Senior Shoot for Meg

Had a ton of fun shooting Meg's senior pictures. 

 She is gorgeous and oh-so-sweet! 

We took a ton - because that's how I do things.

These are some of my favs.

Thanks Meg for the fun night.

So glad you like them.

Valentine Photoshoot with the Little

I love that she loves a photo Valentine.  We have so much on our plate this afternoon we ran out in the early morning light and snapped a few options.  Then she was off to school.  Hope she likes her Valentine as much as I do.  Sweet, simple and oh so easy. (It's the 1st one at the top)

InstaFriday

 

Today is Insta-Friday!

Where I post pictures from the week that I captured from my phone.

Little everyday tidbits that come up that aren't planned.

Also, my sweet Aunt doesn't have instagram so this way she can stay up-to-date. ♥

I like to decorate my mantle for the different holidays. 

 It makes it seem less overwhelming to only have to decorate a small space.  

And my kids think I'm the greatest even though I'm cheating with very little effort.

 Last year I was in my favorite thrift store and I found the little drummer boy above.  

Is he not perfect?  I couldn't believe my luck!  

And he was all of $2.95

The magnet board is hanging over my couch.  It holds a lot of different things throughout the year.  

I just took all the graduation announcements off and put up the 4th of July freebie from pinterest.  

If you click HERE it will take you to endless 4th of July Printables.  

The space picture was painted with spray paint by Cassidy in art class.  It's pretty amazing.

After swimming all morning on Monday we took the kids to Iceburg

 for the biggest milkshakes you have ever seen!  

Word to the wise, only order the mini or you may be in trouble. 

 I love that our family lives close and that my kids can grow up near cousins. 

Our chickens are laying everyday.

We get lucky a lot with double yokers.

on Instagram you can click on #iseefaces

and it will show the most amazing photo's that people post of random everyday things with faces.

Try it.  You will be amazed.  

I did that with this photo because I saw a face.  

You can also click HERE on your computer to get a glimpse of some good ones.

Yesterday I was catching up on some computer work and it was Just Miss Abby at home.  

So she crafted and I worked and it was a win-win.

This is what she made.

Gumball necklaces.  

She used a small screwdriver to make the holes then used a large needle to feed the ribbon through.

She made several in different colors.  My favorite was the red, white & blue.

  

Go ahead join in.  

Go post your instapics over on Life Rearranged and make some new friends while your at it.

p.s. my instagram page is private but I would love to have you follow me.  

Don't be shy.  Follow me and I'll let you in. 

InstaFriday

Since I haven't blogged in a long while I thought I'd play catch up to what we have been up to with InstaFriday.  Jeannett over at Life Rearranged does a weekly re-cap of her week through Instagram and encourages others to follow.  It's a fun way to post your weekly favorite InstaPhotos and see what others are up to and quite possibly make some new InstaFriends.

The weather has warmed up and night swimming has become a must.  

91 degrees @ 8:15pm
It's the only way to cool off after a hot summer day. 

This Abby girl of mine is always got something in the works.  

She's a busy bee with a full social calendar.

1) London & Abby as unicorns

2) Brittley and Abby in summer colors

3) Miss Amberly as a Southern Belle

4) Going to school

A little recap on what I've been doing:
1) Ragnar - funnest thing ever!
2) My sweetie and I
3) Before and after my hair appointment
4) A baby picture of me to prove to my brother that his little guy has my hair curl. (truth)

My #1 Miss Cassidy who will NEVER let me take her pictures was nice to me and even smiled.
Eating at Rubio's our family's favorite. (minus Abby who hates Mexican food - GASP!)

So head on over to  Life Rearranged to read and post your own InstaPics.

Senior Pictures for Sariah

I dabble in photography.  I say dabble because it's a hobby of mine not a profession. I have taken a few classes over the years for the sole purpose of taking decent pictures of my kids and record our daily lives here on the blog.  I love taking individual shots of people.  I love, love, love having that blurred background, making the person POP right out of the shot.  It's my favorite.

I felt honored when my niece Sariah asked me to take her senior pictures.  It took us months and months to get our schedules to line up (she's quite the popular/busy girl!) but we had so much fun getting these great shots!  She's beautiful inside and out, sweet, kind hearted, very, very smart, giving of her time and talents and most of all the BEST big sister to her six younger brothers and an amazing example to all those around her.
 Love you Sariah ♥

Message me and I'll let you in on her darling dress.  

She lucked out finding it and it was perfect for her pictures.

That smile! It's so contagious!

This girl is an amazing volleyball player.  Like seriously.....she's GOOD!

Because of her my girls are following in her footsteps and loving playing volleyball. 

She's off to collage and I am so excited for her and to see where life takes her on her new adventure.

The German Baby

Some friends of ours have five children.  Their baby has been nicknamed "The German".  He even has his own hashtag on Instagrm!  His Dad wanted to do a little photoshoot for his wife for mothers day and to document his 3rd birthday.  I suggested we use the vintage lederhosen I happen to have in my ceder chest at home.  All my brothers wore it when they were little because my Mom was into embracing our heritage.

So after much coaxing and bribing we got "The German" into the lederhosen for his 3rd Birthday pictures.

*He was excited that he was wearing a reindeer.*

 

Adorable!  He has my heart.  Those big blue eyes.  I could die from the cuteness.

Happy Mothers Day Meg!

Happy Valentine's Day

We did a little impromptu photo shoot so

I could make Amberly's Valentine cards for school. 

She was so cute and came up with the idea of 

I ♥ U all by herself.  

She told me what poses she wanted and planned out what she was going to wear.  

It was the easiest photo shoot ever!

I can't get over how my baby is no longer a baby.

Where did the time go?  Do I sound like an old lady?

I'm not...it's just that yesterday she was running around learning how to walk and 

saying things like "bustard" and "skam-ich".

Now she's planning out her Valentine cards and playing volleyball and making up nicknames for the boys she likes so they don't know who her and her friends are talking about.

 

I sure love this girl and am so lucky to call her mine.  

Happy Valentines Day from our house to yours ♥

P.S. Cassidy was too old and cool to have Valentines cards this year. (teenagers - wink)

Get Ready for the Travel Bug

I have been wanting to get out of this heat like you can not imagine!
Oh it's been a hot, humid, sticky August and September doesn't look like it's going to get any better.
I saw this and thought to myself.....
"would anyone notice if I just ran away?"
of course they would, so I won't run..I will just dream...of going somewhere, anywhere, other than here.

I Have a New Love

My cousin Amy is letting me have this little angel for a few hours once a week.  Can I just tell you how fun it is to have her over?  She's so sweet and about the cutest thing on the planet.  I had so much fun having her all to myself.  My girls were at school and were so mad at me that Sara came over while they were gone.  HA!  Sometimes a girl needs to have a friend over even if that friend is two!

Yep.....didn't I tell you?  Pretty darn cute!  

And she does have the most beautiful name......

Sara Jane...

hmmm sounds familiar....

maybe like........

Cara Jane

(that's my name by the way - wink)

 

 She loved Amberly's room.  The doll house, baby stroller and she found her stash of balloons.  It was so funny!  She tried and tried to blow up the little balloons but then went and found one already blown up and pretended she did it.  Pretty smart for a two year old!

Thanks Amy, I loved having her and hope I get to have a play date again next week!

Storm Chasers

We get some pretty amazing storms here in the Valley of the Sun.  It only rains about 8 inches a year which means we don't have many rainy days.  And when it rains it pours!  August is my favorite because that's usually when we get big, beautiful, white puffy clouds and.....rain. 

I took this picture coming back from Cali.  We went right through the storm then stopped for something to drink and watched the storm roll towards us,  It was so cool how we could see the rain move across the desert.  We just sat in our car watching the storm we usually can't see because we are in the middle of it.