Moon Sand, Another Great Gift!

When it comes to my sister, I have very little complaint. She is a wonderful Aunt. She calls, sends cards, comes to visit us in AZ and did I mention the gifts?! When it comes to showering my kids with gifts, she always knows what annoys me, excuse me, the kids love. In fact, I'm keeping a list of all the great gifts I'm going to be giving her kids, the day they arrive. Harmonica, bug maker, moon sand, musical recorders (one in every color) and maybe even a drum set.

Aunt May, we had a great Saturday last week with the moon sand. Abbey and I made and cut about 7000 small round cakes. I've also had a mysterious gritty residue on every surface in the kitchen since Saturday. Seriously, although my sister falls into the marketing trap and persuading ways of my kiddos, we did have some good quality time.

Welcome Home Joshua

Today I spent the morning with my friend Christy. Today was her 16th birthday, she started having kids in 3rd grade. I'm still working on most of the shots, but I wanted to post some on my early favorites. Happy Birthday Christy. See more Joshua on his slideshow.
http://jenniferweems.com/slideshows/Joshua_Ferguson.html

McTeacher Night

Tonight Abbey and I had our girl time at Micky D's. Abbey has been anticipating tonight for a while. Her beloved teachers Mrs. Nelson and Mrs Molitor were going to be there for a fundraiser night. The obsessive mommy with a camera gets everyone for a group shot. I've made several references to Abbey and her Kindergarten progress, I thought I would put some faces to names. Her teachers agreed to the pose for the picture picture, and I promised some "Mc Touch-Ups".Fair enough. Abbey absolutely loves her teachers, a big sigh of relief.
McDonald's was pure chaos and insanity, so we left as soon as our ice cream cones were down to a safe traveling portion. As soon as we regained our hearing we were off to McTarget!

Wedding MBA

This week I've been attending a Wedding Merchants Business Academy. Most people in attendees paid $300 per ticket, and most flew into Phoenix for the occasion. When I signed up to do the Bridal Show, I negotiated in a ticket to this conference. I'm trying to slowly work my way into the Bridezilla world of Wedding Photography. Although, during most of the speakers I spent my time checking out bad fashion and entertaining myself with humorous thoughts and observations. The main dude, for example, was a spitting image of a wax museum Steve Carell with a Kermit the Frog voice. Despite daydreams and butt cramps, I did pull some good things out of it. And no, I'm not still referring to my butt. I'm sure that comment just horrified my mother. Sorry mom.

Any who. The following are action points for myself. I'm not sure why I'm blogging them, but I am. First, be different be creative. I've got to find something that makes me stand out as different. My cute little AZ accent is not going to get me much. I need to really find a way to stand out in the crowd. Second, I need a cool logo. I don't really have anything that ties my website to my card and my ad's. I need something that will attract families, prego's and brides. I'm thinking something with Tiffany blue. Third, I need to really look at my pricing and packages to make sure I'm equal with my competitors. Fourth, I need to look at my advertising, website and maybe get a professional blog going. The new thing for businesses today is a blog. Finally, I need to look at watering that money tree out back. I'm pretty sure we lost it in the freeze of '07.

Mema's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Double click any image to enlarge. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Hammock Time

In an effort to keep the TV off, we all went out on the balcony for some much needed hammock time. The fights over homework and bath time are now a distant memory. Some time after the sun went down, we started an impromptu sing-a-long. Abbey wanted to showcase some of her classroom lyrics while Andrew stayed more "classic". Warning: If you listen to Andrews song, the Star Mangled -excuse me- Spangled Banner, you might want to check your front porch for stray neighborhood puppies!

A Girl And Her Puppy

Every afternoon around 3pm Maverick, our dog, gets anxious for Abbey to come home. Every noise outside is investigated. As soon as she gets in the door, Maverick gets all the attention. This silly dog does not know how lucky he is.

Cowboys and Godzilla

Today we had an early release day from school. Really, why do those kids need a one and a half days off every month? Just when I get the hang of having no kids around, bam, 1/2 day. I digress. After about of hour of reading/reeking havoc in mommy's room we split up. I suggested that they spend time playing toys in their own rooms, mainly so I could get a couple of emails sent and invoices done. I look out from my office and see my little monsters playing army guys, Indians, horses and Godzilla just like every other kid, right? Don't worry your little self, I'm not delusional. I know they are eclectic in their play.

At first, admittedly, I thought of the big mess they were making. That quickly passed when I got on my stomach. They really had quite a set up. The army guys were all in a row with the animals all hiding for cover in the fort. Later, Abbey rearranged things and put the animals out. I tricked her into the shot by telling her to lay in the back so that I could bet a better picture of her animals. Her sweet smile is even sweeter when you know that smile is from her proud achievement.

Kindergarten Mail

My sweet Abbey is loving Kindergarten. She is constantly spelling words she finds around the house. The new question of the hour is "Mommy, how do you spell xxxx?" Her little mind is always at work.

She worked for two days on the picture for my grandma, "Nanny". She paid special attention the the socks that Clifford had on, noting that the colors are in a "ABCD pattern". I told her to put the pages in an envelope when she was finished and I would put her name and address on it. Later, she told me she already did that and this is what I found. Obviously the mail carrier will recognize this portrait of Nan and get it to her. I think it's the pink hair and the ski pole extremities that give it away.

Dad's Memorial Video

Here is a link to the memorial video that we showed at my dad's funeral. Enjoy all of the bad hair days and the best of the 70's and 80's Guinn style.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1820621574706981562&hl=en

Two Months

Two months ago, my precious father drew his last painful breath and his took his first perfect step into heaven. I could not miss that man any more than I do right now. Every day that has passed I've thought of something that I need to tell him. The other day Andrew and I shared a rare car ride home from school alone. This was also the day he brought home his timeline project (see older post.) He asked me what I missed the most about Papa. Before I answered I asked him the same question. As it turns out, we miss the same thing, his voice. He said with perfect inflection and tone of my dad, "Hello, Andrew!". Every time they spoke, dad started with the same greeting. We have pictures that we will treasure forever, but we miss the voice. I would have thought that things would slowly start to get to "normal" by now, but that is not the case. As I move out of "shock" I start to digest all that has happened. I'm so thankful that I was able to write him a letter letting him know all the ways and reasons I loved him. I'm also thankful that I was able to be there with him in the end. I'm so glad that I was able to tell him goodbye and that I would miss him, and I'm so glad I will see him again.

I wanted to share a song that I heard for the first time while I was in Dallas. My family had been with me a week, and it was time for daddy to take them home for a while. After I dropped off my husband and kids at the airport, I drove home in a haze. I was thinking about missing my babies and I was also thinking about how much I was already missing my dad, although he was still alive at the time. The DJ was announcing that this song was played first in TX, so of course I had to listen. Well, 3 minutes later I was sobbing so hard that I had to pull off the highway. I've heard songs that I could relate too, but this song was for me, start to finish. It's made its way to the airways here in AZ and it gets me every time. Click on this link below

http://www.cmt.com/videos/crystal-shawanda/217202/you-can-let-go-now.jhtml

A Day With The Ferguson Kiddos

My dear friend Christy finally had baby #4, Joshua, September 11th. She has been impatiently, excuse me, very patiently waiting for this little boy's arrival. We all have.

Joshua had a little bit of a breathing problem, maybe even pneumonia. When I got to the hospital mom and dad were visably showing signs of mental fatigue, so Grandma Garippa and I set out with the other 3 kiddos. Grandma suggested that we go to the park and run off some energy. Pretty soon after we got to the park, Grandma ran to the store so we stayed and played. Somewhere after the temperature reached 176 degrees, the kids got a little restless. I had my camera with me because I planned on taking pictures of the baby, so I got out the camera. Rachel, the oldest, decided it was more fun to be the photographer than the subject. We did not get pictures of Joshua, but I took full advantage of the other three.

What-A-Burger

Every once in a while, OK about every 6 months.......fine, every couple of weeks we get get a little homesick and head out for Whataburger. We had a long crazy week, so we wanted to cap it off with a quiet Friday night.

Tonight, Abbey decided she needed her purse. How else does a proper lady carry her two puppies and her "hanatizer"? I think she cleaned her hands at least three times, and politely shared with everyone at the table. Later, as shown in the last picture, she decided she needed to sit in the middle of the booth. Andrew, being one part gentleman and one part scared of his sister, squeezed to the inside. He is learning at such a young age the importance of keeping the ladies happy.

Did I mention my beautiful children. Sometimes they just melt my heart into a big sloppy mess. I am incredibly blessed.

Today we had a bumpy start. In all the early morning commotion, Abbey managed to shut her two middle fingers in the car door. I was busy looking for shoes in the backseat, I heard a blood curtiling scream. I noticed Abbey's hand was stuck in the door and the door was closed completlely. I had a hard time opening the car door and afraid of what I would see. Two doctor appointments and a series of x-rays later, we find out that there are no broken bones. A small miricle. Needless to say, after a long unplanned day full of drama, we went to the park. Day saved.

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

The orange shown here is a volcano. He put so much effort into the little details Andrew said the Earth, shown here, has all of the layers. If we were to cut it in half it would show all of the layers down to the core. He said the white mantel was the hardest to apply because it was the thinnest layer. He's so smart!Yesterday, Andrew came home with the world in his pocket. I love the imagery this gives. I'd like to think my kids can do anything they want and believe that all their dreams are possible. I also love the picture of a real hand holding us on this crazy world, and how simple it must be for the one holding us all.

I posted this picture of Abbey just because she is just so cute. She is so hard to get in front of the camera, so I take every chance I get.

Hat Complete!

I did it! Some (me) said it would never happen but it did. My little poop crochet turned into a real functioning hat. Mom worked on this same hat for Abbey in different colors, and finished it before she left. I would have put up pictures of Abbey in her hat, but she was not in the mood for pictures......shock. Anyway, I have a healthy appreciation for all things crocheting. It's harder than in looks, but a good challenge. Next up, toilet bowl covers for everyone on my Christmas list!

Awanas

Last night Abbey and her friend Remini got their vest and several pieces of reading material that they can't read. They were both so proud of their new things. They are just so cute!

Rock Star

More Hannah Montana fun. She made several videos, but this video was made last. She made several tweaks to her performance. She said, "I'm going to make more turns and points."

Best of Both Worlds

Abbey decided today that Hannah Montana was the costume of choice. She also decided she wanted a HM room, but I had to draw the line somewhere, right? Normally, I'm so anti-character, but Halloween I grit my teeth and allow it. All through Target she was in the cart singing this song. I could not help but wonder if Brit Brit would look like this tonight on the VMA's.

Kindergarten Homework

Keeping to the age old tradition, we are working on homework due tomorrow. Abbey needs to bring a box to school to keep all of her reading assignments in. She continues to impress me with the things she is learning at school. She has gone from a total disinterest in the learning process to reading words off of signs and magazines. She is working on simple math concepts as well. She is constantly writing words and letters. She is really enjoying the act of learning. I'm so proud of her.