Santa Claus and Christmas Pictures

Today we got up early and went with Grandma, Chella and Heidi to see Santa Claus! We always try to go before school vacation starts, because once the kids are out of school you have to stand in line FOREVER until it is your turn. We always try and get there as soon as the mall opens, because if no one else is there they let you take as many pictures as you want! The girls looked adorable in there new Christmas Dresses. Grandma stayed up late for a week to get dresses done for all the girls and Chella made the felt flowers and hair clips. I love being part of such a crafty family! Liz wore her dress to school today and everyone told her how beautiful she looked.Since I had Liz all dressed up we went over to grandma's and took her picture for Grandma's Christmas Card. I think she had fun. She let me take as many as I wanted as long as she got to pick the pose.

This year when I set up for pictures and made sure that there was enough room for Liz to stand about 4 or 5 feet away from the backdrop and it totally helped with keeping the dark shadows away. Combine that with a little Photoshop Magic and you end up with some pretty cute Christmas pictures.
I really wanted to get some cute ones of Liz and Heidi together, but Heidi wanted nothing to do with it. This was my one and only decent shot. I bribed her with a tic tac and she at least held still long enough for me to get a picture of the two of them looking at me.
Thanks for the dress mom. Liz and I both love it!

16 More Days...

until my sweetie comes home!!!!!

Custom Tote Bags

I found the PERFECT gift for Liz's teacher this year and thought I would post it incase anyone wants to "borrow" it! Artscow is having an awesome sale on their heavy canvas totes right now. They are 19"x14"x4" and a single sided tote is $8.99 and a double sided tote is $10.99 plus FREE shipping. What teacher doesn't need another bag, especially one that is personalized! I love that it is cheap enough that I can still fill it with little goodies. Here is the photo I designed for Liz's teacher. ( I used the Kit "Grade School" by Kristin Aagard at Shabby Pickle)
The coupon code is "TOTEBAGS" and it expires on November 20th. They are based out of Hong Kong and my experience with them in the past is that they take about 3 weeks to get to you. I saved my file, so if anyone (family or friends) wants to use my design I can switch it out with your teacher name and child's photo and email you the jpeg file.

One present down, 500 hundred more to go! :)

Happy Halloween!!

FABULOUS FALL PHOTOS

Sometime during the last couple of weeks I have re-discovered my love for photography! Liz and I had planned to go on a photo shoot on Friday, but we got rained out so went to today. She was soooo excited. We did her nails and curled her hair, made her a special hat to wear and she even got a total makeover with mom's "special makeup". She did fabulous and was having so much fun that I was the one that finally had to say it was time to go. She loved picking her poses and trying different looks. This was the first time ever that it has just been me and her. It seems like I always invite people along when I do a major shoot. We are already planning our next outing...wearing her Halloween Costume! It is late and haven't had time to go through all the photos yet, but I just had to share a few before I head to bed.

My absolute FAVORITE from the day:

And a sneak peak of the photos that are coming: As a side note, Dan has made it safe and sound to Ft. Sam-Houston in Texas. Only 7 more weeks to go!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELLA!

I'm glad you are here to celebrate your birthday. Love ya!

Heidi and Liz...

I was going through the photos I took of my sister's family tonight and couldn't stop laughing when I came to this series of photos of Liz and Heidi. They love each other so much and when they are apart all they want to do is see each other, but with in minutes it always turns into Heidi doing whatever she can to get a rise out of Liz, and Liz tattling to anyone who will listen (and cowering in a corner). Chel and I have learned to just let them have it out because they always resolve it themselves in the end.....and because it is pretty darn funny to watch! You would think Liz would get tired of being beat up by a two year old. Anyway, this is what happened when Liz was trying to be a super model...

(click to enlarge and read)

And it just keeps repeating itself over and over... Seriously, they do love each other and they are always the first to give each other a hug when one of them is upset and crying. I was able to get some fabulous photos of Liz while we were out. She was totally into and it was so much fun! We are going out again on Friday to take some more pictures. I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity as long as she lets me!And these photos were all her. There was no coaching involved. I have NO idea where she has learned to pose they way she does. Chel and I were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes with some of them! She is definitely a super model in the making!