Natural Mommie Giveaway!

It's giveaway time for Cranberries & Capers! Starts today & goes through November 2nd. Just in time for the holidays! Now go win something!

As promised.

Please excuse this massive picture post. I neglected to document some of the things we did lately...and even some from summer, yikes! So, here they are...

{Apple Picking.}

My favorite thing to do here in NY.

Do you think we have enough apples? Cam kept adding to our stash.

These three were all sitting in a circle. One would take Hazel's binky out, the other would get mad and put it back in. Made for a fun game with little Hazel in the middle of the dispute...and she didn't even seem to mind.
the beginnings of the take Hazel's binky game.

the kiddos...aren't they cute?

apple picking buddies.

and then there was the...

{Toby Keith concert}

It was so nice to get out with just the two of us...doesn't happen a lot these days with no teenage girls around to babysit.

It was a good concert, although I felt a little old amongst the drunken teenagers, dancing and singing along.

Next up--

{camping}

Our branch had a little camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. We had a blast bunking up with the Liljenquists (cabin camping, my favorite kind!)

our cheese ball.

Pretty nasty morning pic, but just needed to document that I was actually in attendance.

And lastly was ...

{the Altamont Fair}

My friend, Tiana, invited us to join her. We had a great time!

We came across a little pony, named Maddie. Notice the sign that says "I bite"...just the kind of horse you want to go and pet.

The pig racing was the best!

Their favorite ride, the swings. It's only fitting, b/c they were my favorite as a kid too.

Maddie & Cam also got to take part in a backyard circus. They LOVED it. Maddie got to be a ballerina...

and Cam got to be lion, hilarious!

And there you have it! I think I'm all caught up now!

Benny boy.

One year older and wiser too, happy birthday, to you! Yesterday Ben turned 29, yes that's one year away from 30! I've been teasing him so much, I think he's really starting to feel old! Since it was Sunday, it was a little more laid back, but I hope he had a good day nonetheless. I made his favorite, Crème Brulee French Toast to start off the day. After church some of our friends were good enough to have us over for a delicious dinner.

the B-day Boy.

The kiddos now insist that we do a scavenger hunt to find his presents like we did last year.

Ben is just the best, what can I say. He does everything for our little family and we love him so much! He's the most hard working, loving, fun, not to mention good-looking guy I know. We love you babe! Hope you had a good day!

WAY behind.

Alrighty, I've been called on it {thanks Annie!}...I have been a slacker blogger! I just don't know what to say other than the fact that there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done that I want to. Seriously, can someone figure out how to make the day 28 hours long instead of 24?! From taking Maddie to and from school, a new calling, two other kiddos at home, housework, and the fact that I am up to my eyeballs in clippies, there just isn't time! {On a side note, I just got asked to supply clippies for a store, yay! Only problem is that I need to make 125+ clips in the next two weeks...that's possible, right?}

We are enjoying life though...the fall is here and that is my favorite time of the year in NY. I am SO excited that we just got a new camera and tried it out at the park yesterday. I haven't had enough time to really dive in and learn much about it. I'm hoping Ben will do all of the research and then share his tips with me, haha, ;) We'll see how that goes. But I'm super excited and my inner-desire to be a photographer is coming out. I just love good pictures, but don't know the first thing about the technical stuff. Anyhow, here are a few we took at the park, without any editing...which I'm sure is what they desperately need...

It's also killing me that I just realized I haven't blogged about many things we did over the summer like: the fair, camping, Toby Keith concert, and apple picking just recently. I'll have to dig through those pics and hopefully get some on here soon!

Twas the 1st day of Kindergarten...

and the clothes were laid out (a tradition of course).

Breakfast was made...cinnamon rolls, no doubt!

alright, alright...enough of the rhyming.
{I'm sure you're not sad about that!}

I can't believe how excited {and not scared} Maddie has been about starting Kindergarten. I asked her on the way over if she was scared or excited. She said, "I'm not scared at all, just really excited." She also passed the torch onto Camden, when she turned to him in the car and said, "Now Cam, when Hazel gets sad, you need to help her." Oh, my sweet Maddie. We're gonna miss you. But, first we needed to do some traditional 1st day of school posing.

Poor little girl got a cold sore a few days before...seems to always happen around big events. Still cute, nonetheless. At least she got rid of her Quasimodo eye she had last week from some sort of infection, phew...

Camden wanted in on the fun.

Waiting in line to go into the classroom. She's kinda tall I'm just noticing...

I told her I was going to come in for a minute, and she got all mad at me. Can it really be starting this young?? Fortunately for me, she changed her mind and let me slip in for a picture.

What a monumental day for a mom, sending her first born into the school system for ALL DAY kindergarten. Poor Cam didn't know what to do without her all day. Within the first two hours, I was thinking to myself..."maybe I should find a somewhere to put him into preschool last minute." We'll see how it goes, but for now he thinks I'm his permanent play buddy during the day. Here's to a new stage in life!

the link.

I know you've all been dying to see our family pics, lol...well maybe just me. But here they are, go check 'em out. A BIG thank you to Angie! You are amazing!

www.angiestarrphotography.com/Slideshows/Clarks.html

Photo Shoot.

Here is a little preview from the photo shoot we did the other day with my friend Angie.

She did such a good job, especially with very uncooperative kids. I'm just dying to see the rest.