Collie

Quinn's Vlog About Adoption

2011-02-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Quinn knew mommy had a long day so she decided to share some of her thoughts today in this vlog (video blog)

chickens.

2009-06-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

This is what the chicks will look like when they are young...
...And this is them when they get older! They are pretty big chickens!

After much thought and research we are getting CHICKENS! Woohoo! Our whole family is excited! We are getting baby chicks and we will raise them into chickens (females only) and keep them for their eggs. Still not sure what kind of coop we will build-I think we will just make one up seeing as Dru and I are not very good at following blue prints. :) Everyone who has chickens says, "Don't over think it-they are just chickens"...so we are doing just that when it comes to the coop.

prayer.

2009-05-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

At dinner the other night Quinn said she wanted to say the prayer...so, she held our hands and closed her eyes real tight and said,

"Lovin' Jesus, be my guest. Don't know you, but be blessed. Amen."

This was her take on "Come Lord Jesus"...nice

good times.

2009-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the Health Adventure last week....their theme right now is Moneyville-supercool! Quinn got to play pretend in a grocery store, learn about car safety, bubbles, her inner ear and equilibrium, and gravity!

I also took the kids to the park this week...we played there for several hours with our friends Shelley and Miles.

(over due.) quinn's 3rd birthday.

2009-05-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some over due PICTURES!!!!!

Quinn's 3rd Birthday Party...November 21, 2009

Quinn has a friend named Piper who turned 2 at the same time so we did a joint birthday party. Yes, we even set up a Princess castle in Piper's house! The kids had a blast!!!

Quinn with her organic cupcake-cake...it was so yummy...really!!!!

The night of Quinn's birthday we celebrated with myself, Dru, Asa and Adam (Alicia was out with a friend)...these are her gifts from family that we saved so we could have our own little party with her!

On Quinn's actual birthday we had a baby sitter come over to watch Asa and Adam and I took Quinn out for a girls day out. She got to choose everything we did! First, she wanted her friend Avenue to meet us at Starbucks for hot chocolate, then we went to the bookstore and she got to pick out some books. It snowed on her birthday, she said, "God made it snow for ME!!!!"

pizza with friends.

2009-05-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

We had some friends over for personal pizzas Sunday night. "Mr.Dave" is one of Quinn's FAVORITE people EVER and Melissa!!!!

These pizzas were AMAZING~!!!!!

Pizza on the left: Quinn~~Pizza on the right: Melissa

news...but not much new.

2009-03-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

We here at the Collie household have not slowed down one bit, regrettably. I have been taking pictures but our main computer broke so I have not posted any. We are getting it back today so maybe I will make up for the slacker job I have been doing on posting pictures. I have been working on my new studio. It is a cozy little place that needed all new fixtures,paint and all new furniture and decorations along with many other things. Every spare moment I have I am planning or executing.

Asa's first birthday was last Sunday. I cannot believe he is that old! I think because we had four kids most of the time he was alive it just flew by! Quinn loves her brother so much! Just today she was teaching him how to dance and feeding him Nilla Wafers.

We went to Indiana last week for Allie's baby shower. Asa is NOT as good of a traveler as Quinn was. I remember on Quinn's first birthday we took her to Oklahoma, a 14 hour drive and she just sat in the back and looked out the window and played with her toys. Asa just screamed 3/4s of the way unless I had my hand on his lap. I will admit, I have enabled him in his "mommas boy" syndrome. I am trying to quit so I don't have a high maintenance child that no one wants to be around.

Today I will continue work on the studio once Dru gets home. I am redoing an old fireplace and a coffee table.

For now I will leave you with this...so much meat to it...

"Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good."

Romans 12: 9-21

alicia and adam.

2009-02-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

I have not been in too big of a hurry to post this on here because I feel like everyone probably knows whats going on with us through Facebook or word of mouth but...

Alicia and I sat in the courtroom on Wednesday to listen to a very nerve wracking decision. My stomach was in knots and I felt so sick. I was praying they would both get to go to their grandmas house. Alicia told me the night before that she was having second thoughts and that she really wanted to stay with us-but it was not up to her at this point-it was now up to the judge. She told me we were the only real family she has ever had. Awww...

Anyway, the judge said they could both go home so that afternoon I took Adam to grandmas trailer and hung out with Quinn, Asa, Adam and Alicia (and a million of their family members) for about 3 hours. It was hard saying bye to Adam. He wanted to go with me and I can only image what is going through that little boys head.

Alicia begged her grandma to let her spend the night at our house for one more night, so she did. We had a good time together for our last night and the next day after school her grandma came to our house to pick her up. Good-byes were sad but we are getting through. Its nice to have more time and Asa is now in his own bedroom. He has slept in our closet for 11 months!! And I am glad to have my closet back!!!!

OK, I have to go. I need to save Quinns body from her destruction to her face. She has marker alllllll over her face!!!

simply amazing.

2009-02-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

The most AMAZING thing I have ever seen at church....these people are for real...these are their real problems and pasts. What if we all were this authenic??

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

update.

2009-02-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

Update:

We have court on Wednesday at 9:30 am for the kids. We will see if Adam and Alicia get to go to their grandmas to live. We don't know if Adam will get to go but we are pretty sure Alicia will get to. Her grandma only lives about 10-15 minutes from our house so hopefully we will still get to do some of our favorite things together occasionally.

If you think about it, will you pray that Adam gets to go also? We all think it is best for him and Alicia.

I'll do an update either Wednesday or Thursday.

godspell.

2009-02-21T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a HIT and you don't want to miss it...trust me!! Please mark your calendars for

GODSPELL

April 10th, 11th and 12th at the Orange Peel in downtown Asheville

To get more information please go to...www.GodspellAsheville.com

got a studio.

2009-02-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yep, thats right. Here is a picture. For more info go to my blog at www.CaptureEden.com

spas rock.

2009-02-18T11:40:00.001-08:00

Last week I took mom to the Grove Park Inn spa here is Asheville for her birthday. It was the most AMAZING experience ever!!! We had an all day pass so we got to lounge in the lounge with free food and drinks and a fire. We could also use all of the pools, saunas and hot tubs all day. Oh, and they have music playing under water for when you swim. It was so so so much fun! I never thought I could spend a whole day in the water but the day went by too fast! We were there 9 hours basking in the waterfalls, sitting by the fires in our robes they give you and inhaling eucalyptus and spearmint in the 140 degree inhalation room. I think that is what heaven will be like! We got to talk and just enjoy each others company and RELAX! (Dad and Dru only called about 5 times while we were gone to see when we were coming back! They really didn't think we could spend that long there.)

my quinny.

2009-02-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

Allie's cousin-in-law posted this...

That is Quinn in July when she got into Allie's make-up! Hehe

The article is funny too...I can totally relate!

ice skating.

2009-01-29T06:52:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I took Quinn, Alicia, Adam and Asa ice skating. Asa and Adam sat in the stroller or were held by one of my friends who did not skate so they are not in any of the pictures. I have some of Alicia and I but they are on the other computer. Here are some from my friends camera. ENJOY!!

Quinn thought it was really fun to have Mel and I drag her. :)

PS-This is my friend who mom and dad bought land next to.

I am doing a toe stand. :) Not too graceful...its amazing I did not break my ankle.

This is my favorite picture. Quinns expression is priceless and I love that a friend took a picture of me taking a picture. Holding Quinn is Mel's step sister...along with Mel.

still alive and kickin'.

2009-01-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

Let begin by cheering you up with a little photo from our 3rd annual Asheville "Ugly Sweater Party" (If you own one of these sweaters please do not be offended-everyone has their own opinion what what constitutes "ugly")

Dru was most stylish in his "ugly" poncho...most likely straight from Spain or maybe even Mexico.

Here is our car PACKED on our way to Boone for the Collie family Christmas. And yes, that present DID fall on Adam's head when Dru flew over the four foot speed bump going 25 miles per hour!!!! (By the way, Dru packed the car)

Char always sets the table so nice!

Cousins: Asa (9 months) and Sydney (5 months)

Collie Cousins plus one. (Left to right) Adam, Ingram, Isaac, Sydney, Quinn and Asa

Quinn loved her presents and posed for this picture of her new furry vest from CC

The Collie clan...

I just thought this picture of Asa was cute in his hat from Uncle Steve an Aunt Mere! And, below, friends Shannon, Josh and Avenue...oh, and Quinn with their "ugly" sweaters on. PS- Quinn did not want to wear an ugly one but "only a pretty one" she said...she picked out her whole outfit!

I know it has been FOREVER and a day since I posted any photos or even just a description of what we have been up to. Truth be told-most of what goes on around here we are not allowed to post online because of confidentiality laws with our foster kids. Much of the same things are going on around here. Kids are getting big so fast! Asa is standing and starting to "cruse", Quinn is very much a little lady and mommy in training, Adam is walking and almost running around the house now. (He was Asa's age when he came to us) and Alicia challenges me everyday in the patience category but she is also such a joy to have around.

We had a good Christmas. My parents and Allie and Adam (affectionately named "big Adam") came to our home with Adam's parents. It was good times! Then, this past week we went to Boone to celebrate with Dru's family.

So above are some photos from the past week. Our old camera went to camera heaven with a bunch of our old pictures on it so here are photos from our new point-and-shoot.

glasses.

2008-11-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

I know it has been FOREVER since I posted-does anyone still read this? I really need to post more often but this is the busiest time of year for me. Everyone wants photographs because of the colors this time of year and then they all want them back before Christmas...some of them custom framed-which I do myself. So whew, there is a LOT going on. Plus just the usual. I have still been going to a lot of appointments for the kids. I was at home a total of one hour (and not all at once) yesterday and the rest of the time was spent in the car, or in a waiting room.

One fun thing I did yesterday was to take Quinn to look for glasses. This has been a long process and I cannot find a pair I like on her that don't make her look like we are correcting a cross-eyed child. She will not wear her glasses all the time, but just when we are reading or working on school work, at church, watching TV or anytime she really needs to see details. So-the nice people at the eye glasses store let us take 2 pairs home until today to decide. There is one more frame we are going to throw in the mix but I don't think they will let us take them home. The one that you will not see pictured are frame-less on the bottom and sides and are little rectangles with a metal frame on top.

So, here are the other two...I had one specially ordered but I am just not sure which of these two I like better. PLEASE comment and tell me what you HONESTLY think! (Sorry the pictures are blurry)

I just thought I would add this last one for kicks. Alicia took this...all the kids in their PJs. Asa is crawling and pulling himself up to get things.

amen.

2008-10-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

Don't hate me all my friends from Asheville... :)

This is the most articulate article I have read that states why I believe what I believe about this election...(PS. I know I'm not black so no one needs to inform me of that) :)

by Huntley Brown - "Why I (as a black man) Can't Vote for Obama"

Huntley Brown is a popular Christian music artist and he told www.truthorfiction.com that he wrote this email to some friends who were inquiring if he was going to vote for Senator Barack Obama. Brown said that he wasn't asked if he was going to support the GOP candidate, John McCain, and that this email was primarily directed at his opinion of the Democratic candidate. He also told us that he has problems with both candidates but the differences he has with Senator McCain pale in comparisons with the ones he has with Senator Obama. Brown did not write this email to influence public opinion nor did he expect his response to be forwarded to others which resulted in wide distribution of his opinion on the super information highway. No matter the outcome of this election, Brown told us, that as a Christian, he could be counted to support the President in prayer every day. updated 10/10/08

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:Why I (as a black man) Can't Vote For Obama By Huntley Brown

Dear Friends,

A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an e-mail with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but its worth repeating...

First, I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.
Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads, I follow. I can't dictate the terms he does because he is the leader. I can't vote black because I am black I have to vote Christian because that's who I am, Christian first black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white.
I will be asked if I know Jesus and accepted him as Lord and savior. In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.
We need to follow Martin Luther King's words don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007. NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008) To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason planned parenthood gives him a 100 % ratings.
There is a reason the homosexual community supports him.
There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc loves him.
There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the supreme court.
There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill.
There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
There is a reason he voted no on partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted no on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue:
The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedure

A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)

B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.

C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.

D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.

E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed. God help him.

There is a reason Obama opposed the parent notification law. Think about this you can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years. Obama tells us he has good judgement but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wrights sermons. I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training.

Jesus told us in Matthew 28 v 19 - 20 Go and make disciples of all nations. This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you, talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenants that said they have a

1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community .
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System."
Would you support a President who went to a church like that? Just change the word from white to black and you have the tennants of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside. This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church.

The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world. A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if its a white church or a black church its still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this? So what does all this mean for the nation? In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing: judgement.

Read 1 Samuel 8. When Israel asked for a king.

First God says 1 Samuel 8 v 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

Then God says 1 Samuel 8 v 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

Here is what we know for sure God is not schizophrenic .

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain.

As the scripture says a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God. Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it. For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say "Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four supreme court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy." I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions.

Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.
Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,

1 Whose value system should be placed on the nation.

2 Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings,

Huntley Brown

slacker.

2008-10-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

So, as my good friend Tara would say... "You're such a slacker."

I have really been slacking on my blogging. I really just don't have time! My days are filled with dressing kids, putting away clothes, laundry, changing hundreds of diapers (or so it feels), shuttling kids to doctor appointments, dentist appointments, eye appointments, therapy, visitation, government programs, dance class, Starbucks (cause Quinn needs her daily "caffeine" IE chocolate milk), grocery shopping and a million other things. Wait, I just summed up my last month. I do love what we are doing! I really do. I get stressed when you add into what I just mentioned...PHOTOGRAPHY! (Which I also still love). This is the busiest time of year for my business and we are officially BOOKED until January! I cannot believe it! Business is rockin'! Dru and I are working hard on making it rock even more so that also takes up time!

Well, I have a ton of super cute photographs to post. We went to the apple orchard last week and I took Asa's 6 month photos and Adam's one year photos. Oh yes, that brings me to...birthday! On Friday we celebrated Adam's one year birthday and last Monday we celebrated Dru's 31st birthday! We had a joint birthday party on Friday at our house. It was so much fun getting to hang out with friends at our house with food and fire.

Quinn will be going horse riding soon so we will pictures of that. :) Today we are skipping ballet and I am taking her to her first MOVIE at the movie theater. Then we are going to a mom and children cafe. We are going to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I cannot believe I am taking her to see that but I read the Plugged In review and it said it was good sooo....

She will be bringing her little stuffed chihuahua dog and wear her dog leggings. :) We are going with her friend Mya!

girls.

2008-09-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Alicia and Quinn...two cute.

just life.

2008-09-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from our little point and shoot that have been itching to get on this blog.

This is Asa "drinking" Ma's Starbucks drink. He was holding it so strong Ma could not take it away. She was lauging histerically!

So, Quinn has to get glasses. This is one of the shops we went into to look. Dru was not with us so we took some pictures of Quinn's two favorite to show daddy. Turns out we are not going to get either one of these frames.

These red ones are "Snow White" so she loved them. They are too big though.

Quinn took this picture at DSS (Department of Social Services). We were in the waiting room waiting for the kids to get out of their visitation. Adam's mom bought those shoes for Asa.

This is our case manager and Dru waiting...Quinn took this too!

photos from the last week.

2008-09-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Quinn's Tot Trot...they are backwards in sequence. Woops!

Above is Quinn at the finish line, of corse staring at her daddy!

Quinn is in the STAR...

Above: This is a random photograph Dru took while we were at the park last Sunday. Quinn LOVES to ride her trike.

Introducing Adam. He is 11 months old here. Such a cutie with a HUGE smile!

Quinn with her prize from the race...not sure what kind of animal it is!

And, introducing, Alicia..she is on the far left. On the right is her friend who spent the night and "ran" the 5K with us. Actually, she was complaining the entire time. It was good for her. :)

Quinn taking a photo of us after the race.

Dru had to get to the park to set up Starbucks for the race at 5AM so it was still dark outside.

Dru, taking a break outside resting on our stairway. I saw this and said, freeze! I have to take a photograph of you!

Above: Dru said Quinn thought this was SOO funny. She was laughing so hard and said, "I have to take a picture of this!"

There I go- above on the left. They don't make stars big enough to put around me!

This little girl was a clogger and Quinn thought she was SO cool! She was trying to get on her little stage (see the girl sitting on it) so she could dance!

Asa fell asleep like this in Dru's arms on the way to the car.

Quinn and Dru camping

Notice the popcorn on Quinn's baby's lap.

This last week has flown buy! Above are some photographs from today, at the 5K run for autism. The other photographs are from Dru and Quinn's camping trip in our back yard last Saturday. I went on a women's retreat with our church and so Quinn and Dru got to spend some quality time together. They stayed up late and slept in a tent in sleeping bags.

collie craze.

2008-09-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

It has been so crazy busy around here that this blog has been sitting open all day-and I am just now getting to it. This short blog will have taken me 10 tries before it is over.

I keep starting and stopping. So, the latest is, Quinn has to get glasses. She is so excited and wants pink ones! I am going to get her some from LaFont. It is a French brand and the only kind I can find that make them extra small that don't make her look like a dork.

Today was busy. Alicia, the 14 year old living with us has a friend who is going to spend the weekend with us. Her friend is so sweet and is full of energy just like Alicia...or should I say, just like any 14 year old girl! All they talk about is boys, boys and boys.

So, Alicia and I have been "training" for a 5K for Autism we are running tomorrow. We are nervous cause we have only run one mile per exercise event and thought we were going to die! I signed her up for her fist 5K EVER! She is so excited. When her friend came over we were talking about it and how she was going to have to wait at the finish line with Dru and the kids and when Dru got home he told us he got signed her up to run too! This is a first for these girls-they had never even heard of a 5K! THEN, after we run QUINN is going to run a Tot Trot! We were practicing her "On your mark, get set, GO!" tonight. We'll see how that goes. She does love to run so it could be really cute.

Oh, and last Tuesday Quinn had her first ballet class. Her teacher was amazed at how well she did. She LOVED class and was very attentive. Not to mention, she looked OH SO CUTE in her ballet leotard and hair in a pony tail with her little ballet slippers.

Adam, the now 11 month old is doing great! He LOVES Quinn and she feels the same about him. She makes him laugh harder than anyone else in the family can! And, Quinn loves to feed him baby food. She sits in front of the highchair for what seems like forever and feeds him. So cute. Well, I feel like I am coming down with something so I am going to go get ready for bed so I can get up two times tonight to take care of wee ones and then get up at the crack of dawn to RUN! Oh, can't forget my roasted garlic in the oven...yum yum-go away sick feeling!

(One of these days when I find time I will post pictures!)

make-up.

2008-09-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

I just went upstairs to get Asa cause I heard him crying...we already put the kids to bed tonight...

I didn't think I saw Quinn in her bed so I did a man hunt around the house and this is what I found in my closet that I keep all of my make-up in! She had on every eye liner I own. She looked like one of the Incredibles (from the Disney movie) I told her we had to take it off and she said, "No mommy, I can just sleep with my head up and it won't get on my pillow!" While I was taking it off I said, "Do you want to be a make-up artist when you grow up?" And she said, "NO! I want to be a make-up artist NOW!" :) Silly girl!

so true.

2008-09-07T12:19:00.001-07:00

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom. If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head. I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand. These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.
Written with a pen, sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you. -- Paul Harvey

Paul, you are a genius!

a few things i have learned...

2008-09-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

LIFE.... a few things I have learned
Don't be so busy that you start to realize you have missed out on EVERYTHING!

Take time to play with your kids more. Silly play. Run around with them. They love it.

Sit and cuddle your kids as much as you can.

Make sure everyone knows how much you love them. Sometimes you never have the chance to tell them again.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Some things just don't matter. They mean something, but they really don't matter.

Hold yourself accountable.
Remember that everyone has a bad day once and a while. Just like you.

Don't get offended. Assume that whomever said it, just didn't get it out right.

Give others a break. We are all fighting our own battles.

Remember that people aren't always going to remember what you said, But they will always remember how you made them feel. Make them feel special.

There are too many people out there who need someone really bad. Be that someone.

Sometimes all someone needs is a shoulder to cry on. Give it to them and really listen.

Don't keep your distance. We are all supposed to be taking care of eachother. Life isn't about us, it's about everyone else.

Sometimes the simplest things to you, mean the world to someone else. Give it to them.

Live by example.

Have Faith.

Remember . . . Life is Good.

quinn's friends.

2008-09-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Above is Quinn and her friend Avenue. They have been playing together since they were 6 months old.

Quinn in her Colts jersey and "running" shoes.

I took the kids to a friends house for a party and like in 7th grade, the guys ended up outside on the deck and the girls in the living room. Dru happened to be at work so he couldn't be there to hang out with his friends. I thought it was funny that Quinn hung out on the deck entertaining the guys with her silly stories and camera the WHOLE time! Here she is with Dave (the guy who my parents bought land from) and John.

kid world.

2008-09-03T08:19:00.001-07:00

Asa and one of Ma's cucumbers. :) It weighed 5 lbs.

Asa thinks he is a cool dude...well, he is.

Below: Quinn LOVES to help her great grandma in the garden! She got stung by a bee shortly after this. :(

It is a kid world here at the Collie house. Toys everywhere, food everywhere and kids everywhere! It has been fun having these two kids live with us for a while. Whew, does it make me think 2 is a breeze! The kids might leave us today to be with a family placement. Part of me is sad about that and part of me would love the "break" from being on 110% all the time! Oddly enough, this placement has been harder on our marriage if you ask me than anything else. We just have NO time for each other. We are working on make that a priority. I think I found a sitter for once a week...if it all works out I will be jumping with joy! (Literally)

It is funny how many people this the baby we are keeping is Asa. When you don't see them side by side I could see how that would be confusing. Another funny thing is we all have "A" names. Weird hu? The teenager and I have really become close and I love her company and having her around. Of course we have had to deal with teenager situations and that has been a struggle. I feel like I was just a teenager myself and in some ways I think that is what has helped us to bond, and in other ways that has made it hard. She and I got up at 6AM yesterday and ran 1.3 miles. (Neither of us run...that was fun.) I will be sad when they leave. :(

As far as work goes, I am several sessions behind in editing! Today is my dad's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! If I have a second I will get Quinny to sing to you on a video. Finding that minute may be hard though so don't hold your breath. I have a couple pictures from our trip to Boone about 3 weeks ago. More to come. ENJOY!

whirlwind.

2008-08-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been a whirlwind! This week has gone by so fast. And, as usual, I have lots of pictures to post still and not enough time. I will sum up what has been going briefly though. We had a very fun visit with my parents this past week. Mom and dad came up last Monday night. We spent time looking at houses and land. It was fun just spending time together. We also did a lot of "home improvement" stuff around the house in the evenings and mornings. Mom and dad are always so helpful when they are here! This time mom painted Asa and Quinn's room (to cover up Dru's "mess") and she painted all of the base boards and trim in that room. We did a new picture collage for over the couch in the living room inspired by the Domino magazine. Dad put together Quinn's new trundle bed and worked on my car. We also watched the Olympics. :) There was so much more but I cannot remember at this hour.

So, the day mom and dad left...well more like a few hours after they left I got a call from our social worker saying we had an opportunity for a placement. I got all nervous and anxious when I heard those words. We asked for children under Quinn's age but she presented us the opportunity to foster a 14 year old girl and her 9 month old brother. Oddly enough I had a peace about. Dru did too so we said "yes". I still feel like it was the right thing to do and I feel like this is the first placement we were meant to have. Everything has worked out perfect. Not that the situation is perfect but I can just tell God has his hand on this. I am seeing more and more how this IS our MISSION FIELD, right here at home! We get show these kids the love of Christ maybe for the first time in their lives. This experience has also made me realize (even though I read it in our training) that most of the children who end up in the care of social services have parents who really love them but have just made bad choices. I got to go to DSS at 9:30PM last night and pick these beautiful children up and I was fortunate enough to meet their mom. She did not like me at first, I could tell. I think she felt like I was the one taking her kids away. I went to shake her hand and she started to cry and said, "I can't do this!" and then all of the feelings she felt almost transferred to me. Not that I couldn't care for her children but I felt so sorry for her. How hard must it be to give instructions to some stranger who will be taking care of your babies. Then, I started to cry. You could see the look on her face slowly soften. I felt in that moment the spiritual gift of mercy that I talked about in a later post really at work. That was the Holy Spirit working in me. Wow!

It is now past midnight and 24 hours since placement. I feel so overwhelmed, blessed and tired. Quinn and Asa are adjusting to new people in their territory. The thing is, I don't want my kids to have territory. I want them to feel safe and at home-but I want them to also have a desire to open their hearts and home up to others. (And toys! Quinn is having a hard time sharing!) So as I write this I think, man, I could have edited a whole 3 photos-seeing as I am behind on about 5 photo sessions now! And, I'm also thinking that maybe I'm not supermom. Dang it!! I hate it when I let myself down!! :) Oh, I'm also thinking about the two babies I will be alternately getting up with in the middle of the night tonight.

GOODNIGHT!

poor sammy.

2008-08-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

Who wants this cuuute kitty?? He is good with kids... :)

reaping from ripe.

2008-08-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

My all time favorite photographer and mentor, Heather Bookout and her husband, Ben Bookout are AMAZING. Not just at photography, but as business owners and people. I was reading their blog for photographers today and was like, "Amen! Thank you Ben for putting all of this into words!" Everything he was saying he was so true. PS- this is his blog on August 11, 2008. So, check it out for yourself if you want to know WHY DO I CHARGE SO MUCH!!!!!!!!

hair cut time.

2008-08-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last night when we got home from Boone we shaved Dru's head. He had a Mohawk that I tried to fix and did a very bad job at. Quinn LOVES to cut daddy's hair! I don't really like Dru's hair this short but it is kind of nice for him not to have to fix it in the morning. He will be growing his hair back out so don't you worry (for those of you that liked it longer). Here are some funny clips (no pun intended) of Quinn cutting daddy's hair!

boone.

2008-08-16T07:38:00.001-07:00

Dru took 3 more days of vacation this week and we went to Boone, NC. We stayed with his parents on the mountain top. It felt like fall up there-not summer. It was very weird to go from hot to very cool in just a couple of hours. We spent this first day doing a photo session for our new niece. It was so fun to get to see her. She is only two weeks old and her name is Sydney. The second day we went to Tweetsie Railroad. It is a train/western themed amusement park. I have lots of pictures to post from that (when I find time). Quinn loved the rides and the train.

So, as I am finding out is usual, I got home from "vacation" and just about had another panic attack. This is new. Humm, wonder why. Dru says I have house-arexia. I laughed when he told me that. He said even when the house is clean I think its dirty. Like I see the house through warped eyes.

I got Quinn a pink dance leotard at the Wee-Trade sale last week but I didn't show it to her when I got home cause I knew she would want to wear it right away and I wanted to wash it first. I actually forgot about it and she was just going through the clean clothes basket and pulled it out. She is now wearing it and dancing in the living room. She is very good for a 2 year old. We saw cloggers at Tweetsie and she came up to me a minute ago telling me she needs "those special shoes, the kind that tap"! I told her I have tap shoes (mistake to tell her) and so she keeps asking me to get them out. On that note-I better go get my tap shoes out. She will be disappointed when she realizes her foot will not fit her. :(

voice guy.

2008-08-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I thought this was really funny and bazaar! I got this email and didn't think much of it, but then I went to the man's (who wrote this) website and I got a good laugh as to who was writing me this review. Keep in mind-he is writing about my photography web site. :)

Howdy Asher!

I, believe it or not, found your profile and your website (link) on a website
I found ... while searching for rebounders of all things. There, on a loooong
webpage along with your pic and profile is a rebounder (mini exercise
trampoline) somewhere. Here was the site on which I found your info:
http://bludomain.typepad.com/blus_daily_blog/2007/04/index.html

Your work is outstanding, as well as the fact that your website is ... well,
to belabor the word possibly ... outstanding as well.

The song which plays? Doesn't suck either :-) You are certainly an artist!!

Feel free to visit my site to learn who is writing this letter.

Regards,

Ari Ross
voiceguYY@aol.com
http://www.funcommercials.com
(323) 822-2788
(If the above link
doesn't work, feel free to
type in or copy and paste
http://www.isdnvoices.com
into your browser).

tests.

2008-08-09T12:24:00.001-07:00

I am a part of a women's retreat next month and we had to take four tests to show our Spiritual gifts, personality type, learning style and love language. Very interesting stuff I have found out about myself. My top three spiritual gifts are faith, mercy and discernment. I am introverted, intuitive and think and feel in equal amounts. My learning style is kenesthetic (I don't know how to spell that word-I don't write it often) and my top love language is quality time. Now you know all about me! :)

I feel loved when...

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Quality Time

My Detailed Results:
Quality Time:	11
Words of Affirmation:	8
Acts of Service:	6
Physical Touch:	4
Receiving Gifts:	1

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Tag 3 people so they can find out what their love language is.

Take the Quiz!
Check out the Book

the latest.

2008-08-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sure those who keep up with this blog have been wondering what we have been up to. I am very tired and so I will make this short. The kids are in bed and it is my turn to sleep. Hooray!

On Tuesday I went with my friend Tara to the Outlet malls in Tennessee. That was fun! I left BOTH kids at home. Drew is on vacation technically for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so he stayed home with the kids. Asa did great with just a bottle and held it all by himself. I have learned that babies don't need practice to learn how to use a bottle, just give them some time and they will get the hang of it. Asa had only had about 4 bottles before Tuesday. Tara and I spent about 11 hours gone...it was a fun girls trip in her convertible.

Today Drew went to breakfast with a friend of his and the kids and I stayed at home and played and worked. When Drew got home I went to volunteer at this awesome HUGE kids consignment sale. Today was drop off day so I helped with receiving and organizing. Tomorrow is the waited for day...only twice a year does the Wee Trade sale happen!! I get to go to the pre-sale tomorrow and I am so excited! Then, this evening we went to our small group...fun stuff!

We also want to go swimming as a family tomorrow so I hope we get to do that! Well, that's all for now. I am exhausted from the day. So You Think You Can Dance finally is tomorrow-woohoo!

approved.

2008-07-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

We got a call from our trainer for foster care and friend Jessica last night saying we are approved! So we are now just waiting for a placement. In two words- exciting and scary.

bele chere.

2008-07-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a busy one with Bele Chere. The city of Asheville becomes very busy with people from all over the country. Here are some pictures from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A clown painter painted this tree on Quinn's leg. It even had glitter on it.

This was at our church's' prayer gallery that was in the middle of Bele Chere. There was live music and dancing. Quinn thought this was her little friend Sylvie from Indiana. That made me so sad. She was so excited to see this little girl who she didn't even know and the little girl could have cared less cause she didn't know who Quinn was. Quinn was yelling, "Hi Sylvie, Hi!!!!" across the street. :(

Before we went to Bele Chere on Saturday night we went by Dru's brother's house to get some toys for Asa. The kids were swimming in the lake and so Quinn wanted to get in. We did not bring anything for her to swim in so she wore Ingram's underwear and a life jacket.

She was very apprehensive but once we she got the courage she got this far (below) in and then wanted out.

On Sunday I went to see Jaci Velasquez in concert.

Here is my prize winning image hanging at Bele Chere. :)

This is Quinn dancing at the prayer gallery.

This here may appear strange...well, it kind of is, but I love it. Asheville has these drum circle things all the time downtown. Anyone (usually modern day hippies) can come and bring any sort of rythm instrument and join in. This one was at Bele Chere.

stressed.

2008-07-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I had what felt like an anxiety attach. It was the first time I think I have ever had one. I felt so out of control over my emotions that is was scary. I felt panniced and it was really hard to breathe and I just wanted to cry! To make it brief, what brought it on was a culmination of stresses in my life. Some positive stress (yes, some stress can be positive) and a lot of negative stress. Trying to catch up with all of my at home tasks from being gone for three weeks, Eden stuff that seemed to be bubbling over with much needed attention, and a lot of little details while still trying to run (and put back together) a home, a business, be a good mom and still have a life.

The thought ran through my mind a couple of times- "You can't handle all of this! How do you think you are going to be a foster parent?? You are not skilled enough, experienced enough, and you certainly don't have it all together!"

It was weird, for the first time in a looong time I felt my heart being convicted that this was something Satan was putting in my head. It was very clear-it had to be him. So, I took those yucky thoughts captive to scripture and this song popped into my head by our amazingly talented friend, John David. I think the title is "Wash Over Me". The words I kept hearing were, "Wash over me, cause I need you now. I need you more than the air I breathe. Wash over me, cause I need you Lord. I need you more than the air I breathe." Then, I felt compelled to share this with my blogging world, something I would not normally do. I thought, I want to share this song...but I'm not that blogger savvy and I don't know how. So, silly me popped John David's DVD into our computer and recorded it on my little point-and-shoot camera. :) Here are just very small snippets of some of my favorite music from his live DVD. You should go buy it if you don't already have it!!! It is called "Live at Lakeview". I wish the picture was better on here and I wish you could see more. Oh well.

So, why am I sharing this? I don't know. I just know that it feels good to fall into the perfect arms of Jesus when I feel all stressed out and crazy.

PS- the one of the song I taped was too long to record so you will have to ask me for the DVD so you can see it, or buy the DVD or *YouTube* John David Webster.

This link is not the song I was talking about but is a song from the same concert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6DxZ4A9vyw

first place.

2008-07-24T17:51:00.001-07:00

Wow! I am so honored. I just got a call from John Sullivan who put together the Highland Art Exhibition for Bele Chere (a festival in downtown Asheville with a whopping 365,000 people) this year. He called to tell me I won first place!!! Oh my gosh! There was so many beautiful art pieces when I went to drop off my photo today that I am surprised I won! The theme was "God is Love". This was the image I entered. It is of Quinn and Dru and there was NO photo shopping done to this image! I promise. I just saw an amazing opportunity and I captured it.

So, my framed 11x14 will be displayed at Bele Chere with my blue ribbon and I get some $ for my prize. Cool beans. :)

rewind to indiana.

2008-07-24T11:11:00.001-07:00

So here are some pictures from my last day in Indiana. :( This was at Kirsten's 30th birthday party at Bravo. Yummy food and good times with friends!

Quinn's friend Sylvie Lynne. Isn't she cute? She and Quinn had such a fun afternoon together.

This is her mom Kim. (Kim, you are so cute!) :) I wish we could have spent more than one afternoon together but she has a hoppin' schedule these days!

Quinn LOVED the german chocolate cake. It made her very happy to have such a messy face and she asked me to take this picture.

I took this one above after almost everyone left...

Check out the costume earings Quinn has on. Kirsten gave them to her to play with.

I think Jenni gave them to Kirsten so she could be a real live princess on her birthday!

This is what Asa thinks about sitting in a high chair (Mom, I'm big but not big enough for this)

Kirsten and I...

Allie and I... (my sis)

Christina and I... (she really has short hair. That is my hair on her head)

**Christina, I will take this off if you want but I think you are so cute!

Jenni, Cindy and I w/ Quinn on my arm

And, my beautiful Jenni!! I love these ladies!!

conversations with quinn.

2008-07-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a funny conversation with Quinn. This is only the half of it. really get her going !

Sometimes you can really get her going and she is hilarious!

i found my little camera.

2008-07-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yeah...I found my little point-and-shoot camera! It was LOST! Here are just a couple pictures from June 2008.

Asa asleep on CC's shoulder at mine and Ingram's birthday dinner.
Asa with his cousins Ingram and Isaac
Quinn painting her on a HUGE canvas in our yard.
This is one of my FAVORITE things to eat! Dru made this for dinner one evening and it was so good I had to take a picture of it. The first time we had one of these sandwiches was in Belize on our honeymoon. They are called "egg-stravaganza" in Belize. It is made with a whole wheat bagel, rosemary, sprouts, tomato and eggs!!! YUMMMMM!
Quinn showing off her magic fingers. She loves art!

we're home.

2008-07-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

The kids and I got back from Indiana yesterday evening. Dru got a gift certificate to Chilies while I was gone so he took us out to dinner to welcome us home. Quinn was so excited to see daddy! When we pulled into the driveway she started squealing and got the biggest smile on her face I have ever seen. She hung on him the rest of the night.

The kids did pretty well in the car. Asa had a couple of crying spurts when he was hungry or just ready to get out but overall it was not bad. I got a back massager for the car and used that almost the entire time in addition to pain meds and I was fine! Praise the Lord!

I have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do now that I am home. I also have a lot of dead and half dead plants to tend to as well as Eden work that has slipped through the cracks. Today is a busy day so I better go...

Glad to be home!

there is no place like home.

2008-07-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

I love being in Indiana, but I am so ready to go home. I am dreading the 8 hour drive (more like 10 when you are nursing) by myself with the kids! I have back problems and I have never driven further than 6 hours by myself and I was writhing in pain when I got to my destination! My back starts to hurt so bad it is comparable to labor. I am not kidding! Dru painted the kids rooms so I am excited to get back and see what a terrible job he did (those are his words, not mine). He and I have some big plans on the line of which I am not ready to announce on this blog yet. I need to get back so we can talk about them.

Well, tonight I am just sitting at Allie and Adam's house with Asa and Quinn. Allie and Adam went to a Gavin Degraw and Jason Meraz concert (is that how you spell their names?) I was going to go but decided I have better things to spend my money on. All of my friends are busy or tired so I'm just by myself...so lonely and makes me want to go home even worse.

Tomorrow we have a big day, we go pick up my car which is getting some work done and I go to Kirsten's 30Th birthday party...WOW, seems like she was just 24 :). And...we are going to try to fit in the Children's Museum. Indianapolis has the BEST c hildren's museum!

Funny story, today Allie and I were at the mall with the kids and Quinn was tired. She said, "Mom, (I hate when she calls me "mom" instead of "mommy") I feel nauseous!" I asked, "Where do you feel nauseous?" and she patted her legs. It was then I knew she didn't really know what nauseous was. :)

I was wondering where in the world did she hear that??? Then I realized I say that a lot. When I am worried, stressed, sad, angry or anything of the like I get nauseous. I guess I must say that a lot.

OK, I am going to find something to do that will be fun. Maybe some sit-ups or something. :) Just kidding~kind of.

indiana fun.

2008-07-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

Our trip here in Indiana has been fun, stressful and a million other words. I have been away from Dru for 15 days now and I can't wait to see him and Quinn can't either. Thankfully we have iChat! One of the problems since we have been on "vacation" has been the kids naps. This one nap in particular was right after we got back from Iowa and Quinn was the first nap Quinn tried to take after a week of no naps. (Its funny naps are such a big deal-who knew I would be blogging so much about naps) I decided that for starters I didn't care if she just took a "rest" in her bed (which is a claw foot tub in Allie's guest room) When I went in to check on her this is what I found...

She got into some makeup I was going to give a friend. I guess I set it too low!

Allie and Adam threw a little birthday shin-dig for me at their house on the 11Th. It was so great to have some of my best friends all in the same place.

Laura scored big time by bringing Paradise Bakery cookies and Christina brought be beautiful flowers!

I just thought this was funny...I think they were looking at a blog actually.

This above happened in about 5 seconds in Allies bathroom! That is mascara. Two of Quinn's favorite things, make-up and dirt (oh, and rocks)!

Adam took Quinn fishing for the first time. She was very excited till she saw the fish actually hanging on a string...she didn't really like that and wanted to put him back, we did.

Above is our little fishing picnic with Allie's in-laws...they are AMAZING!

This was the Starbucks that Dru first started in as a Barista 6 years ago.

As we got out of Allie's car to go onto Starbucks I saw this cool picture in the reflection of her window. Above is the "Old Skool" look. :)

Swimming with Aria...only she is not in the picture.

mohawk.

2008-07-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

For my birthday in Asheville we had a bunch of friends over and Dru decided to have our friend shave a mohawk on his head. This is the only picture I have that does it justice but I will take an after picture later. :)

rewind. iowa.

2008-07-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have finally had some time (at 1AM yesterday) to look at the pictures I took on my camera. We used Allie's camera for the most part in Iowa so I forgot that I took some pictures too. Here are some cute ones I found.

I did not have to even prompt Quinn to do what she is doing in either one of these photos. She loves her brother so much. I can't wait till they can play together. Notice how dirty her hands are in the above picture...she was perpetually dirty in Iowa!

I was laying on the blanket next to Asa making him laugh and dad happened to capture it on my camera.

Above: Asa and my dad

We went to take pictures on the train track that runs through Gowrie. I remember putting pennies on this track for the trains to smash as they went by when we were up for my Grandpa's funeral so many years ago.

I just love this picture above. On our last day in Gowrie after everyone else went home from the family reunion, my dad sister, the kids and I stayed just to hang out and relax. My Grandma Telleen and Uncle Paul stayed also...we had fun at the local park.

Quinn was pretending like she was a turtle.

This slide was SO high, but Quinn finally got the courage to go down it all by herself.

busy in indy.

2008-07-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I have been just as busy here in Indiana as I am at home...or maybe even more so. I have been keeping up with my Eden work, looking for a car, spending time with friends and running errands. I am forget how long it takes to drive from one place to the next here.

I finally found a car...I have been searching all week with my friend Kirsten. It has been so stressful. This was the first car I bought with cash since I was in high school. All other cars we just did what most Americans do and made payments on...it does feel good to have a car paid for! Today I am taking it in to get detailed...I talked them in to doing it for free.

Dru has been painting the kids rooms while I have been gone. Don't I have a wonderful husband?!?!

I would like to write more but I am so stressed right now. Allie and I have a lot to get done before the day is over. It is her turn on the computer so I have to go. I might be heading home towards the end of this week. Thank you all my friends who have called and emailed saying you can't wait to have us back home. One of the many reasons I love Asheville, can't wait to get back.

goodbye gowrie. i will miss you.

2008-07-08T10:14:00.001-07:00

These pictures tell a story...of my trip with the kids to Iowa for a Telleen family reunion
This is Tom Thumbs. They have the best non gourmet hamburgers ever! My grandma really liked this place. This is one of those places the older people go to socialize. We got the friendly stare down because people could tell we were not *from* there.
Asa loves his Bumbo chair, especially at meals.
This is Asa out of his car seat and very happy about it on one of our stops at a gas station
Little potties are the best things ever for road trips when you have little kids!
This was my favorite farm. My cousins live on this farm and farm it (brown Swiss cows) and their parents farmed it and their grandparents. This is the land that Sven and Prunella built their house on when they immigrated from Sweden. This is also the farm that my dad would come to play on as a kid through his teenage years. That scrawny looking pine in the front yard has been struck by lightening several times and has stood there since my great, great grandfather lived there.
This is one of the many roads that look the same in Gowrie but are beautiful to me. Quinn called these the special roads because we would let her get out of her car seat sometimes on these roads because there were no cars and we were driving really slow. It was hard to explain to her that there are not special roads outside of Gowrie (not that we would be traveling on at least)
This is our cousin that my dad would come to stay with in the summers on the farm. He and his brother own the dairy farm.
There were two ferrel cats that Quinn loved.
This is what Quinn thought of the farm and the cows!
We went to a carnival on the 4Th of July and Quinn loved the rides.
We were part of the parade ~ apparently everyone or almost everyone in Gowrie knows the Telleens so we were the Telleen Family Reunion float and marching kazoo band. Ha ha! It was so funny to march in the parade singing with a kazoo.
This is what Quinn and Asa thought of being in the parade. Oh, and for some reason I could not keep Quinn's shoes on her feet while we were in Iowa and she seemed to be perpetually dirty!
Me with my cousins, sister, kids and the rest of the family riding behind on the hay bail float.
This picture cracks me up! The old ladies in the back of the truck...the one in the middle is my Grandma Telleen
Asa did have a couple of happy moments in between all of the tiredness.
His smile melts my heart!
This is Quinn and I on a ride together. She wanted me to ride with her so bad!
I HATE things that go in circles...they make me sick, but I went on this because Quinn really wanted me to ride with her. I had to stare at her the whole time so I would not get too much motion sickness. Plus I wanted to make sure she didn't let go!
This is Quinn almost falling out of the swing right as we were getting started. Freaked me out!
Sven, thank you for choosing America. Sweden is cool and all but- Oh, you people are probably wondering why his last name is "Anderson" if we are Telleens. Because his son who we are decedents from changed his last name to Telleen so he would "fit in". Funny cause I have never heard that name before. There were tons of Swedes that moved to Gowrie at the same time.
Here we are at my Grandpa Telleens grave...its been 16 years since was there last.
We were waiting for my dad and cousins to finish at a grocery store so I had Quinn get out so I could take advantage of a cool white wall. She was not amused.
I love her faces!
Quinn talked me in to going on another circular ride...the merry-go-round. I have not seen one of these since I was like, 5 so there was a childish excitement in me that conceited. You cannot tell how fast we were going because Allie had her ISO set at 1/2000 of a second. (For all of you non camera people-that means that it will freeze just about anything) We were going so fast that shortly after this was taken I had to make them stop the merry-go-round cause I was SO sick. I was sick for the rest of the night and could hardly eat dinner!

July 7Th
Today we are heading back from Iowa to Indiana. What a fun and exhausting trip this has been. I definitely do not regret going, but it has been the hardest thing I have done in a long time emotionally. If you know me well you know I am not too rigid with the kids schedules...well, this tested even me! I have been dealing with overly tired children for 5 days now and I cannot wait to get to Indiana to get some naps in. As I’ve been complaining about their misbehavior I have had several people comment on how well behaved they have been. HA! That’s a joke…do they seriously think that? I guess they would be blown away by their behavior normally. Allie has wanted to have kids really soon but she has now said it will be at least 10 years! Allie has been a LOT of help! I really miss having Dru around though. I can tell Quinn misses him too-besides the obvious, “Where’s daddy? I want daddy.” Her demeanor is different.

So we are about 4 hours from Indianapolis. I am excited to get there and spend time with my friends, but part of me just wants to go home to be with Dru. I’m exhausted just thinking about being away longer. I will be here in Indiana for at least a week.

So this week I had planned to blog every night before bed about the day but seeing as we went to bed (and the kids went to bed) every night at midnight or later I was not up to reminiscing about the whole day.

I had a good time seeing family. There were over a 100 Telleens at the reunion. Our “original” family moved here from Sweden (Sven and Prunella). They moved to Gowrie, Iowa because they were farmers and Gowrie had the best soil. The dirt there is really black! I thought a lot about LEGACY this week. The decision those two people made in the mid 1800s changed hundreds of people lives. How then will Dru’s life and mine affect those down the line from us three or four generations? We got to go visit the graves of several of our relatives dating back to the late 1800s. We also got to visit the family farms which were really cool to see. Because I grew up all over the world and have never had a hometown it blows my mind to think about living in one place your entire life or even most of it! My dad reminisced about his childhood years when he would play on the farms with his cousins and he said everything looked exactly the same. It’s a city where you don’t have to worry about your children walking to the corner grocery by themselves and can let them play in the huge manicured green yards and fields for hours on end. It is quiet there. My cousin says you can hear the corn grow in the summer when it’s hot.

I will let the pictures above tell our story.

20 hours on the road.

2008-07-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, July 1st my dad and I traveled with the kids to Indianapolis, IN for our first leg of our trip to the Telleen family reunion. It normally takes me 8 hours to drive to Indiana to see my friends and family but I guess because of the kids and the dad’s van being completely loaded down with Allie’s home décor from her single days, it took us 10 hours. The kids were falling apart by the time we got there. Asa was so ready to be out of his seat.

As soon as we got there Allie, the kids and myself went over to my very dear friend Jenni’s house to get my hair done. I have not had anything done to it since October of last year!! It was well overdo! My friend Kirsten was there getting her hair done as well as my friend Megan and her new baby Hallie. It was fun to see my old friends…it seems just like old times when I come to my old home and it is just like I never left. I am so blessed to have such amazing relationships. My oldest friendships to date… Kirsten’s little girl Aria was there who is 4 months older than Quinn and Quinn was so excited to see her. Aria knows she is four months OLDER and was holding Quinn’s hand directing her where to go and telling her what to say. I have never in my life seen Quinn so quiet and passive. J At one point the girls were standing in front of me while I was getting my hair done and Aria was being a little pushy to Quinn (only in the sweetest way!) and I said, “Aria, why don’t you give Quinn a little space? I think she is overwhelmed.” And Aria put her little arm around Quinn’s neck and exclaimed, “We are best friends!!”

This morning we got up at 7AM to leave for our 10-hour drive to Iowa from Indiana. We are on the road right now and it has not been too bad today. Asa is crying as I speak but he is just tired and will quiet down soon. Quinn and Aunt Allie are sitting in the way back singing kids songs. So cute. Quinn has been entertaining Allie with her “conversations”. She talks like an adult sometimes…I don’t know where she gets that from. I will have to get something on recording when I find my camera. I cannot find my little point-and-shoot, I guess its my bad karma from selling those shoes who I could not find the owner to at the yard sale for .50 cents.

We have about 3 and a half hours left on our drive today and then we will be in Ft.Dodge, IA where my dad was born and then will be commuting back and forth between there and Gowrie, IA where my family originated. I love learning all of the family history and stories about the places we are going. I have not been to Gowrie since 1992 when my Grandpa Telleen died. We get to go to his grave this trip. Not to sound morbid but I can’t wait-I feel like he “lives” so far away. Who knows when I will be back here again. I have a feeling not for a very long time so I am going to take in every detail.

We are passing through Cedar Rapids, IA where all of the flooding just took place that was all over CNN.

leaving soon.

2008-06-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad at blogging these past few days! I cannot find my camera with all of the pictures I want to post so I have been putting it off. The past 48 hours have been quite busy and dramatic! On Saturday we had another yard sale because we had so much stuff left! We had it at the same friend's house and we invited 6 other families to join in so it was HUGE! We still took a lot to Goodwill at the end. We did that from 5AM-2PM and then we came home because Dru said he had a surprise for me for my birthday. A woman named Harmony came to the house who is a massuse and gave me the BEST massage I have ever had in my entire life!!!!!!! After that I cleaned for the party that night that we were having at our house for my birthday. So, people came over-20 I'm guessing, and we has s'mores and cake and hung out. Dru had his friend shave his head and give him a mohawk. (Oh brother!) The last people left at 1:45AM and we didnt get to bed til 2:30 cause we had to get everything ready for our early morning trip to Boone.

The alarm went off at 7AM on my birthday yesterday (oh, and I got up with Asa 3 times before the alarm went off) and we drove to Boone to do my sister in law's maternity pictures. We stayed there till 4:30PM then drove home so I could go out to dinner with my girl friends here for my birthday. We ate at an amazing Cuban place and then went to Starbucks for dessert and I got home at 11:00PM. I forgot to mention that in the sleepy state Dru and I were in, we forgot the diaper bag in Boone and then later after girls night I forgot my phone at Starbucks.

So, this morning I am packing, doing laundry and getting everything ready for my 3 week trip I am going on with my dad, sister and the kids. We are going miss Dru!!!!!! (He said he might blog while I am gone...cool) My dad gets here tonight and then we leave early tomorrow AM to get my sister in Indiana and then we head to Gowrie, Iowa for a Telleen family reunion. I am so excited!!! (Not looking forward to the 18 hour drive but thankful we are not flying!)

OK, so, enough of a break for now...I need to get back to work.

Check back later because when I find my camera I am going to post pictures from this past week!

its a good day.

2008-06-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

This morning we all got up and started working on our "When the Going Gets Tough" statement for foster care. Jessica said to be creative and put together a list of Scripture, or a poem or some sort of letter or artwork that we can look to when times get tough during foster care to remember why we are doing it and to give us a little motivation! I am so excited to unveil what we are doing...but not yet! It is not done.

Jessica will be here any minute (our trainer) to go over the last 3 books and homework for foster care. We have zoomed through them. It has taken many hours after the kids are in bed sitting down in the office just reading, writing and talking! Well better go finish getting ready...

rain rain go away.

2008-06-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

Today is supposed to be Quinn's second swim lesson! But...its raining! Our first class got rained out and now I think the third class is going to get rained out. Bummer. She will be so sad when she wakes up from her nap and I tell her we are not going to swim lessons like she thought. :(

Today is her cousin Ingrams's birthday! We would post a video of Quinn singing to him but first, I bet all of the readers are getting tired of seeing her sing Happy Birthday (she does know other songs) and second, they don't read the blog so he would never see it. I know, I'm lame- videos are limited to only readers of the Collie blog.

The fire inspector came today and I thought I had it nailed! (This is for our foster care certification) Our trainer from Grandfather Home gave us a check list so we would know what they were going to look for

*fire extinguisher-CHECK

*smoke alarms outside of every bedroom- CHECK

*emergency numbers posted where everyone can see- CHECK

*fire escape plan posted where everyone can see (tacky looking but..) CHECK

and so on...

Well, they did not give us the updated list so we didn't have ENOUGH fire extinguishers and we don't have a cord phone...so off to Lowes today and Target maybe later if the rain does not clear up. Frustrating!

I will post (when I have time to take them) pictures of the 4 rooms I have completely rearranged. Until then, I am going to go take advantage of nap time and get some work done.

3 months old.

2008-06-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

Quinn 12 weeks old

Quinn (Above)

Asa 12 weeks old (Above)

Time to remember...we moved to Asheville when Quinn was 11 weeks old. I took a couple pictures of her when she was 12 weeks old, the same age Asa is right now. I can't believe we have lived here for 2 and a half years. When we moved to Asheville it was an amazing feeling (besides missing our friends) and I can honestly say that I can still feel the "magic and romance" of Asheville! We love it here. We love the beauty and everything there is to do and the people! I love having healthy and fresh food at our finger tips, I love how close everything is, I love when I leave the mall there is a beautiful view of the mountains and if I've been there long enough even a sunset. Not to mention for the first time in mine and Dru's life we live close enough to family to spend birthdays, fathers day and mothers day and any little event we feel like getting together for.

quinn's neck.

2008-06-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we went to the ear, nose and throat doctor per request of her regular doctor because when Asa was born I noticed a lump on her neck when she was looking up one time. It freaked me out and I worried about it being cancer (I have learned from my therapist friend I am a"fear based" person.) so when we went to a doctor appointment for Asa I asked the doctor what he thought. He said if it got bigger then he would schedule an appointment with a speciality doctor-well, it did. So, we went to this visit some 3 months later very anxious to hear the results. The doc. said he thinks it is a thyrodial (sp) cyst that formed when she was 2 weeks in the womb. Everyones thyroid starts high up in their neck and then moves down and something happened to hers when it moved down. Doctors see this pretty often and she will only need surgery if it keeps getting bigger. In that case they would have to take out part of her throat bone too. :( The doc said he didn't think it was cancer because it was too soft. Whew...what a relief!

Quinn did so good doing everything the doctor asked with sticking her tongue in and out and swallowing. All for a mermaid sticker...by the end of the visit she ended up milking the doc for 3 stickers when his intention was to only give her one! She is Dru's daughter! :) He was making animal noises when he was looking in her ears (very real ones) and she was looking at him like he was crazy.

drums with daddy.

2008-06-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

I shot this video this morning. Dru was just singing and play guitar and Quinn was playing drums...so cute.

girls night.

2008-06-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

Quinn loves water!

Just a cool chalk drawing someone drew that Quinn was standing near. I have such an amazing lens on my camera it looks like it was light outside but little do you know it was very dark :).

I think Quinn looks like part of the child Mafia or something. Haha! That is my friend Tara standing in the background. (Again, very dark)

Games after dark when the crowds went home at UNCA

(I am all to often a jungle gym for Quinn while I am taking pictures, ever since she was about 8 months old)

On Monday I took the kids with me to girls night because Dru was working and it actually turned out to be really fun having them come along. :) We went to a concert on the quad at UNCA~it was Latin night! Quinn had a blast dancing. We all brought picnics and then after everyone started to leave we just ran around in the dark taking pictures with available light.

PS- I will have to upload more pics later cause they will not cooperate now.

happy fathers day.

2008-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

Quinn loves her crazy daddy!!!

Asa too...

Happy Fathers Day to three of the best dads I know, Brad (my dad), Dale (Dru's dad) and of corse DRU! All three of you have done and are doing such a wonderful job at raising children! I want to go on but Asa is crying so I need to get this post done quickly. Here are some picures from today. We went to the Lucky Otter for dinner today and I have to tell you I had the weirdest experience of my life! We sat near some people on the porch who had one of those old VW camper vans; the coolest things I think but totally hippie. We used to have one growing up. Well, this thing was so dirty inside and the parents (I guess thats who they were) were just letting the 2 and 4 year old run around in the parking lot around the van and dance ON TOP of the van. Thats right~ON TOP! I could go on, but like I said, I need to go. So unfortunately I don't have pictures from that bazar experience.

Asa is so happy these days! Here is just a bit of the fun playing we do during the day.

fun with mary grace.

2008-06-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fun day. I took the kids to Fun Depot which is this place that has a huge indoor soft play area that is awesome for hot days like yesterday. We met Quinn's favorite little friend here in Asheville, Mary Grace (and her mom and brother who I adore) at Fun Depot. It is so funny how much they love each other and how well they get along! Mary Grace is a year and a half older than Quinn, so she is 4 but they really have a good time with one another. **Not to mention, Mary Grace is a foot and a half taller than Quinn. After the FD we went to their house for a picnic lunch and the girls had a blast playing (more than eating) and they even included Luke (Mary Grace's brother who just turned 2) in the play most of the time. I honestly can't remember what else we did after that...this sleep deprivation thing sucks!

tired.

2008-06-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Just an update...

We went to the park today with some friends. Tomorrow I am taking the kids to this place called the Fun Depot. The kids hung out with Gloria (GG) for a couple hours while I worked and then I went and got them. Because Quinn missed her nap she was a little pill the rest of the evening but she is in bed now and Asa has been sleeping since 4!! Do I wake him or let him sleep??? Hummm. I am so tired so I am tempted to go lay down and rest till he wakes. Rest..ha! Its 8 PM...isn't that called going to bed early? I AM SO TIRED! Dru comes home at 11PM and "So You Think You Can Dance" comes on in an hour so I may stay awake :). We didn't have TV for about 2 months and so it feels weird to watch TV. It kind of annoys me but I do it anyway. We only got it back cause it makes out internet bill cheaper! How stupid!

I had a pretty stressful day~or week I should say, but especially day. I had to argue with some people on the phone that I lease my credit card machine from for the business. Credit cards are so stupid...even if you are the one taking them!!! OK, I've decided...bed it is. Can you tell I'm TIRED????

happy birthday aunt elaine and aunt ellen.

2008-06-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

June is the month for birthdays in this family. Well, along with May and now March and October. :) Sorry this is late Aunt Ellen and happy birthday today Aunt Elaine. Here is a little

birthday wish from Quinn. We love you guys!

dang air conditioner.

2008-06-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

So, the results are in! Our air compressor is dead. The stupid, I mean unequipped people who put the air conditioner in this new house 3 years ago hooked it up wrong among other problems so it will cost over a grand to get it fixed. Isn't that great!!?? So, we are off to get window units for now cause it is so stinkin' hot! Quinn took a nap in a room today that was 87 degrees with the fan blowing on it. Uuhhh...

Well, onto cooler thoughts, we are off to Quinn's first swim lesson here in a minute. Uh-the thought of getting in a bathing suit makes me cringe...its only been 11 weeks since my stomach was 11 feet past my toes.

my kids are cute.

2008-06-09T11:02:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we went to the rehearsal for Nate and Hannah's wedding. Because the wedding was at an estate the family had horses, chickens, goats, collie dogs, cats, huge goldfish...and I think that is it. Quinn loved all of the animals!

In this picture above don't they look alike ~ look at thier mouths! :)

Quinn looking at the goldfish in the pond. See that collie way off the distance...Quinn thought it was so cool to see a REAL collie dog!

I never knew how huge they are and how thick their fur is. If I ever have a farm I am going to get a collie dog.

This child has no fear! She kept walking towards the goat and he looked like he was a little scared. I finally had to tell her to "STOP"!

huff wedding.

2008-06-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Once again, here are some pictures all out of order. I cannot figure out how to get more than 6 pictures in order. Until I do, please have patience. :) Here are some pictures from the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to besides my sisters of course ~ yes, even more beautiful than my own. I am not just talking about the view and decorations either. This weddings ceremony was so touching, just the perfect length of time to sit in scorching 95 degree weather and it brought me to tears several times (or wait, was that sweat running down my face, no-pretty sure those were tears of joy)

This only happens at wedding. This butterfly landed on my friends finger and stayed there while she transferred it to Quinn's and then it just sat on Quinn's finger for several minutes.

Quinn and Liam held hands as they walked up the path to the ceremony site.

I don't like this picture of us for so many reasons but it was the only one we had. I had to wake Quinn from her nap and she was NOT having picture time. Even though I wanted a good picture I could not break my rule of not making the child smile for the camera. Because we take pictures so often I try and make it enjoyable and if she just looks mad-then she does. (and we will remember it forever)

Look at that view!!!

Even though I just had my frustrating point-and-shoot camera I had to take this beautiful image I saw.

Look at Nate! I wish this was zoomed in. He had the best face I have ever seen on a man who sees their bride walking down the isle. He had the largest smile and he would just look at her and then look down and then look at her and then look down!

Quinn did so good but notice, no flowers on the ground. Oh well.

This was the classic face I got from her when the butterfly "liked" her.

By the end of the wedding all of the babies were in only their diapers it was so hot!

Quinn with her friends Piper and Avenue playing on the dance floor

AWWW, yeah ~ they are FINALLY married.

OK, this picture above does not even capture what it conveyed in real life! They had just taken communion together and they were singing "Come Thou Fount" together holding hands but with their eyes closed singing to the only audience who really matters~but together because they are now ONE. Simply perfect.

I hope this was not a "bad mom" thing to do but while Hannah was having her dance with her dad(s) Quinn also took the dance floor. She was so pretty I could not tell her to get off. Besides, I know Hannah didn't care.

CONGRATULATIONS NATE AND HANNAH HUFF!!!!!!!

its party time.

2008-06-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

Melissa did a good job at planning Hannah's bachelorette party...it was so much fun! I uploaded these pictures backwards...woops. I'll explain.

At the very end of the night we went back to our house and did facials and nails...it was really funny because Hannah's and my face turned bright red when we used the cleanser and it was a good laugh had by all. :) We wondered if Hannah's would go away before the wedding but it only took about a half hour. Oh and someone forgot their shoes...how do you forget your shoes? Don't you notice you are walking out of the house with no shoes? If its you-please tell me so I can give them back. They are cute but not my size :) bummer. I am having a yard sale next week soooo you'd better hurry and let me know. :)

For dessert we went to this fabulous place called the Chocolate Lounge. They have everything chocolate you can image! Oh and they have the cutest little personal coffee presses. Very, very yummy!

This happened to be the beginning of the night, a great dinner at Rezzaz. (sp) This is the place Dru and I went for our anniversary but the other side. They have an expensive and not so expensive side. This was the less expensive side but the food was just as amazing. So~ that was the party backwards. Tons of fun.

montreat park.

2008-06-09T07:47:00.000-07:00

Man do I have a LOT of catching up to do. We have been SO busy! I will start with last Friday ~ it was a crazy busy day filled with lots of stress, heat and fun. I took Quinn and Asa to a beautiful park in Montreat which is near Asheville. They have tons of cool play equipment, picnic tables and best of all, a stream that is beautiful and fun to play in. It was about 90 degrees outside so the stream felt cold at first and then wonderful! We met Dru's parents and grandma at the park as they were on their way back to Boone and we all had a picnic together. Then Asa, Quinn and I stayed for 3 more hours and played in the water with some other friends from our church.

Char, Dale and the babes after a yummy lunch...

Char put Asa to sleep and then set him in his stroller, how sweet is he!?

Mrs. Sue, the childrens director at our church let Asa play in the water while I kept an eye on Quinn. Because the water was so cold at first he did not like it and then once he got used to it he just kicked and kicked!

Woops, this picture came in sideways, sorry...you get the idea. Cute little girl in a bathing suite with her bucket. :)

We didn't get home until 4:30 so I had to clean the house really quick for the bachelorette party that would take place later that night! Woohoo!

organized chaos.

2008-06-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

We have been living in organized chaos for what seems like weeks upon weeks but I think in reality it has only been a couple days. I have been trying to move the office on the third floor to the first floor all with no air conditioning! Quinn could not even nap yesterday because it was almost a hundred degrees with the fan blowing on the thermostat! I called the air guys today and they will be here on Monday. I think we will spend as much time away from the house as we can...oh wait, I'm organizing chaos so I can't. I am fasting from perfection. I think this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. That's ridiculous. I am going to post pictures of my rooms that I have finished by tonight but they won't be completely done because I am fasting from perfection....ahhhh! so hard!

I am having about 15 girls over tonight for the last half of my friend Hannah's bachelorette party. I better get going so I can finish for that. I am taking Quinn to the park today...we are going to meet CC, Granddad and Ma G there for a picnic and some playing. Then, we will come back home for naps and get ready for Aunt Netta to come watch the kiddos! Quinn is excited about that. Dru is going to Nate's bachelor party so we needed a sitter-thank you Netta!!!!

boy bedding can be cute.

2008-06-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Asa does not have a room right now because our house is on the market and we thought it was going to sell really fast...that was last October. So, this last Saturday I went to Porter and Price and bought my favorite boy bedding I have ever seen. I have wanted it before I was even pregnant. I have one picture I took a long time ago when it was in the store~ well, last year. So above is a picture of the skirt, sheet and bumper and there is a receiving blanket with argyle and stripes. Now I am moving Quinn and Asa into where the office is and turning Quinn's old room into the foster care room and the studio into the family room. This is why I have been slacking on the blog posts. It is a LOT of work to move three rooms around and keep them all organized for my sanity. Oh, and for those of you who wonder where the studio will be...online. Dru is creating a boutique for me this week on there. Tomorrow is my last order session down there. How sad. At least Asa has cute bedding. Just kidding~

best of WNC again.

2008-06-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Dru told me last night that Eden Photography has won Best Children's Photographer of Western North Carolina! Yeah! We are so excited. This is the second year in a row. You can check out my Eden blog to see the recent wedding that dad and I shot together. :) Just click HERE.

good news and cuteness.

2008-05-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

We sold our HUGE sleeper sofa that was in the office! WOOHOO!!! I cannot contain my excitement. We do not have to move it and now I can get started changing that room into Quinn and Asa's room and make Quinn's room the foster care room!

On the cuteness note, today Quinn asked me who got her this little shark stuffed animal she has(she always asks us who gave her _____fill in the blank so we get kind of tired of the question) and I said, "Your mother". Dru asked her who her mother was and she pointed to me and smiled. Then he asked her, "Who is your father?" and without missing a beat she said, "Jesus!" Oh the faith of a child!

oh saturday.

2008-05-31T14:06:00.001-07:00

Oh Saturday. Usually Drew has to work on Saturday but today he was off, yippee! We have had a good day-I'll tell you about some of it but before I do...

Quinn had her doctors appointment yesterday for her physical for foster care. She is growing great (Ha! That other doc was wrong!) She is smaller than most 2 and a half year olds but still on the charts. The doctor said that because she eats so healthy it makes sense. He said in our society children are fed McDonald's and pizza on a far to regular basis so to compare her to other children that don't eat well does not make sense. I've done something right! :) We eat McDonald's occasionally too so please don't think I am putting on a holier then thou attitude, but in our culture today that thinks you are weird if you don't feed your children candy and grease all the time it was nice to get a pat on the back for once. Although, here in Asheville it is a LOT easier to eat healthy than in many other parts of the country. Other then that, she had to get her blood drawn and I was so worried that when they tied the band on her arm and stuck the needle in she would start crying and then I would too. I am such a baby when it comes to needles I really was trying to not pass this along to my child. Anyway, I just kept telling her what a big girl she was and trying to distract her and tell her how "cool" it was to see her blood (whatever! ). She did sooo well! She just looked at the needle going in her arm and then watched as they pumped the blood out into a tube. Not my child!

Enough about that, so today...

We started off by selling a marble top kitchen island we had no use for that has been sitting in our garage for a year or more for $95! Then we went to hang out with our friends the Masons and grabbed a bite to eat at the Lucky Otter. Then we headed over to Porter and Prince where I have some of my work hanging and I bought bedding for Asa that I have been wanting for over a year! We checked out some of the other small shops in Biltmore Village and then went to the Screen Door. Now at home I am working on selling the sleeper sofa we have in the office! I have 2 people interested, hope someone wants it!

family days.

2008-05-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Quinn's first time on flat ground riding! (Or trying to at least!)

Quinn fell about 2 minutes into the riding experience and was afraid to get back on her tricycle so I jumped on the trike and started to pedal around. She thought that was so funny so she hoped on-that got her over her fear! (Glad I didn't break the thing!)

We then spent some time swinging together... her favorite.

************************************************************************************

Today Dru had the day off. I love when he has the day off! We just hung out at home this morning while he finished some design classes online and I worked on the wedding pictures from this weekend. I have been working my butt off on post production trying to get them done quickly. I had a photo session yesterday for newborn twins who were only about 4 and 5 lbs. and so cute...I need to get to working on post production for that shoot too but I want to finish the wedding first.

After Quinn's nap we went to the park so she could have a chance to ride her tricycle. Living on the side of a mountain does not provide many chances for her to learn to ride so we have to take her to the park. We had a lot of fun! We came home, had dinner and then Dru and Quinn went out to the front yard to water the grass and when I came out to see what they were doing, Quinn was playing in the sprinkler. :)

This is a video of her first trying to pedal. The ice cream truck in the background was a great addition to the video. :)

Playing in the sprinkler in the front yard.

our 5th anniversary.

2008-05-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

On May 24Th Dru and I celebrated our 5Th anniversary! We celebrated in true Dave Ramsey style by starting our morning at 5AM with a yard sale. We had the yard sale at our friends the Moore's house because they have land on road with lots of traffic. It was fun to sit out in the driveway and relax in the sun and have people hand us money. :) After the yard sale we came home and the kids took naps and then Dru and I went out on a date (have not done that in a while!) to the little shops just outside of the Biltmore and to an awesome restaurant called Rezazz!! The food was so amazing and we had a great time taking pictures on the little point-and-shoot camera around Biltmore while we were waiting for our reservations. OH! and we have a WilliamSanoma here now and a J.Crew so we got to go walk around those stores.

Here are some pictures from that day...all out of order, sorry.

Quinn loves Cory and Shelly's little boy Miles! They sat for a photo op. in one of the chairs for sale.

Dru and I taking pictures just for fun...

I love sun flairs! Yes, my incredible skills took this photo below without me even looking! :) Haha

This coffee shop was cool till we saw this sticker. :)

Mel has the touch...Asa was not diggin' the early morning!

Quinn and daddy in Dave's tent he was selling just being silly

Dave and Quinn hanging out in the same tent...

Dave and Mel have two cute dogs that Quinn loves to play ball with when we are over there!

Again, Quinn can't resist Miles cuteness!!!

tiny puppies and people.

2008-05-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Asa with Emily. My parents are keeping Emily! She was the only girl.

They look like they are nursing Asa :)

This is Graham licking Asa's finger. The puppies seemed to like Asa better than Quinn even though he was flailing his arms and legs and hitting them.

Quinn is getting so big! No, I did not tell her to sit like that. She has started to pose when the camera comes out.

Quinn and Emily

My mom and dad came this weekend to look at houses and spend some time with us. On Sunday dad and I shot a wedding together and got some great pictures! I will post some of those once I have a chance to go through them.

Mom and dad's dog just had puppies and they are so cute. They are only 4 weeks old so they had to bring them with on their trip here. The dogs stayed downstairs in their whelping (sp) box the whole time. Right before they left we got some pictures on the front porch of Quinn and Asa with the dogs. Quinn loved to hold them and we had to keep telling her to be gentle! Overall she did good. She just can't hardly help herself when it comes to cute things weather it is a puppy, a baby, or a cute toy. Here are just a few pictures from this afternoon.

2 month check up.

2008-05-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Welp, just a quick note to let all the people who care (grandparents I guess) that I took Asa to the doctor today for his 2 month check up and he weighed 13.8 oz. (85 %) and is 25 inches long (over the 100%). The doctor thinks he has acid reflux problems so we got some medicine. We will find out tomorrow if it works I guess. If not, then we have another issue on our hands. It was pretty uneventful so that's good.

Next week we go for Quinn and I cannot wait to ask him questions about her. She has not been to the doctor since she was 18 months old I think! We have just not needed to take her plus we were going to a different doctor who told me she was too small and wanted to send Quinn to a nutritionist and have a million tests done on her blood. I have so many issues about what she based that on that it angers me- but I will not even go into it. We will find out if that is true or not next week.

Anyway, Asa is good and growing like a weed. He only has 5 more inches before he outgrows his car seat!!

warm weather is a plus.

2008-05-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here!! Today we got out the kiddie pool and Quinn had a blast playing in it!

She loves her new bathing suite that we got for the beach at Grammy's house this summer. I have decided she is only allowed to wear one piece bathing suits from now on. Last year was her last two piece year till she is MUCH older. :) I know, I may be overprotective but she just looks like such a big girl now. Two pieces are much too sexy for my little princess. Here is a picture of her after her pool fun was over. She came inside very energized and bouncing off the couches!

happy birthday allie.

2008-05-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

So, I'm ONE day late-forgive me. Yesterday was my baby sister's 22ND birthday. Wow! She is so beautiful and fun and intelligent and talented and caring and I could go on! She just started taking pictures this year and also messing with web design and look what she has created! She just amazes me!

Happy birthday Aunt Allie~ Love, Asa and Quinn

Here is Quinn singing to Aunt Allie... we wish we could be with you!

Knucklehead Clothing

2008-05-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you will either love or hate these clothes for little boys. I LOVE them! If I could dress Asa in whatever clothes I wanted (basically, if I had all the money in the world) I would dress him like this! So stinkin' cute! Check out Knucklehead Clothing.

PS- I love most of the girls clothes too but cute girls clothes are everywhere!

go apples.

2008-05-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought Apple Cider Vinegar would be such an amazing product and so inexpensive! My mom sent me an email almost a month ago and I am just now getting around to reading it. (Sorry mom!) We had talked on the phone about her new found love for apple cider vinegar so I knew I needed to try it but didn't really know what all it did! So please don't wait a month like I did-check out this awesome website!!!

Here are just some of the things it does:

Gets rid of acne, lightens age spots, lowers blood pressure, weight loss

It is a hair conditioner, cleaning agent and germ killer

It is also great for your pets

(There is still so much more!)

Check it out!!!!

lucky lady.

2008-05-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

I think we might have found the culprit for Asa's behavior. He has been SO cranky all the time and cries a lot. Not like a normal baby cry either. His body would be stiff and he just seemed so uncomfortable. After talking with a friend of mine whose baby was doing the same thing I decided I would cut all milk and milk products out of my diet. I won't be able to tell for a week but I swear after only one day he seems a little bit happier.

Here is a picture from yesterday. He would no stop crying so I put him in his Moby sling. He still cried but at least if I was bouncing or dancing around the house with the pacifier in his mouth he was kind of quiet.

I have been waiting to get this picture for a while now! Two of my friends and I were pregnant at the same time and now we have all had babies. Here they are from left to right:

Maggie- 4 weeks old

Drew- 12 weeks old

Eden- 12 weeks old

Asa- 8 weeks old

On Saturday we went to a cookout at our friend John and Shay's house and that is where I got these pictures.

Asa finally went to sleep on Mel's shoulder after much crying!

This picture above is my FAVORITE right now! This is what I woke up to this morning. I was up with Asa a lot last night so Dru let me sleep an extra hour and when he came in to wake me up this is who he lay next to me. I think this is the first picture we have of Asa smiling.

Quinn really loves her baby brother and is so sweet to him!

So does this mean she is genius?! Just kidding. I walked in the playroom today and she had lined up all of her blocks by order. She is so much fun...

quinn's kentucky trip.

2008-05-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

Quinn got back from her 2 day Kentucky trip with CC and Granddad last night. They went to go visit Dale's (Dru's dad) side of the family. Last time Quinn went she was not even walking. I doubt she even remembered the first visit but I know she will remember this one for a long time!

Quinn apparently took to Great Uncle Lanny right away. Shortly after they got to KY he took her out to see the cats, dogs and horses!

The went to the nursing home to visit Dale's mom. Quinn had fun riding on Ma Collies lap in the wheelchair.

Quinns second cousins Jenni and Kevin gave Quinn a Webkinz frog. Apparently the whole trip his name was "Pinky" but when she came home his name changed to "Magnet Wall" (yep, you heard me right) and then to "Froggy". I'm guessing "Froggy" will stick!

There was no shortage of presents at the Collies. Her Great Aunt Elaine gave Quinn her first cabbage patch doll named Marley. She eats ice cream and gets a messy face. Quinn has played with her all morning, pushing her around in her stroller and shoving Marley in her backpack.

I was probably just as excited as Quinn to hear that she got to ride Uncle Lanny's horse!! She has talked about riding a horse since she could talk but I never wanted to go spend the money to take her ride if she wasn't going to really like it. I thought I would wait till she was older...I was wrong. Granddad said she was so excited when she saw the horses and when she got on the horse she was a mixture of excited and nervous-but she did it!
This thing she does with her tongue kills me! :) Part of it is hereditary I've heard. Dru and his grandma do it when they are thinking, and so does Quinn. But, she also does it when she sees a camera-its a new thing. So-I'm not sure which is which here. I think she is just concentrating at staying on the horse. :)

Like I said, she connected with Uncle Lanny right away. :) Pretty special to get to cuddle a clean girl right before bedtime.

chubby baby.

2008-05-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

Asa felt left out of the blog so here are some computer pictures we took today. He is the cutest chubby boy I have ever seen! He had on 12 month clothes yesterday! That blows me away at how big he is because Quinn can still wear 12 mo. clothes and shes almost three. I have one extra big and one extra small child. Maybe the next one will be "normal". :)

My baby love....props to Chris Foster at www.fosterweld.com for making this killer belt! You rock! :)

debt stinks.

2008-05-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

So those of you who have been around me in the past two months or so know that Dru and I are doing the Total Money Makeover with Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. Well, I just wanted to give a little shout out to the man and program that is making our life SO much less stressful and meaningful even! I could go on and on and in a few months when all of our debt is paid off I'm going to do so. If you are in debt PLEASE check him out! If you can only do two things do this...read his book Total Money Makeover (you can get it anywhere) and listen to his podcasts from his website or just on the radio! Doing just this has changed our lives!!!!!!! DON'T BE STUPID! Debt STINKS!

foster care.

2008-05-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

"It's about time!" is the first thing I think of when it comes to this post. Dru, Quinn, Asa and I are starting the process to opening up our home to children in this area who are in need of a loving family while their mommies and daddies get their feet back on the ground. I am SO excited (and a little nervous). Today we met with Jessica from Grandfather Home, an amazing foster and adoption organization. I have to share one of my favorite things about Grandfather Home...they started in the 1900s and have never been in debt! How many businesses, even churches can say that??!! So, Jessica came over and talked to Dru and I about all of the millions of papers we will have to fill out and all of the homework we will have to do. Bring it on! I have spent a few hours already today writing. Tomorrow I will make some phone calls and fill out more paperwork. I am just waiting for the first snag; I know it will come. Everything thus far has gone so smooth. So, I just thought I'd let y'all in on the new news-the Collie's are going to become foster parents Lord willing. :) This may be a long process!

clean garage.

2008-05-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Dru and I set out to do a "simple" task that I had planned on allotting 2 hours to. Clean out the garage and get ready for a yard sale Dave Ramsey style! Well, that "simple" project took 8 1/2 hours of straight WORK! Quinn was SO good and played in the front yard with all of the stuff we pulled out. One thing I thought was quite creative was she lay the slats for the bed down our driveway (which is very steep) and used them as slides. :) I wanted to get a before and after picture but I was too embarrassed at the before to go get the camera. The "after" looks awesome though...man, wish I had a before. So, all that to say, we had a fun and dirty hard working family day yesterday but you will see no pictures. How we have so much stuff I didn't know about. We accumulated enough stuff last night for our yard sale for the third year in a row but we don't keep buying stuff. I think we are finally tired of all the junk taking up space in our lives that could be put to better use. So this time around we will sell a lot of stuff that I have wanted to hold onto. It feels good but what will feel even better is pulling the car into the garage! (What a novel idea!) Now if someone would just buy this darn house!!!

catch up.

2008-05-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while. The whole family has been sick. There is so much going on in our lives right now I don't even know where to begin. Maybe that is because I got a total of 4 hours of sleep last night. I can't even blame it on Asa, I have had insomnia. I went to the natural medicine store today and got some medicine that should help...

But for now, here are some pictures from the past week.

Last Wednesday Dru and his Starbucks crew cleaned out the Swannanoa River. Quinn, Asa and I went and "helped". Really I just took pictures for River Link, the organization that the clean up was through, Quinn cried because she got mud on her jelly shoes and Asa slept in the sling I was wearing :) Here is a picture of Dru pulling a Target shopping cart out of the river with a Sbux partner. I think they collected about 8 carts, some tires and a whole bunch of other stuff. This is one river you don't want to swim in!

On Saturday, May 10Th we drove up to Boone, NC (where Dru's parents, grandma, brother and sister-in-law live) to celebrate Steves (Dru's brother) birthday and Mothers Day. We had a cookout and a lot of fun!

This is his parents house...it was such a beautiful day. We spent most of the day outside on the front porch and in the front lawn.

Quinn had so much fun playing with her cousins in CC and Granddad's waterfall!

And she smelled about every flower that was growing in CC's garden. She LOVES to smell stuff...weird but cute.

I found a caterpillar next to me and Quinn had never seen one before. She was so fascinated and thought it was so cute. :) She eventually got brave enough to hold it.

We cannot wait for Meredith and Steve's little girl to get here. Isn't Mere cute with her little pregnant belly! We have waited so long for little "dot". (Yes, she will have a different name when she comes out-that is her "ultrasound name".:) )

Char and Ma G made such a good lunch-and then we all enjoyed watermelon afterwards. I love getting Quinn's silly faces she makes regularly.

This is Quinn pulling her pants back up after daddy was spinning her around so hard they almost flew off. :) She LOVES to hang upside down, be thrown up in the air, jump off of really high things that make my heart skip a beat...you name a dare devil act and she loves it.

Overall we had a great week. Throw some cleaning in, girls-night-out, a new district manager for Dru, early mornings, Gel group, another birthday party, photography work I didn't think I'd be doing on maternity leave, sickness and LOTS of laundry and you have one busy but fun week.

Quinn and her daddy sing all the time together...here is her favorite rendition of "You Are My Sunshine"! She is being kind of silly so you can't really understand her that well but its still cute. (PS-she is looking at herself in the mirror-haha)

Here's to another MONDAY!

13.7

2008-05-09T05:50:00.000-07:00

I went to my six week check up at the midwife on Tuesday. I am in good health and so is Asa. He now weighs 13 lbs. 7 oz. and we weighed Quinn just for fun-she is only 24 lbs. Asa is catching up quick. Quinn is cutting four teeth right now-thats fun. :) She and I made muffins and "fuzzy" milk this morning for breakfast. Fuzzy milk is just steamed milk, mine of corse has coffee in it, also known as a latte. :)

I have pictures to post from the other day but cannot find the camera. I'll look for it today and post some soon.

the business of being born...THE MOVIE

2008-05-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is the most AMAZING documentary! I highly recommend watching it if you are ever planning on having a child (even if you've had one before). Click HERE
to watch The Business of Being Born. It about an hour long so settle in and enjoy the most important documentary ever made in my opinion!
(Woops, I'm not too computer savvy! I can't get the link to connect you to the movie. PLEASE email me at ashercollie@gmail.com if you want me to send you the link via email!!!)

fun friday.

2008-05-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just a fun, laid back Friday. Quinn, Asa and I met my friend and her little boy at the park. I don't take Quinn to the park as much as I'd like. She loved it. Her favorite is the slide that gave her hair some MAJOR static electricity! I thought it was funnier than she did...

When we came home I painted the trim around the studio door and then painted the trim around our front door and repainted the front door. It used to be tan and I painted it dark brown. Quinn loved helping with that and was so proud to show Dru when he got home. The next sunny day we have I am going to paint the studio door.

We also had a "Mexican Party" at our house-bonfire sort of thing for Cino De Miao. Quinn and her friend Avenue had fun dancing to some crazy music (that we don't normally listen to).

One of our friends showed up with a dog named Jack that she and her husband found on the side of the street on their way to our house. At the end of the night when Jack's owner finally answered the phone we drove him home and it was so sad because he wanted to leave with us!

birthday party.

2008-04-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Quinn's last Kindermusik class. We went to that and then came home and the kids took naps. An hour and a half of nap time required me to sit outside Quinn's door telling her to get back in bed every time she opened the door! She just started this not cool trend and I am bound to stop it!

Oh, they finally started building the third house in our little neighborhood. I'm wondering what in the world the builder is thinking since we can't even sell this house. It will be interesting to see if he can sell that one.

After naps Asa, Quinn and I drove to Hindersonville for my nephew, Isaac's birthday party. It was supposed to be a skating party but there was so much to do the party was over before skating even began. She had fun following around her "friend Isaac". Half the time he didn't even know she was tagging behind him just watching what he was doing. At one point I somehow found myself in charge of the blow up jumping thing. :) I've attached a video of Quinn trying so hard to stand up in it. (She eventually figured it out)

For three days in a row now, when Dru gets home from work Asa stares so intently at him and just smiles and coos. I have tried every day to get it on camera but by the time I go get the camera and come back he is done. Tomorrow I will try to remember to have it ready when Dru gets home-like I have nothing else to do. :) We did catch the end of this little game he plays today on video...I will attach it to this blog.
Oh, the night is young and I feel so old cause I'm so stinkin' TIRED!

sleepless nights.

2008-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is the picture of tired me after a sleepless night last night. Thanks Asa, you rock! ;) Dru made me some coffee drink this AM and I am still shaking from the caffeine-but I'm awake!

time to get quinn.

2008-04-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Some of you might be wondering why Asa is the only one on this blog. Well, Quinn has been in Boone, NC with her CC and Grandad and Ma G. She

spent a week and a half up there and loved every second of it. We met Drew's parents and grandma as well as Netta and Page (Drews oldest brother) with their kids in Linville, NC. It is Isaac's 6th birthday this year and so we thought we would celebrate with a picnic, cake and presents!

Drew and I were SO excited to go get Quinn because we missed her a lot while she was gone! We had our KFC and homemade beans and potato salad Char and Ma brought for the picnic. The kids played on the rocks and by the river and then Drew and I took Quinn into the caves. She had a great time "underground". Quinn did take 2 pictures of mommy and daddy you will see above...guess which two. :) She has a very abstract eye. Either that, or she needs more practice holding the camera.

After we got home we gave Quinn a bath. She wanted Asa to get in with her so we let him. It was really cute-she said, "You want to play with my toys?..."

(There are a ton of pictures from this day as well as video-there was just so much cuteness to capture!)

the business of being born.

2008-04-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

I want to see this movie so bad!! I have researched so much about the business of being born (not the movie) and it is really fascinating!

CLICK HERE: The Business of Being Born

red.

2008-04-24T13:04:00.001-07:00

With 50% of the profits from sales of "RED" items going to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa, I love what these clothes stand for.

Stay INSPI(RED)!!

happy hips.

2008-04-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today Drew and I took Asa to the ultrasound place to have his hips x-rayed. I don't really know why besides that they "clicked" when the Doctor moved them a certain way. Asa was so good and just lay on the table for a half hour sucking on his pacifier. The technician said he won the best baby of the day award. The doctor told us he was fine before we left...du! His "clicking" is just the rhythm in him that is innate when you are Drew Collie's child. :)
Asa and I came home and I did some Eden work and did a bunch of really not fun organizing (and I love to organize). Asa was REALLY good for me and slept while I worked. I hope we can keep that up but I'm not going to hold my breath.

This evening I took Asa over to his new friend Maggie's house. She was born 3 weeks after him and is sooo cute! I went with 3 of our other friends and brought dinner to Maggie's mom...and then we ate with her. Asa cried almost the whole time and I finally got him to sleep a few minutes before it was time to go. Then he cried the whole way home. Not sure what up with him this evening... :(