Five for Friday

Just some quick thing to share with you today.

1. Today is my last day of being 31. I am headed out tonight with my friend, Cristina, to celebrate. We are going to the Frist museum and out to eat. I am really looking forward to this.

2. I have been blog hopping today and found a site that I totally adore: http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/

3. My mom and Craig bought a boat and we are going out in the morning. We are all really looking forward to this. It is a pontoon boat that seats 15 people so we will have plenty of room. This will definitely make living near a lake much more fun.

4. I am in a huge mood to purge, organize and decorate. I will share with you the changes around here as I get them done.

5. Just when I thought are doing well financially, my freezer starts leaking water, my air conditioning breaks down, and medical bills pile up. Don't even get me started on medical bills, ouch!

Our resident smarty pants

Today was the awards ceremony (as well as the last day of school) at Brianna and Arick's school. Only the 3rd through 5th grades participate which made Arick sad. I was supposed to be there but I was locked out of my car, so Andrew hurried over to support Bri and apparently she needed lots as she won LOTS of awards. Here is the list:

Principal's List for the entire year award (1 of 4 kids in her grade to receive it, must have straight A's for the entire year)
Top scores in Science
Top scores in Social Studies
Top scores in Math
Top scores in English
Geography Bee School Winner
Art Award
Music Award
PE Award
Top Accelerated Reader for 4th Grade
Top Accelerated Reader for the entire school with 341.8 points (70 points higher than second place)

At the end of the ceremony, Brianna resembled Mr. T with all those medals around her neck. She was beaming to say the least.

Our beach vacation

We went on vacation last week to Wilmington, NC to visit Andrew's sister, Jamie, and her husband, Andy. Andy's daughter, Emma (7), was able to spend time with us too which my kids loved. It is about 10 hours to drive there. We spent time at the beach, visited the local children's museum, made scones, played the Wii, and just hung out. We had such a great time and definitely look forward to visiting again.

Verizon or AT&T?

We are almost at the end of 2 year contract for our cells and we are trying to decide who to go with next. We love AT&T and the idea of getting the iPhone is a huge thrill for me, but it seems like most of my friends and family use Verizon and I love being able to call for free.

So if we talk even if it is once a year, please leave a comment and let me know what service you use. Thanks!!! Can't promise anything, since the iPhone is pretty tempting.

FHE at the park

Here are some pictures from our latest Family Home Evening at the park. The weather has been perfect lately. We had a great time together. You can see the pictures bigger if you click on them (blogger is making these photos darker than they are, so excuse that, I don't have time to find out why). Make sure you don't miss the picture of Ty with his new haircut.

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

Ty decided to play barber today and cut his hair. As you can see in the photo, Ty has learned that Mommy and Daddy don't like when he plays barber. Oh well. Andrew has always wanted to try a really short (bolo) summer look for the boys and now he has an excuse.

Five for Friday

Here are five facts for me to share with you this Friday

1. Arick was hit by a rock thrown by a bullying 12 year old in our neighborhood. He ended up with 2 stitches (hit right between the eyes) and a whole lotta ice cream. He is fine and is proudly showing off the threads to all who are interested.

2. I am currently craving Stouffer's Stuffed Green Peppers, yum.

3. Ella loves to ask "Where is it?" and when she find it, she says "Dare it is!". She is also becoming attached to blankets and shouts "Gankie!!!" when she finds one and wraps it around herself.

4. Sickness has been rampant in our home, but Andrew got hit the worst, as it has left him with terrible vertigo.

5. I learned to make cinnamon rolls this week and it isn't too hard. They taste much better than any I have bought.

Here are some photos to enjoy.


Ella loves shoes, especially to take them off and put them back on.


Brianna and all her craziness.


Ty and his melt-you-heart smile.


Arick reluctantly letting me take his picture. Probably the last one without braces, which he gets next week.


Arick just after he got hit by the rock. Look at how sad he is, by poor little buddy.

She won't stay still

Ella loves to be outside and loves to run, especially away from me and then back to me.

A photoshoot early in the morning

Had an early session this morning. This young man is in our church and it excited to graduate in a few weeks. I couldn't wait to share.

Have I really been gone that long?

I can't believe my last post was over two weeks ago. I will admit that these last two weeks have been incredibly busy but wow! Hope you all haven't felt abandoned.



So today, I just have to share this photo of everyone's favorite 4 year old taken with my new camera. I have some adjusting to do (buttons and dials work differently). I also got a couple of new lenses so that will keep me busy as well. I am so excited and I feel like a kid at Christmas. Every morning I wake up so excited to play with my new 'toy'.

Prepare yourself, you will be seeing lots more pictures this week.

Boo Boo gets a boo boo

Boo Boo, aka Brianna, is home recuperating today. Here is the story:

Apparently, Brianna's class was playing a game of tag during P.E. in the gym. Well, Brianna was flying around the gym (totally winning, that's my girl!), ‘cause she’s a little speed demon, and the girl who tagged her did so a little too hard and Brianna went flying into the bleachers! She really whacked her head and bruised up her shoulder, arm, & hip. The school called me and, to make a long story shorter, Andrew ended up picking her up from school.

Then it got interesting. Brianna started to throw up! And if you know anything about head injuries, throwing up is not a good thing. Again, to make a long story shorter, I ended up taking Brianna to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville for a CT Scan! Fortunately everything looked clear and they expect her to fully recover within a few days, but she did sustain a concussion and is staying home from school today due to the fact that she is still throwing up and is sore. Sheesh!

Happy Birthday Grandma Rita!

Happy Birthday! We hope you had a lovely day!

How you can get a $5 Target Gift Card

I am busy starting up my photography business and one thing that I am working on is my logo. I love the work the designers have done for me and I would love to know what others think. I have started voting on my photography blog (link is in the top right column) or here. After one week I will randomly choose a winner and I will send them a $5 gift card. Make sure to put your name in the comment so I know who you are.

Our Church

Recently, I was asked by our Bishop to photograph our Church for the website and for some other projects. I don't normally do buildings and I was excited to give it a shot. Yesterday the weather was perfect and I was able to capture this. I am pretty happy with the outcome. I admit it was fun to not have my subject trying to run away from me.

Arick has chosen a name

(until I get a pic of Arick's frog, this one snagged from the Internet will do)

Arick has chosen a name for his frog. He has two frogs now. Fireball is his tomato frog. He also has an Australian Whites Tree Frog (as you can see, it isn't white). This tree frog is his second one, as his first one, Crikey (get the Australian link?) died. It took him a week to figure out his name, cause how can you top Crikey? So drumroll please. His name is . . . Leaf Arickson. Ha!! Leaf cause he matches the leaves and tries to hide in there. Arickson speaks for itself. I love kids with a sense of humor.

One of the little joys in life

One of the little joys in life is when my bracket beats Andrew's bracket for the NCAA basketball tournament. I called Kansas and Memphis as the final two and Andrew predicted UNC and UCLA. I predicted Kansas to win, but honestly I am already thrilled with how far my bracket has come. Considering I don't watch basketball at all, I think I did pretty good.

Andrew would like to add that this is an annual ocurrance. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to beat me . . . even the year when I based my picks on team colors. :)

Just had to share!

Well I would have just left this on my photography blog, but I am too excited to share. I was able to photograph these adorable twins and hang out with their mom. You can see more photos of this session on my other blog: amylynnsmithphotography.blogspot.com (link is to the right as well).

Tuesday Ten

Today is Tuesday and I thought I would list ten things that are going on around here.

1.Well you will all be happy to hear that Ty is doing fabulously. The weekend was rough but and the mornings are still bad but he is healing nicely.

2.Ella is speaking in two-three word sentences. So far we understand "Thank you Daddy" and "more cheese".

3. Tonight we were given the wonderful gift of a piano. It is used, but it is beautiful. Now Brianna's teacher can stop asking us to get a real piano. I am sure it will help her play so much better.

4. Taxes are done and by some miracle we are still getting a refund. I had to check it three times.

5. Brianna slept over at Gigi's house on Friday. Craig's granddaughter, Tori, was there as well and the girl's had a splendid time. We took them out for Japanese food and a trip to the Science Center the next day and wore them out.

6. Arick went to the store on Saturday to replace his beloved frog, Crikey. He has yet to name him, but loves him already.

7. Ella has adjusted incredibly well to nursery. This by far has been our easiest child to transition into nursery.

8. I, Amy, am enjoying my new calling at Church. I am the Relief Society 2nd Counselor and am over the Enrichment program. I am busy getting several activity groups started, getting the humanitarian project stuff together, and such.

9. Andrew is busy in his new calling as Ward Mission Leader.

10. New and exciting things are happening in my photography business, look for more details in the next few months.

Ty update

Ty is home and doing great. In fact, after Ty woke up from the surgery, he asked Daddy, "When am I going to get my tonsils out?" I am so glad that he is pretty much unaware of what was done. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Prayer request

Ty is going in for his tonsillectomy tomorrow and we could sure use prayers for a speedy recovery and a calm mom.

Also, Arick's favorite pet frog died today. He tried so hard to be brave and not cry, but as soon as I hugged him, he couldn't hold back the tears. It just broke my heart. We will get a new frog soon. We had some crickets that died within 24 hours of buying them, and we believe those crickets that the frog ate before we discovered the problem, led to his early demise.