Busy, Busy Summer...

So far this summer has proven to be quite hectic and eventful depsite the fact that I was hoping for a quiet and relaxing one! I don't think the kids have been in bed before 10pm in over a week (and it shows).

Last week was VBS every night from 6-9pm. And we've had thunderstorms the past 4 nights in a row, so the kids have been sleeping in our bed. (Correction: Hollie and Dennis have been crashing on the couch, while Mavrick has been sleeping in bed with me. If we put both kids in our bed, they fight over blankets, kick eachother, and bicker. Plus, they both sleep like fish out of water so it just doesn't work HA!)
Needless to say, we've all been pretty tired around here, especially the kids.
We also had a rodeo this weekend so on Friday night the kids didn't get to bed until after 11 (I didnt get home until after 2:00am) and Saturday we were at the arena all day, getting home around 9pm. So WAY too many late nights around here.
It is my goal this week to get them back on track with 8 o'clock bedtime!

On a better note, I have been booking quite a few photography sessions. Last week I photographed 1 year old twins. SO stinkin' cute! And they did awesome hamming for the camera :) And I also shot engagement pictures for my cousing T and her fiance. They also turned out really well. I will be sharing some images on my photography blog in the next couple days.

Tonight I took some pictures of VBS events at my aunt & uncles church, and will be taking a few more tomorrow evening. And I have a 6 month old booked for Friday evening which I'm really looking forward to :)

It doesn't look like things will be slowing down any time soon though. I am going to small group bible study on Monday mornings (which I'm thoroughly enjoying so far). I'm booked every weekend through July with photo sessions, the kids start 2 weeks of swimming lessons next week, and Bethany and Braden will be here this week so hopefully we'll get to spend a good amount of time with them too.
Hollie starts dance at a new studio on Thursday (we ditched the last studio due to a difference in opinion regarding labeling a 4 year old's toes "naughty" and telling her she's not HOllie, she's Barbie). So she's looking forward to getting to wear her tap shoes again :) The second week in July Hollie will be attending a week long day camp at her preschool, and around the 25th my good friend Amber and her family will be here to visit for a day or two! (We went to high school together in Alaska and haven't seen eachother since 10th grade. I'm not even going to count how many years ago that was so don't ask!) HA

So yes, the summer is turning out to be much busier than I'd hoped or expected, but how can I complain??

Becca Blake Photography : Website!

My brand new Becca Blake Photography website is now online! YAY!!

www.BeccaBlake.com

Yes, I know my gallery needs to be beefed up, but I am really excited about some upcoming sessions I have booked which will allow me to add more images to my portfolio. So far half my summer weekends are booked! Did I mention I'm excited? :)

Please spread the word, and check out the amazing special going on until May 31st.

Randomness and life's luxuries.

Been staying pretty busy around here lately. Dennis is nearly finished with my photography website/blog and we're hoping to have it up by the end of the week (fingers crossed!) So that's been taking up most of my free time (aka: kids' naptimes and a couple hours at night after they go to bed). And while sorting through images to use in my gallery it became painfully obvious that I need more portfolio content, so I am offering free sessions until the end of the month. Hoping that will help bring in some new clients as well :)

The school year is almost up for Hollie. She only has about two weeks left of school! This realization has got me plotting ways to keep the kids entertained all summer LOL. I'm hoping that between VBS, swim lessons, and once a week dance classes for Hollie that we'll stay busy enough to not get too bored, but still be able to spend some time relaxing. We've had a few days of decent weather, but it seems like every time it gets above 70 degrees it's also VERY windy. Wind really annoys me, and I think Mavrick inherited it because he gets so mad at the wind he literally yells at it! It is so funny, but I feel his frustration! When it's not windy, it's rainy, or really cloudy and too chilly to play outside. Seriosly, springtime here sucks. And watch, next week summer will hit and it will jump to 90 degrees. No such thing as in-between here. GRRRRR

At midnight last night Mavrick puked all over himself and his bed. Lovely. I gave him a nice warm bath, stripped his bed down, and gave him some tylenol (praying it would stay down). This came out of nowhere. He was fine all day yesterday so I had no warning. He didnt even have a fever. He went back to sleep after getting everything all cleaned up and he slept til 7 am and has been perfectly fine ever since. Thank goodness he hasn't been puking all day! Puking toddlers are no picnic. They don't tell you they're about to hurl and can't (or won't) aim it into a bowl or toilet. So I'm REALLY glad that he's not sick today! But at the same time I'm really perplexed about the whole one-time-vomit episode. Seriously, what the heck?

On a side note, while using the Lysol wipes to clean his (thankfully water-proof) mattress, I thought of the soldiers deployed to the dessert - sleeping on who knows what and dreaming about taking a shower. Considering recent events, I know the US military appreciates our support in a time when there are so many negative and conflicting opinions flying around. So I decided to send a care package. I contacted a friend of ours in Afghanistan and he gave me his address there. He's thrilled that I offered and said he would share with the rest of his troop. His humble request: "luxuries like chapstick, sunblock, and baby wipes. Oooh and some gum would be awesome!".
Luxuries....



Because I don't like to post an entry without pictures, here's one of the kids from Easter :)

Happy 4th Birthday Hollie!

Last week my baby girl turned 4 years old. How can that be??!! I can barely believe we've lived here almost 3 years already. Our walks along Atlantic Ave with friends and our afternoons spent playing at the beach seem like such fresh memories. Sure do miss those days. Happy, chubby, easy going baby. Now I have a happy, sassy, spunky little girl who I wouldn't trade for the world. I love her so much and I am so proud to be her mommy :)

Thursday was her actual birthday. She had school that day and took brownies to share with her friends. When I went to pick her up she was so excited that her friends had sung Happy Birthday to her :)
We had her birthday party on Sunday. She has wanted a Rapunzel birthday party since we saw Tangled months ago, so Tangled it was. I made the cake (complete with a lopsided tower lol). I also made paper lanterns to hang and she colored some pictures we printed out as decorations. We kept it simple but she loved it and it all turned out pretty cute.

*Now, how do I slow down the clock??

Valentine's Photo Shoot :: Kids

Enough Winter, Bring on Spring!

Well it's safe to say this blog has been severly neglected over the past few months :/ It's been a long winter for us. We've all been sick more often than not it seems, Hollie's missed 6 days of school due to snow, and we're all pretty much sick and tired of being stuck indoors staring at eachother haha! We've spent a lot of time doing crafts, watching movies, and playing in the basement. Thankfully we've had a few days of warmer weather so we were able to get out a bit last week. It was a nice break from bitterly cold temps! But sadly it was just enough to tease us, and now winter is back. We are all really looking foward to some sunshine and trips to the park :) And I've even started planning out the vegetable garden so it's safe to say we have a bad case of spring fever :)

Well as I said we've all been sick, we all took turns with the dreaded stomach virus, Dennis had some kind of upper respiratory junk that hung on for weeks, and now the kids and I all have colds. I'm hoping that we've paid our dues and can stay well for a while now!

Hollie and Mavrick started indoor soccer a few weeks ago. This is Hollie's second year, and Mav's first. They are both really enjoying it (though i doubt seriously that we have any budding soccer champs on our hands LOL) but they have fun and it has been a great way for them to get out of the house and run around with other kids.

We also enrolled Hollie in a combo dance class. Tap, Ballet, and Acrobatics. She really LOVES it and is doing really well. She is so proud of herself and spends lots of time practicing her hand-stands in the play room. Mav has learned to duck and run when he sees her with her hands in the air HAHA!

Here are a few pictures from the past few months :)


A fun treasure box craft we did on a snowy day.


Probably watching Meet the Robinsons for the 47th time.


A photo project I did on the many signs our house has ben taken over by little people :)


Finally some snow wet enough to build snowmen. We were so excited we made a whole family of SnowBlakes :p



Playing in the first big snowfall. We spent less and less time playing in the snow with each subsequent snowfall LOL. The kids didn't even ask to go out last time....thank goodness!


After the blizzard. We were lucky enough to snag the last snowblower for sale in town and it was worth every (rediculously overpriced) penny!


Drop kicks are her favorite.


The bouncy balls are his favorite :) He says "boinga boinga boinga" - too cute <3

Coming soon...
Indoor photo shoot pics of the kids, and dance class pictures :D