Nosey Neighbors

So, since we have moved in we have constantly felt as though our new neighbors were watching our EVERY move!  They are all friends with the owners, so we felt that they were reporting back to her like good little minions!  SO after 4 months of feeling massive anxiety when ever I look out my window, have people over, or even leave the house, I finally decided to "kill them with kindness"!!  I baked FRESH home made banana bread and wrote up a little introduction about our family and just walked it over to 1 of our nosey neighbors.  The other 1 wasn't home!  We have some AWESOME neighbors right next door, but they weren't home.  I made them some just because I like them and they have been super kind to us since we moved in :)  Anyway, so the neighbors that were home, I introduced myself, shook their hands and told them what I had brought.  They seemed shocked, of course, and somewhat nice.  The husband more so than the wife, but I expected that.  Men don't really get into drama like the wives do, lol.  I seriously feel like we could shot "Desperate Housewives of Clovis" on my block!  Well, we will see what, if anything, happens.  What counts is that I made an effort to be nice.  I have an agenda to make them hate LOVING me, lol :D  Im going to be so nice that they just can't stand it, lol! Well, I hope so!

On another note, today was a GREAT day!  With the exception of my poor hubby :(  He is in so much pain, I worry about him!  I wish he could stay home and get his surgery right now, but he won't do it!  He is determined to work through it until winter when his hours at work will slow down.  I love him dearly, but sometimes I wanna wack him on the head, lol!  I mean, he's gonna hurt himself so seriously that he might not be able to work again!  The he will feeel so helpless :(  And that is the LAST feeling I want him to feel!  Anyway, so we went to church and enjoyed speakers from a return missionary (sister), who was serving in Arizona.  She helped me be thankful for our 105 heat spells, when she mentioned her 1st summer there was 124!!  I still want to move to Oregon though, lol!     

Well, Here are some pictures of Yosemite National Park that I took last weekend :)  Hope you like them!

the past 4 months...

So I just uploaded all my wedding pics to FB!  I know FINALLY!  It's only been a little over 4 months, lol!  I can't believe Ive been married for over 4 months!  I wouldn't have it ANY other way, I truly have been blessed!!!  

Lets see, the wedding was at Pacific Grove Ca, at "Lover's Point Beach".  Yup!  ON the beach!  I've dreamed of a beach wedding for YEARS, and of course my bubby delivered :D  The planning process was HELL!  I mean everything that could go wrong, went wrong at LEAST 5 times!!  Im so glad Im not getting married anymore, lol!  This is IT! So, throughout ALL my learning when I was planning my wedding- with VERY minimal help, I have decided to become a wedding/Party planner! :)  Although I am NOT doing this for extra cash, the gas tank doesn't fill itself!  I realized that there were so many little things that a bride could use some extra "helping Hands" for.  Like lighting her candles, setting up her walkway, playing her "walk" music, arranging simple flowers, etc.  Sooooo, I decided to start "Whale of a Time" Wedding/Party Helping Hands! It is both options of a Wedding/ Party planner and/or Decore (such as table decorations, linen rental, centerpieces, entryway decore, etc.  I have a small basic package for the little necessities, a bit larger pkg for correspondence with Venues and little things if needed, and also my big pkg which I do everything from find the venues to schedule appts.  I am excited to start this new venture along with my other 2 businesses, Photography and my Preschool!

If you have looked at my other posts, you can see that I have wide range of photography likes!  From scenic to vintage to portrait/family.  To wrap it all up, I basically LOVE taking pictures!I hope it shows in my work <3  I have started charging, after I received several requests!  And why not get paid for something I love doing??  Feel free to leave comments on my pics!

I have FINALLY closed my daycare and officially started "Brown Bear's Learning Academy"!  So my work schedule for the Preschool is Monday- Thursday 8:30-11:30!  I can't believe that I am off work BY 11:45 EVERY day!!  It's AMAZING!  My hubby works so hard for me to be able to keep this schedule and venture off into unknown career opportunities! <3 him!  So my preschool is YEARS of accumulated curriculums combined with Robert Titzer's "Your baby can Read" with a dash of "Leap Frog"!  This combination has my students reading at LEAST on Kindergartens level by the time they enter Kindergarten!  I have even had a few who graduate reading on a 2nd grade level!!  They all know their Presidents and States, color combinations as well as beginning Math and spelling!  It is truly AMAZING how much their little minds can absorb!

So now about my family, and the changes since being married on April 21st.  I inherited a beautiful 8 yr old boy, Keegan!  I have 4 children of my own, Tyler, Alexis, Aleksander and Ethan.  They are 18, 15 (twins), and 6yrs. Since Garan and I got married, my oldest has graduated and moved to his fathers.  Garan and I moved the family to a bigger house to accommodate the bigger family.  The twins decided to go to their dads as well over the summer.  So, now we have a beautiful big home, and only 4 people living in it, lol!  This is ok, because I have a feeling the grass isn't exactly greener at their dads, so they will be back :)  They are teen-agers, what can we expect :/

My husband and I were married on Saturday April 21st 2012.  Sunday morning we left the beautiful city of Pacific Grove and drove all the way to Tulare to serve Keegans mother with custody papers.  She wasn't being "Mother of the year" :/  We had court the next day!  Monday April 23rd!  We were granted immediate temporary custody, and since have been granted permanent full custody, legal AND physical!  I knew when we filed for custody that it was going to be challenging, due to my OCD and Keegan's lack of parental guidance thus far and his ADHD.  Even though we both have made some HUGE strides, we still have our conflicts.  My belief is that in time he and I will become better friends, and he will have more respect for me as an additional authoritative figure in our home.  My hubby and I get about 1 date a month right now, and try with ALL our hearts to get more, but it is what it is, and I wlil take whatever time I can get with him!  Amongst all the MANY trials we have faced since getting hitched, I still feel more blessed now than ever before!!! <3

I was introduced to Pinterest about a year ago, and have fallen more and more in love with ALL the great ideas it offers!!  I have discovered new loves with cooking, crafts decorating and organizing!  Wait, who am I kidding, I have ALWAYS loved organizing, lol!  Check out my boards!

https://pinterest.com/brownbearlc/

Ok, well its bedtime for the boys and Ethan just came down to remind me to read chapter 3 of Mrs Pigglewiggle to them!  LUVY this book, so stinkin cute!!  I hope you enjoyed reading about my past 4 months, lol!  Have a great night!

My boys Back-2-School pics

Classic cars

I was SUPER excited when the Roadsters Club car owners invited me to take a few shots of their babies!

 

Some pictures...

Here are some more pics I have done :)

OK, so at least I got on here to tell you that Im too pooped to post, lol!  I had quite a day with 7 mini photo shoots for my preschool class, then cleaned the garage, then signed up for PTC meeting at my boys school, and now I have to get some shut eye so I can be alert when I help in my sons class tomorrow, lol!  Im grading the homework, so I better be on top of my game, lol :)  Anywho, here's a little taste of what I did today...

Can I just say that life has been UBER crazy over the past 9 months??  So Im married now!!  YAY!  I am officially Mrs. Bates!  I've been married for 3 months and it STILL feels like last week, and then at times it feels like it's been 30 YEARS!!! lol :)  I seriously have the BEST husband EVER!  No really!  He makes me WANT to be a better person every day!  He is my meaning :)  So, Im not going to update tonight, Im super tired, BUT I will update tomorrow.  I have started 3 businesses, discovered life as a mother of a severe ADHD child and the whole dynamics of my home has changed since my engagement!  I will post pics and fill you all in :)  Nighty night! <3