I am having quite a morning in blog land

I love, love, love this strange world called blog land. I have been so blessed by reading other women's blogs this morning. I will admit , I do carve out time each day ( or try to) to read my favorite blogs. But rarely do I get to sit for a long period of time and just relax and read.


But lucky for me. Myka woke up super cranky this am.
So I did not feel guilty putting her back to bed at 9:00 !!
She went right to sleep and I made dinner.
Pork chops in the slow cooker.

That reminds me I need to tell you all about ez mealz.

But that is for another post.

I have been sitting here , sipping on my coffee reading this blog .

Oh how I love Wendy and Tyler from blue lily.
The colors in their pictures make me die a little each time I see them. And the tones they use. that look of the picture being warm toned yet cool at the same time. I just get lost in each one of their pics.

Then I was reading this one. I love Clover lane. My awesome friend Tess turned me on to this one. I like it because it gives me something ti aspire too. Sometimes her posts are the reminders I need to appreciate this job of mothering and see it for the awesome responsibility it is.

And lately I have needed that reminder.

Mornings have been rough.
bed time has been Hell.
And I have been slightly depressed.

Nothing awful. Just the mommy blues.

So this morning when I read this I felt better.

What a inspiring story.

AND tonight at my super cool MOPS meeting THIS awesome blogger mommy is coming to speak !!

So exciting !!

Happy hump day !

Step one.....

Ok, So I am being honest that now I am feeling all shy about my picture taking skills. A LOT of you out there in blog land are insanely awesome photographers. So take what I say with a grain of salt.


Step one- get on the same level as your subject. This is the number one thing, that takes the least amount of time that will make a huge difference in your pictures.

In the examples below you can really see what I mean. In the picture on the right you can tell i am standing above her.Your eye is distracted by the door behind her, the shoe in the corner, and the boxes in the corner.

The picture on the left however all you can see is the subject of the photo Myka.

These pictures were taken within seconds of each other but tell vastly different stories. And all I did was change the angle that i was shooting from. It only takes a second make sure you are on eye level with your subject and not shooting from above.

Shooting from above your subject happens a lot with parents taking pictures of their kids. You get so caught up in what your eye is seeing you forget that your camera is seeing something completely different. By getting down to the same level as your subject/child you are helping the camera see what you see.

Our next lesson is on eliminating background distractions. I am hoping to get a chance to post it tomorrow but I may not since my brother in law is getting MARRIED tomorrow !!

I am so excited for my brother in law and soon to be sister in law.

I am photographing the wedding too :)

So it will be a crazy busy day !

Photo Freak

I was stalking reading my friend Jeanettes blog when I saw this little contest.

The theme is bath time pictures.

I had one that came to mind.


Now run on over and check out her blog and join in the fun !

Megs meatballs

Ok, I need to be real with you all.

I DO NOT COOK !

But i am trying real hard.

My hubby saw me getting ready to post this and he laughed at me.

Thanks Honey.

Anyhoo, I got this meat ball recipe from one of my all time favorite blogs WHATEVER.
I changed it up just a little and it was a hit !

Tonight i had every intention of making it taco Tuesday.
Its a thing we do.

but then Lexi got invited to go watch her friends brothers football practice. Ashlynn was not invited.
And she was sad.

So we got a happy meal.

So much for meal planning.

But just in case you want to see how I made last nights dinner it is below.

I went all pioneer women on you with the pics,
granted her food pics are far more fabulous.
 i just steal recipes from other blogs,

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup milk
1/2 chopped onion.
3 slices white bread ( I only had wheat )
A pinch of garlic
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp mustard ( not pictured )
and three eggs ( they are hiding in the back of the picture )

first place the 3 pieces of bread in a bowl


 add about a 1/2 cup milk. Enough to cover the bread but not drench it.
Next, Mush all the ingredients up in a bowl ( minus the brown sugar)
This part was really gross.
I HATE raw meat !!



Then roll the meat mixture into little balls ( Hubby informed me mine looked like meat patties ) :P on that boy.



Then cook the meat balls ( or meat patties) at 30 degrees for about 45 minute's.
Then add your sauce

i used 1/2 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp mustard.
Spoon sauce over the meat balls and cook for another 10 minutes.

I would make lots of sauce. We didn't quite have enough.



ok, so mine kind of do look like patties.
But the point is I tried.
Megs pictures are prettier.
And she has a neat typed up version of this recipe.

But the kids loved them
And my hubby said they were yummy.
And he was happy i made them.

The
end.

Fall break 2010

I have a thing for funny socks lately.
Good thing Lexi likes funny socks.
She dressed herself yesterday before we headed out to a family Target trip.
She dresses herself all the time but today I guess she was feeling extra snazzy.

Target was fun. Then we  THEY ate Del taco,
and I watched. I ate some lettuce for dinner.
I am not going to lie, this diet is getting very boring.

Two weeks left ! I can do it !!

Today i went with the kids to see nanny Mcphee returns .

SUPER CUTE movie. And we saw it for a dollar !!
can't beat that price.
The only downfall was the line for popcorn was insane !!

A letter to thirty something me.

I stumbled upon This blog tonight and was inspired to write a letter to twenty something me.
Then i remembered I am still in my twenties.
Still making all those mistakes I am sure thirty something year old me will write warning me about.

But since i check my e mail every day and I have yet to see the letter from thirty something me. I have decided to write her first.

Dear thirty something Lauren,

How are the kids ? I mean REALLY ??? Are they repeating all the mistakes we made in our teen years ? Does lexi have a boyfriend ? Some boy she is convinced she is in love with. Is she in a relationship that I " Just don't understand ? ".

Speaking of kids how many do we have ?  Did Will talk us into that fourth baby ? Is it a boy named Isiah ?  Did we adopt a fifth child in our early thirties like we dreamed about ?

have i lost weight ???

Are we still insecure about every choice we make? Or does something magical happen when we hit thirty and we all of the sudden learn to stand up for our self ?

I would really like to know that. because i am kind of counting on thirty bringing some kind of wisdom to our table. Not that I feel totally incapable now , I just question myself so much. Did i over react did i under react. I am hoping age will bring some confidence.

How is Mom ? Did she meet someone ? Are they happy ? Did you give her the beautiful wedding she deserves ?

Where do we live ? California , Wisconsin, Arizona ??  Did Will go to law school like we planned ?

I know I have a lot of questions thirty something me.

Please write back

love me

Happy Friday !

have you ever had a day where you feel like if ONE more thing happens it WILL push you over the edge??

That was yesterday for me.
Lexi woke up with icky sores in her mouth.
It was gross.
I called the doc and they said bring her in.
Nice. Hubby has our ONE car at work.
I called one of my BFF's Megan . She agreed to drive us.

Ten minutes later we were playing outside. And Myka climbed up on a rock.

A BIG one.

And I swear it happened in slow motion.
I tried to catch her.
But I was to late.
She cried and cried. And had a HUGE goose egg on her head.
Right in the back.

I called the doc AGAIN.

They wanted to see her right away.
CRAP !

Now HUBBY had to come home. I was clearly unfit to be watching the children. They were dropping like flies.

And he did.
And we were all fine.
We have the x rays to prove it.
And the special mouthwash to make the sores go away.
And now for the random pictures because its Friday.


I made this necklace following THIS tutorial.

I liked it.
My hubby said it looked like something I made at summer camp.
WHATEVER.
hes a hater.

I think this is her new standard picture face.



unless she dumps her icee all over her face. Then she makes this face.





I love this kid.
She is growing up fast.
I like it when she is still excited about things like rocks.


She REALLY likes rocks.
Enough that she made a club about them


We may need to work on spelling :)

hcg update- 13 pounds down !!

A rainy day on Robin......

I love when it rains in the desert.

cozy art projects.
Coffee in the afternoons.
yummy dinners at night.
Some WII rockband

I do believe fall is making its way into the desert.
 




 

Ten minutes

is how long AFTER the girls school started that I woke up.
How long it took me to gently wake them from sleep. ( yeah right, more like jump on them until they woke up begging me to stop)
How long it took us to find shoes that match for everyone.

And finally it TOOK me TEN mintutes to find the darn pone to call the school and tell them they were late.
Because mommy was up to late facebooking and over slept.

Just being honest.
even the cat was judging me

I didnt want to be up facebooking. But I just couldn't fall asleep. I wonder if it is some crazy effect of the hcg ??
Yesterday went well. I had some tummy troubles in the afternoon, but who knows what that was from ?

I made Will bring me a IN =N= OUT Burger home for dinner.( for those of you just joining us days one and two are fat loading days )

with CHESSE fries
BOTH animal style !!!!

It was awesomeness.

I could only finish about half of it.

How do people eat like that ? I know this sounds really dumb. But I don't know why i am so fat ! I mean really, I never buy cookies, cake, or anything sugary.

NEVER !
My kids hate me because I never allow fruit snacks into the house. We only buy chips for lunches for school.

We do eat fast food. But only on weekends. And we really like subway.

I know my habits are from from perfect.
But I don't know that they are deserving of being so heavy either.
Maybe this is all some delusion I have talked myself into. Maybe those of you who know me in real life are thinking" geez Lauren I saw how much pizza you had last weekend "

I know hcg is not a magic drop.
I know I have to change my lifestyle to make it effective in the long run.
But I really feel like I do need some kind of reset to my body.

So here we go onto day two ! My final fat loading day !
Tomorrow its all apples and chicken. ( you can have more then that, but I like the way apples and chicken sound together )

don't forget to enter the giveaway for the fabulous handmade bag by Robin at well of creations

giveaway here

I just want to be the me I see inside.

I posted on my facebook earlier this evening about picking up some hcg drops. I was surprised at the comments , questions and support I received in my little social media network.

But first ......

I want to remind you all about the super fab giveaway i have going on just one post below this one.  Its really easy to enter. just comment on the post and answer the question what inspires you to create. I will let random.org pick a winner one week from today.

CLICK HERE
 *********

Moving back on to weight loss . I want to feel like me. 
I am bearing my soul here but I really HATE being over weight, 
Especially because I am a photographer.
I want to be comfortable being in front of the camera.

I want to be healthy .
I want to be happy in my own skin.
I know being happy in my own skin will take more then some magic weight loss drops.

but being healthier and having more energy will help me feel better about me.

And that's important.

I need all the energy i can get with this little one running around
Myka on Mothers day 2010. from kennagurls on Vimeo.

Who am I ?

Photo taken by the talented Jeanette of In the Light photography

I have been thinking a lot about my identity lately.

Who am I ?

I know the short answer. I am a wife, mom, photographer, daughter, and friend.

Sometimes I am creative, more often I am cranky.

I am the finder of lost shoes and the maker of the lunches.

I am sleepy.

But there is more.

So much more



*deep breath*

I am the daughter of a KING ! That's right folks I am a real life true story, i am so not kidding princess !!

I always knew this. But lately it has really hit home. I struggle with not keeping my identy wrapped up in what other people think about me. I am realizing the truth that it doesn't matter what other people think about me. Now don't get me wrong.

I LOVE people.

But I will run around all day trying to make everyone happy. Desperate to make sure you like me.

Its so silly.

If i had one smidge of a idea of how much I am loved by God i don't think I would even think about what other people think about my housekeeping skills or the outfit I am wearing. Or if my children are getting straight A's or how much money we make.

I was watching the television show addicted a few days ago while i cleaned the kitchen. It was about a 18 year old girl addicted to drugs. The show is all about helping people over come addictions and the reasons they become addicted.

It scared me.

As a mother it scared me.
As a mother of THREE daughters it scared me even more.

I dropped to my knees in my kitchen and prayed .

I prayed that my daughters would know their value. That God would protect their hearts , their minds, and their bodies from the evil of this world.

That they would be strong and fearless leaders. That they would never doubt their purpose in life. That they will know that they are chosen and set apart by God.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4 (New Living Translation)

Please God.

Let them know this.


Help me to understand this.

 

Random thoughts about today .......

My internet was down for about three hours this morning.

Not cool.

That's like taking away my oxygen.

****

Miss Lexi got her own room today. She needs her own space. Shes like a real big kid now. I am noticing that Ash and Myka are playing together more and more. Lexi is wanting to spend more time with her friends.
And by herself...writing....... singing songs ... making up dance routines. I remember what it was like to be ten.
Ten was when I started listening to the radio, This was my favorite song.

*sigh*



***

I am worried about my grandma. I cant go into details. If I could ask you all to pray for her. Well , that would be wonderful.
Oh, and if i ever have a house with a swimming pool. I want one like this







 

Things I loved about today

Myka drinking milk from her cereal bowl ( who taught her to do this ?? )



The result of myka drinking milk from her cereal bowl . And I want to add the only reason I liked this part was because I thought the fruit loops and milk looked like a cool picture. i was right.

Myka watching TV while i cleaned the kitchen. I hate using the TV as a babysitter. But it is nice to have something to entertain them for 15 minutes while you make a phone call, do the dishes, write a e mail, go to the bathroom ALL BY YOURSELF !!



And stumbling across this tutorial while I was googling ways to change my blog up  bit. I posted a full tutorial over at laurenjean. But basically i found a way to make my nifty fifty a macro lens, and took this pic.

So what did you love about today ?? And can anyone tell me how to make the column wider so i can post bigger pictures ??

I need my own space

I have been blogging for a while now over at laurenjean . But I need my own space. Somewhere I can post my lame attempts at crafting, baking, and maybe one day sewing !?!

It could happen !!!

I need a space to post pictures that may not look "professional" but capture my life.

I need a space to be me.

To let my cyber hair down so to speak.

WELCOME to the rowdy house on Robin !!!