Our BIG weekend on stage!

Last weekend BOTH of my girls (and Cooper) were on stage! Olivia had another dance competition. Their performance wasn't quite as strong as it has been before, but I was still as proud as could be! They got a gold metal in each dance, and received 3rd and 4th overall in their division. I did take some pictures to share...check back in!


Waiting for her hair to be done...and yes, that is a lot of make up. But it is stage make up...


Olivia and her friend, Abbey.


In the hall of the convention center, warming up for "Walk the Dinosaur".


Olivia was so excited it was her turn to go get the award for "Dinosaur". When they interviewed her on stage, she couldn't remember the name of her dance studio. But that did not keep her from looking absolutely adorable!


"Walk the Dinosaur" got 4th overall, and "Boogie Shoes" got 3rd...


Then, Isabella was asked to be in a fashion show at a Kid's Expo here in town (a modeling agency is across the hall from my studio and we were approached a few weeks ago). So, when we show up they tell us they are short one 6 month old little boy due to an ear infection. I tell them that I know a baby that age that could possibly fill in. I call Emily, and we're set! Isabella was SO GOOD (you know I was worried...) and sat patiently with NO fits (amazing...). She even waved at the audiece, and blew kisses to them! Well, the fashion show itself was really no big deal. They didn't even say the kids' names, but Colleen (from Integrity Models, Inc.) said she wants to use Isabella for a Dillard's shoot that is coming up, and once she is in 3T clothes they will need her a LOT. Apparently, there is a lot of work for 3T and 4T. OKAY! I know my baby is cute, but I am afraid she may not be as cooperative as they need her to be...LOL. Justin took a few pictures during the show (since I had to walk out with her) so hopefully Emily will email them to me soon and I'll add them in.

Good intentions

I had a friend once that used to always say she had good intentions, but was really bad about following through. At the time, I wasn't exactly sure WHY the following through part was so hard. Ah-ha! THAT was BEFORE children, BEFORE my business, etc... I, too, find myself having the best intentions of doing things for people (or even just keeping up with this blog), only to once again, have it left on the list at the end of the day.

I am a BIG list maker. Seriously. It is how I can organize my thoughts that run rampant in my head. To take things one piece at a time. I am less overwhelmed when I can see my tasks in front of me.

So WHY am I here at the computer at 9:30 at night, when the rest of my family is sleeping (Brian was at a men's retreat last night and got hardly any sleep at all). I have a list in front of me of all the things I NEED to get done (like YESTERDAY)...but am I working on them? Not yet. Instead, I am in the blog-world. I have to admit, it is an escape for me of some sort. Am crazy?

So, I thought I'd lay out my list for this evening on the blog. Anyone want to help with my list? Ha!

-Print invitations for open house (DONE)
-fix ribbons, stuff, label, and stamp invitations (will do tomorrow with mom)
-blog about Nicholas, Open House, Ross, Keaton... (those will have to be done next week)
-Send welcome packets to Davis, Reynolds, and Jasmine (DONE)
-proof Jordan and Henry (ETA: Jordan is done, Henry will have to wait till tomorrow...)
-make DVD of Nathan's first year of sessions...
-blog on family blog about our weekend last weekend (I'll do that real quick and add pictures later) (DONE)
-return web inquiry email (DONE)
-schedule Ross ordering session (next week)
-design and upload marketing pieces for Open House (tomorrow)

Ok, see... I feel better already! Only half of that stuff needs to be done in the next few hours! Yea! Notice, I did not add 'get some sleep'.... Ha!

A new reason to blog

Last night was one of the scariest nights I've ever had. About 9:30 pm, tornadoes were predicted to sweep through our area throughout the evening, leaving us glued to the television for details and timelines. One hit a car dealership in Benton (30ish miles south). A police officer left his dash camera on and got video of the actual tornado going across the screen. It was played over and over on the news between updates.

I wasn't too concerned until it started moving toward the downtown area (although, we now know it was not actually on the ground at that time). I hoped it wouldn't hit the building my studio is in...but also knew if it was that close, it would be here in no time. Then it touched down in a neighborhood near the mall and crossed the river going towards the Levy area (near my mom's house). I called to make sure she was aware of it because she had been home sick. She was watching the news then.

Well, about that time our cable went out and I started to panic just a little. Surprisingly, most radio stations did NOT have any coverage of the storm. We finally found one that was linked to the news station we had just been watching. I located my walkman and had it set to the same station in case we lost power. I lit candles, found an old TV antenna and waited...

Then, the most bizarre thing happened. It left the Levy area, and went up the hill to Remount Road. All of the sudden the meteriologist says they have completely lost all signals b/c the storm is directly over the National Weather Service... Luckily, Memphis was able to pick up the signal, but it was a scary time for everyone. (I found out that at this point is when my sister lost all power at her house...and had no radio to listen to).

The tornado destroyed the North Little Rock airport and most of the planes there (small private planes) and was leaking fuel. The news stations kept saying it was in North Little Rock and that Jacksonville needed to take cover, but they weren't saying anything about Sherwood. They said the storm was moving near JFK and North Hills (which is about a mile from out house)! They finally mentioned for Sherwood to take cover so we decided it was time to get the girls.

Now, I am not a person that is normally afraid of storms, nor do I take extreme precautions when we are in a torando watch/warning. So I stood at the top of the stairs and thought it over again, making sure it was the right time (because I did NOT want to wake them up if I didn't have to...I dreaded getting them back to sleep again). Then the meteorologist said the tornado was moving down Marilyn (near our house but REALLY close to Emily's) and I went in an grabbed them. I woke Olivia first and told her to go downstairs in the playroom with Daddy... She was not too sure about it (and was half asleep), but she did what she was told. Then I grabbed the baby and quickly went downstairs. My biggest fear at this point was our roof would come off. Our upstairs has the slanted roof lines with no attic above our heads so any little tree falling on us or hole in the roof would make a big difference (much less if our roof was completely torn off!)

So, we got in the playroom closet under our staircase, blew out the candle and waited... Olivia asked what we were doing and I think I tried to play it off like fun and different, but I know she heard the rado and knew it was serious. They didn't cry, or fuss at all! And that was a blessing in itself. Isabella sat in my lap, head on my shoulder as we sat in the pitch black. There was no wind, no rain, nothing at that point...and that scared me too.

But it wasn't just a few minutes before the meteorologist was saying the storm had moved onto Gravel Ridge area and on to the LRAFB in Jacksonville. We felt it was safe enough to come out, and I put the girls back in bed. I did not hear one peep from them rest of the night. I couldn't believe it!

At this time it is about 11ish or so. We watched the news as reports of the damage in Sherwood came in and I was horrified. The high school had damage to the autitorium and the roof peeled back on another part of it, the sports complex had extensive damage to several ball fields and the concessions gone, power lines down, trees down, houses damaged, etc...

Brian called Emily and Justin (because all of this happened within a few blocks of their house) and Justin said they did not have power, but were ok. I was quite worried about them. We were just about to go to bed when another wave showed up on radar...with the timeline of being here in an hour. So we stayed up longer to make sure we were out of the woods and we were lucky again.

After talking to my sister today, I realize just how close the tornado was to us. She knows she heard the 'train' and whistling sounds that are associated with the tornado (and a co-worker lives near there as well and heard the same things along with the air being sucked up and out of her vents...SCARY!)

I am so thankful that our family is fine and received no damage at all! We are so blessed!!!

And that got me thinking this evening, if my house was to be taken by a tornado (or anything for that matter) at least I have this blog started with stories and pictures stored online somewhere. I could retrieve our memories if I ever had to (but I hope I never have that issue...). It also makes me realize I need to be better about blogging more often. So, be on the look out for more posts soon (and I promise they will have pictures to go with them).

In a great green room...

...there was a telephone, a red balloon, and a picture of...

Sound familiar? I have had this book memorized for YEARS! My sister loved this book as a child and requested it every night there for a while. Then, Olivia was introduced to it and we read it over, and over, and OVER. Well now, Isabella as fallen in love with this old classic.

In fact, she goes to bed hearing it each night, and sometimes wakes up each morning, knocks on her door to get out (b/c of the childproof doorknob covers) and has it in her hands...giving it to us before she even says a word. It is so adorable! I don't ever want to forget that!

I just love the fascination of this book. I remember being in a children's literature course in college where they talked about things that made it a classic. How it starts out light, but with each page, it gets darker and darker till the light is gone, and how there is a tiny mouse in each page. And I guess all kids love the part about the old lady whispering, "hush".

So, here's to another generation growing up on Goodnight, Moon...
"Goodnight noises everywhere."

Cooper is 6 months!

I just can't get enough of this kid! He is just so squeezably cute!! He was happy last Wednesday until I pulled the camera out...then his smiles disappeared. Of course, happens to most babies. But Emily and I worked like crazy to get him to forget about it all and have fun. I think we got some good ones. (He even decided to show off his tooth for us!)

Easter Sunday

I love Easter. I love the spring colors, Easter dresses, dying eggs, and egg hunts. I love the Cadbury bunny commercials (which I haven't seen in a few years, actually) and even bunnies and chicks in general. I love our family's annual Easter meal at my mother's house: ham, hashbrown casserole, baked beans, baby sweet pickles, and rolls...YUM! I love the excitement of day...and I love the meaning behind the holiday.

A few years ago I saw a skit at a youth group event that depicted the crucifixion of Christ and it really got me thinking. I bet Satan was absolutely beside himself, doing a victory dance--thinking he had won. But can you imagine the look on his face when the stone was rolled away and Jesus was not there!?! And even more so, when He joined his Father in heaven once again...

I think with so many holidays with fun activities and traditions, we forget the reason why we even celebrate. Now, that being said, we did have a great time yesterday and I have a lot of pictures to share!

First of all, trying to get a picture of BOTH girls in their Easter dresses is next to impossible. I had to settle for this! Ha!



So trying to get a picture of all THREE grandkids was absolutely impossible. And we had to settle for this! Sorry mom...



Coopy was all smiles during his diaper change... He is SO adorable!



Mr. Nathan and Mrs. Dorothy came also and had fun gifts for the kids to play with after lunch. One of the things in Bella's basket was a cool spinnng light toy in the shape of an egg. She loved it!




And I always love each holiday I get to spend with my Mamaw...




Look at these 'hard to find' eggs we picked up this year. Believe it or not, Bella found more of them than Olivia did!





When we were dying eggs Saturday night, I made one with each kid's name on it. You know how when you dissolve the dye tablet in the vinegar how hard it is to tell what color it is going to be? Well...I thought I was dying Cooper's red, but when we took it out, it was PINK! Oh well...he didn't care this year.




After the egg hunt, the girls looked for other ways to have fun outside!



Then we had a little mini-celebration for Emily's birthay. It was a long (but fun) day!

Daily blessing

Each night there is a particular blessing we say over our children before they go to bed. We've done it for years. Well, last night when I put Isabella to bed I said her blessing and she started blessing me back! It was so precious! She's done it a few times before (and I remember when Olivia started doing it at this age as well...). It is just SO precous! Makes you really see the heart of a child...

Tea anyone?

We had Olivia's Garden Tea Party this afternoon. It was the best birthday party I've EVER had at my house! We had 3 little girls come--two canceled today and a few were no-shows, but honestly, the 3 that came + my 2 girls made the perfect number for tea. Each girl got a white hat and gloves. We played a few games (new spins on the classic birthday games: pin the tea bag on the teacup, musical teacups, and hot teacup), and then moved outside to the gazeebo for tea.

My original plan was to have everything outdoors and have the girls play a modified version of croquet, but with the recent thunderstorms, our yard was very marshy! So, I settled for have the tea party itself outdoors and luckily it 'mostly' warmed up enough (only one little girl said she was cold the whole time we were outside).

We had fruit, and I made petits fours and tea sandwiches (consisting of PB and cheese). I also found a variety of fruit teas for the girls to choose from. Most did not like their hot tea as well as a traditional iced tea, but loved add sugar cubes anyway!

Olivia had a fantastic time and EVERYONE was so polite with 'tea manners'. I couldn't believe it! Even Bella sat at the table and drank from a real tea cup! I wish every birthday party would be this successful. It is certainly one Olivia will remember!

Oh, how the years fly...

On this day in 2002, my life was forever-changed...I became a mother. I am not sure of any other event in my life (other than becoming a Christian) that has had such an impact on my life as this. Somedays, being a mother is so tiring and unappreciated, but mostly, it is an unmeasurable blessing.

After my sweet Olivia Brook (named after my sister) was born after 18 hours of HARD labor, I was told that she was a girl. I immediately asked what any mother would ask as she sees her child for the first time from across the room, "Is she pretty?" Well, I thought she was beautiful that day, and I think she is even more beautiful now... She is such a sensitive and artistic child. She beams when she wallks in a room which makes the day is so much brighter. She is the best big sister ever and a fantastic artist (she draws the most amazing things for a kindergartener...seriously). We just couldn't be more proud of her!




And how do you like those glasses? She LOVES them!


Here's one of her amazing drawings. It is of a wall in my studio. I can't believe she draws in layers/perspective already. I think she is incredible!

Deadline

I, by nature, am usually not a late person...but a procrastinator?? OH YES! I seem to leave everything until the very last minute to get done. So why should today be any different? A canvas supplier that I am using for my business was having a huge spring sale (35% off) for large gallery-wrapped canvas prints...but the sale was going to be over this past Tuesday. I was going to be attending a photography conference in Charleston so I didn't figure I'd make the deadline. Well, the owner of the canvas company spoke at our conference and said he would extend the deadline until the end of the week for those of us that attended. GREAT!

I had taken a few snapshots of the studio with me to the conference to ask other photographers for their advice on decor and such, and it was suggested to me that I get a 40x60 canvas to put above the couch. Now, once I realized how LARGE that actually was going to be, I decided that if I was going to have so much space (not to mention $$) invested in a canvas, I wanted it to be of my own girls. I started hatching a plan and decided today was the day...the day of the deadline.

I had a shoot this morning scheduled already so we just went to the studio early. I shot two image in particular that I just loved, but after asking for advice to help me make my decision, and making several revisions of both of them...I finally decided on the horizontal one. Yes, I do realize you can't 'see' them very well. I wanted more of an 'emotional/relationship' image. Those are the kind of moments I want to remember... And the kind of things I am trying to educate my clients on as well.

So my order is processing as we speak--hours to spare before the sale is over and now I can't wait to see it on the wall! Once it is hung, I'll have to post a picture of it for you all to see!