About Me

My photo
Welcome to my blog. I'm a Mississippi country girl transplanted to Grapevine, TX. I have been blessed with a great husband, and my kiddos, Aleck and Ella. When I'm not eating bon bons on the couch, I am my kid's room mom, PTA member, Sunday School teacher, taxi driver, amateur photographer and personal chef. When I'm not doing those things, I'm running a small jewelry business, 2nd Amendment Jewelry (www.2ndamendmentjewelry.com), that I started with my twin sister, Glenda. It's a crazy and busy life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. I am so thankful for all the blessings in my life!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Trunk or Treat

The school and church came together to have Trunk or Treat this year.  We decorated the back of the van with lights.  They looked awesome, that is until the battery went dead.  Ella was Supergirl and Aleck was Dash from The Incredibles, both costumes I picked up for a bargain at Divine Consign.

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Supergirl loves to swing.

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“Look, Dash.  Someone needs our help.”

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“Let’s go, supergirl!”

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All that superhero work makes a girl thirsty.

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“Thank you, sister.  I will use the treats to fight evil forces.”

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Superdaddy loves his superheroes.

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Pumpkin Carving

I love Fall.  It’s my favorite time of year.  The kids love carving the pumpkin with Daddy.  They get so excited to see the inside of the pumpkin.  They will touch the seeds, but neither is really interested in actually cleaning the inside out.  They are both content to giggle a lot, but let Daddy do the bulk of the work.  I figure it’s less mess if Daddy does the work, which is just fine with Momma.

 

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Our Little Princess

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I took my second photography class last week.  I took my first class last month, and have shot almost exclusively on manual settings since then.  I am amazed at how much better the pictures are turning out.  The color is better, and the focus is crisper.  I am so glad I decided to put forth the effort to learn how to really use my camera.   Before last month, I didn’t even know what the light meter was on my camera.  I’ve come a long way since then and am so excited about the possibilities.

Monday, October 24, 2011

I love photoshop!

I was working with pictures of Eryn and Mason tonight in Photoshop.  The original picture had this horrible orange color cast because I had the white balance totally messed up on my camera.  I have tried, unsuccessfully, in the past to fix the pictures.  I was just playing around tonight and I discovered the wonderful world of filters in photoshop.

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Before photoshop edit

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After cooling filter (80) in photoshop

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The whites are actually white with the cooling filter.  Wohoo!  I am one happy Photoshopper!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Gabby Scrapper Weekend

The Gabby Scrappers were at Covered Bridge Inn for a fun-filled scrapbook weekend.  We ate to much, stayed up way too late, and laughed until our tummies hurt.  I love this group of women.

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Dede and I started the weekend practicing what we learned in our photography class.  I also worked on my blog book and organized my pictures in Photoshop.

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I bought a wireless remote for my camera, and had so much playing with it this weekend.  Hopefully, I will actually be in some of my family pictures. 

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We tried to get a picture of the whole group jumping, but my shutter speed was too slow so it was just a blur, but we had fun trying.

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The Rangers are in the world series this weekend.

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The theme for the weekend was pirates.  I wore Tom’s shirt, but the rest of my costume came from Aleck’s dress-up box.  My boy loves dress up!

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Thanks, Connie, for the Halloween socks. 

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I am so thankful for this group of women, and for my husband that encourages me to feed my creative side.  See you in March, Gabby Scrappers.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Skyping with Mammaw and Pappaw

I bought my parents a webcam for their computer back in the summer and taught them how to skype when I was home last month.  It blows my mind a little that now my parents will call and ask to skype, and my mom even sent me a facebook message once asking to skype before we went to bed.  Crazy, right? 

I love how they have embraced their new computer and the kids love getting to see Mammaw and Pappaw.  Some times Ella will walk into the computer room and ask for Pappaw or Mammaw, and I know she wants to talk to them on skype.  These are absolutely priceless memories for me.  I am so thankful for technology bringing my family closer together.

We love you Mammaw and Pappaw and can’t wait to skype with you tomorrow. 

Dining for Dollars at Spring Creek Barbeque

As a fund raiser, once a month the school meets at a specific restaurant for supper.  The restaurant gives the school a percentage of the sales.  Tonight we ate at Spring Creek Barbeque.  The kids had so much fun seeing their friends outside of school.  Aleck’s teacher, Mrs. Dickey, wanted to watch her daughter compete in a volleyball tournament so she asked if I could take her 30 minute hostess slot.  I said yes, not remembering that Tom was going to be out of town for work.  I said a little prayer that my kids would be good, and then I promised them ice cream if they sat quietly and ate their supper while I served hot rolls to the patrons.  As I watched the clock nervously, I circulated passing out hot rolls.  Thank goodness for answered prayers, because Aleck and Ella were awesome.  They would wave at me from across the room, but they never once got out of their seat.    They were absolute angels.  The icing on the cake was when more than one teacher came up to me to brag on Aleck.  I am one proud Momma.  The manager came up to me and said, “let me know when they are ready for ice cream.”  I must have looked at him funny because he said, “your son already stopped me to tell me that he gets ice cream if he’s good.”  If you look closely at the second picture, you can see the manager crouched down and waving.  Great service and great food.  I think we will add this restaurant to our eating out rotation.

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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Scarecrows and Halloween Decorations

While Tom was at the Stone Mountain Highland Games, the kids and I decorated for Halloween.  We even made a scarecrow.  Aleck wanted to make a traditional scarecrow standing up, but I convinced him that one sitting in a chair would be way cooler.  I already had a pumpkin that has a light in it.  The truth of the matter is I took the easier route.  I had no idea how to build a standing scarecrow.  The kids were happy with the end result.  That’s really all that matters, isn’t it?

Oh yeah, the North Texas Caledonian Pipes and Drums took second place overall at Stone Mountain.  The drum section took 1st place.  Way to go, baby.  The hard work paid off.  We are so proud of you guys!

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Friday, October 14, 2011

Who’s Scared of Monsters?

Tom absolutely loves Halloween.  It’s his favorite holiday.  Every year, we add a little more to our decorations.  Tom is out of town at a pipe band competition, but that didn’t stop us from  decorating the house.  We hung a monster on the front door that has a motion sensor.  When you knock on the door, or even make a loud noise, the monster moans.  Ella is terrified of the thing.  She followed me around the rest of the evening wanting me to hold her because she was afraid of monsters.  After a monster week at preschool last week, you would think that Aleck would be fine with the decorations.  Multiple times last week he said, “monsters aren’t real.”   Well, that was last week; this is this week.  When he went to bed, Aleck insisted that we leave his lamp on.  This kid usually sleeps in the dark.  I have a feeling that I’m going to wake up in the morning with two little munchkins cuddled up beside me, which would be fine, except for the fact that both my kids train for the Olympic gymnastics team in their sleep.  Oh well, sleep is overrated.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Hall Farm’s Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual visit to Hall Farm’s Pumpkin Patch.  Since it was a weekday, the place wasn’t crowded and the kids had their run of the place.  They loved it.DSC_0583

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Ella took off running when she spotted Daddy with a bag of kettle corn.

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“One more piece then your done.”

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What happens when you tell Ella, “No more popcorn.”

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I love this family tradition!