Deal of the Week, Ketchup

Yeah, yeah. I realize I'm way behind in blogging and I'm sure you're all terribly worried that you've been missing out on something exciting happening in our life, but not so much. We did have one week of Midwest Rodeo Entries call center and have had the last 2 weeks off. We'll hit hit hard again next week when we take entries for Highmore and McLaughlin. Sometime I'll give you a blog about what we do there. Other than work we've just been getting ready to tear apart the house. We're officially in construction zone until mid-September when we're trading in power tools for a crib mobile and baby monitor.

Deal of the week - three weeks long (you best take advantage) - is senior portrait sittings. We're offering a portrait credit for seniors who book before June 15th. And even if we don't book tons of senior sessions (though I'd love to work with you all!) it has been great publicity for the photography biz. We have had numerous inquiries and several bookings so that's great news! Let us know if you have any questions. We're happy to help! Just remember, I'll need a little time off this fall so we hope to keep the schedule full this summer.

Because I know you love him more than me. Here's what Gage has been up to:

We spent some time at the ranch with Uncle Rick and "Osey" (Rosey) brushing out his monstrosity of a coat preparing for the big First Ride.

I know, I'm doomed right? My apologies on the (lack of) photographic quality. When Gage was "in position" I wasn't. Its still funny though. Next time we'll try it with boots and see if we can't get the mark-out too.

We have had a ton of rain lately. Lots of clouds. Lots of drizzle. And one very cooped-up toddler who's pretty sure he needs to live in the great outdoors. This was his first experience with a puddle. He LOVED it. I wasn't sure he would because he really prefers to have clean hands and clean shoes, but something about a great puddle and mud boots really turns a kid around.

Gage is growing up so fast. I've had a few Mommy Moments the last week that I attribute mostly to pregnancy hormones. One morning in particular brought a few tears to my eyes: Gage woke up and peed on the potty like a big boy (we're working on it...), then completely dressed himself (I zipped and buttoned the jeans), got his own breakfast and sang me the ABCs on the way to daycare (minus E, F, and G). Its a good thing there's a baby coming - Gage has grown up.

He has been really crabby lately and exercising his mastery of the English language in a negative fashion but we can now attribute the attitude to all of the new things he is working on. "No Mommy, I not go to Raven's house." and my favorite "I want to need _______." It just about sends me over the edge sometimes. But I asked for a glimpse of what was going on inside his head so I'll enjoy it before he turns into a teenager and doesn't talk to me for days on end. Besides potty training, ABCs and getting dressed he's also recently gotten color recognition down well and can count to 10. Not every time, but he's done it several times. He now counts all sorts of fun things. "Mommy, I count bulls. Mommy, I count circles. Mommy, I count books." These are all things we've been working on for several months and he seemed to get them all figured out overnight (so that's what he does when he doesn't sleep).

So there you have it - all the ketchup I can mustard right now. And all that you can stand(wich).

Kim