Isms

C: "Minnie Mouse had a mood bow"

E: "My bow?"

C: " No Daisy Duck's bow."

E: "No, it's my bow."

C: "No it's on the Minnie Mouse movie. Mom, I wanna buy a mood bow for Ellie."

"My face is all cleaned up. By my tongue. That's the best way"

When I ask Clavy if he'll do something for me he says, "Right on it." and gives me a thumbs up.

"I just poked a hole in a pretend bad guy. Is this how you slice them in half?"

"We should give that tree to old people."

"I really want some bubble gum so I can blow a bubble and you can pop it right on my face."

"Are dose yo boobies in yo sirt? Did you get new ones?"

"Some people eat our snotty nose. Some people just lipe(wipe) it. We are not allowed to. No, no."

I LOVE being a mother.

-Keara

Caleb Cutie

We played outside yesterday and enjoyed some much needed cool weather and most excellent sunshine. I told the children that if they cleaned up the playroom we could go out and play. They cleaned up in record time. Caleb swung, Ellie peed, Im mean played ;0) in the treehouse and Calvy my sweet boy showed me how silly and fast he could run.

I can't believe how big he is getting.

Calvy loves being a big brother, and Caleb LOVES his big brother.

"Ooh."

-Keara

Flying home

We played at the airport before we boarded our plane. It was nice to have some nice weather and green grass, which is a bit of a luxury in AZ.

Ellie was a Lion for a moment.

Caleb.

Rock eater.

Big boy.

Sillies

Ellie was out right away...blessing.

We flew through clouds almost the whole time, I'm not going to tell you that I was worried as to how the pilot was able to fly whiteout being able to see....but I was.

Mountains, we miss you.

Warning: Images of Poo.

We went swimming later-on that day after the photo-shoot....

Peighty-Poo pooed

Oh yah, bringing out the hose.

I think it may have been cold.

Look at her run from it!

Clean.

Return Customers

...okay, it's Alan's bro's fam, but still, a customer is a customer. ;0)

Yet another reason why I LOVE to visit home. I love to take pictures, and the more unpaid "practice" I get, the better. I have never been paid for pictures, and I kinda like it that way. I am relaxed and feel absolutely no pressure to "be good", I just do what I like and what I think may look good. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I totally love how this session came out though. We stayed at home for this shoot and utilized their BEAUTIFUL backyard. It was a beautiful morning, Gary couldn't stop commenting on how gorgeous it was outside. He declared they needed a couch outside, then started talking about how they needed a virtual farm in their backyard , it was then that I saw where Alan gets his "wild" ideas. I love the Barnes boys, they have vivid imaginations with inventive ideas and all the capabilities to carry them out. Wonderful men.

Their dogs are dolls, they are so sweet and LOVE to kiss/sniff my lens.

Look at that face! Seriously!?

Ugh, he's so cute.

Just need to do some PS magic and call it good. ;0)

-Keara

Gadiation...or graduation.

My super awesome SIL graduated form High-school, scratch that, College! We are SO incredibly proud of her, this is a HUGE accomplishment. I wish I had thousands of dollars to spend on her to spoil her and make her feel special.

We saw her walk and enjoyed hearing the names of all the other graduates ;0)

We really do love her though and we were so happy to be in town to witness such an event. Love you Chrysta!

Calvy and Ellie at Oreganos, for lunch after graduation. Ellie took all the papers out and climbed right in. I love how kids think. I just want to know what was going through her mind when she did that. "Hmm, I bet I'll fit in there...."

Alan's Mommy, always so beautiful and thoughtful. I do love her.

You can't help but love a face like that, and my niece is pretty cute too. ;0}

The emotional graduation kiss. (Aren't they the silliest couple ever?)

More to come.

-Keara

Mother's Day....Yes, I know what today is.

Okay, so it's a little late, butI have good excuses.

Mother's Day was the greatest. I got breakfast in bed, then I got to snuggle in bed with all my cuties, Daddy joined us after he cleaned up the kitchen. I got an envelope that Alan thoughtfully decorated, inside was 20 dollars from each child with a hand written note or picture(so precious), I was told the money was for something special for me to wear to the wedding in AZ.(huge smile!) Then when I went into the dining room I saw 2 new design magazines and flowers. Best Mother's Day ever!

My beautiful snuggle faces!

Taco Tongue!

Oh boy those hash-browns were delish! So bad for me and SO delish.

I have 2 wonderful mother's in my life, more but 2 in particular. I love my mother, she raised me in a loving way and taught me how to be a good mother and person. Alan's mother is the best Mother-in-Law you could ask for, she is kind and giving and unselfish. I am grateful for these great examples of motherhood in my life.

Happy Mother's Day!

(Maybe it's still Mother's Day in China)

;0)

A REAL Bath

I remember my Mom joking about bath time next to a sink full of dirty dishes. I'm there, I have officially reached true motherhood. Caleb's bath time after our yummy vegetarian Cinco de Mayo dinner.

We have been working really hard to not eat a lot of meat. I felt very strongly that we needed to cut down, because we are told to in the scriptures and also because I felt or feel so badly for those poor animals who are treated so poorly before they are killed. When we do eat meat we buy it organic, to ensure that the animal we are eating was treated nicely and respected before it was killed. So I will have a few YUMMY recipes up on my eatery bloggity soon. YUM!

Love to my little birdies sleeping with full tummies.

-Keara

Feed the birds....Toppins a bag

Look at that baby! You can see his little head.

This is the Daddy feeding the Mommy...how beautiful is that. All she has to worry about is taking care of the babies.

Feed the birds!

She lives! Mother and Father both made it back to the nest. Oh geeze, my heart is full! Seriously, you have no idea the happiness this gives me!

Other things that make me happy:

"Mom when you grow up, you could be a chiropractor too."-Calvy

"He need drink of yo Mommy booby."-Ellie

"Tweet tweet, tweet tweet." -Birds

"Woopsies, booger head, Woopsies poop head, Woopsies black head."-Calvy and Friend

-Keara

Waiting for Robin.....because I have to wait.

I am worried this morning. I went to bed last night worrying about our little baby birds outside. I saw their Daddy singing away on our sunny afternoon, and thought how beautiful he was and how fun it was to see their sweet family every morning. I kept an eye out for the Mommy all day, she'll usually fly out of the nest once we step outside, but I didn't see her all day. I knew I'd see her that night, because it gets pretty cold and she'll sit in them all night to keep them warm, but she never came. I hear them chirp for her when other birds come by and it breaks my heart. I know it may seem silly, but I love those baby birds, they have become a part of our family. I have visions of Mommy swooping in with food and warmth, to save the day. I hope she comes back, I've been praying for that. Now when I look bad at the picture I saw of the Daddy singing away, I am wondering if maybe he was looking for her. Ugh, so sad.

I do not want to see these babies die, I have already planned out a series of pictures of them on my wall and it consists of them leaving the nest. Please say a little prayer for my baby feathered friends.

I think the hardest thing is that I am helpless, I can't do a thing.

Waiting.....

-Keara

Wupunzzoe,Bumps and Scowls

Calvy had been begging me for days about making a castle out of a box, finally I told Alan and he built them the mother of all cardboard box castles. So fun to have a fun dad. The children play in it all the time, Calvy is Flynn Ryder, Ellie is Rapunzel, Caleb is the Pascal and I..of course am Mother Gothel.
This is what happens when you NEVER look where you are going. I love my Ellie, poor thing is so clumsy.
Look at this sweet pic I took of the 12 year old girlies at church. They asked my friend and I to teach a class on photography. Not sure why they asked me, I do LOVE photography, but am no expert, thank goodness my expert friend was there. I am loving the pictures I got. Such a fun night!
Alan with the Cub Scouts at flag ceremony. Aren't they so cute.
Look at this face...this is EVERYDAY. This kid has got some faces and they are awesome and usually consist of the furrowed brow. I love my kids, personality and all.

-Keara

Copy Cat

I wanted to take a moment and tell you all about my copy cat blog. I, as you know, am quite the fan of Nie Nie and an even bigger fan of her Nie and You blog. I love the idea of having at least one picture per day. It's just fun and I've wanted to do it for a while now...and so now I have.

So hop on over and check it out "Here and There".