we went up for the weekend to shoot a GOOOOORGEOUS wedding at this winery.  we obviously love our kids but gosh… some time away is always SO nice. i think it should be mandatory that every couple go away for one weekend every few months! 🙂 it was our first time leaving elsie overnight, for two nights…. i am happy to report that she did a great job. i was so relieved! (and so was grandma!) 🙂 🙂 🙂

strawberries, noodles, oranges…these are a few of her favorite things! (pics taken right after lunch today)

and this from the other night.. SO rare to get all 4 in one photo. so yeah, they look pretty crazy but i’ll take it since they are all t o g e t h e r. 🙂 they are crazy, CRAZY I TELL YOU!

this month i had the pleasure of scrapping some layouts for label tulip. i fell in love with everything they picked out- such cute stuff… LOOOVE the adorable stamps that cindee designed, too! i seriously love getting kits in the mail. because i scrap upstairs, it’s away from the family room… and i like being able to carry my ONE little box of stuff downstairs with me.. and scrap where all the action’s at. 🙂

and this little bookie for my mama who is doing some major babysitting for us lately : )

early morning sun on her face as we drove the kids to school. love it when i have my camera nearby!

today was the bear parade. so cute.. seems like just yesterday cam was in 1st grade doing the same thing.. and caleb was on the sidelines watching. i know i’ll say the same thing in a few years when els does it. except there won’t be anyone on the sideline… maybe a dog. lol

absolutely love this rascal. her new thing. pulling one arm out of her long sleeves ala flashdance (but just not at home, she wants to do this in public too, eeek!)…climbing on the kitchen counter…turning the sink on and filling up cups and sponges with water and soaking everything. nice! (not) ahhhh the joys of toddlerhood!
tomorrow we have a wedding and i am sick. hmph. headache disappearance-happy, joyful smiles and spirits much needed on my part. i expect to be magically cured in the morning. 🙂

have a great weekend!

-she started calling me mimi
-she developed a fascination with spiderman (thanks big brothers) we actually do have a leftover spidey costume… maybe we’ll stick her in it for halloween! ha!
-she points out pumpkins…and right now they are everywhere, so that’s lots of pointing
-she started to say, ‘i sowweee!’– TOTALLY OUR favorite phrase now 🙂
-she has perfected her circle/swirl drawings and writes them on every scrap paper she can find
-she had her first fever reaction to her immunizations
-she’s 21 lbs.

the boys at a restaurant on sunday… proof that the good entertainment doesn’t have to be toys– they were highly amused with these rubber bands for a long time!

thank you for all your kind comments on new biz… chris and i are touched by your support! 🙂

a few years ago, a friend asked if I’d be interested in shooting his brothers wedding. i’d taken pictures of his beautiful daughter, and for some reason he thought me qualified to shoot grownups…in fancy clothes…on the most important day of their lives…bolstered by his confidence in me, and a healthy dose of nievete, I agreed to take the job, and brought chris along for good measure. that night, chris and i drove home with the greatest kind of buzz (and no, we didn’t partake of the champagne); we’d spent eight hours being creative, around two beautiful people who were madly in love, and found it to be anything but work. sure, our feet were tired, but at the end of the day it felt much more like a date than a job. best of all, the couple loved the pictures! so when the next call came, we didn’t hesitate to jump at the chance to do it again…and then again….and again…..
after a couple years, a ton of homework, some upgraded equipment, much practice, and many great “dates,”… we’re making it official. come check it out.

this isn’t going to take over chris’ day job and i am definitely NOT going to give up scrapbooking. i love it way too much, i am far too addicted. but in one of lifes great little happy accidents, I guess we can add wedding photographers to the list of things we happen to do and love.

was so giddy to get this kit in the mail the other day! it’s tara’s at cocoa daisy.  i went to find a picture of me and hub and randomly pulled this out.. (my photos aren’t in any order whatsoever-what’s new? nothing in my scrap area is) from 1999! i only had a little time to scrap but her kit made it so easy because there are so many cute things, you don’t even have to think if it’s going to work or not, it just does. 🙂

and other product thoughts:
-i got to use some of this cute stuff today and i love it! perfect for the non sewer like myself! 
-excited to use some of this stuff! especially some of the albums!
–THis  is probably one of my favorite papers out there right now. looovely! 
–you might know that i love diecuts and i was so happy to see this release  from them. one of my all time favorite die cut people. 🙂   these guys are a close second. 🙂
–also love this release too 🙂 
–also a new love!
–cooooool! 🙂
-if i were a crafty-make-things-for-my-children’s-classes kinda person, i would come up with something brilliant with this cool kit.i can’t even get their costumes ready till the last minute! 🙂

ok that’s it. 🙂
have a good weekend! we will- it’s 3 days! 🙂

daddy and i snuck away with els for a few hours to the zoo—we had gorgeous weather and els is in an animal phase- totally enamored with them! particularly dogs, but other moving animals will do. we purposely didn’t bring the camera but managed to snap some pics with chris’ new phone. 🙂 not too bad!
me… before the zoo trek…. filling up on some yummy, much needed coffee. 🙂

lovely day… hooky isn’t such a bad thing. 🙂 only when we do it, of course. 🙂

thanks for all the kind comments on the layouts. so sweet of you all!

some layouts for KI:

these are some old pics of kira and the challenge was to scrap a color and i haaaad to scrap our little soleil’s (that’s her middle name) first color word. 🙂

my layouts for 2peas- the theme is memorabilia:

apparently i have a thing with suns with kira…you know, since her name is kira soleil. 🙂

a layout i did at the oasis crop.. this was the last one i did that night before i called it quits.

here’s a layout i did for linda:

and the one she did for me 🙂

and had to share this pic too 🙂
chris entered a contest at blu domain and it was one of their favorites! ha!

first up! on friday, caleb got an award for ‘respect’ in his class. 🙂 so proud of the guy!

we finally decided to get kira a phone. we surprised her by having her cool uncle call her and tell her that the phone she answered was now hers!!! clever chris.. totally his idea. yeah, we can be pretty cool parents sometimes. 🙂 SOMETIMES. 🙂

and they had some bonding time yesterday.

i went to the oasis for the scrap pink event they held. my 2nd ever crop. totally fun! i like that 6 years after i got into this hobby, i am just now going to things like this. ha!

and i got to sit with a cool gal, linda.

and eat sprinkles cupcakes. yes, they were good.. but i will remain faithful to my local cupcakery, dots.  🙂 and cindy,  –who’s totally cute adorable baby girl is the same age as els. so nice to sit and chat with you guys. and of course, i missed you, jamie.  thanks for splitting your spot with me. 🙂 i did 6 layouts in about 6 hours. not bad! and they were all for fun! i’ll post them later.