A Very Merry Christmas...{My LIfe}

...was had by all.

The last week is pretty much a blur. We spent about 12 hours in one day baking & making all different kinds of little candies. I ♥ all the kitchen time, especailly when my girls are able to help & Fum-Fum (my girls' affectionate name for Grandma) gets to come hang out with us.

...the girls were very good taste testers, here they are sampling the Peppermint Marshmellows...

...finally getting around to getting frosting on the cookies, we had 2 different kinds of frosting, because my nephew is allergic to milk. We did a buttercreame for some & a glaze for the others...

We did things a little different on Christmas Eve, and took a little driving tour to deliver gifts to my husbands family. Making a couple of stops, then looking at a few light displays. Our plans of driving around looking at lots of lights had to change slightly, the little town we were visiting didn't have any power.

It was the worst Christmas eve dinner I can remember having, the past 3 years we've held some sort of event at our home, where I made a huge dinner (thanks to Granny for teaching me how to cook for an army). The first year, my father-in-laws pump house caught fire in the middle of dinner (OPPS), the following year my mashed potatoes ran over in the oven & those caught fire. Glad we're past that, but BLT's for dinner on Christmas Eve, just seems wrong!

We definately made up for it on Christmas day though. We along with most of my family joined together at my sister's mother-in-laws home. It was a great day. LOTS of food. Turkey, Ham & lots of fixins...desserts.

It was little Grace's first Christmas, and I think she enjoyed herself. Although she didn't want anything to do with unwrapping gifts, she really liked playing with her sisters new gifts. It was a different experience than Anna's first Christmas for sure...she was still just sitting/crawling. Grace was pretty much into everything!

...The girls enjoying their quiet Christmas morning, gift opening was followed by homemade fresh blueberry pancakes, with sausage & eggs....

...Grace showing off her new boots...

I hope that you all had a great Christmas as well. Shared with family, friends & lots of love. ♥

My last official session of the year...{Family Session}

was this past Saturday (and this post is a bit late, I've been incredibly busy with Christmas preparations).

I got the opportunity to photograph our Pastor & his beautiful family, while their boys are home from college for the Christmas holiday.

Thank you for a great session the rest of your images have been posted.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

It's beginning...{My Life}

...to look a lot like Christmas.

Things have been incredibly busy, but I've managed to take a few photos, just of my kids being kids. I did have a session today, I will post their sneak peak later, after we have a little family time today.

...first snow at our favorite home ever...

Although we hardly ever have a White Christmas, it did snow last week, of course, not much & it didn't last long. It was snow none the less though, and Anna was excited to get out and make a snowman, except it was so cold & dry, the snow wouldn't stick together.

...the little snow monster (before Mom-o-the-Year realized the hat was on backwards haha)...

Anna really likes to go visit Grace in her crib when she wakes up, usually from her nap, because Grace gets up first. I think the real reason for the visit is to teach her all the things she shouldn't really do, but are so much fun. Like jumping on the bed...

...the little monkeys jumping...

...taking a break to give mom a sweet, innocent look...

She doesn't spend all her time being onrey & teaching her sister the things she shouldn't do...sometimes she's even nice to her little sis.

...Oh how time flies, they are getting so big...

Speaking of time flying...in about 3 months Baby Brody will be making his debut! I can't believe how quickly it is going, better start shopping for the little guy.

...the countdown is on, only about 13 weeks left...

We've spent lots of time the past couple of weeks packing my husbands grammas belongings & getting her ready to move. We've spent the last couple of years helping care for her, she lives on her own, but her eyesight is declining & needs more assistance than we can give. So this morning, he drove her down to meet his aunt where she will be living. Not everyone made it to her last night up here, but we took a photo anyways.

...Me, Grace, The Hubs, Mother in Law, Anna, Gramma, Sister in Law, Nephew...

♥♥Sending lots of Christmas love & wishes for hope, joy & peace to all of your families. ♥♥

Trees, projects and cupcakes, oh my! {My Life}

It can only mean one thing.....the Christmas season is here & in full swing!

Beyond getting photo orders in & cards designed for my wonderful clients, I've been busy at home as well.

We attended the Holiday Parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving to officially kick off our Christmas season. The following day we picked out our tree, although we didn't get to put it up for a couple of days because our stand was too small for the large crooked tree (which didn't look so crooked when we got it).

...our big beautiful, crooked, tree...

The girls helped decorate & Grace attempted to eat all the shiny or sparkley balls (shatterproof, bought on sale last year at 75% off, who could resisit). Anna, the girl who only wants a big horsey for Christmas, got to put the first ornament on, & she chose none-other than her green Lil' Pony.

...the little PeeWee enjoying getting into lots & lots of stuff, the Bug putting on her ornament...

...the trees first ornament, 1 of Anna's favorite things...

We started a family tradition last year to give homemade gifts. This year we've expanded on it & have several projects in order, complete with an organizational binder full with instructions & recipes that we will be using to help us on our "Homemade Famliy Christmas". Anna is very helpful when it comes to projects, also a bit bossy...but what 2 1/2 year old isn't!?!

...working on a project with Momma, of course, still must pose....

We've been watching Christmas movies & reading Christmas stories. The movie we must watch at least once per day, according to Anna, is Annabelle's Wish if you haven't seen it before, I highly reccommend it. It's a cartoon, full of the Christmas spirit & the gift of giving.

...all ready to head to the Chirstmas Parade, first time wearing barrettes...

We made some Gingerbread Cupcakes (in the recent Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine) , the recipe just calls for some low-fat whipped topping to frost them, but I had some extra cream cheese & ♥ cream cheese frosting, so I whipped up a small batch & topped them with that instead. They turned out really yummy, despite only having 2/3 the required amount of molasses. Of course Anna only wants to lick the frosting off & eat the cute little snowmen (which she either calls: snowwhites or frosty's).

...the yummy Gingerbread Cupcakes...

Alliance Properties {Professional Business Session}

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of photographing, Jasmine, from Alliance Properties. She is getting her business up and running & needed some professional headshots to use on her webpage and other advertising.

Thank you for another great session. Your images will be ready soon.

Off to college...{Family Session}

Saturday I had a nice little family day. After taking my lil' ones to see the annual holiday parade, we met up with my mom & little brother for some family portraits.

...catching up in the sunshine...

My bro has been away at college since September & was home on Thanksgiving break, since his senior portraits were done, he's changed his style a bit. We also celebrated his 18th birthday while he was home.

...and he's all grown up...

...a Momma & her boy...

...sharing a few laughs...

...our Momma...

Thanks for everything Mom. I'll have the rest of your images ready by the end of the week. ♥

Oh how they grow..{Family Session}

and grow, and grow!

This is my second year photographing the Beautiful B family. I love watching families change & children grow.

...2008...

And they've grown...by 2 feet.

...in their beautiful new home...

...Little Miss M, now 2...

...& Mr E, growing so fast, almost 4 months...

...and when our families grow, our hearts grow even more, lots of love here...

...Mr E is ready for Christmas...

Thank you for a great session, even if the wee-ones decided they didn't like me too much. You guys are beautiful. I will have the rest of your images for you soon.

Crafts, a recipe & sunset {My Life}

If you read my blog, you've probably figured out that I enjoy doing almost lots of domesticated things. Be it digital or paper scrapbooking, painting, sewing, crafting, cooking & anything else that I decide sounds like a lot of fun.
One thing I really enjoy, is getting to pass my love for creating on to my children. I believe that it shows them how to take joy in the little things in life & not worry about the even smaller things (like cleaning or making messes, folding laundry). At each holiday or changing of season I try to find some itty-bity friendly crafts to envolve the weeones in.
For Thanksgiving, last year we made a pinecone turkey centerpiece for our table, the feathers were hand prints cut out of paper that Anna had painted. This year, I again chose a turkey project & we also made a "Thankful Tree" as a family project.

...painting the hand print leaves we would eventually cut out...

...up close with our leaves, each family member got 4 leaves on the tree, 2 of each hand...

While our leaves were drying, we got started on our paper bag turkey. I cut out the feathers & used the hot glue, but Anna was a huge helper. She got to crumple all the newspaper stuffing & tell me where to glue things.

...Our finished turkey, nice & plump, if he was real, he'd be very tasty...

...adorning our entertainment center....

After dinner Sunday evening, we sat around that table & talked about things we were thankful for. I wrote on everyones leaves, then we hot glued them to the tree trunk we made out of foam core & paper bag. We had a sack of acorns that Anna collected at the park & used some of them to embellish our tree.

...some of the things we are most thankful for...

...Anna proudly displaying our Family Thankful Tree...

One of the things we are thankful for is our home. We live on a beautiful piece of property & get a full on view of Mt Shasta, every time we look out a window or door. It's peaceful (except for the 40mph wind we are having tonight).

...The sunset from my back-front door...

Another thing we are thankful for, is the fact that we have food & get to sit down together every night for dinner. I've reverted back to bi-weekly menus, planned out every 2 weeks. Not only does it help me, because I'm not scrambling at the last minute trying to figure out what to cook, it also allows me to try new recipes & foods, as well as keep our diet fairly balanced.

One of the goals we have is to have at least 2 new dishes during the 2 weeks. This week we had several...if I search the cookbooks & am hungry, we end up with more than 2 new dishes...well I must have been starving when I made this last menu, because we have about 7 new recipes on the list. Tonight we ate Crock-pot Philly Cheese Sandwhiches & Paradise Cran-Applesauce (both were new recipes) although we have Philly Sandwiches on occasion this recipe was super easy & very tasty. The Cran-Apple Sauce was YUMMY!

Not really sure exactly which magazine or edition it came from, but the page looks something like a Taste of Home (or one of their sister mags) recipe. I only made a 1/2 batch, just in case we didn't like it. A full batch goes something like this:

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries --- 1/4 cup water --- 8 cups sliced, peeled cooking apples (I used Granny Smith & I didn't peel them) --- 2 cups sugar

--In a covered saucepan, simmer cranberries & water for about 20 minutes. Press through sieve or food mill & return to pan. Add apples; cover & let simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until apples are tender, but retain their shape. ( I thought it looked really thick here, until I added the sugar then it got all jelly thick & mmmm) Add sugar, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 8-10 servings

It was SUPER yummy. Sweet at first, then tangy at the end. It's going on my fall/winter cooking list for sure!

It wouldn't be a day in my life post without on image of little Grace, who at 9 months can walk, crawl up on the couch, & jump on the cushions. She loves to play hide & seek, music, dances well, & will clap along to Patty Cake & Itsy Bitsy Spider. She is also learning some sign language & can use the words more & all done. The little miss Determined is such a smarty pants as well, it's hard to fool her if there's something she really wants.

...taking a break from jumping on the couch...

Needless to say my hands are FULL & I love every minute I spend with the little munchkins. Now back to enjoying my quiet mommy hour, editing & desiging Christmas cards for my fabulous clients.