The Kids...

I forgot to give kiddie updates!

Jackson carried around a plastic hotdog for a whole week and a half. He went to bed with it at night and each morning, I would go into his room and he'd be standing in his room with it. Goofball.

He had quite a spill as you can see by the picture. Smacked his head on the door jam in the living room.

Drew and Tyler lined all my pots and pans up on the stairs and had a "garage sale". It was not a sucess, so it quickly turned into a giant drum kit and hours of banging and singing.

The highlight of last week was when Justin bought a chest freezer. The box instantly became the best playhouse ever. For the kids that is...(when I wasn't taking up all the room)

It's been WAY too long!

I promise I will never space my posts this far apart again! Life has been crazy busy here. I'm trying so hard to balance the kids and work at the same time. Than I forget Mamma needs a little time to herself as well, but right now...not happening.

This is a picture of our dog, Gabe (looking rather regal) that I entered in a "photoshop your pet" contest on smugmug.com. Paste the below into your browser, then vote and comment on it so I can make some CASH-OLA. Please.

http://photoshopyourpet.smugmug.com/gallery/6412905_8eiXK#424489051_96Sdj

Also, my friend Lindsay's adorable baby Nicole's picture is posted on here because she's just so darn cute.

I've been working on promotional materials and open house stuff for Nadia's salon & spa, a brochure design for Nevaeh day spa, a brochure design and some web site banners for Dog Gone it, a new logo and ads for Select Construction, Tudor Rose logo revisions, Siebke Hoyt banners among other things. Oh...and did I mention a CRAP-LOAD of family Christmas pictures as well?

Justin was just hired by the Supreme Court as a Juvenile Court Officer. Exciting news! We will have to learn how to spend holidays together now. I'm used to having to spend them alone with the kids. This will be a great change. It's going to take some adjusting and getting used to, but anything worth while always is.

So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Happy turkey day everyone! I'm planning to drive to Waterloo with the kids to meet my Mom for lunch, than back to Cedar Rapids for an evening with Justin and his family.

Garage sale stickers= hours of fun!

It's so crazy how the simplest things can entertain kids for hours. Tyler came across garage sale tags from this last summer and decided to decorate himself. That's kind of his thing. Anytime he gets his hands on stickers they end up in a giant clumpy cluster on his shirt. This time, his face. I laughed and laughed. Drew joined in the fun not being able to stand Ty being the center of attention and Jack was just an innocent bystander. It's times like these I hope to remember forever.

Yesterday was the big party for my good friend Kris. We started off with a wedding shower at Carlos O' Kelly's leading into a bachelorette party downtown Cedar Rapids. It was great to see Kris having a good time for the most part. Getting crazy is not really her thing, but with some little coaxing from a dude dressed in a pirate costume, she spent at least 5 minutes on the dance floor. That's a big step for Kris. You go girl!!

Happy Birthday Yesterday DK!

This is a picture taken by Dan Kempf (DKP) and artistically cropped and edited by me. Ahhh...what a great team! Dan celebrated his birthday yesterday and I missed it. Sorry man!

Also posted is an invite I've been working on for Siebke Hoyt Jewelers.

I'm getting excited for my good friend Kris' wedding shower/last night out. Kelly, the other bridesmaid and I have planned a great party, so it should be a blast.

The kids are sick, so our place is not a fun place to be. I feel sorry for Justin having to take care of the kids while I'm working but I've been so busy and can't help as much during my work time. Hopefully this cough and booger thing clears up soon.

Dog Gone It!

Another late night and early morning. Luckily, most of the stuff I'm working on right now is fun. Like this ad from Dog Gone It. A very cool online dog collar, leash, and harness company owned by Amy Gharib. She's out of Marion, and the product she puts out is fantastic. Check it out at: www.doggoneitdesigns.com

I braved Chuck E. Cheese with all three of the kids last night. It was complete insanity. Jack wasn't sure what to think about the whole deal. He didn't know whether to dance to the music or cry because Chuck E is just that dang scary. One of the eyes on the robot was stuck closed. Totally freaky.

Mondays!!

I woke up at 5 this morning to get a jump on the day. It's so much easier to work when you don't have kids screaming. The time change has really messed up sleep schedules at our place. Tyler came down at 6 and watched me work until everyone else woke up. The entire time he was behind me requesting songs for me to play on itunes. Mainly from the Shrek soundtrack. I've seen the movie 30 million times and could sing the lines to every tune. Helped the time pass while I was editing some family photos.

I decided to enter a couple of photos in the Call of the colors Cedar Rapids Gazette photo contest. Today is the deadline. Usually I have a plan, but just decided to submit some I took of the kids last month. 3 years ago, I got the biggest picture on the front page. Nothing since then.

Back to the grind

Halloween is my favorite holiday, but the week before is complete ciaos. I always end up taking on too much. Making costumes, helping out with Drew's preschool party, and working is a lot to handle. Next year I'll start earlier...this is what I say every year.

Right back to work on Saturday. I shot a wedding with some help from Dan Kempf. It's always a blast working with him. The pictures are fantastic. I'm sure Megan & Kevin will be pleased.