Sunday, March 30, 2008

It was the guilt...


that led me to figure out how to make Eric a birthday cake today. March 30 seemed to come out of nowhere this year! That means I didn't plan ahead for what I was going to make for Eric. I almost let it slide...but it was the guilt I was feeling by 11 this morning and brought me to the pantry. I NEEDED to make something, even my mom made him a birthday cake last weekend. I couldn't let his actual birthday slip by without a treat!

I found a box of yellow cake mix and strawberry frosting in the pantry...bonus! The problem came when I went to the fridge. Right now our fridge could easily rival that of a college student. There is nothing in there except for milk, ketchup, 2 cans of pop and some cheese. You notice I didn't mention eggs? I wasn't quite sure how I could pull off a cake without eggs, but again, the guilt that I had to make a treat for Eric made me put on my thinking cap. :) That's right, my thinking cap brought me to google.com! Guess what google told me? He told me that I could mix 1 can of diet cherry coke with the yellow cake mix and I would have a birthday cake in 30 minutes! I LOVE google, he (yes, I just gave google a gender) never lets me down!

So I did it...poured the diet cherry coke in the bowl first and followed that with the cake mix. I whisked it all together and poured it in the pan and held my breath for the next 30 minutes while it baked. OK, that was a lie, I actually cut Eric's hair and fed the dogs in between. Exciting day huh?

Guess what? We just finished diving into the diet cherry coke yellow cake with pink strawberry frosting and it was surprisingly good! I'll be honest, we both held the first bite on our fork thinking about what we were about to do for quite awhile. But when we finally got brave enough and took the bite, we were pleasantly surprised!

Moral of the story? When all else fails, ask google, he will know!
Moral of the story #2? Two grown adults should really know better than to let their fridge get down to such extreme levels!

Happy Birthday Eric!

Come on everyone sing it with me...

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Eric...
Happy Birthday to you!

Love you lots honey and I am so excited to spend all day with you today!


This photo is compliments of Eric. :) Sometimes Eric will take funny pictures so that when I start editing them I'll have a smattering of fun surprises throughout the edit. I loved this self portrait...it made me giggle. Look at the lens...it looks a little flat on one side...it appears the mirror he was using as his assistant it not quite right!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

New driver...


we went birthday shopping for a new driver this week. 'Tis the season for the golf courses to start turning green and that means that Eric has "the itch". He is ready to get out on the course again. That means that I will continuously shake my head because I just can't bring myself to like the game and cannot understand what all the buzz is about. I tried to like it, I really did. A few years ago I went with my brother and Eric to golf 9 holes. Guess what I ended up doing because I was SO bored? I found myself taking pictures of blades of grass...yes blades of grass. It was at that point that I realized that I just needed to stop trying to like it and just accept the fact that perhaps golf isn't my thing. I will happily let it be Eric's thing as long as I don't have to go along for the 3 hour marathon rounds!
For Eric's birthday this year he wanted a driver. (side note: I promise you when we bought him a driver last year, it was the best thing since sliced bread and he said he was "set" with golf clubs for awhile. But I digress.) So this week we found ourselves looking for the next perfect driver since the definition of "awhile" seems to mean only a year at our house.
I admit, I only lasted about 5 minutes in Golf Galaxy before I left for Barnes and Noble. I returned an hour later to find him testing many clubs and even getting a swing analysis. He seems to think he has found the "perfect" club yet again. Don't ask me what he ended up with because I have no idea...I do know that I ended up with a coat though. If you're wondering about the coat, I'd be happy to tell you more about that. :) I had to shop while he was finishing his lesson! Come on, you didn't expect me to sit and listen to the analysis did you? Remember, I take pictures of blades of grass, I don't swing the club or have an intention of swinging the club...at least for "awhile" anyway. :)

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The "S" Family...


The Ponca shoots finally happened this weekend! Remember so long ago when I announced we'd be in the area? Yeah, it never happened. After 2 or 3 re-schedules (I lost track!) we were finally able to get together with these 3 families!

And we all have the "S" family to thank for bringing us all together at the lodge. However, I don't think "lodge" accurately describes the place we were. From now on, I think I will call it the chateau! It was huge!

With a 3 year old and a 1 year old, the "S" family have a lot of ground to cover in a day! Wow, the kids are on the go all the time! And then when I bring a little sugar into the mix, we're bound to have a great time! Oh and why not add a tricycle to top it all off? Now we're onto something...that's a recipe for a fantastic time! Little "A" brought her red trike along with her, she was a rockstar on that thing, how does a 3 year old already understand how to back a vehicle on wheels up? I swear there are still days when I need to go back to driver's ed for the refresher course on reversing! Or maybe I could just go to the school of little "A" and learn from her. I'm not kidding, she owned the road on her trike...watch out!
If I had to choose 1 image that I thought described the "S" family...this would be it. Always on the go! Love it!

And here is little Mr. Serious...being 1 is no laughing matter you know, there's a lot going through this little man's mind!

The "K" family...




Two gentlemen and a princess...who brought her "A" game with her to the shoot. She is turning 3 and she showed the camera who was boss. Her mom swore she has never pulled out the "workin' it" attitude she had going on for the camera before. She was the star of the show and wasn't going to let anyone try to take that title from her. Her brothers were not interested in the title so she was set! We let it be all hers! The boys were great going along with all our ideas! Even when I made them roll up their pants to show me their rockin' socks. I believe the comment they made was something like "I knew they would be realized". :) How could I resist them once I saw what they were hiding from me all along!?!? Thanks guys for playing along with me!

The "B" Family...

ummmmm....did we have fun or what? I'm not sure, I think I'll let you be the judge. :)



Seriously these boys were pro's. I think they've had their picture taken a time or two...I would ask them to go to an area and in a flash they were ready and totally posing. It was just a hoot, it was like they knew what my next step would be and were already ready! But then I think I threw them a curve ball...YEAH! I asked them to start coming up with ideas...and they did! Upside down on the couch, hey why not? Sounds like fun to me as long as it's not me having all the blood rushing to my head, I'm all about capturing it! :) Thanks for being a blast boys! Can't wait until next time when it's a bit warmer and we can stay outside longer!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

So today didn't really go as planned...

by noon we were already at the vet...yes, on Easter Sunday! Punk managed to jump off the chair and fractured the growth plate in his leg. There were some other big words the doctor was throwing around, but all I heard or understood for that matter was the fracture to the growth plate.
The poor little guy weighed in at 2.4 pounds today and the splint on his leg probably makes him almost 3 pounds now! I guess that's one way to gain weight. :)
He will be limping around with this splint for the next 3 weeks...how are we going to keep this little guy calm for that long!?!? This should be interesting! It will be even more interesting to see how Maddoxx adjusts to play time without her sidekick...

Happy Easter!

Friday, March 21, 2008

It MUST be close....right?

Spring that is...it must be close, right? PLEASE tell me it will be here soon.


The birds in the trees tell me it must be so. I'm sure they are a lot more eager than I for the weather to change as I continue to sit in a warm house and they are out in the less than desirable March temps. But I don't know....I'm getting extremely impatient and I'd even go as far as saying I'm just as desperate as the birds in needing warmer weather!

When do you think we'll see a full week where we won't have to worry about wearing coats? I admit, I've been pushing the boundaries and have been running some errands without a coat just because it's been tolerable and I've been desperate to feel that winter is over!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Foggy morning...



Many mornings I look out and see beautiful sunrises or thick fog, but I never seem to take the time to grab the camera and capture the mornings. As I was driving this morning at 7:30 it was SO foggy and I thought the trees without the leaves had a very interesting look to them as they were trying to break the thick fog. Instead of just driving by this morning I pulled the car over and grabbed my point and shoot camera and captured these images! Doesn't it look like it should have been 10PM instead of 7:30AM?!?!? Cool huh?

Monday, March 17, 2008

Baby C...

Baby C is 6 months old! We were so excited to meet him and his family as they were referred by one of our very fun wedding couples! We knew it was bound to be a fun session! It turns out our wedding couple and Baby C's family have never met in person, only online! How cool is that and what are the chances?!?! Maybe the 3 of us need to get together for supper sometime and we can all meet in person!

Baby C was such a sweet little boy. He tolerated us and even gave us some smiles despite the fact that we interrupted his nap. I was amazed by his strength at just 6 months...he LOVED to stand up and hold onto the couch and crib. Baby C's parents were coming up with great ideas for him and we loved how "into" they were!


To Baby C's family...enjoy the preview, your online gallery will be ready soon! Thank you for inviting us to your home to capture little C! We loved his sober and serious looks just as much as we loved his elusive smiles! He was such a sweet little boy!

Baby G...

Baby G is growing up SO fast! I can't believe he's already six months old! The last time I saw him, he was only a week old...this is VERY said because his mom is my very good friend and that means that I haven't seen her in 6 months either. And here's the saddest part...we only live 40 minutes apart! Good heavens...is it too late to make a new years resolution?

OK, on to happier thoughts and sweet little baby pictures! Saturday was a fun day because not only did we get together for Baby G's 6 month old pictures, we got our dogs together for a playdate! That means it was a house full with 3 dogs, 1 baby and 2 adults trying to keep the chaos to a manageable level. All was well until the plumber came...yeah, that's right we added a plumbing job to the day, just to up the ante. :) You should know by now, our life just wouldn't be complete without pushing the boundaries. It's the story of our life!

Alright, alright, enough with the chatting and onto the good stuff!


Thursday, March 13, 2008

Baby M...

oh...my...goodness....
Let me introduce you to baby "M"! Check out this little cutie pie! She was born less than 24 hours before I took these pictures! The S family invited me to the hospital to capture some of baby M's first moments. I LOVED every minute I was there capturing their family!
Without further ado, here she is!


Check out all the excitement on everyone's faces here as they look at baby M! I *think* they just might love little baby M enough to take her home....

This puts everything into perspective...baby M is soooo tiny!

Mike, this one is for you....check out the 3 beautiful girls you get to take home with you! Wow!!


To the S family, thank you for inviting me to capture this very special time in your life. I look forward to continuing to capture your family and the girls as they grow up together!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Big day for a little boy...


Our little Punk is growing up in more ways than one!


exhibit A) Today was his last round of puppy shots!
I really think I must have blocked that whole time of my life out when we did this with Maddoxx. I TOTALLY forgot/didn't realize puppy shots meant making 3 separate trips to the vet in a short period of time. Thank goodness that is over! Oh wait, the doctor was quick to tell me that Maddoxx has to come in the next couple of weeks for her check-up! Goodness, I don't know if I can manage all these doctors visits...for the dogs! What is my life coming to?!?!

exhibit B) He gained .5 lbs. in the last 2 weeks!!!
Yay!! He's up to 2.4 lbs now! The last time we were in he had only gained a tenth of a pound in 3 weeks, I was getting worried for the little guy. He seems to be packing on the ounces now and he's looking good!

exhibit C) We got the go-ahead to get him fixed! Yeehaw!!
I haven't mentioned this here before....but I will now that it has all worked itself out for the best. (whispering) we were afraid the little guy wasn't blessed with the family jewels if you know what I mean. (end of whisper). But the doctor has assured us that he's a man's man and we can go ahead and get him taken care of! (breathing a sigh of relief!)

So there you have it, our little Punk may not be so little after all...

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Fun day!


This is what 5 sleepy dogs look like after a couple hours of playing.

Today we went to Mike and Mindy's and it was busy! Eric and Mike were taking care of the 5 dogs running around and Mindy and I were in the back room taking pictures of her invites for her new website!

Let's just say that having 5 dogs in the same house is QUITE the experience! But a very fun one! Punk thought he was 50 pounds and played with all the big dogs with no problem. Punk and Betsy are about the same age and they had a blast playing with each other! Maddoxx had fun with Penny and running all over the back yard. Bandit just hung out and played when she felt like it, but she was perfectly fine observing from the perimeter.


All the dogs are in this picture. Can you find each one of them?

And this is what the girls were doing...setting up and taking pictures of all the invites Mindy has done so she can display them on her new website that will be making its debut soon! I was taking pictures and it seemed like I kept sending Mindy on mission's to find another backdrop or plexiglas. :) Thanks for being a good sport Mindy!
Until her official site is ready, she has a blog set up with scans of some of her designs. Go visit her if you're needing wedding or special occasion invites!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Happy Birthday Uncle Kirk!

Kirk and his family came to our house last night so Kayla and Diane could go on their ISU college visit today. It just happened to be Kirk's birthday yesterday too! Erin made her first angel food cake for her dad and we hung happy birthday signs inside and outside the house...we went for major cheese factor for his birthday!

You know you're getting older when everyone at the party has to help light the candles on the cake!

And in case you were wondering...the smoke detector did NOT go off, but we did have to take a step back and allow the smoke to clear before we could dive into the cake, strawberries and whip cream....YUM!

Happy Birthday to you!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Dream with me...

let's take a trip to our happy place. Yes, I am shutting my eyes and going to my happy place that I think looks something like this...green grass, green trees and blue skies.

Wow, what a concept...color! It seems like Iowa only knows how to look white. I'm so tired of white, I could scream! How in the world do we continue to wake up to snowflakes every morning?

If you were to find a place free of the white stuff, where would you go?

P.S. This is another picture from Eric's trip to Florida. Oh the envy at our house right now... :) Calgon, take me away!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

So tired!



I think we might have the sleepiest dogs in the world! This time Eric caught Maddoxx yawning. The photo of them both resting totally cracks me up because they WERE touching eachother, but whenever Maddoxx notices that we've spotted them being friendly and touching, she removes herself from the situation. It's like she putting on this tough girl image around us, but she REALLY does love having Punk around.

As I was preparing the photos for this post, Punk was sitting on my lap. Maddoxx REALLY wanted to play, so she went and got a piece of fleece, which she knows Punk likes. Maddoxx then kept the piece of fleece in her mouth while she put her front 2 legs on the chair we were sitting on. Punk totally ignored her attempt to entice him off my lap. Then Maddoxx just placed the fleece on the chair so Punk could reach it hoping he'd grab it and jump down to chew it on the floor...I never thought I'd see Maddoxx begging Punk to play...NEVER! And here is proof...they really are friends!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Punk's first walk...


That's right, we went for a walk today!! Yay! Spring is just around the corner! By the time we got home I was carrying water in my shoe's...it was REALLY wet and messy, but it felt so good!

Punk was a rockstar walker. Much better than Maddoxx did when she was that little. Punk walked through every puddle we came across without hesitation. He walked like a pro!

This video isn't very exciting, but we had to capture their first walk together.

And yes, it's still windy around here as indicated by the picture above...his ear's are still VERY much folded back.

He's back!


Eric returned from his trip to Disney World on Friday night! Are you wondering why I only said Eric and not we? That's right, I didn't go...I got the "pleasure" of staying home and tending to the enormous amounts of snow that fell last week. It was the longest week of my life! Not only was it miserably cold and snowy, every day I was reminded by Eric's absence that he was basking in the sun in Florida!

OK, I'll stop my whining now and get on to the reason he went. :) Every year 7 kids from his school get to go on this trip. He was chosen as 1 of the 3 chaperone's for the trip this year. They had major problems getting out of Des Moines on Monday and missed their connecting flight in Minneapolis. But they finally made it to Florida 7 hours later than anticipated. They hit the ground running and visited as many parks as they could until they left on Friday.