The end of an era

Cam started preschool today and with it came the end of an era. When the girls went off to school a month ago, things were very different in that Emma was now gone, but I still had my boys. Well, that came to an end this morning. But let me tell you about Cam first. I woke him up this morning and he jumped out of bed and got dressed (in the clothes he laid out last night) then ran into the kitchen patiently (or not) waiting for me to catch up to get his breakfast. He was finished and ready to walk out the door by 7:30. This was lightning speed considering he only got up at 7:15! We walked the girls the 1.2 miles to school, Cameron walking most of it. After we left the girls at school, we walked to Cameron's preschool, an additional half mile. He was so excited that he couldn't even stay in the stroller! We got to preschool early, but as soon as the door opened, he was inside, backpack on the hook, waving and saying, "Bye Mom!" Not even mommy...what's the deal? So Logan hugged Cameron goodbye (I didn't even get one) and off we went.
There is now a vacancy in the double stroller and I even had to talk to Logan-very odd. After we got home Logan went off to play and I sat down to stretch. And that's when it hit. The sadness came with shocking force as I thought of my little boy going off to school.






My little Cam is a big boy now, as Emma told him on the way to school this morning.
When the girls went off to school, I was happy because they were happy. My heart hurt to let them go, but I had the others to keep me busy and to keep me from sulking. But as I sat all alone in the silence with Logan in another room, I was unprepared for the sadness I felt this morning. Before his friends arrived at school and it was just the three of us, Cameron looks over and says to me, " I will miss you Mommy while I am at school, but I still love you." My sweet little Cam, did you already know how sad Mommy would be without you? I will miss you too, more than you know.

Did I mention...

...he thinks he can fly. One day he will figure out that there are things he can strap to his body to make him fly. I just hope that he is at least 10 before he figures that out! Btw, check out that grin!

Wanted: gray sidewalk

This sidewalk needlessly and viciously attacked a young 3 year old boy on Thursday afternoon. The child was innocently riding his scooter down the hill when the sidewalk jumped up and pushed him in the back to the ground. The child was not hurt seriously, but did sustain several cuts and scratches that required Batman bandages on his arm, elbow, knees and little finger. He is expected to make a quick and full recovery. If anyone has information on the whereabouts of this terrible sidewalk, please contact the child's mother. This is not the first time this particular sidewalk has claimed the hide of one of her children...

So maybe it wasn't this innocent. This is another adventure in the life of Cameron. On Thursday, we walked to school to pick up the girls. There is a rather steep hill in the way of our house and the school. Cam decided it looked exciting and wanted to ride his scooter down the hill. I told him not push himself down the hill, to just let go and he would still fly down the hill. He found the speed exhilarating and was pushing himself faster and faster. His scooter started to wobble a little, but he was still mostly in control. But he suddenly realized that he had to stop quickly or his sidewalk would run out and he would hit the street. Instead of trying to slow down, he jumped. I still laugh when I think about this. Why does jumping seem like a smart idea? He had way to much forward momentum so as soon as his feet hit the sidewalk, he flew right over his scooter and slammed into the concrete. All I could do was laugh because I knew it would happen. Emma did this very same kamikazi stunt not even 6 months ago with pretty much the same results except the cuts and scratches were in slightly different places. I calmed his screaming down, promised the Batman bandaids when we got home and he climbed in the stroller for a break. Barely a few minutes later, he climbed out of the stroller and started right back down the hill! He is getting stronger and braver with each passing day. I have given up freaking out when he starts to do something stupid because he won't listen anyway. I just hug him, give him the necessary kisses and bandages and send him on his merry way.

A child after my own heart

Last night at school there was a Welcome Back dinner where we ate pizza and salad for $1. They also had the opening night of the book fair. Briley cleaned out her piggy bank so she could get some new books. She started reading this book last night and finished it this afternoon and still did things like eating and her chores. It's 217 pages long! Reading is one of her favorite things to do and she can curl up and just read all day long! I think she is the fourth generation in my family with this passion. I am sure Andy has another for it...

Invincibility Complex

I have to tell this funny story about Cameron. Yesterday I heard this really loud thump and was expectantly waiting for the ensuing screams of pain. Instead, Cam comes bolting out of his room, "Mommy, you have to watch me jump out of my bunkbed!" Not really hearing what he was telling me I told him not to do it because he could get hurt. And he says, "No, come watch me jump. I can do it." It finally clicked together-the really loud thump and Cam's comment. So I asked him, "Did you seriously just jump out of your bunkbed?" His response? "Well, yeah." So with a little more interest I told him not to do it again because he could break something like his arm or his leg. He looks at me with the most serious expression on his face and says, "No, Heavenly Father made my legs with super glue. They won't ever break!" Ahh, the invinicibility complex begins so young! What kind of life do you think this little guy is going to lead? I am not so sure my heart can take it! At least he has a lot of faith in the body Heavenly Father made for him!

He brought me in his room this morning so he could show me how he jumps off his bed. I was a little hesitant but I wanted to see what he would really do. So he climbed to the top of the rail on Logan's bed and jumped. Ok, still not that great but it was only half the height of what I thought he had jumped! How long until it's from the top? Andy, when he was about 7 or 8 thought he could fly. So he climbed to the top of his bunk bed, with super hero cape attached and little airplane in hand, jumped off his bed. Heflew for a second or two and then he met the ground rather quickly. He ended up with stitches in his chin. I don't give Cameron that long. I give him two years tops until he tries it from the top! Any bets?

The new one

I got my new camera a few days ago. I am very excited to upgrade and I have been playing with it quite a bit. I have so much more creative control over almost everything. I can take photos that would never have turned out right with my other camera. I just thought I would share some of my photos-maybe you will come to love my new camera as much as I do!





So there's nothing great about this photo-it just makes me laugh. My first thought when I saw this one was, "Two heads are better than one!" What do you think these two are up to?





You know, I used to make fun of my dad because it seemed the only pictures he ever took were of flowers and sunsets. I get it now-there is so much beauty and color in freezing a moment of nature. Sorry Dad! I take it all back!


These photos are all taken in our amazing backyard!

The precursor

I did this crazy thing the other night. I decided to read the manual to my camera. I know, it sounds crazy, but it was amazing! Ok so the reading was a little slow, but I finally started to figure some things out (I have only had this camera for 3 years) that are helping me to take better pictures!
This, by the way, is what happens to a toddler when you try to photograph him without a flash! I have been experimenting with color and exposure to take better indoor photos. While my pile of laundry seems an uninteresting subject, it was taken at night under incandescent lighting without a flash and the color is pretty true. The other thing I have been working on is composition. I see details that tell a story that I never really noticed before and I am trying to capture those details. The cars were left over from a day of play when Logan went to bed. The line really struck me as this interesting story about Logan, how his little mind works. This picture was taken at night in incandescent lighting with no flash. Again it was exciting to me to discover true color with no flash. I love the other picture of Logan. So the exposure is not entirely correct (nothing a little photoshop can't fix), but I was working more toward compostion in this one. So, what do you think?

What do you do with boys...

who are devastated that their sisters get to go to school and they have to stay home? Take them to the beach of course! And back to our little corner of paradise for new adventures...




Cameron is such the little adventurer. He is absolutely fearless and is always moving on to bigger and better things. So three days ago at the beach, he was content to let his daddy pull him around the bay while he was sitting or laying on his belly. Those mild days are long over! His next move was to surf.
He tried getting up on his own and was pretty successful, although he was not able to stand long enough to get any kind of ride. So Andy stepped in to help him out a little and give him a few pointers-like how to position his feet and stand in the middle of the board rather than the corner.

He started getting up with no problem after that. He thought it was just the greatest thing to get up on that boogie board! Check out his grin made of pure excitement and satisfaction!
He was so light that the wind carried him down the beach. Note there is no surf and yet he still got to go for a ride. He was at this for over an hour!
When Cameron finally gave up the board so he could grab a snack and some water (surfing is hard work even if there is no surf!) Logan pounced on the opportunity to play a little as well. This is Logan's version of surfing, but I give him till next summer to be standing on the board!
(I think we are going to have to get a second boogie board for next summer-the battles that break out between the boys over the boogie board are shocking!)

They Love What I Love!

Before I got into digiscrapping, I had printed a whole bunch of pictures in the hopes of motivating myself to scrap them. Well, I never got around to it and this box of photos just sat taking up space. Then one day, the girls asked if they could scrapbook on my computer. I immediately said no and then this light bulb flashed above my head! I have all these supplies for paper scrapbooking I don't plan to do anymore plus a ridiculous pile of photos. So I turned them loose (creatively speaking, of course!) with my stuff and they had a great time! They just loved it! So I went and bought them their own albums for their pages! It is so fun for me that the girls love scrapbooking as much as I do!

First Day of School

So it happened-the end of an era came this month. For the last 2 years it has been me, Emma, Cameron and Logan. The 4 of us have gone everywhere together while Briley was at school. That's over now. Emma started Kindergarten. It has done incredible things for her these last couple of weeks having been in school. She has gained so much confidence in herself and independence. It was almost hard to let her go. She has always needed so much from me, especially emotionally, that it was strange to see her walk away so easily without so much as a hug or a kiss, just a "see ya later mom!" What?! For my sake, I had to call her back. I needed that hug and kiss! She had been waiting for this day for so long, she was finally ready to go. She even picked out her first day outfit down to the socks a month ago! Briley is just loving second grade. That first day though, she had butterflies in her tummy! It is a little strange to say I have a second grader. I am not so sure when I got old enough for that to happen. But she really is growing up. We have our challenges, but I love watching her as she figures out things around her.