Creative Outlet

Let's say you got a fabulous new camera for your Photography class. And, perhaps, you also have 2 super cute kids. You'd use them as your subjects, right? Ok, now lets say your daughter has a High School Musical obsession, and has all the HSM dolls. Instead of photo shoots of your darling children, of course you'd have to use the semi-creepy dolls, right?

I got to help with the shoot. I held the "diffuser" (the soft natural light really brings out the highlights in Ryan's bowl cut, dontcha think?)



Oh Gabriella, it's so sad about your boyfriend...



I'm so proud of my husband.



This one is a little more "Raw" and "Artsy", right?



I can't wait to have these blow up to poster size. And just wait till we have our OWN HOUSE to display them! Hooray!

Gretchen spent the week keepin' it real:




And we spent the rest of the week getting ready for Ella's birthday!!! IT'S TODAY! Don't tell her, but we only got her one present. Mostly because there's 2 garbage bags full of toys that were confiscated by Colby when Ella refused to pick them up. Oh yeah, also we're poor. But the toy we did get her is AWESOME. It's a Barbie Dream "Environment". A modular home. In pink. I know.

You can go to my illustration blog to see the cool craft Ella helped me make for her party favors for her "Friend Party" on Saturday. And yeah, you'll see how I totally used the same silly story about Ella's party planning again. Because I'm turning into my Mom and tell the same story to all my friends. Again and again. I can't help it.

Stay tuned for BIRTHDAY PICTURES!!!

The Gretch Goes To School

This is the face Gretchen now makes every time I pull out the camera. It's a slightly-smiling grimace accompanied by a scream and arm-raise with the intent of communicating that I should immediatly:
1. pick her up, and
2. give her the camera.



Here's the same sentiment with different cropping.



We know what happened LAST TIME I gave her the camera. She is not pleased when I frustrate her plans. It helps to lower her to a carpeted floor and walk away while she writhes and screams. Also, earplugs might be a good investment.

On Thursday Gretchen got to come with me to Ella's classroom to "volunteer". There are LOTS of bins in Ella's classroom. Bins of sponges. Bins of markers. Bins of buttons for counting. Bins of paintbrushes. Bins of small sharp objects that can be used as projectiles. Mostly my volunteering service was spent cleaning up the bins that Gretchen tore apart and then removing her from the classroom when her delicate sensibilities were offended. I know, I know, "Apryl, WHY didn't you 'know your limits'? Obviously taking The Gretch to Kindergarten is not a good idea. Come on!" And I knew what I was getting in to. But Ella's super awesome teacher (really, I'm not being sarcastic. She's Super Awesome. I love her and want to be her new BFF) asked me if I could help because she, "Really needed volunteers and didn't have anyone to help on Thursday, and it's totally fine to bring the baby, really!"

End result: I am no longer volunteering on Thursdays. I'll be going on Fridays when Colby can keep The Gretch. Mrs. Kindergarten Teacher swore it wasn't because of Gretchen's behavior. In fact, she started out by saying, "Ok, this really Really REALLY isn't because of the baby, but I won't need you on Thursdays anymore..."

Phew.

And Stop With The Singing!

Ella is slooooowly getting used to her new schedule. Yes, the schedule that makes her wake up at 6:30 in the morning. FOR KINDERGARTEN. I know. But she gets to wear a uniform, so that kind of makes up for it. But it does not, however, make up for the 20 new gray hairs I have from dealing with The Crankiest Four Year Old EVER. (Seriously? Are you really throwing a temper tantrum in public? YOU ARE FOUR. And I am not afraid to spank you! Just ask Uncle Shea. He totally saw The Legendary Fit at The Legends Shopping Experience.)

So we've been trying to take it slow and not plan as much after-school fun. Yesterday, after a post school tantrum BEFORE WE EVEN GOT IN THE CAR, she was sentenced to 20 minutes in Time Out, no TV, and an afternoon nap (where she did not sleep, but did ask me for a snack, drink and movie about 300 times). But today she was reasonably well behaved. Meaning she slowly stopped whining after I threatened to put her in time out, take away TV, and force nap time again. She asked if we could to go Target. Because that's her favorite place in the world. (Can you blame her? It's one of my favorite places too. Mmmmmm, consumerism....) Since both the girls were behaving, and I am in desperate need of contact solution, we went. Ella got a treat. Gretchen enjoyed trying on sunglasses. I found a summer outfit on clearance for Ella for next year's clothes stash. Our tentative foray into public was a mild success. I think we may even attempt the library again one day.

The Story Of Us In The Car:
ME: (Singing loudly and badly to that stupid Kidz Bop CD that came in Ella's happy meal a few months ago.)
Ella: Can you please stop singing Mom?
Me: No. ...la la la..And I'm gunna miss you like a child misses her blankie, but I have to move on with MY live... la la la la (seriously? This song sucks.)
Ella: Mom, STOP SINGING.
Me: You're going to hurt my feelings, honey. (sings crappy song louder)
Ella: Mom, you're hurting MY feelings with your singing!
Me: Guess what, it's my car and I can sing if I want.
Ella: Fine, you can sing till this song is over, and then no more.
Me: Should I turn around and NOT go to Target?
Ella: Fine. You can keep singing.

Ha ha, I win.

BTW, you're totally invited to Ella's birthday party.



Nope, nothing creepy about this image!

Baby Daddy

Hey folks, not much has changed since our last post. We are still:
1. In Reno
2. Living Upstairs
and
3. Letting Ella Dress Herself. (I mean really, why would we want to stop this?)



(Luckily she wears a uniform to school. See? SO CUTE!)


Ella has been planning impromptu parties almost nightly. She roped Colby into helping her make cupcakes.



And Gretchen roped Daddy into giving her some cupcake batter.



I went visiting teaching. (Nothing brings the spirit to your message like drawing some awesome tats on your baby to keep her quiet.)



And finally, Colby has been taking lots of lovely pictures with the new camera. Yay for Macro Lenses!






Hmmmm....



Ella had two observations of note this week:

1. Fish Sticks are like "tricky fries with bumps on them"
2. When she grows up she's going to be an astronaut and fly a rocket to Saturn. Her baby will come, but babies have to stay in the rocket. (I guess this gets Grandma & Grandpa off the hook. Maybe Ella WON'T live with them forever...)

***********UPDATE!!!**********
Gretchen just saw the picture of her & Rod and she pointed to Mr. Stewart and said, "Daddy!" HA HA HA HA HA!

It's Finally Here!

Summer's End

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey.....



Summer is ending. Michael Jackson is gone, but not forgotten (thanks for the reminder, Ella. Nice gloves AND nice dance moves.)



Colby started back at school today. He hasn't been to Tahoe with us ONCE this summer. So we dragged him up to the lake with us last Friday.



Ella, too busy playing to make eye contact and smile...




Please Note: Colby does NOT like the beach. I love it so so SO much, I can't imagine not having fun. Colby thinks it's boring. There's nothing to do. He doesn't like sitting around. I figure we're just sitting around at home anyway, we might as well do it someplace beautiful and eat good snacks. Colby is barely handling it. He was forced to read textbooks BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED. Sad.



He did manage to drag himself up to kick water onto his baby. (She liked it.)



See? Best buds. We got home and ran to a church activity. Ella may or may not have still had had her swim suit on. I managed to change, but otherwise looked like I'd spent the day at the beach. Everyone told me I looked "tired". Go figure.



So, what are you up to in these last few days of summer?

We Heart SoCal!!!

Before we begin, a little bizness to attend.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE AMBER! We tried to call, really.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! We'll make you a good dinner tonight.

Oh my gosh, you guys. We just had the most fun trip to California EVER. Is it because we just hung out and swam for a week & a half? Is it because Colby & I didn't even get in one fight? Not even one little argument? Is it because we "knew our limits" (financially & emotionally) and didn't attempt Disneyland? Is it because we got to hang out with our awesome family every single day? Answer: Probably.

We went to the beach with my sisters Adrianne, Alisa & the boys. I swam in the waves. It was SO FUN. I haven't done that since before Ella was born. I thought Gretchen would love it too, so we took her out.



La la la, come on Gretchen! Let's go swim!



(Not pictured: Gretchen screaming her head off when she got hit in the face with a rogue wave. Me booking it back to shore and dropping her off with Colby where we wrapped her in a towel & gave her raisins. Order restored.)

Ella decided she didn't want to go to the beach in her bathing suit. (Hey, I just realized this is the same striped dress she wore yesterday, slept in, and is still wearing now at 10am while I sit in front of the computer rather than get her dressed & brush her hair. Weird. I'm going to have to get up in a minute though to get her a pickle. It is, after all, 10:05am and she has not had a pickle for almost 10 days...)



Ella and her cousin J decided they're going to get married. Isn't that a cute couple? Colby tried to talk about the legal issues that might coincide with that decision, but she put him in his place, "I am going to marry who ever I want to marry, Daddy."



SAVE ME FROM THE WAVES!


After some recovery time, Gretchen joined the sand crew.



We went back to Auntie Alisa's house and Gretchen met Baby Teagan for the first time. Gretchen LOVES HER COUSIN.


After Beach Day we went with our friends to the Long Beach Aquarium. Also, about 50 day camps with 20,000 matching-shirt-kids came too. It was awesome (note sarcasm). Look! Rays!



Gretchen loved the seals.



Ella overcame her fear of sharks to both LOOK at sharks in the aquarium and RIDE a fake shark in the play area. I KNOW!



We went to Dana Point and looked at the Tall Ships. Note Ella's posture. Tall Ships bring out the dancer in her.



Gazing at the beautiful ocean...


Right after this Ella fell. Luckily she caught herself with HER HEAD. That's a story for another day. The pain is still to fresh right now. But she's ok.

Ella played around with the camera and took some lovely pictures.


See? Rockin' the head injury.



Over the weekend we went sailing with Poppa Randy. Pictures will be forthcoming, as they are on Colby's computer. Be assured, it was awesome. After that, we (I) decided we were having so much fun, we put off the drive home till Wednesday. TWO MORE DAYS OF FUN!!! So back to the cousins for GIGANTIC INFLATABLE SLIP & SLIDE!!!!





Then back to my brother Aaron's under-construction-but-still-totally-cool new house for dinner and...

SWIMMING! AGAIN! I KNOW!!!



And here we are, buckled in & ready for the looooooooooong drive back home.



YAY! (Not pictured: Gretchen screaming for 7/9.5 hours. We made it back to Reno in record time. Go figure...)