Please Help??

Alright friends and family, I try to save the Scentsy begging for facebook. :) I am working HARD towards an all inclusive trip through Scentsy. It's totally possible that I make this, and it will also help my sponsor above me as she is really, really close to a major promotion. I got a promotion this month, and could get another one with a few more orders!!
If you are local and can get me your order by Wednesday, it will be FREE shipping. If you aren't local, shipping is CHEAP. If you haven't tried Scentsy, you'll love it, I promise! Start stocking up on Christmas gifts now! The Buddies are BOGO FREE right now but they are going fast and once they're gone, they're gone forever!! 

If you order with me this month - I'll give you a free bar if you also pre-order next months warmer! It's one of my FAVORITES:

It's $31.50 because it's on sale next month. The scent for next month is Peppermint Dreams, which is also on sale for $4.50. :) 

If you want to order online, please order here: https://ashleylocke.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=110238100 

If you are local and want free shipping, please let me know!! I need orders by Wednesday afternoon!! Thank you to all!! And if you are one of my regulars who have already ordered from me this month (Mom, Kathy, Grandma, Stacie, etc.) PLEASE don't feel like you need to order again! <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">

10 on 10

Yay!

I remembered to do 10 on 10 yesterday, 10/10/12 :)

Here are 10 shots from throughout our day yesterday.

Snuggling as soon as they woke up watching cartoons.

 Playing in the ball pit while sister's at school

 Working while Quinn naps

 Paiton showing me her butterfly after school

 Cleaning and Bedknobs and Broomsticks

 They were intrigued by Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

 Finishing up a baby quilt

Paiton requested a snack of hot chocolate!

 Quinn worked on his standing and being ridiculously good looking. ;)

 And I had a photoshoot with the Meyers!!

There's our day in 10 snaps! ;)

~Changes~

I didn't want to post this, but this blog is to document our life, and this is our life. 

Matt and I joke that our kids will never grow up in a stable environment. Part joke/ part truth relating to all the moves we've had, ups, downs, and in betweens. 

As (I think??) I've shared before, the state is doing away with my job, as of June of 2013 it won't exist anymore. This is why I've been working so hard to build up my photography business. It's important to Matt and I that I be the one to raise our kids, that I be here with them, and with Quinn's physical therapy needs, exercises he has to do throughout the day, etc., it's become necessary as well that I be here.

Loooong story short, I lost my job last week. The one that pays 50% of our bills. Or, did anyway, prior to the last two months. The last two months I've made almost exactly 10% of what I usually make. A year ago we suffered a 25% paycut, HUGE. Two months ago I was told that I wasn't putting enough time into my "real" job, I was focusing too much on photography. Which is true, it's hard to balance all these things, and knowing that this job is gone for good in a few months, I felt I had no choice BUT to build up photography. Something had to be a constant and be able to support us. This "work from home job" turned into me being the only one working solely from home. The other girls have moms and in laws that can watch their kids while they work from the office. My mom works full time and I don't want to push my kids on her anymore that I already have to for photoshoots,etc., although I know she'd be willing. Plus, this wasn't a work from the office job or I wouldn't have taken it. It became evident to me that I was being "punished" for being the only one not there, and I was making waaaaay less over the last 2 months than I had been. There wasn't really a whole lot I could do about it. Because it's just me and the kids every day I couldn't go to last minute meetings that came up, I had a hard time handling crisis' that arose, etc. I had to schedule things around photoshoots, around when I could have my mom watch the kids, etc.

Basically last week my boss and I decided (somewhat mutually...) that it wasn't working. I can't spend time in the office, it just isn't an option at this point, and that's what they want from this "work from home" job right now. I can't afford to give it all my attention knowing that I a) make 10% of what I used to, so basically took a 90% pay cut, and b) knowing it was going to be gone before I knew it. It doesn't feel responsible to put everything into that job just to be without one in a few months. Matt agreed that it was way too much stress on me for the almost non-existent pay check I had been getting, but it's still hard to lose the job that provides a paycheck every two weeks, no matter how small it had become. It's scary that my job pays 50% of our bills, and now I don't have it.

Luckily photography is pretty busy for this month, but I know it will slow to almost nothing in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, all these miserable months we have here. There's no choice but to take it day by day and be creative in my shoots. I'm also trying to work hard to build up my Scentsy business, although it's not nearly as profitable as it needs to be just yet.

My boss talked to me a couple days ago and asked how I was doing. I told her it was scary, really scary, but I was happy to be able to focus on photography and my kids, something I'm so not used to. She asked me aside from the money aspect, how I was feeling about. I told her the only word that came to mind: relieved. I told her that and she said the truest words to me, "Isn't that all that matters? Isn't that relief worth all the money in the world? Isn't knowing that you won't miss a second with your kids worth it? They'll only be babies once, and when it's gone, it's gone and they're grown. You'll survive without the 'extras', but you will regret everything you've done if you don't get to share it with your kids."

She knows me too well. My kids come first, always. So, that's my update. Scary, huge changes in our future. Not sure what's in store for this next chapter of our lives, and we have no choice but to find out!

In other AWESOME news, we are heading to sunny California in two short weeks!! Yes, TWO!!! Crazy! Although I've been saving, saving, and saving for this trip for what feels like EVER, it also seems kind of short notice! Because of an amazing deal Aunt Lori found on Disneyland tickets, we had to buy them in advance and had to buy them for Oct. 23! I have the money saved, I just HATE spending money like that, but Matt and I decided to just jump in and buy the tickets, no looking back now!! Paiton will only be 3 and princess obsessed once, and we plan to knock her socks off!! ;) She is SO beyond excited, and partially in disbelief, that we're actually going. Our trip will be kind of a quick one, about a week, with one day at DLand with the Wiesners and Grandma and Poppy. We are so excited to see Paiton's reaction and to just blow her mind! She wants to see all the princesses, the Toy Story characters, and Phineas and Ferb! :)

(Of course, the day we decided to go ahead and buy DLand tickets, is the same day I lost my job. Go figure, the Universe hates me, but I've known this for years.)

California family, we'll be seeing you soon!! Wooohooo!!!

100 Pictures

No really, here's 100 pictures :)

Time to get caught up. These are from the last few weeks off my phone!

 Paiton, Aly, and her friend at school

 Crawling around like a puppy with a bowl in his mouth

 Paiton LOVES having sleep over at Nannie and Papa's - she also enjoys wearing Titi's shirts to bed!

 Ethan, Kylie, Quinn and Paiton :)

 Paiton and I during our picnic to the park before we headed to Roaring Springs for the last open day of this summer!

 Sharing her lunch with her puppies

 We will miss you Roaring Springs!

 Cadon and Paiton ( looove those baby buns! )

 Cadon, Paiton, Ryan

 Uncle B and Cadon

 Quinn's newest trick!

 One night I had pictures down in Eagle by the river and the kids came with me.

 We ate on the patio at Bardenay after. Yum!

 Helping me make pancakes!

 Paiton's preschool went on a field trip to play tennis! Matt had racquets for them and played with them! Real pictures of that to come, it was so cute!

 Quinn being cute, and SUCH a boy throwing rocks!

 Paiton and Kylie making good use of the thing Grandpa uses to get under the cars!

 My kids are Scentsy fiends! :) They make good employees! ;)

Quinn smelling one of the bars:

 Ooh yum, an apple!

 We went to the Women's Fitness Celebration a couple weeks ago. Paiton wanted to sit and listen to the band (I use that term loosely...) play.

 I entered Grandma's name in a thing where they were honoring women that had survived breast cancer!

They wrote her name on a flag!!

 We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants!

 Cutest boy!

 Matt was teaching a private lesson one morning at Settler's Park, so the kids and I headed down to play and met him when he was done! It was a chilly and rainy day, but still fun!

 Playing at the park makes a baby tired! :)

 One day Quinn was just sitting watching football and eating snacks, I tried to sneak a picture but he kept looking at me!

 Paiton in her boat. :) 

(Aunt Lori - that kitty on the floor is the one you sent Paiton last year when she had her surgery, she still loves it!!)

 Grandpa Riggs had his birthday! We went over to celebrate, and naturally Paiton wore her wedding dress. :)

 Listening to Abba's headphones

 When Quinn goes to group physical therapy he gets a stamp on both feet and both hands at the end for working so hard! 

 Paiton's favorite days at school are when she gets a "special" sticker and gets to the be the one that holds the flag and hands out the baskets! This was one such day!

 Paiton had wanted to rent this movie for so long. I finally got it from the Redbox for her and it was actually really good! Even if you don't have a 3 year old who is obsessed with Katy Perry, you should watch it. :) It even sucked Matt and my mom in! It's just interesting to see a documentary on her life!

 Paiton dancing along to it!

 This is just a glimpse of some of my favorite pictures of all time. Just you wait...

 Park trip with my loves

 Nevermind that my fingers in the way. I'm a photographer, I swear.

 This pitiful, sick boy has had a cold for a few days. So sad.

 We went to Cadon's school carnival again this year! It was fun!! BUT...this is what happens if you refuse to look at the camera for your Titi!

 Quinn working out!

 Not sure what these two are doing...

 This weekend we went with Nana, Papa, Ema, and Grandpa Riggs to Hidden Springs to a Barn Day they had there. It was fun. The kids liked watching the people play their banjos. (And holding hands of course, because they are just THAT sweet.)

 Paiton got to do one of her favorite things - see horses!

 They had a little tea party set up for the little girls! It was so cute!

 That same night we went to visit the Lesters! We had so much fun, as always!

 This is the infamous treehouse where Paiton broke her foot last year. She thinks it's necessary to tell us every time that she will NOT being going in the treehouse because it hurts too bad to break your foot!

 Oh man, I do love all 3 of these girls!

I will try to be better about updating so that there's not 100 pictures all at once! Oops! 

We had a pretty good, but busy, weekend! My business has been super busy recently, which is great. I also worked a Scentsy booth this weekend for two days. Thank goodness for my mom who helped with the kids so I could do that! I don't know what I'd do without her! I've been having to take the kids to a lot of my shoots lately because I just don't have anything else to do with them, but they are great and Paiton is such a helper! :) I am so glad that Locke Photography has taken off and I hope, hope, hope it continues and grows even more!! Matt is doing awesome at work and just had his year review and raise, can't believe it's been a year already! Things are crazy nuts around here, but Matt gets to do things involving tennis, and play lots of tennis, and I get to be with my kids 24/7 and take pictures for a living...what more could we ask for?! (Well, besides the obvious - a million dollars!! ;) )