Busy Bee..

And……the blogging resumes! Us Maxwells have been a bit on the busy side of things lately….God has been so gracious to bless us with lots of new business this year…we are not complaining….it simply means, MORE TERRITORY: MORE WORK.LESS SLEEP:) We are kicking off the wedding season with millions of engagement sessions..I wish I could be more faithful to posting pictures every time we shoot..but I have such limited time to do hardcore editing for these sessions and weddings, that the blog seems to rank second on the priority list…I have to keep on top of everything..so thank you for being patient when I disapear for a few weeks:) Wanted to post some pics of some  recent happenings for us that have been oh-so-fun:)

PARTY PARTY PARTY….

A big occasion for us was the “combined birthday party” for Kyla and Hayden..their birthdays are less than one month apart,(they turned 1 and 4)… and they share buddies, so we thought HEY, WHY NOT..we have limited years to throw unisex parties before Hayden starts to notice that he is wearing a BARBIE  or PRINCESS birthday hat:) It was a great motivation to clean up the backyard..our parents were SOO WONDERFUl..they all chipped in and bought the kids a play structure…THANK YOU ALL SOOOO much!!! Its like a free babysitter:) We had a great day time with family..a few of our best friends and Kylas “KIDS” as she refers to them as..which are 1.) landon-best friend from birth 2.) Jack (who she calls her cousin) which is my long time BF’s son, whom I have known since I was like five 3.)Eli-her adorable pirate buddy from down the street, and lastly 4.)Maci- her sweet friend from “church class”  whom I might mention, is her ONLY girl buddy her age:) She was as happy as can be playing with bubbles, finding eggs (the party was the day before Easter) and chasing the boys (don’t we all)My dad did what he normally does, and cooked  AMAZING comfort food: homemade chicken Mac and Cheese, slider burgers (yes, using the informercial ” Big City Slider Station” by Billy Maes-Mr. Oxy Clean:), his signature balsamic-salami-cilantro-sun dried tomato-pasta…and a few more little delights:) He is always so giving of his time when he is here visiting…I just LOVE him sooo much…PAPA PAUL. you are the BEST. Thank you to all who came…XOXO

NAPA TRIP…….

Last week Jason turned 30…:) His mom watched the kids for a few days so we could have some time together….we were going to be staying at a beach house is Seascape for a few nights, but a few things came up, so we decided to do a bit of exploring in Napa instead,  (we have a few weddings there this year, and it was a perfect time to scout out some locations for pictures)..I always have so much fun with Jason when we dont have the kids..For anyone who has kids, you know how easy it is as parents to just “co-exist” in the house together, almost like roomates at times..there are so many things to clean up, cook up, and the kids always require SOO much of our energy throughout the day. So when we get a little break from them, although we miss them TERRIBLY..we are like little chatty highschoolers, going on adventures together, having REAL conversations..imagine that:) While we were in downtown Napa we came across two stores which we have STILL been talking about..the first was this incredibly cheap antique store with the most amazing pretty little things, and some furniture which we are DEFINETLY going back for when we have a truck..it was a hidden little gem that is SO worth the drive to visit..the Next was this little store called the Cake Plate..which pretty much made me cry when I walked in, because it was pretty much EXACTLY what I would want my own clothing store to be if I ever get the chance to open one. I mean, it had a vintage dollhouse in the dressing room..creative photography on the walls, and HELLO..a built in CUPCAKE BAKERY..do I need to say more???…..NO. It was absolute perfection. Jason and I still swear it was the BEST cupcake we have EVER eaten. Once again, its worth the drive..and the calories:)

AND LASTLY…THE L.A TRIP FOR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Any of you who know me well know who Alison is, or if you don’t know me too well, you probably have heard me talk about “my friend Alison… from L.A…..who used to work for Oprah”  (somehow throwin in the Oprah card makes them suddenly remember, and nod their head). Alison has known me since birth, and has watched me grow up, and we have always joked that somehow I am her child:) She is a dear friend of mine, and the older I get, the more I appreciate her. Alison works for Habitat for Humanity, a great organization that builds & re-builds homes for deserving families (kinda Like Extreme Home Makeover-Home Edition..minus Ty Pennington) Amazing if you are wanting to give back somehow,and like to get dirty:) Read up on it….find one in your area!!  I am always hearing about these great “builds” that they do..and I am always trying to line my schedule up to somehow fly down there when they have a big build…not to mention, Alison signs up some pretty big celebrites to help with the build…”can you hand me the nail gun Britney?” haha..but really..I have always wanted to do one. Last week she called me kinda last minute and said they needed a photographer to photograph one of their big builds that was actually celebrating this darling lady’s birthday as well. This great husband gathered 60 of their friends and families on 2 big busses, and they spent the day building this house together! ok, so it was more like painting, laying tile and that kinda stuff..but nonetheless, HARD LABOR. I had such a blast shooting candids,  getting to know the people, and being with AL..these are just a few details of the day..loved every minute of it..sweat.dirt.pink shirts. cute tool belts. SIGN ME UP!!! A big thank you to AL for gettin me the job..I STILL owe you a steak dinner:)

There are many  more little things to catch you up on, but that will have to do for now. Its well past midnight…the family is in bed, and mama’s got more work to do before I can do the same…. busy busy busy….gotta make some more HONEY:)

XOXO Goodnight!!