we forgot to go to his preschool’s open house last night. his very last preschool one. and we didn’t tell him we forgot. is that bad?! 🙂 i AM going to his class this morning to talk about ‘what i do’.. and he doesn’t know that i am, so in a way i am making up for my negligance last night. 🙂 you know i will not forget, i dreamed about my little schpeel i am going to give these 5 year olds ALL night. i am t i r e d today. (why i need to broadcast that i forgot my son’s open house on the blog… i don’t know, not much to say, and just further evidence that i am not supermom) 🙂

chris and i had the pleasure of being hired to photograph his friend’s wedding. it was great fun. chris and i– as a team, he referred to himself as my assistant… and i loved it. lol. he totally assisted me.. in so many ways. he has a great eye and was able to help me rally the families for the shots and make people laugh for some not so cheesy smiles. i am so grateful. 🙂 i would love to be able to do this more- work together…he inspires me and believes in me. how could you not want to work with your best friend/your #1 cheerleader?!
it was wonderful to sneak off for the day.. and in between the wedding and the reception, drive together in the the middle of nowhere and stop and get fun shots. it was an adventure. i love/need adventures together. i made chris take some of me in the orange grove… yes, i am completely aware of what goobs we are. 🙂

flumb- as caleb calls his thumb 🙂 our babies have been fiddlers of some sort. kira was into her blankie, cameron liked scratchies on our cheeks and arms, caleb liked/LIKES fiddling with our eyebrows… and even chris was a hair fiddler. so nice to see that little els has found her own little comfort. neat to see these kind of things in each of our kiddos.

my sister in law, rachael, was in town last week. we soaked up some good bonding time since she came without her kiddos…we got pedis, went out to lunch and breakfast, shopped–so much fun to be together. we agreed that it would actually be bad if we lived so close to each other, we would lounge around all day while the kids were in school and eat and shop. 🙂 we celebrated my 30th and my MIL’s 60th.

i LOVE these girls. they bring out the best in me and inspire me. i am so happy to have them in my life. they are a few of the most lovely ladies, inside and out, that you would ever meet. i adore them! completely!

elsie was dedicated on sunday- mother’s day- and she wore my gown. so sweet.

that is our first family pic since elsie has been born. and caleb is also in this really weird smiling mode. i think he’s having photo overload. must work on that with him asap!

our families went out to lunch and we celebrated mothers and elsie. it was a good day for sure. 🙂 last one- just because i LOVE this pic. sweet kira kissing elsie’s toes, my sweet SIL and my brother who i don’t get to see too often and who is growing up way too fast.

she’s a little finger/fist/hand sucker. 🙂 it’s her comfort. this is how she puts herself to sleep. the last 2 nights she has slept in her crib from 9 to 6. i CAN’T believe it. none of my other kids did this… so this is amazing to us! 🙂 haha!
thank you for all the bday wishes. it was a great day. and i am so excited to be THIRTY!!!! 🙂

In honor of her 30th birthday, here are 30 things you should know about Jamie…
She is…
30. She’s ever so patient
29. Infinitely compassionate
28. Very easy on the eyes
27. Stranger to unkind words
26. Often gets contagious outbreaks of the giggles
25. Forgiving
24. Strong
23. Affectionate
22. Consistant
21. Loyal
20. Genuine
19. Oozes creativity
18. Worlds greatest snuggler
17. Worlds truest friend
16. Down to earth
15. Faithful
14. Affirming
13. Consistant
12. Gives great counsel
11. Heaps love on her kids
10. Records our days with STYLE
9. Committed
8. Cheerful even when she has a right not to be
7. Brave
6. Hopeful
5. adventurous
4. unconditional in her love
3. present in the moment
2. Peaceful
and the number 1 thing you should know about Jamie…
1. She is our compass, and without her, we’d be lost.
Happy 30th Jamie, we adore you…

i am dreading the first part of this week.. but so excited about the second part of this week! 🙂 lots to do in the next couple of days so i can fully enjoy my sister in law’s visit!
we had a wonderful weekend! elsie went to her first play! 🙂 she sat through it like an allstar. i’m glad i got to watch the whole thing! thanks, els! although staying out late saturday night threw off her schedule – (yes, she is on a pretty good night schedule!!! yay!!!) we paid for it that night and the next day.

my brother in law, tudor was the lead in the school play, Gaslight Girl and was amazing. he sang his heart out- it was such great fun. he’s a natural! although it was a "school play" it totally didn’t feel like a "school play"- everyone did SO good. and just thinking of how much time they put into it– it makes this mother appreciate their hard work.

we all agreed that it was our favorite play of his (and he has been in many!) and we can’t wait to go back on saturday to watch it again. good job, tuds!

because my friend tracy got a new mac today, i pulled out our isight camera that has been sitting here since we got back from australia. it made me think, duh- i should have this out all the time so when els is at the computer with me, she can coo and smile at daddy when he is at work! 🙂

it was good chat with tracy and her girls…they are the same ages as my boys..we were all amazed with technology. they were getting ready for bed, we were getting ready for dinner. and as tracy said, it’s neat to see each other’s kids live and moving.. we know each other so well, but we never see each other’s kids but in pictures.

so that’s that. another thing to distract me during the day…

oh, and i showed cameron everyone’s comments on his story… he was really happy. so thank you for your sweet words. 🙂

is up at the 2peas garden. there are themes where i am really challenged, like the old is new theme or the interior design theme.  and at the end, i am really pumped because i did pages i normally wouldn’t do. but this theme, everyday, that is my kind of theme. i could whip those out like crazy because that is what i scrap. the everyday. this month i played around with the digital kits. i tell you, rhonna and anne really make you want to get in your photoshop and mess around!

(kira took that picture- i love it!) i was looking back in my old scrapbooks from 2001-2003 and was laughing at some of the things i documented that caleb said, like: ‘Call me SPiderman’ and ‘it’s not fair because it’s not fair!’ sure i like a birthday page and a holiday page every now and then… but this is what i want to remember. the things that i am sure to forget in a few years. the little things that consume my days right now. like this:

and this:

because it goes by way too fast.

OK, so this week I’m taking a detour.  Normally, this is a place where I shed some male perspective on life, but today, I’m making way for a better man than me…
One of the things I find most helpful in all relationships is word pictures.  Growing up I was always told to use statements like "I feel" rather than the more accusatory, "You did such and such…" The logic being that when you present an offense in such a way, the offender is less likely to become defensive, and a peaceful resolution can be acheived.  This is a trick that works more often than not, and almost all the time if you creatively present your fellings by using a word picture.  Sadly, our famlies, indeed our culture, has lost that art of debate and would much rather throw pies and call each other names (these are adults and leaders?) which is why what I am about to share with you is all the more amazing…please read the following, copied verbatum from a story written by a seven- year old…

"The Star Berry"

This story takes plance in California, 1998.

Once there was a boy.  The boy had 1 sister.  They would always play and be nice to each other. But one day that all changed.  The boy’s mom had a baby boy.  The baby boy got the attention and the girl gave her attention to the baby boy.  The boy asked his sister if she wanted to play with him but every time she didn’t notice the boy talking.

The baby boy grew up.  It was 2004.  The girl didn’t pay attention to any of her brothers.  They all started to fight.  Two years passed, they still didn’t stop fighting.  Then the boy’s mom had another baby.  The sister paid attention to the baby sister.  The big big brother had had enough.  He said, "I’ll move to an open space where no one will annoy me."  So he did.  He was a long way from home. 

He went into this old shop.  Someone was selling berries.  The guy said, "here, a free berry.  This one is magic."  The boy was so excited he ran back home, but no one was there.  He was scared.  He had only four dollars.  He didn’t have enough money to buy a house.  He wondered, "where are they?"  He then said, "they might be at our old, old house."  He ran to his old, old house.   They were not there.  Then he remembered the magic berry!  He said, "I wish my family was here."  And then they were.  "Mom, dad, sister, brother, I’m sorry.  From now on I will never fight with you again."  "Me too," said his sister.  "Me three," said his brother.  And they tried to live happily ever after.

I think you are wondering who the big brother is?  It’s me.  And I will try to keep my promise."

The End.

Cameron wrote that.  Cameron, the middle child.  In two pages he was able to reveal so much about what is going on in that little spirit of his.  Impressively, he was able to apologize, but also convey what was frustrating him.  He may not be Roald Dahl, but this story is the best I’ve ever read.  Imagine if we could all get over our hang ups, get over ourselves, long enough to communicate so effectively to those we love.  I’m inspired, I hope you are as well.

NEXT WEEK: Did you hear?  Men have a time of the month too.  Find out what to look for and why we feel vulnerable…