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I've been avoiding this...

It seems like sometimes life takes over and as I look back it's been 6 months... gone.

My kids have grown up right before my eyes and yet when they walk in the door from school I'm shocked at how tall they are, that they are wearing makeup (well, all but the boy and there was that time when he was about 4 and his sisters dressed him up... but nothing recently) and two of the three have a much bigger show size than I do. This year we've dealt with aggressive bullies (I'm both shocked and disgusted at what a 12 year old will say to another 12 year old... this year I had to explain what a 'blow job' was which is something I did not expect to have to do for a few more years), heartbreaks, massive growth spurts and jeans that look 4 inches too short and parents who have no job and yet are able to buy their kid every new clothing item and electronic item as soon as it's released (our tax dollars at it's finest).

It's not all been bad, in between the yelling of "stupid monkey head poopy butt" I've caught my kids giving hugs to each other when they've had a bad day, they still have 'slumber parties' in their rooms at lease once a month, our oldest daughter turns her old t-shirts into a cool new creation and lets her younger sister wear them(sometimes), 2 out of three are on the honor roll and have been since 1st grade, our oldest daughter has a job where she works 19 hours a week and she love her job (!!), our middle daughter volunteered at the vet clinic all summer while our son volunteered at the library. As much as they fight and show passion... I know it's because they love each other so much. I do prefer they hug each other rather than smack on another but I'll take what I can get!

Did I mention they are in age from 12.5 up to 17.5?

God help me the next year when I 'officially' have three teenagers in my house with two driving.

My photography business has taken off faster than I have expected and I'm having growing pains... I thought chocolate and bottles of Coca-Cola would be the fix but in large doses it only gives me stomach aches to go along with my growing pains. I've not figured out a true system for anything except that no system is full proof... just when I think I have it all down pat I'm thrown a monkey wrench and my system fails. 

What I have figured out is called 'Selective neglect' and it works like a charm. Um, the weenie dog just peed on the floor, the school just called and my daughter is sick with a fever, oldest daughter text saying she needs her junior trip money NOW, Steve forgot his debit card and is at work 50 miles away and the internet is down. Well, the dog poop gets cleaned up first then off to the High School with a check then the middle school to pick up the middle one. Steve... he's a big boy and has an ATM card he can use if all else fails. The internet... well that stupid thing works when it wants to... I have no say over it and I swear to God if I call Sudden Link one more stinkin' time to report it not working and I get told to go to their web site to report the outage I'm going to crack! Really? Go to the web site to report my outage?

As I sit here typing (with my bottle of coke... yes, I buy the old fashioned glass bottles still) getting ready to grab some left over Halloween candy (I knew I bought the good stuff for a reason) I am in a good place in my life thanks to my friends, family and God. Some day's I wonder 'why me' but most I feel so lucky I say 'thanks for it being me'.

 

 

How you tolerate me so... my little babies.

 Several weeks ago my husband was walking around the house laughing at how we have images of other people's children hanging up... but not a single image of our own kids are to be found on the walls. After looking around (and realizing he was right... did not tell him this part) I decided that it was not doing my beautiful, handsome, funny, goofy kids any justice to walk into OUR home and see images of strangers.

I waited until the weather was nice, the kids were well prepped and off we went to my new favorite local location. I was smart about this and shot each kid separately.. I first took my 16 year old, spent some time with her and then dropped her back off at the house only to pick up the other two little ones. Okay, so they are 'little' to me but in all actuality they are 11 and 13... not so 'little', but still considered my 'babies'. 

This is what I came up with... and I LOVE them! I ordered the images as 24 x 30's on metallic paper (if you've never ordered Metallic before it's an absolute MUST) because I do not ever want for anyone to walk into my home and not see photo's of my own kids. LOL. Hey... when I do it... I do it big time peeps!

Valentines day.... YUCK!

I am not a big holiday person in general. I enjoy decorating and go nuts during Christmas time but, the rest of the year I could do without. My husband on the other hand... is a true romantic. He is so sweet, brings me flowers, cards and write me love notes. Poor Firefighter... he's a romantic and it's totally wasted on me.

This year, I am going to do something nice for V-Day for my kids as well as the Firefighter. For the kids, I am going to paint furniture that is going in their rooms as well as clean their rooms. The girls are getting a new hanging light that is made up of all teal blue crystals, new curtains and shabby chic curtain rods with crystals. The boy is getting a new dresser, his bed painted white (it's currently a really like honey color and has three drawers under) and the places where he's pealed paint off of the wall (it has old tongue and grove and we did not use a great primer the first time we painted it so the paint peals off).

For Firefighter, I am going to finish my projects by myself. I am going to work around the clock to finish the little projects I have going on around the house so he does not have to help... so technically, I'm giving my the firefighter TIME. 

I love to look at before and after photo's... but I'm embarrassed to show you what my kids rooms look like! Maybe after a little cleaning I will snap a few 'before' shots to go with my 'after' shots.

Who is the super Mom now!

Did I mention I will be living off of chocolate, Jeramiah Weed sweet tea and candy for the next two weeks? Wait... I do have paint fumes to look forward to!

 

 

 

The tube of chapstick that broke the camels back.... strawberry flavored.

Let me start by saying that I am not a morning person.... not really an early afternoon person either. A good time for me is around 10 to wake up. I stay up late processing pictures, chatting with friends, catching up on housework and cooking dinner for the next day. The house is quite, I turn off the TV and turn on the radio and it's very peaceful. Most nights, I am up until 2 or 3 am so for me to wake up at 10 works well. The kids are all old enough they get themselves dressed and off to the bus. They eat breakfast at school while they socialize because the bus gets them to the school with 20 minutes to spare before class starts.... so it works out well. 

This morning I was woken up to two girls fighting... not your typical fighting but all out war with kicking, screaming, scratching and punching. I yelled from the bed "what is going on" as I started to get up. Our 16 year old flew towards me and screamed "she stole my chap stick and it's strawberry". When I walked towards the bedroom door, it was slammed and "get out... quit staring at me...creeper" was yelled by our 13 year old. The mom in me took over and I started saying things right out of the parenting books (of what not to do). "This is my house and if you slam the door one more time I will take it off the hinges" and the ever so popular "knock it off or neither of you will get the chap stick" followed up by "it's too damn early in the morning to be fighting like this so knock the crap off". I used to tell the kids that I was going to sell them to the gypsies if they did not stop... worked until my son handed me the phone book and said "call them"... he was 5. So, no more gypsy threats were able to be said from that day forward. He really ruined a good thing for me too because the girls (who were older than him) used to back down to me and start to listen.

After 10 minutes (and I started to wake up) the girls were at it again with the yelling and fighting. The girls (16 and 13) usually do not fight and argue like this so I knew there had to be more to the story and this was serious... I was wrong. The following is how the conversation went:

16.5 year old - "she took my chap stick and it's mine and I've had it for weeks".

me - "you mean the chap stick I found in the living room two days ago and tossed at you... you said 'who's is this and I said "yours now"... that chap stick?"

16.5 - "yes, it's that one... BUT it's strawberry flavored and my favorite"

me - "do you have anymore chap stick"

16.5 - "well... yes I have a couple"

me - "then give your sister the chap stick"

16.5 - "okay"

I thought that went pretty well myself until a few minutes later "I said GIVE ME MY CHAP STICK that one is strawberry flavored". Good Lord... are they eating the chap stick.. is this why it's so damn important?

Well, all of this had nothing to do with the chap stick but rather the 13 year old taking her sisters things without asking. When the 16 year old confronts our 13 year old she always say's "I don't have it" even if it's in her hand... she always says she does not have it. She panic's, hates confrontation so she lies about having the item thinking her older sister will just walk away... it only causes more problems and did I mention I am not a morning person?

So... obviously my first two amazing parenting attempts did not work so now I actually had to wake up, listen and have a logical conversation with my two teens. Ugh... did I just say "logical conversation with teens" what in the hell was I thinking... like this was going to end well. The 13 year old was sitting on her bed (oh, did I mention that they share a room) and I explained to her that she can not take her sister things, that she must ask first and she would not like it if her brother (11) came into her room and started taking her things. To the 16 year old, I said that I will speak with her sister more about taking her items because no one has a right to take someone else's property without asking BUT to have outburst like that in our house was unacceptable. There are better ways to solve a problem.

Better right? Well, the 13 year old left the house for the bus and slammed the front door (taking the strawberry chap stick) while the 16 year old told me every single item her sister had touched, taken, looked at or moved in the last 13 years. Awesome... why in the hell do those books tell us to 'listen' to our kids? I understand the problem was over her feeling like her sister was invading her privacy and not respecting boundaries... I get that... i really do... BUT it's 6:30 in the morning!

Holy crap! This is why mom's start drinking in the mornings... and all those jokes about me having a glass of wine (which all of my friends and family knows I drink maybe 4 or 6 times a year and I HATE wine) is no longer a joke. I may HATE wine but I'm going to learn to like it now!

I'm not your typical girl....

The following are really weird things about me... might be way to honest, but they are really true!

1. I was adopted when I was 6 weeks old. I never knew my biological parents and my adoptive parents only received a short letter about who gave me up at birth. I never knew names, height, weight, hair color... nothing.

2. When I was 22 I worked at the same place as my Biological mother and did not know it. I had to get a copy of my original birth certificate and my biological parents names were listed. One day I mentioned my biological mother's name to my supervisor (I worked at a State Hospital) and he said not only did he know her but I had worked with her because she was 'the big supervisor'.

3. After I met my biological mother I moved to a different town and applied for a position with the local hospital. It ended up the person who interviewed with was the DON.... my biological father. YES... this is totally true.

4. I met a boy named Steve the summer of 1991 and we became instant friends.... best friends. We wrestled, fought, I bit him and drew blood several times... we were like brother and sister. He had two younger sisters and I had two younger brothers so we treated each other like family. We went away to college together, dated other people and used to laugh when people said we should date. I was super good looking and he was a short dork. Okay, I made that last part up, but he was not my type because he was 119lbs and 5'8 and I was attracted to guys over 6'0. However, we did always say we would someday get married because you should marry your best friend... as we were very best friends. After I married someone else in 1993 and so did he, we were still friends. Eventually I got divorced and so did he... and we were still just friends. One day after not seeing him for quite some time I went by his work. He walked towards me and I and thought "this is the most handsome man I have ever seen". He was 6'3 and 185lbs. That was Feb 28th, 1996. We were married August 15th 1997 and together since. When he walks into the front door and I see him... I still think "this is the most handsome man I have every seen". Oh... and did I mention he's a firefighter AND just won "Firefighter of the year for 2010"!

5. During my pregnancy with our middle daughter I knew there was something wrong... I just felt there was something wrong with the baby. The doctor would not listen to me until I went into preterm labor at 20 weeks. A sonogram was done and I was sent by ambulance to a large hospital with a specialist. After hours of testing, my husband and I were told that the baby had a cyst the size of her head inside of her left lung, they could not see any live lung tissue in her right lung because the cyst was so large it was taking up the space of both lungs and they could only find two valves of her heart (we have four). Long story short, we went to three doctors visits a week and each time were told that our baby had a 0 - 2% chance of survival and no other child with what our daughter was suffering from had ever survived. When I went into early labor at 34 weeks I was the size of someone who was 42 weeks because our baby was unable to swallow the fluid surrounding her... so I got bigger and bigger the bigger she grew. Salyn (pronounced 'Say - Lynn') beat the odds and survived the birth, surgery and came home 28 days after she was born. Her 11th birthday is tomorrow and we could not be happier to have her here with us everyday!

Those are 5 odd things about me... please feel free to share, comment or just read.

Hugs to all!

 

Keira

Dear Murphy... I do not like your laws.

There are so many laws out there... State, Federal, City, Moral and tons more we all live by on a daily basis (some people live by these more than others) but I insist on living by one set of Laws above all others. You would think it would be something like 'the law of God' (of which I do live by) but it's not my Top Law... I insist on putting Mr. Murphy's Law above all others. 

It's been this way my entire life, guess why change now, right? Well... I'm about sick of it! Whoever this Murphy is I would like to hunt him down (guessing it must be a man because no woman would ever make up such stupid laws), slap him with an old burrito a few times and then throw him off of a bridge. BTW, the old burrito thing came from Anchorman and I've been totally obsessed with the idea of pelting people with an old burrito since.

So you want some proof of my 'Murphy Law' situations? Here are a few... the other day I wrote a blog about having back/neck pain and how I could handle a cold or the flu easier than not being able to turn my neck. What happened? Well, does not take a rocket surgeon guy to figure it out... I now have a cold along with neck/back pain. Murphy is not a good listener because I said I could handle a cold 'better' than neck/back pain... NOT to add it to what I already had! Guess he's teaching me to not bitch about the neck/back pain because it could always be worse... like it is now!

Hmmm, what else in the last few day's happened. We were told our daughter needs new glasses right before Steve's insurance came out and said they accidentally forgot to get optometry insurance. We've been paying this entire year thinking we were covered because the City my husband is a firefighter never told us any different.  We have been covered for the last 12 years. That's a HUGE 'whoops'! I think Murphy must work for the department who does my hubby's employers insurance.

If you happen to know where Murphy lives who writes these law's I live by, would you please drop me a line and let me know... there is an old burrito with his name on it!

What Murphy Law's do you tend to live by? There has to be someone else out there who lives by his law's besides me....

Dear God... thank you for pain medication.

A cold I can handle... even the flu (even though I fight both of them until I am finally so warn down I have to stop and lay in bed for a few days) but back and neck pain just pisses me off.

'Clumsy' is an understatement of what I am. Launching myself from stairs, falling up stairs, down ladders and tripping on my own feet is actually what my friends all learn about me very quickly. I am so horrible about tripping on nothing that my husband insisted we buy a ranch (all one level) home so I would not kill myself on steps. He even walked through the home we were looking at to make sure there were no steps up or down before he said 'yes'. We do have two small steps to enter the home... but that's all. And "yes" I have fallen up and down then numerous times with scars on my shins to prove it. 

The recent back and neck pain was not caused by steps... I injured my self on (shocking) my 4 inch heels. Now why in the world would I even wear heels when I am such a 'walking challanged' individual? Well, hubby Steve is 6'5 and I am 5'6. Me... compared to him... is a joke. I look like his kid, not his wife so I gave myself some height with several pairs of beautiful shoes. The shoes are elagent, timeless and sophisticated... me one the other hand, NOT SO MUCH. I look great standing still but when it comes to walking I look like a toddler taking it's first steps constantly reaching out to grab onto things so I don't bit it and add another scar to collection.

My back/neck injury did not take place in front of a few people, that would make my clumsiness bearable BUT... it took place in front of 100 teenagers. Awesome. I had been sitting for a few hours at a concert (we went to support several local teenagers from 'For All Mankind'). I had done their band photo's and Steve and I were excited to see them play. They are an amazing group of high school guys who are considered 'The next big thing' in Kansas and I know why!

They are great... or so I thought until the lead singer asked me to come to the stage so they could say 'thanks' for doing their band images. I had been sitting down for a while and it had caused my legs to fall asleep (this is the story I am sticking with). Okay, this part I can deal with but throw on 4 inch heels with the sleeping legs and Houston we have a problem! I tried to wave that it was okay, no need for me to go to the stage but the lead singer, Lee, kept saying "come on up here Keira" and "everybody move and let her through". I walked part of the way okay but about half way up there my right leg gave out at the same time my ankle did. I stopped, almost fell on my butt, swayed to the right (all while the room is totally quiet and everyone is staring at me). I grabbed the arm of a teenager, saved myself from hitting the ground, acted like I was taking to the girl who saved me and then finished my walk to the stage.

This is how I hurt my back... rolling my ankle in front of 100 teenagers. Oh... forgot to mention it was a 'zombie' party so my hair was huge and black, I had worn all black clothing, black makeup and fangs.

I am so thankful for pain medication... partially for the back/neck pain and partially for the humiliation. Guess when I do things... I do them well!

 

Cold day... smiling, laughing girl and great secret location!

All those things make for a really fun day. Still cant get over how much MW giggles... she cracks me up!

I've been a busy busy girl the last few days... wanna see?

This senior is from the other day and he is SUPER sweet! Great manners and went along for the ride with me to numerous locations. He is really funny, quiet and his girlfriend is a real cutie pie as well! Could they have made my day any easier... I think NOT!

My Senior session from today... it was cccccold but he was amazing!

It was freezing out today but the senior I shot was patient, sweet and never complained! I wore a huge snow coat (would have worn the pants if I would have known how cold it going to be) and he was in short sleeves... not once did he say he was cold or wanted to go inside. What a trooper...

 

 as well as a sweetheart!

A recent Scene Kid session...

I had the funnest session the other day. The 'scene' kids like different senior pic's... not the typical super pretty, perfect body, etc. It was wonderful! I laughed so hard I almost fell off of a planter (3 feet off the ground) I was standing on and the kids had a bast as well.

Here are a few samples.... let me know what you think!




 

my love/hate's...

I have a love hate with my computer, the net and anything associated with either one of them. Pretty much... my entire day is full of me freaking out because I think totally lost a photo somewhere on my hard drive, external, compact flash card or CD and then doing the happy dance when I realized it was there all along but I was not looking in the right place.

 

Today I'm trying to figure out how to add different specialized font's to my blog... it's been three hours that I have been working on this, I've drank an entire Mountain Dew (and if you know me then you know this is NOT GOOD), eaten three handfuls of chocolate chips and even lit the candles in my fireplace praying it would make all of the bad vibes burn away and go up the chimney.

Well, so far nothing is working so I am going to blog out my frustrations because it's easier than stepping away from my computer and do the laundry that has been waiting on me for the last three hours. This is my last attempt and I'm holding on to my sanity by a thread.

Wish me luck, I'm going to post this, get another handful of chocolate chips, a large sip of mountain dew and then scream loudly. 

 

 

I love frank... he even smiles for me!

Everyone loves a HOT firefighter!

I love black and whites and how the eye's shine...

Does it get any better than this?

This has to be one of the most beautiful women I have met... both inside and out!

She knows exactly how to move her hands and look so fluid and feminine.

I think about the oddest things...

Some photographers post about only photography and post only photo's or portraits, there is nothing wrong with that, but I choose to blog about my life and my odd thoughts. Photography is a part of my life, but it's not my entire life. My kids, hubby, dogs and photography all play an equal part in my life so unfortunately... it's all blurted out here on my blog. Get ready.. it's going to be a bumpy ride through my brain... good luck and tighten your seat-belt!

The other night I was laying in bed and wishing I had a computer hooked to my brain. I could not sleep... AGAIN and my brain refused to shut down. I actually wrote a few blog posts in my head but as soon as I feel asleep I forgot them! I hate this when it happens... which is almost every night. So, tonight I decided to actually sit down at a computer and type out my blog. Good idea, right? Well, sounds good except I have nothing funny to say and I'm so tired I could actually sleep... that is until I try to lay my head down on the pillow. So... I am determined to write something... here it goes.

This weekend, and part of the week, I am in Missouri on vacation with my middle daughter, Salyn. We are having some girl time and some pretty darn great girl time at that... frog catching, playing in a huge lake, shopping, dining out, shopping some more, eating home cooked food... and then a tad bit more shopping. When I called home to see how the two men of the house are, my son (11) said that he and dad had been cleaning in between playing video games. He said the house was looking pretty good and they would have most of it cleaned before we got home... but to call first. I got excited and said "you have been cleaning"? Addison replied "yep... and we are doing a good job"... to which I asked "is it mommy clean"... after some laughing a voice screamed "OH GOD NO". Hmmmm, what am I coming home to? Might need a bit more shopping before I go home!

A sneak peak from a few days ago... gotta love a new baby!

 

 

KW's Punk session...

 

White Magic...

I am the Mom of three kids but always end up with more than just my kids in our van... Her name is 'White Magic' because she's white and its magic that this van still runs!  She is starting to get old... she's from 1999. But, she always starts and takes me where I need to go and I have never been left stranded. Gosh I love her... she has never let me down. Even though my children try to feed her by leaving french fries, left over hamburger and once a cheap bean burrito (that was not pretty to clean up in the morning) I really don't recommend it because she's a 'mini-van' and has to keep her figure.

The few little rust spots are starting to show more and when you go up a hill the RPM's tend to be a bit higher than they used too... her gas mileage is also starting to slip, but I just cant get rid of her yet. We drove 'White Magic' to New York and back and never once worried about breaking down or not being safe. She is reliable!

They way I see it, White Magic and I are quite a bit alike. We both have high miles (I've given birth 5 times... yikes), she has rust spots and I have age spots, neither of us can hold our gas in as well as we used to and it takes more 'umph' to get us up hills! However, both of us are pretty reliable!

While she gets new break pads, I get a pedicure... She gets new headlights, I got a new set of boobs... She get washed and waxed an I get a facial and my brows waxed...

White Magic and I a lot alike and I just cant bare to part with her just yet... it's like saying that she's not new enough or good enough anymore and what does that make me???  Wonder if my husband is looking at a new sports car now?