I Should Be Cleaning

2011-01-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my Dad and my son! Ethan is 3 today. A lot of moms talk about how the time has flown by. They don't have Ethan for a son. He packs a lot into each day, getting the most out of his 24 hours. I pray that when he gets older, he will still be motivated to accomplish so much in a day. He is a bucket full of fun, disaster and mischief! Love ya mean it Ethan!

2010-12-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

My new obsession, the reason why my laundry is piled up! Like I need a reason. I have been crocheting a lot lately. It tends to make less of a mess and I can bring it with me when I need to be out and about. Heaven forbid I just sit, it makes me uncomfortable. I am sure they have a medication for that. Anyway, I have a few hat designs that I have been working on but this one I am super excited about! I have it listed in my ETSY store. You can change out the band! I know, I squealed too! I can make these in any color or size. So, this is just one of the reasons why I have been MIA to my blog. I promise to post my other hats soon!

2010-10-12T08:36:00.001-07:00

This time of year makes me crazy in the best way crazy can make someone. I think I proved my point with my opening sentence. Between photo sessions and crafts, I don't manage to accomplish anything else. Please don't tell my husband that my money earning distractions are fun. I think he would jealous!
I have been updating my Totally Rad Crafts blog with lots of goodies and plan on keeping up with it. I have lots and lots that I have planned to post so stay tuned.
To all of my Meridian friends, I am going to be back the weekend of the 22nd. I have just a few openings for photo sessions so it you want to get scheduled in, just let me know. That weekend is one of the most beautiful in Boise/Meridian!
I am also bringing my beads. When the sun goes down, the bead goddess comes out! I have one party scheduled already and have Sat. night available if you want to play beads with me!
I have found such a fun addition to the watch bands. It is a flower that can be used instead of a watch face. I LOVE IT! It is nice just to wear my bands as a bracelet sometimes. Then I can get crazy and wear it on my RIGHT hand.

2010-08-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Mady got her hair cut when we were in Meridian. One of my sweetest friends Angela is so talented and makes us fabulous whenever we need her. I wasn't excited about cutting it cause it was so long and beautiful. We were able to cut enough to donate it to Locks of Love. Now her long hair will live FOREVER! I love her hair short. It matches her personality perfectly, she is such a sassy little 6 year old!

2010-08-11T16:48:00.003-07:00

More Ethan... I can't help myself.

2010-06-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

What is the best part of Ethan?

When he is walking away from you.

2010-06-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Um, HI! It has been a few months since I last bore my......wait wrong venue. It has been a few months since I have posted! We have been busy little bees trying to work, do school and solidify our business. Our poor children are REALLY bored! You can only ride your bike around the park so many times without it feeling like a punishment.
SO! We have put our vendor booth together and have had a PARTY doing so. My husband is crazy creative! It is amazing how such a big guy can really "work it" with the designs of our displays.
We are going to be in Smith Park on most Thursday nights while they have Concerts in the Park.
We are also going to be in the Farmers Market. And we are also going to be out and about during the 4th of July celebration on the 3rd. What a great day to spend my 32nd birthday! (cards, candy or gifts can be sent to 131 W. 2nd S. Rexburg, ID 83440)
This is keeping us busy! We have been able to hand make everything and still want to double our inventory. What a great way to earn money, beading all day every day!

We could not have done this without the help of our friends, the Williams. You guys have talents and skills that blow my mind. Thank you for giving up food, sleep and business time to help us! We kinda think you are swell.

2010-04-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

The other day, Ethan snuck some bologna out of the fridge. It is quite the accomplishment since we finally got a door latch to keep him OUT. He stalks everyone and waits for them to open it. Mady opened it and Ethan swooped in and started to grab for the first thing he could see. Well, when you work THAT hard for a slice of bologna, go for it, you earned it. He did his little happy dance, took a bite and then slapped it against the fridge. Apparently, it sticks REALLY good to the side. He ran off, came back a minute later, peeled the bologna off, took a bite and then slapped it back on. Normally I would have stopped it but I couldn't help be proud of my little heathen. So, if you ever find yourself craving a slice of bologna, don't think you have to eat it all at once. Just slap it to the fridge and save it for later.

2010-03-30T15:03:00.001-07:00

AND THE WINNER IS..................................................................................

AUDRIE! Email me your address and what kind of hat you want.
scrappinskills@gmail.com
thanks for playing!

2010-03-27T11:44:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I had a few minutes before my photo session started and wanted to make sure that everything was ready. I got all three kids to hold still for enough time to take the pic. Never mind that face that they all have homeless people hair, they are looking in the right direction and aren't crying. We will always remember taking this pic on Spencer's 32nd birthday.

2010-03-23T08:37:00.001-07:00

Want to win one of my hats? Take a look at my newest ETSY listing. I should have taken more time to get a nice pic taken but I was going to wet my pants and I wasn't going to allow myself a bathroom break until the pics were taken and uploaded. It is REALLY strict around here. Time is money people.
If anyone has any other summer fruit ideas that I can turn into a hat, I would LOVE to hear them. I will enter the comments and suggestions into a hat and pick one! That person will be getting a free hat of their choice. Don't all post at once now. I will pull the winner next Tuesday.

2010-03-18T07:09:00.002-07:00

I just got these cute little chicks yesterday and will be bringing them with me to Meridian. If you want to book a $25 quick chick session contact me and we will see if we can meet up!

2010-02-09T06:47:00.003-08:00

Poor Ethan. If he wasn't such a brat, I would have had my niece come over and model for me. He totally deserves 2 year old pics with a girl hat on for all of the crap he puts me through. I may not get the satisfaction of his embarrassment today, but I am pretty sure it will still feel good later on.

I LOVE the hats with ears on them! If I knew how to read crochet or knitting instructions, I am sure I could figure it out, but I can't. I figured out how to do this and it kinda works! I have a brown one that is SUPER cute with my flowers pinned on. It is in a boutique right now so I will just have to make another to show you!

2010-02-05T11:12:00.003-08:00

K, so it has taken me FOREVER to get this stuff together. I could sit and make these all day long. Getting the pics taken and ready is another process that is always a bit of a nightmare when Ethan is awake.
These are my new flower clips. They are pretty cute right? I don't really know how to crochet, so I learned a basic stitch and came up with this flower. I kinda love her. I have flowers that are two colors ($3) three colors ($4) and four colors ($5). The best thing about these is, you can use them in hair of course AND they clip on to my ear flap hats too!
I am also making headband ear warmers and have been putting little animal/bear ears on my hats. They haven't made it to the photo shoot yet. I can't wait to post them!

2010-02-03T06:56:00.003-08:00

STAY TUNED! Later on today or tomorrow I am going to be showing off what I have been doing for the last couple of months. I have a new hat design that is super cute for the little ones. I also have flowers I adore so much that they dance in my dreams. Am I a little dramatic, yes, but that is why you love me!

2009-11-30T23:33:00.002-08:00

I still feel like I am moving. You know how you feel when you have been driving in the car for a VERY long time and when you stop, you still feel like you are moving? You do? So do I. We went to Santa Barbara then over to Mesa, stopped in Utah and then finally made it back to Rexburg. It was an awesome trip with 80 degree weather, it was heavenly!
It was a ton of fun to be around Spencers family. They are pretty amazing people and I always feel like I need to be doing more to be better. It is done in a way that doesn't make me feel bad, I just always leave them wanting to be a better person. It was so fun to talk with some of the cousins. When they found out that Ethan is almost 2 they would ALWAYS say, "Isn't this such a fun age?" I followed up with a look of wonder and would say no, have you met Ethan? He is a crazy crazy little boy. Our first day back home and he had A LOT of exploring to do. I have to take back my dirty looks and comments about not having fun with Ethan. He is a funny funny little boy. When I am not wanting to velcro him to a wall, I am laughing and wishing that everyone could see how funny he is.
Today he snuck a VERY yummy treat that we got when we visited our friends cafe Sweet Cakes. He came walking into the living room with his hands behind his back. I got up to take whatever it was away and sure enough he started to run away. The funny thing is, he keept his hands behind his back. I laughed when I saw what he was doing and then of course had to grab the camera. I wanted him to run away from me but he was keeping his eyes on me. I knew that if I opened the front door he would bolt and i could get a picture of him from behind. Thankfully, I know him all too well and it worked out great! I am SO sad that he wasn't wearing jeans because the pic is a little confusing but it doesn't matter, it is still going up on the wall in the kitchen!

2009-10-28T14:48:00.003-07:00

Last weekend after a quick trip to Meridian, we also went to Provo. Spencer's side of the family meets up for BYU Homecoming every year. We get to see Grandma and Grandpa Ray and about half of his 88 cousins, with their spouses and occasionally a child or 35. It is a fun get together with all of the "graduated from high school" cousins. It gets bigger and bigger every year! We were lucky enough to stay with Jared and Tamara. It was fun and comfy. We love you guys!

One of the highlights was being able to do some work. I was able to snap a few shots of his cousin Jenica and her fiance Josh. I can't wait to post those. I dropped off my beads and supplies to a new BFF and they had a "Time to Bead" party on Saturday. Thanks Lyric for hookin' me up! I also got to see my work up in the new restaurant in Provo. It is called Pizza Pie Cafe. It is a chain from Craigo's in Rexburg. If you have been over to my site, you will be able to see all of the yummy food that they have. I was SO thankful to be on the maintenance faze of my diet while I took all of those. They have really yummy pizza, pasta and salad buffet that is delicious! I also took some candid shots for them and they have them printed all over the restaurant. I am probably the world biggest nerd because it lit an excitement in me that still has me beaming. It wasn't like they are amazing and stunning shots, they are just what I was able to produce. My favorite is the 3 foot by 6 foot canvas that they had printed up. I love it and am so excited to have been able to be a part of their decor.

Thanks to my little brother Kent! You are the best. Thanks for the opportunity and life time supply of pizza. MUAH!

2009-10-19T13:20:00.002-07:00

I just had the MOST fabulous weekend in Meridian! I had 4 bead parties, a craft show and 5 photo sessions, it was exhausting and exhillerating! I can't thank my friends enough for being so supportive of me and my family. I don't have words that will do justice to have much I love and adore my Meridian friends. I love you SO much that I am coming back on Thursday. This time is a quickie but don't worry! I will be doing a wedding during the day on Thursday and that evening at Hayley Horning's house we will be doing a bead party! This is a fun time to get together, socialize and poke fun at our OCD friends. If anyone has any questions or requests, get them in now! timetobead3@gmail.com

2009-09-16T07:34:00.003-07:00

If fells like we JUST got back from California but it has been a week and a half! With everyone getting so sick, it feels like we are finally getting into the swing of things. Funny thing is, I leave tonight to go to Meridian for 4 days BY MYSELF. You should all start praying for Spencer now.
So, our reason for the trip to CA? Jared married his adorable sweetheart Tamara. I was lucky enough to be able to be their photographer. When I first met Tamara, she walked into a house of 20 people she had NEVER met before, 2 days before her wedding. She was super shy and didn't say much. Well, she is NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL! She is just as funny and crazy as Jared which makes it very easy to fall in love with her. She was so fun to take pics of as a bride. I didn't get any serious bridal shots because it just didn't seem to fit. She isn't very good at not smiling, I love it!
So, here are some of the highlight shots, aren't they adorable together?

2009-09-12T08:15:00.005-07:00

As promised, the pictures you have ALL been waiting for. I don't think I would have gotten around to editing these but I kinda have a HUGE crush on my hairdresser Angela. We even stayed in Meridian an extra day so that we could all get fabulous via Angela. Seriously, I love her.
She was brave enough to take on Ethan the heathen. Luckily she just had to get rid of a few whispy hairs and tada, he looks like a little boy now. By the time he was done, I was in NO mood to get an after picture so you will just have to check out my little big boy in the Disneyland pics that I will post soon.

2009-08-22T14:14:00.004-07:00

I am alive and kickin'! The kids start school next week and we are all very excited. The schools here are different, K-4. That means that Carson is the second oldest in the school. It feels kinda wierd but we will get used to it. I would just rather be back in Meridian before he attends middle school as a 5th grader.

I wanted to post this pic of my boys. This was a few days before Ethan's first hair cut. Those pics will be posted next.

2009-08-10T12:01:00.003-07:00

I have a new project. I know, I know, it is shocking! I am not very busy here in Rexburg and NEED to fill by days full of duties so I have started up a business with my sisters. We have a few examples of what we are making on our new blog (i have the link in my sidebar.)

I am going to be in Meridian this week and my dear sweet friend Hayley is letting me have a Time to Bead party Thursday night at her house. I have sent out emails, if anyone reading this would like to come, I would LOVE to have you. Just leave a comment or email me at timetobead3@gmail.com

2009-06-17T19:11:00.003-07:00

It is really happening. We have the most awesome Bishop and ward family. We couldn't do this without everyone's help. Hope to see you there!

2009-06-15T15:13:00.004-07:00

Our new family picture! Thanks to Carson and his willingness to push the button and run. My mom needed one for a slide show that she is putting together. If she wouldn't have asked, I doubt that I would have taken the time to put it together. Thanks mom! You are the best!

I also had to get one of Spencer and the kids cause this is all he is getting for Father's Day. Don't you love the simple life?

2009-06-11T21:15:00.003-07:00

My newest obession.........

Dresses for Mady! In the last few weeks I have made 5 new things for Mady to wear. Until yesterday, I have used all of the material that I have here at the house. My BIL is getting married in September and their colors are brown and aqua. While using these colors in picking out Carson's suit, I decided that Mady needed a dress to match on his baptism day. So it is a little early and I DON'T have time to be doing this, but who needs sleep? I will sleep after we move.

So, for the dress, I used three ideas from different patterns that I have done lately. I did a peasent top with 4 tiers and ruffle fluff at the bottom so that I could hide the hem. I love how it turned out! I am going to be making matching ones for the other girl cousins. I can't wait to take those pictures!

2009-06-07T19:54:00.001-07:00

To all of the Ray cousins:
I have a sneak peak of Tiffany and Tyler's engagement pics on my photography blog.
While I have your attention!!!! I am blocked out of a lot of your blogs, LET ME IN! Please email me an invitation before you make me cry. scrappinskills@gmail.com
LOVE YA!

2009-06-06T10:53:00.003-07:00

For the first time ever in life we went camping as a family, just us! It started out rocky but in the end, everyone was happy and enjoyed themselves. We had forgotten that we had a baptism to attend so that turned our trip into one night instead of two. I am SO thankful. That night ended up being SUPER windy and rainy, mama would not have been happy! When we started to set up camp it was really windy and Carson had to chase his tent down. A few poles snapped on the big tent and the kids were pretty sure that they were going to start walking down the yellow brick road. After it settled down we did dutch oven pizza and s'mores. What more could you ask for? I look forward to the days when Ethan is older, it only gets better from here.

2009-05-29T14:02:00.003-07:00

I took some exhilarating pics lately. I can't describe them as adorable or precious because they are kinda scary and creepy. I rodents make your skin crawl, you might not want to look at these pics.

We were at a friendly gathering when all of the sudden Spencer and I heard grown women screaming and one of them bolted from where she was standing. As soon as someone said it was a bee I thought, what a bunch of girly girls. Well, I take it back, it was a bat!!!!!!! I wish so badly I could have seen the faces as they warned each other.

The first thing I did was get the camera of course! I snapped a few then moved over for a better angle. When the dang thing flew away it went over to the house and me being a bit of an idiot grabbed a dixie cup from off of the table to catch it. I had the cup on the bat but was too chicken to trap it. My heart stopped beating when it got out and flew in between my legs.

That is when we called in the big guns. Spencer was a trained pest control guy for most of the time we lived in AZ so this kind of think doesn't even phase him. We got a ski glove and a pot and tada! The bat was captured and the City of Meridian was called to come and pick it up.

Can you believe how nasty this guy got with me? I guess this is how the paparazzi feels when they are just trying to get a pic to post on the internet for all to see.

2009-05-27T08:54:00.002-07:00

How do you like my new ride? Since I like to tell stories, this is how all of my dreams came true.

A few months ago my beautiful friend, we will call her “Summer”, told me about a truck that she thought would be cool for a family picture. I thought, yep, sounds cool, wish I had one. Fast forward many months of wishing on shooting stars for the most perfect photo prop ever. I dropped my Mady off at “Summer’s” house for co-op. As I leave the neighborhood, I see the truck! I thought that IS an awesome truck. I slow down to admire and wish just once more and guess what! It had a sign in the window $500 obo. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So, I nearly wet my pants. After a few hours of batting my eyes at Spencer and a phone call to most of my family, (that is just how it works) we were able to make a WONDERFUL deal with the family who owned it and now it is mine. ALL MINE! Until Spencer gets his hands on it and restores it. Right now the poor thing is transgendered, I know, so inappropriate! I think it is a girl and Spencer says it is a boy. Whatever. I think until we figure it out, we will name him/her Trixie the Trannie.

2009-05-26T13:44:00.002-07:00

I usually post my client photography on my other blog but I HAD to post this one. Pretty cute right? I think I am going to try to get one of Ethan sitting in this. It will look funny compared to this pic but I think it will be cute if it is displayed alone. I will have to bribe him with some candy but it is all for the greater good right?

2009-05-21T20:25:00.002-07:00

Our PSA for the day, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET WHEN RIDING YOUR BIKE. This stink pot has 2 helmets!!!! Was he wearing one when he kissed the concrete? No. Seriously, I don't know whether to smack him or hug him. OK, of course I hugged him.
The really scary thing is, he can't tell us what happened. We are pretty sure that he has a concussion. Our neighbor works with the life flight team at St. Lukes. Lucky for us, we were able to get some free medical advice him. He told me what to look for in case we needed to take him to urgent care. At first I was freaking out because he kept asking me what day it was and if I knew what happened. Over the last few hours he has snapped out of it. I just need to wake him up every few hours to make sure he is OK.
Don't worry, I WILL be posting pics as things start to turn different colors. What kind of a mother would I be if I let this injury go undocumented? Then it would be like it never happened and that would be sad.

2009-05-21T15:58:00.001-07:00

Just a friendly reminder since summer is almost here. You can wash and re-use your swim diapers. I can usually get through the whole summer with one package. After your little one wears them you can put them through the wash just remember to let them air dry. If they do the stinkies in them, I am pretty sure that you are out of luck and it is time to take your loss and move on. SMOOCHES!

2009-05-18T17:19:00.004-07:00

This is a pic of the trailer that Spencer re-built. It kinda fell apart when we ran off the icy road when me moved here from Arizona. Now it is ready for another move. I am so proud of him! I knew that I needed to marry a man that knew how to "fix" things. He is so creative and I love him for it!
My sweet sweet husband just sacrificed the hot tub for the greater good of the family. He didn't know that I listed it on Craigslist along with the garage sale we had on Saturday. When a lady showed up and said she wanted to look at the hot tub we listed on Craigslist, he wasn't too impressed. He has just finished telling a friend that he will sell EVERYTHING else before the hot tub. Well, the lady liked it and bought it. Thanks for taking one for the team babe.

2009-05-13T16:48:00.001-07:00

Liquidation Sale
Tomorrow May 14th 6-9 p.m.
@ my house of course!

I am looking to sale a bunch of my crafts and home decor before we move. We are having a neighborhood garage sale this weekend and had a few of my friends say they were interested in a sneak peak. So here you go! My plan today was to go around the house and get pics of a few of the items that I am selling. This morning my plan was foiled when I fell and sprained my ankle. Stupid fireplace. Anyway, I am going to bit the bullet and get some pics tonight to post.

ALL OF MY TUTUs and HATs will be price reduced for the sale. I can always make more after I move right? My pettiskirts will also be reduced, you lucky lucky friends of mine.

2009-05-06T17:07:00.002-07:00

Carson turned 8 last week! It didn't hit me until I saw him at his very first pack meeting in his cub scout uniform. He was so excited. He was dressed and ready two hours before the meeting was to start. Lucky for us, the meeting was the Pinewood Derby. It was so fun to watch all those boys. Carson had a ton of fun. Mady also had a blast with her little girl friends. Watching her with them made my heart hurt because we are leaving. I can't think about it, it makes me woozy.

So, we finally have a final date for Carson's baptism. It is going to be on June 20th. That means will we not be leaving Meridian until the END of June. Don't hold your breath though, things change quickly around here.

2009-04-26T20:57:00.003-07:00

Mother's Day came early for me this year. My wall of pictures still have Chirstmas pics up and I NEEDED to have spring/summer pics done. Thanks to a foxy husband and willing children, all of my dreams came true. I am going to enlarge a few of these to display in my booth at the craft fair at Hunter Elementary this Friday. Your opinions are welcomed.

2009-04-23T09:16:00.002-07:00

One more chair. I have to quit doing this! Really, Spencer is going to KILL me if I don't quit collecting photo props. We have our tentative/official move date, June 15th! We are starting to rent a house in Rexburg already so we will move about a week after school gets out. I have sessions scheduled this summer and fall so I will be back and forth a few times. We still don't have any bites on our house yet. It boggles my mind. It doesn't necessarily bother me, it just makes me wonder how low the price has to go for this house to be "worth" it. We will see!!!

2009-04-22T16:25:00.003-07:00

Look at what I can do! I am super excited about these. I got my hands of 4 of these bad boys. After doing two, I am giving the other two up for adoption. I am happy with what I did, but I am SERIOUSLY behind on the laundry and have got to get started on house packing.

I am just dieing to have a newborn lay in one of these chairs with one of my hats. Any volunteers?

2009-04-03T07:21:00.003-07:00

A bit of magic happened last weekend. We were in Rexburg visiting family and looking around for housing. One night we went over to a friends house and long story short, a photo session was scheduled for the next day. This babies mama is Ticia, kinda fell in love with her. I can't wait to post the dress is she making for Mady. Anyway, she had this cool blanket that I loved and I had yarn to match it so a coordinating hat was made. My sis Steph made the letter for baby Magnum, isn't is seriously AWESOME!!!!! It is times like this that helps me through another day. It honestly feels magical to me. We have so much that can bring us down and we do our very best to think of the bright side. Moments like this help bring me back to help me realized how blessed I am to be in the position that I am.

2009-04-01T08:18:00.003-07:00

WE HAVE BUNNIES! These are my cousin's girls that let us adopt the bunnies. We took these pics at her house. Don't you want to love on the bunny? Her name is Helga because she is our biggest one. The KIDS, OK not all of the kids, CARSON is having so much fun playing with them. Too bad they are all going to find new homes before Easter. Helga has already been spoken for, sorry.

2009-04-01T07:44:00.003-07:00

Is your home facing the trails that we are? We have FCF now and it won't go away. FCF is a new condition called Foster Child Face. My children are inflicted from in a few times a year. Sometimes I feel like I do all I can to prevent it, but FCF will show up, especailly after vacations, camping and long days in the summer sun. As a photographer, I can only do so much photoshopping FCF withough distorting Carson's face. So, what am I to do? Simple solution, cover the dang thing up and turn it black and white!
Happy April Fools!

2009-03-20T09:06:00.002-07:00

HAPPY SPRING! I made this cute little spring decor thingy while my kids played in the backyard. I am so thankful that it is warming up. Ethan sat in the swing outside for 45 mins. That was the first time in about 2 weeks that he has been content for that long. I am thankful for a great backyard and lots of little kids to play in it.
Funny story. I was using the scroll saw to cut this sign out and one of the little boys came to look at what I was doing. He was chatting away and his brain decided to say "my mom is skinny." I said, "yes she is." Because I was in a good mood I decided to bait him and ask him what that made me. He thought for a minute and said, "My mom says we shouldn't say fat." I just about wet myself I was laughing so hard. Lets call a duck a duck! I am fluffy cause I LOVE food and I don't exercise. I was not blessed with a high metabolism. I love to eat the wrong things and the wrong times. Any time that I exercise I end up wetting myself and I don't love to do it anyway. What am I supposed to think is going to happen to my body? Someday, I will lose weight. Someday, but not today!

2009-03-05T15:25:00.002-08:00

Hey Lorie! Look what I can do!
This pettiskirt has made me loose sleep. I have wanted to make one and have it be FABULOUS for about a month now. This one doesn't have super fabulous quality to it, but hey, I know how to make them now! I used some extra material that I had in my stash of fabric. This fabric is called Tricot and if you know my family, you know that this is what defined my childhood. Carson was addicted to his tricot blanket that my grandmother made for him. I still have mine too. Anyway, it made me smile working with this fabric, it make me want to cuddle up to this skirt and take a little nap. I have some more fabric on order and will new pettiskirts in my Etsy store. soon I can't wait until spring time to take pics with these outside!

2009-03-04T18:08:00.002-08:00

Reasons #275 & 276 that I adore Madyson..... She is always making me laugh. I NEED to get a video clip of her skipping. She is hysterical!!!!! Funny things she has said lately:
1. This one is her pulling what we like to call a "Grandma Jonesy"
This morning Carson wanted some mandrin oranges for breakfast. The brand on them is Cutie so that is what we call them. I said, "do you want 1 or 2 cuties?" He says 2 and goes to get his shoes on. A few minutes later, Mady being a little mother yells out, "Carson, your sweeties are ready." OK so my family will be the only ones to understand why that is SUPER DUPER FUNNY! With Mady's new hair cut she looks just like my mom. It is no wonder why she is acting like her too!
2. She is always asking for food, imagine that, most kids do. If she has JUST eaten, I tell her that she isn't hungry, she is just bored. She comes walking out of her room the other day and says "oh, I am thirsty, I want some water." I just look at her and she says, "Oh wait a minute, I forgot, I am just bored." OK Mad, whatever you say!
I love this little girl! She is going to be my gal pal forever and I am so thankful that she is who she is.

2009-03-03T14:57:00.002-08:00

I am adding more things to my Etsy store! I cut these out for a friend of mine and figured since the work is done, I might as well try to sell some. Thanks to my hunk of burnin' love for working so hard for me up yesterday. He is so crafty!

2009-03-02T15:07:00.001-08:00

This is what I found on my front door when I got home this morning. Thank you Kim and O'Neal for making me laugh all day. Oh, and thanks for the tip.

2009-03-01T15:54:00.002-08:00

I hate not posting pic with my blog entries but I love all of you WAY too much to post of pic of what happened to me today. As soon as the closing song in Sacrament meeting started, I left to get my room set up for the nursery kids. As soon as I got to the door, my skirt fell around my ankles! Let me tell you what the cultural hall of my new ward family members saw, me with NO SLIP, just my special undies! I found out from one of my friends, now one of my close friends, that THEY saw what happened, not just she, THEY. I will be collecting $5 from them cause I don't give this crap away for free!!!! I will now being joining the same group as my SIL Emma, she showed her special undies when the wind blew her skirt up at her brothers wedding. The annoying this is, this is the 2nd time this has happened to me. I thought chubby chicks were immuned from this. I need to start wearing tighter clothes!

2009-02-26T16:42:00.003-08:00

Ethan not only looks like Carson, he acts like him too. This isn't exactly a good thing. Ethan is into EVERYTHING! He kept getting into the garbage can. He was like little rat, when he was hungry, he would go over to the garbage. He would get into cans of food and eat the crap that was in them. Not only was it in the garbage for a reason, it was also really bad because he would cut his hands on the cans! Oy, this child. So, to stop this behavior, we set up the happy box (or play pen as others call it in the) living room. The little brat found a small hole in the side. It looked like another kid stuck a pencil in the mesh and Ethan found it. He started to make the hole bigger with his finger, then his arm, then his head! He could have strangled himself! So, I moved it into Madyson's bedroom. I didn't realize the box was right by it! I caught Ethan trying to get in from the side. When he saw me with the camera, he decided to pose for me. Oh, he is so cute but is SUCH a brat! I have the happy box wedged inbetween the entertainment center and the fireplace with the escape route facing the corner. It actually gives him his own little nook to play in. Now, he is like a little gerbal that can go in and out of his tunnel. I put a ton of toys back there and it is working out pretty good. I can get the dishes done without him climbing on the door and grabbing for the knives. Have I mentioned that I don't like one year olds?

2009-02-26T08:19:00.003-08:00

I hate it that I don't post more often. I have so much fun stuff to write about! First of all, Spencer got accepted to BYU Idaho for the fall/winter tracks! That means that we will move to Rexburg in September or when our house sells. It kinda turns my tummy to write that, I am not sure what kind of emotions they are. Something else that is REALLY cool about this, Spencer's little sister Katelyn in graduating from high school this year and got assigned to the same track as Spencer! Is that not funny? Who would have thought that even though they have a 12 year age difference, that they would go to the same school at the same time. I really hope that it works out for her to go there. I LOVE HER! That doesn't even begin to express how much I adore her. I could go on and on about how amazing she is, that is for another post. Spencer is excited to get to be the big scary brother that pops up in the middle of her dates. I will do my best not to follow him around with a camera trying to capture those moments! Also, as if having his sister there isn't enough, ALL of my syblings live there! My brother and two sisters are there along with 4 nephews and 1 1/2 nieces! How exciting is that? All of those children will FINALLY have the opportunity to fall in love with me.

2009-02-10T11:20:00.001-08:00

Do you love me? If you do, add my button to your blog so that all the world will shop at my Etsy store.

2009-02-05T08:54:00.003-08:00

My friend Lorie is giving away TONS of uber cute stuff on her blog. Her button in on my side bar. This weekend she will be giving away one of my tutu's in my etsy store. OK, so I have yet to list them, but I am getting to it OK! I wanted to post this pic that I took of Mady. I had to turn on the trickery to get her to work with me. I told her she was a fashion model AND that she was just like iCarly. It worked! Isn't she funny?

2009-01-29T18:09:00.004-08:00

The morning after Christmas (yep, I have been meaning to post this story since then) Carson came to me to show me his Rubix cube that he got at the family gift exchange. To my surprise, he had put it back together. I was in shock. I thought that things were going to be OK as far as his intelligence goes. He is doing well in school but would do so much better if he would focus. After solving the cube, I thought about him getting into any college that he wants because he is a genious! All morning long, I told anyone and everyone about my boy genious. I bragged about him as much as I could.
Later that night we were sitting down as a family and I saw the cube that had been messed up again. I asked Spencer if he saw that Carson solved it. He said he did. He asked me if I looked at it and I said I had. He said, "look closer." Ah CRAP! My smarty pants took the stickers off to solve it. At this moment I learned that he will take after me. If I don't know how to do something, I will figure out a way, even if it isn't the "right" way. And most of the time, it is easier and cheaper! Good luck with that Carson!

2009-01-06T21:09:00.003-08:00

I hope that my mom was able to read this tonight cause it is her BIRTHDAY. She is sweet enough to be statified to get pics of her grandkids as a gift. I love you MOM!!!!

These are pics from when we were sledding. Thanks to Ken & Barbie for inviting us. It was a GREAT spot and close to home. I was so surprised how excited Mady was. She was brave until she got "run over." Poor girl have to learn the hard way not to walk in the path of the sleds. Carson sprained his thumb but got over it pretty fast. We were able to take lunch up there. The big boys made a fire and the kids roasted hot dogs. I made corn chowder for the adults and it was yummy! I think we may need to go up at least one more time this year.

2009-01-06T20:43:00.003-08:00

Ethan boy turned 1! We spent the day sledding, he was stuck in a stroller but the big kids had a blast. Since this was just his first birthday he got a cupcake. I am a firm believer that he won't remember this day and so the bliss he got to experience was just that, pure bliss! This little cup cake was finished in about 3 minutes.

Ethan is walking now. He has been for a few weeks, even though we constantly tried to trip him while he was learning. He has 4 teeth, three on the bottom and one on top. He LOVES to play peek-a-boo. He will play anywhere, anytime. He loves to pound on things like he is playing drums. He loves his blankies and only sucks his first two fingers when he has one. He is easily entertained and giggles when you try to scare him. He is doing really well at using his sippy cups. The last time he had a bottle was in the middle of the night before his birthday. I knew it was going to be his last so I held him like a little baby. It was a magical moment for me.

This little boy is spoiled with love. I am so very thankful that he is mine.

2009-01-01T11:22:00.002-08:00

It is now very clear to me why blogs were created. When I saw Ethan covered in flour, my first thought was; you little brat. The second was; this is going to be AWESOME for my blog. Being able to post these pics for all my friends and family to see may have saved my entire family from witnessing a mental breakdown. Thank you blogger!

2008-12-27T21:40:00.003-08:00

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! I was so busy with work that I didn't get around to doing Christmas Cards so consider yourself carded!

2008-12-18T16:25:00.002-08:00

Guess who I made-out with last night! I don't mind sending out a little sugar to get some bling under the tree.

Last night Spencer played Santa at the Eagle Kids Academy holiday program. Of course, the kids sat with Santa and I took pictures. Spencer did an AMAZING job being Santa. He drove all dressed up and did his best to get everyones attention. He was such a good sport! I was so proud that he was willing to do it and that he did such an amazing job.

2008-11-17T12:58:00.001-08:00

Didn't mean to post the pics of the kids being "special" I meant to post the turkey pics. Since I think that my friends and family should see what I have to put up with, I am not going to deleat them. Here are the pics of the turkey.

2008-11-17T12:44:00.002-08:00

What a fabulous Monday. Mady came home with the most adorable Turkey! Her preschool teacher Miss Janet does such fun projects with the kids. I am so thankful for her energy! I think that we may have to make a turkey family and put them on the plant shelf next year.

After I dropped Mady off, I make my Monday trip to Goodwill. Sometimes if I am lucky, I get to see Trixie. If I haven't told you about him/her, then you wouldn't know about the man/woman that I see there on Monday mornings. For some reason, when I see him/her, it facinates me. The man/woman has boots in every color and every time I see him/her they are a different color. Anyway, last week I saw this buggy there and wouldn't pay the full price. Today, the color tag was %50 off. I was so excited! I am going to restore it and had to get a before picture in. I think this will be the perfect picture prop for 1-3 year olds! I can't wait to post a pic when I am finished with it!

2008-11-17T12:36:00.003-08:00

My Madyson turned 5!!!!! It was a really pathetic birthday but she is forgiving. I was sick all day long. It is really hard to make a fabulous birthday cake and be throwing up all day. I surrendered A LOT of control and let the kids decorate the cake. I learned how to make fondant and we had a blast cutting it out. I would rather have them play with fondant for cupcakes or cake rather than cookies. It was easy to work with and I didn't freak out too much while they did it. The cake didn't turn out how it was supposed to me in my head but Mady seemed to like it.

2008-11-17T12:28:00.002-08:00

Time to play catch up. For the last few weeks, my time has been spent in fast forward motion. I don't know how I have had the energy to get through the last month, but I have! We went to Rexburg for Halloween. I did a few sessions there and of course celebrated the holiday with my brother and sisters. When we were getting ready to go trick or treating, Ethan threw up so I stayed behind and spent a quiet evening with my sick little boy. Unfortunately, he started the domino effect and just about everyone ended up with the flu bug. Sorry guys! It seems like every time I get to together with my family someone ends up getting sick and shares with everyone else. At least I got some cute pics pre-puke!

2008-10-13T21:44:00.005-07:00

In the middle of last month I was the photographer at a wedding. The most beautiful bride was a serious trooper as it poured rain during her outdoor reception. Before I left, I told her that I wanted to do an additional session so that she could have some dry pics. Long story short, since her dress was in serious need of dry cleaning, I suggested we do a "Trash the Dress" session. We didn't literally trash her wedding dress, but we didn't worry about getting dirty. It was SO MUCH FUN! I still get butterflies in my tummy when I think about how amazing they looked. Here are a few pics. The day I fit in my wedding dress again, I am SO doing this....

2008-09-27T13:02:00.002-07:00

Could you just eat these kids up? Most of you don't know who they are so I wouldn't blame you if you gave me an eye roll just now. These are my nephews and my niece. Now couldn't you just eat them up? I took these out front of my Grandpa Pap's house. When we were visiting him, I spotted that Jeep across the street and lucky for me my SIL will let me do whatever I want to when it comes to pics. It makes super excited for when Ethan gets big enough to do a "homeless brothers" photo shoot together.

2008-09-08T14:50:00.002-07:00

Today I really really really should have been cleaning. Sunday was a very lazy day and I had tons of housework to do. I had an awful nights sleep and didn't want to spend my energy cleaning, only a crazy person would do that. Instead, I finished a project that I didn't have time to do but did anyway. Last Thursday my friend/cousin showed me a post from one of my other friends blog. A lady named Holly is crazy talented and she did this to her wall for her son. Hers was WAY better, but this turned out good enough. The only thing I bought for this project was the wood frame. I got it for a whopping $1.50 at the Goodwill here. If my parents happen to read this, the green frame is that random frame that you guys left at my house. You thought you were being funny....thanks for the frame!

2008-09-06T12:32:00.004-07:00

Guess who has a little junk in his trunk? I took this pic yesterday, doesn't he look yummy? Ethan is doing so much better. He is over 18 pounds and on the charts!!! He LOVES to eat. He eats solids at least three times a day. I have been blessed with the insight to make my own baby food so that he doesn't break our food budget. I can't even explain how much I love and adore this little boy. He is the spirit in our home that makes it complete. He smiles so easily, it is amazing what a toothless smile can do for you sometimes.

I have TONS to post. Our internet was out for a while and I have stayed nice and busy. I am starting to fill up my calendar with photo session, I LOVE FALL!!!! I was released from my calling as primary counselor and put in as a nursery leader. After being over the nurseries, I am more than happy to serve there. It is a tough job but I would rather be there than anywhere else. Carson has started the 2nd grade and I am so happy to have him back in school. So far he hasn't been to the Principal's office, so the year is starting out great. Mady has been to one day of preschool. I feel SO blessed to have her where she is. I love her teacher and love what she will be doing this year. Mady loves to learn and is SO ready for Kindergarten but missing the cut off by a month. She will be a know it all next year but what else will be new?

I will post lots of fun pics soon! So much to do and not enough hours in the day!

SMOOCHES!

2008-08-12T09:30:00.003-07:00

My wheat field is ready! I have no idea when they are going to harvest it so I am willing to do some sessions ASAP for anyone who is interested. My sessions start at $50 for the first 4 people and picture CD startS at $65. Call me or email me at mjrayphotography@gmail.com

2008-07-24T22:39:00.003-07:00

Tonight, I am sitting at the dinner table with one of my dearest friends in all the land. After the Ray Reunion, my friend Lorie and her kidlets joined me and my kidlets in Pine. We had the entire cabin to ourselves and loved every minute of it. You would think that two women who love to take pics and scrapbook would have had their cameras out the entire time together. We didn't take a single picture while we were up there!!!! I guess we assume that such wonderful memories will be burned into our brains, never to escape!

During the reunion I had my camera out a lot. If I didn't have Ethan in my arms, I had the camera. Sadly enough, it felt like they weighed the same. One of my favorite parts of the reunion was letting Carson be free! He and two "cousins" found a "TP" and turned it into a secret fort. They weren't going to let me up there so I decided to go unannounced. I did manage to take a few pictures and this is one of my favorites. Yes, those are worms that Carson put in the bottom of the water bottle!

I am going to Santa Barbara in the morning to spend a few weeks with Spencer's parents. Spencer went back to Boise last Monday and I won't see him again until next Friday. I didn't realize how long our break apart was going to be! Oy, I kinda miss my boyfriend.

2008-07-14T13:23:00.003-07:00

Poor Sadie didn't want to go outside! This is the last picture that I took of her hiding under my bed. Yep, that means she is gone. I turned into a softy and let her hang out with us Saturday night. That led to letting her sleep in our bed. Normally, I would have told Spencer to forget it, but I was the one who made her follow me to bed. Truth be told, I will miss her. I won't miss her poop, her hair or the fact that she has eaten every one of the ripe tomato's out of the garden.

We donated her to the Meridian Police Department. We had a Sheriff come out and test her and he said she would be ideal to train to be a drug dog. How exciting is that? I was bummed because the Sheriff showed up while we were at church. Luckily, Nicole and Rustin were home (seriously, I am so LUCKY they were home) they talked to him and he wasn't going to wait until church got out. They weren't playing hookie, they attended Kimberlee's homecoming. Anyway, Nicole DROVE over to church and found me to come home. I found Spencer and he went home to give Sadie away. I wanted to get pics of her leaving with him, but I had to stay at church. So, this is the picture I ended up with! I want to give a HUGE thank you to my dear friend Cheryl who helped me find a place for Sadie poo poo pants to be, and to Nicole for knowing how important it was for us to give her away. Seriously, I would have flipped my lid if we would have missed the Sheriff!

After we got home, we were telling the kids that Sadie is gone. Carson didn't care, he said "oh." Mady said, "It took FOREVER for us to get rid of her." I guess that means is wasn't a bad decision. Poor Spencer, I hope that he will forgive me some day soon!

2008-07-03T17:08:00.002-07:00

My sister STEPHANIE kinda loves me. She sent me this perfect bouquet of CHOCOLATE. I can't think of any better way for a sister to show some love. The balloon cracks me up too. Carson was a little worried at first but he finally gets the joke. Thanks Steph, you are so sweet and so thoughtful. Love you too!

2008-07-01T20:56:00.002-07:00

I decided to start out my 3rd decade with a dramatic change. As I am sure you can tell from the pictures, I cut my hair a bit. It was more than 10 inches so I was able to donate it. I was really excited about that part. I will have Nicole take a pic of my tomorrow. My hair dresser did a PERFECT job especially without seeing a pic of what I wanted. It is super short in the back with some length in the front. Spencer approves, I am pretty sure that he wants to make out with me now.

2008-06-27T21:30:00.003-07:00

Here is a pic of Carson's 48 hour hair cut. Don't think that when I say I won't finish cutting your hair if you don't cooperate that I am kidding. The funny thing is, he is totally embarrassed. You wouldn't know it by looking in the pics but whenever anyone would say "hey cool hair" he would bury his head in my side. The rest will come off tomorrow!

I have to be thankful that Mady doesn't understand how ghetto she is. I won't buy a plastic pool for her to play in because they ruin the lawn and the dog will eat it. Thankfully, she LOVES the small bucket, why ruin a good thing. She better enjoy it before Ethan is on the move cause the bucket of water will be outlawed.

2008-06-26T13:33:00.003-07:00

After reading a few comments, I realized it might be helpful to explain why we are trying to sell our house. We are simply trying to get the equity out of the house, not that their is much left, stinkin' market. Since Spencer can build at cost, the plan is to build every two years. I don't want to move and am not super anxious to sell, but it would be helpful financially. We have looked around for some lots to build on and liked what we saw in Caldwell. I really want to stay around here, but I will go where it makes the most sense.

Ethan got weighed again today, he is up to 12 lbs. 12 oz. I have an appointment to see a dietitian when we get back from our three week vacation!

On that note, I am going to be gone for three weeks! We are going to family reunions in Arizona and California. They are a week and a half apart so I will hang out in Mesa for a few days after the first reunion and then go over to Cali. I can't even explain how excited I am. It will be awesome to see family and also my mostest bestest love in all of Mesa, Lorie. I can't wait to hang out with her and her kids. They are so adorable and I can't wait to attack them with my camera....oh it is going to be a fun vacation!

2008-06-18T09:04:00.003-07:00

A few things to play catch up-

Ethan update. Last week he was weighing it at 12 pounds. That is almost three pounds in one month. He LOVES to eat. I feed him solids three times a day!

We finally got our house listed. I am not exactly chomping at the bit to get it sold. I don't want to leave this area. When I say area, I mean square mile, I love hit here. We will see what happens!

I am trying my best to get rid of the dog. I listed her on craigslist and didn't get one call. I was a little too honest in my listing, Spencer wasn't too impressed.

I found the PERFECT wheat field for a family photo shoot. I can't wait for it to turn yellow, it is going to be awesome. If anyone wants to set up a time to get family pics done, call me!

Other than that, life goes on!

2008-06-04T09:01:00.002-07:00

In July, Spencer's family is having the "Ray Family Reunion." I am wanting any of the cousins who check my blog to leave a comment as to if they are attending or not. After Grandpas very generous offer, we are going! I am so excited to get to go back to Arizona and to the cabin. The last time I was at the cabin, was for a retreat that I hosted and oh boy was that an experience. Anyway, I would love to know who I can look forward to seeing there.

2008-05-27T20:31:00.002-07:00

One thing that I enjoy in life is a nice hefty storm. I want thunder and lightning with some girth behind it. Today I was able to enjoy just that. The rain came down so hard and so fast, I just stood at the window watching the rain gutters over flow. It was awesome! I wasn't going to take a pic of the rain because I would have been soaked. It was blowing all over and I didn't want to get my baby wet. (baby as in my camera...) So here are some after shots in the slide show. It wasn't until approximately 6:01 that I went into my room and remembered that my window was open. My side of the bed got soaked! Oops! The wind was no joke, my carpet is wet about 6 feet into the room. Still, it was awesome and got me all excited!

The Flood of 2008

2008-05-27T20:30:00.001-07:00

2008-05-21T12:18:00.002-07:00

I have a baby Ethan update. Last week I took him in for his 4 mo. appointment and to get his shots. The doctor wouldn't give him his shots because the poor little boy only weighed 9 lbs. 8 oz. That was 5 oz. less than his 2 month appointment. He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. when he was born so the doc was very concerned. He told me that I needed to have Ethan eating formula exclusively. I tried my very best not to break out into tears. Of course I want what is the best for my baby, but I am a very lazy mom. I don't like to clean bottles or mix formula, yeah, I am THAT lazy. I have always loved nursing and would do it no matter how much pain I was in.

The doctor told me to bring him in for another weigh-in in a week and that was today. He weighed in at 10 lbs. 10 oz. I can't tell you how good that made me feel. It totally stinks that my boobs are broken but maybe I will finally get a big fat baby! I just feel bad that my poor baby has been starving for the first 4 months of his life.

2008-05-15T13:20:00.004-07:00

I think that I am closer to coming up for air! This month has been pretty busy. Between work, church and family, I have not taken much time to blog. I know, you have been missing me, I am used to it.

Last weekend, I planned my very first primary activity. It turned out pretty darn good. We had 90ish primary kids there and it was a blast. Our bishop was a good sport and made the party a hit.

For my mothers day gift I requested that the family take pictures. We stole our neighbor/cousins couch and took it to the park. I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Poor Spencer, I know that he thinks I am nuts. My sweet cousin Mandie met me there. She has been doing photography for a few months now and I needed her to take my pictures. They turned out great, now I just need to decide which one to print. Any suggestions are welcomed.

2008-04-30T17:06:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Carson my love! Carson is 7 today, I can't believe he is so big! After he got home from school today, we put together a dinosaur puzzle thingy that was for ages 7+. We have hit the BIG TIME. Just a few pics of pre-party boredom.

2008-04-22T21:46:00.003-07:00

I have been tagged by my adorable cousin Audrie.

7+ Random/Weird facts about me

1. I can't stand to use metal silverware. If we are out, Spencer will search wherever we are to find me a plastic spoon or fork. I can taste the metal and to touch crappy silverware makes me cringe.

2. I map out my driving route WAY before I get in the car. We are talking days in advance if I am planning to run errands.

3. I have wet my pants three times this year.

4. I will be turning the big 30 in July.

5. If I wasn't such a chicken, I think it would be cool to be a mortician.

6. I am really creepy.

7. I have to have at least one project in the works or I get depressed, literally. Crafting is a wonderful form of therapy for me.

8. BONUS I think that my posts without pictures are boring. I found this one of me and Spencer when we were 22.

2008-04-18T21:09:00.003-07:00

Carson had his first T-ball game last Tuesday. Oh my, it was a thrilling three innings. He thinks he is such a big shot but he is alone in that thought. If he knew a thing about what he was doing, I might be a bit proud but he is clueless. One funny thing about his team, two of the boys on it are in Madyson's pre-school class. Pretty much how that happened.....Carson it too old for his team and Mady is too young for her class. Either way, it cracks me up!

2008-04-07T15:20:00.005-07:00

Check it out! It's Totally Rad! Promise.
http://www.totallyradcrafts.etsy.com/

http://totallyradcrafts.blogspot.com/

2008-04-04T09:37:00.003-07:00

Scooter is 3 months! He is still so stinkin' skinny but that is how Carson was too. I am trying to fatten him up the best I know how.

This little boy is kinda freaking me out. He got his nickname Scooter because well, he scoots. I put him down in his crib with his feet at one end. By the time he is awake and making noises, he his head is at the other. He has been doing this for about two months now.

After I started to call him this, Carson asked why and I told him. Carson said, "Mom, I want to call him Little Sucker since he sucks his fingers." Very creative son, but it's a no go.

2008-04-02T22:06:00.004-07:00

I haven't posted in a while. For some reason my house won't clean itself. What is up with that?
I wanted to post my adventures in snorkeling. Let me start this out by saying, Spencer feels really bad. His dad went out before us and we went on our own not really knowing where the good spots were.
Anyway, we got the gear set up and ready to go. I was brave and posed for a picture. Can you believe that I posted that? I know, I should be charging money, but for you my friends, this ones on me.

I was not excited about this but I am always the party pooper. I have lost my drive for adventure. The only times I was adventurous was when I was trying to impress a guy. Well, Spencer is officially mine so I turned into a chicken pretty fast. Once we got into the water, I panicked a bit. It just isn't normal for me to breath under water. I couldn't get it under control at first but fought through it and started to swim and "explore." We were headed out and it wasn't super clear water, plus I am near sighted, so I was kinda thinkin' whoopee.

Spencer was trying to teach me the underwater signs for communication. Don't you think we should have done this on the shore? Luckily, I am a pretty bright girl so I knew what he was trying to say to me. After a few minutes, he pointed out a sea cucumber. Me being the big fat chicken that I am started to flail my arms, kick my legs because I was pretty sure that it was one of eight tentacles that belonged to a hungry octopus that was going to attach itself to my face. It just kinda freaked me out.
We got to the point where we were at the break of the water so the next task was to get on the other side of it. HOLY COW that was not fun. I kept loosing track of Spencer and was getting really freaked out. It is really hard to breath through a snorkel and hyperventilate at the same time. We got on the other side and the ocean floor was not as close as it was anymore. This did not impress me. I said to Spencer that I wanted to swim parallel to the beach and find what we could see. I was getting tired and was not seeing the fascinating sea life that I was promised. Every little thing that did move freaked me out anyway so I wasn't hatin' on it. I told Spencer I was done and started to head back in. This would have been just fine if we were around the reef. I am so inexperienced with the ocean and tide and rocks. The waves were bringing us back in but not without smacking us against the rocks. I was instructed to let the waves take me in. OK that is fine but these huge rocks sticking out of the ocean could split my skull in two. Once the waves hit, all I could see was bubbles. I put my hands out in front of me but the waves brought me in too fast and I got smacked against a few rocks. I tried to sit/pin myself against some taller rocks but it was still hard to feel safe. As I am sitting there, trying not to die, the lovely life guard swam out on her surf board. I SO wanted to tell her to shove over and let me go to shore with her, but I still had 5 feet of rocks to get through. I told her I was fine and decided to put on my big girl panties and get out of this mess. I figured, worse case scenario, I wet my pants from being scared to death. Lucky for me, it would be between me and the ocean.

Once we got in a safe spot, Spencer's dad came over to us feeling so bad for what we had just done. They told me to go over to another spot cause they saw some eels. First of all, I am tired and I want to get out of the ocean. Second, an eel? Sorry that does not impress me, that scared the crap out of me. So I told Spencer to go on without me and swam to shore.
I didn't take pictures of my injuries because I am pretty sure it is against my religion to photograph such spots. My poor little bum bum took the tole. It is the largest area of the body so I shouldn't be surprised.
I feel so lucky that I was able to live through this near death experience in order to tell this tale. It is going to have to take a serious bribe and many gifts to get me to do that again. It just wasn't that fun for me. I am a mother and a wife and am happy to sit on the beach and chase away the chickens.

2008-03-24T15:17:00.010-07:00

We are back! We had an extraordinary time in Hawaii last week. We started out the vacation on Sunday attending church in Laei. The temple was next door to the meeting house so of course, we spent some time on the temple grounds. It was SO beautiful. It was an overcast day but it was still so stunning! The sister missionaries let us write on the leaves so of course I had to write something mushy. It was super original, it said, Michelle loves Spencer. Catchy right?

These were taken at the site of the USS Arizona, one of the navy ships that sunk at Pearl Harbor. I didn't know much about this besides what Ben Afleck taught me in the movie. It was a surreal experience being on over the ship knowing that is is the resting place for all of those men. As soon as we got to the memorial, Ethan started crying and I was so annoyed and embarrassed. I could only imagine how everyone else felt. A lady came up to me and said, "His feet are uncovered, they are probably cold, that is why he is crying." OK lady, that must be it. I will just cover his feet in this 85 degree weather and he will stop. I know that I am a brat but it annoyed me.
Spencer took the picture of this flag. I was very impressed with his "eye" for the picture. He is learning how to shoot my camera in Manual which makes me VERY happy. He is so crafty.

Before we spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, we were able to do a session at the temple. Katelyn and Devon were willing to watch Ethan so I could do this. It was SO nice and so fun to be in the temple with my love.

At the PCC, I felt like a silly teenager who was trying to sneak pictures of the hot Polys. It was tons of fun to get to be in a place where their were lots of Polynesian men in their traditional dress. That is my polite way of saying topless. It may be my favorite part of the vacation.

We decided to go on a "gentle hike" (so says the brochure) to go whale watching. Um kay, I was so not impressed! I don't think I would do this again unless I lost 70 pounds. It was a mile up and an mile down. On the way down, I wanted to scream to all of the people on the way up, "don't do it! you will thank me!" The one thing that was horrible was they didn't have water or bathrooms at the top. To make a long story short, I wet my pants on the way down. It was horrible and embarrassing. I couldn't have done a thing about it! I had a baby two months ago and those muscles just weren't workin' for me. It was beautiful and I was able to get some great pics but my word, it was not gentle at all. Stupid brochure writers.

Our last night we went to the pipeline on the North Shore. It was fun to watch everyone try to boogie board. I didn't take my swim suit on purpose. After my snorkeling adventure (that story gets its own post) I was NOT going in the water again. I was happy to sit with the baby and take pictures. Katelyn was the only one to successfully boogie board. She is an incredible young woman and I was so thankful to get to be with her. I love her so much. Sorry, I can't help it, she ROCKS!

We ate dinner at the top of the beach with the life guard and homeless people. It was a weird night but we had fun.

I am going to be posting more soon so beware!

2008-03-13T15:30:00.002-07:00

Here is what I have been working on for the last few weeks. I am starting to get into making my boutique crafts to earn some extra money. Thanks to my friends for letting me do this! I will have to post my tutu's soon cause they are pretty stinkin' cute!

2008-03-13T15:09:00.002-07:00

So, last Saturday was ultra mega cleaning day. The sad thing is, the only room that got completely clean was the laundry room, yeah, my house is THAT bad. I told Carson and Mady that they needed to help me with the other chores while I finished. Carson was very happy to put the dishes away. When he got finished he came and got me and told me that I HAD to come and look at his job. Being the mindful caring mother that I am, I totally ignored him cause the baby was crying. After I got Ethan, Carson finally drug me into the kitchen. When we got there the cupboard door was open and he opened his arms and said, "Look mom, I kinda organized it for you." Indeed you did, my love!

2008-03-04T11:42:00.003-08:00

Here is a sneak peak for Sarah. I felt like a little kid excited for my birthday waiting to do these pictures. It has been a long time since I have been able to do children outside and I have been anxious to go to BoDo. It was funny cause we drove around looking for the perfect ally and we found it. Magic happened in this ally! Thanks for letting me do this for your family Sarah! It was a blast!

2008-02-27T14:41:00.002-08:00

Poor mister man hasn't lost any teeth yet. The boy will be seven in 2 months. I wouldn't care if his teeth weren't totally rotten, but I want them out! It has been SO hard not to photoshop his teeth so that he doesn't look like a malnourished albino boy. I have only done it a couple of times but isn't that what it is for? Anyway, he has been wiggling one of his top teeth for about 2 weeks now. He must be a bit of a pansy cause he hasn't made much progress. The other day he said to me:

"Mom, how about on Saturday we go to Dr. Pillings office so that he can pull out my teeth."

"Well Carson, that is why I tell you to wiggle them so that you can do it yourself."

"Yeah but isn't Dr. Pilling the one who gets them out?"

"Only when they are rotten. We don't want to do that because then you will owe the tooth fairy money instead of getting money from her. If I have to pay the dentist then it doesn't work the same way."

Confused look on his face. "Fine, I will just have to wiggle them all of the time and never stop."

"Fine with me!"

2008-02-22T14:45:00.002-08:00

3 weeks until we go to Hawaii!! So yea, we are actually going. I tried to call it off when medical bills started to roll in but we are WAY to fabulous and Spencers parents want us to go with them really bad. It may have something to do with non-refundable tickets too, but whatever. His sweet mother is being so sweet and selfless on our behalf. It will be my first time and Spencers second.

If you would like to pre-purchase tickets to my vacation slide show, I would suggest you do it quickly. It is a first come first serve situation people.

The only part that stinks is we are leaving Carson and Mady home. We are so lucky to have freaking fabulous cousins who are willing to take care of our crazies. I would suggest you start praying for them, the babysitters, not the children.

One last thing, if anyone wants me to bring them back a coconut bra, speak now or forever hold your peace! I hope they make XXL ones so that this nursing mom doesn't miss out on all the fun.

2008-02-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

This is Ethans 1 month picture. Spencer made fun of me that I HAD to take this picture cause we have so many others. He lost just a little bit of his craftiness by being such a stinker! He quickly earned it back cause I know what I am getting for V-day! I will post a pic when it gets here. Don't get all excited it is something that only I would freak out about.

2008-02-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of pictures that I have been wanting to post. I had Spencer take pictures of me and Ethan. It was one of those things that I wanted done but didn't want to do. It was hard to edit pics of myself and I won't lie and say I didn't try to make myself look thinner than I am.

I also had a ton of fun taking pictures of Carson. He is the child that always puts up a fuss but when he gets in front of the camera, he melts my heart! Since I can't leave out Miss Mady, I posted some of my recent favoites! She can be such a little princess when she wants to!

2008-01-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

So, I am thinking that it is time for a party! I have room for 16 people, 20 if we have lots of interest. I love the idea that Rachel B told me about. I will provide the hostest gift (which will be pretty cool) and everyone else will bring a white elephant gift for an exchange after we are done playing. The gift theme for this bunco night will be a "nice" home decor item with a $10 limit.

The prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd will have to do with the gift exchange. The three top players of the evening will get to pick an advantage to hopefully get the gift they want the most. The options will be, 1) pick which number you want be in the order of the exchange 2) get a "freeze this gift" pass 3) get an "unfreeze this gift" pass.

So what do you think? Sounds like fun right? Leave a comment on this post or give me a call if you want to party!

The list so far... (2-07)

1) Me

2) Nicole R

3) Jilene

4) Summer

5) Amy B

6) Rachel

7) Allison

8) Bonnie

9&10) Sarah B & SIL

11) Sarah H

12) Angela

13) Tori

This party is not exclusive to blog stalkers. If you know anyone that would like to come just let me know.

2008-01-30T17:47:00.001-08:00

If I could decribe my feelings today, this picture would be it! Today was a snow day for school and I just about cried when I heard the news. Carson has been sick since Sunday which means, I have been home being his slave. I am going crazy! Seriously, I have anxiety that is going to make me flip my lid if I don't have some time to myself. For the last 4 days, Carson has assumed that I don't know how to me a mom to Ethan. I am constantly hearing, "Mom, Ethan is crying," "Mom, you need to change Ethans diaper." "Mom, you need to feed Ethan." "Mom. when is Ethan going to take a nap, I think he is tired." HOLY CRAP child I am going to tape your mouth shut. If he wasn't bossing me around about the baby, he was asking me to do the stupidest stuff for him. "Mom. will you get me a drink of water?" "Mom, will you put my water on the table?" "Mom, my neck is tired." "Mom, the couch is lumpy and I can't get comfortable." Can I say it again? Holy crap I am going to lose it. Mady has been pretty special herself. She tells me she is hungry 20 times a day. She can still have chicken nuggets on her breath and she will ask me when dinner is and if she can have some now. If she doesn't get what she wants, she will hang on to my shirt as I try to run away from her. You would think I would have the strength to get the child off my back but she always does it while I am holding something and I can't use both of my hands.
So, I am really really praying that they don't close school tomorrow too. If they do, I may just start repeating "Dear Lord, make me a bird, so I can fly far far away."

2008-01-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

You would think that getting less sleep, I would use every extra second of the day to rest. Well, since Carson is home sick, taking a nap SO isn't going to happen. I decided to use my time to make some new backdrops for pictures. I have a session on Wednesday that I can't wait to use this for.

I used a piece of bead board that was left over from the wall in the kitchen. I painted one red and another one brown. I was able to prop it on top of my cedar chest and put the mirror on top of the chest. Not too shabby right? This project cost me $0. I LOVE using the stuff that I have around the house for projects. My husband should be so proud.

2008-01-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

You will never guess what! I took more pics of Ethan! He only peed on me this time. It was like a little fountain that splashed up on my legs when it hit the floor. I pretty much just let him finish cause I was just thankful that he wasn't pooping! Cleaning up pee is a breeze especially when he doesn't do it on my backdrops.

This picture cracks my stuff up! The comment on the pic is something that my dad used to say. He thought that all newborns were scary looking (until he started getting grand babies of course.) There have been a few cases where I agree. That is where the phrase, A face only a mother could love, probably came from. If someone ever showed him a pic of a newborn or showed off their baby he would always say, "Now that's a baby." He figured that way he wouldn't have to lie about his opinion. When I saw how this picture turned out, that is the first thing that came to mind. I think when my dad sees this picture, he will print it and put it in his wallet just to see how people will react.

2008-01-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Are you sick of pictures yet? I am pretty sure that Ethan is. Oh well, he is the one who picked our family. (That is SO something my mother would have said.)

Things are going pretty good around here. I am pretty sure that Ethan caught a little cold over the weekend. I had 16 people visiting from out of town for his baby blessing. He would be sleeping well at night but I have to clean out his nose in the middle of the night and for some reason, that wakes him up and he stays up for about 2 hours. Poor little guy!

I am feeling really good and have started to book photo shoots for indoor sessions! I have loved having the break to have a baby and focus on pics of my kids but I am excited to get back in business. I hope to be able to do some landscape pics during this winter weather but along with the snow comes the FREEZING cold. The sacrifices I am willing to make!

2008-01-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends! I have to say that I am a little shaken up. I have had my first near barf experience with Ethan. We had a moment together that left me in shock and motionless with the words going through my mind, "Did that just really happen?"

Last night, I was being a good little mommy getting my brand new baby ready for his bath. I was taking off his diaper and checking his new belly button and a little puff of air came out of my lovely babies butt! Holy crap, I was about to grab the new diaper so that I could puke in it. I just sat there totally grossed out! Lesson #1, when a puff of air comes out of a newborns butt, cover it up RIGHT away. That boy shot out his little mustard yellow poop like a missal at me! It was all over the front of my shirt, my pants and all over my arms. My reflexes did nothing for me. I couldn't think fast enough. All my brain could think about was how it looked to have yellow poop shooting out at me. If I close me eyes, that is all I can see, a stream of poop! Spencer had been outside getting the hot tub ready for himself and when he came back in, I was slowly wiping my arms trying not to throw up! He looked at me and said, "What's wrong?" Are you kidding me? Whoever said men are blind was talking about my husband. When I finally TOLD him that Ethan pooped on me he said "We have got to get a picture." OK so the first pic that I take with my son is going to have his poop all over me? No thanks. Yep that is the only time he has even had the idea to take a pic of me. I told him, No that is was gross and it wasn't even worth posting on my blog. Then he said "I gotta get out of here, that is going to make me throw up." By all means, leave, cause I like being stranded with a baby and poop all over me. As he is leaving he says, "You might want to take your shirt off." That is all I needed to know that Spencer is full of amazing advice. All he could think of was seeing me without me shirt on, pervert. So, I got cleaned up without loosing my dinner, but it was close.

So my PSA for the day is, if you hear a puff, cover it up!

I thought since I had such a long annoying post that it HAD to have some pics on it to lure you in! I have more that need to be edited that I can't wait to share.

2008-01-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

I had to post these pics of my boys. I am so excited to see how much Ethan will look like Carson.

I had to post this pic too. This was Ethans first session. It lasted about 5 mins. I have to hurry and get some good newborn pics before he gets too big!

2008-01-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

We have a baby boy!!!!! Ethan Oakley Ray arrived on the 3rd of January. I will start from the beginning, Wednesday night. Since I was being induced it was really hard to sleep. I was so tired but my brain wasn't. At about 1 in the morning, Spencer says to me, I have a problem. So, what's new. He had some work that needed to be done the next day. He didn't get wind of it until that night so he was in a pickle. I said, do it FIRST thing in the morning, I am sure you will have plenty of time. So, I was up at 4:30 and drove myself to the hospital at 5:3o. We planned on taking two cars because my mom was going to need a car since my cousin was dropping her off at the hospital.

I get into my room around 6:00 and it was time to get hooked up. My nurse couldn't find a good spot for the heart beat so they brought in the ultra sound machine. We then learned that he was slightly transverse, he head was in my left hip. No wonder why nothing worked!!!

They got my IV in and started the antibiotics at 7:00. They turned the Pit on at 7:20. I called Spencer at 8:00 and told him not to worry because the doc was going to have to come and move the baby into position. My nurse told me that my labor was most likely going to be long and hard because he was also sunny side up, his back was against my back. We all know what that means, BACK LABOR. My nurse just said, don't rule out the epidural. You got it lady. So, my nurse, who I am sure felt bad that I was alone, would NOT shut up about her curtains and her daughters car problems. Do you REALLY think I care about this. My contractions were starting to hurt and I was try to get through them while listening. I didn't want to be rude.....whatever. It didn't take long for the "I think I am going to die" feeling to set in. My contractions were in the front, back and in my legs. At 9:15 I asked for something for the pain so the nurse was able to give me Nubian (don't know how to spell it.) It took about 25 seconds for it to kick in and I was asleep in between contractions. After about a half hour of that, I couldn't get on top of my contractions. I didn't have a break in between them and I said, K-I am ready for an epidural. They checked me and I was a 6. In a matter of minutes the guy was in there. I was laying on my side and he asked me to bring my legs up so that I was in a ball. I told him if he wanted my legs moved, he was going to have to do it. In the middle of him doing his thing, I felt the urge to push. So, I have a guy putting a needle in my spine. I am feeling the pressure to push from the babies head. At 10:00 they tell me that my mom is there. She wasn't so sure about being there during the delivery because she didn't want to intrude on such a special experience. Well, she walked in, the nurse told her to come to my side and she was trapped between people, trays and me. I finally called Spencer and to find out where he was. Luckily he was pulling into the hospital parking lot. So much for take your time. I said, "You better run, the doc has is masky thingy on and I am ready to push." Spencer got into the room two minutes later and I started to push. I SO didn't want to push. I was in so much pain and it was only causing me more pain. I started to scream after one of my pushes. My mom started to say "Shhh...it's ok." I screamed at her "Don't you tell me to shhh. This hurts and I will scream if I want to." She didn't say much after that. By my second push, the doctor moved out of the way of the mirror and I could see the progress I was making and I went to town. Two more pushes and he was here. That makes a total of 5 minutes that Spencer was in the room before Ethan arrived. When they said, "It's a boy", I was so excited. If a girl would have come out, I would have said, put her back and find me the rowdy baby boy that kicked the crap out of me for the last three months. So, Ethan was born at 10:24 am Thursday Jan. 3rd. (also my dads birthday) He weighed 7lbs. 11 oz. and measured 21 inches long. The funniest thing is, I didn't even miss a meal! My epidural worked perfectly! I never lost sensation in my legs and I didn't feel my after birth pains. Everything turned out just right. He is here and healthy and one of the most delicious things I have ever seen. I will be doing a photo session soon so be looking out for more pics soon.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive. I know that my recovery has been going so well because of it. To sum it up in the most cheesy way I can think of, I can feel the love.