Magnolias and Sunshine

Thanksgiving in Louisiana

2010-11-29T10:43:00.001-06:00

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving break. After trying to play catch up on several hundred things around home we made a fast break to Louisiana. Of course I brought my camera. And of COURSE I’m going to share a few shots… I think I may blow these up a little and print them in black and white for the house. They remind me of home.

This bayou runs right in front of my parents home. I’ve never seen so little water in it. I love the color of the cypress trees in the Fall.

And this is just a random shot from their drive way. I thought the light coming through the trees was too pretty to pass up.

This Thanksgiving? I was thankful for a few days to slow down.

How was your holiday?

Weird Awkward Spooky Halloween

2010-11-02T10:27:00.001-05:00

Sunday. All Hallow’s Eve. And I heard The Nutcracker Suite. 9 had rehearsals at 12:30 and all I saw was Halloween socks over pink tights while hearing Nutcracker music.

Weird.

As the evening progressed we finally caved into letting the girls get dressed. Did your kids wake up thinking they could don those costumes at 8am?

They really were cute. Even if 6 said “I’m going to be a black cat and Abby’s my witch”… said in the butIreallymeanbitch way.

We had a chili party on the street behind us… because OUR street is too lame to participate.

6’s sweet little crush and his baby sister… children of the host. I couldn’t resist putting their pics up… That Ally cat is just too cute.

Want to know why I brought my camera? Not to get pictures, I assure you. By taking my camera everywhere I go it allows me to sit on the outskirts of the action. I HATE parties like this… where everyone else seems to know each other and each other’s children’s names and birthdays and social security numbers.

Awkward!

I left early to set up my table. I sit and pass out candy while Hubs takes the girls around the neighborhood. I get to dress like a witch, have a few glasses of wine, and scare the neighborhood kids with my spiders and tablescape lab jars :-)

Lot’s of spiders, fun Harry Potter and Pan’s Labyrinth music, and candles… lots of candles… which was really cool…

Until someone told their kid to come look at the “alter”… I kid you not. Alter.

Pffftt… Texas…

Spooky.

Sugar Shock

2010-11-01T10:26:00.001-05:00

It’s the day after Halloween… and bleck… do I ever regret having Snickers for dinner last night.

Here’s a shot of my little witch with her black cat :-)

I’m so glad I’ve been playing with my camera and following along with Darcy’s 31 Days to a better Photo posts. My pics are already getting to be loads better!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T10:41:00.001-05:00

Things are beginning to get a little creepy around here…

We’re nearly ready for our visitors tonight… Are you?

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Bored with her Hipstamom

2010-10-26T11:16:00.000-05:00

9 is getting really testy about pictures lately. She’ll give you about a 1/3 of a second and that’s about it. Lucky for me, I’ve been learning how to shoot manual on the D90… cause I REALLY needed to figure out how to increase the shutter speed. THIS shot was a bloomin miracle because the Hipstomatic app doesn’t allow for bored 9 year olds. See there?… It’s a smile… for the camera… can you believe it?!

THIS is what she usually looks… She’ll kill me for sharing shots like this one day :-) *snicker*

Coulda been cute had she not tried to squirm out of the shot…

And THIS is the look she gives 6… I call it her “do I really have to suffer the presence of my sister” look. Awe. SO mature.

Hey, at least I can find humor in her attitude, right?

Too cool for school

2010-10-24T11:00:00.001-05:00

Seriously. I *may* be having a little too much fun with Hipstamatic. But it’s my blog and I’ll put as many of these shots as I want too ;-)

Baby loves her new hat.

Another one?

2010-10-22T13:48:00.001-05:00

Y’all. I’m telling you. Hipstamatic is a SUPER fun app! If you haven’t tried it, give it a go. Lots of coolness.

Another submission to Hipstamom from the pumpkin patch… because it was just too funny not to share… 9 acting like a country girl… priceless LOL

Silly Pumpkin :-)

Sometimes calling somebody a Drama Queen is really just commentary on how silly they are :-)

Hipstamom Submission

2010-10-22T13:37:00.001-05:00

Have you used the Hipstamatic camera app yet? So. Much. Fun. Old school lenses, films, and filters.

Here’s my submission shot to Hipstamom, a really cool site showing off what people are doing with the Hipstamatic app.

My Pumpkins in the pumpkins

Grainy vintage-y loveliness.

Shooting Manual

2010-10-11T12:42:00.001-05:00

SOOC shot

f 5.6 Tv1/100 ISO 640 98mm

Slightly edited shot… PW action Slight Lighten and eye’s adjusted just a bit :-)

Updated because of iHeartFaces… I’m ALWAYS finding new things to try…

THIS slight edit is using the Imagenomic Portraiture plug-in for Elements… Her skin softened, lots of noise was removed… then I popped her eyes a bit and used PWs Slight lighten. Very pretty. I think I may buy that plug-in… I was able to see immediate improvement and it was not very complicated to use. You can download the free trial here.

I’m learning so much from Darcy it’s slightly ridiculous. Who knew all those numbers in the view finder actually MEAN something! Go check out what we’ve all been learning.

Photoshop Elements

2010-10-08T19:09:00.001-05:00

The iHeartFaces constructive editing post really made me wonder… How can I be this dense? Surely I can figure out a freakin program… Surely? Photoshop Elements isn’t even the full blown Photoshop. Surely I can play around and figure out how to do ONE picture.

This was my test

It’s fairly cool in color… her eyes aren’t popping… it’s just off. Cute? Yes. But still… off.

Here’s what I did:

Using this tutorial and video found on iHeartFaces, I was able to make her eyes look much more vibrant. It was a bit tricky to use the magnetic lasso tool the first go around. That’s what the undo button is for, folks.

I have CoffeeShop’s Powder Room 2 action, and tried to use it. Honest. I did. But I need to read the instructions or something because I can’t figure out how to change the layers to show what the adjustments do. Huh. Moving right along.

After backtracking through what I had done (or NOT done) with the action, I started poking around in the area just above the layer information. The circle that’s shaded 1/2 gray and 1/2 white lets me change things like brightness and contrast.

Hallelujah!

I’ve been trying out how to do that on this program for AGES now! After adjusting those few things, I poked around a bit more and found out how to warm up the image using the photo filter adjustment.

So WHEW! Let’s take a look. Shall we?

By no means perfect… but I’m a happy happy girl.

I’ll keep working thru some of these actions as I am determined to figure it out. If I get any farther, I’ll let you know.

IHeartFaces is one of the many places I’ve been going to learn. It’s chock FULL of information. And, as I have learned, it’s best taken in small doses while using your own photo to walk through the learning process. I’m a hands-on kind of gal. IHeartFaces rocks.

Also?

Darcy over at My3Boybarians has been doing her 31 Days to a Better Photo series. It is worth your time to go start at the beginning of the month and work your way through them. I’ve printed every day so far. Darcy has a knack for putting things in a way that even I can understand them… Darcy is also a rock star.

Happy shooting!

Future Tigers – Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T07:57:00.000-05:00

Trying to be as wordless as possible…

Sometimes you’ve got to get on your knees and just go for the shot.

**************************************************************************

UPDATE: I am so happy to have just stumbled into the iheartfaces post today. I edited this shot and I am TERRIBLE at editing. I used the Canon Digital Professional software that came with my point and shoot to work on this one. I have PSE6, but I know squat about how to use it. I KNOW it can be a better picture, but I just don’t understand Photoshop Elements.

iheartfaces has a linky set up for constructive criticism. I would SO appreciate some help. I’m still a newbie on my first DSLR and only on occasion am getting the kind of shots I want. Heck. Most of the time they look AWFUL.

The original photo information:

ISO: 400

Tv: 1/160

Av: F13.0

Flicker Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25332409@N08/5062637576/

I SO wanted this to be a more vibrant shot. The sky color was BEAUTIFUL that day… it just doesn’t show in the picture. I will say that I was LITERALLY on my knees shooting behind me so that the girls didn’t know I was shooting them.

Any help offered is greatly appreciated! Thanks iheartfaces for this opportunity!

Geaux Tigers!

2010-10-05T12:50:00.001-05:00

Hubs and I both went to LSU. We loved, lived, and breathed LSU. Our babies’ birth announcements were both LSU themed.

We brought 9 as an infant to a tailgate party. I was still breastfeeding at that time and had to escape to my car to pump. It was sheer misery. It was so much Hell that we never took them back.

Until this weekend. You know… for the Tennessee game that ended in one of the most effed up victories I’ve ever seen or heard of. Yeah. THAT game :-)

I called my sister and she met us in Baton Rouge. It was awesome to see her. I’m sure my girls chatted her ear off and probably even scared her a little. My kids are… ~~insane~~ exuberant. A bonus to having your sister meet you? You get to be in pictures :-)

Boy did they have an awesome time. The look on 9s face when the Golden Girls marched down the hill… Priceless. 6 got so crazy and into it that she yelled “Tiger Bait!” & “Peace out! Tennessee!” at some of the Tennessee fans… Sorry folks… We didn’t teach her that one…

And because my sister is a genius at coming up with clever pics we got THIS shot…

What a weekend. We are still trying to recover. It was so amazing to have our girls walk around campus with us and have them actually enjoy being there. At one point we realized that there’s a good chance both of the girls will be there for a couple of years together… in that crowd… as students… I nearly got teary until one coed sloshed up next to us and told us how cute the little Tigers were through liquored up breath. That’s just NOT something this Momma is ready to think about… Especially with THIS one…

Yeah. She’s a lil crazy. She’ll need a very VERY short leash.

Relax!

2010-09-24T08:25:00.001-05:00

It’s finally the weekend. It’s time to RELAX! Enjoy your football games and Fall weather!

I am a baker, not a decorator

2010-09-23T16:57:00.001-05:00

Kim has a linky set up for cakes and cupcakes… Oh MAN is my sweet tooth killing me right now… Looking at all of her yum-o pictures REALLY makes me want to bake. Alas, I have dance class to shuffle the kids to this evening. I thought about baking I’ve done…

I think it’s pretty evident that I am a baker… NOT a decorator… I can’t pipe frosting to save my life. Maybe it’s lack of practice, or too much caffeine… I just can’t get the hang of it. That’s why I try to find other ways to decorate cupcakes and cakes… The truffle filled seashell chocolates are STILL my favorite stroke of genius.

Kim is having a giveaway tomorrow… Friday, Sept. 24th. It’s for this sweet baby… The Martha Stewart Cricut for Cake…

Now, I’ll be honest… Kim’s got like 5 million followers so I’m not gonna cross my fingers about winning this one, so I’ll probably never have one. But don’t you know I could make a gorgeous cake using this thing!!!! It would really make decorating so much fun. I can just see free standing swirls on top of butter cream frosting… Endless possibility.

Sweet 6 – Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-22T18:45:00.001-05:00

Dear Santa…

2010-09-06T20:06:00.001-05:00

The other day I was hanging with the family in the pool and the girls wanted to talk about Disney. Yes, we are indeed THAT family. The family who’s 9 year old is about to take her 11th trip to the World. Trust me. My kids could plan your entire trip, guide you around the entire Disney World property without a map, and tell you all of the best sit down restaurants and which has a good lobster bisque. Really. We are a little bit psycho about planning our trips… down to the very last minute detail. Planning is half the fun when it comes to Disney. We even plan to have “unplanned time”… seriously. I’m not very anal about many things, but a trip to Disney World just puts me in a tizzy.

As the girls started talking about what we were going to do and where we were going to stay, the BIG question came up…

How on Earth is Santa going to visit us at Disney World?

Let me preface this by saying that I generally tell my kids the truth. When my oldest was 5 and asked what a period was, I told her. I usually answer the questions. I do not give them more information than they need. I give them enough information to satisfy their curiosity and then move on… I just don’t believe in lying to them… Except when it comes to the magic of being a child.

Mommy?

Yes, Jillian.

Is Santa real?

Do you get real gifts?

Yeah.

Well then, what do you think?

I think you and daddy are Santa.

Shows what you know, kid. Daddy’s cheap. He wouldn’t buy you extra presents just to pretend to be Santa.

Oh.

Yeah.

Well, then how’s Santa going to know which hotel room is ours?

Abby – Duh. He’s MA-GIC…

Ooohhh. Yeah… MA-GIC… Well, I still think he needs a sign or sumthin…just to be sure he finds us…

Abby – and maybe some extra special Disney cookies… like chocolate dipped rice crispie Mickey heads.

We can get a Santa Stop Here sign and put it outside of our door. I’m sure that will work.

And then he can leave us lots of gifts! …

You know what’s really cool to do? Ask Santa to surprise you. If you don’t ask for anything and just tell him to surprise you, you’ll usually get something totally awesome… *cough*likeafriggintriptoDisneyWorld*cough*

Abby & Jillian – AWESOME!!!!

I said I didn’t lie… on important things… but I will work them for as long as I possibly can.

So who has some suggestions for small packable and easily concealed awesome Christmas presents for a 6 year old? 9 is getting a Kindle…

Flower hair pin tutorial

2010-08-31T07:20:00.000-05:00

It’s nearly time for college football to begin. Around here it’s all SEC all the time. Unless it’s Sunday, then it’s all about the Saints. Our fall schedules revolve around football games. This year that is especially true because this is the first year we are taking the girls into Death Valley. When they were little we brought them to tailgate, but never into the actual stadium. I’m pretty sure they are going to be BLOWN AWAY.

The girls wanted some hair pins to wear with their “gear” for the football games. You aren’t a true fan unless you are spackled in Purple and Gold from head to toe. For the girls, we picked flowers.

Cheap. $3.50 for the whole bundle cheap. It had the necessary colors, so I grabbed them up.

Pop the flowers off of the plastic stem bundle and pull the backing and front fuzzy buttons off. I used 6 flowers to make 2 pins, so I sorted the petal layers by size.

Re-layer your petals with the largest diameter on the bottom. Using a needle and thread, stitch the flower layers back together. I topped my petals with a football shank style button.

After the button has been sewn onto the layers, continue to stitch back through the layers coming out the back side of the petals. Stitch several passes through the bent end of the hair pins.

I squeezed a bit of glue to the back thread and under the football button to ensure it says flat.

Easy peasy. And cute too, No?

I couldn’t be left out, so using the same technique, I made two styles of yo-yos out of gold tulle, layered them together, sewed a bobby pin to the back and added some bling.

This is so darn easy, there’s no reason to not be properly styled for football games… or the playground… or the mall… or the… well, you get it.

For the 3rd week in a row I’m linking up to Kim’s Get Your Craft On. This is some kind of record, I’m sure. :-)

Butterfly museum – Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-08-24T08:33:00.000-05:00

More shots from our quiet time in the Butterfly museum that’s part of the Houston Museum of Natural History…

What a super fun place to have a camera, no?

And because I’m loving this shot of the T-rex, I’m posting it again. Because I can. RAWR!

I’m linking up to Darcy’s Sweet Shot Tuesday this week…

stop by and check out some REALLY great shots!

A is for Apple

2010-08-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

Monday morning was our first day of school. We brought our teachers a yummy apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins. These are the muffins I like to make ahead, freeze, and then warm up in the microwave for a fast breakfast.

Start with 2 Fiber One apple cinnamon muffin mixes prepared by the box directions , add to the mix one large apple (diced), 2Tbs. of ground Flax seeds, 1/4 cup steel cut oats, and an additional 3Tbs. of water. Bake at 400 for approx. 15-17 min.

After the muffins have baked, remove them from the pans and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. If you’d like to freeze and heat them, store them in a gallon sized freezer bag. It only takes around 30 seconds or so in the microwave to warm them.

For the muffin toppers, I printed free ones from Scribd, cut out the circles, and then glued them to toothpicks.

Fast, fun, and in my opinion, WAY better than bringing a plain apple for the teacher!

I’m linking up with Kim at Today’s Creative Blog!

Browse through the link party and find even more fun projects!

Last day of freedom

2010-08-23T12:07:00.000-05:00

Friday was our last weekday before school started back. Levi had Friday off so we decided to spend the day in the city. Did you know that if you live in the suburbs of Houston, one really never does need to go into the actual city? At least, we don’t. But it was a special sort of day and we didn’t want to waste it by doing laundry and other such nonsense.

We took the kids to the Natural History museum.

RAWR.

Jillian loved the fossils….

And Daddy loved the fossils…

But Abby sat still, without fidgeting, without blinking, without breathing for 15 minutes trying to get the butterflies to land on her…

I’ve never seen her so still, so quiet, so frozen before… she didn’t even smile while I was giggling at her for being so still and so quiet and so frozen! She took her butterfly enticement very very seriously…

And I had a ball taking pictures. I even got a really fun sun flare.

Beautiful endings

2010-08-21T11:53:00.001-05:00

On Thursday, I proved that one can indeed live Murphy’s law. From an early morning PMS fueled rage because Walmart didn’t have what I needed (as usual), to construction crews cutting our neighborhood power line mid-day when it was 1000 degrees outside and I was just preparing to bake a cake for the next day’s teacher desert bar, to the same crew later cutting our gas main and trapping us into our neighborhood on the same evening our girls were due at Meet the teacher night… and trapping Jillian OUT of the neighborhood because she was at a friend’s house playing when it happened. It was a never ending awful sort of day.

After hiking a few miles in ridiculous heat we were able to escape our neighborhood and then hitch a ride to the school for the last 10 minutes of Meet the teacher. I got to explain to Jillian’s teacher that the lady who brought her was in fact NOT her mother, I was, and here’s your cute little box of goodies that Jillian is going to be so mad about not delivering herself. I was sweaty and stinky but I put on my very best “trying not to be humiliated that I’m meeting my kids teachers looking like this” face and got it done.

So there.

At school, after finally retrieving Jillian, 1/2 of our neighborhood was milling around wondering if we were allowed to get back in, how to get back in, and who the heck had a car that so and so could hitch a ride in. We decided to table the idea of sitting in the heat and hit the neighborhood Mexican placed for margaritas instead. Truly, tequila was the only thing left to have. It was far FAR beyond time for a drink. We hauled 25 people into the restaurant and sat and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours.

We had dinner with a few couples we knew, and met a few new similarly inconvenienced neighbors and let our kids eat loudly. We were all so exhausted from the day that we just didn’t even care.

Outside of the restaurant we even let our kids play on the statue… because usually, that’s SO NOT my kids playing around in and outside of restaurants… The sunset that evening was a gorgeous reminder that some days, you’ve just got to trudge through and get it done however you can and eventually…things do indeed get better.

Back to School – Get Your Craft On

2010-08-17T11:23:00.001-05:00

I recently found myself in a conversation about Teacher Appreciation week. I was at our back to school PTO board meeting and a question came up about what do we want our Teacher Appreciation week to be about? We were making all sorts of plans about fun things to do for our teachers… Starting with a Back to School desert bar… How yummy does THAT sound :-) My lemon cake will be making an appearance at the bar.

I thought about that PTO meeting while I was drooling over binders and fresh crayons in the school supply section. I remembered THIS feature on Today’s Creative Blog. There are LOTS of really fun supplies these days. I thought that it was pretty lame that the kids got to enjoy all of the goodies. This Thursday evening our kids will go up to the school for Stop and Drop to deliver their school supplies and meet their teachers. My kids will come with a small token of their excitement for the school year.

We filled a fishing tackle organizer with fun clips and tacks in the school colors. We found so many things that we ran out of dividers… but the girls liked the blue ones for some reason, so they had to stay… (It’s sort of hard to remind myself not to correct them when it’s their project…)

When I asked what else they thought the teachers would need in their “survival kit” the girls immediately said chocolate, lip balm, and gum. 6 even suggested that every girl likes diamonds, so nestled in with the kisses is a “huge honkin’ diamond”.

6 was right. Every girl needs big fun bling.

After helping them cover the lid and making a bow for them, the girls decorated the top with stickers and their school logo.

They are so excited to see who their teacher will be. They are equally excited to see if she goes for the candy or stickers first.

Show your teachers you support them and offer your help. Even if it’s in the form of a thank you note telling them how much you appreciate their work.

Have a great school year!

Lt. Dan! – Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-08-10T13:25:00.001-05:00

Every time I get the craving to have some ice cream I start pestering Hubs by yelling like a Southern drawling idiot…

“Lieutenant DAAAN! … Ice Crame… Lt. Dan!”

I’m sure he does not appreciate my need to quote Forest Gump every time I get the hankering, but he married me… Quirks and all.

Could someone please tell me how I happen to end up posting deserts every single time for Sweet Shot Tuesday? I obviously have a problem… and cellulite.

Tunes

2010-08-10T11:16:00.001-05:00

“Music is the art of thinking with sounds.”

Jules Combarieu

My estrogen levels must be extremely high today… This is the playlist I’ve got on. Can you guess it’s name? Come on… take a shot at it.

Emo chick.

That is all.

Action!

2010-08-09T17:58:00.001-05:00

I’m playing around in Photoshop Elements. I’ve had this computer for a while (about 2 1/2 years actually), and PSE came loaded on. As soon as I opened the program I was immediately intimidated so I never really figured out how to use it.

After crawling through several photography blogs, I realized that I really wanted to up my post-shot editing game. Actions are presets that you load into your program and they take a lot of guess work out of the editing process. You find one that you think you may like, load it in, and click. Simple. I like simple.

I still have no CLUE what I’m doing, but I finally was able to load in this action by CoffeeShop. It’s a really neat action called Perfect Portrait so I thought I’d start learning with it.

Before:

Meh. Not SO bad… but the color is sort of washed out and it doesn’t really pop.

After:

And all of that adjustment was just one double-click away. Who knew!

Here’s another, just for playing around…

Before:

After:

Boy… this could be a huge time suck… Because now? I want to run every single picture I have through this action.

Best part? CoffeeShop’s actions are FREE. Makes it a pretty strong incentive for me to figure out Elements, don’t you think?

Zesty – Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-08-03T21:00:00.001-05:00

For Abby’s birthday party I made one of the Cake Dr.’s lemon cakes and tinkered with the recipe even more on my own.

Abby loves lemon cake.

So do I.

So does Hubs.

This cake had so much lemon in it, you’d swear you should be puckering. I’ve discovered that if you are using fresh lemon juice and zest, the effect isn’t nearly at potent as you’d think. This cake was bright and refreshing without being too heavily flavored for the hot summer birthday party.

The Lemon Curd was my idea. I spread it between the layers of the nearly cooled 9” layers. I say nearly cooled because I wanted it to melt a bit and absorb into the cake itself, so the layers were still a bit warm to the touch.

I used a basic cream cheese frosting and added 2tsp of lemon juice and 1tsp of lemon zest.

It was a happy, happy cake.

Because I’m so NOT a cake decorator, I used this cool OXO tool to get lemon zest curls from 7 lemons. I spread the curls around the base of the cake and added my sparkler candles.

Yum.

Let’s look at it some more, shall we?

Isn’t that cute? I’ll explain later about the crazy way this party was thrown together…

American Girls…

2010-08-02T15:31:00.000-05:00

No, not the song… which always reminds me of Silence of the Lambs with that chunky chick banging on her steering wheel… I’m talking about MY girls and their dolls…

Seriously? American Girl should sponsor us for this post. Seriously. And I’m not even kidding a little bit.

*disclaimer* I have hated dolls ever since I saw Puppet Master when I was a kid. Chucky didn’t help much either. The fact that I can even stand to have these dolls in my house says something about my awesomeness as a mother.

And this doesn’t even count the Bitty Babies, pets, and outfits. Oh, the outfits… with all their shoes. My favorite part of the dolls has to be the outfits… especially the pajamas.

Until we are ready to go somewhere and we can’t find the right shoes for the right outfit. Then? Not so much.

I do love the fact that the only actual toy my girls will play with are these dolls. Not Barbies, or Pet Shops, or even those stupid toy hamsters hiding upstairs. I guess that’s the main reason I don’t mind that there is a bloomin’ fortune in these dolls at my house. There’s my reasoning, folks. At least they play with them. Doesn’t look like a great argument once written down into actual words. I should really work on my justification process.

We even still love the first one we got… the Me doll who looks a bit ethnic for “medium” skin tone with green eyes… Whose hair now makes her look like a Rastafarian.

I guess that since most days Abby’s hair looks like a Rastafarian, that means they pretty much nailed it, right?

My girls weren’t into baby dolls when they were little… but right around age 5 1/2 they became interested in American Girls. And for whatever reason, I’m grateful. Because 9 still has a high interest in playing with her dolls.

Yep… I think a paid American Girl Doll review would be right up our alley. Don’t you? ;-)

Happy Birthday Abby!

2010-07-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

And now, if you’ll excuse me while I curl up into a ball and cry

over my baby turning 9…

Sisters

2010-07-30T14:29:00.000-05:00

Moments like these are few and far between, so here’s proof that sometimes my kids get along :-)

Thanks, Crazy…

2010-07-29T14:26:00.001-05:00

I’ve been playing around with settings getting to know my camera. Like a good girl should. So, you know, when I have something of actual importance to shoot, I’ll be ready.

This is what 6 does to me. Every. Time.

“Hey! Jillian! Look at Momma!….”

To which she replies…. “BAAAAHHHHHH!”

I thought if I put it out on the internet, in 20 years she’ll be sufficiently embarrassed and apologize for being so damn crazy when she was 6.

And then I actually look at the pics and giggle.

So maybe she knows what she’s doing after all…

Wicked- Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-07-27T13:15:00.001-05:00

This weekend we surprised Abby with tickets to see Wicked at the Hobby Center for her birthday. I’ve been waiting for YEARS to see this show. I loved the book and HAD to see it on stage. Abby loves Broadway, so when I saw that it was going to be in Houston, I jumped right in and got the tickets.

She had no idea… because I lied to her for months about it being sold out. Don’t judge. A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do!

We were nudging each other’s elbows when we knew Popular was about to be sung.

We both got teary when Defy Gravity gave us chills.

We will never forget the day we were totally Wicked.

Water

2010-07-22T07:35:00.001-05:00

Pioneer Woman’s Photo assignment – Water

Remember this shot?

This is one of the reasons I am keeping my Canon G11 point and shoot.

Before vacation 6 asked me to get some pictures of the ocean. We were planning our snorkeling trip and were looking at buying a cheap underwater camera. Well, cheap is a relative term. When we saw them for $400 I started trying to figure out a better way to get a good pic underwater. That’s when I discovered this little gadget…

Photo and link via Amazon.com

It’s a waterproof housing made specifically for my G11. The blue dials allow me to adjust my settings… genius. There are compression buttons that allow me to change modes, view, etc. etc.

I was scared to death to put a $500 camera into the water even with the above mentioned gadget.

The first go around, I put the casing into the water WITHOUT the camera inside. I checked for leaks and then put it to the ultimate test… My swimming pool.

That’s where I got that silly fun shot of 6 underwater.

This is also how I got the reef shots on our excursion.

Pretty cool, No?

I will admit, the pool was much easier to shoot in. And that’s knowing that I had to hold myself under by gripping the fountain rocks and pushing myself down. The waves at the reef were brutal. Also, it was much harder to adjust the settings while those waves were pushing me away from what I wanted to shoot. With practice, this casing will be SUPER cool.

And 6 loved her ocean pictures :-)

It’s in the bag

2010-07-21T11:03:00.001-05:00

Did you think my shopping would be done once I found the camera I wanted? NEVER!

I know I can’t carry this fancy camera in my purse… It would be covered in grit, gum, or sticky retainer mess before you could say “Cheese”. I’ve been asking around and settled on this little beauty. The color is tame, I’ll admit. But it will also go with most anything I wear, so I like that. Not to mention, it’s lined in purple. LOVE! But the main reason I love it is because it looks nothing like a camera bag. NOTHING.

You can’t beat a camera bag that can pull double duty as a purse.

If you’d like to see more of these very cute, non-camera bag looking bags click the pic! You can also find the button link anytime over there to the left on my side bar.

There are several non-camera bag looking styles and some really great colors… It was SO HARD not picking the red one… or the teal one…

Have your cake – Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-07-20T11:04:00.001-05:00

50mm f1.8 Nikkor lens,

Unedited shot, straight from camera.

While I am playing with my new camera, I thought I’d share a shot of an easy summer desert. It’s a white cake box mix baked in a Bundt pan. I used my super simple powdered sugar icing spiked with some lemon extract. Delish. My girls like it with fresh sliced strawberries too. :-) It’s light and refreshing and perfect for these hot summer evenings. Enjoy!

Easy Bundt cake icing:

Combine 1TBS lemon extract with 1/3 c milk.

Stir in powder sugar until icing is thick and smooth. (Approx 2.5 Cups)

Slowly pour over cooled cake.

D90 update

2010-07-20T10:26:00.001-05:00

I thought about not posting so much about the camera and just putting up some pictures… But I thought I should let you know…

I LOVE this camera.

Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with
18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens

I was highly intimidated by the sheer awesomeness of this thing. I sat down last night while the girls were swimming and just dug right in. Using the quick start guide to identify the buttons, and then to further figure out where things were in my menus, I was able to feel comfortable with it in about 30 minutes.

Photo via Amazon.com

The D90 is very intuitive as far as adjustments to settings go. I also found out that it had more awesomeness than I thought.

Take your white balance adjustments for example. Usually you scroll through and find settings for daylight, shade, indoor lights, low lights, etc. and that’s all you see. In the D90, you can choose shade… and then use your wheel to adjust within the shade range. I’m sure all of you DSLR owners are nodding your heads like you knew that 5 years ago, but I just discovered it, so leave me alone. You can also widely adjust the power of the flash… More awesomeness.

In that 30 minutes, I had most of the basics figured out and had a custom button set up. Such fun!

I’m off to find something to put up for Sweet Shot Tuesday. While you have some time, dig out your camera and link up with me!

Inky Pinky Ponky

2010-07-19T15:09:00.001-05:00

Inky Pinky Ponkey,

Daddy had a donkey.

Donkey died,

Daddy cried.

Inky Pinky Ponkey.

That’s the clever little rhyme that helped me choose my camera!

Just kidding.

I’ve been researching for hours at a time to come to this conclusion. Pick the best you can afford, and then step away from the computer.

I found sites that were bashing Canon, bashing Nikon, crying about why Sony or Pentax was not high on some persons list, comparisons between system brands, comparisons within brands, professional vs. hobbyist.

There’s so much information on cameras it’ll make your head spin.

Personally, here’s how I went about deciding.

I focused on the types of photography I do. Mostly, that’s everyday shots of my kids. I do a lot of indoor shooting with no flash. I also like to do some macro and travel shots.

I pulled up the specs of my top 3 choices which were the Canon T2i, Nikon D5000, and then the D90.

Thru using the manual settings on my G11, I have found that I need a large ISO range. I located a review site that compares actual pictures of what each camera can do at higher ISOs. Both Nikon’s were better than the Canon at controlling the noise at higher levels.

I also have that Nikon film camera. The D90 has an on board auto-focus system that allows you to use many of the older AF lenses. Given the cost of lenses, I considered being able to use my old lens a bonus.

I studied the types of lenses I thought I would like to have as well. And get this… I LIKE the kit lens that came with the D90. The D5000 kit lens seemed fairly restrictive in range.

After narrowing the choice down to the two Nikons, I drove my butt to Best Buy and played with the cameras.

DO NOT BUY A CAMERA THIS EXPENSIVE WITHOUT HOLDING IT IN YOUR HOT LITTLE HANDS FIRST!

I will say, the D5000 was a great camera. It also was on sale… for MUCH less than the D90. BUT…

After adding the cost of the lenses that I wanted, the D90 was actually LESS expensive as a kit compared to upgrading the lens on the D5000. Yep, you read that right. The D90 was LESS.

When all was said and done, I got the D90, an additional 50mm f1.8 prime lens, a high quality SD card and a 4 year service plan for $1800.

About that service plan… We usually don’t ever buy those. Except I have an uncanny ability to drop my brand new cameras within a week of purchase. I decided that with the cost of this guy, I needed the insurance. It also comes with free cleaning for those 4 years. I thought it was worth the $250 for the plan.

So there you have it. I’m now the proud Momma of a Nikon D90. It scares me just looking at the thing. No lie. It’s light-years ahead of my G11 point and shoot. I can’t wait to dig in and figure the thing out. I like that I will grow into this camera and wont have to replace it in 6 months because I’m bored with it or it’s not doing what I want.

Yep. Momma likes.

8 is nearly 9

2010-07-15T10:27:00.000-05:00

Or at least, that’s what Abby keeps telling us. 8 isn’t NEARLY a big deal like 9 is. And with her birthday coming up on the 31st, she’ll go from being known as 8 to a very important 9.

This is 8s state of happy… when she’s eating. That’s her Mmmmm face.

My babies may be skinny as rails, but they know a good slice of pizza when they see one.

And then they destroy it by loading on the parmesan cheese. But 8 knows what she likes, so I let it slide…

Because 8 nearly 9 still makes wishes with her eyes closed.

Slow down 6!

2010-07-14T16:27:00.001-05:00

Jillian (aka 6) is just full of crazy energy this summer… and today, I swear she took triple the recommended daily allowance. We are talking RARE form, people.

This? Her reaction to 8’s suggestion that we save a few slices for Daddy.

Good Lord. This kid is funny. Here, she was trying to hold up the pyramid (thank you Despicable Me).

But she’s still our sweet baby, so I guess we’ll keep her ;-)

Mainland Mexico

2010-07-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

Back to the vacation shots…

Our last port of call was Cozumel. Because Hubs just LOVES historical crap we decided to go to the Mayan ruins of Tullum over on the mainland. This was the only Mayan city ever built on the water, so it had these amazing beaches below the cliffs. They reminded me of that Leo movie The Beach.

Ok, so call it an ADD moment, or whatever, but this place smacked of our visit to Pompeii where I had to practically drag his ass away from square rocks. Don’t get me wrong. I usually like this stuff too… until I’m done taking the pictures I want, THEN I’m ready to move on to the next fun thing. That’s what I get for marrying an intellectual.

Anywho, the place was neat, and I got some good shots. The theme of the day was “spot the iguana” because they were simply EVERYWHERE!

I felt so artistic and quirky taking this wonky crooked shot :-)

Now check this out… this was actually cool. See the corner of this temple? It’s a friggin FACE! One corner had a smilie face, they other had a sad face!

This is the same temple shot at a profile that I’m blowing up to go with our travel “gallery” in the hallway upstairs… Cool, no?

To no surprise to myself… I have a very similar shot from Pompeii… ;-)

This is the main temple that most people associate with Tullum. You used to be able to climb those steps, but a couple of years ago they stopped letting people go up.

And there you go. That’s my summer vacation. Quick. Easy. Relaxing. It was also probably the last time we’ll get to go someplace really cool without our kids… they are old enough now and they were sort of peeved they missed this cruise, but it was sure nice to get away and be with sister and Hubs. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Grand Caymen

2010-07-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

By far, my favorite place to visit on the cruise was Grand Caymen. WHAT a beautiful place. I seriously wish we would have had more time here. There’s the biggest problem I find with cruises… when you find a place you can stay in, you’ve gotta hop back onto the ship.

Because of reef protection, you have to take a tender boat to the actual dock. Walk straight through to the street and you can hop a van taxi for $4 each to 7-Mile beach. This beach is beautiful… and convenient. We stopped at the Royal Palms beach club and claimed a spot by the water. The RP has a bar, restaurant, jet skis, lounge chairs, umbrellas… anything you need to hang out for a while, they’ve got it.

The locals are friendly too…

We booked an excursion to go to Stingray City and the Coral Gardens through Captain Marvin’s. Again, go through the dock, to the street… look left and across the street, you’ll see Captain Marvin’s.

The biggest thing you should know about this excursion is that STINGRAYS SKEEVE ME OUT!

Hubs was lucky to get smoochin after this… Disgusting!

But he was totally loving it… Massage by stingray anyone?

Excuse me while I {shiver}…

Coral Gardens snorkeling was for SURE more my speed than playing with face–sucking ray-stabbing stingrays…

I’ll be posting on how I took the underwater shots later… You’ll really think I’m smart then :-)

After our excursion, we had to race to grab shirts at Margaritaville and then get back in line to grab the tender boat to make it to the boat. There was LOADS of shopping right there by the dock. A guy Hubs knows even stopped into a place to buy a new duty free HUGE diamond to replace the one his wife lost out of her engagement ring. Duty free is GOOD people… Real good.

If I can finagle a way to get back to the Caymens for an extended period of time, you can bet good money I’ll do it. The place was beautiful and the people were super nice. If you have a chance, Go!

Picture perfect inspiration

2010-07-11T19:38:00.001-05:00

You know how I’ve been looking for photography and camera information? Well, here’s some. And no, as a matter of fact, I couldn’t wait to share them… This post is also my sneaky way of making notes in a place that I can get to really fast :-) And it also may or may not be a backhanded excuse for putting up one of my most treasured shots of Abby.

Thank the blogging gods that Kim took the time to email me today, because Karen Russell has me in tears… weepy puddles of emotion just looking at her photographs… Just start reading… And once you read her post about her vows, wipe your face and keep on going. I’ve got all sorts of lens notes scribbled down. I also found this super helpful link on there… for reviews. Karen is a beautiful woman who is living life… and thankfully documenting it for all of us to share. And her family is beautiful and her sweet little girl Annie has made me miss that time in my own girls lives. So go and read.

I’ve been going to The Idea Room for a while now. And, well, it’s full of ideas. There’s a nifty section from Kristen Duke that will give you so much information you’ll return there time and time again… and then you’ll put the Kristen Duke button on your own blog because you’ll just HAVE to share it with the rest of the world. And no kidding… You’ll be hard pressed not to find dozens of other ideas on this blog to try.

I’ve mentioned Scott Bourne before when I was searching for a new point and shoot. Which I swear, I still love. No really… I promise. Go there. His Fast Photo Tips posts are great. While you are there, poke around some more. Photofocus has a wealth of information.

And of course there’s Ree. Who we all know doesn’t know me from a tick on one of her cows. Actually, she’s for sure had more contact with the ticks. Her photography section is full of awesome. Go learn. And even if you never enter her photography assignments, follow along and see how you do. You might just be better at this than you think ;-)

Recycled pic circa 2005

Film at 11

2010-07-11T13:37:00.001-05:00

OK, so it wont REALLY be at ll… because it’s film… and you have to wait to see if you actually got a decent shot… But, well, there it is. There’s the biggest problem with film.

I am currently trying to solve the ages-old Canon vs. Nikon question. I thought I had figured out Nikon should win with me because I already have a decent all-purpose Nikkor lens that I could use with a new DSLR. (or at least, that’s what the photographer moonlighting at Best Buy said) I’ve narrowed those down to the D90 or the D5000. Then I started catching up with some of my favorite photography blogs… and now I wonder if that snazzy new Canon T2i wouldn’t be better for me…

because REALLY, it seems like nobody shoots with a NIKON. (said in my hoity toity voice )

BIG thanks goes to Angry Julie for confusing me again… ;-)

While digging in bags trying to find this lens I thought, “why not take this puppy out and see if I can take an actual picture.” You know… one so good you don’t have to manipulate the Hell out of it in some software.

Film seems so base and tactile to me… sort of like hand sewing while I have a Creative Vision sitting in my sewing room. Like walking instead of riding in a car. Like bathing instead of showering. This makes no sense to me either, but just go with it. It’s a more sensual (Webster’s definition) experience than shooting with an instant gratification digital camera. Make sense? No? Yeah… I know. Just nod your head and keep reading.

While I’m researching like crazy and bugging photography bloggers, editors, teachers for info about how to decide which camera I should get, I’m going to take a stab at shooting this Nikon N75 again. It’s what I got when we had our first baby, and really… I did get some CRAZY amazing pics with it.

I’ll share them with you after processing… I think I may just get them processed to disk… because really… what on EARTH would I do with actual prints! ;-)

And if you would like to tell me about your camera and how great it does in low light and which lenses you just LOVE, PLEASE pretty PLEASE leave me some comment love, cause Momma’s confused!!!

*****disclaimer*****

I do STILL love my Canon G11 point and shoot, so don’t get your panties in a twist. I’m looking for more zoom… These ballet recitals and shows are just beyond the limit of what I can get with the G11. But don’t worry… I’ll keep it in my purse… until I get a super cute new camera bag to go with my fancy pants camera :-)

Batshit crazy…

2010-07-10T19:25:00.001-05:00

We interrupt the vacation posts with this crazy photo…

This little bugger just fell out of our patio table umbrella and scared the crap out of all of us. There may or may not have been cursing, and shivers, and general skeeved outedness involved.

Oh, and a chicka on Twitter thought baby bats were cute, so here’s a second shot of the nasty little thing… {shiver}

I’ll never read vampire smut the same way again….

Yeah Mon!

2010-07-10T10:43:00.000-05:00

Our first real stop on the cruise was Montego Bay, Jamaica. We read a lot of posts on Cruise Critic that scared us a bit about getting off the boat in Jamaica. We’ve been to Jamaica before, but it was 8 years ago and it was to an all-inclusive resort that we didn’t leave for a few days. There were several warnings on the CC message board about invasive searches on your return to the ship. Considering we had an 18 year old girl with us, we didn’t think it was a good idea to get off the ship there. Luckily after a few days at sea with some rain, we were bored and ready to get onto some land.

We booked an excursion through Carnival for the Irie Mon Beach Party. Basically, Carnival threw some dj’s and rum punch into a blender and said Yeah Mon! It was fun. Hubs caught a boat to go out snorkeling, while sister and I soaked up some rays. The key to getting a great spot on Irie Beach was to get up and get off the ship early. We were on the first bus out and had primo beach chairs. That first picture up there? The view from my chair. NICE.

Sister had a good time playing on this big jumbo floaty trampoline thing they had anchored off the beach…

Mostly, while they snorkeled and jumped around, I read my Kindle and enjoyed the breeze and rum punch. They had lunch included for us… which usually scares me… but this was pretty good. Burgers & hot dogs, jerk chicken & pork, and all the fixins. The open bar was mostly beer, mixers and rum punch. The DJs were pretty good about including everyone. They had sand castle building contests and dance lessons for the smaller kids… and Red Stripe beer chugging contests and beach volleyball for the grown-ups. There was even a photographer there taking pictures for you. I think there was enough to do here to cover a wide age range. The smaller kids really enjoyed the ocean. Us older kids really enjoyed doing NOTHING.

Hubs even found this place right next door…

The best part? NO INVASIVE SEARCHES. Hubs just had to lift his cap up off his head. We went through security with no problems, mon!

Cruisin…

2010-07-08T10:16:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! We just got back from a trip to the Caribbean! I was in such HUGE need of a vacation away from my children… you have NO IDEA. Well, unless you are my mother, who kept said children for a week and a half. Ever since we’ve had kids, Hubs and I have tried to make a point of ditching them and going on vacation at least every year or so. Even if it is just a weekend in The Quarter.

This year, as a graduation gift to baby sister, we decided to take her on a cruise. It was going to be a “sister’s trip” but our big sister went and got herself knocked up and had a baby at the exact wrong time to be going on a cruise with us. (He’s a cute bugger, so I don’t think she’s too disappointed)

Since we live so close to Galveston, we booked the 7 day Western Caribbean cruise on Carnival’s Conquest ship. Unfortunately for us, we neglected to think about hurricane season… The first few days at sea were ROUGH… I’m 4 days off the ship and I’m still swaying people. I NEVER felt like this when we were on the Mediterranean cruise. NEVER.

I’ll show you some cool pics in my next few posts. Until then, can one of you grab me some Dramamine or something? Bleck…

Summer Fun!

2010-06-27T07:57:00.001-05:00

Boy howdy! Have we been busy around here… but I have about 183 new posts coming, so keep an eye out. One will be to let you know how I took that cool picture of my baby cooling off in the pool.

I’m getting ready to go on a lovely week long cruise on the Carnival Conquest. I’ve got a house sitter who was nice enough to take in our garbage cans, check our mail, and swim in our pool.

We’ll see y’all on the flip side!

Plant Killer!

2010-06-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

I am a self-professed plant killer. It’s sad, but true. I can kill ANYTHING. Ficus, ivy, peace plants… you name it, I’ve killed it. Unfortunately that also includes my herbs. I’ve tried herbs at least a dozen times now… and every time I’ve killed them. We had lofty ideas of making our own salsa with fresh cilantro straight from our garden… Yeah… Hope Pace is good enough for everybody, because there’s not a crispier plant in my yard. Except maybe the mint. Who on EARTH kills mint?

While on my plant expedition to Lowes I picked up my favorite plants. Succulents. Somehow, I haven’t killed succulents… Maybe because I can forget them for 3 weeks and they still look good. I went on a succulent kick. It’s only going to get hotter on the deck, so I figured I’d work with what I know.

MUCH better, No?

This container I put on the back side of the hot tub with our lantern and OFF! bug lantern…

I LOVE a backyard filled with pots of plants… but I think I’m at my limit. Any more than this, and I’m sure someone will be knocked off quickly.

And I finally found a spot for my hammock…. I will spend HOURS out there reading this summer. It’s in my shade garden. Now there’s a table next to it to hold an OFF! candle and a cocktail. Perfect.

Trash to treasure

2010-06-04T10:22:00.001-05:00

Do you ever have something that you just don’t know what to do with it? Trash that is… Do you recycle it? Do you cut it up and bag it? Do you give it to your parents who live out in the country with less stringent waste management programs?

We’ve been kicking around these metal planters since our move to Texas… almost 2 years now. They were a pretty coppery modern pair that turned into a rusted up mess in one, and the other just looked terrible.

While looking at putting more plants out onto the deck, I remembered I had these planters out behind the garage. One was still trash, no matter how hard I tried to work with it… but the other?

It got cleaned up with some soapy water and a wire brush. Then I used an outdoor metal primer, and a bit of aged copper spray paint made for outdoor use. Check out those sparkles!

After patiently waiting for the paint to dry, I filled it with some of the Miracle Gro Moisture Control potting mix, a Queen palm, and some Creeping Jenny.

It helps to add more of an outdoor room feel to the patio and connects our lounging area to the rest of the seating group. I also put one of those beach sand umbrella holders behind our chairs. It screws straight into the ground and holds an umbrella where ever you need one. The afternoon sun in this spot gets SO hot. I still need to locate some cute pillows, but this space is coming along nicely. I love reading out here!

Gardening is a mystery

2010-05-18T12:39:00.001-05:00

I’ve been trying to plant the beds we had put around the pool in the fall… After van loads of plants, lots of sweat, and a couple of blisters I’ve realized that gardening is indeed a mystery.

For instance…

Why is one of my gardenia trees loaded with blooms….

While it’s brother around the curve of the pool looks like this…?

They get the same light, had the same acid loving plant food, the same amount of water… but this one looks like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Why?

Where the Hell did this mystery lantana plant come from…?

Behind this plant there are several white/purple mixed verbena… but nowhere in this bed did I plant yellow lantana… The butterflies love it, but it isn’t really working with my mostly white color scheme…

Why is my white Lily of the Nile this color…?

ALL of the larger white plants we bought are coming out this color… I’m highly disappointed :-/

And 2 of my white hydrangeas seem to be doing well in their new home…

But the 3rd one in the same spot looks like this… WTH???

While I’m trying to figure out life’s mysteries, I’ll leave you thinking of the smell of this… because even though it may not be perfect, my yard does indeed smell heavenly.

Happy Gardening!

Clarisonic Opal review

2010-05-10T12:44:00.001-05:00

AKA An Eye opening experience…

This morning while at my friendly local medspa I complained about how I needed to book an intense therapy session with my aesthetician because of the lines I’m seeing around my eyes. They aren’t really crows feet… more like dry looking excessive lines under my eyes and puffiness.

Contrary to what Hubs believes, I don’t mind crows feet… Crows feet make you look like you’ve been happy for a really long time. These lines just make me look TIRED. Old and tired. (Not to mention I’m also starting to get skin tags around my eyes like my Maw Maw used to have *shiver*)

The ladies behind the reception desk joked and told me to take more allergy medicine. Smart asses… Then, bless her, one of the gals said “come here and try this”…

Stock photo from Clarisonic

This little pod just made my day… and possibly changed my life. It’s the Clarisonic Opal Sonic Infusion System with Anti-Aging Sea Serum. Which is a total mouthful of a name. But however you say it, after ONE use, my lines are nearly gone.

Blink and re-read that last bit…

ONE USE people!

ONE!

I’ve been eye creaming my way through Sephora for a few years trying to find something, ANYTHING to help. This little beauty deserves some major praise.

The Clarisonic site lists the following benefits…

Benefits (as reported in our clinical studies)

An immediate reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles; results last for hours and build over time
Younger looking skin
Skin appears refreshed and energized
Skin appears brighter
Skin appears healthier
Improved skin texture
Noticeably firmer skin
Increased skin hydration

I’ll vouch for the immediate results. My under eye area is definitely firmer and I look like I had a really good night of sleep. I’m going to use it twice a day as soon as I get over my excitement… but today, it may or may not be used upwards of 5 times… I just HAVE to see…

I poked around online and it looks like most places will charge $245 for the system, which is what I paid for mine at the spa. Amazon and Sephora both carry it. I’m thinking that’s not too shabby considering I have 7 or 8 $60+ tubes/pots of eye creams in my bathroom that didn’t do much at all for me. Actually, when I look at that written down, this thing is a DEAL! ;-)

I’m pairing it with my Cosmedix eye serum that I do believe is working well for hydration and reducing dark circles. I’m a Cosmedix junkie, so I may review a few of their products later if you’d like to know how they work for me. I will certainly be updating this post with a follow-up to let you know how I’m looking after a week or month or so…

Until then… Be good to your skin! Proactive is better than reactive any day!!!

What on EARTH?

2010-05-07T15:34:00.000-05:00

Seriously, this creature makes me question the existence of aliens.

Last year, my friend and I freaked out over these nasty little guys… They looked like bird poop on my lemon trees. Then as we were bending down over the tree, it MOVED. AND it had a scary face with horns (which apparently gives them super scary powers against their predators). Cue the screaming & skeeved-out shivers. They had eaten their way through most of the leaves on these trees that I had babied for a couple of years… and I’m DETERMINED to have some lemonade one day. Obsessively determined.

While watering the lemon trees this morning, I saw that the nasty little creatures had returned. Today, unlike last year, I was prepared. I broke out my handy dandy organic pest spray and hosed the suckers. Then, because I was skeeved out, I picked them off my precious leaves and stomped on them for extra satisfaction.

More ballerinas…

2010-05-05T09:38:00.001-05:00

I was going through some of my pics from the last few weeks… and I just couldn’t NOT share this one…. I love these girls. They save my baby from feeling like dance isn’t the thing to do. They are her friends when her school mates tell her ballet is boring and not cool. They put a twinkle in her eye and greet her with smiles every week.

The Sisterhood of Ballet

And really, who doesn’t want that kind of support.

Twinkle Toes

2010-04-29T17:41:00.001-05:00

This past two weeks has been absolutely insane. It’s picture time at our dance studio. I really don’t mind the normal weekly rush… but when you have to do hair and makeup 5 times on two little girls, well, let’s just say I’m very ready for a break. :-/ Here’s a couple of shots that I took in front of our house :-) I’ll be the first to admit, these pictures don’t come close to how pretty they looked. I’m guessing nothing really captures the sparkle in their eyes.

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit,

a golden thread to the meaning of life.

- Isadora James

In the morning I’ll be off to Bloggy Boot Camp in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve never traveled alone before. I’m 32. And I’ve never traveled alone. Alone. A-L-O-N-E. I’ll call these two monkeys each night, but to be honest… it’s time for this Momma to have a little break.

Have a great weekend y’all!

You can tap your toes to it.

2010-04-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

We took the kids to the Reliant Center to see Disney on Ice. Honestly, after a full day of school, then tennis lessons, then changing in the car on the way there… I was TIRED. I was really hoping they wouldn’t want to go… Really, REALLY hoping. But that didn’t happen.

While we were there, and I was guzzling down diet coke like an addict… I realized something very important… my girls, even the 8 1.2 year old… STILL LOVE DISNEY PRINCESSES. I mean they really love them. This show held their attention much better than even Demi Lavato and the Jonas Bros. could. It was amazing… the looks on their enraptured faces… Made me so glad we didn’t bail. They are still little girls… even if they get pressured to not be.

Something else I realized… the newest Princess… Princess Tiana from the Princess and the Frog? She’s a princess I can get behind. She’s more real. More accessible. More fun. Even after all of the mixing the Disney DJs could muster, the other princesses still seem sort of boring compared to the jazzy New Orleans sound of Tiana’s music. She’s hip. She’s full of sass. She’s F-U-N.

And when I saw my 8 1/2 year old waving her little heart out trying to get the attention of any of the princesses… it really REALLY made me glad that we went. And really REALLY ready for our Christmas Disney trip. We will for SURE get Tiana’s autograph. I simply must have it!

I’m not Cuban

2010-04-17T14:11:00.001-05:00

Or Italian… or French… or Mexican… but I sure do like those kinds of food. This is a great grilled pizza recipe for a weekend grill-fest. You can feed a few, or feed a lot with it. And it’s easy to change and add your own twist to. Oh, and did I mention that you can use leftovers to make it? Awesome.

Toppings for Cuban pizza:

We used sliced grilled chicken that we seasoned with the Chili Lime rub from Williams Sonoma. It’s fantastic on shrimp and pork too, so get some. It’s very tasty.

Mix up 1/2 of a large diced red onion, a can of whole kernel sweet corn, a can of rinsed black beans, the juice and zest of 2 limes, fresh cilantro (that I grew myself, thank you very much), salt, and Tabasco to taste. Mix all of this well and let it sit at room temperature to allow the flavors to blend.

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese… because that’s Momma’s favorite kind of cheese.

Salsa… this is like the tomato paste base for regular pizzas… We made two versions today, one using Salsa Verde (the green kind) and the other using regular red salsa. The vote was split between us all as to which we liked the best, so use what you like… For the record… my pick was the Salsa Verde.

For the crust, we’ve used a prepackaged crust before… it’s ok… and it’s FAST. So I’m going to leave that decision up to you. Today, I felt like making my own crust. I use the Pampered Chef pizza dough mix that you can use to make really fantastic yeast rolls with as well. Like I said… depends on the amount of time you want to put into it. Both work fine.

Directions… sort of…

Heat your grill to 400-425.

If you are working with homemade dough, I think you should use a pizza stone in your grill. We have one from Sur la Table that sits on it’s own cast iron base. If you are using the prebaked crust, you don’t have to use one… We’ve put those directly on the grill before. For the unbaked dough, slide it onto your stone and allow it to bake for about 2 min. and then using your tongs turn it over. This will keep the dough from rising too much so you’ll end up with a nice thin and crispy crust.

Spread the salsa onto the crust, then top with the corn/bean mix and chicken. I always put the cheese on last… don’t ask me why.

I grill the pizza for roughly 15 minutes with the cover closed. Keep an eye on it and let it cook until your cheese starts to brown just a bit.

To cut the pizza, transfer it to a baking pan or cutting board…

Trust me… it’s DELISH… and then you’ll start getting all of these random pizza combinations churning in your head… fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella is EXCELLENT…

Life with my 3 Boybarians

2010-04-14T14:44:00.001-05:00

A day or so on Twitter, Darcy of Life with my 3 Boybarians threw out a question into the great unknown… Do any of you shoot with a point and shoot… Well, of COURSE I had to answer that call! I am still loving my Canon G11… and I’ve had it for longer than 6 months… which is usually well beyond the honeymoon stage for me and a camera. She asked for one or two of my favorite shots… and these are a few of mine…

This was our maple tree in early February… it’s an untouched shot… I could have played with the color and whatnot… but I just loved how this pic came out so close to the natural color of the tree. It’s one of my all time favorite macro shots.

The second picture is from our trip to New Orleans during Superbowl weekend. We lived in Mandeville (across the lake on The Northshore) for 12 years. We spent countless hours wandering around the lakefront park… which found itself bearing the brunt of Hurricane Katrina. The beautiful old enormous house that stood facing the lake behind this fence for decades was swept away by the storm, but the wonderful old iron fence still remains.

And because I couldn’t leave well enough alone, I had to put this one up again… I don’t know why I love this shot so much… other than it’s my baby’s typical grin and her hair is in her face… Love. It.

So there you have it folks. You don’t need to have a DSLR to take some really fantastic and lovely shots… just play with that point and shoot until you get it right!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail…

2010-04-04T14:36:00.001-05:00

I hope you all are having a wonderful Spring day and are able to enjoy your friends or family.

We started our day by attending a special Easter service at The Pavilion here in The Woodlands. It wasn’t a sunrise service, but the outdoor venue was still a special treat for us.

This afternoon we are joining friends for an egg hunt. I’m sure said friend will have far FAR too many eggs, but they are looking forward to it.

The reserved dozen of regular cupcakes were saved for today’s festivities. Just like the Cake Dr. said, you can indeed freeze unfrosted cupcakes! I took them out last night, and left them on the counter to thaw in their zipper bags. Surprisingly they seem to be more moist than the 8 dozen mini ones… It could be because they were frozen OR it could be that it’s so humid here today. Who knows.

So what does burlap, coconut, and cream cheese have to do with Easter? I’ll give you a hint…

Aren’t they cute! These sweet little picks were found at Sur la Table. They have lots of cute little picks… go check them out here.

I don’t have an Easter tray or anything cute enough to serve these guys on, so I took my trusty plastic snowman tray and cut a circle of burlap to cover it. Then I sprinkled on some leftover coconut “grass”. Really cute. Really sweet. Really delish.

Delish because these cupcakes have the Cake Dr.’s cream cheese frosting on them instead of the butter cream. And, because I chatted with the sales lady at Sur la Table, I knew that I needed the icing food coloring gel, not the drops. See what talking to strangers will get you?

Happy Easter!

Cupcakes Galore!

2010-03-31T15:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I may have taken this baking thing a wee bit too far… But I wanted to do something for the girls’ classes at school for Easter. I went to my handy dandy cookbook and discovered something I haven’t seen since my grandmother was alive and baking.

I have vivid memories of her back porch refrigerator always containing a jar of green colored coconut. And Bactine, but that’s a whole other story…

Today I’ve baked 8 dozen mini-cupcakes and one dozen regular sized ones… The regular ones were cooled and put into the freezer unfrosted to be ready for this weekend. The other 8 dozen?

Here’s their story…

Using the Cake Dr.’s recipe that includes coconut flavoring, this morning I started baking. I found sweet little mini-cupcake papers at Sur La Table, then misted them with a bit of vegetable oil. My mister is from Pampered Chef, but you can find them all over the place now.

Do not use the propellant style spray oils (like Pam)… they will make your cakes too crispy on the outside.

Using a 1TBSP sized ice cream scoop, I loaded up each paper with one scoop of batter. This makes all of your cupcakes come out the same size… and keeps you from dripping batter all over the place while you are working with these tiny cups.

Look at how pretty and perfect those cakes came out! I baked them at 350 for 12 minutes. Test your ovens folks… I have to adjust my time down every time I try to make something.

When the cakes were completely cooled off… no kidding, you’ve GOT to let them get totally cool… I whipped up the Cake Dr.’s butter cream frosting recipe. For 48 of these mini cupcakes, I needed 1 1/2 recipes of frosting. I could have just tripled the recipe, but my big mixing bowl isn’t big enough for that much powdered sugar.

Tip: if you cream your butter on med. speed until it lightens up, your end frosting results will be lighter in color as well… watch…

I found this decor kit at Sur La Table as well. If you are adept enough with a spatula or frosting bag, be my guest and go that route… This girl needs help, so there.

I started by using the star tip to swirl on enough frosting to cover the tops of the cakes. And this was pretty…

But THIS is fun… Take coconut flakes and shake them in a jar/zipper bag with a few drops of food coloring… Voila’! Grass!…

Cute, huh? Pour your “grass” into a bowl and dunk that pretty little cupcake right into it….

Now that you’ve gotten your “grass” put on, top this with a few jelly beans. The thicker the frosting, the more you can smoosh your eggs on…

Can I get a collective “Awe!” These are just so darn cute. They might be big enough for two bites each. Adorable!

Here’s the cakes for Jillian’s class… they each get two :-)

These have been such fun to make today! After tennis, I’ll finish up Abby’s cupcakes. In this warm weather, they need to be refrigerated to let the frosting set. Tomorrow I’ll deliver!

Now, what was Baby saying about Mommy not baking??? ;-)

Party supplies: Recycled

2010-03-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

I thought I’d share a warm weather centerpiece that I recycled from Baby’s birthday party decorations… Super easy burlap with a net and a glass bowl filled with sparkly decor sand from Michaels… Sea shells scattered all around and some mercury glass votives placed randomly amongst the shells. My girls will be so excited!!! They love fancy things like centerpieces and napkins ;-)

Par-tay!

2010-03-29T11:25:00.001-05:00

We were able to put off Jillian’s 6th birthday party for a couple of weeks to give the weather a chance to warm up some. This weekend it was just beautiful here in Southeast Texas! We heated up the pool, invited way to many kids, and dove in!

Back Story: I grew up in rural Louisiana in a home where money was not in abundance… And for my birthday parties, I don’t ever remember having a store bought cake. I think Mom may have taken a decorating class or something, but all I remember are homemade cakes. And all I could dream of was a triple tier confection worthy of any Fancy Nancy tea party. So there is the reason I’ve always bought my girls “special” cakes for their birthdays…

One day Baby gave me this sad face and said that “Mommy NEVER made her a special cake for her birthday”… which is a total lie. She’s had plenty of cakes… I’ve just never made them myself… So after harassing a total stranger in the baking aisle at Hobby Lobby, here’s what I made…

Stranger lady suggested I go pick up the Cake Doctor cookbooks… I did, and she was right. This lady is brilliant. She adds all sorts of things to a box mix and they were FABULOUS cupcakes. I used the Darn Good Chocolate Cake recipe from the cake cookbook (she has a cupcake book, and one dedicated to chocolate recipes). Dense chocolaty goodness. On top of the smeared butter cream frosting I dusted the tops with crushed graham crackers (stranger lady’s suggestion) and topped it off with a chocolate shaped like a seashell. Voila!

I even put Baby’s on a special plate… cause I am so Martha Stewart like that… Notice I covered the baked on papers with cute ones… Why can’t the cute ones stay bright and pretty once baked on???

The kids hardly left the pool… except for pizza or cupcakes… and even then I had to coax Baby out of the hot tub long enough to open some presents… Tell me… At your parties, do all of the kids huddle around and smother the kid opening the gifts? This always happens to us, and I never get decent pictures because of it… Just look… And the main culprit is usually Big Sister… right there in the middle of it all… Baby didn’t mind because she likes to do the same thing… I guess it’s a kid thing and I just don’t remember doing it… This pic only shows a few of the kids… there were in fact about 15 others crowded behind these…

And after much eye rolling and huffing (on my part) over her not loving any other cake she’s had, Baby told her Mommy that this was the most special party she’s ever had. Now how can you EVER bring a Baby like that store bought cake again. Never. Ever. Again.

What a difference play makes…

2010-03-02T11:52:00.001-06:00

Holy cow… I was just over at The Pioneer Woman’s blog… I promise I don’t stalk her… there’s just SO much information there! Anyway, I was poking around in her photography section. Really, if you haven’t been there, go. Now. I’ll wait for you to come back.

A guest contributor in Ree’s photography section is IvoryHut. For those of us without big fancy DSLR cameras, this gal shoots with a point and shoot. Her pictures and a little advice from Scott Bourne were a few of the reasons I went with a Canon G11 and not a Rebel. They were basically the same price… but like I’ve said before, stuff’s gotta fit in my purse… and my Vera Bradley Hipster when we are traveling.

This particular post explains IvoryHut’s checklist for when she is shooting a pic. Folks, she shoots in MANUAL… ~~can you imagine the balls she has~~??? Can you imagine knowing your camera well enough to do that?

I got out my little G11 and tested some of her suggestions… I don’t even freakin believe the difference. I’m sitting here at my dining room table with one of my daughter’s dolls that was left out. I previously thought the low light setting on this camera was da bomb. I have my blinds open so it’s lighter in here than say my living room… but it’s still somewhat dark. Here’s what I just learned…

Disclaimer: the following pictures have been pulled straight from my memory card… no touch ups, no sharpening, NOTHING…

Low light setting:

The dreaded AUTO setting:

Not much difference, but the light is more evenly distributed on the dolls face… if you look close… this is actually the first instance where I like the Auto pic better than the low light one.

And here is the long feared MANUAL setting… or that M on your dial…

The color is much more true to life… the shadowing is more true to life… all in all a MUCH better picture.

It will for sure take more practice to be able to adjust my settings quickly… but BOY HOWDY! Look at the difference!!!!

Thank you IvoryHut for making me feel welcomed into the world of photography and more comfortable poking around in said world… even though I use a point and shoot.

Dinner update!

2010-03-02T11:01:00.001-06:00

I thought you may be interested in knowing the reaction my family and picky 8 year old had to The Pioneer Woman’s Macaroni and Cheese recipe…

Silence…. then “Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm Mmmmmmm…. Now THAT’s what I’m talkin about!”

She ended up eating nearly two plates full… skipped her grilled chicken, but hey… one step at a time, right?

My 8 year old made me do it…

2010-03-01T15:18:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of February, I decided to get some help with weight loss at my local med-spa. I started an ultra restrictive HcG program. It’s going great… but these 500 calorie days are SO boring to someone who likes to cook, eh, yeah… and likes to eat. My lunch and dinner are 3.5 oz of specific protein (grilled chicken & what not) and 3.5 oz of specific veggies… One veggie at a time… no mixed salads and that sort of b.s. This is what my painfully boring lunches and dinners have looked like for 2 1/2 weeks…

Now, I’m averaging a 1lb a day loss, so believe me… I’m happy… Just BORED. The other day I decided to really torture myself and go through recipes over at The Pioneer Woman. Now, if you haven’t heard of The Pioneer Woman… you’re either new to blogs or you’re living under a rock. Ree’s a rock star. She’s recently published a cookbook… her food and pictures are always fabulous.

I decided that since Sister and I both love tPW, I would order us both a copy of the cookbook. I was a dumbass and didn’t realize that she was in Houston for a signing, so ours aren’t signed… but they are still special.

The day it came in, I read the dang thing cover to cover. A cookbook. The whole thing.

Unfortunately, so did my 8 year old. Who then asked me why my food didn’t look as good as tPW’s… What a punk thing to say to your mother. I mean REALLY. However, since we’ve been having farm loads of grilled chicken lately, I decided to throw the girl a bone… or elbow… whichever way you want to look at it.

For dinner tonight I’ve made Ree’s Macaroni and Cheese. Simple. Basic. Beautiful.

Until I got home from the store and realized I forgot whole milk and dry mustard… So AFTER I went back to the grocery and picked up those things I got started.

Then I got totally skeeved out because the recipe called for an egg… and my dumb ass husband bought extra-large eggs instead of larges… (really, who DOES that?)…and then discovered my XL egg was a twin…

After I got my wits back about me I flicked that “extra” part out… GROSS… So after flicking, I figured I had something close to what a large egg would actually be like, so there. Problem solved.

Until I had two pots going… one that had to be whisked constantly and the other with the elbow noodles in it was overflowing… I tell ya… I must be easily excitable… and I should NEVER try to whisk with my left hand… Just sayin…

I also didn’t think my baking dish would hold all of the noodles, so I used 3 cups not 4. After screwing up with the egg and noodle measurements, I figured Ree wouldn’t give a damn if I added the right amount of milk either… You see… we use 1% milk not whole. At the store I bought a pint of whole… and the recipe called for 2 1/2 cups… I SWEAR I used to be good at math… really I was!!!

Alas, all is well because now I have THIS mixture in my fancy dancy Le Creuset pot.

At this point, I thought it was a little thick, so I added a splash of my 1% milk… improvise people, improvise…

I found this fancy dancy Le Creuset baking dish on clearance… so I thought it would be perfect for mac n cheese…

And I also found fancy dancy panko breadcrumbs at the grocery so I added them to the top of the dish… Ree’s a middle child too… she’ll understand that this is something we do. We can’t just let well enough alone. Even if the recipe is from a rock star.

Right now the dish is resting in my fridge, waiting to baked this evening after our dance classes. I’ll be having even MORE grilled chicken… probably with red peppers instead of mac n cheese… but hey, at least I feel like I’ve cooked something and I’ll get to smell it calorie-free.

And maybe next time my punk kid will say, HEY! My mom makes kickin mac n cheese!… Maybe…

Winner! Winner! Grilled Shrimp Dinner!

2010-02-27T10:13:00.001-06:00

Wow! I actually had a decent amount of entries for the iTunes card giveaway! Weeeee! Makes it much more fun folks! See how excited I am?! LOOK at how often I just used exclamation points!

Drum roll, please? The winner of the $25 iTunes giftcard is Kelly over on At Home with the Pooles!

Now, this is actually kind of funny… Kelly ended up being my 35th follower… that triggered the giveaway. She’s also married to a Poole… I grew up in Louisiana with some Pooles… I even may have had a crush on one at some point. He was cute! … they all actually were… Pretty family that was… Anyway. Kelly has a fun blog. Go check her out!

So Kelly, shoot me an email with your info, K?

This is what I’m making tonight for dinner… Looks good, no?

Click the pic for a link to the recipe.

Southern Living

Makin’ Groceries the high tech way…

2010-02-25T10:08:00.001-06:00

I thought that I would share more details of one of my most useful apps today. Apps can be fun, functional, pointless, you name it. But this one I file under USEFUL.

Meet Grocery IQ

You can keep track of your shopping errands by store.

For things I shop for near weekly, I have a favorites list set up. Just select, then choose “Add to List.”

There is a Coupon section that I select the things I’m shopping for with the coupons, email the list to myself, then print them out before I head out. You CAN print straight from the phone… but I lost our WIFI router password… Ooops.

When you are out shopping, the coupons show up on your list as well, so you never forget if you need the specific brand, amount, etc. As you shop, you just tap the box next to your item, then at the end, you hit “check out” to clear your list. Easy Peasy.

And if I happen to have the luxury of Hubs going to the store for me, I can easily email the list to HIS iPhone.

WOW… now that is worth the $.99 I had to pay. For less than a dollar, my grocery list is never forgotten at home (because I ALWAYS have my phone). Love. It.

Giveaway announcement:

Because several people have told me they posted links to the giveaway on their own blogs, I’ve decided to give everyone til 12 midnight Friday night to enter to win the iTunes gift card. I love shout-outs, so feel free to link back to me!

Recycle, Reuse

2010-02-24T12:23:00.001-06:00

This is my version of going green…

Remember these curtains?

I love this linen…. it’s nubby and rough, breezy, light, beautiful. Of COURSE I didn’t leave them at the house when we sold it. I’m quirky, not crazy!

I finally found this cable system at Ikea to hang up the curtains in my new master bedroom, here in Texas. This kit requires help to put up for sure… which is why it became a weekend project for Hubs to help me with… look at these weird pieces!

I wanted a very clean, light look… we ended up having to rig some bracing on the long wall, because that darn linen was just too heavy for the cable, but hey, in the end I love it, so who cares.

Ok, so here I’m about to show you a before shot of my room… eh, yeah… we still had moving boxes in our bedroom from a year and a half ago… But they are gone now, so that’s what matters right?

I’ve always hated this room because the bed never felt just right… then I figured it out. I HAVE to be able to see the bed from the door. Before it was off to the side and just felt… well… off. But now, I’m totally in love with it, even though I probably feng shui’d us into poor health or something… I also exchanged two table lamps for those bending arm wall mounted ones. That really helps control the clutter on the bedside tables.

Whatcha think?

Momma likes.

Don’t forget the iTunes giveaway!

Say Cheese!

2010-02-22T10:14:00.001-06:00

You know how much I love my iPhone. I should tell you though… I HATE the camera on the thing. Until now. I’ve found the coolest new app that will knock your socks off.

Check out this pic…

This is the best I could get… and in lower light? Forget it.

This is AFTER my new app…

1000 times better, and I even have a decent zoom!!! Hurrah!

The new app is called CP Pro. You can auto share to Twitter, Facebook, Picassa… You can zoom, sharpen, brighten, contrast, crop, etc. all in the phone. You can tag your pics so that they save in folders. It runs $1.99 and is probably one of my favorite apps to date!

I’m super duper excited about this one… mainly because when I snap a quick pic and put it up on Twitter, the pics always look like crap. Maybe now, not so much.

Now I know that there are those of you who refuse to pay for apps… even when you know you want one. So my next giveaway will be a $25 iTunes card so that you can get what you want without feeling guilty about it!!! To trigger the giveaway, I’ve gotta hit 35 followers. The Friday after that happens, I’ll giveaway the card! Yes, it DOES seem like extortion, but it’s my blog. If you don’t like it, deal with it or leave. Comment, follow me on Twitter and retweet this post… whatever you do, let me know what you’ve done and you’ll be entered. Folks, the last giveaway had two entries… Your odds are VERY good… Just do it!

Twinkle Toes

2010-02-17T12:41:00.001-06:00

My older (8) daughter is a creature who I just can’t believe came from my body… She’s dingy, flighty, easily distracted (well, ok, that’s me), completely spastic, intensely sweet at times, did I mention dingy? Beyond personality, she’s also a rail… coltish with knobby knees and knotty elbows… with a booty… Seriously, if you looked at her silhouette you’d think she looked like she had intentionally put padding back there. It just doesn’t make sense for her to have that jacked up booty. Her hair even mimics her personality… I’ve never seen a kid who curly hair was more appropriate for… I can’t imagine anyone with hair like that being serious and Type-A.

Dancing in Destin, FL

Age 4

Even though she’s bubbly to a fault, she takes her dance classes very seriously… Much more seriously than I ever took ANYTHING… She begged to add an additional ballet class to prep her for the Spring Nutcracker auditions. She LONGS for pointe shoes. She twirls around the house constantly and practices all of the time. I don’t know how she manages to trip down steps and bang into everything on her way to the kitchen, and then turn into a poised, serious ballerina when she puts those tights on. All of which make me love her even more.

Late this Spring, she’ll step onto the stage wearing my favorite costume of all time. It’s my “It” color for this year, which makes me love it even more. I can’t wait to see her up there, in all of her gangly grace.

Kindle-ing a flame

2010-02-15T16:44:00.001-06:00

As readers, the new electronic reading devices have been separating us into two camps. Those who are open to it for convenience, portability, etc. and those who refuse to consider a device that doesn’t feel like a book, smell like a book, or look like a book. If you are in the later camp, let me encourage you to take another look.

I recently purchased a new Kindle 2. I bought the smaller one, not the DX, because of the desire to stash it into any of my purses. Oh the vanity! For months, I’ve been reading on the Kindle app on my iPhone, and LOOOVED it. However, the amount of eye strain and headaches I was getting just got to be too much. I had thought the full-on system was ridiculous because if I can keep my devices down to 1, then I’m usually happy. I also thought that it was SO expensive…

Until I bought 18 hard-backs over the holidays. (I re-read my books constantly, so paperbacks usually fall apart on me.) Books are my vice… I just can’t help myself when I see a shop. I’ve always had a dream to own my own little “shop around the corner”… But after dropping that much on books, I realized that the Kindle really wasn’t that expensive compared to the books. And it would help save me some space for “real” books on our shelves. You didn’t think I proudly display all of my smutty ones, did you? As for price, the most expensive book I’ve bought for the Kindle has been $10. Yes, the initial investment was around $260 at Amazon.com, but after you consider that near $400 I dropped at Bookland, I would have come out much cheaper had I just gotten the Kindle earlier.

The Whispernet connectivity lets me buy books where I am… carline, dance class, by the pool or in bed. Ahh, the luxury of buying a new book as SOON as you finish the last. Instantly. That second. When you are dying to find out what happens next in the series. You get the picture.

So as for my review of the Kindle, I’ll give it an A+ and encourage anyone who asks if it’s worth it to go and find out for themselves!

Winner!

2010-02-12T07:36:00.001-06:00

I’m so excited to be giving away this book this morning! I love books… most any kind. This book is three books in one and I KNOW you’ll get a big laugh from it! And really, who couldn’t use a big laugh :-)

Wanna know how good your odds were of winning?

Seriously, I’m happy to give it away. But next up is a fun gift card… so pretty please make the odds a little more fun?

Amy of Priddy Creations is the lucky recipient of several good belly laughs!

When I just grabbed her link, I realized that she’s a Texas girl too! I wonder if she’s my neighbor that I haven’t met yet… :-) Just kidding, I would have made SURE to meet her sooner!!!

I’m actually about to shop around in her stuff for a few baby gifts that I need to get… Who needs more pink outfits, when they can get some really cool stuff for their schmancy big Rebel cameras? I thought it would be something different from the general shower gifts… and I always like to get something fun for the new mom too. Of course, the babies will get something too… because I love making burpies for babies just as long as I’m not the one getting puked on!

Next giveaway will start as soon as I hit 35 followers!

I’m a geek

2010-02-10T13:10:00.001-06:00

Yeah, I admit it… I love tech toys!!!! You KNOW how I feel about my iPhone… and how I love my apps… I’ve been using my Kindle app and LOVING it for a long time now… problem is… after I finish reading on it for a few hours, my eyes feel permanently crossed.

So… as an early Valentines gift to myself, I just bought this little beauty…

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am!!!! I’ve got about 70 Kindle books already. Which saves a LOAD of space in my house… The Kindle editions of the books are a lot cheaper than the hard-backs I buy (I re-read my books far too many times, so I can’t buy paperbacks). The actual Kindle is supposed to help with eye strain too… so that will be a great bonus… I really don’t want to do anything that screws up my LASIK repairs!!!

Of course, after I ordered the Kindle, I ran straight to Etsy to find a cute cover. Because, you know, you’ve GOTTA have a cute cover, right? I found some really great ones from Sara at hob-op. There were several other places to look, but Sara’s have a great design with magnetic closure, two options for holding your Kindle, and a great selection of fabrics.

Don’t forget: Comment or Tweet (and let me know) to be entered into my giveaway.

Who Dat say you can’t go home again?

2010-02-08T17:28:00.001-06:00

Can someone just pinch me already? We just arrived back in our Texas home. We are exhausted, dazed, amazed, and in a general euphoria over the weekend we’ve just had.

People, The SAINTS won the SUPERBOWL… You really have no idea how shocking that truly is for all of us who grew up laughing at the people in the stands wearing paper bags on their heads. My DAD even got back into the excitement. Now Hubs, I’ve gotta say… he’s lost a lot of fantasy football money because he’s an annual “Believer”… but it is a very surreal sort of feeling to actually see them in the game… by the time we figured out they were actually playing, they had won… It was total pandemonium… In our old neighborhood in Mandeville, LA (abt 350 homes) nearly every car alarm was intentionally set off, fireworks were shot, people were screaming and running around like… well, like the Saints had just won!!! :-)

We started off Friday night taking the kids to the Eve parade, Saturday we walked in the neighborhood parade, and Sunday was all New Orleans. We ate beignets at Cafe du Monde, bought our Chee Wee’s at Rouses Supermarket, ate our king cake, drank our Abita beer, and bit our fingernails until the game came on!

It was SO wonderful to see all of our friends and hang out with good Southern Louisiana people. I sure did hate to drive back to Texas, but when real life calls, sometimes you’ve gotta answer.

So the next time you hear someone say “Where ya at?” or ask about “ya mom n dem?” don’t think they are crazy or nosy… well, actually, they probably are, but know that you are in the presence of someone who really REALLY knows how to live life and have a good time… and wants you to have a good time too…

WHO DAT!

Don’t forget: Comment or Tweet (and let me know) to be entered into my giveaway.

WOO HOO!!!

2010-02-04T12:13:00.001-06:00

Ok, I told y’all that when I got to the lovely even number of 30 followers, I would start up the giveaways… and Priddy Creations was #30!!! You really must hop over and say hello to her too… She sews and then takes beautiful pictures of the things she makes and sells… camera straps, lens keepers… She’s a talent. Check her out.

So as for the giveaway…

I’ve always been a book snob. Then the economy turned south and the news was depressing… I just can’t handle Jane Austin right now. I need something funny to look forward to. I’d also like a little more sex in my life, without having to actually spend the energy having it… Oh, quit rolling your eyes… you know what I mean.

In comes Stephanie Plum and her merry band of misfits. Ms. Plum is an underachieving bounty hunter who has some sexy men in her life (just 2… and boy are they H-O-T) ; her “partner” in bond enforcement is a plus sized black woman who used to be a ho and still dresses like one; and her Grandma is bat shit crazy… I really REALLY want to be like Grandma when I’m 70. I have laughed out loud… laughed til I cried… and I’m only on book 10… Book 16 will be introduced in June, so you have lots of time to catch up.

These books are low on the smut-o-meter… But still very very good… and did I mention FUNNY?

I have a copy of the first 3 books… they are all in a single book called Three Plums in One. It’s a great start to your own collection… and believe me, you’ll want to read more, and more, and more…

Leave me some comment love, link up to my blog on yours, or tweet about me @magnoliasnsun … Let me know how and when you do it.

Giveaway ends on Thursday, Feb. 11th, at Midnight. Name will be randomly drawn, and I will contact the winner on Friday Feb 12th.

Oh When the Saints Come Marchin in!

2010-02-03T13:51:00.001-06:00

Over the past few days, I’ve gotten some great emails… A friend of mine said that it led to a greater understanding of the way I am… I don’t know about all that, but she’s from Phoenix, so probably she was just sheltered as a child. I thought I’d share a few of them with you in anticipation of the Superbowl!!!! Turn your sound up and enjoy!

Scott Threlkeld / The Times-Picayune Saints fans celebrate the overtime win for the NFC Championship on Jan. 24 -- and the chance to go to Miami.
Dear Miami,
The Saints are coming. And so are we, their loyal, long-suffering and slightly discombobulated Super Bowl-bound fans.
While there's still time to prepare -- although a few hard-core Who Dats will begin trickling in Monday, most of us won't arrive until Thursday or Friday -- we thought we'd give you a heads-up about what you should expect.
First things first: You need more beer.
Yeah, we know. You ordered extra. You think you have more than any group of humans could possibly consume in one week. Trust us. You don't.
New Orleans was a drinking town long before the Saints drove us to drink. But it turns out beer tastes better when you're winning. (Who knew?) So let's just say we're thirsty for more than a championship; adjust your stockpiles accordingly.
And look. When we ask you for a go-cup, be nice to us. We don't even know what "open container law" means. Is that anything like "last call"?
It's Carnival season in New Orleans (that's Mardi Gras to you), and we'll be taking the celebration on the road. So don't be startled if you walk past us and we throw stuff at you; that's just our way of saying hello.
Oh, and sorry in advance about those beads we leave dangling from your palm trees. We just can't help ourselves.

Times-Picayune archive
February is also crawfish season, and you can be sure that more than one enterprising tailgater will figure out a way to transport a couple sacks of live mudbugs and a boiling pot to Miami.
When the dude in the 'Who Dat' T-shirt asks if you want to suck da head and pinch da tail, resist the urge to punch him. He's not propositioning you. He's inviting you to dinner.
And if you see a big Cajun guy who looks exactly like an old Saints quarterback walking around town in a dress ... don't ask. It's a long story.
We know that crowd control is a major concern for any Super Bowl host city. Our advice? Put away the riot gear.
Reason No. 1: Indianapolis is going to lose, and their fans are way too dull to start a riot.
Reason No. 2: New Orleans showed the world on Sunday that we know how to throw a victory party. We don't burn cars. We dance on them.
Reason No. 3: Even if we did lose, which we won't, leaving the stadium would be like leaving a funeral, and our typical response to that is to have a parade.
Speaking of which: If you happen to see a brass band roll by, followed by a line of folks waving their handkerchiefs, you're not supposed to just stand there and watch. As our own Irma Thomas would say, get your backfield in motion.
And hey, Mister DJ! Yes, we know you've already played that stupid Ying Yang Twins song 10 times tonight, but indulge us just one more time.
To us, " Halftime (Stand Up and Get Crunk )" isn't just a song; it's 576 points of good memories. It's the sound of a Drew Brees touchdown pass to Devery Henderson, a Pierre Thomas dive for first down on 4th-and-1, a Garrett Hartley field goal sailing through the uprights in overtime.
It's what a championship sounds like. You may get sick of hearing it. We won't. Encore, dammit.
Inside Sun Life Stadium, you may find your ears ringing more than usual. We're louder than other fans. Seven thousand of ours sound like 70,000 of theirs.
Don't believe us? Ask the 12th man in the Vikings huddle.
Some people think it's just the Dome that heightens our volume. But you're about to discover a little secret: We can scream loud enough to make your head explode, indoors or out.
It's not the roof. It's the heart.
Well, OK, and the beer.

Susan Poag / The Times-Picayune
Don't be surprised if there are more Saints fans outside the stadium than inside. A lot of us are coming just to say we were part of history, even if we can't witness it up close. The Saints are family to us, and you know how it is with family: We want to be there for them, whether they really need us or not. Because we know our presence will mean something to them, whether they can see us or not.
Come to think of it, seeing as how you're taking us in for the week, we pretty much regard you as family, too. So we're warning you now: If you're within hugging distance, you're fair game.
Hugging strangers is a proud Who Dat tradition, right up there with crying when we win.
Most sports fans cry when their teams lose. Not us. We've been losing gracefully and with good humor for 43 years. Tragedy and disappointment don't faze us. It's success that makes us go to pieces.
Hurricane Katrina? We got that under control. The Saints in the Super Bowl? SOMEBODY CALL A PARAMEDIC!!!
So anyway, don't let the tears of joy freak you out. We're just ... disoriented.
OK. Let's review:
Order more beer. Throw me something, mister. Suck da heads. Wear da dress. Stand up. Get crunk. Hug it out. Protect your eardrums. Pass the Kleenex. Hoist the trophy.
See you at the victory party.
Faithfully yours,
The Who Dat Nation

Changes… They are a comin…

2010-02-03T12:14:00.001-06:00

Last night in my insomnia induced stupor, I decided that I should make some changes to Magnolias and Sunshine… Because I’ve changed. Sort of. I still like to show off my kiddos, share fun stuff, and spout off at the mouth… Probably, because that’s just how I am… Probably, that will never have any hope of ever changing… Sorry Mom… The mouth stays ;-)

Over the past year and a half, I’ve discovered that we’ve moved to Stepford… You know, THE Stepford.

Where moms are in their Mercedes SUVs or their husband Porches in the school carline, they carry actual Hermes handbags into the dance studio, and they all run marathons. Seriously people. Marathons. All the time. And I’m sure they don’t EVER take off their stiletto tall boots. I could go on, but you get the picture. Stepford.

I have found some great friends. They have kept me from going stark raving mad in this place. But I’ve made a LOT of friends online as well. Sometimes I get giddy when they talk back… Some of them are famous :-) In my world at least. Probably it’s not stalking if they are following you on Twitter too. Probably none of them think I’m socially awkward either…

I am a friend person… I’ve gotta have them. I’ve gotta invite them over for drinks and food, because that’s just how I am. I’ve gotta share completely inappropriate information with them. I’ve gotta pretend that my Mom reads right through the TMI parts and just looks at her grandkids photos. I’ve also gotta pretend that she never shares this blog with family…

I WISH there was a way for me to invite some of my bloggy friends over for a drink, but until I figure that out, I’ll just drink my cocktail and Tweet with everyone else who’s Tipsy Tweeting.

Here’s where you come in. I want MORE friends… Surely there are more “Me’s” living in a Stepford town with nothing better to do than read blogs that recommend trashy books and good wine… SURELY… And here’s how I’m gonna find you… For every 5 new followers… Real ones, who actually comment and talk back… I’m going to host a giveaway. I’m at 29 right now, and because I suck at math, I wont start until I get one new follower. It’s my blog, I can do whatever the hell I want.

I’m generally unedited… because that’s how I am… No. Verbal. Filter. I’m sure I’ll offend many. I’m sure those people are all lying to themselves when they think they have no issues. I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.

So get ready folks… I’m a little bit pissed that I feel lonely sometimes, and I’ve got a blog and I know how to use it.

Another one?

2010-01-26T17:00:00.001-06:00

I TOLD you I don’t go far without my iPhone. I even bring it into the kitchen with me… no really, I do. I have a speaker dock that lets me listen to my “cooking” playlist… It puts me in “the mood” to cook. And I have several kitchen related apps that I use on a weekly basis. One of them is this little gem…

You know how sometimes you just get into ruts with cooking and you make the same things over and over each week? I tend to do that more in the winter, because I always want a soup, stew or chili. This little baby has helped me out of so many ruts, it may as well be a tow-service.

You know that big giant cookbook so many of us got as a wedding gift? That red and white checkerboard one? This app has all of those recipes built in :-)

You can search in a few different ways, so you can either do the Surprise Me button and locate things that way, or if you have shrimp, you can put that it and it will pull up the recipes with that ingredient.

There is also a button to add a particular recipe to a favorites list, so if your family really enjoys it, it will be even easier to find the next time. And yes…. that is a margarita recipe on my favorites list… Don’t be a hater, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do! … and they are quite yummy…

Tonight I’m making the Sweet and Spicy Shrimp recipe… and at the bottom of the recipe, there’s nutritional information in case you need to look at that as well…

There is something completely satisfying for me in chopping, dicing, mincing, mixing, blending… even if I don’t always want to cook, it always feels great when I do. Maybe it’s the knife in my hand… Hmmm … just kidding.

Here’s a preview of the veggies going into the shrimp tonight… go ahead, cook something up!

Destination Disney 2.0- GPS your way around

2010-01-26T11:03:00.001-06:00

The name of this post should be “I have balls of steel” because this new app required me to update my iPhone. Seriously folks. Balls. Of. Steel. So after several minutes of near heart attack level anxiety, I made it through my update. Unlike Hubs, who crashed his and was without a cell phone for 2 weeks. Maybe the title could be “Are you smarter than an Engineer” instead… Nah… even I wont go that far…

See how much I love you? and Disney? and my iPhone? I’ll jump through hoops! Hoops I tell ya!

This is the GPS app that I think you’ll really love me for suggesting. The icon on the far right that says WDW Maps… Now I have 4 apps on my “dedicated to Disney” page :-)

This little beauty has ALL of the parks (including the water parks), Downtown Disney, and even Orlando International Airport!!!!! That’s why I think it’s worth the $3.99 purchase price. Anything to get us in the right direction at that airport…

Here’s a sample shot of the map… This one shows one of our favorite attractions at the Magic Kingdom. Mickey’s Philharmagic! It’s number 22 on the map… you just tap, and it pulls up what is located in that spot… The blue arrow takes you to a detailed information page where you can even plan your trip down to the attraction priority! (Not that I’d ever be that controlling and obsessive while at Disney…) You can see in the upper center portion of the pic that it also locates restrooms that are nearby. And we all know how important THAT is! Restaurant locations are also lettered on the map, AND you can see a brief description of what is on the menu and how much it’s gonna cost you. Neat, huh?

So now you see why I was so nuts about updating ye ole phone… and why I wanted this app. Anything to make life at Disney more simple and orderly is always high on my list. You can find yourself bogged down in maps, lists, and balloons… So why not pare down to just your phone and have plenty more room in your hands for more Tinkerbell balloons! (Which were about $12 last time I checked, so be prepared…. just sayin’…)

Destination Disney 2.0 – Apps to make your life magical!

2010-01-24T19:48:00.001-06:00

I’ve tweeted and mentioned how much I am in love with my iPhone. My friends think it’s welded permanently to my hand, and that I need a 12-step program to ease the separation. However, with as annoying as I am with my phone, I’ve found some pretty fun little apps to make your Disney planning easier and give you valuable information at the touch of your fingertips.

I’ve snapped a couple of screen shots to show you some of the features of these apps… to take a screen shot, hold down your “home” button (the round one on the bottom) and then press the power button to “snap” your picture.

Counting Down:

The one my girls like the best happens to be the most simple one. It’s just a basic count-down app, but they like to look at it anyway. And yes, those 327 days are from today… I told you I wasn’t a nice mommy telling them about the trip so early.

WDW Dining:

This is one of my favorite Disney apps… It shows restaurant locations at all of the parks, Downtown Disney, and the resorts. Now, let me remind you that at most of the sit down restaurants, you’ll need to make seating arrangements ahead of time. This app can help you plan, and even has a direct button to the WDW Dining Reservations phone line. Once you’re at Disney, and are looking for a quick service spot to have lunch, you can pop on and locate a place to dine. This app has menus and prices, all in an effort to help you plan your meals and schedules.

Another cool feature that I’m looking forward to using, once we hit that 180 day out mark, will be the Dining Schedule. It holds your confirmation number (which I’ve only had to use a handful of times) and your meal date and time. You can even email your schedule once you’ve narrowed everything down. Set up your schedule, email it to your travel partner (mine is my Hubs) and then they can have the schedule on their iPhone too! That way there’s no excuse to loose each other at lunch time :-)

WDW Times:

This little app basically takes the place of the paper times schedule available in the entrances of all the parks. We stick that paper in a pocket or purse, and end up grabbing several during the day because we loose it a lot. This app has the parade schedule, attraction updates, and opening and closing times for all of the parks. Easy Peasy.

Wait Times:

The last app I want you to take a look at is the attraction (ride & show) Wait Time app. This handy dandy little app will let you know if it’s worth the walk from Big Thunder Mountain to Buzz Lightyear. If you do not have a Fast Pass for a ride or are waiting for your time to come up, this little jewel will help you save loads of time and lines.

By the way… doesn’t this screen shot make you want to be there, like right NOW… no waits!!! Ahhh… such is life…

I’ve also got a hankering to grab a GPS app with the Disney Park info built in. Alas, that requires an iPhone update… which makes me skiddish, because when Hubs did it, he crashed his phone and was without one for 2 weeks… 2 WEEKS!!!!!! I just don’t know if it’s worth it…. We’ve been to the big D enough to know where most everything is without using a map… so we’ll see if I actually get the app I’m looking at. :-/

Destination Disney 2.0 – The BIG tip…

2010-01-21T18:33:00.001-06:00

Remember these posts?

Guess what time it is???

You got it! It’s time for another trip to Disney!!! Yahoo! Yippee! Woo Hoo! wait… don’t get your panties in a twist… You’ve got 11 months before the actual trip.

That was pretty much how the conversation went with my girls when we told them that it was time to plan our next trip. Trust me, they were WAY more disappointed than you are about waiting :-) I’m a mean momma that way, because 1/2 the fun of going to Disney is the planning. At least, for me it is.

This year, I have a tip so BIG, so GRAND, so stinkin’ FABULOUS that you are going to want to Tweet to the world about it. Wanna know how to save 44% off of your hotel room? Maybe more, Maybe less? Depends on when you are going and where you are staying, but that’s how much I just saved on our room at Wilderness Lodge for Christmas this year. Lemme explain…

We decided long ago that having Christmas at Disney would be one of the ultimate trips to take our kids on… we waited until they were “old enough”… translate as- they are old enough to understand being somewhere on vacation during the holidays and all that will entail…

Hubs decided this year would be a good year for it because Abby will be 9 (yikes) and Jillian will be 6 1/2 (double yikes).

As soon as he said “OK” I started planning… Where to stay, when to go, how long to stay, what to do??? We nailed down his vacation days and were able to squeeze out 9 days of time.

I started plugging away at WaltDisneyWorld.com and was not loving the holiday prices of the Deluxe hotel rooms… People, with 2 adults nearing the 6 foot mark, and 2 girls who wrestle for covers, the Moderate and Value resorts have LONG been off our radar… We NEED the queen size beds. I even *gasp* started looking at off-property hotels trying to save some dough… That nonsense quickly went away though… I love being in the Magic. And during Christmas, there’s no better place than a Deluxe on-property resort.

Giant gingerbread house at The Grand Floridian

Generally, Wilderness Lodge is the least expensive of the Deluxe category resorts (and happens to be our favorite). However, at Christmas, they are all overpriced. I started poking around the trusty Mousesavers.com.

Totum pole at The Wilderness Lodge

You know those signs they have advertising “The best kept secret at Disney” for the Disney Vacation Club timeshares? Guess what? That’s NOT the best kept secret…

The best kept secret at Disney, is that the owners of said vacation club points RENT OUT THEIR POINTS!!!!!!! I located MouseOwners.com , browsed around and found Barb. Barb is my newest best friend. Barb saved me $1600 on a room. I’m renting 155 of Barb’s points to get into a Studio (same size as a standard room) at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. I may just be in love with Barb.

Disclaimer: It was very easy to locate someone willing to rent points. It’s not so easy to trust a stranger with your vacation $$$, so before you ship someone money to rent their points, ask for references, actually check the references, and do a little bit of investigation to see if you are comfortable with the person you will be renting points from.

Barb made my reservation this morning and sent me the confirmation number and the name of the Member Services person she talked to. Within a week or so, she will be sending me the paper confirmation. Did I mention I love Barb?

So there you have it. The BIG tip. I’ve got several more posts, so keep your eye out. Destination Disney 2.0 is well underway!

Thanksgiving week decorations 2005

Spring is a big tease…

2010-01-21T13:12:00.001-06:00

OK, so I know it’s not technically Spring yet,

but someone didn’t tell our maple tree that…

It’s a beautiful day here in Southeast Texas!

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy some sunshine today!

Tech Nerd

2010-01-16T13:54:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure how to say this... But I may just be a Tech Nerd. Either that, or my iPhone is leaching crack into my system.

I just loaded this new app, Blog Writer, to test the free version before I plunk down a couple of bucks on the full app. I figure with the amount of time I spend waiting on my girls at dance, tennis, and school car lines, maybe this is a way I can update a bit more...

Probably, this is just a by-product of my Tech addiction. Probably, I won't love it for very long. But hey, when that happens, I can just hit the app store and find something else to feed my need :-)

Bravo!

2009-12-07T19:27:00.001-06:00

Just a few pics from a proud momma…

The girls with our beautiful Mouse Queen

Dancing Mice… Abby is in the middle…

Waiting on the Mouse Queen to call for battle!

Yes we are exhausted… and I slept until 12:45 this afternoon… but the look of sheer joy on Abby’s face made all of the car pooling, Sunday afternoon practices, and complaining about bobby pins totally worth it.

Snow?

2009-12-05T09:38:00.001-06:00

Well, yes… Houston did get a good bit of snow yesterday… but for some strange weather reason, it was mostly south of us… We had flurries most of the day and we took every chance we had to play in it! It didn’t “stick” to anywhere but our hair, but it was still a fun day for all of us :-)

Mouse in the house!

2009-12-05T09:23:00.001-06:00

This is Abby’s first year in The Nutcracker. She’s a member of The Woodlands Dance Co. They don’t allow camera flashes in the actual show, but we could take all of the pics we wanted to at rehearsal last night. And because I’m such a braggy Momma here are a few shots of my little mouse :-)

Abby is center line… actually looking at the camera ;-)

Awaiting the Mouse Queen… She’s 3rd from the left…

She’s in the two shows this Sunday, but she’s already got her summer ballet classes all planned out so that she can be Clara one day (“when she’s old”). My baby loves her some ballet!

It’s going to be a long day with morning rehearsals and the two shows, but so much fun to watch! I’m so glad my parents are braving the cold weather to travel over to see her.

If you have a local dance company, go out and support their efforts!

I’ve got my eye on you…

2009-12-03T06:14:00.001-06:00

Meet Russell. Russell is our Elf on the Shelf elf. Simple and really cute idea… the story says that your elf watches over you during the day then reports back to Santa in the night… When you wake up the next morning, your elf will be in a new location. I LOVE that this little quirky elf named Russell has my kids making their beds, picking up their rooms, and being super over-the-top sweet to each other. They even SHARED last night… I know. Crazy, huh?

What a difference…

2009-12-01T15:12:00.001-06:00

OK, so I’ve been bugging so many of my friends lately… I wanted to get a new camera, but I didn’t want to start lugging around a suitcase just to take shots of the girls at dance. I tweeted about it, I begged for information on Facebook… I pestered my friend in carline at school… and today I finally made the decision. I follow ScottBourne on Twitter. He works with Photofocus and always has great tips. I narrowed down my choices to a Nikon D3000 with a smallish lens, one of the Canon Rebels, and a TOL point and shoot from Canon. The G11. Ahhh… I am SO glad I asked some pros! Scott suggested this little beauty and I finally drove to Best Buy this morning. I looked online and shipping was ridiculous… because you know, I have to have it RIGHT NOW instead of waiting for the 2-5 day shipping… The Nutcracker IS this weekend, you know… (work with me… I’m trying to justify buying my own Christmas present here)… I charged her up and took a before and after new camera shot to show the difference…

The shot on the left is from my Panasonic Lumix TZ3 and the right is from the G11. Both were on Low light portrait scenes, at 800 speed, with the same white balance, no flash-just my dining room overhead light… And neither of the pictures were doctored on the computer…Do you see all of that noise on the Lumix picture? And the washed out color? I think I made a good decision on the upgrade, No? :-) See there…. TOTALLY JUSTIFIED…

It doesn’t have to be perfect…

2009-12-01T12:28:00.001-06:00

…to be pretty. This year, that’s all me! I just love these colors together… and lucky me, Target and everybody else helped supply my craving!

Here’s a closer shot…

It’s super fun, and for us, that’s all that matters! We also put up a smaller table top tree in the family room for all of those keepsake style ornaments that we all have. I really like this set up, with the big tree in the front office bay window. It keeps the living room a little less crowded and I’ve already had a few people nosy enough to stop by and ask what was blue in the window. I’m sure the neighbors are all thinking I’m the crazy lady with the blue tree :-)

And because I just can’t leave well enough alone…

2009-12-01T12:14:00.001-06:00

yeah yeah… TRUST me, I KNOW

2009-12-01T12:04:00.001-06:00

I just had to post up this picture of my poor little Christmas wreath… Believe me… I KNOW it looks terrible. I just had no inspiration on Saturday after discovering my door piece was too faded to put up. Sad, isn’t it?

A friend told me to drop by Z Gallerie to take a look at all of their aqua colored decorations. My tree is a hot mess of Red and Aqua. I’m no florist… and BOY can you tell. But at least my wreath looks better…

So what unusual colors do you like this year? I’ve done brown, lime, aqua, purple, hot pink, pear green, lime green… not at the same time, of course. But it really makes it a lot of fun to plan each year!

Mary Poppins

2009-11-11T12:37:00.001-06:00

If anyone has the opportunity to go to see the Broadway show of Mary Poppins, GO SEE IT! I will not ruin it by giving details of the show, but it was MAGICAL. I still can’t figure out how they did some of the things they did on a stage. We had an amazing time, and I’m sure the girls will have fond memories of their night at the theatre.

Splish Splash!

2009-11-11T12:32:00.001-06:00

Well, 3 weeks after breaking ground the construction was nearly finished. We still have landscaping to come in before the deck is completed, but for the next couple of weeks, this is what we’ll be playing in…

And this smile makes all that dirty mess worth it!

Hello?

2009-10-21T08:32:00.000-05:00

Boy! Long time no blog, right? Sorry guys… apparently I have to be “in the mood” to blog as well. :-/

I do have some pretty fun pics to share though. But I’m a construction geek and love this kind of stuff, so fun may be a relative term…

We finally had a break in the rain and our pool construction has started! I swear, as soon as we said “Build it” we guaranteed ourselves a good couple of weeks of rain. I’ve got to give a shout out to Rocky Kirk with Lonestar Pools. We met with 5 different contractors… and of the 5, he was the only one we felt completely comfortable with. For some reason, a good pool builder is hard to come by in Houston, because the nightmare stories some of our friends told us really had us shakin in our boots… Not that I wear boots. Ever.

Here’s a before shot of the backyard with the trees tagged for removal…

After the trees were removed (but before the stumps were ground) The girls had a great time hula-hoop ring tossing with the one stump that was left.

Here’s a hazy shot from my bedroom window of the dig starting this past Friday morning… This was at 7:30 am…

And this shot is from 4pm on that same day… These guys didn’t waste any time… We went from paint lines to finished rebar in one day… Wanna come sit in my hot tub? :-)

Beginning of Day 2… another glare filled shot from my bedroom window… Sorry…

And by the end of the 2nd day, you could see the general pool idea…

They didn’t work on Sunday… obviously, but on Monday they arrived bright and early… EARLY

and made a big HUGE mess of my entire back yard… That monster tool in the background dug a trench around the whole thing for the plumbing that finished up on Day 3, then the electrician did his work on Day 4. At the end of yesterday, we had our second inspection for the trench.

Wanna know what happens when you are at this phase of pool building? When your entire yard is ripped apart and a HUGE dirty mess? Yep, RAIN COMES!!! AHHHHH….. That’s where we are this morning… waiting on rain, crossing my fingers that is doesn’t stop them from coming out and filling in the previously mentioned huge dirty mess of a trench… because the only way this mess could get worse is if it turns into a HUGE DIRTY MUDDY mess.

So for a recap of all those pics, here’s what the yard looked like a week ago…

and here’s where we are now…

I keep telling myself that it will be totally worth the expense and mess when I can have a glass of wine in the hot tub and relax myself into oblivion…

Yeah, totally worth it.

Back to School

2009-08-23T18:51:00.001-05:00

My baby starts Kindergarten tomorrow morning. I don’t know if I should be sad, or really really REALLY excited. I’m leaning toward the latter… She’s kind of boisterous and I think we’re ready for a break from each other. In true Holly fashion, I finished her 1st day of School jumper with 13 hours to spare. I work better under pressure I think ^_^.

This is the Martha Pullen A-line jumper pattern modified to have just a top inner lining, instead of being fully lined. It’s just too hot for that sort of mess right now. And as an added bonus, she’s required to wear shorts under her dresses this year. It’s a red chambray fabric that is thick enough that you can’t see through it, so the 1/2 lining worked just fine. Better in fact, given that there isn’t all of this fabric to turn as there usually is.

The appliqué is from Sew Many Designs. These designs have always stitched out perfectly. The digitizing is FABULOUS… I’m really jealous of digitizers… even with the “mack daddy” program that came with my Creative Vision (4D Embroidery Suite) I still don’t have the guts to try my hand at it.

Decor Keeper

2009-08-10T18:02:00.000-05:00

How do you organize your home projects?

I’ve seen several blog postings recently on how to keep all of your home project info organized.

This is not that kind of post.

I don’t organize my home projects. Maybe I should, but that would require too much effort for me.

I DO however keep this super cute pink photo album with me at all times. It has basic room info (window measurements, paint chips, fabric swatches, and bits of trim) that I can use when I’m out and about. I can’t tell you how many throw pillows I’ve returned because I picked the “wrong shade of green”. Really, it’s embarrassing.

And here’s a handy tip… Keep a tape measure with you at all times!!! I’ve measured dozens of media stands looking for one that hit 49” wide…. and having this clip on tape measure with me has been a huge time saver (for me and any salesperson who’s SURE whatever they are selling would work for me)

View of the inside… just staple what you have to a 4X6 card and it can easily slide in and stay put!

Mosaic art

2009-08-07T17:49:00.000-05:00

Yet another Summer activity that kept us busy…

Foam tile mosaic art.

Broken Crayons?

2009-08-06T17:43:00.000-05:00

One of our Summer day activities…

Sort out your broken crayons by color:

Take silly macro shots trying to get a really cool picture for your blog:

Break crayons into smaller pieces and fill candy making moulds with sorted colors:

Bake at 250 until the wax melts, then carefully place pan in fridge.

Drink Kool-aid. Wait for wax to harden.

Flip pan and pop out the coolest crayons your 5 year old will ever see!