Life as a Lewis

When we got home from West Virginia several weeks ago and I uploaded the 100's of pictures I'd taken and realized that there were no photos of the grown-ups, I resolved to do a much better job of documenting all of us, not just the cute kiddos. Well, I can't say that I improved much during our Oklahoma trip, but here are two grown-up pictures anyway. By the way, both of these were taken with my rented 85mm lens, and I just might have wanted to shed a few tears when I returned it. ;) Becky and William

Well, I would like to say that I am caught up both on sleep and unpacking as well as having a clean house, but grocery shopping, making cookies for Brian's school event, consignment sale, taking photos for Kelly , and general house/kid stuff kept me much busier than planned. Oh, and then there's the little matter of my photography class that I spent way too much time on yesterday. ;) Today is do or die with the house since my in-laws are coming for breakfast tomorrow. Nothing like a little incentive to make me buckle down and do something productive. We spent the morning at a splash pad on Monday with William and Xavier. If you can believe it, this was our first trip to a splash pad, and I'm pretty sure they had fun.

After logging 33 hours in the car over the last 6 days, we are all so glad to be home. We had a great time, but the kids were just ecstatic to be in their own beds. They both kept saying over and over how much they missed their beds, house, toys, etc. I took way too many photos (of course), but editing and posting them is just going to have to wait since my room is currently filled with suitcases for a family of 4 who just returned from a 6 day trip, there is laundry and grocery shopping to be done not to mention jumping back on the treadmill and attempting to get back on a schedule since we only have a week before Camden goes back to school. And remember that photography class I was supposed to start last week? Haven't even touched it. Here's just one picture from the weekend, and I'm pretty proud of it - they're all cute and smiling and looking (in the general direction) towards the camera! Camden, Xavier, Rory, William

We're still out of town enjoying lots of good food, fun, and family, but to keep you busy, check out the pictures of Rory from her commercial photo shoot with Angela Crutcher . Click here for the Material Girl photoshoot. :)

(I say that alot, don't I?)

Thanks to my little closet sale, I was able to purchase a new photo action set, and I thought I'd share the results with my fellow photography fanatics. :) This is the Florabella Luxe set, and these are only web sized so I realize you can't see the results perfectly, but you can just take my word for it - they are really pretty. Original - straight out of the camera Allure Ambrosia Cashmere Glam Gypsy Heiress London Mademoiselle Musette Pandora Ruby Sapphire Starlet Velvet B/W Mink

Kind of in love with the new Matilda Jane as well as the borrowed lens. :) (and for my fellow photography nuts, only the last one is edited - you can click on them to see full-size images)

The kids and I spent yesterday morning with Amanda and her kids. Tre was in Camden's kindergarten class, and they became good friends throughout the year. The excitement on their little faces was so stinkin' cute when they saw each other for the first time yesterday. Amanda (who is far superior in photography and scrapping despite what she thinks) and I spent a good 3 hours talking about photography, but didn't take a single picture somehow. Because we're headed out of town tomorrow morning at 4:00 (yes, 4:00 - and that was a compromise with Brian; he wanted to leave at 3:00!), I have a very busy day ahead. I did all the laundry yesterday, but I've got to pack for 4 people for a 5-day trip as well as get this house spic-and-span. I feel like I've been in a tail-spin ever since we returned from West Virginia so cleaning the house is going to be a bigger job than it should be. I also need to spend some extra time with Rory. Between the birthday stuff the last coup...

. . . so little time. Between all the family visits, out of town trips, birthdays, afternoon at the pool, VBS, etc., my computer is overflowing with cute pictures, and I haven't even had time to go through them and edit them, much less post them to the blog, and I'm resigning myself to the fact that I'm just not going to get to them any time soon. I've pulled out just a couple to share today, and the rest will have to wait patiently on my hard drive until I can scrap them. The Birthday Boy Look at her form! :) He's so scared of water but managed to make it down the slide without too much coaxing. Check out how tightly his eyes and mouth are closes. LOL I love this one. Camden really wanted to help her float and instead they ended up hugging and giggling. Brian being a good sport and being the water balloon target. This is what happens when you take a 7 year old to a restaurant with the movie Cars playing overhead. Bad picture I know, but love his face as he r...

A few things from the weekend: Thanks to Mayme who supplied Camden with her son's Star Wars figurines, he is in complete Star War's heaven. (Is it okay to put a limit on Star War's talk? Seriously, he never. stops. talking. about. it.) VBS ended with a program for the parents last night. It was lots of fun, but I'll be glad to have our evenings back. Michael's facebook post yesterday after spending the afternoon with us: Rory-"Michael how does Liz go potty?" Me - "You will have to ask her when she comes out." Camden- (said in a matter of fact way) "She goes like everyone else does. When she pees she stands up and she sits down when she goes stinky!" Apparently, he hasn't quite learned the difference between boys and girls yet. Matilda Jane is having their one and only annual 40% off sale (with $2 shipping) and I might have placed an order. Okay, two but who's counting. We took the kids to our friend's pool Friday and C...

We celebrated Camden's birthday a couple of weeks ago when my parents were in town so yesterday was fairly low-key. We bought him Super Mario Bros Wii game and saved it for his actual birthday, and he was seriously thrilled with it (pretty sure he hasn't had a new Wii game since last birthday!). We had planned to take him to lunch and he chose pizza so we went to CiCi's and then took him to Game Stop to spend some birthday money, and he picked out the Lego StarWars game, and it was all over after that. He spent lots of time playing his new games and if he wasn't playing the games, he was talking about the games. Seriously, way more talking about Super Mario and Lego Star Wars than you could ever want to hear. We ended the day with supper with Gram and Gramps and another night of VBS. Poor Rory had a bit of a tough time with all the birthday cards, phone calls that Camden received, but I've promised her now that Camden's birthday is over, we can start talking a...

Seven years ago on the other side of the world a sweet girl gave birth to our boy. It never ceases to amaze me how God put our family together. Happy Birthday, Camden! And a few things about him at 7: Is crazy smart. Enjoys nearly everything he puts in his mouth and declares it "Delicious!" and "the best ____ I've ever had!" (yes, this happens every single meal). Is passionate about Star Wars despite the fact that he's never seen the movie or any cartoon version. Is very affectionate (a.k.a. invades your personal space often). Favorite movie is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Favorite colors are white, silver, and gold. Oh, yes they really are. 3 years running. Favorite activities are playing baseball and the Wii. Never, never stops asking questions. Or talking. Loves to draw and will describe his drawings in excruciating detail. Favorite person is definitely his daddy followed very closely by his grandpa. Sings with complete abandon in children's ch...

If you're interested in 2/3 clothes, here's the Photobucket link . Password is closet. You know the drill - email me at camdensmommy at gmail dot com if you'd like anything. Some of my shopping buddies are FAST, but there's still plenty left. No idea where she gets all these clothes! ;)

I'm going to remember this as the summer that Camden and Rory finally grew to love each other. Yes, I realize we've been a family of 4 for nearly 2.5 years, but it's seriously taken this long. We've had brief glimpses of sibling love (more from Rory than Camden), but those moments were few and far between. This summer, however, their relationship has changed completely. Rory seeks comfort from Camden, and he wants to give comfort. He has become protective of her. They actually play and laugh and giggle together. In fact, it's become normal for them to disappear somewhere in the house and play for hours. They don't want to be apart. Not that there aren't still fights and screeching and craziness, but they've become the exception rather than the rule. Camden (who loved school ) has decided he doesn't want to go back to school because Rory can't go with him. Now I'm sure that things will not stay this peaceful in our house. I fully realize there...

All caught up!

Ever had one of those days where if it could go wrong, it did? That was me yesterday - if there was a line, I probably stood in it; if there was a brand new cashier who didn't have a clue, I was inher line; if I needed it, the stores were out of stock. Even my Starbucks order was wrong, although they upsized my drink to make it up to me. I even managed to take the wrong stair well in the parking garage and had to walk blocks to make it back to the doctor's appointment and then when I left the appointment, I couldn't find my car in the garage. I returned home to Rory sobbing in her crib because I wasn't there. Yes, it was one of those days! But. . . . that day is over and we finished it up with our first VBS night, and the kids had so much fun (all the kids, not just my own). In fact, Rory had a complete turn around from the sobbing in her crib and asked me NOT to come to VBS with her. Believe me, my children are not the shy kiddos making sure their parents are ...