Sweet cheeks and buck teeth

So, I have really neglected my blog lately...my holidays were not all that great and my new year was worse (I got pretty sick on a vacation :( ), and all in all 2010 has NOT been that great, I tried to start project 365 again, but I got way too busy and sick (the flu 3 times in 3 months thanks to an awful medication I was on). To be honest, I just felt defeated and depressed, I had all of these goals in mind, and didn't even really start them because of my health, so I just kind of had a bad attitude a gave up on some of my "extra" things, i.e. photography, blogging, scrapbooking, for a while. So, now I'm back. I realized they were too important to me to give up for too long. I'll try to do some updates and post some cute photos as I go, but for now I'll start with this:

I took some photos of the boys this week to give as gifts to TJ's grandmother and uncle. I didn't have any recent photos of the two of them, so I quickly took them outside onto the porch. I had NO time, it was the day of the party and Drew had to be at school within 25 minutes. I only took 60 photos, because the boys just couldn't hold still!! Thank goodness for a fast shutter speed! At first glance, I only found 1 that I really liked and then, after going through them to delete the ones I didn't like, I found three more. I thought I'd share because they crack me up,

The first one made me realize just how much they look alike. Especially when they both give me they're cheezzzy smiles. Both of they're eyes turn into half moons and they're cheek bones become very prominent. They get that from their daddy!

These next two photos are so adorable. I LOVE them, but (you can't tell unless you click on them to enlarge them) Cam is perfectly in focus and Drew is out of focus, just enough to bug me. I KNEW I should have closed down my aperture a few more stops! The face Cam is pulling in the first one is his classic picture face these days...

Again, I LOVE this, but Drew is just out of focus. I won't blow it up, but it will definitely get printed for a place in my house.

This last one was the one I gave away as a gift. I really love it. I wish Cam's smile was a little more genuine, but I love how close and cute they look. In the last three photos, Drew pretty much looks the same...but Cam's facial expression changes in each one.

I love these boys so much. They test my patience by the minute, HA!! I remember when I was 18 and new to Relief Society and hearing a young mom bearing her testimony, and in it she said, "Motherhood is the hardest thing I've ever done yet it's the most satisfying thing I've ever done." I looked around the room to see if anyone else was as confused as I was...and thought to myself, that does not sound appealing, who would want to do something so hard?? This mom thing probably isn't for me. But here I have two amazing little boys who present me with the most challenges I've ever faced, but yet, (just like the new mom in Relief Society) I wouldn't change anything about them or my life right now. I love being a mom, I love being a mom to my two boys.

p.s. Happy Anniversary to my sweet hubby! Today is our 7 year anniversary-we're celebrating it on Wednesday by going to dinner and Michael Buble-I'm VERY excited!!! I'm so grateful for the guy I'm married too, he teaches me so much and is a great dad and a great husband. I love you Teej :)

I'm Back....and Pretty Please Vote :)

Hey guys, if there is anybody who still happens to check and see if this blog is updated, I'll be shocked! :) I'll post more soon, but for now, I just want to ask you all to vote for one of my very best friends to go to New York!!! If any of you know her, she gets extra points when people put this on their Facebook or their blog. She's such an amazing girl, I'd love to see her get this opportunity. It just takes 5 seconds, seriously!!

Pretty Powerful Sponsored by Bobbi Brown

The Gospel according to Drew

"Mommy, how did Jesus make the earth?"

"I don't know buddy, maybe that's something you can ask Him one day..."

"Oh, well I think He used Legos."

Cam's Hat

I just had to post this photo of Cam....

I ordered this hat for Drew and Cam's been wearing around the house all day long. He looked so cute, so of course I had to get some pictures of him. I just love how his eyes are so penetrating. It was the last picture by the way. I got some other cute ones...but this one was the best. It's just shows that being patient is an important part of photography ;)

Guns, swords and weapons galore....

What is it about boys that they feel the need to shoot stuff, slice and dice, and generally cause mass destruction? My mom gave me the Toys R' Us big toy magazine a couple of days ago and I told Drew we could go through it and he could circle what he would like for Christmas. Well, he wants a gun, a sword, a Ultimate Fighting set with fighting figurines. To name a few... So, me being the mom wondering why boys are like this asked Drew, "bud, what is it that you like about guns and swords?" He said, "Because swords make blood come out and guns blow stuff up." Ok, maybe I'm just being too dramatic but WWHAAATTTT?!??!!!!!!!!!!!! We don't watch violent stuff at our house. They watch disney movies, Thomas the Train and Bob the builder and Living Scriptures. Where did I go wrong? So, I told Drew that I don't know if it's a good idea to have guns and swords in the house if that's what he likes about them. I told him even pretending to hurt or kill somebody is not a good idea. I know he's only 5, and he's a boy. I certainly don't want him playing with barbies or dolls or something, but COME ON! Should I get him the gun, figuring that it's just going to happen someday anyway? Or should I find alternate ways for him to have fun. I'm for plan "B" but was hoping any other ideas that find their way into my comments either help me cement my decision or just tell me to calm down and stop being so dramatic...Mom's of boys.... HELP!!!!!

Arrr!! And....To Infinity and Beyond!!!

Halloween this year was great. We made pumpkins a few days before-I wish we would have been more on the ball with that one. We watched the NBC Monsters and Aliens Halloween special, the boys watched about 5 times.

I Drew a face on Cam's pumpkin and then gave him some markers and told him to have at it. He had a great time coloring his own pumpkins. The only downside was his self-appointed ownership of ALL the pumpkins. At least 5 times a day I would find him outside rearranging the pumpkins to how he thought they should be.

The pumpkins we made:











I actually took this one for an assignment for a photography group that I'm a part of. The assignment was fear. I made this photo by zooming my lense in and out during a long exposure-1.5 seconds I think. Kinda cool huh.


This year, we decided to pass out candy. The first time in our entire marriage. In the past we've gone to both of our family's houses and neighborhoods. We really wanted to stay home and enjoy this neighborhood type of holiday. We're glad we did, it was fun walking around with our neighbors and the kids LOVED running from one doorstep to another with their friends. We have an awesome ward and neighborhood-I'm so glad to be here.

My cute little Captain Jack Sparrow (Drew still can't say that name, and I WISH that I could write down what he's saying, but I have no idea what he's saying) and Buzz Lightyear..."To Infinity and Beyond!!!

The serious shot, before taking off ;)

There's my boy! It's taken 2 years 22 months 19 days and 10 hours for this kid to actually smile for the camera. Sheesh dude!!

I love this shot of Cam climbing up to get his loot :)

And another. He would RUN from house to house, and would ask for more than one piece of candy. It worked, because he came home with almost twice as much candy as drew...what a little stinker.

Can I just say how much I love this picture. I'm tempted to blow it up and hang it in my house...I love the intensity in his eyes and his facial expression. I asked Drew at some point during the summer what he wanted to be for Halloween. Pirate-he didn't even hesitate! Here he is and loving it!!

More pages, and TJ's chest hair...

I made some more pages with some new kits from Gina Marie Huff at WW. I'm on her creative team and get to use all of her amazing products on my pages. I made these two pages one from a Halloween kit (All Hallows Eve) and one from a sweet little boy kit (Such a Boy). I had to post these so that you all could see mine and TJ's stinkin' AWESOME costumes. Our cool next door neighbors had a party and this is what we came up with. It was so funny doing his make-up and dressing him up. The best part was that he wore a low cut dress so that his chest hair would poke out, AND he didn't shave either!! It was so funny, needless to say he had all kinds of respect for women afterward for putting make-up on every day, for having to wear a bra and do our hair.

I found these CUTE pictures of TJ and Drew that I took back in July. I'd forgotten about them!! They're so cute, I'm glad I was able to find them and scrap them :_