Dakota

Last Saturday was opening day for deer bow season (a very exciting day in our home). David is preparing to go on a once in a lifetime hunt out to Montanta to hunt elk with his dad in a few weeks so he wasn't the main one excited for opening day this year instead it was Dakota! :) He wasn't able to go out on Saturday but he woke up saying "happy opening day of bow season mom" and on Sunday when I woke up he was fully dressed in his camo. He wanted to get in a hunt before church. He goes hunting in our woods behind our house and the faith this boy has that he's going to get a deer is so encouraging to me. His faith and confidence in getting a deer reminds me of how I need to trust in God and have the faith of a child in all areas of my life. I hope and pray God does reward him with another deer this year. He went out back and hunted Sunday morning. He stayed out for about an hour because it was chilly but he was thrilled to share his deer hunting of the morning with David and I.

A great start to his day but the day didn't end quite so well. We went to our cousin's little boy's 3rd birthday party and they had a bounce house. Literally minutes before we were going to leave Dakota injured his ankle in the bounce house. Thankfully David was at the party and he rushed him off to get an xray at the children's urgent care. He didn't break his ankle but he does have a severe sprain/strain. He's been a trooper and has been off of school all week. He can walk on it now but still has some swelling.


I'll admit I've enjoyed him being home this week but he misses school a lot. He loves school. I'll take a mommy proud moment now and share that he has all A's and 1 A- on his progress report. He's so cute because he was disappointed in the A- but David and I reassured him that the A- was still very good! He's doing so well in school this year and loves to learn! :)

I'm sure this will not be our only trip to the ER because Wyatt is quite the adventurous little boy! Dakota has such a sweet spirit and it brings tears to my eyes because he's said more than once "I'm glad I was the one hurt instead of Wyatt." God has blessed me with incredible children! Being a mom of 3 little ones isn't easy but I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm thankful my husband works so hard so that I can be home and raise these 3 beautiful children!! :)





Dakota's buck from last year (he just got it back last week). We proudly have it hung up on our wall along with all the other bucks! :) I'm proud of my little hunter! :) The button buck has leaves and an acorn in his mouth! Looks great! :)

Mickey Mouse cake for my nephew Hayden :)

My nephew Hayden (my sis-in-law Danielle's son) had his 3rd birthday party over the weekend. Danielle asked me to make him a Mickey Mouse cake and I was pleased to accept. The layers of the cake were funfetti white with vanilla frosting as the filling and chocolate with chocolate frosting filling. The cake turned out so cute and so yummy! :) I used fondant for the outside and this was my second cake using fondant. Fun stuff to work with but it can be a little tricky keeping it from falling apart or cracking on the cake. I'm glad I've watched so many cake shows because they have helped me a lot with using fondant. I've posted photos of all 4 sides of the cake (each side was a little different). The cake took about 5-6 hours to create. Hayden enjoyed the cake as you can see by the photos. :) I love making cakes and was pleased with how cute the cake turned out for his party. :)Happy 3rd birthday Hayden! :)

NEVER FORGET...

I woke up this morning with the many brave men and women who lost there lives on 9-11 on my mind filling my thoughts and remembering them today. I didn't know any of them personally but I will always honor and remember not only the 343 firefighters that lost there lives but the many many other 2800 innocent ones that lost there lives also.

I recently visited New York to visit my best friend. We went to Ground Zero and she had told me there is just an eerie feeling surrounding the area. She was right... there was just an eeriness surrounding the area. We visited Station 10 (the first responding at Ground Zero) and I was able to see the memorial on the side of the firehouse wall. Very moving and a beautiful work of art.

It's so hard to believe it's been 9 years since that horrific day. I remember exactly where I was at the moment the story came about on the news. Today we explained this day to our kids and we will every year as we want to always honor this day. I hope it will become a National Holiday. We went to a childrens museum today and David wore his NYC 9-11 firehouse 10 shirt I bought him, Dakota wore his FDNY shirt, and Wyatt wore his I heart NY shirt. Emma was dressed in her patriotic dress. My little way of honoring NYC and being proud to be an American.

*The first photo I found on another blog and it's from the memorial museum that is next door to firehouse 10. I wasn't able to visit it during my recent visit but I would like to visit this museum one day. This is a touching drawing and words aren't needed to describe any further.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!

My favorite subjects to photograph :) :) :)

Just wanted to share a few photos I've taken of the kids over the last month. Wyatt's picture describes his personality so well... one of those a picture say's a thousand words. He's so silly! He loves to strike a pose and make a silly face when I want to take a picture of him.

Emma had picked the flowers she was holding at my best friend Summer's house. She had a blast picking them with Summer. The next day I asked her if she wanted to do a quick photo shoot with them and of course she was thrilled to say "yes!" We had a lot of fun! I LOVE the one of her running in the grass. One of my top favs that I've taken of my sweet baby girl! The joy she has in the photo just brings the sound of her sweet little girl giggle to my mind. It also reminds me of a clothing ad. :)

Dakota looked so handsome this morning before he went to school that I had to take a couple of quick shots of him. He was fully dressed in a different outfit when he remembered about 10 minutes before the bus that he had told a little girl he would wear his cowboy boots to school today. We did a quick change of clothes. He then decided he wanted me to do his hair too but that was after these were taken and about 2 minutes before the bus. I didn't have time to take more with the hair done but I loved how cute he looked today for school. :) My little country man! ;)

I am so thankful God has given me the talent of photography. My children are my favorite subjects to photography. I love the fact that my children will have so many wonderful photos of themselves growing up. They'll never be able to say they don't have PLENTY to choose from. ;) I appreciate all of the photos my parents took while I was growing up. They are so nice to have now that I am an adult. :)

My little ballerina

Ballet has started again and I have the prettiest little ballerina! Emma LOVES doing ballet! She dances all over the house all day and looks so cute too. I snapped a few pictures of her in her new leotard doing her favorite ballet poses before her first ballet class. She looked beautiful!