Happy Valentine's Day!

My most favorite memory of Valentine's Day is every year we would wake up to our family room decorated by my father and a yummy breakfast made. I have decided to carry on that tradition with my family. This year I decided to do more. The girls loved it and Brandon even got in on it.

Yummy!







These are the twirly skirts I had mentioned in an earlier post. They turned out very cute.







P.S. Many more post to come. I never even posted Christmas. Will do later. It is never too late, right?

For your consideration

I want to see this movie:

12 week Challenge

I got this challenge from my friend Beth. I think I can do it. Feel free to join in.

The premise of the 12 week challenge is to achieve a set of goals every day, each being worth one point:

1. Seven hours of sleep (not necessarily consecutive)

2. 45 minutes of exercise (not necessarily consecutive)

3. 64 ounces of water

4. No sweets

5. No soda, unhealthy snacks, or bad fast food

6. Eat two servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit

7. No eating after dinner, or 8pm

8. 15 minutes of scripture reading or other religious text

9. Write in your journal (any length)

10. Express sincere appreciation or praise to your spouse (or someone special)

***SUNDAYS are FREE POINTS DAYS, where you may do/eat whatever you like


I did forget to update my push up challenge. I was able to complete the 6 weeks. However it took me more like 8 weeks. Sadly I was never able to reach the one hundred push ups. The good news is I went from being able to max out at 23 all the way to 70 push ups. For me that is a huge accomplishment.

I will try to update this challenge on my blog.

Yipppeee!!! Snow Day!!!

We have been praying for snow. Brooklyn wakes up this morning and immediately says her prayers have been answered. We woke up to 4" of snow and it is still going. This is the most we have seen since we have lived here. It is so beautiful. I love the sound of the snow falling.



Camden does not have real snow clothes. I found my old yellow rain coat and turned it into pants for Camden. They don't look real attractive but they kept her warm.

Brooklyn is wearing her snow suit we got her when we lived in Pittsburgh. She refuses to hand it down even though she is close to flood height.

Camden was like this if I was not holding onto her hands. She did not like being left alone.

Stay tuned in for more pictures.

New Project

I think this might be my newest project, a twirly skirt, for both my girls.

Texturizing a picture

Just playing around with some textures. I have never liked the result I get from pictures when using photoshop textures. My results usually are on the tacky side. With that said as Brooklyn and I were exploring the other day I was overwhelmed by the textures on all the different trees. Here is my first example.

Started out with a cute picture. I added some contrast, took out some red from her face, and increased the vibrancy.

Here is my texture I used. Pumped up the vibrancy to bring out the gold.


Here is the finished product. I think it turned out pretty good.

Exploring in the Forest/Backyard

Brooklyn's new favorite activity is exploring. She loves when Camden takes a nap because that is her and my time to explore in the backyard. She walks through the wooded part saying things such as, "Wow, it is so amazing!", "This is a beautiful forest.", "Why do people live in the middle of the forest?" It has been really fun for the both of us and better than watching TV. We finally took Camden out exploring today. Sadly she did not enjoy it that much. I think She fell in every hole and mud pit along the way.




Brooklyn and her telescope.

Brooklyn pointing in the direction we need go.

The first exploration finding, poop. I had to pull back Brooklyn's fingers before it was touched.

The second exploration finding, a bone.

This is her favorite spot out in the forest.

Brooklyn thought it was so cool she could jump across the water. She kept telling me not to worry.

Camden not having a very good time.

Camden trying to catch up to Brooklyn and just before she fell into mud.

Family photo session

Our family has not been photographed by another photographer since our wedding. We have always set up our tripod and shot away.

We finally decided to allow someone else take our photos. Thanks Julia for going out with us in the cold. We had a lot of fun although the girls struggled a little. I can't post all of them so I will post only a few.


Camden is off on the side doing her own thing.

New Title Picture

I have to give props to the amazing Sloan Photographers for the idea with the new title picture. We went out this morning to experiment with the concept. I think it turned out well. It is too bad Brooklyn is a fast runner.

Picnic at the lake

I had fun with the family photographing seagulls at a recent picnic at the lake near our backyard.

Why do my posts go without comments? Tassi sneezes and the world comments.

Are Wii all crazy?

50 kids happy to get a Nintendo Wii for Christmas

Good hiding spot

Brooklyn and I started watching "the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." She was immediately concerned about the war scenes at the beginning and the children leaving their mother. So when the game of hide and seek began, I attempted to console her that the movie was intended for children. "That's a good hiding spot," I would declare when the older of the girls hides in the hope chest. "Ooh, that's another good place to hide," when Ed hides behind the window curtain. When Lucy enters the magic wardrobe, passing coats, and into the forest trees, intent to help her understand the plot, I stated "wow, Lucy went into that closet and she ended up in a magic forest." Brooklyn replied, "Now that is a good hiding place."

Finger Foods

I need finger food recipes. I have all of my neighbors coming over Friday night. I want to make it easier to eat the food.

Brooklyn is a Poser

Not only is Brooklyn very beautiful but she has always been easy to photograph. Her signature is the head tilt to one side. However it can be very difficult to photograph her when she has her own idea of what looks good. It can be tricky catching her before she strikes her pose. Here are some more pictures that I think turned out great.


The first two pictures capture her signature pose.

Camden is so adorable!

Brooklyn comments daily on how adorable Camden is. She says, "Camden is so adorable!" with a slight New York accent. Don't ask me where she gets the accent from. It has been extremely fun for Brandon and I to watch Brooklyn profuse her love for her sister.

With these pictures I just took you might find yourself saying the same thing Brooklyn does. However you don't have to use a New York accent. It can be anyone of your liking. I finally got some pictures of Camden that I think are worthy to grace the walls of her grandparents. Most all of her pictures are action shots. Those that have been around Camden know she never sits down very long. She just keeps going. I was very pleased how these turned out.
























This is her snooty and proud look.

Autumn Leaves

We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to fly home to AZ and spend time with family. I was very homesick for family this trip. I even forgot about the beautiful Autumn we were missing back in North Carolina.

We had two choices to make the day after we got back to North Carolina. Unpack all of our suitcases or play outside in all of the fallen leaves. Well I think it is obvious what we chose.







It is amazing to me how Camden just keeps coming back for more even after the things Brooklyn does.




Thanks Crystal for the cute vest. The girls love them.

Halloween

This post is a little behind. We were able to spend Halloween in AZ with our family. We had dinner at my parents house with a lot of other family that were in town for the wedding and were lucky to have Brandon's parents come also. Here are a few pictures from that evening.