We’re back from our long weekend away in Sedona. We made it home about 2:30 p.m. yesterday to a little dude cranky with teething (but thrilled to see us) and a very excited Sweetness. In their excitement they forgot they’re supposed to sleep through the night so working on five hours of sleep I leave you with an accidental Wordless Wednesday. We didn’t take a lot of photos because we just wanted to rest, but here some of the few we did shoot.

The view from the Sedona Airport, which is located on a mesa top (super cool).

The view north from our resort's main building. The Enchantment is located in a box canyon of red rocks.

We went for a hike near the resort and this is a view down toward the resort.

Hubby up on Boynton Spire, with Sedona in the background.

Me up at Boynton Spire. This was a great, gorgeous hike.

After a good hike it's important to sit and relax by the pool, with drinks.

Which is so easy to do with a view like this. (That's Boynton Spire, the rock on the far right.)

When we weren't hiking, sight seeing or lounging by the pool, we had to hang out in these digs.

I feel pretty certain my dorm room was smaller than this bathroom. There was a jet tub and a shower.

Feeling might relaxed among my red rocks.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Sedona Vacation. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Finding Balance in Sedona
2. Quality Time
3. Vacation, had to get away…

Ok, I’m not a big meme follower, but when my new pal Julie from Angry Julie Monday invited me to link up, I figured what the heck.

When I was three, my mom took a picture of me in this outfit on the porch of our house. I was wearing socks and brown sandals. We recently found a few of my little outfits my mom saved. This fit Sweetness so I put her on the porch and shot a similar shot. I hope I can find the original of me. I had the same blond, curly fly-away hair. If I find the one of me, I’ll repost side by side.

My cutie patootie and the poochies.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Wordless Wednesday. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. iPhone and Butt Explosions

I saw this as I was fueling up in Shorline, Washington this week. They had one of these posted next to every pump. I have to give the 76 marketing folks come credit. This made me laugh so hard I had to pull out my camera and share. Enjoy!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Friday Funny Foto. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Friday Funny
2. Modern Art?
3. Friday Funny – Is Hell Exothermic?

Four years ago today my dreams started to come true. I drempt of marrying a man who would love, cherish and keep me in thick and thin, keep me in check, share common interests, be my best friend and cheerleader and wanted a family as bad as I did.

Not long after that amazing day (4 1/2 months to be exact) we discovered that family was on its way.

Four years later, we’re a happy family of four. This man made my dreams come true. I love you sweetie!

Exchanging vows in our Oregon vineyard wedding.

The Mr. and Mrs.

Just after the wedding.

Ta-woo wuv!

And they lived happily ever after...

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Four Amazing Years. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Hello all. I’m back, officially. Yesterday’s post was written before vacation, so I really did stay true to my word. I had a vacation.

This year vacation was so different. Usually vacations are filled with packing up and going somewhere, but this time we had very little in the way of plans. In fact, I made a last minute decision to head out of town for a couple of days, which ended up being perfect. Here’s how we did:

Friday night we got the vacation off with dinner out at Hubby’s favorite pub. Sweetness screamed a great deal during the meal. Mommy barely got her beer down.

Saturday we headed up to my mom’s where I was instructed to go through all the crap I didn’t think I needed to go through until Mom passed. But, alas, mom is getting married and she needs to ditch the extra baggage, including our childhood papers, Halloween costumes and toys. I remembered that I carefully packed my very favorite toys, classic Fisher Price things they don’t make anymore like the parking garage and family house, as well as my Barbies. I wanted to save them for my kids. We brought a truck load of stuff home and I got to work cleaning up the Fisher Price stuff and inventorying the Barbies. Sweetness and Mr. Man spent the rest of the week that we were home playing with the Fisher Price stuff. It made my heart soar.

Sunday we did a few chores around the house and ran errands. I begged a favor from Hubby and he watched the kids while I ran off to catch Eclipse. (Awesome movie and the best yet!) Funny how before I was married I abhorred going alone to the movies, sure everyone was looking at me. Now I cherish the time alone and don’t think anything of it. With old age comes wisdom. I spent the afternoon playing with my old toys with my kids and weeding the front yard. It isn’t dark here until 9:30 p.m. so the kids won’t see fireworks for a while. That was a hard night to sleep as our neighborhood is Little Baghdad on the 4th and New Years Eve.

Monday a pal and her kids came over for tea and a playdate. We’d met online while we were pregnant with our first kids (who ended up being born days apart). She lived in Hong Kong at the time. Just before getting pregnant with her son she moved really close to me. Her son is three months younger than mine so I pass along clothes from Mr. Man, many of which I got from a third friend of ours we met through the same group. It was a really nice morning. That afternoon I packed, shopped and prepared for…

Tuesday – Thursday we went to Long Beach, Washington. I rented a house that ended up being perfect for us. It was really windy when we got there Tuesday afternoon, but Wednesday was the hottest day of the year. Blue skies, hot sand, and lots of sunscreen.

We bought a kite, flew the kite, went for walks, ate lots of ice cream, built sand castles, and thoroughly enjoyed our first family vacation. This was the first time the four of us went anywhere together other than grandparents’ houses and it was awesome. We could walk to the beach and town from the house so it was perfect. We were having so much fun that we decided to head back the long way, around the Olympic Peninsula, through a formerly unknown town called Forks. No Cullens that day. The sun was out and it was 94 degrees. By the way, that town is an odd mix of redneck loggers and giggly teenagers. Taverns next door to teen shops with Robert Pattinson in the window. Talk about weird. We were running a bit late so we didn’t visit La Push this time around. The kids handled the 8-hour drive home well, all things considered, and were rewarded with a ferry ride the last leg.

Friday the kids didn’t sleep in nearly long enough to suit me, but oh well. My freelance job needed my attention the first few hours of the day, but we all went to lunch and ran a couple of errands together before coming home to play in the kiddy pool and water table in the backyard.

Saturday was chore day. We didn’t want to leave it to the last day. We washed the hardwood floors, moved a little furniture around, put some kids stuff no longer used on Craig’s List, and I weeded one of my backyard gardens. In between all this we played in the backyard with the kids – the pool and water table are big hits. That afternoon Hubby let me sneak off again. This time I treated myself to a manicure.

Today we plan to grocery shop and then just play. We may hit a wading pool at a local park with the kids. It’s been amazingly hot here and the kids are loving the water stuff. It’s a hoot to watch them splash together.

All in all, I think I pulled it off. I loved the comments people left on my vacation post about balance and in the end that’s exactly what I think we were able to pull off. The house is somewhat clean, weeds are under control, clutter somewhat reduced and we have lots of great memories and photos of our first of many, many vacations together. In fact, I got adventurous and bought tickets for the family to join me in Hawaii in October when I go for a meeting. We’ll stay long and make it a vacation. Now that should be interesting.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Vacation, had to get away…. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Sedona Vacation
2. Vacation
3. Finding Balance in Sedona

Every so often, you come across toys in precarious situations and no children about. I usually grab a shot, but often all hell breaks loose before I have time to post or tweet them. So here they are, for your viewing pleasure:

Cars at attention? This is a new take on the odd toddler OCD phenomenon that typically results in a long line up of some type of toy.

Look close. This is a half dressed baby doll reading the book. I about peed.

My place is set. I get one piece of cauliflower. Daddy on the other hand gets only a spoon.

Pink prehistoric creature plays piano. Details at 11.

Ahh, the classic stuffed animals go potty maneuver.

And a favorite of mine, even though this does include children. I must admit, I helped in the burying. Mr. Man pitched in a bit.

All photos shot with the iPhone, so excuse the quality, please.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Stranger Things. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Little Helper
2. My New Toy
3. Quick Shot

Now for something completely different. I recently took Mr. Man to a research study at the University of Washington’s child development lab. At the end of the 45 minute study, he was presented with a box of toys. He could choose one as his thank you gift. He chose this little toy camera toy that makes camera noises (but doesn’t take photos).

Needless to say, this suddenly became Sweetness’s favorite toy, ever (possibly because it was her brother’s). She walked all over the house for days “taking pictures” and telling us, her brother and the dogs to say “cheese.” This gave me an idea.

Even though her birthday is several months away, I figured one of those kid digital cameras might entertain her this summer as well as teach her some basic visual and technical skills. With that lofty goal in mind we hauled it down to Toys R Us yesterday and picked up a camera that is pretty sturdy, but not too high tech. After we got home I showed Sweetness the basics and off she went, shooting away then reviewing her photos. I turned off the flash to save batteries (so many shots are blurry).

I have to say, it was incredibly fascinating to see what she shot by the end of the day. I also gained a real appreciation for her perspective. What an amazing look into her little mind. Granted, some of it was to just play with the camera, but some of it was of things she cared about.  So, without further ado, I present to you Sweetness’ first photo display, chosen from 200+ pictures.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Modern Art?. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. My New Toy
2. Stranger Things
3. Photo Phun

Here is photographic proof that you should not do anything in front of your children you don’t want them to copy. They’re such little sponges.

Helping Daddy mow the lawn.

Yesterday afternoon Hubby just had to get out and mow the lawn. It had been a couple of weeks and we were losing toys, gardening implements and small dogs in our grass. So off he went with his little helper in tow, who insisted on wearing her new “big girl sun hat,” even though it wasn’t sunny anywhere in the western part of our state, I’m pretty sure.

My little cutie

She looked up and noticed I was taking photos.

It's a bit damp, so Daddy needs to kick out the clogged up blade before restarting. Someone is paying close attention.

I was wondering what she was thinking…

Darn that clogged blade. She's actually kicking it like Daddy did.

I laughed so hard I was afraid these photos would be blurry.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Little Helper. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Stranger Things
2. My New Toy
3. Photo Shoot Fun

My little Mr. Man is a year old now and to celebrate the occasion, we went in for family photo fun. Typically, Sweetness approaches this with as much enthusiasm as she would a root canal (if in fact she knew what that was). One time she had the full blown tantrum just as we went into the front door of the studio.

However, as a birthday gift to the little dude and the rest of the family, both kids were in great moods and not only posed, but smiled big time through lots of great shots. They turned out so darn cute, I had to share them here. These are the crappy scanned versions as I don’t have digital ones, so please excuse that part.

The Handsome fellow himself.

Perhaps the best shot of them together ever.

My beautiful babies.

The whole family.

Handsome gang.

Yup, he’s one!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on Capturing a Moment. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Photo Phun
2. Modern Art?
3. My New Toy

In celebration of my upcoming exciting weekend, I got a brand new Canon EOS Rebel T2i. It shoots some mighty fancy photos AND HD video. Yes, a digital SLR camera that shoots video! Now should a unique opportunity present itself, I shall be ready with stills and HD video! Ha! Or ja. Depends on how well you’re really following this joke.

Seriously, I’m having lots of fun playing with it to get up to speed. Can’t let myself miss a shot of anyone running screaming. Here’s some quick fun stuff I shot tonight in rapid succession. These photos are untouched. NICE!! Keep in mind my freaking blog software compresses everything a bit. Can’t figure out a way around that without uploading everything to my server and redirecting. Too much trouble for a sleep deprived me. More on that later.

“Here you go Baby Brother”

“Wow, let’s see how it tastes.”

“Ummmm, this is pretty good.”

“Here see for yourself!”

“Seriously, TRY IT!”

“Fine, you just don’t know what you’re missing!”

Thought you all would find that far more appropriate than a detailed description of my really sexy dream that woke me at 4:15 a.m. all hot and frustrated. Mr. Man finally sleeps all night and I wake up in the middle of one heck of an amazing wrestling match on a balmy night on a boat in the Florida Keys. Mama can’t catch a break.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy! I would love to hear your comments and feedback on My New Toy. If you have a blog yourself, I'd love to check it out and possibly even link to it here!
Thanks for reading! Heligirl: Positive Discipline Mommy

Related posts:

1. Photo Shoot Fun
2. Modern Art?
3. Stranger Things