Seriously?

I thought this was supposed to be fall?! Last week (as many of you know and experienced) we were surprised by a freak October snowstorm. It came down all day long, this wet and heavy snow. There were power outages in many places, we were lucky in that regard. My poor lilac tree is flattened, I didn't get out there to inspect the degree of damage yet. Other than that, it was just yucky and inconvenient. But of course I went out the next day and caught some shots that made me create this page

It sure is pretty to look at, but come on, this is way too early in the season!

The week before we went to a local farm, I read in the paper that they had a corn maze. I almost had to drag everybody out by force, but once we were there, it wasn't so bad. They had fun in the maze and we went on this "hayride" that dumped us in the pumpkin field. What a racket, but of course we did buy some :) Here are some pages from that day

I think I probably had the most fun, since I could take pictures :) WE wound up at Applebee's that evening, good thing because I barely made it to choir practice, even without having to cook.

Michael's class had to present a saint for Monday's All SAints mass. He was ST. Michael of course and I spent hours making his wings! I could not find anything in the store that he could have worn, everything was way too girly, so I wound up buying some foam board, drew a wing on one and cut it out. The cutting was the worst part! Here is a picture of just the wings after the cutting was done

I used a really easy method to put them together, a couple of holes and twist ties :) It worked like a charm. I used wire ribbon, looped it through the twist ties twice, so that I had 2 loops and those went around his arms. genious :) It was actually sturdy too. You can tell I am not a crafty person that it makes me so happy this worked out so well LOL!

Here is Michael, giving his presentation. I cropped him out of a large photo with his classmates and the photo was taken with high ISO and a zoom lens, so the quality leaves a lot to be desired, but hey, I still like it :)

He really did a good job too, he was easy to hear and understand and he never paused or made any mistake. So proud of him :)

Monday was Halloween of course and we had a little party at Zumba. It was fun, although dancing in a costume is not something I would like to do all the time. I sweat way too much!

This was taken by somebody there, otherwise you wouldn't see me :) Oh yeah, and it was before we started sweating!

Michael is on the basket ball team now, so there are games on the weekends and practices 3 times a week. Just what we needed, more running. He seems to enjoy it though and the season is fairly short (beginning of December). The team is pretty pityful, but with practice they should get better. This last game was actually better already, they didn't lose by as much as the week before LOL. Poor kids!

Here is my little guy in action :)

Ok and finally some more pages

Well, let me end this post by saying that it's a gorgeous day out there today, the sun is shining and it warmed up to the point where I won't need a sweater. I love it! Have a wonderful day!

Fall is here

and the biggest sign of it is the fact that our pellet stove is running it's little heart out again. I do not like it one bit!!! Not the stove but the fact that fall is here. It's only in the 40s out there. Why oh why do we live in this part of the country?

I am back to editing photos. This beautiful couple is expecting their second baby next year, they are such wonderful parents already and they are so cute!

their little boy is the one I had posted photos of previously :) I'll get back to those pics real soon, good thing they are in no hurry!

Gabrielle is still dating her little buddy, he is a good kid, so I don't mind it too much, but I need to still keep an eye on them :) This was taken by his mom at her house, they had a good time carving that pumpkin. They are cute together I must say.

Remember I promised I would post some pictures of my new car. Well, Gabrielle and I washed it on Saturday and Rachel took some pictures of me afterwards. Just look at the car, not at me please :)

It's a nice ride but boy, does it ever suck up the gas....

Rachel was finally allowed to go to her friend's house. I had told her she wasn't allowed to go anywhere until her room was cleaned up. She did a halfway decent job, at least the floor is visible again and it's a good start. There is nothing like motivation :) She still has lots to do but we can go from there.

Well, I did get a few pages done too

that blending class with Jana Morton is amazing, I am learning a lot of new tricks and I just love it! I have always admired her style and to learn to achieve it is such a treat!

Well, gotta go, Phil's waiting to watch a movie with me..

She is driving!

Gabrielle, that is! She got her permit and now I have to let her drive! Yikes! It's actually not that bad, but it's a good thing that she has 6 months before they will allow her to be let lose on society :) I really try to be calm and collected, but sometimes I am holding on with my toes, it seems like. I know she will get it....

Fall is definitely here! The pool is closed, it looks so sad. All the furniture is put away and we are gearing up for the snow... I can't bear to think about it.

I did a couple of photoshoots, I am just finishing up the photos for baby Travis. I took them on site with just natural light. It was a lot of fun, but you have to really be quick with the little ones. Thank goodness for grandma and the Iphone with the ringtones. We did get a few smiles from him :)

here are a couple of the shots I did so far

I am also taking a class by Jana Morton, who is an online friend and fellow CT member at Designer Digitals. She is teaching at Debbie Hodge and her class is on blending. Boy is it ever cool! I love watching her create her page and I love the little tricks she has up her sleeve. The class is full but I think they will offer it again in the winter. You should really consider taking it, I have never used the gradient tool the way she does LOL.

Anyway, these are the things that keep me busy in between running the kids around to their different things and the usual appointments etc. I was thinking to take hubby to see "The Help" tonight. I finished the book and really liked it. I would love to see it before they take it off.

We had a few gorgeous fall days with lots of sunshine and warmer temps. Now it's all dreary and colder again. Like I said, I am not liking this at all! I am still getting emails with house offers around Charleston. There is just no way for me to get down there, I can't leave the kids... maybe Phil should take a long weekend and fly down there or something. Dreams...

Our diet is going pretty well, one day I made a pot roast for the kids, other than that, we are not having meat. Of course the kids eat lunch at school so they get to cheat often, but for Phil and I it's all veggies. I actually like the stuff, it's just so much more work. All the chopping etc....

Well, almost time to take Rachel to voice and pick up my last batch of vegetables from the local farm (another sign fall is here)

Here are some pages...

Hey, if you have a minute, would you mind jumping over to my photography page on FB and click like? It would mean a lot, I am really trying to get my numbers up! Thanks so much and have a wonderful day!

26 Years and counting

We celebrated our anniversary the other day. It was a busy day, taken up by all kinds of other celebrations. Michael turned 12, my friend's son had his birthday, another couple celebrated their anniversary.... wow! Since the kids didn't throw us a party (lol) I just took Phil to see a movie at night. He needed to get away! The movie wasn't very good (Drive), but it was fun to get away, just the two of us. We are planning on doing that on a weekly basis from now on.

Last Saturday we went to see some friends. They just built a house and it is just beautiful! Everything is well designed (by her) and I just love the kitchen. Dark cabinets, the stove is 42 inches, wood floor... what a dream. And here I am with a kitchen from 1926 with sticking drawers and peeling paint and linoleum that doesn't shine anymore. Oh well, gotta see what that roof is going to bring. Anyway, it was a great time, getting together with friends doesn't happen too often these days.

Oh yeah, my big news, I got a new car! No more minivan for this Mom! Last Friday we were at Marc and Joanne's and we decided to look at some cars so the guys would have something fun to do. We saw this cool looking car, turns out it's a Buick Enclave. Never heard of them before. It was just sitting there shining with the black (charcoal) finish and the silver trim all over the place. The tires actually looked like tires and the seating was so comfortable! We took it for a ride and I felt like I was sitting in a cockpit! Well, needless to say we went back a week later, it was still there. I traded my Sienna (with the broken side and leaking tires) and got myself a cool mobile! I am still loving it and the kids are over the moon happy. I never realized how uncomfortable the third row in the van was. They have headrests for little ones that for older kids sit right in the middle of your back. The stupidest thing... Can you believe I didn't take a photo yet? I will post one as soon as I do!

I did a few pages though

This last one I had started in July and then added the right side to it later. I need to go back to the beach photos....

As always you can find the pages in my gallery, link on the right. I would love if you would leave a comment, a little love always goes a long way :)

Well, paperwork is calling!

Sweet Sixteen and more....

I am hanging my head in shame, not having updated this blog in such a long time... another birthday has come and gone and the last one is right ahead..
Gabrielle turned 16, it's hard to believe. We had debated back and forth about what to do. First she wanted a party, then she didn't... we wound up going to Nyco's for dinner and it was great. She took Catie with her and we had a bunch of Sushi, which everybody loved, even Phil. That surprised him, he always thought he had an aversion to it.

The other thing she asked me for on her Birthday was a photo shoot downtown with Catie. I was more than happy to oblige. We had a great time!

I was playing with this new texture I got, I really liked the results. I want to try and smooth the surface of the paper, so that I will just have the light effect... love it!

This past Sunday I took Gabrielle for her first driving lesson with me. We went to the Church parking lot and I just had her driving around in circles and backing into the parking places. Then we drove to a small cemetery with steep hills and curves and she did fine. Wednesday she had an appointment for an MRI of her back (which was fine) and after that we drove to the Driver License Center. She took her test and got her permit. She was quite nervous about the questions, but she had studied the manual, so she made it! Now she can be dangerous on the road :)

Other than that everything is going it's normal way, we are busy again with school, both girls in High School now... Rachel kept saying how much she hated the school, now she is starting to like it. Same for her Math teacher, I promised her she would love him and now she does. That's Rachel for you...

I had a couple of photo shoots this past week. One 2 year old for his upcoming birthday. He was not happy at all, cried the whole time. We even tried taking pictures outside, thinking we could get him to have some fun, but he continued crying. We were only able to get a few pictures when she was able to get his mind off for a couple of minutes... we might just try again and see what we can get some other day.

Don't get me wrong, I love the photos, I just don't think it's what she had in mind :)

Then I did a senior shoot for a young man, that was a lot of fun too. They have such an awesome property, so many places to get great shots!!

I am really into these funky finishes, but I think most people just want plain shots, so we'll see what happens :)

Rain, rain and more rain, this town gets nothing but rain and cold, dreary weather anymore. Yuck! The south is looking more and more inviting to me. I used to think I loved all the seasons, including winter, but the older I get the more I hate winter. I just want it for a couple of days around Christmas and that is enough! :) We are seriously thinking about getting a place in the south to escape to occasionally for now and maybe move once the kids are all in college... this would be the time to do it with the prices being low... we'll see.

Oh yeah, we found out we have a leak in the roof, isn't that wonderful. My brand spanking new bathroom started leaking from the light fixture, it really freaked me out. The guy I had come to take a look at it refused to even tackle the job. The roof is a mess, wooden shingles need to be replaced, it sounds like a major undertaking. It just never ends! I guess I will forego the new kitchen and we will have to take care of the important things first. Home ownership.... sometimes it really stinks!

Other than that things are running as always. We still love Zumba, Gabrielle and I that is. Rachel is getting bored with it already, she would rather go to the Gym (if at least she did that...) oh well, saves me some money if she doesn't go :)

Okay, here are the pages I got done since we last spoke. Really not a whole lot again, it's been so busy around here with all the running

Okay folks, that is it! Have a great day!