Two Little Sweeties

It was so much fun to get out and do a photoshoot again. I was so busy with the holidays and all I didn't do much shooting of anyone but my family. Now that I think the weather is starting to get better here in Pensacola, I am looking forward to a lot more outdoor shoots and beautiful days! Last week I met up with a family and took photos of their two beautiful children. It was fun following these two around. The little girl was so full of energy and excitement. Here is a little peek:

Fix It Friday #42

Wow, I can't believe this is the 42nd Fix It Friday at I Heart Faces. All I know is that I have learned SOOO much from all the great tutorials and the wonderful people associated with I Heart Faces. I pretty much teach myself what I have learned and any tips and advice are so nice and always welcome. I did my edit with about 25% picnik (since that is still what I am comfortable using) and the other 75% with PSE. I am trying to force myself to use it more so I can feel better using it all the time. I am sure there is so much more to learn and I can't wait to keep practicing. Here is the original photo:

Here is my edit:

I would tell you what I all I did but I just played around with a few things, added a couple of textures, adjusted the brightness and contrast, and who knows what else. Next time I will try to be better about writing everything down I did. I encourage all of you to grab the photo from the I Heart Faces Flickr site and try it for yourself. It's lots of fun!

Playing Around with PSE

So, since I am very new to photoshop, I thought I would try to teach myself how to use it. I have sooo much to learn and it's not an easy process at all. I have learned how to use textures thanks to I Heart Faces and I am learning how to use actions. Anything that saves time is great in my book! Here are a couple of photos from around my house that I worked with in photoshop. Now, I need to keep practicing because you know the saying, "practice makes perfect!"

I Heart Faces "Texture"

I love I Heart Faces because it challenges me to learn more and do more as a photographer. The theme this week is "texture" and since I didn't know the least bit about using textures I decided to give it a go. This is honestly my first ever try at using textures. I am not even sure if I like the results. I am trying to learn how to make it look good, I know I have a lot of work to do. Anyways, I did my best for now. For this week, I decided to use a photo of my sweet Kambry Lynn. As I was working with the photo I realized that it was acutally one I edited for the I Heart Faces logo week and forgot to use it. So, here it is for textures week. Any feedback would be great.

Rainy and Wet

I wish I didn't dislike the rain so much. For some reason it always puts me in a bad mood. Let's just say that I am sooo glad it didn't rain on my wedding day. That would have been tough, especially since it was outdoors. The rain started last night at our house, and is still coming down now. The skies are dark, the ground is wet, and the girls are BORED. They don't like staying indoors all day either. Do you find that the weather affects your mood? I think I have always been like that even though I wish it wasn't the case. If you give me a bright, clear, sunny day I will probably be smiling and enjoying the day. I have more energy, I feel like doing things, and I get more done. I guess it's good that I don't live in the northwest. I lived there for a year and there were so many dreary days that I have no desire to go back. I would rather get burned to death with the hot sun than be in cloudy, gloomy skies all the time. I will have to say that the rain is good for one thing: cuddling up on the couch and watching a movie and snacking on popcorn. Maybe I will go do that now...after football of course. Hope everyone is having a brighter day than I am!

On another note, here are some photos from my husband's cake and cookies.

Happy Birthday Dadda!

This is the third birthday we are celebrating this month. Today is my hubby's 34th birthday! So, if you are reading this or not baby, I hope you have a wonderful day. We have been together since Aug of 1999. Wow, that's over 10 years. We have three beautiful daughters and a wonderful life. We are happy with our careers and are excited for the what the future holds. Of course we never know what that might be, especially being in the military. I am proud of you and what you have accomplished. I support you in your decisions and will continue to be your rock! Here are a few memories of the past:





And one from a few weeks ago:

I love you! Happy Birthday!

Thinking

I wonder what she's thinking about.

I Heart Faces "We are family"

I know this week at I Heart Faces is sure to bring some wonderful photos of families. Any and all types of families are welcome. The photo I am submitting is a very traditional family. I haven't actually done many family photo shoots and didn't really have a lot to work with but I still really love this photo. You can the the pure innocent joy on the daughters face as she looks back at her dad playing with her hand. What a sweet moment!

To see more family photos or to submit your own, go over to I Heart Faces now!

Happy 4th Birthday Kambry!

Even though I couldn't believe that I have a six year old now, I really can't believe that my little Kambry is now four years old. She was born at 12:28pm on this day four years ago weighing in at 6 lbs, 13 oz.


She was the smallest of my three girls and I am pretty sure that she will continue to be my littlest. She is the most giving, caring, and loving little girl. I am so proud of her. Even though most people would believe that she could do no wrong, she actually does have a bad sad that comes out every now and then. When she was very young my husband taught her the puppy dog face. Ever since then, she has been using it to her advantage. She knows that we just can't resist it.
Her at one year old:

Two years old:

Three years old:

So, over the past year, Kambry has really learned alot. I think her big sister helps her in that department. She counts really well, can write her name almost legibly, and is getting so much better at drawing and coloring. She goes to preschool on Tues and Thurs and has really started interacting well with the other kids. I think she will really enjoy pre kindergarten in the fall.
Kambry wants to be just like her big sister. Whatever Kenna has, Kambry wants. Whatever Kenna does, Kambry does the same. Whatever Kenna says, Kambry repeats. Sometimes I can tell that it really annoys McKenna but I guess that's all part of growing up. I just hope that Kenna can continue to be a good role model.
One other trait I see in Kambry is the "little mommy" inside. She is great with helping out with Aislynn. She loves to give her hugs and kisses and tries to keep her entertained when I am busy doing something.
For her birthday we took her out to breakfast, then bowling, went and had some yummy lunch, and then home to open presents and pop balloons(something she really wanted to do). It was a great day for her.

Waking up

Waking..

up...

from...

a nap...

can be so much fun!

It's just spilled milk

A few days ago we were getting dinner ready and the girls were getting all washed up and ready to sit down at the table. We always get the girls plates ready and get them started first. As I was making my plate I heard the noise, the noise I hate to hear at the table. It was the sound of a cup falling over. Sure enough, Kambry had somehow managed to knock over her almost full cup of orange Hawaiian punch. It was everywhere. The chairs, the table, across the floor and splattered on everything. Well, what is mom to do but start cleaning it up. Kambry knew she was in trouble by the look on her face. After a ton of paper towel and a quick mopping session we were back at the table. (For those of you who know me well, you know how much I hate mopping the floor) I told myself that I was going to start giving them just water to drink during dinner from then on.
Well, last night, we were getting ready to all sit down once again. I never did do the water thing and I got them each a cup of milk to have with dinner. I filled McKenna's cup extra full because she always drinks hers and wants more. I set the cups down and walked away to get their plates. Then, I heard the noise. But this time it was a louder noise. It was the sound of the cup flying across the room and landing on the floor. I looked up expecting it to be Kambry's cup. NOPE! It was Kenna's overly full cup of milk that had flown across the room and Kambry was the innocent target. As I look at Kambry she has a look of confusion, and surprise, and shock all in one. As the milk is dripping off her hair and covering her face and clothes she is trying to breath without drowning in the flow of an entire cup of milk spilled on her. I quickly took her to my bathroom, got her cleaned up and in some dry clothes. When I came back to the table, Kenna was in time out. She wasn't paying attention and flung her arm around and that's how she spilled the milk. My husband and I cleaned up as best we could. I once again had to mop the floor. Did I mention how much I hate to mop? We reheated our food and sat down and had a wonderful dinner. Looking at Kambry and seeing her matted hair with dried milk in it just made me laugh. After all, it's just a little spilled milk!

What a Life

Sometimes I wish I was a cat.

Life can't get any better than that. They lay around and sleep almost all day. They get fed, have a warm house, and family that loves them....even when they are bad. I have two cats right now. They keep me busy at times. But, I always can count on one of them to keep my feet warm at night. What a life it is.

Going for a Drive

So on Sunday we decided that we would drive down the road and try to find the Build A Bear store that we knew was about 30 min away. We have many animals from there and a couple of them needed to be "fixed" because they were "sick". Since there is not a store in Pensacola we searched for one that wasn't far. It seemed like it would be simple to find. We had our GPS in tow and started down the road. Then we came to the conclusion that even though we had our GPS, it has not been updated since we bought it and many places that are just a year or two old do not show up on it. We tried to think of what else we could search for that would be near by and couldn't really come up with anything since we didn't know that area at all. A drive that should have taken us about 30 minutes, ended up taking us over an hour. We went way out of our way and once we were in the area, couldn't find the place. In the meantime, everyone in the car was starving so that didn't help matters. We couldn't even find a place to eat. My husband and I joked about how bad we would be on the Amazing Race and we even had a GPS to help us. Finally, we ended up finding a McDonald's to eat at. Not what I had planned at all. In the end, we found the store, the girls got their animals fixed, and even were able to each get a new one thanks to Great Grandma!! So, thanks for that one!

I Heart Faces "Best Face Photo"

For I Heart Faces Birthday on Tuesday the theme this week is best face photo. They want a recent photo, something in the past two months, so they can see where our photography is right now. When I look back even at the past six months I can see what a difference I have. I have really learned so much in such a short time and can't wait to learn even more. This was actually a really tough decision because there wasn't one that just jumped out at me. In the end, this is the one photo I chose. It is of my oldest daughter, McKenna. I just love the look she is giving me, it makes her look so much older than she is.

To view more wonderful faces, visit I Heart Faces.

I Heart Faces Week 1-2010

What a fun celebration they are having over at I Heart Faces this week for their first birthday next week! In honor, all the photos submitted this week should have the i heart faces logo in them. I haven't had a lot of time to work on these because I am trying so hard to get my house back in order after the holidays. Here are four, I am hoping to get one more done in the next day. I love looking at all the entries, they are so fun to see!!


You have to look closely in her eyes.


“I am submitting this photo into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”

Happy 6th Birthday McKenna!

This little baby I held in my arms six years ago has grown up quite a bit.







It is really hard to believe that McKenna is six today! She has turned into a beautiful, smart, silly girl and I am so proud of her. These are a few of things she has accomplished in the past year.
Lost 8 teeth! It all started on our way back from Texas last Christmas. Then they just kept falling out. Six of them are in or on their way in. I still can't believe she has lost that many teeth in one year.
Played T-Ball for the first time. We have fully determined that she is also left handed. As much as I always worked with her on her right hand, she keeps choosing the left. I think she enjoyed t-ball, if she decides to play again this year it will be even more fun.
Completed VPK (Voluntary Pre Kindergarten). It really prepared her for the real thing. She also met lots of great friends in class.
Started Kindergarten. Ever since starting school, McKenna has really blossomed in her ability to read and write. Even her drawings are more detailed and neat.
Played soccer for the first time. Since McKenna loves to run, soccer was a great sport for her to participate in. She kept up with the boys and is very excited to play again next season.
Right now she loves horses, puppies, drawing pictures, reading, and playing the Wii(thank you Santa). I can't wait to see what next year has in store. I hope each year is better than the last.
Happy, Happy, Birthday Sweet Girl!