Wow......Sorry

Ok, yes I know I made a resolution to keep this up to date.....well I threw that out the window when my life turned upside down. Most of you may know by now, that I am now a single mom and that Rusty and I made a mutual agreement to get a divorce. Sometimes after you have worked so hard to make something work, that you really shouldn't have to make work, you just get tired, frustrated, and wore out. So we decided that it was best for us and for the kids to just go our separate ways. It has been a long two months trying to get on a new schedule and get adjusted, but we have managed. The kids are actually handling it very well. Rusty and I are remaining friends for the kids and want to make their life simple even though Rusty and I are no longer living together. With that said, we are accepting our new lives and working on moving on and greatly appreciate the support we have gotten.

During these last two months I have had my ups and my downs. I am learning how to be me....which is my biggest challenge because I have always put others first!!! Always cared about what others thought, and never worried much about what I want. So now, I have to make sure my children are doing good and that they are happy, but I also have to figure out what I want. I have had to work on learning to trust and most of all work on learning not to care what others think. Not caring what others think, is by far my biggest challenge. How do you get past some of the hurtful things people say during a time that really is no one's business but my own? But you know what really matters is that I myself knows what the truth is. So if people want to make up stories and talk about what really does not matter then let them. I just know that I am going to find myself now, while I am focusing on my kids!! I want them to know that mommy can still be happy even if her and daddy are not together anymore. If people can't accept the fact that I am making both myself and my kids happy, then they just need to turn and go the other way and leave us alone.

During this time, I also kind of lost my desire for photography, wanted to stay in the house and not do the things I most love. Well I can proudly say that tonight that came back, I let my dog out and much to my surprise there were tons of apple blossoms on my Honeycrisp Tree!!! So I ran in the house and started shooting.....

So after that enjoyment I am so ready for more......

Also back in April my sister Brenda and I took our first real vacation together and headed out to Las Vegas!!! We had a blast and jumped off the Stratosphere!!! Yep I did it!! 108 stories from the ground and I took the leap!!! Our next challenge together will be Sky Diving!!! Below are some pictures......I can not wait to take another trip with her, after everything that was going on around here it felt good to escape reality for awhile and just have fun. I knew my kids were in good hands and called them several times to check on them so I knew it was ok for this mommy to have a needed break and who better to take the break with then my evil sidekick Brenda!!

So until next time my friends.....

11 Days Into the New Year....

So we are now 11 days into the new year and already we have been so busy! Kids went back to school on the 4th and are now on 4 day weeks. We have had two snow storms (if that is what you want to call them) and we have had one birthday party.

On Sunday, we took Ana and Ehrich to Memory Lanes to celebrate their birthday with some bowling and great friends and family! They all had a blast, and we decided this is something we just need to continue to do. Grandpa Elmer even got down on the bowling lanes and bowled with the little ones.

I decided to venture into my creative baking side and bake the cake for the party, it actually did not turn out that bad! It tasted good and I used three tops of frostings. The first being buttercream (yummy!!!), the second was whipped topping, and the last being fondant (sugary, but decent).

Before the party we hung out at home though with my mom, brother and his kids. I decided to try my hand at a new leg exercise. I drug around five kids all attached to my legs...Boy did my thighs feel it the next morning!

Saturday, January 8th, William had his second wrestling tournament. Well he ended up not wrestling because mom forgot to cut his nails until we got there. Once I cut his nails he was done, so therefore he decided since I ticked him off that he would not wrestle!

So for being only 11 days into the year, and having a very busy beginning, I think we have had a great start to the new year. I also need to add that Nick is still running around telling everyone Merry Christmas! I love my kids!

For Fun...

I was playing with some pictures and creating some exciting images....

Senior Postcard Front

Senior Collage

Save the Date

For love of old cars and that special someone!!

Trash the Dress...

This was a Great Session...We had so much fun, this was a beautiful prom dress that looked wonderful on Brittany, it was almost a shame to trash it. We took out the paints and had fun, even my kids enjoyed getting Brittany and Lonny full of paint. We also then got it full of mucky sand, but the end result was these fabulous photographs.

Lonny's Senior Pics

This was a fun session, I wanted different backgrounds, then what I know exists. So Lonny and I went driving around the country side and found a few different locations that really worked out, here is just a couple.

For Fun...

This is Krystal's Daughter McKenzie, she came with on Krystal's Senior Photo shoot, so I could not resist capturing some images of her. Her face reminds me of my daughters, the porcelain doll look.

Micael and Kayla...

I love taking pictures of these two, you have to be quick though. But I got some great shots on this day!!