Because school pictures are great...

doesn't everybody want those awesome, cheesy, odd smirk, gray background-ed pictures... oh yeah, might I mention the infalte price on those things? Whatever. It's pathetic and rediculous. So, while the girls were sporting a brand new hairdo and clothes that had yet to be stained or worn out, we tried to capture a few pictures. Since TJ is unavailable for the Photog-assistant job, one of my friends was awesome enough to help wrangle the babies!!

So here are a few highlights of our pictures sessions, which I should mention I was utterly stressed out by while it was happening, my kids acted like crazed monsters the whole time, fighting, crawling away, covering their face, etc. But in the end, I enjoyed the pictures it created, since, well, that IS my life! So it was more like a documentary!



I did manage to get one or two with all four of them in it, kind of a feat really!

Oh Madison, she is so sweet and funny and talk-a-tive. I just love this one cuz she's cracking up about something, and I love her teether missing on the side and the large size of those new ones up front! She has really turned in to such a sweet caring little girl; always trying to be a leader, care-giver and peacemaker.

LOVE this one! Seriously, she is an amazing little girl to have! I'm so excited for her to be a first grader!!

Ah! This one! Could it get any more adorable! Brooklyne had so many awesome, diva-ish poses, but I love the one where she too is cracking up! I don't know what she was so smiley about, but I love it. She is truly a funny girl; she really understands sarcasm and jokes. And she is so independent; it was so hard getting her to wear this outfit, because everything she wears she has to make it her own or put her own twist on it. A little bit of a Punky Brewster thing going on, mixes polka dots with plaid, and puts a cardigan over all of it, oh my little Miss Brooklyne.

Along with her funny side she is very dramatic, and so she was totally posing it up for the camera, hands on hips, etc. It was to die for!! I love this one, just her, being a little girl, looking at stuff. And hey, it's a great shot of those hair clips I made (love them!! and SO easy!)

Did I say Brooklyne was drama? Oh, I meant Tristan is DRAMA... seriously. this girl gets her way. Yep, move over, cuz Tristan is coming through! She wants to be just like her older sisters, and wants to do everything herself. She is so independent. The great part about her is that she still loves to be hugged and snuggled, I love that!

Oh, and the little man, Austin, who DID NOT want to sit still for one second! ugh, he was a mess!! Don't tie him down!! The second I would set him down he was crawling off! This happened to be in-between shots and kids, it worked out perfect! So I only have a couple of him, because basically, the only part he liked was the lollipop bribe!

Anyway, Pictures are done, and edited, and blogged, and heck, some are even sent to print, I'm totally on top of it! I can't believe that I actually made it out to get them done, with lots of help, of course!

Back to school cuts

Alright, so we only have a few more days left before school starts and so today was the day the girls went and got their mop chopped in preparation for school! It was so fun and cute, they both did SO good, they acted all grown up and everything, it was cute!

I am *hoping* to actually get them dressed and take them out and get some pictures teaken before school actually starts and they wear in those new clothes and the new hair do seems less than new... oh yeah, the ** mean I'm crossing my fingers.... it should go fine, right? RIGHT?

We forgot to measure or save Madison's hair... sorry girl. it was long and kinda crazy, glad it looks so cute now!

She was pretty distrubed that Bre used a razor to cut her hair with. It didn't help that she previously cut her finger all up on my shaving razor today, ick!

TA-DA!! what a cutie!! I opted to keep the bangs the same length as everything else, it took us all school year last year to grow those puppies out, but they grow too fast to keep trimmed up. Now she can sweep them back in a headband, it's gonna look adorable!

Okay, Little Miss Brooklyne... Can I jsut say that she never ceases to impress and amaze me?! She actually went first and she was the one who was so "adult-like", kept good composure, good posture, took it all in stride when we whipped out the razor cutter! She was so proud to be getting her hair cut!

So we actually measured, then braided up her hair and she said she wanted to save it. (Ew, I know, some people are in to that though? ANd she thought it would be cool, now I have a dead hair braid in a baggy in my purse. Did I say Ew?) Anyway, it measured a whopping 9 inches!! I was astonished that it was that long!! It was WAY long!

And here is our shining little star! I jsut LOVE the way her hair look! Bre cut in some bangs so her wispies didn't look quite so weird! Tonite I will be dreaming of headbands for these darling new hair cuts!!

are they that big? really?

So, we are quickly approaching school starting and that means new school clothes. I got a great deal on shoes from jcpenney.com (they were less than $15 per pair but had plenty even cheaper) Anyway, we had them shipped and they got delivered today.

Of course our new sneakers are tie-shoes, which is a big deal to a little kid! So we looked up a tying poem online and we began the learning to tie shoes session. It was a bit rough at first...

That's some tough concentration she's got up there! And then Brooklyne, who actually picked it up rather quickly, gave me this look when I told her to untie it and do it again!

And here they are, so very proud that they got it tied kinda right. We'll try again a few more times before school starts, and hopefully (*fingers crossed*) I won't be tying two pair everymorning!

**oh yeah, for anybody that might still look at this, you may see an increase in blogging, due to me trying to be nice to my hubby, and also I might have more time with 2 kids in school!

Throwback to the love of my life

Many years ago I got to do something that was kinda special to me, and definitely significant in my relationship with now my husband. It was way back in 2001, just days after 9/11 happened; TJ's work gave him box seat tickets to my favorite band... Matchbox Twenty. So he invited me to go with him. I flew from Utah to Colorado just for the event, he even picked me up from the airport, we met up with my brother and his wife and all went together.

I love how cool he looks in these pictures, I wish that the one wasn't blurry, but it's all I've got! The "funny" story is that we didn't have time to eat real dinner, so we grabbed some McDonald's on the drive-thru, and since we were in his little work truck, and it was a bench seat, there wasn't anywhere to put our food. I did something, he's never fogiven me for, I mixed the fries and put them in a bag in the middle. My roommates and I would sometimes do this if we were eating while driving. He was so offended that he had to share his fries with me! And now I of course know that he likes to eat his fries seperate from his burger and that we cannot share the fries.... but I didn't know then!! ha ha!!

Anyway, we got to go to the concert, it was the second time I got to see Matchbox Twenty (love them!) and we had so much fun! I'd also like to point out a few things in the photo which I enjoy... try to check out his black fingernail polish... yep, he had a thing with painting his nails! It's the punk-rocker in him! Also, I absolutely adore his sideburns and goatee, a thing of the past. and finally, like a crystal ball into our future together... I loved noticing the tail end of the car in the background... happens to be the SAME as the "family" car we've been driving since we had our first baby!!

I love him so much and it's so hard to even fathom him being gone for so long, the reality of it hasn't even set in yet. I really don't understand how the wives of military men handle being alone for really so long.