A Day in the Life...

Well after the excitement of my week at the fabulous and mind-draining Photoshop bootcamp, I'm back to sexy mommylife, working insanely late hours into the night to get everything done for Jules Bianchi Photography before someone wakes up at 2am or the day starts over again tomorrow. sigh.

But, needless to say, I love it. I love my girls, I love my job, I love the freedom I have to do what I want and go where I want. However, it is the balancing, and the lack of sleep, that is really getting to me. Regardless.

I really love Tuesdays. Farmers' market, fresh produce, friendly venders... usually a day with my mom, although today I mixed it up and had lunch with my Dad. I'm crazy that way.

To top off the excitement of Tuesday, today was Ben and Jerry's free cone day!! Woo hoo, fish food, here I come.

P and M met up with some friends for the sugar fest:



Yesterday on my way to my chiropractor (is it ok to be in love with the chiropracter?? He just makes me feel so good. I can't help it) Millie and I stopped to reflect at the nearby labrynth. I love the labrynth, and the last time I had visited, I walked it while carrying Millie on my back. This day, three years later, Millie followed me through it, until she finally said, "Mommy, I know how to get to the middle, just jump over these lines!"

Ah, wise child. Just jump over to get to the middle. My ensuing discussion about enjoying the journey was lost on my energetic and slightly bored 3.5 year old, but I loved sharing it with her. She still made me stop and smell the roses.

She picked 5 favorites. I know it was her wish to smell them all. I let her choose and could tell she wanted to see each one--that's how you are at 3!





Millie's favorite part of the chiropractor (that and the lollypops)... the rolling machine at the end. She just gets on and goes for a ride!

Brown family is home from Bend...

So in the fall of last year I had the fantastic opportunity to meet the incredibly cool Kevin Kubota of Kubota Image Tools which led to him asking the incredibly talented Jules of Jules Bianchi Photography to come and speak at his world famous Digital Photography Bootcamp in Bend, Oregon. Turns out my in-laws were also going to be in Bend that very same week. Seeing as my photoshop skills are less than stellar, I thought it would be a great opportunity to hang with Jules AND pick up some tips without leaving the fam completely behind! Fast forward a few months, and wahla, a road trip to Bend.

Family roadtrips are the best. Driving to Bend was fairly easy, the girls were so great about riding in the car. Hooray for portable DVD players and Leapsters! We also played some good old fashioned "20 questions" and "I spy" just to make the trip legal (it's the law, you gotta play those games on road trips). Breaking it up into two days was a blast, it was so fun staying in a hotel (and Brett was taking notes!).

Since this was a photography course, we needed to take some pictures to work on. Who better than my darling girls? I offered their services for the second photo shoot, and Millie won the hearts of everyone there. It was fun to see how each photographer captured my girls with a different perspective. As a photography assignment to myself, I'll try and put together a shot from each photographer in a collage in a little bit, so check back. For now, here's some stuff that Jules and I captured during that shoot.

Snow in April... well, in Bend OR

So we've roadtripped right up to Bend, Oregon, to hang with the in-laws, and so I could go to a photoshop workshop, and it started to SNOW today! snow! like little chunks of white stuff sticking to the ground! The girls were so excited they couldn't stand it, and we all ran out and played in it for the few minutes that it actually stuck to the ground....
The girls were so excited.... this picture reminds me of when I was five and it snowed for a few seconds like this in my hometown (where it hasn't snowed SINCE, so that is how often it snows there) and we put socks on our hands to go out and play in it....


Look at the snowmen we made! Aren't they so cool?


But they are really really tiny!! ha ha!!

Blogging from the car!!

so this is a first!! We are on on the road, literally driving on the 5 and I am braving carsickness and fighting boredom ( and the sounds of leapsters in the back) by blogging on my iPhone! Ok well so now the carsickness is taking over and I've got to go.

Princess P & M -- and Lord Jeffrey

For Penelope's birthday, Uncle jeffrey took the girls to see Cinderella... and he threw their names in a hat to win a free carriage ride. I wouldn't have even bothered, but I forget, Jeff is so much like my mother, and he has her WINNING mojo. She wins just about every contest she enters. So of course, out of an ENTIRE theatre of eager children, not only does Penelope win a ride, but so does Jeff! And Millie! They must truly be princesses.











I just thought this last pic was funny, since I was setting the table for a dinner party, and our cat Boo decided to be a living centerpiece. Goes nicely with the dishes, don't you think?

Happy Birthday Penelope!

I am still in disbelief that my little baby Penelope is actually 7.... but it seems to be true!

Thanks again to fabulous photographer and auntie Jules Bianchi for documenting the event. The theme of the event was Webkinz, and if you haven't heard of them, you are lucky. We entered into Webkinz world, were entertained by the amazing "Chef Gazpacho ( or rather, JEFF Gazpacho)". Mom embroidered aprons for all the girls, and they baked cookies with the famous pig chef. They made the legendary "crown of wonder"--another Webkinz reference, and the party was a hit!! It was a pajama party, so the girls all arrived in their pajamas, Webkinz in hand. Penelope got a matching pair of PJs for herself AND her webkin!! They ate breakfast for dinner--it was really fun, and although it is the smallest party I've hosted for P, it was the loudest.