Stand for Something

I've droned on about the differences in my two girls before, so I won't elaborate too much on it here.  I will just mention that Kamryn is my strong willed, stand up to anyone, you're-not-messing-with-me girl, while Kyndall is my gentle, compassionate, you-can-have-my-cookie, lady.  I don't worry about Kamryn be taken advantage of, I worry about her taking advantage of others.  I don't worry about Kyndall being hateful to others, I worry about Kyndall being run over by stronger willed people.

My last post was all about saving moola, and if you have a chance you should check it out :)  With some of the money available from cut expenses, we signed Miss Kyn up for ballet and tap lessons.  For all who know me, I know....my daughter is a girly girl who adores dance.  It's crazy, but I honestly am loving it.  I did my best to find a studio that was NOT Dance Mom-esque.  Ugh.  I don't want to mess with all that crap drama. We found an adorable studio in Paragould that opened last fall, is taught by a super sweet lady who has a ton of experience in dance, and has a classic atmosphere with mirrors, pink walls, and a ballet bar.  Simple. Classic. Just right.  

We began a month ago, and Kyndall is really getting the hang of it.  I knew from the first lesson we had likely found *her thing*, from the look on her face when the sweet teacher taught the first move.  Are they called moves?  Positions?  Steps?  I honestly would be a terrible Dance Mom.  I'm ignorant about dance.  But Kyndall....goodness. Her entire countenance just lights up at every practice, and with every step she learns.

Look at that form :)

This week in tap, they learned the first few 8-counts of their recital number.  After practicing basics, and before beginning steps in the dance, the teacher announced, "Alright, we are going to listen to the music for your recital piece!  You girls can just listen to the music this first time."

There are four girls in this tap class.  The girl on the right and left of Kyndall immediately sat down, and Kyndall looked at each of them, slowly beginning to squat, when she realized the fourth girl was still standing.  She straightened her knees, gave her mirror image a grin, and stood tall.  About ten seconds later, the other standing deary sat down, too.

I realize I over analyze evvvvverything, but in this moment I thought about how telling her next action would be.  My fears of her being a follower, being scared to stand up for herself, being concerned more about what others think than what she wants to do or knows is right, all began to bubble in my brain.  She wanted to stand up.  I knew that from the look she gave the mirror when she realized all the girls weren't sitting.  But would she continue standing while the other girls were sitting?

My brain was heavy with thoughts, and my heart full of anxiety, over this tiny little matter.

Sit or stand?

She immediately noticed the last girl's decision to sit.  The mirror allowed me to see her wheels turning as she contemplated what to do, until a resolution crossed her face in an all out smile.  She squared her shoulders to the mirror, pulled the corners of her little skirt up in a semi-curtsy, and gleefully smiled, as she continued standing.  Her teacher let out a little laugh saying, "You can sit down to listen to the music...(and Kyndall stood even more confidently)....or stand!  Standing is great, too!"

My stander-upper

I know this doesn't mean that she will always stand for what she wants, needs, or even believes in.  I realize she may have only stood because she loves to look at herself in that little skirt.  Even with that knowledge, I felt such a hope....such a reassurance that maybe there are things I am trying to instill in her that she is taking in.  Maybe a little bit of my will, and Kyle's do-the-right-thing way are getting in there.  Maybe she will be a leader, and a little lady who is confident in herself, and what she knows to be right.

I will keep praying my prayers over her, full of requests for all of these character traits. I will continue to pray for Kamryn to learn self control and when to sit, haha.  I'll just never forget that image of all the other girls comfortably sitting, and Kyndall standing proud, and all alone.

My girlies.....Little sis doing whatever big sis does

I really love mommyhood :)

Expenses Down, Freedom Up!

I constantly stress I am no expert, and I want to make that abundantly clear with this post!  We have made our share of completely stupid bad decisions in our financial life, but we have been working the last three years to leave all that behind.  With every debt paid, every expense lowered, we breathe a little easier.

We still eat out, we still buy (some) new clothes, I tried extreme couponing for a couple months and realized I'd rather play with my girls than sit at a coupon notebook/computer/stack of sale bills in my free time.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with doing any of those things, but we just didn't want to cut back in those areas.  Here are a few things [that you probably already know] we did to really cut our expenses back:

1) Apply for income based repayment on student loans - Especially if you have children, you can likely get your loans cut back by hundreds of dollars per month.  Neat fact...if you are granted any reduction due to income based repayment for twenty years, whatever debt remains after the 20th year is forgiven!  FORGIVEN!  

2) Crunch the numbers on your health insurance plan - My hubbs is a teacher in Arkansas, so our insurance is TERRIBLE.  However, we were able to cut nearly $600/month by going with the high deductible plan and a Health Savings Account.  The zero deductible plan was $1000/month for a family, and the $3000 max deductible plan is $230.  We put $200 back each month into a tax free Health Savings Account (HSA), bringing our total to $430/month.  Don't let the giant deductibles scare you, plan for them.  The plans offered to you may not work out this way, but make sure you add it up before you commit for another year.

3)  Cut cable -  60-ish channels in our area run about $55/month after tax.  No extras, no DVR, just extended basic.  We stream Netflix and Hulu through the PS3 for $15/month total.  No commercials on Netflix, and limited on Hulu, no storage limits, plus the ability to pause each movie or series and go back and forth between everything, makes it better than DVR.  Since most DVR services and equipment rentals run $10-$15/month, I feel it's a good trade.  We've added Amazon Prime as well ($6.25/month), but not just for the shows and movies.  More on that in a bit. I know....husbands need their ESPN.  It was a hard sell at our house in the beginning, but with smart phones, and super fast internet, my hubby was able to adjust.  Now with each professional sports offering it's own supply of internet streaming games, you can pick and choose what you want and still save quite a bit of money.  I've also found that when the big games roll around, friends with cable are more than happy to have company for the games...especially if you offer to bring treats :)

4) USE AMAZON SUBSCRIBE & SAVE!! -  All of our diapers and wipes come straight to our door, every month, free shipping, with 5-15% off the bulk prices (I'm honestly unsure how they decide what discount you get.  I got 15% before we had Prime, but when I looked it up, it said save 5%).  No more running out of diapers.  No more lugging giant boxes from the shelf to your overflowing cart, to your too full car, and into your house along with the kids and groceries.  They just show up at your door.  You can change your delivery date, or skip deliveries any time you want from your amazon account.  Here's another place where Amazon Prime is great.  If you sign up for the free Amazon Mom program, have Amazon Prime, AND Subscribe & Save on diapers and wipes, you save 20% on all diapers AND get free shipping!  The Math on size 4 diapers:
Scenario                                               Price per diaper  #of Diapers in Pack    Price per Package
Diapers at Dollar stores                            $0.37                      27                             $10
Buy in bulk while grocery shopping           $0.28                     190                            $53
Subscribe & Save saving 10%                      $0.22                     190                         $42.47*
Amazon Prime+Mom+Subscribe &
     Save saving 20%                                        $0.19                     190                         $36.76*

*Amazon orignal price of 190 count is $47.19

Soooo, both my girls seemed to go through diapers like crazy.  We did the buy at the grocery store method with Kyndall, and seemed to always be grabbing $10 packs from the dollar store when we did not plan well.  Saving nearly 50% per diaper, AND having them dropped at my doorstep has been FANTASTIC this time around.  Highly recommend this money, time and sanity saver!

5) Tithe - Save money by spending it?  Whaaa? It's a God thing, plain and simple.  Malachi 3:10 spells it out "Bring the whole titheg into the storehouse,h that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgatesiof heaven and pour outj so much blessingk that there will not be room enough to store it."  I can't explain it, but I know from our personal experience and the experiences of close friends, when we give God what He's asked us to, He takes care of us. When we disobey, times are tight.  It is what it is :P

6) Pay off your car ASAP - I know good old Dave wouldn't agree here, but I'm a little middle of the road with Dave Ramsey.  I think it's great to encourage our charge-it generation to get out of debt, but when his video has him on stage, seemingly filled with the Holy Ghost over having six million dollars waiting in retirement, I feel like that's loving money too much.  I won't get any further into my Ramsey rant...not tonight.  He's helped thousands of people straighten their finances, and that really is wonderful.  ....anyway.  We decided to focus on paying off our cars before other debt because of the ratio of what we owed compared to what we paid per month.  Please note we buy used, non-loaded vehicles and have never spent over $10000 on a car (which unfortunately won't be the case after our next purchase of a 7-seater :P).  The payment on our Envoy was $300 + $160 in full coverage insurance.  After making 2 years of payments we owed about $6,000, which was close to what we got back on taxes the last year before I was self-employed (Ugh.  Hate tax time now :P).  We put our savings and tax return to the vehicle, cut down to liability ($40/month), and instantly had an extra $420 to put toward debt and savings.  

Of course, liability isn't for everyone.  I will be on high doses of blood thinner the rest of my life, so I am an extremely cautious driver.  Liability has worked for us, and saved a ton of money.  However, if we had maxed out our credit line and purchased the $35,000+ vehicle, the situation would be completely different.  Ramsey is right on target when he says to buy used and avoid "buying a vehicle you don't need to impress people you don't know."

Please, please know that I realize these strategies won't work for everyone.  The important thing is to decide where you want to splurge (for me it's clothes for my girls), and where you want to save.  Live within your means, whatever they are.  

So.  Here's the breakdown of how much we've cut out in the last three years:

                       Item                                         Original Amount                     Current Amount

Income based repayment on student loans               $400                                      $70

Changing Health Insurance Plans                               $1000                               $430 w/ HSA

Cutting cable and DVR                                                  $70                                       $15

Discount diapers to my door                          around $70+gas and time                   $38 

Paying off both cars                                     $800 (2 cars, 2 FC insurances)            $100 Liability

                                  TOTAL                                  $2340                                     $653

                                             $1687/month reduction

Just Do It Already

Fall 2012 was rough for me.

Hormone induced depression, selling-moving-building-moving, $1500 health insurance deductible met for Kamryn in 45 days, extremely tragic family situations, curled up in bed crying at least twice a week, ROUGH.  Digress with me...

I've decided this will be our last baby. Not because of the two shots a day during pregnancy, or the fact another would make four (I'd love to adopt later, if the hubbs would ever allow it), and not even because we don't have the funds for a fourth child at this point.  I am going to put the skids to child bearing because of what the first trimester does to me.  I'm moody, I'm dark, I'm (even more) cynical, I have trouble getting any work done...house or business, and I'm just not a fun person to be around.

Kids need a fun mom to be around.  Hubbs needs a fun wife to come home to.

They all need clean clothes in their closets, and home cooked meals (at least for the most part).

Of course my girls and man had clean clothes and food, but our life was so chaotic, and I simply could not cope with the stresses of sell/move/build/move on top of the family heartaches.  Couldn't do it.  I had to drop something, or it was all going to crush me.

So I dropped the business for one month.

I didn't post to the Facebook business page for over four weeks.  I didn't market a single promotion.  I got all my deliveries done in time for Christmas, and I turned all my focus to healing and family.

We moved in the newly built house the second week in December.  I was so anxious to get our tree up since this is the first Christmas Kamryn really participates in, and I couldn't wait to see everything up in our Home. Next, I organized the kitchen.  I LOVE cooking in this kitchen.  I designed the layout myself, and everything is just a couple steps away, there is plenty of counter space, my range is a beast, and it's entirely open to the kitchen/dining area, so I can keep an eye on Kamryn Faith (Kyndall is usually helping me).

I spent 3 straight weeks cooking, cleaning, and crying.  God began speaking to me in every little thing, and through every person I came in contact with.  I built some serious walls a couple years ago that I have been only slightly peeking over ever since.  God was sick of it.  Honestly, my soul was, too, but my hard heart was putting up support posts.

I'm sure I'll get into details about this trying season slowly.  It's too much for one post, and it's too hard to get out all at once.  I'm a pretty private person with issues of my life, and relay them to maybe 5 or 6 people at most.  That trait is a large reason why I haven't written on my blog in so long.  I am afraid of sounding whiny, or braggy, or mean, or fake, so I don't say anything.  But through my last life season, God has blown open so many truths, and my walls are down, and I'm me again.

Just me.

Broken, bossy, impatient, impulsive, constantly creative, manic, me.  Sometimes I may come across as whiny, and readers who are going through a more difficult life period will be annoyed.  Sometimes my ideas, or projects may seem like I'm super mom. Believe me, I'm not.  Sometimes people may think I sound rude, callus, or judgmental.  Sometimes that may be true, but I'm praying my words on this blog are guided by what God is doing in my life and my heart.

I'm simply going to do this thing.  This big, exciting, documentation of my home, life, family, and career is going to happen.  I'm looking into a clean, simple blog redesign to reflect my inner redesign and clean heart.  I want to be as genuine as I can be, and I want my little ladies (and upcoming little man) to have something to look back on, and know how much I love them and our lives together.  I want to be a great wife and partner to my husband.  I'm sure he wants me to write more, so that I'll quit gabbing his ear off....constantly...without end.  {Why couldn't the verse read "Talk to your husband without ceasing"?  I am much better at talking to him, than praying.  Another trait that needs adjustment!}

So, that's that.  Here we go :)

Announcing Our New Addition

That's right!  We are having baby Richey #3, and could not be happier to let everyone know!  The baby is due in late May, giving us a couple months to adjust to life with three kiddos before school starts in August.  

Annnnnd I WILL NOT be pregnant all Summer!  Praise that Lamb!

We wanted to wait as long as possible to announce our news to the all.  Kyle wanted to wait until we knew if it was a boy or a girl.  Yea.  Right.  I'm not one of the lucky ones who look fantastic through pregnancy, and I've learned that with each pregnancy, you show 62% faster.  It's a fact.  As the weeks went by, we slowly began telling people...our closest friends...our parents....then Kyndall.  She kept it a secret for a week, then could keep it no longer.  Poor thing is SO excited she can't stand it!  

However, when we initially told her, she was. not. happy.  

(I have a weird low voice in this...it's embarrassing :P)

Did you hear Kam in the background? "Baby! Baby!"

After 15 minutes of sobs, she finally calmed down enough to explain she was upset because the new baby would "not come out 1, and won't do anyfing!"  The more she thought about it, the more her mind changed.  Now she can't wait to "hold dat new baby and give it love, cuz I'll be five!"

So!  There it is....we are crazy....but we are basking in our crazy, and loving every minute of it!  

Oh....and we are looking at mini vans :S  For some reason, that makes me much more uncomfortable than three kids!

Kyndall's 4th Birthday Party

I had glorious ideas for my almost four year old daughter's fourth birthday party.  Sun drenched, vintage inspired, viral-pin-worthy, ideas.  Shabby chic table clothes, foo foo dresses, tea sets, old chandeliers on trees, and adorable 4 year old children eating and playing in the haze of sunset.

However, I am raising a child who is opinionated, particular, detail oriented, and full of her own ideas.  Poor thing doesn't realize what all she has to deal with in possessing that combination of traits.  I realize it.  I fully realize it because I possess these traits, and still struggle with reigning them in.

Kyndall had the following list of demands for her party:

In the gym at church

Jumpy Slide

Bouncy House

No cake

Cupcakes I 'design' myself

Hot Dogs

Orange Soda

Pinata

See what I mean?

Good news is, her vision was soooo much less expensive than mine.  Bad news, gym lighting is least optimal for photographs.  Good news, I got to play with my new silhouette cameo...and fully understand how flippin' amazing it is.  Bad news....nope, no other bad news :)

First, the outfit..

The amazingly talented Kristin Morton made this for my little lady :)  She's great!

A few details..

The Silhouette Cameo made the cupcake sleeves, Happy Birthday Kyndall sign, the take home boxes and 'thank you' tags.  I used paper from a card stock pack I purchased from Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon.  I paid like $9 for a million adorable sheets of card stock.  Kamryn lived in the jumpy house :)

The cupcake toppings...

Senorita Silhouette cut the labels for all the toppings and food, too.  I used cake pop sticks and scotch tape to turn the labels into signs.  Nothing fancy, but I think they turned out pretty cute :)

Annnnnd the Birthday Princess :)

Sun and tea be darned...she was happy.  She even said it was the best birthday party ever...so what could be better?

Love her more than the world :)

Our Transient Weeks

Oh by golly, it's been a while since I've written.  Yes, yes...that is a gateway sentence to an explination, so if you don't care about my excuses, please skip down a paragraph :)  Kyndall was super sick nearly 3 weeks ago, and stayed home the first three days of the week.  Our closing date was moved UP a week [yes, up], from September 28th to September 21st.  We not only moved, but TRADED houses, which turned out to be quite an undertaking. We finished that up Monday, and Monday evening Kyndall's fever shot up.  She was sick Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so of course Kamryn was sick Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

We all have months like the K. Richey bunch had this September, 2012.  I am not at all complaining about a single aspect of the last month, only explaining why I have not written, or posted from shoots much in the last three weeks.

[my bad...you should have skipped to the third paragraph...now fourth ;)]

The move we completed over the weekend is only a temporary move.  Anyone who knows us well, would surely quip, "Haven't all your moves been temporary?"  To many people, yes, but this move is temporary even to us!  About 8 weeks in this house, then our home will be finished.  Kyle has stated he plans to live out the rest of his days in this house....heh, ok :P  Don't get me wrong.  I do plan to live in this house for an unforeseen amount of years--not just months.  It is going to be just right for us.

I just...I just like love change.  I need a certain degree of perceived wiggle room in our future plans.

With this being the temporary home it is, we have vowed to only unpack necessities.  I am loving this vow.  It's like we turned into these efficient minimalists, who can easily locate items, quickly tidy up, and have enough storage space.  It's like I'm organized.  At least, I think this is how organized feels.  My creativity greatly inhibits organization skills :(

Even though I am no organizing pro, we have always had things a certain way.  Not perfect, but nice.  This includes having a bed frame on our bed from the time we were married.  Unfortunately, the bedrooms in this house are a little small, and our ginormous bed frame refused to fit.  Anywhere.  So, the boxes and mattress are on the floor... surrounded by boxes of clothes. Today, I was quickly throwing on something a bit more presentable than Kyle's giant T-shirt and yoga pants for our date night.  The window was half open, blinds angled up rather than straight, bed sloppy, and clothes hanging here and there on box lids, so I stepped onto the mattress for a better view.

Something about that moment grabbed me.  I felt like we were living in some tiny apartment somewhere in Europe.  Goofy, I know, but the scene around me was so....so bad, haha.  Despite it's disheveled appearance, I fell in love with it for this short season in our life.  It's a break in consistency  a pause in our routine, and a vacation from stressing about every little thing being presentable.  The entire focus of this little rent house is our family, and the step we are in the process of taking; moving into a permanent house.  [I am so bringing that focus to the new house] I felt happier and freer soaking all these realizations in than any other time I remember.  Ever.

If anyone...If the Lord Himself told me in 2006 where our lives would be in 2012, I would have snarled in His face.  Kyle teaching?  He barely likes to talk!  Two--TWO children?  Photography?  Annnnd MARMADUKE?  Ohhhh, the ignorance of a 21 year old bride.  Ohhh, the places God took us to beat out our stupid.

And there I was, mindlessly swaying on a mattress in the floor, gazing out a rented window, thanking God for his wisdom, guidance and provision.  Kyle found his passion in teaching, I found  a creative outlet in photography, we were given the two most precious gifts of all time, and we found our home waiting for us in Marmaduke.  I'm sure I'll tell all about our moves, and dumb decisions, and God decisions, and things you don't care about later.  For now, I'm just soaking in each day.  I'm sitting still [for once] to soak in His grace...which is difficult for me to do :)

One of Two Kinds

What a day.

I don't think you understand....

What. UHH.  Day!

Sparing all important details, Kyndall was incredibly ill this morning.  For a couple hours, I was thinking the worst about whatever was going on inside that tiny little body.  Ok...I usually do think the worst...but it was actually justified for a couple hours.  We spent three hours, probably around $300, three outfits (puke. ew.), and three million tears at the doctor's office.  I am so thankful I was able to move my shoots and hold my sick little lady when she needed me.

Other excitement, accidents, trips to Marmaduke (can we puh-leeez move already??), and even some laughs occurred through this hectic day.  I could barely keep my eyes open for a while...but now...I can't sleep due to a giant nagging question I'm trying to sort out.

Will I ever feel like I'm giving love to my kiddos in equal doses?

Kyndall went to daycare about 10 times from birth to 3.  Kamryn has gone 10 times in the last month.

Kamryn is a breast-fed baby, and is super healthy.  Kyndall was not (3.5 week hospitalizations tend to end breastfeeding), and gets every cold and virus that comes her way.

Kyndall is compliant, gentle, and compassionate.  Kamryn is strong willed, rough, and hot tempered.

I could continue the comparisons for days.  They are SO different.  How can the same two reproductive factories create two completely opposing models?  Especially when they look nearly identical??

Honestly, these images don't do the similarities justice.

Then I hear the Voice.  "Kathryn, you cannot...CANNOT compare them!"  It's not fair to either of them, it's not conducive to their love for one another, and it surely isn't helpful to your ridiculously manic mind.

Kamryn adores and idolizes her big sister.  Kyndall didn't have any kids to play with until she was 3.

Kyndall stayed the night away easily because of my health problems.  Kamryn has no idea how to function through the night without me or Kyle.

Kyndall may have struggles with leading and standing up for herself.  Kamryn will unlikely let anyone--she's not worried about size OR species (ask our friend's dog)--push her around.

They are their own people. It feels to me like they should be the same.  I understand that doesn't really make sense when I write it out, but I have to stop myself from falling into the assumption they should be alike since I gave both of them life.  But they're not.  They have positive and negative attributes that will cause them trouble, and lead them to successes throughout their lives.

I have to teach Kyndall it is ok to tell on Kamryn when Kam pulls out a chunk of Kyn's hair.  Yes, Kamryn may be in trouble, but sister, it's your hair!!  I have to help Kamryn mold that little temper (one guess where that came from ;)) into patience and self control.  I have to love them where they are, for who they are, and quit complicating the process.  Sooo, I feel if I love them in this manner...if I cater my love to them, and quit trying to make every action and comment even or fair, if my love is coming from the depths of my heart out of genuine desire for them to grow into God's will, my love will be equal.  

Who knows...I could be 100% wrong, but parenting is a journey.  I learn a little bit more each day, and I have so many days ahead :)

The Non-Pageant Mom

Before you get any ideas...I won't be spouting off my opinions in this post.  I'm actually sharing Kyndall's first little pageant from Independence Day..

Photo by Daddy...Mommy was her escort :)

I honestly just don't get pageants.  I mean, from the mom perspective.  I think it's the same way I don't get hockey, or others don't get The Office or basketball.  Make sense?  Public figures like this don't help...

(Photo: Twitter/Sydney Long)

However, as a little girl I did a few pageants, and had a blast.  It was so much fun to wear a pretty dress, have all eyes on me {something I now haaaate}, and go to celebrate my loss after.  I never won :P  I'm a super competitive person, so when I accepted looks were not my strongest attribute, I never did another pageant.

So. Fast forward a million years, and another million "Ohhh, she's so pretty! Does she do pageants?" comments later to the annual Marmaduke 4th of July Picnic, and Miss Liberty Bell pageants.

Adorably quaint, right?

This pageant is what the pro's call "Natural", and the dress was Sunday attire.  No flippers, or flappers, or whatever those false teeth things are.  No spray tans.  No jeweled dresses.  Kyndall really wanted to participate {for the first time ever}, so we signed up.  I put her in a cute little twirly dress, pulled her hair back, slapped in a borrowed bow, and never mentioned a crown, winning, trophies or judges.  I told her we were going to go on stage and let everyone see her pretty dress.

And she was pumped.  Super pumped to show off how it twirled...

She was so precious out there.  She smiled, waved, twirled, and said "HI, (insert name)!" to each familiar face she saw in the audience.  She beamed.  We went out on stage four separate times, and she wanted to stay out longer each time!  After the last time, we were waiting for The Results.  I'm not going to get into details, but I was so saddened by the reactions of some of the mothers in the back.  Hateful remarks about girls who didn't know not to wear make-up, demands on their babies to "shut-up and be still", just rotten behavior.  It saddened me because I felt like I understood their reactions.

We each felt 100% confident our daughter was far and away the most beautiful girl in the competition.  We wanted to win.  I had played down the competition aspect completely to Kyndall because of my own crazy competitive nature.  I have to handicap it or it consumes me.  I feel the grumpy moms were just consumed with that desire to win, to prove to...I don't really know, the audeince?...that their baby girl was beautiful.  The truth is, every girl in the pageant was beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful.  I began to regret the decision to let her do the pageant, fearing she would take a loss as a, "You aren't pretty enough."  Instead, she was upset by the few mean spirits in the room, climbed in my lap, and asked, "Mommy, when can we leave?"  

Then, they opened the door and called out the winners, "1st Alternate, Contestant number one, Kyndall".  She turned and looked at me with a furrowed brow, which obviously asked, "What were all those words they just said before my name??!"  I told her she got to go out on stage one more time...again, she beamed as she {for real} sprinted to the end of the catwalk.

Oh, me?  I'm juss Kyndall :)

When they gave her the tiny little trophy she had one question...

"Why did they give me a cup?"

She was just as excited about the gold sticker on the bottom as she was about 'winning'.  Annnnd no...I did not correct my [then] three year old when she began telling family she "won at her pageant".  I did, however, make sure to mention that we had fun.  Her competitive side will grow and show it's head soon.  I have no desire to rush it.

So Nice of You to Stop By!

Hello, hello!

Welcome to my newest iron in my bondfire!  I have a manic mind, and will unleash it all over this blog whenever necessary.  If you would like to know the direction of my blog, check out the 'About' section.  If you want to see some blog-views of recent sessions, click 'Photography'.

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