Raising Cubs in a Campground

While Tom was spinning his new bride around the dance floor , I caught one of the flower girls playing down by the water....just for fun. For more "Just for Fun" entries head over to I Heart Faces.

I was so excited when the ladies at I Heart Faces moved the the wedding category to this week because I had a wedding booked for the 27th. Then it turned out that I would have had the perfect photo in time because I shot a wedding for JenniferMcKinney on the 20th. There's no doubt that Wedding season is in full swing! Speaking of swinging....Tom, Christine, and all their guests were swinging their way around the dance floor at their beautiful outdoor reception. I wish all wedding receptions were this well lit! My Just for Fun entry is also from this wedding, but per the rules this week, it's in a post all by itself. Click on the button below to be directed to the rest of this week's entry.

You all know how busy I am with photography and book design , but I have TWO fabulous lenses sitting in my camera bag right now that are itching to get back out there before I send them back to the rental company on Friday. The weather is beautiful this week, the flowers are blooming, and I want to share them with YOU! If you are a Twin Cities resident (or don't mind the drive!) I am offering 50% off sitting fees for any session completed by THIS Thursday afternoon. That doesn't give us much time so contact me asap for details.

Thursday snuck up on my again, but rather than make everyone wait until I get my post up I thought I'd throw Mr. Linky up quick before I rush off to Worship Team rehearsal. My other thought was to offer a prize this week... I don't get to the post office all that often, but I'll be sending out photo orders as well as new blog book within the next two weeks so this is the perfect time. To enter, post your Alphabitty Moments post to your blog that includes a link back here and then come back and add your name to the Mr. Linky. That's all there is to it! I have a stash of Alphabet related items...Ribbon with Letters, notepads with a letter on top, notecards...It's not a big prize, but who doesn't like getting a little something in the mail every once in a while right? So get your posts up (Remember they don't have to be scrapbook pages - photo(s) with the story behind them are good too!) If this is your first time participating click here for all the Alpha...

I'm tired. Plain and simple. Tired. Tired of not getting very much sleep. Tired of always feeling behind in my blog designing. Tired of being behind in responding to emails and quote requests. Tired of the humidity. Tired of working all the time. Tired of saying "see ya later!" to the kids. Tired. Plain and (not so) simple tired. Praying for renewed strength for tomorrow... Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won't become weary. They will walk and won't grow tired. Isaiah 40:31

I'm tired. Plain and simple. Tired. Tired of not getting very much sleep. Tired of always feeling behind in my blog designing. Tired of being behind in responding to emails and quote requests. Tired of the humidity. Tired of working all the time. Tired of saying "see ya later!" to the kids. Tired. Plain and (not so) simple tired. Praying for renewed strength for tomorrow... Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won't become weary. They will walk and won't grow tired. Isaiah 40:31

and on the dance floor... and in their eyes.... and symbolized on their fingers.... and in their hearts. Thank you Tom and Christine for allowing Hilary and I to step in for Jennifer while she's with Stellan in the hospital. It was an honor to be a part of your beautiful day ! May God bless you richly for many many years!

Last weekend as we prepared for the 200+ people who'd be coming into the campground in the back of my mind was the thought that I should probably put a little effort into my apperence for a change considering I was going to be meeting a reader of my blog for the first time. No photoshopped images, just the read deal. I never did have the time to take my ponytail down or scrounge up some make up, but you know what? It didn't matter. When I met Heather and her family it was as if they'd been coming out to camp here for years. Oh wait. They have been. It's just that I didn't know it. See, Heather's in-laws live on the other side of the lake from me. Heather and her husband bring their five children over to the campground every year to visit with grandma and grandpa. This year we got to hang out too. We ate a picnic lunch under the willow tree, hiked up to the observatory to see the rings on Saturn, and did a marathon photo shoot with Heather's youngest, M...

Thursday is upon us and for once I have my Alphabitty Moment page put together before midnight! I had my Q word a couple of weeks ago, but as I was looking for the appropriate pictures, a new word came to mind. I couldn't help but use the new font my friend Jennisa shared with me after I saw how embellished the Q looked. (Jennisa is the creative genius behind the blog design business you've probably seen around the web - Once Upon a Blog . Jennisa finds the best fonts and this one happens to be one that I'm working with on a blog book.) Sam and Julia are always asking questions about everything. (Think "why is the sky blue?") I love it...most of the time. :) Sometimes I'd like to take one car ride without the constant questions, but I can do that when they go to college. Until then, I'll be right there next to the kids in the science section of the library, looking up information on birds, dinosaurs, whales, fish, butterflies, insects... Now it's yo...

These are some of the photographs I took for a friend last week. She is going to send the photos off to have the peonies & irises identified. The first pictures is one of the 'maps' I created to keep all the pictures organized.

Having done this 35 times I doubt I need to go over the specifics of how Not Me Mondays work but feel free to head over to my friend MckMama's blog for all the juicy details and more Not Me posts. I am not blogging when I'm a suppose to be editing photo shoots and making blog books. Nope. Not me! A cheesy tween movie is not on in the background just so I'm not sitting here in silence. Nope. Not me! We don't watch TV...really we don't - only movies. Speaking of not watching TV...I was not shaking my head at the radio on the 12th (or was it the 11th?) when the switch to digital took place. People do survive just fine without cable, without regular TV, without DVR (though I miss that part of TV)... you just wouldn't know it by listening to the media. ****1 1/2 hours later**** So I AM getting some stuff done despite my little blogging breaks here and there.... I did not just turn on the video monitor on the off chance that Sam decided to lay down and take a nap ...

When things start swirling around in my brain at a frenzied pace I know it's time to do a By the Numbers post. 3,565 - the number of blog book pages I need to design by December 1st in order to have any semblance of family time during Advent. 3 - the number of times I got up last night to turn off the hall light that Sam kept turning back on 11 - the number of campers who checked in yesterday (the busiest Thursday we've ever had) 1 - the number of times I called the Sheriff'sOffice this week 697 - the number of twitter updates I've written 2.5 - the number of S'mores I ate last night 123 - the number of followers I had yesterday 122 - the number of followers I have today 2 - the number of friends camping in the campground this weekend 112,647 - the number of hits on my blog since September 6 - the number of blogs I have 4 - the number of blogs I actually update 20 - the number of sore muscles I have from 10 measly push-ups yesterday 0 - the number of TV's in o...

P is for Procrastination. There I admitted it. :) Alphabitty Moments took a backseat to a lot of things this week and I fear if I don't get this post up tonight I won't get it posted at all. My real letter P is Pumpkin Picking. I'd be surprise (but grateful) if when the kids are teenagers they'll want to go to the pumpkin patch with their parents so I'm going to savor every trip we go pumpkin picking. Before I publish my Alphabitty Book I might go back to my old computer and pull pictures from each year to show how the kids have changed. There's something about the crisp Fall air and the bright colors that always makes for great pictures at the pumpkin patch. There were some great P words that went up on Thursday so be sure to check out what everyone else came up with as they add their link to the list. If you are new to the carnival, feel free to join us in the middle of the alphabet - we'll be going through the alphabet again and you can catch up next t...

(This is after our day at the Splash Pad - it never did get combed out that day. It does this ALL on it's own - no product, just good old fashioned humidity & pool water.)

This morning started out as usual with my 20 minute workout, a shower while the kids watched a movie, and then yummy oatmeal* before dashing out the door for the Library's Storytime program. Sam got himself dressed this morning without complaint - so what if every last article of clothing was on backwards right? I ran with Julia's "bedhead & bow" look and got away with it. We broke our library rule about not checking out any more books until the first set is returned. Oops. In the check out line my phone started vibrating. I assumed it was PapaBear calling to say good morning, but instead MckMama was on the other end of the line asking if I was up for a Target playdate. Count us in! And so we were off...twenty minutes later our gaggle of kids were chattering their way through the shoe aisle as we hunted for flip-flops. A few more random items later and our shopping was done. Lunch in the cafe is always a treat. My kids ate so much I had to go back up for secon...

I'm going to try something different this week for MckMama's popular Not Me Monday carnival. Even more different than last week's post . Usually I get my posts ready on Sunday night but I chose to spend last night praying for Stellan and April Rose and snuggling with Julia in our bed instead. I'm really close to sending two books to the printer and I don't want to take the time to do much else other than say that I'll tweet my Not Me's as I think of them throughout the day. Before I get back to work I want to give a special shout out to Esther who's Menu Plan Monday post provided me with an idea for dinner tonight. Phew!

PapaBear and GrizzlyGramps went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area last week and came home with these beautiful photographs and a whopper of a fish story... You might remember the trip PapaBear and I took after the campground closed last year. They paddled and portaged their way to the same area, but stayed at a different campsite. One day they brought the entire food bag along with them in the canoe rather than hanging at the campsite and had themselves a shore lunch. I don't think they'll be trying a new entry point any time soon with so many nice size fish there. So which one of the 55+ entry points did they go in at? Don't you know a fisherman never shares his secrets? They will share the fish tales though...Not once but twice PapaBear's line got snapped off by a Northern when he was jigging for Sunfish and later, Walleye. That isn't uncommon, but what is unheard of is catching both of those Northerns later on and retrieving his hooks! For more Sce...