MuD.

i think these pictures speak for themselves

as soon as she gets outside she finds the muddiest place and climbs right in. she loves dirt and rocks and anything messy. i was just happy she didn't eat any mud this time.

zoo

Last friday we went to the zoo, twice actually. we met some friends in the morning it was one of our friends birthday. here's elijah pretending to sleep on a log.

and then we went back to the zoo later that evening for grandpas work party. it was way fun to hang out with dad at the zoo, it doesn't happen very often and then plus everyone else from the family went too. so grandma and granpa and everyone else. here's ashleigh way enjoying some chocolate chip cookies.

and hamburgers!!!

more cookies, i promis this isn't the last of the cookies.

and lots and lots of running. i don't think we even saw any animals the kids were too busy chasing each other. they acted like they hadn't seen eachother in months.

lindsey being...well lindsey.

like i said more cookies.
and of course the playround.

thanks grandpa for letting us go to your work party with you! we'll go get free food anytime.

ashleigh (and her rocking chair)

i saw the rain outside and the rocking chair lonely on the back patio and ashleigh was dressed so cute, i couldn't resist. and she was so cooperative today. so i had to double post i had so many pictures to share. she's getting so big too, with her little jeans. she started giving kisses yesterday and i swear she said diaper. she says lijah, dada, baby, ball and bye and waves and she just started signing milk. she just learned about uh, oh so she loves throwing things on the floor and says uuuh, ooooooooh. so cute. she's so observant and smart. she picks up on everything so fast. little stinker.

sunny september

ashleigh found elijahs little rocking chair, she's been loving it the last two days. so adorable.
i took her outside to take some pictures in it. yesterday was such a beautiful day. today's been rainy and overcast, but i got some awesome pictures i can't wait to share.


and elijah trying to jump. i don't think his feet came off the floor once. hahaha. did you notice it's an actual scrapbook page, i felt a little scrappy (doesn't happen very often) oh yes and he's not wearing pants a very common occurance at our house. i hate putting them on after everytime he uses the bathroom and apparently so does he!!!
now my big boy! i can't believe how big he is. going to school, riding a big bike, making big messes, coloring and drawing (he drew me a dinosaur yester, well that's what he called it. i guess it could look like a very smashed dinasaur)

something new to look at

so i'm having a little bit of photoshop problems and i really don't feel like dealing with them, so i'm waiting for my husband to fix it for me. i can't open certain types of files. but i still have a ton of pictures that i haven't shared yet that i actually can open and resize and fix. so here's some of ashleigh's room, still a work in progress after almost a year. considering what this room has been through i think it's looking pretty good. it used to be the office and had a desk that covered two walls. it was sort of the "hide everything in here" room. i'm trying to turn it into my "pretty ballarina's, girly, princess" room. i think i want to repaint, what do you think about purple? i hear it's supposed to be calming, not like pink which is like red and is energetic, we don't need anymore of that, especially at night and naptime. i also want to put a fun girly quote on the wall. any sugesstions? but something not to babyish and not too princessy. something that is motivating and empowering, for a 10months old. hahhhaha i haven't seen anything that i've fallen in love with yet.

i'm also brewing some ideas for family pictures and high school senior pictures.

so coming soon...

family pictures package deals for the holidays. $50.00 includes 1 hour session, with cd of proofs and christmas card!

and

high school seniors stay tuned for some fun group and individual pictures, also costumized graduation announcements/invitations.

i'm so excited i can't wait. if you are intersted, send me an email and we can set up a date and time. i'll have some christmas card examples to show you soon.

yesterday...

i think i'm the luckiest person in the whole world. i've got the greatest husband who takes such good care of me, tells me he loves me and i'm beautiful everyday! what else could someone need or want? then i have the two most beautiful and just adorable kids. they make me smile and laugh and laugh and laugh everyday. here's what they do...
try to get my camera lens..

make funny faces...

eat rocks, dirt, bugs, leaves, did i mention rocks yet? i guess when you have as many rocks as we do what else would you do with them?



this is ashleigh signing baby...

and more...


more funny faces...

spitting out water...

what elijah looks like after he sprays water up his nose...


thanks for looking at my millions of pictures. everyday i realize more and more how much i am blessed. now i have the opportunity to share all my blessings with you and show you why i'm so grateful and happy. i look at my kids everyday and can't believe how much love and happiness is in our little house. i never thought anyone could feel this loved and needed and appreciated! thank you!!!

paul and janelle

i've been such a scatter brain lately. i think i'm finally getting a hold on my schedule i had to take out my old PDA to get a little more orgainized. it's amazing how much preschool 2 days a week throughs off my schedule!

so i finally got a good look at the pictures i took on saturday. and now i can share them. these two were just so happy i hope i captured some of the joy of the day!

so saturday was a little crazy, but that just seems to be our weekend trend lately. we went to a beautiful and small wedding on saturday. some good friends from church. i got to take some pictures but i wish i could've taken more. these two were just beautiful and janelle was so happy. i love weddings because of the love and happiness.

janelle has just been on top of the world this last week. you can just feel this warmth and love around her. the light in her eyes and face is contagious. i love being around her.

chili rellenos

The chile relleno, literally "stuffed pepper", is a dish of Mexican cuisine, consisting of a roasted fresh green Anaheim or poblano chili pepper stuffed with a melting cheese, such as queso Chihuahua or queso Oaxaca (traditionally), and/or picadillo meat made up of diced pork, raisins, and nuts, seasoned with canella meat, covered in an egg batter, and fried. It is often served in a tomato sauce. The type of sauce varies widely. There are also many versions in Mexico that use rehydrated dry chiles such as Anchos or Pasillas

so first you have to select and peel the biggest, fattest chili's to stuff...then well stuff them. (sorry forgot to get a picture of that)
next you beat the egg whites. grandma says (laughing but serious) "don't stare at the eggs, you'll give them the 'evil eye' and they won't fluff" hahaha laughing some more. so mario stops staring at the eggs and soon they fluff.
next you add the flour and yellow part of the eggs and some garlic. and mix, mix, mix some more.
time for a break, hey we worked hard watching dad do everything.

lots of chatting and hanging out and other stuff while waiting for the oil to get hot enough to FRY! you have to continously check the oil to make sure it's hot and not too hot grandma says.

so you stick the stuffed chili in the batter... (this is mario's extra fat one, we had to get a special picture of it)
then fry it until it's good and crispy and the cheese is all melty and the chili's are nice and hot. then we cover them with beans and enjoy. so delicious. i'm actually hungry i think we have some left in the fridge i'll see you guys later.
but before i go, here's ashleigh hanging out eating a baseball...
and giving herself kisses. XOXO

bet you wish you had some chili rellenos right about now!

first day of school

these pictures stink! kind of like the rest of my day yesterday. well not really but i think i was more nervous than elijah, actually i know i was i don't think he knew what was going on. so we left the house at 8:35 am. no problems, school starts at 9:00. so no problems there i was expecting elijah to not want to leave but after a little talking to and convincing he left to the back to play i asked for a kiss he just looked at me and then walked away. so i left, he was busy playing. then i went to my sisters house to watch her little one so she could go "to work at hunters school". then at 11:15 (barely 2 hours later) i left to go pick up elijah. almost got hit by two minivans of crazy moms trying to get a place to park to get their little ones. then i get to the school and elijah runs to me and the teachers tell me he cried. only for like 5 minutes but it still broke my heart. elijah said he was sad becuase he didn't give me a kiss, so i tried taking pictures of him after school and i couldn't get my camera to work.

it works fine now, i think there's some smudges on the filter and the lens is trying to focus on them which throws off the entire camera. it thinks it's so smart, so smart it tricks itself into not working. so it was an emotional day. then i couldn't sleep last nite, thinking of all the things i have to do today before school tomorrow (like school supplies i've had a list for for the past month but forgot to get before school) then elijah has school tomorrow i don't know what to do while he's there, i guess go to the mall. darn!





so i guess tomorrow i'll try taking pictures of elijah at school that i'll pass off as his first day of school. and no i didn't cry, almost, but i held it in. the whole parking situation really stinks though. i need to figure that out any suggestions?

watermelon

well these pictures are old. i guess not that old like 3 weeks. i downloaded some pictures off a memory card (i had to clear them to get ready for a small wedding i'm taking pictures for this saturday. YIKES!! no really i'm excited and they're friends and forgiving i hope.) but i love watching little ones eat. their so messy and you can tell they just really enjoy their food. so here's some babies pigging out. enjoy.

we now know why ashleigh has such chubby cheeks, she has to has a place to store all those extra goodies. it's funny that she loves apples and love, love, loves grapes and watermelon, i gave her a lime the other day that she loved, then hated then wanted more. anyways, it's funny becuase she doesn't have any teeth yet insists on eating like she does.

What are little girls made of?

This is my niece. She's exactly 8 days older than my son. They have so much fun together and get along either really good or not so good. Just like cousins usually do. But no matter what happened that last time they played together Elijah is always excited to go see Zidaya again.
Can you believe how long her hair is!!! She's 3! I don't think my hair would be that long if I let it grow my entire lifetime.





This is my favorite. I love the look she's giving me, she finally stopped cheesing so much and just gave me a more natural look. She sure does cheese it up, my kids just roll their eyes when they see the camera!