My Plate is FULL.

Haven't posted in over a week, to say that I have been busy would be an understatement. I didn't leave school tonight until 6:30, and this was to avoid being a psycho mother when I got home (like I was last night, ignoring my family and just working, I felt horrible and crabby and mean).

Why is every deadline due at the exact same time? Yearbook, Career Ladder, Grades, D & F Reports, Letters of Recommendation...(you get the picture). Not to mention that my son turns 6 next Thursday and I have not even begun to plan his party. He will be my number one priority Friday, after I submit all mentioned paperwork above.
Work is so busy (both works, another HUGE photo shoot this weekend) which means that the housework and laundry (I think there might be about 20 loads screaming at me that they need to be washed. When I was sorting them, there were clothes in there that I completely forgot my kids even owned) are piling up and just getting put on the back burner. I am lucky enough that my sis-in-law is willing to come over to the house tomorrow and help out. I NEED a clean house and I am pretty sure she needs some money, so it is a win/win situation?! Right. That is what I keep telling myself anyway.
Last, but not least, I started a project while watching The Bachelor on Monday (two different ideas I saw in bloggyland that I smooshed together into one), but who knows when I will be able to finish it. Here is a little sneak peek at what I hope I get to work on sometime this weekend (fingers crossed):
Hoping to be back to normal soon. It is not fun to feel like a chicken running around with their head cut off.

Something is Missing!?

This morning I emailed Kyan's teacher about having him take the bus today instead of going to extended day, a really irrelevant part of the story, but how it started. She didn't email me back, so I figured, she got the message, no worries. Right before I went to lunch, I checked my email and she had asked me to send her my cell phone number, she had something to show me. I immediately thought to myself that his tooth finally came out and was hoping that I would have a picture soon! Off I went to lunch, and I was biting into my lunch, this is what she sent me...

I got giant mommy tears in my eyes! My first baby, who will be six in 16 days, lost his first tooth! Kyan has been working that tooth for the past two weeks. He will sit and watch a movie or cartoons and just wiggle away. So today, Mrs. Jones actually took toilet paper and pulled it right before lunch. HA! Did I tell you how much I LOVE Kyan's teacher? Not only did she pull his tooth, but she sent me the picture right after he went to the nurse to get it put away in a special bag! She was so worried that he was going to choke on it as he was eating. It was so ready to come out that it didn't hurt at all!

As soon as I was finished taking this picture, Kyan ran upstairs to put his tooth under the pillow for the tooth fairy! He informed me that he thought the tooth fairy was going to bring him $10 for his tooth! No pressure or anything, but I am pretty sure the tooth fairy is going to deliver, it is the first tooth after all!

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

It was my first day back at school from Winter Break, and oh how I was dreading going back! How I long to be a stay at home (or at least part time) mama! Lemme tell ya, I live for breaks! Maybe one day...

I kept so busy over break that it really didn't feel like much of a break at all, but when the alarm went off this morning and it was for me, instead of the hubs, I was not loving life! I have been burning the midnight oil (very unusual for me, but I was up late...more like early into the morning most of the time), so sleeping in (when I say that I mean, like 7:30) has been nice. Not the case today!

Anywho, back to work I am and that is why the winner post is coming on so late! So excited to have so many new followers! Welcome! For those that have been followers for awhile, I am so happy to have you and thanks for reading about all of our crazy adventures as a family of four! I hope that you stick around!

Now, for the winner!
(insert drum roll)
Comment #26 I'm a follower!
Amy, who happens to be the creator of Evy's Tree! Love her hoodies!

Kinda funny that Amy ended up the winner (I swear I used Random.org to pick, I just don't know how to take a picture of the little box that displays the number it picks), since I send her most of Lola's hand-me-downs anyway (but the MJ clothes are brand spanking new this time)! Amy and I have never met in real life, just found each other via the blog world and I really do consider her to be a good friend. She used to leave comments on another's blog who I happened to leave comments for all the time and I think she started our friendship by leaving a comment first, but since then, I have grown to love her so much! She tells the most honest stories about life on her personal blog and she makes the most beautiful embellished hoodies (my favorite is The Simple) that she sells in her etsy store! If you haven't checked her out, go!

Congrats Amy, I will get this in the mail to you ASAP!!!

Ringing In the New Year!

If you only knew the lengths that I went to to get this picture, and I guess I should have been more specific to the hubs, to at least smile, as he HATES that I take pictures of everything, everywhere we go. Oh well...this is a pretty typical face for him in pictures, annoyed! So up it goes anyway!

We spent our evening at with the Casillas family household, as both of their extended families were in town! Holly and Syd were there too! The kids got some much needed time together and played so well, while the adults were able to play poker and sit around and visit! I think we have reached a turning point in our kids growing up part of their lives! They don't need us so much anymore and are able to keep themselves entertained! I will say that it is very nice to feel like an adult again!

We headed home just after 11pm and curled up in our beds (me with a good book)! About 11:55, the fireworks started and Lola came running! Not only did she want in bed with me (Chad was on the computer still), she was so scared that she wanted under the covers to sleep, and that is exactly where she fell asleep, in my arms, with the covers pulled over her head!

This morning we woke up to frozen pipes and no running water...in ARIZONA?! It took about an hour of running a drip before it came back on full force! When I was driving to shoot the wedding yesterday, I saw snow on the mountains?! It was crazy and I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone a little bit!

Today we are celebrating 2011 watching the Rose Bowl Parade, watching football, editing wedding pictures, finishing a birthday gift, and celebrating a very special birthday! We are busy!

We were blessed in 2010, cheers to 2011, I am looking forward to all that it brings!
Happy New Year!

PS - If you haven't entered the Matilda Jane Giveaway, worth almost $200, click here, you have 2 more days!

Matilda Jane Giveaway!

It is no surprise to those of you that know me, that I am very lucky when it comes to winning giveaways via the blog world! I have kept the winnings for myself (or my kids) or used them as gifts. It is why I like to throw a giveaway on here every once in a while too!

So here goes...

One prize that I won close to a year ago was a Matilda Jane trunk show surprise! I just had to name my size! I love Matilda Jane clothing for little girls (and me too), so I was so excited to see what they were going to send me, and send me surprises they did, 4 of them! All three dresses that they sent were beautiful and the little pants that go with them, stinkin' adorable too! However, Lola did not really take to wearing them! I just couldn't make it work with her style...so instead of keeping close to $200 worth of merchandise in her closet, just because it is Matilda Jane, I thought I would give it away!

So, what can one of you lucky readers win? All four pieces that they sent me! That is two dresses and a pair of pants that are size 2, and one dress that is a size 4!

Dress One, Size 2

Dress Two, Sizes 2 and 4 (same thing, two different sizes)

Ruffled Pants, Size 2
So, how can you win all four pieces?
It is easy, all you have to do is tell me who would be sporting these beautiful Matilda Jane clothing items? Who are you trying to win them for?

Just so you know, you don't have to have a blog to leave a comment! If you aren't a blogger, just enter a comment and then where it says "comment as" scroll down near the bottom and click on anonymous. However, if you do that, make sure to leave your e-mail address in the comment so that I can contact you if you win!


Want additional chances to win?
Leave a comment for each one that you choose to do:
1. Follow this blog, if you already are {thank you, big hugs}, just say so!
2. Head on over to Rosie J. Photography and become a follower.

Again, if you already are, let me know that too! I have been so busy over the holidays and have 2 weddings to shoot, one this weekend and one next and a BIG family shoot the weekend after that! So many fresh faces to put up when I get a chance!
3. Blog about this giveaway, come back and let me know you did!

Giveaway ends Sunday, January 2, 2011!
Winner will be announced Monday, January 3, 2011!!!
Good Luck!

CLOSED!!!!

Love, Love Is All Around.

Thought I would add a little music for your listening pleasure to this post (it is a loooooong one that took forever to do). This is my favorite Christmas song ever and I could listen to it over and over and over...

Our Christmas craziness starts on Christmas Eve every year, as we travel to my aunt and uncle's house for a traditional Italian meal! Usually my aunt prepares the food prior to the day and the girls help her get everything ready to serve while the boys in the family hit up the golf course for a friendly game of Divis v. Divis (my dad and his crew v. my uncle and his)! Kyan loves golfing with the big boys and had his glove on long before they even teed off!

This year was a little different, we played/ate/opened presents first and then the boys went to golf while the ladies cleaned up! About 20 minutes later the boys walked in and said that they were done?! They were booted off the course because they didn't pay! They didn't pay because Kyan couldn't play (so they snuck him on and tried to get away with it)! Yes, they got caught and came home with their tails between their legs. It was at that very moment that we were elected to host (my aunt has passed down her recipe to me, so I will be cooking) so that they could golf at a course where they welcome kids! Because they couldn't golf, we sat around story telling about way back when! It was fun to listen to stories from each other and laughs were had all around!
Kyan and Lola love their second cousin Abby and had so much fun getting in time with her this Christmas!


After my aunt and uncle's we headed home to celebrate with my aunt Heidi, cousin Hannah and her boyfriend Will, my parents, and the kids! This year, Chad's family even stopped by for a little while to say hi to everyone!

We visited...
We played with Hannah and Will's puppy...
We ate...
We even played a little basketball (with our golf glove still on)...
And PRESENTS we did open!!!
(Lola doing her "We get to open the presents" dance)! She was so funny because she cheered everyone on as they were opening theirs!

On the wish list for Kyan:
~Knight Necklace
~Razor Scooter
~DSi

On the wish list for Lola:
~Star Necklace
~Pink Razor Scooter
~New Baby

Check all of those babies off the list! Either mommy/daddy/grandma/grandpa or Santa came through this year!

My mom also had a special request this year and I was able to come through for her too! Giant Letters (J and D, which is her initials, but also happen to be my dad's, mine, and my brothers) like the one I made for my craft room. Homemade presents are the best and I was excited to give her what she had been waiting for (she knew she was getting them, just had no clue what colors I used or what I really did to them)!

After we opened gifts, we played a mean game of Apples to Apples. If you have never played this game, PLAY IT! It is so fun! I knew my mom was competitive, but it has been so long since I have played a board game with her, I forgot how much she brings the fight out of every body! Poor Will, this was the first time meeting all of us and I am sure his head was spinning at our aggressiveness! Ha, welcome to the family!

The best Christmas present of all came from Kyan this year! A ornament that he made especially for us!
He was chomping at the bit all week for us to open the gift! I can see why, it melted my heart.


When everyone left we had one more task we had to take care of before we could head to bed and wait for Santa's arrival...
We had to sprinkle our reindeer food!!! Last year only Kyan did this, so it was fun to see the both of them sprinkling away, leaving a trail to our door for the reindeer to bring Santa and his sleigh!


With the kids off to bed, I set my alarm for midnight, as that is when the hubs and I exchange presents! This is one tradition that they two of us have done since we have celebrated Christmas together. It was the only compromise we could come up with as we were both to stubborn to change and give into the others way of WHEN to open presents. I always opened them with my family on Christmas Eve, him, Christmas morning. Well, I can't wait that long and he thinks Christmas Eve is too soon, so midnight it is! Unless someone budges, and I can't see that happening anywhere in the near future! So, onto the present giving. Chad gave me the Silhouette Machine, which I have been DYING for! There is a funny story behind this and I am the worlds worst wife, but I actually bought my own after I was trying to win one right before Thanksgiving and didn't! I never really said anything about wanting one to anyone, just posted it on my blog (which I guess he really does read?!) and then bought one when I didn't win it because I couldn't resist the steal of a deal price. When it showed up on our doorstep five days prior to Christmas, I GOT IN BIG TROUBLE! I ruined the hubs Christmas gift giving for sure, as he bought one for me too (so right now I have two...anyone wanna buy one?!)! As punishment he told me I wasn't going to be able to open it until Valentine's Day! But, when it came time to open presents, I got to open up the box!

Yay! As for his gift, this year was the first year I bought anything off of ebay, and it just may be my last! I got Chad a Shepard Fairy print of Muhammad Ali.

I chose the Buy It Now option, as I wanted to be sure it would be here by Christmas. Two days later the seller calls me and tells me that she sent the wrong print and that I would need to mail the one she sent back to her before she would send out the correct one. Right, because it was my mistake. Of course the print didn't come for another five days and I rushed to the post office just to have the door shut in my face (it was 4:29 pm) after pleading with them to help me figure out how to return the package to the sender. Instead, they just pointed to the machine where I could do it myself...NOT. Off to UPS I went. They were more expensive, but so much more friendly! They actually ship regular mail as well and I was able to send the package out priority mail to her. It wasn't going to get back to her until the 20th of December, so I emailed the seller again with the tracking number and begged her to send me the correct print priority mail, so that I would have it in time to frame. At first she said that I would have to put down MORE MONEY to send the print to be sure that she got the wrong one back (hello, again, not my mistake, hers...I didn't even like the print she sent out and I don't think Chad would have either), but then once she actually read the email with the tracking number said she would ship it out right away. So, that was Thursday night, if she sent out priority, it would have been to me at the latest Tuesday. Tuesday came and went...as did Wednesday, still NO PRINT! I emailed her a pretty nasty email and asked for the tracking number and told her that if she wanted to keep her stellar rating as a seller she better start communicating, as she only seems to be good at it when she needs something! Five minutes later, a tracking number is in my inbox! The said print was supposedly sorting and out for delivery on Thursday. Thursday came and went, again, no print. She obviously did not spend the money to priority ship it! When we got home from my aunt and uncle's house on Christmas Eve, it was waiting on the doorstep! My mom snuck it upstairs to the craft room (which has been off limits for about a week)! He actually didn't get the print until Christmas morning, as I saved it for his Santa gift (yes, Santa still visits the both of us). Instead, I got him a grilling book, dress shirt, and a poster of Johnny Cash's Walk the Line Film (that I thought was a Shepard Fairey design/print, and it very well may have been, but it was a poster, and it was cheap). He kind of had a clue that I was having drama with the ebay seller and I let the word print slip out of my mouth when evening when I was upset with the lady, so when he unwrapped it, he was in a little bit of shock (or he faked it pretty well) that I had spent all of this time/energy/money on a poster. I played like a was stupid and didn't want to talk about what an idiot I had been and that I was so embarrassed. Again, I think it worked like a charm and my husband bought that I was an idiot (I know, hard to believe right?), but I hope he was surprised when Santa visited him for the real thing! My Santa present you ask? A hard drive for all of my picture taking that I do! I filled up my laptops already (have only had it for 7 months)...eeek!

Just seven short hours later, I hear this little guy creeping into our room! He was BEGGING to go downstairs to see what Santa had left him! I woke up Chad, as I wanted him to see Kyan's reaction to this year's gift under the tree! Kyan wrote a letter at school about wanting a new DSi, because he broke his dad's. That was like 2 years ago. But any time you asked him, he would tell you he wanted it, so that he could share it with his dad. Is he sweet or what?! He is a good boy and Santa rewarded him this year with an orange DSi!

I had to wake Lola up Christmas morning, poor girl was so sleepy from all of the playing the day before! She was so excited to see her new baby. which she named Princess, under the tree from Santa!

Christmas morning was spent over at Rae Lynn's this year where we ate a yummy waffle breakfast and opened presents! Uncle Lonnie is a police officer, so he spent a bit of the morning with us before he headed off to bed (he works the night shift). When he did so, we headed home for a very nontraditional part of our Christmas celebration!

After dropping the kids off with Grandpa and Grandma Nebraska to spend their last day/night with them before they left (which by the way, THANK YOU so much for keeping them), we headed to the Cardinals stadium for a traditional Holiday meal with our Garcia family! Not only was the food delicious, but the Cardinals beat the Cowboys in one of the funnest games of the season to watch!

Surrounded by family and friends that we love so much is the best way to spend the Holidays, and this year, we were blessed to be able to do just that! I wish that those short 24/36 hours could last forever (even though my hubs probably doesn't as I sometimes seem like I run around like a chicken with my head cut off from all the stress). We had a wonderful two days and we hope that you had the Merriest of Christmas' too!

PS - Why did it take me until December 28th, I know it says that this was posted on Monday, December 27th, but it is well after midnight and I am just now finishing (3 days after Christmas to post this)? So not like me I know! I have had the organizing itch! The day after Christmas ALL the decor came down, including the tree, I was so sick of looking at it all. The closet in my craft room was cleared out to make room for just my crafty things! Prior to that it was boxes that belong in storage, so those were rearranged to the guest room's closet (there is still plenty of room for guests) so that I could have that room all to myself! The craft room is whipping into shape beautifully and I am almost ready to show you where I go to create! I have also had two photo shoots in the past three days and have been working away on those pictures, as I have a wedding to shoot on Friday! This break has been very productive, but very busy! I am not ready to go back to school yet!!!

Our Love for All Things Dear Lillie

If you were to look at my blog reader, you would see that I follow a ton of blogs! My friend's blogs, crafty blogs, etsy designer blogs...you get the idea, I am a blog junkie! I took notice of Dear Lillie's blog over a year ago and have been a faithful follower ever since, and I swear it is not because Jenni, the creator (along with her mom and sisters), shares the same name (and even spelling of our name) as I do! Girlfriend has incredible style and pretty much everything she decorates I am left drooling over!
I was lucky enough to win this dress from one of their giveaways that they often do on from their blog! I was obsessed with it, but when it looked better on my mom than it did me, I made her take it, despite my love for it! Then, on another crafty blog that I follow a few days later, I won a tutu for Lola! Yes, I was on a winning streak for sure and was so lucky to win something this time for Lola! The second we opened the tutu in the mail, Lola immediately wanted to put it on and prance around in it, so I grabbed the camera and we headed out for a last minute, totally unplanned photo shoot! I love how she was so carefree in those pictures! If you missed them the first time, you can check them out here, here, or here! The loved Lola in her tutu so much that they renamed the tutu we won after her!
When I saw pictures of Lillie (Jenni's daughter and beautiful Dear Lillie model) wearing her aunt Dana's latest creation, the Briar hat, I was sold! I wasn't sure if Lola would rock the hat though, so I waited for it to get a little colder here in AZ and busted out her pink hat from Old Navy (that I love) from last year as a test run to see if she would keep it on her head before I made the purchase! Lucky for me, she loves her hats and how warm they keep her head! Just when I get ready to order, I see Lillie rocking the Holly hat and I read on the blog that these are going to be available in ready to ship on December 12, but that they only have a limited amount, I was even more excited! I put in an order for Lola's hat and I think it was only 2 days later when it arrived! True to how Lola loves Dear Lillie, off we went with her new red hat to take more pictures (lucky for me, Lola is NOT shy when it comes to taking pictures, and LOVES having the camera snapped at her)!

Lola in Dear Lillie's Holly Hat

This is what happens when you tell her (and what seems like any two/three year old) to say "Cheese". Where are my child's eyes? Lesson learned. Despite not seeing her eyes, I adore this picture for all of the silliness that it displays! She is a ham, for sure.

So from that point on, I just snapped her playing, not cheesing!

Thank you Dear Lillie for making such beautiful pieces. Every time we get a pretty box of yours in the mail I feel inspired to take pictures of my beautiful Lola!

PS - If you haven't ever ventured over to Dear Lillie's blog before, now is the perfect time to start! They have an awesome giveaway going on!!!