YUMMMMMMMMM...

STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!
So we went to Bures Berry Patch yesterday, great day for it too, we went in the morning when the sun was still hiding behind some clouds and it was just the right temp and no glaring sun burning our backs! The kids had a blast and can you believe that when we were getting out instructions on how to pick we were TOLD to either put the berry in the bucket or your mouth!!!! Really he should not have told my kids that. Kaleb was the biggest eater, check out the shot below with berry juice running all over, he was covered in sweet juicy strawberry goodness. Then there was Carter who behaved and held out longer than I expected. We made it just less than an hour and ended up with 7 and 1/2 lbs of strawberries, anyone need some???? After cleaning half the flat last night I just don't know what I am going to do with the rest.

I do totally suggest checking this berry patch out if your in the neighborhood, fabulous people and fabulous place.

Summer so far....

Wow can you really believe that we are coming to the end of June already, it seems as if summer has barely begun and you hit that 4th of July mark and it's all down hill from there.

We are having a wonderful summer though, we've been to archery shoots with Daddy, out to the beach - which I have to say was better than I thought it would be, got this fabulous beach chair and I barely have to touch the sand!!!! LOVE IT!!!! Carter really liked the beach too, something about being able to splash a little then dig in the sand really kept him content. And let me tell you it is getting harder each day to keep that little guy happy. He is just too busy all the time. And of course we have had a couple bonfires at Grandpa's so far, smores, need I say more...

Then the biggest news of the summer, Linds got her very own four wheeler! That's K and Carter hanging on it in the last picture. It's really cute and really little, Linds likes it so far and by the time she out grows it Carter will be set to take off on his own. We've been riding a couple times so far and it really is a blast. Jeff joined a "Gun" club, they have 600+ acres and tons of ATV trails, and since most of the members only gun hunt they are not worried about the land getting messed up by all the riding around. We now have a place to ride where Daddy can really have fun and not worry about the deer! Silly life I know!

My Superstar!!!

Well we made it through our dance Recital, not even massive floods could stop this show, although the rain sure tried it's darn'dest. All the girls were wonderful, Linds is part of a great group of little ladies this year and I really hope they are all together again next year. They played so well behind the sceens and I don't recall anyone getting in trouble or any yelling. It made for a wonderful weekend.

So we've had a million and one things happening lately, schools winding down, the weather is finally getting warmer (now if the rain would stop...), Jeff's had some time to play with us. All kinds of good things...

But I just had to give a HUGE shout out to myself and a HUGE thanks to my father. I JUST BOOKED MY FIRST WEDDING SHOOT!!!!! Ok so weddings were not really the thing that I want to do, but the gal is planning a very simple day and was even thinking of not doing photos at all. Didn't want to spend the $$$. I am giving them a super deal, cuz well I am so not at the level of wedding photographer, but it will be fun for me and heck I may meet some people who want portrait sittings. I am really excited and needed/wanted to share with anyone out there!!! And I got my business cards today! Gotta get them in the hands of my promoting pals and get the bookings rolling... I am hoping to do a few seniors over the summer, we'll see how that goes.

I have been tagged...

Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
- thanks Shannon!

2. Share 4 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
- Ok 4 facts... first, I'm not doing so well on blogging because I have started an exercise program and that fills the hour that I would normally be surfing the web and playing on this thing, I do miss blogging

second, I am completely into PostSecret, I have to check it out each week. If you haven't seen this check it out, they put new "posts" each Sunday and they even have a few books out too, gotta get me one of those

third, I have created my own Photography business and I have my first PAYING client next week!!!!!!

and lastly I think I am more excited for the end of the school year than my kids. I can't wait to sleep in and spend every sunny day at the pool or the beach! Only 9 days left!


3. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
- my taggees (thanks for the word Shannon)

Angela
Nicole G.
Jen M.
and my friend Chis who I will email, because she hasn't even left a post on her newly created blog, this will be a good thing for her...

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog .
- all done!

like this picture, makes me want to sit and read a book! it's my friend Mary's porch at her country cabin. We did a little tour because she wants me to do her family portraits here and she has offered me rights to bring other clients out to photograph too! She's a sweetie!

Parents day at dance class!

Check out my little dancing queen, they are getting ready for recital and good enough to show off both of their dances for the moms. This year Linds is doing a Tap routine to a little tune called Broadway Bound, they have silver and black "mini" tux outfits, too cute! Their ballet number is to the Mary Poppins tune Supercalifragilistic, and they have white Mary Poppins Dresses with white parasols. This is our third year of dance and our third time with an all white costume, not sure if that's luck or what... I am really excited for the show this year, the kids are so good at their dances.

So I have been ignoring this blog lately, too many other things going on right now and well when the weather is nice I like to walk outside.

A couple tidbits for ya... Isn't my Carter a hoot! We were at Aunt Julie's last weekend to celebrate a couple birthdays and well Julie decided to teach Carter to just bite right into that cake! He wasn't so sure the first few tries but then when no one was scolding him he jumped right in and caked up! Thanks much Julie!

Bowling Crazy!

So we can Wii Bowl pretty good, let's try our luck at real bowling... totally different! Linds had a blast at cousin Brooke's birthday party bowling and cake and video games, really it doesn't get much better than that! Carter had to get in the action too! I love how Linds bowls, on her knees and just give the ball a big push! Hillarious to watch! Also it was horrible getting decent pictures in a bowling alley, most were crazy blurry cuz my shutter speed was so slow and I needed a tripod, oh well I will know better next time...

Turkey Time!

Last week Jeff had his turkey season, this really is a special time for him and Kaleb, up early in the morning and out to the blind to see what they can. They got this gobbler first thing on the first day! A little later in the day we headed down to the leased hunting land to take some pictures (I would have gotten a few more only my camera battery decided that it was done for the day!). I got a couple of Kaleb and Carter climbing around the bigger than normal creek, they were so cute together, sometimes K is really a super big brother!

Family Fun at Cave of the Mounds

We took the kids out of school early on Friday and did a little field trip of our own! We had a ton of fun, except for the fact that we "had" to be the end of the line. Carter decided that he would fill his diaper as we were leaving for the tour and there was no where to change him in the cave! Gosh I am sick of diapers!!!

I don't think anyone had a favorite part, everything was so much fun! Carter really liked making noises and hearing the echo, even stinky everyone thought he was cute!

testing something new out! playing with videos and you tube. this test snip-it is from when Kaleb was just about 1 year old. Did you see it, does it work???

Wonderful Spring!!!

Finally we've got some beautiful weather and we got a chance to play! On Sunday we ventured out to Govenor Dodge State Park and played for quite a while. Our first stop is one of the campground parks, I think K and Linds would have been happy to just play in the sand for the whole day. Carter he wanted to wander. He got a kick out of climbing the play structure and then eventually hitting the slide. I of course was just excited to be outside with my camera, I went fully manual and there were some good shots taken. Some of what could have been my favorites didn't turn out as perfect as I would like. I think that my ISO setting was a little high for all the bright sunshine, there seems to be a lot of "noise" in the last picture here, but I still like it. Otherwise I just sort of set my Apeture and played with my shutter to get the right exposure, all my photo criticing pals, what'cha think??? I'll post some more pics after I get these words out.
The next stop of the state park train was the earth dam by one of the beaches, that's where the last shot here was taken. I also had fun shooting some rushing water there too. Boy was it hot outside! Poor little Carter was turning lobster red, but he didn't seem to mind. We didn't spend too much time at the dam, Kaleb was so worried that Carter would get away and fall in the water. After that we headed to the waterfall, it is always cooler down there and we were looking for a cool spot. On the path to the waterfall is an old spring house, we spotted a tiny little snake (have no idea what kind), very cool! Then down to the bottom of the waterfall and a little bit of a hike along the path. I was starting to get tired, Carter is a lot to run after! So the suggestion of ice cream was made and out of the park we went! But really the weather was just to nice to not stay outside, after ice cream we took the dogs for a walk to Wilson park and hung out there for awhile too. Really we had the perfect day!
So far this week has been wonderful too, walked to pick the kids up after school each day, love that! Today it's doing some spring storms, which really is fine too, I love the smell of the rain and the sound of thunder.