Catching Up....

It's been awhile since I've really blogged about some things going on in our lives...so here is the catch up! Ha!

1. The count down is on! Well....it's been on for a looooong time now...

We are headed to Disney World and the kiddies are BEYOND excited. We've been planning this for months..and the countdown has gone on for months. Every day Eva diligently marks another day off the calender and counts how many more days we have left! I get sooo much joy out of their excitement. THEY make it special for ME!

2. My photography schedule is wrapping up. I do not do indoor photography (with the exception of a newborn I am photographing soon...he was just born TODAY). Since the weather is turning cooler I am finishing everything up. This past year my little "hobby" really took off....reeeeaaaalllly took off....a little more than I expected. My priority is - and always will be - my family so I need to make some choices about how I am going to handle next year. I know that some changes are going to have to be made to ensure this stays a hobby, and not a job. It will probably mean severely limiting the number of clients that I take on. I have a bit of a problem saying "no" to people! Ha! That being said, I am extremely grateful and humbly honored by all of the families that trusted me with their photographs.

3.I've considered taking my blog completely private. I've considered this in the past...but I'm seriously considering it now. To be honest, sometimes I want to write things to my children that I don't want the whole world to read (remember that I print my blog off into a book each year). The only part holding me back is that my blog is a great way for my far away friends and family to keep up with what is going on in our lives. Decisions...decisions....decisions. Any of you out there keep your blog private? Any advice?

4. Eva is loooving kindergarten...and I am looooving that she is looooving it. I really enjoy her teacher and I love to see the excitement in her eyes when she climbs in the car and shares with me what happened during the course of the morning. She is learning to read - which just makes me ecstatic! She has also made her first little "best friend" at school. Eva talks about Kelsey quite often and has even asked if she could have a playdate together. She then went on to tell me that they already discussed what they will do on the playdate...."paint our toenails, play kitchen, and ride bikes." Adorable.

5. I went back to school shopping recently (I always wait until the weather turns cooler). I was amazed at how much Eva had grown! Jaden had grown, but Eva skipped up to the next jean size over the summer. She is now in a size 7 and she is only 5 years old! Not sure where she gets that height from...it certainly isn't from her daddy or me! Ha! That being said, I had a blast clothing shopping with both of them! Eva definitely has some ideas about what she wants to wear and I love seeing her little personality shine through in her clothing choices.

6. I found it CRAZY hard this year to find Eva a pair of black Mary Jane shoes that did NOT have a heel on them!!!! I'm just not willing to let my 5 year old sport heels. Thank goodness for Striterite!

7. I love my mornings with Jaden while Eva is in school. It's nice to have some quality time with him and he seems to be loving the attention. He loves to play games (CandyLand and Zingo are favorites) during that time. He also loves to help me around the house, with laundry being his favorite household activity. But my very favorite part is that he loooooooves to snuggle!!

8. Not sure if I mentioned this before but this summer we gained a new member of our family!! We now have a fish named Basketball!!! He is a Beta fish and we love him. I wasn't real keen on the whole fish thing but the kiddies won a few fish at a carnival and they quickly died. Matt and I decided to purchase one fish for them to share...and that is how Basketball wormed his way into our family.

9. We enjoyed this past weekend to the FULLEST as we had some beautiful weather in this area. We had already closed our pool, but our neighbors hadn't. All of the families in our little corner of the neighborhood gathered together and had one last hurrah at the pool to end our summer. It was so nice to soak in the warm sun and watch the kiddies run, play, splash, and swim!

10. I purchased Dr. Dobson's book Bring Up Girls. Has anyone read it? I got Bringing Up Boys from the library years ago and I didn't enjoy it...in fact I didn't even finish reading it. My VERY FAVORITE book on raising a son is called That's My Son. Absolutely AMAZING. I will read it over and over while I am raising Jaden. Anyhooo...I'm hoping Bringing Up Girls is a little different than Bringing Up Boys but so far I don't see a difference.

That's it for now....you are allllllll caught up!!! Have a great day!