The Treat of the Trade

   This has been a great year of change, growth and accomplishments. Jaxon turned 5 this year and started Pre-K. Jessie is in the 3rd grade and she turned 9 this year. Jill turned 12 and is greatly enjoying the 7th grade. Him and Jessie love doing crafts at the table. Paint, color, draw, cut and paste! They are defiantly my busy bodies!    This was the year for wild and wacky hair. Jessie went purple at the beginning of Jan. They chose crazy hair as a reward for staying on the A or A/B Honor Roll. They are now back to their original colors and, even though the wacky colors were fun and exciting, I am glad they are back to their roots :)    I had spent hours in 2012 on Pintrest. And one of my Resolutions were to start putting my pins to use! I have the girls bookshelf a makeover. And even pinned my own work on Pintrest!    I became "public" about my Alopecia. Only family and very few friends knew of my new condition. And once ...

    My sister who is literally about to POP, wanted me to do some maternity pics for her. We did them on a sunny Sunday in early October. Onsies are personally my favorite baby item. Not only are they easy to slip on and off, but seeing a baby with chunky little legs and a big ole diaper booty in onsies just makes me happy!     She's so happy. She's going to make a great momma. And knowing what I know about having a son, there is honestly no better bond! I think its an unspoken bond. But defiantly one that only a mom and son have. I am happy she will experience it!     LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this picture. The name in wooden letters and how they just did their own thing on the fence, the onsie and the stripes, the angle of the sun. I just stare at this picture. A lot!     Our Uncle and Aunt live across the street from me and have a pretty cool little set up in their backyard. So we used it for the session and I just ...

    Well, they were back at it earlier this summer. I guess the heat and alone time got the best of these two! She had her second litter of puppies August 17, 2013. First born around 6am and the last one around 12:45pm! Made for a long day for us and an even longer day for momma. But she is a good dog and it was something great to be a part of again.   5 brown females, 2 brown males, and 2 spotted males. We, again, have fallen in love with all of them. Knowing that they all have to go to loving homes, its hard not to fall in love with those sweet little faces and get to be a part of seeing them develop their little personalities. This will be mommas last litter. I think after 15 puppies total in less than a year is enough for her. We are keeping one of them so at least she will get to teach one of her puppies how to be a good dog like her. Its been a chaotic 3 weeks around here, but honestly I would not trade it for the world!!

    School started August 26, 2013! I couldn't be happier. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but you mix in hot summer days that are long and you have to spend half the time entertaining them...yea...I was ready for school to start! Our little guy is officially a PRE-K student. He loves everything about his "new-big school". Plus he gets to go where his sister Jessie goes and that just makes his day to be able to walk in with her every morning. He gets out at 11am. We have our afternoon alone time which allows me to help him with homework, eat lunch with him and take naps. He loves everything about his class and his teacher!     Jessie is growing and maturing into a great young lady. She is now in 3rd grader. And really thinks its something to be proud of that her class is upstairs at school. That's where all the big kids go, you see. She will be learning multiplication this year and that has made her very nervous!   And Jill. The 7th grader. ...

    This was the inside of the cabin. Pretty roomy for a family of 5!    Me and Josh! On a vacation! We haven't seen one of those since July 2009!     The great and wonderful children on our way to our hike. I think we are the only family that hikes in flip flops!    Enjoying the scenery!     The kiddos again. They love to climb stuff and have NO fear of heights!     Enjoying his down time. Even though he gets 2 weeks off after working 2 weeks, I still put him to work when he's home. I'm glad he was able to take us on such a great vacation and even more so that we were able to create the memories we did.     Part of the lake. One of the days we were there we rented a Pontoon. And let me be the first to say....IT WAS A BLAST!    Daddy and Jaxon. Father and son time at its finest!     The girls. Who knew exactly what to do when it was time to k...