My Oldest Baby Turning Into a Teenager Looks Like

Well, thanks to the lovely weather we have had this post is not going to be what I intended to be. We have had SO much rain that I have not been able to get outside to take photographs of my daughter who just turned 13!!!!! Thirteen??? Did I just say 13??? I am not sure how it is possible but it is the reality. My baby is now 13...YIKES!

She is a beautiful young lady and I am so proud of her. She has a heart of gold, she loves school, she is spunky, full of life, athletic, and makes the room brighter every time she walks in. You never quite know what she is going to say next. She definitely is starting to find who she is. And I love her with all my heart and am so very proud of who she is.

Though it has seemed as it has happened in the blink of an eye, I am very blessed. Kids are supposed to grow up. Kids are supposed to learn new things. Kids are supposed to succeed. And fail. Learn what it is like to fall. But also to get back up again and try harder. Kids will learn who they are and who they are not. I have wiped many a tear so far but have also seem many smiles and screams of joy. They will learn about life and love and heartache. They will learn about death and dying and moving on. And through it all their life will unfold and they will become who they are intended to be. And I would not have it any other way...................

She loves her sister.....see:)

And yes she loves her phone (but not as much as her sister??)

 There is that spunk I was talking about

Helping on her sister's field trip.......well, taking a break right now:)

Turning into a very beautiful young lady. And let me tell you
her sister is CRAZY about her. 

Growing up.......

#8

Doing what she loves

Oh and she is VERY speedy too!!!!! http://www.jessicareidphotography.com/blog/view/what-welcoming-a-baby-sister-looks-like

This is What Having a Month All About YOU Looks Like!!!!

Well April sure ended up being all about my  youngest daughter!! From her birthday, to First Communion, to the Father Daughter Dance for Brownies, she sure had a busy end of April!!!

As fas as this post goes the pictures really do most of the talking. There is not much for me to say except that I sure do love this kid. She just turned EIGHT at the end of April. As bittersweet as it is to see her grow up I wouldn't have it any other way. That is the way it is supposed to happen. Kids are supposed to grow up and do great things and become all that they can be.

She has sure had an end of the month all about her! April 21st was Communion. April 23rd was her EIGHTH Birthday and April 26th was a Father Daughter Dance for Brownies. Then later in the week we took her birthday pictures at the park.....

All I can say is I sure do love her! She brings warmth and sunshine to any room that she enters. She has a heart of gold. She is loving, cheerful, funny and cares so much about everyone else. She is an amazing little lady who will go far. I have no doubt!!! I LOVE HER:) Enough said......

FIRST COMMUNION DAY!

AFTER COMMUNION:) ALL SMILES!

SISTERS

ADI IS EIGHT!!!!!

ALL READY TO GO TO THE DANCE!!!

SWEETNESS

This month has been all about her and now in May my oldest turns 13!!! YIKES!!!!

Check out another fun blog below!

http://www.sugarpopphotography.com/2013/04/what-a-crazy-month-of-sports-looks-like/

Well here it is time to write another blog. And here I sit the morning it is due. At this time I have not much to say and not many pictures to post. Life has been busy and sad enough pictures of my own family have been limited. Therefore that makes it a bit challenging to write a blog and post pics of my own family. So here I sit while the rest of my house is asleep (except for my big brown dog Clark who thinks he needs to be up so early in the morning with me). Nothing like a big slobbery Newfie kiss so early in the morning! Ha......

ANYWAY.....so I thought about it and decided the best solution to this is to blog, then photograph. A little different from how I would typically do it, but hey, different is good right. So I am going to make this post brief and to the point. Simple as that. So here it goes......

I love my girls. They are the two bright spots of my day no matter what the rest of the day may bring. From the time they get out of bed, to the time they go to bed at night, you never know what the day is going to bring. Laughter. Arguing. Tears. Fun. Running around silly. Sibling Rivalry. Yelling. Singing. Dancing. You name it, it probably happens in one way or the other. They are so fun and so full of life. Some of the best times, and at the same time some of the most challenging times, are the mornings. When they are up and moving and getting ready for school. Some of the best memories are made in the mornings. AND despite all the "rough mornings" that sometimes occur I would not trade the mornings for the world. There is just something about waking up the smiling (not always smiling) faces in the morning and watching the day unfold as they prepare for school. A new day. A clean slate. Another day of life. Another chance to make some memories.

So I guess what I am saying here is this....I love my girls. I love mornings with them. I love watching the day unfold. I love seeing what the morning brings. AND I love knowing that yet one more day has been given to us......Seize it, grasp it, hold it. Make the most of it. AND remember they are only young ONCE. You are only given today ONE DAY AT A TIME.

"The best thing about the future is it comes one day at a time."--Abraham Lincoln

IT IS DONUT MORNING:)

SHE IS LOVING DONUT MORNING:)

MY YOUNGEST:)

SHE IS GIVING HER FULL ATTENTION...LOL

SILLY KID

SCHOOL.......AAAAHHHHH...

THIS IS WHAT I GOT WHEN I SAID SMILE PLEASE:)

LOVING THE NEW CURLING IRON THIS MORNING

MY LITTLE LOVES

THE PREPARED 7 YEAR OLD

THE OCCUPIED PRE-TEEN

Love your kids. Take time for you kids. Embrace the morning. It is the start of another new adventure that ought not be taken for granted....
Now check out what Tara has been up to!
www.taralongphotography.com/blog/2013/2/this-is-what-my-birthday-looks-like

This is What A College Reunion with Your College Family Look Like

     Well, another blog post to be posted today!! Yikes....Let's see... life has been kind of busy and my camera has take random shots here and there but nothing specific to speak of. So as I search through my thousands of photos, I came across these from my college homecoming this fall. The idea of this blog is to focus on my OWN family..... Well, that said, the friends I made in college I am happy to say have definitely become family to me over the years. Some of us are near, some of us are far, but either way we are family. It was great to spend time back on campus after all these years with such an amazing group of friends/family. The weekend was short and quick, but the memories will be lasting.

      It is a pretty amazing group composed of the McCoys (four boys), Butkus family (one girl, one boy), The Reynolds (two girls), and us The Schneller's (two girls). The kids range in age from my "baby girl" being the oldest at twelve down to the final McCoy boy of age one and most ages in between! I have to say however we did miss part of the "family" in the Smiths (two boys) and the Weitkamps (3 girls), who could not make the journey to Missouri at the time. They were not there but they were not forgotten!!!!!

My "Baby," the oldest of the crew of kids:)

My oldest and the oldest McCoy

Two peas in a pod:)

Mr. Rod Walton and myself....
MY FAVORITE TEACHER EVER:) He is Awesome:)

"What the heck kind of phone is this?" says my smallest in  red glasses
(My how times have changed)

The kid crew minus one who was wandering around doing his own thing
(HOMECOMING PARADE)

My two having fun on the bouncy slide!!
FUN FOR ALL BIG AND SMALL!

From left to right--Butkus two, Reynolds girls,
The McCoy boys and my two ladies.
Sitting on the steps of where I lived my first year at college:)

Cheering on the Wildcats from the Hillside! GO WILDCATS!!!

Sisters having fun before getting ready to make the journey home

The ride home...it may have been a successful weekend:)

It was a good weekend had by all with nice weather and good company. It was good to be back on campus and see the changes as well as see some friendly faces, most notably of my advisor Mr. Rod Walton (Recently retired and back for us to surprise him with our visit). It is where it all began many years ago for all of us couples (except my husband--but they have all welcomed him with open arms into our "college family." I could not ask for a better group of people who have been there for me through the smiles and the tears...



Remember This: "I think if I have learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that hold life and faith together. Powerful stuff."--Jon Katz


Check out another fun blog by an amazing photographer
.http://daniellesullivanphotoraphy.blogspot.com

This is What Honoring My Brother Looks Like

When it came time to post for this month it did not take me long to know what I should post about. Though it has been a busy month and many, many, many things have taken place which I could post about, one stood out as the most important to share.

On January 7th, 2008 I lost my only biological sibling--my older brother Chad-- to suicide. This is something that I hope no one every has to experience. The days and years since that very day have been filled with many emotions from anger and bitterness to feeling sorry for myself to hating the world to wanting to know why to sadness and grief. It has only been recently that I have been able to shift some of those emotions to joy and happiness as I can recall memories of my brothers life and I can remember the happy times. The happy moments are finally starting to outweigh the sad, though the sad moments still surface time to time as I miss my brother daily. The hurt never goes away, it only gets less. Time helps to ease the pain but another thing which has helped to make it through these moments is the support I have found from an amazing foundation The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, or the AFSP.

Last year I participated in the walk for the first time in honor of my brother. That year through donations from family and friends I was able to donate $1,100 in honor of my brother. Following that year I was asked to help chair the walk for 2012 in Springfield. Reluctantly I agreed to do so, as this would be something totally out of my comfort zone. So to fast forward to October of 2012--it had been a whirlwind adventure for me!!!

The AFSP hired a wonderful girl by the name of Katherine to help with the walk in Springfield. Therefore she and I teamed up to pull off what turned out to be a totally amazing walk (if I may say so myself) on October 14th, 2012 at Washington Park. The whole adventure from the planning phases to the publicity for the walk to the actual walk, have really made me reach outside myself and step outside of my box in order to make this happen. I was on News Channel 20, Katherine and I were on the radio, and I spoke at the walk. Had I not had the support and encouragement from my family and friends I would not have been able to reach out to others who may be experiencing some of the same things that I have been over the years. There IS strength in numbers, as I definitely learned here with the walk. I know for a fact that I did make a difference and I will continue to be involved with this walk and the AFSP as long as I am able.

The pictures here may not exactly be all of my family as this project was intended to be for, but ON this day ALL these people were my family. We all had a common ground. We all had emotion. We all had tears. BUT we all gained STRENGTH for that moment, on that day. SO that said, my photographic skills were definitely not at the forefront of my mind and my emotions simply took the pics. And you will see as well that I am in a good deal of the pics snapped by my husband....

Thank you to all my friends and my family who donated to this years walk. As a result I was able to turn in over $1,500 to the AFSP in my brother's name. I cannot thank you enough.

To all those of you reading this please do one thing for me. Call a family member. Hug someone. Tell someone you love them. Lend a hand to someone in need. Make amends. TODAY. Why? Because tomorrow may be too late..........

My friend Melissa and Kim (bright blue shirts) coming out to show their support.
Love these gals!!

Me:)  Speaking to the crowd about why I walk.

The walkers.......

My daughter (in blue) and her friend walking in support

My amazing co-chair and I 

The radio station support....VERY VERY SUPPORTIVE!! 

MY AMAZING HUSBAND DAVE!! I could not make it without him

The Memorial Wall

To my brother

TO MY BROTHER: I love you and I miss you
(note the writings from Alyssa and Addison)

                             Please check out the following link for another blog:

http://courtneywestlakeblog.com/2012/11/02/what-our-own-fall-portraits-look-like/