June 17th, 2009 by Heidi

It didn’t take long for the rain to roll in today. The clouds got dark and dreary off and on all day and laid down a couple of good soakings. There was even some thunder mixed in there late this afternoon. The boys played well indoors for most of the day though they did get out for some biking in between rains. My photography session got postponed but I did manage to get a lot of work done today. Amazing the things you can do when silly Facebook bans you from commenting for a few days. [more on that another day] No really, so much going on this week, I had way to much to do and I did it. But the best part of a rainy day like today – it stops while there is still daylight. And the peonys that are about to bloom are filled with tiny fresh raindrops that I love to photograph. And I did.

June 14th, 2009 by Heidi

Yesterday was the one day of the whole year that I really dread. After 9 years, I’d think I’d be used to it, but I’m not. Hannah really enjoys spending the summer with her dad but that’s a month and a half that I miss her like crazy. We woke up early to say our goodbyes. Connor had a hard time too, he cried while they hugged goodbye. It breaks my heart. I watched them drive away and hugged my boys. And just one hour later I drove them out to their dad’s place to let them go for the weekend. I drove home with the radio on loud and a heavy heart.

I came home to an empty house. [minus a couple of super cute Corgis and some kitties] Most days I really live for the silence, the time that I can just be alone with me, to clear my head and do some things that I want to do. But this day was different. I laid down on the couch and slept for 2 hours. I felt bored the rest of the day and into the late hours of the night. I just wasn’t enjoying myself. And James is held up with a broke-down semi and he’s not having any fun either. We were bored together, only separately. sigh. Just spending some time feeling sorry for myself.

But leading up to yesterday, we had a great week. The weather was gorgeous at the end of the week. We had a picnic on 2 different days, we went to the skate park twice, we played outside, went to the library, we just had a good time being us.

The skate park was awesome. The boys have been begging to go for such a long time and my mama fears kept us away. I’m just not sure they were ready to take on something so dangerous. But really – when is a good time? So I gave in. We had a long talk before so that they knew what to do and what not to do. I could only prepare them so much. But it was such a relief when Connor came to me after riding some and told me that his legs were so shaky. I knew this meant he’d be a little more careful, at least for a little while. They really had fun and I know they were so appreciative that I actually let them go. And they’d sit and watch the older kids who could do some tricks and I could see the admiration in their faces. I’m pretty sure I’ll have some BMX trixter kids before long! It’s fun to see them excited and having fun. Of course, I took some pictures to share. They make me smile and I hope it’s just one step to making it through a long summer.

more pictures here.

May 10th, 2009 by Heidi

I’m certainly not doing a good job of using my blog the way I wanted and intended. I can’t believe it’s already been a month and a half since I last updated. I need to make a much better effort here. People still visit every day and I’m thankful for that, though you have to be crazy dedicated to keep coming back with no new info being posted.

Random: Green Day is playing on VH1 right now and I’m reminded that I just think they are really super awesome. I’m excited fro the new album to be released in just a few days.

Just for updating sake, I’ll make a bullet list of anything I can think of with any relevance about what’s been going on around here since I last updated.

• We survived the flood – no water in our house and Fargo was not overtaken by the Red.
• It’s spring – finally! Buds are popping out on the trees and the grass in green and I see flowers. I’m so happy.
• Hannah is running track – hurdles even – and really enjoys it.
• Connor and Dillan are back to playing soccer and having a blast.
• Photography has been slow for me all winter but is picking up and I’m so excited about that!
• I’m in the process of bulding an office in the house. My kitchen table needs to return to just a table.
• The kids are almost done with school for the year, wow that went fast!
• Dillan turned 6. What a bad mom I am for neglecting a blog post just for his day. Insert guilt here.
• I didn’t blog about my dad’s birthday visit. More guilt.
• James has been home pretty frequently which I love.
• The Zoo is as cute as ever and despite leaving behind 10 tons of hair daily, they are such a joy around here.

Wow, I thought the list would be longer – maybe life isn’t so exciting around here. Sadly, there are a lot of little things that I wish I would have taken the time to write about. Someone please kick me and make me update at least once a week but preferably much more.

March 26th, 2009 by Heidi

To say things are a little chaotic around here is being mild. The city is in a major state of emergency. The river levels are rising so quickly.

I haven’t been able to keep up with updating several blogs so I’ve chosen to keep up the biz blog with updates since it has RSS feeds in a few places. I’m writing here now to direct anyone to that blog and other info.

Follow what’s going on with us at www.heidismithphotography.com/blog

Helpful city links with flood info:

Newspaper: www.inforum.com

Flood Levels: www.ndsu.nodak.edu/fargoflood/

Valley Flood Watch: www.valleyfloodwatch.com/

Currently, I’m trying not to have a freakout. We live far enough from the river that we shouldn’t be effected. But the river is going to surpass record levels and nobody is certain how the dikes will hold up. We are optomistic and hopeful but we are taking precautions anyway. Today we will be getting things out of the basement and gathering important things and preparing for evacuation if need be. Gosh I hope that is not necessary but we need to be prepared. Having a zoo within our house will leave very little room for taking anything with us. me, 3 kids, 4 cats, 2 dogs. Talk about chaos. But I think as long as things are upstairs that we shouldn’t have to worry about personal belongings and all of us creatures will be ok. And that’s the extreme, I don’t imagine that we will have to do that but I’m getting our ducks in a row. No need to fret, we’ll deal with what comes our way. We’re just hoping nothing comes our way.

Thank you everyone who has called or emailed or commented to check and see how we’re doing. We appreciate  your support and prayers and well wishes. Fargo is in great need of volunteers. With schools being closed, the numbers are harder to get as there are childcare issues. I hope everyone that can go out, goes out.

So please follow my photography blog for more updates for the time being. When things mellow out some I’ll get back to posting here. Thanks so much!

March 1st, 2009 by Heidi

Ok, so it’s been 2 months since I’ve blogged. Not for a lack of wanting, just for a lack of time and organization. There has been plenty going on, plenty to blog about, I just haven’t made the time for it. And now, the idea of getting caught up and talking about all the things that have gone on, I’m overwhelmed. So I’m going to label myself a blog slacker and fill this post full of pictures from the past 2 months with a bunch of commentary just so I have something to share. Then I hope to take a little time each week to sit down and type some entries and pull myself out of slacker status. I’d also like to update the theme of this blog. I’ve paid for a couple of really cool themes but they lack some of the things I want to put here. I’ll need to take some more time to decide if staying or changing is the right thing to do. Sooner or later you might visit and find things in a bit of disarray or totally different. We’ll see.

I last left off just after New Years. Since then the kids have been busy with school, we’ve been digging out from under snow, and we’ve had some good fun too. How about I just dig out the images and tell the little story as we go along?

We went sledding and James was all bundled up and mountainman-like

When it’s really really cold and you have facial hair, your breath freezes on it

I played with my new camera plenty. Besides doing my Project 365, I’ve just take a lot of neat pictures.

The boys were interested in the coconuts at the grocery store. They could hear the milk inside but have never had it or seen it. I bought one. James tapped some holes in the ‘eyes’ and we slipped a straw into each one so the kids could all taste at once. That did not go over well. We cracked it open afterwards and found it was rotten. yuck! But it was funny to watch.

We mad e a very large pot of yummy chicken soup to go with the awesome noodles mom made us for Christmas!

No day is complete without cocoa,

or silliness.

James spoiled Millie. He does this every day though. But on this day she looks especially spoiled.

More furrbabies

Casey loves to lay by the bedroom door waiting for James to wake up each morning. He’s just so cute.

It has been horribly cold. Downright frigid.

And super snowy. This is our street – our house is almost burried in snow piles.

Connor’s teeth keep falling out. He’s even lost another since this picture was taken. Funny enough, they have yet to grow back in, even a little. He has a big ole toothless gap!

We’ve lost our heads

But we innaugurated an awesome new president

James celebrated a birthday. He treated himself to a spiffy new laptop. Now being away on the road is a little easier to handle  since we can share images and even video chat if the connection is good.

We took the kids bowling for the first time – Hannah had before actually, but not the boys. We went with friends and had an awesome time!

We’ve had our share of the respiratory sickies. I’m so thankful that for the most part, we are a really healthy family. The kids get mild fevers and a day or two of the yucks. Me, I’ve been sick off and on like crazy since September. I haven’t been this way in years. Sinus infections, strep throat, bronchitis, cold virus. Yuck. This picture was Dillan. He had a fever the night before and went to bed very early. He woke up early but fell asleep on the couch again.

For my birthday I got a spiffy new lens that does some really cool things! This is tiny Millie’s nose.

I visited Dillan’s class for Valentine’s Day where they did a little program and we had muffins and helped pass out Valentines. Very cute! One of my favorite pictures of Dillan recently.

There was crazy in the Valentine box!

And James gave me beautiful roses. They look amazing and they smell so good too!

The sundogs have been out. I wish I could get to a better place to photograph them without distractions but they rarely stay around very long. I love the way they light up the sky.

We celebrated Casey’s first birthday! He was so not thrilled to have to be wearing the party hat. But we all think it’s a super cute tradition.

Last weekend, Dillan and I had a day to ourselves. Hannah had gone skiing with her class and Connor was at boyscout winter camp. We got to hang out and play and just be us all day. Here he wanted to do his own silly pose and give himself rabbit ears! that boy…

He went outside to play in the fresh snow and jump on the trampoline. [our neighbor friend in the background] He’s the only one that even attempts a backflip – he nails it every time.

He’s been learning some sign language in school. Now I frequently here, “Hey Mom!” and then he flashes me this sign. I love him too!

For good behavior he’s earning quarters to use in the pencil machine at school. He has a new collection obsession. Here he is showing off his ‘pencil beard’ and ‘pencil teeth’.

Connor and Dillan started swimming lessons this week and I had some fun with processing images.

This is how Corgis be lazy. We love it when they lay like this. You can’t help but smile and giggle.

Little Miss Princess Millie looks so extra adorable on her purple throw on my bed in the winter sun.

Last night, Hannah and I went out with friends for a little Cosmic Bowling. Since we never get ourselves in a picture together, we snapped one before we went out the door. We look a little deer in the headlights and silly but thats’ us!

And I leave you with The Zoo. This is a typical night in my bed. They all come in, one by one, and claim their space. They don’t care that I [or even James as well when he's home] can move legs or not, they get comfy and that’s that. This image is missing Jelliebeanie. She’s not a fan of the group slumber party and usually sleeps on a bed with only one person taking up space. But funny enough, in the morning I woke up and Thomas was off the bed but Jellie was on it! Even with the rest of the crew still on it. At least we are warm!

There’s my big update. It’s picture heavy and if you’re on dial-up, I appologize! But it’s the quickest way to get the goods out there and get myself back into the blogging groove. I’ve missed it really.

December 31st, 2008 by Heidi

This is now becoming a common scene in the living room. It’s not enough to just play Tony Hawk skateboarding on the Wii, but the boys feel they need to also stand on their Tony Hawk skateboards while they play. I love it!

December 22nd, 2008 by Heidi

This is the one day of winter that I actually look forward to seeing. Though today seems much to cold to care about – the significance of the solstice pushes that aside. As the shortest day of the year, it can only get better from here. Now, I’m not kidding myself, I know there are still MONTHS of winter to get through, but at least there will be just a little more light each day. Up here in the north, I really cherish that sunshine. Even when it’s -16* with a -29* windchill [yes, that's what it is right now], the sun shining has a small way of making it feel a little less cold.

And when the sun is shining, we get some beautiful scenery. While picking up the boys this afternoon, this is what we saw. I stopped the truck and got out to snap a few images.

The image doesn’t show how the wind was blowing and drifting or give you a feel for how bitter the windchill was. But the sun was shining, and tomorrow it will shine just a little bit longer. Even just a minute, it’s one minute more than today. And those minutes add up so fast. And before I know it, spring will arrive again and I can put another North Dakota winter behind me.

December 14th, 2008 by Heidi

Friday was ‘gingerbread house’ day in Dillan’s kindergarten class. They were actually 2 milk cartons, slathered with icing and graham crackers stuck to them – but that’s ok, it’s the concept. Parents showed up to help their child with the decorating and to have some fun. Dillan was so into the decorating of the house. Some of it he was very meticulous about and other parts he just willy nilly slapped things on. I really think he was more interested in eating the goodies than making the house. We had a really good time together – he loves when I’m able to come to his class with him. He’s so proud to show me all around and all the neat things they have in the classroom.

Dillan’s teacher, Mrs. Meline, caught us both at a weird face moment – but here we are – she took our picture.

November 27th, 2008 by Heidi

You won’t find an obligatory yummy turkey image here. In my family, we have this problem that prevents a nice picture every year. It’s called, turkey skin. We pull the bird out of the oven, set it on the counter, drain the juices for gravy, and gather around the counter like baby birds feasting for the first time in hours – anxiously awaiting the debagging of the turkey. We’ve learned not to all dive in at once and start to pull the golden skin from the bird for extra fine dining. We patiently await the dividing up and handing out of our portions. This year, Hannah graduated from little kid who’s not allowed to be near the skin to teenager who can have a small portion. Less for me. Phooey! She’s lucky I love her.

The turkey was awesome but the gravy was especially yummy. I’m not quite sure what my special touch is but we love my good gravy.  Other staples included mashed potatoes, cranberries, corn, beans, buns, and desserts! I’m so full. I definitely over ate. And I’m counting down until I can snack again before bed!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is nothing like a laid back and casual gathering of family for a big feast of all of our favorite foods. There is no conscious effort to be healthy eaters. We add a lot of butter and sour cream, gravy is made from all of the turkey juice, and we eat until our eyes are bulging – at least once. We get painfully full. We turn into tryptophan coma zombies. And we love it.

The kids went outside for trampoline jumping. I don’t know how they managed to keep their turkey in. I suppose they’ve not learned to be true gluttons yet.

So what are we thankful for?

Heidi: good health [scope came back perfect even though I haven't made it back to talk about it] – family – love – and a full tummy.

Hannah: everything

Connor: us – everybody in the whole entire world except the people who don’t clean up the earth.

Dillan: turkey!

I wish James could have been here – and my dad and my sister and family. It’s just not the same without them.

I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow and the next 3 days with the kids. We’ll avoid shopping at all costs. I think we’ll hit up the library and maybe play some board games. It’s going to be super chilled out for sure – just the way we like it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

November 18th, 2008 by Heidi

Seriously, I should have moved out of the house for the day. I’ve been awake since 5:30am [heck if I know - it's too early for sure!] And all these hours I can see food and smell food and I want food. Yet I’m stuck with water, broth, and Jello. I’ve had plenty of water, I’ve had a whole can of broth, and the Jello is getting cold. Oh the temptation to just have a few crackers with my broth. The string cheese in the fridge, the potato chips that I love like nothing else, the leftover pancakes from last night, Cheese Nips… the list could go on and on. If I could hide it all for the day and have it out of sight out of mind, that would be good. The broth was ok, but I wish I’d have thought to make my own soup yesterday so that I could have my own broth instead of the salty Campbell’s stuff.  And the worst part is, I’m home alone. The kids aren’t even here to be begging for food nonstop, I haven’t had to cook a meal yet and smell it, and while I’m not horribly starving, I will be before long and the real crabby in me will come out. I understand the reasoning, I just hate the process.

If I make it through today, I’d be surprised. For soemone like me who loves food food and more food, this is absolute torture. I’m not doing a good job of distracting myself either. I’m trying, really, but it’s just so hard. Even feeding the dogs made me hungry.

Oh I’m a whiner. I know that. Get used to it. Tomorrow afternoon is a long time away!