Hissyfits Photography Blog

So it has been forever since I have done this, but I thought it would be fun to switch things up on this fabulous Friday and take a step back in time!

{Side note here: I have NO clue who took this picture and I did absolutely NOTHING to it!!}

These are our super great friends Gareth and Megan. And this was taken September 19, 2006…our last night in our cozy little home in Kansas City. What a bittersweet night that was. We had spent the entire day packing and watching all our belongings be hauled out of our home and onto the moving truck. There were tears, lots of ‘em, but there was laughter too. If you knew these two, you would know that they can always make you laugh. It is great to have friends like that!

We spent that night sitting on the dirty basement floor with these two and Britton and Lisa…sharing stories, drinks, and laughs while our kiddos slept snugly on the floor above us. In some ways that seems like a lifetime ago and in others like it was just last week. I think those huge, life changing moments stick with you for a lifetime. I know this one sure hasn’t faded with time!

I can’t believe how little Huntler was. Gosh he has really grown up in the last three years! And Gentry, well, she was all chub, but she was only eight weeks old! I know I say this all the time, but time flies!!

Hope all you sweet peeps have a fabulous weekend! I’ll be back on Monday and HOPEFULLY have the next edition of the party posts ready to share! It’ll probably take me all weekend to get it put together!!

I took this picture last month but never shared it. Actually, the majority of the pictures I take I never share. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all! And I am really feeling that right now. Summer is supposed to be fun and exciting and full of adventure and creating memories. Well, so far, our summer has been the complete opposite of that. The days are long and boring and I find myself searching to find things to keep the kids entertained for even just a bit. I hate that. I don’t want it to be like this. It is hot. I hate the heat. I am homesick. I want it to rain. And the worst part…Huntler and Gentry are fighting like cats and dogs. This is by far the most challenging phase we have had with them. They do love each other, I know that. I posted this picture to remind me of that. But the last month or so has consisted of fighting. And LOTS of it. Fighting over markers. Fighting over who gets to sit on what stair. Fighting over dolls. Fighting over trains. Fighting over forks and spoons. Fighting because someone threw a toy at the other one. Fighting because someone called the other one a name. Fighting, fighting, fighting.

I know it is just a fact of life…part of being a parent. I don’t think my two fight any more or any worse than anyone else’s kiddos. But OH MY GOSH…it is driving me crazy. Like seriously crazy. So my goal is to be a better planner. To load us up and head out into the 110 degree heat that I loathe in search of entertainment. The book store, the library, out back on the slip n slide. Whatever. Just something to break up the chaos that is now our days.

To top it off, Gentry is having a really rough time right now. HUGE meltdowns. HUGE temper tantrums. She is so darn opinionated and independent that things are just rough right now. She can still be sweet as all get out, but when she sets her mind to something, she makes it QUITE clear!! I know it is all a phase and all of this craziness will pass and at some point I will probably even miss it, but right now I am just trying to survive it!

And on that note, I have a bazillion things to get done and while my two sweets are sleeping soundly so I am going to get to work! Happy Thursday!

Hiya friends!! So here it is, Tuesday again!!! We had a busy morning running errands and getting things done and although I SHOULD be picking up the mess that is my upstairs, I would much rather be blogging! The house is beyond quiet and it is cloudy out…all is well in my little world for the moment!

Ready for a little bit of randomness for this edition of Ten on Tuesday?

1. I bought some Pantene Nature Fusion Moisture Balance shampoo and conditioner at Target over the weekend. The stuff smells AH-MA-ZING!! Seriously, I could quite  possibly be talked into standing around in the shower all day just to smell that yumminess!

2. We took the kids to see Up on Saturday afternoon. Has anyone seen it? What are your thoughts? I really didn’t like it. I mean, I didn’t hate it, but it was just so serious and deep for a kids movie. My kids are young enough that they didn’t understand all the serious stuff, but instead of being happy, I was actually kinda sad. Weird. Despite the story line, we had a really fun time! I took Huntler to the theater when I was super pregnant with Gentry, but we haven’t taken the kids since then! Gentry was totally overwhelmed and almost scared at the beginning, but after awhile she settled in and started munching on some popcorn and sucking down Sprite! Huntler smiled and smiled and smiled at the beginning…LOVING the experience. And then it got loud and there were some kinda scary parts and he ended up in tears. But, we still had a really fun time and despite the tears and initial hesitations, so did the kiddos!

3. We have a ton of candy in our pantry for Gentry’s party. I haven’t even been so much as tempted to bother it…until today. I bought a ginormous bag of Tootsie Rolls at Wal Mart this morning and can’t stay out of them! Knowing how much I love them, I should have known better and waited until the day before the party!!

4. I was doing my normal thing this morning and checking all the blogs that had been updated on my RSS feed and guess what I found? My party post from yesterday was featured on the Polka Dot Birthday blog! {Here is the direct link!} And waiting in my inbox was a message from Toni at Design Dazzle asking if she could blog about it! She too put together a sweet post…here is the link! If you girls are reading, thanks for sharing!! You are too kind!

5. Keeping in line with all things party, the fabulous designer of my super cute blog added a new category for me yesterday, Party Shoppe. As I add the upcoming party posts and other random party bits, I’ll be sticking them in that category to keep everything organized!

6. Huntler is sitting on my lap. He got his hair cut this morning. Can I just tell you that I LOVE to rub my hands on his super short, freshly cut head of hair?

7. Gentry had a COLOSSAL meltdown at nap time  today. She hates napping anymore, but I don’t know if I can make it through the summer days without a break. The kids just fight constantly and the break is pretty much a necessity for me to make it through the slow moving afternoon hours. However, BOTH kids were up until after 10:00 last night…after both having good naps yesterday. So, seems to me that our summer hours are going to be a bit crazy!

8. For all you owl lovers out there, I noticed that Michael’s had some goodies in their dollar bins today. I didn’t buy any of it and didn’t really look that closely, but it was there!

9. I am still on my work out kick! I feel like my day can’t get started unless I log some time on my elliptical! I HATED it at first and while I don’t LOVE it now, I don’t mind it. It is such a great stress relief and I feel SO great once I accomplish my daily goal! It doesn’t hurt that I have lost 12 pounds either! {Although those tootsie rolls aren’t going to help with that…I’ll just have to exercise some self control and eat ‘em in moderation!}

10. I HOPE to get that giveaway I mentioned a few weeks ago ready to go this week or weekend! It is going to be so fun…I just need the time to get my goodies and myself all together! I would really like to figure out how to add more hours into my day, so if you figure it out, let me know!

And that means I need to get off of here and get to work on all these random messes! Hope  your week is going great!

Alright…so in an attempt to get all of my party posts {or lack thereof on the parties that we had before I started blogging} organized, I am kicking it off with Gentry’s first birthday! I am going to preface this with the fact that I won’t be doing posts on Huntler’s first or second birthday parties. While they were cute, they weren’t nearly as over the top as these later parties have turned out to be! And we didn’t have an SLR so what few pics we have aren’t even that great. So yes, I love my little man every ounce as much as I love my little diva, but in the spirit of keeping it real, his first two parties were nothing to write home about!

I also want to warn you that while there are a lot of images for this bash, they aren’t spectacular by any means! I wasn’t nearly as into photography two years ago as I am now. However, I think you can get the general idea and if anyone has any questions, just let me know! I could talk party planning until I am blue in the face! And if you could care less about a party I did two years ago, that’s fine too! We’ll see you again in my next post!!

So first of all…I can’t take credit for all of my ideas! Sure, I manage to bring them all to life, but I find SO much inspiration on the web and from other moms! Seriously…what would we do without the internet? One of my favorite party planning websites is Birthday Party Ideas. Once you know your theme, you can sift through all of the entries that other moms have so kindly submitted and take what you want from them! I have done that very thing for every single party we have had! Amazing Moms is another great one to hit up. And I of course just Google the theme too and see what else turns up from that! With blogging it is amazing what you can find out there!

First up…the invite. I found the pattern in a book called “Unforgettable Invitations.” I totally tweaked it to fit my style as far as using simple, solid card stock and jazzing it up with glittery dots, but the pattern and idea were totally from the book! And yes, they took FOREVER!! But, somehow when it is something for your own child, you just overlook all of that and do it!

I combined wording I found on several different invites to get what I wanted. And we used a font called Spotty Dotty to add to the feel! Wordpress has some spacing “issues” so I can’t make this as concise as I would like, but the inside reads as follows:

Polka Dots And Little Black Spots,

That’s What Ladybugs Are Made Of.

Our “Little Lady” Is Turning One,

So Fly On Over And Have Some Fun!

Address

The Infestation Begins At Time On Date

Give Us A Buzz At Phone Number

A Feast Will Be Waiting On All Buggy Friends,

So Come Ready To Dive In!

We Hope To Spot You There!

Chris And Bethany: Head Gardeners

Keeping in line with the invitation is the thank you note…which I did not design! I had this created by Heather at Pea Pod Announcements and absolutely loved it! Notice how it says, “Bugs and Kisses.” It is all about the details friends…all about the details!

Whew! This is a long post already and I am only just getting started!! For anyone that knows me or has been following along for any amount of time, you can probably tell that I am pretty picky about some things! Finding the plates and napkins for this party was one of the hardest parts of it because I knew exactly what I wanted but had trouble finding it!

I finally found what I wanted at EZ Party Zone. We used their plates and napkins and just used black and red for the rest of the tableware. I noticed that recently Birthday Express came out with a super cute ladybug line too…in softer colors. I had forgotten but am now reminded that I really struggled with which color scheme to go with for this party! I think it was probably easier to find favors and other decorations to go with the red and black, but that is just my opinion!

Up next…the cake. While I would love to learn the art of cake making in this capacity, I definitely did NOT make this! The fabulous Elizabeth did and it was nothing short of spectacular! The main cake, Gentry’s smash cake, the cupcakes…the detail was amazing and needless to say, she set the bar really high for herself!

Gentry’s smash cake…which she DEVOURED!

See…the girl loved it! Wasn’t she so cute and little? She has really grown up in the last two years! Sniff, sniff…

The main cake…love how you can see the shimmer she added! So glam!

And the sweet cupcakes…

What else? How about the decorations! I tend to like the not so “cookie cutter” type of things, so you’ll find a whole array of decor at our parties!

This is our entryway. No, the yellow most definitely does NOT match the ladybug colors we were rockin’, but it does match the earthy, neutral tones of our home! It is funny to me to look at this shot because the more parties we have, the more balloons we have!! We have always rented a helium tank since we’ve lived here so we can have a whole lotta balloons! This seems like nothing, but it is fun for the kids to walk through them as they come in! The red and black polka dotted balloons are from here.

This is just a galvanized milk jug I bought at Michael’s. I tied black satin ribbon to the handles and stuck red flowers in it! It is simple but adds a pop of color! I LOVE galvanized buckets and decor! I love that they can be used for boys and girls and how adding ribbon to the handles can totally jazz them up and make them fit your theme!

This cute banner came from Birthday in a Box. LOVE how the purple in it ties in with the purple in the cake! However, this one is super cute too because you can add a picture…it just has a lot of pink and less red and black!

For all of you who like to know what people’s houses look like {I am SOOO included in that category!}, here is a peek into what you see as you enter our home! It looks completely different now as we have painted that large wall on the right a deep brown and added brightly colored fabric covered canvas, painted the playroom {which is at the top of the stairs and to the right} and we have also painted our family room so the entry into that is now red and not boring tan! And just to curb your curiosity, the hallway just past the stars leads to the garage and the room off the kitchen is our family room. That door you can just barely see leads out to the patio!

Some random bits of red and black before they were set out…

Red and black jelly beans, licorice, ladybug chocolates, mini Oreos, carefully wrapped silverware…

Are you having fun yet?! By the time you finish this post, you should be able to plan a super fun and over the top crazy cute ladybug bash of your very own!

Here are the gifts! I KNOW I got the idea of the little picket fence off of one of the party planning sites, but my dad is the one who gave it the fun twist with the little wooden ladybugs and the curly ribbon! I probably would have set it out plain! That was a “morning of the party project” and we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off! It seems like no matter how much you do ahead of time, there are always things that don’t get done until the last minute!

The little wooden ladybugs can be bought at a craft store…Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or JoAnn’s. The picket fence came from the gardening section at Home Depot. Both the large and small mylar balloons can be found here. And the fancy ladybug wrapping paper? Well, right here of course! But I must say that Gentry got a present that was wrapped in solid red paper with black felt circles adhered to it that was WAY too cute for words!

This next picture serves as a decoration and also part of the favors! I bought a plain jane terra cotta flower pot and fancied it up for the occasion! This is just a little bit of red spray paint, shellac for shine, hot glue and fuzzy black pom poms! Viola! Easy as can be! There is a piece of floral styrofoam on the inside that the lollies are stuck into and then the shredded green paper from a craft store for filler. A little disclaimer here…the link for the lollies is not where I ordered mine from, but I did get them off of Ebay. I highly recommend keeping the temperature in mind when you order something like this! We live in Arizona and the party was mid July. The seller forgot to pack the first batch with ice packs and they arrived in melty little blobs. Needless to say I was frazzled! Since it was her fault, she whipped up a new batch and overnighted them so they were still cool. That being said, I did order from her again for Huntler’s party a couple of months later because she went above and beyond, but after that I taught myself how to make ‘em on my own so I wouldn’t have to worry about chocolate in extreme heat again! And to tell you the truth, it really isn’t all that hard at all! PROMISE!!

So, each little guest at the bash received a ladybug lollipop as part of their party favors. The next two pictures show the rest of the favors. And yes, it could be argued that I tend to go overboard! I won’t deny it!

Because the theme was ladybugs, I went with little garden totes for what I wanted the favors to be placed in. They too were plain jane unfinished wood that I painted white and then hot glued the same little wooden ladybugs to.

Because our kids are still young and we invite more of our friends to the party than their friends, there are kids of all ages! I always try to pick goodies that are age appropriate. For this party, it was actually really easy! All of the stores seemed to have fun ladybug stuff out for littles in all stages!

Here is an example of one of the bigger kids garden totes! The yo yo and stuffed keychain came from Target. The kaleidoscope was something I bought from a party store on Ebay as a set of twelve or so {I couldn’t find them when I just searched} and the rest of the goodies {net, tweezers, magnified bug catchers} came in a kit from the seasonal stuff at JoAnn’s. I once again used the red and black shredded paper from the craft store for filler!

The babies {anybody under two or so} got the following in their totes. The little four piece puzzles were from Wal Mart. They actually have critters on all sides, but I taped them so that the ladybug was visible! And the bath toys came from somewhere online. Here is a link to some.

Now for some of the fun food we had!

My dad totally rocked it out with these fabulously adorable crackers he whipped up! Are they not the cutest? Here are some other random ladybug treats from Taste of Home. And a few from Kraft Foods as well!

The rest of ours was just your typical party food! Sandwiches, chips, fruit, pop…you get the idea! You will notice I had to add some more galvanized metal into the mix though! And fresh flowers! Apparently I didn’t get a picture of the whole spread for some reason?! Probably because parties are always so chaotic! Oh well!

Since this party I have gotten hooked on the idea of using cookie cutters that tie in with the theme to cut out sandwiches and fresh fruit with! Here is a link to a large ladybug and a jumbo flower!

This next image is really not great at all, but it was the one that showed the little ladybug hats off the best! Another do it yourself project! And another “morning of the party project” that I had to put Chris’ mom and my mom to work on completing! I know some of ya’ll think I am crazy for starting on party stuff so far in advance, but seriously, if I don’t, it just won’t get done! And it is the fun little details like this that bring it all together!

Anyway, I have NO idea where I found this project and once again, I can’t find it now, but what my fabulous helpers did was take black plastic plates {I can’t even remember what size but not the huge dinner plates} and cut out the center leaving the edge. Somehow they then attached chenille pipe cleaners as antennae and added red satin ribbon to tie them on. They were really cute and so many of the kids wore them! Because I hadn’t had time to make them, I was going to nix them, but am so glad I had family here to come to the rescue! {Blah…boring tan walls are now deep red and chocolate brown!}

Party games/activities. Thinking back, we didn’t do a whole lot for this party. Everyone was still so young that they preferred to play with toys rather than take part in planned activities! I remember doing some sort of ladybug craft with fuzzy pom poms that was for you to stick in a plant as a little decoration. I also remember having extras of the ladybug keychains and using those to toss in a flower pot. “Pin the Spot on the Ladybug” would have been a really fun one too!

Just for giggles, here are a couple pics of my sweet, sweet birthday girl when she turned one! Was she not simply scrumptious?! I can’t believe how much she has changed in the last two years…she is so grown up. The baby hair and chub have been replaced by big girl hair and a long, skinny body. But those blue eyes are still as beautiful as they’ve always been!

And since I have shared everything else, her dress was from the Gymboree outlet in 2007…so it must have been a line that they came out with in the summer of 2006 or so!

And to wrap it up, here are just a few fun Etsy finds! I wasn’t even aware of Etsy when I planned this party but have since become obsessed! Everything handmade under the sun can be found here!

My blog BFF Julie recently created this fun headband! Gentry has quite a collection of these fabulous messy flowers and we {big puffy heart} them!! She can also make them on stretchy knit headbands for the bitty girls or alligator clips for pigtails! So sweet!

For the little girls who will be attending the bash, how about making each of them their own sweet hair clip as a favor? The past two years I have really gotten to where I LOVE to make themed  hair pretties for all the girlie guests! I am all about unique, useful goodies as party favors!

How about this adorable tutu for the birthday girl? Plus, it can totally be worn for Halloween down the road too! Add this fun wand and you are set!

For the non “do it yourself-er”, here is a great little package complete with invites, thank you notes, cupcake toppers and even a coordinating banner! I not only adore party planning but I also HAVE to have control so it would be extremely hard for me to not make my own stuff, but this is an AMAZING deal!

WHEW!! I am pretty sure that the only ones of you still reading along are the ones who are actually planning a ladybug party in the future, but that is okay! The whole reason I did this post was to not just get my thoughts and information together for me for future reference, but also for everyone else out there who may need a bit of inspiration! I hope you throw an amazing party and if you use anything from this post, I would love to see pictures sometime!

Would you believe it if I told you I have NOT had a cell phone since last November when my contract ran out? As in seven months ago? I “kind of” did in the fact that before Christmas we bought me a little “Go Phone” that you pay as you go, but I hated that thing. Filled it for Christmas and then when we were back in Kansas for those two weeks in January and haven’t used the darn thing since. It is little, cheap, annoying,  I had to keep my conversations short which is NOT me…just a piece of junk really. So, this entire time I have been toodling around with no cell phone whatsoever. I NEVER thought I would EVER do that with kids, especially somewhere as hot and spread out as things are down here, but I did.

However, my Apple adoring husband was up and at ‘em much earlier than he normally is yesterday in order to get his hands on the new iPhone he ordered last week! So, he gets a new one, I get the old one. Really, I get all the technological left overs, but I am okay with that. I mean, it is WAY better than nothing and I won’t use near the features on it that he does!! I just want to be able to call people while I am out, check my email while I am out and listen to my playlists while I am both working out and driving around. Pretty simple really!

He helped me get it all set up last night. My email, my ring tones…everything I’ll need! Now I just want to redo my playlists and we’ll be good to go! YAY! So…for those of you who had my cell number once upon a time but haven’t used it in forever, you can use it again! I am once again reconnected! {But you can still call me at home too…I am here most of the time anyway!!}

Alright, blog friends, that is it for today. A shorty little post so I can hit the elliptical for an  hour and burn off all the extra calories I consumed last night and get ready for the day! I am taking tomorrow off from blogging but I’ll be back on Monday with a HUGE post as I begin with the first of my party posts!

Happy weekend!

So the countdown is on! In less than five short weeks our baby girl will be three! It is hard to believe she was just eight weeks old when we moved out here! Such a tiny little thing…goodness the time flies! Anyway, I started on her invites probably about three weeks ago or so but had a hard time staying focused because I just wasn’t loving what I was coming up with. And when I don’t love something, I have a hard time getting motivated and staying on task! So, after starting from scratch at least three different times, yesterday while the kids were napping I FINALLY came up with something I absolutely love! It is just what I was after and whether or not anyone else likes it, I really don’t care because I LOVE it!

I really should wait to be sharing this since most of the people who will be getting an invitation read my blog, but as you know, I am not so patient like that! I am such an open book and love to share everything! This is no different!

I had some issues this morning when I was trying to get the front ready to print…of course! There originally wasn’t the orange and white polka dot bar at the top, it was just the scallop, but when I put the invite on the template for the printer, most of the scallop didn’t clear the “safety line” and to avoid a wonky looking scallop, I had to improvise! I also had to move up the text on the bottom so it isn’t quite centered anymore, but I’m okay with that! Chris was frustrated because all he sees are the imperfections in the scalloped border I bought and the non straight parts, but I am pretty sure that no one will ever notice that other than us! Plus, add in the shimmery finish I am having it printed with and all the imperfections will fade away!

The back looks a little funky on here because the white all runs together, but you get the idea! The part with the pictures is just white! And as cool as it would be to live on Lollipop Lane, we don’t! For obvious reasons I am not plastering my address all over the internet!

I still plan to put together an entire post on this party with all of my links, purchases, creations, etc… but I wanted to share!

Hope everyone is having a terrific Thursday!

Over the last week or so I have been whipping up some fun new hair accessories for my sassy little diva!! I started making her bows about a year and a half or so ago but haven’t made any in a long time. Life has a funny way of keeping us busy…

Anyway, before Christmas I made both Gentry and my niece some fun hair pretties and promised my sis that I would make some more for my niece. I am doing that, but I am also making some new ones for Gentry girl at the same time!

Here is the first one! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I tweeted about it last week, but just yesterday managed to get a decent picture to share! The colors in this scream summer! For some reason Gentry screamed “Oww….it hurts me” when I put it on her, but I am still working with her! I am teaching her young that it is painful to be beautiful!! That would be why I crammed her feet into shoes that were half a size too small awhile back for some photos! Don’t worry…she only wore them for five minutes and we were done! She was fine and all was well!

Anyway, this is just a korker bow that I jazzed up with a glam button from Wal Mart and hot glued to a headband! The fabulously fun thing about this one is that I bought the ribbon at Target in the dollar bins…18 inches of 6 different coordinating colors all for just $1! It took two tubes of ribbon to get this as big and full as it is, but it is so nice to have the fun color combo already picked out and ready to go! {I just realized that I did add a couple of my own colors…thought I should clarify that in case anyone goes out looking for it and wonders where the hot pink and purple polka dots came from!!}

I love it so much that I had to hit Target up the next day and buy more of this fun stuff…my sweet niece has to have one of these too!

Ahhh…Target. I have a love/hate relationship with that store. Well, not really. I love it…Chris hates how easy it if for me to spend money in there! I know I am not the only one in this boat!!

Anyway, if you have a little girl or need to buy a gift for a little girl any time soon, get yourself in there and get to shopping! They have some of the cutest dresses ever right now! Gentry’s is already hanging in her closet so no pics of the dress itself, but I had to buy some ribbon to make matching hair accessories for her!

These are fun little korker bows too…I just lined some alligator clips and hot glued ‘em on! Simple, adorable, and totally coordinate with her dress! Love that! And these are satin too! I can’t wait to get her all dolled up and in front of my camera!

I need to keep myself moving and get more sets of these made! Somehow I was supposed to be creating these for my niece but have yet to actually “make” any for her! The ribbons have been baked but I haven’t put them together yet!

So….you want to learn to make fun korker bows for those special girlies in your life? It’s easy…go here. There are directions to creating several different types of bows!  I have some instructions that I bought online so I make mine slightly different, but this will get you going!! I am no expert but let me know if you have any questions!! And I would love to see any fun combos or creations that you make so be sure to share! Happy crafting!

YAY! Here I am…two days in a row!! I used to be such a good blogger, but somehow, somewhere, something happened and I haven’t been so great at it lately! I thought I was okay with that, but I was catching up on a friend’s blog yesterday and realized how much I miss not documenting all of the crazy little things that consume our days and all the bits of randomness that make us, well, us! I found myself insanely jealous that she has it all right there at her fingertips and while I have bits and pieces, I want more! I want it all…the pictures, the stories, the funny things my kids say and do…everything! So, here I am…vowing to do better and stay caught up!

And what better way to kick it off than Ten on Tuesday? Once upon a time I used to do this every week as well! So here I am…back at it again!

1. Sunday night I had a whopping THREE hours of sleep. Definitely not enough, but with an hour long nap yesterday morning, I managed to make it through the day. Don’t be fooled, I wasn’t the super happy or productive version of myself, but I survived! We even managed to get in a little craft time yesterday afternoon. Despite my lack of sleep, I was trying to continue on with my quest to be more present in the lives of my littles and we had a little bonding time at the kitchen table using marshmallows and tooth picks. Huntler loved to create, Gentry loved to eat. No surprise there!

Here are a few snapshots!

Huntler made the Marshmallow Launcher 3000. That is all him right there…name and everything. He was so proud of it! I even found it hard and on the playroom floor still in tact this morning!

And here are the three of us! I had to set the camera on a cake pan for some height and then run around and hop in between the kids before it fired! I am still perfecting this technique obviously because Huntler is blurry, but it was fun! The kids love it…they laugh and giggle and then we all have to look at what we captured!

Notice Gentry’s binky right there front and center and in the midst of everything. Chris says when she turns three we are getting rid of it. SO.NOT.READY.FOR.THAT. It is the only “baby” thing left about her…I want her to have it forever! Is that weird?

2. I had a dentist appointment this morning. Despite the fact that I have the worst teeth ever, I really don’t mind going in for my six month cleanings. As far as my teeth go, they are super straight and white enough {I have never had braces or whitened them}, but I am sooo prone to cavities. I think I could brush and floss every two hours and still end up with a cavity! Argh… As usual, I “happened” to have a cavity this time around. One lone cavity. So, what do I do? Go to Sonic to get a slush and then eat a cookie when I pick up the kids at Chris’ office of course! My affliction for all things sugary does not help!

3. Huntler has changed his mind on his party. The “Under the Sea” theme is out and “Cars” is in. I cannot force myself to do a character themed bash, so I’ll be twisting it just a bit to fit a more “race car” type theme…with the Cars characters included of course. I did the same thing with his train party last year! The theme was trains but Thomas and all his buddies were included in the details! I was really hoping for a Happy Monster Bash, but I can’t get my little man on board! These cupcake toppers were my inspiration! But…despite the fact that I brought him into this world, it IS his birthday after all and the most important thing is that it is something HE loves! I can work with whatever! However, since he is still wishy washy, I am going to wait another two or three weeks before I start getting too crazy in the planning in case he changes his mind yet again!

4. A few months after we moved out here, we bought this video for Huntler. He used to watch it all the time but then it got stuck in the closet and forgotten about. A few weeks ago when I was rummaging through all our DVD’s and getting rid of things, I came across it again and got it out. Both of the kids are hooked. LOVE it. And are learning! Well, Gentry is learning. Huntler already has his ABC’s down pat!

So when we were roaming around Target last week, I found myself over in the DVD’s again. Because the kids love it and have gotten so much out of it, I wanted to see if there were more! What else can my kids learn this summer?! There were a few options but I settled on this one. It seems the most appropriate for Huntler since he knows his ABC’s…words come next. He wants to watch it numerous times a day. And he is once again learning! He is learning to sound out words and spell some simple ones! He recognizes them too! We were at the AT&T store the other day and he said, “Look Mommy. It’s the word at!” And just today he saw “stop” on my Sonic cup and totally recognized that too! It is SO fun to watch your kids learn before your very eyes! And have fun while doing it. I hope his love of learning lasts a lifetime!

5. Summer days are long days.  I NEVER thought I would say that, but we really got into a routine with Huntler being at school this past year! Even though it was only three hours a day twice a week, it was nice. Having him home all day every day has been challenging to say the least. The fighting. Ohhhhh the fighting…it might push me over the edge one of these days!

6. I am wondering how I am going to keep up with my workouts while we are back in Kansas. We have an elliptical here at home and I spend a little quality time on that each and every morning. However, I obviously can’t pack it up and take it with us, so I am going to have to try something different. I am thinking I will jog every morning. Do you think I can do it?!

7. I am so not ready for the hot temperatures to settle back in! We have had a nice couple of weeks…highs only in the 90’s and lots of cloud cover which is unusual. Word on the street is that triple digits are headed our way again later this week. Blah!

8. Did I mention that my fighting kids might push me over the edge? Oh my goodness I want to pull my hair out some days! Today is one, can you tell?

9. I am going to go back through all of my posts on the kids’ birthday parties and create new ones that contain all the links and pictures! Some of them have never been blogged about because I wasn’t blogging way back then, but it will be fun to get my thoughts and ideas all together and in one place! I have had a few people contact me about some of my ideas {especially on the cupcake bash!} and I have so many different, random posts on it that it takes forever to gather it all up! I am excited to get it all together and in one post…for myself and for others!

10. I am hooked on this new show called Cake Boss on TLC. Have you ever seen it? I so wish I had the talent to create such amazing cakes! These people are awesome! I am still hooked on The Bachelorette too. I fell asleep right before the rose ceremony last night so I’ll have to catch up on that tonight. It seems like 99% of what we watch these days is reality TV. Crazy. I remember growing up it was “Seinfeld” and “Home Improvement” and shows like that. Are there even any sitcoms created anymore? If so, we don’t watch any! On our DVR you’ll find, “Dog the Bounty Hunter, Family Jewels, Jon and Kate, Greensburg, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Orange County Choppers, Deadliest Catch, Tori and Dean, Cake Boss, The Bachelorette…” All reality TV! Well, other than General Hospital which I hardly watch anymore and Law and Order!

And the fighting continues! Gotta take my littles out for a bit! Otherwise I might just lose it!

As I begin this entry this morning, it is barely 4:30 AM. Yet I have been awake for hours. I am really not quite sure why, it is so very unlike me, but nevertheless, here I am, gently tapping the keys in the dark of the night listening to the whir of the computer while my sweet family dreams sweet dreams in their cozy beds.

My mind has been all over the place the past three hours as I have willed myself to go back to sleep, knowing that dawn will break all too soon and shortly after that my darling little ones will be wide awake and ready to face the day as I try desperately to muster up some energy after having had only three hours of sleep when I normally get at least eight. But my mind will not shut off. And having grown sick of laying in bed waiting for the elusive sleep to come, I came here to pour my heart out and wait for the first morning light to break instead…

It hit me this “morning” just how quickly my kids are growing up. I mean, I KNOW they are growing and that time is flying and I talk about it often, but in the stillness of the night, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was thinking about Gentry’s upcoming birthday. How in just five short weeks my baby will be three. Three. And then I started replaying the past in my mind. I remember so vividly when Huntler turned three. It seems like just yesterday, yet it was nearly two years ago. Is that possible? His party stands out in my mind so crystal clear…everything from who was there to what I wore. How can I remember something so well when it was so long ago? And how have two years come and gone in such a short amount of time?

Tears come easily as I think of how much has changed and how much things will continue to change. As much as I long to slow the hands of time, they seem to gain speed with each passing day. I love to see who my kids are becoming, their personalities shining through. Their strengths. Their weaknesses. Their likes. Their dislikes. They are both such amazing little people and I simply cannot fathom a day without either of them. Yet as much as I enjoy seeing who they are becoming, I miss the time that has gone by. The phases they have outgrown. The past. The days that we’ll never get back. I wish I would have appreciated those days more. I wish I would have slowed down and truly cherished each and every moment. For the moments are so fleeting…so fleeting. I am reminded once again that the “todays” come and go far too fast and to cherish them always, for tomorrow will inevitably bring something new.

As I think about Huntler turning five in a few short months and Gentry turning three in just a few short weeks, part of me so desperately wants another baby. Another little person to love and bring happiness to our hearts and home. I often wonder  what our lives would be like with another little one. But then the worry takes over. I feel like I struggle to give my kids enough of me the way it is…how would I spread myself out even more? Would someone feel cheated? And then I think that although it might be a challenge, as the days march on as we know they so rapidly do, the struggles and hardships  would fade away and be replaced with only fond memories. It is the moments like this when I wish I had a book with all the answers in life…

It is also the times like this that I am so thankful for my love of photography, for the moments I have forever frozen in time. No, they aren’t all technically perfect, but they are all more than perfect in my eyes. For you see my friends, they tell a story. It is the story of us. And one day when my babies are all grown up, I’ll look back at Huntler’s dark, intense brown eyes and Gentry’s gappy toothed smile and I’ll be taken back to a time in my life where things couldn’t be sweeter…

It is now 5:20…the darkness that surrounded me just 45 minutes ago has been replaced with the early morning light. The construction crew is getting to work behind us. The birds are leaving their nests in search of breakfast. A new day is beginning. I plan to make the most of mine, tired as I may be. Go make the most of yours.

Ahhhh…where do the days go? It seems to me as though the whole phenomenon of “The Lazy Days of Summer,” is just that, a phenomenon…elusive, rare, non existent. I am trying so hard to get my act together and be more present in the lives of my little ones and yet as each day comes to a close and I lay in bed thinking of the day we’ve had, I wonder where in the world the hours went? I wish that I had been more patient. More understanding. More willing to just “let” myself play without thinking I had to rush around and do laundry, unload the dishwasher, clean the bathrooms, run the sweeper, edit pictures…the list goes on.

Despite the fact that it seems as though it has been “summer” here for the last few months, the reality is that we are only in our second week! I have never, ever loved the heat. Ever. So living in the desert is FAR from ideal for me…for a number of reasons. However, this week we have been lucky! Lots of cloud cover, breezy, highs only in the low 90’s! Crazy weather when you live in the southwest! But what a welcomed break! Today the sun is shining brightly though and there isn’t a hint of a breeze!

Along with having a general dislike for the heat, I am not so much of an outdoorsy kind of girl either. I try. And I do it. But I would MUCH rather be inside any day!! However, that just isn’t realistic when you have two littles who need to be out soaking up the fresh air and burning off some energy. So out we go.

I have been trying forever to capture an image of the kids in the swings that was cute and in focus! It is far harder than you might imagine! Huntler, like usual, was so not in the mood to work with me , but my sassy pants girl was!

I love this shot of her! The sweet smile, the summery dress (from Wal Mart I might add!!), the fun hair pretties and the grubby feet! Love it! So real.

And here is one of Huntler! Since he was busy being a boy and doing his own thing, I just snapped a few of him playing! My favorite part of this is that you can see the top of his little Mickey Mouse undies!!

The rest of these are from a couple of weeks ago…just haven’t had the time to share them yet!

I love this next one…Huntler still looks so young. It is hard to believe my little guy will be five in just a few months! EVERY single day he asks me how old sissy will be when he is some random age. Numerous times a day actually. Today he wanted to know if he would be a grown up when he was seven or still a kid. Still a kid, buddy, still a kid! The time is already zooming by, I hate that he makes me even more aware of it! He just seems to be learning SO much and taking in everything. He wants to know it all, and now.

See the skirt Gentry is wearing in this one? SO bought that at Once Upon a Child for $5.50!! It is Pumpkin Patch…deal of the week right there friends! Looks darling on my little mini me! You should have seem both the kids the night I took these. They both had their cameras out and were rolling around all over to get the perfect shot! LOVE IT!

Poor Huntler. He is NOT our athletic child. At all. He tries, but I just think he really doesn’t care. He can’t catch. He can’t throw very well. He can march and skip though! I just don’t forsee a future in professional sports for him! Not that I care…to be perfectly honest, I prefer that he avoid any and everything dangerous and maybe take up an instrument or chess! That way I don’t have to worry about him being the popular kid at school and dealing with all sorts of peer pressure and doing things he shouldn’t be doing. Is that wrong? I mean,  I want my kids to be good people, to have tons of friends and to be liked, but it about sends me over the edge thinking of them growing up and in high school and dealing with everything that comes along with it. Tell me I am not the only one who thinks about this stuff already!

Any fun summer ideas to pass the time and avoid the heat out there? We are BIG into Play Doh right now. The kids played for almost 2 hours with some last week! I had to replenish our supply yesterday so that I can dig it out again today or tomorrow for something fun to do! Coloring? Check. Inside bike rides? Check. Ideas? Please!! I want to have a FUN summer and savor every moment I can!!

And a little bit of randomness for all of you non-Arizonians. Did you know that even when we have our tap water on as cold as it will go, it still isn’t cold? True. It is warm because the ground out here gets SO darn hot and the pipes are hot and the water just doesn’t get cool in the summer. Crazy, hunh? Don’t be jealous…I MISS freezing cold tap water!

Now go have a happy day and enjoy your littles! I am off to get a few more things done before mine wake up!