Photography

So I FINALLY decided it was time to start a blog for my photography. I love to take photos and I really, really want to improve my photography skills. If you know anyone looking to have their photos taken PLEASE send them my way:) I'm also looking for newborn models! 

This beautiful girl is my friend Hannah. She asked me to take a few photos of her for her profile on her newly designed webpage, www.wholesimplelife.com. You MUST check it out. She is amazing! 

You can see the rest of our photo shoot on my new blog:

www.katiefloydphoto.blogspot.com

It is NOT fancy. I have no clue how to design a webpage; especially not one I'd be satisfied with. But it will have to work for now!

"dumb, dumb, dumb"

In the words of my precious grandfather.

"dumb, dumb, DUMB."

I decided to go through my pictures to show you what a great job I did at keeping some of my New Year's resolutions (until June, anyways) because I really did do a good job! But I did NOT do a good job at documenting the things I accomplished. Apparently. I thought I took all kinds of pictures of projects I finished but I only found ONE from my fancy camera and  then a select few in my phone pictures. Also, I read 5 books by June. Which was almost one book a month. I'm considering it a success. But now it's September... never mind.

Book One was a parenting book called Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World. It had some really good points but most of the time I remember thinking it was stupid. Who needs parenting advice anyway. Not me. (I'm soooooo just kidding!)

Book Two was From Simms to Zanzibar. I really liked it. It was like a big pep talk and it only took a few days to read. If you ever need some motivation in your life, I recommend it.

Book Three was The Hobbit. I love, love, LOVED it. How is it that I made it to Age 27 without reading any J.R.R. Tolkien books???

Book Four The Hound of  the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes #5). Loved it!

I don't remember what the 5th book was. I started to read No Doubt About It by Sheri Dew and I was really loving it until I lost first, the book and second, the motivation to keep up with my goal. I am going to keep going though! But I don't think I'll reach my goal of 12 books by the end of the year. I know to some of you that goal is sad and lame but for me it's pretty good. Even though I won't even make it.

and here is my ONE sewing project that was fortunate enough to be photographed:

Kaylee and I made a bag for her friend's birthday back in February. We filled it with yummy valentine treats.  I have made this bag lots of times and I love it. It's so cute and so simple. HERE is the tutorial  used.

and here are the projects that deserved better photography but had to settle for being photographed by a dang phone.

I made 2 of these shirts for my niece, Kenzie and my cousin-once-removed, Hazel.

The pattern is from Oliver S. I have made outfits from several of their patterns and I HIGHLY recommend them. The patterns are so adorable, I wish I had them all. The instructions could not be easier to follow, even for the more complicated patterns.  This one is called the Ice Cream Dress (or tunic in this case) and can be viewed and purchased HERE.

A tooth bag from when Lily lost her first tooth!

I didn't use a pattern; it was pretty basic.

I made this for Riley's 4th birthday. The shirt is from walmart. I cut a minnie mouse shaped head from an old shirt of Michael's. I had the perfect ribbon in my stash for a bow and I made it detachable so the shirt could be washed easily.

Hat and scarf. These are actually knitting projects from last year but I love them so much and I know I never blogged about them. I didn't use a pattern for either one.

Let's not forget this important creation! It should be complete in about 5 weeks.

I really must try harder to post projects as I complete them.

Thursday Three

 I bought these coats at an amazing price last year. I made sure to get them a size big so that they would last the girls a nice long time. They are so cute and I love them.

 Arthur did this to one of them just as I was getting ready to take it to the dry cleaner just a few days ago. Don't worry. He's  still alive.

 Kaylee fell into a door jam and busted her poor little mouth all the way back in January. Her tooth is back in place and ironically her left front tooth is the one that tuned brown. The one that almost fell out of her face is beautifully white. And she has an adorable scar on her chin. Looking at this picture breaks my heart all over again. 

Tuesday.

**This should have posted last week because I was writing about Tuesday, the 17th. I'm a lame journaler/blogger. I took a really long time to get the one picture I took that day onto my computer so I could put it on my blog**


Tuesday was awesome. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It could have been what some would consider to be a frustrating day; even I might have considered it to be frustrating if I hadn't been blessed with a body and mind that felt rested. Feeling well makes all the difference!

Our day started at 12:30am when poor Lily came to my room with pain from a possible bladder infection. I took her back to the toilet and tried to help her and comfort her as she attempted to go potty again. I watched big, sad tears roll down her face and my heart ached for her; I know that pain and I wanted  it taken from her immediately. Since it was the middle of the night a trip to the emergency room was in order. 

As long as she wasn't trying to go potty she was happy and feeling well. She chatted merrily on the way to the ER. We got checked in and she was weighed and had her blood pressure checked and all those fun things. They had her urinate in a little toilet hat. Miraculously the nurses were able to successfully retrieve a diagnosis from the 4 drops of pee she managed to get in that special white hat. Urinary Tract Infection, indeed. 

The room we waited in was painted very adorably with trees, flowers, owls, skinny birds, fat birds, frogs, the sun and moon, and beautiful, purple fluffy clouds. We spent our time playing Eye Spy (or is it I Spy?) and when Lily was done with that she read from Junie B. Toothless Wonder while I worked on a knitted hat for Baby Boy. The doctor visited with us. The nurse brought us some medicine; an antibiotic and a special numbing medicine to take away the bladder pain AND turn your pee bright orange! How exciting. We were sent home and made it back into our cozy beds shortly after 3am.

I woke Lily up at the normal time in the morning to see if she was feeling up to school. She did not feel like getting up and I was glad. I also gave Kaylee the option, though I was certain of what the answer might be (no). I wasn't ready to be awake and I was grateful for the chance to sleep in. Sadly, the girls missed hero/princess day at school:(

We all woke up a little after 8am. Lily peed (pain free!) and was delighted by the beautiful swirling orange colors in the toilet. She ran around the house fetching her sisters to come behold the fascinating display. I went to my room to make a few phone calls to doctors' offices and whatnot. Riley came in and asked if we could have breakfast. Just then a cooking breakfasty aroma made it's way to my nostrils.

"It smells like someone's already cooking breakfast!" I said, thinking that one of the girls had decided to make toast. However, the aroma quickly turned to a stench. Coughing, hardly being able to inhale a sufficient breath, I made my way to the kitchen. The girls, with Kaylee ever at the center of these kinds of plans, had decided to microwave a cup full of chocolate graham crackers. How long, I've not a clue. The microwave was stopped at 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I opened the front and back doors and put a fan at the front door to get some air flowing through the house. I don't know if our microwave will ever be the same. The cup certainly never will be.

The girls spent the day playing, coloring, and painting and sometime in the afternoon Kaylee came to me crying and afraid because she'd stuck a bead in her ear and was unable to get it out. I looked in her ear with a flashlight and saw nothing. I filled her ear with water to see if I could get it to float up and there was nothing. I looked with the light again. Nothing. I wondered if maybe it had come out during her attempts to shake it free and asked her if it felt like there was anything in her ear. She said it felt empty and I was sure that there wasn't a problem but I'm a mom and I couldn't continue my life knowing that there could possibly be a bead stuck deep down in my child's ear canal. I had to be certain. My cousin Kellie, saved the day by coming to watch the other girls. Kaylee freaked and shrieked about having to go to the doctor. I assured her that she would not be subjected to any pain and that all they were going to do was shine a light in her ear. She calmed down when I told her we'd get an ice cream afterwards, a treat that was much more for me than for her:)

Sure enough, her ear canal was empty upon the doctor's inspection and I was grateful. We headed to our favorite treat place in Rexburg, The Cocoa Bean, and had a quick and fun little mommy daughter date. 

We went home and said thank you and goodbye to Kellie and her husband Johnny (who had come shortly after Kaylee and I had left) and then our daddy came home from work. Best part of everyone's day, every day! We are SO glad when Daddy comes home.

The rest of our evening was peaceful and uneventful. I am grateful for days like today. It was a day of helping, loving and serving my children. I love being a mom. These girls keep me running and they keep me EVER entertained. Some days are much, much, MUCH more difficult than others and I find myself wondering how I'll possibly make it to bedtime. Those days have to come, otherwise how would I know to be grateful for the good ones?

Today was good. It was oh, so good.

California

We went to California like a month and a half ago and here are some pictures... finally!

Let me tell you how awesome my parents are. Michael and I have only ever owned unreliable cars and by unreliable I mean they threaten to fall to pieces about 6 hours down the road. Because of this, my mom NEVER wants me to drive alone. So, Michael and I drove down to St. George for my cutest cousin Melysa's wedding. He went home with Shane and Geri to Salt Lake (where he had left his car) and I caravanned to CA with my mom and dad. The girls and I had a glorious time in Independence, CA. We played at the park and explored the creek and jumped on the trampoline and played with the Dana Dog (who has since passed into the next life, but don't tell my girls. We haven't broken the news to them yet.)

My mom was planning on driving home with me and hanging out in Rexburg for a little while before flying home. A few days before we were scheduled to leave she was overcome with mysterious and excruciating pain and swelling in one of her knees. She was unable to make the trip. So. She sent my dad with me who really doesn't have time for such trips but what can I say, my parents adore me. Mostly they adore my kids and are fond of our safety and well being. 

My dad followed us all the way to Las Vegas. He got me through Death Valley (which really is Death Dang Valley, that place is miserable in the summer!) My car did surprisingly well! I did have to turn my a/c off for a while, but the engine temperature only rose a little and Old Astrid pulled through!

Once we got to that Sinful City we pulled in at a Cal-Ranch where that father of mine took my 4 girls exploring while I took a rest in the car. 

Next he treated us to a delicious lunch at In N Out, filled my car with gas (for about the 50th time) and then we tearfully parted ways. Okay, I didn't actually let tears spring from their ducts until I watched his head disappear behind the median as our vehicles split up on the freeway.

I drove to Highland UT that night where we stayed and played with my aunt and uncle (Clark and Amy) and their precious children. Oh, how we adore the Christensen family!

The next day we drove a little ways to Salt Lake and spent time with Geri and Shane and Kenzie and Henry Boy. Geri fed us a delicious spaghetti lunch which the girls gobbled right up. They are lovers of ska-betty, I am telling you. 

We said goodbye to la Familia de Klenk and made our way home to Rexburg. That was the longest stretch of the journey and my kids were perfect angel children and gave me no trouble whatsoever. We made a stop or two, I don't remember for sure but I know that we stopped at a rest stop and played with the hand dryers and in the grass for a short time. 

I pulled into Rexburg feeling very accomplished for making such a journey with 4 Littles and a pregnant belly. Never had I been happier to be home!

I am so grateful to my mom and dad for always looking out for our family and sacrificing so much time and energy and money on our behalf. Michael and I were SO grateful to have our gas paid for and to be so very well taken care of. I love my parents and someday I promise to be as good to my kids as they have been to me!

 a sunset

Cute cousins with their Auntie. Photobombed by Geri.

The girls

In Death Valley on our way to Independence



The girls took this series of photos:

and that's the last one. aren't they talented?

 Playing cards with Emma

She wanted a picture of her hair.

 cutting cake #2

 Emma and the girls with Cousin Tasha and the girls' 2nd cousin, Skyler.

 The cute reception display

 Dancing friends. (Riley's face. So awesome)

Goodbye, balloons.

 Zach and his bff mission buddy, Derek.

 Rachel, Zach, Derek, Lindsay. 

 My grandpa and our friend Nicole. We love and adore her.

The girls with one of their very most top favorite men.

They are all wearing dresses that belonged to Geri and me when we were little girlies. 

 Trying to throw dirt and rocks into the water.

Kaylee has scary reactions to bug bites.

 Playing the Wii. Another perk of being at Grandma's.

Exploring the creek. Or crick. Whatever you want to call it.

In Lone Pine branch there is no such thing as "A Nursery" so Mallory and I had our own nursery time and here she is sitting like a princess.

In N Out. A favorite, for sure.

She got a little mad and I told her to close her eyes and go to sleep. What an obedient girl!

Riley and Kaylee playing with Kenzie at the super awesome play area right outside Geri's apartment. 

Mallory playing House all by her lonesome. With a dolly, of course.

Hand dryers provide such entertainment!

Yay! We made it home!