Cummings & Goings

Practicing Photography on Aiyana - Part Two

2012-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Here's Aiyana in the new purple outfit that was mentioned in Part One of this photography post ...

You know me... I love close ups :o)

I love how sweet she looks in this one...

Another one of my favorites...

Gotta love the pucker...

I loved this window. It made for such fun photos.

This is my favorite picture in this outfit... LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it

Here's a collection of fun photos I took from the day. Most of them are pictures of Aiyana playing and looking at the horses. I also wanted to add that the picture in the top left was all Aiyana's idea. Such a creative little thing.

Practicing Photography on Aiyana - Part One

2012-02-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

Aiyana was such a good little model while letting me to practice my photography skills. For being only 3 1/2, she did an excellent job. I am really pleased with the variety of poses we got. Next weekend I hope to do a photo shoot with Clara.

Aiyana had a myriad of different funny faces to show me. This is a collection of my favorite...
There was definitely a lack of interest at times...

...but nothing that a plane up in the sky can't cure

This is her classic pouty face... you know, the one that she gives me when I tell her "no"

...but mommy just announced that Aiyana gets to wear her new purple outfit soon (as seen in Part 2 of this photo session)

One of my favorite pictures of the day (this picture looks so pure and innocent to me)...

Sitting in an old window frame makes for great shots...

Ajiaco Made Simple

2012-02-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ajiaco is a soup that is made in a lot of Colombian homes. Esparanza, a coworker of mine, is from Columbia and she introduced me to this yummy recipe. Of course, I simplified it and made it with an American version of ingredients and this is what I came up with. It took about 45 minutes to make.

Soup:
1 Chicken Breast - Seasoned how you like and pan fried
4 Red Potatoes
8 Yellow Potatoes
Frozen Corn - 2 cups
Water - 8 cups

Garnish:
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Avocado
Capers

Seasoning for the soup broth: 4 Chicken Bullion cubes, Garlic Powder, Garlic Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder and a Bay Leaf

Season the soup broth and add shredded chicken and cut potatoes (except 4 of the yellow). Cook the soup until the potatoes are soft. Microwave 4 of the yellow potatoes and mash them, then add them to the soup. 30 minutes before serving, add the frozen corn. Garnish with any, or all, of the four ingredients listed above. Enjoy, it's delicious and gluten free!

Christmas in February

2012-02-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

Apparantly my Christmas Cactus is confused. I thought these things were suppose to bloom in December? Better late than never I guess :o).

My New Acadia

2012-02-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

It's new to me anyway. By the time it was all said and done, I am about $2,000 higher on my loan. That $2,000 bought me a newer year, an AWD, a back up camera, an upgraded paint color, an after market (and better quality) DVD player, a luggage rack, a heads up dash display and a lower deductible with my extended warranty. I'd say it's worth it. I will have to say that it is a huge pain in the rear to settle after someone totals your car. I am happy to say that I am done swapping car seats and cars... for a while now anyway.

Caterina, Ballerina... Angelina Ballerina...

2012-01-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

I think it's about time I get at least one of these girls started in dance. Both Aiyana and Clara are fascinated with a cartoon called Angelina Ballerina. Aiyana walks around all day thinking that she is a "caterina" which is really a ballerina. The name "Caterina" came from a Halloween outfit that Aiyana wore when she was 2 (which was a ballerina/cat costume). She still remembers this? In any case... She believes that she is a true "caterina". Clara will also dress up in one of the five tu tu options that we have at home. Typically Aiyana will pick out her tu tu first and then she will dress Clara in one of the remaining options. In addition to the tu tu, Aiyana must remove her shirt and pants. In her mind... "caterinas" do not wear shirts or pants... just a tu tu. I've tried to convince her that leggings would be like wearing tights, but she wont have it. So here she is this morning, removing her shirt and sporting her clip-on earrings and tu tu. Such a girly girl.

I thought I should share this picture too. I put the girl's Dora couch on the coffee table so that I could vacuum. I put the vacuum away and here is what I found when I came back into the room. This poor coffee table has turned into a play table, a dance stage and now a lounge platform.

Here's the little one. She might be getting sick. She woke up a couple of times last night with a stuffy nose and barely able to breath. So far this has been a good winter without the sickies (other than myself getting bronchitis). I hope we can keep the girls healthy.

Jessica's Photoshoot

2012-01-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

Meet Jessica. Jessica took a little while to warm up to me/the camera, but I am so glad that she did because she is such a pretty girl and her pictures turned out amazing. Jessica has about every color imaginable in her eyes (green, blue, brown, yellow) and I had so much fun using the light to bring out those colors.

Kendra's Photoshoot

2012-01-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

Meet Kendra... This girl photographs amazingly well. She's got the confidence to back up that look and that's what makes her so easy to photograph. I seriousely had a hard time picking out my favorite of the bunch, but alas... here they are...

Amanda's Photoshoot

2012-01-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

Meet Jessica and Kendra's friend, Amanda. This girl has some amazing blue eyes. Amanda was just tagging along with the other girls and really didn't seem interested in getting her picture taken... or maybe she was shy? In any case, she finally obliged and I am so glad that she did. Like the other two girls, she photographs well.

Thanks Amanda!

Sisters - Jessica & Kendra

2012-01-25T12:51:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to photograph two beautiful girls this past weekend, Jessica and Kendra (my coworker's daughters). The entire photo shoot was at Scorpion Gulch in Phoenix Arizona. The girls were kind enough to let me practice my photography skills and I think they were fantastic models.

Thanks Jessica and Kendra!

This following collage is more of a marketing banner...

Daddy's Bed

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Apparently mommy does not have a bed in this house because mine and Dana's bed is known as "Daddy's bed" according to our children. Unfortunately, mommy and daddy have let Aiyana and Clara get into the routine of watching cartoons in daddy's bed until they fall asleep. Once upon a time I was able to crawl into bed, after giving the girls their evening bath, and watch DVR'd episodes of American Idol, Survivor, The Bachelor, The Bacheloret, The Kardashians, Sister Wives... You get the idea... I'm a reality TV show junkie. Alas, my bed has been over-run by my kids. Sigh... I will eventually have to put an end to this, but it's just so easy to lay them down with a cartoon so that I can finish cleaning up the evening mess. It's either this or lay down next to them in their beds for an hour until we both pass out and I wake up at 1:00 am, on the floor, with a sore shoulder and disoriented as to where I am. Cartoons in daddy's bed seems like the better option.

Southwest Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

2012-01-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast (seasoned cooked and shredded)
2 15 oz jars of salsa
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
2 cups of frozen corn
3 cups of frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed to get rid of excess liquid)
cheddar cheese (as little or as much as you would like)
soft corn tortillas

Layer the ingredients in a casserole dish making sure to keep the corn tortillas wet with the salsa. Cook for about 30-45 minutes. Delicious AND Gluten Free.

Fruit Smoothie

2012-01-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

One Blender

One Banana

Two cups of Unsweetened Almond Milk

Two cups of Frozen Berries

Three tablespoons of Honey

Three tablespoons of Golden Flax Meal

Blend and...

You have yourself one yummy and very healthy treat... Absolutely refreshing.

Clara's Second Birthday Party

2012-01-18T18:01:00.001-08:00

We had Clara's party the day after she actually turned 2. Here's the the lil' cutie before everyone arrived for her party...

Here's the Neapolitan Cake that I made for her (note: I am not good a decorating cakes)...

Singing Happy Birthday to her...

She's holding up her hand and all of her fingers to say that she is two...

I also made Funfetti cupcakes with sprinkles...

Aiyana, excited about cake :o)

Mommy & Clara...

Kisses for the birthday girl...

Clara opening presents. She was trying to get the tag off of the dress that Grandma and Grandpa Cummings got her.

Trying it on...

Here she is sitting on the Dora couch that Dana and I got for her...

Leap Frog Computer from Grandpa Timmerman. Notice how Aiyana is fighting for it and Clara just smiles.

Dora backpack from Uncle Zach and Aunt Mary...

Passed out after her party...

I was video taping while Clara opened her gifts so I didn't get all of the gifts on camera. Clara also got some Dora Mega Blocks and a really cool, interactive, Leap Frog Computer from her Nana and some Lego's from her Aunt Sasha and Cousin Jolie.

Clara Turns Two

2012-01-18T17:42:00.000-08:00

My baby just became a two year old. Here she is the day before she turned two...

Here's Clara dancing to the Dora theme song after getting back from a day spent at Nana's house, on her second birthday.

Watching Dora...

...and here is what happened to me on Clara's second birthday :o(. A man in a one ton truck hit me at an intersection not too far from our house. I am still waiting to hear about the fate of my vehicle. Luckily, the kids were not with me. I was fortunate enough to be in a big vehicle... the damages are pretty extensive. I will start physcial therapy on my neck next week, but I am doing okay other than feeling stress and anxiety about being on the road with such careless drivers.

Neapolitan Cake

2012-01-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

For Clara's 2nd Birthday Party I made a Neapolitan Cake. Here's what I did....

First I whipped up a brownie mix and poured it into a round spring pan for baking...

Then I frosted the top of the brownie with vanilla frosting...

Then I baked a strawberry cake in a spring pan and layered it on top of the brownie with frosting...

Then I frosted the top and edges with more vanilla frosting and tadda...

Soup For The Soul

2012-01-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

I didn't know what to call this soup... other than Delicious Soup, but Soup For The Soul sounded like a better title :o).

I started a better, healthier, eating plan as of the first of the year. My diet plan is to cut out gluten and most dairy (I will eat yogurt and some items that have milk products in them) and I am limiting caffeine and sugar. These are all things that I either eat too much of or I think might be causing me to feel pretty crummy all of the time. I like this diet plan because it forces me to stop eating processed foods (since wheat is in just about everything). I am forced to eat healthier and to be conscious of what I am eating every time I chose a meal or grab something to eat at work. I am allowing myself to eat whatever I want of anything else, but what is left over are things that I don't tend to sit on the couch and eat until I am in a food coma. This plan doesn't leave me feeling like I might starve, but it allows me to have control over my food choices and I am losing weight already (big bonus). On that note... Here is one of my favorite meals that I have cooked. Credit due to my friend Tabby for inspiring me to make this soup and leading me to most of the ingredients...

Ingredients:

1 can of Diced Tomatoes

1 can of Northern Beans (drained and rinsed)

2 Chicken Bullion cubes

2 Tomato Bullion cubes

1 cup of Brown Rice

1 Chicken Breast

Swiss Chard (cut into strips)

4 of the tomato cans of water

Season to taste:

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Basil

Oregano

In a frying pan, cook the chicken breast with your choice of seasoning, olive oil and water. While that is cooking add all of the ingredients into a crock pot while leaving out the swiss chard. Once the chicken is cooked, let it cool then shred it into the crock pot. Simmer the soup on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Add the swiss chard approximately 30 minutes prior to eating.

Tip: My friend Tab made this soup with sweet potatoes instead of the chicken and she left it cooking in the crock pot while she was at work.

Cleaning Out My Camera

2012-01-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

I promise folks... This is the last of what's in my camera so no more posts for a while.

Clara using her new play Dirt Devil vacuum that she got for Christmas...

I recently went to the doctor for a sinus infection and while I was there daddy let Aiyana play with her new play make-up. Aiyana made herself pretty and she even managed to share a little of the love with her sister, Clara, who just had just a little bit of red lipstick on her left cheek. Clara's make-up was not nearly as impressive as Aiyana's.

Here are the girls all dressed up for church on the first Sunday of the new year. Today was Aiyana's first day of primary. Such a special day. Mom even got a bit teary eyed.

Sister Sheffer is Aiyana's new primary teacher and I hear she is amazing. They made these in their Sunbeam's class...

Friend for Lunch

2012-01-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

I've been posting like a mad woman lately, but there is so much to catch up on. Remember my friend Jennifer that I posted about not too long ago? Well we met up for lunch yesterday and it was so nice to hang out with her again. We've kept in touch over the years, while she lived in Minnesota, but it's nothing like being able to just hang out. I feel like I have a good friend back in my life again and I couldn't feel more blessed.

By the way, we went to the Cheese Cake Factory for lunch... yummm!

The End of Our Trip

2012-01-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time with the Cummings family for the Christmas Holiday. A couple of other things that we did, but I have not mentioned yet...

1.) Go out to dinner with the entire family.

2.) Spend a relaxing evening in the Pah Tempe Hot Springs in Hurricane Utah. The springs are natural pools of hot water. The smell leaves something to be desired (smells like sulfur), but the elements in the water are suppose to be relaxing and healing. It was dark when we arrived at the springs so a guide had to walk us to the water with a flash light. We took a trail between some trees and eventually came upon the springs. There was no light at the springs so everyone had to keep a hold of a child. The girls wanted to jump right in, which surprised me. They loved it. I was so proud of the girls because they were all about getting into the water at the Hot Springs and in the hotel pool. Of course, I don't have any hot springs photos, but I'll leave you with the hotel pool photos...

Gotta love the butt cheeks peaking out of the swimming suit...

Clara wanted to swim...

On our way back home we drove through Fredonia Arizona which is where Dana's dad, Olin, lived for some of his childhood. This is the house that he lived in when his mom worked in the Fredonia School as an elementary teacher.

St. George Temple

2012-01-01T12:38:00.001-08:00

Another temple grounds visit with the kiddos...

There is a Book of Mormon for just about every language. We found the Navajo one...

Looks like it's time for another haircut...

"I'm three!"

Dana and the girls...

Can you see what is funny about this picture? It's not the cute little girl, front and center... It's the cute little girl to the right, in the distance.

Dana and the girls again...

The woman who is always behind the camera...

The girls & I...

Clara has been making this face a lot lately... Olin Jr... Dana's dad, Olin, always makes that face :o).

Aiyana trying to chase Andrew. She finally got mad about her boots holding her back and took them off to run barefoot.

Clara running around...

Some of the cousins: Jaynee, Jakell, Gabrielle, Jade, Clara, Aiyana & Andrew

Playing "Simon Says" with Aunt Nicole...

Jumpin Jacks

2011-12-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

So... on day two we made our way back to Jumpin Jacks. Dana didn't ski and he was able to help me keep track of the girls. I'm so glad we came back to Jumpin Jacks for a second try because Clara LOVED it. The other cousins joined them this time.

This was the largest of the slides and let me tell you, it takes your breath away when you slide down it.

From the top of the slide...

This little stinker just couldn't get enough of the thrill.
This is the most activity we got out of Aiyana at Jumpin Jacks. In her defense, she was not feeling too well :o(

At first we would climb up the big slide with Clara...

There's me at the top with Clara...

Some of the cousins having fun: Andrew, Jaynee, Skye & Clara

Then we started just letting Clara go on her own...

When you start to think that Clara's too young to be playing on this thing by herself... Take a look at Jade (1 1/2 years old) :o). Her four older sisters were keeping track of her until mom said "Just let her go"... and there she went. She slid down and got up laughing. This picture cracks me up.

There goes Skye holding Clara... The expression on Clara's face is priceless :o)

New slide... Clara on her own...

Here comes Dana...

Utah - Zion National Park

2011-12-30T16:52:00.001-08:00

After Christmas in Page Dana's dad treated everyone to an all expenses paid trip to Utah for some skiing and additional family time together. We stayed in a hotel in Hurricane Utah which is about a half hour drive from St. George. Hotels are not fun with little ones, but we made the best of it. Thankfully the hotel was not too busy so we sort of had the run of the place. The little kids were running back and forth in the hallways and in between rooms each evening :o/.

Dana and most of the rest of the family went skiing on the first day so I had plans to take the girls to a place called Jumpin Jacks (an indoor bounce and play facility in St. George). My plan backfired, though, because Aiyana was too scared to even walk in the play area (it was pretty loud). I couldn't keep track of one kid that wanted to sit and one that wanted to play so I had to get my money back and revise my plan.

So I decided to head back to Hurricane towards our hotel. On our way back I ran across the Zion National State Park sign and decided that's where we were going to go. I have always wanted to see this park so I figured it was a perfect way to make the most of our day. The girls slept most of the way and I enjoyed the scenic 45 minute drive to the park.

Dall Horn Sheep

When the girls woke up we all got out of the car and walked along a beautiful river that runs through the park.

Collecting rocks to throw in the water...

Throwing rocks in the water...

I would have had some amazing pictures of the girls if they would have actually wanted to sit and cooperate :o(. Oh well, I just wanted them to have fun and it was nice to capture some action shots.

Clara was so tuckered out that she passed out on the hotel room floor... Gross... I know.

2011 Christmas in Page

2011-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas was spent in Page Arizona, at Dana's parents house, this year. Everyone in Dana's family was able to make it except for Dana's brother Lorin and his family in Salt Lake City, Utah and Carminda and her three youngest in up state New York. Lorin and his family met up with us the next day during our trip to southern Utah.

Kellen, Aiyana & Andrew - The three cousins closest in age.

Aiyana was taking charge :o)

Aiyana was fixated on getting the newlyweds, Travis and Karen, to hold hands, hug and kiss...
Here she is making them kiss, silly girl.

A faux fur vest from Grandma and Grandpa Cummings

Lots of construction paper...

A play vacuum for Clara...

Work-out shirts from Dana's brother, Chris...

Dolls for the girls...

Something to organize stuff in my house... Right up my alley :o)

Emmy, Travis, Karen, Don, Nicole & Andrew...

Before we left for Utah, the girls wanted to play outside on the trampoline, slide and swings at grandma and grandpa's house...

2011 Christmas at Masani's House

2011-12-30T12:11:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent at Masani's house. Masani (Ma-sa-nah) is Dana's grandma and Aiyana and Clara's great grandma. Masani does not speak English, she only speaks the traditional Navajo language. As she often does at these gatherings, she stood up and gave a long message about how thankful she was that we were all there to help her celebrate Christmas. Dana's dad speaks full Navajo so he translated some of her message. Masani said that she was happy to see everyone and that she loved watching the little ones run around. She also spoke of how she is being taken care of by her youngest daughter (Dana's aunt) Rose. Masani got Shingles a couple of months ago and ever since then she has had a difficult time walking and standing from a sitting position. Masani said that she is grateful to have Rose take care of her, but she also said that she is sad that she can no longer take care of herself in her own home. She said that she feels most comfortable in her home. Her house and her land will always be the place that she considers home... She loves her land. Masani's Christmas was still held at her house in Inscription House Arizona even though she is no longer living there.

Cookie mix from Sasha Saliego...

A barbie for Aiyana from Grandma and Grandpa Cummings...

Thank you Grandma...

The best shot I could get of Clara with her gift from Grandma and Grandpa...

Clara with Grandma and Masani...

Masani, Aiyana, Lori, Olin, Clara & Dana...

2011 Christmas at Our House

2011-12-29T20:38:00.001-08:00

This year we celebrated Christmas up in my husband's home town, but before we left... Santa came to our house to deliver presents for the girls.

the presents from Santa are left under the tree, unwrapped, for the kids to see when they wake up in the morning. The Santa gifts are typically the biggest gifts. This year Santa got Aiyana a play vanity and he got Clara a stroller that you can steer and push with a handle on the back. Below you can see pictures of Aiyana's vanity. Clara was not much into her gifts this year... She mostly cared about holding as many of the oranges from her stocking as she could. She was being a little stinker about opening her gifts.

Clara got some chap stick in her stocking this year. She feels like a big girl with her own chap stick. I looked at it yesterday and it looks like she wanted to taste her chap stick too :o/

Clara with her giant Dora coloring book...

Dana got each of the girls a church type gift. They got a couple of books and two Bible coloring books. Here's Aiyana with her CTR (choose the right) book. I can't wait to do some of the CTR activities with the girls.

Dana with one of the gifts that I got him, a Diamondbacks shoe string backpack.

Clara struggling to open a gift...

Aiyana sitting at her vanity...

You can see part of Clara's new tricycle in this picture...

Soft socks like mommy has... Oh and more of the tricycle :o)

Clara got some too...

I didn't take any video on my regular camera since I had the video camera out so I am sorry there are no videos to post. I know there is a way to post my video camera pictures on here, but I haven't had the time to figure it out. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I will post our Page pictures soon.

My Friend Funner

2011-12-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Meet Jennifer... Well, Jennifer in 1989 that is :o). I was best friends with this girl up until she moved when I was in high school. Jennifer's nickname was Funner, she got the nickname from her little brother Jonathen who had a hard time pronouncing her name when he was younger. I happen to think that the name Funner was very fitting because Jennifer was always a ton of fun to hang out with. I picked strawberries for money with this girl, I learned how to drive an old school stick shift (in the neighbors field) with this girl, I made fake poop out of clay that we gathered by the river with this girl, I learned how to bake with this girl, I tried Avon make-up for the first time with this girl, I discovered a wonderful and inviting religion with this girl... There are so many memories. We had so much fun together.

Here we are with a group of girls from our 6th grade class. We were on a field trip at Living History Farms in Iowa. I am still really good friends with some of these girls. L to R: Amy, Tabby, Becky, Jennifer, Me and Sarah.

Here's Jennifer and I at her house. We did each other's hair all crazy and put food coloring on her white cat. Don't judge us!

Here we are in 7th grade. L to R: Jenny, Me, Lindsay & Jennifer.

I think this was right before Jennifer moved in 1992, but I could be totally wrong. Like my shirt? Ha, ha... It matches the curtains :o)

"Why this post all about my friend Jennifer?" you ask. It's because I just found out that Jennifer moved to PHOENIX!!! Yay!!! I couldn't be happier if you cannot tell :o).

A Hodge Podge of Things

2011-12-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Dinner after daycare...

Aiyana will be a Sunbeam at church starting in January so no more nursery for this little girl. She's growing up too fast. She received a CTR ring in nursery this past Sunday. CTR stands for "Choose The Right" which is a motto that is used often with the primary kids at church. As you can see... She is very fond of this ring... So fond of it that she stuck it in a safe place that mommy can't find :o/

Clara made this darling elf hat in daycare. You can't see it in this picture, but there is a little bell at the top.

Clara's 2011 Christmas Pictures and Comparison Photos

2011-12-19T17:08:00.000-08:00

Clara is almost two years old. Here she is hamming it up...

This is comparing her almost 2 year old picture to our 3 year old pictures, but you get the idea :o)

Aiyana's 2011 Christmas Pictures & Comparison Photos

2011-12-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

Aiyana will be three and half years old at the end of January. She was being a bit of a booger when I was trying to take her picture so what you see what you get :o)

Sassy pants...
Just for fun, another comparison photo...

Lissa Lives in Caggo

2011-12-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

After seeing a picture of my Nana on facebook...

Aiyana: "Who is that?"
Me: "That is your other Nana, she's Nana's mom"
Aiyana: "Oh, I like Nana's mom"
Me: "Nana's mom lives in Chicago"
Aiyana: "I like Caggo. Lissa lives in Caggo" (referring to her aunt Alisa/my sister)
Me: "Yep, and we need to go visit them soon"
Aiyana: "Okay, I wanna see Lissa and other Nana in Caggo"

I guess we need to plan a trip to Caggo soon :o)

Early Christmas with My Family

2011-12-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas early with my family this year since everyone was here for Thanksgiving. I hosted Thanksgiving so my mom had Christmas at her house. Complete with a yummy brunch, it was a wonderful day.

Can you believe that these were the crayons that we used when we were younger? Who knew that crayons kept that long?

This is my sister's boyfriend, Joey. Yes... he's wearing a onsie and no... he has no shame.

The kids playing...

Passing out gifts...

Opening gifts...

Both Aiyana and Clara got a Tangled hairbrush from Alisa and Joey.

The girls got adorable outfits from Zach & Mary and Alisa & Joey. The skirts in this picture are part of an outfit from Aunt Alisa.

My dad showing Aiyana the Agua Doodle he got her. He got one for Clara as well... Those things are pretty cool.

The cousins in front of the tree at Nana's

Clara still has on that skirt :o)

Awe... I love this one

Mason never went without love, hugs and kisses all weekend... The girls just loved him to pieces :o)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Sweet Potatoes, Stuffing, Cranberry Orange Dressing, Corn, Green Bean Casserole, Biscuits, Veggies and Dip, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Dutch Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream... Thanksgiving was a success.

The Timmerman Kids

The Lil Munchkins...

My Nephew Mason

The kids had fun playing while the adults prepared the food...

It's time to EAT!!!

Poor Mason only had girl toys to play with at our house, but he still managed to enjoy himself.

I love this picture because of the look on Mason's face. I had just asked the girls to scoot closer to Mason and give him a kiss ha, ha. He's like "what?"

Playing outside...

Mary, Alisa and I took the kids for a walk around the block in the wagon.

Mary went too fast :o)

Sedona in the Fall

2011-12-02T16:45:00.001-08:00

Sedona

Joey, Alisa, Mom, Zach, Mary, Mason, Dana, Aiyana, Me & Clara

The Cousins

Sunset in Sedona

Jerome in the Fall

2011-12-02T15:33:00.001-08:00

My brother and sister were here from out of town to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since we had a weekend together as a family, we decided to take a mini vacation up north. Both Zach and Alisa have not seen Arizona, outside of Phoenix. We decided to head somewhere close so we went to Jerome and then on to Sedona. Jerome is an old mining town and it use to have 15,000 residents, but now it's a sleepy town with mainly tourist sites and shops.

Jerome

My sister with the girls...

An old Catholic Church in Jerome

Hotel Connor - Built in the late 1800's

Mason on a huge slide...

Aiyana on the same slide...

Clara, Mason & Aiyana having fun in the park...

The Ghost Town of Haynes AZ

The fall colors were beautiful...

This is the entrance to the old mine...

There were tons of old cars in Haynes

One of my favorite pictures of the day...

Verde Valley - View from Jerome

2011 Christmas Card

2011-12-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

2011 for the Cummings Family
Dana, Amber, Aiyana & Clara

2011 started with Clara turning 1 year old in January. We had a Winnie the Pooh Birthday party for her and many of our friends and family were able to make it to help us celebrate. Uncle Zach and Aunt Alisa were even here since the Timmerman family celebrated a late Christmas for 2010. Clara continues to fill our lives with joy. Dana and I think that Clara is definitely the “jokester” of the bunch and she never ceases to make us laugh with her funny faces and her goofy character. Even at her young age, she appears to play off of our reactions.

Aiyana turned 3 in July and I must say that it was her best birthday party yet because with this party, she knew it was her special day. By her request, Aiyana had a Dora themed birthday party and it was filled with friends, family, food, games and fun. Aiyana is such an affectionate little girl. She is a bit bossy with Clara, but at the same time we know that she means well and really just likes to play the “big girl” roll with her younger sister. With that comes so much love and nurturing towards her most favorite little sister and friend, Clara.

On that note, Clara isn’t quite so little anymore. Aiyana’s clothes no longer go into totes for storing when they do not fit her… They go straight into Clara’s closet. In fact we are currently in the process of figuring out how to make our 24mo/2T pant collection suffice for both girls. Aiyana is in 3T clothes, but her legs are shorter so she can still wear the 2T pants. Clara is in 18mo clothes, but the pants are too short.

Dana is moving his way up as an accountant at Indian Health Services. He was promoted to the AP Supervisory Accountant position this year. With his job come many challenges as he tries to mentor some of the employees that have been with the company for many years. One of the biggest challenges seems to be trying to train them to use more current software. I am extremely proud of my husband because he was asked by the church to teach the Gospel Essentials class (the new member class) and he has done such an excellent job with that roll. He is dedicated to his calling and he brings to the classroom compassion and understanding for those who are trying to appreciate the church and also for those who have fallen away from the church and would like to embrace it again.

As for me… I continue to work full time and then some at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. I perform epilepsy monitoring (EEG’s) and intra-operative neuro monitoring for various spine and tumor resection surgeries. Our new hospital opened its doors this summer and with that came a merge with a nearby hospital. Our patient load has doubled and our services have expanded to the point where we are now ranked as one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation. I've been continuing to practice on my photography skills and I hope to some day become a professional photographer. My most favorite and important role in life has been motherhood and some day Dana and I hope to add more little Cumming's kiddos to our family (maybe just one more) :o).

Our top 5 goals for 2012…
1) Learn to live on one income and save the other 2) Plant a garden 3) Become “extreme couponers” (but I draw the line at dumpster diving) 4) Start Aiyana in soccer and 5) Potty train Clara and become a diaper free house for a little while.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
Love: Dana, Amber Aiyana & Clara

My Nana Today

2011-12-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

I really wish I would have started to journal about my most favorite grandparent long before now, but here is where I start...

My Nana's name is Berneice Berdie Schaeffer Smith. She was born on a small farm outside of Davenport Iowa to two wonderful people that I was lucky enough to meet; My Great Grandparents, Louis Schaeffer and Berdie Hutchinson Schaeffer. Great Grandpa Louis would eat everything off of your plate if you didn't finish eating your food. My mom remembers how he would eat the frosting from the kid's cupcakes if they only wanted the cake. Being a poor and humble farmer, I am sure he didn't want to see anything thrown away. Great Grandpa also had a nub for a finger. He cut his finger off with a saw once while cutting down a tree. I was always fascinated with that missing finger. Poor Grandpa had to endure many questions about the where-abouts of his finger. My Great Grandma Berdie was a short, broad, Irish looking lady. When she laughed... oh when she laughed it just made the room light up. She used to come at me with her fingers wriggling away, hunched over and announcing "I am going to tickle you". I can see that image in my mind. I remember I was fascinated by her... something about her. She passed when I was two, but I remember her so distinctively. Her spirit left an imprint on my soul. Both of Nana's parents live forever in my heart and in my mind. The smell of their home, the treats from their candy stash, their devotion to family and their love for me... I'll never forget any of it. It's only appropriate that such awesome people raised such an awesome grandma.... My Nana. Nana was a "rock" in my mom's family. She was the glue that held us together... That fact is more apparent now than it ever was. Nana is a strong woman who raised five girls on her own... she did it... and she did it all. My mom is the oldest of her siblings and through her I see so many of the wonderful characteristics that my Nana bestows.

Yesterday I called my Nana... As of now she resides in a place called Brighton Gardens in St. Charles Illinois. However, her real home is in the Quad Cities (four cities nestled along the banks of the Mississippi River). This was my home at one point in my life and it is where most of my Nana's family currently lives. Without indulging into too much detail (maybe I'll save it for another post)... My Nana is under the control of one of her children that chose to legally take over her care with no interest in the emotional and obvious interests of her sisters (the remainder of Nana's children). It's really such a sad situation and one that has divided this family into many pieces.

Now that I touched on that... Back to my phone call...

Nana: "Hello... Malorie?"
"No Nana, this Amber... Jeri's daughter."
Nana: "Oh Amber... Hi... How are you?"
"I'm good Nana... How are you?"
Talking proceeds, but not with me... probably with someone sitting next to her. Often times my Nana will forget that she is on the phone with someone and start to talk to those around her.
Me: "Nana... Nana...?"
"Oh, yes?"
Me: "Well I wanted to tell you that I was thinking about becoming a photographer"
"Oh really? You would be good at that Jeri... This is Jeri, right?"
Me: "It's Amber, but I wanted to tell you that I thought about you when I made this decision because you have instilled the love of photography in my mom and that has passed on to me"
"I don't have a camera. I used to, but not anymore"
Me: "I know Nana, but remember how you use to always try to take modeling pictures of me, Alisa and Brianna?"
"Yeah, I do remember"
Me: "Well I was hoping to name my business after you and my mom in some way (Nana is now talking to someone else, but I continue)... Like maybe use Berdie in the name or..." I finally give up on the subject.

I try to tell my Nana about my idea a couple more times and then I realize that she is not as focused today. I also realize that I may never get the response that I know she would have given me if she didn't have dementia. It made me sad. I was hurt at her lack of enthusiasm even though I knew it wasn't her fault.

...but, Nana said something that resonated with me. Before I let her go during that phone call I said "Nana, I love you and I miss you very much" and she replied "I love you too Amber... You know I do". It was like a moment of clarity came upon her when my words hit her ears. It was like she was thinking "I have family that loves me, I need to let them know that I am still here and that despite my inability to always remember their names, they need to know that I still love them... I'm inside of this illness.. somewhere... I am still here".

My Sister & Group Pictures

2011-11-29T17:25:00.001-08:00

Alisa wasn't feeling the greatest this day, but I think she still looks gorgeous...

Alisa & her boyfriend Joey

The Cousins...

I love how Aiyana and Mason are looking at Clara in this picture :o)

Oldest to youngest...

All of Us

Someone was kind enough to take our picture, but she took it at such a distance that the photo resolution is bad. Oh well, I am grateful that we got this shot.

The One Who Made "Us" Happen

2011-11-29T17:17:00.001-08:00

A photo session with my mom...

My gorgeous Mom (I love her)

My mom & I

Mom & Zach

Mom & Alisa

Nana & her first Grandson, Mason

Nana & The Grandkids

Photo Session with My Brother's Family

2011-11-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed taking pictures of my brother, his wife Mary and my adorable nephew Mason.

My brother Zach and his wife Mary

Zach and his son Mason

Mary & Mason

Kisses...

Mason

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture :o)

The Timmerman Family

Photo Session with My Family

2011-11-29T16:39:00.000-08:00

Dana & I

Our First Born - Aiyana

Our Baby - Clara

The Girls Together...

My Family

He Not Say Hi to Me?

2011-11-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday my husband started up his laptop and video chatted with his brother Sam and Sam's two youngest, Skye and Kellen. The girls had so much fun video chatting with some of their cousins in Page. Then Dana video chatted with his sister, Carminda, in up state New York. Carminda just had a baby boy to add to the Cummings clan, his name is Jackson. Aiyana and Clara got to see the new baby and they also talked to their cousin Parker. That afternoon my mom watched the girls so Dana and I could go to a movie. Aiyana was playing on my mom's phone and she was looking at all of her mobile pictures. My mom said she knew how to slide her finger across the screen to view another picture and she also knew how to pinch her fingers together and slide them apart to enlarge a picture (not sure who taught her that?). Aiyana came across a picture of Zach (my brother) and she shouted "That's Zach!" Then proceeded to wave to him saying "Hi Zach". Perplexed that he was not waving back, she looked at my mom and said "He not say hi to me?" Since she had been video chatting all day, she thought that the picture was a live view of my brother... What a precious moment :o).

Sweet... Chili con Carne

2011-11-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

After much deliberation "Sweet Chili con Carne" is the name of my chili. I know... not very creative, but I tried. The name came from the fact that the chili is somewhat sweet and there are two different types of beef in it, ground sirloin and cubed sirloin. Would that be different cuts? They are both considered sirloin? I don't know... Anyway...

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Onions, diced
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
3 tablespoons of Minced Garlic (I buy this jarred, it's so much easier)
1 lb of Ground Beef (the higher the fat content, the better)
1 lb Beef Sirloin, cubed
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can of Diced Tomatoes
2 (6 oz.) cans of Tomato Paste
1 (14.5 oz.) can of Stewed Tomatoes
1/2 cup Brandy (it gets cooked- no alcohol content)
1/2 can of Beef Broth
1/2 can of Chicken Broth
2 (15 oz.) cans of Kidney Beans (drained)
2 (15 oz.) cans of Chili Beans (drained)
1/2 cup of Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons of Cocoa
1 tablespoon of Chili Powder
1 tablespoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Oregano
1 teaspoon of Cayenne
1 teaspoon of Salt
Ground Pepper, to taste
4 dashes of Chipotle Sauce

Brown the meats (seasoned with salt and ground pepper) and saute the onion, peppers and garlic in the extra virgin olive oil. While that is cooking add all of the other ingredients to your crock pot. When the meat is cooked, drain the grease and add the meat to the crock pot. When the onion is translucent, add it and the e.v.o.o to the crock pot. Set on low and let it simmer for 6-8 hours. This should be enough to feed about 10-15 people. Of course, taste the chili while it is cooking. If you like yours with more spice, use hot chili powder and more dashes of chipotle or hot sauce. That is how I would make it if I were cooking for myself.

I wish I could provide pictures, but when I made this I was making three large pots and somewhere between snapping pictures of the canned tomatoes and using the hundreds of spices... I stopped taking pictures. I won second place in a work contest with this, but when I win first... I won't be sharing my recipe :o)

Travis & Karen's Wedding

2011-11-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

Dana's brother, Travis, married the love of his life, Karen, on November 4th, 2011.
It was a beautiful ceremony at the Wright House in Mesa, AZ.

~*~

All of the little cousins wore off white or eggplant (purple)...

Clara was checking out the venue before the ceremony started...

The groomsmen waiting for the ceremony to start...

A creative twist to the picture above...

Here comes the bride!

Aiyana and her little cousin Jade watching as the ceremony got started...

Aiyana admiring the bride and wondering what all of the fuss is about...

Trying to entertain Clara with snacks. Neither of the girls could cooperate long enough for me to watch the very short ceremony :o(. I had to step out with both of them because Clara wanted to run around and Aiyana kept shouting "I have to go potty".

Aiyana with her cousins Jakelle & Skye...

Getting hitched :o)...

My baby and I...

My family... I love them :o)

Lorin's family: Joecy, Jayne, Sunnie, Jade, Lorin, Jakelle & Jewel

Sam's family: Skye, Sam, Emmy, Kellen & Tessa

I don't have pictures of Carminda's or Don's family. It was bit hectic gathering people for pictures. The kids were all over the place. Don's family was there and I have some pictures of their little ones later in this post. Carminda's two oldest girls were there and I also have pictures of them, but Carminda couldn't make it because she was/is busy with the new addition to the family, little Jackson. So Craminda, Daryl, Grace, Parker and Jackson were not there.

~*~

After the ceremony they put up an activities table for the little ones. They even had gifts for them to play with (spectacular idea).

Aiyana with her new My Little Pony...

Clara all dressed up and drinking from a fancy glass :o)

The newlyweds...

Oh my, this was not what I had envisioned. It was later in the night before we gathered the kids for pictures, mistake number one. Anyway, here they are... Front (L to R): Tessa, Jakelle, Clara & Aiyana. Back (L to R): Jayne, Jewel, Joecy, Andrew, Kellen, Skye, Jade & Gabrielle. That's Sunnie (mom of 5 girls) trying to keep the kiddos in line. Missing from the picture are Kealie, Siobhan, Grace, Parker & Jackson (Carminda's 5)

Another attempt...

My hubby & I...

Emmy (Sam's wife) & I

Carminda's two oldest, Keali & Siobhan & Dana's mom, Lorena.

Siobhan, Emmy & I

They were kind of nice about it, Travis smeared a little in Karen's face at the last minute.

The first dance...

The little girls admiring the bride... so cute...

Aiyana and Clara had so much fun dancing, they loved it. It was very entertaining to watch.

Skye, Gabrielle, Tessa & Aiyana busting a move...

Dana found Clara...

Gabrielle & Aiyana...

Skye & Aiyana...

Such an awesome idea for a wedding. They had a photo booth that printed out 2 cards of photos. One went to the bride and groom and the other, we got to keep. The one that went to the bride and groom was attached to a scrap book page that you could write a message on and sign. Loved it. Such a cool idea. The pictures were displayed on a screen outside of the booth and they were entertaining to watch :o)

~*~

Here's our family's pictures.... (the third picture was supposed to be a group pukana face because Clara likes to make that face, but it looks like she was the only one who opted out for the picture).

Here's a video of Skye & Aiyana dancing...

Here's a video of Clara dancing (she's the one carrying the glow bracelet). She's got rhythm...

Travis's friends can really dance and they were so entertaining to watch. I wish the lighting were better, I would have taken more video. Here's a little snippet of one of his friends dancing...

Wow... it's even darker on my blog... sorry.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T18:47:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of my many attempts to take a good Halloween picture of the two girls...

In the above picture, Aiyana reminds me of an ungrateful teenager and Clara is in the midst of saying "done" as she walks off :o/. Then there's the attempts made outside. Being the smart mom that I am, I thought that the girls would be excited about making their way outside for trick-or-treating and therefor I would get happy pictures. Instead, I got a very angry Clara because she was ready to trick-or-treat NOW! In the picture below she is shaking her finger at me saying "No". She was not in the mood for pictures.

We bought Aiyana a very cute Cinderella dress a few weeks back. The dress hung in Aiyana's closet and she begged me to let her wear it on numerous occasions. I wanted to keep it nice for Halloween so I told her no, but Halloween rolled around and Aiyana was less than pleased with the fit of her costume :o(. "Too tickley" she exclaimed. So off with the costume and I had to find something quick. It was either a German dress I wore when I was two (it was adorable on her) or a hula outfit that Dana and I picked up when we were in Kauai. She picked the hula outfit.
Admiring her skirt...

Clara was either going to be Catarina (Aiyana's costume last year) or Tinker Bell (if I could make the outfit fit her). The Tinker Bell went better with Aiyana's princess costume so I went with that one for Clara. Aiyana actually wore this outfit on her very first trick-or-treating adventure.

The above is Clara's new "say cheese" face.

She made for a darling little Tinker Bell...

Here she was singing one of the common Dora songs, bouncing her head back and forth to the music.

Another "say cheese" face...

This year we decided to stick around our neighborhood in order to limit the huge amounts of candy we received last year... it didn't work by the way, we still got tons of candy. So that meant we couldn't go to Nana's house this year :o(. So Nana came to us and gave the girls some special treats.

Ready to go trick-or-treating...

This is probably the best shot I got of the two of them together...

Waiting at the first house. Aiyana was more bashful than Clara as long as there where no dogs around. If they had a dog then Clara was out of there.

She looks so tiny up against the big door :o)

"Is anyone coming to give me candy?"

This is our neighbor's daughter, Elena. Elena is around Aiyana's age, but unfortunately they are going to be in separate grades :o(. Aiyana will enter Kindergarten before Elena.

This lil one is Maren. Don't her and Elena look a lot alike? Maren is around Clara's age, but I don't recall whether or not they will be in the same grade.

After a while the girls got tired and wanted to sit in the wagon. From that point on they just sat in the wagon while people brought the candy to their buckets :o)

A sucker for each after we go home... then off to bed.

Halloween Party 2011

2011-10-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to pay a lot for a costume this year so I scrounged for things in my own closet. I slapped together a cat outfit with all black clothes, cat ears, a bow tie and a tail. Nothing special, but it worked.

My mom and I went to a party at a friend of a friend's house. My friend Jenny invited us.

My mom wore a Viking outfit that my sister wore a couple of years ago. She made for a gorgeous Viking.

I don't even remember this guys name. I call him Czajkowski because he got that word when we were playing Catch Phrase at my friend Jenny's birthday party and he was like "how the hell is anyone going to guess this?" We all laughed for quite a long time about it. Anyway, he and his girlfriend dressed as bumble bees (his idea). That's Peyton Manning on the right.

Muammar Gaddafi

My friend Jenny and her boyfriend Moe - They were the White House party crashers. Jenny sewed her entire dress and I think she did an excellent job. I had no idea she was such a Martha Stewart.

Jenny, my mom & I

Shiela (the Black Swan) - The host of the party

Thadius (protester)

I had plans to go to this party with my mom and I found out on Thursday that I had to do an early morning surgery on Sunday so I was thinking about not going to the party since I had to get up so early the next day. I am so glad that I changed my mind and that I went for a little while. It was a lot of fun and I forgot how much I like to get dressed up for Halloween.

Daycare Halloween Party 2011

2011-10-30T20:37:00.001-07:00

I dressed the girls up as Halloweena's (Halloween ballerina's). I had to think of something that would work because I wanted them to be dressed up for their party at daycare, but I didn't want them to wear their costumes before trick-or-treating in them. Clara won the most creative costume in her classroom. Aiyana won in her classroom last year.

In light of Halloween, ghosts and goblins... I'll leave you with this rather funny video of Clara getting scared of a shadow puppet that Dana was making using a light on our wall...

My 34th Birthday

2011-10-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm getting old... SIGH...

(a not so flattering post work/stressful day picture)

My mom made me a yummy Heath Bar Cake... Yummm.

(look at all of those candles... Did I mention that I am getting old?)

My dad and I the day before my birthday. My dad asked me if I remembered having a big party out at the log home for his 40th Birthday. Of course I remember it and I'm only 6 years away from that age!!! It totally put things into perspective for me when he mentioned that... I'm getting old!!!

My mom and I on my birthday. My mom told me many stories from when I was little. She said that I was such a good baby and that I hardly ever cried. Where can I get me one of those kinds of babies? :o)

All jokes aside... I feel blessed that Our Heavenly Father has given me a healthy body to live to be 34 and hopefully on to 100. Every day I see sickness and often death at work and I thank the Lord that I am healthy now and that he has blessed me with this life.

Happy 34th Birthday to Me!!!

Clara 21 Months

2011-10-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

Our baby is growing. We measured Clara's height on our growing stick and she is now taller than Aiyana was when Aiyana was 2 years old. Pretty soon both of the girls will be in the same size clothes. Right now Aiyana wears a 3T and Clara is transitioning from 18 months to a 2T.

Here's a picture of Clara chilling out in an outfit that her Aunt Carminda bought for her.

Clara's eyes are as dark as Aiyana eyes are light :o)

Aiyana - 38 Months

2011-10-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

The first time we saw Tangled I said that Rapunzel looks like Aiyana with her blonde hair and big eyes. Now Aiyana gets excited to see Rapunzel as a baby on the movie.

We bought curlers for Aiyana's hair. It was fun rolling her hair up and anticipating what it would look like the next day.

She looks mad, but she was really happy to have the curlers in her hair.

Watching cartoons before bed...

Tada!

Before the curls relaxed a bit, she looked like Shirley Temple

Goofy Girl

Dana's 32nd Birthday & Pics of The Girls

2011-10-23T10:54:00.001-07:00

We sort of celebrated Dana's birthday in Vegas by going out to eat before we met up with Dana's brother and friends. So for Dana's actual birthday we had a pretty mild night. I cooked dinner, made him a brownie cake and we sang happy birthday...

After Dana blew out his candles, we lit a candle for Aiyana and Clara to practice blowing them out... they had fun with that.

Here's Aiyana and Clara in outfits that their Auntie Carminda bought for them.

Clara's catching up to her big sister. In this picture she looks bigger/taller than Aiyana, but Aiyana still has several inches on her.

Nice... No love for the camera :o(

Aiyana really loves to give her sister big hugs...

Vegas 2011 - Travis & Karen's Bach. Party

2011-10-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dana and I headed to Vegas last weekend while my mom watched the girls. Dana's brother, Travis, and his fiance, Karen, had a combined bachelor/bachelorette party. Dana and I had a great time. I took a lot of pictures, as usual, but I collected some of my favorites for this post since I didn't want to be up all night uploading photos.

Ready to head out for the night...

Dana in his stunna shades...

This is where we stayed, Treasure Island. On the online map, it looked like our hotel was right across from Planet Hollywood (where Dana's brother was staying), but in fact it was in the middle of the strip and no where near the south side. Treasure Island was just re-done and the rooms were very nice though.

Hotel Paris...

This is where we hung out all night...

My Hubby & I...

The bachelorette girl & I...

Dana and his two younger brothers, Travis & Chris...

Our VIP table was right next to Holly Madison's.

I have no idea who the other two chics in this picture are.

Some of the girls: Sasha, Karen's sister, Karen's sister (Christine), Karen & I

Chris girlfriend Lexi & I (Chris cracks me up in the background)

The next day we went and had crepes at the Bellagio... YUMMM!

They had their fall decor out.

This face would move and talk every once in a while :o)

I'll leave you with these videos since this is how we ended our Friday evening in Vegas.

Pretty funny stuff... Dana riding an electronic bull...

I have no idea who this dude is, but I thought his video was funny...

Daycare Bullying

2011-10-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday I dropped my precious little Clara off in her classroom at daycare for the day. I often watch the girls mingle with their peers for a while before I take off for work or sometimes I will spy on them when I get there to pick them up at the end of the day. This time I watched as Clara walked slowly towards the other kids. I could tell that Clara was anxious to play, but she was acting a bit apprehensive after coming back from the weekend. I smiled to myself thinking, she is so precious and so delicate. My blissful thoughts were soon swept away by this brute of a tot who comes straight up to Clara and pushes her clean over, sending her several feet from the path she was walking in :o(. Clara fell over and immediately started to cry. The teacher was engaged in some sort of paper work she was doing and had no clue as to what happened, in fact she said "what happened?". I said "that little boy just pushed her over". I rushed to swoop up Clara. The teacher set the little boy aside and then proceeded to take Clara out of my arms. I turned away from her... I'm sorry, but I am at work when this sort of stuff probably happens all day... Let me comfort my own child! I told the teacher that Clara gets bossed around by her older sister at home, but she never gets pushed with that sort of force. It made me mad. I had visions of spanking that little boys butt. Sigh... There are some things that I wonder if I will ever be able to accept about daycare.

Kiss, but Don't Tell!

2011-10-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

I found out one day this week that Aiyana was put in time out for kissing boys in her classroom... on the lips. When I was told this my first thought was "time out is a harsh punishment for such a kind gesture", but I was told that she was asked to stop and continued doing it so... Anyway, I guess they pulled her from the classroom and put her in a room with one of the supervisors (Deana) for a period of time. Deana told Aiyana that the only boy she should be kissing is her daddy. So after a while of solitary punishment Deana asked Aiyana if she was going to kiss any boys again and Aiyana replied with "No, I no kiss boys... I only kiss daddy". Bless her cute little heart :o).

All Star Game

2011-10-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

Dana talked me into yet another week night baseball game. This time it was the Diamondbacks verses the Brewers for their fourth All Star Game against each other. The Brewers had already won two games and the Diamondbacks had already won one. It is the best of five for an All Star game so it was a great game to watch. The crowd was crazy and the Diamondback players were pumped.

The first 35,000 people got black t-shirts (they were trying to create a black out crowd). I wore my black team shirt... I got the memo ahead of time :o). Everyone also got team colored poms.

It was an awesome game... They won.
Dana and a couple of his highschool friends...

New Curtains

2011-10-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend's curtain hanging goal wasn't completed until late Thursday evening for many reasons... 1) I was on call and I tend to get cruddy luck while on call and 2) I wanted a style of curtain from Anna's Linens and there was not a store in town that sold 95" panels in the Marquis style. So... with no time to hang the rods and no curtains to put on the rods we were forced to wait until the panels were shipped and until I was actually present to get the job done. So Thursday evening (while I was on call again), my husband and I forced ourselves to just "get 'er done". Dana had to run to Lowes and buy a new power drill because the charger to ours is MIA. He thinks it's somewhere around the house, I think it was loaned out to someone and never returned. Initially I thought his brother might be the culprit, but now that I think about it... that power drill has been loaned out to everyone and their brother so who knows what happened to it. The old power drill is worthless to us now. So anyhow... He gets back with the new drill, we put the girls to bed and come 9:00 pm we are ready to hang curtains. Tired and cranky we managed to get through it. I am so happy that we finally have window treatments on these windows. Maybe next month we will get around to painting another room.

I hate to say it, but I am not that crazy about the way that the curtains look in the dining room. I like to consider myself Traditional with a Modern twist in my decorating style, but with the color of my dining room and the curtains I think this room looks Colonial in style. For one, the wall color is not the color I had originally picked out since the guy at Lowes decided to leave out a number when he mixed our paint (it happened to be the white). Unfortunately we had 3/4 of our walls painted already and we were most of the way through our second coat when we noticed that the new paint didn't match :o(. I LOVED the original color. Now it's a bit too dark for me, but oh well. I wasn't going to re-paint. Same with the curtains... I just don't have the energy to shop around for something that I'll love. So, I'll have to grow to love these.

I am much more fond of the way the curtains look in this room. I love how the rope looks in the center of each panel.

These rooms are just about complete. We still need some blinds on each side of the front door and we have some blank wall space to use for some of Dana's artwork that he collected on a past trip to South Africa. I also plan to put some things on the ledge that divides the two rooms.

Ojavan's 1st Birthday Party

2011-09-25T15:50:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went to Ojavan's first Birthday Party. Ojavan is Dana's cousin's son. Here are some of the picture I took at the party...

I couldn't decide which picture I like best of this shot so I included all three versions.

Black and White

Tinted

The sweater jacket we got for him...

Eating cake...

Clara playing with the balloons...

Aiyana eating candy...

Need A Good Laugh?

2011-09-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Clara 20 Months

2011-09-24T20:20:00.001-07:00

I know... this climbing toy is in A LOT of my pictures, but they love this thing and sometimes I have to just snap their picture wherever they are playing.

Ready to go down the slide...

I bought the girls some boots that were on sale at the OshKosh store and they are super cute. Anyway, I caught this picture of Clara while she was dancing around in hers. If you know anything about Native American Women's Fancy Dancing you will recognize this move. She's gonna be a pro.

Daycare Artwork

2011-09-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some of my children's beautiful artwork with you...

Feathers - By Clara

Monsters - By Aiyana

If you are like me... I thought. There is no way a child who just turned three could draw something like this with such interesting detail. The above picture was drawn on the back of a worksheet that Aiyana worked on at daycare. I showed it to Dana, and to my mom, and we all thought that maybe the teacher might have sketched the picture on the back of her paperwork. The next day there was a similar drawing so I asked Aiyana "What is this?". Aiyana replied "It's a monster". I said "Did you draw this?". "Yes" she replied. I still wasn't convinced so I kept them both and waited for the next drawing. Sure enough... the drawings keep pouring in. I finally sat Aiyana down with a piece of white paper and an ink pen. I said "Can you draw this for me?"... pointing at the "monster". So she proceeded with the swirly eyes and then the hair like growth from the eyes. Then she drew the mouth and stopped. I asked "Is that it?" She said "no" and continued to draw the lines on the mouth. I said "What is that?" She said "hair". I said "Does the monster have a hairy mouth?" and she said "Yes". I asked her why she always draws monsters and she said "I don't know, I don't like monsters". I said "Then why do you draw them?". She says she doesn't know why, but she doesn't like them. WEIRD!

Anyway... Here's another one.

Disturbing, but I am impressed none-the-less.

Flowers from a Friend

2011-09-24T10:54:00.001-07:00

My friends are wonderful...

Thanks for the flowers, Amy

Bye Bye Havasupai

2011-09-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

Hiking back towards Mooney Falls and then on to the campsite. Little did we know that there was a storm brewing...

You can see Lorin and Sam at the bottom of the canyon in this picture. Lorin, Sam and Dana wanted to take the water route back. It is a longer route, but a change in scenery.I took this picture on the hike to Beaver Falls... Now there's a duplicate because I took one on the hike back.

I also took this picture at the start of our hike, but it looked different to me later in the day.

Mooney Falls

Now we had to climb out of there. Most thought that the climb out was much more intimidating.

Part of the Route to Mooney Falls

Looking back on my climb up... Dana with Mooney Falls behind him.

Almost there...

The Top of Mooney Falls

Dana's mom is completely scared of heights, this would terrify her. Shame on you, Dana!

This is a small waterfall close to the campsite... I really like this picture a lot.

Pack Mules

Havasu Falls

The End

I didn't care to take any pictures during our hike out. I was focused on making it out of the canyon :o). I'll leave you with the videos I took of the storm that finally caught up to us. We made it back to camp in the nick of time after our hike to Beaver Falls. It rained and thundered heavily in the canyon that night. Some of the guys had to put on ponchos and stand guard at any signs of flash flooding. We were concerned that we might have to evacuate. I stayed in the tent and put together a pack of what I wanted to take out with me if we did need to seek higher ground. It was very intimidating.

Mooney Falls & Hike to Beaver Falls - Day 2

2011-09-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Mooney Falls

Me in front of Mooney Falls - You can really tell the difference in the color and contrast when you change the shutter speed. The above photo was taken with a long shutter speed therefor letting in more light.

Dana in front of Mooney Falls

My friend Amy & I in front of Mooney Falls

The Challenging Climb Down to Mooney

This is a run off waterfall from Mooney Falls. You could swim under this one and there was a little cavern inside. Mooney Falls is to the right and the long journey to Beaver Falls is to the left, along the stream.

Gangsta - lol

This was such a stunning view of Mooney...

My Hubby & I

Mwa

One of the many smaller waterfalls along the hike to Beaver Falls...

Josh, Dana & Olin (Dana's dad)

We took the dry trail for most of the hike, but the water is so inviting that the guys wanted to ride the current down to Beaver Falls some of the way.

The lime in the water sometimes causes the stream to look whitish in color...

Emmy ready to duck through some of the thicket...

Dana, Lucy, Karen, Travis & Josh

Can you spot Dana?

We had to walk through a lot of this chest high foliage. It was somewhat surreal looking because there was so much of it. I was told that some of the girls spotted a rattle snake only inches from where I passed by only minutes later... YIKES!

Under the trees and through the... Okay, you get it...

Paradise

At some points you find yourself towering over the water with more amazing views and a new perspective of the canyon.

Another very short, but challenging climb to get down to Beaver Falls...

Beaver Falls - I'm certain I would have been able to get an amazing photo of this waterfall if I was on the other side of it and if I wanted to hike a little further down for a different angle, but I didn't so this is the shot I got :o)

Looking dowstream from Beaver Falls. Only four more miles and we would have hit the Colorado River.

Planking

Karen, Sunnie, Amy & Emmy

The Girls in the Group - Me, Amy, Sunnie, Emmy, Karen & Lucy

Havasupai - Day 1

2011-09-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Getting closer...

New Navajo Falls (the old falls were destroyed in the flooding of 2008). Not a bad replacement :o)

I played around with the camera settings a lot. The above photos were taken with a slow shutter speed (to make the water look like it is in motion) and the photos below were taken with regular camera settings. With a slower shutter speed more light is let into the camera, hence the brighter photos.

Slower shutter speed again...

Top of Havasu Falls - There use to be more travertine pools at the bottom of these falls, before the flooding changed the water routes.

Havasu Falls

Above - regular settings & Below - slow shutter

Run off from Havasu Falls - These are some of my favorite pictures from the whole trip. I couldn't decide which was my favorite so here's all of them...

Dana & I - Havasu Falls

Our Campsite - The water stream ran on the right side of our tents.

Moonlight Flowers - These flowers are all over Havasupai, they bloom after dark and stay open until mid morning.

The trail along the camprground follows along the beautiful blue green water.

Stay tuned for Saturday's adventure to Beaver Falls...