I admire great photographers

I love taking pictures of my family .... and I am most certainly in the beginning stages of learning how to use my camera and take beautiful images ....

There are so many talented people who take amazingly beautiful photographs ...

I took some pictures of the girls last week laying on the grass and I am happy with how they turned out :) Here are a few 

all 3 girls

Vivianrose 8

Summer 8

Samantha 10

Halloween Yard Decorating

Relationships are about compromise right? Well this is one of those times! ;) 

I have to admit to being pretty opinionated on what I like and what I don't like. 

Mike is a huge Halloween decorating fan, take a look for yourself

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I on the other hand tend to like the more "vintage" looking decorations, This being the first year we are really decorating as a couple and family has had it's surprises :)

Mike would have every cartoon looking, air-blowing, huge decoration ever made on our lawn ....

while I would have some cute porch decorations and a few lights ...

This year we went for the BIG blow-up decorations ...

I am hoping maybe next year I will get my vintage looking porch :)

You never really think of all these things when you combine families with someone, but it's good to both have a say in what goes on .... and look at those faces above ... they LOVE the BIG blow-up! :)

all the more reason to try and bend my "wants" and go with the smiles 

I am still hoping that next year, maybe we can combine styles a bit more :) 

Stay tuned ... I am sure there will be pictures!

Well ... my 31 days straight went to the wayside, but I am jumping back in :)

and it's official now ... I am a Wisconsin resident! 

Mike and I went to the DMV yesterday and got new license plates for our CRV and then today we went back and I handed over my California driver's license and got a shiny new Wisconsin one :)

Day 2 .... little things

a beautiful day .... beautiful girl in the grass .... life is good

Day 1

Day 1 of my 31 days of posting ....

My topic is the little things, I think in life we concentrate on the big events and worry about what has to happen next that we forget to take the time to relish the little things ....

Mike and I are kid-free today until tomorrow afternoon ... boy did we need this

We had an easy morning, ran a few errands and then went to a matinee movie ... we saw Moneyball, good movie, when was the last time you went to a day time movie?

Held hands in the theatre ... whispered about what preview movies you wanted to see ... it was fun and it was one of the little things in life that makes us smile a bit bigger at each other.

I love Mike and how he makes me smile and giggle in the the movies .... I love that even coming home putting on sweats and watching a DVD is the most fun I could have with anyone .... 

The little things is life don't have to cost a lot of money, they don't have to be flashy, they are just things that make you smile and remember how lucky we are 

Happy Birthday Autumn

Mike's oldest daughter turned 17 last week ... wow that made us feel old! But it is such an exciting time for her, Senior year of high school, getting accepted into college (2 so far) learning how to have a long-distance relationship and getting ready to start her life out on her own .... Happy Birthday Autumn!! 

Apple Picking

I have been MIA for awhile ... just trying to get adjusted to living in the Midwest again .... job hunting and getting the kids started in school. This year we have a Senior, Sophomore, 8th, 5th, 4th
and two 3rd graders!
 Today was the first day I really felt like it was "Fall" .... cool crisp breeze in the air and
bright blue skies.

After we picked up the kids from school the younger 4 went out to the backyard to pick apples ... we are going to make some apple pies tomorrow .... How much fun is that! It was so neat to see the kids get the connection of picking fruit from a tree and making something yummy from it :) They also snuck a few apples today for a snack!

Racine Zoo

Mike, Vivianrose and I had a great time this afternoon at the Racine Zoo. There was a nice breeze coming off the lake, it was a beautiful afternoon! I had never been to this zoo before. It is a perfect little zoo for an afternoon of fun.

We walked around a bit and found the Lion Den .... He was resting in the corner, but Vivianrose had a great time looking at the size of his head!

Ever since Vivianrose was little she the Giraffe's were her favorite animal. She was so excited to find out we could feed them at this zoo too (She has fed giraffe's at the Santa Barbara Zoo before). Snack time was at 1:00 ... we had to wait about 20 minutes, but Vivianrose didn't mind, she was just to excited to be able to be close to them.

I am loving this Midwest Summer days :)

Instagram

I am LOVING the iPhone app Instagram :) I have been playing all weekend

Everyone ... Finally :)

We had such a great afternoon! 

My mom was finally able to meet all of Mike's kids and we had Isabelle here as well ...

It was the first time since Mike and I have been together that all 7 of our kids were together with us at the same time! of course that meant photos :)

It has been hard for Mike and I at different times being away from our kids...

 He was in CA for 9 months, seeing Dr's etc and living with me and my girls, while his kids were here in WI ..... We have had a big family transition recently. Mike and I have decided to move back to WI with Vivianrose.....

Isabelle has decided to stay in Malibu with my mom to finish out High School

While I am so sad not to see her everyday, I know that she will have a great time with her volleyball team and her friends .... and she is going to visit OFTEN!! :)

I figure it's kinda like boarding school ... right?

Vivianrose will go to school with Mike's 3 youngest or she might attend a Fine Arts magnet school .... still working out those details ... I am excited for this chapter of our lives to begin! 

This is all 9 of us

Me and my beautiful girls :)

LOVE this picture of all Seven 

Gosh I LOVE him!!

Mike and his Fabulous Five

We have a great time all together :)

Summer Fun

We have been having so much fun with the kids this Summer :) 

Just doing everyday Summer stuff with the kids ....

Fireworks on the 4th of July 

Kids softball games ....

Homemade birthday cakes 

Little girls hula hooping

as well as, trips to the beach ... grilling outside ... popsicles and dips in the hot tub ...

I love the memories we are making, I love my man, I love our life, I love our family <3

Road Trip CA ---->WI

Ok Ok I have been slacking in writing this post! We left Sunny CA on June 28th ... all set for our 4 day 3 night drive out to WI / IL for most of the Summer .... 

We stopped in AZ on Route 66 at the Roadkill Cafe ... we had too :) 

It was actually kinda good 

and being in AZ we had to make a Grand Canyon Stop .... In the 12 years I have lived on the West Coast I had never been to the Grand Canyon .... It was certainly beautiful!

It was VERY windy :)

We also made a stop at Meteor Crater .... it was also very cool to see

Again ... VERY windy! lol

well that was AZ .... we also drove through New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Illinois and then into Wisconsin ..... unfortunately the camera stayed in the camera bag after AZ ..... and I have to say for a 4 day road trip with a 8 year old with a broken arm , and 2 adults with totally different driving styles .... we did amazingly well :)