on the road...

We have been on the road for about a half hour now. First stop...Atlanta!

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2 days out...and feeling ahead of the game!

Thought I would check in one last time (okay, maybe I'm lying, but at least if I don't blog again until we get down to Florida, I'm covered) before we head out for our almost 2 weeks away! Woohoo! I have been just as busy as I anticipated I would be in preparation for this trip. Doesn't help that I've felt a bit under the weather the last day or two...of course, that has to happen RIGHT on my busiest days of vacation preparation! Ugh. At least I am likely getting my ickiness out of the way before we leave and I can be ready for some FUN when we get to Florida! :-) Seems like I am always sick when we go on vacation and so I am thinking I will be free and clear of any of that for this vacation!

We are all 3 already packed...aside from toiletrees. Our fridge and cupboards are almost completely empty, the house will be cleaned from top to bottom tomorrow. Laundry is done, photoshoot images edited and disks mailed, bills paid, errands run, shows DVR'd, Tate's clothes sorted that we are giving to Boone, mail held for the time we are gone and lawn is mowed. Whew...that's a lot of stuff that's done!

All I have left to do are the more unnecessary items on the list like get our car cleaned, polish my toenails and shave my legs (nope...if you know me, you know this isn't something that's ever at the top of my list...ha). And then of course all the last minute items that will need packed. OH and we are attending our first PS-MAPP class for our foster care license tomorrow from 6-9pm. And one last necessary item to take care of is that Sean needs to replace one of our tail lights that I discovered the other day was out. Ugh...bad timing. And the plan still stands that we will be on the road by 7am on Friday morning.

Honestly, I am feeling pretty on top of things. Feeling more ahead of the game than usual at 2 days before vacation, so that's good. Maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a few hours of rest in the next 39 hours before we leave too...just to make sure I'm good and healthy before we hit the road! :)

Florida here we come!!!!

3 days!!!!

We are ALL counting down the days until we leave for Florida!

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I HAD to share...

I had a photoshoot yesterday of a gorgeous family and I couldn't help but share a sneak peek on my personal blog...

Check out the rest of the Sneak Peek at the Jennie Peakin Photography Blog.

Abby : 6 months

Oh my gosh I love Abby!

I got to spend a little time with her today...not enough time, but a little time. ;)

Tate decided today that he wants a sister now. He loved her.

She is soooo cute!

a day at the pool...

Tate and I went to Muscatine today to join Cassie and her in-laws for a day at the pool.

Man, those Burbacks make CUTE kids!!!

Soon we'll be here...

Oh, I cannot wait!

I don't have enough time...

I just don't. Why don't days have just a few more hours in them. I mean, I have time for things, it's just that I want to have time for nothing as well. You know, the time to get everything done while also still fitting in just sitting out back in the sun for a few hours each day. Ya, not possible. So I have found myself putting my "to do list" on the wayside to do nothing. Maybe not the best idea. Oh well.

So I am not sure that blogging is going to take priority over the next week. I try to blog daily...or almost daily. I check several blogs a day and really enjoy when there are new posts each day, so to prevent myself from being a complete hypocrite, I try to do the same on my blog. Not promising that these daily posts are terribly exciting, but I try to at least document something. This week, it's just not going to happen. I'll do my best. :)

Tate's Grandma Shingledecker came over today and as usual when she comes, it's like Christmas. Tate was ecstatic to have her here as was I. He got lots of goodies and lots of love from her. He is so so so blessed by his birth family...wow.

It rained tonight...wow, that's a MAJOR headline these days! Many of my plants have passed the point of being able to be saved, but several of them are going to sleep HAPPY tonight! Hooray for rain at night! Now let's just stay dry during the days.

I got all of the images from the Tribe 9U photoshoot edited. Yay! I got my photoshoot from Tuesday edited. Yay! I have one more shoot on Sunday afternoon that I am DETERMINED to get edited and the disk sent out BEFORE I leave for vacation. Yikes...don't know if that will happen.

The night before we leave for vacation, we start our PS-MAPP classes. Those go until 9pm. Then, we are planning to head out by 7am the next morning.

I.cannot.wait.for.vacation.

Tribe 9U Photoshoot

Just a few shots from the the photoshoot I did for Brigg's baseball team...

The composite that all the boys are getting...

Stolen...because I love it and it's so true!

“Enjoy the little things in life. For someday you will realize
they were the big things."
--Robert Brault

(thanks Leslie for posting this...it's what I needed to hear today!)

fireworks and sprinkler fun

Just a few of the fireworks I bought in Missouri...

On a whim, we decided to turn on the sprinkler for the kids while we waited for it to get darker so we could light the fireworks off...

And then it was time. The boys started lighting them off...

Good thing we had at least 1 responsible adult who insisted we read the directions before going crazy with the fireworks.

Thanks, Lora!

The kids thought it was so cool to have our own personal fireworks show!

Our weekend in Kansas City...

I had another full, fun weekend.

I joined Melissa, my dear friend of close to 10 years in Kansas City for some waterpark fun with she, her son and nephew. The boys are 6...and they are busy! It was a great time!

We stayed at a waterpark hotel and the boys played and played and played...

And I'm not going to lie, the adults played and played and played too...

And just one more of Layla from my visit with the Kremer Family...

On the drive home, we stopped at the HUGE Shelton Fireworks Store. It was so fun and overwhelming and I bought lots of fun fireworks which we lit off with the DeCook's a couple of hours after I got home. Now I wish I would have bought more! :)

Baby Fever

If Layla Kay doesn't give you a case of baby fever, I don't know what will!

I went down to Kansas City again this weekend and got to make a short stop to see Kay, Ryan and Layla again.

Such a beautiful and sweet little girl. I love her!

Incredible Pizza in pictures...

Mini bowling...

The birthday boy and his friend...

Games, games and more games...

So cute, these two...

Mini Glow Golf...

Good times.

:)

busy busy busy...and a little about Tate

We went to Incredible Pizza tonight to celebrate Brigg's 10TH birthday! It was fun! Tate had a blast...so did the adults. :) Pictures and more on that later...

I swear the next 4 weeks are going to be a whirlwind...crazy busy will be the theme of the rest of my summer. Fun busy, but busy nonetheless. I leave on Friday morning for another weekend away and I feel like I just got home. Tate will be at Camp Cassie for the weekend and Sean will be working. When I return, I have 3 (maybe 4) photoshoots and LOTS of editing to get the pictures done and out to clients before we leave again! I also am doing some hair and packing and planning and preparing for our almost 2 week trip to Florida that we leave for on the 29th. In addition, we start our PS-MAPP classes on the 28th. I love doing hair and taking pictures and I love to keep busy, but I am not going to lie and say that I am not looking forward to almost 2 weeks of no hair doing or photoshoots or deadlines for photo editing. I will still take LOTS of pictures, but it's different when it's just fun snapshots. :) A little R and R in Florida will be great!

Tate is hilarious...and exausting. He was talking about "when he was a baby and had a corn in his belly button" the other day. I was like, "a corn in your belly button? What are you talking about?!" He said, "you know, Mommy...the corn that is in my belly button and then goes into the mommy's belly too." I realized what he was trying to say...the CORD. The umbilical cord! Ha.

He is deathly...DEATHLY afraid of white butterflies. Screams like a little girl when he sees one. Just the white ones. Ya, I don't know where that came from. Weird.

He is obsessed with the fact that he's going to be 5. He is so excited. I think his 5th year is going to bring LOTS of big changes for him. Changes in himself as I'm sure he will thrive in preschool, but also changes in our family life...hopefully he'll get a sibling (or 2) when he's five. :)

This summer has been one for the books. The busiest yet for our family!

Brigg is 10!

We've made a big deal of Brigg's 10th birthday this year.

I remember turning 1o and feeling like it was a big deal that I was double digits.

As you know, we took him on a trip to St. Louis for his gift...the collage below is of pictures from that trip...

I am not going to be able to find words that justify how amazing Brigg is, so I am not going to even try.

We love you Brigg and I cannot believe it's been a DECADE since you made me an Aunt for the first time!

For this ever so important milestone of now being double digits, I wanted to have a post dedicated to you!

Happy Birthday, Brigg!

We love you so much!!!

(you can read about our St. Louis trip in THIS POST, AND THIS POST, AND THIS POST.)

today

Icee Pops and sprinkler fun...

Sunflower Seeds have been a theme for summer 2011 it seems...

And we never get through a day with these kids without a little bit of silliness taking place...

And I think I established that I have no pigment in the skin on my legs. For reals. I spent hours "tanning" them today (I used sunscreen so I didn't get burnt) and they don't even appear to be a half of a shade darker than they were when the day began. Annoying.

Thanks Lora...

...for showing the kids how it's done.

We all need to run through a sprinkler like a kid every now and again. :)

Ava June