10 on Tuesday

1. We spent the boys birthdays at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas. I’ll dedicate a different blog post to our adventures but I have say now, we loved it so much!

2. We also did a safari drive at Fossil Rim in Glen Rose. Random fact about the Emu, they have zero respect for personal space. While I was looking at one on the drivers side I forgot my window was rolled down behind me. I felt watched and turned around. Close range. Birds are not my thing! Also, automatic windows do NOT go up fast enough! I’ve never wished for an 80’s crank window before in my life lol!

3. We are in Dallas and at night a big pack of coyotes come out in our campground. We’ve heard them every single night we’ve been here. They are SO loud and it makes the dogs bark if they get too close. Last night they started howling literally right outside our front door and woke everyone up around 1 am.

4. You know how at the end of summer you are SO ready for the kids to go back to school? That’s where I am. I am so ready for my kids to start back up (we are on an alternative schedule than a typical school year). We’ve had a nice long break and IT. IS. TIME. For my sanity! And my grocery budget. If anything maybe it’ll distract them from the constant magnetic pull to my refrigerator. I think I’ll do a blog post dedicated to homeschool soon. Our method and how we learn has changed so much.

5. It may appear as though I’ve forgotten about our YouTube channel. We are still there and posting. I just decided to keep a few of our recent videos private as it contained a lot of broken arm / medical stuff with Jonah. Public posts will resume very soon – stay tuned!

6. As we were driving in to our campground the other day I noticed and correctly identified a red tailed hawk. I DO NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE MYSELF. I don’t like birds, notice birds, know about birds. What are these children doing to me?! I must admit, everyone was so impressed AND I got a round of applause from my entire crew lol.

7. I forgot to mention that it snowed in Austin a few weeks ago. It was at night and we didn’t wake the kids. Mostly because it wasn’t enough to make it really fun. Only the shadows and table were covered the next morning but they were still super excited. I’ve got to get these kids in real snow on the road sometime soon. Shhhhh, don’t tell Jase. He’s anti-snow! But it’s time! Aforementioned table snow:

8. This kid somehow managed to convince us that we needed to go bird watching at the butt crack of dawn on a cold wet day. I’m not sure how I got talked in to it exactly, or how he got me out of my warm bed, but he was awfully pleased with himself!

9. He loves his new bird nerd shirt that my mom got him!

10. WE LEAVE TEXAS IN 9 DAYS!! We are all SO ready to be back on the road! We head out for Austin for one more round of photo sessions this week and then we are off! You can see my travel session schedule here.

Lyndsay Stradtner2020-02-18T20:03:34-06:00February 18th, 2020|My Family, Jude, RV Life, Zachary|

10 on Tuesday

1. Last week was completely bonkers. Every single day had 5 or more things going on. Good things, new opportunities, new SEO clients for Seriously SEO, multiple job interviews for Jason and more. This week is so much more quiet and we feel like we can breathe a little easier. I’m not sure how we got through last week but we did it!

2. This week is a big one for Liz (she bought IAPBP from us last June). She launched the new birthphotographers.com website today and it looks AMAZING! Such a huge and much needed improvement! It’s so amazing that we get to watch IAPBP receive all the love and attention it deserves. And it means the world to us that she involves us in a lot. She asks our advice and draws off our experience. It’s been a super rewarding process working with her. We are so proud of her! PLUS, image competition results are coming very soon!! I was a judge and this gallery of work is going to blow you away! It’s incredible!!

3. Jason has not one, but two second interviews this week! Please pray for him! Either one would be an amazing fit but we are really hoping for one in particular.

4. My sweet Duder is turning 12 in less than a week! 12?!?!

5. A couple of days ago Jude was upset about dinner. He was having a moment. Zachary told him “You need to pull it togetha Duder…this is not a ploblem!” 🤣

6. We spent so much time outside last week. Jason needed a ton of quiet time on the phone and video calls so we kicked the kids (and me lol) outside all day every day. It makes me realize just how fast we get used to being inside too much. That was the norm during our long stay in Corpus due to bad weather and exhausting winds. This past week, while jam packed, also felt like a reset button when it comes to outdoor time. I’m so thankful Texas is having such a mild winter. It’s been high 60’s to mid 70’s and gorgeous – which is so nice. It makes me nervous their summer will be completely brutal though. We need to get on the move before it hits!

7. Zachary’s imagination is exploding! I noticed Jason acting strange this morning and asked him what he was doing. He told me he was carrying around imaginary cake for Z. Ha! I love that Z gave it to him and that Jason carried it around as though it was real! I fell for him a little harder in that moment. Little did I know a short while later I’d be serving pretend ice cream for over 30 minutes haha! We have a lot of birthdays coming up, guess it is time to get ready!

8. Yesterday Jude programmed his Cosmo robot to mess with Pepper. We laughed so hard but Pepper was totally unamused lol. Cosmo is one toy that has stood the test of time. Jude has had it for a few years, he plays with it often and always has so much fun with it when he does.

9. Video proof:

10. Today is a travel day. We are moving from north Georgetown to south Austin. Not far but it is making us all crave getting back on the road. We are SO ready. After 2 years of traveling we are not good at sitting still. We are really hoping to be back on the road by the end of the month!

Lyndsay Stradtner2020-02-04T13:29:06-06:00February 4th, 2020|My Family, Jude, Our dog, Pepper, Zachary|

A good old fashioned 10 on Tuesday

1. My timehop app tells me that on this date last year we were back on the road and leaving Texas for the year. Our current plan is to be here for another 7 weeks at least. That’s ok, this is where we need to be, but it reminds me of how much I miss the open road and the excitement of our next adventure just around the corner. We are not a family that is good at sitting still.

2. When you have been disconnected all day and the WiFi comes on.

3. Zachary is so much fun at this age. He will turn 3 in February (?!?!?) and every other thing out of his mouth is hilarious! He currently replaces his v’s with z’s (which is awesome since his nickname is Z). So we get gems like “NEZER!” (never), “Me lozes you”, mozie (movie). He also says ” No ploblem!” It’s my favorite!

4. Jude received a window bird feeder for Christmas and while it is really cool, I was a little worried about it because an instagram friend shared they had one and the birds never found it. We had it up while we were at the Navy base in Corpus for a few days and had zero luck. The birds would fly right by it or go to the grass below it. We moved to Lake Medina and look!!!! One brave little tufted titmouse.

5. Then, a few days later we had more show up while the big kids were gone with my mom. I started recording to show them and captured this by accident. Poor little guy! The other birds reaction made me laugh so hard at this!

6. The IAPBP Image Competition is live and accepting entries! Can you believe this is the 10th year of Image Competition?! And it is SO weird to not be running it for the first time ever. Jason and I have literally been feeling like we are forgetting something. I’ve been counting kids more regularly and checking my calendar constantly. A huge part of our life! We are still involved this year and helping as needed but we are not in charge of it all. It feels so great to see the amazing job that Liz Cook is doing, we are SO proud of her. This competition is better than ever and I’m excited that Liz asked me to be a judge this year! So, birth photog friends, GO ENTER!

7. Last night as I was climbing in to bed to nurse Zachary he threw his arms up and yelled “PASSWORD!?!” Ha!

8. Before my mom left to go back to Alabama this weekend she told me “Jude knows a lot of s@$t!” Hahahaha! It made both Jason and I laugh for someone to say that out loud. Yes, he does! Most days I am not sure who is schooling who. He is like a walking encyclopedia / sponge. I learn several new things from him every single day.

9.

10. Yesterday I took the kids for a walk so Jason could have total peace and quiet during a meeting. While out in a field Taryn was sitting on a log bird watching. Zachary walked over to her and immediately ran back to me yelling “Momma! Something happened! Something hurt! You have to come see quick!” Sure enough, there was a dead deer about 3 feet away from the log. Taryn had been there about 5 minutes and never noticed (in her defense she was looking up). Z sure did though. Not sure what happened it to but I love that he knew to find help. There are hundreds of deer in this campground and they will walk right up to you, the babies, does and bucks!

Lyndsay Stradtner2020-01-07T22:40:57-06:00January 7th, 2020|Uncategorized, Jude, RV Life, Taryn, Zachary|

10 on Tuesday

1. Did I mention I recently switched from Canon to Nikon. Tis true and I LOVE it. I’m not so good and change and I’m still fumbling around with the buttons and figuring out where things are, but I truly do love it.

2. We cut off our home phone in the name of saving money. We rarely used it and it seemed like every time it rang it was someone trying to sell us something. Family, friends and clients, please use our cell numbers from here on out!

3. We canceled our cable service yesterday too. I honestly don’t think it will change our lives all that much. I will miss the sweet 24 minutes of peace Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gave me each morning to take a shower in peace, and Ty will miss Idiot Abroad but other than that, because we got Netflix through the Wii, I don’t think we will miss it all that much. Truly, we barely ever watch it.

4. Wait. Football. Holy *&^%!!….Football….we can do this for a few months until football returns but then what?! Just took my mini freakout to my husband and he assures me an antenna will be enough. I’m not so sure….damn you Dave Ramsey!

5. Taryn was home from school today with a mild low grade fever. I have no clue why. And while I don’t want her to be sick, I loved having her at home with me and the duder and I loved having another day to work in talk of food and allergies and changes cause man is this hard.

6. I watched the movie Babies again today. Taryn and Teagan watched it for the first time and loved it. Although Taryn was very concerned about babies in the dirt eating things off the floor. She may or may not have yelled the 10 second rule at the TV.

7. She got that from her Daddy. I know this because I have a 0 second rule.

8. Do you believe genetically modified food should be labeled? MSNBC is taking a poll and you can vote here.

9. Do you struggle with skin tones? I think we all have at some point. Check out this free little tutorial: Michelle Kane’s Definitive Guide to Great Skin Tones.

10. Uhm, wait, is it really March?! How did that happen??

Lyndsay Stradtner2011-03-01T18:23:05-06:00March 1st, 2011|My Family|

10

1. Hey Photogs, is anyone going to Imaging USA? I will be at the expo on Monday and I’d love to meet up and say hi! I’m super excited about the fact that I might finally get to meet THE Erin Cobb! I’ve been hoping for our paths to cross for years!

2. I am thinking about opening up a few mini sessions on January 29th or February 5th – just in time for Valentines Day. Any takers? Email me at lstradtner@mac.com for details!

3. I feel like I owe a bit of an explanation about my poor fell asleep on the kitchen counter hubby. He really was asleep like that and I was shocked to find him that way. I was hanging out with Marti last night so he was putting the kids down and he fell asleep laying down with Teagan. When Marti left I went to go wake him up and he said as he was walking through the house to his desk he stopped and thought that was a good place to rest for a minute. All I can say to that is I’ve never been that tired that I thought the kitchen counter looked comfy. I did tap him on the head 3 times before I decided that since he didn’t wake up he was then fair game for photographin’. I have a feeling his loosing battle with fighting cedar pollen has something to do with it. He’s been miserable since last Thursday, poor guy. Poor, funny, guy.

4. Speaking of men who don’t handle being sick well, have you seen this. Brilliant I tell ya, brilliant. If you have spare cash laying around, invest, you’ll be so rich you won’t know what to do with yourself. But you will know what to do with your sick husband! Click on the link in that post to view the video, hysterical! I laugh because I can relate 😉

5. Today Teagan and I started going to a new playgroup. This is a big step, emotionally and physically. With exposure to a whole lot of new germs we’re going to see what his immune system can do. I was very nervous about it but it seriously could not have gone any better today. He declared on the way there that he was not going to play with anyone except me. I told him that was ok, it was his decision but that I was really looking forward to making a new friend or two myself. We go there and he did good, he LOVED it and so did I! It was so interesting to see him in the group setting and immediately dive in to the activities that are most like the time he spent in OT and with Marti. He was a huge fan of the mini trampoline, the padded sphere and the sensory table that was filled with pretend snow and snowflakes. He got to check out a book and a toy from the lending library and as we left he waved goodbye, said thank you and declared he wants to go back tomorrow. Big success!

6. We also took the big step of signing him up for a teacher taught / parent led pre-k program. The director is wonderful and probably should have given up on us a few months ago but I think she knew we’d need this when he was finally ready. There is a waiting list but thankfully it is short and we are only 3 families down. I think this will be perfect for him. Our initial intention was to start him in a MDO / Pre-K program at the beginning of this year but he just wasn’t ready. We’ve had some challenges and while we don’t consider him special needs, nor does he need services, ECI or an IEP at this point, he’s not ready for a traditional pre-k yet. This program is the perfect in between step until he is and I’m so excited to get that call that he can start. He can go at age 3 and 4 so there is really no rush for him to get to it this year if we don’t make it to the top of the list. We’re not in any big hurry, especially since there is a great playgroup to start working on those social skills. The playgroup setup is absolutely amazing, very creative, very encouraging to development and play and movement and learning and sharing and interacting. We can go to playgroup up to 10 hours per week even. I couldn’t be more excited about it for him.

7. Today in the car on the way home from carpool I was calling out math problems to Taryn. I said 3+3 and she said 6. I said 3+4 and while she paused to count Teagan yelled out “7!!!!!” I was shocked. Of course he knew what came after 6 but it was just so funny to see Taryn’s face in the rear view mirror as she realized he was right!

8. Taryn wrote her first short story this past week. Crazy! It was about her and Abby playing on the playground. I’ve also been throwing out words for her to sound out and spell while driving, cooking dinner, cleaning up. I’m amazed at how many she gets right. That kid is a sponge!

9. Anyone need a pinterest invite? I can send out a few. Post in the comments and I’ll send them out until it won’t let me anymore!

10. If you made it to 10 you get a fun little heads up. Giveaway. A big one. With a fun opportunity….coming tomorrow!

Lyndsay Stradtner2011-01-11T23:06:30-06:00January 11th, 2011|Uncategorized|

10 on Tuesday and 2 mini session openings!

1. I am thinking about opening up 2 last minute mini session spots for this coming weekend with guaranteed Christmas delivery. Any interest? Email me at lstradtner@mac.com for details!

2. My kids are so addicted to these right now. Especially Teagan. Obsessed.

3. This morning I stopped at my desk to pick something up and noticed there was still solid ice in my favorite cup that had been sitting from the night before. First, I thought to myself, wow, this cup really IS awesome. Second, I thought to myself, I wonder what time I actually went to bed…. Third, I thought to myself, I wonder if Ty did this to be sweet, he IS always bring me water refills. Turns out the third one is the charm. Love that kid.

4. Duder’s new favorite activity is swiping the water bottle we use to tame Taryn’s hair each morning and tormenting people with it. It drives me nuts and I’m constantly getting squirts to the leg, back, face, whatever is within his range. Getting it away from him is always a battle that involves running and wrangling a toddler who insists on screaming “NO IT MIIIIIIIIIINE”. I started putting it out of his reach but he’d just grab the step stool in the kitchen and move it to where he needed it to be to get it. It was driving me (and the dog) nuts. This week, I finally gave in, I handed it to him and we headed outside so he could squirt whatever he wanted till his little heart was content. He was thrilled.

$0.99 water bottle = hours of entertainment. Unfortunately, I too, fell into the category of “whatever he wanted”. Stinker. (Update on duder here)

5. Taryn has her first crush. And he is not in kindergarten. MUCH to her daddy’s dismay. Dismay isn’t a strong enough word for what he’s going through. Anxiety ridden ought to begin to cover it.

6. Add her first crush to the fact that she asked for a “green ipod” for Christmas and my husband is not in a very good place right now. His little girl is growing up quick and he’s soooooo not ready.

7. I absolutely LOVE this. And this blog is also one of my new favorite places to check out.

8. Bob has been very busy trying to keep up with all the goings on around here and all 3 kids. First though, he had a little bit of ‘splaining to do about that whole ‘borrowed rocket thing’….

9. Then the next night, just before bed, Jase and I got a good giggle at the expense of my friend Jodie and her elf. We laughed it up, then went to bed. Ironically enough, forgetting to move our elf because we were too busy laughing at Jod for not moving hers. Karma right?! So, Bob hung out on the TV for 2 days. The kids were concerned, but not being nearly as creative as Jod, we just blew it off and said Bob likes to watch TV a lot.

10. The next morning they found Bob had gotten into the cereal. Thankfully, he was picking up after himself with the dustbuster. We’ve been working with the little kids and picking up their own messes so it was super nice of Bob to be such a great example 😉

Lyndsay Stradtner2010-11-30T21:41:31-06:00November 30th, 2010|Austin Photographer, Elf on a Shelf, My Family|