June Makes Six

Paper Hearts....

2012-01-30T21:14:00.004-06:00

Let me say I am not crafty, Tiffany and crafty do not go together. I love to cook and bake, I enjoy arranging flowers, I like to wrap gifts in cellophane and ribbons, and I have even been known to paint an old piece of furniture, but crafty, I am not. June, on the other hand would do crafts 24/7, paper, tape, glue, scissors...repeat. That being said, I am always looking for little projects for her....I personally love all of the paper garlands that I have been seeing on Etsy, Pinterest, and various blogs, so today, paper garland it was. June had her chance to cut and I got to take photos! First we gathered supplies: twine, clothespins, and scrap booking paper that thought it might not ever see the light of day again.

Once everything was ready June started cutting...

It was a challenge to keep her hair out of the scissors path...YIKES!

When she was done cutting we headed up to her room where she began to arrange, rearrange, arrange some more.

We even worked on patterns. Did I mention we rearranged?

As you can see by her sweet smile she was happy with the outcome!

We had one heart left over and pinned it to her lamp....

Here are a few shots of the final project.

I love spending time with this sweet girl...I am gonna miss her so much next year when she goes to school!

Made with "LOVE"

2012-01-25T13:35:00.006-06:00

Monday, the girls and I had to run into the grocery store for a few things. Berries were not on the list, however, as you can see, we came home with berries. The grocery store people are so nice, they had a huge display of "SALE" berries right by the door. Of course, my mind starting working. What can I make with berries? What can I make with berries that I can photograph (sad I know)? Well, I decided on Berry Shortcakes. I was happy and I know the kids were happy. Not only did they get shortcake....they also got berry smoothies with the left overs. Here is what I thought....

{Shoot, Edit, Submit}

I love this little spool of string. I bought a whole package of it at Micheal's, red, yellow, and green. I am sure you will be seeing more of it. It was just perfect to wrap around the top of my mason jars. I also, bought beautiful cupcake holders that same day, both the string and the cupcake holders are part of the Martha Stewart line. I am looking for a moist coconut cupcake recipe for the holders. Do you have a good one? If you do, email it to me. I will even take a few pictures:)

The best part is sharing the spoils of a photo shoot with June. She is always nearby helping me move stuff around. She is glad when I am done 'cause then she gets to eat!

What do you think? Are you hungry for shortcake? Well, if you are, you are in luck....here is a quick and easy recipe!

Berry Shortcake

Shortcake: Bisquick shortcake recipe, right on the back of the box. ( I sprinkle them with sugar)

Home made whipped cream: One pint heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

....and of course fresh berries.

Hope you enjoy...thanks for the visit.

Breakfast...Kendall style

2012-01-21T22:20:00.002-06:00

While we were drinking coffee and just hanging out this morning Kendall helped herself to breakfast! I have to watch out now that she can open the fridge and freezer. I keep finding miscellaneous food throughout the house.....just thought I would share. Hope you are having a great weekend.

Chinese New Year

2012-01-19T00:00:00.003-06:00

Chinese New Year is approaching us quickly. Most will celebrate Chinese New Years Eve on Sunday, January 22nd. The year of the Rabbit will depart. The Year of the Rabbit was to bring peace and tranquility. If you were born in the year of the Rabbit you are most likely a diplomat, you prefer to cooperate, and are said to be about good taste and refinement. Well, your year is over....

2012 will usher in the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Dragon will bring excitement, unpredictability, as well as intensity. If you are a Dragon you are passionate and brave, generous and foolhardy, and you are smart with a great sense of humor. The Dragon's lucky color is yellow. Dragon years can be considered years of wealth. A Dragon year might be a good year to start a business or initiate a new project. Some famous Dragons include: Al Pacino, Matt Dillon, John Lennon, and Ring Starr. Welcome the Year of the Dragon.

In our home we have a Dragon, two Pigs (June is a Golden Pig), an Ox, a Rooster, a Tiger, and a Monkey.

It is traditional to give gifts on Chinese New Year. The most traditional gift is the "red envelope", a small envelope filled with "lucky money". The envelope symbolizes giving good fortune and the money is often used by children to buy treats.

During the holiday families gather to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. Many families participate in traditional activities. One might say that families, fireworks, and food take center stage. Also, many people clean house, pay debts, and get hair cuts, all symbolizing new beginnings.

Families come together and feast during Chinese New Year. Traditional foods include: dumplings, spring rolls, and glutinous rice cakes. Our house favorites are dumplings, Lo Mein, sweet and sour chicken (what can I say I have 5 kids..who doesn't like sweet and sour:), and crab rangoon.

{Shoot, Edit, Submit}

Houses are decorated with paper decorations, flowers, lanterns, and oranges. The color red symbolizes power, happiness, and longevity, while gold symbolizes good fortune and wealth.

June and I will be decorating the house today with lanterns and other items we have collected throughout the years. We will also be packaging "goodie" bags for preschool...red envelopes included. June will bring all of her treats to school on Monday and share a book about Chinese New Year with her friends.

Our family celebration will take place on Saturday. June will help me set the table with chop sticks, red napkins, red envelopes, and special treats. The girls will dress up (hopefully being the keyword) and we will enjoy our Chinese New Year celebration.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Second shooter....

2012-01-16T21:38:00.005-06:00

The girls both received really cute sleeping bags for Christmas, so did their dolls. This morning I though I would set them up with their stuff and just hang out and get some great sisterly shots of the girls playing in their sleeping bags with their dolls. Cute, right? Well...

If you have been visiting for a while you know June is always up for a photo, no problems.

Kendall, well, she is another story. She is up to something, but it usually does not include enough time for me to get a great shot.

She has her own plan. A plan that usually keeps me on my toes. The girl is fast and energetic. Just last week we bought one of those mini trampolines to keep her busy. Yep, I can't believe it either. I also can't believe that it is sitting in the middle of my living room.

Lucky for her, she is as cute and sweet as she is fast (I tried to include the least blurry shots).

Are you getting a feel for this little one?

See, cute!

On the run.

Busy.

I decided if I was going to get a shot today I should sit her on my lap. However, my arms are too short and Kendall was trying really hard to get my camera...YIKES.

What to do you ask? Simple. Second shooter! Thanks to June for this shot of me and my baby girl.

Yes, I let her touch the Nikon, with the neck strap of course. Let me just say that was the end of the shoot 'cause Kendall really wanted the camera after Junie had it:)

June...The Interview 2012

2012-01-13T06:17:00.008-06:00

Last year I interviewed June and thought I would give it a try again. Barbara Walters I am not. You can read June's interview from 2011 HERE...and now for 2012.

{June}...The Interview 2012

Mom: What is your favorite color?
June: Purple and pink.

Mom: How do you like to spend your day?
June: Staying home all day and doing stickers.

Mom: What sports do you like?
June: When I grow up I want to play basketball.

(I love this one, really?)

Mom: What do you like best about your family?
June: Caring about each other.

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
June: A ballerina.

Mom: What do you like to do as a family?
June: Play games.

Mom: Do you have a favorite food?
June: Cake!

Mom: Do you have a favorite healthy food?
June: Bananas.

Mom: Do you like being a big sister?
June: Yes, I like helping Kendall.

(note...lately bossing, it is kinda fun not being at the bottom of the totem pole)

Mom: What do you like to do with your brothers?
June: I like to draw pictures with them.

Mom: What is your favorite toy?
June: A piggy bank with colored coins.

Mom: Really, out of all of your toys?
June: Yes, Kendall's pig, so please write it!

There you have it...straight talk from June. Let me say she was not so into the interview this year, or the pictures. A few of the answers are the same, a few different. I have to say I had fun spending a little time with June and reading her answers from last year. (So glad she puts up with my antics:) I love this girl! We are outta here.....

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Applesauce Cake....recipe and photo tip

2012-01-10T21:40:00.008-06:00

I don't know about you, but I love cake. I love cake even better when it is tasty and simple. When my in-laws came to visit on New Years Day my mother-in-law brought this delicious cake. I guess you can even say it is healthy because one of the main ingredients is applesauce...you be the judge.

Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 TBS cocoa
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening (we used butter)
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsweetened apple sauce
6 oz mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt

2. cream shortening (butter) and sugar until light and fluffy

3. add eggs one at a time and blend in vanilla

4. add dry ingredients alternating with applesauce

5. pour into a greased 9x13x2 pan

6. sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts (I did not add the walnuts)

7. bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes

8. Enjoy

We all loved this cake, kids and adults alike. We topped it off with a little whipped cream. Who doesn't like whipped cream? Thanks Marion for a new favorite.

Okay, my title says recipe and a photo tip. So here comes the photo tip. Jaymi at Live, Love, Travel talks about the use of a reflector and I can't agree more. Although I do not use a purchased reflector for my food shots, most of my shots are taken with a piece of white foam board near by to brighten the shot. This is where my tip comes in...Personally I like most, not all, but most photos just a touch over exposed. I like the brightness and the crisp edge of a brighter photo. How do I do that? Usually, I open a photo in Lightroom and do a quick clean up, crop, adjust lighting, sharpen, etc. If I am not happy with it I move to PSE 9, this is where I brighten up my images. I start with a sharpen/defog from Florabella and then I move on to my most used action, Simple Lighten from Paint The Moon. (I have had this action for a few years and will include the link as soon as I find it...they do have lots of fabulous actions, frames, etc). If I still need a bit more light I may add a texture, which is what I did in the post "Clementines and Roses". With that being said mouse over my images to see my before (Lightroom) and after (PSE) of each shot.

On a side note, I do not usually comment on my likes of dislikes of the photos I post. Why? Because, for now I am just a gal who likes to take pictures, everyday. However, these pictures were screaming for a little sprig of mint. I was hoping someone would drop some off at my door while I was taking these shots today....it was too much to dream that it was Summer and my garden was in bloom.

Thanks for looking!

I Heart Faces...Best Face of 2012

2012-01-10T06:33:00.002-06:00

I had such a hard time picking a picture....I decided to pick a face that did not belong to me, cause if I did you would be seeing yet another picture of June (probably the one with the lollipop:) So here is C. He was a doll and was the ring bearer along with June at a family wedding early this fall. Boy does he have a face...cute, cute, cute!

Don't forget to stop by...

No boys allowed...

2012-01-06T00:03:00.000-06:00

Slowly the boys have headed off to work and school this week... Tuesday; Russ, Wednesday; the (not so little) little boys, Thursday; TJ. I have to say it was nice having everyone home over Christmas, but I was ready to have my girls back all to my self. We celebrated with a pajama day. Kendall woke Junie up a little before 9am with jumps and snuggles, mostly jumps (we are talking about Kendall). June did manage to hold her down for a few shots...

We spent the day reading books, playing Legos, flying jumbo paper airplanes, making brownies for the boys, and coloring. June even tried to get me to make lanyards.....tried being the key word. I read Kendall's new favorite at least 10 times. Doggies by Sandra Boynton. Here is to the weekend, Happy Friday!

Clementines and Roses

2012-01-04T21:29:00.006-06:00

Did I mention it was cold? Did I mention I dislike the cold? Did I mention I really dislike the cold when the sky is gray, the ground is brown, and there is no snow? Well, now you know. I never was one to say I hope for snow, but I hope we get some soon. I would love to get the girls outside and let them run and play in the fluffy white....I will keep my fingers crossed! Since the colors outside are a little dull I thought I would brighten it up on the inside. So today you get...

Clementines and Roses

I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of food and flowers (and of course the girls) this Winter. I have developed a love for food photography, unlike Kendall, food does not move! Hope your year is off to a fabulous start. Thanks for the visit.

Memories, Dreams, and Reflections 2011

2012-01-03T13:28:00.009-06:00

{ME}...and my girls

{LOVE}

{Still Laughing}

{Winter Wonderland}

{Birthday}...Kendall turns one!

{Friend}.....best!

{I was inspired}

{Spring Fever}

{Travel}

{Summer Days}

{A Day in My Life}...where I spend most of my time.

{All Smiles}

{Autumn Harvest}

{Family}

{Celebrate!}

{Let's do it again}...I love the city!

{I Miss You}

{Beautiful}

{Dress Up}

{Macro}

{Holidays}

{My Favorite}

{Don't Ever Change}

{Just Because...so there!}

{Hopes and Dreams}

A new year is always filled with the hopes of tomorrow. Twenty-eleven was a memorable year, however, I am looking forward to a new start. I am hoping for some big changes this year. As I think about 2011 I think of how grateful I am to have so many wonderful people in my life, my husband, children, family, and friends (old and new). I can't wait to get started and plan on greeting 2012 head on.

Thanks to Ashley at Ramblings and Photos for the prompts...what a great idea!

Christmas Cheer!

2011-12-29T14:41:00.002-06:00

Just a few of our Christmas highlights and snap shots. Hope you are enjoying your Holiday!

Thanks for the visit...gotta run!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Revel Bars

2011-12-27T16:51:00.003-06:00

No this is not a cooking or baking blog....this is just all I have for you today. Christmas pictures to follow soon; I hope! Instead you get super yummy, super rich, Peanut Butter-Chocolate Revel Bars. Enjoy.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Revel Bars

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup butter, softened
1&1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1&1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter or butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with heavy foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Coat foil with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In an extra large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in 2 cups of peanut butter, the eggs, and the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon stir in any remaining flour. Set dough aside.

3. For filling, in a medium saucepan combine chocolate pieces, sweetened condensed milk, and the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Cook over low heat until chocolate is melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

4. Remove 2 cups of dough; set aside. Press the remaining dough evenly onto the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Spread filling evenly over dough in pan. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining dough over the filling.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until top is light brown. If desired sprinkle with peanuts (I think it gives the bar a nice finished look and a little crunch). Cool in pan on a wire rack. Using the edges of the foil, lift block of cookies out of pan. Place on cutting board; cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Storage: Layer bars between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Loved this recipe! It was pretty easy and tasted great, however, it was very rich and I could only eat a half bar at a time...and that says a lot because I am a junk food kinda gal:)

source: 100 Best Cookies Better Homes and Gardens 2011

Sugar and spice

2011-12-23T07:00:00.003-06:00

Christmas is upon us...only two days. June wakes up each morning and puts a puzzle peg into our Nativity calender (Thanks Ken and June we still have it from when the boys were little) and tells me how many days are left. She is so excited! As a Mom, it is so hard to balance all of the holiday preparation along with why we celebrate Christmas and as I type this morning I think of all I have to do in the next day....I should probably get busy:) Before I go I want to share a wonderful cake I made yesterday that we enjoyed with friends last night....

Sugar and Spice Cake

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Sugar and Spice Cake...Southern Living

The Christmas Story

2011-12-16T16:17:00.002-06:00

Today we were treated to "The Christmas Story" preschool style. I love watching all of the children take in the story of Jesus....I truly wish we could all keep the heart of a child when hearing the story of Christ.

Gabriel said to Mary, "God loves you, He will give you a baby, name him Jesus."

Mary told the angel, "I have faith in God, this must be true."

As you can see from my collage June was Mary. She did a great job. If I can figure out how to get my video on the blog you can hear June whisper her line and toss baby Jesus into the manger:) After the play and a few songs we celebrated with a Christmas luncheon. I was so glad my Mom was able to come see June and to help with my whirling dervish...yes, Kendall. Hope to get more out soon, it has been a wild ride the last few weeks. As always, thanks for looking. Have a great weekend.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

2011-12-09T06:16:00.003-06:00

My sista, Rebecca, forwarded this recipe to me last week. June and I finally had the chance to try it out yesterday and it did not disappoint.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Ingredients

Bars:
1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
1&1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1&1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1&1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
6 ounces white chocolate chips

Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Drizzle Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1-2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Bars:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. In a medium bowl cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt, mix well. Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in cranberries and chocolate. Pour batter in greased pan, spread evenly. Bake 30-40 minutes until edges are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Frosting:
Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice until completely smooth. Spread on cake. Sprinkle with cranberries.

Drizzle Icing:
Whisk 1 tablespoon milk, powdered sugar, and shortening. Gradually add more milk until thick but drizzly (closer to 2 tablespoons). Put icing in a Ziploc bag and snip off a tiny bit of the corner. Drizzle in zigzags.

Cut and enjoy!

(source: What Megan's Making)

Holiday Bokeh Fun!

2011-12-08T16:16:00.003-06:00

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Just a little Holiday Cheer for you today! Red and white seem to be a theme for me this week so I thought I would stay with it. Stay tuned for another recipe....coming soon!

Christmas card photo shoot

2011-12-08T07:14:00.002-06:00

Here it is, the annual Christmas photo shoot dump. Warning there are a lot of pictures. Actually, I guess some might say I have a lot of kids....We took these pictures back in October and I finally finished my card this week. Now all I have to do is address and send. Are you ready Russ, I know it is your favorite holiday task to help with? Anyway, here are my people, big and little. Oh, don't forget the outtakes at the bottom, they always make me laugh!

The Shoot

The Outtakes

There they are, all of my kiddos. They (the boys) are probably done till next year. LOL. Today June and I are going to bake some cranberry bars (thanks for the recipe R.), maybe you will even get to see them. Have a Happy Thursday!

Peppermint bark and Marshmallow pops

2011-12-04T21:55:00.005-06:00

Well, here it is just like I promised.....peppermint bark and marshmallow pops. Jake and I worked on these yummy treats for our church Christmas bazaar. They turned out great and looked pretty cute too. What doesn't look good in cellophane and ribbon? We spent the weekend decorating and hanging around the house, we have not had one of those kind of weekends in so long....decorating, cooking, shopping, movie watching, and my parents came out for my Dad's Birthday dinner. Overall a really nice weekend. Now on to....

Peppermint Bark

I feel kind of silly giving you the recipe for this because it is so easy. But here it goes.

Ingredients

Dark/semisweet chocolate
White chocolate
crushed candy canes

How to....

Melt chocolate and layer, refrigerating between layers (up North here I just set it outside). While the white chocolate layer is warm sprinkle with the candy canes. I use the mini candy canes in individual wrapped bags( the kids have fun crushing them with kitchen utensils). Cool again, break, and package!

Marshmallow Pops

These are fun and easy to make. You can see Jake and our mini tutorial down below. He was a good sport to let me photograph his cooking debut.

Ingredients

Marshmallows
colored chocolate
sprinkles
sucker sticks and bags

How to....

Again, easy breezy. Place marshmallows on sticks, melt chocolate, dip, sprinkle, and cool. Once cool we wrapped them up in cellophane. We used floral foam wrapped in foil for display.

There you have it, easy, fun, and best of all the kids can help with these. June even joined in putting marshmallows on sticks and cutting ribbon for the wrapping. Hope your holiday season is in full swing. Thanks for looking.

Christmas

2011-12-01T14:36:00.004-06:00

I have decided I need to get a little more into the Christmas spirit....the real Christmas spirit. I need to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and try to not be overwhelmed with time constraints, gift buying, etc. It is going to be hard, but time is truly more valuable than anything money can buy. If someone gave me more time in the day, shopping would not be on my list of what I wanted to do with my time. My number one priority would be spending quality time with my family. So, I am going to try in all I do this Christmas season to focus on my family, to enjoy each and every moment, and to remember the reason this beautiful season exists....The birth of Jesus Christ.

That being said, I did a little decorating today and June helped me set up our Nativity and a few decorations. Jake and I will be making candy for a holiday bake sale at church...peppermint bark and marshmallow pops (pictures and recipes to follow-hopefully). I still plan on sharing our holiday card photos and our Festival of Lights parade. Stay tuned I am gonna give this season my very best shot!

More from Iowa....Lock and Dam 13

2011-11-29T07:23:00.002-06:00

More from Iowa. While we were away we visited Lock and Dam 13 on the Mississippi. Although I have know Russ for 25 years (gulp) I have never visited the Lock and Dam. The kids have visited, but this was my first trip....and it did not disappoint. We were lucky enough to see a barge hauling grain move through the lock and dam. Here are some highlights. Also, if you would like to get a little more technical info on Lock and Dam 13 click HERE.

There was a little waiting involved and Kendall needed just a little TLC (it was lunch time).

Every year we try to get a picture of the grand kids for my mother-in-law, although I took a lot of shots this is the closest I could get to everyone looking at the camera.

...more waiting...

Finally the show....

This barge was headed for New Orleans and will have a couple week journey to get there! After we watched we headed home and took in a little scenery.

Le Claire

2011-11-25T15:18:00.002-06:00

Today was a great day. Today is my Birthday. I was able to celebrate the day with family in Iowa. Some of you might think Iowa, what is in Iowa.....more than you know, here is what we did today.

We visited Le Claire, Iowa on the Mississippi.

We strolled the charming streets...

I took pictures...no surprise.

We tasted wine from a local winery...all of the choices were enjoyable. You can visit them at Wide River Winery. I loved the Merry Berry for the holidays.

We waited...

and waited...

We strolled some more.

We shopped. Penny is a friend of my mother-in-laws and her store is so beautiful. Big June and I bought some Christmas decor. Yes Big June...we actually have two June's in our family (two Ken's too).

Russ was a great sport to do what I wanted and to let me take a shot or two of him on my Birthday....Thanks Russ!

We met a local celebrity. Thanks to Mike from American Pickers for being so gracious and friendly.

We strolled some more..

Finally we ended the trip with a taste of whiskey from Mississippi River Distilling Company.

We all had a lovely day and are back home. Some of us are napping, some swimming, and I am blogging. We are getting ready for some taco pizza from Happy Joe's.....YUM, I can't wait.

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

June had her preschool Thanksgiving feast! I dressed the girls up in their Thanksgiving best....Thanks Becky. (Aren't these dresses sooooo cute?) You know I can't keep Kendall still so most shots with her are blurry, no surprise. Russ had the day off so we loaded in the car and off we went.

June's class made all of the decorations and food for the feast. Her teachers are fabulous, they spend weeks creating the decor and costumes all along teaching the kids about The First Thanksgiving. They also teach them about Native American Indians and foods that were at The First Thanksgiving. Then the hard part, they actually have the kids help them cook the food that they serve at the feast. The menu included: chicken legs shake n' bake style, pudding, applesauce, stuffing, popcorn, and cranberry relish...YUM!

We were also treated to a story and a few songs. The kids dressed as Native American Indians, complete with tepee. Of course Kendall had to get in on the action and sat with June for part of the program. After the entertainment it was time to eat, all of the food was delicious. June's favorite, the pudding, of course:)

Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and gratitude for all of the blessings graciously given to us from God above. Enjoy!

White...Shades of Autumn

2011-11-20T20:43:00.002-06:00

Although just about everything here in Northern Illinois is brown and gray, I had a few ideas for The Shades of Autumn white challenge. The ideas included plumed prairie grasses, farms, and milkweed, however, time was not on my side. I had given up participating when a little bit of "white" presented itself on our trip to the city to see The Festival of Lights Parade (more to come on this one...pictures and a story). In addition to the parade I also have pictures from June's Thanksgiving Feast at preschool, so stay tuned....but for now, a little white.

Thanks for looking!

Favorite

2011-11-15T22:05:00.003-06:00

The photography challenge at "Simplicity" this week is favorite photo. I take a lot of pictures and I have a lot of favorites. I really spent some time thinking about which picture to choose. I ended up with a picture from our journey to China. I took this picture with a point and shoot long before my DSLR days, but it is one of my favorites for many reasons. This picture tells a story, they say a picture is worth one thousand words and I think this one qualifies. This picture represents the end of one journey and the beginning of another. It represents old and new, loss and gain, endings and beginnings, but mostly it represents love. This was one of our first days with June...

I would love to encourage those of you who are considering adoption.....our family has been truly blessed in so many ways by the gift of adoption. We love you Junie.

Sweet Sixteen....

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001-06:00

Sweet Sixteen....boys can be sweet too, right? It is hard to believe that 16 years have passed since this child entered the world...what a 16 years it has been. I remember "older" people telling me how fast the time will go. I remember not really believing them, because as you know, some days seem like forever when you are raising children. Well, now I am "old" and I can tell you, it has been a blink of an eye. Happy Birthday to you Theodore James, we could not be more proud to call you son. Enjoy your special day!

I thought it would be fitting to share 16 things about TJ on his Sweet 16...

1. His favorite color is red.

2. He attends Catholic High School.

3. TJ plays defense on his soccer team.

4. TJ pole vaults.

5. TJ LOVES to snowboard.

6. His favorite band is The Dave Matthews Band...wait that's me he loves Deadma5.

7. His favorite chips are Tangy BBQ.

8. He has a candy problem....yes I know about it:)

9. He adores his sisters and secretly likes his brothers.

10. He likes to mix music and would love to be a music producer.

11. His first car is a 2ooo Subaru Forester

12. He takes Latin.

13. He plays acoustic guitar and trumpet.

14. TJ does not like heights or eggs.

15. He is good at math.

16. He is out going, caring, (and since I am his Mom) handsome too, don't you think?

Love ya bud....Hope you have a fabulous Birthday.

My Day....

2011-11-08T18:41:00.007-06:00

Today was a pajama day, cool rainy, all girls and pjs. We wore our pjs all day long. We colored and we watched Rio...Kendall's favorite movie. I took TJ to school and took out the garbage. I wore an 18 month old on my hip and I answered important questions like....."How does Francesco Bernulli know Mater?" and "How do you spell couch?" I also took pictures....Enjoy!

{Simplicity}

{Fabulous Friday}

{Shoot Edit Submit}

Have a great week...thanks for looking!

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-07T21:37:00.003-06:00

Better late than never, right? Even though Halloween has come and gone I finally got my "pumpkin patch" pictures together. It was a cool day and we made our trip late in the afternoon the Saturday before Halloween. Russ and I planned on taking the girls and thankfully all the boys wanted to come along too! We did all the fun things you do at the pumpkin patch: hay ride, kettle korn (actually Kendall took it from the other people on the hay ride), cider doughnuts, funnel cakes, games, rides, and of course we picked pumpkins! Who knew they would only be 2 for $5. Yes, they even have sales on pumpkins.

June and her pick.

Russ had to check the Iowa score...go Hawks!

Russ and his girl (one of his girls:)

Max and his pick and a reluctant picture...you will notice no pictures of Jake today.

My self portrait, holding Kendall and the camera!

Love this shot and the one below.

Kendall screams blue pea coat...fits her personality perfectly:)

Junie waits to get going with her pick of the day.

The crew...above and below.

We had a nice afternoon, a little cold for my liking, but nice. I was so glad the boys wanted to come with. They had fun helping the girls and I think they really enjoyed picking pumpkins too (don't tell anyone). Kendall had a day of firsts....first pumpkin, first kettle korn, first jumpy, first hayride. I had a great day to. I love seeing these five people together.....Russ too:)

{365} October 29th through November 4th

2011-11-05T22:11:00.003-05:00

Whew, I actually got this post up! It has been a week since I was able to post anything...to say it has been a little crazy around here would be an understatement. Remember how the girls were sick? Well Russ and I were next. Add in a dose of real life and you get no post for a week. I think next week will be the same. I barely got all of my shots this week, but pulled it off. My favorite of the week is Kendall at the pumpkin patch, hopefully you will get to see more of those someday.... You can see my originals HERE.

Hope you had a great week!

{365} October 22nd through October 28th

2011-10-28T22:04:00.003-05:00

Wow, it has been one of those weeks. Two sick girls, lots to do but it seems as if nothing got done...have you ever had one of those weeks? The girls are starting to feel better and thankfully no one else has become sick...yet:) Hope you all had a great week and are ready for the Halloween festivities.....

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting, you can see my individual shots HERE!

June and Jake....

2011-10-25T08:58:00.006-05:00

You will be seeing more of this series as time passes and as I have time to edit. This is part of our annual Christmas card series. I just love this one of June and Jake. I hope they can always be this close.

Happy Tuesday!

{365} October 15th through 21st

2011-10-22T09:17:00.002-05:00

Another week has passed us by and the weather is changing...not to my liking I may add (I am a Summer girl at heart). We had another good but busy week and are trying to enjoy the last warm days of the season. Hope you are too! You can see my individual shots HERE.

Have a great weekend!

Candy Corn and Carmel Apples....

2011-10-19T13:05:00.005-05:00

You may remember my "Apple Cider Doughnut" post. I had so much fun with that one I thought I would give fall snacks another try. I have to tell you my kids are loving these posts because all the goodies are theirs when I am done....the dentist like them too:) Now all I need to do is work in a bribe or too so I can get some photos of the boys. Actually, this is a dreaded weekend at our house (by the boys). It is Christmas card weekend, maybe I will stock up on really good snacks, full stomachs will hopefully make for a successful shoot, hopefully. Okay, now on to...

{Candy Corn and Carmel Apples}

{LEM}

{Shades of Autumn}

{Fabulous Friday}

What do you think? What are your favorite fall snacks?

Now to switch gears a little. Jaymi at Live, Love, Travel, started a photo tip link up and I though I might join in this week. Although I am far from an expert I thought I might share my thoughts on vignettes and why I like to photograph vignettes. This series was a perfect one to share....

vignette:(vĭn-yĕt')
n.

A decorative design placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter of a book or along the border of a page.
An unbordered picture, often a portrait, that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges.
1. A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.
2. A short scene or incident, as from a movie.

source: Answer.com

I usually start with a group of individual items that have a similar theme as you can see above. After arranging them....I start shooting. Why do I do this you ask? A few reasons. Setting up a vignette gives me a great way to practice different aspects of photography that I can't always practice when taking snap shots of the kids. For example, camera angle, manual/selective focus, exposure, composition, lighting, etc. and when I am done there is always the editing. Why else, you might ask? I do use my still life photography to make note cards that I love to give as personal gifts. Mpix has a great line of print products to help you create fun stuff with your pictures.

There you have it...photos and a tip. Enjoy the rest of the week. See you this weekend with my weekly {365}.

Apple Orchard Snapshots

2011-10-18T06:31:00.003-05:00

June's preschool had there annual trip to the apple orchard. I was so glad to have lovely weather this year (last year it was 40 degrees, rainy, and Kendall was strapped to me in a baby carrier and snowsuit). Although, there were times I wished Kendall was strapped to me on this day we all had lots of fun. We started our day on the playground, had an informational movie/talk in a tepee, picked apples, ate apple cider doughnuts, then of course more play time. I had hoped to get some really nice portrait shots of the girls at the end of the day....you will see how that turned out. LOL. However, it was a fun day and I love spending time with my two girls (who would have ever thought I could say "my two girls":). Enjoy.

Kendall enjoying the playground.

June and her 1st bag of apples.

Kendall and her bag of apples.

Did you know the number of seeds in an apple represents the number of times the apple blossom was pollinated?

You will notice more pictures of Kendall than June. June was enjoying time with her friends, if you have visited before you know Kendall is a bit of a wild child, which left me on Kendall duty. The definition of Kendall duty: keep small girl from danger and trouble. Look below, she is heading straight for danger!

Look, even a picture of me..me and my two girls!

Yes, I let some one hold the Nikon:)

Now to the perfect photo shoot in the apple orchard....it is times like these I wonder if I can ever take pictures professionally. The setting....

The girls....

Kendall more interested in picking rotten apples off the ground and of course chewing on them...

The look from June, "Are you really making us do this today?"

So I decided the pumpkins were a better choice!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Thanks for looking.

I Heart Faces...Tickled Pink

2011-10-17T21:18:00.004-05:00

As soon as I saw the theme this week I knew what picture I wanted to use for "Tickled Pink".....

The "pink" theme is in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness and all of those who have been touched by this disease. One of my dearest friends and my mother-in-law are both survivors and they are both inspirational.

Happy Birthday Jake

2011-10-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

Today is Jake's Birthday. It is day three of our Birthday celebration, some how they always last longer than a day...

Jake is the middle boy in our family of five, he looks fabulous in orange, his favorite football team is the Bears, he plays the trombone, he runs cross country and track, he wants to play Lacrosse someday, his favorite Birthday cake is double chocolate with candy corn, he is smart, he is kind hearted, and he is funny, really funny. So here is to Jake, we love you bud....have a fabulous Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jake!

{365} October 8th through the 14th

2011-10-15T14:04:00.002-05:00

Here we are well into October...can't believe it. I have lots of pictures to share but not a lot of time to share them, hopefully I will get some free time soon. You can see my individual shots HERE.

Have a great weekend!

A touch of yellow

2011-10-13T07:34:00.003-05:00

Fall is in the air, the colors are changing, and I am trying to ready myself for the long Winter ahead. Have I mentioned I am a Summer girl? Here is a touch of yellow for you as our season changes.....

{Fabulous Friday}

{Shades of Autumn}

Hope you all have a lovely weekend....ours is sure to be a busy one, again!

Favorite Fall Treat

2011-10-10T16:02:00.004-05:00

So here they are...Apple Cider Doughnuts, one of our very favorite fall snacks. Can you smell them, warm and sweet with a cold, tall glass of milk? They don't last long at our house. Hope you enjoy!

{LEM} {Simplicity}

These goodies are from a local farm that we try to visit often throughout the year. The girls and I stopped by to pick up some doughnuts for an after school treat. June was a good sport waiting patiently to eat while I took pictures. Of course the boys were excited when they came home from school....glad they were not home during the shoot, you would be looking at crumbs! Although I did not make these tasty treats I did find a great recipe for you from Food Network. YUM!

Thanks for the visit!

{365} October 1st through October 7th

2011-10-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks I really had a hard time keeping up with the {365}. This week I tried to have a little more fun! I hope you all had a good week. You can see my individual shots HERE. As always, thanks for looking.

Day turns to Night

2011-10-06T06:26:00.003-05:00

A few months back I had the privilege of taking Kent Weakley's Night Photography Class thanks to Darcy at My 3 Boybarians. Until then I had never thought much about taking pictures at night. Since then I have enjoyed branching out and trying new things with my camera at night. Last week the sky here was brilliant and Russ gave me some kid free time to take some shots...here are the results.

f/8, iso -100, exposure 1/4 sec.
{Fabulous Friday}

f/8, iso -100, exposure 1/4 sec.

f/8, iso -100, exposure 0.8 sec

f/8, iso -100, exposure 1/4 sec.

f/8, iso -100, exposure 0.8 sec.

f/8, iso -100, exposure 0.8 sec.

I thought I would also include a couple of great photography sources that I like to visit. Cambridge in Colour and The Photographers Ephemeris. Hope you have a great weekend and as always thanks for looking.

Pink

2011-10-04T06:09:00.003-05:00

Some of you might remember when I bought this chair. I was so excited to have a new prop, truth be told I could not wait to put this pink and orange skirt with this chair....I have been waiting. Yesterday the weather was beautiful and June was up for a little picture taking, thanks June! Although I had envisioned this photo shoot in the grassy prairies with clouds in the sky...I live in the real world with 5 kids, so nap time and the back yard had to do. LOL I love to take pictures, however, I love to take pictures of June, it just makes me happy:)

{simplicity}{LEM}

{365} September 24th through September 30th

2011-10-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

It was a cool and rainy week here, I do mean rainy. The only upside...4 rainbows. I actually saw 4, but there could have been more, rainy, sunny, rainy, sunny, you get the picture. Thankful for the double rainbow, otherwise my picture that day was a wet screen. LOL. Sad but true. You can see my individual shots HERE. Thanks for looking.

Have a great weekend!

Rings and flowers

2011-09-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

You may remember a few weeks ago when I had the honor of photographing my cousin Chris and his beautiful fiance Lindsey....well this past Saturday was their big day. The weather threatened of rain, but in the end the day turned out lovely. June had a big day too, she was the "flower girl". I did not know how this was going to work out. Well it worked out just fine...whew! Did I mention she had a partner in crime? Yes, a ring bearer! The two of them hit it off just great. They were like peas and carrots. Here are some of my favorite shots of these two sweeties.

June loved her dress and her basket...if you notice she had some sorta curtsy thing going on with her dress, she did it all day long. CUTE!

Can you believe this face, look at his eyes....

As you can see Caden and June hit it off.

While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin we had a little free time and had some fun!

With this ring....

No, just kidding....READY!

SET!

JUMP!

Look we're flying!

All good jumps must come to an end. The kids were sweet and had fun jumping and running before the wedding....lucky no grass stains.

I have to say this is my favorite "jump" shot...way to go Caden!

{Fabulous Friday}

Finally the big moment.........

Congratulations Chris and Lindsey!

Boycott

2011-09-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

Boycott. No this is not a post about what product I am giving up or what store I am not visiting. It is simply the girls....the boys decided not to go on our weekend outing. Get it, boy-cott. Okay, I know, don't quit my day job. Russ, June, Kendall, and I went for a visit to the state park. So here they are, of course with Kendall running was involved.

Super cuteness...

More super cuteness....

{sweet shot}

Running....

More running....

Kendall decided to take a rest, right on the path.

......then she decided to eat the path.

Then we have the nature shots.

{lem}

We had a lovely walk. Fall was is the air, a slight chill and a brisk breeze. I know Winter is on it's way.....I hope it takes it's time!

{365} September 17th through the 23rd

2011-09-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Another week has passed us by...you can see my full size shots HERE. As always, thanks for looking!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Gotcha!

2011-09-18T21:28:00.005-05:00

Four years ago today we tucked this sweet baby girl in for the first time....there have been 1460 nights since that miraculous day. Each day with June has been a blessing and we are so grateful that she is our daughter, sister, grand daughter.........

Here is to the day our lives changed for ever, we love you June!

{365} September10th through September 16th

2011-09-17T16:02:00.002-05:00

We had a great week, time to take a few photos...finally! You can check out my individual shots HERE.

Have a great weekend!

Simply Kendall

2011-09-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Why is she always trying to take my picture....I mean, I really don't like that camera!

Maybe if I had something to do while she was taking my picture it would be just a little more fun, I have stuff to do and places to go, like on top of that dresser over there to get the phone and press the buttons.......that is my idea of fun.

{LEM} {Fabulous Friday}

Oh, this is a little better, I might be able to play with this stuff for a while.

Do you think she will care if I put these in my mouth?

Hey, I think she is putting it away. Finally, now I can take a rest, this modeling thing is a lot of work!

{Simply Kendall}

First soccer game

2011-09-13T06:36:00.002-05:00

This week is all about June...first day of preschool, first soccer game, and our four year "Gotcha" day anniversary. We are keeping it all together with lots of busy stuff going on and of course taking care of 3 boys and a baby. June is a great help to me (most of the time) and I love to see this girl happy, so glad she is having such a good week. Here are some highlights of her first game. Like I said on my {365} post, she did not score a goal and she may have not had a great idea of how the game worked, however, she was having a great time!

Here it is...June's first game!

{sweet shot}

This girl makes my heart feel super happy!

First day of school...

2011-09-12T13:03:00.002-05:00

Junie had her first day of school on Friday, she was excited to meet new friends and see her teachers. She got herself ready to go, back pack and all. Of course first day of school is a perfect opportunity to get a few shots....so here she is!

I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to match Kendall and get a few shots of the girls together, surely Kendall could sit still for a few shots....LOL!!! Here are the girls, notice June's death grip on Kendall trying to get her to sit for a few photos. Maybe some day! As far as I am concerned they are stink'n cute still or not.

Happy Monday!

{365} September 3rd through September 9th

2011-09-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Another week goes by....Hope you have a lovely weekend. You can see my original shots HERE!

Labor Day...a trip to the city

2011-09-09T09:17:00.005-05:00

Wow, what a week. I really did not think I was going to get a post up this week. We have lots and lots of fun, exciting, busy, stuff going on around here that is keeping me on my toes and away from the computer! So, that being said, here are the highlights from our trip to the city this past Monday.

This is the farm in the zoo, one of the first things you see when you enter the zoo....

{Fabulous Friday}

a view of the skyline...

the conservatory...one of my favorite spots in the city...

You know how I love the flowers and there are plenty to photograph..

Nothing more fair than an orchid in bloom....

{LEM}

June is always good for a pose or two, but not the boys, any of them....

I have to sneak pictures of the boys from the back...sad I know!

And Kendall, well, also from the back while strapped in...constant motion makes for blurry pictures!

Have a great weekend....thanks for visiting!

"Flaunt your Flowers"

{365} August 27th through September 2nd

2011-09-03T15:17:00.002-05:00

Seems that life is getting in the way of blogging and photography....LOL! Barely kept it going this week, but here it is. Lots of flowers and last minute pictures. You can see the individual shots HERE.

As always, thanks for looking. Hope you are having a great weekend.

Summer Cherries

2011-08-31T07:27:00.002-05:00

Sweet Summer Cherries....end of Summer treat!

Happy Wednesday....thanks for visiting.

{365}...August 20th through August 26th

2011-08-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today is day 200 for me! I am so excited I have made it this far....what a great journey the {365} has been for me. You can see this week's shots HERE.

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend!

Friday flowers and Sweet Baby K....

2011-08-26T07:02:00.003-05:00

Our garden is full of flowers, the veggies have not done to well this year, but the flowers are lovely.

{LEM}

Baby K is lovely too! I am not a newborn kinda gal, however, I love a toddler. Kendall is really coming into her own. She will be 16months next week and although she is keeping me on my toes she is more and more fun everyday. Kendall is talking and repeating words, and is forming quite the little personality. Strong willed is an understatement! I have shared about her affinity for extreme sports and the water...she is never still. Did I mention she does not sleep through the night? I should say most nights. What else can I tell you, she enjoys playing with her toys, but would rather pull my kitchen drawers apart.....I clean them up and she starts over again! She may be a little of a girly, girl too, as I type this post she is carrying a brush and fuzzy pink purse. Her face and smile can melt your heart and the kids (especially the boys) are smitten. There you have it "Our Sweet Baby K".

Here she is enjoying a popsicle one the front porch....she loved it!

{Fabulous Friday}

Have a Great Weekend!

When I grow up...

2011-08-23T15:51:00.002-05:00

"When I grow up....I want to play football and soccer just like my brothers." June
(the brothers do not play football:)

Thankfully today we could just enjoy a tea party. Mom.

{365}...August 13th through August 19th

2011-08-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

I love seeing the week come together in photos...especially when so many of them were not a top priority for the day. However, looking at the pictures really gives me an idea of how my week went. Another reason why I am loving the {365} project! You can see the originals HERE.

Thanks for looking....hope you have a great Saturday!

Chris and Lindsey....sneak peek

2011-08-19T09:02:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday I had the honor of taking engagement pictures for my cousin Chris and his fiance Lindsey. This was my first "engagement" session and I am so glad Chris and Lindsey were up for the challenge. I have to say we had a wonderful morning, both Chris and Lindsey were natural and laid back in front of the camera, which made my job easy. Chris was a great sport....engagement pictures in the morning and a bridal shower in the afternoon. Thanks for letting me share your special day.

{Fabulous Friday}

Isn't she just beautiful!

Chris plays the guitar so we took a few shots with the guitar since playing is such an important part of who he is.

{LEM}

I have lots more for you....now all I need is time to edit, edit, edit!

Have a great weekend!

PS: I would like to give creative credit on my Fabulous Friday shot to Melinda at Melinda Brown Photography.......you are an awesome inspiration!

A Week in Review....

2011-08-14T21:57:00.003-05:00

Whirl wind....it feels like the last week was a whirl wind! Russ was out of town and we had tons of stuff to accomplish around here: ortho appointments, soccer tryouts, lots of car time, etc., etc. You get the idea so I will spare you all of the details and share a few little bits of our life.

I was able to catch up with one of my best friends from high school. We had a great time and I was able to finally meet her kids after 17 years...so hard to believe it took us that long. She has a lovely family and it was so fun to see all of our kids together. Our families are very similar in that there is about a 15 year age gap from our oldest to our youngest. We had ice cream and headed to a park where we spent our time following the little ones and catching up on details. We are so grateful they had time to visit with us on their busy vacation!

June has been all about girl shows lately. What is a girl show you ask? You must be thinking "Barbie", "Dora", or "Ni Hao Kai Lan", right. Well, actually, simply put, a girl show is anything that June wants to watch. This, as you can imagine, has caused a few disagreements among the boys and June. I may have to hire a referee. I hope this phase does not last a theoretical 6 months. I have a theory that every phase lasts about 6 months....just when you think you can't take it any more said phase is replaced by another. I can't wait:)

TJ starts school on Friday. He has been fairly busy with soccer tryouts and sports camps this Summer. He will be a sophomore this year and will be driving in November. I can't wait. I know I will worry (and pray) a lot, however, his busy schedule can surely use an extra driver. I even purchased my first parking spot, yes parking spot. Sophomores can not park on campus so some of the local businesses near school sell parking spots, I was glad to hear all of the money is donated to The Children's Miracle Network.....still can't believe I bought a parking spot!

As for the other boys they have been hanging with friends and having a fairly laid back Summer. They start school in about 9 days and are trying to fit in some running to condition for cross country season. Did I mention Max will be in middle school with Jake. Where does the time go?

As for me I have been up to the usual Mom stuff; cooking, cleaning, mothering, etc. I will share a great website with you that my friend Rebecca told me about. It is called E Mealz....it gives you weekly menus with recipes and a shopping list for the whole week of meals. This was my first week and I really liked it. The meals are family friendly, healthy, and if they are not going to work for your family you can substitute a family fave or tweak their menu just a bit. I also thought the groceries for the week were reasonably priced. I will be trying this for a while, it has been very hard for me to find the time to meal plan and coupon since Kendall was born and I think this is a great option for me. Check it out, E Mealz! On another note, I had a really fun day today. I had the opportunity to take engagement photos for my cousin and his fiance, they were great to work with. They were both so natural in front of the camera....can't wait to share their sneak peek later this week. After pictures we had a little break before their wedding shower...did I mention June is the flower girl? I will let you know how that goes, we talk about, however, since she has never been to a wedding she does not get the concept...hope she's in a good mood that day!

There you have it, our week in review. I might add, though, when I am not doing all that stuff above I have to have eyes in the back of my head. Kendall is training for the X-Games, seriously! Danger girl can be found climbing just about anything, ANYTHING. She also runs faster than all of the boys and flings herself completely under any water she finds. I think extreme sports are in her future and of course a gold medal or two.

Have a great week!

{365}....3 week catch up!

2011-08-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe vacation could throw me so far behind in my weekly {365} posts. So here they are three weeks of {365}. I have had a hard time keeping up lately, but am so glad I have been able to get at least one picture a day. As always, you can see my individual shots HERE.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Where have I been?...A week in review style

2011-08-08T21:33:00.004-05:00

Where have I been? I should say where have we been....we have been at one of our favorite spots.

{The Cabin}

Russ, the kids, and I spent a week catching up on some much needed family time and R&R. We always seem to be busy at home and it was so nice to spend a week with no schedule, no appointments, and no demands. We did a lot of nothing and spent a lot of time doing all the things we love to do at the cabin; boating, fishing, water sports, walks with the girls, feeding the wild life, playing ping pong, telling stories around the campfire, and of course going out to eat at some of our favorite joints.

June loves to fish. She and Russ usually fish after dinner right before dusk. It is so much fun to watch them on the end of the pier. We have the perfect fishing spot. Right next to the chair above you can pull pan fish in hand over fist, in fact June catches fish so fast Russ can not keep up with baiting her hook and taking the fish off....he can't even get a cast off in between. Too bad he does not have a wife that likes worms and fish, he's solo on this one.

The boys spent a lot of time in the water skiing and tubing. TJ has been skiing for a few years, but Jake and Max just got the hang of it this year. They all also love to tube. Russ spent one afternoon trying to knock them off the tube and gave them all some wild rides. This year the boys also spent a lot of time playing ping pong...yes ping pong. When we were at the cabin over the 4th of July a friend gave us an old ping pong table. Let me say it was a big hit. There were many ping pong tournaments in the garage, I have to say it is a lot of fun, June is even learning to serve....a big plastic Winnie the Pooh ball:)

So there you have it, a quick recap of our week. It is now Monday night and back to the grind. The kids go back to school in two weeks and I have lots of stuff to get organized and lots of appointments, activities, shopping, etc. to do before everyone heads back. For those of you doing the same thing the next few weeks I would like to give a shout out to Google Calender. I started using the Google Calender a few years ago and it is a great tool for organizing your time when you have multiple kids in multiple activities. I enter everything on it, activities, meetings, days off, Dr. appointments, sports, birthdays, etc. Best of all you can invite people to view your calender. I of course invited Russ and he can add his trips, dinner meetings, etc. Did I mention you can also print the calender in a day, week, or month format....LOVE it! So do not be surprised if you don't see much of me the next week or so, because the one down fall is all of those dates have to be entered...UGH.

Have a great week!

Pure White

2011-07-29T10:15:00.002-05:00

Pure.

{LEM} {Fabulous Friday}
Simple.

White.

Have a great weekend.!

Summer time favorite

2011-07-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is one of my summer time favorites.....tomato salad fresh from the garden. I can remember a time when I did not like tomatoes, so glad that changed. I am sure many of you have a similar recipe, but here is mine.

{Ingredients}

garden fresh tomatoes...4th of July and Sun Gold in this salad
basil...Sweet Basil and Thai Basil
garlic
crushed sea salt
cracked pepper
olive oil
red wine vinegar

I have no measurements and it is different every time depending on what is available in the garden. I also love to add fresh mozzarella or feta.

Happy Summer!

Great finds....

2011-07-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

So glad to be back! We have had virtually no internet service since a thunderstorm rolled through on Friday morning. Thank you to everyone who has visited while I was out...I appreciate all of the comments and look forward to visiting all of your lovely blogs soon. Now on to "great finds"...

Saturday morning I had an hour to myself and what a great hour it was. I decided I needed a few photography props and went to browse an antique/salvage/garden shop that I had visited quickly earlier in the week. I came home with a chair, a camera, and a vintage tablecloth. The shop has an amazing variety of items and I was even able to take some pictures....Here are some "great finds".

My new/old chair and "Brownie Camera"

....lots of other great things to catch your eye!

{sweet shot}

Happy Tuesday....thanks for looking!

{365} July 16th through July 22nd

2011-07-23T09:51:00.002-05:00

Another week goes by and it was a hot one here...temperatures over 100 degrees! Hope everyone had a great week, looking forward to catching up...our internet is spotty right now due to storms:) You can see my individual shots HERE!

Fast Cars and five kids.....

2011-07-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Fast cars and five kids...I think it would make for a great name for a reality series. Well, maybe not, but it is how I spent my day yesterday. The temperature here has been over 100 degrees the last few days so we have been looking for indoor fun...and we found it. I took the kids to the auto museum and we had a blast. Me included! The air conditioning was on and there was lots of fun stuff to see, but no touching allowed so we worked very hard to keep Kendall contained in her stroller. Good thing, otherwise the pretty, shiny, clean cars would be covered in finger prints and of course face prints! I had a good time taking pictures and the kids were good sports and even let me get a few shots of them.

....remember the Flintstones?

.......Speed Racer? I had the biggest crush on Speed Racer when I was a kid:)

Do all boys want a Corvette?

Taking in the sites.

We had a little fun with mirrors and reflections....lots of reflections!

TJ and Max sat in Mario Andretti's car.

There were so many cars. Cars from movies, cars from TV shows, and cars with personality. Cars from Ghostbusters to Back to the Future and Herbie to our favorite Lightning McQueen.

Heck, even "The King" was there......

....like I said, "lots of reflections". See me in the chrome?

{LEM soft focus of course}

.....and I will leave you with my favorite shot of the week!

{Fabulous Friday} {and then she snapped}

Hope you have a great weekend....Happy Friday!

Wheat

2011-07-19T22:14:00.003-05:00

There is a farm at the end of our road. I have been admiring the wheat field and have not made the time to photograph it. Well today, as I was driving home I noticed it was harvest day. I ran home, grabbed my camera, and went to take a few shots. I noticed the farmer and waited to ask if it was okay to take pictures. As you can see he said yes! We had a lovely conversation and I met a neighbor I hadn't met before. It turns out Max has had a ride in his combine..who knew. LOL

Watering the tree...Kendall style

2011-07-19T09:58:00.004-05:00

Looks like it's going to be a hot one, I should water the tree....

How does this thing work?

Forget about it, I will water by hand.

Hey this watering thing is kinda fun, forget about the tree, I could use a little cool off myself.

{sweet shot}

I am getting a little thirsty here....

This watering thing is way to much work, I am going inside!

Outta here!

I Heart Faces...props

2011-07-18T08:24:00.005-05:00

I haven't participated on I Heart Faces for a long while. However, today is "props" so here is one of my faves. I had to give Kendall this box of animal crackers to keep her busy during our 1 year old photo shoot....

Don't forget to stop by....

PS: You can see the original post HERE. Thanks for the visit!

{365} July 9th through July 15th

2011-07-16T10:51:00.003-05:00

Here is to one more week...you can see my individual shots HERE!

Thanks for looking!

Friday Fun...

2011-07-15T06:43:00.002-05:00

Not a big photo week around here, that being said here are my Friday picks. Since we just came home from the cabin I have lots of "critter" pictures. I had a hard time deciding but finally chose the dragon fly...

{lazy, crazy, summer}

....and for my favorite shot of the week...{Soybeans}! A little boring I know, hopefully next week will be a little more inspiring. Hopefully. LOL

{LEM} {Fabulous Friday}

Hope you have a great weekend....thanks for the visit.

More vacation snapshots...water

2011-07-14T07:40:00.002-05:00

Did I mention this one has a plan? She is always on a mission, ALWAYS! Did I mention she loves the water and is on a mission when water is near? Well, she does and she is, which makes it very challenging when you are surrounded by water. Kendall saw the water and just kept going, clothes, swimsuit, pajamas, it did not matter, in she went. Not only in, she would just keep walking until the water was over her head. Did I mention she loves the water?

TJ and Russ spent a lot of time keeping the girls busy in the water, thankfully cause' although I like it hot, I am not much of a water girl. I like to sit next to it, but not so much in it:)

June had a big water week too. She tubed for the first time and swam in the middle of the lake with the boys off the back of the boat. This was a big deal because when we were packing for the trip she did not want to bring her swimsuit. Why you ask....fish! However, she got over the fish and spent the first three days in the water, until, a certain 11 year old pushed her off the boat! Brothers! Hopefully, June will be ready to jump back in when we head back to the cabin in a few weeks, hopefully!

For the rest of the crowd lots and lots of water fun...even Russ hit the water, and when he did he realized we are not getting any younger. LOL

Hope you are having a wonderful summer!

4th of July snapshots....

2011-07-12T20:46:00.005-05:00

For as long as I can remember I have spent the 4th of July at the cabin, the kids too, it is something we look forward to every year. Although the day is full of tradition, this was a year of firsts for us. Last year Kendall was only a few weeks old so this year was all new to her. Let me say that she has an agenda, she is a girl who know what she wants (check out the picture of her walking below:) Anyway, that being said we start our day with a boat parade. This year June helped the boys decorate the boat and floated along for the parade. While we waited I took a few shots of Kendall...

Kendall waited on the pier and waved her flags. Actually she waved her flags for 0.1 second and my Mom chased her the rest of the time...thanks Mom!

{sweet shot}

And now the parade....Everyone decorates their boats, some play patriotic music, some people where Uncle Sam hats, and some (ahem) hand out candy and spray unsuspecting viewers with water guns.

After the boat parade and a bit of lunch it is off to town for the "real" parade...floats, candy, music, old friends, and lots of red, white, and, blue. Did I mention noise? This is one noisy parade, luckily Kendall did not mind at all!

(note: TJ is not drinking beer, it just happens to be in the cup holder next to him:)

June brought home the mother load of candy. I think everyone on our side of the street picked up candy for her bag, we could not even zip the zip lock. Our dentist would have been seeing a lot of us if we hadn't accidentally, on purpose, left the bag at the cabin. Glad June can't read yet, she keeps asking if Nannie and Poppie found her candy yet:)

Kendall enjoyed her first real parade, she took the heat, noise, and commotion in stride. Her sweet face and personality made the day that much more special.

After the parade we head to the park for games and the trout pond. For some reason the trout pond is a big deal....a whole bunch of kids and adults standing around a hole in the ground with bamboo poles trying to hook a trout who is bunched together with other trout trying to avoid the hook....like I said I don't get it. However, the kids love it. June tried to hook one for the first time this year with no luck. The big trout fisherman, Jake! I should mention that all proceeds benefit the local fire department, so it is a worthy cause.

Finally on to dinner and then back to the cabin. Most years we head out to the local fire works spectacular, but this year we played around the cabin. You can see our night in the post below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Night....

2011-07-10T21:30:00.004-05:00

While on vacation last week I had time to take some pictures at night. While the kids played around the fire I was able to spend some time with my camera. Normally at this time of night I am putting little ones to bed and getting ready for the next day....oh how I love vacation. We had a very busy Fourth of July (I have more pictures to follow) and after dinner we decided not to pack of the crowd for fireworks. We were not disappointed...the evening was lovely, beautiful sky, fireworks on the lake, and sparklers....just right.

{blue hour}

{Fabulous Friday} {Favorite Fridays}
This was my fave of the week!

{fireworks}

{sparklers}

This was so much fun, the kids(Russ included} twirled and swirled their sparklers while I took pictures. They loved to look at their creations after each attempt!

{The Moon}

Love taking pictures of the moon!

{365}..June 25th through July 8th

2011-07-09T21:45:00.002-05:00

Back to the blog! We have been out of town so I am catching up on my {365}. Hope everyone had an excellent holiday week. You can see my individual shots HERE. Look forward to catching up with everyone during the week.

Red, White, and Blue.........

2011-07-01T06:38:00.003-05:00

Here is a little.....

{Red}

{White}

{and Blue}

{FF} {LEM}

........to start your Fourth of July weekend.

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Black Bean Salad

2011-06-30T06:31:00.003-05:00

{Black Bean Salad}

{ingredients}

2 15 ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
3 ears fresh corn on the cob, cooked and kernels removed
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons minced shallot
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 Haas avocados diced

{directions}

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving add avocados and toss gently. Garnish with cilantro. Serve room temperature.

A few months back while we were visiting my dear friend Rebecca, she made a delicious bean salad. This week I had to have bean salad and went on a search. I found the one I just shared, not only did I find the black bean recipe I found Once Upon a Chef....a place I plan on visiting again and again. I served this with Cilantro Citrus Chicken and roasted potatoes. This would make an excellent addition to your July 4th cookout.

Enjoy!

original source: Once Upon a Chef

Click it up...favorite shot from June

2011-06-29T08:34:00.002-05:00

Although I took a lot of pictures of June in June, I am just drawn to this one. One of my faves. You can see the other shots from this day HERE.

Can I photoshop my kitchen floor?

2011-06-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Can I photoshop my floor? Not because it has rice puffs all over it, but because it is a little worn. As I looked at these pictures (as I lay on the floor taking theses pictures) I thought, wow, how nice would it be if we could just photo shop everything we didn't like or everything that needed just a little boost...my floor could use a little TLC, I will put it on my list, as well as learning to photoshop my house (closets included:)

Okay, enough of that....Kendall figured out how to get the lid off of the rice puffs today. Instead of stopping her, I watched and grabbed the camera. Perhaps if she was the first child I may have stopped her, but the girl was apparently hungry so I let her have at it.....

{sweet shot}

Happiness is learning something new....here is to being the fifth child!

Corn Salsa

2011-06-27T14:17:00.002-05:00

{Corn Salsa}

{ingredients}

2 cans Mexicorn (Green Giant)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup chopped jalapeno (jar)
8oz mayo
8oz sour cream
4oz diced pimento (jar)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon accent powder
(I do not add the garlic or accent)

Mix all ingredients, chill, serve with your favorite tortilla chips!

This is a favorite around my house, year round, and it is always a winner at parties. Enjoy.

original source: my friend Diana, from her friend etc....this one has been around the block:)

{365} June 18th through June 24th

2011-06-25T07:10:00.002-05:00

Blogging from my Mom's house this morning! We enjoyed another cold and cool summer day visiting with the grandparents. Thankfully today is looking a little better around here. You can see my individual shots for the week HERE. Thanks for the visit.

Have a great weekend!

...and Inspire Happiness Daily

Friday Fun...

2011-06-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Don't let the title fool you...not a lot of photographic fun at my house this week. Rainy days, lots of driving, and a general lack of creativity kept the camera activity low. I was looking forward to going to our local farm to do some strawberry picking with the kids, well for the same reasons listed above it did not happen....so I decided to do something out of the ordinary for me. I went into the archives to post a picture (I am really living on the wild side). I might add, however, it is one of my favorite pictures. This baby was take with my point and shoot a few years ago at the same farm I planned on picking berries at. This pick....pumpkins. How cute is that little Junie.

{Farm}

{LEM}

{Yellow}

{crazy days} {Fabulous Friday} {favorite photo}

I just loved these daisies. I did take this shot this week. I was investigating a spot for some upcoming photo shoots and could not pass them up. Daisies always make me smile. Thanks for the visit.

Have a great weekend!

No words necessary.........

2011-06-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Just a little June

2011-06-21T06:00:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is to take pictures of June. We have so many great conversations when I am taking pictures. She just talks and I just follow her around the yard and snap. She makes me laugh and she makes me smile. I know as time passes I will not remember all of the words we share, but the time we spend together will be forever etched on my heart....here is just a little June.

{sweet shot}

{Happy Monday}

Hope your week is going well....Thanks for the visit!

{365} June 11th through June 17th

2011-06-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

Wow...three weeks into Summer around here! We are enjoying some free time and still hoping for some real Summer weather:) You can see all of my individual shots HERE.

Have a great weekend and thanks for the visit!