booty-licious

Check out that booty!

baby booty + jeggings = YUMMY!

new office pics

It was time for some fresh stuff for the walls, etc.

This is just a start.  And I need more guy models!

This is part of the reason for my blog neglecting.  Man, what I would do to be able to freeze time for awhile while I catch up on everything!

I love doing studio stuff.  I love the control.

I love the clean backdrop.  The simplicity.  The crispness.

I don't love the hours of editing.  Two big thumbs down to that!

My 40th

I turned 40 back in September.

It's a big one.  And definitely one I won't ever forget, that's for dang sure!

Here's what happened.....

I went on a girl's trip with my 2 best friends, Rebecca & Michelle, to LA for the weekend.  The plan was to go to Magic Mountain on my birthday. 

 We bought our tickets online the day before.  We drive 45 minutes up to Magic Mountain to find that it was not going to open that day!

Whaaat?!!!

Here we are at the Magic Mountain gates.  Bummin'.

So then we decide to hit Knotts Berry Farm instead.

There was hardly anyone there.

It. was. AWESOME.

We rode roller coaster after roller coaster.

And I loooove roller coasters!

We rode this one I think 7 times.

There was no line, so we stayed on & kept riding it til we were sick.

Literally.

Not me, but Bek & Michelle were throwing up in the bushes on the way out.

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard.

It was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

until....

We were leaving Knott's and all three of us were looking at our cell phones trying to figure out how to get back to our hotel room, when we slammed into a stopped car.

I'm pretty sure I broke my nose. It swelled like a motha. I could see it without having to look in a mirror.

And 2 nice black eyes. More like purple.

And my leg had hit the middle console thing.

Look at it!...

I had no idea something could swell so grotesquely like that!

But luckily it was just fine.  I could totally walk on it.

In fact, the next day, after we had a rental car all squared away, we hit the beach, and the shopping district in downtown LA before we headed home.

And then I spent the next couple of weeks imagining that people probably thought I was a domestic abuse victim.

Like I said, definitely a birthday to remember.  :)

Someone's been sleeping in my bed....

....and she likes to snuggle & make binkie sucking noises all night.

This phase needs to be over soon.  I can't sleep!

My how she's grown

Our little peanut......

....is now a big, huge peanut....

....who was not too happy about being put in a bucket.

 

When you have a tree-full of lemons....

.....you just have to make lemonade.

And when you want to make some money without having to do extra jobs....

....you have a lemonade stand!

I love how they brought a garbage can out.

And business was pretty good!

I read somewhere lately a list of things every kid should do at least once during their childhood, and 'have a lemonade stand' was one of them.  So Max and Zane can check that one off their list.

Now Gus, he has some sort of stand going in our front yard at least twice a week.

And it's not just lemonade.

He & Jasper will scrounge up all sorts of things to sell.

They tried to sell me my own necklaces the other day.

And there's always lots of great signage.

These guys kill me.

Stop by sometime.  You just might score a really good deal on something I may not know is missing until it's long gone!  :)

Caroline, where are your toes?

Poor Mars....

She really needs this school year to be over.

She has a tough load this semester.

With volleyball and track on top of it.

Hang in there baby!

Daddy's girl

She doesn't have him wrapped around her little finger or anything.  No way.

And we're in complete control around here.


There are no charming toddlers running this household.  No sir!

Gus's birthday photoshoot

Gus turned 6.

He lost his first tooth right before these pictures.

Then lost a second one right after.

He had a Plants vs. Zombies party that I'll get on here some day.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

bathroom makeover

I was never happy with our guest bath.  It was like a closet.  You could barely get around the door & sink to turn around & sit on the toilet.  And this was the bathroom used the most by the boys & neighbor kids.  So you can just imagine.  No amount of cleaning fluid....

And then there was the frequent toilet plugging.......

It was time.

Before....

And After......

We pushed it out 2 feet, and boy does 2 feet make a big difference!

I'm in love with it.  I smile every time I walk by it, which is about 3 million times a day.

My little bro Ben did it for us.  Every part of it.  He's amazing.

And then for the best part......

This bad boy.  The Champion 4.

It may be the best $300 we've ever spent.

Check it...

Words just can't describe the peace of mind.

We're trying to ban Gus from the new bathroom until his aim improves.

But then he ends up going in my bathroom, which is the next closest.

I need to set up some sort of urination certification program or something.

And I don't know what I was thinking with the white hand towels.

I really should know better.

a new little cousin

This is Noah, our newest little cousin.

Isn't he beautiful?

Good thing I got my tubes tied.

Man, newborn pictures are hard.  So much harder than it looks.  Two different shoots to get a few good ones.

But it's worth it.  It's only been a week or so since these were taken, and he's probably already changed so much!

Congratulations Shawn & Colette!

He's definitely a keeper!!  :)

Marlee turns 17!

My little girl turned 17 in January.

We snuck gobs of balloons in to her room the night before her birthday (idea courtesy of Pinterest)  

so she would wake up to this......

Some of the strings were so long that they tickled her face & kind of freaked her out in the middle of the night.  Ha ha!

She wanted to go skiing for her birthday, so Brian took her & Jake up to Utah for the weekend.

and now for.........

Marlee's Favorite Things at Seventeen:

food   -    Tia Rosa's bean burritos, wings, & Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake

ice cream   -   Haagen Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter

school class   -   English

sport  -  volleyball & snow skiing

book   -  'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell

thing to do with free time   -   sleep!   or play the piano

vacation spot   -   Deer Valley to ski

comedian   -   Brian Regan

person to text   -   Weston

TV show   -   The Walking Dead

insults   -   nub, fudgewad, & poopskid

things to say to Mom & Dad   -   "Oh calm down"  or things in Spanish that we don't understand.

place to go   -   anywhere out of the country

thing to dream about   -   being away at college

interesting fact   -   was the President of the Mt. View Ukulele Club

bands to see in concert   -   Young the Giant, & the Muse

movies   -   Sherlock Holmes, Mean Girls, Megamind, Despicable Me

sister  -  Caroline  :)

Happy Birthday Mars!!!