Another Karate Graduation

On Saturday, the kids graduated to new belts in karate. Unfortunately, I had a really bad "duh" morning and thought we needed to be there at 9:30.....NOPE! Luckily I was trying to get there early, so we got there just in time for Maddy to get her new belt. I felt so bad. Luckily for me, she really didn't want to work out that morning, so 'just' getting the belt was more than OK with her. I would now like to present to you the new Green Belt - Maddy and the new Blue Belt - RJ.

I put together a slideshow of images set to RJ & Maddy's favorite song "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects.

Click on the arrow to start it. Enjoy!

Watch out for Maddy!

As I said in the post from yesterday, Maddy was inducted into the Gold Belt Club at karate, something RJ did two months ago. It's really just a confidence booster for the kids - they get to be a part of an "elite" club (that is actually offered to all kids promoted to green belts - which is what Maddy will be on Sat). I really can't say enough good things about the karate program there.

In any case, Maddy was awesome...WATCH OUT for this girl, do NOT mess with her! I feel really bad that I can't post images of RJ doing this, but I was video taping him last time and didn't have any helpers with me(except Maddy and she was NOT going to have my camera!).

Now for the fun...here are some of my favorite images...

Getting Ready

Breaking Through

Kickin' QueenPosing With Miss Stacey

Isn't She a Ham?!

New Harry Potter Coming SOON!

Not soon enough......BUT I just saw the new extra-long (but not long enough for me!) trailer for the upcoming Order of the Phoenix movie.....sooooooooooooooo cool!

Most of you don't care, so I will just leave it at this...new movie comes out in July just a week before the last book of the series. I can't wait!!!! I think I'll add a counter on the side of the blog...hmmmmm.

I just got back from a night at karate in which Maddy was inducted to their Gold Belt club. She got to break a board with her mighty fist. I'll go through the images tonight and post them up here tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone!

Spring has SPRUNG!!!

And it's about time. I know I shouldn't complain, since we really didn't get that much snow this winter, but it has been the loooooooooooooooooooooongest winter ever. I mean, it's almost May and this is the first day we've seen 60 degrees. I am very happy, though, it is supposed to be nice and warm all weekend.

Here's the kids drawing on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.

So I took full advantage of the B-E-A-U-tiful (Jim Carrey reference, Mom) day and planted some nice spring flowers. I got some mini daffodils and a few other things that I don't know what they are called. I got them because they are NOT brown, white, or almost-green like the rest of the yard right now. I want color!!!!!!!! Anyway, here's a couple of images of the pretty, colorful flowers that I got.

Whatchya Readin'?

WARNING: Small rant to follow...

Although I find that I don't have much time in any given day to accomplish all that I want to, I do try to always have a book around that I can read, just to escape for a while. I really like reading books and I'm always in search of a good book to read.

Right now, I'm reading a motivational book called Love is the Killer App, by Tim Sanders. I bought it on recommendation from many of the photographers on OSP (a great, open forum for niiiiiccceeeee people!). I got it to help me help my business, but really, it is a great motivating book for anyone trying to accomplish anything that they may struggle with at times. It's really a book about helping yourself help others and reaping all the benefits that come from that. Because when you help someone else, you are actually helping yourself and that just feels good!

In life, I know so many people who think they must bully others to get what they want. They believe that they must prove they are tougher than you and stronger than you and therefore, you will back down and give them what they want. Sometimes, I even think they've been like that so long, they don't even realize what they're doing anymore. They talk down to everyone and take a bad tone no matter what they are saying to you.

I don't know about you, but I don't like to be around people like that. And I really don't like to work with/for people like that. Think about it, you want people to be nice to you - and if they ask you nicely to do something, you're more likely to want to do it and do a good job. On the other hand, if someone is mean, or even just abrupt with you, you may do what they want, but you are not going to be happy about it and you may not even do your best work.

Turning the tables, if you want to be treated with respect and have people be nice to you, you need to be nice to others. Seems so simple, but yet it's easy to forget, too. Anyway, now that I've ranted, if you are looking for a good book, I highly recommend this one. Oh! and I recently realized that I had subscribed to Mr. Sanders' blog, without realizing that he was the same person who wrote this book - I guess I really believe in what he has to say!

Easter Day Fun

I love having kids to remind me of how much fun I forget to have as an adult. We had a GREAT dinner with Giggy and Papa (Thank you!!!) and then went outside for the egg hunt. It's one of their favorite things to do and it is so fun watching them do it every year. After they got all their eggs, we tried to take a nice picture of them - as you can see they were not so cooperative. They are both so funny in such different ways.

We went inside so they could count their loot and have some cake. Here's Maddy shaking the egg to determine the contents (A hint of Dziadziu, maybe?):

And RJ with his new moustache!

They are just the best. We went outside again after dessert to test out their new kites, wiffle ball sets and bubble makers. I put down the camera and joined in. It was so much fun - of course, it would have been MUCH nicer if it had been warmer than 45 out!!! Oh well, at least it was not snowing or raining, like it is supposed to later this week.

It was really nice to take some time out of our busy life and just be a family for a few hours.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Hi All!!!
I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! We're headed off to church now, but after I'll get some pics of the kids all dressed up hunting for eggs.

Until then, Happy Easter!

Birthday's are Fun!

We had quite a busy weekend! After my sister's shower (see below!) , we had a birthday party for our cousin. He's so cute and the kids had so much fun!!! My Auntie-In-Law is an Arbonne consultant, so I got to spend some time playing with the make up and skin care items. I bought a whole ton of stuff and became a wholesale distributor with her, so if you want to know more about it, shoot me a quick email (I get a discount!) and we can talk. I love what I have so far and do NOT want to be a salesperson, but I will tell anyone who wants to know what I love and why!

I took a few great shots of the kids (of course - again, they are my FAVORITE subject!). This one of Maddy makes me smile every time. And if you know Maddy, this face is HER!

They got to do a pinata, which was so much fun for them!

Here's one more of Maddy (notice the curls - Giggy set her hair in curlers before bed and she looks just like a princess!)

Oh yeah, and we TRIED to get a family picture with all the cousins together, but as you can see, they were all a little giggly!! (It IS a party I guess!)