More Practice

Thought I would share my latest photo shoot...more practice of course!!

I enlisted the help of my good friend Jen to tackle this shoot. I loved working with her and hope it was the first of many. Thank you Jen!!

Just Because...

A...Arizona weather forecast for the week...HOT and EXTREMELY HOT!

B...Booked our trip to Portland this week and can not wait to celebrate my Aunt and Uncle's 50th wedding anniversary!!

C...Cantaloupe and Corn, two reasons I love summer!

D...Done with swim lessons and my kids are pretty darn good in the pool.

E...Etsy, Etsy, Etsy...sold lots this week!

F...Facebook, it keeps me in the loop and I am proud to admit it.

G...Got yelled at by some crazy lady at the grocery store this morning and it made me literally laugh out loud.

H...Heaps of laundry to do this week!!

I...Islands in the Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers was the last song that Tom and I danced to at our wedding. Random fact!!!

J...Jen Schell, I couldn't have tackled the photo shoot on Thursday without you!!

K...Kindergarten starts in 29 days!! (Not that I am counting or anything)

L...Love Bites, our new favorite show. If you haven't seen it, you need too.

M...Mosquito bites are crazy out of control in this house, Taylor alone has probably 15!!

N...No plans this week and it kind of feels good.

O...Or it could be the longest week of my life (see 'N')

P...Photo shoot this week of the wonderful Stott family.

Q...Quite a few chores I need to get accomplished this week, but between you and I...I am not excited about it!

R...Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus, went loved it, can mark it off the list.

S...Swimming, Swimming, Swimming! That's pretty much what we do for fun around here.

T...Thomas is 4ft tall!! Again...my 5yr old is 4ft tall!!!!!

U...Um this is not as easy as I may make it look.

V...Very sick on Saturday night, the sickest I have ever been!!!

W...Why is it when you are trying to budget do you think of a million things that require money??

X...X?? I give up, I can't think of anything!

Y...Yelling, some days it feels like I do it way too much!

AND

Z...Zebras at the circus?? I had no idea!

Losing It!!

Reminded once again that someone is growing up!!

Tooth Fairy's going rate...$1.00!!!

How's Her Form?

Although both of my kids love the water...

Taylor has absolutely NO FEAR. She will jump to you 100 times and barely take a break. We decided to give her a little toss across the pool and of course she loved it.

"Do it again!"

"Do it again!"

Things that make me happy....

I can definitely give you a list of material things that make me happy, but they all pale in comparison to this...

Two weeks ago my kids didn't want to be in the pool....yesterday...I couldn't get them out!

What I've Been Up Too...

A few weeks ago I decided to throw the offer out there...

I need practice and friends need family pics!! So I offered my services free of charge for the chance to practice.

Here are a few shots from two of those photo shoots.

First up...

My good friend Jen wanted some shots of her son Caleb and her for Father's Day.

And last night I took photos of my friend Jackie and her daughters, Emma and Kyra.

I am having so much fun, but am reminded each time how much I still have to learn. I just hope they are happy with their pics.

Camping 101

What I know now...

1. Putting an awning up in gale force winds is not easy and can make you laugh so hard you fear you will wet your pants.

2. Make sure the BBQ works BEFORE you leave otherwise your kids will be eating cereal for dinner and you will be eating a turkey sandwich.

3. Bring tools...a hatchet and a butter knife DO NOT work for everything.

4. Tone your arm muscles...pumping water in a tent trailer is not as easy as you might think!

5. Check water tank before you leave...this just helps to avoid FLOODING when you realize the water hose has a hole!!

Apparently Tom and I are NOT the expert campers we thought we were!!

Both of us have fond memories of all the camping we did as kids with our families....unfortunately those memories did not help us in having a SUPER successful first camping trip for OUR family.

I should have known things may not be as easy as I remembered when Thomas said (five minutes after we left my moms house)...

"Mom...where are we going to watch TV at camping?"

Oh lord...this might be the FIRST and LAST camping trip for the Moore Family!

Well, after a first day full of errors...

We decided that there is a learning curve and this would not be our only camping trip.

These two...

Had a pretty good time when all was said and done. And to be honest so did their mom and dad.

Our next trip is planned for Father's Day weekend!!

Someday You'll Be Hiring These Two....

My kids are obsessed with my camera...

Not with being in front of the lens like I wish, but being behind it.

The funny thing is though...

Sometimes I actually like what I find when I am deleting.

I love these two kids!!!

Aunt KiKi and Tommy!!

Complete boredom can sometimes turn into something pretty good...

Thanks Sis....I had fun!!

I've Gotta Start Somewhere...Part I

So I have a huge confession to make....

We need to start budgeting!!! Like yesterday!!!

But where to start??

Well I have been pondering this for quite a while. See...it isn't like we are one of those families swimming in debt. Frankly I can't take the pressure and stress that comes with endless heaps of debt, but we'll leave that story for another day.

I just feel like it would be nice to be AHEAD!!!

I am pretty sure I am not the only one that feels this way, but nevertheless I have decided to stop thinking about it...talking about it...and do something!!

So my plan starts today...

And it starts with the kitchen.

Tom and I took survey of everything we have...Freezer...Fridge...Pantry!!

And came up with a menu for the next nine days. Now to be fair I think we could have stretched the menu to 15 days, but this will be an experiment to see how we do.  Don't want to bight off more than we can chew.

We made a menu, then made a very small list of things we would still need from the grocery store and that was that.

I thought I would share our menu and our small grocery list.

Wish us luck!!

Menu:
1. Ribs with Caesar salad and cornbread  Perfect meal to end a day of yardwork and cleaning!!
2. Burgers and Hot dogs with potatoes Au gratin
3. BBQ Chicken with rice
4. Spaghetti with green salad
5. Halibut with green salad
6. Baked Chicken with Alfredo pasta
7. Ravioli
8. Potato Soup
9. Taco Salad

I know...you are probably laughing at my menu, but its what I've got and if I buy stuff to create the menu I am accomplishing nothing!

Our small grocery list...  Got everything on the list and a couple added due to good coupons and a clearance section!!

2 Gallons of Milk (Got them on clearance because of pull date, but the way we go through milk it won't make it to the date)
Toilet Paper
Head Lettuce
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Eggs

Added....Bananas, two pillsbury dinner rolls $1.00 and two 4-pks of yoplait for $2.00.

The goal is to spend NO MORE on groceries until the nine days is up!! 

We shall see......

Happy 300th....

This will officially be my 300th post!!

Sunday morning we split the kids down the middle and went our separate ways.

This one went with dad...

Thomas' eyes just light up when he gets to go to the driving range with dad. He wants to be just like his dad...News flash Thomas...you already are!!

And this one went with me...

We headed off to the park and although she probably would have rather been with the boys...I think she was pretty happy once we got there.

Just a List....

So I have figured something out...

I love crossing things off my list!!!

Whenever we go on vacation I make a list...and I get a little thrill every time something gets crossed off.

Which leads me to the meat and potatoes of this post.

I thought I would make a list...A "To-do" list!!! Since blogger allows me to put a line through things it seems like the best way to start getting things done.

So here is my list....

1. Clean and organize master bathroom linen closet.


2. Go through all of the kids' clothes and pull out the winter. It may not OFFICIALLY be summer in the other 49 states, but in AZ it is!


3. Clean and organize my craft room.


4. Work on a shelf that I got from Goodwill for the kids' playroom.


5. Take photos for my photography class.


6. Book first camping trip!!


7. List at least 10 things on Etsy (I have really neglected my Etsy shop lately and the truth is...I have probably over 50 bows/hair clips that I just need to take pics of)

It may not seem like too much, but I forgot to mention that everyday I have to go to my moms to watch her dog for a few hours...On Wednesday night we have Kindergarten round-up...On Saturday we have two parties...

AND of course all of the normal, everyday mommy stuff!!!

Proud Mommy!!

So yesterday was RECITAL day!!

And except for the few tears Taylor shed when I dropped her off...it went off without a hitch!!

Unfortunately NO CAMERAS/VIDEO TAPING were allowed, so if you have come looking for the much anticipated Dad's dance...it is not here.

I did order the DVD, so hopefully I can figure out some way to share with everyone. Taylor had a great time and she did great.

She was back to her normal self after the show though....and refused to help get a good picture of her with mommy and Aunt KiKi.

She half way cooperated for the pic with her dad.

And the day wouldn't have been complete without a pic of our good friends The Tavenner's. Evan is in Taylor's dance class (if you missed the matching dresses) and Landon takes the hiphop class.

It was a great day!

Thanks a lot BLOGGER!!!

Dollar Tree Tuesday had to be delayed two days this week due to BLOGGER, but I decided that I would go ahead and post anyway...

I mean my loyal lurkers readers may want to see what I picked up this week.

The weeks trip was for ME and me only. I picked up some household items that I would buy only at the Dollar Tree.

Yes...I am aware that there is a machine known as "Coinstar" AND yes I am aware that this machine counts your money for you....BUT I do not want to give up any of my the kids' money. So, every six months or so I sit down...find something on the DVR that I need to catch up on...AND roll coin.

$1.00 and I get 36 coin wrappers and I don't have to give up 8.9% of the money.

Tom reminded me the other day that we were in need of a good scrub brush...so I can now check that off the list.

I have showed both of these items before, but they deserve a second shout out...FLOSSERS and LATEX GLOVES. The flossers are probably my number one best find at the Dollar Tree and if you ask my hubby I cannot live without them.

Manila envelopes, a plastic basket and a 2pk of white drawer trays finished off my list.

I have a few organizing projects that need to be done this week...

So I will most likely be back to my favorite store.

Toddlers and Tiaras

OK...

I am going to confess something

I am not cut out to be the mom of a dance diva or Taylor isn't cut out to be a dance diva. Either way...

The look on her face and the DumDum in her hand (yes I am not above bribes) should tell you how our morning went.

And lucky me US we get to do it all again next Saturday for the actual recital!!