call me crazy

Someone noticed how many pictures I was putting up on Facebook of this lil pup.

It made me laugh when she made her comment,"If you're like this with a puppy, I can imagine when you have kids!"

It's true! And I didn't even noticed how many pics I had taken of this lil dude.

Usually I only have my iPhone, and formal pics with my Rebel just isn't an option sometimes with his crazy hyper moments that come out of nowhere.

But he has so many adorable moments.

And you'll be seeing so many pics of this guy as he grows up.

Because, well, as stubborn and aggressive as he is as a puppy, I can't get enough of his puppy dog eyes and his cute lil tongue hanging out of his mouth.

[walks are getting better and better with him. He's not as scared, and enjoys exploring with his nose. one day, i'll have him running with me!]

[he's not allowed on the carpet yet, but sometimes we lay out blankets so he can join us in the living room...he's figured out the only way to stay in the living room is by staying on the carpet!]

[date with my puppy at the beach, while waiting for his brother in swim lessons]

[fell asleep while helping mom out on the laptop]

Right now, we have conquered "sit" and working on "down."

"Come" is one of those commands that he decides whether he wants to or not...don't worry, I"m working on changing that;)

He can "Shake" and "stay" is not far from him knowing it.

Who knew that a puppy can learn and change so much in just a few short days! 

By the way, we know that he's half Beagle...anyone out there have a clue of what the other half of him might be? Any guesses?

Mom's day

 Happy birthday to the most amazing woman I know!

It's my mom's birthday.

and she looks this good.

Her hair is still naturally all black...hope I have that young gene!

She's the most amazing mom I know.

And she deserves to have the best of the best day.

Love you, Mom.

Wish I were with you to celebrate your bday, eat Buffalo Wild Wings, and watch the Olympics opening ceremony! 

You're the best! Hope you have an extra special day with the family!:)

Pretty poppy picture team!

This week at Summer Sizzle, I had the fun task of being the photographer. 

I traveled around on my bike going from place to place to get some fun shots of the campers.

I had two of the BEST helpers while I took pics.

Before we got started, we waited around for their dad to pick up their siblings and friend, so we had a fun little photo shoot with everyone.

Now, isn't she just precious? 

She carried my list of different teams that we needed pics of, and as we took the pictures, she marked off the teams so we could keep track of the teams that were left! 

She kept me laughing with her funny "grown-up" ways of explaining things, and how seriously she took her job. She did GREAT.

This girl came with me for TWO days this week, helping out and keeping me company. 

She rocked, because she "tested" all the field trips - the gymnastics center, the beauty salon (she got pampered and got her hair, make up, and nails done!), and sailing. 

and of course, we had to "test" the ice cream at the ice cream shoppe to make sure it was yummy for a hot summer day.

This lil one didn't come with me to take pics, but she LOVED getting her pictures taken. She kept saying, "Mrs. BB, take of picture of me like this!" and then give me this huge hammy grin.

Her blue eyes are to die for, as they seem to get brighter and bluer each time I see her!

and right when I was taking this fun shot of the girls, their bro popped his head out through those doors.

Perfect timing, eh?!

(and then I asked him to do it again, but the posed shot didn't look as fun as the real one, so I stuck to this one.)

and here they are! The fabulously cute four!

More pic of Summer Sizzle to come...

I've been working on a slide show video and was flipping through pics and couldn't help but share these pictures with ya'll. 

enjoy!

p.s. the sweet headbands that they are wearing are courtesy of my sister's shop, Much Love, Illy. All three of us wore these headbands while we took pics of camp. It was our team uniform!:)

Summer Sizzle 2012

Summer Sizzle 2012- a camp for middle school girls...

a time of empowerment, to encourage them as they are-beautiful in Christ.

Teaching them life skills that they may not know or hear often.

a fun filled  week of activities, Zumba, learning, Bible studies, building relationships, and enjoying being girls!
Please pray for the counselors and the campers this week!

ssshhhmores.

When our sister, Katie, came for a visit, she got us started with making s'mores.

I've never been a big fan of these gooey treats, but ever since she made them last week, I have been addicted to roasting marshmallows, squeezing them between graham crackers, and watching the marshmallow ooze over the chocolate as it melts.

YUM! 

Right now, nothing is better than a s'more after dinner! 

Life as we know it...

has changed completely.

I don't think we knew what we were in for when Alexio came into our lives...

This lil guy has changed a lot of things in the Brandenberger household.

He really is like a baby!

-No one sits on chairs anymore in the kitchen-everyone finds themselves on the floor just watching him.

-Cooking dinner takes double the time now, because some lil one wants to snuggle by my feet.

-Our guests come into our home excited to meet the puppy-and then he goes all crazy and wild eyed and tries to bite. (we're working on it!)

-We're practicing the bell method for potty training. So far, he seems to like nudging the bell because it makes a fun noise. As far as peeing on the floor, we've had a couple semi-successful days, as long as we're on top of what he's doing and watching closely.

-You think I'm weird, but this puppy gets his paws, little boy part and bottom wiped after he relieves himself outside...I do not want my house to smell like a dog.

If anyone has any tips on puppy training, i'm all ears! We're exhausted from trying to figure out how to understand him and get him outside quick enough before he, well, you know.

Otherwise, we are thrilled and in love with our new lil fellow!

He's so cute and i just wanna squeeze his lil face...in fact, i did!

Paris dreams!

I still hadn't put up pics from Paris, France...

it was wonderful, and just as picturesque as I'd imagined. 

That over yonder is the bridge that was in a scene in the movie, Inception. 

My younger sister was obsessed with the movie...and of the many bridges in Paris, she found the EXACT bridge that the scene was filmed at!

Needless to say, her dream came true to walk on this bridge and imagine the scene...

My daddy's Paris dream was to drink a cup of coffee in front of the Eiffel Tower.

(he's got pics all over the world and US of him drinking coffee, but this one was a golden one.)

That dream became reality!

My Paris dream didn't exactly come true.

See, i really really really wanted a kiss pic in front of the Eiffel Tower with my husband, from this exact spot...but while he went up the tower, and i went on the hunt for the Inception bridge, we didn't find each other in the crowds of people that were there...instead, we had to settle with a quick snapshot barely seeing the eiffel tower in it and then a quick snapshot of us kissing on the boat.

I'd bought a picture frame and everything for that special pic...oh well...guess we gotta go back one day to fulfill that dream.

Oh well, i got some fun shots of Arianna being so happy about being at the Eiffel Tower.:)

Have ya'll ever had any special dreams in certain places in the world? 

I've got a whole bunch! Check out my bucket list on the right!

creepy pirates, floppy ears, and parades.

The 4th of July in a small town is unlike other celebrations that I've been a part of.

It's the one event in our town that brings together all the cultures of this diverse community in one place. 

Here are some snapshots of our day.

We started with a small town parade...complete with tractors, unicycles, and horses.

Precious little guy had his hat over his heart as multiple American flags rode by.

 

Alexio, aka Bat dog, is finding new ways to get into mischief...interesting how he seems to take on our personalities;) There seem to never be enough pictures of this fuzzy wuzzy was a bear puppy.

 We definitely know who captures most of our attention in this household nowadays;)

 See that blur? That's the cheerleader that came out of the little guy. 

Somehow jumps, kicks, and twirls were a big part of this guy's celebration.

Of course, we ended the night with the fireworks over the lake. 

How was your 4th of July?

Alexio Brandenberger

Well, we did it!

We added onto our family...permanently.

Alexio is our 6 week old little guy...we got him today!

It's so strange to think we have a puppy!

We didn't really plan for him.

It was sorta unexpected and came out of the blue, but we were excited for the chance of getting him.

He wears out really easily. He goes hard and plays well for about 5 minutes and then he gets really tired and then falls asleep.

I've never ever had a little puppy before.

It's so exciting to have one so little and to be a part of our family....I do have to say my heart is kinda torn and feeling like I'm betraying Peyton, but I do think this little one is so sweet for our little family. 

He had an exhausting day with us...we sorta traumatized him right off the bat with his first bath, collar,  and crate. 

We're pretty excited about him being here though. My sister and mother in law are here visiting and all five of us will just stare at him while he eats, pees, plays, or snuggles.

It's really quite fun.

Welcome to our family, Alexio!