You'd think she's a pro!
And off she went...
two seconds later she was excited and ready to go!
A little nervous (because we thought we might be late)

New Do

My dear friend Leah and her bf chad own a salon in Spring Lake, and on Labor Day after the wedding weekend they cut my hair...AND I LOVE IT:)

DEAGAN and OLIVIA's Birthday

I have not yet gotten out the invites (see post below) but I wanted to let you all know that we will be having the kids' double birthday party on Sunday September 14th this year. It will be at our house in the afternoon..
more details and an invite to come soon.
Save the Date:)

Tricia

I apologize...

I am that blogger that I hate. I never update it, and when I do it's a bunch of WORDS that you have to take time to read. Not cute adorable pictures that you want to love!
Well I know and I apologize!!!! It's been a super busy summer. Super busy.
And it's about to go out with a BANG.
My best friend Lindsey is marrying one of Jeff's best friends, Peter- THIS WEEKEND.
And all FOUR of us are in the wedding!

So needless to say, we are all super busy right now. And I just can't wait for school to start.
Deagan is starting a new preschool. Olivia is starting kindergarden and Jeffery is going back to finish college. And I might take a graphic design class...might.
Does this mean it's going to be a busy year?
(I'm tired already!)

It's going to be a productive year. A weathly, healthy and intelligent year for all of us.

You see for the last 20+ years of my life, my "years" begin in September and end in May. My body uses the academic calendar. Always has, and now having kids in school, always will.
So we are all very excited for our long summer to end and our new year to begin!

We will be over in Grand Haven celebrating the wedding and Deagan's birthday on MONDAY....
and then after that, I promise I will update more and give you pictures:)

it's sad, I have family pictures from june, july 4th and august that I still have not posted!

Kudos for Jeffers

Jeffery met with his guidance counselor for the last time yesterday and is officially enrolled in classes at Eastern Michigan University. They have a great evening program and he only has two semesters to go before he is DONE with his bachelors. It's an achievement he's been looking forward to for quite some time. And now he has the opportunity to make it happen. He'll be done by spring of next year! GO JEFFERY!!!

Our Family Trip to the Tiger's Game

Jeff got our family four tickets to see the Tiger's game on Friday night. We carpooled with our friends Cara and Greg and luckily found our way there:)
We thought for sure that we would only be staying maybe three innings and then the kids would completely lose interest and be begging to leave- well we were dead wrong! They had such a great time that we ended up staying the ENTIRE game:)
They ate absolutely everything that came our way, and this time we let them soak it all in. Hot Dogs, chips, cotton candy, cracker jacks, lemonade... endless pits they have for stomachs!
We took a little stretch and rode on the carousel too! The kids loved it:)
And at the end of the game they had a fantastic fireworks show! It was possibly better than the one we had on fourth of july in Mackinaw! It was huge, loud and long:)
What a fun night!

Tiger's Game 08/08/08

We had seats ALL the way at the top, but it was great! We could see everything and had a fantastic breeze all night long! Yes, that is a giant tiger paw on Jeff's hand attacking Deagan:)
She was in heaven sitting with her daddy!
At least I smiled:)
Growling like a tiger...

Per her request to enrich the life of her little brother- cotton candy!
Deagan's first ever cotton candy! He didn't quite understand it when I handed him a glob of the fluffy stuff... He said, "where's the candy?" Then I shoved it in his mouth and told him to suck on it... his eyes promptly lit up with an "MMMMMmmm" SO SWEET!

Riding the Carousel at Tiger Stadium

the scoreboard at night

Fun @ The Splash Park

This past Thursday, the kids and I met our friends at the splash park in Kensington for a little summer fun.
The kids had a good time, despite being afraid of getting their faces wet! Silly goofs!
This is Olivia, Lillia, and her baby sister Sienna. Lillia was on our soccer team and we have become good friends with her mom Krista who sent us this picture:)

Olivia's Safety Town Graduation

The sweet princess is growing up so fast!
Deagan and I are very proud of his big sister!
Olivia with Lauren, who was on our soccer team:)

Lauren, Stephanie and Olivia at the graduation ceremony.
On the first day of safety town Olivia became friends with little Stephanie. When her mom left, just as we were arriving, Stephanie was crying. I pulled Olivia aside and told her that she was scared and really needed a friend, and she should ask her to color with her. Well Olivia did and since they've been two peas in a pod. They would run hugging each other every day it was so cute!!!
On graduation day I finally talked to her mom and found out that they will be in THE SAME KINDERGARDEN CLASS this fall. So now we are all super excited for Olivia. She's not scared at all, and she's super confident now that she has a friend to team up with to conquer the world!

Olivia and I this weekend

We are still alive:)
This was from Aunt Beth and Uncle Don's 25th Anniversary party this weekend:)

Happy Birthday Baby Thomas

Jeff's best friend Brian and his wife Allie had a beautiful baby boy early this morning! Little Thomas Albert was born at 1:22am and apparently did not want mommy and daddy to get any rest- as he was born a few weeks early!
You can check out their blog, www.briandandallie.blogspot.com for some more pictures:)
CONGRATS GUYS!!!!!!

On another note. Oddly enough we booked plane tickets to come out and see them in September- FIVE months ago. And today, the baby's birthday, we got a phone call from the airline saying they had changed our flight. They left a message saying that instead of us leaving Oregon at 8pm we were now leaving at 2pm. Cutting SIX hours off of our trip. Six hours!
So I called them right back and tried bitching my way into another flight, but they told me that this was the latest light out that day and everything else had been canceled. Keep in mind this is TWO months from now. And the flight it already canceled!

So I hang up, ticked off, and got the intimidator on the phone. Jeff calls them, raises hell, gets hung up on and then calls back. The second time he got a sweet girl who put him on hold for 15 minutes (we thought she was never coming back). But she did and she transfered us to another airline and got us back on a later flight. With NO hassle.

So why is it that me, a woman talking to a man on the phone could get nowhere? But Jeff, a loud angry man talking to a woman could get exactly what he wanted?

It's like the airline leaves you a message and tells you one thing, just HOPING that the majority of the people will just take it and deal with it.... and they get away with it because people are too afraid to question their authority. Well not us! We fight back:) And we won~

Another weekend

Another weekend update, no pictures. Ha! I've got to be the worst blogger that I have ever been! Sorry!
I need about four extra hours in each day. Please!

We did a small home improvement this weekend. We FINALLY updated the landscaping in front of the house. There really was nothing there except a few flowering bushes. So we added about 12 more small bushes and some flowering plants. We also found a STEAL and got our trailer half filled with woodchips for only FIVE BUCKS. It covered the whole front of the house:)

Saturday we had a fun time at Zach's birthday party. I can't believe he is 14! He will forever be 9 years old in my mind...

Sunday we had photo shoots in and out of the rain. They all went well and the rain broke and the HEAT came on... flashbacks to Louisiana! YUCK.

Sunday Jeff and I snuck off to see the new Batman movie while my parents had the kids. It was AWESOME. Really, it was. I'm not usually into the Batman flicks, but this one was loaded. The special effects were so real. The sound was amazing. It was thrilling, romantic, dramatic, funny and sad. Heath Ledger did an amazing job as the joker. So real you couldn't even tell who it was! It's a sad loss! If you get a chance, go see it. It's one you don't want to miss in theaters:)

Hope you all had a great weekend!

July Family Photo

This is my new favorite family photo:)
It was taken this past weekend at Nicole's daughter's first birthday party.
Deagan is, well, Deagan!
Love It!

Working with Mavi

Since Olivia is a big girl now and she has decided to give up napping (or at least make her best effort not to) I have started to let her play in the studio while I'm working. Because as you see, my only solid work time when there is no babysitter here is during nap time. I hope and pray daily for a quality nap from the kids. However, the princess is almost five and is almost done with napping, so I give her the benefit of the doubt!
These were a few pictures taken last week of her playing quietly with Maverick while I worked.
What a tolerant little dog! He loves her and will do anything just to be with her...even let the dolls rest on him:)

*HaPpY bIrThDaY mOm*

Today is my wonderful mother's birthday! She brightens our world and made me the creative professional I am today, Happy Birthday Mom:)
We love you!

I know I'm bad....

...it's the summer! It sucks the life out of you! I can't help it we are so busy and more importantly the business is soo busy that I can't keep up with my own photoshop! So you all will just have to live without pictures for a little bit. I've got them, stockpiling. Waiting for a down day- or a late night!
sorry for boring you:)
t

*HaPpY 20th AnNiVeRsArY PaUlLa AnD rOn*

We would like to wish Jeff's parents, Paulla and Ron, a VERY happy 20th wedding anniversary!
We love you:)
Jeff and Tricia

HAPPY 1st Wedding Anniversary to Us!

Our anniversary sort of snuck up on us this year, but seeing as how it's a 'bonus' anniversary that's ok. We didn't do anything too exciting... I made my homemade spaghetti and meatballs. And we thawed out our cake topper. Of course the kids were sleeping, so I set a self timer on the counter and took a picture of us:) It was surprisingly DELICIOUS!

Weekend Update

Ok, ok, I know, all you people do is check the blog for new pictures of our gorgeous children.....but I have things to say too:)
I know, BORING, who wants to read!?!?
HA!
Well this weekend was a great one. Jeff took the kids up north to visit his parents. His dad is home and recovering well. Not too happy about being set back, but doing quite well considering. The kids just LOVE going up there, they would live there if we let them! (in the summer anyway;) They got to collect rocks and paint them with GiGi, go fishing, go on boat rides and fly kites. What else do they need? haha. It was nice for them to have alone time with Daddy too!
As for me, I had a few sessions on Saturday and then drove to Kalamazoo Saturday night. Sunday Brynn and her friend Rochelle organized a portrait party for me. We had amazing outdoor locations for family sessions and shot from 9:30-4:30. It went great. The kids were absolutely adorable and I got to photograph my first set of newborn twins:)
Now we are home and resting up for our fourth of july vacation to Mackinaw Island. Seems like we are always going somewhere this summer!

Catching up before June is gone!

Well sorry it's been a few days! We've been sooo busy. Well kind of busy doing nothing for a few days!
Jeff took a business trip to San Diego, during the snake incident, and loved being in California again. That's where we got married, where he went through BUDs, and where he's spent a lot of time training. While he was there he was able to meet up with his friend Dan, who was there for some training as well. They got to catch up together and reminisce about old times:)
He also discovered the wonderful world of the company credit card. Well at least the woman who was hosting did, and he got to tour a few of the california brewery's and bring home some growlers for our collection.
When he got back, the kids and I left for a few days with my parents at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. It was a blast. My dad and I rode the quads on the dunes. It was in the middle of the week, so we just about had the place to ourselves! The kids enjoyed rolling on the beach, with their clothes on, and swimming in the pool. MiMaw also made them an archeological dig in the sandbox burying little animals and pretty polished stones. It was nice to get away and to get a tan started:)
Now it's back to reality and three hours in front of the computer this morning returning emails from clients...

The SNAKE that we found in the backyard! Today!

This evening I was in the kitchen making dinner when the kids went out back to play. The ran down the deck and litterally ran right back inside. When Olivia goes out back she always makes a B line straight towards her swing. Well today, right under her swing was a 3 ft long DEAD snake. Freshly dead. Still rubbery.
Of course these things happen when Jeff is gone!
Olivia screamed bloody murder, peed her pants and ran up to the house bawling! A snake. a snake.
I ran out there to to see it but I didn't know if it was dead or alive. So I picked up this toy wagon sitting on the deck and launched it at the snake- it was dead. It didn't move! So I did what any person deathly afraid of snakes would do- found the longest, strongest pokey thing I could find to pick it up. The pooper scooper spade! We brought it out of the back yard and into the front for examination. Ewe. ewe. We must have screamed a bajillian times when it 'moved' out of fear that it was still alive. And then the kids got a little too into it and lost the whole fear aspect, when they figured out they could hold it without touching it!
Oh yeah, and it bit Stella. I found the bite marks on her leg! And she bit it right back and killed it! Ewe.

next to my foot
My brave little boy, who is the "man of the house" this week, taking care of business.
She is petrified of snakes!
He was loving it!

I think it might be a "Queen Snake" judging from the pictures on the Michigan DNR website.

Deagie mad because I wouldn't let him hold the snake!
amazed!
yuck!

My favorite picture!

The hat, the smile, the toys, the truck- this was Nick!

It's that DAMN day again!

Seven years! SEVEN years! I just can't believe it's been seven years! It seems like it was just last month...yet it also feels like an eternity ago that Nick died. Today is what they call his "angel date." The day that he went to heaven.
For me, it's one of the most terrible days of the year. The floodgates are open and there is no mercy.
Do you ever have one of those Jerry McGuire moments, you know where he had passed out the memos and was getting off the elevator, everyone's examining him and he says, "I'm not going to do what everyone thinks I'm going to do- which is FLIP OUT!" And then he flails all over to freak everyone out.
Well that's how I feel on days like today. Like everyone's just waiting for me to freak out. Well, I'll do that in the privacy of my own home and save you all the mushy mush.
I will say, I wish I was that lost little 19 year old that could just go back to her apartment and curl up on the bed and stay there ALL day wallowing in her own misery. But I can't. And I won't.
I will post more later...life is calling.

Olivia gets her EARS PIERCED!!!!!

Oh so excited!
Her super cute earrings. Silver flowers with a pink middle. Much cooler than the plain knobs that we all had to choose from! And she picked all by herself.

This morning Olivia came to me and said she wanted to get her ears pierced today. She's been talking about it for FOREVER, but has been a little too scared. Well not today. She said she wanted to get them done before Aunt Linny's wedding and before she started school....so we got them done!
She did not even cry! I thought it would be a massive freak out session- but no. She did not hollar, did not yell, nothing. Just excitement and bravery. They did both at the same time and that helped. She burried her face in my chest after and shed one tiny tear that she instantly wiped away and yelled, that wasn't bad!
What a great girl! She amazes me:) And I am so proud that she finally worked up the courage to do what she's been wanting for so long!

Deagan gets a (much needed) haircut!

BEFORE
AFTER...our baby boy is now our little man!

The new kids on the block!

a good profile view of the new hair
making his crazy face!
sweet girl, so happy

The Yellow Jackets

The team enjoying a picnic after the last game.
Olivia doing the kick-off.
Yes, she actually was running like this- with her tongue out- on the field! Silly girl!
Our crazy kids!

Yesterday was our last soccer game. We had a great time coaching Olivia's pre-kindergarden soccer team. We had great parents and amazing kids!

Miss Olivia's Preschool Graduation

Proud Parents with a proud little sweetheart!

Miss Courtney, her favorite teacher and one of my friends:)