New Fashioned Family

  It's been a long time! I was doing a great job of staying on track with posts and then we relocated and there went my focus on my blog. Well, a new year means new beginnings right? So here I am. Since I've written last I've created a website for my photography. You can visit it at www.jackiesimpkinsphotography.weebly.com    Well, Christmas break from school is over and today was the first day back for the kids. Since I was out and about anyway I brought my camera along to capture the sunrise. Every morning the sunrise here takes my breath away but I never have my camera with me since I'm just bringing the little guys to school. Today I made sure to bring it along.     It's just beautiful here! With the rolling hills and the fog from the creek and the houses clustered together it just reminds me a of a real life postcard.    This is another part of the neighborhood but in an area no homes have been built. Just gorgeous! ...

Today is the last day my son will ever be five. Tomorrow he will be six. He is so excited about growing up. He told when he wakes up he'll be so much taller than he is today. Kids are so sweet. They are so innocent and carefree. They don't judge and when they're young they still think their parents are really cool. I haven't really noticed until today, but today it hit me. Everyday they're getting bigger than the day before, even little Colton. Everyday if you don't pay close attention to the wonders in your world and the excitement in your little guy's eyes it'll be gone before you know it. I know, this blog sounds absolutely pitiful. I have found myself so sad at the thought of my son turning six though! I don't want to miss a moment and regret it later, but sometimes in the busyness of life it's so easy to do. Today I payed close attention to everything and realized how many things I love but take for granted. I love it that my kids still love...

I guess I lied! Shame on me. I said I was going to do more blogs and I've been so busy that I haven't followed through. I have however been taking a lot more photos, just as promised. I think I may have mentioned it before, but my little boy is in kindergarten and my little girl is doing pre k at home. I took some photos of an average day of preschool for Ella to share. We had talked about how people used to paint on cave walls with their hands or make paint brushes with things they could find. We also work on a different letter every week and work on math as well. She's fine with all of her colors and shapes, although we do incorporate those as well, we just focus on reading and math a little more though. Today we talked about the letter E and did some writing and games with that letter. I also incorporated painting with textures and things that are easily available just like the cave paintings. We used some weeds as paint brushes and Ella painted her elephant paper. After...

So, as promised, I'm back! What a day. It seems like all the kids have wanted to do is make messes today. I feel like I'm at my wits end sometimes! I guess all moms feel that way once in awhile. Graydon does so well at school and his teacher just loves him. They have a color coded behavior chart at his school and it really helps him there. I hate spanking the kids. I feel like it doesn't do much but make them cry and make them fearful. I guess I grew up in a pretty stressful house as a kid and I just don't want my kids to feel like that, so I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I made a makeshift chart with things I had lying around for the kids craft time and so far it has really helped. I only have to tell them once and let them know this is their warning before their color is changed and they immediately run and do as they are told. I used a piece of paper cut to size and glued popsicle sticks to it, painted them green, blue, yellow, and red, and ...

I decided last night that I am going to try to blog on more of a daily basis, or at least as close to a daily basis as I can get. This sounds like a cop out but it has really gotten hard to pull out the camera and take pictures as often as I'd like at home because I have learned through experience that the third child is the hardest. Not in a bad way, just a really busy way. It can be tough to clean house, get lunches made, make healthy breakfasts, homeschool my little preschooler, make supper, and try my best to keep Colton on a decent schedule, plus pull out a camera and snap shots of it all...but I'm going to do my best to try. My original plan for tonight was to snap some shots of us making my DELICIOUS banana bread but I had to rush through it because Colton got cranky and then Rob (hubby) pulled it out of the oven without telling me and the kids dug in and ate the whole top of the loaf. Shame on them, but it's so tasty who could blame them? Well, I happened to watch s...

I promise I didn't forget about you guys! Boy, have I been busy! Graydon started kindergarten, which he is so excited about and Colton is now three months old! I know, I can't believe it either. Time flies, that's for sure. I've been trying to get some pictures of the kids together but it has rained almost everyday and I really want some pretty outdoor shots. Before sweet Colton was born I used to carry that camera around practically all day and take shots of some of the most mundane things we did throughout the day. They actually look really cool because at the time they don't mean much but looking back at those kinds of pictures really flood you with memories. Well, since Colton has been born he hasn't let me do that. He is so sweet...and so demanding. It's not that he asks for much, he just wants to be held. All the time. I usually just throw on my carrier and he joins me in all my tasks throughout the day, but I've somehow managed to really hurt my b...