A Good Night

The boys played outside tonight while I was giving Carter a bath. Carter loves bath time. He does the same low excited giggle for bath time and meal time. It's like he's so happy he can hardly stand it. Love that kid. He just sits in the bath content as can be and splashes so much he gets even the person tending to him soaking wet.



When I went to check on the boys and bring them a snack, they were both sliding down their Fisher Price slide with orange soccer cones on their right feet. According to Carson, they were pirates with peg legs, and the slide was their pirate ship. Silly boys. The pirates enjoyed their chocolate chip cookies.

I Heart Faces, Week 24: Let's Here It for the Boys

Haven't entered one of these for a while, but when I saw the category, I new exactly which pictures I would enter, so here goes. :)



Kid's Entry
This is my fave right now from my brood... I think because it makes me laugh every time I see it, and Caden was so proud of himself, and even held the pose for me. That kid is hilarious...



Adult Entry
This is my favorite from the last senior session I did, which happened to be a guy. I probably love it more than I should...but that's okay. :)


Feel free to click on either of the pictures to make them larger.

Come check out the other entries at iHeartFaces.com. The entries get better every week!

An Engagement Session and A Trip to the ER

First, I had an engagement session on Thursday, and I just put the sneak peak up on my website...

http://SugarBowlPhotography.com, click on Blog... If anyone is interested in these things, on the right side of my SugarBowl Photography blog, there is a button to subscribe for updates.

I know my last several posts have been about my photo sessions...I suppose that is because that is the most exciting thing going on right now for me. I've had lots of business lately, and I'm loving every minute of it! I'm loving feeling challenged.

We're doing well around here... Summer is in full swing crazy. Cary's been gone all week at our jr. high youth camp. He was the speaker this year. I got to go up for Monday night's service, and he did so well! There were at least 50 kids that responded for salvation or rededication, and I've heard equally awesome reports from each night. He comes home today, and will be at camp each night next week for sr. high camp, and that's just the start of our summer. I'm buckling down for the long haul. :) The boys are doing good, and are enjoying the mild summer weather, although I'm looking forward to warmer temperatures so we can visit the pool. Carson and Caden are as funny and imaginative as ever. Carter's finally cut 3 of his top 4 teeth all in one foul swoop...and I expect the fourth one any time now. He's so easy going...love that boy.

We had our first emergency room visit about 3 weeks ago. Carson had been playing outside, I was getting Caden ready to join him, and feeding Carter all at the same time...that's pretty normal. Caden was looking out of one of our kitchen windows, and I heard banging on the windows. I thought it was Caden, so I told him to stop. I heard more banging, and told him to stop again, and that was the end of the banging. A few moments later I heard a kind of panicked cry. I wasn't too concerned because it stopped pretty quickly, and Carson cries like that sometimes when he's frustrated. A few minutes passed, and I hear banging and Carson yells, "MOMMA!!! Let me in!" So I walked towards the door and told him to come on in, and he told me he had locked himself outside. He said he didn't want Caden to come out. LOL! So I open the door, and the first thing I see is blood - horror movie style - smeared all over our back door. Then I look at Carson, and he has blood all over his hands and face, and I can't tell where it's coming from. I'm trying to find the source of bleeding, and wiping him up and yelling for Cary to come upstairs and asking Carson what happened, and Carson calmly says...."Welllll....I hate to say it...." Which basically means he's been up to no good and doesn't want to get in trouble. I ask him again, and tell him that I need to know how he hurt his finger. and here's how the conversation went:

Carson: Well...I was playing with an ant... and it bit my finger.
Mommy: Carson, ants can't cut your finger like that.
Carson: But I was really mean to it, and it bit me really big.
Mommy: Even if you get a really big ant bite, it doesn't look like that. Tell me what happened, Carson. I won't get mad, but I
need to know what you did.
Carson: But it was an ant!
Mommy: Carson...tell me the truth.

During this conversation, Cary has joined us, seen all of the blood, and has started scanning the yard where Carson insisted he was bit for anything that could have cut him. Then I happened to turn my head, and saw the broken window.

Mommy: Carson, did you break the window?
Carson: SIGH Yes.
Mommy: How?
Carson: Well...I through a rock at Caden (he was looking out that very window) and the glass broke.
Mommy: Why were you throwing a rock at Caden?
Carson: I wanted it to bounce back at me.

humm.

As best as we can deduce... we think the rock sat in the broken part of the window, and Carson, not wanting to get in trouble, pulled the rock out of the window and cut himself. He cut the padded part nearly clean off of his middle finger. We tried to get the bleeding to stop, but after an hour, Cary ran him to the emergency room where they gave it an ice bath - evidently that helps with clotting, and glued it shut. Carson was a trooper and never cried. He must have been nervous though, because when the doctor came to see him, Carson rattled off,

"Hi! I'm Carson! I'm 4! I threw a rock and broke a window and cut my finger, but the ant didn't bite it." LOL!

When the doctor had Carson all cleaned up, he instructed him to stay away from those ants. :)

Here are a couple of pictures that Cary took on his phone of our emergency room initiation... with 3 boys, I'm sure we'll become regulars.

Senior Photo Session

I had the coolest senior photo session ever a few days ago. So fun! Check out the sneak peek:

SugarBowl Photography

Just in case the link doesn't work for some, go to SugarBowlPhotography.com and click on the blog link.

Bridal Portrait

I got to do a Bridal Shoot for a sweet friend of mine on Sunday... Go check out the sneak peak! :)

SugarBowl Photography

CONGRATULATIONS TINA BINA!!!!

I'm so behind. My baby brother Austin graduated from High School 10 days ago, and I'm just now blogging about it!

Tina, I'm super proud of you, and am so thankful that I've gotten to be closer to you these last 4 years! I'm so glad you're staying in state for college and we'll get to watch you play lacrosse for years to come! You should be so proud of yourself and all of the honors you have accomplished. I can't wait to see what all God has in store for you! You are changing your world! Love you, Tina Bina!

A few fun pictures from the day... *I also need to get the ones from my dad...he has all of the ones from the actual ceremony.



Tina and his awesome friend Kacy (this pic is SO them!)


Tina's other awesome friend, Tyler and Caden...they are best buds. Caden ADORES Tina and his friends...I pray that my boys have friend's like Tina's...that they will be as much of an encouragement and be just as uplifting to each other. Good friends provide good accountability. They are awesome!


Mom and Carter:


Tina and Carson playing the slap game:


LOL! This picture CRACKS ME UP!!! "Caden, show me your sword."


Cheers & Jeers
Cheers: To my brother graduating with honors, and all of the unseasonable rain we've been having that is making everything so green.

Jeers: To me being old enough that my brother (who is a DECADE younger than me) could be a high school grad, and all of this unseasonable rain that caused me to have to cancel a senior photo shoot today. bleh.

Check Ups and Progress

I took Carter and Caden for their 6 month and 2 year check up a few weeks ago... yeah, they were a little behind. Carter was just 8 months, and Caden was 26 months, at any rate, I wanted to make sure to record their growth. Carter was 17 pounds, 5 ounces (16%) and 27 1/2 inches long (48%). Caden was 27 pounds (29%) and 34.5 inches tall (33%) Caden has cut almost all of his teeth and the very last of his molars is mostly through now.

Carter is currently working on his 4 front top teeth all at the same time, and truthfully, he's being quite the trooper about it. He only seems truly miserable around bedtime. He's covered in drool and snot though and gnawing on anything available. The outside ones of the four (the bilaterals?) have cut the gums but you can only feel them, and the front two should cut through any day now. I'll be glad when these teeth are totally through. At my women's retreat a month or so ago, he got up on his hands and feet. It was hilarious, and he's been doing it ever since. He has since been getting up on his hands and knees and then diving forward in any direction. I think he's going to be on the go in no time. He also just learned to play peek-a-boo by himself. It's super cute and he cracks himself up! LOVE IT! :) Here are some pics of Carter doing some of these things...

Peek-a-boo



I got this Fisher Price Jumperoo for $5 at a garage sale a few weeks ago. I was so excited, and it looks nearly new.






Carter has been giving us these little smirky fake smiles lately that are so funny...he also makes this squinty eyed full on grin when he's trying to flirt with you, but I haven't caught that one on camera...yet. :)


His feet in this pic make me smile. He's just so content to be chewing on Carson's tools.

Carson's Birthday Party and Slip-n-Sliding

Carson's Birthday Party
We had a soccer party for Carson this past Saturday with a few family and friends. It was laid back and the weather was awesome. We barbecued and played a few games as well as a soccer game of sorts. We even had prizes and goody bags. It was really fun. Carson LOVED his gifts this year. He says his favorite was his hockey sticks that he got from Uncle Scott and Auntie K. My faves were his 2 weeks at "Adventure Camp" from my folks and some AWESOME new clothes from DeeDee and Uncle Tom. For Adventure Camp, Carson will go for 2 1/2 hours each week day for 2 weeks, and the activities include music, arts, crafts, games, drama, and science among a few other things. I think Carson is going to have so much fun! I can't wait to hear about each of his days.

One of our friends is working on starting a cake business and made us this awesome cake...aside from how awesome it looked, it was SO good!


This is their sweet baby, Jameson. Isn't he a cutie!


Here are some pics from the party:

Miss Emmarie:


Caden on the move:


The birthday boy:


My mom...isn't she a pretty lady? :)


Grandma Lola...love this picture of her!:



Sweet Naten...I'm SO glad his parents moved back so we could love on their little guy! LOVE this family! (I get to do a photo shoot with them soon, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!)


Little Miss (Samantha):


She tuckered out right after this and it was hilarious!


Gearing up for the games:


Carson dribbling the soccer ball around the cones:


This pic was taken after Carson scored during our soccer game... Uncle Scott told him this was how you did a victory dance... you pull your shirt over your head and beat your chest. :)


Blowing out candles:


Opening presents...you can tell by Carson's hair that he'd been playing HARD!


It was such a fun evening!


Slip-n-Sliding
Carson got a 3 track slip-n-slide for his birthday. We pulled it out yesterday so the boys could play. It was so funny to watch them try to figure out how to dive down the slide. I suppose that's a pretty tough concept to run and jump into the ground. :)

Happy 4th Birthday Carson James!!!

You are such a sweetheart, my dear boy! You are a charmer and have most people you know at your beck and call. You already have a way with the ladies, especially little miss Alexa, who you talk about marrying someday nearly every day. You are highly independent, and have always asserted your opinion to anything we tell you with a "no, no, no, no, no....(enter the truth of the matter here). You are funny! Knock Knock jokes are all the rage for you right now, and you are always telling us one thing or another followed by "isn't that SO FUNNY!". You are super creative and love to do any type of craft. You LOVE to help with any project. I think you have a need to be needed, which is something your Daddy and I will need to remember. You especially love to help cook and help daddy with any project around the house or yard. You still have a crazy imagination. Daisy isn't popping up quite as often lately, but she still comes around when you need to blame someone for something...she and Caden tend to get the brunt of that. I still frequently catch you talking to any number of imaginary friends though when you're playing. You are always coming up with a new game to play or story line to act out while you are playing. You are REALLY into sports. I thought you were a fan before, but everything is about competition and one sport or another lately. Yesterday you kept finding dandelions to blow and with each one, you wished that you could play lacrosse with Tina. :) You adore him. You are so quick to offer praise to anyone for anything. You are constantly telling me "great job, Mom!," even for something as simple as changing someone's diaper. You are also pretty mischievous. We're currently trying to teach you that being deceitful is the same as lying, and you are truly having trouble understanding why they are the same. I think you are a bit of a passive aggressive. You tend to think that if you audibly comply and then do what you originally planned anyway, then all will be okay...your Daddy and I are hoping you learn this lesson quickly and easily. :) You are also still pretty laid back. As long as you know the plan, you are pretty much okay with anything. You have suddenly become quite the fashion guru. You are changing your outfit every time I turn around, and the new outfit is always sports related. When I ask you why you changed, you are always telling me this is your soccer (lacrosse, hockey, racing, basketball, etc.) outfit. You also LOVE costumes! If any outfit could possibly look like a hero or an animal or one job or another, you are all about it. You and Caden are the best of friends and the worst of friends. You love to play with him, and then you love to fight with him, and then the very next minute I hear, "Come on, Caden!" You are so good with Carter and other babies. I'm constantly amazed at how you use a soft sweet voice around babies and how gentle you are with them. You also LOVE to run with the big guys. Secretly, I think you believe you are truly a teenager. You are the sweetest boy, Carson James, and I am so proud to be your Mommy!

For you birthday yesterday, we had lunch with your Daddy and brothers at Chik-fil-a before going out for an impromptu photo shoot. Then you played while your brothers napped...I'm afraid your naps are few and far between lately, but you are really good about playing quietly. Preschool starts this fall for you, so I suppose it's okay that you are growing out of your naps. You definitely still need your down time though. Then we had some of our Uturn students over for our weekly planning meeting, and several of them brought you gifts for your birthday! They adore you! I made meatball subs for dinner and cake for dessert. You, in your true form, assured me that you had a "really good birthday." We're having a soccer themed birthday for you this weekend with friends and family, and you are so excited.

Okay, get ready for picture overload... Here are some of my faves from our photo shoot today. I also took pictures of Caden, because I hadn't taken his 2 year old pictures yet. This crazy Momma even attempted to get a picture of all three boys together...I was by myself and trying to get everyone's attention at once without letting Carter fall in the creek water (I found the coolest location under a street bridge), so that was a total joke... Oh, and Caden was much more cooperative than Carson was about having his picture taken, so there are several more of him...you'll see... :)

These first ones were all taken behind a feed store in Castle Rock.














Then we drove around for a bit and I found this gorgeous spot under a bridge. There is even a walkway along the side for easy access. I have to say though, that this part was short lived and a bit stressful. 3 little guys, a cold creek, and one Mommy with a camera is not such an easy combination. :)