Goodbye 2012!

Some of my favorite Moments from 2012! 

 #1 Baby Number Three is Growing! :) Im almost 17 weeks along, baby has had a steady heartbeat between 141-143 BPM 

 #2 October Road Trip, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon Watching my kids at Disneyland was something I will never forget. Although they may not remember it as well..I always will.

 #3 Driving to Alaska for the 2nd time, this time with my Great Grama and Mom. Silas still talks about the bears and the moose! I absolutely love that drive. May be boring to some, but it is almost a spiritual thing for me, haha..seriously though, untouched land..for as far as your eye can see seeing more bears that people..I just love that drive..especially thru the Canadian Rockies and down the Cassiar Highway.

#4 Watching Sean catch Sockeye Salmon on the Russian River in Alaska..seriously, fishing is a favorite, Alaska is a favorite, my husband is a favorite..I was in heaven! :D Plus he is in all camo in this pic..*sigh ;-)

#5 This should be higher on the list, but Sean being able to fly to Alaska to visit us twice, this was a huge deal since it is so hard to get summer time vacation. Im so thankful for this, like beyond thankful. I cant wait to return.

#6 Turning our Garage into a family room! Ahh how nice this has been! This year we are remodeling our kitchen..one of these days Ill get some updated pics of the finished project! :)

 #7 This year was the first year Siara has been very vocal about her interest in bow hunting with me. This excites me..a lot. She got a play bow for Christmas from her Papa and she has played with that more than anything else. Im so looking forward to the years to come and us girls going out hunting!

#8 While we were in Alaska Sean got a dog, Thor the Bernese Mountain Dog. Although his shedding hair can be a huge pain in my butt..he is a great addition to the family :)

#9 Along with many of the moments I was able to capture in 2012, this was one of my favorites, my cousins finalizing their adoption, 2012 was also special because Luke came home in May! This little guy is so special..Im so grateful to be trusted with capturing their most precious moments in their first year with him home!

#10 Ill never forget getting this close to a grizzly bear in Canada..granted I was looking down a little bank at him from right next to the van, it was very exciting! :D

It looks like I enjoyed my trip to Alaska this year huh? ;-) I really have so many wonderful moments from this year, these are just a select few that I especially enjoyed. :)

Happy New Year, wishing 2013 be full of blessings for you and your families!

(Thanks Kayleen for the idea!)

Thank You Elves in Brown

I started to write this post last week, before Christmas..so here is what I had before I had to log off to tend to the kiddos.. :)

My husband hasn't come home, all week. He has stayed in Auburn with my parents, who live 15 minutes from his building. Getting off at close to 10 is pointless to drive an hour home just to go to sleep. But the kids and I have missed him. We did go see him on Wednesday and stayed the night there as well, but came home for a couple planned play dates that we didn't want to reschedule. My only hope, is that the people who wait until Wednesday to order their gifts, realize what their UPS guy has to go to to get their package to their door. And I mean the whole company of course, and that IS their job, but still, I miss my hubby this time of year. The month of December I turn into Single Mom by week. Thankfully my kids understand, they do miss Daddy incredibly, but know he is helping Santa deliver boxes to little kids. I also tell them about our military, how there are Men and Women who are in far away countries and their little kids dont get to see them at Christmas, so we have to be very thankful that even though we miss him, he is close by and we can enjoy him all weekend!


Now here it is Thursday the 27th, and Christmas is over, boo, I love this time of year, and this one was especially fun with the kids. Silas was very into the whole gift thing, and I got an absolute kick out of watching him open his presents. Sean had to work until 10pm on Christmas Eve (a lady told him, go home to your family! as he delivered her a box, and I asked why he didnt tell her, dont wait until the last minute to order something and I would be at home! haha)
So the kids and I did all the Christmas Eve things without Daddy :( We made Sugar cookies for Santa, read all our Christmas stories, and I tucked them in for bed. It was a bit of a challenge at first because of the excitement of everything, but they finally went to sleep and I got to enjoy a bit of quiet time watching Christmas movies. We went to Sean's parents for Christmas day, and came home late to a house full of STUFF everywhere. I had to ignore it and go to bed, I could conquer that the next day. Which, Sean was able to get Wednesday off, so that was such a nice treat. He deserved it. The day was unpaid, but he worked enough overtime last week to cover it. I had to go to the Dr yesterday because I was pretty sure I had a UTI, and I did, but I also wanted to talk to him about a scary episode I had at church on Sunday. I was sweating bullets and my vision was going in and out, and jelly legs..was very scary, but the baby is ok, still at 143bpm so we are still betting its a boy, but those are just wives tales..will know for sure on the 28th of January! :)

 

Hunting

Well, Im back from Hunting, no animal in tow but thats ok. That is the beauty of bow hunting, and being pregnant. :) I couldnt hike as much this year, Dr said it was fine I went, but was very adamant that I couldnt get too cold. It looked like this when I first arrived up in the mountains where we hunt, down at camp we never got any snow.

It was so heartwarming for me to hear Siara express an interest in hunting. I have been hunting since I was her age, with my long bow, trying to shoot chipmunks as my Dad and Grampa went and hunted the big game. And yes, I did shoot a chipmunk with my bow, and yes, I ate it. We dont hunt to kill, we hunt to eat, pure, healthy, meat. Really the only form of organic, besides owning/feeding your own cow, chickens and pigs..but Im not a big pork fan what-so-ever. Anyway, I came back early one day and took Siara out down on a low road near camp, it was the cutest thing.

Here she is in her camo, she did change her boots before we went, but she got on her best camo..haha. We  havent bought her actual hunting clothes yet, because to be honest its expensive and she wont sit out there with me for more than 20 minutes if Im lucky, so we will wait :) But she does really want a bow, so we will get her that. We didnt see any animals, but we did find a lot of elk track and boy was she happy about that!!

Anyway, moving onto later in the trip..the snow started to fall up top for us, GOOD. That gets the animals moving down, especially the elk who stay way up in the wilderness until the snow gets too much and then they head over to the feeding station. Its right off 410 in Naches and an awesome sight when the snow is heavy and they are thousands of head of elk in the fields waiting for their alfalfa.

I love snow and I love the mountains, so lets say I was one happy girl. :) Plus I was hunting, so thats triple happy! :D I was very careful to go back to the car if I got cold, or made sure I only did one long hike each day, and other times stayed near the car. Every hike we went on we spotted animals. One hike we went down an old Jeepin' road a couple miles and decided to turn back as we faced a big hill and the wind was really picking up, as I took a few breaks on the way back I was checking this hillside, and sure enough I spotted 5 cow elk headed up. So I told my Grampa, we need to get up on that road up there, they werent spooked and I was for sure we could catch up with them. We hustled (as fast as I could haha) back to the car and headed for the high road, came around the corner and sure enough, there they were..

This is the best picture I could get from my cell phone, but there she stood in the middle of the road eating moss off a fallen tree. We sat parked and watched her, she really didnt care we were there. I even ate some beef jerky like I was watching a movie..haha. My Grampa had a plan to get out of the car and slowly walk up until he was in safe shooting distance. Down from 150 yards to hopeful of 50 yards and the furthest. If we were Rifle hunting she would have been taken down easily, actually not cause Rifle can only shoot branched antler bull elk, but thats another story. ;-) If I wanted to shoot her I would have needed to be within 40 yards..bow hunting is a challenge. 

So after a few minutes these two guys pull up in a truck behind us, get out to see whats going on, pee, talk whatever and Im in the car with wide eyes, BE QUIET! QUIT MOVING! haha, so needless to say my Grampa didnt have a choice and had to start sneaking in on her, he got very close, about 65 yards away when one of the guys from the truck behind us grabbed his bow and started after my Grampa. Im thinking he figured there was more than one and wanted to get a shot himself, but he wasnt very quiet, and once the cow looked up and spotted him, she left. I was SO upset. Who does that?! Ugh. Oh well. 

And to top it off, as we were leaving the area we pulled over for another car to pass us, and there was my  buck, 20 yards from the car. He didnt care we were there, but once the other car drove by, he did and left. Ugggh again! 2nd time that day people ruined our chances of an animal. If we could have kept driving and I walked back and waited for him to cross the road, I'd be feeding my family venison for the rest of the year, but hey..there is always next year! :) My Mom has already agreed to watch my kids, take Siara to school while I go over. How lucky am I?! Very!!! Thats just a couple stories, I have more, but dont have time to type them all up. I had a great time though and was thinking I should name my baby boy  (if its a boy) Hunter..haha, I mean do we HAVE to choose an S name? My family is Tim, Salina, Stacy and Steven..so I'd say its ok??? ;-) 

Now its on to Christmas shopping..thankful for Amazon and my Prime membership! :D

Nice little run from a Buck..killed the tree!

Quick Post

Well, Im alive. Chugging along each day, haha. Totally taking advantage of nap time and napping myself, moving a little slower than usual, but I cant seem to shake this morning/all day sickness. It is getting a tad better, Im starting to feel a little more energetic .but if I dont eat every couple hours I get so nauseated..I swear the little baby is eating me from the inside out ;-) One thing, Im SUPER emotional this pregnancy  like cry and a song on the radio or commercial..whhatt? Sean merely mentioned something about him dying and he wished I had a big house for the kids, and I got so upset and started crying..how dare he think I'd need a big nice house without him!! And I really will look at both my kids and want to cry..remembering being pregnant with them and how I would smell/smooch/snuggle their little cheeks as they ate during the night...ahh, time goes by too quickly. I really dont want them to grow anymore. Sean tells me that more exciting things are coming with them getting older, but I dont know..how can you beat snuggles, kisses in the morning and naps on your lap..one day Siara might look at me and roll her eyes and slam her bedroom door.. :*( See..Im getting emotional again..haha

I am leaving tomorrow to go over to Naches to check out the hunting situation. It was so nice last year not having to buy meat at the grocery store, well besides chicken. Hoping I can get an elk, or even a deer this year to help out with that. My Grampa has been over there and its not looking too hot at the moment, but we've had a nice bright full moon the last few days, and when that happens the animals stay up all night eating and sleep all day. So, here is to hoping we will get a little action, although I will be taking it very easy, not too much hiking, dont want to trip and fall. :)

Sean and I are trying to get approved for a home loan so we can buy a bigger house, its the time to buy, unfortunately not the time to sell, but we will see what happens. The waiting game kind of sucks though, haha. Eatonville has some cheap houses out here, so I really hope something happens..if not, hey, it will when the time is right. :)

#3

I will be talking about pregnancy stuff this post, if you dont want to read turn away now! :) (That means you little brother!)

Ah, Im finally at a point where I feel comfortable spreading the news :) I know 10 weeks is still in my first tri, but I am too excited to keep it in any longer. Yesterday I went to my OB and got to see the little heartbeat again, I first saw it in mid October after I found out I had a couple bacterial infections they checked on the baby then to see how it was doing. My OB about gave me a heart attack though because he looked at the screen and said Im Sorry with a deep breath and my heart sank, but he then said This monitor does not want to move the way it needs to so you can see, I about punched his leg! haha. I love my OB so I had to give him a hard time for scaring me! Its such a beautiful little sight that tiny little flutter on the screen! :D This time around, I couldn't tell I was pregnant, plus I had some spotting/light bleeding when I should have started before I left on my road trip, so I thought I was getting away with a light period. Which, has happened to me before. I went thru our trip and didnt have any more bleeding, just one other time but it wasn't much, but towards the end of it, I told Sean..ok, I might be pregnant. I made a Dr appointment for when I got home because I was 99% positive I had a bladder infection, which I did. They did blood work and confirmed what I had started to suspect. I went back a couple weeks later for an ultrasound and more blood work  saw my little peanut for the first time and was so excited, scared, oh my gosh..Disneyland, did I hurt the baby..Thankfully while in Vegas I didn't feel like drinking much, it was too hot and all I wanted was water!! But I had all these thoughts of Oh Crap moments! Apparently, I had gotten pregnant right before I left, so my little one was just forming while I was at Disneyland and my Dr said, don't worry, everything should be just fine! :) According to the 'text book' of first day of last period counting methor, I should be further along, but apparently I ovulated later. Either way, the measurements of the baby put us at a June 15th due date and Sean is so excited. He has wanted a summer baby so bad. Vacation at UPS during the summer is hard to come by, they go by seniority and Sean has a long ways to go. But FMLA overrides Seniority, so Seany will get 5 weeks of Summer vacation! He is very excited. We just keep praying for our little one, that it grows to be a healthy, happy little baby, Siara prays for a sister, hehe. Its the sweetest thing watching her pray, especially when she gives her Thanks and asks God for "a little baby sister to love" We did explain to her that God is in control and its His choice whether we have a boy or a girl and at the beginning had to give her the speech about how God gives, and God takes, just in case I had a miscarriage. Her reply, ok Mom, God is the boss. Haha, yes honey, pretty much ;-)

Im currently battling the so tired I almost cant move and the nausea stage. Mr Silas I was sick, puking sick for 5 months. Siara I was sick for a week. This one I have been nauseated every single day, but haven't been throwing up sick but maybe twice, and that was mostly when I was taking those nasty meds for my infections. Food is not something Im crazy about, minus bagels and cream cheese, I have that everyday. I cant drink home brewed coffee..just the thought makes me sick to my stomach. But, a single shot iced white mocha hits the spot...weird. Im getting after my housework is spells. I sweep and mop, then take a break. I vacuum take a break, you get the picture. :) Names? Boy, pretty sure will be Samuel Walter, and a girl..I dont know yet..lol. There are some names I like, but just cant find an S name that Im in love with. Do we have to do another S name? I dont know..people tell me the baby will feel left out..Well, Seans sibligs are two S and an M, so maybe I should pick an M name. My Dad is the only T in a family of S names..so hey, we will just have to see. :)

Shayna took some cute pictures of us, www.facebook.com/rusticimagesphotography

Have you heard?

Of  Melaleuca??

Let me start off my telling you how I was introduced. When we were planning our road trip, my cousin told me, I have to tell you about something when you come visit Idaho! So, once we made it there, I was able to sit down for a while and talk with him. I first noticed after washing my hands in the bathroom their soap smelled so good and felt so good on my hands, then I read the label and it was Melaleuca (Mel-a-lou-ca) he then began telling me about the company. Based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Melaleuca is aiming to give families the chance to buy Green, eco friendly, natural products.

For example, you can get the Laundry soap, does 96 loads and its $16. I spent $11 on my Tide that did 45 loads..uhh..hello? And the part that I love, is everything is made in the US. How often can we find stuff, especially for our homes that are made right next door in Idaho, have no harmful chemicals, and are good for our family? The cleaning products are so safe, they dont have childproof lids! And IF your child managed to swallow some, you flush with water. Now that's safe. That was a pretty big selling point for me. I do keep all my cleaners locked up(and still will even though these are safe), but I just read on my Lysol that I have to wash any surfaces that may come in contact with food?! Yikes!! No formaldehyde, ammonia, chlorine, there are no abrasives and they are ph-balanced. Their product called Sol-U-Mel does everything from removing laundry stains(like my husband gets those armpit stains on his white t-shirts..haha, best example) to getting permanent marker off the wall, cleans your kitchen cabinets or cleans your carpet, deoderize your garbage can or remove the grease(even tar!) from your husbands jeans. I like the fact that I can use one product to do so many different things.

They have everything from food, house hold cleaners, make-up that compares to bare minerals(My cousins wife was a big MAC Makeup fan and has switched, Make up isnt too high on my priority list, but glad to know there is an option!), vitamins, medicines(Their Counter Act Allergy is compared to Claritin, except instead of spending $20 you spend $10!) bath and body care(I love the Affinia shampoo..makes my hair super soft..and for curly hair, that is a necessity!), dental care, deodorants(no harmful chemicals that they are linking to Breast Cancer in women!), perfumes so much!

So in a nutshell, I partnered with my cousin in deciding to try a different shopping approach. Im taking the money I spend at Target/Walmart/Fred Meyer, and spending it here. On better products! There is no shows to host or anything, it is shipped directly to you and you enjoy safe, natural products for your home that are made right next door in Idaho Falls, Idaho(There is also a plant in Salt Lake City, Utah and Kentucky)
If you arent satisfied (highly doubt it, haha) you have 90 days, and you can stop your orders at anytime. I like that, since I dont like to 'HAVE' to do anything for a certain amount of time, I like to feel in control. ;) These are products that are sold all over the world, so they offer their shopping in a points system. Each month you order 35 points worth of items, about $50 (I spend more than that at Target/Walmart on who knows where its coming from or whats in it) There is an annual $29 membership fee (like Costco) but for the month of October, its just $1! Let me know if you are interested in any more information, I'd be happy to share! :)

I have been looking for something like this for a while, a more healthy alternative to all the chemicals that we are exposed to, and Im so glad my cousin showed me so I thought I would spread the word, especially to my friends with little ones at home! :)

Re-Cap

Well, I have been one busy bee since I last blogged!
And, I have turned on the TV for my children and it will probably remain on, almost all day. I have a lot of little things to do today and Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Super Why, Bubble Guppies, Octonauts..they are going to assist me in getting my little things done today. :) That, and I told the kids we were going to have a lazy PJ day since we have been so busy the last few weeks. So, think what you want..but hey..atleast I didnt turn on SpongeBob!

Let's see, Ill start back with the wedding. Shayna and I were able to take pictures at a wedding for an old friend from Elementary/Jr/High school friend, and it was sooooo much fun!! Lucky for us another couple we knew from school was there, and it was just such a fun night!  Was a nice break for me before the big road trip to have some Mommy Free time! :D I believe the married couple got 1200+ pictures, and I hope they loved every single one as much as we loved taking them! I could use another night like that! (Jesica, we are going to plan our night out..we're gonna show ya how to git r done Eatonville style! hehe)
On Sunday, Shayna and I spent 8+ hours editing and going thru all the pictures, I didnt want to make them wait until I returned from my road trip for their pictures, so we dedicated ALL day Sunday to it. Man, staring at a computer for that long could be a hard job..but when you are looking over pictures and thinking about a fun day..it wasnt much work at all! The bride looked stunning, the bridal party was gorgous in their purple and the groomsmen looked sharp in their tuxes! It was perfect! :) You can see pictures on our facebook page! www.facebook.com/rusticimagesphotography

Then Monday my Dad, my kids and I headed out! We didnt leave until around Noon so we only made it to Pendleton, Oregon that day. The following day we went into Boise to see my Grandparents, they took us to dinner and I had Lamb meatballs..omg..so yummy. From there we went to spend the night at my cousins house, and the next day we were aiming for Salt Lake City, Utah. Well, we got up at 6am, loaded the kids and hit the road. Arrived in Salt Lake City, which is the craziest freeway system I've ever seen, plus they were doing construction, after seeing the Mormon Temple from the freeway, we said screw it, lets drive on. I will go back, I want to explore that city when my Husband, who isnt scared of crowds when driving is there to drive me around ;-) We then drove a bit passed Salt Lake and my dad said, lets just drive straight thru to Vegas. Didnt sound like too bad of an idea..until we didnt get there until 9:30 that night!! 630-930 on the road..PUKE. haha. Thankful my kids are such experts at traveling, it went very well.
We drove 769 miles that day.

So, as I was saying Wednesday night we pulled into Vegas late, I passed out and woke up Thursday morning to the heat of Vegas! We explored Vegas for the next few days, Sean flew in very early Saturday morning, and we had lunch with my friend that lives there. It went by very quickly, as vacation always does. Sunday we left early to head for Lancaster, CA to visit Sean's Aunt and Cousin. That was fun, we had dinner, the kids played and we enjoyed the CA heat! After dinner we left for Anaheim where my grandparents and parents were with the RV. We all hit the hay early, since the following day, it was Disneyland!!
In a nutshell, the kids had the time of their lives, we had a wonderful time and I cant wait to go back. I really love Disneyland. Not many places an adult can go and feel like a child ;-) Plus we got to see the new Cars Land..which felt like you were walking right in the movie, it was awesome!!
On Thursday morning we left Anaheim for San Fransisco! I wont forget that leg of the trip..it was amazing. :) I want to go back and visit that city as well. The houses, everything is just awesome!
Friday we spent the morning in San Fran, and then around 2pm left for home. We made it to Central Point Oregon and stayed there for the night. Got home Saturday evening..and I have been exhausted since. haha!

My computer is being annoying and wont let me add pictures to this, so Im going to end it here, I added pictures to my facebook page, so you can always see them there :)

The Graduate and New Beginnings!

Stacy May Photography --> Rustic Images Photography

Partnered up with my dear friend Shayna in this endeavor. :) We are doing a wedding next weekend, and got to thinking what fun it could be if we started working together all the time! It will be nice when we have a big family to have someone standing behind me(or vice versa) snapping pictures from a different angle, or making those goofy noises to get the kids to look at us. :) It will be great for the both of us and our friends/family that would like pictures taken! I will probably stick to the editing, although would love to teach her if she was curious :) I ordered some new business cards, as you can see from above! Taking pictures is something Shayna and I have done since we first became friends many (about 15) years ago. Old film cameras to 2 mega pixel cell phones, to now our nice cameras and our nice cell phones! That's just us! She was a perfect fit for a partner and Im excited! We spent Monday night shopping for new outfits for the wedding too..Im so excited for that..and to be honest, a tad nervous. :) Speaking of weddings, I saw this video on pinterest...Omg. How beautiful. 

Have a kleenex handy.. :)

Baby Thor, not so baby, 5 month 58lb baby Thor, graduated from Beginner education last night! Woo Hoo!  I signed him up for Intermediate classes, firstly because it was $30 off, haha, but mostly because I've seen such a big improvement, I'd like to continue that. This dog is really costing us a small fortune, but he is worth it :) I spent $107 on him at Mud Bay between his food and digestive supplements to try to calm down his sometimes nervous stomach..haha. Lordy. 

Well, I better get motivated, I mailed a check a week ago and the recipient still hasnt recieved it and I must find out why! :) Tomorrow is Friday..So thankful for that!

Guns and Jeeps

Sean didnt come home last night. :(
He didnt get off work until 10:15pm. So, why make him drive an hour home just to go to sleep, so he went to my parents and spent the night there. I hate when he isnt home, but it isnt as bad now that I have my protector Thor and Sean bought a hand gun. Someone comes in my house..they're gonna wish they didnt! That's for sure! Im not afraid to protect my family if I needed too..but I also dont find the situation too likely out here where we live. I get more nervous in Federal Way at my parents house..man has that area went waaayy down hill from when I lived there during school. I cant wait until my parents move out this way.

In fact, this is the gun Sean and I picked out for myself to purchase once I get my concealed weapons permit. Cause let me tell you, if Im in a situation where I need to protect my children, I would not be afraid for one minute to bust this little sucker out..it's kind of cute huh? Its a Ruger LCR .38 Special..they also come in pink ;-) Plus it would be nice to pack while Im bow hunting..cause I wont survive trying to stab a bear or cougar to death with an arrow if I ran into one..lol

Anyway, on Sunday Sean and I bought a brand new Jeep Liberty. We traded in the Suburban, which had 100k miles on it and we still owed 3 years on our loan. Our new Jeep payments are less than the suburban, Larson is having a great deal on these Jeep liberties because they arent making them anymore. So they are offering huge rebates. I love the Jeep..if anyone is looking into a new 4x4 ..go see Kevin Wagner at Larson in Puyallup :) Anyway, this Jeep has a full warranty for the life of the loan, which is 5 years, so not much more than we were going to be paying on the Burban anyway(plus, hello..pay less for a brand new car each month or keep paying for a car that is going to start needing expensive repairs..). And it only had like 80 miles on it. It is a big downsize, but, in reality, I never used most of the Suburban to its full potential. It was a huge Rig to be driving around as a ''daily' driver. This Jeep will save us money in many ways..plus Im partial to Jeeps. My Wrangler was my favorite vehicle I've ever owned..now I feel back at home. :) I was looking into Vans with the TV and things, but Sean made a good point..I cant drive a van over East of the mountains in the snow to go hunting up a back road...so, there went that idea :)

Well, I better go enjoy my 2nd up of coffee before it gets too cold :) If Sean has a super late night again, Im headed to my parents..have a great weekend!

Quick Takes

Im going to try out this quick takes for today..since it is Friday, and that's when 'Quick Takes' are set to happen per this site here :)

1

I am already on my second cup of coffee for today. Why? Well, my poor Husband did not get home until 10:30 last night. He didnt even get off work until 20 til 10. Grrr UPS, get your stuff together!!!! By the way, as long as I am keeping this blog, just be forewarned I may complain about his job a lot, but please know that I am very grateful for it. He makes extremely good money, overtime is even better and our benefits are top notch. Im just complaining because I myself am tired, my two children and myself missed seeing their Daddy last night and I had to put them to bed without their story and 'blowing out the light' routine Daddy usually does. I did my best, made them popcorn AND let them have cookies and milk (spoiled!) but of course, Im boring ole Mom who they have been with ALL day. :D
In a nutshell, I look forward to Sean coming home from the moment he kisses me goodbye in the morning, so yesterday was a long day. :)

2

In a few hours an old friend from Junior High and High School is coming over and allowing me to photograph her sweet little baby boy!! Im so excited! Last weekend I was able to take pictures of Blake's little brother Luke! What a cute little man! Im loving seeing old friends and their little babe's!

3 

Hatfields and McCoys..was a TV series, I bought Sean the DVD, and I loved it!! I may even have blogged a bit about it before, but I finished it. Love it. Watch it. Do it. I am team Hatfield by the way ;-)

4

We had a couple visitors in our yard, how cool :) The kids enjoyed watching them eat all our dandelions, since our grass is dead. Wish they would have kept eating them..haha.

5

So, obviously this isnt the best picture, since not everyone is looking, haha, but these are my Dad's parents. They live in Idaho, and my Grampa is a Representative. You can see Here a little bit of info about him. We had a short and sweet visit the other weekend. I made him a scrap book of all his political stuff and my Grama brought more stuff for me to add. We are going there in October on our way to Las Vegas to meet up with the family.

6

Every morning the kids choose their breakfast, and this week they have been stuck with Eggo waffles because I REALLY need to go get groceries, I dont even have bread! And everyday this week I have heard, after about 15 minutes of giving them their waffles, 'Silas, are you gonna eat your waffle!?' with a 'No, you can eat it!' in reply. He never eats the whole thing and sister likes to finish..I can almost time it.

7

We are headed into town to my parents today to visit my Dad. My Mom has made it to Tennessee and is at Dolly Wood today.

I have to pack 2 kids, 2 adults and 2 dogs. Should be fun. :) We are helping my Dad re-organize and tear up some carpet. Tomorrow we have a birthday party and Im going to the night service at my Aunt and Uncle's church and Sunday on the way home I am going to get groceries...gonna be a FAST weekend! Hope its a good one :)

Lazy!

Is what I was today, and I enjoyed every minute! :) I even took a nap! Ha! I have stayed in my sweats all day, only did 1 load of laundry, unloaded my dishwasher and loaded it, baked peanut butter cookies from scratch and just threw a spaghetti casserole in the oven.
I see the little specks of dust that are starting to show on my black TV stand..but ya know what..it can wait until tomorrow! This 3 day weekend was great, it went by too fast, and Im just simply still tired from it.
So, when Sean gets home, he probably wont think anything since the kids have kept their 'toy mess' in their toy room today(not sure how I got lucky with that..because Mama just simply shuts that door and doesnt look at the mess! Kids are required to help me pick it up though when it comes to that time, or if they dont, toys go bye bye and get donated to kids that would appreciate them more).
He probably wont realize that today, I actually didnt do much at all. It was so nice, since now it is almost 5, and he will be home within 3 hours, at the most, I hope.
I have tomorrow and Thursday to get all my ''chores'' done..which wont take me that long, so it looks like I have an easy week ahead of me :D Shhh dont tell my Husband!
Friday me and the kids will head to town and go Birthday present shopping and get our weekly batch of veggies. I have been roasting whole pans of veggies, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, shallots, garlic..soooooooo yummy. My favorite is the garlic, I really love oven roasted garlic.

And since Im going with the 'Lazy' theme, I will cut this blog post short. But, I leave you with this,
Stay At Home Mama's...
Do yourself a favor, dont take a shower while both your kids are awake. Because, your oldest just may want to pretend she is a Dr, and that her little brother needs marker surgery.
That is all.

Kitchen Remodel

When we bought our house in 2006 I dont know if we realized all the little things that we would have to fix along the way. The people before us didnt take very good care of this house, and we are getting to pay for that. Literally. haha. Well, it is also part of making it into the home we want/need for our family. The housing market is so bad right now and we are so upside down in our house, we either short sale or ride it out. So, we are riding it out(with our stupid high interest and high house payment! grr haha). So far, we have fixed the carpet, added the spare room, done some painting, but the most important thing I need to get to, is the kitchen. I spend so much time here, I might as well put money into making it work the way a kitchen should!
First, my dishwasher is in the most horrible place. I have to unload everything onto the counter, close my dishwasher and then put everything away. Now, I dont want this post to come off as me being ungrateful for what I have, because I am thankful I have a house of my own, a kitchen of my own, food, a dishwasher among other things.
Anyway, so we made a game plan. We are going to re-arrange our kitchen by moving our dishwasher where our fridge is, which is out of the way, but next to the sink, move our fridge next to our stove, and put new cabinets in. You can get cabinets at Lowes that are unfinished, all you have to do is stain them for actually pretty cheap. We did that in our Pantry. So, we are going to take that approach, stain them in a rich "Kona" color, and call it good. The picture below is not my kitchen, but is the closest to the color we are picking. And I will not be getting any new applainces, maybe when my kids are alot older..but right now the ones I have are just fine! :)

My brother tried to help me paint my current cabinets to a dark brown and ended up painting all over my wall. Grr..I was thankful for the help, but frustrated at the same time. haha. But, Im just leaving it for the time being. No point in changing/painting the whole kitchen since we are going to be ripping them all out anyway! Right?! Right. I cant wait, its going to be work, the kids will be sent to Papa and Grama's house and Sean and I will have to hammer it out. Im already dreaming of when its done!! :D

Im so glad its Friday AND its a three day weekend. My kids have been pretty fussy this week and Im stuck at home with decaf coffee!!
We will just leave it at that ;-) Enjoy the holiday weekend!

New Website and my big boy Thor

It's official, I have my own domain name! AH!
www.stacymayphotography.com

I've been slowly buying things that I need to make my 'business' (I still dont think of it that way, I enjoy taking pictures too much! But, Sean says 'Time is Money' so he says I have to be compensated something for my time, no matter how much I enjoy it)
I've bought a new camera(similar to my old one, just the newest model(2012) out and more pixels) a new mount flash, made a website, continuing with my facebook page, business cards, and lastly, Sean bought me a nice new computer! :) A beautiful HD 17' screen that came loaded with Adobe Photoshop on it! Now, I just need Photoshop Lightroom, because that is my favorite. I dont do a lot of heavy editing on photographs(Not that I dont know how, I just really think the whole purpose of photographs is capturing that moment in time to remember, and when you look back in 10 years and see a completely airbrushed photo with neon bright eye's..well, that wasnt you. If someone wants to have a fun session and do that, Im all for it though!) and Lightroom is very simple and allows me to create an easier system for editing pictures.
I have a wedding at the end of September that Im super excited about. I am enlisting my best friend to come help me take pictures, because simply, you cannot have too many pictures at a wedding. She is going to help capture all those moments from the ceremony and reception that might have slipped away from me if it was just myself. I think, actually, I know we will make a great team, and hopefully for future sessions as well! :) We will be like the Dynamic Duo! :D

Now, onto my baby Thor.
46.7lbs of 5 month old big baby Bernese Mountain Dog.

When we first got Thor, he was very, very shy. Fearful of strangers, and simply protective of us and our home. Not that he would charge at anyone with teeth snarling growls, he would just bark at you from the otherside of the room like, 'Hey..watch it..''After a few moments and treats, he would be ok. Usually faster with females than males. Anyway, the first time I took him to the vet for his booster shots and rabies shot, he gave the vet tech a little growl/nip (he didnt bite her, or try to but the movement sort of looked like it, the Vet tech said he made no contact with her, but the actions need to be corrected..obviously!) So we signed Thor up for the Beginner class at Petsmart. Simply because I love the girl who teaches the class. He has made such a huge improvement, which is so great. Anyway, I was nervous that would happen again so I got him a muzzle to wear at the vet this trip. I explained to them that he gets nervous, and all that and they took him back. Well, he did great! Yay! The only thing he did was pee..haha. Told you he was a baby. They even took the muzzle off of him and brought it back out to me. This made me feel great.
So now, all day yesterday he slept. And slept. He keeps trying to lick his incision so we do have to keep the cone on him. But he woke up today HUNGRY. We gave him a half a cup more than we usually do at breakfast, and he was thankful :)

By the way, just a slight side note, Amazon Prime is deadly. I found Giant Furminators for $27. They are usually atleast $70 at the store. I had to order one, and another for Thor's brother, who will need it just as badly. haha. So, thats great savings, but makes it hard to pass up! So, I better not look, or I might find another great deal I cant let get by! :)

Two Early Birds

My dog, thankful he is so cute, wakes me up at 5:30-5:45 every day to go outside. Yes, I am thankful he wakes me up instead of just using our carpet as a toilet, but still..its early! :) Sometimes Sean wakes up with him if he feels like he got enough sleep, but most of the time, Thor will prop his paws up on my side of the bed and give me a little lick..if I wait, I get attacked, as if he is saying, Get out of bed woman!!! So, he goes out, Sean feeds him when he gets ready to leave for work, and I lay in bed, kicking myself for staying up so late, when I know that this will happen every day. But its hard when Sean gets home from work so late, I need that time to wind down and watch some TV, read, read stuff on the internet, so I end up staying up late. :(
And then my dear son, he has been on a 'up early' schedule as well. I wish I had a treadmill, elliptical or bicycle so I could wake up with Thor, do some exercise and then by the time I was done, Silas would be waking up. Would be the perfect spot for that.

This weekend was spent at home mostly. Saturday we had my Aunt, Grandparents from Idaho and my Dad over for a super yummy dinner. Sean BBQ'd some wonderful steaks, I roasted a variety of veggies and made baked potatoes. That was a great visit, too short, but always seems to be when family is visiting. We will see them at the first part of October when my Dad and I drive to Vegas, we will make a pit stop in Boise :)
Sunday was Church, where they brought forth me and 3 other people to take part in our new leadership positions. Im a little nervous, since not many people were at Church, but Pastor says it happens every year, and he is ok with it(sort of). This is the only time of year us Washington-ians can get out and go camping, spend time with our families(while others are out of school as well) and travel, and he understands the importance of that. He says usually every September once everyone is back into their 'School' routine, the attendance picks back up. If not, I wont have any babies in my Shine class :( I guess people need to start having more babies!
We ended the night watching the second part of the Hatfield and McCoys..pretty good!

Now, today I wait for the FedEx guy to come with my new computer Sean bought me, and then we head into Auburn. I have a very early appointment for Thor to get neutered on Tuesday and would rather stay at my parents then get up and get my kids moving before 7. :) Especially since my little girl loves her sleep!

14.5 Hours

Since Sean left for work this morning. He is just now, at 8:50pm on his way home. Give him 1 hour to commute and he will be home, eat his dinner and go straight to bed. Tomorrow we start all over. There are sooooo many days I wish Sean had a set schedule. I could count on him being home at the same time everyday, or at least within an hour or so. I don't know if people really understand how hard UPS drivers work. They have to put up with a lot from their management as well, Time is money, and you better be going as fast as you can. While being safe of course...sure. Many times I think they wouldn't mind sacrificing the safety to get the box there on time. But enough complaining.

The kids and I kept somewhat busy today. We actually had sort of a lazy day. After being so busy camping and them spending the weekend with Papa and Grama, we had to re-coup. I spent most of my morning doing laundry, but then ran out of soap. Oh darn ;-) The kids napped from 1-4 and I, myself took a little snooze in there as well. Then we made Chicken teryaki for dinner with rice and roasted carrots, zuccini and broccoli. Kids loved it, and to kill some more time we made Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Now, the kids are watching some cartoons while we wait for Sean to get home, and Im going to spend a few mindless minutes on the computer. :)
I ordered some Thank you cards from Vistaprint for the girls that serve on my ministry team at Church. I take over the infant class next month, and wanted to give them a little 'Thank you for Serving' card and tell them I appreciate their help. Im actually really nervous about this, but I have faith God will lead me where I need to go with it. :)

God is using you

for His special purpose,

to shine His light,

to share His love,

to shape His people.

Ear Infections and Puppy School

Well, we have been busy around here!

Monday: My neighbor and I took a road trip into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest outside of Packwood to find a campin' spot for our trip next weekend. I had seen a place I thought would be perfect back in November during Hunting Season..so I took her there first. And, it was perfect. The river has two amazing swimming holes, is very slow moving for the kids with very shallow water that only goes to their ankles. Which is perfect, because it is cold :) Im so excited, because next weekend is also mine and Sean's 5th wedding anniversary :) And then 2013 will mark 10 years together! Holy Moly has Time flown by!! We will be spending it camping with our friends, relaxing in the river and checkin' out from reality! :) No cell phone service up in 'dem dare hills!'

Swimmin' Hole #1

 View up the River

Swimmin' Hole #2

Tuesday: We had a playdate with my cousins and their kids. It was so fun and we plan to do them on a weekly basis..hopefully we can do that! We all live pretty close, Im the furthest but only 15 minutes away :)

Wednesday: My kids have been batteling the cough, running nose, whining and just generally not feeling good for over a week. I took them into the Dr and found out they both have ear infections in their left ears. Glad I took them in. Neither of them complained about their ears until yesterday when Siara was in tears saying her ear was hurting. I felt so bad, but I had no idea :(

That night we took Thor to his first Puppy class. Not because he isnt obedient, because he is. Infact, the most obedient and sweet and loyal dog I've ever had. He is going becauase he is SO shy..sooooooooo shy. He tucks his tail and hides. If he gets scared he lays down and wont move any further. We have to lure him into new situations with treats and lots of Good boys. He seems more scared of males than females, so we are sad to think something may have happened to him when he was just a little baby. The trainer said it could have been as simple as an accidental kick at 3 weeks old, and at his little size then, anything bigger than him terrifies him. He is getting better already though, my friend Shayna came over and after a treat or two she was able to cut his toe nails. BIG for us. :) They have his brother Stryker and I love watching the two of them play. They are going to be fun as we get to watch them grow up together.

And I do have to mention, he LOVES the mountains, on Monday we let him off the leash, he was in heaven..never left my sight, stayed near, would lay on the bank while we were in the river..he is so sweet and perfect for us :) Our little Mountain Dog.

Today: I have to do laundry, pack and get ready for our camping trip to Iron Creek with family this weekend. Tomorrow I am meeting an old friend from Elementary/Jr High/High School to discuss taking pictures at his wedding... EEEK. This makes me a bit nervous! Only because I know this is such a special event, and to be honest, sometimes I just dont have the self confidence. I know I can do it, and Im glad I have made people happy with my pictures, that makes me feel wonderful..but the during process, I always get a little nervous :) Im hoping to get some more sessions in this Summer and start of September. Anyway, after Sean gets off work tomorrow we will hit the road and head to the campground. So, I better wrap this up so I can get to everything I need to today. It's gonna be busy :)

THOR!

We got home on July 14th and I feel like Im just NOW getting back into the swing of things. Except today. It is foggy out, and Im feeling foggy myself. Its a 3 cup of coffee day and let the kids watch cartoons while they eat breakfast kind of morning. :)

We got home to our new puppy, Bernese Mt Dog, Thor.

I have never had a Large breed dog before, I have had a black lab, golden retriever, rottweiler and a pekingese in my lifetime, and when Sean told me Thor's daddy was 120# Honestly, first thing I thought was..Im glad he gets to pick up the poop! :P  Then, I started thinking about how this 'Baby Thor' as we call him likes to sleep in our bed for part of the night..how the heck will that work in 100 more pounds?! haha. Thor is also different than any dog I had before because he is really lazy. Especially for a puppy. He is shy, very, very shy with new people. If someone new comes to our house, he barks at them usually, and then runs the opposite direction. I swear he has social anxiety with everyone but us. But he also shows signs of a protector. He likes to go stand by the kids and bark at the new person like, hey..these guys are mine! When my brother came over, he barked, ran away and would sit right next to me. Im thinking Im going to have a big baby on my hands. Now after a few days he is fine with him, still not one to go cuddle him, he saves that for me and the kids. The vet gave us papers telling us how to socialize him. He is so great with my kids, stays in our yard without a leash, actually he doesnt like a leash much at all, he would much rather just walk at your side un-restrained, listens SO well, he is just great. 

This is how Thor spends most of this day, laying around...must be nice :)

Silas asks him, 'You tired Thor?' about 50x a day, haha. 

Update :)

My poor grandparents have had to do with their fair share of repairs this trip. Of course, anyone planning a drive to Alaska, especially via Alaskan Highway, should know the stretch from Haines Junction, Yukon almost all the way to Anchorage, Alaska has its potential to cause some damage. For one, you are driving over roads that deal with some of the most extreme conditions, and frost heaves do a bit of damage. I could seriously plan out a great trip up the highway for someone who is interested. I may actually do it for fun anyway and post it online to share..complete with campground reviews! :)
Anyway, we pulled into Whitehorse, Yukon from Tok, Alaska last night to two broken scissor jacks and an almost flat tire on the trailer. the metal was showing, meaning it had been wearing away for some time. Once again, we made it to safety when we needed it. Thank You Lord for your protection. :)
(Saw a nice grizzly on the way, got some great shots of it eating the grass)
So today, I'll say Saturday since I don't know when I'll get to publish this, we spent fixing the trailer, getting supplies at Walmart, laundry, and most importantly sleeping in. Tomorrow, Sunday, we take a day trip to Skagway, Alaska, Monday we go to a few museums in Whitehorse, and Tuesday hit the road. Here is our hopeful itinerary,
Tuesday: Whitehorse to Dease Lake
Wednesday: Dease Lake to Smithers
Thursday: Smithers to Williams Lake
Friday: Williams Lake to Sumas, Wa
Saturday: Sumas to Auburn, Wa!
We are traveling the Cassiar Highway home, since it is a shorter route. There isn't much to see but wildlife so you don't need time for any stops, just driving. And we are ready to get home to Sean and Thor so we are prepared. :) I do have to give my kids some credit, they are doing amazing. Movies are a great lifesaver, but also stops where they can run and explore. I'm lucky both my kids enjoy the wilderness. :) There is an old Indian saying about how we don't inherit the land from our ancestors, but more so borrow it from our children. How true. And I pray my kids will enjoy God's creations the way I have. Denali national park is an amazing place that will just blow your mind. It's on my bucket list to backpack/camp inside the park. It's very heartwarming to know there really hasn't been too much of a change since the 50's. Only one road in, that no personal vehicles can drive on, just shuttle busses. It was amazing. I will return :) there is plenty to do outside the actual park too, but access is very limited inside the actual preserve itself.

I have soooo many pictures I have taken I swear I will have to spend about 10 hours on the computer going thru them. I have some scenery shots I'd like to sell on my photography page, but I'm not sure how to go about charging.. $10 for an 8x10..too cheap? Too much? Hard to tell..maybe I'll see what other people charge and figure it out. :)

I just had the thought, since it's 11:20 pm..how weird it will be to see darkness in a few days!! Haha.

Where are the fish?!

Well, the fishing hasnt been all that great :(
The rivers are very high, and the run is below average this year. Which is such a bummer, but hey, its nobodys fault! (but the fish! hehe)
We have mainly been fishing the Russian and Kenai River Confluence.
Normally, on a good year you can go fish and get your limit of three a day and head home. Sometimes, they even up it to six fish a day. But this year, we would fish for a good 7 hours and only bring home 2 out of 4 of us fishing. Big bummer. But, that's ok. I had a great time fishin with my new fly rod, watching the Mama grizz and her two cubs play on the other side across from us. That was just amazingly beautiful. :) Oh, and I fed some salmon roe to the trout..nice big dolly vardens and got my thumb bit..haha, drew blood and everything! :)

Now, since I started writing this the other day, we have left from Soldotna and are in Denali. Another must see for everyone who loves nature. :)
We are spending three nights here and then starting our trek back home.
I'm ready to get back home, as much as I love Alaska, I'm ready to get back into my routine, get some photography sessions in, sleep in my own bed, with my hubby, and..meet our new puppy!! Our Bernese Mt Dog, Thor! My friend Shayna has his brother, Stryker. I'm so excited for the kids to see him too. Sean is in love. He called me and said Thor slept in bed with him..I told him he better quit that habit now, soon he will be 100+ lbs and trying to steal all the covers!! ;) I've included a picture Sean sent me of him on the couch, he is 12 weeks old.

Pictures

A few cell phone pictures(some were edited thru instagram..great app for sharing pictures!) from this week. Hopefully my explanations match, I'm using my blogger app :)

1. Allergies suck, and especially when it looks like its snowing outside! ;)
2. A beautiful meadow near the Kasilof River..about 10:30pm.
3. The Kasilof River..tried, but caught no sockeyes here. :/ But, did get to watch an eagle swoop in and catch one! 10:40pm
4. My sweet boy loves the woods. Just like his Mama.
5. I love a man in camo. Enough said. ;)