Our Newest Member of the Family

This is Izzy. She is a 14 week old Schnoodle (miniature schnauzer and mini poodle mix). We went and picked her up Saturday and surprised the kids. Mason thinks she is the greatest thing ever. He just wants to take care of her. The transition for her has been a little tough on her. She has been very attached to me, not wanting to leave my side. She is starting to get better though. There is one plus to having her a little older of a puppy...house training has gone great. We have not had an accident yet and she woke me up last night to go out. She fits into our family perfect! I am sure there will be a ton of pictures to follow.

Winter Fun!

I can't believe how fast winter came upon us! There was no telling the kids no when they wanted to go play outside (more Mason than Emily)! We had a ton of fun in our little winter wonderland. I tried to get some pictures but of course they tried to avoid it like always!! I can't believe how big my kids are getting! I just look at them all the time and wonder where time goes.
But we will have many more winter wonderland pictures in the future to follow these.

A Long Week

Well, Saturday Tim left to head out to Ohio with two of his buddies to go hunting. Single motherhood here I came! For the most part we were doing great. Mason got sick for a few days but other than that no big obstacles to overcome. Wednesday night Tim called that one of the guys he was hunting with had some emergency family medical issues and they were headed home. I felt so bad for this guy and his family and Tim for his trip cut short. It is the way it goes and they would have done the same for us if needed. So I am no longer living the single life and no "monster buck" in the freezer but that is ok and hopefully he will head down there again this month yet! Hopefully I will have some pictures of a successful hunt later. The kids did miss their daddy so much. I had to tell Mason that Daddy will be home in so many days probably 10 times a day. Emily couldn't really express her feelings that she was missing him until he got home and she wanted to be by his side for everything. It is amazing how much you realize together Tim and I work as a team and how our family functions best all together! I missed him and I am so thankful that he is home safe.
Tomorrow is another Craft show for my mom, sister, and I! This weekend use to be the Holland Christian show but they have move to the Hardawick Church this year. I hope it is a good day for us!

Last I had to post a picture of my adorable little boy. This is what he has been coming out of his room at nap time looking like. He always has to sleep in his underware at nap time which is hilarious. I put him to bed fully dressed and he comes out looking like this! Too funny!!!

Trick or treating!

Halloween was awesome! Mason was our scruffy pirate and Emily was our cute duck or, as most people said chicken. Either way they both loved the dressing up and trick or treating. Emily didn't make it to most of the doors because she was a little slow but she had so much fun just walking around with everyone! Mason on the other hand was off like a champ. Neither one of them lasted very long though. It had been a long day and they were pooped quickly. So we headed back to Nora's and ate some candy. A long but exciting day for the kids!

Saturday, Tim left for Ohio for a week of manlyhood and hunting with a few guys. We really are not use to him being gone for more then a few days so this week is going to be really long. But we are doing pretty good minus a few "I miss my daddy" here and there. And we do really miss him and hope he "wackes a big one" soon! But he has not been successful yet though.

Weekend Trip

This past weekend I was ecstatic about my trip to Chicago. My sister, Mom, aunt and a few of her friends took a bus to Chicago for a little shopping and Dirty Dancing on Broadway. I have been obsessed with the movie since high school so when I found out that it was in the theater I couldn't wait to see it. We left Saturday morning and got downtown with plenty of time to shop and then shop some more. We got some lunch and shopped even more. Later we headed to the theater district and found a martini bar next to the show. We had a few to many martini's before we all had to sit and watch a play. I fought to stay awake a few times...not that the show wasn't awesome but there are some slow parts and they just couldn't keep me awake. But it was awesome!! On the way home on Sunday we stopped at Michigan City and got to do some christmas shopping. Overall, the weekend was awesome and could handle doing that a little more often! There are pictures on my sister's blog linked the Hughes Family.
Tim and the kids had a great weekend also. I always love to hear the stories of what he comes up with to do with them when I am gone. He is such an amazing daddy and just as amazing husband. We are so lucky.

So this week we are spending the time packing for Tim's big Ohio hunting trip. He has been planning this for almost a year and I know he is just ecstatic that is right around the corner. We are going to really miss him but he is so deserving of this when he works 40 long hours a week to take care of us. So hopefully I will be able to post a huge buck in the future.

Tim got a deer!

Last night Tim shot a deer out by Borculo! Yeah more meat in the freezer! I was actually waiting for Tim to say HI after his hunt because we were out in the area. He called and said that he shot one and call your sister. So I called Nora to have her come out with the kids so they could see it also. We were able to drive right in the field where it layed and they were able to be a part of everything. It was so much fun and brought back many memories of us as kids hanging out late at night tracking and helping with the deer! I am so happy to be able to share this with my family the way my mom and dad use to do with us!


They tried to track the deer first and we ended up not seeing enough with the kids flashlights so we just drove up to the deer instead. It was much easier.
Emily was not quite sure of the deer and she was cold and tired so she sat in Tim's truck and waited patiently.
Well, Tim has offically been much more sucessful at hunting than I have been. I hope to be able get something with my bow soon! Until then I will let Tim continue to provide for the family. He does a pretty good job at it.

Emily is 18 months..well 18 1/2 months actually

My baby girl is such a little ham. We can't get enough of her and her BIG personality. Her and I got to go shoot some pictures of her on Friday. She is such a goof ball so we laughed a ton. Didn't get any perfect pictures but that is us. I got pictures that captured who Emmi is. I can't believe how big my baby has gotten, and big she thinks she is. If this is a sign of what life is going to be like with her I am going to laugh my butt off, have tears in my eyes from her sweetness, and I will have many gray hairs from her attitude!





Today was another good day for our craft shows. We were at Grandville High School today. We only have 3 more shows but I am looking forward to them.
Tomorrow, Tim leaves to go hunting for a few days. He has been spending all of his time in the woods lately trying to help me shoot a deer with my bow for the first time so I think he is deserving.
I have some new engagement pictures that I shot last night. They are posted on my photography blog. Check them out if you would like.

The Famous Fall Trip to Crane's Orchards

The kids and I headed out to Crane's Orchard with my dad and step mom. I had been wanting to go as a family but just didn't have a chance. Tim had a meeting with the Senator for the county so I decided not to sit at home all night. We got to the orchards to be the only ones there. We had such a great time. The kids thought it was pretty cool to go pick there own apples. They only had a few kinds left so we didn't have much to pick from.
I always feel like going to the orchards kicks off fall. Fall is already here but it seems like it is something that is part of this time of year. All the pictures I see of everyone else I know going, shows me I am not the only one that feels this way. I just love this time of year!
I wish I like the apples I go to pick every year. I just do it for the kids and they seem to love it.
Now it is time to make the pies!!! I love those.

The kids are playing with Daddy

Emily and Mason were playing with daddy on the couch. Mason was running circles for the most part and Emily was sporting her cowboy hat.


So Daddy was playing this game with the kids. They would sit on his lap and then he would flip them over and land on their feet. Every time they would get done Emily would ask daddy "one more time" then give him a kiss and flip and hope to land on there feet or their head. It was a really safe game!







This weekend was so nice and we had such a nice time. Friday the kids spent the night at "chicken Grandma and Papa's" (My mom has chickens so that is what the kids call them). Tim and I got out to go hunting up north. We didn't see anything Friday and saw two Saturday but neither came close enough to shoot. It is so nice to spend some time with Tim. We enjoy hunting together so much and laugh so much when we should be sitting there quite...maybe that is why we don't see much.
Saturday we picked up the kids and had snack and movie night. We made a bunch of snacks for dinner and layed out the bedding on the floor and watch Bugs life. The kids thought that it was so awesome to have snacks for dinner. I love to just relax and let go of some of the structure and normalcy for the kids every once in a while.
Sunday we went out to shoot a ton of family pictures. I took pictures of our kids, Nora's kids and family, and Micki's kids oh and our family. I will post those soon.

Little update

So, I realized that it has been a month since I have posted anything. I wish I could say I have just been lazy but it isn't the case. I have been extremely busy! Our weekly hustle and bustle, and our craft shows are started, of course my photography, and now is hunting season.
Mason is doing great in school! I am shocked at how much of a change I am seeing this quickly. He has started communicating so much better. He is learning his shapes, and starting to really learn how to draw and write the letter A. If he could only learn his colors. Nora and I laugh a lot about how the boys are just so unfocused when they want. If you ask Mason what color something is he knows it but he will tell me the wrong color. It was a joke but I wondered if he was color blind because for a while he would never get it right. I know he knows his colors and maybe some day he will stop being such a goofball and tell me a stop sign is red not purple.
Emily is growing day in and day out. She wants to and trys to talk so much. I am starting to put together her mumbles and realize the words she is trying to say. Her newest word today was french fries "fafas" It is awesome to see her growing up and change. I can't believe my baby is 18 months old.
My photography business is doing great! For my first year I feel that I am busier then I would have ever expected. I keep learning something new every shoot I do and every time I spend time on the computer working on pictures. I hope that next year goes as well if not better than this year. (hopefully better:) )
And Deer season is finally here. Tim has been driving me crazy about wanting to just go out and hunt. He shot a doe on Friday out on the north side of Holland. It was so cute. He called at 7:30pm and told me shot a doe and that he wanted Mason to come out and help track the deer. So I packed the kids up and headed out to the woods to meet him. It brought tears to my eyes to see Mason and his Daddy walking down the gravel road with flashlights in hand out to find the deer that daddy "wacked" Unfortunately, they could not find it that night and had to wait to morning but it still made Mason that much more excited to hunt and be a part of it. I look forward to the memories to come of him and Emily and their hopefully growing love for the outdoors like their parents. I also got out to hunt but I only saw one deer about 100 yards out. So hopefully I can see a few more and have a shot this weekend.

Well, that is what we have been up to and hopefully we will have some updated pictures soon.

Snap shots of the kids

The kids and I were just playing around and I had my camera out. I think this first picture really shows who the boss is of the two of them. I captured the exact hit of the face. They are growing up so fast and wish that time would just slow down a little.




On another note....I went garage sale shopping today and had the best luck finding things. I had so much fun getting go ol' bargins! I love my dutchness.

Mason's first day of pre-pre school

Tuesday Mason went to pre-school. I call it pre-pre school because he is only 3. Aunt Nora was so nice to set this up for Mason, Carter, Sadie and Brynn. It is so cute, Nora did such a nice job. They have a room set up downstairs with all kinds of activities. If you look at the Hughes link on my page you can see the class room!
We are so luck to have this for him. Mason is doing great with it. He listens well and participates and that is all I care about. He is such a good kid!

This is Daddy telling mason to remember his please and thank yous!

I think he is ready to go!

Everyone was waiting for him to go to school!

Headed downstairs for his first day of school!

Carter was showing me his folder with his work in it!
I had to get Emily in one of the pictures!