Taking Off

This is my last post from Austin for a while. Next time I post it'll be from Maui (and hopefully I'll have some pictures to share).

My heart is fluttering I'm so excited. I have a feeling I'll do a little "Yippee!" dance when I get off the plane in Kahului and am hit with tradewinds and palm trees dancing.

Though I am so excited, I'm also a bit sad that I can't pack Peter and Gams and Pops in my suitcase and take them too.

I have faith that a transfer will come up for Peter and I won't have to wait until the end of July to see him again. Cause that's a long time... a really long time. I can't pretend that I won't cry sometimes. Especially at night time when we're thousands of miles apart. I'm sad about that part. But excited about my upcoming adventures.

Taking off tonight... see you soon.

Cutie in the Bathtub

Woke up this morning at 6:30am (I'm not a morning person) and got ready for the garage sale. It was a really good success and we made $215! WooHoo! 

After the garage sale, Marissa made an epic dinner. Chow fun, Pork & Peas, Rice, Lumpia, and we had cupcakes and bibingka for dessert. We were all stuffed off our gourds. It was kinda an early celebration for Ry's birthday. 

Peter snagged this adorable shot of Cruz in the bathtub. He is such a cherub. He's been climbing on EVERYTHING. 

Tomorrow we're heading to Gams and Pops for breakfast. I can't believe this will be our last breakfast before we leave. I was so bad with eating today I'm debating if I should just enjoy a killer breakfast since it's my last one with my parents for a while, or if I should stick to being really good tomorrow after eating things that weren't good for me today. We're also attacking clutter tomorrow.

Last Day of School

Today was Ry and Kai's last day of school. After I dropped them off, we went shopping with Gams, Jean, and Marissa and had a wonderful time. We hit up HEB and I bought flowers and gift cards for the teachers. Then it was time to pick them up.

I headed into the building and handed Ry the roses and cards to give her teachers. We all welled up. She has been at this school since she was two and has flourished and grown so much. It's been her home away from home and her teachers have very much been a part of her everyday conversations. They gave me her folder, which has stories and pictures about her from her first day in 2008. I cried a little. She's done with preschool. She's moving on to the big world of Kindergarten.

Kai was pretty clueless as to what the last day of school meant. He hugged his teachers and was on his merry way like always.

I have loved this school so much since I found it. Play based learning is such a wonderful thing!

This afternoon I packed my clothes and the kids clothes for Hawaii. I organized two kitchen cabinets - the ones that are the most likely to be opened :) Garage sale items are piling up in the garage ready for Saturday.

I was thinking of starting the dogs quarantine paperwork already - it's a 4 month long process. But my brain can't handle it. It's just one more thing I can't put on my plate right now. So I'm sticking to the plan of coming back to Texas in August (sooner if I need to come home to pack the house) and starting the paperwork then. I think I've been so worried about how we're going to work out this gigantic move and all the things that are LATER that I have forgotten to take things just one day at a time NOW. So that's what I'm committing to doing. Just going with the flow for now and working on the things I need to now.

The house is slowly being whipped into shape to go on the market. We'll hit it hard core Sun/Mon and Peter will help a lot after me and the kids leave.

Photography bookings continue to come in. It's going to be an awesome summer!

With Ones We Love

Yesterday was a lovely day. We headed down to the San Marcos outlets with my parents, the kiddos, and Jean and Marissa. We had such a lovely time. Shopping is always so much fun - just the walking around and window shopping was awesome. I did score a $5 Roxy t-shirt, some slippers, a new wallet, and a little makeup. So much fun. 

Cruz is loving his morning snuggles with Grandma. 

This morning we headed to Gams and Pops for our Sunday breakfast. This was Jean Marie's first time to Austin and first time to Gams and Pops house. We had Gams amazing wheat pancakes. Even though I'm trying to stay away from wheat I couldn't resist. They were onolicious. They have to be one of my most favorite foods ever. 

Then we headed outside into the humidity to meet the new baby cow and visit Windy Cow. 

Cherub boy with Gams and Truman

 Windy Cow shares her treats with Truman!

 Love these of the kiddos with Windy!!

 This cow is really so amazing and sweet. She's like a giant puppy dog. Ryenne loves her.

 Grandma Marissa and Aunty Jean pet Windy for the first time

 After petting Windy it was off to climb on the hay bales. I love hay bales. They're the perfect jungle gym!

 He was mad because he didn't want to climb up himself.

 And happy when he did it!

 And getting snuggles from Pops

 There was a post on Facebook about the history of pittbulls and how they used to be considered the "Nanny Dog". We always call Meesy the Nanny Dog. She heards the kids and watches out for them. So we had to get a picture of her and Cruzer.

These images show the hardest thing about going away for the summer. It will be hard to be away from Gams and Pops for the entire summer. And when we move back, hard to be away from them. But I have a feeling the universe will work it out and send them back home too.

Reminded

While cleaning out the pantry I discovered three disposable film cameras that were quite old. I had no idea what was on them or what year they were from. So I took them to Costco to get them developed. 

We picked them up today. I was shocked. Old pictures with ME in them. An old me.

I guess these are reminders of where I've been and where I don't want my body to go ever again. Gonna keep on keepin on.

I clearly have a type....

It's been a whirlwind couple of days.

On Tuesday Marissa and Jean Marie flew in. Cruz and I headed to Target to get dog food and shampoo and conditioner and prep their bathroom. Cruz was chilling in the cart... totally relaxing. Adorable.

Ryenne and Kai were thrilled to see their Grandma. Cruz was reluctant at first and then was a total cuddle bug with her. It was the first time Auntie Jean got to meet Cruz in person. They are quickly becoming buds.

On Wednesday we headed to Houston with Jean to go to the Bruno Mars concert. We drove through Bastrop which has beautiful pine trees.

 The driver :)

On the way we went through Brenham, which is wear the Bluebell Ice Creamery is. We decided to stop off and have some ice cream. YUM!

We made it to Houston safe and sound and checked into the Four Seasons Houston (hooray for comp nights!!)

Our room was really beautiful. We ordered room service and got ready for the concert. 

Here's me and Peter ready and excited to go!

 Jean, Peter, and Me waiting for the concert to start

Ok so who is Bruno Mars? He's a guy from Hawaii who made it big in the music world. He's a little bit old school, a little bit reggae, a little bit rock, and pop.

I'll admit he's my celebrity crush.

I'm am one lucky girl that I have a husband who so closely resembles my celebrity crush. Clearly, I have a type :) Now to see if Peter will ever wear a fedora and Chuck Taylors??? Maybe for Halloween???  *hint, hint babe!*

The concert was actually really awesome. Highly entertaining and we had such a wonderful time. If you're interested in videos, I'm posting below... but just so you know I was screaming like a school girl ;)

In this next one he busts out the ukulele - oh yeah! 

Thank you to my amazing hubby for making this trip happen, for buying me a t-shirt, and indulging me. I had such an amazing time.

We got home to beautiful kids and enjoyed the rest of our afternoon.

Big Girl, Little Girl

I had a photo shoot this afternoon with a return client that I adore. I knew she wouldn't mind if I brought Ryenne along so I asked Ryenne if she wanted to come be my assistant. Ry has wanted to come on photo shoots with me for quite some time, but the moment wasn't right for her to come until now. 

We (finally) had a good rain and after the rain these beautiful white blossoms appear in the meadows. My mom said they're Rain Lillies and I adore them. They popped up all over the place at Gams and Pops place. 

Before my clients got there I asked Ry to model so I could test the light.

It occurred to me how big she's getting. The big #5 is coming up next month. 

I was thinking, "Wow, she's so big." and I got sad. And then I saw how small she is by the tree... and it made my heart smile. Because although she is growing so much and is so much a little person and not a little baby girl, she's still small, she's still learning, she still needs me, she's still and will always be my baby.

When my clients arrived she took her job very seriously. Here she is playing with the baby girl making silly faces trying to get her to smile. 

I had such a wonderful time with Ry. I can't wait to bring her on more sessions with me.

Believe

I saw this quote online:
"She believed. So she did."

Believing in something so deeply and not doubting it's true will make things happen. It already has. Leaps of faith with full belief that everything will be alright is what it's all about.

I reserved a POD to move to Hawaii. Can you believe it? Do I have money for it? No. Have we sold the house? No. But I figured I might as well pick a date (October) and PODS will let me change the month as many times as I want. The price was by far the best out of every moving quote I got. It's $5200 including tax. Of course that doesn't include the cars. But it's booked as if it's happening. I believe.

So with my other crazy habit of checking Maui craigslist and the Maui MLS, I came upon this gem. Actually, if I had the moola I'd buy it RIGHT NOW.

This house sits on nearly an acre right across from Waihe'e elementary.  It needs quite a bit of work, but the bones and the trim are so gorgeous....

On the far right you can see the kitchen was totally ripped out. So there's no kitchen. There is no picture of the bathroom so I don't even know what condition that would be in! haha

On the property is a second home - a 3 bedroom ohana that is really adorable.

All this for $249K - for Maui prices that is AMAZING. God I wish this was coming up in a year or so when we're on our feet there. This would be SO IDEAL for us.

So I'll keep following my belief and faith that everything is going to work out just the way we want. Yep. I'm even going to imagine myself painting that house and cleaning and moving my dining table right there by that built in hutch. Yep. I can see it. I believe it. Something like this is gonna happen for us just when we're ready. 

Kiddos

I haven't had my camera in hand much lately for personal things. I've just been letting life happen mostly and enjoying it.

I did pick up the camera for some pretty cool stuff though. I had a Senior (high school) photo shoot a few days ago and Ryenne asked what that meant. I told her it was a girl who was growing up and wanted to have beautiful pictures - like a model. She said she wanted to model for me. So we just went out on the lanai and she turned on the charm. Her hair had just come out of braids. She looked so grown up. I just couldn't believe it.

 On Tuesday her school was having a Bible presentation. For all the children that are graduating out of the program, they give them a Bible of their very own. It was a sweet presentation filled with singing. Ryenne was so happy. This picture below is her with Miss Claudia (left), Miss Lyn (top) and Miss Shawnda (right).

 Ryenne and Jackson have been buds since they were two. Now look how big they are!

 Ryenne and her friend Avery. Avery joined their school for this year and her and Ryenne have gotten very close.

 Ryenne and Bella - they've been friends since they were two!

 Speaking of growing... Mr. Cruz is growing so much. I often look at him and his face reminds me so much of a little boy and not a baby. His expressions are so priceless. He has started saying "NyNy" at nap time and waving at everyone. He's also started giving kisses. He is such a happy little dude!

 Kai is still hard to catch in front of the camera. Both Cruz and Kai wanted Peter to hold them at the same time. It turned into a tickle session.

Love these interactions with them. 

Kai's Crocs give him really bad blisters, so we set out to find him a new pair of sandals. At Target they had Lighting McQueen sandals. He was instantly in love. He wants to sleep in them!