Life as a Lewis

Yes, a day early, but I've got something a little different for tomorrow. :) My car is healthy again, and we're back to being a two-car family. Rory had a dentist's appointment Tuesday and has two more cavities. There was also talk of putting caps on her two front teeth. Imagine the nightmare flashing through my head of two silver front teeth on my girl. Thankfully, they decided to take a wait and see approach. After 90+ temperatures last week, fall has finally arrived in Tennessee, and we've loved having highs in the 70's and 80's. I even switched out Rory's summer closet to her fall/winter clothes. Because Camden wears uniforms to school, his wardrobe pretty much stays the same. Rory has started her first week as a 4 year old with a bang. The diva attitude is in full force, almost like a switched has been flipped in her little brain. I realize it's just a coincidence that it happened right as she turned 4, but WOW.   I made this for dinner last...

Rory's been getting lots of face time on the blog lately, so here's a Camden picture just in case you'd been missing him. :)

The whole family was out distributing flyers for a church event and Camden watched Rory walk up a drive (with a little pep in her step) and said, "she looks just like she's walking down a fashion runway." I'm sorry, but when did my 7 year old learn the term fashion runway? The other night Rory got in trouble for something, and I had a stern talk with her. She has quite a tender heart and cried, of course. After she came back into the room, she walked up to me and in a quite self-righteous tone said, "I forgive you for not being very nice to me, mama." Brian and I looked at each other and had trouble covering up the giggles. My computer and internet connection are trying to slowly drive me insane. I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to throw anything that involves a computer out the window. And if you know me, then you know how frustrated I must be to even consider giving up my scrapping/photography/connection to the outside world. When I to...

Four years ago today the world was blessed with a petite, sweet, seriously cute little girl with black hair and eyes who manages to charm pretty much everyone who crosses her path. And we're lucky enough to call her ours. Happy Birthday, Rory! We celebrated yesterday with family, and even though I took an over abundance of pictures as usual, due to my sad dying computer and very sketchy internet today I've whittled them down to just a few. Despite her earlier requests for a Star Wars cake, when it came right down to it, she couldn't resist the color pink and the tiara that came with the cake. Eyes closed for her big surprise. It's a princess bike! This pretty much says it all. The only picture of them together I could manage (and this only because they were intently playing with one of her new toys). Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz were the clear winners in the present department. She LOVES this camera and managed to take 250 pictures yesterday afternoon a...

We had a little photoshoot Thursday night, and I am quite in love with the pictures. Actually, I'm in love with the girl in the pictures but you know what I mean. And if you can believe it, this is not my favorite one of the bunch, but you'll just have to wait to see that one because I'm saving it for something special. Stay tuned. I even decided to scrap with it right away - something that rarely happens these days. Sahlin Studio/Holly Designs: Art & Soul

Well, I should feel guilty for even worrying about both kids being home together yesterday, because they were so good! The whole day was pleasant and full of smiles, and they even managed to be very kind to each other all day. I'm going to choose to believe it was not because I bribed them with the promise of ice cream at the end of the day. We have a busy weekend planned. Tonight we're driving south of Nashville to meet our friends (and Texas partners) for dinner. It's at least an hour's drive (without traffic) so it might be a late night for us. Saturday includes a Korean restaurant (Rory's choice) for her birthday and then a small family party Sunday after church. I'm looking forward to it! And some pictures from yesterday: I found Camden and Rory outside sitting in their little lawn chairs "trying to annoy the horses." (our neighbor has horses) And Rory pulled a Camden and used the goggles in the bathtub (check out those red cheeks f...

Rory spent the day with Gram and Gramps yesterday while I worked for a few hours and then enjoyed a few quiet hours at home. It was wonderful (and much-needed). I even managed to scrap two pages, but you'll have to wait to see them until tomorrow since they use new designs. Camden is off school the rest of the week and my car is in the shop so we're spending the day at home. Brian has a PTO meeting tonight and won't be home until after bedtime so it just might be a long day although it's 7:20 and both kids are still asleep so that's a good sign. :) We're supposed to have record high temps today but I've decided we're going to spend time outside anyway, especially since there's rain in our forecast for the next week or so. Rory wore this shirt the other day and while we were in the grocery store she asked me what it said. When I told her "adorable" she paused, then let out an excited, "heeeeeyyyy, I'M adorable!." She turned a f...

I've been making mental notes all week about this week's Tuesday's Tidbits, but failed to write them down and now I've forgotten most of the cute stuff - it was a full week when it comes to Tidbits, but they are forever lost in my mushy brain. Here are the few I remember: Rory's taken the approach that if she's really excited when she asks me for something, that I'll be more likely to do it so I've gotten alot of, "WOULD YOU???!!! LIKE???!!! TO LET ME???!!! HAVE???!!! A PIECE OF CANDY???!!! Rory's favorite part of having a big girl bed is that I can lay down beside her. She says, "Are you not tired? Let's talk, mama." And Sunday morning I went in to get her up and laid down beside her, she said, "let's talk about ourselves." When I asked her about Sunday School instead she said, "yep, snacks and Jesus." Okey Dokey Artichokey and Easy Peesy Cheesy Wheezy are two of Camden's favorite phrases these days. Ca...

Our weekend went by in a whirlwind of activities starting Friday night with a trip to Dairy Queen as a reward for a full jar of marbles for the kids (they fill up a little jar with marbles for good behavior and then get to do something fun as a reward) followed by a quick trip to Walmart where I finally located Rory's birthday present. Twelve inch princess bikes are apparently hard to come by since I've been calling every Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, etc. in the area for the last 6 weeks. We finally found one and then very nearly lost it to another little girl who was on the hunt for the same bike. Saturday I had a photoshoot with my sister's niece, a much-needed haircut, trips to the library and bookstore, a wedding, a reception, and a photoshoot with Camden and Rory. Sunday was church and more church. I had hopes that this week might be a little less busy than last week for all of us, but especially Brian considering he missed supper and/or bedtime with the kids every nigh...

We reached a new milestone last night and took down the crib so Rory slept in a big girl bed. Okay, actually she slept on a mattress on the floor, but that's only because the store had just sold the last few slats for the bed frame right before Brian walked in last night (see what I mean about this week just not going right? LOL). We haven't bought a head/footboard yet but we have the mattress and frame and because I'm determined to not have a four year old in a crib, we're just not waiting for the headboard. Rory was ecstatic and could not wait to get into bed last night. Of course, an hour later she was still going strong singing and playing. We made it through the first night without any problems, though. She poked her little head out the door about 6:15 but when she saw me, she quickly ran back in and slammed the door (I told her last night she couldn't get up until I opened her door in the morning). When I did open the door at 6:45, she was sitting straight up...

So my " definitely a Monday " theme has unfortunately continued through the week. The worst thing is that we're currently down to one car because they've discontinued the part we need for our car. Seriously. Discontinued. Still not sure what we're going to do about that. The latest thing is that I got a parking ticket yesterday afternoon. I was having lunch with a friend when it happened so I've decided it was worth it. Not everything has been bad this week. Not only did I get to meet my friend for lunch yesterday, but I also got to see another friend and her new baby. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned a time or two that Rory loves babies. I mean seriously. loves. babies. Of course, most of her experience with babies is with her dolls, but she loves them. And little Emmalyn was no different. She immediately wanted to hold her, feed her, and kept talking to her in a very high-pitched voice. She would be the best big sister ever. Maybe one day. Emmalyn says...

Rory: Mommy, if you will be sweet today, I will probably let you give me some candy. Rory after leaving the furniture store, "When we come back here, I am definitely going to use that baby again. She was soooooo cute." And I wish I had something witty from Camden, but he has reached the age where finding out the specific thing that might just drive your mom/dad/sister insane and then repeating until they really are insane is really cool, and he spent the week perfecting his new past-time.

Well, after sleeping a grand total of (maybe) 4 hours last night, I woke up this morning to a car that wouldn't start and a stinking load of laundry in the wash that I washed on Thursday and forgot to dry. I think it's going to be one of those days. The Digi Files #21

Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz brought the kiddos these lollipops last weekend, and I immediately said they had to sit in front of me while they ate them so I could take pictures. Oh, yes, I totally made them start out in front of me. But I didn't make them pose, just let them eat for a few minutes and then left them in peace. You'd almost think they never get sugar by the joy on their faces. (and just for Joy , here are the camera settings: f3.2, 320 ISO, 1/200ss) I've been sitting around feeling sorry for myself this morning. It's Friday and seems like it should be a slow day. I spent 4 years having Fridays off before I became a stay at home mom, and I've never been able to shake the feeling that the weekend begins Friday morning. And this has not been a slow morning. I used the treadmill, fixed breakfast, cleaned and mopped the bathroom, swept and mopped the kitchen, etc. But as I worked in the kitchen, I could hear Sesame Street in the background and Rory singing al...

Well. That didn't go well.

One of these days, I'm going to stop asking this question because without fail, she points at the camera instead of looking at it. :) We're having a slow week, although having Monday off has thrown us off and it doesn't seem possible that this week is almost over already. Rory and I went to "story library time" yesterday and church last night which represent our big outings for the week. I told you it was a slow week! And a quick Rory story. She's used the words terrific, pitiful, and appropriate this week - all in the wrong context, but it's really funny to hear her use big words.

I am not sure when this blog turned into a cooking blog, but I have another recipe to share. I made these last night, and they were just delicious for breakfast this morning. Orange Scones 1/2 cup orange juice 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 whole egg (large) 2 Tbs orange zest, finely minced 3 cups all-purpose flour 2/3 cups sugar 5 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 sticks unsalted butter Glaze 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar 2/3 cups orange juice 1 Tbs orange zest, finely minced 1/4 tsp salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the orange juice, buttermilk, egg, and orange zest. Sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until it comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently 5 or 6 times. Pat or roll dough into a rectangle and cut into 24 triangles. Place onto pans with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 18 minutes. Remove to cooling racks. T...

We spent Labor Day hunting down big girl bedding for Rory at two different Targets (found everything but the really cute pillow that I wanted); had a cook out at my sister's house with some dear friends, and made a quick park trip with the kids. We'd planned on letting the kids play as long as they wanted at the park, but we made the mistake of going at the end of our fairly long day and we were tired plus the park was FULL of people, including lots of big kids who were quite rowdy. We got home about 5:00, put the kids through a quick bath/shower, then popped in a movie (which Rory had no interest in, of course) and let them eat supper in front of the TV and then had an early bedtime. I was not a good Mommy Photographer and only took 2 pictures all day yesterday. This on top of the fact that I did not even take the camera when we went on a picnic Friday night, and missed a good photo opportunity since we ran into one of Camden's friends from kindergarten (who happens to be ...

Well, it's only taken 3 years of begging coaxing for Camden to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. We have spent countless afternoons working on this. And by we I mean Brian. And by working I mean trying to force him to even try. It's been a disaster. But he finally decided it was worth trying, and now he's riding like a pro after two days of practice. I don't know what changed his perspective, but he loves it. Of course, his Diego bike is now way too small for him since it was his 4 year birthday present, but we'll deal with that on another day. He face planted in the rocks and has the marks on his face to prove it.

Gina Miller/Design by Lili September BYOC at The Lilypad Zoe Pearn: Blissful Shabby Miss Jenn: Sweet Dreams

We had a very rushed, late-notice family photo session Monday night. Our pastor and partner in the Texas church endeavor has already started traveling and fundraising and needed a picture for his presentation. You have no idea the drama involved in getting this picture, but there were ants, ticks, and 90 degree weather so you might have some idea. Tuesday I practiced with Rory a bit and used a fun photo action. Wednesday, my pre-ordered book arrived eight days late and I proceeded to finish it in less than 24 hours. If you haven't read this trilogy by Suzanne Collins, you definitely should. The first book is The Hunger Games followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay . So fun! Is it just me or does Taz look lonely? She slept all day until Camden got home, and then both kids played dogcatcher and tortured her by chasing her around the house and locking her in the crate. I almost felt sorry for her. At one point, I actually caught Rory in the crate with her holding her head down be...