Again, keeping up to date

I will be back tracking a little bit with this little update to cover some recent activities from the fam. First, Jackson MADE the 7th grade basketball team a few weeks ago.... he was really nervous, but kinda had a gut feeling he was on the team. So with that he has had practice for 2 weeks, one week was after school, but the other was BEFORE school. His school starts at 7:40 am. His practice starts at 6:00 am. I guess they figured it would weed out some kids who weren't in it to win it. So I was a good mom for a week and was up at 5:30 am to drive him to school. I am sure I looked like a drunk driver...little slits for eyes, puffy face with creases from the pillow...you know - medusa hair and all. BUT he got there, and was ON TIME 3 mornings in a ROW! This is a big deal for me. Why can't they practice at midnight? 5 am in an hour sent straight from the devil. NO ONE should be awake at that particular hour. It is a sin.
Anywhoo, hopefully they will have a game schedule in a few more weeks.
On to other things.
Ellie pulled out her 8th tooth the other week. Well, her last tooth she lost it before she could put it under her pillow, so the toothfairy forgot all about it, and she basically got stiffed. But that is not the toothfairies fault. So this time the toothfairy was there a few days after the event and left a big fat green dollar. Very crisp I might add... anywhoo. Ellie was talking to Kurt one morning and told him a story about how she was planning to rip off the toothfairy because she wants another dollar. ( I tell you, my kids are smart in all the wrong ways.) He asked her how she was going to do such a thing, and she replied that she left a note under her pillow explaining her situation.
Here is her note to the toothfairy:

Dear Toothfariy, "I waited a month for you to take my tooth and when I cleaned my room today my tooth was gone so I serched and serched and I didn't find my tooth. So can you give me some plese. From Ellie

When Kurt told her that wasn't honest and she shouldn't lie to the toothfairy, her explanation was 'well, you don't get more money by telling the truth. I really wanted another dollar'

So of course, the toothfairy couldn't help but give her another dollar, and the note is now in her keepsakes along with the tooth. Clever child.


Emma is debating on how short to cut her hair. I don't want to cut it, but she is not the best at taking care of it. Its hard to look at that beautiful hair and want to cut it and put it in the garbage. It is soooo long. I think the longest its been in a while. Anyway. She also got a pink slip at school. This is soooo unlike Emma at school. (at home, she would have about 6 pink slips a day) She didn't do anything other than she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of her friends was being mean to a boy, actually hit him and pulled his shirt up over his head. 9 year old girls can be very mean, and they are so much bigger than most of the boys. Anyway, she was very nervous to tell me about it because she thought I would freak out. But I have seen my kid at school, and trust me, she is nothing but an angel. at school. not at home. not on the bus. not in the car. not at walmart. not on vacation. not while she is asleep. but at school, she is an angel. hahahaha! She was very sad to get a pink slip. Oh well.

Charley is getting ready to turn four. She is most concerned with getting new seashells for her Ariel doll, and a new 'bastian' and 'flowner' dolls too. She wants a cake with frosting and strawberries. With candles. and presents. and presents for me too. And daddy. And she wants to sing the song. She is recognizing the number everywhere we go. yelling out when she sees a '4' on something or '4' things. Very entertaining she is. She loves the movie Igor and wants that for her birthday too. Kurt wants to get her some high heels in her own size and a pretty girly girly dress cause she keeps wearing my heel allover the house and almost killing herself and others. And she loves to wear dresses, and quite frankly, the ariel nightgown for christmas isn't getting a break around here, often going a week of constant wear without washing...she really loves dresses. Anything frilly and girly, sparky and sequins. She must have gotten that part of her personality from Kurt. He denies it, but it OBVIOUSLY wasn't from me.

Kurt has been busy on his 4 day weekend making a new chalkboard and pickleball paddles for the pickleball court. I am telling you, the man is an accomplisher. We had a great tournament on the new pickleball court. It is this thing that he and Jackson have been talking about doing for about a month now. So the two of them went to look for a net, and came back with that and paddles, and all sorts of wiffle balls, and that is where it all began. So we needed more paddles cause the ones they got only had 2. Which doesn't work around here, the girls need one too. so anyway, Kurt made more paddles out of some sort of plywood. And let the kids decorate their own. Jackson of course had BYU and the Jazz all over his. Emma wrote her name in ballon letters, and ellie wrote her name and birthdate. (? Whatever) They loved it. He is always doing things like that for them. I love it. He makes things possible for his kids. Amazing.

Me, I am back in school, finally. I have another 2 years and then the search for a school to unleash my wisdom upon! yay! Still photographing, just working on where I want to go from here. I need a new camera, and it is about 2 grand. I can't justify it, can I? My current camera is great, I have just outgrown it. And I need a new one, a better one. I will save from my sessions to get one. I am not going in debt. I refuse. Remind me I said that ok? thanks. Anyway, I am excited to go to Nikki's workshop in May. I can't wait to hear all her advice! She always answers my questions when I have them and has been a total giver! I just hope I can help with something. Anything.
Anyway, Kurt and I had a good Valentines day. He always seems to care about Valentines day more than I do. Other holidays, not so much. but V-day is his day to shine! This year he bought me flowers and made me a steak and shrimp dinner on Friday night. Then we played pickleball all day Saturday after he let me sleep in and didn't even make me feel guilty! We had dinner at Chili's with a movie at home after. He bought me JUNO - which is one of my FAVS!! Its totally my kind of show. So he did good. It has been a wonderful weekend. I will miss him this week more than usual. But I have lots to do, so it will go quick.
gotta find charley some heels!

Wow - that was a LONG post!

We have some winners!

Alright, so I am actually really excited about the pay it forward! Remember I have a year to send you something handmade from me. The only other rule was to post the same thing on your thread to enjoy the same reward! So do it or your off the list!
(not really)

Ok, so here are my three: (ok four)
1. Jaime Miller
2. Lyndsie Campbell
3. Allison Johnson
4. Lesa Thompson

Congratulations - and Alli, I will need your address! You can email it to me anytime!
Thanks for playing!

PAY IT FORWARD

The Rules
1. Be one of the first Three (3) bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first 3 bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!
If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

I will leave a list of names who were the first 3 on my blog as soon as I receive them!
I have no clue what it is I will make you, lets see who the winners are first

I think I need to shoot more...

I just came across this picture file of when Charley, Me, Jaime M. (friend/neighbor), and Baylie (neighbors daighter) went out looking for locations to shoot at. I wanted to check out this huge tunnel out in the middle of no where on the way to a ghost town. So we stopped to check it out on our way home, just sorta playing and blowing some blooming sage around. I didn't think much of the shots really but have edited some from the session a while ago. I was looking in some old files and found this one of Charley, and I think it may be my favorite image of all time. I simply adore how real it reflects the moment since there were seeds flying everywhere...she ended up with a bunch in her mouth and hair and I think Jaime even ate some from shaking the bush. It really was a cool moment. anyway, just thought I would share.