Picture updates

Because of the accident I am still without a car :( maybe for another week or two. so I have had to make the sad desicion to stop making NEW photography appointments. (IF WE HAVE AN APOINTMENT ALREADY SCHEDUAL I WILL BE THERE!) This past weekend my wonderful husband stayed at home with the girls and let me take our only car to get some great pictures of these two families!

First up is the Ziegler's!
I did their pictures last year and was so excited they asked me to do them again this year! they are such a fun family!


I experienced something on this shoot I never have before or think i ever will with any other family! :) as we were wrapping things up and walking to our cars The men started screaming and throwing rocks. Their dog Dirks starting barking like crazy! then I saw this raccoon run right underneath the car! The dad shouted "no one get close I think he has rabies!" all of the sudden the brother pulled out his hunting gun and shot him! It happened so fast! I wasn't scared but it was all just so crazy. now before anyone gets upset about a dead raccoon. let it be know this family knows what they are doing and if they think he had rabies I believe them and i am glad the raccoon is out of his misery.

next up I went to the Edan park to take pictures for a bunch of grand-kids! they wanted to get some shots of them together and separate for a calendar for their grandma! HOW SWEET!!!!


These last couple of pictures were taken at the art meuseum and befor i get more comemnts about I want mine done there! This family had special connections with the muesum which is how we got these done. They usually dont allow it unless you pay a really good amount of money! But it's a great place to visit I wanted to hang out there all day and look at all the pretty art! but I had two babies and a husband stranded at home, with no car :(

new traditions

My brother once said "Kassondra wants her children to have the PERFECT childhood memories." I have to admit it's true. I look back on my childhood with smiles. I was so blessed to grow up in a home full of love and fun times. And I want my girls to do the same. I am a sucker for traditions and passing down family history. Brian and I combined both of our families traditions and also made up our own. One of those memories WE started was to put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. But this year I decided to add something new to the mix. I would video tape it.




I love it and plan on doing it every year! It will be neat to see in the future how the girls grow up, what ornaments they hang, who gets to put the angel on top, if their are any additional people in the videos, the different outfit choices, hair styles,and even how our tree changes.

in the middle of the video you can see my husband walking past with a bag of chips. the girls both had a fit because daddy would not share with them. as their mommy I feel it is my duty to give my children those PERFECT CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. so daddy did give them what they wanted. and Mommy got what she wanted a happy memory of us all together decorating the tree.

Annette

***************I hope everyone had a perfect Thanksgiving! Ours was busy and full of love and laughter as always!***************************
When I think about being thankful I will always remember a family we met in Uganda.
One of the women that works for Cove is Annette. she lives in Chicago, and does all the paper work for the board. She is a very kind sweet soul!
Annette is also a sponsor to a little boy that attends the school at St. Jerome Cove Center. One day we took a long car ride and then walked on foot for about 45 minutes in the deep jungle. having not a real clue where we were going but trust in our guides Richard, Joesph and Harriet.
all the sudden we herd cheers from a women. she ran up to annette and gave her the biggest hug with tears in her eyes. saying "thank you! thank you! thank you!"


She is the mother of Annette's sponsor child.
I cant imagine every month sending a check for $25 and not wonder what this child looks like or what he's interested in? what is his family like? his day to day activities? does your money actually help him? Do the recipients ever wonder about you?
Annette got all her answers by looking at this mother face. she was given presents and so many thank yous. To this family, having one child attend school is the best thing for them! They know how important education is for their son. He now has the chance to become whatever he wants all because Annette sent $25!!
the other part of this story that was so powerful to everyone was the fact that Annette's sponsor grandmother was out picking beans to sell and bring in some income for the family to live off of. she herd we were there and this almost 80 year old women ran back home when she got there she did not say anything to us she got down on her knees and prayed for us. She continued to stay on her knees praying the entire time we were there. for almost 2 hours she did not move from her spot!
$25 a month seems so little to us but its a life changing amount to a family in Uganda.
Please if you would like to find out more about the sponsorship program click here.

JP

February of 2010 I was driving the Julia to preschool. still in a lot of shock that I had a little baby growing inside me when I noticed I had a text message on my phone. I stopped the car at the parking lot of her school and checked what the message said:
"WE ARE PREGNANT!"
it was from my Uncle Jeremy! I was ecstatic! I knew how much he wanted to be a daddy and what great parents Lesli and Jeremy would be!
fast forward 9 months and I got another text message:
"HE'S HERE!"
again I was ecstatic! and rushed to the hospital as soon as I could!

Fast forward again to a year! I wanted to get some cupcake eating pictures of JP and gift it for a birthday present. I thought I was being cleaver because i used a table cloth as the background and when he was done make a mess I could just throw it away and be done with clean up. easy right? NO!
JP was scared of the background! didn't matter if there was a cupcake he was getting away from it!

So I gave in and let him sit on the floor. much better.
I moved him in front of the background so I could still get it in the picture and finally got the shots that I wanted.

He's the happiest baby in the world! he has the sweetest laugh and always claps for you if you ask him to. I love getting to spend my days with him and the other two babies. I cant believe how fast time goes! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JP!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today is the last day of the thankful posts :( I wanted to share what our thanksgiving tree looks like now:
Here are a few of my favorite leaves that my faimly and i put on the tree:




It was a great new tradition i hope to continue next year. I loved hearing what my husband and the Julia were thankful for.
Right now we are about to head out of the house and start a new family tradition or maybe just continue on a tradition the family that lived in this house before us used to do. There will be a thanksgiving parade traveling right past our street! I am so excited to watch miss belle get excited over all the trucks and music! then it's off to not 1 not 2 but THREE thanksgiving dinners!!!!!!! I love thanksgiving and I hope your is a great one too!

was it my choice?

While I was in Africa I did start to get home-sick. I missed my girls and my husband so much and I think I talked about them so much through out the trip I might of aggravated some of my Uganda family members :) Someone asked me "how old were you when you had Julia?"
I laughed and said well I didn't actually HAVE her but I became her mommy when I was 18."
I told them the story about how I had plans of joining the Air Force. I was all set to go when I man walked into the grocery store i worked at and changed my life forever!
Kim the lady in charge of our trip said something to me that i will never forget and has changed the way i look at my life. she said "God had plans for you and you are right were you are supposed to be."
I always blamed myself for my choice not to stay the military I sometimes I think about how things could have been. But now i think about what I would have missed out on if I did continue with MY plan instead of GOD'S plan.

























I am thankful for Gods plan for my life!

Presentation

*Anything in blue is a link click on it to read more*

Last night was our presentation about the mission trip to Africa. We started the night off with introductions and a short video of our trip. Then we each stood up an talked about one story that really touched our heart. When it was my turn I stood up and talked about Baby Julie. There were a lot of tiers and laughter. It was so awesome to share with the Parrish and everyone else that came to the presentation about these amazing people we met and now hold a dear place in our hearts. Everyone is on board to go back to st. Jerome Cove Center in the year 2013 and many more now have that seed planted in them to possibly join us!
After we talked everyone got up and enjoyed some snacks, drinks and walked around looking at pictures and handmade gifts that were given to us from Uganda. We had a silent auction of various things. I also donated a framed picture of the little feet walking the dirty streets of Africa. It was an amazing night with the most amazing people talking about these amazing children!
I am SO Thankful for my mommy! She was talking to one of the lady's last night from Cove about me and she said I inspired her to do mission work. I couldn't help but laugh inside because my mom has one of the biggest hearts I have ever known. Maybe it's the nurse in her but she always wants to take care of anyone in need. She has been the picture of strength and determination for me. She made me and my brothers and sister her top priority and worked very hard to give us everything we had. I remember her always saying if she won the lottery she would open up a clinic and offer free services and assistance in buying car seats and cribs for parents that were struggling. She always wanted to be a traveling nurse (in America) and go to places that truly need help. She has so many dreams that she has put on hold to raise us. My mother inspires ME! I want to pass on that desire to help others to my children. I would not have been able to go to Africa without the support and help my mom gave me. It meant so much to me to see her and my step dad come to the presentation last night. and I want her to know I will never give up on trYing to get her to cross the ocean and into a foreign country :)

I do goofy things

Someday my kitchen will look like this! light and clean and fresh with little pops of color. It looks like a great place to bake some yummy treats and at the same time do a little crafting :)
This is what my kitchen looks like: cheap cabnets with gaps and missing doors, half way painted walls and the most grossed out floors i have ever seen! the babys are cute though :)


Now that my wonderful husband is working crazy hours i find myself alone at night after the girls go to bed. I get a little bored and when i get bored i do some pretty goofy things. I saw the paint droppings from when the wall was partially painted white and thought why not just paint the whole floor? We plan on renovating the whole kitchen next year including getting tile floors so why not?
then i thought I don't want an all white floor why not add some color to it?



Like I said it is temporary and i knew the paint would peal off with all the traffic walking threw the kitchen but it cured my boredom :)
I am thankful for my husband's support. I knew when he come home hate it and think about hiring a babysitter to talk me out of things like this while he is gone. but he kept his opinions to himself and said "do you like it?"
I said "better than the ugly red. but no i don't like it."
we both laughed for a long time and just walked out of the kitchen.
He knew when he married me that i am a little on the goofy side but I am thankful that he accepts it and married me anyways.