the photo shoot

My cousin Dawn is a FABULOUS photographer. She can capture such beauty in her pictures...a look, a laugh, a smile....she captures love.

The following shots are from my pregnancy with Laz. These were taken 3 days before he was born!!!




































































The following pictures were taken when Laz was 10 days old. I cannot believe how small he was (to me)!!! How time passes so quickly.......





































































This my mom...Grammy...isn't she beautiful?!

This past week

the boys have been really into making their own weapons from dead tree branches...and so Ethan made a non-weapon for Laz since he is so small...he made him a fishing pole! Laz looks a bit freaked about the whole thing, though.






3 of the Boyz









Ethan and Pres...giving "the look"








Laz....sleeping through all the hammering at the Home Depot craft-making section. He obviously has 4 older brothers.







Tarin working hard.








my handsome Ethan.









Everyone with their completed pirate ships! The next day they got (without permission) all my Sharpie markers and painted the ships and the sails BLACK. the whole house smelled like Sharpie. We were high all day.










Kell-O











Presley











Ethan has developed a love for reading. YEAH!!!!!! I am overjoyed...being one that reads everything all the time...to see my son enjoying a good book. Here he is reading a Narnia ("suburbia" if you ask Tarin) book first thing in the morning. He never came down for breakfast so I went up to check on him. he had woken up and just HAD to finish the book. Mean ole mom had forced him to go to bed the night before at the last chapter.






Pres in his cowboy suit and snow boots :)







It is May 1st today.
Yesterday it was 80 degrees and we ran the air conditioner and wore shorts.
Today it is snowing.
I am bummed :(

Birth is....continued....

Here is a reply that I felt needed to be shared! Every mom should feel this way after having their baby :)






"Birth is one of the greatest gifts in a woman's life :)


The only sad thing about a homebirth experience is when it's over. When you work with a homebirth midwife
they offer you so much valuable time. They spend hours with you for prenatal visits listening, loving and supporting you in such a caring way. They become such a friend and great inspiration. They let you lead your own journey into motherhood and respect and honor you the whole way. Homebirth midwives take nothing away from your experience, only make it so much greater! After the hours of labor and hard work birthing your baby, you think, WOW I did it!!! You feel so lucky to have had your midwives there guiding you through this experience in your own way and in your own space. You look into the eyes of your midwives with nothing but complete joy and thankfulness. They did not deliver your baby, they did not have power over you, they let you have your baby in the most sacred and personal way. They hold a safe place , keep their wise watchful eyes open, hold their educated hands ready at an arms length a way, and keep you grounded with comfort and validation. Your homebirth midwife will never leave your side, yet give you all the space that you need. When you think back about the birth of your child it's one of the greatest days of your life. You feel so proud of your midwives for being there and you truly miss them like family when it all over. It makes you truly feel so sad for all the women that tell horror stories of their births in hospitals. There isn't one horrible thing I could even come up with about my homebirth, and I know how lucky I am for that experience. I truly thank God for the strong and courageous work of these homebirth midwives. They truly make a difference in this world for so many generations! I whole heart-idly feel every woman should be allowed the experience to birth their babies in the way that homebirth midwives allow you too! It's such a blessing!"

Love and miss you guys!!
Krista

Another "session"

I had to go to the dentist again today.


After a few weeks of tooth pain I had to give in and go get the filling fixed (it had a crack or something in it allowing cool items to penatrate and casue untold amounts of pain).

Apparently the dentist remembers me (despite not seeing me for over a year)...see story below...and gave me enough numbing drugs to knock out a horse. I am STILL numb (3 hours later) from my eye down my face to my collar bone and around to the front of my chin. I talk funny. I drool. I cannot smile on one side. (my kids are loving it) and I cannot eat. Now, I am wanting to lose baby weight...but not this way!!! Lack of food leaves me cranky... ask anyone in my house right now...

http://flammtastic.blogspot.com/2006/05/drama-drama-drama_24.html
This is from May 2006

Healthy food on a budget

Ever heard of the Urban Homemaker??? Well, if not, you should check out the site.

Below is a link to a long list of recipes to cook on a budget...HEALTHY recipes!!! :)

Many are stew/soups and I know it is almost summer...however, making a stew/soup is a great way to get lots of yummy veggies, beans, grains, etc easily.

Enjoy!





http://www.marilynmoll.com/?p=78

Castlewood Canyon

Yesterday we all went on a hike to Castlewood Canyon.
Today we are all red as lobsters.
A great time was had by all! :)







This is a kearn.
That is a man term for "a pile of rocks that lead you down the correct trail so you do not get lost."








Examining the kearn. There were about 739 of them on this trail...which we made fun of all the way there and were quite thankful for on the way back. :)














Kell is ALL BOY.
He walked in front of the family the entire way with his spear/bow and arrow to defend us from all sorts of wild animals, monsters and mean people. Thankfully we met with none of those.
By the way...he hand-made his spear, bow and arrow, knife, sling shot and toy gun with wood he found.
I am impressed! He obviously got his weapon making talent from his Mom.








Ethan helping to defend the troops with the invaluable aid of Presley and his gun.


























Kellen Micah...defined.








That rock looks HEAVY!
Luckily my man is chisled from stone and can lift it...along with 4 boys on the top.
Yeah baby.








Kell and Pres enjoying the view from the top.








Ethan was one of the brave ones that walked out on the rocks to the tip top. It was VERY windy! Mommy was paranoid and did not derive pleasure from seeing him out there. At all.








Daddy and Presley.








E and K


























Kell would walk ahead of us with his spear ready in the case of a chance meeting with a mountian lion. Sweet kid :)


















Kell and his spear/bow and arrow (sans arrow)







Yes, our kids watch "Survivor man" on TV and emulate his actions. Here they are attempting to bite the tip off this plant in order to have a "needle and thread" to repair any clothing/gear that may be damaged.
It worked better on TV.
Thankfully we were not stranded in a canyon 173 miles from civilization...we can take our ruined items to the "Magic Needle" just down the road.



















Josiah thought these looked like the toes of a giant.









Walking back down the trail to the car.






We conquered Castlewood Canyon!!!





A few random shots................







Presley is going to be the ring bearer for my siter-in-laws wedding (Josiah's sister Sarah) in May...so we had to go get him fitted for a tux. OH MY WORD, is he excited!!! He felt quite handsome in this jacket and he loves the shiny shoes.
He says, "I am going to be the ring BEAR. GGGGRRR!!!"
This should be interesting :)






Pres was nice enough to pile all our pillows on top of Laz.







Yes, he IS the cutest thing in all the world!!! :)

Make-Up and Skin care

I have posted about this in the past, but I am inspired to blog about it again!

Having natural skin care and make-up is SO important...especially since these products have been linked ot all sorts of cancer as a result of the ingredients used.

Take a look at the sites below to find a wonderful alternative to the usual products. I have personally used these products for a year and a half and LOVE them! I also went to the Affusion studio for a personal consultation with the maker (a homeschool mom) and had a BLAST! I wanted to know firsthand how she makes the products and all about each one. She did a full facial and make-up on me (and a few friends), we drank some yummy tea and laughed so hard we cried. It was so fun!!! If you live anywhere near Alpharetta- GO!



www.affusionskincare.com/
This is the official site for all the products.


http://affusionskincare.blogspot.com/
This is the blog where she posts all sorts of information and studies regarding cosmetics.

Have fun!!! :)

Birth is........

My dear midwife, Claudia, has a message board on Yahoo with all her clients. We love taking with her anytime we want as well as having a wonderful group of women as support, encouragement and advise.

Claudia asked a simple question of us...to finish this sentence:

"Birth is........"

So far the responses have been so wonderful, I had to share!!! As more come in I will add them in the comment section.


"Birth is….

Normal.
Natural.
Safe.
Like many things, location DOES matter.
Mysterious.
Everywhere all the time.
The beginning.
Painful.
Life.
Connects us.
Controversial.
Strange.
Adventure.
Confidence inducing.
Life changing.
A right.
A privilege.
Not to be feared.
Amazing.
Empowering.
Epic.
A journey.
Defines womanhood.
To be enjoyed.
Emotional.
Not to be missed!"