Christi Sullivan Photography Blog

1.  Our movie for “date night” last week was The Backup Plan.  It was a really good movie!  Mykenzi and Camden occasionally ask for a movie too, which we watch on Saturday mornings together.  This weekend they chose Aussie & Ted’s Great Adventure, which was actually a cute movie.

2.  Over the weekend we tried out Fat Freda’s in Colonial Beach for the first time.  I had a crab cake that was one of the best I’ve had in a long time, and Jonmark had the Havanna Special, which was also pretty good.

3.  I can’t believe this is the last official week of summer.  We’re hoping to squeeze in some more pool time and a trip to Kings Dominion.

4.  While I’m sad to say goodbye to summer 2010 (let’s face it, the older we get, and apparently the more children we have, life goes by faster, and I’m really in no rush), I am fully prepared to kiss those 90 degree temps goodbye though.  Bring on the crisp fall air, open window weather, pumpkin spice scent wafting through the house, colorful leaves on the trees, and crunchy leaves scattered on the ground!

5.  Something else I’m looking forward to this fall is our favorite tv shows coming back. 

6.  I’m thinking about putting Mykenzi in gymnastics again because she keeps bringing it up.  I think it’s all about the leotard though, so maybe I should just buy her one of those and save the rest of our money?

7.  It’s becoming apparent to me that we need another bathroom in this house to be dedicated to the boys.  I walked in the bathroom the other day to find Camden standing at the toilet peeing straight ahead all over the back of the toilet.  Nice!  The bathroom now needs to be cleaned daily, I only have one little boy peeing in there now, and I’m told their aim doesn’t get any better as they grow up. 

8.  The boys are such night owls, and it’s exhausting us!  We really need to do something about this, and the only idea I have is laps around the yard every night before bed.  That might be a little tough for Cohen though! 

9.  Oh!  Another thing I look forward to as the summer ends is it getting dark earlier.  I know, that’s probably depressing to most, but as I said before, I love all the seasons and by the time we’re approaching the end of one season, I’m looking forward to the next.

10.  I hope you all have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend as we all say goodbye to summer!

11.  Just because – life is too short.  I know of many who have lost friends and family this summer, and it’s always a sad reminder of how quickly life can change.

1.  Summer colds have hit our house…well, all of us except Jonmark.  The kids and I have been battling stuffy/running noses, sore throats, and sneezing since last week.  I hope the summer cold is skipping your house this summer!

2.   One day last week during Social Studies, Mykenzi and I were going over different ideas and determining if they were about geography, history, civics, or economics (seems a little much for first grade, but they’re just exposing her to these terms).  Mykenzi was doing really well until I asked her which category driving to Florida would fall under, and she said ge-bonomics.  Haha! 

3.  I’m so surprised by how well Mykenzi is doing with reading so early in the year.  When we wrapped up with Kindergarten she was doing really well, but I still felt like she was having to sound out words that she should have recognized instantly and her reading was a little choppy because she had trouble reading with expression.  Of course I had her read over the summer break, but I didn’t feel like we were doing enough of that.  In the past week though, I’ve noticed she’s recognizing a lot of words right away and she’s able to read fluently with expression without being reminded.  We’re only one week in, but so far this year is even better than last year!

4.  Camden is so interested in learning, and that thrills me beyond measure!  He was not at all interested in learning before, which was completely opposite of Mykenzi at his age, so I’ve always been worried that he’d be our difficult child.  So far he’s actually ahead of where Mykenzi was at this age.  The only thing he doesn’t do yet that she was doing before she turned 3 is trace letters.  Camden was born 3 weeks before her 3rd birthday, and those last several weeks in the pregnancy I was very uncomfortable, so every afternoon we sat and read book after book, and then she traced letters over and over on handwriting paper.  Camden is doing better with tracing straight and squiggly lines now, so he’ll be working on tracing letters soon.

5.  One thing that Camden has picked up really well that has surprised us is letter sounds.  Last week he knew 20/26, and this week the only two letters he doesn’t know the sounds for are E and K.  I’m not certain that he doesn’t know the E sound, but when he says it it sounds more like the I sound, so I keep correcting him.   Mykenzi started learning letter sounds at age 3, but didn’t know most until she was 4.

6.  Cohen has been busy teething lately.  He now has 8 teeth, 6 on the top and 2 on the bottom.  Teething makes him (and me) cranky.

7.  The kids love this CD we got from vacation bible school, and they sing along and dance together like it’s some big kid party in the van.  Even Cohen has gotten into it raising his arms above his head and bopping up and down in his seat.  I think this is because he’s still in the rear facing infant seat (he’s only 18 pounds), and he can see everything Mykenzi does from his seat since she’s in the 3rd row, so he’s copying her (and she really gets into the music).

8.  Update on all the painting and projects that were mentioned in the 10 on Tuesday 2 weeks ago:  nothing has been painted or completed, but new projects have been started.  That’s how we do it here in the Sullivan household!

9.  Many students are moving in college dorms this week, and it always takes me back to my first year at Virginia Tech.  It was 11 years ago this week that I moved in Lee Hall, and met my best friend (and a few weeks later, my husband).  My roommate and I got really lucky that we not only got along, but became best friends and roommates the rest of our time at VT.  She was my Maid of Honor, I was her’s, her son is 6 days older than Camden (so we were pregnant together), and she’s due very soon with her second little boy.  She’s way too many miles away, but we keep in touch mostly weekly, occasionally daily when our busy lives allow it.  Jonmark and I met either the second or third weekend there.  I know it wasn’t the first weekend after classes started because I was so homesick I drove 4 hours back home for the weekend, which ended with me in tears because my parents made me go back, but I’ll spare you those embarassing details.   I guess that first meeting doesn’t really count anyway because we didn’t actually become friends until December that year (another story I will spare you from reading).  So, good luck to all those starting at or returning to college this week (especially my fellow Hokies)!

10.  Now I’m going to relax and watch The Last Song with Jonmark!

1.  That week off that I was planning, I still haven’t exactly started that.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  When you own you’re own business, it’s really hard to get away.  I never fully understood that until now.  Don’t get me wrong, I knew that before, but I don’t think I ever really got it until this week.  I just thought I’d block out this week for myself and that would be that.  It’s not that simple.

2.  I still have big goals for this week, I want every room pretty well squared away in perfect order (well, maybe not perfect by anyone else’s definition, but my own redefinition).  Those are BIG goals, I tell ya, but one way or another, I’ll find a way to make it happen.

3.  It’s been 2 months and Mykenzi’s room is still not completely done.  In fact, some of Camden’s things are still in the bottom of her closet.  On the bright side, the boys closet is full of all of their things and it’s the neatest closet in the house.  Both rooms still need the walls decorated, and that includes moving Mykenzi’s name and white shelves of girly things (like the beautiful flower basket of fake rose petals that she carried in my best friend’s wedding almost 5 years ago!) out of the boys room.  That is just an awfully embarassing confession.  The boys are sleeping in a room still decorated with all things girly, right down to the purple and green accessories, including butterflies and daisies.  (Maybe this will motivate my wonderful husband to help me complete the transition!)

4.  That also reminds me that I have to repaint Mykenzi’s letters for her name.  They alternate between purple and green, and we need the purple ones painted pink, which I do already have. 

5.  Painting the letters reminds me that I need to finish painting the 3 wooden plaques of a tractor, an airplane, and a train for the boys room, which Camden was so excited when I started.  Yet, they sit, nearly finished, but not ready for the walls yet.

6.  I wonder if this will remind my fantastic husband that we need to finish painting the rest of our house since he’s only done one wall (started 3 years ago when we returned from our road trip to visit my best friend and her family in MS) and we still have a huge 5 gallon bucket full of coffee ice cream colored paint all ready for the job.

7.  I miss the weather from the last 2 days!  We opened windows, turned on ceiling fans, and just enjoyed the fresh air!

8.  I took the kids to vacation bible school last week, and Camden did not care for being left, at all.  Some say I should have forced him to stay, but I couldn’t really see any benefit in that.  He won’t be going to preschool this fall, so forcing him to stay that one week wouldn’t have mattered come fall 2011 when he does go to preschool.  Plus, why put him or the other kids through the crying.  I think he did like being there, and he especially enjoyed the first and last 30 minutes in the sanctuary dancing to music and listening “to the man talk.”  On the other hand, Mykenzi was awesome!  She hasn’t been there in a year, and she loved it!  I was even told by some people that she was very social, which is nice to hear since she was homeschooled the last year.  An older lady told me that Mykenzi was such a pleasure to be around and that she was her favorite little girl!  I was/am very proud of her!

9.  In an effort to really take the rest of this week off, continue to expect delays in email responses.  I really need to focus on getting things ready around here to be able to successfully divide myself among all of my responsibilities this fall.

10.  I only stole a few minutes while burning a CD to do this 10 on Tuesday because I took a Tuesday off a few weeks ago (with good reason), and I don’t want to disappoint anyone who might be bored and need something to read!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

1.  I’m late because I’m exhausted.  I’ve been doing a lot of running around today, a lot of loading and unloading the little ones, which I’m not used to because we usually stay home unless their daddy can go along.  I’m a homebody, so it doesn’t bother me a bit.  Though it does feel good to get out with them, it just wears me out with the loading and unloading multiple times in just a few hours.

2.  As a combined birthday present to my niece and nephews, we took the 3 of them plus our kids  to Kings Dominion yesterday, and they were absolutely perfect, every single one of them.  We had the best time with them yesterday, and I’m pretty sure they had an awesome time too.  Not one time did we have to speak to anyone about their behavior, they didn’t fight with each other at all about anything, no one complained about waiting while the others rode (my kids are too little to ride most of the rides in the park, so they waited while we took turns riding roller coasters with the other 3, and they in turn waited while our 2 little ones enjoyed the kiddie rides), and shockingly, no one asked for a single thing while we were there.  It was just amazing!  We were very proud of all 5 of them yesterday, and so thankful that they were good for us, which means they took it easy on us because the day could have gone a horribly wrong, totally different way.

3.  I also enjoyed yesterday for selfish reasons.  I was very glad to spend the time with my niece and nephews, especially since they were such a pleasure to spend the day with, but because I haven’t been on a roller coaster (besides the Scooby Doo with Mykenzi), since before I got pregnant with her in 2003.  On our honeymoon Jonmark and I took a cruise, and spent an extra day in Tampa, FL, where we spontaneously decided to rent a car and drive to Busch Gardens for the day (awesome park, by the way), and later that summer (before getting pregnant in the fall), we went to Six Flags in MD with some friends, and that was the last time either of us had been on a roller coaster.  Since having children, my fears of things have grown and I’m more aware of the different things that can happen (thanks to the news becoming part of our daily routines), and I guess because of the kids, I value my own life more so I’m much more cautious to do things, even riding roller coasters.  When we’d take our kids to KD, Jonmark would go on and on about wanting to ride certain rides, and I’d look at the first hills and the upside down loops, and say, no way.  My fears in combination with how I felt after certain spinning rides with Mykenzi (the Scrambler and Triple Spin), and I just figured my days of roller coasters are done, I’m just old.  Jonmark has even told me several times that he’s disappointed in me, as I was his “roller coaster woman” and inclined that’s the reason he married me (gee, thanks).  Being with a teen and tween yesterday, I felt the urge to ride, and so we took turns riding with them all through the park (since someone had to stay with the little ones).  It felt good to have fun, to feel young again, and I realized I can still do those rides, it’s those spinning rides that make me sick.

4.  So, how easy is it to install a tile backsplash?  Everyone says it’s really simple, but I’m picturing crooked tiles that will fall off the wall after a few weeks.  I never felt the need for a tile backsplash, saw it only as decor for the kitchen, but my walls above the counters look awful, and we’re thinking this is the best solution.  It’s actually an affordable project too.

5.  At KD yesterday, while Jonmark took the kids on a ride, I took the other kids in the stroller into the bathroom.  Camden sat facing the wall (only way it would fit in there), and he said, “I don’t like dis wall, Mama.”  I told him I’m sorry, and he said, “I like walls at home dough.”  Oooook. 

6.   I’m finding with my kids that I love every single age.  Last year when Cohen was born, I wanted to just freeze them all at 5, 2, and newborn because they were just at perfect stages, and now, I’m loving where we’re at just as much. 

7.  I’m also finding that I just love seeing my clients children when out and about.  I’ve run into many of you in different places, and I just love seeing your kids grow and change in between the sessions as well.  It’s a pretty special feeling to know you and your children.  Some are shy (which I’m used to with my own), some just give me the biggest grins, and some want me to take their pictures on the spot (as if they think I must carry my camera with me every where). 

8.  Mykenzi asked us one day if we get bills for her, Camden, and Cohen.  We didn’t quite get what she meant, the way she asked it, but she said we pay bills for the house, the tv, and the electricity, so she wanted to know if we got bills to pay for her and the boys too.  Haha!  Then we had to explain that we don’t, but that they’re not exactly free either.  It’s amazing what the 6 year old mind wonders, and she doesn’t have any problem asking whatever crosses her mind either.

9.  Someone tell me, what is there for 3 year old boys to do?  I know of Soccer Tots, but Jonmark is not really into soccer and he’d rather I expose Camden to something else, but it’s not T-Ball season (nor is he old enough, what is the age for that anyway?) and he’s way too young for football.  He firmly says no to gymnastics, and also hopes the boys are never interested in basketball because he doesn’t care for that either.  I tell him that we will embrace and learn anything the kids are interested in doing because we love them, and Camden can be exposed to all of these things at different times of the year so that he can choose which one(s) he likes.  I think I might be able to sweet talk him into letting me put him in Soccer Tots (it’s just for a few weeks and he’s only 3, so it’s not like that means he’ll be playing it for life), but before I explore that further, I thought I’d find it if there’s anything else around here for him to do.  Any suggestions?

10.  My latest obsession, Google images.  Since we’ve been looking at adding the tile backsplash, I’ve had so many ideas come to mind for this house, and since it’ll be a long while before we can start on our ideas, I love googling ideas and going through the images to find what I like.