Around the House

This post is for you Kathryn!! :)

Last winter My Friend Kathryn and I bought some old doors off of Craigslist with the intent of making headboards for our beds. We both were really excited about moving and decorating our new pads. Unfortunately we never got around to making them and after moving into my new place I lost my zest for all the DIY decorating projects I had planned. Mostly because I realized we are only going to be here for 1 year and every house has different needs, so there is no point in making everything for this house. But, last week I caught the decorating bug again and was determined to get the headboard made. This was my first woodworking project and lets just say I learned a lot! :) Thanks to my sweet hubby who answered my dumb questions and came to my rescue a few times, I am very happy with the way it turned out! So without further ado, here are some seriously crappy pictures taken with our point and shoot of the finished product :) Except I really want to paint the walls now. But I can live with them for a year.

I also did a few projects for Avery's room over the summer with my mom. Avery got her duvet cover for christmas last year. I LOVE it, but it is a peachy pink that is hard to match. I saw this Liberty London print at Target and knew that it was perfect for her bed. I ordered a duvet cover online and it took over 5 months to get it (no joke). But I was elated when I finally saw the package on my doorstep! I made curtains, the bunting, and lampshade with the duvet cover. I LOVE it!

and of  course her room could not be complete without a "you are my sunshine" picture :)

I always tell Andy that when we buy our next house I am hiring a decorator :)


okay Kathryn, I want to see what you've done with the fabric for the family room, Kolette's room, and your room!!

☀ Liquid Sunshine

Avery was almost one year old when Andy's brother Adam was first diagnosed with Cancer. Grandma Cindi was having a rough time (rightfully so) but always tried to look for the positive. One of her happy spots was Sweet Avery Jane. She called Avery her Liquid Sunshine, the bright ray of hope to shine through the dark clouds. There is something amazing about a child's ability to help you feel the love of the Savior and put a smile back on your face when life has you down. Avery is especially good at this. She is my Sunshine baby girl!

see more here

He Thought This Day Would Never Come

Drew started PRESCHOOL today! He was SO ready. Ever since Avery started kindergarten, he has been asking incessantly when his school starts. Today is the day. He walked right in and never looked back. I can't wait to hear all about his day! 

Drew and his empty backpack :)

I LOVE them!

Those EYES that is!

sorry, I've got Livi on the brain. You may be seeing lots of this girl in the next few weeks. I can't believe she is almost one! 

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The View from Here

If I have to have a little baby tugging on my pants all day, at least I get to see these bright eyes staring back up at me. Cutest little 11 month old ever :)

P.S. Livi just took her first 2 steps!! Oh No!

Up For Grabs!

Up for Grabs is a $20 Target Gift Card

How can you get it? Well, we need a little favor from some one in Cleveland. We got a HUGE water bill last month and the water company needs to get in the house and read the meter and check for leaks and stuff. The Appointment is on August 31 between 12 and 4 and some one must be present. You could invite some friends and plan a picnic and hang out in our backyard (although I can't promise the lawn will be mowed so it may be a jungle out there. but there is a swingset, or at least there was when we left☺) or let the kids run around an empty house (but I can't promise it won't smell musty from being locked up all summer). It will be an adventure! And you can go buy something fun as a reward when you are done. If you think you can do it, leave a comment and I'll email you more info.

Thanks guys!! We miss you all!!

Take Two

Day 2 of Kindergarten is now behind us. Avery said she didn't miss us at all. Which is good, but man do I miss her!

Drew, Livi, and I tried to entertain ourselves. We did the best we could and put on our happy faces

But this is how we really feel

This is Drew waiting outside the school to pick up Avery. 

And just to show that he can make a normal face (please ignore the fact that he is tackling his baby sister)

ReAdY oR nOt

Last night was the elementary school Ice Cream Social. As we got out of the car, I asked Avery if she was ready to go meet her kindergarten teacher. She took a deep breathe and said yes.

 She then nervously grabbed my hand. 

tight. 

I'm not sure who was holding on tighter. 

me

 or
 her.

I am a baby. I am crying as I type this. 

I'm not ready.

Avery is an Angel, I love her so much.

Drew misses his best friend

Livi misses her best friend

and I miss my best little friend.

All day kindergarten is TORTURE! 

She did GREAT today. She LOVED it and said she can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Her favorite part was sitting at her desk and coloring.
Here she is, my little kindergartner!

It is a dark rainy day. My ISO was at 1000, F/2.8, ss 160 and it was still underexposed...outside!
I need to take her out for a real back to school photo shoot soon. 

Mandatory Picnic

At the end of Andy's first week of his Residency they had a mandatory picnic at the Base Lake. Kind of funny that it was mandatory. But hey, I would much rather be at the lake enjoying my family than sitting at home counting down the hours until hubby comes home. The days adventures included frog catching, boat rides, bubble popping, food, and of course lots of silly faces from Drew!

Blues and ABUs

Andy's family wanted to see him in his uniform, so here are a few pictures from COT (officer's training).

They call this uniform their Blues. He has to wear it every Monday

These are their ABUs. He wears these the rest of the week.

I still can't believe I am a Military wife, living in Nebraska. So weird! Life is full of surprises!

One Word

If I had to describe Nebraska in One word, it would be CORN!! There is LOTS and LOTS of CORN. My mom and I went exploring one Sunday afternoon and drove down the same road for 30 minutes and there was nothing but rows and rows of corn on both sides of the road. Everywhere you look there are Corn fields. I think it is part of what makes Nebraska charming, and about as "All-American" as you can get. My niece and I stopped by one farm to ask if we could take pictures there. The owner was just as expected. An adorably sweet, hardworking little old man wearing worn out Wranglers and his trusty old dog by his side. I love this place!

Just a test shot, but I think it is kind of cute!

If you had to describe where you live in one word, what would it be?? come on, you know you want to play along!

Amelia Grace

While I was in Utah, I went to the Heartshop. It was a photography workshop put on by the talented Becky Earl and Yan. They had some great models lined up for us so that we could shoot our little hearts out. It was really fun and I took a ton of pictures. I didn't want to clog the family blog with all the pictures, so one lonely night while Andy was gone I created a place to plop the ❤shop pics. I am calling it Amelia Grace Photography. Why Amelia Grace you ask? Well, first of all it starts with an "A" and that's how we roll round here ;). Really, it is a name that I have loved from the first time I saw it. My favorite place in Ohio is Chesterland. It is gorgeous, serene, and full of fond memories. On the drive out there, there is a quaint little assisted living facility called Amelia Grace. For some reason it spoke to me, made me giddy every time I drove by it. I would use the name for a kid, but Andy vetoed it, so it now has a new place as the name of my future photography business. I know the explanation sounds a little silly, but I love it. So for those of you who are interested in checking out my work, you can visit the new blog here. I will be adding new pics from sessions and such over there. Lots more to come real soon. Don't forget to leave me some love so I know you were there!

Couldn't Be Happier

He's Home!!!! Andy is back and we are so excited! The kids and I made a Welcome home sign for him. I think Livi had the most fun of all. She is quick and before I knew it she had dumped the paint all over herself and then smeared it on the poster with her bum. She wanted to make her mark on the poster too! 

We took the sign up to the gate and waited anxiously for an hour for daddy to come walking out only to realize he had some how slipped past us and was waiting on the curb for an hour thinking we had forgotten him!! (why didn't I just call him you ask? Oh, that would be because my phone has been broken for 3 weeks and there is no T Mobile stores in Nebraska!! :(  ) We finally found each other and it was a sweet reunion!

Trying to make a quick get a way!

☁Tornado Alley ☂

We get some CRAZY storms here in Nebraska. When it rains, it POURS and the Lightening is AMAZING!  It is a little freaky knowing we live in tornado alley, but the storms are fun to watch. Here are some pictures from one we had a week ago or so. These were taken at 9:30 at night. The sky went from being totally dark to this strange orange glow after the storm. And we got to see a double rainbow!

I've never seen anything like it. New adventures around every corner ☺

⑩ months

A post without pictures? what? Haven't had much time lately. I'll add one later :)

Livi is 10 months old!! I can't believe how much she has changed in the last month. She has learned so many new tricks and I feel like she has gone from the baby stage to more of the toddler stage. She is So much fun. I just love her to pieces.

Her new tricks:

*She graduated from the army crawl and can now crawl on all fours. She is getting pretty fast
*She can crawl up the stairs
*She can clap
*She loves music and rocks out to it
*She went from not babbling at all to saying mama and baby talking up a storm
*She waves Hi and says Hi
*She makes kissing sounds and it is So cute!
*She LOVES watermelon
*She has 7 teeth
*She can pull herself up on things and even started pushing the chairs across the kitchen floor while    walking
*She loves to talk to her daddy on the phone. Her whole face lights up. I can't wait for him to see her on                     Friday (yes, this friday!!! We are so excited!!)
*She yells at her bother whenever he gets in her space
*She has discovered dolls and stuffed animals and LOVES them. She has also learned to give hugs when you ask her to, and she hugs  the dolls all the time. Too cute for words.

Time to start planning her first birthday party :)

☆✭☆The Fourth of July

It was really sad to be without Andy for the fourth of July weekend, but the kids and I tried to make the best of it (2 weeks down, 3 more to go until Andy returns home from his officers training in Alabama). They had a carnival on the Air Force base complete with face painting, bounce houses, cotton candy, snow cones, balloon animals, and games. All I had to say was cotton candy and the kids jumped in the car as fast as they could. The flyer said FREE so I jumped too! :)

Fireworks are all legal in Nebraska, so the kids and I bought a few to entertain ourselves. They begged me all week to do them. I asked some friends in the ward where they go to watch fireworks and they all responded that they just hang out in their driveways. I was a little perplexed by this. I am used to going to big controlled shows put on by the city. But, sure enough, there was plenty of entertainment to be seen right from our front door. I can not even begin to describe what it is like. You really have to see it to believe it. People spend thousands of dollars on fireworks and on every street in Omaha there is a big show. It is a WAR ZONE!! So loud and smokey and OUT OF CONTROL! There are fireworks EVERYWHERE. Our neighbors started at about 5:00pm and literally did not stop until 11:30pm. Over 6 hours of CONSTANt fireworks. And, not just the little rinky dink ones, full blown fireworks going off in the middle of the street.  I was a little nervous being so close to them, but everyone else seemed to be fine with it. Wow, what a crazy night!

Of course we  can't forget Drew's funny for the night. We were sitting by our neighbors watching the firewroks and this really strange one went floating by. It looke like a little parachute type thing. It was lit up and just floated forever up in to the sky. We were all trying to figure out what it was and kept saying "how are they doing that? what is that?" over and over. Drew's answer to the question? He leans over nad in the cutest voice says "I bet Jesus is doing it. Jesus is doing fireworks too. huh mom!" :)

We had a few minutes to kill before church, it was raining outside, so the kids and I were hanging out in the garage. I grabbed my camera to get a picture to send to Andy. It ain't perfect, but I sure love it.

Especially since I am used to getting pictures like this:

and this:

Hope you had a great Fourth of July!! Having my husband in the Air Force now gave me a different perspective on things. I am sure Grateful for all those who serve our country and allow us to have the freedoms that we do!

Just Because

✈Utah

After we unpacked the house in Nebraska, we all jumped back into the car and drove to Utah to spend some time with Family. It was a blast as usual. Filled with lots of baseball games, treats, family bbq's, photoshoots, and no bed times. I spent so much time taking pictures of everyone else, that I didn't do a very good job documenting the trip. But, here are some random snaps from our Utah vacation 2010

We ate LOTs of good food. Here is Livi with the remnants of one of Aunt Julie's famous cookies on her face

And no Family BBQ is complete without a Red Punch mustache

We jumped on the Tramp (one of Livi's Favorite things to do)

We had a few lazy summer days at the park with grandma

And of course lots of snuggling with Grandma too

and fun with cousins

And we can't forget the birth of our first Ingersoll cousin Baby Ethan! The kids Loved him!

There was plenty of good times with cute Uncles 

and much much more. Thanks for the fun everyone! We miss you and love you!