Day 160

Ooof, it was a hot one today (and yes, you are only allowed to say ooof if you can claim some scandinavian heritage!)

The kids and I lubed up on sunblock and filled up two kiddie pools and proceeded to get the summer started!

In the back of my mind, I had all of these ideas of things I wanted to do.

The ideas came from pinterest of course!

I can't get enough of that site lately!

Here, in no certain order, are the pinterest inspired projects and games we tackled!


This game was a ton of fun for the kids (please ignore our gross rusty water...there are drawbacks to living in the country!). I blew up some balloons and put them in our kiddie pool (complete with a 'waterslide...we go all out around here ;) !!). The kids had to try and pop them without using their hands. So FUN!

And yes, my daughter is wearing plaid with paisley prints...it's how she rolls! I learned long ago to pick my battles and that is not one of them!

We also did our own 4th of July tshirts...it was a fun project but we were all very hot and tired at this point! It wasn't 10 minutes after this photo was shot and the little guy was asleep!

I'll have the 'after' photos on the 4th!

We also made some yummy fruit kabobs for a cool snack late in the afternoon.

They had a blast making patterns and picking out the fruits they wanted to use. I smiled b/c they were LOVING the FRUIT! Madi loves her some kiwi..you couldn't tell could you?


And last but certainly not least we painted a TON of pictures to hang up. Tanner, my school boy, created this...I hope he always feels this way!

Day 159

Dear 16 year old me,

The video at the bottom of this post, struck a chord with me when I first viewed it a month ago.

So I made an appointment with my dermatologist (who I try and see at least once a year, although this time I have to admit I was about 6 months late).

My appointment was today.


The whole thing was proceeding just fine, when she suddenly gave me a funny look and said, 'I don't like that one. No that's got to come off.'

My heart dropped.

Although I know that it is probably nothing to worry about, I can't help but think about the 'what ifs'.

I am sure that I will turn out just fine (I will get results on the ugly mole in about a week).

But I have to encourage all of you, to please watch this video and try to keep an eye on your body for odd spots, changing moles, ect.

Melanoma is a deadly cancer but is one that can be caught early because it begins on the outside of your body.

This blog post will be completely worth it to me if just one person hears me and takes my advice, you are worth it!

Day 158

I love Minnesota...

...especially in the summertime and on days like today!

The three stinkers and I were invited to play at a friends lake home, and boy, did we have F.U.N.!

We got to play in the sand on the beach,

and try out bright green alligator floaties...

But the best part of the day, was getting to ride on the boat..

and then getting asked if we wanted to try tubing (a first for the kids!). Tanner was slightly freaked out about it, can you tell?!


But he soon got over it and asked to go faster and faster!

Once her older brother got a ride, Madi decided that she was brave enough to give it a go, especially when her friend was going to be riding with!

She was all smiles!

The two little guys had a good time watching the waves created by the boat.


We had a fantastic day in the Minnesota sunshine! I LOVE living here!

Day 157

A familiar scene at our place these days.

Tanner really, really wanted to play a computer game and when I said 'ok' he was pretty excited!

He's really into PBS kids go lately, and since it is an educational site, I don't object too often!

Day 156

My girl.

She is spirited, happy, carefree.

This photo captures it all.

I {LOVE} it!

Day 155

I was so honored when I was asked to shoot the wedding of my best friends little sister this weekend!

I absolutely {LOVE} her family and couldn't resist posting this shot....

They wanted to try something fun and different for a Christmas card photo this year...this shot made me laugh when I was going through them tonight!

There were of course, many more shots of the family looking beautiful and happy and not at all silly, but I will post them later on my 'business' page!

I can't help but add a couple of more of my faves of Ryan and Sam, congratulations you two, I couldn't be more happy for you!

Day 154

The boys went with their dad this morning before Madi and I were out of bed.

She was so excited when she woke up and found out that it was just the two of us at home.

I couldn't say no when she asked if I would go for a bike ride with her.

It turned out to be a fun morning riding around the farm (and stopping for a couple of photos now and then!).

Day 153

It was finally warm enough outside to get a little wet and wild!

Tyson got ahold of the hose and wouldn't let it go.

Anytime that his brother or sister would come close he would chase them and spray them for all he was worth.

He truly fits the little brother role to a 'T'!

Day 152

Madi's friend Isabelle came to spend the night at our house the other night.

The girls had a blast playing outside with the kitties and bunny and feeding the calves.

When I asked them if they wanted to jump in the mud puddles (after all, we have so many...why not?!), Madi was excited and exclaimed to her friend that she wanted to get so muddy that 'mommy will be mad at us'.

The look on Isabelle's face, however, told me that she didn't exactly feel the same way about mud...

Day 152

He is my 'someone'.

I love that he was ok with taking this photo after our date night the other night!

I tried (unsuccessfully) to focus the frame and then use the self timer to get a decent shot of the two of us.

We ended up with about 20 totally blurry and grainy photos...which is completely ok with me.

It's much more important (to me) that we captured the moment.


Thanks for being such a good sport (I know that you are reading this!).

Day 151

My sports fanatic Tanner.

He loves playing ball!

Day 150

Can you believe that this little big guy is THREE months old already!?

I can't.

Babies grow up too fast and this one seems to be growing that much faster!

I LOVE you baby John!

Day 149

I photographed a beautiful wedding on Saturday.

This couple was so fun and easy to work with!

Thanks again Lucas and Alexa, it was a joy to photograph your big day!