Random Ramblings from a Rather Rad MaMa

2009-04-02T07:51:00.000-04:00

More hard work from my ballerina.

Jumping

Playing football

Pretty darn good at catching...

2009-04-02T07:46:00.000-04:00

One more JEEP picture...

My beautiful ballerina right before her second week of class...

Me peeking through the window to get a shot of her. She tried so hard today!

New Wheels!

2009-04-02T07:11:00.000-04:00

Sky's new ride.

Nothing better than taking little sis for a spin!

I love how both of these smiles are SO fake!!!

Girls

Rethinking

2009-03-25T00:56:00.001-04:00

Okay, when I first started uploading pictures I decided to go from newest to oldest, since my new ones would probably be better, and if I only got a few up, they would be my good ones. BUT, two hours later into said project, I am now realizing that my older pictures, aka newest posts, show first...Maybe I should have rethought that :) But it is what it is. I'm at my stopping point for the night and will resume work on this in the morning. For now, if you want to see new stuff, scroll down and click on 'older posts.' Of course you'll have to repeat that like thirty times, but hey, it's worth it.

I love this man SO much! Whoo WHOO!

Best smile ever.

Love these eyes.

2009-03-25T00:50:00.000-04:00

She has mad football catch skillzz :)

Gotta love that PaPa love. She was trying to throw the ball over the telephone wires...it didn't go so well :)

Aidan Grace!

Beautiful Mother

More.

2009-03-25T00:48:00.000-04:00

Vivian

I really like this one a lot! Her face is adorable!

This one, too.

My Skyyy!

2009-03-25T00:46:00.000-04:00

Sweet little Vivian. I love these of her.

Looking out the window...

2009-03-25T00:44:00.000-04:00

Aaron again. I like this picture and the other picture to be together...oh well!

Tongue.

Tongue again! This is Micah.

And Vivi's pigtails.

2009-03-25T00:41:00.000-04:00

This is Jill. She has already won another photographer third place in a photo contest. I wonder if I'll be that lucky?

LOFAAA! He is awesome :)

Cutie pie

Aaron. This was definitely his favorite toy of the day.

2009-03-25T00:39:00.000-04:00

Such a little cutie. She has the most flexible neck ever!

Here is her little smile.

She likes putting her little head down. Ah-Dor-Able!

Baba time!

Babies

2009-03-25T00:36:00.000-04:00

Tabitha! She is a crack up. I had a lot of fun playing with her.

Running out of Titles...

2009-03-25T00:33:00.000-04:00

Skylar doing her last little poses for me. These are cute. Then down below we have Ella and then Tabitha. Tabitha cracks me up in these pictures, she is too funny! Definitely fun to shoot.

Skylar

2009-03-25T00:29:00.000-04:00

She is a nut sometimes. And then sometimes she is just too grown. These were all taken way before she turned four! Can you believe how big she seems?! She is too funny playing with her stick. Both of my girls are crazy about sticks and always have to have a walking stick of just the right size to go on their hikes.

Sky in the woods by and by.

2009-03-25T00:25:00.000-04:00

Sweet Sweet Girl. I think these are awesome.

2009-03-25T00:17:00.001-04:00

This picture rocks my socks. So does my Sky

Can you hear me?

Now we're home and on yet another hike...

She was such a big girl during this shoot!

2009-03-25T00:15:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh. I love her.

Sliding down! Whee!

Haha, wind tunnel a PDKAirport Park!

Loves to slide! She had hung out with my eight year old niece the night before which is why there is pink in her hair...

I'm about to call it quits myself here...

2009-03-25T00:10:00.001-04:00

Brother's turn to be posted up on a wall...

Posted up on the wall

Being sad

Now she's happy! And I bet you are too, because that's the end of the Starr's Mill shots!

Wow. Are you tired of this yet?

2009-03-25T00:07:00.000-04:00

Just a walkin into the sunset...

Watching the water flow.

Grace posted up. Her hair always looks like this. Actually, it usually looks more wild than this. I refuse to cut her bangs and she refuses to wear clippies :) It's a lose-lose! haha

Best most best awesome sissy picture ever. Yeah, I said it...

Starr's Mill...

2009-03-25T00:03:00.000-04:00

My lovely lovely mother.

Hottie!

One of my favorites ever!

Sissy Love <3

Starr's Mill...

2009-03-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

Grace posing by the lightpost like Uncle Stephen...

Sky doing everything she can to get wet-ha!

Beautiful

Love the smile here.

2009-03-24T23:57:00.000-04:00

I like these ones too. Skylar is such a little model!!! And my bro isn't half bad himself :)

Wow. Guess I got a bunch of good ones here...

2009-03-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

I really do love this location...

Stud

Beauty

Brother

More from the Mill...

2009-03-24T23:51:00.000-04:00

Didn't realize I put three of these...

Skylar walking the 'balance beam' and posing at the same time!

The mill area

and in color...

Misc. Pictures Collected over time...

2009-03-24T23:48:00.000-04:00

Stephen at the Mill

Practicing head shots...

This one is kind of cool...

And this one...

2009-03-24T23:45:00.000-04:00

Sweet Alby

Love this one

SKYLAR! haha, this is kind of funny

Aidan Grace with the most amazing eyes!

Lots and lots of pictures, because that's how I roll.

2009-03-24T23:24:00.000-04:00

My sister in law, Stacy Amanda. I love her profile.

A little black and white action.

Aidan Grace enjoying a pop-tart

Skylar Noelle being sick :(

2009-03-24T23:20:00.000-04:00

My beautiful friend, Sara Danielle. Thanks for being a champ :)

Yes, this is normal for us. Well, for him, anyway. That would be my husband at the top of a tree...

Sara

My niece, Hannah Rose, as Tessie the orphan.

Four at a time...

2009-03-24T23:16:00.000-04:00

Here is that beautiful smile again! I hope you get a chance to see these, Beth-it's taking me forever!

Skylar Noelle

Throwing leaves. You can see one in the bottom right corner coming down. Cool.

Hangin on the tracks. We like to do this a lot-makes for a great backdrop...

2009-03-24T23:13:00.000-04:00

Love this of snowy rainboots. We doubled up the socks and they actually worked! This was the wettest snow ever!

Beautiful blue eyes. I like the 'cool' tones of the snow with these ice blue eyes. Pretty!

Another day behind our house. She is such a sweetie.

I'm in love with this smile!

Snow Day!

2009-03-24T23:09:00.000-04:00

Beautiful Sky

Want Snow?

Here you go.

My beautiful baby Grace. Gah this is an awesome picture!

More from the Snow Day

2009-03-24T23:06:00.000-04:00

Skylar looking pensive

Both the girls exploring mimi and papa's backyard...

Grace in our front yard, the trees look awesome!

Grace again

Here we go again!

2009-03-24T23:02:00.000-04:00

Since I can only do four at a time, they are all going to be kind of jumbled together, but hey, as long as it conveys the message...

Gracey girl

Daffodils are here!

Yes, we did get snow here in Atlanta!

Silly Face Session with Skylar

2009-03-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

I'm still not too sure why you can only do four at a time. This puts me in quite a predicament...

Last one!

2009-03-24T22:22:00.000-04:00

Hannah Rose eating cake.

Charlie getting down on that ice cream!

Little ol' Jacki enjoying the sweets.

Skylar not wanting the day to be over...

Almost done...

2009-03-24T22:19:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to youuuu...

Rosie the cute. Look at those lips!

Aidan Grace eating cake.

Micah wishing he could be eating cake.

Birthday cont...

2009-03-24T22:15:00.000-04:00

I'm sure there is a more efficient way to do this, but it took me FOREVER to upload the pictures through blogger, so now I'm adding them from my Picassa, but it only does four at a time. This is going to be harder than I thought...

Getting ready for the parade from jumpy castle room to party room!!!

Cheering for the birthday girl!

All that jumping made her thirsty!

Awesome castle cake, thanks, Aunt Tracy!

2009-03-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

Loving the BIG girl slides!

Going back up again!...

Grace's turn!

SO excited to see Jacki!

Sky's Four!

2009-03-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

Before I uploaded any more serious pictures, I had to have some from Sky's party on here!

SO big now!

Let the uploading begin!

2009-03-24T19:30:00.006-04:00

When I sat down to start putting my pictures on display, I couldn't decide where to start. At the beginning? Or right now? So I thought about it and decided to go with the most recent first, since I have been getting better as I go along (I think...). Well, I hope you all enjoy ~ any feed back would be great! Oh yeah-call if you want to help me build my portfolio :o) Peace.

Appologies

2009-03-23T23:15:00.003-04:00

Okay. I just wanted to post an apology post in advance, but I am going to attempt to turn this into a 'picture blog' of sorts over the next few days so I can have something to show people until my website is up and running. So, if my many picture posts spam you up, then I'm sorry! I have been pretty absent from here lately, but much has been going on. I started working for an old friend. Aidan turned two. I turned 23. Skylar turned four. We've had fun at the circus and a big birthday bash at Kangazoom for Skylar. OVER THE TOP! We all keep singing that still. Steven has an interview on Wednesday. I am tired. My house isn't as clean as I'd like it to be. Skylar is taking ballet and loves it-she is serious about her class! The girls got a Power Wheels Jeep for birthday season and Aidan has pretty much deboted it. She laid claim on it and Skylar pretty much lets Grace drive her around. It's pretty amusing to me. Well, that's my quick update for now and let the uploading begin!

All will resume as normal once my website is functioning, so sorry again!

Change (not that kind...)

2009-02-04T09:48:00.005-05:00

I have had such a crazy few weeks it's hard for me to even know where to start! I have so many thoughts going round and round and feel like I have been changed in so many ways!

I guess I'll start with January 9th. We went out to Kobe for a good friend's birthday dinner (fillet and shrimp and some purple haze sake, mmm), then I threw a surprise party for him at our house. But it was not all good, later in the night my husband informed me he had been let go by his brother-in-law, of all people! And even though his sister and brother-in-law knew way in advance (Chris had to convince the company not to let him go before Christmas!) they didn't let Steven know until day of (and he had someone else do it, he didn't even tell him himself). And I don't care about business ethics or lack thereof, I care that these people are supposed to be family and left us high and dry. And didn't even give us a heads up so we could start a job search earlier... Again, it's not about the fact that he lost his job because the company couldn't afford to keep him on, it's that they knew and didn't even let us know! It's that now Chris is trying to say that Steven used to leave the back door propped open when he went on cig breaks (that wasn't even him, it was his supervisor!), or that he messed up ONE shipment in the history of ever at this job! Don't make excuses for yourself. It is what it is, making up crap isn't going to make you look better! One more thing, we didn't even get a severance pay. They sent us his first two weeks' pay (they hold it when you start working so you can have it when you get let go...). Wow.

I also wanted to say that I didn't vote for Obama Hussein. So while the rest of the nation is swept with hope (not sure why, there have been over 100,000 lay-offs in the past week), I am feeling more dismal and fearful then ever. And according to the Bible, it's only going to get worse. So, as 'crazy' as that may make me sound to some (or most...), I don't care because it's how I feel. Salary caps for execs (the newest headline I read today.)? Limit the people who provide jobs for an entire nation and the problem isn't going to get better. It's called socialism! And that is my political rant for the day.

But, in light of all that, I have changed my attitude. I feel that it is only going to get worse, so what better time to get government health care for your kids (going to apply this week) and start collecting unemployment (our's should kick in in about two weeks :o) )?! Yeah! And to be honest, I LOVE having my husband home. He takes such amazing care of his girls. We all love him to death. He has such an amazing soul and spirit about him. A lot of people, ourselves included, thought this would be a true test on our marriage. That we wouldn't be able to handle all this new found togetherness. But truth be told, we have both grown immensely from the experience. So there is a light at the end of our tunnel. It's family and love and all that jazz.

And speaking of family, my baby Grace is going to be two tomorrow. I can't believe it. She won't be a baby anymore, we'll be in full-blown toddlerhood! If there is ever a time I get baby fever, it's now. Yes, I just said that out loud. This keeping a Gratitude Journal everyday has helped me immensely, though. I am right where I am supposed to be. In this crazy f-ed up world with two girls and a husband and a two bedroom one bath duplex that we can't afford. And that's that.

Some Shots from my walk with Skylar

2009-01-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

Change is in the Air

2008-12-29T15:12:00.011-05:00

This is a picture of the girls opening their movies from Mimi and Papa-stinkin' cuties!
This is all the cousins on Steven's side of the family watching Polar Express 3D on Christmas day! How much fun they had together!

The big girl cousins heading out to the trampoline-look how cute my Sky is :o)

This is daddy and Skylar in the tree, what's funny is she was actually really scared, but I told her I wouldn't help her down til she gave me a smile (am I mean or what?!?!).

And this is my Skylar swinging on the authentic rope swing (made with rope and a stick):And this is the beautiful sky on Christmas day, the day that our savior was born. What a view we had on our walk!

And lastly, this is my hubby on Hannah's razor scooter. I'm not trying to brag, but he is catching mad air and is one of the most amazing athletes I know! You rock, Steven! I especially love how his hair is flying up :o)

And that's pretty much our Christmas in picture form (and if you're wondering where Aidan was while we were playing outside, she was taking a three and a half hour nap in Reed's big boy bed!!!)!

Moving on to other things now, if you can't already tell by the look of my blog, I'm ready for a change! We've been talking about moving for some time now, and I'm ready! I'm also ready for the new year.

These past few years of my life have been pretty rough and tumble. There were times when I couldn't even tell you which way was up because I was in such a dark place, but I'm beginning to feel all that is changing. I've just been feeling "moved" lately. Like I know God is talking to me. Sometimes I am still not the best listener, sometimes I'm sure I even "hear" it wrong, but I know He's talking, and that for me is huge! All this time that I've been angry and bitter has just been wasted time. It has been nothing but detrimental to my relationship with my husband, children, and even my friends. So, it has been a long time coming (and a long time in the works), but I'm ready to go public with my change! I am going to be happy. Happy happy happy. I love my children with all my heart and, if you ask me, I couldn't have asked for a better husband to spend my life with. Here's to being thankful for what you have instead of longing for the things you don't. This may seem silly to some, but I really have been feeling almost lighter, if you will, because I know that there are things being lifted off of me that I've harbored for a long long time. I'm super excited about this!

So, here's to the new year and to all of you out there making new year's resolutions, I wish you the best of luck! May God bless you and your's in 2009!

2008-12-14T16:37:00.005-05:00

I thought it was high time I sit down and post. I read a friend's blog today, and it basically stated, "Can I still write, even if it's not life altering?" I often have deep and profound thoughts that I would love to sit down and write on, but by the time I have the time, I've usually forgotten (either that, or I'm just too tired). So, inspiring, or not, here's what's been going on with the Van Tyles (and unlike her, I'm going to start at the beginning :o).

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent the good part of a week at a mountain house in Blue Ridge with my in-laws. The girls thoroughly loved spending time with their cousins, and I must say, we really enjoy the atmosphere up there! The girls are expert hikers, waterfall climbers, and creek dwellers. Not to mention rock wall scalers and marshmallow roasters. Our Thanksgiving meal was to die for, my only contribution being my delicious (if I do say so myself) homemade pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream and the French's green bean casserole (which is always a hit).

Daddy and his girls at the top of a waterfall on our first hike of the trip

Grace on her way back down the mountain trail. Determined as ever.

Sky chillin on a rock in the Toccoa River. Our second stop of the first day.

The view outside our home the morning of Thanksgiving. Totally breathtaking. A constant reminder of God's glory and creation.

Then we rushed into December with a visit from my very missed cousin and her DARLING baby boy (whom I don't get to see nearly enough). We celebrated with a trip to the Pink Pig followed by some Chik-Fil-A. My best friend, Sara, and her daughter, Natalee, came along for that as well.

Jessica and Little Ry Guy (aka, Rylan)

The very next day we set up the Christmas tree as a family. Our good friend Nick was there as was my momma!

Then we took a day trip to North Georgia to see Tallulah Gorge. Over our Thanksgiving trip we had the opportunity to visit a suspension bridge that crosses over the Toccoa River (I believe it's 278 ft long). After that we were all really wanting to check out the one that went across the Gorge, a whopping 300 ft. off the ground! However, they failed to mention that the climbing of 330 stairs (one way) was in order (not the easiest task with a highly independent almost two and almost four year old...). But we succeeded nonetheless and it was breathtaking! Here are some shots from our day: Or not! Frustration has set in! I've tried four times now to post the rest of the pictures with no luck. So I can either not post and wait, or post without them and update more later... So post it is.

Since then, I've been busy helping with the little shepherds for the Christmas play, nursing sick family members back to health, and enjoying playdates with new friends. More pictures and updates to come soon, this post is over the limit!

Weddings

2008-11-20T16:05:00.008-05:00

Whew. What a week. I'm definitely still recovering from the events of this weekend. My husband was the best man for a good friend of his, and Skylar was the flower girl. And to share a little of my excitement, it was my first job as a photographer! I'm obviously still working to be where I want to be, but think I got some good shots:

Me taking pictures...

The lovely ladies before heading down...

My girl did it! I was SO so so proud of her, I think I had already started tearing up at this point!

Aren't they a vision? This was such a special time for us, all getting to be there together and playing such a big role in this special day for our friends. We definitely made some great memories! Now it's off to make dinner, then I have to go pick up a lil mama from play practice at OLA and take her to her house for her mom. YAY!

TAGGED

2008-11-19T09:33:00.008-05:00

Amanda tagged me!

1. I was born in San Diego, CA and since then have lived in South Carolina, Missouri, California again, Texas, and Georgia.

2. I have some serious OCD tendencies! When I was little I used to count, "1.2.3.4." when walking and always had to end on 4 before going onto another kind of flooring! Now I'm just really weird about the way I fold :)

3. I LOVE sports. When I was a kid I wanted to be the first lady president, an actress, or play in the WNBA (ha!). Now I'm just happy to make it around the block a few times pushing my double stroller.

4. I'm a sweet treat fanatic. Anything chocolate (especially with nuts) I devour.

5. Together my husband and I could probably rap to any hip hop song....and hardly miss a word. We can also throw the football pretty darn far for some skinny folk.

6. I love to watch Yo Gabba Gabba with my girls. It's like a 30 minute dance-a-thon.

7. Lists. I love to make them. My mind is always going, racing, wandering, worrying. And I've found this is one of the best ways to get my mind a little bit of rest (especially at night...).

So there you have it. Seven not so known facts and/or weird randoms about myself. Now I'm going to tag:

Jessica and Talitha (I don't know seven people who blog!).

Blah

2008-11-10T18:08:00.003-05:00

So, I feel as though I've been neglecting this poor blog lately, but between birthday parties, marriage classes, Christmas play rehearsals, church nursery duty, sick babies, and family in town, I'm surprised I haven't written less. I've been feeling pretty 'heavy' off and on these days. The good news is, Steven and I really really got a lot out of the marriage class that we had on Tuesday nights for six weeks at our church. The last class was last week and I can honestly say I'm bummed we don't get to go tomorrow. One of the things it did for us was give us so much to discuss! We'd come home on Tuesday nights in a great mood, get the girls to bed, and just talk like we did when we were dating. It's been a great source of connection for us. And wouldn't you know, we both learned a lot, too! I'm very grateful for having had the opportunity to go, and a husband who was willing to go with me :)

On a sadder note, my dad is filing for divorce this week, so I guess it will be official soon. It's going to be SO weird for me having my parents not together anymore, separate holidays, separate vacations, etc, that is, if I even see my dad at all anymore...but oh well, his loss!

I went looking for houses today with my mom and the girls, then met Steven for lunch at Fuddruckers, which was so nice. I also got to see his new place of work for the first time, how neat! I have to make pumpkin pie for the Thanksgiving party they're having...better find out when that is... Off to make dinner (late, I know) and get the girls ready for bed (ha ha, Aidan is still napping at 6 o'clock, I doubt she'll sleep at all tonight, but she was sick with a high fever all last week and is still recovering. Now Skylar and I both have pretty yucky colds...). Here's to quick healing and early bedtimes... :)

Catch Up

2008-10-14T15:23:00.008-04:00

So, many moons have passed since my last post. We got back from our beach trip on Sunday night really late and I have just been trying to sort out all of our crap. I was sick for one night of the trip, the whole entire night, and other than that it was drama packed thanks to Steven and his high intensity family.

Last night Aidan got sick and it just broke my heart. She is such a warrior. I went in to get her after her nap and the smell of very strong throw up enveloped me as I opened her door, but no tears. She was just in there chillin. I put her in the bath and cleaned her up. She threw up quite a few more times after that, well into the night. Steven and I kept her in our bed and finally it seemed as though the worst had passed. She was ready to get back into her crib around 6:30 this morning, and she slept in till about 9:30-ish (unheard of for us :).

We had to pass on the market today, but thankfully Lisa picked up some strawberries and a pie pumpkin for us...I've decided to try my hand at a homemade pumpkin pie! Skylar was asking me about it and I figured it would be fun for us to try together, what else is there to do all day?!

Ooh, goodness. Steven's birthday is in ten days and I need to start thinking now about what to do for him. I'll probably make his favorite dinner, fried chicken, squash, mashed potatoes, etc. followed up by some banana pudding, or my super yummy chocolate banana pie that he loves. What to do, what to do. He'll be the big 29, I can't believe how old he is getting! Yikes!

So this has been enough rambling for today, I'm off to finish straightening and folding and loading!

Healthier Eating

2008-10-02T14:04:00.000-04:00

Sooo...today we woke up early with Steven. I made everyone eggs for breakfast (Aidan didn't eat her's, of course), then started getting ready for the park.

I must say that I am so proud of myself for 'passing my test' last night. You see, we're headed to the beach next weekend and I've never been on a diet or even an 'eating healthy' plan and as I was sitting and laughing yesterday about my mother and sister-in-law and the lengths they go to to lose weight before a trip I got to thinking...I'm always complaining about how unhealthy we eat, or what a bad mom I am for letting my kids eat processed food and junk, but what have I ever done to bridge the gap between where I am and where I want to be?! So, I decided that eating the right way has to start with me. My husband is going to be the hardest one to convert to this style of eating/living, he calls himself a "fat kid" at heart, and really truly he eats like one. BUT, he is 6'4" and all of 15% body fat (if that), and I can't eat like him forever. Steven and my late night pleasure is eating junk food together after the kids go to bed. We'll seriously sit in our bed at 10 o'clock at night stuffing our face with mini candy bars, cookies and milk, ice cream, the list could go on and on...and I realize that yes, right now I am 22 and don't see an immediate or direct affect to what I eat, but soon, my friends, all that will change. So why shouldn't I change before I see that change in my body? And that's what my test was that I passed...no more junk food after 8 o'clock at night...and just try to have a more healthy balanced diet during the day (no more skipping breakfast). And of course, Steven decided to get into the box of dark chocolate almond cookies that I got at the Farmer's Market on Tuesday (did I mention that I have yet to try one) and proceeded to eat like three of them in front of me in the bed, all the while telling me how amazing they were. And I didn't cave! I resisted temptation (thanks, in part, to the fact that I brushed my teeth before bed. And I'm sure the big Man upstairs helped a little, too :).

So, hopefully the "new Van Tyles" will be healthier and a little bit more emotionally stable. I already feel differently!

To Market

2008-09-30T15:16:00.001-04:00

Today the girls and I woke up and rode with our darling neighbor, Lisa, to the DeKalb Farmer's Market. I love market days, seriously. The girls and I always have a lot of fun. And if they're super well-behaved, I let them walk around the seafood section and look at all the dead fish :) This farmer's market even has live ones...a truly special treat! Then we came home and I prepared dinner...a pot roast! I got a yummy cut of some bnlss pork loin, rubbed it with salt and pepper and a little bit of poultry seasoning and browned it on all sides with some olive oil in my favorite skillet. While that was browning, I cut the onions, carrots, and potatoes and put them in the Crock Pot with some cream of mushroom soup. Then I dumped the roast in there and have been cooking it all day, my house is starting to smell SO yummy! I think I'll make some brown rice to go with the roast...mmm...

On a side note, I am starting my photography business with my mom, A Thousand Words Photography, llc, and I have so much to do!! I still have to get my portfolio together, finish prepping the content for my website...and start taking pictures! I want to read my user guide cover to cover so I know how to work my camera in the dark with my eyes closed ;)

Well, I still haven't folded the clothes that I mentioned in yesterday's post, so I'm off to tend to my motherly duties while Aidan is napping and Skylar is watching Slumberland (weird movie, if you ask me).

Manic Monday

2008-09-29T16:56:00.001-04:00

Well. This would be my FIRST blog ever. In the history of ever. I know, right?! I guess not too much to report today. I literally have 5 loads of laundry to fold...which I have been putting off and putting off. We baked (then ate) some lemon poppy seed muffins for breakfast today. Then my dad surprised us and came over a little after noon. Best part of that was: El Pollo Loco for lunch...mmm... Watching my kids chow down is great, I may go as far as to say it's one of my favorite things about being a mom...and their chicken is to die for! Now Aidan is napping and Skylar is "resting" watching Little Bear. I guess I better get started on my clothes (and I still don't know what to make for dinner...yikes).

On the agenda for tonight: Babysitting and reading up on all my photography material. Yay!