My Mother in-laws passing

So Saturday the family and I loaded up the car with floaties, sunscreen and had our bathing suits on, we we're heading to the pool to go hang out with friends!!! All was great in our little world!!! We we're sitting at Sonic grabbing something to eat real quick before we made the 20 min trip to the pool!!! My hubby was all elated over Sonic bringing back cheddar bites he was practically bouncing up and down in his seat (no really he was it was super cute) when the phone rang... We both looked at the caller id and noticed the 620 area code, dread covered both of our faces : ( about 2 seconds later my husbands eyes were over come by tears, it was then that I knew his mother had passed... Connie has been sick for longer than I have known her, she's been fighting several sicknesses and it's been a constant battle for her... To say that it was unexpected, well in a way and in the other no... Yes she was very sick and in frail health, yes we knew that she most likely wouldn't see the kids graduate high school, did we expect that she would pass this soon NO, if we would have of course I would have called more. I would have sent her more pictures of the kids... We all know that life it way to short, we know to hug and tell the ones you love that you do indeed love them!!! But we are human we do get busy!!! I have family that lives 5 mins away from me that I talk to maybe once a month, and don't get me started with my sister, she's 2 hours away the best sister you could EVER ask for and I talk to her maybe every other month... This is unnecessary, we should talk every week at least, my sister would and has done everything in her power to help us. Including giving us some money to come up here so we could take care of all the business that a funeral entails... I Love you Sissy and I thank you for your generosity!!! When we found out we we're going to have to pay for the majority of the funeral needless to say I went into a silent panic... We make a decent living, but like every American we have bills and debt, to say that we can drop $3,000+ likes it's $200 is well just not feasible for us... Today was the day "D" day for us, today we find out just how much we we're going to have to get to cover the costs.... My husband went while I stayed behind at the hotel with the kids... He called me about 30 minutes ago and told me the news... Somehow and I still don't know how my mother in-law had saved up $3,200 in an account and it covered the costs of her funeral... Now while that might not seem miraculous to you let me explain. Connie made $500 a month yes you read that correctly $500 she had about $400 in bills every month before food so with $100 a month to buy food she had somehow managed to save that much money... It's reasons like this that I KNOW the lord is watching out for my little family!!! So the moral of the story call you Mom. Grandmother, Sister, Dad, Granddad, Brother or your cousin Bob call them and tell them you love them, and remember that tragedy happens and while you want the world to freeze in time it won't... The bills still need to be paid, you still have to eat, laundry will need to be done... Don't let grief take hold and make you stop living because they one that left you behind loved you, loved when you smiled so smile for them and know that they are happy and in a much better place!!!

The woes of motherhood...

I can't be the only mom that gets frustrated and fed up, there are days where I think why in the hell did I get myself into this??? Don't get me wrong I love my children and don't regret them for a second but holy crap why wasn't I warned that it was going to be this difficult... that I would function with little to no sleep, that if I got a shower before noon it was a good day, that my idea of a romantic dinner with the husband would include chocolate milk corn dogs, chicken strips, grilled cheese and fries??? All this and being a military wife and for the 1st 6 years of our marriage I would also be in... I got out when our youngest was 6 months old also right when my hubbers left for his 3rd deployment in 6 years!!! Now while it's difficult to have my husband gone sometimes it's as difficult to have him home.... he's really my 4th and most difficult child, the other 3 manage to get their dirty clothes in the laundry room or in the basket in their room him um NO the floor where ever he is walking by lol!!! So even though I've been cleaning my house for the past hour I am still nowhere near where I want it to be!!! It's not to the point where I would be embarrassed if anyone came over, let me explain!!! The laundry room is full of dirty clothes, but there are 5 people in this family and both the washer and dryer are going... The sink has dirty dishes in it, but we cook almost every meal at home and the dishwasher is going.... There are crumbs on the floor but the baby is eating pop tarts!!! See all 100% perfect reasonable explanations why my house isn't spot less BUT do I listen to my own advice NO!!! I don't spend all day cleaning my house by any means I would much rather play with my children then clean, 1 day they won't want to play and then I can worry about the house all day : ( well enough of my mom rant I smell a stinky pull-up : /

My baby brother!!!

I'm in the process of training my baby brother (ok he's 21 not exactly a baby anymore lol) in the art of photography!!! So we went out to the park yesterday I armed him with my xsi and my 70-200 lens while I had my 7D and my new nifty 50 lens!!! He's come SO far since I started teaching him a few short months ago!!! I'm super proud of him!!! Here's my FAV pic of him!!!!

What was your greatest investment???

Mine is a toss up between my camera and my sewing machine!!! Both bring me joy and produce LOTS of goodies and they both make me money so that's a bonus also ; ) if I had to narrow it down it would be really hard!!! I use them both daily but as much as I love my sewing machine I hate it also lol we really have a love hate relationship it loves to make me mad and I hate it for it lol!!! If I could produce products like I can produce photos it wouldn't be such an ordeal BUT I've only been sewing for a year and I've been doing photography for over 6 so in 5 years I'll let you know if I still hate my sewing machine or not!!! What is your must have investment???

Home made Valentines Day cards!!!

Please excuse the horrid picture it's from my cell phone, my camera batteries are charging all 3 of them lol!!! This was my idea for my kids Valentines Day cards..... I had them hold their hand out like they were holding something took the picture. Made a template in Photoshop on a 5x7 picture added the red/pink color and wrote on them then printed 20 of them.... Then I whipped out my paper cutting board and my trusty exacto knife and started cutting then I inserted the dum-dums!!!! Wa-la a super unique V-day Card that is shamelessly self promoting (notice the website address) and super cute!!!

Winter....

So I live in Oklahoma the state where a 1/4 inch of snow shuts the whole town down... No really it does lol!!! Well I went to wally world to get all the stuff for my kids Valentines day parties and no one was there it was SWEET!!! Come on I can't be the only person that loves having the store to themselves lmbo!!! As I was standing there staring at the obnoxious amount of valentines day cards and  thinking how my kids are gonna argue that they wanted Wizards of Waverly and Transformers over Hannah Montana and Spider Man when it hit me..... I'm a photographer why don't I shamelessly promote myself while making the kids a super personal Valentines Day card.... So I have an idea and I'm praying that it works lol!!! I will post pictures as soon as I'm done even if it doesn't work!!! I would post them now but my kids are at school and I kinda need them to do the pictures lol!!! Are you doing anything special for your kids???

Why Hello All!!!

Ok so it will take me sometime to get with the program and to figure out how to do pictures and what not but have NO fear I WILL do this ; ) I love you guys and thank you for all of the support!!! I