Happy Third Birthday, Kinsley

What do you get when you bring a vivacious 3 year old and a four-eyed aardvark to a birthday party? I'm not sure, but whatever it is we have pictures of it. Andrea was the talent behind this masterful work also known as "Arthur- The Life of an Aardvark" or in the underground world of cake decorating as Arthur Spice (it really was spice cake!). Okay, Andrea has given me the hint that I am getting too verbose and over-the-top. Arthur is Kinsley's favorite character and she was thrilled to have her very own Arthur cake.

Kinsley was so excited to blow the candles out this year. She talked about it all day and when the moment finally arrived, we thought she might hyperventilate. Kinsley was successful in blowing out all three of her candles. Lately when people have asked Kinsley how old she was going to be she would say: "three months old." But yesterday she finally got it right and told everyone that she is "THREE YEARS OLD" as she hold up her hand, trying hard to only have three fingers in the air.

For all of you readers of the blog who think time is going by fast, it really is. It wasn't that long ago that Kinsley was just a little baby, now she is 3, going on 30. This became more apparent and alarming when Grandma asked Kinsley what she got for her birthday, to which she replied "a boy toy"(calm down folks for Kinsley the Barbie car we bought her is a boy toy because it is blue). Kinsley was also very excited for her other gifts: the Cinderella purse, My Little Pony, and sidewalk chalk. After the cake was eaten, she requested to go outside and draw on the patio. She talked about her birthday all day today so we know she had a great time.

We hope that everyone has had a great Mother's Day and we're glad you took the time to look at our blog. Happy Birthday Kinsley, we love you!!!!

Check it out!

Just in case you missed the post about my photography biz or you haven't checked the blog out lately here's the link. Just trying to spread the word :)

www.youreverycolorphotography.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday GRANT!

Here are a couple newborn pics. Look how much he's grown!

I can't believe my sweet boy is already one! Wow does the time fly. We just had a simple party with some of our friends. Grant really enjoyed his cake as it was his very first experience with sugar. We let him have it long enough to make a huge mess of himself and get in a bite or two. He really enjoyed his birthday song. He started grinning and clapping excitedly once everyone began singing. He got a little Elmo guitar which he carries around all the time now dancing to the songs it plays. Kinsley was quick to ask for her turn after Grant opened the gift but I was impressed with the level of patience she exercised. She was a great sport about letting it be Grants special day. I love the picture of Shawn dancing while Grant was opening his gift. What a goof! We love you!

Grant hasn't started walking yet but he's really close. He likes to grab our bar stools or kitchen chairs and use them as walkers. Now that we have hardwoods it's easy for him to glide across the floor. He has three teeth, although one of them is big enough to be considered two. We call it his dinosaur or mammoth tooth. Grant loves to climb on everything. He spends most of his time getting in (and falling off of) Kinsley's toddler bed. He loves to wave and try to communicate with every new face. He's already proving to be as social as his sister.

We love you G-man Happy Birthday!

to see more pics from his party visit our family web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam

My Photography Blog

The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here! Okay really it's the moment I've been waiting for. I've been working on this blog for what seems like forever. After lots of portfolio building and much more to come I'm finally ready to make my site public. It's been interesting trying to make a blog work like a website. I know what you're thinking why doesn't she just get a web page? Money, money, money, plus writing the html code, getting it to look just how I want it--there's just not time for that right now. We'll without further adieu here's the link: http://www.youreverycolorphotography.blogspot.com/ Why Your Every Color? Not only is it one of my all time favorite songs by Train, but it's really at the heart of what I do: working to capture the moment, our uniqueness, our every color. Check it out and PLEASE, please, please leave your comments, your constructive criticism, share it with your friends, etc.

Happy blogging everyone!

Andrea :)

My New Favorite Movie

I rented and saw this movie last night and just had to write a post about it. I remember seeing the previews for it several months back and it was one of those films I just knew I would like. My goal was to get out to the theatre and see the movie, but going to the movies isn't the easiest thing to get around to doing when you have young kiddos. Anyway I loved it, loved it, loved it!!!!! I can't emphasize it enough. The music in the film was beautiful, the cinematography was breathtaking and the story was uplifting, charming, fairy-tale like, and inspiring. I'm sure some of you won't feel the same way, or may perhaps think it was overly sentimental and cheezy and to you I say you're crazy! This movie is wonderful! Go and buy it!

I also need to add-in this picture of Grant I took a few days ago. I just love it. He is such a good looking kid! Grant turns 1 year on the 20th. Watch for the "Ode To Grant" post coming soon.....

More About Kiki

7:13 A.M. A model like me needs to prepare herself for a day of 'shooting'. I find it best to start of with some good funny faces to help stretch out the face muscles that will be used so much throughout the day. If you click on this picture you will see a larger image of my morning excercise experience. I find the disproportionate reflection in the kitchen faucet keeps me grounded. When you are as cute as I am you have to do 'little things' like this to remember that it isn't all about you--even though it is. I follow my facial exercises with a hearty helping of my mothers made-from-scratch pancakes and maple syrup (nothing grows a sweet smile better than maple syrup).

10:31 A.M. The clouds well overhead now and I think I am getting a cloud burn. The clouds here are so strong you can feel them beating down on you all day long. Every now and then the sun pokes through and lightens things up, but that is a rarity. For sensitive skin like mine I would suggest a cloud screen of 15 or 30. You can never be too careful. I once knew a kid who never put on cloud screen and now he lives in Utah.
In my spare time,
I have started to rhyme.
I think I might write,
a poem one night.

1:35 P.M. After a quick lunch of gourmet macaroni and cheese and animal crackers (I have to keep my girlish figure, but I am soooo craving a cheeseburger). I am hard at work flexing my cute muscle. Back to my career as a poet, I have recently strarted my own version of Itsy Bitsy Spider (this is actual text from one of my brillant renditions)
Itsy bitsy spiders went up the water spout
Faster, faster, hooray they all did shout,
10 little spiders got ready to go,
But the itsy bitsy spider was moving very slow.

4:05 P.M. The afternoon breeze has picked up just in time to get the shot of the day. Oh I was such a good model for mommy!
P.S. Daddy really wrote this post. So no more comments about how clever mommy is with her writing. We all know who the funny one is in the family....LOL. While parts of the story may have been dramatized, Andrea really does make from scratch pancakes and syrup every morning and Kinsley really is making up her own rhyming songs.

Easter 2008

We had such a wonderful Easter holiday. Shawn had spring break the whole week and it was marvelous. The Monday before Easter we went to the Baughs to dye easter eggs for FHE. This was Kinsleys first experience with easter eggs and we couldn't pull her away. She loved coloring on each of the eggs and ended up doing 24! We just couldn't get her to stop. The primary activity was the Saturday before and Kinsley was able to go on an easter-egg-hunt throughout the church building. We didn't do anything special Easter morning but instead waited until the afternoon, as we were having friends over. We also were graced with the pleasure (okay really the stress) of speaking in church that day. Shawns talk was on the atonement and mine on forgiveness. I think we did well. It's always nerve racking speaking in front of a new ward.

Shawn prepared and incredible turkey dinner and I did the fruit salad (tough job, I know LOL). Our friends brought over some candy filled plastic eggs and together with the hardboiled eggs we had quite the hunt. Kinsley and our friends son dashed around the house. Once Kinsley figured out that the plastic eggs had candy in them she wanted nothing to do with the harboiled eggs she had put so much effort into decorating. After the hunt was over we told the kids they could have a little candy after dinner. Kinsley however found some way to smuggle some chocolate. She would have been successful in her secretive indulgence had she remembered to wipe the chocolate off her face before joining the group again.

What a great Easter holiday!

To see more photos from Easter visit our web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/Easter2008

My Projects

There aren't any big events to write about this week and I don't have any new pics that I've taken of the kiddos so I thought I'd write a little about what projects I've been working on.

As most of you know I've been trying to get a photography business up and running. I've got a blog set-up now but there aren't many pictures on it yet. I'll give all of you the link once its ready. I had a photo shoot last Saturday with two senior girls from my old ward. I asked them to come be models for me to help build my portfolio. I took them to Snohomish, a little historic town just 20 minutes away. We had so much fun! Here are a few pics, these aren't necessarily my favs but some random ones I picked out of the like 50 million I took, LOL. None of them have been edited yet. I just need to do a few color corrections. One day I'll get this whole camera exposure thing down! I'll post a lot more on my photo blog shortly.

I've also been trying to get little girls accessories business going. Its called Little Lilies. Here's is a sneak peak of some of the flower hair clips I've been making. They're my staple product but I'll also be selling headbands, and tutu's as well. I'm in the process of figuring out which company to use to process customer credit card payments. Once I get that squared away I'll be ready to launch my little online biz. I'm still selling Layers clothing too and have had a couple of parties recently. I have two more booked for this month and I can't wait! The new spring line is super cute. Oh I've been busy but I'm having a blast. Seriously I don't know where I find the time. I'm really being blessed!

Sunshine Kiki

Here's my beautiful daughter. I just thought I should write this post about how wonderful she is. Although some days are full of time-outs, tantrums (sometime from me, LOL), and other challenges she's my little sunshine--my KiKi Kristine. Her nickname is KiKi because that's how she first started pronouncing her name. It stuck and now I call her that often. She is full of so much life, such enormous personality. She's really into making up her own songs these days. She walks around the house with the kitchen whisk in hand and sings songs about her toys, Granty-Goo (the nickname she coined for Grant), her lunch, etc. She's really into her dolls and stuffed animals too. She's always putting them down for naps or feeding them. I just love her imagination. Her new favorite word is "natural". She say things like "mom I have natural hair." It's really fun listening to her vocabulary expand. She also begins many of her sentences with "perhaps". She says, "perhaps we can play in the back yard today", or "perhaps I can have a candy" followed by heavy batting of the eyelashes. Other than playing in her new backyard her favorite thing to do is read her stories. It seems like most of the day I'm reading her a story or she's flipping through the pages on her own. One of her favorite books is a composition of short poems called "Popcorn". I picked the book up at a yard sale thinking she'd be interested sometime in the middle of elementary. She found it one day and asked me to read it to her. I told her she probably wouldn't enjoy it, but she insisted. To my great surprise she loves it and its not even rhyming verse. Maybe she'll grow up to be an author someday, or at least have an appreciation for good literature. I'm so thrilled she enjoys books as much as I do and hope that she continues to have that love for years to come.

Speaking of stories she likes to tell stories too. Her story telling is actually what inspired me to write this post tonight. I had one of those I-love-being-a-mom moments in the car after she began telling a story to Grant. I forgot to turn on the radio, we usually listen to Veggie Tales so I think the silence prompted her to start. It was an exciting rendition of the "Three Little Pigs" accompanied by the loud roaring voice of the Big Bad Wolf and the tiny high pitched shriek's of the Three Pigs. The way she said "not by the hair of my chiny, chin, chin" sent Grant into bursts of laughter. After she saw the reaction she was getting she told the story over and over again making us laugh again and again.

She has also become a lovely dancer. Kinsley has made up her own little routine that she begs Shawn and me to do all the time. Really "beg" was a poor choice of words. You all know I love to dance so I usually just jump right in once she gets going. It's quite the sight, Grant really enjoys watching us jump around like a bunch of monkeys. Now that we have more space she likes to pretend our living room is a swimming pool and says "come on lets swim with Grant mom". And so there I am on the living room floor kicking my feet and moving my arms with my bright, energetic, and genuine daughter. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Our New Home!

Andrea here, Shawn actually wrote the last post--that's why it was super clever :) I'm back, promise! Sorry I've been gone for so long. I really have missed my blog and all of my super readers! Life has been nearing the brink of insanity since January. We got home from Utah and two days later Shawn, Kinsley and Grant all got the plague. Unfortunately for the kids it took a turn for the worse and we were in the docs office with ear infections and bronchiolitis. Lets just say I had my work cut out for me taking care of the family. While sick Grants waking up 4 times a night turned into six so I was running on two hours of sleep. Plus I started potty training Kinsley the day we got home having no idea that she was going to be sick two days later. We plowed through and she is fully potty trained, yippee! By that Friday I thought I was some sort of super human, with super immunity but alas I contracted the plague too and was stuck toughing it out while juggling the family responsibilities. Shawn helped out as much as he could but with work and school nagging him, it was virtually impossible for him to be home. Lucky for us we have fabulous friends who brought in dinners, helped with the kiddos once they were better, and assisted in priesthood blessings. Oh I love our friends, thanks guys. Now onto the story of the house..........

While we were horribly ill our realtor had scheduled an open house. We thought about cancelling it and had every reason in the world to, but felt like we should go through with it anyway. So we cleaned the place up with every last ounce of energy we had and headed out. The worst part about it was that we were confined to our car. It was on a Sunday so we could'nt go out shopping. And Waiting it out at a friends place was out of the question too, as we were all highly contagious. So fevered and chilled we all hopped in the car and drove around for three hours. We found some great places to take photographs and I actually had a photo shoot yesterday in one of the locations we spotted that day. When the coast was clear we returned home to find that several people had come to take a look at our place. It was the most successful open house since we put our place on the market back in June. One of the couples who viewed the home that day actually made an offer. We accepted, went house hunting (while sick), found the house of our dreams ( I found it Shawn was at school), and started packing. Three days before we were scheduled to close our buyers backed out! We don't really know what happened. Their story was kind of fishy and complex. All a great plot to get their earnest money back.! So needless to say I cried, and cried, and cried thinking that I had lost this house and that I was going to have to unpack. We spent one night in agony (okay so I realize I'm being dramatic) before our lender let us know that our financing would work without the sale of our condo. Good news??? Yes and no. We were obviously able to go through with the deal and close on this beautiful house but now we're stuck with our condo that just won't sell and two huge mortgage payments. We put it up for rent and have decided that we'll take whatever happens first: a buyer or a renter.

So here we are pinching pennies but loving, loving, loving our new house! As if Shawn wasn't busy enough he is now working Saturdays to get some overtime and I'm furiously working to get my photography business up and running to make some extra side cash. I'm also still selling Layers and I've started making hair bows too. I'll post the link for that website soon. Tough times, but we have faith. I really believe everything happens for a reason and I know I'll have a great story to tell years from now. Apparently I think it's great now since I've been rambling and rambling, ha ha!

Onto the brighter side of the story. Here are some pictures of my cute place. It's 2200 sq. ft., 4 Beds, and 3 Baths. These are the pictures from the house listing. I intend to take some better shots later once I have the place decorated. The pictures I've included are some of my favorite things about the house. The first: the house itself, the second: my beautiful kitchen, the third: my soaking tub, and the final: my huge walk-in closet. Ahh.... I just love it. Our fourth bedroom is also large enough for my future photo studio and is currently serving as a playroom/craftroom. We're in a cul-da-sac and the neighborhood playground is at the end of the road. The house is just two miles away from Boeing so Shawn it takes Shawn two minutes to get to work. Anyway I could go on forever and won't bore all of you with the details.

So that's it. That's the big, BIG recap on what's been going on with the Sorensens. Sorry it took me so long to post. Moving is really hectic! Love and miss you all!

Let the People be Heard

I have been waiting for my parents to write a blog post for over a month now. I have been good, taken naps, smiled for the camera and even attemped to walk, but no matter what I do it seems like they are just 'too busy.' That's okay, I will take matters into my own small hands (which let me tell you-with only a 2 inch span, typing is tough). I have taken control of this blog and changed the password. So take a look at these new pics of myself and leave a comment if you like the new 'management.'
I am my own man! You may think that I am needing my dad's help in this picture to walk, but actually, if you look closer you will notice the clump of mud and grass that I have in my mouth. I had tricked my dad into thinking he needed to help me walk while I chomped down on some of my new backyard. It is tasty, not to mention nutritious- Grandma Sorensen would be proud of my 'green meal.'
Sorry to steal your spotlight Granty-Goo, but make room for your big sis! I want everyone to know how much I love my new back yard. My backyard is full of great things to discover and explore. I have a retaining wall of large rocks that has ferns growing out of it. I have a whole bunch of grass that I can run on (notice I didn't say eat- I am much more sophisticated than my baby brother!).There are a bunch of great plants too. We have a cherry tree in the south-west corner of our lot, along with various flowering plants. I can't wait for springtime when they all start to bloom. I even have rose bushes, but you have to watch out for the 'ouchies' that grow on them.
Can your back yard to this? I have jumped up and down all over this back yard and I am sure that there are no neighbors below who can hear me jumping- quite an improvement from the condo.