for reals

As in, "I'm the worst blogger in the world. For reals!"

I know, I know. I've been bad. My blog really took off when I started working full time and was looking for things to help me avoid doing my work. Then I started thinking that I just had to have a photo in each entry. So my posts started coming less often because I didn't always have a photo.

Then, I started the photography business and that gave me another blog to keep track of and well...you know how it is. I still want to keep this one up because I do enjoy looking back at my posts from so long ago and remembering how I felt and what the kids were doing and whatnot. I'm just gonna sort of stink at it for a while. Deal.

So, a little thing I'm doing this year (that is also taking up some of my time) is a 365 project. I am on flickr a lot for my photography and I joined a group called 366-1 (I think they were 365+1 last year) and it's been challenging but fun. The deal is, you take one picture every single day for a year. I decided to use this project for my family and then I'm doing a 52 week project as well that is a self-portrait project.

So if you'd like to keep track of me and see how I do feel free to check out my photos here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9771986@N03/collections/72157612003705053/ The 366-1 project will be in a folder for each month to help organize things a bit better. I'm already surprised that it is the 26th and I've kept up with it. Hopefully I can make it the whole year!

Diva much?

I'm cleaning the study today. Going through papers that have been just piling up higher and higher over the last several months. I ran across a paper of Sadie's that was stacked with several other school papers. I'm not sure that I ever read this, if I had I'm sure I would remember.

Sadie is very girly. I guess really all girls are "girly" to some extent. I thought Madi was when she first came along and while she is...she's nothing like the feel-the-pea-under-the-mattress girly that Sadie is. Neither is Teagan. Sadie is our one and only Diva, and while I appreciate her love for all things blingy and beautiful I really don't know if I could handle two of her.

This paper was apparently a spelling assignment where she was to use the word in a sentence, underline the word, and use proper puncuation. She did the assignment and got 100% on it. I wonder if her teacher laughed when she read it like I did. What do you think?

"I have to go to the bathroom." whispered Sadie. (I know, you're thinking that doesn't seem so out of the ordinary. Just wait.)

"Look at my outfit, its cuter than yours." bragged Sadie. (At least she realizes that acting like that is bragging. That's a good thing, right?)
"I'm weird!" joked Halle.

"Oh no you didn't, oh yes I did!" argued Sadie and Diana. (I guess her teacher over looked that this was two people talking in one set of quotation marks. Possibly because she could just visual Sadie saying this with snaps?)

"Oh no! I got my $10,000 earrings muddy!" shrieked Sadie. (I hope she marraiges well. God bless her future husband!)

"Give me your creddit card daddy!" demanded Sadie. (Her teacher must have been laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes and couldn't see because she didn't mark off for the spelling of credit.)

"Give me that cute stuffed bunny!" yelled Sadie. (I wonder if she'd like a goose that lays golden eggs?)

"Yes, he is so funny and cute." replied, Sadie. (She's 8, gonna really have to watch this one!)

"Daddy, I want this phone." called Sadie. (She asked me just after Christmas if she'd be getting a cell phone soon. Um...no.)

"I want that puppy and I want it now!" demanded Sadie. (Whoa!)

"Me two! I have that phone and that one two!" answered Sadie. (Still...no.)

"Look at my shoes, there soo cute!" interrupted Sadie. (Wow.)

"Daddy I have a fashion show and dance show today." called Sadie. (Wonder if she called him on one of those phones she has.)

We are currently dealing with Madi starting to head down a path that we aren't happy with. Heaven help us when Sadie gets to be her age!

Bad Margo!

Yeah yeah, I know. I've been a bad blogger. I just don't have enough hours in the day!

Christmas is upon us and the hustle and bustle that comes with it has been extra hustley-bustley this year. We just returned yesterday from our trip to Colorado to stay with Uncle Matt and Aunt Malissa. It was a wonderful time but not nearly long enough. It's always nice to be back home, I just wish we were with family more often.

When we came home we opened our own gifts to each other and Hubby blew me away with my gifts. A new chair for the office. A new 24 inch monitor and a super fast "tricked out for pictures" XPS Dell computer. I hadn't asked for any of these things but the idea that he thought of these things all on his own just make me beam. You see, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it but I've quite my job and am hoping to pursue my dream of being a full time photographer. Knowing that he has invested in me by providing these gifts makes me so happy! He really rocks!

So, hopefully I'll be editing faster and adding more photos to my blog more often. Yeah! Here are a few to enjoy of Sadie putting the star on our family tree this year.





And Eli got to do the star on the big tree in the entryway this year. We rotate the kids so next year Sadie will move up to the big tree and it will be Tea's turn to do the family tree. Luckily they aren't afraid to climb. I hope our banister holds up throughout the years. Just think, there may be a day that we have grand-babies climbing on that thing to put the star on!

Snowflake fun

I'm sitting here at work, trying to avoid working. I don't feel well. Haven't felt well for 12 days now. I'm just nauseated and blah. No, I'm not pregnant. At least I don't think I am. Some major growing back together would have had to have happened for that to take place! I'm going to the doctor this morning at 11:00 so I'm just sort of hanging here waiting until my appointment.

So my friend Shari showed me this link to make a snowflake. It's awfully fun. You should try it out!

Snowflake Fun!

Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods.

Said in my best Al Roker voice of course.

So sorry to my faithful followers who are wondering if I might have fallen off the face of the earth. I'm still here. Just hanging on as tight as I can.

We've been busy to say the least. I guess the best thing to do is share updates on everyone. So here goes!

Teagan: She's doing much better after her major injury. She won't let anyone go near her knee though. Taking the stitches out was a nightmare. It didn't hurt but you would have thought that they were putting more in. Then a couple days ago she said it was hurting and it looked like there might be an infection under the skin. The disolvable layer of stitches are still in. I know this because some of them are still sticking out. When she woke up yesterday morning whatever I had seen under the skin the day before had "popped" and there was a hole. She gets really super freaked out if anything changes because she thinks we'll have to go back to the doctor and they'll mess with it. I did take her in yesterday and she flipped when they tried to pull out the disolvable stitches so they are still there. The doctor didn't think it was infected but guessed that one of the stitches was the cause of the new hole so we got some prescription ointment to put on it just in case. Other than that she's doing great. Reading more and more each day which is always so much fun to watch. She's still doing gymnastics too and even pronounces it correctly most of the time now. I much prefer when she was excited to go to "june-nastics".

Sadie: She got braces yesterday. Just one the front 4 teeth. It's phase 1. First we had the palate expander and now the 4 braces with the wire connecting back to the bands that are attached to the expander. Did I mention this is just phase 1? I'd love to say that she'll just need this but I'm guessing phase 2 will be a must. Good times right? Yep. She's still dancing away and recently took a hip hop masters class. The girl can seriously wiggle. At least one of my kiddos got my hip shakin' ability, right?

Eli: He's got braces now. Did you know that? It's been a while but I can't remember how long it's been since I've updated. He's still got the same girlfriend too. A year and a half. And he's 12. Man. Talk about long term. He's still going strong with his piano and trumpet. Not making his piano teacher too happy because instead of practicing the music she gives him he finds a song that he'd rather learn and dives in deep. I love to hear him play.

Madi: She got her braces off. Her hair has grown and is long and beautiful. She told us the other day that when they filled out the Pioneer Picks for the yearbook last week that everyone was telling her they voted her "best hair". Who would have thought that the little girl who didn't have more than a wisp of hair until she was 18 months old would now have such wonderful thick blonde hair. She's had a couple boyfriends but nothing that ever really seemed to be more than a special friend to her. Until now. She now has a 9th grade boyfriend and she is smitten! I'm pleased to say that I approve. He seems like a really nice kid and is cute too!

Brad and myself: Well, we're just busy running the Stewart household and keeping up with all the activities and everyday happenings! Brad just sold a house and has another couple interested in having him build a custom home for them after the new year. I'm so proud of him. He really is a cool guy. We will celebrate 15 years together in marraige in January. Wow, time really DOES fly! We traveled to San Francisco in the beginning of this month to run in the USA Half marathon. It was a really fun trip with friends and we stayed with SueAnn which was an extra bonus.

And then there is my new business venture which is what has truly been keeping me the busiest. I finally took the plunge and started a photography business. You can find me at www.madiganephotography.com I've been busy for the last several weekends with sessions and then spend a lot of time in the evening editing my photos. It's really taken off and I'm looking forward to what it may (or may not) bring. I don't know that I could ever leave the comfort of the full-time guaranteed job I currently have but I have to admit that I do dream of one day doing photography full time.

So there ya go. That's what's been going on. I promise to at least try to post more. I miss blogging about my daily life. It really is neat to have a record of what goes on around here. Maybe that can be one of my new year resolutions. I'll tag it right along with "eat better" and "exercise".

Oh, and just because I have to add a photo to my posts or they don't feel complete, here's one of Madi schlepping some of my photography stuff for me after a recent shoot.

Our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

The day started off nicely enough. Madi and Eli are away at a church retreat because it's fall break. I took yesterday and today off to stay home with Sadie and Teagan. Yesterday we had a blast...shopping, lunch together, pumpkin patch. Good times. This morning we got up and did some cleaning and then went to lunch with Hubby. Then we picked up some new OSU apparel cause it's homecoming weekend. HUGE deal in these parts.

We came home after lunch and were finishing up some cleaning in hopes to surprise Daddy when he got home. I had just changed my Facebook status to say...cleaning, then running, then walk-a-round! We were really looking forward to the walk-a-round where we have the opportunity to see all the house decks that the sororities and fraternities on campus have made over the last several weeks.

My sweet little Tea pot was in my bathroom with me and asked if she could organize my shoes in my closet. It's a little bit like a shoe store in there. Empty boxes on the shelves with shoes littering the floor. I told her that would be fine and thought I'd take a few minutes to do some photo editing.

As I'm sitting here on the computer I thought I heard her scream. Sadie was here next to me and I asked her if she heard something and so then we both sat quietly waiting. Yep. Screaming for sure.

I ran back to my bathroom to find Teagan sitting in the middle of my bathroom floor. She said she had fallen in my closet and her leg hurt. She was holding her left leg and wearing jeans and I didn't see anything out of place so I started to lift her jeans up. I honestly expected to see a little scrape or bump that I would easily be able to kiss away. Instead, as I lifted the jeans past her little knee all of the skin covering her knee cap lifted as well. Her knee cap was completely exposed and there lay the deepest cut from one side of her knee to the other. Sadie had run in behind me and I immediately told her to call Hubby and tell him to meet me at the emergency room. Teagan was screaming, especially after seeing what her knee looked like, and she just kept saying things like, "Why did this happen Mommy?!" "Why did this have to happen?!".




I've seen my kids in pain before. I've seen them with ear aches and strep throat. But I didn't see the infection inside their body and the changes it had made. I've witnessed Teagan break her arm and held her as we had x-rays done. But I couldn't see the shattered bone inside her body. This was absolutely unreal. I don't know that I'll ever get the image of her bone uncovered by her skin out of my head. I don't know that I've ever felt that helpless in my life. To not have any answers for her when she just kept asking why. To not be able to just tell her that it would all be ok because I was so beside myself with what I saw that I couldn't be sure that it WOULD be ok.

Luckily my neighbors were home and were able to watch Sadie for me. I had wrapped Teagan's leg in a towel and we headed to the emergency room. On the ride there she must have told me 5 times that it felt fine. She just needed some band aids. She didn't need stitches. Bless her heart.

Hubby was waiting for us when we got there. Once we got in the room the nurse came in and unwrapped her leg and Hubby saw it for the first time. I had told him it was bad but I don't know that he realized how serious I was. He had to leave the room and get a drink of water and some fresh air.




Three hours later we were finally sent home. The doctors knew that it was such a deep cut that it would take a while to stitch up so they had to clear up all the other patients first. Holding Teagan down while they numbed her leg was awful. They ended up having to numb her three times because it just didn't seem to be working. She ended up with 24 stitches across her knee, in two layers because it was so deep. She can walk but won't bend her knee. We missed the homecoming walk-a-round but grabbed some dinner afterwards. By the time we got home her numbness was starting to wear off and she was complaining so I gave her some of the Tylenol 3 we got. Not long ago she came in crying because it hurt so much.

Bless her heart. She honestly seems to have the worst luck ever. This was SUCH a freak accident. It turns out that when she fell, her knee hit the handle on my jewelry box. It stuck in her knee on one side and just tore itself across. She was wearing a pair of jeans we bought yesterday and although there are a few little bloody spots from when I pulled the jeans up, for the most part they are in fine shape. Just one small little hole where the handle poked through.

Please pray for quick healing for our little Tea pot. There is honestly nothing worse than seeing your child in pain and not being able to take it away.

How'd that happen?

How has it been nearly 3 weeks since I've written on my blog? It's amazing how the time seems to be just flying by. Remember when we were little and it would take like 12 years for our birthday to come back around each year?

So I started the previous entry last week I think. Then I got too busy at work to finish it. That's how it's been lately. Too busy to accomplish anything really.

So I have a million things to talk about but just not nearly enough time so I'll just give you some highlights of what's been going on in my crazy life.

-Eli got braces.
-Madi got her braces off.
-Sadie started the 5 week process at the orthodontist to get her palate expander
-We've filed bankruptcy after all the money we've spent at the orthodontist. (Not really, but hubby did ask if they had a buy 3 get 1 free special since Teagan will undoubtedly need treatment as well.)
-Hubby and I took a long weekend trip to Pheonix to get away and relax.
-Hubby came down with strep throat while we were on our long relaxing weekend which made it not as relaxing.
-My boss/friend Leah at work quit and left me here to fend for myself among the mentally ill.
-I have become increasingly unhappy with my job and am giving serious thought to trying to build a photography business.
-I had a small secret stash of money in my PayPal account from some PrettyMat sales so I spent a bit on a new photography website that I have no idea how to set up.
-Madi and I flew to Houston to stay with Brent and Rhonda and their new precious boy Eddie!
-I took nearly 700 photos over the course of three days in Houston and might be editing them for the rest of my life.

Also, I had a dream the other night about my sister Emily who is having a birthday tomorrow. Her boyfriend Brian recently sold his home in New Mexico and Emily and I have discussed whether or not he might be using some of that profit on a shiny and sparkly gift for her. With her birthday just around the corner I've been wondering lately if I might not get an "I'm engaged!" phone call in the near future.

So a couple nights ago I dreamed that it was the day before her birthday and I was talking to her on the phone. I asked her if she thought she might be getting anything shiny and sparkly for her birthday. She said she didn't think so. She'd looked around the house that she and Brian share and all she found was some books about building a home. I asked her if they were old books that were from when they were building and she said no. She was sure they weren't because they were with all his other stuff. I asked what "stuff" she meant and she said that it was with his hospital stuff...the books, his night clothes, his cane. ???? Apparently he had been in or was going in for hernia surgery. And so he had a cane. And new pj's. And some reading material. We discussed whether or not he was secretly building another home somewhere.

Tomorrow is Emily's birthday. Here's hoping she gets something shiny and sparkly! And if she doesn't, let's just all hope that Brian isn't secretly building another house. Oh, and that he is in good health.

And maybe that I don't have anymore really random dreams!