t4tots's Xanga

Going to the Beach

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:52:21 GMT

Beach Portrait Sessions!!
Dauphin Island in May

We still have availability!

Tina Folsom Photography is heading down to Dauphin Island for the week of May 24th until May 31st. We still have several session time slots open for individuals and families. We would love to add you to our week!!!

We are completely booked for Friday the 30th and Saturday the 31st, but Memorial Day weekend still has openings as well as several of our weeknights.

Sessions available early morning or evening til sunset.

Please contact the studio for more information: 205-587-5349 or email us at tfphoto@charter.net

Home with Mom

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:25:43 GMT

I had a fun day at home today with my youngest. I know the days of hanging out with him all alone just the two of us while the rest of the kids are at school is fading fast. He starts all day K4 next year in the Fall and will be gone everyday from 9-1. I will get a little quality time from 1-3, but really it's not the same as getting a whole day to sleep late together and eat lunch together.

Today, he and I played side by side on two different laptops on the couch while watching Calliou and Sesame Street. I was editing and he was playing Reader Rabbit...it was nice and we shared a blanket and every now and then I could smile at him and when he smiles back it is usually his "super smile" which is a huge cheese while shrugging his shoulders. Well, after a while today when I was glancing at him a lot enjoying our time together, he started getting a little tickled so instead of smiling, he started getting embarrased and saying "Maahhhm" as in cut it out please I'm trying to work here and you are staring at me. I couldn't help myself after a while I did it just to here him and his sarcasm!!

I started getting sentimental and grabbed my camera to take so pictures to capture him today as he is...new haircut and all. Oh and he dressed himself today, so yes, his shirt is on backwards for those moms who may notice...it's not that easy to tell but I knew. And he brushed his hair with his fingers today and not a brush

Here's Little C...whose nickname lately has been Little Speed.
(He goes around saying I am Speed from the movie Cars)

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 01:53:53 GMT

Elevation

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:42:58 GMT

For the last few months, we have been attending a church service called Elevation. We meet in a coffee house and sit on comfortable couches with our coffee and bible ready to listen to a great message and some awesome music. It is so relaxing and you really feel a part of something important. I guess I feel like we are in a warm safe place and you can just feel God 's presence. We can hear the playing children in the other rooms as the walls don't keep in the fun they have in the studio next door. But it doesn't bother anyone...we all just smile at the children's excitement and enjoyment learning about Jesus. They have games and competitions that keep my kids talking about Sunday all week.

I LOVE that I can wear my comfortable jeans and not spend the whole morning freaking out over my children looking their best and putting on their dresses, tights, uncomfy shoes and hairbows. Having four kids can make a regular Sunday morning turn quickly into a screaming match between you and a strong willed child who simply wants to wear tennis shoes and his favorite shirt. We have a much more calm and routine Sunday morning now and the kids actually get themselves ready with little help from mom. Now that is a day of rest LOL

Recently, I took a class for a couple of weeks to learn how to make the coffee drinks and sandwiches at the coffee house. Several of the church members volunteer at the coffee shop during the week and make themselves available to the community to discuss life and just be there for those in our area who stop in. Many are unchurched and it is really easy to mention that we are volunteering as members of a church that meets in the coffee house during the week. Of course, several groups from other churches also meet at the coffee house in the mornings for Bible Studies and I attend one on Thursday mornings with a great group of women (though we are currently on break). We all go to different churches and are all moms of Elementary kids. With my business being so mobile, I can actually sit at the coffee house with my laptop and edit. I can also meet clients there for consults and to order prints. It's a great atmosphere and so quiet for working without feeling like I am alone at home (when Little C in at Preschool).

The Pastor just added the Podcast to the website and I wanted to share his messages if anyone wanted to hear a really great speaker. He is very motivational and I relate so much to his family. They also have 4 kids about the same age as ours. Some of his family stories I can SO relate to, which is great to hear and also great because he shares his perspective and challenges our priorities.

Anyway...long blog to say...you should check out these great messages:

http://web.mac.com/djditt/ElevationChurch/Elevation/Elevation.html

I really enjoyed the January message about organizing and priorities...and can't help but still wonder where all the socks disappear to in this house. (Oh and we also have a his and hers junk drawer in our kitchen)

The Snow Day (or half day)

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:23:28 GMT

This last weekend, we had a little bit of snow hit the ground and stay around for a few hours. Two of my kids have never seen snow so it was an unusual treat. My husband is like a kid praying for snow!! I cannot tell you how many times he probably looked out the window til he finally saw a flurry.

Thimbles brand new grave site in the snow...

They all built a tiny snow man and enjoyed the wet snow until their hands got cold.

Austin was the first to retreat indoors asking for hot chocolate as he was giving up on playing in the cold. Abby came in soon after, but Carter and his daddy didn't want it to end.

Carter really enjoyed pretending to throw snow balls which really was just him throwing snow off his glove.

Goodbye to Thimbles

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:34:11 GMT

Today, we had a tearful goodbye to a loved bunny member of the family...

Thimbles was my oldest daughter's little baby bunny given to her by Santa Claus in 2005. Her name was Thimbles because my daughter was a big fan of Peter Pan and the Thimble was a symbol of Love. She was a light orangish brown bunny and was loved by all the kids and her sister Button. Her sister Button is missing her very much right now and has never lived alone without Thimbles so we are very worried about her. She has finally tonight started to eat a little bit, but this afternoon would only sit which is unlike her. We will pamper sweet Button for the next few days.

Daddy dug a big hole (which is quite a feat in our hard cold ground) and we buried her when the kids got home from school. We made a cross out of sticks and Thimble's twine she used to chew. The neighbor's daughter came over and we each got to say goodbye...except for Sarah (Princess S) who just cried. Seeing Sarah sad made everyone feel really sad too. Well, Carter said he loved Thimbles and that was so sweet, but then proceeded to say he wasn't sad when Daddy said we were all sad...he barely gets it.

So we say Goodbye!!

Ms. Thimbles
December 25, 2005 - January 18, 2008

Just a Little Seasonal Humor

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:41:51 GMT

I loved this site...my husband put together the kids pictures and added them.

It's great:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1410169138

Feedback

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:48:18 GMT

Thanks everyone so much for sharing your opinion with me and helping me pick out which picture to use :) I am glad its the same one I liked too!

Now I have to decide which card I like best so here are my choices so far:

FINALLY

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:04:51 GMT

I finally found time to actually take pictures of my own family...after weeks of trying to get them together AND talk Daddy into joining us for some shots at the gardens. It threatened to rain, but never did. The dark day didn't make natural light portraits easy and fun, but we succeeded.

This isn't going to be my Christmas card because it isn't the whole family, but I wanted to share this picture.

These are the family pictures I am trying to decide on using for the actual card (clicking on them will make them look much better ):

Water in a Drought

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:29:22 GMT

As much as we are wishing for rain and everything is so dry I am thankful for one small pool of water and one small 8 year old little girl who was ready and excited to go in.

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”- Psalm 63:1

"The poor and homeless are desperate for water, their tongues parched and no water to be found. But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them, and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty. I'll open up rivers for them on the barren hills, spout fountains in the valleys. I'll turn the baked-clay badlands into a cool pond, the waterless waste into splashing creeks." Isaiah 41:16-17

Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
John 4:9-11

Proud of Miss A today!!!!

Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.
John 3:22-24

On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says."

John 7:36-38