25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 5

Day 5 photo - My front door. I had a client who wanted to send out a Christmas card with her family photo on one side and on the other side a door with a wreath on it. So, I photographed my front door and wreath and added the poem she wanted to include.

I designed the rusty red paper myself and found these two incredible fonts that work so beautifully together. Hope you enjoy the poem. Click on the image below to see it larger.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 4

So here it is. Now you can see what I meant. I bought the pearl garland at Michael's about 5 years ago. I didn't use it around the sleigh until last year. And it's one of those things that happened quite by accident. I tossed the garland on the table next to the sleigh. It's one of those pleasant coincidences like using the wrong keyboard shortcut in photoshop and a whole new incredible look is created. Well, it's great as long as you remember how you did it.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 3

This is another favorite decoration of mine. My mom bought it for me. I surrounded it with a pearl garland which makes the sleigh look like it's kicking up snow. I might have to post a different photo from another angle so you can see what I mean. The deer is frosted plastic and the antlers are really cool - they're magnetic - so no worries about them breaking off. The sleigh is the only part that is glass. I'v had this for about 8 years now. Take care of your decorations and they'll last a lifetime or longer.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 2

These are the first ornaments we purchased for our tree and the only ornaments we purchased our first Christmas together. Tyler and I were walking through Dillards and saw these. His eyes lit up and I loved them too. Just our style. They are all cracked now and we have to hot glue the tops back on several each year but I can't get rid of them and there is no way to replace them. Do you have a sentimental attachment to any of your Christmas ornaments? What is your fondest memory?

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 1

This is the first Christmas decoration Tyler bought for me. It is a very simple glass nativity set with Mary, Joseph, & the Christ child along with the three wise men. It's been 10 years now and I still love bringing this out and displaying it. I love sentimental stuff! Of course I also have a Willow Tree nativity which I love.

I still haven't purchased anything for my children for Christmas. Need to get on the ball with that. I did finally finish the scrapbook pages for my in-laws and I have several done for my parents and siblings.

Some of my friends do the whole 4 gifts thing: something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.

Some of them buy only three gifts for their children because the Savior received 3 gifts from the wise men.

Some of them go all out.

One of them makes sure that her children get 2 gifts from Santa and if they have more money they can get more gifts but if they are struggling then they only get gifts from Santa.

I haven't decided what I am going to do other than I want to keep it simple. A few years ago I bought a large nativity set and display it in the living room. That made all of the difference in the world for me.

How do you handle the whole gift exchange idea? I'd love your input.

LOVE

Just a couple of days ago I was feeling the stress of a sudden venue change for Thanksgiving day. My sister's kids were sick and so everyone would be heading to my house sans sick kids. I sat down in my living room chair and looked over at my cabinets to see this. A bunch of my larger paper clips bent all out of shape. I took a deep breath and moved on. Ignoring the paper clip mess.

The very next day I walked over by my cabinets in the living room and from a different angle saw this:

It was no longer a mess but a message. She wanted me to see that she loved me. Yesterday we went on a walk between movies. We were enjoying a lazy Friday and movie marathon. We've never done that before but I liked it. On our walk she expressed her concerns about her last three weeks at school. She'd fallen on the black top on her way to the playground, been kicked in the head by a mean boy, and punched in the face by another mean boy (he was on a punching spree and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time - I guess that is what going postal is in elementary school). She had been struggling to enjoy school - who can blame her - recess is an very important part of the day. By then end of our long walk up the gravel road near our home she began to smile again. She remembered why she liked school and how to concentrate on that instead of all the crap. Hmmm, a lesson I learn and relearn all of the time. Then she reached down and picked up a rock. "Look Mom, it's a heart!" And then she quickly knelt down and picked up another one. "Look Mom, another one." I began to look around. They were everywhere. How many times have I walked up that gravel road? How many times had I failed to see the heart rocks? Sometimes it takes the cheerfulness of a child to point us in the right direction and help us recognize the hand of God.

To quote a scripture from the Book of Mormon:

1 Nephi 1:1 "But behold, I will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

Yesterday my daughter and I were delivered from our own misery and I still feel happy for it.

Check ups and stuff

I go to my oncologist this Thursday for my now every-6-months-post-cancer-check-up. I'm hoping for a clean bill of health for sure. Of course, after that kind o f treatment, there is always something up even if it's not cancer. So I hope they can figure it out and get things under control again. Your prayers are much appreciated. Thanks!

little miracles

Yesterday I was having one of 'those days'. As I climbed into the car to go pick up the sitter so I could go to a photo session in town, I turned on the radio. This was certainly one of the Lord's tender mercies because the first thing I heard was "tomorrow will be better than today..." That's exactly where Martina McBride's "Anyway" song was when I turned it on. I sat there with my mouth open for a minute and as soon as I pulled myself back together I started driving. I wondered all night if tomorrow really would be better. Well, today was significantly better. I forgot about the significant stresses in my life and my upcoming post-cancer check-up. I talked with a sister at church who is going through more difficulties than myself. I really enjoyed the sacrament talks. Primary was quite enjoyable. Received some much needed counsel. And now I am ready to face a busy week.

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Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We have been having so much fun around here during the past week. We started out with a a little trip to a local farm and saw all of their cool decor. Then we had the Primary party at church held by the Young Women and Young Men. We even had some snow this week. Hope your Halloween is safe and delightful!

Simple Folk

We went back to the Heritage Center this past weekend. This time we took my husband's parents and also some new friends from church. She brought her daughter who is just a little younger than my son and her niece who is my daughter's age.

First, we had to ride the train!

And the giant slide was a blast. The burlap sacks help with speed. I couldn't believe he went by himself.

There isn't anything more fun than launching dead pumpkins down the hill. Guess what we'll be doing with all those pumpkins we grew this year? Some will go after Halloween. The rest after Thanksgiving. The pump-ke-mons are the perfect size for this. There was no shortage of pumpkins in our garden. Like I said, we're simple...and we believe in recycling.

It's a good thing my daughter didn't kick her friend in her excitement to show how high she could jump.

My son started jumping timidly at first but soon joined the big kids.

I just love this shot. My favorite. Pony rides. The highlight of their day!

We found Lizzy hiding away in a barn near the area where we made corn husk dolls. My daughter was thrilled! And this week is pumpkin week. Can you see all of the pumpkins hiding out behind her?

Here is Grandma and my daughter busy making corn husk dolls. I was enjoying it so much that I almost forgot to take a photo. My daughter and I are proudly displaying ours next to our pumpkins on our hearth.

It was a blast and we got to know our friends a little better. We talked my husband's parents into buying a membership - ok, so that was easy. My father in law wanted to stay longer but we needed to leave for a photo shoot and the littlest ones were exhausted.

We'll go back for sure.

busy, busy

last week was insane, but it really got out of control on Thursday. I felt like I should make a big meal. I spent most of the day cooking. At 5:30 my parents showed up. We ate and talked. My Dad's poor foot! He had surgery to attach the tendons back into the instep of his foot. He has wrist problems, so crutches are the worst! It's hard to see a parent suffering.

Then we heard the door bell again and it was our friend Stephen Abu (from Ghana) and his friend (from Nigeria). Stephen was here from Ghana to translate for Saturday General Conference. We enjoyed a movie together after we got my Dad downstairs and his foot elevated. My parents drove home after the movie and Stephen and his friend each took one of our guest rooms.

Early the next morning I got Haeley ready for school and served everyone breakfast. I ran the kids to the bus stop. Then we helped Stephen pick out a camera for his wife for Christmas via the internet. He and his friend then drove up to Smithfield to do some fund raising. Then Tyler met them in town to help Stephen purchase the camera, memory cards, and filters.

That afternoon Tyler came home early from work and we headed to Centerville to drop off photos to a client who was unable to come up and pick up her large order and who was having a baptism in the family the next day. Then we went to see my parents again. I've been really worried about my Dad. It was great to see all the young men come over and help him and chat with him. He is Young Men's President in his ward - over the 12-18 year old boys. In fact, he hurt his foot/ankle on a scout hiking trip with some of his young men. He didn't want them to have to carry him out, so he said a prayer and walked 6 more miles that way. We got back late Friday night.

Saturday morning was practice for the Primary Program. Then we cleaned house and made dinner and dessert. Afterward we took some time together as just our family - that's when we went on the train rides. Then it was off to bed. Actually Coleton was asleep before we got home.

Today we had the Primary program. I got to church around 8:30 am and got the seats reserved up front, got the rolls in the classrooms, put up the classroom signs. I've been working on family history and Christmas presents all afternoon. This next week isn't going to slow down either. I have Primary Meetings, Stake Primary Meetings, PTA meetings, photo sessions, etc.

Hope you enjoy the upcoming week

We've decided to start a few new family traditions of our own. We really enjoyed our time together as a family, just our little family. And we loved the mini train the best. We had to go back a second time.

And I've never stepped foot into a corn maze until last night.

We even tried the No Left Turn maze too.

When I got home, I just felt good inside.

And my children were happy.

I think we'll have to go again. Soon!

Fall Festivities

So a few weeks ago for our Family Home Evening, we proceeded to our backyard to pick the last of the pump-ke-mon pumpkins and picked the first of our jack-o-lantern pumpkins and jack-be-littles. Daddy helped us carry the bigger pumpkins to the front of the house. The kids arranged a pumpkin display. We have way more pumpkins out front than we ever would have had if I were to purchase them. And our children were happy that they helped plant and water them. It's extra fun because my daughter has been reviewing how pumpkins seeds sprout and grow.

I love how festive our entry is now. We have a stack near each one of our wood beams. And the orange goes well with our stone entry and wood door.

Haunted Gingerbread Houses - from scratch

Ok, so I didn't make the candy myself, but I did make the gingerbread dough, cut everything out for two houses, and baked all the pieces taking a grand 9 hours - good thing I started on Monday. (Let's just say that the houses were much bigger than I thought they'd be - so we had to buy more icing and candy) On the first Saturday in October the women of the family get together and decorate these crazy things while the men head off to the Priesthood Session of General Conference. The little kids all get graham cracker houses that Grandma puts together. We don't use icing to hold the houses together thanks to our first terrible experience. Now we just use a non-stick pan and melt brown sugar but it's definitely not something the little ones can do on their own. Anyway, back to decorating. This year I got the icing ready and handed it off to my little ones. They both went right to work and both did an incredible job all on their own. I was so impressed and relieved.

My little girl wore one of Daddy's old shirts so that she could keep her own clean.

My little boy LOVES the green icing. He spent half the time decorating and half the time eating candy. I'm glad he finished first so that he could play and burn off some of that sugar!

Here is my roof. I envisioned this the second I saw the mini gumdrops.

My daughter's house. We made the spiderwebs the day before on wax paper.
All 3 of our creations:
She was so excited to have 2 ghost peeps
Her pumpkin patch, tombstones, and cool house. She loved the bone sprinkles her Aunt let her have.

My son's house ~ I just love that he did all of this on his own~

I made the windows separate and added crushed red jolly ranchers and tossed them in the oven. Then we use the melted brown sugar to stick it all together.

This is the side with the broken and glued windows. ughhh But I guess it just adds to the haunted broken down feel.

I figured I'd line the path with sideways candy corns - like a fence that fell over. Then I added the m&m's (thanks for those Grandma) and purple sprinkles.

I filled up my yard with a pumpkin patch and brown and green shredded coconut.

He was drooling over my house when I put on the carpet for photos.

I did agree that it would be okay to eat one of them. My daughter volunteered hers.

Here are my cool broken windows. I don't recommend it. It goes much quicker if they are one piece and you can easily add in the hard candy to melt.

It was so enjoyable and I am grateful for this tradition. It's the one I really get into. I'm not much into wearing costumes and such although I try to get the kids something fun each year. I'll be posting some fall photos again soon. We've really had a lot of fun scouting for places this. I finally took my own photos. Usually it's kind of a Tyler thing, and although I LOVE his photos I felt like there was something missing. The details of course. I'll post more soon!

Ferns and Fall

I have this thing for ferns. Have since I was a kid. There are not many ferns growing here in the icebox of our state. Anyway, I loved the combination of the snow, depth of field, the fallen leaves in their brilliant contrasting colors, etc. I didn't move any of the leaves. I just focused on the beauty already around me. I feel happy when I do that.

tired moody

I'm soooo tired! DSE was a blast and a lot of work. I got home at 10:30 Saturday night and slept until Sunday at 8. Then it was off to church to help with the primary program. After church Tyler took a nap. After dinner we headed out for a drive. I was trying so hard to keep from falling asleep too early. I was having fun with the camera and my crazy shirt kind of pushed me in that direction. All I need now is black hair and bright blue highlights. Have you heard of Bam & Jim's Posing School? It's a hilarious spoof that Bambi Cantrell and Jim Garner put together. Just thought I'd share and please laugh right along with us!




My sister in law came over tonight and we had fun in the studio creating these fun images. We call it an executive session because it's so much more than head shots. check them out here

Digital Scrapbook Experience - Friendships

I had an absolute blast at DSE and I'll write more about it later. It was a dream come true to teach for them. Here is a page I made about friendships. I was excited to finally meet Tiffany Tillman and Lori Anderson. I spent a lot of time talking with Anna and making sure we both got our wheat free meals! It was comforting to see someone who else who fights with food intolerance/allergy issues. And I can't tell you how much I adore April. She's brilliant and she loves being a mom. She is super easy to talk to. It was as if we had never been separated by the miles. She is an incredible friend and the kind of person that makes me feel at ease with who I am.

In the photo below:
back row:
April Anderton, Candice Stringham, Tiffany Tillman, Laura Vanderbeek
front row:
Lori Anderson, Jessica Sprague
other:
Anna Aspnes

Digital Page Link for DSE students

Here is the link for this page under what's new at CottageArts.net

Don't forget to enter the code your received at DSE to make it FREE!



Free newsletter sign-up and order/download tutorial at CottageArts.net

Free Newsletter sign-up: Sign Up Here
Order/download tutorial: Tutorial Download

Digital Scrapbook Experience Texture

If you are taking my Photo Editing: Perfecting People Class you will want/need this texture.
If you are not, download it and have fun anyway!
And it's a transparent .png and will take a bit of time to get because it's a few mb's



And you'll need to download this image and bring it with you if you want to learn how to head swap.

Glow Sticks

Last night we went to my nephew's birthday party. I was so glad when he gave each of his cousins a glow stick and balloon instead of candy. Thank you D*! My husband took these great night shots of our children when we got home. I love how they turned out!

click on image to see it much larger

I'm feeling so domestic...

So...I crochet, scrapbook, cook, clip coupons sometimes, etc but I've never done this before.

I have a cool Mother In Law

I feel bad for people who don't like their in-laws. I'm pretty lucky. My in-laws are fabulous people. And my mother-in-law has had this dream of making these for a while. Each family bought a barrel, so there will eventually be 5. We bought them from a neighbor for $10/each which is a super deal. Then my mother in law bought the tires and had the frames made. We are going to paint ours before it's attached to the welded part. We are thinking of making different attachments according to holidays or celebrations. Fun!

Pumpkins

We might end up with some pumpkins after all. Well, at least 3 of them anyway. Do you remember this? The little baby pumpkin with the closed bud on the end now looks like the one on the right in this photo:

The pumpkin on the left is a Spirit bush pumpkin.