Bear's First Film.

Afternoon Dreaming

I would like nothing more in this world than to be at home on the couch right now, preferably watching People's Court and eating spoonful after spoonful of Rainbow Chip frosting straight from the can.

Instead I am at the gym.

I can do this!

Happy Birthday to Norah!

Believe it or not, our precious Norah is 2 years old! To celebrate her birthday, we got together for a sundae party in Gulley Park! Here is the invite that I put together for the occasion:




It may have been 90 degrees out when we planned the party, but on Sunday, fall decided to show up in full force, which meant it was windy with a high in the low 60's! It may not have exactly been perfect weather for ice cream sundaes, but we made the best of it. And with such a smorgasbord of tasty treats at our disposal, the kids barely even noticed the chill in the air!

We set out a sundae bar fit to give Orange Mango a run for their money; the kids could choose from Oreo, chocolate chip cookies, Reese's peanut butter cups, gummy bears, maraschino cherries, M&M's, sprinkles, chocolate chips, whipped cream, Hot Fudge, strawberry syrup and caramel, among others. There were also yummy homemade cupcakes and a little cake from Rick's for Norah!


















Thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate our sweet girl's birthday with us. We appreciate you all, and we had a great time! Happy birthday, Norah! We love you!

Go Hogs Go!

Well, the game didn't go exactly as we hoped, but we sure had a great time anyway! The night before, we drove down Razorback Road to check out all of the students camping there. Mom and Jamie rolled their windows down and gave high-fives to hundreds of possibly intoxicated college students as we drove slowly by beeping our horn and shouting "Go Hogs!" every few feet. Autumn thought it was awesome. When we finally made it to the end of the line, which by then stretched all the way from the Stadium to Pomfret Hall, she declared, "I can't WAIT to be in college!"

The atmosphere was so fun, but it did make me feel a little old! It doesn't seem like very long ago that I would have been right down there with them! But then again, instead of sleeping on concrete and waking up with a hangover, I got to sleep in my cozy bed and wake up to pancakes! : )

Then it was game day, which also happened to be Norah's birthday! We all put on our Razorback attire and got ready to watch some football! Bear and my Dad went to the game and had such a good time, even with the loss, and the rest of us watched it here at home with the smell of the yummy chili cooking to take the edge off our misery! It really was a good time even if it didn't go our way!

Here are a few shots Jason snapped on Saturday morning!











On a side note, I did one more exciting thing on Saturday morning - I made it through my first Body Attack class since Shiloh was born! It wasn't exactly pretty, and I took almost every lower-impact option, but I did it! Woo-hoo! I think as part of my goals for next month, I will add in 1 Attack or Combat class per week. I am really starting to feel the effects of all these workouts. Shiloh is 2 months old today, and even though I still have a long way to go weight-wise, I can feel the muscles in my body toning up and getting stronger. It makes me so happy!

Sister Sleepover!

Jamie's husband Joe is laying lots of tile at their house this weekend, so she's staying with us! Yay for sister sleepovers! : )

Go Hogs!

I'm a HUGE fan of college football, and even more so when our home team is actually halfway decent! With the Razorbacks ranked #10 right now, and a matchup against the #1 team in the nation on the horizon, this means I'm pretty excited! Apparently so is everybody else... Here is a video Jason's dad took of the students camped out on the sidewalk in line to get good seats. The line started forming on Monday! Now THAT is dedication! : )

Bear's Mad Science Birthday Extravaganza!

Believe it or not, Bear turned 7 on Friday! To celebrate, we invited family and friends to join us for a mad-science-themed party in the park! It was a little hot out, but we had a blast!

First off, let me say how awesome Rick's Bakery is! I showed them this (the invitation we sent out):





...And they made this amazing cake to go along with it!





The grown-ups and babies visited and the kids played on the playground while the Mad Scientists set up, and then they got the party started. The did tons of fun experiments, followed by a rocket launch grand finale! Bear got to set off (and keep!) the rocket, which he thought was pretty cool! Afterwards, we ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. Each kiddo got to leave with their very own container of slimy goo, plus a neon slinky. We even had a few leftover for the grownups! : ) All in all, I think everyone had a great time. Here are a few of our favorite photos from the afternoon:






















Happy Birthday to Bear! Now to plan another party asap... Miss Norah is turning 2 on Saturday! : )

Something to Think About!

Today I present you with one of my most treasured bits of Flylady wisdom:

Sometimes Done Is Perfect.

I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to occasionally let perfectionism get the best of me. We have all spent so much of our lives with the old adage "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well," floating around in our heads, that I think sometimes the very saying that is supposed to help us ends up getting in our way. We realize that we only have 5 minutes to clean up the kitchen, so we just figure, "Why bother?" I am trying to get myself to think the opposite: If it's worth doing, you might as well get it done! Even if it isn't perfect, then at least it will be done! Think 5 minutes isn't enough? Give it a try... Set a timer and just go for it. I predict that you will be SHOCKED what all you can get done in 5 minutes if you set your mind to it. And like Flylady says, having it done, whether it is done exactly right or not, can be oh-so-perfect sometimes.

Case in point: my kitchen drapes.

I bought them at Ikea a couple of years ago, and they are the kind that come in an extra-long length and you are supposed to hem them to fit the space you need them in. Well, when we moved, the doorways that I put them were a little lower than the previous ones, which meant that the curtains were too long. I subsequently got a little busy (you know what with starting school, shooting weddings, giving birth and all), and had never gotten around to re-hemming them. I just kept thinking I didn't have time.

However, today Norah was running at top speed out of the pantry trying to steal some vinegar and she tripped over the too-long drapes and face-planted on the kitchen floor. It made me sad that she had hurt herself because I "hadn't had time" to fix those silly curtains. I was trying to decide what to do, since I only had a little bit of time before I was supposed to go pick Bear up from his friend's house and head to the gym. Then I had a lightbulb moment: It doesn't have to be perfect, because sometimes done is perfect.

So I broke out the stapler. That's right. My trusty old Swingline.





I decided to just say forget doing it right, and I hemmed the blasted drapes with the stapler. It totally worked! They are the perfect length now. Norah won't have to trip on them anymore, and as long as no one breaks out a magnifying glass, nobody will ever be the wiser!








Which brings me to one final point. Ladies, we need to all cut ourselves a break. No one is going to come over to our houses and evaluate our decorating and housekeeping (or our outfits, children, cooking skills, laundry folding, etc!) with a score card, so we might as well just all relax, do the best we can and enjoy ourselves a little! And if someone DID show up with a scorecard, would you really care what they thought anyway? I mean, what kind of person DOES that? Our friends are going to love us for who we are, and no one else really matters anyway!

So relax, take a deep breath, and when you're done cleaning up your kitchen this evening, pat yourself on the back that it is done. Because like our dear Flylady says... Sometimes done really is perfect! : )

Anna's Bridal - I couldn't resist!

I normally try to keep this blog *mostly about family stuff and general thoughts on life since we have an entire other blog dedicated to our wedding and portrait photography, but sometimes a shoot is just too good to resist sharing! We shot Anna's bridals earlier this summer, and we have been dying to share them ever since. Her wedding was this past weekend, so now we're free to show them off! Gorgeous bride + fun dress + amazing locations = RIDICULOUS bridal session! Oh goodness I love them. Here are some of our favorites!!