Busy

Sorry. I know it's disappointing to check for a new post and see that I haven't done one for so long. I'll try to get caught up on it soon.

I've been working on some changes to my website, and I have a new lab that I'm using - with some really cool stuff coming soon. I just can't get part of a program to function right on my computer right now. I got my notebook ordered, and hopefully it will not take as long as they have estimated to build it and ship. The new setup for my client viewing and sample stuff is really cool - once I get it to work right.

Anyway, because of the researching stuff, website updating, keeping up with regular paperwork/follow-through client stuff, and the rest of my normal mama/wife duties, I can't give you a good blog right now. I'll try for a good update with pics (like the rest of the Easter ones) in the next couple of days.

Happy Monday.

What's New, Pussycat?

A little bit ago, it was very exciting to be able to feel Chicken Nugget's little kittens kicking around inside her belly. It was the first night I could feel them really well. I kind of felt little movements the last couple of nights, but it was not enough to be able to say it was the kittens and not just digestive movement. So, I decided to check on the stages of pregnancy for a cat to see if I could get a better idea of how far along she is. It looks like I was probably pretty close on my estimate. The actual gestation time can vary quite a bit, so I may not have quite as long as I thought to be able to build her little house before she settles in for the birthing. I'll try to work on it over the weekend. Not sure where to put that project on my list using the priority method.

Billy wasn't really excited about the kitten movement, and he asked me if I think the black and white male cat that I'm guessing is the impregnator is the next-door neighbor's cat. I said I don't know who it belongs to, and I asked if he was going to take half of the litter over there and tell them they had to deal with it. He said yes. I haven't had to give kittens away in years, since we always had indoor cats that we got spayed. We can't keep any of the kittens, but it's going to be so hard to give them all away. Most creatures are so cute when they're babies.

My little creatures were soooooooooooooo whiny today. Olivia wouldn't wake up this morning. She just kept grumbling when Natalie, Parker, and I tried to get her out of bed. Nat was late to school because of Miss O. Olivia never stopped with her complaints and whiny, crying stuff all day. When I told her we were going to meet a friend for lunch, she just kept saying that she didn't want to see that friend. Even when my friend got in the car, Olivia wouldn't look at her or talk to her. She just kept whining. (It's a friend that Olivia normally loves to see.)

I even took the kids to the car wash after we dropped Nat off at school, because I was trying to avoid having to spend the whole day in the house with a whiny girl. The kids love the colors on the polish cycle at the car wash. It always makes them happy. I went to the car wash nearest our house, and I forgot that the wash that includes that polish cycle is 8$ at that one, and I think it's only 6$ at the others. I didn't want to drive all the way across town to get it a couple dollars cheaper, so I just went ahead and did it. I just hate paying to wash the car, and I especially hate paying for so many extra cycles that I don't think really do any good - except to please the whiny kids for a few minutes. It wasn't peace and quiet during the car wash, though, as I have the two kids who repeat statements/questions more than any other kids in the state. The same phrase is repeated again, and again, and again, and again, and again, even after I have acknowledged the statement or questions and responded appropriately. They just keep repeating and ............. "I want colors..............." (Imagine the dots as that same phrase repeated a half dozen times, even after my response.) Then, when the polish colors started..... "Where did the pink go?............." Then, "Mama, look..................................." Then, "I want more. Not enough........................" This is double, you know, because Parker repeats everything his sister says in the same tone and volume. It's only quiet in the house now because Parker, Olivia, and Daddy are asleep, and Natalie is spending the night at Gigi and Grandpa's.

I stayed outside with Olivia and Parker most of the day when we were home. It was really hot out there all day. Parker had another ant attack, and this time he wasn't even playing in the ditch. He was just sitting on the wood railing at the front of the lawn in the shade of the big tree, and he started screaming. I told him to run to me, and when I took his pants off, the ants were just sticking to his legs and feet. They just keep biting and don't let go until I actually swipe them off or pick them off. Parker is just too sweet, I guess. Fortunately, after the first attack, I bought some cooling medicated spray. That seemed to help today. When Billy got home, he treated the yard, so hopefully the ants will die. The kids can't play in the yard until it rains, since he spread the poison. It shouldn't be a problem if it will just rain Saturday.

Tomorrow (Friday), Olivia and Parker are going to spend the day with Papa, because Billy and I are going to OKC. I'm meeting with an advertiser for breakfast in a place between here and OKC, so I decided it would be a good time to go take care of some framing stuff I need for the display window. Billy took off work to go with me and help with some decisions. The advertiser lady is supposed to buy my breakfast, so I really couldn't refuse the meeting - even though I think the business could technically have been conducted over the phone and fax. How can I refuse a free breakfast and a little time away from the whiny creatures?

It seems like there was something else I had thought about talking about tonight, but I don't remember what it was.

Oh, I just remembered what it was right after I typed that. Very exciting news. More exciting than feeling the kittens move.

I booked Natalie's party at the ranch today. I finally got in touch with the owner, and I got a great deal for exactly what I wanted. Her party will be a cowgirl carnival, and I was able to combine a couple of the ranch's party packages to fit the theme just right. We'll have a magic show in the theater there, balloon animals, the huge bouncy slide thing (bigger than the one we have), the petting zoo, the play area stuff, the indoor game room area, and the pony rides. That was all part of the package deal. Then, I have some carnival games to set up, and we'll have face painting, nachos, hot dogs, cotton candy, and popcorn. I'm so glad I decided to have the party at the ranch instead of at our house. It really takes so much pressure from me. I'm excited about the party, and I know the kids will have so much fun.

K. I don't have any pertinent photos to post. I'll try to have photos for my next posting. I know it's more fun with pics.

Oh, yeah...One more thing. When I got back from WOW, Billy told the kids to sing a new song for me. It's "What's New, Pussycat", and it's so cute how Olivia and Parker do it. Billy taught it to them while I was gone. So cute. You just have to hear it.

That's all.

Over My Head

Here are a few pics from Easter. I'll post more pics (egg hunts that day, etc.) and talk a little about our Easter activities tomorrow or something.

What the Easter Bunny left on the front porch Sunday morning. There was A LOT of candy. I spent about 3/4 of the day Monday picking up candy all over the floor of the living room, dining room, and bedroom hallway. Olivia and Parker had every bit of the candy/toys from in all the baskets dumped out and scattered all over the main living areas. It was a huge mess and not fun to spend the day doing candy pickup instead of the other few dozen things I needed to accomplish that day. (They also got big baskets from Uncle John a few days before Easter - not pictured.)

It was cold outside, but Parker just had to grab a sucker before we took the baskets inside.

Cold and tired on Easter morning.

This is from the day before Easter, when I attempted to get a few photos of the kids in their Easter clothes. I didn't have the energy to try to fix hair for the girls. We were only outside in the outfits about 3 minutes. They just weren't in the mood for photos, and neither was I. (We've been sick with allergy stuff. Mine started the day after I got back from WOW. I'm actually not sure if it's another head cold or just seasonal allergies. Anyway, it's zapping my energy.) The kids were so wired when we got outside to take these pics. I just couldn't get any. I'll have to try to get them dressed up and take some good photos in studio in a few weeks, when some of my other projects are out of the way.

The very weird picture from Saturday's brief attempt at getting some photos. They were just running around and hugging each other and doing silly poses during the 3 minutes we were out there.

*****

I'm way behind on a lot of stuff I need to take care of this week. Everything is so time-consuming, but it all has to get done. Most of it is stuff I can't work on during the day with the kids here. My only chance to work on it is at night after they are in bed. Then, I try to go walking as soon as they go to bed, and by the time I get home, it's late and hard to work on a lot of it. Then, with my computer running so slowly on most programs, it takes forever to take care of a lot of that kind of stuff.

I need a new laptop so badly. Now, my printer is messed up, and I can't print my invoices/spring newsletter/online order confirmations/payment confirmations/etc. I can't take time to try to work on fixing it until later tomorrow. Also, my burner is not working.

K. I think I'm done complaining for now.

Nothing exciting to report. Oh, except that Chicken Nugget is now pregnant. I thought she was going to be pregnant around December, and Natalie heard me say something about it at that time. She was so excited, and we talked about how we would build her a little place where she could have her kittens and how Natalie wanted to help take care of them, etc. Then, it turned out that Chicken did not get pregnant when I thought she had. Now, she is definitely pregnant. I have no idea how far along, except that I'm guessing by how her belly looks. I'm thinking maybe 4-5 weeks. I'll try to build her little house a couple weekends from now, and we'll start feeding her in there, so maybe she'll go there to have the kittens.

A couple nights ago when I was saying goodnight to Natalie, she said, "Happy Spring, Mama," as I was going out the door. It was cute.

K. More about Easter later.

Home Sweet Home

It's always hard to try to play catch-up on my postings, and it's especially hard right now since I was gone for 5 days, and a lot of what happened while I was gone I won't be able to blog about anyway. It was the first time I have ever been away from Billy and the kids that long. He has been out of town for that long before with his work, but I have never gone out of town for that long by myself. (Well, I wasn't alone, but you know what I mean.)

So, back to last Friday. My sister, Leah, from California arrived Thursday afternoon, so she got to be there Friday for the egg hunt for Nat's school, and Aunt Leah helped Parker find eggs. The Easter party was held at a kid's ranch. I had never been there before. I didn't get there in time to look around before the hunt was to start, so I don't know a whole lot about the ranch, except that I asked one of the people who run it if they rent out ponies for birthday parties. Natalie's 5th birthday is going to be a cowgirl carnival, and I have been making plans since last May. I still haven't found anyone with ponies who could bring one to our house for pony rides during the party. When I asked one of the men who works at the ranch, he said that they have ponies for rides, but they can't leave the property. They only rent out the ranch for parties, and they give pony rides there. After we left the ranch, I started thinking about that, and I will be calling the ranch Monday to see about scheduling Natalie's party there at the ranch, instead of trying to do it all at our house this year. That would take a lot of stress from me for now, anyway.

Parker's Eggs

VERY upset with Gigi, after she told him he couldn't eat any more candy until he ate some sandwich for lunch.

Olivia finds an egg.

Saturday morning, Gigi, Leah, and I left for Arkansas to be there for my niece Rachel's daughter's 1st birthday party in Ft. Smith. I was miserable all day with my horrible toothache. I was unable to make contact with a family friend in town who is a dentist to see if he could pull the tooth that morning before I left. So, I left town in horrible pain and just wishing Monday would arrive quickly, so I could locate a dentist and get rid of the awful tooth. It was still nice to be there for sweet Remi's party.

Remi opens presents.

Cousin Anna getting so big.

A little overwhelmed. It's her party...She can cry if she wants to.

We spent the night at my sister's house and met my other sister the next morning (Sunday) to start on our way to WOW (women's only weekend) by Tenkiller Lake. We met my other sister and niece when we were almost to our destination for the first night. (I do have a little bit of an issue with the title for this year, since it wasn't really a weekend...Sunday-Wednesday.)

I won't go into a lot of detail about WOW, because most of the people who read this will already know a lot of what happened. It was fun! - The best girls' weekend we've had so far. Possibly, it's because it was the first one where I didn't have a baby (or babies) and/or a pregnant belly with me. Also, it was really cool to rent the house and not have to be careful of how much noise we made, etc. I think my favorite part was our Wii-lympics...and the 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal that I won! Now, Billy will be getting a Wii for his birthday, because I think I was instantly addicted. (Thanks, Julie.)

Anyway, Monday morning, I was able to see a dentist in the area who pulled the painful tooth for me. It didn't take long, and I felt soooooo much better to have it out and not hurting like it was. It was kind of not fair that everyone got to eat a nice breakfast right after we left the dentist office, with gauze in my bleeding empty tooth socket; but, I was still just happy to not have that root pain anymore.

So, I can't possibly blog about everything else that happened during WOW. I think I will just leave it at that because, as the saying on our shirts goes --- "What happens with the sisters...stays with the sisters."

Billy survived fine without me home for 5 days. The girls were at the lake with Ninny and Papa from Friday afternoon until Monday. Billy and Parker had a lot of fun doing guy stuff during that time.

Thursday (Jeremy's birthday), my sister and niece (Janell and Julie) got to fly in Dad's airplane with him. I took a couple pics of them in the air over our house, while Parker and I stood in our front yard and waved to them. After their flight, Parker and I met them and my mom and dad for lunch. Then, Janell and Julie headed back to New Mexico.

Today, I did a couple of sessions and worked on a project, since Billy didn't have to work. I think the session that was tentatively planned for Saturday will be postponed at least one more week, so I'll try to get some things done around the house over the weekend. I think I'll take Easter pics of the kids tomorrow, since Sunday is supposed to be a little cooler and possibly rainy.

More soon...

Owwwwwww!

My tooth is hurting so much! I have had a toothache for a long time, and I just haven't been able to etch out the time to go take care of it. I have to, now. I can't take it any longer. For the last 4 nights, it has hurt soooooooo much, and I haven't been able to get to sleep until almost 4 each of those nights. I'm leaving in the morning for WOW (girls' weekend), and I really think I might have to go see whatever dentist I can find in the area where we'll be on Monday morning and beg them to take care of my tooth. I think it's the very back tooth on top, so I'm just going to ask them to pull it out, if it is. I can't stand this anymore. The extra-strength Tylenol can't help it anymore. I've been living off the Tylenol constantly for months just for my toothache (aside from my back pains, etc.).

Anyway, today was Natalie's Easter party for school. I'll talk about it and post pics when I get home next week. Hopefully, I'll be missing one very painful tooth by then.

Today

It was such a beautiful day. The kids loved it outside. I was going to try to get some photos of Natalie, because I have to have 3 or 4 that will be placed on the slide show at her graduation. I was trying to watch Olivia and Parker and keep them from going behind the house, plus hold the reflector to shade Nat's face, plus take the pics. It was too hard to get any good ones with the other two out there. Happy moment: Today, I found a camera lens that I totally forgot I had. I needed it, too.

So, today I found out that I'm leaving Saturday for WOW (women-only weekend...formally known as girls' weekend). Originally, I was to leave Monday...Then, it was Sunday. Now, it's Saturday. Billy's going to have a lot of fun alone with the kids until Wednesday. I have a feeling he'll pawn at least one kid off to Ninny and Papa at some point.

I have probably 1/8 of the stuff done that I want to have done before I leave for WOW. I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll get an energetic start in the morning.

Here are a few pics from today - silly faces.

Because...

I just thought I should get a blog in tonight. I don't want to take the time to think too much about the stuff that's happened and I wanted to talk about. I'll just try to remember some of the things the kids have said and post a better blog tomorrow or the next day. Kind of busy now - a lot busy, actually!!!!!

Billy, Olivia, Parker, and I went to OKC Friday so I could pick up a few things I wanted for Saturday's shoot. I got most of what I needed. (I already knew of a couple things that would not be in stock.) Olivia and Parker were very good, until the last stop when Olivia was just too tired and she started to get naughty. We even went to a couple of antique shops, and they were so good and quiet. Some of the other people in the shop didn't even know they were there until we walked up to the counter. I found a really great bench for a prop. It happens to match our bedroom, but I don't think it will fit well, unless I move the armoire to another wall that really won't be ideal. The bench will just sit in the study for now, until I decide the best place. Anyway...overall, Friday was a very long but good day.

I didn't get many good images from Saturday's session. There were several factors that made it a little chaotic - with a lot of family present and the kids having to wait around a while before we were ready to start, etc. I'm still really, really happy about the new studio space. It feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders to have it. - One thing checked off of my to-do list.....several hundred thousand more to go.

Snow Catchers

My Place or Yours

Super happy, good news!!!

I have a new studio space available. I have a shoot there Saturday. Yay!

Germ Fest

Last night, when we picked up Natalie from ballet, she was wearing lipstick and blush and a new bead necklace. I asked her if she had makeup on, and she said they all got to put makeup on and get a necklace because they practiced their recital dances. I asked her how the teachers applied the lipstick, and she said with the roll-up stick kind. I asked if they used a Q-tip...no. I asked if they wiped the stick after they used it on each girl...no. A little germ party in ballet class.

Parker still had fever last night. He seems okay right now, besides the runny nose. Olivia is just coughing still.

Sick Prince

Poor Parker is sick now. His fever is really high. When he woke up this morning and came to our room, he felt like he was on fire. I gave him fever reducer several times throughout the day, but he was still so, so hot this evening again. He won't eat the icy pops, either. He's sleeping okay for now. Miss O is still sick and whimpery.

Today, Natalie asked me a question about how something worked (a tiny button on the back of a toy that turns on a light on the front of the toy), and I gave the standard answer I give when I've been asked a hundred questions all day and I don't want to take the time to explain something else while I'm trying to do something. I said, "I don't know." She said, "Well, you should know...You went to college." I guess I should start answering the questions I can answer, so she won't think college is a waste.

When I asked Natalie what she wanted for dinner tonight, she said, "I lost my appletight."