vogt family

2010-06-13T22:33:00.003-06:00

Hmph.... not even sure what to say or where to begin
I spend so much time capturing the lives of others that I've been neglecting to capture my own! I'm really wanting to make a change in that department. I think it's time...

Boise Temple at night

2010-02-07T11:55:00.003-07:00

20/365

I did something tonight I'd been wanting to do for a long time now! After I got done with my session at the Temple, I stayed and took some photos of this beautiful and Holy building. No flash was used - I had to set the exposure for anywhere between 5 and 30 seconds to allow enough light into the sensors! I loved it!! Enjoy some of my favorites from tonight...

now you might have noticed that these first few ones had a sort of "reddish" hue to the sky. That is because the Boise Temple sits right next to our big movie theater complex (and lots of restaurants and hotels, etc) that all the bright neon lights that were on from there, caused the clouds to be tinted. This next one is of the same (above) spire but I was turned a different angle and got just the solid black night.

ok, now I LOVE this next one! It's just different and fun and unexpected! Loving the starbursts on this one and all the colors (this is exactly how this picture looked out of the camera - no fancy coloring or cool lighting effects done in photoshop - just a slight curves adjustment to add some contrast)

and then another one from this perspective. I was actually on my way back to the van when I turned back and saw all of the street lamps lit and drawing my eye directly towards the Temple!

The hardest part of the evening.... having people coming in and out of the Temple! LOL.. with my exposure set for so long (especially when I would have the shutter speed set to 30 seconds - meaning the camera was actively taking the photo for 30 seconds) that was enough time for people to walk through the photo and I'd have to try again - LOL.. but I'm glad there were that many patrons there tonight!

BUBBLES everywhere!

2010-02-06T23:45:00.000-07:00

Day 19 - our Bubbles catastrophe!

When John and I were first married we had run out of dishwashing detergent. John assured me that liquid dishsoap was the same thing and could easily be substituted. He was wrong. So we learned early on, that if you are out of dishwashing detergent either borrow some or run to the store. Fast forward about 15 years to February 6, 2010. I see our sweet little twin girls playing in the dishwasher. Upon closer inspection, I see that they have DUMPED 80% of a brand new bottle of liquid Dawn all over it! I hurry and wisk them into the other room, take some dry towels and wipe off everything I could see. About 2 hours later, the dishwasher was filled and needed to start. Even though I knew I had gotten a lot of it up (all of it that I could see) I figured it'd be safe to lay some towels down just in case. They were needed. It gushed and gushed and gushed just spewing the bubbles like no other! Of course they thought this was fascinating and kept wanting to get into it! I had to have Seth take big bowl fulls of the suds every couple of minutes and dump into the sink or else we would have been engulfted in them! So for those that may have the same thoughts as my sweet husband all those years ago - please put them aside and always use dishwashing detergent!

Day 18

2010-02-04T00:52:00.003-07:00

today for dinner I was craving some chicken out on the BBQ! I knew that the girls would want to follow me outside so I went ahead and got their shoes and coats on (and sadly the gas was all gone! or at least I thought it was... turns out my brother in law turned it off from the valve on Sunday when they were over) oh well.
but since we were already outside, I thought I'd take my picture for today - and this one makes me smile. I don't know why - it just does. I'm so blessed to be a twin mom! I love every minute of it!

Day 17 - Challenge

2010-02-01T13:01:00.006-07:00

17/365

with the loft/playroom being transformed into Seth's new bedroom, we had to move all of the toys and the TV/Wii into Ben and Nathan's room. This morning, Nathan really wanted me to come up and watch him as he played so the we all headed up. While up there, I decided to challenge myself to something: to close the doors, grab my camera and try to look at this room with the kids in it with a different perspective via the camera. It really was a lot hader than I expected! I was trying all different angles and "framing" and it really got me thinking and best of all I love what I walked away with....
If any of you want to help push your bounds of creativity - I challenge you to do the same thing! I'd love to see it if you do - so link me up if you do!

Day 16

2010-01-31T22:15:00.002-07:00

Where has the time gone???
Where have I been??
Only Day 16 and it's almost February :(
Maybe the picture for today should be one of me with a towel at my feet representing me "throwing in the towel" for this 365 project! The past little bit has been absolutely crazy! I have been taking pictures but I haven't had the energy to download and blog about them... maybe I should just post them all at the end of the week? Lot sof things for me to think about but for now here is my sweet little Lexi after dinner tonight playing on the piano :) She makes me happy. She is so sweet and loving and bring so much joy and happiness to me!

I've got some super fun pictures to post (well, truthfully I have to take them first - LOL) but we had a couple of walls built in our house this week resulting in 2 additional rooms here in the home and I.love.them!!! I have some "before" shots and some "during" shots but I need to take the "after" shots to share. We enclosed the loft and Seth has "moved" in so now the older boys each have their own rooms. We also built a wall in our master bedroom - creating a bedroom portion and a sitting room area as well. Now when I say "We" - I mean a professional - LOL. Aaron Solomanson came in and did an extremely wonderful job!! When I post the photos I'll go grab his business card to share his contact info if any of you are in need of any work - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM! John and I have been so impressed!!!
So, we'll see what this week brings and (and how many post it brings with it - LOL)

Day 15 - Risk

2010-01-17T20:31:00.002-07:00

Before I get to my 365 project I need to share some feelings about my progress. As we all know - it is only January 17th and I have already missed some days. At first I felt bummed about it and thought I have taken on too much and maybe I should have just done a 52 project (just one a week) but I know I'd be in the same situation with that as well (where I'd miss a week and then it'd be like 14 days without pictures and journaling vs. missing a day or two and still keep on going). Now if my 365 projects ends on December 31st as a 289 project - I'm fine with that! In fact, I'm thrilled with that! So, while I am pushing myself to document my family this year I'm still giving myself the "guilt free" version and am embracing it! :) So... with all that out of my system - I proudly present...

DAY 15

August got the game RISK for Christmas. The boys (and John) have been making it Sunday evening tradition. I can hear them strategizing and scheming behind me as I type this. That makes my heart happy :)

Day 14 - McCall

2010-01-17T20:24:00.003-07:00

Day 14/365

Benjamin - 7 years old

So we were invited to head up to a cabin in McCall (to get some winter pictures and LJ's 1 year shots). It was a really nice cabin and John and I dreamed of how much fun it would be to be able to aquire one for our family. How fun it would be in the years to come as the kids got older and married and we could have family reunions or holidays together! Just thinking about it now makes me excited for the possibilites that the future holds! LOL
While I was taking pictues, the boys played around the cabin and then afterwards John took them out to a sledding hill while I took a shower and visited with Krista :)

Day 13

2010-01-15T20:16:00.001-07:00

ok, as I'm typing this out I'm chuckling to myself seeing that this is my Day 13 and it's a picture of a hockey mask on Nathan (think Friday the 13th and jason - ooooooooohhhh!)...
And really I didn't do this "on purpose". The boys all got computers for Christmas and we have them set up in an area that I can see them all when sitting at my computer. So imagine my surprise (well, really, I guess I was more startled!) When I looked up and saw this sight! It was a hockey mask that John and the boys had painted blue and orange to wear to a BSU several years ago and he had found it and put it on (backwards - so he could still see the screen).
On a side note, I am so amazed at how computer savvy he is at only 3 years old! Currently his favorite site to play is nickjr.com (specifically the wow! wow! wubzy games).

12/365

2010-01-12T23:39:00.003-07:00

Day 12: LAUNDRY

It is never ending. It is always calling me. I feel guilty.

I have done like 15 -17 loads (I lost track) the past 2 days and you want to know the sad part? I still have like 8+ to go!

We got behind (I say "we" because the older boys are supposed to do their own) over the holidays and are trying to get caught up!

My lifelong struggle - Day 10

2010-01-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

I struggle. I struggle very much, and I hate it. I'm sure by looking at the photo that I took last night after leaving my meeting - you have guessed that the *thing* I am referring to is my weight.

Truthfully, right now I don't have the (needed) time to write all of my thoughts and feelings on this (since I can hear the girls awake up in their cribs and I need to get Ben up for school) but I have lost weight and gained weight and then re-lost those same pounds countless times throughout my life. Right now I am the heaviest I have ever been (or will ever be!) This past fall when I was insanely busy with my photography business - health, nutrition and exercise all got put on the backburner and were replaced with fast food, premade and "convenient" foods and repeatedly only getting 3 (maybe 4) hours of sleep at night so I was too exhausted for any exercise...
I have been successful at Weight Watchers before (for instance, when john was in Iraq, I joined and so when he came home - he came home to a fit and healthy wife (whom I miss so much!). Anyway, I have been a "member" and attending meetings on and off ever since the girls were born but I finally hit rock bottom. I am finally to the point where I am willing to put forth the effort to make my body feel its best and to treat it properly. I went to the meeting last night (which was the first time back since before the holidays! LOL) and while the scale showed how "baaaaad" I was - I was motivatd even further to DO THIS THING! and that's what I love about Weight Watchers - it teaches you how to live and plan for everyday life. Party's are going to happen. Vacations are going to happen. Holidays are going to happen. I just need to find the inner strength to not let the food overtake in those situations and to "enjoy" the time and celebrations but not go hog crazy, ya know.
alright, I've been rambling long enough and the girls are still up there "chatting" with each other so I'll end on that note....

Day 9

2010-01-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

9/365

Yes, it is January 9th, 2010 and I still have our Christmas stuff out!
Goal this week: Get the house put back :)

Day 8

2010-01-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

No and Stop it!

2010-01-07T18:50:00.006-07:00

day 7/365

I'd like to introduce you to "No!" and "Stop It!" Strangely enough, the girls don't favor the same word right now - which can be good and bad. Regardless, Lexi's favorite exclamation is "No" or "uh uh" while she shakes her sweet little head back and forth. Aubrie on the other hand is a little more authoritative and will come right up to you, stick her had out straight (think of a police man directing traffic) and say "top it" in a very stern voice (and I have to say it's the cutest thing!)
now who knows how cute it'll be in a few years, but right now as they're starting to expand their vocabulary - it's definitely CUTE!

Day 6

2010-01-06T23:34:00.002-07:00

so this morning I let John get the girls up (it is always such a joy to walk into their room in the morning and be greeting with two girlies jumping up and down who are so excited to see you!)
they hadn't seen him since Saturday afternoon and you could just tell they were so thrilled to see him! After they ate their breakfast (of which it is all over Aubrie! LOL) they both ran back over to him and wanted to be held. Talk about cutenss!

ps: our of the kindness of my heart I cropped John out of this photo... he hasn't quite recuperated from his Fiesta Bowl experience and it showed! LOL...

Day 5/365

2010-01-05T17:33:00.003-07:00

Meet Caleb

Now typically I won't be showing my clients photos for my 365 project (because this was to for me to document OUR life, right?) Well, this little guys is special to me. His mom and I met several years ago when we belonged to the same gym out in Nampa. Shortly after I had Nathan, she announced that she was pregnant (with her 4th). Life didn't go as she thought it would and their little boy (Luke) was born with some major genetic and heart problems. They never were able to bring him home from the hospital. He was here on earth for just 4 short months. Then just the other day I got a digital baby announcement from them rejoicing that she just gave birth to a little boy on Christmas morning! oh, my heart sang! I have seen her struggle with the loss of Luke and I don't know how anyone deals with the death of a child. I hope and pray (and hope and pray some more) that that isn't one of my earthly trials to bear. I was sooooo happy the entire time during this shoot that he is so healthy and that Jen looks so good! I walked away rejuvenated! The little lion that is in the photo was special to baby Luke. What a great and wonderful Christmas gift Heaven gave to this family!

Day 4

2010-01-04T20:35:00.003-07:00

Pucker up baby! Yikes! LOL
Ben was in charge of the treat for FHE tonight and he wanted to make a cake (I think moreso because he wanted to sample the batter!)

I was pretty happy with myself for following through on FHE even with John gone to the Fiesta Bowl. The past Sunday our Bishop bore his testimony on how we need to look at our lives (and at the "little" things that we're currently not doing) and be better on it. With FHE, we are hit and miss. We'll go through spurts where every Monday we're there with bells on and then other times when it'll be weeks in between. His testimony struck a chord with me and I am determined to do better on the little things! FHE being one of them!

Day 3

2010-01-03T21:09:00.004-07:00

Day 3/365

I'm just at the beginning of this 21 day journey but it has already touched my life! A special gift from my mom :)

Today we switched times at church. We had been going at 8:30am (which let me tell you is VERY hard to do with a family of 8!) Our new time is much better (although interferes with the girls nap times - but oh well..) we know get to meet at 11:40am (no, that's not a typo - it is indeed 11:40am - LOL) John left this morning with his dad, Bill B. Brent C. and some guy named Jason (who hopefully doesn't wear a hockey mask - heeeee!) and are Arizona bound to the FIESTA BOWL! He recently checked in and said that they'd made it safely to Vegas where they were staying the night. They'll make it the rest of the way to Glendale tomorrow, watch the game and start heading back immediately afterwards. They plan to be back home Tuesday night.

Tonight before bed the girls were playing with some of their new Christmas toys - here's little Aubrie inserting one of the cards into her ABC truck :) A couple of things I really like about this photo -- (1) her little pudgy fingers holding onto the little card! I just want to give them little kisses! and (2) I love how the tree lights look! For those dabbling into photography there are 2 essentials to creating a photo like this. (a) you have to opened up VERY wide! I'm shooting at 1.8 in this photo and (b) it has everything to do with the distance from You to your Subject in relation to the distance from your Subject to their Background. For instance, you want to be fairly close to your subject (Aubrie in this case) and then have your subject 3-4 feet away from your background (the tree)

Day 2 - August Birthday

2010-01-02T20:13:00.003-07:00

Day 2

Even though August's birthday was on Thursday (New Years Eve) we had his party today. This is the cake that Mayonna Green (Cakes by May) created. August requested a "Snow/sledding/skiing" theme. She always does a great job! My favorite part is in the second picture where you can see she recreated a "Snowball Fight" scene - LOL. After the cake and Ice cream, John took all the boys up to Bogus Basin tubing :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! DAY 1

2010-01-01T21:26:00.010-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

So I figured that the new year would be the perfect time to pay attention to the ol' bloggity blog! Truthfully, I've missed it! I've missed the interaction through comments with those that read about us and I've missed writing down the happenings of the VOGT's!! and I especially missed having pictures of my own kids! It became glaringly evident at Christmas time when my in laws asked for some pics of the kids to include with their christmas card and... I DIDN'T HAVE ANY!! gasp! It's sad, but true :(

So.... Ive decided to participate in the 365 Project this year and will post to this here blog :) If you're not familiar with the 365 - it's basically just capturing your each day of the year in photos. Now one might think this would be so very easy for a photographer, but really.. I have NO pictures of US! So, this picture a day is for me to record the life of who we are. Who we are THIS year. and I'm excited for the challenge! I have given myself permission that the photos don't have to be "technically correct" or have the best lighting or follow the rules of composition, etc.. .these are for me. here.now. Some might be edited, some others will just be what they are. Some days will just have one photo where others will have multiple. So here we are at DAY 1. Nathan got a little scooter for Christmas and he's been riding like a mad man throughout the house (he has even been known to haul it up the stairs at bedtime so it can be in the same room with him - LOL). Today as he was getting ready to head out with John for bit, he was looking too cute and I wanted to remember this. here.now.

Nathan - 3 years old

Nathan on Memorial Day

2009-05-31T20:39:00.002-06:00

I just loved these pictures of Nathan! We had gone out to the Vogt farm on Memorial Day for a BBQ and Nathan found grandma's little watering can and spent the next 1/2 hour watering lots of her plants (along with lots of weeds, too - LOL) I've been wanting to make some 10x20 storyboards of each of the kids for a long time (to possibly jazz up the stairway) and decided to just do it! so... I'm thinking this might be the one for Nathan... not 100% sure. Because the photo below is a close second (not really - LOL) I think I'm beginning to not like this expression of his - heeee! but have decided to embrace it (because I know it won't be long before it goes by the wayside and I'll only have the photos to remind me of how he used to love "posing" for the camera when he was 2!) So like I said, I'm embracing it all -- the squinty clamped eyes, the chin upturned for a good nose shot and his vampire teeth exposed - with all of that, what's not to love??

Let's Par-tay!!

2009-05-14T11:07:00.001-06:00

Double the cake, Double the Fun - Aubrie and Lexi are turning One! so I know their birthday was a bit ago - but we finally got to celebrate it and had a little family party. John's mom and dad and his aunt, uncle and cousin joined us :) The girls were a hit and Lexi demonstrated her walking skills for everyone (I've got it on video - I just need to upload the movie - so stay tuned). They didn't really go crazy over their cake... and after Aubrie used her hands for about 30 sec. she cried for a fork! I don't think they really even got to the cake part under all of that icing! But it was fun! We decided to have a Hawaiian/ Beach theme and I think the girls looked tooo adorable in their birthday outfits! I made the little T-shirts for them to wear (I think those are my favorite part - LOL)... so, I guess it's official.. we have entered into toddlerhood!

Aubrie walking with some help from grandma

after the cake, the girls headed out to the trampoline to jump (tooooo cute!)

and here's one of the girls playing with one of the new toys they got. Of course the "real fun" gifts were the carseats and booster chairs that they needed - LOL

To My Beautiful Wife on Mothers Day

2009-05-09T22:03:00.003-06:00

Shandalyce is such a fantastic wife and mother. We are all so blessed to have her in our lives. This year for Mothers Day, I decided to interview the older boys about Shandy (an idea I stole from Sarah on Facebook). Hope you enjoy it.

1. What is something Mom always says to you?

August: Do the dishes

Seth: I'm a great boy and I don't know what I'd do with out you

Ben: She says she really wants to get a good picture of me

Me: Baby!!! (what she exclaims when I do something questionable)

2. What makes Mom happy?

A: When I do the dishes

S: If we help out and clean and don't fight

B: When we don't fight

M: Peace in the house and photography

3. What makes Mom sad?

A: When I don't do the dishes (I'm seeing a pattern here)

S: If we fight or make messes and if we're mean and all that stuff

B: When we fight

M: I think really when the boys continually fight

4. How does Mom make you laugh?

A: When she tickles me to do the dishes

S: I don't remember anytime that she has made me laugh
B: By tickling me
M: When she humors some of more idiotic moods or schemes and then we both laugh at how stupid I am

5. What was Mom like as a child?

A: Athletic
S: I don't know. Nice, helpful, and she could do a lot of stuff
B: A really nice girl and really cute and all that stuff. Always got B's. Had bad dreams.
M: She was a perfect angel. Seriously, the Carlson household was abnormal. No fighting. Good manners. Weird.

6. How old is Mom?

A: Thirty something
S: 33 or 34
B: 33
M: 29...uh, yeah, that's it...

7. How tall is Mom?

A: 5'3" about as tall as I am

S: Around 5 foot something
B: About 6' tall
M: 5'5 1/2"

8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do?

A: Spend time with everyone - family and friends
S: She like scrap booking and playing with her children
B: Take pictures
M: Spending time with family and friends, photography

9. What does Mom do when you're not around?

A: Does stuff on the computer
S: Helps out with the babies, computer digital design and editing
B: Cleans
M: All of the above. She is the glue that holds our whole family together. She does more in one day at home than I could do the whole week, if I was left home with the kids

10. If Mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

A: Photography stuff
S: Her editing and designing stuff
B: Cause she cleans and did pictures
M: I'm sure it will be with one of her many businesses. She is so creative and talented. Everything she touches turns to gold

11. What is Mom really good at?

A: Photography and Photoshop
S: Designing editing, being a mom, taking care of us
B: Taking pictures
M: Everything!

12. What is Mom not very good at?

A: Beating me in a race. I beat her to the car today
S: She's not the best at video games. She's pretty much good at everything else
B: Feeding the babies because they always spill
M: Being brave when the lights are out or when scary movies are on

13. What does Mom do for a job?

A: Photo stuff
S: Designs stuff and edits photos

B: Take pictures
M: Is the greatest SAHM and an extremely talented entrepreneur

14. What is Mom's favorite food?

A: I'm going to have to go with clam chowder
S: I'm not sure
B: That's easy: cake
M: Hmm...it's not really food but she loves ice

15. What makes you proud of Mom?

A: She's nice to me. Not all parents are like that
S: She's a great mom and loves me
B: She cleans a lot
M: How talented, kind, generous, and loving she is. Oh, also, how hot she is! Serious. She is like fine wine or cheese that just gets better with age. You look at some chicks our age and their best years are behind them. Not Shandy. She gets more fine every day.

16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

A: Sponge Bob
S: A mom in a cartoon
B: Supergirl. That's one, right?
M: Jessica Rabbit

17. What do you and Mom do together?

A: Play and do pretty much anything
S: Talk together. We like being together
B: Play with Toys
M: Share in being exhausted at the end of the day. Oh and...uh, never mind. This is a PG rated blog

18. How are you and Mom the same?

A: Both good with computers
S: Hazel eyes, good cooks, know how to do a lot of stuff
B: Both have the same nose
M: We both have pretty much the same temperament and compliment each other nicely

19. How are you and Mom different?

A: She does dishes, I don't...unless I'm forced to
S: She's better at designing a lot of stuff
B: We don't have the same eyes. Hers are hazel, mine are blue
M: Our taste in food. I like to try new dishes from new countries. She likes straight-up plain American food with ketchup on everything. Even steak.

20. How do you know Mom loves you?

A: She gives me hugs and says she does and I know she does
S: She says so and buys me stuff. She plays with me and helps me feel better if I'm sick or hurt
B: She cuddles with us and tucks us in
M: Everything she does tells me she loves me from the glances she gives me to the words she says to the things she does for me. She's my everything

21. How do you know Mom loves Dad?

A: Cause she makes out with you. Also she says she does and you guys don't get into fights
S: She does a lot of stuff for you. She lets you relax a lot and says she loves you a lot
B: Cause she married you
M: I agree with them all

22. What does Mom like most about Dad?

A: Your looks and love for her
S: Not sure
B: Kissing you
M: My sexy legs

23. Where is Mom's favorite place to go?

A: Anywhere with her friends and family

S: Going to her mom's house
B: Easy: the Pizza Store
M: I really think it's Nebraska right now. Not because of the state but because her family is there. She loves Idaho more but She misses her family

And there you have it. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how amazing and fabulous my beautiful wife is. Happy Mothers Day, babesy! I love you!

Johnny

a Sincere Thank You!

2009-05-06T10:34:00.002-06:00

Life has been fun and busy for me lately. As you all know by now - I'm a mompatraneur through and through - LOL! For the last 6 years, I have been a business owner (always with scrapbooking, desigining or use of digital art, etc) and I am more than excited to add Photographer to that list! Yes, I am officially in business and I'm really excited to share Shandy Vogt Photography with you!
I also just wanted to thank you all (my blog readers) because it's really due to you that I decided to pursue this! I mean, I've always had a love for photography and loved learning how to take better pictures (just of my family) but last year when I was gently nudged into taking some photos of friends - it flipped a switch! I truly didn't think that I would like doing it and so agreed to - just for the fact that I could then prove to myself that I didn't enjoy it and just keep doing what I was doing. All of your kinds words, encouragement and support gave me the confidence to start on this journey. Over the Winter, I used that time to really dive into learning the ins and outs of photography. I read books, online tutorials and followed along with photography classes. Couple that with a totally sweet new camera and lens in my bag, and I feel I have grown leaps and bounds in my skills! (side note: THANKS to all of you who let me practice on you last year -- I really learned a lot from each of our sessions in what worked and what didn't.)
Anyway, I was just feeling gratitude for each of you and am amazed at the support I'm continually receiving. Heavenly Father has truly blessed me in life with great friends and family!

Also - feel free to check out my site and I'd love to hear your thoughts! I designed and customized it all myself (after reading LOADS of tutorials -LOL but it was fun and I love how it turned out!).

The girls are ONE!

2009-04-29T11:23:00.003-06:00

nothing like a momentous occasion like the girls' birthday to bring me out of my blogging dry spell! I can't really believe it! Exactly one year ago right now at 12:20pm Aubrie entered the world and 4 minutes later, Lexi joined her! My labor was really quick. I was admitted to the hospital by 9:30am and less than 3 hours later they were here.
I remember John and I discussing how hard our life was about to become - sleepless nights, crying babies, 4 other children to take care of... how would we manage it all?? I guess this was a time where we truly were expecting the worst and were prepared for it - BRING IT ON! Well, it wasn't like all the horror stories I'd been told about twins - we had no sleepless nights, we had no crying babies - we have been so blessed with such great girls! Like I've said before - it just seems so natural for babies to come in pairs - and I sort of wish we had another set of multiples as they are unlike any other joy you can experience. Yes, there's been times (namely when they were both sick the past 2 months) where it was hard - but I still loved every minute of it!
Lexi is walking (well, about 10+ steps at a time) and it makes me sad that they are growing up. The absolute best part of my day is when I go into their room to get them up (whether it be first thing in the morning or after their naps) and to be greeted by TWO smiling faces who's eyes light up when you walk into the room - it's awesome!
I put a little collage together of them month by month and it's amazing how much they've grown and changed (and how much hair they grew :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet little twincesses - my precious gift from Heaven!

Closing Up...

2009-03-27T15:16:00.002-06:00

well... I guess I've made it official -- I'm going to be closing my Digital Scrapping Site --
I sort of have mixed emotions...
I mean I haven't even put anything new in the store since before the girls were born! But I guess, me holding onto it has made me feel like I still had a title or something (dumb, I know... but when people would ask if I was just a SAHM -- I could also say that I had my own business (well, I guess I still do - with Photoflattery and photography... hmm.. ok, so now I'm not feeling as bad - LOL) but anyway - it was time to renew my domain name and I guess that gave the added push I needed to make the decision and go with it --
hey, if any of you are digi scrappers - I've got a freebie template pack up on my designer blog (link is over to the right with my other links...)
I really loved being a designer and would literally dream of my next design 24 hours a day! I was obsessed (so in that regards, I'm kind of glad to be closing the door - HEEE!) but it also taught me loads of photoshop skills and gave me confidence to pursue the next dream!

March Update...

2009-03-25T08:49:00.006-06:00

Well, it has been a VERY rough couple of weeks. The Rotavirus hit us and I have been dealing with throw up and diarhea for 13 straight days! no exageration! Aubrie, Lexi and Nathan were sick for almost 2 full weeks! - but I am soooo happy to report that I *think* it has ran its course and it has decided to leave the Vogt house! HOORAY! The rest of us got it as well - but were only down for 1-2 days. let me tell you how (NOT) fun having a family of 8 all sick at the same time is! it was rough - I can't even put into words how awful it was - LOL so enough about that (but on a final note: we went through 2.5 JUMBO packages of diapers for the girls and can I just say that I am so glad that Nathan got potty trained last month! oh, and we also did take Lex in to the ER at one point to get rehydrated... and both girls and Nathan lost weight (which they didn't really have to begin with to loose... oh well...) I'm just thankful, they are acting like themselves. It is such a blessing to see them get down and play with each other (no joke - for the past 2 weeks, if Lexi was awake - she would just lay on my chest.. she maybe got down once or twice during those 13 days -- it was sad :( Sooo... since it was so wonderful to see them smiling and cralwing around I hurry and busted out the camera to get commemorate - LOL
(that middle pic of Aubrie is my favorite -- it makes me giggle everytime I see it! HEEE!)

During all of the sickness, life still went on for the rest of us thought... Seth had to give a HUGE oral/power point presentation (that he'd been working on for about 7 weeks) on George Rogers Clark... here he is the morning he was to present in front of the judges. He did really well and was happy with his performance - he had the whole report memorized and gave it in a 1st person narrative - which everyone loved :) Doesn't he look adorable!?

It was also the Blue and Gold Banquet... For the Father/Son Cake - John and Seth decided on doing a hamburger cake... we all think it turned out fun! I did not help whatsoever in the building of this -- they were so proud of themselves!

He also got the prize of "Most Edible" for his cake...

It was also Ben's 7th Birthday this week! He took in cupcakes to his class at school and he got Sonic for dinner that night. We had his friend party yesterday (Saturday). We took them all to Carl's Jr and they had Kids Meals and played in the playland (thought this would be MUCH easier to let them run around and be wild at the restraunt vs. entertaining them at our house! -- turned out to be a wise decision - LOL
then afterwards, we came home and had cake/ice cream and openedgifts. oh, they also played some video games on the Wii. Here's the pic of the cake we had made for him - He thought it turned out pretty cool!
He got the Hulk Abomination Blaster from grandma and grandpa... as you can see, it's quite the gun! It splits off and you can have 2 seperate guns as well -- so all of the boys (and John!) have been having a blast playing with it!

So now that brings us up to Spring Break (and Track Break for Seth and Ben...) I also need to get caught up on all of your blogs - I seriously haven't had the time the past few weeks and have missed reading about everyone! Have a great Spring Break :)

I Won!

2009-03-07T21:31:00.005-07:00

One of my favorite (daily) sites to visit is Twinstuff.com -- I was recommended the site by several gals that followed my designing blog (back in the day...) and joined up when I was still expecting the girls. It has been an invaluable place of knowledge, support and friendship throughout this first year. Anywho... they had a contest to design their new logo and guess what?! It was just announced today that I won! YIPPEE!!! I'm so excited that they chose my design! I couldn't help but take a screen shot of the forums once they switched out the logos....

They had a cash prize and then also gifted me a years membership (it's a free site but has some additaional perks for paying members) so I was pretty excited. The new look has been well received by everyone so that makes me feel even better! Anyway, just thought I'd share my news :)

oh, and if you were curious as to what the original logo was.... here's a screen shot of that (they haven't switched out every page yet so this was still up for a visual)...

Doesn't the new one make everything look so much fresher and hip?? LOL (yes, I'm partial...)

Design Star

2009-03-06T14:52:00.003-07:00

so do you like this color scheme?? If so, then you are in luck - big time!

Scrap Matters is having a "Design Star" contest (comparible to American Idol -- and the winner of the contest will then be a full time designer for Scrap Matters). Yours Truly has been asked to be one of the judges so have been going through all of the submissions and there are 132 of them! Where's the good news for you? Well, each of the 132 contestants have created a mini kit using this color combo and they are available for FREE to whoever would like them. You just have to be a registered user at Scrap Matters. The owner of the store is an awesome lady and the Design Team Coordinator (Brittney) was one of my Creative Team members (when I was actively designing for the scrapping business).

Anyway, I'm just taking a quick break from judging (and there is some awesome talent there!) and thought I'd pass along all of the free kits available right now -- and watch out for the next round (there'll be more free kits!) So go clear out some free space on your hard drive and get to downloading! :)

Moppet Togs

2009-02-27T11:49:00.006-07:00

Alright, so some of you may already be familiar with this consignment shop but thought I'd give you all a heads up about their big semi-annual sale (once in spring and once in fall)... anyway, the girls have HOARDS of clothes and shoes (and I was thinking of either trading them in at Other Mothers or trying Craiglist) to get some more ca$h and saw that this company is currently taking consignors for it's sale that is mid-March (March 19-21) but you have to register to be a consignor by next week. You get 70-80% of the sale price of your items (which you set) and MT gets the other portion... I've never sold with them but think I'll try it out and thought I'd pass it along to any others out there that might want to take advantage of it too :) **if you do decide to be a consignor - I'd love it if you put me as a referral - so I can keep more of my sales percentage :) **

Here's the link to their site that gives all the info about consigning and the sale dates...
even if you don't have anything to sell - it sounds like it's a place to get some nice kids clothes/toys without paying retail!

anyone have any experience with this company?? I'd love to hear about it if you do...

9 months and counting...

2009-02-20T12:32:00.005-07:00

As I wrote the title for this post, I had visions of comment after comment asking if that was a "sneaky" way of us having some news to share -- so let me put all speculating rumors aside and declare that NO... I am not pregnant - LOL

It does make reference to my little girlies -- I finally got them in for their 9 month appointment yesterday (even though they'll be 10 months next week.. oh well..)

All is going well with the both of them. Here are the stats:

Aubrie: 17lb 15oz and 29.5 inches
Lexi: 17lb 2oz and 29.5 inches

so this is the closest they've been (in regards to weight) to each other... Aubrie is usually at least 1-1.5 pounds heavier but it looks like ol' Lex is catching up!

Still just the best little babies one could ever hope or wish for! They both got their top 2 teeth on the same day (so a total of 4 teeth busted though about a week and a half ago!) and they have found that they really REALLY like graham crackers :) They've been interacting more with each other and "playing" together... it's so fun to watch!

As I was looking through their photos (trying to get organized to make a 1 year montage of them) I realized that most of the photos I had of them were "posed" so I've really tried to make a conscious effort to catch some snapshots of everyday life (because although I love the cute posed photos, I want to remember these small moments that pass too quickly!) They both have learned to climb the stairs (have a cute pic of this - gotta go find it tho -- ) and they love to get into the dishwasher - yikes! Regardless, they are the absolute funnest babies ever! Enjoy some "everyday fun" experienced over here on any given day...

my "bad boy" husband

2009-02-17T14:49:00.003-07:00

So something quite interesting was brought to my attention this past week... that I'm married to a "bad boy"! and with those words being in quotations -- you know it's serious! We're talking mullet wearing, guitar playing, and "combs in the back pocket" cool!

So let the story begin....

John grew up in a very small town in Alaska and since being on facebook he has been able to reconnect with most of the kids he grew up with. One of these friends wrote me an email directing me to her own blog post that she made a while back and thought I'd find it funny (and I did!). After reading it I asked if it would be ok to share bits of what she wrote along with the photos and she was more than happy to oblige :)

(preface: the original blog post was about how they didn't have any stores in Valdez to buy the "big" earrings that were all the rage in the 80's and so she made her own by cutting out pictures of earrings from catalogs and glueing them onto cardboard -- (quite creative, I must say! LOL)... below is taken from her blog...)

"...I had a whole jewelry box full of these cardboard babies, but I don’t remember wearing them. Except around my bedroom. Like some middle school fantasy dress-up diva.... I did have a pair that I thought were scandalous. And I thought it would be really "Suggestive" if I ever wore them (they said "Soft Shoulder" and were road sign ones), so I just dreamed about wearing them and having a boy ask me if my shoulders were really soft. Oooh, the excitement of that question was almost too much for my 7th grade mind. And the boys I dreamed about were Troy Fenner, Matt Kiser and John Vogt. They were the boys with the coolest mullets and the combs in their back pockets. Now that my daughter is in Middle School I watch her like a hawk. Mostly, to see if she's as weird as I was and also to see if she likes the "Bad Boys" like I did. I am so afraid, she does share my DNA, you know!! These photos were taken in 1988, when I was in 8th grade. They are of Matt Kiser, Lance Komkoff and John Vogt."

John is on the far right in both photos... and were from their 8th grade yearbook.

as I was telling this story to my friend, she matter of fact stated... "well, that's what attracted you to John in the first place - that he was a "bad boy" with his long hair and earring (and that he wasn't a member of the LDS church)."

YIKES! she was right! I guess I'll be much like this gal when the twins are in middle school to see if they too, are drawn to the bad boys -- let's hope not because I don't think their dad will stand for it! LOL

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T08:06:00.002-07:00

hope you all have a fun time celebrating with your loves :)

There's several of us sick over here so not sure how much celebrations will be occuring... :(

a Valentines Box?

2009-02-13T11:35:00.003-07:00

hmmm... now what could that contraption be that Seth is posing with... Would you beleive his Valentines Day "box"....
His class was having a contest and would be judged in 3 areas...(1) funniest (2) most "valentine-ish" <-- is that even a word?? oh well... and (3) Teacher's Favorite he came home with grand plans (and design) of a man bending over and you put the valentine in the back of his head and then he "threw it up" out of his mouth into a bowl... yeah, I had to shoot that one down... but I told him that dad might know how to construct it... he didn't. So then they decided on a Battering Ram (ok.. not even sure that's how it's spelled...) so they went to work on it.. the posts weren't made big enough so in the end it didn't "ram"... Seth was so sad. So on the morning of the party, he was going to leave empty handed... when I suggested that it sort of looked like a Mechanical Bull.. and why not tweak it to be such! He was thrilled... so we hurried and put the final touches on it and his Mechanical bull Valentines Box was ready! He ended up taking 2nd in 2 of the categories - he would have like first but said everyone thought his was pretty cool....

Also - out of all my boys - he is the only one who really enjoys reading... We've been going to the library lately and a few weeks ago he brought me his "pile" of books.. I tried to tell him that 10 was too many for us to keep track of and he should just narrow it down to 3-4. He insisted that he could read them all before our next trip.. so I conceded. Well, turns out he thought he only had them for a week (like at school) and so read ALL of them in a week!
crazy boy.. I wonder how many nights he stayed up reading these to prove me wrong - LOL

How it all started....

2009-02-10T09:37:00.003-07:00

16 years ago today was the beginning of "John and Shandy"....
It was a Wednesday night and I had just gotten back from Young Women's (I was 17) and I was writing in my journal before bed. It was just a little after 9 and the phone rang. I answered it and the voice asked for Shandy. I answered "This is she..." and then the voice on the other end mysteriously changed to be one with a Mexican accent and he proceeded to say that his posse and him were going to be riding into town in his low rider and wanted to know if I would go along on a date. I then had to ask who it was - LOL.. he said it was "John... from McDonalds" (we had worked together at McD's but I had been in another relationship at the time and he got wind that we had broken up and so jumped at the chance to call me :)
I accepted his invitation and on Friday night he picked me up in his Maroon Ford Tempo. After we got into his car he started fiddling with his ear and I was like "what are you doing?" and he said "oh, putting in my earring... I didn't think it'd go over too well with your dad." (now my boys will never be allowed to wear an earring but.... my Johnny sure looked H.O.T. wearing a little gold hoop!!!) So that was the beginning of US... 2 days later he stuck a homemade valentines in my mailbox and has been such the romantic ever since!

Here were some old pics of us from some of the dances he took me to back in high school (I was a senior and he was a freshman at BSU)...

please excuse all of the dust! I didn't feel like redoing them... but enjoy a blast from the past :)

Resident Pervs and Long Hair

2009-02-08T01:45:00.006-07:00

So Shandy and I went to an early Valentine's Day party on Friday night. They did a quiz on how well you know your spouse and we ended up tying with two other couples for first and after a gruelling match of paper, rock, scissors we won the grand prize. First of all, let me say, the paper, rock scissors game was quite impressive. I was up against a dude named Keith and he and I threw the same object like probably 1o times in a row before I changed my strategy and beat his rock with my paper. It was odd. Anyhoo, one of the items in our gift bag was red velvet covered handcuffs which was appropriate since we both answered that if our love life (meaning whoopee - their words, not mine) were a holiday it would be Halloween - full of tricks and treats. So, I guess it's official, we are now the resident pervs of the ward.

Moving on...

While in Nebraska over Christmas, Shandy and I went to see Twilight again. I was admiring how nice Edwards hair was and thinking I'd like to climb up into it and take a nap. I mean the dude has awesome hair and I say that in a totally non-gay way.

I then started to lament my own male pattern baldness and how I would never be able to have a thick head of hair again. Don't get me wrong, I like shaving my head. I think it works for me. With the military for the last 12 years, I've had to keep my hair short. At first I wore a high and tight and then as the bald spot got bigger, I just started hitting it with the bic. It wasn't always like that, though. From 88-91, I rocked the mullet. Business up front, party in the back. My mull was fierce. When Shandy and I first started dating, my hair hung down to my jaw line.

I then started to think about the boys. I have been giving them high and tights for years now.

In fact in the above pic, they were due for a haircut. I started to realize that I was cheating them out of the opportunity to have bushy, unruly hair. Just because I have to keep my hair short doesn't mean they have to. I had a talk with them the next day and told them that basically, I wouldn't cut their hair again unless they wanted me to. I told them they could grow it out and do whatever they would like with a few stipulations:

1. They still needed to look respectful. The hair can grow out but I don't want them to look like girls

2. They would have to take care of it and keep it clean and not look like a bunch of grease balls

So far they are all enjoying the new follicle freedom. August and Seth are letting their tops grow out but have both requested a little trim around the ears. Ben has yet to request anything. We'll see how it turns out.

we did it...

2009-02-05T09:14:00.003-07:00

alright, John and I give in... after multiple requests, we have joined the ranks of fellow facebookers... It's quite confusing (for all of the 5 min. I've been on it...) so if any of you guys have any tips on navigating... please share! Also, I couldn't help but post this vidoe that I found on my friend (Amber's) blog...

Inspiration....

2009-02-04T08:29:00.005-07:00

I don't how many of you guys are followers of Meslissa's blog 320 Sycamore but I HIGHY suggest running over there right now and reading todays post!
She has a guest "speaker" - Susan (who was my RS Pres. when I lived in Nampa) and she is such a positive, uplifting person and she has some wise words about how to have "Special Time" with your children.
John and I have done something similiar (but lacking a few of the key steps to the formula she has laid out) ever since the boys were super little and we've always just called it "Mommy/Daddy Time"... but I'm eager to implement this Special Time to its fullest potential!

Also while you're there - spend some time looking at her past posts... I have gotten soooo many ideas and heads up on deals from things she has posted :) she is also the master at decorating on a budget and finding things to "transform" at the dollar store! She really is one talented gal :)

Superbowl and a newborn :)

2009-02-02T23:32:00.005-07:00

uhhhh.... can you tell which team we were rootin' for?! John has been a giant Steelers fan since he was 4. seriously... and we were excited that that they made it to the superbowl this year! Those last few minutes of the game made john's blood pressure raise quite a bit but we were thrilled with the ending!

We had some friends over and enjoyed good food, good friends and a good football game! There were 10 kids here (actually that number isn't hard to get to considering we have 6 of our own - LOL) but everyone enjoyed themselves....

Switching gears here.... I haven't done any photography since the weather turned (since I don't have any studio lights and am definitley more of a natural light gal) but a friend (who just had her little boy last week!) asked if I'd take some photos of him... here are just a couple of what we got today using the light coming in from the windows :)

Behind the Scenes

2009-01-29T17:57:00.004-07:00

another milestone day... the girls have been with us exactly 9 months today :)
I don't know if you guys are like me - but at every "age marker" I think back and say "oh, exactly at this time I was being wheeled into the OR.... or at this exact time we were recovering in the room with our new babies" etc... that correspond with the appropriate times - and this day was no different :) It's been an aboslutle wonderful 9 months! They got off on their sleep schedules this morning (so they took opposite naps - ugh... oh well...) so when I was taking pics, Lexi was asleep (and then when she woke up, Aubrie was not a happy gal... so I didn't get any of them together today -- hmph. and yes, that makes me a little sad.....) But here is a super cute one of my 9 month old Aubs.... I also wanted to take just a moment and share a little "behind the scenes" of taking pictures of the girls. I get asked all the time how I get photos of both of them looking good (a lot of these comments come from moms of other twins who know how difficult this is!) For instance, this picture below -- (I think) it's really cute of both the girls and I personally love it! And this is what I show people - and they assume I've take 1-2 photos and picked the best one and voila...

that is so not the case - LOL.... so for some evidence I put together this little visual of what the majority of the photos look like when I download them... My favorite one is the bottom left where they're both going in opposite directions (and this is very common!) - especially now that they are both mobile - LOL. The truth of of it is -- whenever I decide to take the girls photos (not just the everyday snapshots - but the ones of them together just looking cute ;) - it usually takes a (minimum) of 20 mins and about 100 shots and I end up with about 8-10 that I like/keep. It would REALLY be helpful to have 2 additional people to help (and sometimes I bribe the older boys to help) so that each baby has someone to place her while I get the camera ready (vs. me trying to get both of them positioned, then get the camera ready - and by that time... one has inevitably moved! heheheh) oh, well, when I'm done I'm out of breath and worn out from all the work... but it's worth it to me to have some fun memories of the girls in these early months :)

and then 2 of the ones that I like :)

Ta-Daaaa

2009-01-28T15:31:00.007-07:00

<--- this is such a Nathan stance lately. Whenever he does anything (whether it be good or bad) he is more than enthusiastic when he comes to show it off. For instance, the other week, he got into the pantry and dumped oatmeal ALL over the floor and then danced around in it so it was literally from wall to wall... he then came and got me to show me. When we walked into the pantry, he immediately put both hands outstretched towards (the mess) and proceeded to say "Ta-Daaa!". When I didn't share in his glee, and told him that this was a naughty thing to do, he walked around to the other side of the mess and again said "Ta-daaaa!"... this went on 3 different times until I recognized his messy achievement. He has done "Ta-daaa's" for writing on the counter, writing on the wall, pulling all of the paper cups out and stepping on them, turning on the TV when he's not supposed to, finding a lost item, completeing a new look to Mr. Potato Head, driving a remote control car... well, you get the idea... Even though most of the time, it's to showcase something naughty, it's seriously the cutest thing ever! and I hope it continues on for a bit more....

Also, he's growing up! Granted he's just 2 years and 4 months old but he went through a right of passage this week. Yep, that's right. He had his first playdate! My neighbor has a little girl just a little bit younger than Nathan and she called up on Monday to see if he could come over and play. After confirming that she really indeed want to voluntarily take him into her home to play, we got him bundled up and trekked the one house over. He wasn't quite sure what to think as I dropped him and left but upon his return, Jackie said that the 2 of them did fairly well together :) I snapped this picture as they dropped him off (although it was pretty cold and I think the 2 of them had had enough...) but it's cute nonetheless! He came in and (literally) fell onto the couch and slept for the next 3 hours!

Memories of January 25

2009-01-25T21:47:00.007-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Grandpa! Today he would have been 107! Here's a picture from back in 1984 where my family is with he and my grandma (yes, I'm the one with the striped skirt :) He died when I was 13 and since my dad was in the military we didn't get to see them all that often (we'd come out here to Idaho - they lived in Burley) each summer for a visit....

****************************

Also on this day in 1987, I was living in New Jersey and we had just gotten a lot of snow! Behind our house was a HUGE hill - that was affectionally known as the "40 footer" - but who knows how big it really was - LOL.. anyway, it was right before dinner and I wanted to go sledding down the hill a few times before eating... most of the other kids from the neighborhood had all gone in (excpet myself and one other kid). I grabbed one of those saucer sleds and started down. Now, at the bottom of the hilld there were 2 sheds and the object was to go in between the sheds for a free and clear ride. Sometimes you'd get off course and hit the shed (which I had done before)... well, on this particular ride down I could see that I was off course and heading straight for the shed on the left. I stuck out my feet for impact and C.R.U.N.C.H.! I knew immediately that I had done something to my foot. I was in sooooo much pain! I yelled for the other kid to go get my mom and (well, to make a long story short...) I broke the bridge of my foot and dislocated ALL of my toes! The swelling was too much (they had to reset my foot before putting it in a cast) but they couldn't do that until the swelling went down. So for almost 2 weeks I stayed home playing monopoly and other games with my mom :) After the 2 weeks, the swelling still wasn't were they'd like it to be but they were worried that my foot would heal in the wrong position so went ahead and reset it - and that HURT sooooo bad! they hung my foot up by a contraption that looked like a Chinese Finger Trap (but for toes!) and then proceeded to physically put my toes back in the correct sockets - OUCH!!! So anyway, that's me reminiscing about January 25....

****************************************

John had drill this weekend so the kids and I were solo at church - not so much fun... but several of the ladies at church jumped right in and helped me out - BIG TIME!! It was August

s first time to pass the Sacrament (he was pretty excited :) - so I didn't have his help and both girls were beginning to fuss and Nathan wasn't being very cooperative! But then a gal 2 rows behind me took Lex for the remainder of Sacrament (and even got her to take a nap!) and then during Sunday School :) And during RS I had several ladies help!! thank you soooo much! I am so thankful for the kindness of my friends to always help me out (and do it willingly and with a smile on their face - LOL).... after church the girls and I took a nap and when they woke up they were just too cute not to take some more pictures of them! (Plus, I had to show daddy what his little girls looked like today at church - since he couldn't be there ;)

Eat Your Heart Out, Lynette

2009-01-21T22:11:00.008-07:00

John, here with today's post....
Saturday, Vinnie Perretta was at the Blue and Orange Store to sign autographs. August, Seth and I headed out and got in line about 45 mintes early. By the time Vinnie showed up, the line was probably about 300 deep. We got some posters signed and the boys thanked Vinnie for everything. Vinnie has been a class act the whole way and really embodies what it means to be a Bronco. He has always been very gracious and accomodating to fans. At the end of every game, many of the players will file past the South End Zone and shake hands with and high-five the fans. Over the past few years, Vinnie has been one of the faithful that does this each game. He has also given each boy one of his wrist bands after the game. The boys were grateful for that and we will be sorry to see him go. We wish him luck with his future endeavors. As to the title of the post...Shandy's good friend Lynette has had quite the Vinny P crush for quite a while. I'm guessing she'll be kicking herself for not making it.

Girlie Update...

2009-01-21T08:35:00.005-07:00

a little girlie devotion time here on the ol' blog...

Next week the girls will officially turn 9 months! (and I'm sure I'll do another post - LOL) but for now, they are still just 8.5 months old (that's sound better :) Anyway, I now have two mobile girls! Aubrie started crawling up on all 4's last week. She thinks she's big stuff now (as do we!) Lexi is into everything! She's at the human vaccuum stage and finds all sorts of things on the floor! Plus the other day we couldn't find her and she was half way UP the stairs!!! SCARY!

I'm not sure on their exact stats of height and weight (will get those at their 9 month appointments). When we were at my moms for the holidays they slept in the same room (we've had them seperated since they were 8 weeks old) but the ended up doing fairly well together so once we got home, we moved Lexi back into the nursery with Aubrie... overall it's been pretty good! :) During naps I still seperate them (just so I can get the most out of nap times!) and our routine is one I can't complain about....
They are still so much fun and I was excited that yesterday the sun peeked out (just a bit) so I could get some photos of them (it had been a while for them -- and it wasn't as easy with them both wanting to crawl off the bed!) oh well... here were a few of my favorites from yesterday :)

Did you hear??...

2009-01-18T23:22:00.008-07:00

That apparently, if I were an animal - I'd be a ... BOBCAT! Now how do I know this? It's quite simple really, the cashier at the dollar store informed me of this on Saturday evening.
It was quite the conversation - I had gone to the dollar store to pick up some balloons for August's birthday party and upon checking out the cashier (who was a boy I'm guessing to be around 18-19 years old) told me that if he could he would live in the water and that if he were an animal, he'd be an Otter... to which I kindly replied "oh, that's sounds cool"... and then he asked what type of animal I was... I had no answer so then he began to question my likes and dislikes and what temperment I had and if I could get angry sometimes, etc, etc.. (yes, I swear this is all true!) and as my last item was checked and put into the bag he had come up with my perfect animal counterpart... the bobcat! Just thought you'd all like to know who you're really dealing with - LOL

So after I left there, I got home and we got ready for the extra boys that would be arriving soon for pizza, junk food, cake, ice cream and things of that nature... John was brave enough to take them all to the movies after they were overloaded on sugar and had been rocking out to Rockband! We surprised August and had a cake specially ordered for him. We found the basis of the Star Wars graphic online and then I tweaked it a bit and customized it to be for August and then had Pastry Perfection screenprint it on the cake (and let me tell you... it was DELISH! it was chocolate with rasperry filling - YUM!!) When we pulled out the cake August sure thought it was the coolest cake he'd seen!

and then I'm pretty excited that we are on the ball this year (truthfully, we do our taxes in January each year) but I'm happy to report that our taxes are done, sent and we're eagerly awaiting our moolah!

August receives the Priesthood

2009-01-11T18:59:00.003-07:00

Well today August was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic priesthood. How is that even possible? It really does seem like yesterday that he was brand new and we were prancing him throughout the night to keep him from crying (yikes!)
He's been excited for a long time for this day! (and this past week he kept telling me how he was nervous for the interview with the Bishop this morning - LOL)
Our ward now meets at 8:30am and the Bishop wanted to meet with August before church so he could be presented in Sacrament meeting -- Nathan has been pretty sick (again!) so the 3 little ones and I stayed home...BUT JOhn ran Seth home after church and stayed with nathan and I took the girls and we went back to the church to witness John give August the priesthood. It was really wonderful and August said that he feels really excited and happy about being a Deacon. There's a Temple trip this Saturday that he will get to attend (and John will be going as well...) We're all pretty thrilled about this major milestone that has happened to our little guy!

First Playtime Together

2009-01-08T21:57:00.004-07:00

I've heard other twin moms talk about how it's so sweet to see their little ones play together and today I witnessed it! Aren't they too young for this?!! seems like my little ladies are growing up. Nathan and I had been playing catch with this big bouncy ball and when we were done, Lexi crawled over to it, and (I'm not kidding on this next part) she actually rolled it to Aubrie! Now, I know that it was most likely a fluke that it actually made it's way to Aubs but then they took turns just batting at it until it would eventually make its way back and forth between them -- isn't that the cutest! It was so cute it brought me out of my scrapping dry spell and I actually did a layout (gasp!)... and then just a cute one of them on the couch together - moreso because I just loved their little outfits today! I found this gal on eBay that makes the babylegs (leg warmers) and

I just can't get enough of them! Maybe I should learn how to make them myself to save me some moolah....

and then I just HAD to post this video too... I was just over at Jamie's blog and she had a link to it and it is hilarious -- and oh, so true!!! Thanks Jamie for making me laugh this evening :) and the little ol' lady that is in it is soooo cute! she just makes the video!

2 weeks in Nebraska

2009-01-07T11:26:00.009-07:00

Just a warning: this may possibly be the longest blogger post in history!

Monday, Dec. 22 we headed to the airport to fly to my parents home in Nebraksa for the holiday! I have been so excited to go but the week prior to leaving was when we were all struck with the sickies so didn't get to pack until the night before... anyway, we get there and of course we are the first ones on the plane for pre-boarding. Now, I had gone to the dollar store and made little kits for each of the kids to help entertain the on the flight (and of course they were all well equiped with FOOD!) anyway, we had the very last row on the plane all the way across and truthfully, it wasn't all that bad - yes, both girls cried and refused to go to sleep and Nathan kept kicking the seat in front of us and a bottle leaked out of the bag onto a passenger but nothing we couldn't handle. Basically John and I both walked with the girls around the back trying to stay out of everyone's way.... then we get to Minneapolis and switch planes.. everything goes well and as soon as we get to the gate they are boarding.. sadly, no pre-boarding for this flight so it was more of a struggle to get all situated but we do and then... we sit on the runway for 45 min! not fun but oh well... same as the first flight but kept the girls quiet with lollipops, graham crackers and strawberry puffs (yes, and prior to this... they had only ever eaten baby food! - but whatever worked!) Also, during this flight 3 stewardess' came back and said "we heard there was a family of 8 on board and we just had to come look at it!" yeah, I'm sure we were quite the sight! But it didn't matter... just 6 hours after leaving Boise we landed in Omaha where my parents met us! It was the first time grandpa got to meet the little girls and it was so fun introducing them to him!

My parent's house is about 3 hours from Omaha so we decided to drive the 1 hour to Lincoln where my brother and his family live (actually all of my sibling live in Lincoln) and we stayed the night with them. Tuesday was the BSU Bowl game and so we had to get on the road so john could be all set up for the game - and of course everyone had to sport their BSU gear... On the way we stopped at another brothers house and visited for a bit. So we get to their house around 4pm and John gets all situated for the game... Meanwhile, I had all of our Christmas gifts sent to their house (did 99% of our shopping online and just had them shipped directly there...) so I had an insane amount of wrapping to do! But it all got done...
Wedensday was Christmas Eve... My oldest brother and his family came in that morning and we spent most of the day cooking the big Christmas dinner. My mom, SIL and I did run out during the late morning and picked up a few last minute Christas gifts which was fun! Then we had the big Turkey/Ham dinner and the most amazing rolls that my SIL makes from scratch! wowzers!
That evening we had a FHE where we read about the birth of Christ from the scriptures and then followed by a talent show. To close down the FHE my mom had all the grandkids gather around and told the story and meaning of christmas...
Then Grandma gave each of the grandkids a gift to open (new pj's!!) so here they are sporting their new duds (Nathan and the girls were already down for the night...)

After all the kids were in bed, we finished up the wrapping and setting up... We were actually all in bed at a decent time with instructions that we woudn't be getting up any earlier than 6am... All the grandkids slept down in the basement and then in the morning we all got up together... Here's just a modpodge of pics from the morning...

After all of gifts were opened, we had a big Christmas bruch with pancakes, waffles, cheesy eggs, etc... around 1pm the rest of the families all showed up so we had a full house! It was soooo fun! we opened up each others gifts and just had a really fun time together. Sadly my oldest bro and family had to leave that evening (they were heading out to TX to visit her side of the family....) but before they left, we herded everyone into the living room for an attempt at a family photo! Most of us hadn't even combed our hair for the day and several of the kids were still in their pj's! I don't know why we didn't take 5 min. to change and at least comb/wash faces! oh, well.. I think we were trying to get one before they left that we didn't really care how we looked! Several hours later of editing and many head swaps, removing the background, editing all graphics off of Tshirts, changing colors of clothing, etc, etc... (oh, and Nathan was asleep during it so I had to add him in later as well...) anyway, this is the final result... and for what we had to work with we're all excited about it! LOL...

I'm not sure if I like it in color or BW better to print up... what do you think?

ok.. moving right along - Here's a picture of the girls with their Great Grandma (who is also a twin) and is just so thrilled that I have twin girls! These are the cute little outfits that she gave them for Christmas...

During the second week we were there, my mom made cookies with the boys - they were in heaven! this is something that I should really do more with them... she went all out and brought out all of the cookie cutters, icing, and toppings! and yes, they were little piglets and had eaten them all within 24 hours!

We were able to attend church with them while we were there and here are the little dresses that my mom bought special for girls - and of course they had to sport their hats made by Janiece and bracelets by Jenny!

She also got them these beautiful green dresses and so we had to dress them up in those as well for some pics... LOL On December 28, we celebrated our 14 year anniversary! My little brother and his wife have the same anniversary (they celebrated their 6th) and so we went out to breakfast together while grandma babysat all of the kids :) The next day we did some more celebrating and went out to dinner with my parents and then they went home to be with the kids and John and I went out shopping and then to see Twilight (again!)....

My little sister and her husband wanted me to take some pics of them while we were together so we ventured out one afternoon... surprisingly it was like 50 degrees! Here's a few that I took...

and here are some inside by the Christmas tree.. I really wanted to get some really pretty shots of the glowing tree with my boys in it but they'd have to stay still for like 5 seconds for the correct shutter speed that I knew it wouldn't turn out.. so I took theirs....
Now we're up to New Years Day.... which also happens to be August's 12th birthday! He was born just 13 min. before the new year back in 1996.... I can't believe my little guy is 12 and now in YM's and will be getting the priesthood! We had one of his favorite dinners which is Chicken and Dumplings and had cake and ice cream...

then we let the 3 older boys stay up to ring in the new year.... we ate LOTS AND LOTS (and then some more!) but it was fun! Here we all are in the first picture of 2009!

Grandma Vogt got the little girls these cute outfits with the funnest hats!! I love them! so couldn't resist putting in a pic of them dressed up with thier first little baby dolls that my mom gave them (in fact, they're little twin dolls :)

We were scheduled to fly out on Sat (Jan 3) but bad weather came in with ice and snow and many flights were majorly delayed if not cancelled all together! Of course ours was one that was affected and so they couldn't get us out until Sun. night.... so we all got together in Lincoln for one last hoorah! My sisters husband is very musical and has LOTS of musical instruments so all of the guys went down for a little jam session! They actually turned out to be fairly good and put on a concert for everyone!

My oldest brother is on the drums, BIL on the guitar, younger brother singing and then my hot Johnny on the bass!!

and here are the 2 songs that they peformed to us... the first is a Weezer song (my personal favorite of the 2) and the second is Zombie by the Cranberries.... the best part is that this is the first time my brother has ever played the drums!

so then we get on the plane Sunday evening at 7pm and since we were rescheduled, our seats were literally ALL over the plane with everyone sitting by themself.. yeah, that wasn't going to work... so they got us all sitting together and that flight goes fairly smooth.... then the next flight they couldn't get us all together so we were seperated :( Again, we sit on the runway for an hour!!! by this time it's 10:30pm and the 3 little ones have had it... so we finally take off and Aubrie (the one I have) starts screaming LOUDLY for like 20 min (where people behind me were yelling "Shhhhh!"... oh well... finally she falls asleep but Nathan (who was also by me) doesn't fall asleep until midnight! anyway, we finally land and get home about 4 hours before the boys are to wake up to get to school - so we let the sleep in a bit and John took them on his way to work....

So that was our trip in a nutshell... yes, the traveling wasn't the funnest but TOTALLY worth it (in my mind... John might have a different answer for you! LOL)

oh, also while we were there my little Lexi hit some other milestones... she learned out to crawl up the stairs (so she could escape form the sunken living room we had them *contained* in) and she started pulling herself up onto things to a standing position (and even was standing in her little crib when we went in to get her up after a nap!) I'm afraid she's going to be walking and little Aubrie still won't be crawling! LOL

so here we are... back and home and loving the comforts of being in our own house!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T23:54:00.004-07:00

a belated Merry Christmas!! Just a quick post... we ventured out to my parents in Nebraska for Christmas this year (we will get to the plane rides in another post.. but needless to say - we shant be doing any more traveling for at least another 4 years!) My older brother and his family stayed Christmas Eve with us as well so there were a total of 16 people that needed to have spots for christmas in the living room! Here is a picture on Christmas Eve that I took.... it all worked out and it was really great being all together! On christmas day both my younger brother and his family and my little sister and her husband joined us so it was quite the full house! We sang songs and had a talent show which inevitably resulted in a RockBand concert! Us girls decided to form our own girlband and it was quite the sight for the boys to see their grandma rocking out on the guitar! (and yes... we sacrificed packing clothing so we could fit the whole set up of Rockband into our suitcase!!!) -- oh and don't mind all of the background paraphenalia in the photo - my dad is a HUGE Civil War/Revolutional War/Mormon Battlaion re-enactor and their entire basement is his *museum* ;) That's my SIL on the drums and Johnny kicking it back on the couch. We haven't all been together in several years and it has really been a treat for us all to hang out!

Merry (belated) Christmas!

a significant date....

2008-12-22T02:00:00.003-07:00

December 22. Nothing seems out of the ordinary for this particular day, right? Well, in our household, December 22 holds 2 significant memories.
December 22, 2005 - John returns after an 18 month deployment to Iraq! We were so excited that he was able to make it home in time for Christmas! (you might notice that we are all wearing summer clothing (in Dec??) actually these were taken when he came home for his 2 week mid-tour leave (we actually didn't get any photos of the official homecoming in Dec)... regardless.. we looked forward to Dec. 22 for a long time!!! Hooray - we are reunited finally!Fast forward 2 years to Dec. 22, 2007... that just happens to be the day that we found out we were having twins! We had made an appointment to find out if we were going to be a family of 5 boys or add a little girl at the end... SUPRRISE! we got the shock of our lives! I can't believe it was just 1 year ago today that we got the best news ever! (I had the absolute cutest ultrasound pic of the girls that we got that day... but sadly, it got wiped when my computer died back in Oct.) soooo.... fast forward one more year to Dec. 22, 2008 and here is what our little twins have turned into (aren't they little dollies!)

So even though today might seem like any other day during the week of Christmas - for us and our family it's a happy day that makes us appreciate the importance and joy of family :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

update from the sickies....

2008-12-18T13:47:00.004-07:00

I can honestly say that I now know what many moms of multiples feel like (I belong to a twins forum and read on a daily basis on how moms can't ever get anything done because the babies cry, whine, want to be held, etc.. and that so isn't my case - but after yesterday... I got a small glimpse of what some of those troopers go through on a daily basis!)

Yesterday was not a happy day in the Vogt home... things turned a bit worse and Seth started throwing up in the afternoon and both babies were so miserable and they weren't happy unless someone was holding them and walking around! So basically I had to set the oven timer for 20 min. intervals and the 2 older boys (even though they were sick themselves) took turns walking a baby while I continually had one in my arms -- yeah, I was sooo ready when 6pm hit and they went to bed! (I was also VERY grateful to my friend who had called earlier in the day to see if I could babysit - but the upon hearing how my day was going offered to bring me dinner! It's really hard for me to accept service but after her insistance - I hung up the phone very relieved to not have to worry about dinner! Thanks Cindi!) Today I'm happy to report that (although they're not "back to normal") they are significantly better and are content in their jumperoo's or crawling around on the floor. Poor miss Aubrie still doesn't feel so good and has a very sad look on her face - that's why I had to go find a happy picture of her! When I took this picture of her she was all smiles and giggles! Can't wait for those to return :)

Get these germs out!

2008-12-17T08:01:00.002-07:00

Alright, so this is our first winter/flu/cold season we're facing with being a large family (even when we had the 4 boys, I didn't feel like our family was necessarily all that big... but add the twins and yeah... it feels big - LOL) anyway, I'm hoping this isn't a foreshadowing of how our winters will be from here on out.... just a quick rundown of what I'm facing today....
3 kids with fevers
1 with a double ear infection
and another one with a sore throat and cough....

to top it off, I got some weird stomach thing last night and was nauseous/threw up and John just called from work saying he's felt very nauseous this morning as well :(

ok, I'm looking on the bright side... at least it's all hitting us this week and not next for Christmas! send us HEALTHY thoughts! :)

My Sweet Seth

2008-12-16T10:04:00.003-07:00

The older boys haven't been getting much "blog time" lately so thought I'd share a few of my thoughts on my second son - Seth.

During my pregnancy with him I had several really neat experiences that let me know that he was going to be a special little spirit from heaven joining our family. He is so obedient and mindful and very much a peacmaker! Whenever we ask the boys to do something (whether it be their chores, homework, grab a baby, etc...) Seth will jump up immediately and do it! (none of our other boys seem to want to follow his lead and we have to ask like a bazillion times - yikes!) The other day I was tending to Nathan (poor boy has yet another double ear infection!) and I was saying how I wasn't able to get to the list of things I wanted to get done - like the vacuuming) and the next thing I know - I hear the vacuum going on upstairs! He had dragged our vacuum (which is a heavly ol' Kirby) up the stairs and was helping me out - he is just sooooo sweet! He is extremely bright and at every parent teacher conference the teacher tells me how she wishes she had a whole classroom of Seths :) He is such a well rounded, well balanced boy who I KNOW is going to make some girl so happy in this life! I'm so proud of him and how hard he works at the things that will help him become a better person - oh, it's funny too - he's getting to the point where John and I embarass him (especially if I ever try to sing or dance to the Hannah Montannah theme song (which for some reason about drives him over the edge - LOLOL)

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble on about my sweet boy....

Duck Hunting/Why I'm Awesome/Calling Out All the Ladies

2008-12-14T12:56:00.010-07:00

So whenever Shandy posts one of her many accomplishments, praise gets heaped upon her (and rightfully so, she's awesome.) She gets like 10-15 posts commenting on how awesome she is (again, I agree.) Now whenever I post something, I get 0-3 posts. I'm calling you ladies out.

I rule. You're deflating my ego. So I'm calling out you non-comment leaving readers. You know who you are (don't make me name names).

Yesterday me and some fellas from work drove a few hours up to Lake Cascade and went duck/goose hunting. We weren't overly successful but did get three birds. The lake was pretty low and so to get anywhere near the water meant that we lost all cover and concealment. Here are a few pics.

Lake Cascade at about 8:00. It had finally stopped snowing and had warmed up to about 20 degrees.

One set of our decoys

Pete and his boys with their old lab, Bailey. Rick is in the background.

Ryan goes a little more than I do.

I look like a sexy Eskimo

Pete retrieving his decoys

She was delicious. Shandy broiled her up with some lemon pepper.

And there you have it.

Fun Stuff

2008-12-13T22:11:00.010-07:00

May 23, 2009

Ok.. I know that it's starting to get warm and summer is upon us.. BUT, just wanted to link up Amy and her Baby Leg Warmers for anyone who might be interested! It would really be beneficial to anyone who had a little one learning to crawl this summer - for some added protection :) Anyway, she is AWESOME and her work is really top notch! She sent those adorable green/white striped leg warmers for my girls (I have photos on the blog) for St. Patricks Day and so I know you won't be dissapointed! Anyway, go check her out :)

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May 14, 2009

To start it off... I wanted to let everyone know that FabuLESSly Frugal (<-- yes, it's clickable) is hosting a FREE giveaway of my photography! You get digital files AND professional prints in the featured package (I'm tellin' ya.. it's a great deal!) There's only a couple of more days to enter before the drawing (they are randomly picking a number from the comments) - so everyone has the same chance of winning! Yippee!
and while you're there (the photography giveaway is several posts down - or there's a direct link to it on their side bar)... but there are tons of other great deals and tips on there - so be sure to get your fill of how to be more fabulessly frugal!

Christmas Cards

2008-12-13T00:58:00.006-07:00

The Christmas cards are all addressed and (mostly) on their way to their destination! I went pretty simple this year for our cards and didn't go with a traditional color scheme but think they turned out pretty cute anyway. This second photo is our newsletter that I had printed on the back (if you'd like to read it - just click ont he photo and it'll get big for you) of the postcards from Vista print -- I wasn't too impressed with their printing color (seemed to have a red overlay on it or something) but for the price I can't complain! We've started to receive some cards as well and I have to admit that look forward to getting the mail a lot more during December! I especially love reading about everyone and seeing pictures (including the parents!)... so many people (and yes, in years past, I've been guilty of this) only send pics of the kids -- and while I love seeing them in all their cuteness... I want to see the parents (who are the ones we're friends with and mostly haven't seen in many years!)... ok, so there's my PSA -- get everyone in the pic to send out - we all love seeing what you look like!
on a side note -- Do I look chinese? A boss of John's many years ago (whom had never met me but only seen pictures of me that John had up in his office) asked if I was Asian! Imagine my surprise when John told me this! heheheh....looking at the above photo - I guess I can see it... when I smile my eyes sort of disappear?? oh well, asians are beautiful so I'm taking it as a compliment! LOL

a jog down memory lane....

2008-12-10T20:24:00.003-07:00

Tonight after I dropped off the boys at Scouts, I had to run to Costco -- and on the way there I tuned in to Lite 108 for their continuous Christmas Songs (which started before Thanksgiving this year I might add....) Anyway, an original version of Here Comes Santa Claus comes on and for some unknown reason I get all choked up and teary eyed and start bawling as I am singing all the words to this Christmas song! Now, I'm not normally an emotional gal (and I'm not pregnant so don't know where all the hormones were coming from...) but anyway, my mind started reminiscing back to my favorite Christmas (actually I have 2) from when I was a child. I remember I was 10 years old and in the 5th grade and there were 2 things on my Christmas list that I wanted really B.A.D. - a Cabbage Patch Doll (HAD to be a boy one...) and 10 speed bike. Well, Christmas morning came and it was beyond my wildest dreams -- there was my 10 speed - all red and silver and shiny (with the super skinny road tires - LOL) and I was sooooo thrilled... but then I looked down sitting in front of my new bike was... not one... but 2 Cabbage Patch Dolls - I had TWINS!!! 2 little boys (they were fraternal as one had brown hair and one had blonde). The brunette's name was Byron and the Blonde was named Abe (can't remember what names they originally came with but I renamed them and then had their Birth Certificates sent off to be "corrected" - hehehehe). We were living in Mississippi at the time (and with the weather being like 80!) I was able to go out and ride my bike and then come in and be a mother to my sweet little twin boys :) I recently came across of a photo of that Christmas (I think it's on my EHD so next time it's hooked up, I'll see if I can't find it to post :) Anyway, the song ended on the radio - I felt silly for crying at a fun, upbeat Christmas song - and walked into Costco with my happy memories still on my mind....

Christmas Party, girlies things and deals

2008-12-07T18:20:00.006-07:00

We had John's Christmas party for the unit that he's the commander for - The December Drill weekend is always my favorite of the year because it's a shortened drill and part of it involves the families all attending the party! They decided to have some different stations set up for the kids with camo face painting, a station where the kids could put on all of the body armor and gear and hold a real machine gun (unloaded of course...) Here's a picture of Ben all decked out - he could only handle all of this one for like 3 minutes and then he was like "It's too heavy!" They also gave kids rides in armored personnel carriers and the boys thought that was FUN! and of course there was lots of food! yummy food I might add... Since John was in charge of it he wasn't "right there" with me so I just let the boys go get some food for themselves and this is what Ben came back with!!

On Friday night I had gone over to an Open House that 2 of my SUPER TALENTED friends were having and found some awesome stuff for the girls! Janiece (sewmanybows@yahoo.com) made the hats and bows that the girls are wearing! I got sooo many compliments on them and then Jenny (jenny@babybellajewelry.com) made the beautiful bracelets! I love them all! and the funnest part is that the girls bracelets have little charms on them and Aubrie's says "Big Sis" and Lexi's says "Lil Sis"! isn't that a hoot!? I think they're so adorable that I had to get an upclose picture of them! Plus, I couldn't resist getting some photos of the girls all ready for the party -- but they were both so fascinated with each others bows that when I'd get one looking at the camera - the other would be eyeing the others bows - LOL... oh well... they're cute and fun and I love them! of course the only way I could get a good shot of the bracelets was while they were eating... so excuse the bottles - heheheh

... and then just one more thing - remember the gorgeous Christ pictures that I told everyone about at Costco... well, on Thursday, my 2 arrived!! I was soooo excited but when I opened the big one (that was to be of Jesus stepping out of the tomb entitled "He Is Risen") I opened it up to find <--- this picture of Christ (In His Glory)... At first I was pretty bummed! but then the more I looked at it I actually liked it better! and so I hung it up in the spot that I had appointed and love it!! but I figured I'd better let culturalhall.com and let them know of the mixup and guess what they said... they're sending me the correct one AND I get to keep this one! I'm so excited! It was already a good deal and now it's doubly good!

Do you like my New Look?!

2008-12-06T11:17:00.003-07:00

So over the past year or so I've been giving the older boys some basic photoshop lessons and it looks like they're putting their knowledge to good use in giving me (and my awesome doctor that delivered both Ben and Nathan at home) a new makeover!!
I was browsing for a certain photo this morning (on the boys computer) and came across this and thought it was hilarious! I love how not only do I have Bulbasaurs face, back and arm... but I also have Charmeleon's tail! and then the Chancey "hat" on Karen is too much!

ps: for those of you not familiar with Pokemon -- these are pokemon characters that we have been metamorphed into!

FREE STUFF for CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-03T09:43:00.008-07:00

ok.. so our ward is doing a "Craigslist" type of deal - except that everything listed is FREE... I have thoguht this was such a fab idea but don't know how well it's being utilized...Anyway, yesterday I did some decluttering and am ready for to get this stuff out of my house - like ASAP! I'm going to be making a run to the DI soon so if you see anything below that you like - come and get it!! Feel free to pass this link on to whomever you think it will benefit - I know many of us are in the same boat with trying to be more frugal and making ends meet in this economy so I'm hoping that I can help some of you out... Also - feel free to post your own "Free Craigslist" and link it up here...

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Some additional items that didn't make it in time for photos:

Size 6 BLUE NIKE BASEBALL CLEATS (big boys)

2 TRAVEL SWINGS for infants (they work great but recline more than they should (Nathan had too much fun riding in them as much as the girls! LOL)

I also have the range hood that was installed when we moved in - never used - we took it out and installed the microwave above the oven instead...

ok.. so I hope to get some phone calls today :)

UPDATE: ** POKEMON VIDEOS, ALL STAR WARS, 2 NERF GUNS, BOTH MIRRORS AND THE VSMILE STUFF ARE SPOKEN FOR** please come by asap to pick up your goods - I'd like them outta here :)

ps: if anyone has legos no longer being used I could go for them! August & Seth like doing still motion picture movies and use legos for this (so not necessarily the big duplo blocks - but any of the other sizes)

getting into the holiday mood!

2008-11-30T22:49:00.003-07:00

so I LOVE these Elf videos -- they always make me smile...
enjoy ours!
ps: there's a limit of only 5 spots - and since I have 6 I was begining to fret about who I would leave out! Then it hit me -- my girls are identical - no one will ever know that both of them aren't in the clip - LOL -- well, I guess you all will - since I just told you - oh well....

ok.. we had some technical difficulties -- it automatically posts it to your blog for you and since I have mulitple ones it posted to a different one - and so now I've got to figure out how to get it here.. oh well.. trust me.. it was cute - LOL

Thankfulness

2008-11-27T22:50:00.006-07:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2008

My Great-Great Grandmother was born on Thanksgiving day and was subsequently named Thankful -- kind of a fun fact from me today :)

Lots of things I am incredible thankful for in my life but 1 that doesn't get publically thanked (enough) is that I'm thankful for Good Visiting Teachers! Since moving into this ward 16 months ago I have been blessed to have had awesome Visiting Teachers! There's been a few partner changes in that time, but Val Ross has remained constant -- she goes beyond the required once a month visits and I really feel like I could call if ever I needed her help! The area that I really wanted to touch on was that she helps me every single sunday at church with the babies! I have never asked her - she just comes and parks next to me during Releif Society and takes over when I have to go play the piano. she always does this with a smile on her face too! There's even Sundays when her husband takes their little girl (almost 1) to EQ and then she STILL comes and helps me out - even though she could sit and listen and really get something out of RS... so for that I am truly grateful! She is just so thoughtful and fun and I know that Heavenly Father had a hand in inspiring the RS leaders to have me be assigned to her! Thank You Val!! Besides - she gives rockin' haircuts - and for that I'm grateful for too! Anyway, my VT's brought this super duper cute Turkey Pumpkin (that you see up above in the photo) and I've just loved it! It was even our centerpiece for our Thanksgiving Dinner - yippee!!

Urban Family rockin' downtown =)

2008-11-26T00:32:00.006-07:00

Alright - I'm thinking I might need to just start a seperate photography blog for all of the recent sneek peeks (but I guess truthfully, it's now pretty much too cold for any more practice shoots - so maybe that'll be something for me to work on over the winter...) Anyway, I've got LOTS to share today -- I always feel more in my "zone" when I'm downtown doing the urban shots - but didn't know how family photos would translate into that realm of photography... so I met up with the Deebles and we had a blast! ok.. I guess I can only speak for myself - But I totally was diggin' their attire and they were all so easy going and relaxed! This was also a big milestone for me as the entire session was shot in manual (and I just learned how this weekend - LOL) - so here are some of the shots...

my girlies

2008-11-24T14:37:00.003-07:00

My girls are growing up! I can't believe that at the end of this week they're going to be 7 months old! It has flown by so fast! They've hit a couple of new milestones this past week....

* They now hold their own bottles! I'd gotten rather good at feeding them simultaneously - one to the left of me while the other laid across my lap - me holding each of the bottles (and then I'd switch positions at the next feeding of who was on my lap)... anyway, they both feed themselves their bottles - I just sort of sit with them and do "bottle control" in case they drop it and need some help :)

* They both got their 2nd tooth on the same day (a week ago Sunday)

* Lexi is about to CRAWL!! she gets up on all 4's and rocks back and forth (she actually moved about 2 paces this morning alternating her arms and legs) so I know it won't be long before she's mobile.... Aubs is content to roll around :)

Enjoy the pics I took of them today - they are just so sweet and loveable!

I loved Twilight and I'm not ashamed

2008-11-22T01:21:00.002-07:00

It was awesome. I'm secure enough in my manhood to declare this. We arrived at Edwards (how fitting) about 50 minutes early only to discover we were about the 250th and 251st people in line. The demographics of the line reminded me of th etime I surprised Shandy by taking her to a Kelly Clarkson concert for her birthday. Very few dudes, mostly 13 year old girls. I ran into one of my Soldiers while in line. We sheepishly nodded to each other and I said, "I'll just pretend I didn't just see you here and you do the same."

- John

Holy SOCKS Batman!!

2008-11-20T19:38:00.004-07:00

ok.. I don't know about any of you... but when it comes to the laundry - I HATE socks!! I got so tired of not having matches making it out of the laundry together that I started a "sock drawer" (way back in like March) where I would stash all of the socks that didn't have a match after they came out of the dryer. Well, that sock drawer turned into 2 sock drawers and before it could grow into a "sock dresser" I decided it was time to put them all together... So I dumped all of the mateless socks onto the middle of the floor (ok, originally I dumped them on my bed but then had to move them down to the floor since I didn't get to them on that day - yikes!) and so I attempted to match some up this morning with the girls rolling around in them - wasn't working either... so I STILL have a mound of socks in my room.... anyone find pleasure in matching up socks? If so... come on over! I'm thinking that will be a super fun *game* for the boys!

John's idea - throw these all away and just buy all of the same socks from now on so there will always be matches! At this point.. I'm liking that idea! why do socks have to be so expensive for that plan to work?

2 family photo sessions

2008-11-16T20:05:00.005-07:00

After some gentle nudges from my best friend - I decided to take my photography beyond my own family and took some for their Christmas card - I totally thought it would be a repeat of my nightmare of a photo shoot (since she's got 6 children too)... lucky for us she didn't have a 2 year old (this year anyway - heee!) and they were all so cooperative! I was quite impressed and it gave me hope for next years attempt when Nathan is a bit older and before the girls hit 2! Anyway, here are a few from the session....

how sweet is that with her youngest son trying to give his little sis a kiss! Totally not even prompted!

and I totally love this one! It's so hilarious! With her looking at her husband with that expression of "yep... we ARE a crazy family!" I thought since so much fun and craziness was going on - I'd empahasize it with an Urban processing...

and then since I was already going to be down at the park... my other friend was hoping for some family photos... so here are some from that session... again - I was so impressed with the cooperative nature of everyone! I'm so jealous - boohoo (LOL)... but seriously, it was pretty fun :)

and a farewell one to end with....

new teeth, getaways & face paint

2008-11-12T14:58:00.005-07:00

It's official - my little girls are getting teeth! I knew they'd been teething for a while now but at a baby shower on Saturday one of my friends said "hey, I just saw a tooth!" I was like "what?!"... sure enough.. little Lexi had a tooth popped through! Aubrie is right there with her -not quite erupted yet - but a definite bump and whiteness trying to show through... so I'd imagine any day now... They've done really well with it and so I'm conting my lucky stars! ID twins usually get their teeth within days of each other so I'm antcipating A's real soon!

**Update: as I was putting Aubrie to bed I saw that her tooth is in too!**

As you all know - yesteray was Veteran's Day -- Thank you to everyone (including John and myself - hehehhe) for sacrificing your time and service for the sake of our great country! Several local businesses were showing their gratitude with extending their products for free to military personnel -- The Anniversary Inn being one of them... So... John and I got to sneak away for an awesome getaway. We only had to sneak the girls into the room in our suticases and pray they didn't cry (since children aren't allowed) -- JUST KIDDING! (sorry, couldn't resist that one - LOLOLOL)... Actually John's mom (who is the Ultimate Mother In Law!) came and stayed the night with our children and got them all ready and off to school this morning while John and I slept in until 9am and had a wonderful breakfast in bed =)..... Just in case any of you are curious - we stayed in the lighthouse room -- oh, we also went to the Olive Garden for dinner the night before -- Spending some good quality alone time with John was really wonderful! Thanks again, grandma for watching the kids overnight!

Also this past weekend was another BSU game - Here's what the guys decided to go as this week.... They have been painting up since the 2004 season (so I have many pics over the years of the different artisitc face paintings... and have been working on a post with some of my favorites through the years... so stayed tuned for that one!).... After the game John and Brent started jammin' out to Rock Band -- I'm telling ya - it's quite the sight to see 2 grown men in their 30's with orange and blue face paint on beating on the drums and singing at the top of their lungs to "Dirty Little Secret"! I even got some video of it - but thought I'd spare them the embarasment - hehehe - but yes, quite the entertainment! And then if that wasn't enough... when grandma brought the older boys back from going to Disney on Ice -- I guess the cotton candy came in a bag with a crown around it and when the boys got home - anyway, John had crashed on the couch - and Ben went and put the crown on his head -- I about died laughing! isn't that the best!? Anyway.. enjoy the pics =)

Just so you all know...

2008-11-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

...I love my wife.

- John

only 2 days left...

2008-11-07T19:02:00.005-07:00

....to be able to get a steal of a deal at Costco!

so last night we had an enrichment activity over at a gal in our ward (Tiffany's - for all you local peeps) and she had the MOST AMAZING L.A.R.G.E. (like a 3ft x 4ft) picture of Christ (that's pictured on the left) that I just absolutely fell in love with and so I asked where she purchased it (she had just gotten it that day) and I was surprised when she answered Costco! and.... for onlyl $199! yes... you read that correct! (that same size painting sells for $540 on their website so it's an incredible deal!) so anyway, I went down there today and was sooooo impressed and moved by all of the beautful pieces of art and at the prices they were selling at - (ranging from $39-$209) - but they're only there for 2 more days (at Costco - at those prices...) So if any of you have been debating getting some awesome church art - now is the time! oh, and this DOES include the awesome 5" hardwood distressed frame too!

Here's a link to their website: http://www.culturalhall.com/ that has what they sell (pretty much all of it was there at Costco but if it's not - they ship it to your house for free - yippee!)

oh, and they also customize the artwork (if you want...)

It was soooo hard for me to choose! but I ended up with the one pictured above and then this one of the Boise Temple (that I ended up having customized -- with our name, wedding date and then "Boise Temple" written in the upper left corner like the one below:

Slideshow

2008-11-05T13:30:00.003-07:00

We had our family pictures taken about 2 weeks ago and needless to say it didn't quite go as smoothly as I'd hoped... as I mentioned in an earlier post - Nathan wanted nothing to do with the camera (and turned out he had double ear infections -- however we did get a couple of good shots that I'll need to post =) -- but before I got the CD back (and the weather was gorgeous) we decided to attempt "TAKE 2 OF FAMILY PHOTOS".... we decided to get all decked out in our BSU gear and head down to Bronco stadium.... we had our futuer BIL (the one I took their engagement photos a while back....) meet us as the stadium and take some photos - he really did a good job! (especially considering that Nathan wanted NOTHING to do with the camera... again.) Afterwards I asked him if he was ready to become a family photorapher - he politely said "No!" - hehehehe
I've had to do some editing and several head swaps, body insertions.... ya know... the basics that are required when trying to get a family shot! (of course I didn't do this to all - actually just 2 of the family shots....) anyway, here's the Vogt family sporting their true colors - and all set to the BSU fight song - GO BRONCOS!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Countdown to Twilight!

2008-11-04T23:10:00.003-07:00

With the premiere being only a little over two weeks away, Johnny and I thought we'd take *the* quiz to see who we were. It came as no surprise to me who John was. John guessed who I would be also but then threw in, "I bet you really would rather be Alice, though." He's right!

So, without further ado, here's who we are:

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

2008-11-03T23:52:00.008-07:00

Another week has started and I have to admit that I sort of like the rainy weather we've been having lately... there's some-thing romantic about the rain to me... Yesterday was Stake Conference and so we were out of church by noon (where normally we don't even start until 12:30pm) and John's EQ meeting was canceled so we had the whole afternoon free -- we decided to head out to Eagle to John's parents for dinner. We used to go out every sunday when we lived in nampa - but it's just too far now and plus not really enough time to get out there and back before John's weekly meeting... anway, they live on a farm and it always has the B.E.S.T. fall colors!! Even though it was a bit drab yesterday, I still snapped some shots while we were there - and I just had to post this one of the baby girls -- isn't that a hoot with them crying! I got individual ones of them in the basket and they were all smiles.. then I put them in together and they just wailed! LOL... maybe it was just too tight of quarters - who knows.... heheheh

John's brother keeps his hunting dogs out at the farm as well - when we got there and I saw all of the doggies running around their pen I thought - "MAN! that's a LOT of dogs to take care of!"... then I started counting them... and there were 6... It was then I realized that's how many children I have to take care of - LOL

Didn't make it to my WW meeting tonight - but truthfully with Halloween and going out to lunch on Saturday to Red Robin... I don't think it would have been a pretty site anyway... so maybe it was for the best - hehehhe...

ode to Twilight....

2008-11-01T09:43:00.004-06:00

ok.. so I've been loving all of the trailers that have been posted for the upcoming TWILIGHT movie - which happens to be coming out THIS MONTH!

anyway... thought you guys might like a heads up where to get a Twilight font - you know.. for all those love letters you'll be writing to your "Edward" -- yes, definite team Edward here!

ClICK HERE to be taken to the blog where you can snag up this beauty for free :)

(ps: it's a couple of posts down.. so just scroll until you see it)

and the winner(s) are....

2008-10-31T23:52:00.003-06:00

MELISSA & JAMIE!!
you were the only 2 that guessed correctly which pumpkin I carved so I'm giving you BOTH the prize... send me a photo to jazz up -- shandyvogt@hotmail.com
Just so you guys don't have to go back and look through all of the comments... I carved the pumpkin on the far right - of the witch stirring the cauldron :) It was my first attempt at such intricacies but quite doable if you follow a pattern ;)
Thanks for playing everyone!!
oh, the pumpkin that received the most votes was the 2nd (from left - the skinny lady in the fire) - my SIL actually carved that one... and no one thought I carved the witch flying over the rooftops - LOL (which my other SIL carved)... my 2 brothers carved the other ones....
so there ya have it!
Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN (from the cutest berries in the patch)

2008-10-31T11:09:00.003-06:00

my *berry cute* little girls wanted to wish you a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (the more gruesome ghouls - aka my boys - will be wishing you a happy halloween later on.... heheheh)

ps: if you want to get in on the contest below for a free photo edit you've got till tonight to leave your vote :)

ps: a little hint... the correct answer has already been posted... so that narrows it down ;)

Donuts down the drain & a fun contest

2008-10-28T22:09:00.006-06:00

Fall is in the air and I love it!!!! So I endeavored to dive into some homemade goodness (to take to the gals I VT -- so if I VT you... please don't read this - hehehhe)... so here it is the end of the month... and I still have 2 sisters left to visit and so I thought I'd make homemade doughnuts for them! Maybe it was more for me - doughnuts are my weakness - LOL... but Melissa S. had posted on her incredible blog (I highly recommend you guys check her out! - we used to do carpool together to preschool before we each moved - miss ya Melissa!) anyway, she posted some step by step instructions on how to make these homemade donuts - simple, easy and YUMMY!!! So we make up like 80 PLUS the donut holes (we figured we'd take them to our neighbors too and the people John home teaches, etc...) so get them all made and put onto the plates and then (thinking I'm soooo very smart) I put saran wrap over them to help prevent little boys from sneaking into them (they had cooled a good 45 min. or so...) but sadly that wasn't enough... I went back to look at my beautiful creations about an hour later and noticed all of the powdered sugar was no longer visible... then I saw it. the condensation. I was sad. so my yummy, homemade treats became a soggy, rubbery dough mess... I took the wrap off to let them "dry back out" but now they're a re-dried rubbery donut... so any of you who I VT and are reading this... just know I was thinking of you the whole time I was making these and you'll just have to enjoy the photo! OK.. now onto the contest: I found this photo from a few years back -- my side of the family LOVES Halloween! it's a serious love affair! So I was fortunate to be able to celebrate this holiday with them when the boys and I were staying with them while John was in Iraq -- Myself and each of my siblings carved a pumpkin (yes.. we are very detailed! LOL) and here are our stash of carved vegetation -- pretty sweet, huh?
so the contest is...
GUESS WHICH PUMPKIN I CARVED...
post your guesses in the comment section and I'll radomly draw a "winner" from those that guess correctly for a free photo edit (I couldn't really think of a coolio prize - so I'll pretty up a picture for ya ;) I'll leave the *voting* open until Friday.... (and yes, I promise I did carve one of the pumpkins below :)

Swings at the Park

2008-10-27T08:41:00.002-06:00

So a cool picture lots of twin moms try to get is the "swing pic"... I had thought my opportunity had passed with the weather turning cooler... but Saturday was really beautiful and quite pleasant (close to 70!) so I headed out to take the "swing pic"... ok.. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a baby swing! I hit 6 - yes, SIX different parks before finding one! But it was worth it :) Aubrie and Lexi really loved it! I took all of the pictures first - so they wouldn't know that they were supposed to be moving in this thing - hehehe... There were actually 2 swings so after I got some of the pictures of them together I put them each in their own swing and gave them little pushes... awwww.. it was oh so sweet!!

oh, on another little fun side note: These little sweaters were the VERY FIRST thing I bought after we found out they were twin girls :) I've been waiting all year for them to fit!... don't they look adorable!?

Need your prayers

2008-10-26T23:27:00.000-06:00

My best friend Bill's daughter, Becca, has bacterial meningitis. They rushed her to the emergency room tonight via ambulance. Their pediatrician misdiagnosed it the two times they took her in the past few days. We're hoping that it's early enough that she won't have any complications. Could use your prayers. She is 9.

- John

new pics of the girls

2008-10-24T11:50:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I realized I hadn't taken any good pictures of the girls since the beginning of the month (and here we are at almost November!) so yesterday in between naps we had some fun together taking pics... of course I have to share my favorites here :)

we actually got our family portraits taken earlier this week - and I'm anxiously awaiting the results!! Sadly, nathan wanted nothing to do with it (and screamed, cried, threw a fit... and on and on) oh, and wouldn't even come into the camera frame! - John and I looked at each other and commented how we'd just have 5 children for this family picture - hehehe... so we'll see what the outcome is.....

Weekend Update... Tag.. and a Halloween Party

2008-10-22T00:20:00.001-06:00

Yes, I realize the week has about hit its halfway mark and I am just now getting caught up on the weekend stuff! There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day (I think most of us feel that way, right?!) Anyway, it was a SUPER CRAZY busy weekend. It started off with Friday John heading down with his buddies for the BSU game. John's best friend, Sam (the one just to the left of him) lives in CT and John surprised him and flew him out for the game - so they really wanted to give him the whole "feel" of it so they went down around noon to tailgate and get all painted up. It was also our ward's Halloween party but I didn't feel like it would be wise to go solo with all 6 -- the boys were so bummed that I farmed them out to some of their friends family - so they got to go and I stayed home with the 3 younger ones. They were all in bed by 6pm so I had some nice quiet alone time!John's sister recently got engaged to an awesome guy and they asked me to take their engagement photos. They really liked the urban look that I did with the boys so we met up on Saturday afternoon and took T.O.N.S. of photos! They are both so cute and very photogenic! I told them that I was not a professional and if they had low expectations then they would be pleased with the outcome... but if they went into it with high expectatations then they would be disappointed - LOL... anyway, here are a few of the ones that I particularly liked. There were so many that turned out cuter than cute I don't know how they're going to decide... (but that is much better than only having 1 to choose from!) We shot photos until about 6:30pm when I figued I had plenty enough to "work with" and needed to get home and get ready for the Deeble's annual Halloween party (we're glad we're still invited even though we moved away! heeee). We had already told them we'd be late but it took John forever to get his Terminator costume all perfect -- of course I was done in about 10 min - LOL.... I think he looked pretty cool! Of course it was loads of fun and I was pretty much most excited because I got to see Alli's new house! it's soooo gorgeous and I'm so happy for them - I also got to tour Christy's new house right next door - and again - such a beautiful home and I'm so glad you both have such big, new homes for your families! So back to the party - we played some games, visited (loved it!) and of course partook of some sugary goodness - which in turn gave me a sugar headache - LOLok.. I've been tagged a few times for different things... this particular tag comes from my awesome cousin Amber! you guys know the drill -- 4th folder, 4th pic... well, I decided to head to my backed up photos to see what the 4th and 4th would produce and wow - another BSU pic! This was when John and his buddies (the same ones from the above photo) usually have "themes" for their face paint...as you can see from this photo - the theme was KISS. This was last Nov. at the BSU vs. ID game (and I was 3.5 months pregnant with the twins - but didn't know it yet - heheheh)... I think this is a fun tag (because I love seeing everyone's "hidden" photos they have on their computer!) so anyone reading this that wants to participate -- please do!
so that was our Friday and Saturday.... I need to update about the week so far but will have to do that next time... my pillow is calling me!

Six year olds and Michael Jackson

2008-10-21T22:42:00.003-06:00

John here.

So I'm driving down the street with August, Seth, and Ben in my truck. Ben's riding shotgun with the other two in back. Ben asks to put on his playlist that he has built on my iPod. I'm more than happy to oblige but then I see the first song is Thriller by Michael Jackson. I quickly skip over it and move on to some Britney Spears.

He is digging on the tunes when he says, "Hey, the first song is pretty good, too." Now, I'm in no mood for Michael Jackson this afternoon nor am I ever in the mood for Michael Jackson (or Weird Al for that matter, do ya hear me Shandy?!?!?) so I state matter of factly, "Ben, I don't like Thriller and I don't like Michael Jackson so we will not be listening to him." This piques Ben's interest and he begins to pester me on why I don't like Michael. I have no desire to get into the whole discussion about how he's a freak and a molester so I finally tell him that Michael's not a very good person and he does things he shouldn't.

Ben's response, "Oh, I get it, he's had a brush with the law."

Where does he pick these things up?

oh boy!

2008-10-17T23:43:00.003-06:00

ok... today gave me a glimpse of what (maybe??) is in store with the little girls.... I think the storyboard below explains it all!
so there ya have it... I thought it was ridiculously cute but am afraid I shant feel that way if this becomes a daily occurance!
Just to share a quick update on them (they are 5.5 months old)
Aubrie is now just a few ounces shy of 15 pounds and is 26.5 inches tall. She just barely (like this past week) started rolling over. She is easily startled and likes familiar people/faces and she always greets me with such huge smiles after naps. She loves to grab her toes and sway back and forth - and she loves to grasp at toys and eat them - LOL. She has such a pleasant disposition and I just love her so much!
Lexi is just a few ounces shy of 14 pounds and is 26.5 inches tall. She has finally (about 2 weeks ago) followed her sisters example and has been sleeping through the night! That means they are both down for the night by 6pm and sleep through until about 6:30am - woohoo! I'm so happy about that! She is very smiley and laughs a lot (especially if you kiss her on the cheek - it's so sweet!) She loves her bathtime and hearing music. Both her and Aubrie like playing in their jumperoo's and exersaucers.
So that about sums up their developments as of today :) I'm still so very thankful that Heavenly Father blessed with me with 2 SWEET, BEAUTIFUL TWINS! I love it!!!

We have LIFT OFF!

2008-10-15T23:46:00.005-06:00

heheheh... ok, I thought the title fit with my posts theme today because my little side business of photo editing/custom designs is officially launched! This is the image I created for the header at the new site...
I decided to name it Photo Flattery and you can click THIS LINK to see it. After I had decided to pursue this (and more particularly decided upon the price of a basic enhancement for just $5/photo) I thought I'd google "photo enhancement" and see what came up... I was SHOCKED!!! holy cow people - 99% of the sites I looked at were a minimum of $30 for a basic touch up and went all the way up to almost $100!! yes, that's $100 for one photo! Anyway, I'm keeping my prices as I originally intended for several reasons - but the biggest being --

Most people are like myself - we have families to take care of, we have obligations and we're not professional photographers (and we don't have $100 to spend on one photo!) but we DO want our pictures to look their best and possibly even use our snapshots as art in our homes.

So yeah, I'm up and running and I want to thank ALL of you that sent me photos (if you don't see yours up on the site - please don't be sad... I got an overwhelming response and didn't end up needing all of them (so just consider it a nice little bonus freebie from me :)

I'll be back soon with an update on the family -- the little twincesses had their checkups this week and so I'll report on their stats :) Until then...

Vogt Boys go Urban!

2008-10-09T13:16:00.006-06:00

This is going to very picture heavy (gotta let my mom see her grandkids :)
Anyway, lately I've REALLY REALLLY been wanting to try and Urban photo shoot with the boys but there never seems to be a good time (with football every night *except Wed - which is Scouts* and every Sat. full of games and BSU football, etc...) I haven't been able to do one. Well, yesterday the tides changed and were in my favor.... no football, Scouts was cancelled and John could come home early from work to stay with the younger 3. So.... after school (and quick haircuts!) we headed to downtown Boise (I hadn't scouted any locations out before hand because I didn't want to waste the gas) so I told the boys sort of what I was looking for and everyone kept their eyes peeled for good locations - and Boise is full of them!!!! We ran out of daylight before the boys were ready to go home (now that's a first! plus... I had to bribe them with going out to dinner afterwards if they cooperated - which was TOTALLY worth it for good attitudes and humoring me with posing for me)..... This is my first attempt at Urban and I think they turned out pretty sweet (it mostly has to do with the post processing to make the colors just POP off the photo). There might be a part 2 to this post - since I haven't finished processing all of the ones that I felt turned out....

Wanna help me out??

2008-10-07T11:10:00.006-06:00

It's not like I'm not busy enough but I have such a love and passion for creating things digitally (whether it be scrapbook layouts, scrapbook elements, announcements or just plain having fun editing photos!)... So, I've decided to broaden my digital services to include Photo Enhancements! I'm currenltly working on getting up a site with all the details, information and of course samples (which currenly are shown mostly with my own kids - LOL) which brings me to this post....If any of you have a favorite (or not so favorite) photo(s) that you'd like for me to enhance just email them to me at shandyvogt@hotmail.com . Once I'm up and running - my services will be $5/photo but of course free for now in return for letting me use them in the sample gallery at the new website.... Obviously I can't use every single photo that is emailed to me at this time (as I'm only in need of a few more) but thought I'd open this opportunity up to my friends :)

I know that several of you have recently mentioned that you think I take great photos (and I always get a little happy twinge when I read those!) BUT the truth is... I'm not that great of a photographer - but I am great at photoshop! LOL... here are some examples below : (take note of how you can take a good photo and really make it a GREAT PORTRAIT!)

**UPDATE: I HAVE ALL THE PHOTOS I NEED. THANK YOU FOR THOSE THAT SENT ME YOUR FAVORITES :) ** oh, wait.. if any of you have a family picture I could use one of those.... just email me :)

BeforeAfterBefore (already a cute photo!After

Weekend Update

2008-10-05T16:20:00.003-06:00

Isn't that a segment on SNL?? Regardless, it's fits for this posts title :)

Thursday Ben lost one of his top teeth - he's been "working on it" for about 3 weeks and finally John said "let me wiggle it and see how loose it is..." and that was the end of it... he pulled it out in one swoop! That kind of stuff gives me the heebie jeebies but am glad the tooth is out! Here's a pic of him with his new smile :) He got $2 from the tooth fairy and spent it promptly the next day at the Halloween store on some halloween makeup....

John stayed home part of the day on Friday. I had gotten an email from JC Penny's advertising their 50% off clearance sale that was starting that day - so I ran down to the mall and got some amazing deals! (I also had a coupon for an additional 30% off - so it was really a steal!) I got clothes for next season (summer) and also a few additional items for the boys' winter wardrobe. I also was able to get the girl's Halloween costumes -- they are going to be...... STRAWBERRIES! The costumes are too adorable and I am excited to dress them up and do their Halloween photo shoot! Friday afternoon, I took Ben, Nathan and the girls for a little playdate with our old neighbor (Shaina) in Nampa. While we were there, Grandpa showed up (he was showing a potential renter our old house) and asked afterwards if we wanted to see inside of it (he had done lots of work to it and replaced the carpets and did some molding work and repainted it all -- it really looked sharp!) BUT.. it really made me appreciate all of the space we have in our current home! The bedrooms and bathrooms and kitchen (ok.. basically the whole house!) seems soooo confining. I feel so blessed that we have the means to live in a house that accomodates our large family! Saturday was a football game for Seth - John took some time off of drill to take him there - they lost again :( but they had a fun time. They also got rained on. Today is conference (which I've been excited for to be spiritually rejuvenated!)... the boys and I played "Family Fun" by Cranium this morning waiting for conference to start (we got it last year for Christmas and we just played it for the first time today! it was actually really fun and just like the name suggests - VERY FAMILY FRIENDLY.... it was Ben and I against August and Seth - who do you think won??)

and then when conference started (and the Tabernacle was singing the opening hymn) Nathan got him little blankie and went and perched himself in front of the TV and watched so intently... it was very touching. Of course that only lasted for about 5 min. and by the half way mark he had made his way into the other room to watch some cartoons. I'm glad that we recorded it so I can go back and really be able to listen (when john gets home) as I don't feel like I got as much out of it as I could have!.... after the morning session August made us pancakes for lunch - he's a really good pancake maker :) I did like listening to the Prophet and will close with some of his thoughts that touched me.... He told us that we need to find joy in the journey, create good memories for the future, and remember that what is most important involves the relationships we develop within our families and with our friends.

update on school picture day...

2008-10-02T10:09:00.009-06:00

so remember a while back when I posted that I completely forgot it was picture day?? well.. the results came back yesterday. They prooved to be just what I expected (see proof on the left). So.... to remedy it, I headed out in the backyard with camera in hand to find my unsuspecting target (aka: BEN - who was happily playing with his friends....) Actually it was quite painless, less than 5 min and here's the result I got.

When Seth got home with John (after the BSU game) I asked if he had his picture packet... alas, since John got him out of school early to get all painted up for the game (on a side note here: so john was already painted up when he went into the school to get Seth... he was quite the sight! I asked Seth if he was embarrassed by it and he said "No way! it was cool! and lots of people took his picture!" LOL), anyway, so he didn't get his pictures... so stay tuned to see how his school pics turned out... I'm quite curious - LOL

Everyone's home from school today and I have such high visions of 4 lovely boys scrubbing down walls and kitchen cabinets today... I'm feeling like the house really needs an overhaul! Better get to work while the girls are still napping :)

5 months old

2008-09-30T18:44:00.005-06:00

Aubrie and Lexi turned 5 months old yesterday! I had planned on posting this yesterday but John has been out of town for the past 6 days (he'll be home this evening - hooray!) and being a single mom to 6 is quite exhuasting! (and can I just add that I am SO GRATEFUL that we only had 3 boys when he was deployed to Iraq - hehehe). Alright... back to the subject... so when we found out there were 2 baby girls in the womb I was scared and excited and thrilled and aprehensive all at the same time. I didn't know what to expect and since I wanted to be realistic - John and I prepared ourselves for months of sleep deprivation, screaming babies and preemies. I don't know HOW we got blessed so much - but we did and brought home 2 BIG babies who don't scream and who are very good sleepers :) oh, and who are VERY cooperative to let me dress them up and pose them on a daily basis - LOL. No new milestones happened this month and I haven't taken them to the DR's to know their current weight but I do have some pictures to share of them (shocker, I Know!) Lexi is still rolling around while Aubrie is content to just grab her feet and sway back and forth... and they are both starting to drool big time so we'll see if any little teeth will show up in the next month or so (August was 4 months when he got his first tooth and Nathan was almost 9 months ... so we'll see which one they follow after more closely :)

oh, and I also wanted to comment on their outfits -- right after we had the ultrasound, Toys R Us had their 50% off clearance (and Becky Gomez called and clued me in on it - as I had no idea!) and I picked up both of these outfits (and much more! LOL) and including the shoes (that I got online) I paid less than $10 for EVERYTHING! They only had 1 pair of the jeans that lexi's wearing (on the right) and I'm bummed b/c I think they are just toooo cute!

photography...

2008-09-25T22:08:00.002-06:00

So in the evenings I've been reading up on some photography & new techniques in photoshop and it totally got me in the mood to do (another - LOL) photo shoot of the girls. I put my favorites into this 1 min. montage :) Just FYI I put an "A" on the pics of just Aubrie and "L" on Lexi's...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

DNA test results are in....

2008-09-21T22:28:00.004-06:00

any guesses??...... We got the girls' DNA tested earlier this month (which just involved swabbing the inside of their cheeks and sending it off to a lab in California) and the results came in a few days ago.... Aubrie and Lexi are IDENTICAL!! We either thought they had to be ID or very similiar fraternal twins. Here's a brief science lesson for everyone :) After an egg is fertilized, if it splits between days 3-5 (while it is still in the fallopian tube) they will have seperate placentas and seperate sacs (which was the case with the girls). If twins share a sac or placenta - they don't split until day 9 (and if it splits after day 9 - it will result in conjoined twins). At that stage of development (the first 2 weeks) cells are doubling at such an exponential rate that twins that are *together* longer (like until day 9 vs. splitting earlier at day 5) will typically look more alike since they are the exact same unit for such a long period of time (in regards to development). Once an egg splits different genes can turn on and off (and result in identicals having their differences - such as: Lexi is tongue tied and Aubrie's not... Lexi has a birth mark on her arm and Aubrie has a freckle on her leg whereas the other one doesn't etc...). Something else that's kinda cool is that only 9% of all twins are like Aubrie and Lexi (being ID and having seperate sacs and placentas) so it's not that common. 30% of all twins are Identical (and of that 30% only a smaller % have seperate "stuff") so that is why it's more common than not to have fraternal twins. Regardless of how the test results came back - really wouldn't have changed anything (except now we know what to tell people when we get that #1 questions... so are they ID?? hehehhe). Also, ID twins are just spontaneous and have no factors based on heredity. So there's your biology lesson for today! LOL

so I'll end with some cute pics of my little ID girlies...

Sharing Pics :)

2008-09-18T15:34:00.006-06:00

As most of you know... I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY! and wish I knew more!! Anyway, I took a little "photo nature walk" yesterday with Nathan and the girls (after they were all fresh from their naps...) and here are some of the shots that I got of Nathan (sadly, upon my return, I realized that my camera was NOT on the correct meter reading or area focus... but some shots still turned out and I made up this storyboard to house them...) On a side note: I found a whole bunch of 10x20 frames (PERFECT for storyboards) at Shopko marked down 80% so they were only like $7 -- and their 4x10 frames were only $4.99 -- so I picked up enough of the bigger ones to do a storyboard for each one of the kids (in fact, August is due for his photo shoot this afternoon - wish me luck - LOL). oh, and speaking of photos -- today was picture day for Ben and Seth -- and do you think I remembered?... no -- Do you think they went in cute clothes?.... nope. Do you think I at least combed their hair?... nada. So I called John in a panic around 10:40am (when I remembered) and he said one word... RETAKES! heheheh. I don't know why I pay for school pictures each year when I take my own of them like every month -- but I guess there's something about that gray marbled backdrop that reminds you of the yearly milestones... When Ben got home from school - he came and found us on our nature walk (actually we were just on the bike path right behind our house... so while he was there I snapped a few...)and this photo just cracks me up! I was trying to get the girls to give me some simultaneous smiles - so I was singing and dancing and then they gave me this look!

Well, my *me time* AKA: nap time is just about to come to an end... so better jet for now. Happy Thursday! (my favorite day of the week!)

It's Birthday Time!

2008-09-15T01:33:00.007-06:00

Can it be true?! My little Nathan has turned the big 2! Since our evenings are quite hectic (with John and Seth gone to football every night) we decided we'd better celebrate his party on Sunday evening... so John's parents, sister and grandma all came over and we had dinner, cake and ice cream and had him open his presents. We sang to him and he got all embarrassed that so much attention was on him - it was absolutely adorable!!! I made a WW cake for us all - but got him a little personal chocolate cake from Walmart - here he is chomping into it...Then I got all nostalgic and started reminiscing about his birth 2 years ago... John had just flown out to Wisconsin that morning with the Army and wouldn't you know it... that was the day Nathan decided to join us :) John's mom had come to spend the night with me "just in case" something happened and so I wouldn't be alone - This would be my second homebirth with Karen and I was pretty excited about it! I had just gotten done tucking in the boys when I really started contracting- so I called Karen and told her I'd call her if things kept progressing (since she'd already been out for a false alarm - oops :0 -- anyway, I called John about 9pm and told him that this was the real thing and he needed to get on the next flight home - he actually was able to make it back pretty quickly - but it wasn't fast enough to be there for the birth. I was so considerate and let everyone (Anne and my whole birth team) sleep until about 2am - when I went in and woke up Anne. I then called Karen and told her that I felt like I needed her to come over asap... upon her arrival, she checked my dilation and declared that I had waited too long to call her and that I was already at 9cm! Anne hurried and called all of the members of the "Team Vogt" birth team and they all arrived in record time - LOL. Looking back, I think my body was apprehensive to go through this huge experience without John by my side becuase it was a couple of hours before Nathan was born - he arrived at 5:32am weighing in at a whopping 9lb 6oz and was 22 inches long. John was on the airplane at that exact time - but the stewardess' got permission from the CPT. to let him be on his cell phone during the flight - so he was able to hear Nathan's first cries and we also sent him a picture over the phone right after he was born. He got back home shortly after 12:00pm. Here is a "before" "birth" and "now" shot of my little man! (and yes, I know, that I don't look 9 months pg. here - but I asure you I was - LOL... I never get real big when I'm pregnant - and so when I was pg. with the girls - although I only looked like should have been having 1 baby - to me I felt incredibly huge and miserable!!)

and here is a scrapbook LO I did for Nathan's 1st year book with all of the members of Team Vogt - I made these shirts up for them and had their favorite numbers printed on the backs along with their names -I though they turned out pretty cool :) Each of these ladies had a specific job to do that kept the whole birthing process running smoothly... I believe that they each "stepped it up" as well - since John wasn't there.. they knew I'd need to rely on them more! Which I totally did... (hey, Lynette - do you still have some "war wounds" that I left on you??? so sorry for that!)and here are 2 additional LO's I did for his 1st year book that have some of my most favorite pics of him! The bottom one (in B/W) is an absolute fav. pic of mine! He was/is such a cute lil' guy!

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy!!

Football Time...

2008-09-14T23:53:00.004-06:00

so as most of you know... John really does put the FAN in Fanatics when it come to Boise State football... He and several of his buddies go all out and paint themselves for every home game here in Boise... I'm telling you - it's almost like an all day affair when BSU is playing - starting from putting on BSU gear as soon as he wakes up (and encouraging everyone else in the house to do the same!) to reading up on the BSU forums, talking to everyone and their dog about the game and then having everyone congregrate here to get painted up (usually about 4 hours prior to the game actually starting). They have season tickets for the South End Zone and it's quite the experience in and of itself! BSU has already had 2 home games this season so far and here's a pic from each of them... Below is Bill, John (right) and little Ben - g'ma dropped him off at the game so he wasn't able to get painted up...and here's John and August all ready for the game!

and this past Saturday was another football game for Seth - he has one every Saturday until the end of October.... Here's a picture of Seth and John all ready to leave for the game. I have to admit that it's actually pretty nice (and convienent) that John is one of the coaches - that ensures Seth will actually get there on time AND daddy will always be there to watch him :)

metamorphosis of pregnancy...

2008-09-13T21:31:00.006-06:00

so I sit here trying to get motivated to go scrub some spots out of the carpet (Ok.. formula TOTALLY leaves black spots on your carpet! ugh)... I looked over and saw my "profile" pic and it got me thinking... in just a little over a years time - my looks have drasitically changed. Yes, I know that I gave birth to twins... but still.. it's quite fascinating to me (and a bit sad - LOL) to see how drastically one can change with a pregnancy. granted these are just head shots - but wow! I look like I've been through the ringer in that middle photo -- hehehe (and yet people were still nice and told me how good I looked - LOL)
and all I can say (in regards to the 3rd photo) is THANK HEAVENS the swelling went down in my face - Yikes! It has been very slow going getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight (still have like 30+lbs to go) but I just look at my little bundles of joy and think it was worth every pound!

I've got a bully on my hands...

2008-09-12T22:23:00.004-06:00

LOL... so I was going through (attempting to organize the EHD to start putting things back onto the laptop) and came across these pics of the girls from last month... with them not being able to sit up - I wanted to try and get a new "pose" - but quickly found out that this one probably isn't the best - hehehhe

Look at that expression on Aubrie's face -haha and the best part is how Lex (the one laying down) is acting like she's dying or something!

and then this one - I can just imagine Aubrie saying "say Uncle.. c'mon.. say it!"

and poor Lexi looks like she pleading with me to get her out of that position - LOL

and then here's a storyboard of some of the other photos...

updates...

2008-09-12T21:49:00.004-06:00

hmmm... almost a week since I updated... I'm trying to decide if that's *good* or *bad* - since previously it had been close to 8 months - heheheh. Anyway, currently August, Ben and Nathan are all spending the night with Grandma (both girls are asleep & John and Seth are out together -- Seth had football tonight plus a game tomorrow so it wouldn't work for him to go with g'ma)... and with the house all quiet (NICE!) I really wanted to get some scrapping done so this will be a short post... a quick rundown of the past few days:

Monday: I had an eye exam - got some new glasses, had my weight watchers meeting (lost another 2.4lb -- still working on getting off LOTS of the baby weight). Weekly grocery shopping afterwards.

Tuesday: John had a meeting with the Stake Pres. - I'll give updates on this after Sunday...

Wedesday: John had an appt. with the orthopedic dr. about his leg -- they referred him to a physical therapist. He, August and Seth all had Scouts that night

Thursday: John and Seth had football (they have it every night except Wed. and the weekend). I went with some friends from the ward to the Temple :)

Friday: ran some errands, met up with grandma to switch out the boys.

oh, about the laptop -- so I dropped it off on Monday and Tues. they called with the diagnosis that the Hard Drive was dead.. at this point he thought they could still retrive all the data off of it - Wed. they called and said it was ready (with a new 250gig HD - originally it was just 100G - so I'm happy about the more space!) but to my VERY VERY MUCH SADDENED HEART... they weren't able to save any of the data - so I'm trying not to dwell on it too much. Also (who knows why) but August kept deleting the photos off of the desktop (the desktop is strictly the boys computer and maybe he thought since they weren't pic he'd taken.. they didn't need to be on his computer???? so we had to have a littel *chat*) so I don't have any good pics from this week. I do have these pics I took of the girls yesterday (that I was able to save from the Recycle bin!) and although I don't particularly think their facial expressions are the cutest - I LOVE how their dresses pop agaist the black - so thought I'd share...and then one from today...and another one from this afternoon with them having their Play Time before their bath :)

Pie anyone??

2008-09-07T22:57:00.003-06:00

So Football season has started and John is one of the coaches for Seth's team. Each year they do a fundraiser (sold these $5 coupon books to local businesses). As an incentive, any player that sold 20 of them would get to throw a pie in one of the coach's face... well, that's all the motivation that Seth needed! He got all dressed up in his uniform and went around to the people we knew in the nieghborhood and then he even went to John's work and sold all 20 - sooooo... can you guess which coach he chose?? Look below at the pic of him "giving it to Coach Dad!" A couple of the others kids chose John as well - LOL... afterwards the coachs all ran through the sprinklers to get somewhat cleaned up!On Saturday Seth had his first real game of the season. He was in charge of drinks for the team. I took the girls with me and August stayed home and babysat Ben and Nathan. Their team lost - but Seth had a fun time! You can see him in the photo below - he's #70 - getting ready to hike the ball. I had lots more photos of the game but August accidentally deleted them :( but then I remembered that one of the players dad is a professional photographer and posts all the pics from the game on a certain website so here's one that had Seth in it :)It was a Drill weekend for John so he left on Friday afternoon :( This morning I got everyone ready and out to church... granted - we were a bit late but we made it! and more importantly - Nathan went to nursery!!! hooray! but I guess since he went, the girls thought they didn't have to be on their best behavior - so I spent the next 2 hours switching back and forth between fussy babies :( yeah, it wasn't really the funnest. oh well, they're still cute - hehehe. When we got home from church, we had a surprise waiting for us - John was home! (he doesn't normally get home until ike 6ish on Drill weekends) so it was great having him home! They had a change of command ceremony today where he stepped down as the Commander and turned it over to the new CPT. - so he was a bit sad... He'll take over another company next week.

And just because I take so many pics of the girls - here are a couple from this past weekend:

computer woes

2008-09-05T23:38:00.002-06:00

Our laptop has been giving me a coronary lately... I never know if "today is the day it will die"... ok, not quite that bad.. but still. Well, tonight I had the EHD hooked up downloading some swass digital goodies and thought to myself... "I really should back up all of the photos of the girls" - Since their birth I have taken close to 9,000 pics (of course I don't keep all of them.. I select only the ones I like - on a typical 100+ photo shoot.. I'll only keep about 10 or so...) so basically I had roughly 900 photos of our whole family for the last 4 months. I kid you not... 3 seconds after it got done transferring to the EHD.... I got the black screen of death! :( :( I hurried and plugged in the EHD into the boys desktop and thankfully EVERYTHING transferred successfully so I am feeling L.U.C.K.Y.! Plus, just tonight I uploaded about 90% of my digital scrapbook layouts to an online publisher -- so they're *safe* as well! I know that we will be able to recover everything just fine (since we have always been able to in the past) but just knowing I got the pics saved

makes me feel *better*.

So the other day (Wednesday) I had gotten Nathan out of the tub and hadn't gotten him dressed yet (was trying to get the girls dressed and fed, etc) when all of a sudden he jumped up... ran to the bathroom... lifted the lid... peed... closed the lid and then flushed!! I was like "what?! you're ready to start using the potty!" He's not even 2 yet and I'm worried he's just too young. BUT I do know that there's that window of opportunity when it comes to PT - and if you miss it -- it isn't pretty. So the past 2 days we've been staying close to home and working on using the potty. I have to admit.. the 1st day he did fairly well.. but today - he has NO interest in it.. if that's how it is tomorrow.. I think we'll stop and try again in a month or so...

Last month I ordered some little clothes for the girls from The Children's Place clearance. I got these little skirts for $2 and the shirts for like $1.75! This is them this morning ready for the day! John stayed home most of the day to get ready for Drill. I took advantage of him being home to watch Nathan and took the girls to pick up a few things at Walmart. Ok, now the girls hardly EVER cry -- like as in never (unless they're hungry basically) and I can count on 1 hand the times they've both cried simultaniously... but not today... They took turns crying the ENTIRE WM excursion.... Plus, you know you can't fit hardly any items in the cart with 2 carseats! I hadn't planned on getting much but of course kept seeing things that we *needed* and every nook and cranny was stuffed with things - LOL

2008 Update

2008-09-04T23:43:00.006-06:00

well... I guess now that's 2008 is 75% over with - maybe I should update this blog! My side of the family started up a private blog for all of us to stay connected and I guess I've felt that since I update that quite regularly, I was doing my "blog duties"... but I have had some inquiries about when I was going to get writing on here so my friends could catch up on us... so here it goes.

I'm literally just going to give a BRIEF synopsis about everyone and then just try and post from here on out... Here's a pic of all of my men! Aren't they all just so handsome!? This was taken in July (I think....)

John has been working at his new job since Nov. of last year and so far has really been enjoying it. He's still gone 1-2 times a month with different Army/work obligations but nothing we can't handly :) Of course he's thrilled that the BSU season has officially kicked off! He was gone down to California (he left the end of July) for AT and tore both of his calf muscles on his right leg while there... he was bedridden to the couch for almost 3 weeks! He just went back to work last week! but it seems to be healing nicely and he has *upgraded* from the crutches to just a cane - heheheh. He is also one of the assistand coaches for Seth's Football team - which he really enjoys!

August is 11.5 and started middle school this year. After getting his school ID card, he kept trying to fool Ben and his little friends that he now had his driver's liscence! He's really been into making still photo movies and really does a good job! I might have to link one of them up here soon. He is such a HUGE help with the girls (and with Nathan) and he's really stepped up to being the "big brother" of our bunch!

Seth is 10 and in 5th grade. He and Ben were able to get into one of the magnet schools here that focus on math and technology. He's adapted well (to yet another school change!) and seems to be liking it. He is also in football again this year. They have their first official game of the season this Saturday. He's also been into making movies from still photos and of course video games! He is still just as sweet as ever!

Ben is 6 and started 1st grade this week. He's got 2 little best friends (that are brothers) that just live a few houses down and the 3 of them are inseperable! He is just all boy and is always on some sort of "adventure" - yesterday they went treasure hunting around the block and came home with both pockets full of interesting things! LOL he took Swimming lessons this summer and also learned how to read (my mom - the reading teacher - taught him when she came out to help with the girls).

Nathan is about to have a birthday - next week :) He'll be the big 2! he's a big *blankie* boy (and is quite attached to his binky! eeeks!) He thinks it's fun to try and be like a big boy and chase after his brothers and automatically just includes himself with whatever they're doing. I really thought he'd have a big adjustment when the girls were born (he was 19.5 months when they were born...) but he has taken them under his wing and is seriously the sweetest to them! He also LOVES throwing and catching balls (any kind... but mostly footballs).

As for me... I gave birth to twins. big twins at that! enough said.just kidding... actually things have gone SOOOO MUCH better than either John or I had anticipated. Truthfully, we both think it is so fun to have twins and think that all children should come in pairs! LOL I've taken a little break from designing (I actually started my *break* back in February - by that point I just didn't have the energy to keep it up anymore) but am planning on getting back to it here before too long. Besides my own personal store, I've been approached to sell at another digital store and have pretty much accepted their offer :) I'll tell you more about it as it gets closer...

and last, but not least.... the girls! Aubrie and Lexi are now over 4 months old and doing just as well as can be! They are both about 13 pounds right now. Lexi started rolling over (she does both back to tummy and tummy to back) but Aubrie is showing no interest - LOL. So if I ever leave them on the couch, I always put Aubrie next to the edge to be a barricade for Lex :) A typical day is like this:

6:30am - up and quick bottle before heading out the door for our morning walk at 6:50 with Tina.

7:30-8:30 - we're back from our walk and they just hang out while I scramble around getting everyone off to school

8:30-11:30 - they both take a morning nap

11:30 - eat

11:45-1:30 - play time. We sing together, they'll have tummy time, swing, interact with each other in their bumbo's or just snuggle (my favorite!)

1:30-4:00 - afternoon nap

4:00 - eat and then more play time (at this point, everyone's home from school and the boys will often times "play" with them while I'm getting dinner ready)

5:30 - bath time and then thier bedtime bottle

6:00 - off to bed

Aubrie has been sleeping through the night (6pm - 6:30am) for about 6-7 weeks now (hooray!) and Lexi gets up 1-2x's a night for a bottle. Then the next day we get up and pretty much do the same thing. They really are such a joy and a blessing to us! I take so many photos of them it isn't even funny! Last month alone, I took over 3,000 photos of them! Thank goodness for digital technology - hehehhe... Here are some pics that I took this week with a feather boa that john's mom brought for me to wear at my birthday dinner last week. Aren't they too sweet!

and just in case these weren't enough photos for you of (of the girls).. here Part 1 of their First year video I'm making...