A Mommy Milestone

This morning I took my youngest child to Kindergarten. sniff.

If you're a parent, you understand that this is a big deal. It is the start of a new way of life. All your children in school. *sigh*

He did NOT want to smile for this photo!! (I used these on my business blog...hence the markings!)

These two turkeys have been at it awhile. They're over first day photos!

 

Seriously Mom?!? Why are you doing that?! 

He walked right into Kindergarten class and got to work on a coloring sheet. (Smart move teacher!)

 

I'm officially embarking on a new chapter of life. No pun intended...but I'm going to be getting more writing time, more photo editing time....more ME time. My home should stay cleaner, my meals should be better planned, my writing goals should be met. Yes?! We'll see, but I know I'm excited. When your a mother of small children this milestone seems so far off into the future. The thought of actually having a morning where you could meet a friend for coffee is a complete fantasy. But that day comes, and it's a little sad... but so exciting!!

Anyone else have kids starting school today?!

I need a few of these...

I love crafty people. Once in a blue moon I can be crafty. It's more a lack of motivation than desire or inspiration. Many projects are on my "some day" list. I stumbled across this Etsy shop today and fell in love. I'm sharing the love with you!

Barn Owl Primitives

LOVE THIS!!!!!

What I know for sure....right now.

Today I'm channeling my inner Oprah. I need to do that sometimes. Don't you?


A few things I know for sure today.

Giving my husband back the job of handling the bill paying and finances has been the best decision I've made in the last 5 years. Really.

I'm desperately ready for school to start.

The last two days I've watched more TV than I have in the last year.

I made a deal with myself that I couldn't read another book until the two main characters in my ms have their first kiss. I haven't read anything since last Thursday!!! OMG!! (Hence the tv watching.)

I haven't been able to write because I've had so much picture editing to do. Ugh!!

My little puppy is almost one. He is still a brat! We love him anyway.

I'm feeling rather optimistic about everything lately. It's a good feeling.

The heat here in the Midwest is getting OLD!!

Having my work email give me issues has become a real problem. When you aren't getting your emails, you are just SURE that the ones you're missing are very important. I'm sure I'm missing a local celebrity asking me to shoot their wedding. I'm sure of it!

My wip has suddenly developed a new piece to it's puzzle that I'm very excited about. Don't you love it when your characters reveal a part of themselves to you that you didn't see coming??  Now....if I could just get some time to write!


Happy Tuesday to you!

Dreaming Big

There is something magical about hearing that another writer has been signed or gotten an agent excited! I feel it in my gut. It's similar to that feeling you feel when your going down a roller coaster. A little light headedness. A little drop. Even though it's not YOU, you're hearing about. (damn) It's someone...and that means what?

It's possible. It can happen, and it can happen to you.

I love hearing these stories, because more than likely...that person really deserves it. No one else knows how hard writing is than another writer. It's not for the faint of heart. It's hard, grueling, cry inducing work. (Okay, for me it is anyway!) After I hear these stories I imagine my own. I can't help it—you know you do it too!! You have too. The only way to keep going is to maintain the dream.

So here we go. Close your eyes. Dream it. Share it with me. These dreams will motivate us all!

Snippets of Information

* I wrote 2000 words today. Yes I did. I'm slightly proud of it. It was the good of kind of writing too, the kind that just flows and before you know it your plot has taken on a new dimension you hadn't seen coming. I truly believe it's those days that help us to slog thru the rest. Hear, hear?

* Having my nails painted makes me feel so much prettier and feminine. Seriously. Am I alone?

* The only way I can enjoy the presence of my puppy is for him to have a bone to chew on. The end.

* Muddy backyard + puppy + hysterical woman + carpet = disaster.

* I'm out of bones.

* Sometimes when you run your own business, you should wait for a clients check to clear before paying your own bills. (grrrrrrrrr)

* My children have 2 more days of school. I'm terrified and excited at the same time.

* My heart breaks for the people in Joplin and Reading.

* More storms are on the way. I will sleep with my hard drive. I have peoples weddings on there!!!!

* I'm going out of town with another photographer friend this weekend to a small town in western Kansas to shoot a wedding. I'll be gone all day Friday, Saturday and be back Sunday.

* Yes, western Kansas is exactly what you would imagine. Remote...but the people are so darn friendly and when your children are not around and you have a friend to laugh with—it's as good as paradise.

* My wip is not a YA. Can you forgive me? Should I change my header?

Able to breathe....

What a weekend right? Well, beyond the news...it was a big one for me.

Saturday night I had a surprise 40th birthday party for my husband. OH THE STRESS!! This past month I have been a wreck preparing for it. I'm so glad it's over!! Not because it wasn't fun, it really was. But because it was very stressful keeping it from my husband!!  AND, he is not a surprise party kind of guy. I was prepared for him to hate me for a minute when we walked in.

If you've ever held a surprise party you know about the paranoia. The whole week before I was just SURE he was onto me. I knew he was picking up clues, that he was looking for them.

He wasn't. He was shocked and horrified at the same time. :) It was a beautiful thing. As we walked into the game room at a local "pubish" restaurant and 15 people yelled surprise (at which was supposed to be a couples shower for one of his closest friends- I even sent us an invite in the mail!!) he jumped in surprise.

I instantly turned and hugged him, laughing in his ear. "Do you hate me?"

"A little bit," He said with a chuckle. It was a great night!

A-Z Challange SKIPPED R - Shyness - Special Day

Yesterday was incredibly busy! I had an early morning shoot and then my youngest son had an Easter Tea at Preschool. (Then grocery shopping, community dinner...blah,blah,blah.)

But back to that Easter Tea. My youngest son is 5 and VERY shy, and self conscious. He doesn't even like to joke around too much because he gets so embarrassed. (I joke with him anyway, because he laughs and smiles before he gets angry....and he has 2 big brothers and I think he better toughen up now!)

Anyway, part of the Easter Tea was the cute little classes getting up and singing a few Easter/Spring Songs. My son had been worrying on this for days. I finally told him, "You don't have to sing, but you do have to just get up there with your class."

My thought was that once he was up there, he would be fine!

WRONG. He was stone cold silent up there. Not a hand movement, not a clap. Not a smile. In fact, his signature look in these situations is to suck his cheeks in so he doesn't smile. Because he WANTS to like it. I know he does. He's just too embarrassed to show that he likes it.

Sadly, I sort of remember being like this as a child. I didn't want to draw attention to myself AT. ALL.

Well, luckily those preschool things only last a second, so he came down to have snacks with me and all was good after he got a cheese stick and grapes. I guess the only bright side to this shyness is that he keeps him my baby a little bit longer. :)


In unrelated news, my husband is off today for Good Friday! How awesome is that? I'll take it. I'm going to take a day off from editing and just chill out at home.
It's storming out, I may make cookies. How great does that sound???

A-Z Challange GROWTH

It can come in so many forms can't it?

This morning I took my baby to Kindergarten Round Up. *sigh* I have mixed emotions about this. Part of me is jumping for joy at FINALLY having all of my 3 boys in school. If you have children— you know what I mean. It is quite a milestone. But it is also very sad. It's the end of something wonderful, which is, being the only major influence in your child's life.

Now, if your child is in day care they may have already experience this. But for the most part, until your child enters school...you are it! You are the one that knows it all, you are the one they turn too, you are the most important person in the world.


School brings external forces into your family. Peers, teachers, awareness, smart mouths, other view points. It kind of reminds me of sharing my writing. It's easy to spend time with only your laptop, pounding away what you are just SURE is something special. It is safe with you, in your thoughts.

When you share it, you are sending it off to school. It will encounter criticism, judgement, and you will lose a small piece of it. Somehow it will not only be yours anymore. Of course, it will always belong to you...but hopefully by encountering outside forces it will now morph, sharpen, become polished.

Hopefully...grow, into something even more amazing.

I am nervous everytime I drive to my writing group. As I hand out copies of my work I feel moronic, naieve, clueless. Seriously.  I am in Kindergarten here people. I'm learning the ropes. I'm putting myself out there, opening myself to criticism. And you know what? It is a beautiful thing. It's not safe, or easy, or secure. But it is necessary, for me to grow. That is exciting.

This August I will drive my 3rd son to school. I will walk him to his classroom while holding tightly to his tiny hand. I will be on the verge of tears every step of the way ( i already am just thinking about it.) We have had it good, him and I, these past 5 years. We are close, and inseparable. But I will tell him how awesome Kindergarten is going to be, and how fun  it will be to have new friends and his own seat. I will pray that the new people in his life will have his best interest in mind, but I will try my best to be there for him when they are not. I will more than likely be swiping back tears until I get to my car and really let go.

However, after a couple of minutes I will check my mascara, call a friend and meet for coffee...knowing that this new life of mine, and his, is going to be amazing!

All over the place!

My mind is going a million different directions today.

I'm okay with that usually, but today it's stressing me out. I really want to be writing, but I have work to do. But oh what sweet work it is....have a peeky.

How can I not enjoy that? I always listen to music while I edit photos, I must, and often I daydream about my wip. However, something about newborns is not jiving with my wip. Go figure. So, on I go, editing away. It's okay if I don't get any writing done today. It happens. I can't wait to show this family these images.

Which leads me to what I'm thankful for today!

 I skipped last week but now I'm back on track. I'll be extra thankful this week!!  Join the "Thankfulness" over at Oasis for YA.
I'm thankful to be able to work at home for my family. I'm thankful I have a job in which I get to witness the most amazing reactions to images like those above. These are priceless memories and I love giving my clients this gift. It is amazing.

I'm also thankful that it is a beautiful day out. Finally. I'm going to ignore the fact that my husband saw on the news this morning the possibility of snow this weekend. I'm in denial. I'm thankful for today.

Last but not least, I'm incredibly thankful for itunes and ipods. Steve Jobs, if you were more handsome I would have a full on crushing obsession with you. Fortunately, you look exactly like a computer geek should. My husband is thankful for that...he likes me to have eyes only for him!! :)

Spring

I have never been so ready for Spring!! It has been a very long winter here in the midwest. Long, cold and wet. With that being said, thank goodness my kids are back to school today!! Yay, Spring Break is over.

That may seem cold, but I've found the last couple of years that I am not a fan of Spring Break. It's not long enough to adapt a new routine, but it is long enough that the novelty wears off after a few days. It's just...annoying. You're kids are home, it may or may not be nice enough for them to go outside. I realize that not every parent may feel this way, but when you have three little boys under the age of 10— things can get pretty stressful. Fast.

In other news, I wrote 8600 words in the past 48 hours, and that feels good! Very good. I did a complete POV rehaul on my wip and it seems to be coming very easily, leading me to believe it was a good choice. We'll see.

Has anyone done that? I'm curious, do most writers just have a default style of writing and no matter what idea pops into their head it automatically goes to that style...or do you choose based on each individual piece? Do you try a couple and then choose?

Oh, and completely unrelated...but these new Thick and Fluffy Eggo Waffles=REALLY good if you sometimes crave that bad for you breakfast food!!

Sick and sicker.

Saturday I had a very busy day. A day that I'd been planning for awhile.

That event came and went! (Thank goodness)

Then I got sick on Sunday. Then my youngest got sick with me. My wonderful husband took care of us 2 sickies, AND my other 2 boys all day.

But let me tell you, this sick is violent. It is BAD!! I hoped today I would be better, but this morning I just woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck. I don't think I can sleep enough! I just don't bounce back from illness like I used to. Anyone else experience that sign of aging? Ugh, it's not cool.

I want it to be Spring.
I want to feel good.
I want the sky to be blue and not blech.

Is that too much to ask? No? Ok, I also want someone to come and deep clean my house!

Oh well, make sure you enter the contest to win Anna and the French Kiss! BELOW!

AH-mazing, a new design and a CONTEST!!

Can you believe my blog overhaul? I found this amazing woman online...Rita. She spiffed up my blog. She is insanely, insanely wonderful. I love her!

She also did my business blog. If you need a blog overhaul....hit her up!!

In honor of my super-duper blog redesign I'm having a little contest.

I'm giving away a copy of the book Anna and the French Kiss. I haven't read it, but everyone who does LOVES it. So, I'll buy one for me...and one for you! Sound good? Good.



Here is what must be done!

In the comments section, write a paragraph 100 words or less about your first kiss. 3rd person, 1st person, however you want...it just has to involve you-another person (well maybe) and some lip smacking!!

Entries must be submitted by Friday, February 25 by midnight! Yay, let me hear it! My husband will be the judge- because I love him and he is completely unbiased and very honest. (And because our first kiss was in February, twelve years ago!! WOW!)

Go forth and tell your friends.

A beautiful day!!!

Today is such a beautiful day. At least where I live. I hope it is wherever you are also! Isn't it amazing how the weather has such an affect on your mood? I personally have really been needing a day like this. I have a really stressful couple of days coming up. When I get thru them I'm going to reward myself by making the best-est desert ever. White Chocolate Bread Pudding. Yup, that's right. I'm going to reward myself with food. I don't even feel bad about it. Sometimes you just deserve it, right?

Happy Friday!!

image source. HERE