So before I had children I was known as the “craft lady”. I loved crafts and would often buy children’s crafts to do with my friends kids. And even taught preschool crafts in Vacation Bible School. I always said that when I had children, we would do lots of crafts. I did NOT forget that over the years….lol. But seriously, Elijah is finally to the age where I can give him a craft with simple instructions and he just loves the time. I do not give my son a craft, pull off his shirt and tell him he can make a big a mess as he likes. NO, I am a neater mom than that.

And at snack time this week, I did not hand both my children a single size serving bag of baked cheetos and let them run free, carrying those orange stained fingers everywhere just so I could answer some emails. No, I would never do that. I would never use food to get a few minutes of work time done. And I did NOT park in a parking lot down the street from my house to talk to my best friend on my way home from a session because I wasn’t through with my conversation but I would have never been able to talk when I arrived home. No, I come straight home and help my husband with the children after sessions….lol. I certainly did not sit there for 15 minutes either. (This will be interesting to see if my husband reads this blog!).

Happy Monday!! What did you NOT do….

Settle in for some “not me” fun….

Things are going a little crazy over here as weddings kick into overdrive and spring portrait season begins. But I am keeping on keeping on… I certainly did not realize that it had been 4 days since I gave my kids a bath. No, I am always on top on regular bath routines. And when my precious Sarah became sick this week and I needed to take her to the doctor, I DID NOT keep a steady stream of gummy  bears in her mouth to make sure she didn’t move in the doctor’s office while we were waiting. I did not bathe her in sanitizer when we left either. I am not a germaphobe. And when my daughter refused to take her pink bubble gum medicine, I did not have Cory hold her down on the kitchen counter while I forced the medicine down her mouth.  And Sunday when I was dressing the children for church, I did not put white socks on Elijah with his black shoes because I couldn’t find any dark colored socks. No, my laundry is in perfect condition at all times. And while ironing his shirt and pants, I DID not iron his underwear because he begged me to. No, I have many more important things to do than to iron underwear. That’s all folks!

Two more pictures from Gatlinburg… at this point I don’t know when I will get to editing the pictures from our trip. But, I will keep down a few whenever a I get a few seconds. One is my sweet Sarah in my new favorite hat and her and the other is Elijah playing pool. Yes, he is in his underwear…we took his pants off after being covered in snow. We were drying them…and he is SO adorable playing playing pool in his hat and no pants. He cracks me up!

We are back from a few days away with friends. I did one of my 101 things in 1001 days (post coming soon!) and we are trying to catch up and get ready for busy season. Now for a little fun with things I have NOT done…

During our vacation this weekend, Cory and I did NOT go into the Pepper Palace hot sauce store and try the hottest salsa ever. No, we have way more sense than that. And, we didn’t have to leave the store after we tried the salsa because it was so hot we embarrassed ourselves. And we certainly didn’t start crying from how hot the salsa was and our friends were not laughing at us when they saw us crying. And Cory DID NOT go back into the Pepper Palace and purchase salsa for us to take home. No, we know our limits with hot food and would never do that. 

And while at dinner with our friends, we did not sound like a herd of buffalo as we entered the Apple Barn restaurant. And I did not continuously feed apple fritters to my children as a way to keep them quiet so the other guests could enjoy their meal. And I was not happy when the couple that was giving me dirty looks because we had young children at our table left and was replaced with a family with children. Just saying… that’s all.

And yesterday on our way home from the mountains when Sarah had a diaper blow out, I did not put her back in the car seat with just a diaper and a shirt on. No, I am a better mom than that. I, of course, unpacked the entire car until I could get to our suitcase and found her new pants. : )

I have been reading THIS blog for a while. She is another photographer but her blog is all about her kids. It is my desire to make this blog a little more personal in 2010 and I thought the “Not Me Monday” is a fun way to poke a little fun at myself.

I did not pick my kids clothing for the day out of the clothes dryer and then STUFF the rest of the clothes back in the dryer instead of folding them. I am a much better housekeeper than that. I did not finish cleaning my house 20 mins before a bride (who is also a friend) came by to pick up a wedding print. No, I am much better organized than that and my house is always in perfect order for guests to come by. I am not looking at my dead tulips from Valentine’s day and wondering who will throw them the away, me or Cory. I did not go out and buy a cute dress for my daughter so she can look as cute as she can when spending the weekend at my friend’s house. And I certainly DID NOT go out and buy another one when I learned the original dress was a little big. I know that clothes do not make the child and there is no need to keep up with other families. I did not talk Cory into buying Sarah a Cinderella dress and crown at the Disney store telling him they were on sale (but they were) and I can use it as a portrait prop for the spring. I would never use the business as an excuse to buy sweet things for my daughter. Nope… never. And I did not let my son become a human excavator and dig in the dirt yesterday with his bare hands because we couldn’t find a shovel. No, I would never do that… (I still can’t get the dirt from under his fingernails!).

So, what do you think? Do you like this kinda stuff on the blog? Would you like to see more?

Cory said we needed some pictures on the post, so here you go. I asked Elijah the other day to give me some faces for the camera.

Here is his mad face:

Here is his scary face… watch out…

His Happy Face:

His sad face:

And at HIS request… His fire chief face…