Sisters

We watched White Christmas the other day and there is a song called Sisters that The Hanes sisters sing in the movie. It's my absolutely favorite part of the movie. Got me to thinking about Kaycee and Baylee and how much having a sister means to me. Although my sister and I in the past couldn't stand each other...these last 10 years of marriages and kids has made Dayna my best friend. She's that person I can say anything to and know that she won't judge me or think less of me (because usually we are thinking the same thing! lol) She takes care of Baylee like she was her own which means the world to me. But my point to all this is that when I looked at these pictures, I could see how much these two love each other. I know there will be (have already been) times when the going gets rough, but my biggest wish for them is to have the same relationship in the future that my sis and I have now!

Ahh the fun Christmas photo shoot

Well, we tried we really did, but I swear when these four kids get together it's like they lose their minds! Dayna and I did manage one decent group picture and I was able to get one to use in our Christmas cards, but other than that...check out the insanity!

What a ham!

Been experimenting with my new camera alot lately and to tell the truth I think I have the most willing subject EVER!

Kaycee loves posing for pictures. As you can see her brother, well not so much. But I love her enthusiasm and willingness to hold a pose until I get the settings exactly right!

I love how the lights of the Christmas tree are blurry in the background. Not sure how I accomplished that, but it looks really cool anyway!

I now know ALOT about Camaros!

Last week Conner won third place in our county Social Studies fair. It was an ALL day event!! His project was about how the Chevy Camaro has changed over the years....yep, nothing I was remotely interested in but, I know soooo much about them now! LOL
I am super proud of him and all his hard work. It was definitely a labor of love for him. Way to Go, Conner!!

Dancing the night away....

Last week was Observation week at the dance studio. Kaycee has her classes on Tuesday. I sat through 4 1/2 hours of dance class last Tuesday. I can now say I have a huge respect for the dancers AND their teachers. Kaycee takes jazz, ballet, cheer dance and tap on Tuesday nights. She is there from 430pm to 845pm with a 45 minute break in between her classes. This dance studio is new to us. We switched this year and I am totally LOVIN' the staff at our new studio, Rhythm N Motion. They treat the girls like family and really look out for them. I forgot my camera Tuesday night :(


Baylee goes to dance on Thursday nights. She takes ballet and tap. After sitting through a 45 minute tap class with 10 3-4 year olds tapping their way around the room I thought my head would explode, but Miss Amanda never lost her cool. If it were me about 10 seconds into the class I would have a nervous breakdown and start ripping tap shoes off little girls feet!

SNOW MUCH FUN

Winter Wonderland...seems like a perfect way to describe today!

Almost 2 feet of snow! Amazing! Haven't seen this much snow in years!
The kids had so much fun today. Of course I stayed safely inside the warm house taking pictures through the window!

Baylee could hardly walk in the snow so she stayed on the porch writing letters in the snow with a stick. Conner had a friend over so the big kids went down to the trampoline and tried jumping.

I did venture out once to go over to the office once and fell three times! I was so hoping no one saw me, but one of the guys at the shop told me to be careful on my way back, so I guess he was witness to one of them!

The kids are now curled up on the couch watching TV and NOT fighting so it's a great ending to a snowed in day!

School has already been cancelled for Monday....I sure hope we can venture out before then!

I got a new camera..... I got a new camera!!!!

So my splurge on Black Friday was a new camera.....a Nikon D 3000 to be exact!


And I absolutely LOVE it (not sure of all the settings exactly tho!)

Here's a couple of my first pics......


Here's the original:















And my edits:

















Really it's nothing special just using the b&w and sepia effects, but so far that's about all that I've figure out on it. I am hoping my sister (who has the same camera) will give me some lessons!!!

Happy Belated B-day, Kaycee!

So Kaycee's birthday is Sept 12, but we were so busy we had to put off a celebration until Nov 7th! I should get the "Mother of the Year" award, huh?

It was the best birthday party so far, though!

We had a dress up party at my hair salon. Kaycee invited a few of her friends and we car pooled it to Smithburg, MD to H&M Designs with my mom and sister. The girls got to pick from a beautiful array of prom dresses and then proceeded to the salon for hair, makeup and nail polish. Then they enjoyed some cake and punch. We finished the party off with a karoke/dance party. The girls had so much fun and they all were complete angels. Kaycee has a wonderful group of close friends. I am so happy she has connected with these girls! Kaycee declared it "the best birthday EVER" (So I win some Mom of the Year points with that!!!)


Baylee even got in on the action~ She sat so still while getting her hair curled!





This child is full of contradictions. She loves being a girly girl and getting all dolled up, but in the next moment the fancy clothes are left behind and she is off riding four-wheelers with her brother and getting mud stuck in her hair. She is a roller coaster of emotion. I never know what will set her into a downward spiral or giggly outburst. She loves with all her heart and sometimes gets her heart broken when that love doesn't come back to her in the same way. I have a feeling we are going to experience tears and heartbreak in the future, but I so admire the way she loves without abandon and wears her heart on her sleeve. I hope for her a life lived with no regrets!!!
Love Ya, Girl!

Halloween 2009

So it's been a while since I've posted anything, huh?

Gonna start with Halloween:

We had a huge Halloween bash at church. Operation Safe Kids was a huge success! We had so many kids come through our line. Baylee had so much fun handing out candy to all the children. She dressed up as a cowgirl this year. She kept saying "I'm a cowgirl....Yee Haw!!!"
She now insists on wearing the cowgirl boots EVERYWHERE!!!



Kaycee was going to be a cowgirl, too. But after a trip to Walmart she decided to be a good witch. I think the hat swayed her!

Conner was NOT going to dress up this year, until his Aunt Dayna informed him that kids without costumes would not be getting candy! He changed his tune pretty quick and borrowed a cowboy hat from his Uncle Trampus and we threw together a pretty good cowboy costume, if I say so myself!!!