It's not a good party until...

Somebody gets a wig made out of COTTON CANDY!!!

Peytonism at end of post alert!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Callie and Cole's 13th Birthday with a SURPRISE birthday party at a local dairy farm that makes it's own ice cream. I had called a bunch of their friends (by getting their numbers off of the kids cell phones) and we had friends and family too. Ruth and Ron (Matt's parents) brought Callie and Cole to the party so we were able to surprise them (well Callie at least...Cole had an inkling even though I had lied my behind off when he confronted me). My sister Brandy took care of a TON of the party before hand: getting the cotton candy machine, ordering the cupcakes, getting really cool balloons that were like 3 feet tall that were a 1 and a 3 although they kept reading 31. Luckily the farm has live music on Sundays so it truly felt like a PARTY! The place gets INSANE busy on the weekend with the line snaking out of the door all the way to the parking lot and we found out that it was a mistake that they let us book a party on a weekend. OOPPSS. It was so fun because the kids could just run in the fields of tall grass, play frisbee and just goof off without being a problem.

I had a candy buffet for Cole, that kid's teeth are surely gonna fall out by the time he's twenty! I think they had a really great time :-)

A LOT of the adults couldn't wait to use the cotton candy machine...I didn't know I had so many friends who were "CARNIES" at heart! The other funny thing is we had two boys (who shall remain nameless but their names MAY start with a N) who decided it was easier to use the VERY tall grass to relieve themselves of some fluids! LOL Ummm....boys will be boys?

It's Peytonism time! After the recital on Saturday, I was crypticly speaking to someone on the phone while Peyton was in the car. I THOUGHT I did an okay job of not really mentioning anything that would tip her off. When I got off of the phone, she started badgering me with questions about my phone conversation. I tried to throw her off but she just wasn't buying it. Finally, Matt starts to tell her. He explains that I'll just be out of the hospital when Callie and Cole have their real birthday, so we called a bunch of their friends from school, yadda yadda yadda and so on and so forth. She get's SO excited and animatedly asks us questions about the party, who's coming, where is it, etc. She exclaims that they are "JUST GOING TO LOVE IT!" Here's the ringer....then she's says

wait for it

wait for it

"Are Callie and Cole going to be there?"

Blonde people. I swear, she shoulda been blonde!

More B-day Pics

Here's a few more photos from the party. I have a LOT of photos of the kids from their school but I don't want to post them without permission.

RECITAL DAY!

Yesterday was my girls recital for dance. It's the day that they work up to for MONTHS. This year, because Matt and my Ruth, my m.i.l. have been taking the girls to dance wayyyy more than I have, it was extra fun to see the show. Callie was in 3 dances, tap (which is the costume she has on the the closeup, she danced to a medley of 80's songs), ballet and lyrical which is what she's doing in the stage photo. Peyton danced in Tap to Green Acres and Keith Urban's "somebody like you". The who show had a "channel surfing" theme so it was super cute! They both did so awesome and we were so very proud. Callie had to be exhausted last night because she danced in both shows yesterday.

I think Peyton likes nothing better than being on stage...well you probably already guessed that by her personality! Callie ROCKED and was so much more relaxed than she has been before! Way to go GIRLS!

Speechless...

On the Today show this morning, I saw a little blurb about this website, www.pimpthisbum.com and a bit of his story. The kids were talking and we were in the middle of the morning madness and I was still waiting for my coffee to take effect. When I had a minute, I quickly checked it out. It's truly enthralling. Totally grabs you and doesn't let you go. I'm not even going to tell you more about it, you MUST check it out because even by visiting the page, you are helping homeless people. Let's just say Tim over there is going to steal your heart and so are the guys that thought enough to make a difference in just one person's life. Amazing!

In other uplifting news: well for me anyway. When I went to my spine class, I learned that I'm not having the surgery where they go in through the front (tummy) or the one where they go in directly over the spine (called posterior). I'll have 2 incisions and I'm having 2 types of instrumentation. So after May 6th I officially only want to be referred to as Robo-Robyn. Really. Naw, just kidding. So between the titanium in my neck and whatever the heck these things in the lumbar are made of ( I know one is titanium but I don't know about the other) I should be setting off alarms at the court house and airport! When she told me, she made me so happy, it truly made my day. She (the nurse) couldn't really explain the procedure to me as much because she wasn't as familiar with the instrumentation as she is with others. But I did my research when I got home. It's pretty fascinating stuff. Although it'd be a bit more fascinating if it was happening to someone I didn't know! :-) I feel like I'm going to have to start talking like Arnold from the Terminator. I'll be baack.

LOVE this!

Here's just one shot from my friend's wedding the other week...I LOVE it. Weddings always make me happy!

Quick little Levi update: Remember yesterday I mentioned that we are constantly asking, "What's (insert Dog name here) eating!?". This morning I heard Cole ask Callie the infamous question and she oh so nonchalantly said, "squirrel". Before you freak, it's not real. We have two not so stuffed animals for them, one is a squirrel and the other is a weasel or something. We refer to them as "road-kill" because that's what they totally look like. We bought them at Petsmart and they come without any stuffing which is a GREAT thing if you have a dog that likes to take the stuffing out.

Today I am attending a "spine class", at my neurosurgeon's office. It's a pre-requisite to my anterior laminectomy lumbar fusion with instrumentation. Man I sound smart and medical when I say that, don't I? It's 2 weeks from today. I have to stop my MEGA DOSE of anti-inflammatory in a couple days. So my family is expecting me to be a MEGA WITCH, well even more than normal lately. I'm sure I won't dissapoint. :-)

Ohhhhh, in other exciting WHIMAGES blog news...I'm going to have guest bloggers while I'm out. That way you won't have to listen to me drone on and on about my back issues, my kids, my dogs, my photos and whatever else you come here to listen to me drone about. Should be fun, huh?

I like orange. ;-)

A day in the life of a death wish dog.

*****EDIT**** I have to share this with you: Every morning when I walk Peyton to the bus stop, I have to but the terrible twosome away because even though I'm only gone 5 minutes, the mischief, mayhem and chaos that happens in those few short minutes is equal to Armageddon. Well, almost. This morning I was chatting on the phone and then ran a few minutes late, so against better judgement, I didn't put them away. I came home and Levi had gotten onto the counter and taken eggs out of Peyton's basket that were filled with playdoh. He ATE 3 EGGS FULL OF PLAYDOH. YUM!
I've been compiling a list of all the bad things Levi has done ( along with his sweet faced yet more than willing to join in companion, Cosmo). I've misplaced it. I have a sign in my kitchen that says "Those who are organized, are just too lazy to look for things." Ummm, yeah that sums me up right now. Well, I've always been disorganized but I normally LOOK for things. The medicines that keep me semi-functional (many people probably are begging to differ at this point...because of the muscle relaxants, my speech has gotten pretty sloppy, lol) just zap any energy out of my dilapidated body. Okay, stepping away from the tangent...about the list, I'm going by memory here, I know there are WAY more things but I'll add them later.

I keep ice-packs on my back a large part of the day. I've got the fancy-schmancy one (made of some type of space age NASA astronaut clay) all the way down to the old triple ziplock bag full of corn. As a side note, the clay one works like crap...it's super fun to squish but never really gets cold enough for my taste and doesn't stay cold. One of my favorites (other than the corn! LOL) was a bag of PEAZ. They are sold at CVS and look like a bag of silicon-ish cobalt blue peas. They got nice and cold, stayed cold and were a great size plus were cheap. One day, I was sitting on my foyer steps with the bag of PEAZ on my back waiting for a friend to come pick me up. As I left, I put the PEAZ on the banister railing and yelled to the big kids to please put the PEAZ back in the freezer. When I came back, I went to the freezer to get my PEAZ, simultaneously Peyton asked what Levi was eating. If you spend ANY amount of time in my house, you will hear "What is (insert Dog name here) eating?!!!" at any given moment. As I rushed to see, he quickly swallowed the remnants of his contraband. I searched for clues around the area and only found one small piece of clear heavy but pliable plastic. OH GOD! MY PEAZ! He ate the daggone PEAZ. I quickly called CVS and hastily explained my problem
and pleaded with the clerk to read the packaging to me. Luckily, they were non-toxic but who KNOWS what the things are made of. Because what goes in must come out, we (meaning the
twins because this Momma is DONE with doggie doody duty) found a very nice mound of PEAZ in the backyard. Oddly enough the individual PEAZ had swollen to like 5 times their initial size. Nice.

* Let's see...I think I already shared on here about the loaves of bread he ate that I had rising on the top of the dryer.
*Too many crayons to count. It sure helps the kids when they have doody duty!
*He likes to vomit up bits of toys in the nite. Those are fun to step on when you make the midnight run to the potty. Wet stuffed animal goo between your toes. Nice.
* 2 Nora Roberts paperbacks he used like chew-bones (not to mention the TWILIGHT movie companion he ruined a couple months back!) At least they were still readable, I just couldn't take them out in public.
*Another pack of sugar-free gum. Remember people, if the gum has xylitol in it, it can be DEADLY so don't buy it if you have a canine gum chewer like Mr. Levi.

These are all photos of the doggies today. Notice that Levi is the only one truly awake. He's plotting his next bit of mayhem. But he is a sweeeeeet boy. Macy, our princess, is wondering why I haven't covered her with the blanket. Coz can barely open his eyes enough to see what I'm doing. YES, he still has the doo dads, I promise they are on my list of things to have taken care of.


Look for my next post...I went to a friend's wedding and snapped a few shots....she looked lovely!

Me Me Me

The kids went back to school today. I love having them home but I love having them go back too! :-) Yesterday the girls and I went to the Hannah Montana movie. It really was SO good. I LIKE Miley Cyrus. I'm not afraid to say it. I think her parents are doing a great job with her so far and I've enjoyed watching her grow up on Hannah Montana. I think her parents do a really good job of trying to keep it "real" with her amid the chaos that must be the life of growing up in Hollywood. I even got teary eyed a couple times during the movie and I'm not a cryer and it wasn't because I was sitting in one spot too long (as the kid behind me can attest, I moved around in my seat more than a 5 year old with a movie-cup full bladder).

^----This one here is going to make her father and I crazy. Like shot gun at the door crazy. I don't have to pose her at all when shooting and these head tilt shots she gives me just come naturally to her. I'm really not sure it's always a great thing! The Me Me Me earrings are from a delightful Maryland artist I found on Etsy.com and completely suit little Ms. THANG to a T. I know I've told you about Etsy a million and 2 times but I promise it is THE PLACE TO SHOP for unique and ultra cool stuff especially for presents!

7 year photo shoot and clever Cole

Clever Cole was so proud to show me that he figured out how to get his calculator to spell BOOBIES. Ummm. Great. If you are curious it's 5318008 upside down. 7th grade humor is just so funny if you are in 7th grade! During Peyton's 7 year photo shoot, Cole was able to be coaxed into a couple poses so I'm sure he must want something from me. Callie looked super cute but you'll never see that because she wouldn't get out of the jeep for ANY photos! I love these hormones! NOT!

I finally had a nice day that coincided with a day that I felt I could tackle a little photo shoot for Peyton's 7th birthday photos. I had to beg for smiles because, "models don't really smile much, Mom!". I think the tongue shot is probably my favorite though!

Shinedown and some randomness (I'm relatively famous for my random thoughts-at least in my own mind)

For our anniversary ~16 years in a couple weeks~(you know cause we are big spenders and like the finer things in life and stuff...we've gone to Friendly's before at the kids request so you KNOW we're all fancy~shmancy) we went to see SHINEDOWN at Rams Head Live. This is the second time seeing them (also for our anniversary!) there and it is definately my FAVORITE venue to see a band and my favorite band to see perform. AWESOME, AWESOME. AWESOME. Always such a great concert. We were right up next to the stage, like literally NEXT to the stage, just a little fence thingy and some space seperating us. My husband snagged me a stool to sit on cause he loves me like that and you know the whole flippan back thing that I don't want to think about. I normally wouldn't have been able to do this but it was SHINEDOWN so I HAD to go! :-)

In other randomness:

*the terrible twosome (Levi and and his sweet faced-facaded partner Cosmo) chewed up one of my favorite Eliza B flip flops in the middle of the night. They got it out of the closet and I woke to shreads of black flip flop across the room.
*Peyton asked me what Breeding meant. So I told her it was like when two rabbits got together and made more. And she said, "more what? money?"
*My niece Grace found a coin and happily showed it to my sister Brandy and then told her it had GEORGE WASHMYCHIN on the back of it.
*Before leaving for the concert last night, the kids were all semi- jealous because they all love Shinedown too. I haven't really given them the choice considering I listen to the songs all the time. Peyton wanted me to make sure I told them that "they rock!".
*my surgery date was moved to early in May due to my pain level and the neurosurgeon thought it would be better. Callie and Cole weren't too happy (It's okay to be relatively self-centered at 13) (Heck, what am I talking about, I feel like I've been self-centered since July and the infamous getting out of bed and totally whacking my back episode) An annoyed Cole wanted to know if he could call me surgeon and complain. :-)
*I like orange

She's SEVEN! AND a Peytonism for you.

Little Miss P turned 7 over the weekend. She commemorated the event with a Princess Tea Party, a dance party (to the Jonas Bros....who else?) and a slumber party. As you see the girls had a blast (I only let you dance on the couch at a party...so do be alarmed), Levi joined in the fun with his boxer yodle and dance moves and Tina stopped by in her hospital scrubs 'cause she's certainly not one to miss a Princess party (notice her Tiara!).

Speaking of Peyton, here's a little Peytonism that happened last night. Peyton likes to put off her homework as long as possible and last evening was not an exception. We finally started it and I was more than a bit annoyed with her dilly-dallying getting the stuff out. She decides to have Daddy help her instead of me. Of course, I'm just terribly upset about that. Not. She had to read, and spell some power words and then tell an adult a sentence with them. The first word was KNOW. Her sentence was: "Now I know to start my homework early so Mom doesn't get pissed." After we stopped laughing (and explained that pissed should not be a word in her vocabulary) we did not let her write that one down. I don't think it would have gone over well with her Teacher.

sorry to say

So as you know, I've not had the best back in the world lately. My husband says when they were giving out bodies in heaven, mine must have come off the clearance rack. :-)

I'm a chin up, glass half full, rose-colored glass kinda chick. Well, I want to be. I try to be. Whimages has brought me more joy than I EVER could have imagined (except for that whole computer crashing fiasco). I LOVE photography and I can't imagine NOT taking photos. That being said, I am going to have to make it a HOBBY.

If you've ever seen me shoot a session, you know I kinda get goofy and my adrenaline gets pumping and I contort myself into all kinds of positions to get "THE SHOT". While I'm all pumped up for the session, I'm not really feeling the pain so much. Then I get in the car and...WOW. Now I've got specific Dr. orders...no more working not that I have been but well you know I kept hoping I could. Email me if you have any questions. I'll still post photos on here that I take in my HOBBY time etc.

Random Schtuff

*This was in the sky while we were in Disney...love it love it love it! I also love the pink sunflare to the right of the smiley.
*Still don't have my computer back...ticking me off at this point
*I swear I can see Cole growing in front of my eyes like one of those Kudzu vines that grows like a foot an hour or something crazy.
*On the way to the dentist this week, Peyton wanted to know if they were going to Tazer her.
*I am in love with Facebook
* I love how Peyton still occassionally forgets and calls the thin straps on her nightgown noodle straps. (spaghetti straps)
*I can't WAIT till my spring sessions are in full swing (ALTHOUGH you should know I'm going to be keeping a light schedule because of my flippan' 80 year old back, so keep that in mind if you want to schedule)
*I just can't wait for spring the cold is depressing me.
*I have to immediately go to the RIGHT now at Target so I don't look at the clothes for the girls.
*I really hate not working
*My kids EAT all the snacks I buy at the grocery in the first two days.
*I have to hide chocolate and candy from my children so that Matt and I will have a stash.
*I have the absolute best family (you know who you are) and friends(that are more like family again, you know who you are) ever. They put up with my crap.
*Our twins are almost teens. Lord help us.
*Cole has had two clean dental visits in a row. This is a miracle because I swear the plaque grows on his teeth like mold on blue cheese.
*I'm currently obsessed with box tops for Peytons class. You can send me yours if you want.
*My husband is a gem.
*The Twilight Movie CD comes out March 21st. I've pre-ordered it. Duh
*I am that person in line that you hate who still writes paper checks.
*Callie is blossoming before our eyes into such a beautiful young lady.
*Yesterday Levi and Cosmo were playing in the backyard. Cosmo has/had a lovely sage green and brown paisley adjustable collar from his previous placement. Levi "adjusted" it for him while playing and he came in with a large segment going across his mouth from one side to the other like Hannibal Lector. I kept picturing him calling me "CLARISSE".
* I have sucessfully used: I, my and me almost as many times as Kate from John and Kate plus 8 does in about 10 minutes of an episode.

Pump up the party! AND let's order some SNUGGIES!

If I was a little Hawaiian girl, I could look this cute and wear a lei and dance dance dance the hula till the cows come home. Well there probably aren't any cows in Hawaii, maybe till the pineapples are ripe. Not as catchy but...

Whimages wants YOU to know that I will be spring shooting MARCH, APRIL and 3 weeks of MAY. So if you are thinking of getting your spring portraits of your sweet little hoodlums soon, you might want to call me. Or if you want that new puppy pic or your family chillin out in the fresh green grass, shoot me a mail~!

SORT OF IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
I more than likely will NOT be shooting this summer after the end of May. If you have been following THE NOT SO INTERESTING SAGA OF ROBYN'S BACK, then you'll know why. I spoke with my Neurosurgeon (I don't know if you are supposed to capitalize the word Neurosurgeon but HECK, if I had gone to school all those years to be poking around peoples spinal cords and brain goo I'd want to be capitalized. FO SHO). He will be doing a lumbar laminectomy, discectomy and spinal fusion at the end of May. Judging by my discogram, he said that if I just had the discectomy, I'd probably be back in 6 months for the fusion anyway. All these ECTOMYS are crazy. What I REALLY need is a flabectomy, or a skinnyectomy or givememoneyectomy but those are not in my cards I guess. I can't play cards anyway. Well except for GO FISH but who CAN'T play that. With a twelve week recovery, I'm guessing I won't be picking up my camera except for my family.

In other fascinating Bedsaul news...our furnace broke sometime in the night on Sunday. My handy-dandy Dad diagnosed (he always wanted to be a doctor) the problem and went to get the part. Unfortunately, as fate would have it as always when it comes to these types of matters, it will take up to 3 days to get it in. Our gas fireplace has been running double time. I'm thinking about ordering SNUGGIES( https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next?tag=ossmgotm ) for everyone in the family. They'll keep us all warm, we'll STILL be able to answer the phone (even when you call to make your portrait appointment~ that's like a subliminal message or something) PLUS we'll have them when we go to all the sporting events we go to(we really don't). I'll also look like a totally hot mom walking to the bus-stop in the morning with my snuggie and crocs on and my bed head and sleep wrinkled face. Maybe I can wear it to watch the girls dance. Maybe I'll even join the snuggie cult I saw on you tube. I'm not going to link that because as laugh my butt off funny and politically incorrect as well as crass and a horde of other inappropriateness as it is, I just can't bring myself to post it. I will NOT link it. (There's always google though)

Do my run on sentences bother you? :-)

Mason's B-day, Bruno and a DISCOGRAM!

We celebrated my nephew Mason's 2'nd Birthday over the weekend. Being the awesome aunt I am, we gave him a really cool percussion set with snare drum, harmonica, sticks, marracas etc. He loves it and giving him this fantasticly loud and potentially annoying gift has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my sister used to purchase similarly obnoxiously loud toys for my three children. (Like the pay as you go phone that she bought Peyton for Christmas that Peyton is forbidden to answer because obviously whomever had the number previously used it for illicet and illegal purposes that I want Peyton to not be a part of. And the fact that she has credit card companies calling her on that number offering her GREAT INTEREST RATES on a new credit card dosen't help either.) So BEAT THOSE DRUMS MASON!!!

Here is super cute little Bruno. I seriously wanted to tuck him into my coat and bring him home. Those lips, those wrinkles, that sweet puppy breath. Truly it was almost too much for me to handle! I LOVE shooting pets and puppies are just icing on the cake!

DISCOGRAM it's GROOVY BABY!

LET'S DO THE HUSTLE! STAYING ALIVE, STAYING ALIVE, AH AH AH, STAYING ALIVEEEEEE.

A discogram is so cool people! Like this guy shows up at your house and he's got this super fly afro, cool sunglasses and a leisure suit that just shows everything he's got from the large peace sign necklace nestled in the dense bed of chest hair down to his endless long legs on his platform shoes. Then he starts dancing to a melange of 70's music. All the while stripping down to one of those uber-popular speedo's. AWESOME!

Well, not really but it sounds like that's what a discogram is right? Instead they inflated 3 of my discs with contrast medium all the while monitoring my reaction and x-raying the results. I had heard horror stories about this test (google discogram message boards if you are curious). Thankfully my neurosurgeon (he walks on water. well maybe) had this FANTASTIC and gentle radiology specialist do it who made it a walk in the park. Well not quite but my last epidural injection was worse. The residual pain wasn't fun but the test was not bad at all! So now I'm just waiting to see if or when or what kind of surgery is next. EDIT!! I just spoke with the neuro's office and apparently I'm going to be scheduled for a laminectomy and lumbar fusion. (laminectomy involves bones or joints or something, not discs and fusion well is fusion). So since this is lumbar they go in through the front of my abdomen. DAMN IT~! There goes my bikini wearing days!

LOL actually my bikini wearing days have been LOOOOONG gone because of the twins but now I can blame it on that instead of the twins which was causing them all KINDS of mental distress and stuff. (I'll pretend it has nothing to do with my extra lbs)

Where to begin?

LOOOOONG post ahead alert!

We've been without a computer forever. Tina came to my rescue and lent us a computer while I work on a website for their company. If you are one of the 2 clients that's waiting for your pics...I'm just waiting on my hard drive to come back...sorry!

I wonder what you want to hear about first? I'll start with Disney. My Dad took my sister's family and my family last week. The weather was AWESOME! AWESOME! (sorry to rub it in but....it was AWESOME!) The mornings and evenings were a tad chilly but that was it! I just mainly tagged along for the ride (actually the lack there of, well the good ones at least like the rockin' coaster and space mountain). More on that in a couple paragraphs. Callie actually got on Space Mountain. TWICE! This is momentous, truly monumental in the history of fraidy cat Callie! And Grace is going to be a daredevil just like Peyton. Her two favorite rides were the Haunted Mansion and Barnstormer, she referred to that as a big girl ride! Mason thought he was as big as the rest of the crew except when a character came around...then he high-tailed it toward his mom.

A Cinderella story...sorta
Before we left I made a quick trip to Old Navy to get the girls some capri leggings and I picked up a pair of super cute silver ballet flats for Peyton. I had been looking for a pair that I liked so I snatched those up. When I came home I put them in the large bag we were checking (we only checked one because it's 15 dollars a bag...I was being bargain Betty). A while later I ran upstairs to grab something else and the terrible twosome each had a pretty little silver ballet flat as a chewbone. They were still attached to each other with elastic so the two devildogs had to lay directly next to each other to get their chew on! So I scolded them and put the now distressed silver ballet flats in the suitcase and zipped it up. Let me tell you, these ballet flats were NOT meant to be. Fourth night into the trip we had dinner reservations at Chef Mickey's with my friends Tina, Lisa and their kids and Mom. As we hopped off the monorail in the Contemporary, Peyton starts fussing((here's the Cinderella part) that she lost a shoe. So I frantically turn around and look into the crowded monorail and ask if anyone sees a little silver shoe. Then I look down the 4 inch crevice between the monorail and the platform and see a glint of silver way far down. great. I take a crying and hobbleing Cinderpeyton down to Chef Mickeys to check in and then we were off to buy some shoes. She ended up with a really cute pair of sparkly High School Musical Flip Flops. I'm still sad about the silver shoes. This could ONLY happen to Peyton.

Okay, here comes the pity party that you are all probably getting used to hearing by now. Robyn's back, yadda yadda, bla bla bla. Unfortunately, my last epidural steroid injection only lasted 5 days (so I had that GOSH DARN spinal headache for NOTHING). So my doctor loaded me up with meds and sent me off to the happiest place on earth in a pretty happy state mentally! Next week I'm having something called a discogram. They inject dye at 20psi into a good disc and measure your response. Then they try to do the same into the bad discs and measure your responses. After, they do a cat scan to see where the dye has leaked and it will show cracks or things in your disc. Then I'll know if I need a revision discectomy or a fusion or something else.