name

Well, that and Spitfire as well...well, actually Spitfire is Dh and when he checks email on my account I end up logged in as him.

snap...well, snapshot006@gmail.com is my new email that I'm using when I visit NEW places...you know, so it doesn't include MY NAME! LOL

Shocked by gas prices!

I was so shocked on Friday when I went out to fill up a car with gas and my regular gas station was out of gas. HUH?! I knew Ike was going to hit Texas this weekend, but HUH? I mean, we survived the Katrina gas crisis AND driving to Disney. What was going on?

You see, we don't have cable TV. Nor do I listen to the radio in the van driving the kids around. I only check email and my "forums" online, so if news didn't hit one of those places quickly then I don't know about it. I know about baby formula in China not being safe. I even know a tiny bit about the presidential election...but gas prices? Not so much.

Was it ever expensive to fill up cars (and it was our standard normal time to do so). Now this week is supposed to be quite busy for me, which means quite a bit of driving around town. Not a good week to be worrying about making the gas I have last. Not a good week for that at all.

Fun Foto Friday

Such a cute subject who helped with "lighting" to get set up for school photos. Her first official "school photo" complete with flipped up shirt and slightly frizzy hair.

Oooh we were happy this evening!

We got a new sale catalog in the mail. The 3 men in my life happily flipped through the pages and pointed out things they wanted. I enjoyed flipping through it as well, though perhaps NOT quite to the same level as the 2 older "boys" here.

It was from http://www.thinkgeek.com

Not sure if it was at the "Grow your own 1up Mushroom" or the Japanese something or other puzzle...but I lost control of the catalog/book.

Katie? she was happily flipping through the Kelly's Kids catalog and saying "I want it!" to specific outfits. *grin*

another Kunming child is coming home!

and it's someone from my agency that I've been emailing with. They are going to need lots of prayers over the course of the next couple of weeks. See, their daughter's SN is a heart condition (and cleft), but the heart condition is what we are all praying on for her. She was in the hospital a few weeks/month ago and her heart condition is still fairly severe. It was so severe that she was one of the few children not sent to foster care (so she could be near medical care if needed). I know her Mom and Dad are worried about her, worried about the travel, and worried about how everything will go.

I have her linked over to the right - Susannah and I know she'd appreciate comments and prayers over the next 2 weeks.

They leave Thursday - 9/11 and return 16 days later. It's going to be a LONG trip (ours was only 13 days and it felt like an eternity). I especially hope both the Mom and the Dad stay healthy and do not have trouble with asthma as I did.

There is also another family - Mahli - linked on Kunming who are waiting on TA and USCIS forms to travel.

Then 2 of those over there on Kunming families - Crystina and Going for Gracie have both just traveled. :)

9 on the 9th

I hope she's going to do this again....:)

My List of 9 on the 9th...ummm....thinking...OH I know!

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

9 of my favorite images of my boys from previous years - All 2006 or earlier (and that's early 2006 at that!)

Little Miss Attitude

Yes...that's her Christmas outfit from LAST year, and yes it fits her now. *sigh* These are fairly accurate representations of my little girl these days. Can you SEE the fun we have with her?!

Now for the return of the "sweet" little girl I normally show the world.

Ni! Ni! Ni!

That is the sound I woke to over the baby monitor...and not from Katie. From the boys. Why did I think it was a good idea to show them that movie? Why?

We're hanging in there, busy busy busy....and still with not so many groceries in the house! LOL Working on tagging all those clothes. Working on cleaning the house. Working on therapy assignments. Working on school work (we're 1/4 of the way through the school year...can you believe it?!).

They started on our new house, supposedly that means it will be done in roughly 80 days. We'll see. Kind of scary to think about though...we could be in it by December! OH MY GOSH!

We didn't eat pancakes for dinner

but we did for lunch. The boys LOVED it. Note to self...must do that again someday.

I did manage to get to that superstore I love going to - red and white concentric circles - yeah, that store. We now have milk in the house again, and bread. We have enough to last us until the weekend when hopefully I will have more time to prepare for a shopping expedition the likes of which I have not seen in some time. I.E. it's going to be very expensive.

The kids? well, they'll be happy that they have cereal again!

Which brings me to another funny thing....someone HIT on me in the store tonight! ROFL! I was pulling off the boxes of cereal for the kids, you know such wonderfully nutrious things like "fruity oh's" and "marshmellow treasures" and he said something along the lines of how great it was that I was still so young! I laughingly told him that I had 3 kids. He, acting shocked, said, "You have 3 kids? I don't believe it. You look too great to have had 3 kids!"

Bwaaaa haaa haaaa.....still nice to be hit on! Even in jeans capris and a white t-shirt, no make-up, and flip flops.

Then checking out, I noticed he was STILL watching me as he was checking out the next lane over.

I give up.

No really, this time I really do. I give. I throw in that proverbial white towel. I'm DONE.

I admit that grocery shopping is NOT going to happen this evening. Which means I must become even more creative than I was tonight for food tomorrow. See, I've not been in about 2 weeks, and that trip was only supposed to "last us" for 1 week. Yes, that means 1 week of grocery shopping has now stretched into 2 weeks. I had planned to go on Labor Day, but well Dh ended up having to go into work. Which is what happened to all of last week as well. I thought FOR SURE I could manage to go on Tuesday (today). Nope. It's 7pm already and Dh is headed back to work. I refuse to take 3 kids with me to the store for a major grocery shopping expedition. BTDT. It's not pretty.

My reaction that is. The kids always look so cute while they misbehave. My visions of a blissful trip through grocery store with Katie sitting calmly in the shopping cart, quietly singing to herself or pointing out foods she recognizes...in which I can say "Yes, that's an Apple! It starts with an A, Katie" are not quite what happens. Neither are the other parts of the vision where JM is holding my list and helping me find the correct item and getting it marked off. Neither does Samuel walk calmly beside the cart putting items into that are handed to him, and then rearranging thing for "best fit" scenario. No, that isn't quite our reality. No "schooling" gets done in the grocery store.

What does happen is Katie screams her displeasure at being contained. I try to entertain her with commentary on foods we are purchasing, then resort to all out bribery - by way of the free cookie. Samuel is twirling around in circles, touching Katie which causes her to become even more irritated than normal, then starts play fighting with JM complete with Star Wars noises. I resort to bribery with him as well. JM complains that it is taking too long. He plays with Samuel. He begs for such treats as pop-tarts, fruit snacks, chocolate, cookies, then whines when I say no.

That's if everyone behaves in a good normal way. What normally happens is that we get these looks of "OH MY GOSH why can't she control her children?!"

So I give up. I'm not going to make it to the grocery store tonight. I doubt I get to go tomorrow either. Hopefully Thursday will be better...if not...we'll resort to eating pancakes for dinner!

One day soon Dh will be back to working normal hours and I can make it to the store in peace. Or I might brave the store for a QUICK run in for milk, bread, and cheese.

First Day of School Photo

Well our 'First Day of Friday Classes' photo....can you tell he was excited? can you tell we were late? This was where he was when I got the camera ready to take a photo of him with his brother...I didn't even rate "see you later!"

Life has been so incredibly busy that I am not even in the mood to take daily life photos of the kids. I know I will look back on this time period and mourn the loss of such memories, but it honestly seems like my life is ever so boring these days.

Proof

that at some point she DID weigh over 20 pounds! She's actually just about this same weight now as well.

BTW, the onesie is a Gymboree 12-18 month size.