I even got her to pose for some pictures with the kids.

They really enjoy spending time with her and we are lucky she lives so close.

And Daddy’s girl hops in!

Little “M” was shy at first but as we got to know each other he was full of smiles!

Baby “F” was so cute and furry. After having a pee on Dad and most of my stuff he drifted off to la-la land with some help from my portable heater.

Both Leslie and Colin were great sports and very patient with the boys and with me hanging around. I think it resulted in some really nice shots..so I hope they will feel it was worth it

I can’t wait to work with them again as their family grows ….

We  celebrated my grandmother’s 89th birthday.

Doesn’t she look great?  Now you know where I get my blue eyes …

She has seven children… six girls and one boy (my dearest father)

How did she survive 6 teenage girls….. she must be a  saint, I am scared I won’t survive my one.

My dad was tough too…..naughty in a good way much like my own son

Mom to 7, Grandma to 15, and Great Grandma to 5…..my has she created a legacy!

She is amazing and we are now lucky enough to have her with us here in Colorado and get to celebrate these milestones with her!

My sister in-law has a new baby.  She is a Chorkie (part Chihuahua and part Yorkie). Her name is Nike.

Aunt J went on a little trip and left her with my mother in-law….we found out and asked if we could puppy sit for 24 hours.

My kids have been begging for a puppy, so I told them they could be in-charge. Hoping they would realize how much work a new “baby” was.

They did the feeding, potty breaks, and mess clean up all themselves.

Beauty is dying for one of these “purse puppies”  I was convinced they were too small and timid for my liking.

Nike might have changed my mind.  She was so fun, the kids were gentle, and my daughter was in heaven.

Beauty wrapped her in blankets, let the puppy chase her, walked her, took her out on the grass for potty breaks, and even cleaned up her “mistakes” inside.

She and Nike bonded, and when Beauty went to bed the puppy whimpered for her while curled up on my lap!

Now I am no fool, I realize this was only 24 hours and the novelty factor was there…but it did make me think it might be fun when we are ready for another pet.

Even my hubby admitted it might be nice to downsize in the dog department when the time comes,  after puppy sitting this little one (all 3 pounds of her).

He got such a kick out of watching our daughter squeal with delight and “mother hen” this little creature .

The kids cried when it was time to call my mother in law to come get her.

Beauty carried her out to the car and handed her to C who put her in the front seat.

I promised them  we can puppy sit again sometime soon!

C was so excited,  just look how big his eyes are …

My hubby was a little excited himself…

Poor little Beauty was not tall enough to ride or drive yet…

But first they had to wait their turn for the track….

C was up first, with 3 other “little” boys…

He pushed that pedal to the floor and was off… and he was awesome!

Then it was the “big”  boys turn…

A wave for his adoring fans ….

The boys had a great time. I had fun taking pics and cheering them on.

As for Beauty… try not to feel too sad for poor Beauty.

She got to go shopping for a new dress after lunch!

We spent the day practicing an indoor set up for a special event mini session she will be having for spring portraits.. and of-course we also spent time chatting , sharing stories, feeding and occupying  our 5 kids total.

Our kids love each other, thank goodness and we even talked them into posing for us in-between playing.

Time came to leave as she was expecting company for her youngest birthday dinner.

We cleaned up our equipment and moved her furniture back and looked over to my oldest who was holding his belly on their couch.

She asked me if he was okay.  Being a non-alarmist type parent,  I told her he just needed to use the restroom.

He refused and we got in to our car packed full of equipment and drove to the end of their block when he shouted “go back, please I want to use the bathroom now”

We were back at her door and he slid inside without so much as a hello.

He then came back out and we were almost on our way again when unexpectedly,  he laid on the floor and proceeded to puke on her family room carpet.  I am talking gross, smelly hot dog chunks all over her freshly cleaned room–minutes before her family was going to arrive.

I wanted to cry.  I tried to scoop it up and was pleading with her to forgive me.  I was mortified.

She was calm and kept saying “don’t worry about it ” and rushed him to her bathroom ( I think her Pediatric Nurse alter ego took over)

The smell quickly filled her house and we chased the other kiddos up stairs as not to induce a “barf-o-rama”

She broke out her steam cleaner and phone and asked her family if they could possibly come over another night this week.

OH MY GOODNESS…she was rescheduling her son’s birthday.  I really wanted to die.  Her response was “He is three, he doesn’t know if his birthday is today or tomorrow”

She was so sweet, she helped me with C (who threw up 2 more times)  cleaned up the carpet and then asked if I wanted to stay for dinner——

Her hubby came home, not super pleased but took pity on us as well and even cooked me some of the best fajitas I have EVER had.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THERE ARE FRIENDS LIKE THESE OUT THERE!    Oh how I love them, seriously!

We  eventually got back on the road with an old tupperware and rag in tow (and yes C did make use of it on the way home as well, jeeze that was less than awesome).  He stayed home from school yesterday and after never breaking a fever, and keeping all his food down was declared cured and sent to school today.

It must have been something he ate,  jokingly my hubby has told him he is allergic to candy and sugar.  We will see how long that lasts!

Anyway  I just wanted to share an image we caught before the chaos…

Here she is with her sweet son, on his “real”  Birthday that was ruined by my son’s puke- fest.

I know it is a week after Christmas and most of us are ready to move on, but I am just catching up.

I am trying something new.

I have made a digital scrapbook of some of our Christmas adventures.

I didn’t take nearly enough pictures, we were so busy. Snap shots were all I seemed to manage…

We promise not to say that every time my sister visits!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This is a photo of four generations of women in my family.

We were luck enough to get to spend Thanksgiving with my Grandparents and share my kids with them.  They live in a beautifully wooded part of southern Georgia.  The trees were amazing!

We had Turducken (a chicken inside a duck inside of a turkey) for Turkey-day and lots of other wonderful food GG Mae cooked up.  My grandparents looked wonderful and I realized just how much I had missed them.

The kids had fun running and driving around their woods and getting to know their great grandparents..not something all kids get a chance to do.   I miss them already.

After our visit with them we drove…yes drove…thank-goodness for portable DVD…down to Florida to stay with my mom.

We all had such a nice time there.  It was nice to get away and watch the kids on the beach.

It was so fun watching my mother with the kids and getting to share their unique personalities with her.  Man are they wonderfully “spirited”.  My mother has such a great way of helping me see some of the things that make me crazy as their mother differently.  I love seeing my kids through her eyes.

How lucky we are to have days like these….Thanks MOM!