Another great weekend.

We had a great Halloween...

So when you ask a man to dress up for Halloween who has adamantly told you time and time again that he "doesn't do that" the normal thing to think is ..fine. Lame!!! but fine. "I am dressing up regardless..its what I do". Its the only time of year you can get away with fake eyelashes and glitter. You can have any color hair you ever wanted and you can stray as far away from any fashion guidelines as your little Halloween loving heart desires..

So Sadie and love it! I truly believe she would dress like this every day if I let her..but this is the only time she gets away with red lips..

Bug.

But then said Man concedes..and decides he will after all partake in the Halloween festivities..and tackling his costume requirement much like he does everything else..completely obsessive& compulsive and iced with an over the top candy coating of perfectionism ...well this is what you get...

There are many details you must take in...so take a moment. Yes that is a mop on his head. Unfortunately not only was he dressed this way but he was also in complete character the WHOLE night. Declaring to the fine citizens of this SMALL town that he was here to "Clean this city up"...all night.


It was the best time trick-o-treating ever. My cheeks still hurt form laughing. So to said Man..thanks for not taking your self to seriously and joining in with Bug and I. I love you.

The Spookies are everywhere!

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween. We are just relaxing at the house today...preparing for the creepy crawlies that tonight might bring...or what was brought a bit ago.


Cute little frog huh?? I mean we are all fans of frogs in this house...

Untill you find one here..Untill you find one here ... AFTER you have already read an article in Field and Stream on one handed antler rattlers and well... My ears are still ringing from Mike's screams!!! :)

Happy Halloween.

I miss Somer..

2185 children are reported missing each day..most come home. Somer Thompson did not.

I have a million and one pictures of Sadie, of Tommy, of pets, Of mike getting in and out and back in to a tree stand, Of smiling couples and blushing brides ..of bellies full of new life and pictures of babies satisfied in the complete unknowing...but this is the picture I choose to post today.

I know everyone knows about her and has heard her story (i hope) but I want to never forget her. I never want to forget this child that I have never met ...I never knew. But my heart as a mother knows her and my broken "mother's" heart goes out to her mother.

I can honestly say that there is nothing in the world that scares me more than something happening to one of my children... how would I ever go on? Knowing a monster still lurks the streets breathing our air..Somer's air. We are becoming numb to these stories..to the atrocities that plague these babies at the hands of sick individuals. Why..how can this happen? Thrown away like garbage...

I know this is a downer to read...but I need this. I need this so that when I scroll back to see pictures and stories of my children this one little face will pop out to always remind me to be thankful that my baby girl lies safe in her bed..that I get to kiss her when she wakes up and see her smiling face today. ....And this makes me the luckiest mother in the world.

Somer has passed.

Some new faces...some old ones.

We have a new addition to our family her name is Doe. We have had her about a week on a trial basis and I knew the moment she set one weary paw threw my threshold she would be here to stay..either way we still called it a "trial" I mean all an unemployed girl with two dogs two ducks & two kids and WAY too many pumpkins needs is another dog..but you say NO to this face and Id glady give you my pumpkins.

We are not sure of her age, her real name, where she came from..she was found on the va/nc border..her pads of her little feet were gone from walking so long. She was found by some hunters. Hence the name Doe. SO here is the run down for those keeping up..there is the almighty Dozier..

The beautiful Buttercup..

and now Doe. Our new rug who poops and eats.. dont mind her crusty nose...we dont.

Of course the ducks..


there was three but one met a tragic end to an asshole dog from next door.
So again life is good..with some new and old faces and bills :)

I LOVE FALL...

This weekend we made not one but two trips to the pumpkin patch which was AWESOME!!! I am a pumpkin addict..I admit it. It is only the 12th of Oct. and I already have about 15...yep no job but I have pumpkins. Priorities right?

This is just a little local pumpkin patch called College Run Farms. They have every kind of pumpkin you could ever want..stay tuned to next post. Loving pumpkins the way I do I am doing a complete pumpkin blog :)

This is Bug enjoying some of the most delectable ice cream in the whole world. Guess the flavor? Yep! Pumpkin SPICE!!! Yummmmy!!

Just two of my most favorite people on the planet... I Love Fall.

Bullseye!

So after months of begging and pleading Mike figured out a way to take Bug hunting. It was Virginia's annual youth hunting day. A day when only kids can go. We have some wonderful friends who let us take her out on their farm. I have to say if you knew Sadie and knew how tender hearted she is you would be surprised to think that this child would want to go hunting. But she did..and does. It was a great day. Both her and I learned so much about the woods. I mean when you are in a tree stand 25 feet off the ground at 515 am in the morning I guess you have no choice but to figure some things out about the woods. Sadie Bug is a trooper. She dealt with constant whisper yells to "SIT STILL"!! and "PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR GUN!!" .."are you serious? you have to pee again?"
The middle of the day I figured Sadie really needed to shoot this gun so she had healthier respect for just what this weapon can do.


This was her shot from 60yards.

uummm..yea. Can you believe that?

We did a morning and evening hunt..we saw ALOT of deer. 17 in all. At days last light she had a shot on a young spike buck tramping mindlessly through the soybean field, completely oblivious to an eager 10 year old who had him in her sites.but she decided not to shoot. I was proud of her. She whispered to Mike.."I want him to get bigger".
At the end of the day she walked out of the field with only lessons learned. Which I think ,in some ways and some days, feed us more than food on the table.







And you got love a little girl that can go from blaze orange and real tree camo..to butterfly face painting and glitter. :)
Another great day.

its 3:30 am..

What have I done? Thursday evening was going like any normal thursday evening.. I took Sadie to cheer leading, watched a little bit and before I knew what I was saying I was letting the owner know I was a photographer. Some how between the beginning and ending of that single conversation I have been hired to photograph 50 sum cheerleaders in two weeks...
On another note..Ive got plenty of blogging to catch up with. I will.. :)(that is a tired stressed out smile)..i mean really all the characters I have shot in the military I can handle cheerleaders. right?..right.

Florida...

Of course we did the typical florida tour and dont get me wrong the parks were great..however I think the best parts of the trip were the times we weren't tasked to do a thing. We went down there to take Brock (Mike's son) back to Ft.lauderdale and that of course brought on some down moments. Blended families...what can you say..what can you not say. I am happy to have learned every thing you should NOT do when you are dealing with a blended family because at least that has given me a starting point on what is the right thing to do...Its HARD yes. But everyday Mike and I get it right occasionally makes me just a tad bitter for all the days some got wrong.
But about those untasked moments..after saying Bye to BrockO we just put our feet up and the only muscles moved were those needed to get the cocktail to the mouth :)

Mike and I had a couple of days to ourselves in Ft.lauderdale. I met some of his friends finally!

I was starting to think he was ashamed of me ...His friend Adam took us out on his boat. We just cruised the canals because the seas were rough...it was sooo nice. Mike is a little hot here in this picture.
After leaving Ft.lauderdale we had to pick up Sadie in orlando..we drove through Palm Beach and it was really pretty..

After we got the Bug we decided to take our time heading back to Virginia and stayed over night in New Smyrna Beach which is my new favorite beach..and in fact when we plan next years pickups and drops offs..this is where we will stay. It was a great little unassuming beach town. That thanks to the storms had a great surf!

Run BUG!!
RUN!!!

you can see the terror....



I loved that you could drive on the beach!!

And the best part of the beach..this ride was free!!

unemployment schmolyment!!

I forgot to let everyone know ..I got a job. A good one. Working back with the government again...doing the same thing I was doing in fl. See...i knew there would be a good gig around the corner. I am SUPER happy..Its a much better job. The tv biz just isnt consistent..Anyway we are down here in orlando...FUN!!! Having a blast! I post pictures soon!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!

Just wanted to tell everyone out there in the wide world web..or world wide web..Happy Friday. Leaving for vacation on sunday. With all this time off and all why not.Anyway I love and miss you all....

MISS AUGUST!!!!!!!!!!!

I know everyone was waiting anxiously to see just WHO would be Miss August and here she IS!! Miss Molly Elizabeth SHURTZ!!!

In my house she is known as Little Red Bird or MES. I am a little partial I must admit but seeing she is the freshest Shurtz Girl..she has earned her spot as Miss August and will forever be know as Miss August's Shurtz girl 2009!!

I love you sweet girl ;)

Canned!!!

I did some canning and went to work and gosh darn that law of attraction.. I GOT canned...but what do you do? I figure we have rations to last us through the winter..3 ducks, a rabbit and well if times get real tough....

WHAT??? in some countries its as normal as hamburger helper.
So all joking aside..I lost my job. The work ran out. I never thought in a million years I would be in this position. I have never been without a job. But I guess the day in and day out wishing I was doing something other than locking myself away in a dark office finally came true. But I am a Shurtz Girl..Shurtz woman and I will be okay. I moved here for reasons of much greater importance than employment. So with that I have no regrets leaving Florida. Sure it was a great gig..but there will be more. I have no problem getting over myself to flip burgers if that is all there is. Life is still good..I could be unemployed alone and have 11 children. Shout out to G-ma. But I'm pretty sure she never got canned ;)
So in my world..life is rough..but its always nice to look at!!


(Picture info...I made Mike dig us a fire pit on the hottest day of the summer. Oh and he was running a fever and slowly dieing from some parasite that had made itself at home in his lower intestine...)

Donald Daffy and Dufas!

So I mean with two dogs three kids and a rabbit..(oh yea i have a rabbit.. Mr. pickles)..why not buy 3 ducks at the farmers market..

Needless to say the dogs are over the moon about the new additions....NOT.

All Dozer wanted was to be let out..He figured he got in trouble every time he put one in his mouth his best bet was to remove himself from temptation.


Life is good!!

My favorite shots..

So last weekend I did a fare amount of shooting..and I just wanted to share my favorites. You can check all my shots on my smugmug http://www.shurtzgirl.smugmug.com/ But these few I just love.

I was super happy about Kristens maternity shoot. We had fun and I am looking forward to baby Alisons shoot when she shows up.

From this shoot I just went home and chilled with the family for the rest of the day. Later that even Brad and Liz showed up for there engagement session. Engagement sessions are hard. I want them to act like they would everyday and pretend that there isn't some bossy blond with a camera in there face. Lucky for me Brad and Liz are so much fun. Here are couple of my favorite.


Liz's laugh is absolutely contagious

Why Chiggers are worth it...

Someone wasnt happy about my prior post without a picture of "atleast ONE" of the Bass he caught. Without the photo (I was informed) he looked like a moron... :)
I have two shoots this weekend. YAY. My very first maternity shoot which i am soooo excited about. I LOVE BELLIES. And then later on on Sat I have an egagement session with Brad and Liz. I love this couple and I am so happy about shooting their wedding! Its on the beach on labor day...hey Amy! You want to come and help??? hehehe...it would be fun!!!