Twilight

So, my friend, Alicia, loaned me this book Thursday and I haven't been able to put it down since. In fact, I finished it this morning. ;0) It's Sunday. Yeah.....A couple of late nights there but I got through it. So, you all need to find a copy and read it!
OK, let me start by saying that this is the first of many. It's a series of books, of which only three have been written. Number three was just recently released. The author, Stephanie Meyer, is being compared to JK Rowling. You know, Harry Potter writer lady. ;0) Alicia is actually Stephanie's cousin. Which is awesome. Anyway...the book is about a girl named Isabella, which is awesome in the first place because that is one of my favorite names. If we were ever to have another daughter (which won't happen) that is what I would name her. But, this girl likes to be called Bella. Anyway...she moves to a new school her junior year of high school to go live with her dad in a small town (Castleford-like) in Washington. She's one of those out of sorts girls...awkward, not normal. You get the idea. She meets a boy that she is completely intrigued by and the story tells about their "friendship". See.....he's a vampire. No, it's not one of those horror bloody type of things. I'm not interested in those. He's a "good" vampire. Doesn't kill people. Anyway...it just goes about explaining how the two of them attempt to be friends when they are such an unlikely duo.
Very good writing. I was not bored once with any of the writing. The writer didn't blather on with unnecessary details. She was to the point and kept the flow of the story going well. So, if any of you like Harry Potter....you need to start reading about Bella and Edward. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. Stephanie will actually be on the Today show this weekend (9/22) so you can find out more about her there if you'd like. Or she has a website...just type in Twilight and New Moon into your Google Search and you'll find the whole site about all of her books.
Oh! One more side note here...the writer was a stay at home mom....three boys....and had a dream one night. Apparently remembering every detail...because that's what these books are about. Some random dream she had. I thought that was a nice little detail. Kudos to her for accomplishing her "dream". ;0)
By the way Alicia...I'm ready for the second one. Can I borrow it too? :0)

Waiting...

So, I have been uploading my forty million CDs into my iTunes lately. Which is very time consuming. Anyway...I was sitting at my computer yesterday afternoon when I heard Mackenzee starting to whine a little bit. So, I turn around to find out what's wrong and see this. This is my Mackenzee standing on the window seat at our front window gazing outside. Knowing what she was looking for I told her that Landon wouldn't be home from school for awhile. I then glanced at the clock and found that he would be home any minute (time had really flown by apparently)

How she knew that it was time for Landon to be walking down the sidewalk from the bus....I have no idea. But it was too cute! So I had to take a snap. Something I'll want to remember several years down the road when they hate each other. ;0)

Anyway...she saw him coming and started waving like crazy saying, "Yan-nen!" So, I dropped the camera and got her down so we could go out to meet him in the front yard. And honestly...I'm SOOOO mad that I didn't bring the camera with me. Had I known that Landon would run at the sight of his sister, drop his backpack behind him on the grass, and give her a big bear hug....I would have taken a whole photo shoot! It was seriously sooo sweet. Makes me rethink the whole sell my children thing. ;0)

Say Cheese!

So, I don't know what happened...but all of a sudden, we're photographers! The last month we have had three different people ask us to take photos for them. Now, though Jaysen has a degree in photography, I am a complete amateur. So, for me to be asked was wierd. I did have fun with it though.....














It started with my Aunt Anna, who does the PR work for my Aunt Jan. She owns a Physical Therapy Center, and just had her open house a few months ago. Beautiful building....anyway....they needed a picture for the website. So, Anna called Jaysen and asked him to take a few pictures. I know he had a hard time with it because the landscaping is so new that there wasn't much green. Mostly just building and pavement. But, in a few years, it will be awesome!

And then Rivercrest Apartments gave me a call and asked if I would take some updated photos for their website and for other purposes. Me? Now, I do LOVE to take pictures..and being married to Jaysen has helped me to learn a lot (and also be able to have an AWESOME camera with multiple lenses), but I'm no professional. Anyway...I took pictures for 2 hours and took 90 pictures. I was so worried that I wouldn't end up with anything good. But they turned out ok. I had fun with Photoshop adding blue skies and cleaning up some of the pictures. Time consuming though....
Part of the reason they needed photos was for potential investors, so I made a slide show of the best photos that showcased every aspect of the property, inside and out. The Corporation that owns Rivercrest is Bach Corporation, so I set the pictures to Bach music (Air is the title of the song). Good stuff huh?
The best part about this job though? I actually get paid for it! Yeah. Me...a paid photographer....nice!


And finally, Jaysen's cousin Debbie got married on Saturday and he was asked to take the pictures. So, I went along as his assistant. She looked SOOOO pretty. Anyway...I had fun doing it with Jaysen. He took the photos, but I got to arrange them in the photo and tell them where to stand and what to do. Good stuff!

And since it's family...I'm going to be making a slideshow for Debbie as well of all the pictures. I found out what "their song" was and just happen to have it on CD (go figure), so I'll put the pictures to that.

With all of this picture taking I told Jaysen we should start advertising as Burnham and Burnham, photographers. :0)

I'm just kidding. But I did have fun with it. Pictures are sooo important. For a lot of reasons. So, for me to be able to help out with their picture needs....I'm all for it!

Soccer!

It's that time of year again! Landon's first game was tonight and he did so good! Almost scored a goal...and his team won 3-0 (though they don't really keep score). Once again, he didn't let a single ball get past him as goalie. It's his favorite position to play. And he does pretty good at it. I got some good shots of him as he drop kicked the ball out into mid field after stopping a goal.
































You like the slow motion photos? ;0) He can definitely kick the ball! No problems there! Anyway...this means that soccer is life for the next 6 weeks or so. Twice a week games. Go Royals!


And then there is Mackenzee.....

I had to brave the soccer game alone tonight with my toddler as Jaysen was in the playoffs for golf league. I was concerned she would drive me CRAZY! She did in the spring. But, she did pretty good overall. Actually, she saw me with my camera and decided we needed to have an impromptu photo shoot. This is only one of several poses she came up with....all the while saying "cheese". Sigh. Mini Supermodel....what am I going to do with her? At least she was entertained!

Flashback!

So, Jaysen's mom decided she was ready to gut out her basement and get rid of all the excess stuff her kids had left behind. She boxed everything up and we ended up with five boxes of STUFF. Jaysen brought two of them in the other night and our house has not been the same since.

Yes...that is He-Man....Master of the Universe. ;0) The original from back in the early 80s.

And yes....this is all G.I. Joe stuff. We've got the Hovercraft, desert jeep, snowmobile, motorcycle, snow truck, and helicopter along with numerous Real American Heroes. I actually recognize several of them. He didn't have a Scarlet action figure though. ;0) Anyway...we've also now got Cobra Commander in two forms, along with the silver faced man (don't remember his name) along with several Cobra Cronies. Good Stuff.

And, last but not least....Star Wars! We've got the original Action Figure Collectors Case, but only three action figures were remaining. Jaysen said he had more at one time, but apparently they didn't make it. And C3PO is missing half of his face. ;0)

Anyway...Landon is so fascinated by these toys. For 20 minutes this morning I had to explain to him about the Hovercraft and how it worked, and then let him know who He-Man was. Man, are these kids missing out! Who needs video games when you can have a Master of the Universe or a Real American Hero? In fact, when I told him that we were going to have to go through the boxes and see what was worth salvaging he freaked when I told him that the Hovercraft might have to go. "No mom! I'll play with it! I promise! Let's keep it OK?" Luckily Jaysen showed me where the rest of the missing pieces were, so it's become a keeper.

And, to top off Landon's fascination...there was also a huge jet plane in one of the boxes and Mackenzee's new fascination is airplanes...so she's claimed that one! It was like Christmas Morning in my house! I've been flashing back to me playing G.I. Joe and He-Man with my brother when we were really little too and it's been a hoot. I teased Jaysen about it though...told him that when he got these as a kid I was probably still a toddler...good times. ;0)

Are you ready for some football?

It's that time of year again! Tonight is the first Boise State football game. We're all geared up. Jaysen is bummed because he's got his last night of Golf League and can't miss it because it's the playoffs and will determine if his team comes in first or second. But he'll be home halfway through the game and I have been instructed to TiVo the whole thing for him. ;0)
Now, don't think that I'm a football lover. Because I'm not. But, I do have to admit that it is fun to watch Jaysen watching the games. And the bowl game in January was awesome...so maybe I'm converting. Who knows. But we do have fun with it. Any time you want to come over and watch the game...just let us know! It's always more fun watching it with others!

Get on the bus!

This morning I put Landon on the school bus for the first time EVER. I'm surprised it got to me the way it did. I've been waiting for him to be ready since the end of kindergarten. ;0) He just kept telling me that he "decided" he didn't want to do it anymore after I would get him pumped up about it. Sigh. Oh well.

Anyway, even this morning when it was time to go he quickly changed his mind and said he didn't want to do it anymore. Yeah......and since I'm a "mean mom" I told him I didn't care and he was riding it anyway. ;0) He's almost 8....I walk him to the bus stop....he can handle it. He just is so scared of the unfamiliar. It makes him literally sick. But, there comes a time when whether or not you are ready, you have to just go for it.

So, we walked the short distance to the bus stop and a couple minutes later the big yellow bus came around the corner. I told him I loved him and he climbed on and all of a sudden I missed him. When did my baby get big enough to ride a school bus by himself? And then I think....did he make it there ok? were the kids on the bus nice to him? Argh!!! I hate that! I know I'm overprotective...but I just want him to be OK. Sigh. I know...I'm pathetic.

I am meeting him at the bus stop at the school when school is out to help him figure out which bus to go on because he was REALLY concerned about it. And honestly, after my experience getting on the wrong bus when I was in 2nd grade....I don't mind. ;0) And then I'll pick him up at the bus stop again by our house so he can ride the bus home and get it all figured out. And then I'm done with the whole picking up the kids thing! YAY! Waiting 15-20 minutes in front of the school so that I can get a parking spot is ridiculous. So, this will be great once he gets through this first day.