RAW Photography

It's no secret I like taking pictures. I have no shame and will blast your email box to the
max with pictures of my kids. Why? Why not? They are beautiful children, who wouldn't want their email box full of pictures of them, says the proud mother?! Recently I have discovered RAW images.

My little DIVA!

Where have they been all my life?! I get so much more editing freedom! I have been having a blast taking pics of the kids the last few days.

Florida boy just like his father!

Now I'm even more excited to get some new lenses.

Aloha Friday: What is YOUR must see TV?

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day they take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!


Now, with that said, on to my question. With "National Stay Home Week" AKA, all the new shows we love starting up, my question is this.

What is YOUR must see TV?

My must see show is CSI: Vegas. I am sad that it is not starting this week. I am waiting IMPATIENTLY for it to start. My other MUST SEE show is Law & Order: SVU. My poor DVR gets a massive work out on Thursday nights, that's for sure!

Head over to An Island Life for more Aloha Friday fun!

Why? WHY? WHY?

Does my 3 month old sleep better than my 5.5 year old? Justyn got up every hour last night. We are pretty positive he never even went to sleep. Josslyn woke up 1 time for some boob and was asleep 5 minutes later. I had to keep Justyn home from school today because I didn't want him being a brat or falling asleep in class. Since he was 1.5 Justyn has had a TV in his room. He likes the noise and is normally asleep within minutes so it was never about wanting to lay in bed and watch television. Starting today, NO TELEVISION AT NIGHT! I'm so sick and tired of it. Jacob doesn't have a TV, and Josslyn won't either. You read it here folks, I'm putting my foot down. Because if I don't, I may put it up his butt if we have another night like the last!

You Were Arrested For What?

I had to steal this from Sammi, well because it's down right HIGH-larious! As you know, every state has laws we have to follow. Don't speed, don't kill your neighbor, you know the common sense stuff. But what about the ever so important stuff we don't hear about. Here are some of the dumbest laws in Florida.

The state constitution allows for freedom of speech, a trial by jury, and pregnant pigs to not be confined in cages. (I don't have to worry, we are done having kids)

One may not commit any “unnatural acts” with another person. (Glad I just got to FL!)

Unmarried couples may not commit “lewd acts” and live together in the same residence. (Again, glad I just got to FL, ROFL!)

It is illegal to sell your children. (Even on eBay?)

Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer,
as can the salon owner. (LOL, What?)

If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle. (Where would they place the parking ticket?)

Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. (Once again, I'm glad we just got to FL! LOL j/k, he only wears those at home.)

Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal. (Hey! I have 3 kids...shaving every day isn't an option!)

When having sex, only the missionary position is legal. (Yeeaaa...I don't think so.)

You may not fart in a public place after 6 P. (OOps!)

It is considered an offense to shower naked. (???)

You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers. (I'm callin' the feds on Rich!)

Oral sex is illegal. (I knew there was a reason I didn't do it!)

You may not kiss your wife’s breasts. (LMFAO!)

Penalty for horse theft is death by hanging. (As it should be! If only Scott Peterson had stolen a horse instead of just killing his pregnant wife!)

To find stupid laws in your state just check out http://www.dumblaws.com/ and make sure you post them so I can read all about it!!!

Scrap-Tastic!

I have started a new habit. Since I quit biting my nails and don't smoke, I had to find something to make my new bad habit. Aside from spending money of course. I've scrapped 2 pages so far. Not to shabby if I do say so myself!!

Kit: Princess & the Polka Dots
JENLIN DESIGNS

Kit: Twinkle Toes
www.peppermintcreative.com

Kit: Express Yourself
Ronna Penner

Where has this been all my life? I'm so not a regular, cut and paste, sort of scrapper. So this is a lot less frustrating for me.

Darth Vader For President!

I am desperately in search of this Junk Food tee from Gap Kids.

I bought it for Justyn and bought the wrong size. WTH is wrong with me?! Anyway, HELP! Somebody! Anybody! Our closest Gap doesn't have it. Gap.com is useless, and eBay isn't helping either. HELP! If not for me, for my Star Wars loving, Darth Vader idoling 5.5 year old, Justyn. All he wants to do is wear this adorable shirt and his mama had to go a screw it up! He doesn't ask for much...ok I lie, he asks for everything, but still. I need this in a size XS (4-5) and I will send the money ASAP!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

"I love chocolate!"

Not Me Monday on Tuesday!

Borrowed from Tara who borrowed it from Mckmama.

So I must tell you all that I did NOT make Dinosaur eggs today just so I could eat the batter! I would absolutely never ever do that! Nope, not me. All that sugar, and chocolate chips. I don't want that crap going my already flab-tastic love handles.

While we are on the subject of things I never do. I did not, I repeat, did NOT, give Jacob Lays potato chips for breakfast this morning because I didn't feel like making him something to eat, (Although in my defense I did give him a banana and milk first, LOL).

I also did not spend an obscene amount of money on Josslyn's Halloween costume, that I might add is used. Pfffft! Who does that? Not me!

And finally, I did not wait until 9:30 last night to tell Justyn it was time to do homework. What kind of mother would I be if I had?! Homework should always be done right after dinner or right after school but NEVER after it's time for bed!

PS- I did NOT use the words "bomb diggity" in the comment I left for Tara. That is just crossing the line!

7 Years!!!

(<-- Then) 7 years ago today I met my husband in a Yahoo chat room for Marylanders. Though at the time I was living in Illinois. Oh how time has flown by and things have changed. He still makes me laugh after all this time. That's so important to me. If you have lost laughter in your relationship you have lost everything! So 7 years, 30lbs, 3 kids, the death of a child, and a 1 year deployment later we are still strong as ever! I am so glad I have him in my life. I could not have asked for a better husband and father for my children.(Now -->)

Paint Shop Pro I Am Not

I have had this program for a couple years now. I love using editing programs to tweak my pictures and make them look good. Thanks to my Virginia though I am starting to really understand how to use it for things other than teeth whitening and zit removal! Here are some things I have done so far.

Adding color to B&W

Inserting pictures into frames

Bending photos and adding drop shadowing.

My attempt at a siggy

I also have Photoshop 2.0 and 7.0 and they just seem to overwhelm me. I would love Photoshop CS3 (or cs2) for my birthday but not sure it will be worth it if I can't understand it. Guess I'll have to ask for a new lens. :-P

Full Circle

Today as I was yelling at Justyn to hurry up and get ready for school, and making his lunch, I realized I have come full circle. It feels like only yesterday I was getting ready for school at a snails pace. It is so surreal that I am the mother of 3, one of which is in school now. I can't believe how quickly time really does go. So cliche, but true. I hope Josslyn takes her sweet time growing up. I am going to miss being needed.

3 Months Already!

I am a day late on this but I can't believe my baby girl is 3 months old. Time has flown by. I will never again experience the teeny tiny newborn stage. Well not until I have grandchildren. She's so big I can't believe it. Already 15.5lbs!!! Justyn and Jacob were both 15lbs by the time they were 3 months. By the time they were 6 months they were peanuts. Jacob is almost 2 and is only 24lbs. Josslyn is already showing so much personality. Here is a picture I took of her yesterday.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

(Daddy's girl)

Jumbo Shrimp

So yesterday we took Josslyn and Jacob in to see their new doctor. Josslyn has been dealing with reflux and I wanted to get her something to help, and Jacob has this horrible diaper rash. Well of course they both get weighed and Josslyn (jumbo) is 15lbs 6oz and isn't even 3 months yet!!! Jacob (shrimp) was just 24lbs and he will be 2 in December. It's amazing that she is so big as much as she throws up. Gotta love Mama's milk. She has managed to gain 1lb in 2.5 weeks. Jacob on the other hand has managed to gain 2lbs in 5 months. I'm not surprised, he is the worst eater. Some days he hardly eats anything and other days you can't get him to stop eating. I wish that happened more often. Josslyn was put on Prevacid, and Jacob was put on some diaper rash cream. Both seem to be doing well with both. Anyway, that's a small update on the littles, err the big and the little, LOL.

Friday Five

Five Things I Love About Fall

5. The smell of leaves burning.

4. The colors of the trees

3. The cooler weather. Perfect for snuggle and hot chocolate.

2. Halloween. I love love love Halloween!

1. Thanksgiving. The best holiday.

Florida Life

Well it's been 2 weeks since we began our lives in sunny Florida, and I know you are all wondering how it's going. Well...it's going, GREAT! I am really loving our new home. We are going to the pool almost daily as a family. The kids are so happy to have so much "daddy time" with Rich.

Justyn has been doing wonderful in school. I was stressing the who taking him to school, dropping him off, thing, but he's doing so well with that also. It's almost like he doesn't need me as much as I thought he would have, ha. Aren't boys always supposed to need their mamas?

We did his first homework assignment last night. It was so much fun for me to help him. He had to go through a magazine and find pictures of things that started with the same letter that his name started with. So we found; Jello, Jar, Jacket, and Juice.

Rich read him two books also as part of his homework. Then they had to identify the front cover, back cover, title, and title page. He is just such a smart well adjusted little man. I can't wait for the rest of the school year!


Jacob has been doing well here also. He is definitely into his terrible twos stage. That said, he is one of the funniest kids I've ever known. He always makes me laugh and he knows just how to do it. He's still such a good baby, sleeping wonderful in the new bedroom. Which took daddy and mommy 2 days to paint, LOL. I think it turned out so well considering it was my first time painting a room. I can't believe he will be 2 soon. Makes me sad that he is growing up so quickly. He finally outgrew his shoes he's been wearing since he was like 9-10 months old. He's starting to dress more big boy and do more big boy things. Like refusing to sit in his high chair. After not having one in Alabama while we were visiting my in laws I guess he got used to it because when we moved here he just would not sit in it. Waaaah stop growing!!!


Josslyn has been just a happy 2.5 month old. She's already laughing and smiling constantly. She's growing like a weed. Already in 3-6, 6m clothing. She's not even 3 months yet! She's beefy what can I say. (Soon I'm sure she will stop gaining, sending the DRs into a frenzy as to why. Um, hello, have you seen me and my hubby. We are not large people. We really don't expect to have huge kids.) She is also looooooooooving her 2 brothers. Justyn just loves to make her laugh. She is also dealing with reflux. She is constantly throwing up, and a lot. We are finally getting her meds for it. I feel so bad for her. Still through all the barfing she manages to keep on gaining and smiling. We are also going to be upgrading her to a convertable carseat. She is not loving her infant seat. None of my kids liked them.

Rich and I are doing well. Just celebrated our 6 year anniversary of being married in August. We are really enjoying our new life down here in Florida. I miss my friends in Maryland but I am so glad to be down here and being a home owner. I feel I have been so blessed!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

All Grown Up

(Justyn, until recently, was terrified of the pool)

I'm THAT Mom...

Yea, you know the one who knows her kid is sick but sends them to school anyway. Justyn has been fighting a cold since Friday evening, but this morning he woke up with a croup cough. Just last night I was telling a friend that Justyn always gets sick this time of year and it's normally croup and then *BAM* he wakes up with a croup cough. I was going to keep him home but he cried because he actually likes going to school. Whose child is this? Anyway, yea, so I'm that mom, that I always bitched about when Justyn would get sick in preschool.

The Sweetest Sound

Josslyn is laughing now. I love her laugh. It's so contagious. She's been laughing so much lately and I finally got it on video.

Bullfrogs & Butterflies Baby Boutique

I blogged for blood cancer in August and WON the cutest little baby item EVER! They are little washcloth candies. They are too cute to use. I can't wait to put them in Josslyn's nursery. I had to take pics to show everyone how beautiful and adorable they are. Thank you sooo much!!!

Who Has The Best Husband Ever?!

ME! Member how I wished he would bring me home a computer desk so I could set up my computer (scroll down yonder there and you will see it...just right down there). Well he DID! Him so sweet. Oh how I've missed my computer. The laptop just wasn't doing it for me, and Rich doesn't have anything fun on his computer.

Who Says You Can't Have It All???

Atlas movers that's who! They F%$@'ers "lost" our friggin' fire safe. I put lost in quotes because I highly doubt they just misplaced a 70lb safe. The ONLY thing we REALLY needed was that safe and mysteriously it's vanished. What a co-inky-dink! Luckily we were able to get a new birth certificate for Justyn quick so he could start kinder last week. I had to pay for rush delivery so Atlas will be paying me back for that, they just don't know it yet. Bastards! I bet it was a sad surprise to who ever took it home with them and opened it to find no moula. Now we have to run credit monitoring on our children to make sure no one is taking out credit in my 1 year old's name. What people won't do for some cash these days. I blame the gas prices, lol, j/k! Anywho that's my rant for the day. Till' the next one...Ta Ta.

Oh and I wish Rich would get me a computer desk so I could put my computer together and upload the pics from my good camera. The point and shoot just isn't doin' it for me. ::hmph::

First Day Of School

Justyn started school today. He was super excited. He woke us up asking if it was time yet. He did great and didn't even cry when I left. He goes from 8-2 Monday - Friday. Here are some pics of him this morning.

His cool back pack.

"Stop taking pics and take me to school!"

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

BOOBY JUICE = HAPPY BABY

(My beautiful 2 month old in a 6 month outfit.)