What a Weekend!

Well, as I sit here letting my weekend sink in all I can think of is how lucky (and incredibly exhausted *smiles*) I am!!! Friday was a Girls Night Out for a Bride-to be (for whom I am taking wedding photos in TWO WEEKS!). Saturday was a lazy DAY, a GREAT night of work, and a too short (for me, not her) birthday party. And Sunday was a wonderfully long day hanging with my daughter as she competed in the Junior Native Youth Olympics as one of the Chugiak Rams! Goodness I'm so happy it's Monday!!! LOL! =)

It was a marvelous weekend and Isabelle did so well! We are so proud of her!

The first event was the Kneel Jump and she made it to her feet!!! Something she was unable to do before practices at school! She had great form and made it up!!! Yay! We'll work on distance later! ;)The second event was the Stick Pull and she won the pull twice! Check it out!!!


Isn't that cool!? =)

The third event was the Seal Hop and she went 5ft 5in. She loves this event! And we learned an extra tip that is going to help her cross the gym next year!

These Games are so much fun and we realized that we have a lot of work to do for next year, but this year was a phenomenal learning experience and a day that I FINALLY got to spend with my daughter!!! I didn't realize how much I miss her! I am incredibly lucky to have my Isabelle! She makes her Momma BEAM with pride!

So enjoy the photos & video! I have a lot to do after such a busy, out-of-the-house weekend! =)

*hugs*

My Oh My!

Holy cow what a week! And its only Wednesday! Aiden has been sick with a sore throat and tight cough. Toby went to the doctor yesterday after having the same cold Kip and I had for more than a week and now he's got an ear infection! There have been sick people in our house since the week before the Superbowl! Will we ever be healthy again!? Good thing Isabelle has been able to stave off any sickness! Unfortunately, she has been stuck having to put up with all the sickies in the house! Man I'm ready for good health! =)

We are gearing up for the Junior NYO on Sunday! Isabelle has had practice before and after school for the past week and a half and she's doing very well! She told me after the first few days that when she moved her tummy hurt. And I told her she was sore from using her muscles. I don't remember being sore when I was young, probably just because I didn't realize what it was! It still makes me giggle realizing how much I am responsible for teaching her. Well maybe not giggle, but it sure makes me reevaluate! But I digress...=) Isabelle's coaches are her two gym teachers and they say she works hard everyday! She's been the first one there after school and I'm sure she would be the first one in the morning if she didn't have to wait for her brothers and I to get in the car! She is becoming incredibly self sufficient! Well, once you kick start her in the morning (she's like her Momma!). But once she is dressed and fed, she gets her things gathered and she's ready to go! She makes me so proud! One day she'll actually get to know that. =) For now she has to watch me corral two boys who would rather not do anything I need them to do...=) The stinkers!

Well, I had best get going. Aiden and I have some books to read!

Here are today's pics!

Daddy caught us enjoying our Saturday afternoon watching Black Beauty! I LOVE this time with the kiddos!!! =)This is Toby working at school. He is doing so well!!! For those of you who don't get to see him all that often, you are going to be floored when you get to see his new personality! He's a HAM!

Isabelle has taken up the role of reading to the boys when Momma and Daddy have to get stuff done around the house. It's wonderful! She loves to read and the boys, as you can tell, adore listening! Tilly seems to enjoy it too! Though I think she's more there for the physical closeness! She's a snuggler!

Playing with the webcam!

So while we waited to Skype Grama and Grampa the other day, I pulled up photo booth on my computer and let the kiddos play in the camera for a bit. I'd go through and explain, but these pics and video pretty much do the trick...;)Okay, so maybe I joined in a little bit too, but check out this video I put on when I ran to grab the dental floss and the kiddos thought it was still just taking pictures when it was actually recording them!!! Hahahahaha! Sorry, it's in thermal, but they were enjoying playing with the different effects...I think kiddos like to look different! It's wonderful, isn't it!?

Thank you, Sir! May I have another! =)

We got #2 out last night! Grama and Grampa Bailey were even able to witness the extraction on Skype! It was great! Isabelle is such a trooper!!! She is now adorable again! Don't get me wrong, she's always adorable, but if you check out the pictures you'll understand that I couldn't let my daughter go on like that for long! Hahaha! *hugs* Well, without further ado.....

LOSING TEETH and new slippers!!! =)

Last night was an eventful night at the Bailey house! We received a fun Valentine's Day package from Grama and Grampa Bailey and we finally got Isabelle's darn dead tooth out!!! YAY!!! =)

It took some work and almost a few tears, but Izzy toughed it out and we're ready to go after the other one tonight! Well, I'm not sure if she's quite ready, but the other one is just as ready to come out, it's just not black. Man that tooth was gross! I'm so glad it's gone!!! I really think Isabelle is too!

The tooth fairy was sweet enough to bring Izzy four Alaska quarters! =) Momma did have to redirect after Izzy made the comment, "She gave me a...a dollar." (not pouty, just matter-of-factly)

So Momma swooped in and said, "Not just any dollar, did you really look at the quarters?"

That perked her right up and she said, "They're Alaska quarters! How cool!"


And she proceeded to make sure she was able to take one with her to school to show to "everyone." I think it all worked out okay.






So inside this box were new "Speed Car" slippers for the boys. They're kind of that croc material. The put them right on and had to try them out by taking fast laps around the living room, making sure they were fast like Speed Car! They loved them so much that Aiden set his perfectly together beside his bed after he crawled into his bunk. Side by side and straight forward like any normal OCD child...;) And Toby who did not feel quite right taking his off his feet decided to sleep with them on all night! And then this morning when he woke up, he came to me groggy eyed and wimpering that he could not find one of his slippers! OH NO, a crisis, considering how far that slipper could have possibly gone...;) So he took my hand and dragged me to his room to help him look. Sure enough, it was up against the wall, still in his bed. He climbed right up and put it on triumphantly! Phew! Yet another crisis averted! =)




I know I have yet to get pictures up of Kip and I, so that is going to be my next goal. Until I get a recent one, however, here's one from a winter walk we took with Tilly back in October.

Junior NYO Games!

Izzy was selected to be on her school team for the Junior Native Youth Olympic Games!!! She is competing in the Kneel Jump, Seal Hop, and Stick Pull!!! Now I only know what the stick pull is so I'll have to find out the others! This is so cool!!! =) I'll be sure to post pictures after the event the weekend of February 20th! Sorry, I had to share! I'm beaming right now!!! Yay!

Kiddos and Pictures!

So I don't know why, but our time at the kitchen table seems to be the best place to get funny faces and happy kiddos. I can sit there with my camera and just snap shots while the kiddos make faces and they LOVE it! That is as long as I show them the pictures after I take them...=) They are so cute and they make it pretty easy to find practice time for my photo classes!

I just finished my third class so now I have taken Studio Lighting, Flash Photography, and Basic Photography. The last time I enjoyed myself so much in a class was in Algebra! I know, I'm a little weird, but everything just seems to make sense! It's wonderful! I am scheduled to shoot a friends wedding in March and my teacher and his wife, who have a photo business, are coming along as back up shooters. Not only am I lucky enough to have professionals behind me for this wedding, but they have graciously offered the let me borrow their equipment during the shoot! I cannot believe how trusting and wonderful they are! I am so blessed!!!

With the three classes, incredibly generous Christmas gifts, and a few of my own earned photography items, there just might be a chance of getting a business of my own started sooner than later! Until all the kiddos are in school I'm going to keep trudging along, little by little, to make it a possibility. Wish me luck! =)

So this one of Izzy is to show those teeth I was telling you about the other day! Of course we were eating strawberries and peaches at the time, but you can still see through all the mess that those two teeth are saying "LET ME OUT!" She can almost bend them all the way backward, it is creepy! We have, once again, tried the dental floss trick, but it is a lost cause, I do believe. We are just going to have to deal with them until they decide it is their time to come out! Even talking about what the Tooth Fairy may bring her still does not get her any more excited about us yanking and pulling on those teeth! What shall we do!? Wait, I guess...

And then there is our Tillybar. Daddy's new baby girl. Don't get me wrong, no one can replace Isabelle, but Tilly sure has Daddy wrapped around that proverbial pinky finger! Isabelle has a firm grasp on the first one! =) Tilly is a wonderful dog. She's still chewing a little more than I would like, but it is definitely getting better! It also helps that Kip is in the middle of 'force fetching' with her. It's not the most fun ways to play with your pup, but she is responding to him and is shaping up to be quite the hunting dog. You should see how well she listens to him. Well she listens to me too, but do you see that look on her face? She is at a 'sit' for me, but she just heard Kip come home from work. She is so good that she waited until I was able to take the picture and release her on her name before she bolted through the house to love on Kip! And bolt she did!

Kip is doing a wonderful job with her. Sometimes you have to actually see him work with her to see what she can do, but when she's on, she is ON! She doesn't run away. She listens well. She hits the brakes when she tries to push too far and you catch her. For an 8 month old puppy, she is rather incredible! And HUGE! I can't imagine she has much growing left to do, but I'm sure she will surprise me!



So wrestling is in full swing now. The first meet was last Thursday and I do believe they did alright. Now that I think about it, I never really got an update, but I'll find out by the next one. We always seem to be about a week behind with each other. One day maybe we'll catch up! MAYBE! =)

Well, I have a little man asking for a playmate, so I best sign off and do I as I said I would! Thanks for stopping by, it sure is nice to have a fun outlet to tell stories of my world! *huge hugs* Until next time!!!

Oh! Here's a shot I captured of the moon and Venus last Thursday! It was incredible! A neat thing is two days later, I saw the picture in the paper. No, it wasn't mine, but it was newspaper worthy, so at least I'm on the right track!!! =) ENJOY!!!