the v family: {sneak peek}

Meet the V family. They have five...yes, five... beautiful babies. The mama, Martha, and I have been friends high school. We may or may not have cheerleaded together at one point. (Hope that's not a family secret Martha!!!)  Not only does she raise five kiddos, but she has time to blog about it ... daily. (Check her blog out  - it will always leave you smiling!)  This sweet family asked me to take their spring family pictures when I was in Oklahoma a few weeks ago & I jumped at the chance. Can I just say how much fun I had?! These kids (and their parents) were awesome! Not only were they incredibly well behaved, they were really respectful and just downright FUN! What I LOVE about these pictures is that they capture their little personalities... whether they're smiling, holding hands, rolling their eyes or elbowing their brother, I think we definitely caught them in the moment.

Martha - thank you SO much for asking me to hang out with your family. You've definitely given me the big family bug!

And speaking of family pictures I will be holding Spring Family Pictures days on April 30 and May 7! Sign-ups will begin later this week. Check back her later this week, or visit my face book page for more information!!

 

   

good eats, whale poop & on the move

I've clearly been slacking the past couple of weeks on the ol' menu plan. I've made them but just never actually blogged them. So here you go because I'm sure you haven't been able to sleep in anticipation of whether I will post it. Right? Ok fine.
Oh and some of you from fb know that I made kale chips this past week. I thought they were yummy but maybe that's because I have a deep obsession with anything crunchy & salty. Mat was not a fan...well technically he didn't try them...he took one look and almost threw up. Seriously. Then told me they looked like whale poop. (WHALE POOP?? Wouldn't you think whale poop would be HUGE? not small, green & crunchy?)  I thought it was funny. It didn't hurt my feelings because they definitely don't look near as good as they taste. So I sat down and ate an entire batch of whale poop kale chips and then had a stomach ache. That's like my veggie quota for the week.

Here's what's cooking this week:

 (And I realized all of my recipes this week have been stolen  inspired from others)

Monday: Chinese Chicken Salad (this is my mother in law's recipe and a Good house favorite)

Tuesday: Summer Chicken Pasta (my friend Jami had us over for dinner last spring & made this. we eat it once a week during the spring/summer... soooo goood)

Wednesday: Taco Salad (Thanks Carissa)

Thursday: Sloppy Joes (I always thought sloppy joes were a little sketchy until I tried this recipe. OMG! Thanks Lindsay)

So the best part of this post? I've got a crawler folks. For real. Forwards, not backwards. And just how did I entice her? With a People magazine of course. She obviously shares her mama's love for celebrity gossip.  (Yes I have a weekly subscription....funny how I no longer have time to read it, but at least it's good for something now!) And as my friend Sarah said, "There is no way you could have enticed her to crawl with Mat's New England Journal of Medicine. True...so true.

Here's the evidence:

And as we were celebrating her crawling, this happened:

That's baby spit up. All over my face. And shirt. Gross Seriously gross. Now that I think about it, the spit up on the KU 2008 nat'l championship game is kind of symbolic of Sunday's game and our attempt at going to the final four. Barf. (and btw, yes I am super disappointed about the loss..but these guys are in college. They are kids. Practically babies. In fact, that is someone's baby out there. (Angel's got two of them out there.) Ouch. Can you imagine playing under that pressure?! Heck no. I couldn't. Time to ease up a little bit. Just a little soapbox for you early this morning. You're welcome.)

Anyways, time to cheer for the bulldogs. Go Butler!

Life took a 180 degree turn in about 5 minutes last Friday. Nothing is safe in our house. She is magically drawn now to all things she shouldn't play with. Mat and I spent some time this weekend doing the basic's of childproofing but I think we've got some more to do. (And yes Heather we ordered our fire place screen!) Any advice out there for baby proofing? I don't really want to live in an empty house or anything!!

baby k: newborn pics {sneak peek}

A few years back I met this adorable family (or should I say couple?) It was before any of us had babies and watching basketball games at johnny's was a much bigger deal to any of us than changing diapers.  I knew instantly that I liked them. They're down to earth, kind, easy going people. And definitely fun to watch basketball with.

Isn't it funny how time changes things? They now have two beautiful kiddos and are just the sweetest little family. When I saw big brother I just knew I had to snap some pictures of those beautiful big blue eyes. And baby K?? Well the pictures speak loud and clear. She is absolutely precious.

M &K: Thank you for inviting me into your home to take your pictures. I am so happy for you and your beautiful family! I look forward to taking more photographs of you guys in the future!

  

{embrace} the camera: cowlick edition

so we've been rocking a cowlick all week long. 

i've tried everything to get rid of it and it just won't go away. 

and I can't hide it any longer with a bow.

it seems last week, when she said her first word

"bow"

(true story)

that she really meant 

"no bow"

because she now rips them out

every single time.

*sigh*

so we are on a bow hiatus. for now.

the battle is not over. don't you worry.

oh well. I just tell myself that she is making me feel better 

about my ghetto-licious hair that has overgrown highlites. majorly.

and i won't even get started on my eyebrows.

what a sweet, considerate child I have.

oh and I just realized that in almost every picture i post she is wearing this same hot pink

gap owl onesie. yes it's cute. 

but really it's because it hides the blueberry stains that she is obsessed with  

it's  always freshly washed, ironed, folded and put away in her 

perfectly organized dresser.

ha. 

vailcation 2011

better late than never, right?

a few weeks ago we loaded up some precious cargo {our child} and headed for the hills... or mountains to be more exact. this is the fourth time we've flown with campbell in her short little life and she is quite the pro. we've got the whole thing down to a meticulous system. mat had a medical conference in vail (i could REALLY get use to this traveling for conference business... i'm searching for some conferences in hawaii. or the virgin islands. or really anywhere warm with a beach.) anyways, our vailcation coordinated with my brother's vacation and with his girlfriend's vacation so we had a wonderful time together. mat went to conferences in the morning then skied with marshall & katie in the afternoon. i did the usual stay at home mom thing...only in vail. and may or my not have have enjoyed a spiked hot coocoa. not too shabby if you ask me.

 here's a few of our pictures of a fantastic few days.

Our friends DJ & Amy and Mat's parents joined us for dinner the first night

Did you know that a goober stand cures the hiccups? True Story.

Post Goober stand. 

campbell & her Grandad

view from my run through east vail.
definitely made running in the mountains worth the lack of oxygen

I call this
"the Mitch & Cam"

Mat's favorite toy store as a kid

Marshall & Katie

Mommy got bored while the others skied so {surprise!} we had a photo shoot

My view during Campbell's naps

Not so sure about the Carnivail craziness

Katie & I in vail village

Marshall & Katie

The Goods

The H family: {sneak peek}

A few weeks ago I had the honor of taking pictures of this sweet family. 

We enjoyed a beautiful morning walking around the city market. 

Over the past few years they have become some of our good friends. And while I love taking pictures of anyone and everyone, there is something special about taking pictures of your friends. 

Meet the H family. They have some of the most polite kids I have ever met. 

{thus picture # 8}

They are easy going, fun and just all round great people. 

And are you kidding me? How CUTE are their kids?!

I love how helpful big brother was to little sister. 

And no, those aren't posed pictures...

D&A Thanks for asking me to take pictures of your beautiful family. 

(Your kids are awesome... can I hire them to teach mine manners someday? Thanks:) )