10 on Tuesday, Volume 4

Questions for Tuesday, March 15, 2011!



1. What is your cleaning style like?
The short answer: I’m not nearly as clean as I’d like.
I like to make the excuse that our tiny house with tiny closets make clutter an easy problem to have. But I try to remind myself that if I had more space, I’d just fill it up and it too would be cluttered and messy. So usually my cleaning style consists of moving enough crap around every night that I won’t trip in the dark, waiting until the house is a total sham and then pick it up. We’re taking steps in the right direction to fix the storage situation at home and a moldy storage room forced me to unwillingly purge half of our belongings last year too. So that’s fun. (Who’s idea was this questions anyway…sheesh, way to make a girl feel like a total bum)


2. What is your favorite thing to add to an outfit to take it from casual to classy?
A cardigan? Maybe a necklace? Perhaps scrape the boogers and crusty cracker crumbs off my shirt?


3. Do you like stormy weather?
It sure keeps life interesting. I don’t mind watching storms from my house, but I hate the thought of being stranded away from its safety net. The sky intrigues me. My Grandpa Waba is a storm chaser, it runs in my blood.


4. What is your favorite cold treat on a hot day?
Fresh lemonade. Super cold.


5. What is your favorite warm treat on a cold day?
Right now its definitely Russian Tea.


6. Who is your favorite animated character?
These questions are not easy, my friends. I really like the kid from Meet the Robinsons – Cornelius, before he was a Robinson. My least favorite? Caillou.


7. What do you keep your jewelry in?
A Lane mini cedar chest that my Grandma and Grandpa gave me when I graduated. I smile every time I see it.


8. Do any of the rooms in your house have a theme?
Not really. The boys’ bedroom will have a cowboy theme someday, but as long as Max sleeps in the crib, there isn’t a lot of room for décor.


9. Do you watch any interior design TV shows – if so, what is your favorite?
Nope. But I probably should. I’m certain they have themed rooms and ideas for cutting down on clutter, presented by really awesome animated classy characters.


10. When was the last time you did something risk-taking?
Yikes. I’m pretty safe. Though I did drive home from Aberdeen after the DI tournament on Saturday and the roads were pretty crappy in the morning. So even letting me behind the wheel was risky for our family. I knew the roads had improved or I would have never tried it that afternoon. I’m kind of a wuss.

10 on Tuesday, Volume 3

These aren't the real 10 on Tuesday questions. My answers for this week's questions would have been lame-o so my BFF graciously check the archived questions and picked these instead.

1. Fill in the blank. Sometimes I wish my life was more ______.

boring...Like almost everyone else in the world, we work hard to create a balance between work, home, family, friends and giving back. It’s a perpetual struggle to make sure everything gets the attention that it deserves. The easy part? Our kids come first.

2. How do you cure the hiccups?
Plug my nose and drink water. Really, I don’t cure them. I just embrace them and giggle. But if you need advice, watch any sort of kids show – there’s almost always a hiccup episode. For real.

3. What are three of your favorite indulgences?
I associate indulgence with food, naturally, so here it goes.
Mountain Dew – I know, its probably rotting my soul from the inside.
Crab Rangoon – I will never answer a question regarding how many I eat in a sitting.
Pizza – really anything pizza flavored, looking like a pizza or pretending to be related to pizza.

4. Where is the most exotic place you would like to travel to? The most mundane?
Exotic - Africa. I really wanted to go before we had kids, but Gage changed our plans. I wouldn’t trade him for the world. Or Africa.
Mundane - I'd love to go to the Jack Daniels Headquarters sometime with Jack. Why not, right?

5. Does having your time planned out stress you or relax you?
Stresses. Me. Out. I like an outline, but we mostly like to wing it. However, if I do have something planned and it gets nixed or changed last minute it does throw me off. In that respect, I’m a bit like a toddler. With fewer naps.

6. What are your favorite fabrics to wear?
Cotton – is there really anything else? I could definitely use a wardrobe makeover if anyone's interested in styling me.

7. Do you sleep through the night?
Funny you should ask that. We have gotten much better about sleep at our house, but for the past 4 years saying we've struggled to get a good night's sleep would be an understatement. Some children sleep. Others don't. We tried everything, we tried nothing. We asked our doctor. He told us to give him Benadryl. Gage learned to climb in and out of his crib starting at 15 months. He prefers sleeping on the couch so we moved one in his room. It didn't work. At least (at just shy of 4 years old) he's basically able to take care of his sleepless self now. However, if given the chance, I can usually sleep 8 hours, no longer.

8. When you were younger, what did you think you would be doing at this age? How close is that to what you are doing?
Throughout school my answer was almost always that I wanted to teach. In elementary, I wanted to be an elementary teacher. In high school, I saw myself as a band teacher/director (no laughing). Then I decided to teach agriculture. Through it all, I think I realized that I really just wanted to nurture young souls and ultimately, be a mom. How close is it to what I am doing? Well I am a mom, and I do teach, just not in a classroom.

9. What has surprised you most about growing up?
How being married to a great guy can make all the difference in the world. Who knew? (You guys, he does the laundry. All of it.) Also, I always pictured myself raising three or four kids with dark brown hair and eyes. I'm surprised at how perfectly complete our family is with two crazy little boys with hair the bleaches out in the sunshine.

10. Are you good at keeping secrets?
You know it. Though it surprises me how few secrets there are anymore. People are terribly generous with the information they're willing to share. I subbed at the school quite a bit the year after I left and it blew my mind what information those kids were freely offering.

10 on Tuesday, Volume 2

Two weeks in a row. Look at me go. I really hate the snow. Its Dr. Seuss's birthday week you know...

Questions for Tuesday, March 1, 2011


1. What type of cell phone do you have and how would you rate it?
DroidX and I love it. Since Internet and email capabilities allow us to work from anywhere (more or less), this phone has made a pretty big difference. Is it perfect? Probably not. Do I use it to its full capability? Not even close. But, it lets me stay connected, capture candid pictures and videos of my kids and download enough aps to keep everyone happy when we travel. Or while I wash the dishes once a week (Pandora much?)


2. What has been your most serious injury?
I had surgery to repair acid reflux when I was 18, so that was kind of a big deal, but it wasn’t really an injury. I’ve only been treated in an ER once that I remember. We were at a 4-H calf show (yep) in DeSmet SD, and my steer tried to walk on the wrong side of a stationary post. Being 13 or 14 years old at the time, I should have known better, but instead of letting go, I held onto the rope halter and it pulled through my hand and rope burned my hand pretty bad. We’re talking instant blisters in places where the skin didn’t just peel off. So we went to the ER, where they treated it with burn cream, bandaged me up, gave me an ice bag and sent me back to the calf show. I felt like a big doofus.


3. What is one movie you hate and why?
Hmmmm. The worst movie I saw in the theater was probably Punch Drunk Love followed closely by Meet Joe Black. However, Meet Joe Black has offered so many hilarious memories with my BFF, that I can’t possibly hate it. I used to really be into movies, but not as much anymore.

4. How many email addresses do you have?
Only one that I check everyday. I do still have a hotmail account (I think?) that my grandma and grandpa use (hey Wabas!) but I only check that occasionally.


5. What website do you waste the most time on?
Lately its been Etsy. I swear you could look at stuff on that site for days on end. It inspires me and at the same time makes me feel like a slacker – who wants to teach me to be crafty?


6. Which Mexican restaurant makes the best salsa?
I love my Grandma Teresa’s salsa, but she's German so it probably doesn't count. I used to love Guadalajara’s in Brookings SD when it was readily available, but its kind of a long commute for condiments.


7. What is your dream car?
I’m indifferent. I’ll let me hubs pick me out something cool.


8. If you could spend up to $100 with no strings or restrictions or guilt, what would you buy?
Music, chocolate, shoes, or art for the walls at home. I’m terribly exciting.


9. What is your favorite board game?
I’m a Trivial Pursuit kinda girl. But I usually get owned.


10. How often do you change your hairstyle?
I try once or twice a year, but then I either cut it or grow it out so it ends up back at my safety zone.

10 on Tuesday, Volume 1

Something new to try. Hopefully it'll get me thinking more about getting my ideas down on paper. You know, because someday I'm certain my (future) teenage sons will need a reason to shun me.

Questions for Tuesday, February 22, 2011

1. What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day. Do you love it? Hate it?

I’m pretty indifferent really. Do I celebrate it with my husband? Sometimes, but not on a Monday. As far as scheduled holidays go, I’m alright celebrating for the sake of eating cake (or chocolate, or turkey, etc.) but I enjoy doing nice things for people when I think they need it most. And its probably not when I know they’re getting plenty of presents and well wishes anyway. That said, since we’ve had kids, we celebrate holidays for them so they can form their own ideas about life.

2. What is your favorite romantic comedy?

Yikes…I don’t get to watch many. Sweet Home Alabama is a standby for me and I like Pretty Woman. Does Harry Potter count? No? Hmmmm, how about The Big Bang Theory? Pawn Stars? Myth Busters?

3. Meg Ryan & John Mellencamp: what’s your first reaction?

Are they together? Good for them I guess. I’ve tried to get my hair cut like hers about 13 times. Its always a different style I clip out and take in, so I must really like her style. And John has some great work out there you can’t help but love.

4. All time favorite poem or quote?

“Live so that when your children think of integrity and fairness, they think of you.” And “Faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel.”

5. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve gone without sleep? (like consecutive hours).

3 years, 10 months. Ok, not really but suffice it to say that our household is rarely well rested. I anticipate having a super hard time getting Gage out of bed as a teenager. He has lots of catching up to do. The longest without sleep is likely TEC in high school. 48 hours at one point I think. It took lots of Mountain Dew.

6. What color ink do you prefer to use?

Blue. What’s my favorite kind of pen you ask? http://bit.ly/frIr9l There is definitely a perfect pen for everyone. And I can probably find it for you. I’m a bit of an office supply junkie. It’s what I do.

7. Share with us a blog that you recently found and fell in love with (and link us!)

I had seen this once before and kind of forgot about it. When I found it again, I enjoyed it even more. Its beautiful. http://bit.ly/bQce1q

8. If you could be on a reality TV show which one would you choose?

American Pickers. It has become my American Idol of 5 years ago. Gotta love watching big dorks do what they love. It doesn’t get any more real than that – ha!

9. Mountains or Beach?

I will pick mountains every time. Namely, Bear Tooth Pass in MT/WY – heaven on earth right there.

10. With the Oscars around the corner, what’s your pick for best picture?

Yikes, I probably haven’t seen any of them. The best movie I saw in a theater last year was Harry Potter 7.1 and I spent the first half worried that my kid was going to have nightmares about it. And he wasn’t even there.

Non-Linear

Here's the story that needs to be told before I completely forget. Because someday, Max will want to know. Its a story that isn't finished, hasn't been particularly easy and one I'd love to give back. But sometimes, the universe has other plans. So here ya go.

About a week after Max turned one and had a well-child checkup with our regular physician, we noticed a bump in front of his right ear. I called the clinic right away and was told by a nurse that as long as there was no fever, redness or pain just to give it time. A week later, I called again. A week after that I made an appointment with our physician. He had "never seen anything like it" but contacted an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist in Bismarck where he relayed the information that we should do warm compresses and massage to the area every 2 hours and call in 2 weeks if it hadn't improved. Well, it didn't so we made an appointment for the first week of December. Initially, they scheduled us for a CT scan and then appointment at the clinic but called the day before to cancel the CT scan because they realized they couldn't do a CT scan on a 15 month old at the clinic, as the procedure would require sedation. In the meantime, the bump had continued a slow growth until a few days before the appointment in Bismarck where it grew much faster, and started turning red. We headed to Bismarck the night before his appointment and stayed at a hotel so the boys could swim. I grabbed a few shots the morning of his appointment (a Friday).

 I can tell you that it didn't look this bad for the 6 weeks prior to his appointment. While it did continue to grow at a slow rate, much of this occurred in the few days before we headed North.

 When we met with the doctor, he started by saying that he didn't want to order unnecessary tests, we hadn't tried antibiotics so he thought that was the first course of action. And then he touched "the bump". His decision changed immediately and they called the hospital to get us in for an MRI that afternoon. He said depending on the results, we may still try antibiotics or opt for surgery. We had to wait for him to digest his breakfast which made for a long afternoon. The MRI showed several pockets of fluid that were not properly draining, all related to the salivary gland. There was one main pocket of concern, but no abscess relating to the swelling which was good news. We talked with the doctor on the phone and chose to do the surgery, but in the meantime they had woken Max up from anesthesia, and we didn't want to put him back under right away, so we were admitted to St. Alexius in Bismarck to let some IV antibiotics combat the infection that had developed from the pockets not draining.

 For the most part, the kids had a blast at the hospital. There were great toys to play with, game rooms, halls to walk and Gage got to stay at a hotel with Jack and swim, swim, swim.

 Looks like fun, right? About 48 hours after we were admitted, both boys started puking. Gage at the hotel and Max at the hospital. They puked the first time within 15 minutes of each other. I can tell you that Jack had it way worse at the hotel. After Max's 2nd bout, they started him on anti-nausea meds and bumped his IV fluid intake. He was in good shape in no time. Gage had to tough it out on his own. The nurses worried about dehydration and suggested calling our physician or taking him to acute care. Good stuff, right? He was such a trooper. I only left the hospital once and never made it to the hotel, but Jack said it looked like a war zone. Not cool. Somehow, we managed to keep the pukes at bay ourselves.

 Meanwhile, we let Max have the weekend to try and combat the swelling. I think we'd have had better luck if an allergic reaction wouldn't have developed the first night we were there. They aren't positive it was the antibiotic, as the poor boy also has terribly sensitive skin and could have reacted to the scrubs/sheets but at any rate, it wasn't fun. They had to stop that medication and then wait for the doctor to call in something else. The standard-issue hospital lotion they gave us only made it worse and the tape used on the IV left pretty good marks too.

 It wasn't until the 2nd or 3rd day that we found this window at the end of the hallway where he could watch the traffic. We put a few miles on trying to keep Max busy and happy and walking helped a lot. Every 2 hours (like clockwork) they wanted us to do the warm compress. At this point, the bump was infected, red and tender so he screamed every time for the first 2 days. Then I got a VHS copy of The Lion King and he sat as still as could be on my lap watching that while we pushed on his head.

 Seriously? We couldn't have asked for a better patient. I cannot even begin to imagine the same experience with Gage at this age. They had all of the equipment we needed to try and keep him happy. We ordered a la carte every meal and snack for him, had hundreds of movies to choose from and a few blond ponytails to flirt with. He really preferred the young, blond nurses most. Try explaining that to the middle-aged brunette night nurse who can't figure out why he cries when she enters the room.

Putting on the miles...once Gage started puking we tried to contain our germs to our room and him away from the hospital a little more. But by Sunday night it was evident that Max would be headed to surgery on Monday morning so they woke up super early and joined me about 7:30 to head downstairs. They estimated the surgery to take 30-45 minutes and it took 11. Our ENT doctor was awesome and with four little kids of his own, understood a bit what we were going through.

 Post-surgery dressing. It didn't last long before it fell right off. Way more impressive-looking than it needed to be. The incision was less than one inch long right in front of his ear lobe. The doctor actually said its the same place they make an incision for a face lift and also a place where most people develop a natural crease. Max did great during both trips of anesthesia and our biggest post-op concern was eating too much too fast (they'd pulled him off of feed and fluids the night before) and walking too fast in the hallway. He only had 2 doses of Tylenol post-op for pain management.

Same window, different day. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic at this point. Max too. We actually borrowed a stroller from the hospital to walk the halls as my arms and back were screaming from hauling him around and he walked too fast for the short IV leash. 

So when we checked in, the regular infant rooms were all full and they put us in a PICU room as "overflow". Thankfully we didn't have to use most of the equipment in the room. But the baby jail did come in handy when I needed a break. Or a sandwich. Or a nap. The one piece of equipment that was used at the nurse's station was the in-room camera. They'd wait until they saw him wake before they bugged him for vital checks at night. And at one point during the day a nurse came running into the room to tell me he was trying to crawl out of the crib. Dressed. Like. This. He figured out to put toys along the edge, stand on them and reach over the rail. It was great fun.

Watching The Lion King, no doubt. I didn't keep track, but I'm guessing 20x and many more times since.  

 I think this was morning of discharge. Somersaults in the crib. Outstanding.

Since the five day stay at St. Alexius, we have done warm compresses to the area 2-5 times a day (five at first, now it needs it less often), been back for 3 follow up visits (#4 this week) and seen marked improvement. Its possible he'll need another operation, but at this point we are happy with progress. We have reopened the incision at the office visits to give the drainage a change to leave through the side of his face instead of his saliva duct, which hasn't been able to keep up 100% yet. The duct probably collapsed or shrunk in the time it wasn't being used and needs time to get back to normal. I wonder if without extra saliva production from teething we'd be further ahead. Speculation. The healing is definitely not linear meaning it might look better one day and then regress a bit for a few. Looking back at these pictures is good for us in that we can see how far we've come. Its sure been a trip. Probably a fluke deal and so terribly rare that there's nothing to tell us how long the healing process will take or what we can expect for the future.

But for now, we'll take it.

A Quick Rundown

Since I last posted we:

• successfully pulled off a great After Thanksgiving Sale at The Current Connection. Cider consumed: 1 gallon. Coffee consumed: 3 cups. Not sure what everyone else drank but I sure was thirsty that day. It couldn't possibly have been the 4 dozen cookies I ate.
• barely recovered before we headed to Bismarck for what we thought would be a quick night in a hotel and appointment with an Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist for Max. Five days at St. Alexius Hospital, an MRI, surgery, an allergic reaction, 18 viewings of The Lion King on VHS, THE STOMACH FLU and several gallons of Mountain Dew later they finally released us. Max and I have been back for three follow-up visits since, with another next Tuesday. This experience will get its own post. Some day.
• drove across SD to fly to California and spend the holidays with family. The kids met Mickey Mouse and Jack crossed 'change poopy diapers on airplanes' off his Bucket List. The week after we came home, it snowed in LA.
• knocked out a couple of walls at home. Pretty routine.
• celebrated my birthday with dinner, a movie and a full night's sleep. Thanks to Chuck and Koreen for watching the boys and everyone who sent gifts, cake, flowers and well wishes. I felt much older than 28 as Max decided to help me celebrate the day by waking up several times in the night. We've since learned that he's cutting molars that keeps him in a constant state of pain and misery. But we still love him. And Tylenol.
• celebrated Wrangler's birthday. He's 5 now (in human years) and enjoys eating leftover birthday cake.

That's all for now - hope you're feeling up to speed!

...And Counting

In precisely 56 hours, we will open doors at The Current Connection with a fresh look, great deals, cookies, coffee and cider. In the last 56 hours, we have unloaded, cleaned, assembled and filled new shelving at the office, and received and unpacked truckloads of freight among many other important preparations. At any rate, we are working hard to ensure a seamless, exciting Black Friday experience for our customers. I'm happy to highlight a few specials now, and as long as we stay on track, I can get you even more information tomorrow.

Toshiba 40" LCD TV - $529.99
TVs in stock 10"-55" including SONY 3D packages!!
Dell Vostro 230 Desktops (with monitor, keyboard and mouse) - $449.99
Dell Vostro 3500 Laptop - $599.99 (that's a $100 savings off the normal price!)
Great pricing on Digital Cameras and camcorders
10% Savings on all Toys in stock before 10am
Close-out pricing on all TV stands

Don't forget - we do accept the 0% Christmas loans offered through local banks in conjunction with Lemmon and Hettinger Chambers of Commerce.

It's not too late to change your weekend plans to include a trip down Main Street in Lemmon on Friday.

God Bless the Grumpy Old Troll

My heart nearly exploded tonight over a gourmet dinner of cheese-filled hot dogs and boxed mac and cheese.

The kiddos and I stopped at the library after work and then came home for some "bonding" while Pops had a meeting. Max has been joining in our evening meal prayer and tonight was no different. Five minutes later, he chattered like a monkey to get my attention, "Aye yi yi yi yi." (Pretty common noise for him). When I looked at him, he folded his hands, closed his eyes and in his sweet little baby voice gave his rendition of our prayer. If that doesn't sweeten you up, you need to eat chocolate and chug a Dew. Stat.

Our mealtime prayer is fairly common, but I'll include it for my family, who uses a Catholic version: :)

Come Lord Jesus, be our guest.
Let these gifts to us be blessed.

While Max continued to make monkey noises and smash macaroni in his hair, Gage was trying like nothing else to get the words right. He does the first line great and put random syllables together for the 2nd line with no idea what he's saying. So I tried to help. And after a few tries he got it.

Five minutes later he holds up a hunk of hot dog and asks, "But why do we bless our food?"

Seriously, could he wait a few years for me to research answers to these questions? Strangers? Blessing food? I'm in WAAAAY over my head so I did what I do best. Make something up.

We talked about how its like thanking Jesus for letting us have warm food to eat and how some people might not get supper and have to go to bed hungry.

Without skipping a beat he came back with, "Like the Grumpy Old Troll. He's always hungry too." [from The Three Billy Goats Gruff]

I think tomorrow night we'll change up the prayer:

Come Lord Jesus, be our guest.
Don't forget the Grumpy Old Troll
He like to eat goat the best.

Its probably easier to understand anyhow.

(Full Disclosure: Moments after this story took place Max fell out of the bathtub while I wasn't paying attention and Gage fed his leftover hot dog bun to the dog.)

Black Friday Sale Ad!

I let the cat out of the bag and started distributing a few of these yesterday. The official ads will hit news stands and air waves in the next few days but here's a sneak peak at a few of the deals and offerings next Friday. We will have cookies, coffee and cider all day, and will be showing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on a SONY 3D TV. Stop down and join the fun!

Lesson Learned. Mostly.

On a typical week day, I load and unload the boys into their carseats four times and embark on four very short adventures. Five to ten minutes each trip where I either talk on the phone ("Hi Mom! Just on my way home from work."), sing tunes ("I Caught a Little Baby Bumblebee") or attempt to engage my children in conversation. When it works, I almost always pull up to our destination laughing at the wit of my kiddos. Here's a look at tonight's drive home.

Let me first backup a couple of weeks when I got to have "the talk" with the boys. "The Talk" about...strangers. They've come to be a little too comfortable with people they don't know. For instance, at a rodeo in Rapid City a month back Max climbed right into the lap of a tattooed bearded vendor at their "Cowboy Christmas" booth. He was a super nice man and my toddling baby's simple act made his day but really? Later that week I explained to Gage that he shouldn't talk to strangers without Mom or Dad with him because even though they might seem nice, sometimes people hurt other people. We've had similar talks about strange dogs so I answered a few simple questions regarding the who's and where's, Gage shared stories of daycare buddies punching and fighting (all the cool kids are doing it) and the conversation was over.

But with Gage, its never really over.

Tonight we're pulling to the stop sign at the south end of Main Street.

Gage: Mom, that's the hotel with the pool. Why are there so many cars there?
Mom: Those people needed a place to sleep tonight. Maybe they're on vacation. They might be working away from home.
Gage: Maybe they just wanted to go swimming.
Mom: There's that too.
Gage: But we shouldn't talk to them. Because we don't know them.
Mom: Very good. You remembered!
Gage: And stangers will kill us.
Mom: (stifle laughs) Sure.
Gage: Like that guy on Aladdin. The scary one by the lion head.
Max (upon hearing 'lion'): grrrrrrrr

Just another day in paradise.

Better go. Time to watch Aladdin before bed. Ha!

I'm hoping to post info about Black Friday special at the store tomorrow so check back soon!

J+T Seim

I had the pleasure of meeting this family in Lemmon for a fall photo shoot. I knew it was going to be good before we even got started, and was happy with how things went upon completion. These feelings surfaced when I started editing and there was hardly anything to delete. Normally at a family shoot with two energetic kids I get to "keep" about 1/2 the pictures. Not the case here. Take a look for yourself. These kiddos are absolutely stunning.

Paisley turned one not long ago and she is full of the energy and curiosity that comes with being a healthy one year old. 

Big sister Jayda is loads of help for Mom and Dad. But something tells me they'll have plenty of adventures in store as these two grow up.  :)

Like a normal toddler, Paisley was "over" the photo shoot long before we were ready to be done. She finally found her footing in the leaf piles and would have rolled and played all evening.

Cuteness overload! There should be plenty of great pictures for Jayda to pick her favorite.

Thanks for a fun photo shoot! 



To see more of our work, please visit www.csquaredphoto.zenfolio.com

Blaze in the Fall

This little boy loves to smile. He's one of the "biggest" little fans for LHS where he cheers for cute girls and manly men.

Mom wanted a few shots before he got his first real haircut the next day. He is such a sweetie.

With the beautiful fall that we had, outside pictures were a must for the little man. He was very curious about the happenings at the park. I spent some time with Blaze last winter in the studio.

Favorite! Thanks for sharing him for a bit Danni!



To see more of our work, please visit www.csquaredphoto.zenfolio.com

Senior 2011 - Kaci

We started Kaci's senior session early in the summer near her parents ranch. Mom, Dad and brothers all got in on some of the fun, which brought out the best smiles in Kaci.

I don't exactly remember the story behind the car, but I'm certain I remember it being a family treasure. I think its awesome!

Kaci had some great locations picked out for her session and we took a lot of her pictures in places that were important and memorable to her. This may be one of my favorite shots of all time. The moon. The reflection. The lighting. It looks like it came right out of a storybook.

We shot the rest of Kaci's pictures this fall with some great fall scenery outside and a few studio shots as well.

You made this too easy Kaci - nice work!

To see more of our work, please visit http://www.thecurrentconnection.blogspot.com/

He Loves Me...Not!

Meet Mr. E. He loves playing at his Grandma's so much that even the thought of hanging out with me isn't fun. :) We did get some fun shots but he was not happy to see me, by any stretch of the imagination. The progression of these emotions makes me giggle.

Starting to catch on that he's going to have to give us something to work with. Two adults and one child. We will win. We must stick together, but we will win. 

We really just wanted one good shot to hand out to friends and relatives with his older brother and sister's school pictures. I think we finally scored. Thanks for your persistance Mom!

To see more of our work, please visit www.csquaredphoto.zenfolio.com

Familiar Faces

You may recognize these handsome boys from a session last year. They are pretty awesome little dudes who love playing outside, and much like my previous session, have beautiful blue eyes.

We had a great time playing in Grandma's backyard and then headed to their house to run around a playground bigger than a lot of parks. I think I'll go back just for fun!

I love fall colors and we've had a beautiful autumn, but when I started turning these to black and white, something struck me. I love everything about the story in this picture and watching the relationship between these sweet boys.

Awesome little brother.

Awesome big brother.

To see more of our work, please visit www.csquaredphoto.zenfolio.com

Mistelski, Family of Four

You've seen these blue-eyed babes on the website before, but they brought their parental units along for pictures this time! I love the way these kiddos are looking at each other in this shot. I have a feeling Miss K thought the idea of a brother was a lot more fun than the actual experience. But he loves her anyway. :)

Mom. Dad. The sparkly blue eyes on your kids is astounding. Beautiful!

 

This was just before Miss K's 3rd birthday. She ran us pretty hard, but we got some great shots eventually!

I love the way dads look at their little boys. Just do.

Thanks for a fun afternoon!

To see more of our work, please visit www.csquaredphoto.zenfolio.com

Matt's Senior Session

I've been waiting for the right football player to try out a shot like this and I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. Matt has some pretty mad skills on the field and he spends the winter months in the wrestling room. I was happy to work with him on his senior photo shoot. 

Matt and his mom had some great ideas for the session and he was up for just about anything - as long as we were quick enough to save time for homework :)

Wow to the eyes - nice work! I think its great when seniors infuse their personality and town into their pictures. We went to the Petrified Wood Part for some of Matt's shots. 

Ever have a shirt that you just can't get enough of? Maybe it has a few holes in it and smells like a gym locker? I think Matt wins the award for shirt with the most character. It also brought out his best smiles of the day. Thanks for a fun session and good luck at the Homecoming Game tomorrow night! Go Cowboys!!

To see more of our work, please visit www.csquaredphoto.zenfolio.com

The Many (at least a few) Faces of Gage

You probably already know this, but I am madly in love with three people. Today, however, is all about Gage. I'll save the lovey dovey Jack + Kim love story for another day because really, who needs that on a Saturday morning? And Max's birthday is coming up and he'll have his own special post before long.

But Gage. G-Mac. A kid who I referred to as "Little Man" for a really long time until recently when I was reprimanded and corrected because he is a "Big Man". The kid who hates sleep so much, last night he had nightmares about sleeping. (No lie - you can't make this stuff up.) He is a rockstar. Gage launched us into parenting and basically swept the unvacuumed rug right out from under our feet. No book, no video, no class, nothing could have prepared us for Gage. Think you've figured him out? He's ready to throw a wrench at you. (He's only ever thrown a real wrench at me once. Twice at the dog. But never at the babysitter.)

Though challenging at best, he shows us everyday what its like to go full speed ahead from dawn until dusk. And then some. His zest for life is unbelievable.

Let me show you a few faces of Gage.

He likes to control the "clicker" - the remote for the camera. Hey, whatever works to get me a face like this one. Need a recipe to melt a mother's heart? See below.

Here Gage, hold this up in front of you. :) He followed the directions exactly. The trouble with his listening skills is that I tend to (from time to time) be a little teeny tiny bit sarcastic. It will definitely come back to bite me in the ass someday. And possibly quite literally and probably sooner rather than later.

That's better! I've been a tad stressed lately because the child who once loved reading books all day, eating fruit snacks and cooking (ok, he still LOVES cooking) is now almost exclusively into playtime killing, shooting and violence. I blame it on The Power Rangers. It probably has more to do with testosterone. I was more into dolls and fairies growing up, so I'm still devising a plan to foster these new tendencies carefully. I think it will have to do with taking more pictures like this. And praying.

"Hey Gage, can you make a sad face?" Obviously...not possible. We do get grumpy once in a while. Like when he has to share something sacred with his brother. Golf clubs anyone? If he's upset with you, you will get a "well you aren't my friend anymore." Seriously? Where do they come up with this stuff? And really, isn't he like 18 months old? What? 3-1/2? You're kidding me...

Ok, make an "angry Gage" face. That eyebrow trick? It's prevalent on both sides of his family. I've been known to make it a time or two but I think we'll send attributes to Great Grandma Nora.

This little ditty? This face? Stone cold. Ok, kidding. I shared this on Facebook recently but its worth repeating. We like to watch The History Channel and Discovery Channel with Gage. Among his favorites are Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs. He has taste! We found a great show called Pawn Stars recently and while watching it they threw out a very obvious, "Damn it!" which he promptly repeated, and we ignored. Flash forward a week to story time (at home, thankfully). Me: "Rotten luck. Can't go. My truck is stuck!" Gage: "Damn it!" Props for using it right Little Big Man! Let's not do it again though, k?

Back to cooking. He can make Jello and Pudding without reading the directions. He's great at stirring batter, pouring ingredients and licking spoons. He also recently put all of the toppings on a homemade pizza. And loved every minute of it. He's actually very good help in the kitchen. I think I'll teach him to chop onions. I hate chopping onions.

Gage you are a rockstar. We think you're pretty neat. Stay cool k? Oh, and let's not swear at daycare. Love, Mom