When Families Come Together I Fall Apart

Having a birthday party, going to a family reunion or being a part of any extended family get together can be somewhat overwhelming for me. It brings up a whole plethora of issues and feelings with which I have to deal. I guess the whole point is that I feel like I have to defend our lifestyle each and every time a get together/party comes around. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way. But I can't imagine being the only person in the entire world who freaks out when families come together. This is a new-ish feeling for me. I haven't always been this way. I think (I'm pretty sure) it all started when I had kids.

I worry if there is going to be enough food. I worry about whether the kids will like the party favors. I worry if anyone will show up. But most of all I worry about what I'm going to say when I'm questioned by various family members on our choice to home school our kids. There's also lots of nagging about us not visiting often enough so of course I have to explain myself all to often when that comes up too. It's not like I purposely avoid family. Well, maybe, sometimes I do. But mostly we don't visit much because we are just as busy as the next family, and we do what we can when we can.

We are also treated differently because we work from home. Everyone has this notion that we are always free and that our business just isn't as important since it's online. But it is just as important. It's how we live, pay our bills, and feed our kids. Hello, I work from home, Hot Daddy works from home, goes to school, and we home school our children. We're running a freaking circus in our home. Surely,we must need time for this!

With this lifestyle comes lots of questions, and I understand that people are curious about our online jobs too but sometimes it just gets old. The business advice needs to stop. Yes, I know I have to pay taxes. No, we're not doing anything illegal. It's called a blog. Everybody has a blog these days. Of course I started mine nearly 5 years ago when no one knew what a blog was. Not that it matters. You'd think I'd be rich by now. ;) Even Anderson Cooper has a blog. Your kids have blogs. It's possible your cat has a blog. Get with the program, people!

Anyway, moving on...

I just want to enjoy whatever is going on without feeling like I have to defend the way we are. I guess I need to just stop worrying about our family not "getting" us because I don't always "get" them either. We are so content with our life. Our children are happy. The hubz and I are happy. People should see that and move on because happiness is all that really matters. Why, yes, it is all butterflies and rainbows around here...mostly.

Of course I could be bringing all of this stress on myself. It's possible people are just curious. It's also possible that I'm am officially a nutcase. Have your pick. ;)

My Advice Is To Run

Edited to add: My husband thought this post may be a little offensive to some so I feel like I must write an apology of sorts. I'd like to say up front that when I was writing this post anger was the furthest thing from my mind and I was smiling the whole time. If you know me then you know I'm always smiling & laughing. Anyway, before I write any further, I'd like to say that I truly enjoyed being a part of the wedding.

This post was meant to be a funny (sarcastic) sort of warning to all those aspiring photographers out there who are photographing their first wedding. However, I have been told on numerous occasions that I'm just not that funny. I'll work on that.

So "the wedding" is over. You know, that one I was supposed to be the "official" photographer for. Well, the photography part didn't go exactly as I had envisioned. Not only was I on my feet for 8 hours straight but at the last minute figured out I was working along side/coordinating with another wanna-be photographer with better equipment than mine. From this experience alone I'm pretty sure wedding photography is NOT for me. I better just say hell will have to freeze over before I do this again . Either that, or one of my sisters have to get married. Neither of which are likely. ;)

My advice to anyone who is asked by friends or family to be the photographer for their wedding is to JUST SAY NO. If they don't take no for an answer then run away. Run far far away or just don't answer your phone when they call because believe me wedding photography should be left to the professionals that are getting paid to do it. Seriously.

I have to admit, however, that I did get some pretty cute pictures. I think the Bride will be happy to see them soon!

Ice Cream Inflation

An actual conversation between my 7 yr. old boy and his 10 yr. old (girl) friend as heard from the bedroom door while they were playing.

Girl: "Did you know they raised ice cream prices to $1.25?"

Boy: "Yep, that's a quarter more than last year."

Girl: "Yeah, I knew they'd(prices) go up."

Boy: "Did you know they raised gas to about $6.99 a gallon?" (let's hope not any time soon)

I guess you can tell that the noise maker/germs on wheels/ice cream van recently started making it's annual rounds again...and the kids aren't too happy about the prices ;)

FYI/PSA:
Over at our review site, A Mom's Review, we are giving away a Universal Home Entertainment DVD Prize Pack including Definitely Maybe, Notting Hill, & Love Actually. Want to win Definitely Maybe and more?

Don't forget we are also giving away ShooShoos to 4 cute babies at the end of the month too in our free baby photo contest.

My First Wedding

This Saturday I am shooting a wedding for an extended family member. Yes, I'm the official wedding photographer. Did you just read that last sentence? Me - the "official" photographer. Yes, I'm surprised too.

If you've been reading for long or even looked at my flickr photos you'd know that I am most definitely not a professional photographer. At best I am the kid snapshot queen. heh. So, as the date approaches, and even though I warned the couple in advance that I am no pro, I am starting to get very worried that I am going to screw up their lifetime memories. Can you feel the stress through your screen?

The good thing about all of this is that I'm doing it for free so I won't feel too bad if the photos don't turn out as expected. At least that is what I will tell myself if the photos turn out like crap but I'll probably cry or hide out instead. Not sure which just yet. The bad thing is that I just spent another $200+ on equipment today so I'm negative $200 in terms of this camera gig thingy. ;) At least I have new gear to test on my boys.

So, should I be wishing that the wedding gets called off? Is that bad luck?

Crawdads, Crayfish...Whatever They Are

Look what we found in our swimming pool yesterday...



We call them crawdads. Others call them crayfish or mini lobsters. Some people eat them. I don't.

So you wanna come over and swim? ;)



*PSA*- Want to win some super adorable ShooShoos? If so, enter your cutie pie in our free baby photo contest this month.

Beyond Frugal: More Like Stingy Tightwad

I am a frugal person. My husband, on the other hand, has not always been frugal. He was fortunate enough to grow up in a family where there was an overabundance of everything. Basically, he was spoiled and didn't come to know what frugality actually meant until he met me. That was nearly 15 years ago.

Hot Daddy has become increasingly frugal in the past few years partly out of necessity since he is back in school full time, and (I'd like to think) partly because of me. But yesterday Hot Daddy did something that was beyond being thrifty and cheap.

A couple of days ago our basketball deflated, and when you live in a rural area making a quick trip to purchase a new basketball is not an option. There is no quick trip. In our neck of the woods, a trip takes about 2 hours round trip. So if you really want to play basketball you sometimes do things you normally wouldn't do like, say, go into a local grocery/junk store with a basketball in hand and ask to test out one of their ball pumps. He came out 5 minutes later with an inflated ball and no purchase.

I may be cheap but I just don't think I could have done that. Could you?

A Series Of Firsts For The Boy

Baby Picasso (yikes, he 's turning 4 in less than a month...maybe he needs a new nickname??) has been quite the adventurous child as of late. I'll guarantee one thing...there's never a dull moment around here.

In the past week, he has went from a tricycle to pedaling, and riding a bike with training wheels. Here he is in all his bike riding glory...


(click to enlarge photo)

And,

Just yesterday he decided he would jump in the pool with his floaties on and attempt swimming on his own. Of course, it nearly scared me to death and I jumped in after him fully-clothed but it turns out he didn't need me. He swam fine on his own.


(click to enlarge photo)

Another first coming up...his 4th birthday party. Wow. They really do grow up so fast. For his party, he wants a carnival at our local park. He's not asking for much is he?

So, we've rented the park for the day and I'm now trying to figure out decorations and carnival games. His love of Disney Cars and NASCAR is prompting us to have a race car theme for the carnival party. I've looked at Oriental Trading for ideas and supplies. I've got prizes and decorations but I'm seriously lacking in the creativity department. I need inexpensive game ideas that will work well outdoors. My sanity thanks you, my dear readers, in advance for your help and ideas. ;)