A little more basketball for you

Here is child number 3's basketball pictures. I sure need to buy a new flash! Davis did great yesterday. Made 2 baskets now we owe him 2 bucks. Thanks goodness Gage and Davis only have practices today, Maia scored 3 today so I owe her 3 bucks. Cheaper and healthier than bribing them with McDonalds!

NEW WEBSITE!

I really wasn't going to do a website for a while, thought a blog would be enough for now. But business has taken some interesting paths and now I feel I need one. So here it is, take a sneak peak, but remember that it is in the works. I have enough there to look at anyway. Still hammering out the details as far as colors and information, but I have some pictures and a style going on! Let me know what you think!

www.roxseyphotography.com

Enjoy!

8 years old today

Little Miss Maia turned 8 years old today! Oh how the time flies! Today I took her and 2 of her best buds to go see Hotel For Dogs. Cute movie and the girls really liked it!

This morning she requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then opened her presents. The great thing about having a daughter is CUTE stuff. So she immediately ran in to put on her new super cute jammies and then played with her new princess stuff.

Then after the movie, we had birthday cake and presents with her friends.

And just some extra pictures of my baby girl.

A buck

I told Gage for every basket he scored I would give him a buck. This was his money shot. $1. Guess all that jumping for me yesterday really improved his jump shot.

15 mintues at the park

15 minutes. That's all I could handle at the park. That's all the boys could handle too. I wanted to practice my shutter speed freezing action shots. I hear your shutter speed has to be at least at 250 to not get any blur on your subject.

Oh, and yay! Here is some sun flair for ya!

Some Good Stuff

Hey, some good new and stuff! Maia was headache free since Wednesday morning. We did go see a chiropractor and he did a little adjustment on her. We will go back again on Monday and we are still waiting to see the neurologist. But at least she has gotten a break from the head pain and I got my little girl back! I am so happy it was such a beautiful day out, although it was cold, the sunshine can certainly do wonders on my mood! I tried to get Dane to go to the park so I could take some pictures, but he wasn't having any of that. A few days ago I went to a local hair salon to take some pictures of the ladies that work there. Also set up a blog for them, so you will have to check it out and if you need to get your hair done and you live in the area, go see them! www.manestyles.blogspot.com Super cute shop they have there! I hope to get out soon to take pictures (I know I have been saying this for days) just been so cold still! Also, I have to choose between a trip to Disneyland with my kids or a 5 day vacation to an all inclusive resort with my husband in Puerto Vallarta. Oh the choices, but really I am having a hard time with this one.

Update on Miss Maia

I have gotten quite a few emails and phone calls about Maia, so I figured I better give everyone an update. Unfortunately I feel like I am still in the dark. I just went to pick her up from school again because she was sick. Maybe I should start thinking about home school. No laughing, I could do it...maybe. Anyway, yesterday I got her in and we just happened to be lucky enough to get hooked up with a pediatric neurologist from children's hospital who was there working. So she had a different opinion of what was going on. She thinks her headaches have nothing to do with the sinus infection she had. That one of the meds they had her on was making things worse and not sure why they had put her on it. The plus side was her brain is healthy and great, and neurologically she is just fine. The bad thing is now I still don't know what is causing this and there is nothing I can do beside continue to give her Motrin and Tylenol to take the edge off for her. She sent a referral in to a local ped neurologist so I just have to wait to get in and see what he thinks. In the meantime though, when I got home and checked my email, a friend from high school and her husband (who I also went to high school with) just opened their own chiropractic business and thought it might be worth a try to come in and take a look at her. So they had me come in that day and Dr Dan took a look at her. Tomorrow we will go back and see what he comes up with. I really hope he can help her with some pain management because I really hate giving her so much medicine. If you are looking for a Chiropractor go see them! Bakerview Family Chiropractor in Bakerview Square. Dr Dan was great with Maia, very gentle and kind. So that is the update for now. I will let you all know how things are later on.

It's 12:13 am and I cant sleep

It's very late at night, or very early in the morning...but I can't sleep. I am so tired and have another cold ( I am sure it's because Dane has impeccable timing to sneeze right in my face) and would love to sleep. But my poor Maia is so sick. Not throwing up sick, she is sound asleep, but I feel like I have to check on her every half hour to make sure she is OK. I have blogged this before but just a re-cap. The poor thing has had headaches for over 2 years. As time has gone by, they have gotten more frequent and worse. FINALLY, her new doc had her get a CT scan which showed a sinus infection. Great (sort of) we can fix that! 3 weeks of antibiotics didn't do it. Her doc consulted with an ENT and took a look at her film and said it was severe and needed a different course of antibiotics. So along with a new extra strength dose and anti inflammatory, the last week has been hell for her. The medicine makes her stomach so upset and she has had a headache since last Monday. It has not gone away. I have been switching between Motrin and Tylenol every day just to take the edge off for her. She can hardly stand anything loud and is just miserable. I called the docs office this weekend because I just didn't think this was normal. The lovely (imagine me saying this sarcastically) nurse told me that the medicine can make her stomach upset (duh) and that it sounded to her that she has always had ongoing headaches so I should just wait until Monday and call. Sure, fine, I will just watch my little 7 year old girl suffer for 24 hours a day. Thanks lady. If something really is wrong, trust me when I say I will track her down and give her a piece of my mind. So today she starts complaining of her neck hurting all over. I hate to look to the Internet for information regarding medical information, because I think it scares people more than helps them, but I am seeing information like meningitis and all the symptoms thinking, she has almost all those symptoms. I did talk to my step mom who gave me a little information about it, and it sounds like that probably isn't it, but still I am up worrying, checking on her, making sure she is still breathing, no fever. I am even contemplating going to get her and put her in bed with me, just so I can keep a better eye on her. I so need this little girl to get better!!

Hey Good Lookin!

Hey all! Here is something fun for the ladies! Here is what ya do...

1. Get a group of great girlfriends together
2. Pick a friends house to meet at
3. Bring lots of changes of clothes. For example, dressy, cute, simple, for different looks.
4. Crank up the music and break out the wine, or whatever.
5. Have fun helping each other with hair and makeup
6. Then get some awesome, beautiful pictures of yourselves and as a group!

Here are the details..

Cost is $100 per person with a minimum of 4 ladies
20-30 images each on disk to keep
1 FREE 8x10 of your favorite one.
3-5 hours of shooting depending on the number of ladies.
Contact me at roxseyphotography@yahoo.com with any other questions or to set up a time.

I am posting this on my photo site as well, but since so many of you still read this one, I will post on here too! To see my photo site Roxsey Photography go www.roxsey.blogspot.com .

Just some random thoughts and stuff...

So I know I have mentioned this a million times, but, every winter I am sure I come down with Seasonal Affective Disorder (or whatever its called). And it's only January, I still have a couple months to go till sort of spring arrives..hopefully. And I am really not sure I even like spring, its sooo rainy! I always tell people I would move in a heartbeat to a warmer climate if it weren't for other things (kids) keeping me here. They laugh, "Oh you would miss it here! You wouldn't be gone for long." Uh, no, I am pretty sure I wouldn't come back. Really. Maybe to visit. But that's it. My plan is to move as soon as all the kids graduate and move. Maybe I will start out as a snowbird. The summers are OK here. Its everything else that sucks. My trip last April to Florida was pure bliss! I never wanted to leave. I wanted to ship the rest of my family there and live. Oh well, I will just have to settle for a trip or two in the winter so I don't go crazy.

Another awful side effect to the awful weather is that I am stuck indoors. I haven't taken pictures for weeks. I NEED a creative outlet. I even got a new lens that I have only gotten to use once. It's killin me! I do get to go to a hair salon here in Lynden on Friday and take some head shots of all the girls there to put on their new blog I created for them! I will put a link to that as soon as they get all their pictures on. They are all so cute. So I am planning on also getting some sort of Hot Mamma shoot in the works and see how that goes. If you head on over to the Daily Relish this is what I have in mind. Although I wont be doing hair and makeup. Something I never learned to do well. But something like that. I think it would be SUPER FUN to do with a group of gals.

And one more awful side effect of being indoors with nothing to do but clean is to be thinking way too much! I feel just like MeRa's last blog post here. In a nutshell about peoples hurtful words and how they have the possibility of stunting your growth. I know when someone says hurtful things to me, the first thing I want is to call them on it. Then get revenge. That's what I want to do....but I don't. I pray, ask for forgiveness for wanting to say despicable things about them and then realize I would only be stooping to their level. Reading her post just made me see that it's not only me, everyone goes through it but you just have to keep on trucking and go forward. Live your dreams, let no one keep you down. I dont.

Sorry, no pics tonight! Soon I hope!!

Cheer night!

Maia had a cheer performance at half time at the girls basketball game tonight. As usual they were all so cute. She was very excited and even had her hair done today at the salon for the big night. So she was all glittered up even though you cant see it from the pictures.

More Basketball!

I hung out at Gage's basketball practice tonight. I needed to get out of the house and of course wanted to use my camera. It is so much fun watching him at this age. Things start to get a little more competitive and they can actually play real games! So here are a few pics of my favorite blond haired boy.

Oh thank heavens....

Oh thank heavens that the snow has melted away. We had some flooding problems too but that seems to have receded too. Hopefully school will be back in full swing on Monday! Dane has not been in preschool since early December and he is going a bit stir crazy. And so am I. Exciting news, that I got a new lens and it is AWESOME and I cant wait to use it. As soon as Monday rolls around and all the kids go to school, I am headed out for some picture time!

Also last night I went to a "favorite things" party at Tiffiny's and came home with so much cool stuff! It was so much fun and we had great food and met new people! Thanks for inviting me Tiffiny! I had a blast!

My little pipsqueak Maia started basketball today. She is so excited but they raise the hoops every year and she hasn't grown much at all. So she cant quite get the ball to hit the rim yet. But she loves it so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Hopefully, I will have more to report in the coming days. Business stuff is kicking off to a great start and I will post about that later.

Drum roll pleeeese.....

I just want to thank all of you that took a look at my new photo blog and for all the wonderful comments. I took all the comments everyone made on both blogs and put them in a jar...

Then let Gage draw the winning name!

And the winner is.......

Yeah Amara! I am so excited to take pictures for you! I will be in contact with you...probably see you on Thursday! We probably want to wait for this pesky weather to clear up a bit so no rush! And we can talk about what you want to do! This will be so fun!

Again, thanks to all who took the time to check out the new site! I look forward to an exciting year and hopefully you will think of me when you start thinking of those family photos!

My brand spankin' new photo blog and biz!

I know that most of you knew my plans of officially starting my photography business, but if you didn't...here it is! It's called Roxsey Photography and if you click on the name it will shoot you over to my new site. It is still in the works but wanted it up and running by the end of this week. Why Roxsey?? Well, I am not real fond of my name. Most people use their names for business but...Brooke is okay, and Gatterman, well its just not very pretty. I had racked my brain for something and then one morning as I was getting in the shower, Roxsey, popped into my head and couldn't get it out. It just seems like a fun name to me! So no super special meaning, I just liked it! I am pretty much ready to do everything as far as pictures! Baby, kids and family, of course. I am going to try my hand at weddings, I have been wanting to do that for a long time. And then I am going to throw in some fun stuff and see how that goes! One of the things I would love to do, and this is for the ladies, is to do a girls photo shoot. If you head on over to Roxsey and look at my friend Karen, you will get an idea of what kind of pictures I am talking about. But to get a group of girlfriends together (kind of like a spa day, without the spa) and do hair and makeup and then take turns getting yourself a "glamour" shot. How fun would that be!

I will be shooting on location because I have no studio, so pretty much anything goes! As I am writing I am wondering if I should do a free sitting just to celebrate my "Grand Opening". So here is the deal, anyone who leaves a comment will be put in a drawing for a free sitting for up to an hour. You can check picture prices out at Roxsey!

A fresh start

I know that this year is going to be big changes for me. Everything about my life seems to be taking a turn into new and exciting things! I am not a big resolution person. I think the only resolution I have ever tried to make was to get in shape. It never works. I just so love bad for you food. But I will share a few of the things I do plan on accomplishing and sticking too this year.

1. Start my photo business for real!!! Yes I have tried twice to get my biz license online but the site has been having issues! That's no good, but it will get done this week! I have my new photo blog site all set up, just need to get some prices on there! I have even almost booked one wedding already! I will post everything about the new biz in the coming week.

2. Get my hair highlighted! It really has been over a year since I have done this. I don't know why but I really just hate spending money on that! It must be done though since someone thought I dyed my hair brown the other day...sorry that's my natural color. This shall be done this month!

3. And while we are on the topic of hair, I shall not think I can cut my own hair. Normally once a year I get frustrated and decide I might look good with bangs. And who knows, I just might, if I didn't do it myself. So this year I will NOT cut any amount of my hair off...NONE!

4. I will start going to bed no later than 10pm. I really need my beauty sleep! I was asked, not to long ago, what those dark marks were under my eyes.

5. Be more involved with the church. I have been feeling a strong pull to do something more within the church. I am not sure if this is a mission trip (I freak out on planes), joining a small group, or what is in store for me, but I am sure God will point me in the right direction.

6. Continue to be forgiving of those who have said and done things to hurt me or my family. Isn't it a bummer that certain people are still out there to try to bum you out?! But one of my favorites that I must repeat... " God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference." I have to remember, I can only do so much, but there comes a time when I must let it go and know I did all I could.

7. Make sure I have FUN with my kids, all the time.

8. Start making lists. I get so much more accomplished if I make a list. I don't forget as much either!

9. Read more books.

10. Go to Disneyland. Ha! I love Disneyland. My plan is to make enough money with photography to take trips. The first one...Disney, of course.

So there are ten for you. Notice there is nothing in there about getting in shape. I would never stick to it. Yeah for the new year! So excited for things to be happening around our family! It's gonna be a good year!

Good morning Tiffiny!

Ahhh, it is my first post of the new year, but instead of my resolutions, I thought I would start out with a few pictures for Tiffiny. I know she will be waiting patiently for these, so I thought I would surprise her when she got up to do her blog reading! Yesterday was sort of a last minute get together to take a few pics of her very adorable little boy. And I was able to get a few in there of her adorable 3 year old daughter as well! I met Tiffiny about 8 years ago, although I don't remember it, but for some reason she remembered me. I started reading Tiffiny's blog because she was linked to one of my friends blogs. Then turns out we go to the same church and she is my daughters group leader. So really yesterday was the first time I really met her and spent some time chatting in between picture taking. I spend a lot of time meeting new people through pictures but every once in a while you meet someone who you instantly feel a connection with. I felt like I could have spent hours at her house chatting, and I think I did. Tiffiny is such a warm, open, honest and welcoming person! I really enjoyed her company and she sent me home with a big jar of hot chocolate! Enjoy the pics Tiffiny, I will have more that I will send you later and burn them onto a disk for you!