Archive for May, 2011

No Comments

New Season’s Resolutions


2011
05.24

Posted in About Me | No Comments »

I tend to re-resolute throughout the year. Generally at the “big” changes like summer or winter… and of course the “New Year” that is oh-so-popular. It’s a good time to reevaluate what has been resolved and either change some of the previous resolutions/ditch them entirely/make new ones. :-) So that’s kind of what I’m doing. I’m not going to go back to my old list I made at new year’s. Mostly because that would require too much effort. But I did make a new list for this summer. Here it is.

?Drink 1 gallon of water a day
?Go on walks daily
?Eat watermellon EVERY week
?Figure out CDO biz policies and pricing/complete “todo” list
?Go hiking w/ Stu
?Camp with family
?Spend an hour or 2 outside with the kids every day
?Reach goal weight
?De-junk the house

Not too involved. :-) Some of them are a little more complicated. Like the one with the CDO Studios thing. A lot of thinking, number crunching and planning will have to go into that one. But most are pretty simple. Drinking more water is something I simply NEED to do. A gallon a day… I may have to work up to it, ha! I’m not a very good water drinker, but think that I would benefit from becoming so. Stu and I would like to do some hiking this summer, even just locally. I’ll be keeping my eyes open and scouting for good photography spots along the way as well. ;-) And as for the weight… well, we’re back to those pesky 15 lbs that I’ve been wanting to lose since shortly after our wedding. Arg! Realistically, I will be ecstatic if I can drop another 10lbs by the end of summer. That would be fantastic!! And if the water and walking work out, I think certainly possible. I’m quitting the high protein-low carb diet for now. It bothers my tummy, and is too difficult to keep up with all the wonderful warm weather (pasta) dishes I like. :-)

Anyway, those are some of my own goals for the summer. I have others that I haven’t written down about my kids and stuff… but not everything has to be written on a list. :-) I’m looking forward to a very good summer!

No Comments

Happy Friday


2011
05.20

Posted in Daily Life | No Comments »

It’s been a long week. In the sense that it seemed to last forever. Not necessarily long in the ‘oh-I’ve-had-such-a-long-day” way. ;-) I’m just glad that it is now friday and tomorrow Stuart will be home all day! I’m even more excited that on next Friday he will be starting his summer break and that is going to be wonderful!!!

Anyway, yesterday was an unexpected blessing! I got to attend a photography workshop! In fact I was the only attendee which made it more of a one-on-one mentoring. I’ve browsed online different workshops that I found interesting and drooled over the amazing techniques and such that were being taught, but they are always way over my budget AND never in a convinient location. :-( Boo!! So circumstances just “happened” to workout for this amazing photographer to be coming right through here, and we just “happened” to have a mutual friend, who’s family I “happened” to take photos for last year who managed to get us in touch. Yeah right! Don’t tell me God doesn’t give us some of our “wants” just because He is an amazing parent. :-) So for a very VERY good price I got to spend all day with an expert and lay out my issues and get some help and also get some amazing info that I just had no way to wrap my head around before! Wow! I tell my clients that I’m self-taught because no, I didn’t go to school for photography. Honestly though, there’s only so much you can pick up reading on your own and in online support groups. This was a fantastic opportunity to actually get that ‘hands on’ help that I really needed to start taking things to the next level! ;-) I’m so excited about it! Can’t wait to put things into practice and see what comes out! In a way I almost feel like I’m starting over at square one because I totally need to change the way that I have been doing things… but not it a bad way. :-) It’s fun and exciting and I know there will be challenging days ahead as I try to make things “work” like I’ve been shown. The experts do everything so easily that it can make me forget that I have to work UP to that level. ;-) Anyway, stay tuned for the “new and improved” CDO Studios photography! Yay!

I’ve got one of the crock pot menu meals on for dinner tonight. It’s called cowboy beans. I’m looking forward to it! New recipe and all! I also have, chillin’ in the fridge, our first watermellon of the season!!! I refuse to think that it’s not going to be that nummy being so early and all. I’ll enjoy it just as much anyway! LOVE watermellon!

The weather here has been bah-humbugish. I’m trying not to complain because the poor parched earth is already crying out for more rain, but it was stinkin’ COLD here yesterday!!! Today has been a bit not-as-cold, but still not warm enough for my coldblooded self. I’ve been sporting a big sweatshirt and slippers all day just to try to stay comfy. I’m pretty ready for it to be warm. I’ve already decided that I will NOT complain about the heat at all this summer (should it ever show up) so feel free to remind me of that if I happen to forget. ;-) I’m not preggo this summer so it should be plenty bearable, and right now I just feel like letting the sun soak into my bones for hours to get the chill out! ;-) Why no, my kids do not get their exaggerated drama from me! ;-)

Speaking of drama though, Qade seems to have it in spades these days, and it’s totally driving me crazy. Probably mostly because I really don’t know how to deal with it. Being an introvert myself, I have a difficult time dealing with outward emotions, especially when they are bonkers. I know that it’s mostly due to his age. I mean, I can’t expect a 4 yr old to be in perfect control of his emotions all the time. But honestly, I don’t think that everything needs to be a crisis either. So if you have experience on how you dealt with children who were/are majorly dramatic, feel free to leave some advice. Please!!! This not-so-outwardly-emotional mom could use a bit of help before I become the same way. ;-) LOL!!

Anyway, it already feels like the weekend, so I’m all lazy. BUT I do have another photo session this afternoon so I can’t just chillax. Gotta go get some stuff done! Have a fantastic Friday, Friends!

1 Comment

Ella Girl


2011
05.17

Posted in Ella, Photos | 1 Comment »

I’m trying to catch up with life. Ha! “Me thinketh it’s not working!” But oh well. Here are the latest Ella portrait installments. Month 6 and 7. And I don’t even want to hear about how next week is month 8 already!!! No fair, where’s my lil baby going!!!!
(more…)

No Comments

Menu planning


2011
05.14

Posted in Frugal me | No Comments »

Have I posted this before? Not sure. But anyway, it’s worth talking about again. My sis-in-law and I were talking about menu planning for a minute today and it got me thinking. You all probably already have your own systems for grocery and meal planning and such, but I’m going to share mine and if you’re struggling with finding ways to save moolah and make nummy meals AND get rid of that “what to fix for dinner” panic that hits around 4pm every day. ;-)

Here’s what I use. I got the calendar off of frugalmom.net. I don’t visit that site much, but if you’re interested I’m sure there are some tips there that can help you! One problem is that it seems to be a daunting task to fill in a whole month of meals. I try to simplify it. I only actually “plan” dinner on my menu. Our breakfast and lunch options are pretty standard. Oatmeal and PB&J or ham and cheese make up a lot of it. :-) But there is plenty of room if you do want to do a B: L: D: on each day… or if you’re from the south it would be B: D: S: Ha ha ha!! Sorry… couldn’t help myself.

So I generally begin by filling in the “leftovers” day that is the same each week. I always want a leftovers day!!! Mine happens to be Thursday, because it’s my favorite day and I feel that it’s nice to “take it easy” that day. Ha! So that’s one day a week down. I usually put at least 1 crockpot meal on each week… sometimes 2, because those are also low-maintenance. Another thing I do is to have one meal a week that is “easy” like grilled cheese/tomato soup or pancakes (yes for dinner!). So that takes care of 3 meals a week. In the summer months I schedule one “grill” night a week. That way Stu gets to take care of the meat and I just fix veggies or chop fruit to go with. That’s 4 down. :-) Now I fill in the holes with recipes that I know are family favorites or things that I find easy to cook like spaghetti, quesadillas, fajitas, or casseroles of some kind. After that I will chose one or 2 meals a month to experiment with a new recipe or make something that’s a little more complicated. So this is what my menu for this month looks like. IT’s a little ratty, sorry about that. ;-) And yes, there are gaps on Sunday because it’s difficult to plan for that day when they are so crazy. We usually end up doing something simple like nachos or leftovers on that day as well. :-)
DSC_6631

I know some of the chicken scratch is illegible, but ya get the idea. I make notes to myself on there where to find the recipe. That’s why you see AYOSC on there because as I mentioned before I’m using recipes from that blog “A Year of Slow Cooking” yum!

It might still seem daunting to put that much thought into what you eat. Here’s the deal. Start slowly!!! Do only ONE week at first if you’ve never done this before. Then fill in the next week and so on. In a month you’ll have a month’s worth of meals. Do it again for another month or 2 and you’ll have 3!! Then it gets really easy! Most people eat the same meals over and over anyway…. seriously. So if you end up with 3 monthly menus to go through it’ll make each months planing easy because you can just transfer the winners over. :-) And you always have the flexibility to swap something out with a “new” item if it floats your boat. :-)

Now how does all this planning pay off???? Thanks for asking! ;-) First off, it’s going to shrink your grocery budget because you’ll know EXACTLY what you need for the whole week of groceries! Make a list and stick to that… no, you don’t need all the extras… you don’t! You’ll be surprised how this cuts down time and money in the store! Next it will save you time in the long run because you won’t have to scramble each day to find something to fix for dinner. Cool and calm will reign. LOL!!!

This is getting longer than I meant so I’ll wrap it up for now. Tune in next time to read about shopping in your own pantry and freezer. :-)

Toodles!

1 Comment

3 at 7 months


2011
05.12

Posted in Kids | 1 Comment »

Ack, I’m so behind!!! Everything has been crazy, and apparently I’m not good (yet) at balancing a small business AND keeping up with three small fry AND getting all the house stuff done AND keeping up with my own personal blogging and picture taking. Bah! :-) Oh well… one day I’ll have it down. ;) Till then you can enjoy the 3 amigos in their 7 month glory. ;-) Can’t believe it’s flying by so fasts!!! Someone find the conductor on this crazy ride called life and make him slow down a little. Ha ha!

Qade. Man, it just hurts me to see the poor quality of these photos. This was back when I only had a cheap point&shoot camera and it was going downhill fast at this point. I’m so happy that we’ve had a nice camera for most of our kid’s baby pics. :-) It was only a couple months later we got my other “baby” so the pictures will get better of our adorable little Qade. This was Nov of 2007 and we were getting ready for Christmas. Did I tell you that Qade started crawling at 7 months??? That boggles my mind now! He was rarin’ to go though that’s for sure. And look at how stable he is sitting up on his own! This “squinchy” face was his standard look for these few months. He figured out that when the orange light came on the camera it meant a flash was coming so he’d squint at the camera, hilarious!
IMG_7550

Mild Myles. :-) He was such a chilled baby. He didn’t even roll over till 7 months, so forget crawling! Who would have thought that once he figured out he could move on his own that he’d turn into such a monkey! Ha ha ha!! My smiley guy! Just couldn’t get enough of this guy’s smiles! Still can’t come to think of it!
DSC_0802

Ella Bella! Her eyes kill me! They are so expressive and inquisitive. She just takes it all in. I know she’s going to be a thinker. She’s finally in her exercauser!! I told you I’d get it cleaned eventually. She does play with the toys around it, but she doesn’t put stuff in her mouth. She is more like Qade in that manner, but moreso. :-) Qade wasn’t a chewer either, but he did suck his thumb, and he did like to eat. Myles put EVERYTHING in his mouth including fingers and toes, and horked down every bit of food in sight. Ella has decided she’s content to live on formula for the rest of her life. I’ve even tried bananas which, come on, every baby likes, with no success…. well, at least not beyond a couple of bites. She’s just a much more petite eater. She doesn’t even always finish her bottle and she’s still only getting 6 oz a feeding. Small appetite for a littlest girl, and I’m okay with that. She’ll eat when she’s ready, I know.
DSC_5764

Well, I’m off to stuff my own face with a little lunch before I hunker down and get some more photo stuff done during nap-time. At least I hope it’s nap time! Yesterday I fought for 2 hours with the Myles lad to get him to nap… I’m sure today will be better!! (Knock on wood)

Toodles

4 comments

The Orioles are here!


2011
05.07

Posted in Daily Life | 4 Comments »

That means it’s really and truly the warm season!!! ;-) (happy jig) I’m very done with being frozen all the time, oh yeah! Anyway, I thought I saw one on the tippy topest branch of one of our trees the other day. So I dashed inside and sliced an orange and impaled the slices on little branches of the trees. I haven’t seen one bird touch those orange halves, but a beetle was certainly enjoying the “cutie” slice that Myles left from his lunch yesterday.

This morning, however, I noticed 2 orangey orioles helping themselves to the hummingbird feeder. :-) I’m happy to see them. I hope they’ll hang around like they did last summer.

Yes, the lads had their first picnic lunch of the season yesterday. They were sitting in their new camp chairs (from Qade’s b-day) with their own special little drink holder. It’s so funny to just see the “importance” on their face as they enjoy something as simple as a little mesh cup holder on their chair. :-) I think these boys will be having many al fresco lunches this summer. And this mommy will be having less to sweep up under the table every day! Oh yeah!!! ;-)

Ella too, has been spending some time outside the past couple of days! She likes it! I’m sure she’ll be just as thrilled as her brothers to sit in the dirt and play outside as much as possible. Right now just a bit of breeze blowing on her little face is so thrilling to her! I’ve been sitting outside after the kids nap and letting Ella have her bottle in the great outdoors. We all need the sunshine and fresh air. Suuuuuuummmmer Tiiiiiiiiime! ;-)

I had a couple photo sessions yesterday and one this morning. The ‘stragglers’ are still trying to squeeze in those photos, but I do think that this weekend was the last hurrah for this batch of seniors. I’m looking forward to a little time away from the camera to get some other parts of the “biz” all worked out. We have learned a lot this go round, and I think once we crunch some numbers and all of that we’ll be closer to where we need to be on our pricing and work flow. If the whole thing could just be fun photo shoots, that would be no problem. ;-) I feel like I should have gone to business school instead of music sometimes though… but how boring. *yawn* Ha ha!

Anyway, I hope you guys have a great weekend!! Happy Mom’s Day to my most amazing Mom and Mom-in-law!! Here’s a special picture just for you!

This face looks like it could be up to something! :-) Don’t mind the bit of burble. ;-)
hammin

No Comments

No more thumbs


2011
05.05

Posted in Daily Life | No Comments »

Here I am again, what a week later? ;-) Okay, so I have made a vow that I WILL be a more consistent blogger once these senior sessions are over. :-) I’ve had photography on the brain lately, and between trying to figure out how to “tweak” the focus on my camera and all the editing/sessions/follow ups and phone calls, not to mention the photography related sites and groups on FB that I’ve been stalking for questions answered and inspiration (big breath) it’s been crazy! I wrote a small post on my cdostudios.com blog about the difference in the senior “rush” this year and last if you’re interested in reading that. ;-) It will be interesting to see the difference next year as well since we will be making some changes soon. Little particles of ideas have been zinging around in my brain and occasionally the collide and a light goes off. This summer I’ll be retrenching and working on some things for the biz side of it all as well as the fun photo side. :-) But enough about that….

We are now a thumbsuckerless home. Yep, I invented that word. ;-) I have mentioned before that Qade quit awhile back, shortly after Ella was born, because of an owie that he sustained on his sucking thumb. Well, history repeats itself and a couple weeks ago Myles sliced his thumb sucking thumb while playing outside and simply HAD to have a bandaid on it for several days. The first couple of nights that happened he’d wake up and try to suck his thumb then whine, “I got huuuuurt” and go back to sleep. After that he was done. I figured he’d pick it back up, because he was a very determined little thumb sucker, it wasn’t just at sleepy times, he’s just walk around with it plugged. BUT last week he bit the dust, you may recall, and so his little mouth has been sore, and no return of the thumb. :-( I’m not really sad about it. I though about patenting a new way for parents to break the habit for their kids, but something tells me that it wouldn’t catch on. Ella hasn’t yet started sucking her thumb and I begin to wonder if she just won’t. The boys had both been into it for quite sometime by her age. :-) Just one more way my littlest lad is growing up, a little too fast at times. And even though I’m sorry that he smashed his tooth, I have to say that he has the cutest snaggle-tooth grin EVER!

Today feels SOOOO wonderful!! I wasn’t freezing when I woke up, and when I went to feed the dog at 8 something, it was pleasant outside! I’m happy!!! It’s a bit breezy, but not bad. I’m going to HAVE to take a walk today! I want to soak up the sun and let it warm my bones!!! I feel like I’ve been freezing forever and now I can finally start to move and breathe! Yay!!! My afternoon session called to reschedule today and my first though was, “hurray, I can go for a walk in the sunshine!!” ;-) Hee hee!

I’ve started “the diet” again. :-) One thing I noticed while I was “off” for awhile was that I felt increasingly more lethargic when I’d have simple carbs for lunch. Blah! I just felt thick headed and sluggish all afternoon. Hmmmm…. Anyway, I still have those pesky pounds that I put on after our wedding to lose. And while I’m basically at my pre-peg weight for all 3 munchkins…. the shape is still, well… different, and gooey. Yuck! So, I’m hoping that to keep losing slowly and adding in more walking and consistent kettle bell exercises that will fix the problem. :-) However, I have added fruit back in to my diet even though “technically” it’s still out. I refuse to miss out on the fresh summer yummies like strawberry and watermellon. Nope! :-) I don’t even care if they do slow down the weight loss…. though I really can’t imagine that they would. I’ve been making out a menu for the next 2 months. Ugh, that’s been difficult, and I have found a lot of carbless dishes that I want to try and some very heavily veggie laden dishes as well. Something that I am trying to incorporate is “Meatless Monday” yep, that’s right. I’m also trying quite a few recipes from the blog called A Year of Slow Cooking. The year is up, so there are plenty of recipes on there, and now and then she throws on another, but I really want to use the crockpot more since who wants to heat up the kitchen in the summer, ya know? :-) Anyhoooo… I won’t be completely carbless this summer… can’t do it, I like some of my summery time pasta dishes too much, but I’m certainly going to be cutting it WAY down. The afternoon blah feeling that I experienced while not on the diet convinced me of that for sure. :-)

Well, the kettle bell is calling my name… and I’d rather answer that than the BIG basket of laundry which is also calling my name. ;-) Ha ha ha ha! Toodles till next time!