My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

The Winners.

I used a random number generator to pick the winners for the Clickin Moms prizes and here they are:

1. Clickin Moms username: dana0, member #9024, won $1940 in camera equipment (1/2 of my commission)

2. Clickin Moms username: joanj, member #7774, won $1940 in camera equipment (1/2 of my commission)

3. Clickin Moms username: jlebean, member #7705, won a $25 Starbucks gift card

4. Clickin Moms username: amypilky, member #8633, won a $50 iTunes gift card

5. Clickin Moms username: click, member #8796, won $75 Gap/Banana Republic/Old Navy gift card

6. Clickin Moms username: verab, member #7680, won a $100 Amazon gift card

7. Clickin Moms username: ckerstiens, member #7616, won a $150 Jcrew/Crewcuts gift card

8. Clickin Moms username: paigerodriguez, member #7602, won a $200 Restoration Hardware gift card

9. Clickin Moms username: tarafaye, member #8856, won a Wacom Intuos4 Medium

10. Clickin Moms username: macl, member #7540, won an Apple iPhone or iPad

11. Clickin Moms username: Sharon_w, member #7704, won a Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital camera

The winners of prize #1 and #2 (danao and joanj), please email me at karen@snapshotsofagoodlife.com so we can discuss what camera gear you want for your $1940 in winnings.

And Clickin Moms will be mailing out the prizes directly to all of the winners of #3 through #11.

Congrats all!

And a photo of the girls, peeking through a store window the other night...

Weightless.

Ross played in a talent show band a few weeks back.  (That's him playing guitar on the right.)

He and his friend Eli (the singer) let me help narrow down the songs.  I was voting for She Talks to Angels by the Black Crows but I got vetoed and they ended up going with Weightless by Floater instead.

 

I had my camera settings all ready to go based on the performance before his.

Unfortunately though, as the curtains opened, I noticed the regular stage lights were turned off and there was nothing more than a few really soft, blue lights shining down on them.  (How's a photographer supposed to adjust for that while standing in the dark without any sort of forewarning?!?)

He was amazing (even if my pictures were not.)

 

Towards the end, he swung his guitar around his neck (which made my heart skip a beat because I paid for half of that thing.)

And then he licked his guitar (which grossed me out because...it's gross.)

He told me before the talent show that he was going to swing his guitar around his neck but he must have purposely left out the part about licking his guitar because he knew I would totally disapprove.

And when he came back on stage with the band after taking 3rd place, he took the microphone and somewhat jokingly said, "This is the happiest day of my life and I want to thank my Mom and I want to thank...just my mom."

I smiled for so long my cheeks hurt.

Adopted.

It was raining and I only had time to rattle off three shots before we headed into the courthouse to finalize Josh adopting Coley.  (Coley insisted that they both wear ties.)

Annie had been telling everyone that Coley was becoming 'a doctor' (adopted) today and when Coley's teacher asked why he was all dressed up, he told her that he was being adopted, but "Not from an orphanage or anything."

We even have Cole & Courtney convinced that now that they are officially brother & sister, they have to get along.  This morning, Coley got up and made Courtney a bowl of cereal just to be nice and they helped eachother study their spelling words (without fighting) on the way to school.  They even quit calling eachother by name and are simply referring to one another as 'brother' and 'sister' now.

I'm sure it won't last so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Most of our family showed up at the courthouse and the judge made it into a huge deal, even giving Coley his own adoption certificate (which Cole is taking to school tomorrow for show & tell.)

And then we had dinner at Bella Union where newly adopted kids get their very own slice of mud pie.

8.

During my hiatus, Courtney Lee turned 8.

 

The girls wanted their nails painted for the party.

 

 

And I wanted some pictures of the birthday girl before the party.

And then everyone starting arriving with spankings for the birthday girl.  (That's my Grandpa.)

 

And my Uncle Brad.

 

And then the party got started.

That's the cake coming.

 

 

Remind me to do a better job of ironing that tablecloth next year.

 

I think that birthday hug might have been too tight.

 

That one from my Mom looks just right though.

And so does that one from Grandma Jo.

And then we hung out.

My Uncle Brad pretending to be a scooter magician.

My Dad and Step-Mom.

Coley doing a fist-pump after suckering my dad into letting him stay the night.

Grandma Bev and Coley.

And then Josh Downs fired up the BBQ.

And everybody ate.  (All Annie would eat was a plate full of strawberries & blackberries.)

And the birthday girl took her new, birthday scooter for a spin.

400.

We hit 400+ on Clickin Moms (so I will indeed be giving away all those prizes!)

The order in which you registered under my affiliate number will be your 'number' (so, if you were the 44th person to sign up, I'll assign you #44) and I'll use a random number generator to draw the winners which I will post sometime on April 1st.

In addition, I've earned over $3,000 in commissions and am planning to buy one lucky winner a whole bunch of new camera gear with that money.

Nice job ladies.

ETA:  If you used the Clickin Moms link on my blog to register then you ARE registered under my affiliate number so you don't need to worry.

And yes, you can still register and enter to win the prizes anytime before April 1st.

Oh, and you don't need to know what number you are assigned, I just had to come up with a method of doing the drawing and was letting you all know how I will be drawing the winners.  I will post the winners by name (not by number) on my blog sometime on April 1st.

The Good News.

I wrote this Friday night but for some reason, I couldn't get it to post until today...

The bad news is, I'm still not caught up with work so I'm going to take this week off from blogging too.

The good news is...

1. The weather was so great this afternoon that I worked outside while the kids played.

2. Josh Downs just got home after being gone all week.

3. He took the kids to the park and out for pizza while I worked some more.

4. He just brought home edamame and shrimp rolls for me.

5. Courtney Lee turns 8 this weekend.

6. We only need 11 more sign-ups on Clickin-Moms!  (See the post below if you don't know what in the heck I'm talking about.)  And to clarify - to be eligible to win the prizes, you have to be a student or blog reader who signed up for a 6 or 12 month membership on Clickin Moms using the link over there on the right hand side of my blog.

7. I'm going to quit working for the night so I can go snuggle up next to Josh on the couch.

8. Have a great weekend.

Taking a Couple Weeks Off.

Another ETA:  We're sitting at 329 new members under my affiliate number now so we just need another 71 in order for me to be able to give away all those prizes.  (I'm feeling optimistic!)  And again, if you use the link on my blog, you are AUTOMATICALLY signed up under my affiliate number so you don't need to worry!

And I just took more senior pictures of Cali (Ross's girlfriend) yesterday and will share them just as soon as I unbury myself from all this work.

ETA:  If you use the Clickin Moms link in the upper right hand corner of my blog to register, you will AUTOMATICALLY be added under my affiliate number - so there's nothing else you need to do to indicate 'me' as the affiliate you want to sign up with.

Also, if you are already an existing member on Clickin Moms that is not signed up under me as an affiliate, there's unfortunately no way for me to add you into the drawing for the prizes unless you want to purchase a Clickin Moms membership for a friend, keep the membership under your name until April 1st and then gift the membership to someone else.  (Sorry, there's just no other way around it that I can think of.)

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

I know I've threatened this before with very little follow through - but I've got a class ending this week and I'm absolutely up to my eyeballs in Assignment and Photo Critique evaluations.

So I'm going to take a couple weeks off so I can give them 100%.

So I shall return.

And when I do...perhaps I'll share even more quintessential, Norman Rockwell Christmas memories that never made it to blogland.

Good job faking it for you mom, Coley.

Courtney Lee, you've got some work to do in the 'faking it' department.

Oh....and before I forget.

I've never joined any affiliate programs in the past because I've never wanted anyone to question the motives of my recommendations.

But I did join the affiliate program that Clickin Moms  is offering because they're giving away some REALLY cool prizes and if I win them, I'm going to pass them along to my students and blog readers.  (Clickin Moms is a really great online photography forum for anyone wanting to learn more about photography and for anyone who wants to surround themselves with like-minded photography lovers.)

In order to be entered, you HAVE TO register as a member on Clickin Moms using the Clickin Moms link that is in the far right hand column of my blog and you have to create a NEW account.  (Renewed accounts don't count - sorry, it's not my rule! and trial memberships do not count either - sorry, that IS my rule!)

If 400 members sign up by March 31st (it's at 207 right now), here's the list of prizes that I'll give away to my students and blog readers:

- 10 new members - $25 Starbucks Gift Card

- 25 new members - $50 ITunes Gift Card (and prize above!)

- 50 new members - $75 Gap/Banana/Old Navy Gift Card (and prizes above!)

- 100 new members - $100 Amazon Gift Card (and prizes above!)

- 150 new members - $150 Jcrew/Crewcuts Gift Card (and prizes above!)

- 200 new members - $200 Restoration Hardware Gift Card (and prizes above!)

- 250 new members - Wacom Intuos4 Medium (and prizes above!)

- 300 new members - Apple Iphone or Ipad* (and prizes above!)

- 400 new members - Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera Body (and all prizes above!)

In addition to all that though, I get a 20% commission for anyone who signs up and I'm going to buy a student or blog reader a whole bunch of camera gear with that commission check.

So if you want to sign up, now's the time - just use the link in the far right corner of my blog.

I'll announce the winners on April 1st.

Parenting by Diversion.

Josh is out of town so I ended up taking the kids to the park on my own Friday evening - but before you go thinking what a good mom I am...know that I'm not.

It's just my 'parenting by diversion' plan...

Divert them with something entertaining so they're too busy to drive you crazy.

And this merry-go-round thingy is the perfect diversion.

It makes them happy.

It keeps them entertained.

It makes them say things like, "You're such a nice mom!"

 

It wears them out.

 

It gives you time to sit and ponder on how cute they are when they're diverted.

 

And if you're really smart...you stay long enough that they're all worn out and ready to go to bed by the time you get them home.

The Leftovers.

Just a few leftover shots from Annie's rainy birthday.  (Outside blowing bubbles with the neighbor girl.)

 

 Have a great weekend.

Occasionally.

Occasionally, they get along so well that I don't feel like banging their heads together.