Anticipating Autumn and Baby B :)

(NO I am not pregnant!)

We have had some beautiful mornings here this past week. We've even had a couple of days that stayed nice and cool all day long. The kids have gotten to go to the park and play outside more in the past week than they have in a month, and now I am dreaming about fall! It is my favorite time of year and I can't wait to pull out the long sleeves and have the windows open in the house all day :)

The next few weeks are going to be very eventful for us. My sister and her new husband Grady are flying in with baby B for a few days. Bethany is going TDY to D.C. for 6 weeks and because Grady's current work schedule is all kinds of whack, Braden is going to stay with us during that time. I am really looking forward to spending some time with adorable nephew, but I am bummed for Bethany because I know how hard it is going to be for her to leave him for 6 whole weeks. Especially since up until recently it has been just her and Braden and she has not spent any time away from him until now. Everything will be fine, and we will Skype with Bethany as often as possible, but still, I know she will be missing him like crazy :( Hopefully the time will go by quickly for her and Braden both.
My kids are both going to love having him around though, and I will too. Don't get me wrong though, we are done having kids and DO NOT want another one, so I'm just happy we get to love and spoil the stinker and then send him home haha!

Anyway, on wednesday I am hosting a Celebrating Home party as a favor to a friend. I do not normally do this sort of thing, but i'm a sucker for helping people out lol. Check out www.celebratinghome.com and if you want to order anything let me know ;)

Then on the 7th Hollie starts school. This is something we are both looking forward to! She is excited to see her teachers and her friends again, and I am looking foward to her having an outlet and some time away from Mav. Hollie has been really bored here at home the past few weeks and Mavrick is increasingly aggravating to her, so starting school will be a very good thing for everyone involved!

Guess that's it for now...

Senior pictures

The past two weekends I got to shoot two upcoming seniors (with a camera! sheesh....)
Paige goes to Lexington High School and is in the marching band. Her family is part of the rodeo club we're in and I am so glad I got the opportunity to get to know them. They are such sincere and kind people, and Paige was so much fun to work with. It was about 90 degrees the day we did her photo shoot, and muggy as all get out,but she powered through it with me and we got some awesome pics :)











Terri Dawn is one of my gorgeous cousins, and goes to Higginsville High School. I was really looking forward to doing her session because: 1. she is totally fun, 2. she is super photogenic, and 3. I knew there would be no need for me to be nervous. And that's pretty much how it went! T did everything I asked of her, including making herself look like a dork on a silo ladder (and somehow managing to make it look glamorous!), and we pretty much laughed the entire time :) Check her out!

The Whirlwind Wedding

In good Poese daughter fashion Bethany got married with just two weeks notice! She and Grady worked at the base hospital together and have known each other since January, but had only been dating since the end of June or early July. I got a phone call from Bethany on the 10th of July telling me that she's getting married, to a guy I'd never heard of before much less knew she was dating, and she says "Oh, and the wedding is in two weeks!" Say what?!?!? (I just hope this is a tradition that does not extend to my daughter! :P)
Of course I had my questions for her and did some grilling (she is my little sister afterall) but I could tell she was 100% sure of what she was doing and totally and completely head over heels for Grady.
Soooo the kids and I drove down with my parents all the way to Fort Walton Beach/Destin Florida (about 16 hours each way!). For those of you who think I've lost my last marble deciding to take the kids on a 32 hour round trip weekend road trip, yes, I would have LOVED to have flown instead! However, the day before Bethany called, Dennis and I spent a lot of money in the furniture store so I could not afford the plane tickets on top of new furniture! I was dreading the drive down with my 1 and 3 year olds, but to my surprise (and Grandma and Papa's too I'm sure!) the kids did amazingly, rediculously, miraculously well!!! They were SO good and I am so proud of them for being such little troopers! Of course they had their moments (what kid doesn't??) but I am still amazed that they took the entire trip there and back (inluding abrubt changes to routine, and sleep deprivation) in such stride. What can I say? I breed rockstars! HAHA
Anyway, the wedding was beautiful, Bethany was gorgeous (LOVED her dress and her hair), and Grady turned out to be so sweet, caring, and madly in love with Bethany and Braden. I photographed the wedding for them (sweating bullets the entire time for being so out of my element) but they turned out pretty good all things considered. I'm not 100% happy with them (I'm more like 25% happy with them!) but Bethany has assured me that she was just glad to have pictures at all, and there are several that are print worthy.
After the wedding we headed to a very swanky hotel for the reception put on by Grady's family. It was perfect! Small, intimate, and full of love and laughter. The food was delicious (seriously, the best fish I've had in my entire life!) and of course it was fun watching Bethany get cake shoved up her nose and in her ear :) Ahhh, a sister's delight LOL.
Here are a few pictures from the big day. Don't they make such a cute couple? Love them!

Boys will be boys...

A few of Mavrick's favorite words/phrases as of late:

"Howie" (Hollie - he's been saying for about a month now)
"No No Howie" (said daily on numerous occasions)
"turtle"
"bug"
"top dat" (stop that)
"cowapidder" (caterpiller)
"popcorn"
"dwiii" (drink)
"bonky" (if he bumps his head, or any body part for that matter)
"ow"
"boo boo"
"food"
"poop"
"get it"
"kick ball" (he LOVES to kick the soccer ball)

Mavricks favorite ways to pass the time as of late:

-Cold cock Hollie upside the head with his toy hammer for no good reason other than it looked fun.

-Pretend to bite Hollie because he knows it freaks her out and she thinks he's really going to bite her. Then giggle incessantly.

-stab my brand new dining table with his fork leaving numerous gouges and resulting in an extremely upset mommy. Seriously, can I not leave the room for 2 minutes to pee???

-Throw random toys at people, always aiming for the face.

-Jump off the couches WWE style and hope that someone catches him (most times he guessed wrong).

-Chase Hollie in circles around the living room and kitchen offering slobbery, un-welcome kisses, all the while laughing at her while she screams.

-Make countless trips to the time-out corner for his relentless shananigans. Then turn on the charm with his pouty lip, puppy dog face and says "sowwie"

The boy is exhausting. Gotta love him <3

Summer 2010 - *Pictures Updated*

I actually thought that when school ended last spring that things would slow down. I thought we would be able to enjoy a lazy, un-sheduled summer. Boy was I wrong! If anything, I think this summer has been busier than the school year and I am finding myself looking forward to school starting back up just so we can get back into a normal routine!
But don't get me wrong, even though this summer was busy, but we sure did have a lot of fun :)

Here is a summary of events:

-Lots of fun play dates with good friends including our BFF's Tracy & Nick

-Two Fun Shows with the Oak Grove Youth Rodeo Club




-A Rough Stock Clinic in which kids slopped through lots of rain and mudd to get their chance to ride a steer and/or bull.





-Bethany & Braden came to visit in June which included Braden getting baptized and his 6 months photo shoot.






-A two day Rodeo over Father's day weekend.




-We enjoyed lots of finger-licken, fall off the bone, smoked ribs coutesy of Dennis and his new smoker...mmmmm





-Camping in St. Louis with Rick & Kim, complete with a trip to the STL Zoo and Busch Gardens and the Gateway Arch.





-A date night with my good friend Tracy to see Twilight: Eclipse :)


-Swimming at Lake Paradise!


-The 4-H county fair in Higginsville in July which I was hired to photograph.





-Rescuing a lost turtle in the middle of our busy road and watching the kids follow it around and giggle every time he popped his head out. They even got to hold him before setting him free by the creek bed. (Hollie has since been asking for a pet turtle...greeaaat)





-Bethany's wedding which included about 36 hours of driving in one weekend with both kids (and they did amazingly well! so proud :)
*(I will soon be making a blog entry dedicated just to Bethany's wedding which will contain more photos)






-Painting the dining room blue and brown.




-Getting new furniture FINALLY! including a dining room table, sectional, coffee table, and a bench/coat rack for the entryway.







Obviously I still have some decorating to do, and the top 3 baskets for the entryway unit were missing when they delivered the furniture so we have to go get those sometime. But I'm excited to finally have some nice furniture and some color in the house :)


This saturday I am doing my first Senior picture session, and I have another one next saturday as well.

Phewww..... I think that's most of it anyway.

And Karen, I vow to get back on the blogging wagon and try to keep you up to date! When are you starting yours about motherhood and all things Logan?? :D