" day to day pours forth speech..."

I seem to always find myself in places beholding the glory of God and never having a camera to record it. Coming home from a photo shoot at 5pm on Pelissippi I passed this. It was hot fuchsia pink at the time. Passing it, I kicked myself for not pulling over. So I turned around, and in the 7 minutes that passed it turned into this beautiful rich blue.
Absolutely incredible!

" The heaven declare the glory the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge."

Psalm 19:1-3

Note: I did not Photoshop any of this. This all the creative genius work of God himself!

Oh Happy Day

So I finally cut Dean's hair sometime in November. It was looonnngggg past over due.

I just could not put myself to cut his little baby hairs off. So one night after baths I spontaneously decided I would cut it. I sat him down to watch TV with a bowl of snacks and chopped away. Ella Reese watched me and said, "Oh Dean, you look so handsome!...Like a prince!".

After it was done and he hopped down to show Ryan, I saw his profile and I started to cry a little...tear up really.

But now that I look back at his before pics, I can't believe I let it grow so long! He looks like one of the Beatles or Monkeys!

P.S.

We had anawesome time on our getaway! He took me to Chattanooga!.....details later.

few more....

Here is a pic of our humungo ( if that is a word) tree in our backyard. I have not yet take any pictures of the outside of our house ( as requested by my family...sorry!) ...but here is a partial view of the back. And another leaf pile. Ryan just threw her in they were so high and deep!

Speaking of throwing...is it just a boy instinct to throw well at an early age?

Or to stand in front of the TV with eyes glazed over when football is on?

Boop-ball he calls it. One night I was flipping through stations really fast, and flipped past a football game. Like I barely knew it was a game.....Dean, standing next to me yells out excitedly with hands raised in the air, "boop-ball!"

Brrrrrr it's cold !

Well, today was actually pretty nice outside! But looking at these pictures from the fall make me miss sunny fun days outside. And certainly remind me that it is cold outside.

Here are my poor neglected pictures of the fam from early Nov.

Do you see my child in here?

I almost stepped on her before I took this. The only thing that cued me that a human was under there were the arms sticking out. She did this to herself. She loves the leaves. We have a super mega tree in our backyard. So we had a super mega pile of leaves. Natural playground for the kids...along with the itches and sneezes. But all worth it! Love his kissy lips. Imagine this coming at you trying to plant a wet one on ya!

We hold ER down when Dean tries to kiss her. She laughs hysterically trying to dodge his lips.

This immediately reminds me of the Lord of the Flies. I dunno, maybe it is her warrior looking stance or something. Either way it makes me laugh

I painted these for Thanksgiving. ER almost cried when I had to toss them. Then I showed her the banner on this blog and she was so excited to see them.

Every time we left the house or came home..she would hold her squash like a baby.

Oh, that reminds me,...I never posted Halloween pics. Man I am behind!

Ryan with his PT( Prince Technologies) shirt on. And holding some wires in his hand. He does network cabling and owns his own biz.

He's got a new site...check it out : http://www.ptcabling.com/

Packing my bags....

I am so giddy and excited! I am packing our bags and Ryan is taking me to a surprise weekend trip...without the kiddos. That is key...without the kids.
I love them dearly!!! I do! But whew, I am exhausted from all this photo business and then trying to stay on top of things at home and serving the family.
I am thankful for all the grace God has given me over the past 3 months with this busy season. And also for all of Ryan's wisdom and leadership to help me steer through the biz. He is my backbone and brains to the entire shindig. If it was not for him I would be an over worked anxious wreck.

I am thankful for him. My b-day and our Anniversary is this month so Ryan is taking me away. Away from computers, Photoshop, the house, the kids. I am excited. He gave me part of my gift last night. A gift card to GAP for a shopping spree for me. I call it a shopping spree b/c we do not shop for clothes. So any shopping/buying clothes is a treat for me!
But here is my temptation, my flesh wants me to believe that this weekend will satisfy me. Give me ultimate joy and bliss! And I know that to not be true!

I sat this morning reading God's word with sun ( oh yes what glorious sun we had today!) flooding onto my bible in my lap. And I prayed for God's grace to enjoy this weekend as a blessing from him, and that only HE can bring me the JOY me heart is forever seeking. And in that moment I did experience JOY as I poured myself and meditated on the Psalms. Then the cries of Dean's morning get-me-out-of-this-crib and ER jumping on to my lap brought me back to the demands of my day. So you see, I am looking forward to this trip so I can have extended uninterrupted time with God!

So I am pumped. I want to take every opportunity the next two nights and three days to give thanks to God for my husband and our marriage, and also to make my heart happy in the Lord!
But as I was packing tonight, Ryan told me to pack clothes to get dirty in. And that I would need some kind of thermals under my clothes. eeeek! What does me hubby have planned??!!!

But, I am also super excited about the pictures we took for our Christmas cards. I am posting the ones that did not make the cut of me and Ryan. I love love love love them!

I will post the family ones another time...

Ryan hates getting his picture taken. No I rephrase,....disdain, abhor, disgust...those words describe it better. He hates it ..bad.
I had tried once already a week ago when the weather was ok. I did the tripod method thinking we could get it. Well,...thumbs down. They stink.
Take two.....much better! Having a real life person take the picture works much better!
Props to my sista Sharon !!!

I love these all b/c they capture us as best can be. Ryan had an ear infection, it was cold and had snowed the day before. Ryan was trying to make the best of it and put on a genuine smile. And even took some kissy pics with me. You are a trooper!
I thanked him over and over for doing it all a 2nd time for me. These will be a treasure to me ~

Christmas Arts and Crafts

I am spending the kids nap time to get some Christmas art projects together for Ella Reese. and wanted to share this great site I found with a ton of fun Art stuff!

Ella Reese is certainly "artsy". She eats and breathes it. Literally. First thing in the morning she wants to do is color. So we always have her sac of crayons, loose construction paper and other drawing stuff forever on our kitchen table. She will eat breakfast coloring, doing her letters or drawing people. Yes, the girl can draw people with their full bodies. I need to post pictures. Just today at lunch I was flipping through a notebook and found two pictures of a person with head, body, legs and feet, and a mustache and she told me she drew it and it was daddy. I was surprised that she drew it. Then she tells me that the little pudgy baby looking person next to daddy was me.

Anyways,...getting off topic. I wanted to share this link with you. The reason why I really love it is because it has a ton of Nativity crafts and not just the snowman and Christmas tree stuff. Go here to http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/the_nativity_story.htm to see some great coloring pages. Then if you look to the right bar, right above a GAP ad there is a link to tons of crafts.


I printed off all the coloring pages with the story underneath along with the coloring page pictures only. I put them all in sheet protectors and put them in a 3 ring folder like a book. So I can read the story with her and then each day we can pull one of the coloring pages from the story out to color or glue on craft stuff.

Happy crafting!

ella

She cracks me up. It never fails that every time I put her to bed for naps, or for the night, she will immediately ask me this questions before she even lays her head on the pillow, " Where we goin after the morning?". Or if we are leaving somewhere or finishing anything, her reflex response is to ask what we are doing next.
The other day she was climbing in Dean's highchair and standing up in it. Then begins to sit on the tray part. I look up, freak out of course, then tell her to get down because she will fall and we would have to take her to the Hospital. Without even pondering the weight or seriousness of what I have just said, she replies, "Where we goin after the Hospital?". I laughed so hard....

Some silly phrases she says " benext me". Next to me.
And "Got for" which means forgot.

And a very important announcement:
December 4, 2009-I will remember this date forever...ingrained into my memory as a keepsake. A treasure,..a special day. Maybe as special as runner up to my Anniversary ( which p.s is this month and Ryan is taking me away this weekend for a surprise weekend !).

I approach Ryan that evening. The kids are in bed, I am drying some dishes. Ryan is reading. I come to him, pause and say in a staggered sentence.
"Ryan,...I think.....today may be the day........that our kids have begun ........ to play with one another."
His face lets out a sigh and he tells me he thought I was going to tell him something terrible the way I was talking.
But people,..I am in shock. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I may sound like I am exaggerating a bit. But I am telling you my kids do not play with each other. The only thing they do do together that would remotely look like playing with each other is catapulting themselves off the couch.
I realized the beginning of it the day before. I braved to take them both to Kroger then to Food City to pick up some sales on food. We were at the 2nd store, they are both crammed into those car attachments on the buggy. Usually they would be hanging out of it, Dean trying to touch the floor and Ella Reese always half way out of escaping. Usually they are pushing and saying "mine!". Ella will most likely have poked Dean in his face making him cry. But this time, they did not mind sitting together. In fact they were singing....together andgigglingateach other! Singing meaning making waves of high pitched sounds in unison. I thought it was cute. And Kris Williams from church who I ran into thought it was cute. But I am sure no one else did. And at that moment I prayed and thanked God for his grace to me and the kids during those grocery runs.

All of a sudden the following day, they were gone pretty much the entire day together playing. Laughing, giggling even,..calling for one another to come to them. Playing pretend together and sharing. I kept waiting to hear immediate cries or the "mine!" 's , or fighting and see one of them run to me in tears and hurt. But it did not happen. They were content. Ella even told me in her sweet Cinderella/Princess face that she loved her brother.

Ryan always tell me to just wait. Before I know it there will be a day that they will be off doing their own things and I will have all the time in the world. And I will miss them being at my feet all day.
I know I am being probably a little dramatic,...but this is a milestone for the Prince kids and me.
A little bitter sweet because I know he is right. But it is certainly God's kindness and grace to hear my kids happy together. Ryan also told me to knock on wood ( which I did several times) because it may not last and be a fluke.

No verdict out on that. They have not been together much lately and both are sick. We will see tomorrow....


Sorry I am absent in the blogging world. I have boo-coodles of Fall pictures. Sad, I know. They are sitting in folders saying "share me!"
But I am just about over the hump of this busy season with the photo biz. So in a week I will be posting like crazy. You will be seeing leaves and pumpkins ...etc...you will forget that it is freezing outside.
Till then happy winter!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I attempted to teach Ella Reese the Thanksgiving story. She loved it. I drew some pictures up and taped them on the wall. And then traced the pictures so she could color them on a separate paper.
She loved it. She now knows that the Pilgrims came from England on a boat all the way to Knoxville, TN. And when they got here there was nothing...no Target, Walmart, no Court South, no bank ...... then they made a big dinner to celebrate and raise their hands because they love God. Well, that was her interpretation of it anyways.

( the Pilgrim children now able to read their Bibles and love Jesus in Knox, TN)

Her fav picture. She keeps telling me that we will celebrate and Nana's house for T dinner and we will all raise our hands like this.

Then we made Pilgrim hats out of paper plates and construction paper. We made one for Dean too,...she chose a green paper. So it looks more like a Leprechaun hat instead.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving day and enjoys this day to celebrate and give thanks to God for all he has given us!

" Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ!" - Romans

Oh, and you can raise your hands too if you want....

I'm Lovin It!

Well, we are ALL loving our new home. Since we have moved here Ella Reese's prayers at the table go something like ," God thank you for (then she will a few things,..then will end on) ...and our new house, our toothpaste and our beds. I promise every time it ends in those three things. We are still settling in ...in some parts of the house. Like the "office" room is a disaster and one of the bathrooms we do not use right now is full of packed up boxes.
But we don't care. We are so grateful to be in the place that God has had in mind for us. And man do we love it!
So much so that I really think it has affected the kids mannerisms. I have photographic proof to show you.
See how well behaved my kids are?
So still, ...so occupied and happy.
I think this house has a calming effect on them.
Hmmmmm.......

Never mind. It must have been a dream I had. They are still my same fun kids.

And by the way, it is a house rule to NOT jump or leap on the couches. But I wanted to get some "in flight" pics so I allowed it this time.

Oh man do I have a ton of goodies to post...

How the kids are doing, and pics from October.

Be back later this week...I promise!

We are moving/moved!

So we closed on our home yesterday and Ryan is moving things in right now as I type. I am home with the kids while they nap and then I will head over to the new house later.
Oh course I am overjoyed, ecstatic and relieved that we are finally moving into our new home. Three plus months later of living with family, out of boxes, sharing rooms, etc....who would not be? But as I was thinking today as I packed all our last items here at Ryan's parents, it dawned on me how good GOD has been to us. How sovereign, all knowing and kind he has been to me! Yes, this summer has been crazy, adjusting to new living arrangements, challenging almost at all times with training and disciplining the kiddipoos, and constantly fighting for JOY in the Lord....BUT now I see clearly how kind has been to me through all this.

It has been a real struggle for me as I have fought for Joy, most often not fighting....but God has been so gracious and kind to me none the less.
Some people may rejoice with me and congratulate me on finally having a home and finally getting my life back into my "routine" or "order". But I am grateful for this summer. All the memories of the hard and difficult days will probably be a blur to me in a few years. But this summer has all been a kindess from God to humble me, and an opportunity for me to recieve more grace!
I want to be occupied with Joy in my heart for the great things God has done for me!
I along with every other mom/woman want to cry out to the Lord for grace and humility so that I too may have joy in my heart and make my heart happy in the Lord....no matter my circumstances...or living arrangements.

" For you will not remember the days of your life, because God has kept you occupied with JOY in your heart" -Ecc 5:20

But thankfully if it was not for cameras, I really would not remember any of my days. This was a fun one to remember...Popsicles on the back parch, which he did regularly in the summer.
They like to share their food...sometimes...

ER telling Dean what to do. This pic cracks me up.

I found this toy that is a Clifford nose. So I tried it on for size. Then ER had a turn. Did not quite make it on her nose...but that is okay. Still cute.

There you go!

Dean makes an adorable Clifford.

ER wants to be Dorothy for Halloween and Dean to be Toto. And she wants to carry him in her basket. Then on other days she wants to be Cinderella and Dean to be the PRince. Today she told me she wants to be Belle and him to be the Beast.

It is sweet that she is thinks of her brother too for her Halloween costume. Ryan said no to all of them and said he did not want Dean to be an accessory to ER's costume. We will just have to see what I can pull together at the last minute. I may just squeeze on last year's elepahnt costume on ER and maybe borrow this Clifford nose for Dean!

who needs a haricut?......

August and everything after: Summer Summary Series

I am the most lame blogger ever...I know I know. Sorry family and friends that you have to look at pictures months after they were taken!
If I didn't take so MANY pictures I would not have this problem!
Here are some tad bits of info from the Princes:
-Dean started saying I love you mommy. But it really sounds like " I ouwe ewe momma". We were at ER's ballet class and I was watching her through the window and Dean was telling me something. Once I looked down to listen I realized he was telling me he loved me. Yes, I melted right there. He also tells me "tant uww momma" whenever I give him something. Which translates, thank you momma. I love it!
-ER loves to cook. And I have always been super cautious at the stove and letting her cook with me. And when I say she likes to cook, I mean,..once she hears me place a pan on the stove she is running to the kitchen , pushing a chair on the way right up to me and grabbing salt and pepper to sprinkle onto something. So the other day Dean was napping and I let her cook with me. She was like me little sous (sp?) chef. Stirring things, chopping things ( with her toy wooden knife), seasoning things. I was still nervous the entire time. She looked up at me at one point and said with a grin " mom, I'm a good lil chef!". From Ratatouille.
-We close and move into our new home next week!! HOOOO-RAAAAYYYYYY!!!
- And this week I officially start the busiest season of my Photo biz. It is complete nutso!
So throw moving and two kids into the mix and it will be a great opportunity for me to cry out for God's grace and get a chance to Grow like crazy!
I am looking forward to it!

So here is the rest of our summer....
Believe it or not..this incident occurred with a house full of adults and family inside, and somehow the children were unsupervised....and then.....

Don't worry....ER did participate in this fiasco. We all died laughing. More so that there were 4 plus adults in the house and no one knew this was going on.

ER and I had some baking time as a project one afternoon. I have been taking pictures, but ER has been amazing me with her drawing skills. That can be a post a later time. She likes to draw faces now. I did help her with the girls body here...

Okay! So I don't know why I have yet to have captured this on camera. But this is Dean's kissy face. It is the cutest, funniest thing ever! So if he comes to give you a kiss, you get these full kips laid on you. People, it feels like a huge great Dane just licked your face.

Pucker up June!ER's first day of ballet. She was too excited! It was adorable!

ER chasing Dean around the house....

ER likes to bring her bedding from downstairs and make a bed for her and Dean in front of the TV.