{re-do}

Wow... 1st of all, 4:30am is way too early to be up on a Saturday morning {thank you hubby's work schedule}. Then the morning storm rips through and I have 3 little ladies who are scared to death that another tree is going to hit the house and that we'll have a black out again. Ugh, good times I tell ya!!! As I sit here trying to put the finishing touches on our Chicago trip the constant fighting and bickering has finally made me snap. As of right now all 3 girls are in their rooms. Claudia is blaming Constance, Constance is bawling and Chloe is giggling away, while riding her rocking horse all.by.herself!!! Why can't they all get along?!?! I call a {re-do}!!!! The house is destroyed with toys, you'd think a tornado ripped through the inside of the house, and yet they sit here telling me their bored. Seriously, how can you be bored. I'm tempted to show the big one what being bored really looks like. Oh and if the 2 little ones can't start sharing soon, they too will become bored, very fast!!!

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! {insert a vision of me screaming and pulling out my hair, jumping up and down like a toddler I know having a tantrum}

I post this because I know I am not alone. Many of my mommy friends could have wrote the same post. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my girls, but the constant fighting and bickering is going to push me over the edge. I'm not looking for any advice, or any sympathy... I just need to write out my thoughts. I know in 20 years {hopefully} I will sit back and think "wow, it's so quiet here, I wish the girls were back home, fighting and all." I post this all here as a reminder of what my life was like at this very second. While I'm on the edge of needing a padded room, I'm also reminded just how much I love my life, my hubby and my girls. Yes, I'm very hopeful that my {re-do} is better than the 1st try of the day... but we shall see.

As my post comes to a close, the crying and yelling has ended... I think I hear giggling out of all 3 girls. I know they are ready to get out of their rooms, but I think I'll crack open a nice diet coke 1st and enjoy this very moment. To end I find it fitting to have one more moment... are you ready?!?!

aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!! {insert a vision of this calm, cool, relaxed mama, sipping a nice cold diet coke cherishing the moment of giggles coming from behind closed doors}

it goes way too fast, things change way too quick... enjoy every moment... that's my motto and I'm sticking to it!!!

quote of the day...

Constance holding a bag of skittles ~ "look mom, gamma gave me skittles. I had one thousand today."

Thankfully "gamma" also wore her out so she went right to sleep... it could have been a long night after eating one thousand skittles... LOL!!!

a {less gross} update...

Now that the gross stuff is all out of the way, and the girls are actually playing nice at the moment I thought it was a good time to update on the events of summer. We have been busy!!! The cottage, the pool, the fair, parks, playdates with friends, the beach and lazy days in pj's have all made the list of fun things we've done this summer. It's hard to believe that it's already August. That means the "S" word is right around the corner... ugh!!! That word is so depressing. In case someone is unaware of the "S" word, it's a word that rhymes with cruel... (quite fitting that they rhyme... LOL!!!)

Claudia has had "the best summer ever"... at least twice a week I hear "mom, this is the best day ever!!!" She is LOVING the pool. The girl started the summer swimming with her life jacket and swim ring, and is now jumping off the diving board with only a life jacket and in the last few days has figured out that she can swim under the water and that it's okay if her face gets wet. She loves it and I LOVE that her confidence in swimming is growing every time we're in the pool. Sunday she told me that I was the best swimming teacher every!!! Oh how it melted my heart. She's been reading a lot and we've started working on multiplication (thanks to the $1 books at Target). She's also into the Kid Bop's Music right now... the girl knows pretty much all the words on discs 18, 19 & 20. She can totally out sing me. However, it's just another reminder that she is growing up and isn't my little preschool song singing girl anymore. Back to "S" shopping should be quite the adventure this year.

Constance is a trip... the girl says the cutest things. She doesn't have to try to silly either, she is just naturally silly. She is SO excited for "pees-cool". When we were at the fair last week she kept telling everyone that the fair was at her "pees-cool". She picked out a new backpack the other day, and has pretty much wore the zipper out already. She's also my drama queen. It's amazing to me how quickly she can turn the tears on. She's also an instigator... her younger sister doesn't take any crap though and has caused many tears to be shed by Constance. One minute they can be best of friends and then the next they become worst enemies.

Chloe... wow, the girl has a temper. It's fierce!!! She is talking more and more each day. I love it when I put her to bed and she says, "nite, nite mommy... I wuv you mommy... seet dreams mommy"... oh how I love to hear her cute little voice. She unfortunately is also my biter. Poor Constance usually gets the blunt of the biting, with Claudia taking 2nd place and sadly even her little friend Ava. We went for 2 weeks that she would bite daily. The biting would come out of no where... there were a few times that Constance would be right in her face being an instigator, but most of the time it was so random. Thankfully she is not just biting to bite anymore and we are down to maybe once a week instead of daily. It's so crazy how each kiddo is SO different. I think we are on the right track though. We continue to be consistent with discipline and hopefully my next update we are biting free. It was bad enough that she was biting her sisters, but I was SO embarrassed when she bite little Ava. No mom wants to be the mom of "the playgroup biter". Hopefully we are over the worst of the issue.

As for our family... we are super excited to take a family vacation together. It's only a long weekend away at the cottage, but it will be so nice to be together as a family. We will be more than ready to get away as we are going to be in the midst of a mess at our house when construction starts in 2 weeks. We will be having our roof replaced and the damage from the wind storm fixed. I am beyond thrilled that we aren't doing the work ourselves this time, but it is still going to be a mess around here.

Well... talk about a lot of blah, blah, blahing today... I wish I could be better and do it more on a regular basis rather than writing these novels every few months... maybe someday, but right now this is going to have to do. Time to throw in another load of laundry and to see what damage has been done by the girls. There hasn't been any fighting while I've been writing this out... I'm actually quite amazed... I'm going to enjoy it now, because in 10 minutes that may not be the story. That's my life, and I'm loving it!!!

and it goes on and on and on...

There's never a dull moment over here. I accept that this is my life, as disgusting as it can be at times. Yes, I said disgusting... that's your heads up that this may be one of those posts that leaves you gagging, but I just have to write about it. I have to try to find the humor in it. Yesterday was the start of a busy week over here. I have 4 possible 5 sessions scheduled this week, which is great, but also means some late nights editing. At dinner I decided to have a cup of coffee to help keep me going. The coffee did the trick and I was still pounding out pictures at 11pm, which I know isn't late for some of you, but on a {normal} night my bedtime is 9pm... I'm so old and boring sometimes... LOL!!! My eye lids finally started to feel heavy around midnight, so I wrapped things up and made my way to bed. As I walked in the room I was hit with the worst smell ever. Instead of waking the hubby up by turning on the lights, I grabbed a flashlight and went on a search for the stink. Our little puggers {Mattie Sue} is getting old and it's not uncommon for her to have accidents at night so I thought I knew what I was looking for. After a search of the floor and the end of the bed where she sometimes sleeps I came up empty handed. The stink was still there, but since I couldn't find anything I thought maybe a dog had bad gas and the stink would go away so I decided to just go to sleep... BIG MISTAKE!!!! As I quietly climbed into bed, {here it comes} I laid in the stink... thankfully I caught myself right away, before my head hit the big stinky pillow filled with the horrid mess, but it was still bad. I got myself cleaned up and then again grabbed the flashlight and went to work, cleaning the stinky mess. Do you know how hard it is to clean up something stinky while you're holding a flashlight in your mouth??? I do now and it isn't pretty. I finally was able to get it all cleaned up. However my side of the bed was a big wet, soapy mess from me scrubbing the stink out, so I had the privilege of spending the night on the couch. I have no idea how Jon did not wake up to the smell, and he's pretty darn lucky he didn't snuggle with my pillow {although that would have made me giggle a little... okay, A LOT} but nope this time it was all me.

Life... it just goes on and on and on... of course today is now filled with laundry, laundry and more laundry. Of course that means we are stuck inside today and that brings the screaming, fighting and sheer craziness out at our house. It's only 10:30 and I'm ready for everyone to nap already, myself included... preferably in a non-stinky room.

In the midst of the craziness and stink I do have to say that I am super thankful that I get to be home in the midst of it all. While I could totally do without the stink and the clean up that followed, it's all part of my crazy life... the life I love and wouldn't trade for the world.

Cottage Life...

It has begun!!! Yesterday I spent the day at the cottage cleaning with my mom and grandma. I have to say it felt funny cleaning a cottage that hadn't been used since last fall... why was it funny you ask?!?! Well it was actually cleaner than my own house before we even started cleaning... oh well. Lately my life has been so crazy busy I would rather spend time playing with my girls than cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a clean and fresh house, but right now my kids come 1st. This sign hangs in my house... it makes me giggle every time I read it :)

The 1st official trip to the cottage always takes the most prep... "did I pack this, did I pack that?... oh wait, don't forget this"... and then of course it's inevitable that I will leave the house and get 15 miles down the road and realize what I forgot. Today the prep of laundry will be my main goal... packing for 3 little girls isn't easy. A few weeks ago I bought the girls their own "cottage bags"... and while their bags have been packed since I brought the bags home, my packing has only just begun.

One of my favorite things about the cottage is the quietness of technology. Of course I have my cell phone and am only a text away, but we have no internet up there and I'm looking forward to the break. I'll definitely miss my Facebook and my Pandora, but the free time with my girls is amazing and something I am not going to pass. Don't worry photo clients... the laptop will be packed and I will have plenty of editing time as I sit out on the deck with my feet up and a nice fresh lemonade listening to my munchkins play in the kiddo pool... oh I can't wait!!! Bring it on!!! Oh summer vacation, I have missed you... welcome back old friend... welcome back!!!

Time flies...

Today was my 1st official day of Summer Vacation. I've been meaning to clean up my blog list, but during the school year I never have time. It was heartbreaking to me to know that the last time I was here was last June... yikes... how does a whole year go by so quickly? Here's a quick wrap of our past year...
June, July, August 2010 ~ We spent a lot of time at the cottage, and I personally spent a lot of time behind the camera.
September 2010 ~ It was time to head back to school. Claudia started 1st grade and I went back to work as an assistant in the Great Start Readiness Preschool Program.
October, November, December 2010 ~ Work, work, work... and somewhere in there I was a mom, wife and photographer... yes, it was insane!!!
January 2011 ~ We rang in the New Year... well kind of... I think we were all sleeping by 10pm... LOL!!!
February 2011 ~ Claudia got glasses... and can I just say she looks A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E in them!!!
March 2011 ~ The little girls and I were in a car accident. Thankfully everyone walked away. Jon and I had the privilege of van shopping... NOT... it was horrible. I hated every minute of it!!! We ended up getting a newer and nicer van and ended up having some extra $ in our pocket, so it ended up not being too bad, but definitely not something I want to go through again any time soon.
April 2011 ~ Again... work, work, work... started getting excited for the end of the school year.
May 2011 ~ Wrapped up another school year and photographed my 1st "big" wedding. It was awesome!!!!

Phew... when it's actually typed out there's nothing big and earth shattering that happened to us, but the everyday business consumes me, and I'm thrilled to have a break!!!

I'm going to try hard to keep up better on this blog... it's a good release for me to type out my thoughts... so get ready... I'm back and ready to blah, blah, blah it up!!!

Happy Day :)

We had a BIG day today... Chloe was dedicated this morning at church. The service was very nice. We came home and celebrated Father's Day, Chloe's Dedication and 1st Birthday with our family and closest friends. It was an AWESOME day. We are SO blessed. Thank you to everyone who helped make this day so special. We love you all!!!

Swings... and more...

surprise #1...

Claudia woke up super excited this morning... it was her morning to pull the 1st surprise from the jar. The anticipation of what was in store for the day was exhilarating. We shook it up and out she pulled... "swing on a swing set" :) After our lazy morning we packed up and headed to Wendt Park to enjoy the "castle" and swings. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then we just played. It was so much fun and yes there are pictures to go with all the fun, but I haven't had time to upload, so you'll have to wait.

It was so fun to just be a kid again... swinging, doing the "zip line", and watching Chloe explore just like her big sisters just made my day. Claudia was so proud that she was finally able to "fall" on her own from the zip line. Constance loved the slides... oh those smiles... they were precious.

After a few hours of playing it was time to hit the dreaded Walmart. I have to say it's not that bad being able to shop early in the day... it definitely wasn't as busy... thank goodness :) We always end up spending way more time than planned, not to mention way more money than expected too.

Once our excursion was finished we headed over to visit my cousin Kylie & Tony. They were in town visiting. We hadn't seen them since their wedding in October, so it was nice catching up with them.

The munchkins are all snuggled in bed, well, almost... Constance is sitting in the hallway refusing to go to bed... stinker. She's had warnings, so now I just sit here ignoring her. I know she'll go to bed, it's just easier than fighting with her... she'll give in... I hope... LOL!!! I'm off to rap up my evening with some sewing therapy... oh how I love listening to the growling of my machine (yes, my machine is OLD and no longer purrs, but growls... LOL)... night :)

the jar...

Yup... it's ready to go, nothing fancy, just a jar full of summer time fun. This afternoon the girls and I sat down and made our list of things to put in our jar... they had some great ideas...

~ play dress up
~ ride bikes
~ ride a carousel
~ play games
~ wash the van (by hand)
~ play at the beach
~ build a sandcastle
~ go to a new park
~ play baseball at a "real" field
~ have a picnic
~ swing on a swing set
~ play on school playground
~ walk to Captain Sundae
~ build puzzles
~ paint each others nails
~ have a camp out in our front yard
~ have an arts & crafts day
~ build a zoo together with stuffed animals
~ play in the rain
~ invite a friend over to play
~ make cookies & take them to someone in need
~ make cards & take them to a nursing home
~ plant flowers
~ play in the sprinklers

SO fun!!! I can't wait... Claudia's cutting them up as I type and we start TOMORROW!!!! Oh yeah, and you know we will definitely have pictures to go with our fun. Bring on the summer fun!!!

In honor of Claudia's accomplishments...

yeah, can't believe my 1st born is going to "officially" be a 1st grader in a matter of hours... **wiping tears**. I am SO proud of her. I think one of the most amazing accomplishments for her is her reading ability. She can pick up anything and read it... it's amazing. However, that also brings us to a new chapter in our lives... grocery shopping with a reader. So the other day her and I were able to spend some time together, just the 2 of us. Well... we finished our day of fun and made our way to Walmart. Not thinking about "my reader", I turn down the feminine hygiene aisle... yup, you guessed it, the next thing I hear...

"playtex tampons... mom, what are playtex tampons?"

Yup... that was a fun conversation. Thankfully I was able to just blow it off as something really big girls need. I threw the box in the cart and just kept shopping. I'm so not ready to have that "real" conversation yet.

Super Summer Surprises...

Okay, so I'll be the 1st to admit, I spend WAY TOO much time online. It's just so fun and addicting, not to mention easy for me play on while pictures upload, and I have been uploading pictures A LOT the last few weeks. So anyway... I follow this really cute blog (one of the 50+ I stalk... hehehe) by a friend that I met while out to dinner with some other friends... http://www.jodimichelle.com/. She posted about making a "Summer Jar" filled with fun things to do each day. It is so neat and inspiring to me that today's mission is to find a cute jar for me to use to store all my Super Summer Surprises. I'm also coming up with a list of things I would love to do this summer, most of them with my kids in tow. My goal is to pull from my jar at least 4 days a week... I can't wait and I'm sure my girls will be super excited too!!!

Well... it's almost the beloved naptime... so I'm off to rangle the troops into their desired sleeping areas and then it's time for me to find that "perfect" jar...

Well... it's official...

I am a SAHM!!!! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... I am now a Stay At Home Mom :) I am thrilled and honestly could just do cartwheels until the cows came home, but I'm trying my best to keep my excitement hidden as Jon has been working his tail off and I don't want to rub it in that I'm done and he still has to work like a mad man.

I know that I've been slacking on my blog, but man, that last month of school is brutal.

I want to warn you all to be prepared... I'm back and I'm ready to blog... so watch out!!!

Last night we attended Claudia's Celebration of Learning (aka- Kinder Graduation). It was so fun to see her with her friends and to hear such wonderful things about her from her teacher. Let's face it... we all know our kids are the best in the world, but it does feel darn good hearing it from someone else :)

Here's some pictures from the BIG event :)

Don't the little girls look thrilled... LOL!!!

Bring on the hardest, most rewarding job in the world... wooohoooo for being a mama!!!

tragedy...

no funny stories tonight (I know I said I would post some of our daily funnies) but right now my heart just aches for the family of Ivy Bodkins. I worked with her dad, "Mr. Brad", for years at Holland Public and my heart just aches for his family. How can someone be so cruel to murder someone. There are seriously sick, sick people in this world. To take a young, vibrant life... how and why does this happen??? It leaves you with a huge pit in your stomach... ugh... so so sad. It's a sad reminder that life can change in the blink of an eye. As I tucked my beautiful girls into bed tonight I made sure to give them each one extra kiss and said I love you, one extra time...

To my faithful friends and followers... thank you for being who you are... each and everyone of you is unique and holds a special place in my heart... love you all... ((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))

To the Bodkins' Family... you are all in my thoughts and prayers... RIP Ivy...

crazy busy...

this past week has been crazy busy, and I have some great stories to share from the week, but they will have to wait until tomorrow... sorry, but I'm beat and my bed is calling my name.

I did want to share my latest creation...

I'll be back tomorrow to share the weeks events and funnies :)

funny kid...

So last night Constance was being her normal "stinker" self. Her and Claudia are playing, getting rough (yes, even girls can play rough) when Constance decides to bite Claudia. Unfortunately it's not the 1st time, so I take Constance to the "naughty spot" in our house... here's how our conversation went...

me ~ "Constance, you have a choice, you can sit here to take your time out or go to your bedroom."

Constance ~ no answer, just a cute little smirk on her face...

me ~ "you have a choice, here or your room?"

Constance ~ still no answer, just that cute smirk again...

me ~ "I'm going to count to 3 and you need to make a choice, or I will make a choice for you. Here or your room?"

Constance ~ looks me straight in the eyes and says "NOTHING" and laughs.

Seriously, how does she know that nothing can be an answer to my question. I had all I could do to not laugh at her. She did end up doing the time out in the "naughty spot", but I definitely had a good laugh getting her there.

and it begins...

Tulip Time... yes, all you locals know just what I mean. Thankfully, for me, the tulips are nice and ready right now, so I dressed all 3 in their cute costumes and we headed downtown. Yes, I know I'm crazy and I'm sure people watching me thought I had lost my mind, but we did it and although they aren't my "best" pictures by any means, they are cute and I'm happy with them. It was the moment and all I can say is, I'M GLAD IT'S OVER!!!

Miss Chloe was not thrilled with her hat...

but was much better when it was off...

Just to prove it was not all fun and games...
Can you say DRAMA QUEEN!?!?!

weekends blahs...

It's been a few days... were you worried about me... LOL!!! We've been keeping busy. Friday was spent hanging out with my mom and the girls. We were finally able to "go out" with her since her surgery in February. She is making remarkable progress on her foot, and is loving being able to hobble around on her crutches again :)

Saturday the girls and I headed to Grand Rapids to pick up our tile for my bathroom shower. Used our TomTom for the 1st time (we'll 1st time to actually help me get some place, not just our own house... LOL) and get all the way to the place only to find that there just recently decided to not be open on Saturdays. I was NOT a happy camper, but the girls and I decided to not waste the day and hit the Children's Museum.

We actually bought a PALS Pass, so we'll be making many more trips there, but it was well worth the price. Plus we'll be able to get in to other places in GR, so that's an added bonus. The girls had a blast, and I have to say that I am quite proud that I conquered it all by myself :) Of course I had the camera with too, so technically I had 4 babies with me :)

Chloe is SO proud of her new talent...
she will be walking before I know it...

The girls had a blast fishing...
I guess they take after their dad...

Chloe LOVED the mirrors...

The big girls put on the cutest puppet show...
they are so darn cute...

yeah... I even had some fun :

crazy

yes, crazy. That's been my life this week. Work, photography and being a mommy it's been non-stop. My 4:30am wake up call this morning (thanks Chloe) doesn't help either. I'm exhausted, but no point in going back to bed for 15 minutes, might as well just get moving. Easier said than done. I did get to read for a bit, which was nice. I'm reading Jodi Picoult's House Rules and I'm having a hard time putting it down. I highly recommend it!!!

Can I just toot my own horn for a minute too... I'm a darn good wife. Our house may not always be perfect and we may pick our clothes out of laundry baskets, but I get up with my hubby everyone morning, regardless of what time he has to be up (hence why I stayed up after my 4:30 wake up call). I set out his clothes for him, pack his lunch and make him breakfast every morning. Yes, some women may call me crazy, but I it's just what I do. I love that man with all my heart. Don't get me wrong... he has his moments, but so do I (especially those days when I've missed my "happy pill" for a few days... LOL).

Time to run and let the crazy's begin... on your mark, get set... GO!!!

oh how I love a good bargain...

During a quick trip to a local thrift store I happened to come across this awesome suitcase...

yes... I know it's hard to look past that cutie sitting in there, but oh how I just love my new pink suitcase. Can you believe I got it for $1.00!!! I can't wait to prop a newbie in it tomorrow.

Oh yeah... and that cutie in the case is almost 10 months old... can you believe it?!?! She had a well child appointment last Friday and is according to our doctor, "Perfect". It's always nice hearing great things about your kids. She is my itty bitty though... she weighed in at 17 lbs. 4 oz.... yes folks she is blessed with her daddy's Van Dyke jeans... lucky little fart.