Dear Photo Booth....

We really do love you around this house. You can make anyone laugh. And if you don't laugh at a photo booth picture......then something is wrong with you! The first day Ava & I discovered photo booth on my MacBook, we must have spent an hour trying everything out! We were hysterical! And of course, when the hubby got home, he had to join in on the fun!

Tonight, my mom came over for dinner. We HAD to pull out the Mac!! OH.MY.LORD! We were DYING!! I seriously have not heard my mom laugh so hard in such a LONG time!! We decided that once my dad gets home from traveling for work, he gets a photo shoot with photo booth!!!!

Here's some of my favorite pictures from our photo shoots!!

Happy Sunday!

the hubs & ava. she LOVES looking at herself!!

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grayson wouldn't sit still long enough to get a decent picture of him!

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this just cracks me up!!!!

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oh how this makes me laugh!!!

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i totally posted this on my dad's Facebook wall. i think the "chipmunk" effect is my favorite!! ava looks hilarious!!

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grayson's face cracks me up! ava & grayson are ALMOST making the same face!

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two of the loves of my life!!!

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this one gets me every time!!

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i love this girl!

grayson's one year pictures!!!

I have to share this quick picture I snapped with my iPhone. So far, Jenny's posted two pictures of G on Facebook.....and I am DYING for the rest! I am PRAYING that she flys through editing this shoot!!! And that she was able to get at least one decent picture of Ava & Grayson together!!!

i found a picture on pinterest (LOVE!!) of a little boy wearing a tie. so. i decided to ask my dad if he had any of my grandfather's old ties.....and of course he did! jenny decided to have grayson stand (or in this case sit!!) on a mirror wearing (or holding!!) the tie(s)! i DIED when i saw how some of them turned out just by looking at her camera! i can't wait to see how she decides to edit them!

my husband has some ties...and they're nice....but i thought it would be more meaningful for gray to use some of my grandpa's. after all, he is grayson HENRY & my grandpa was john HENRY! and. i was a bit of a grandpa's girl!! oh how i miss him terribly!!

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side note : i walked around looking like THIS (!!!) all afternoon! the lovely woman at mass today decided to paint everyone's faces with ashes. seriously, i had it all over my forehead, nose, face, arms, and shirt. it was a bad idea to wear an ivory tunic.

february photo recap!

It's hard to believe that February is just about over. All in all, it's been a GREAT month!!! We had quite a few exciting moments in such a short month!!

• Uncle Tom & Molly came home for President's Day weekend! It was so great to see them after our plans to go to their house fell through! I think it's safe to say that Grayson is over his fear of Uncle Tom!!! By the end of the weekend, Grayson had to do everything that Tom did! It was great! And of course, Ava was in heaven having him home!!
• The hubby started a new job!!! *this is both exciting AND scary!!!*
• I turned 29. And had the most AMAZING birthday! The hubby surprised me with a brand spankin' new MacBookPro. I am in LOOOVE with this thing!!
• Some of by best friends (and hubby!!) surprised me at dinner for my birthday. I was under the impression that it was just going to be the four of us (hubby, me, ava, & grayson) going to eat at Cantina Laredo (only the best mexican ever!). But, the Fitts' & Adams' families were at the restaurant waiting for us! It was great! And I must say, I am SUPER impressed with Jenny's secret keeping skills! We were together ALL day!! Oh, and Christopher (Jenny's son) announced to EVERYONE at Chick fil A that it was my birthday! Love him!
• Another FABULOUS birthday surprise came all the way from North Carolina. My best friend from college had ordered a Pandora charm for me.....but.....didn't leave any info on who it was from! She pretty much threatened the staff at the jewelers if they told me who it was from! It drove me nuts! But, I finally figured it out! I love her to death!
• The hubby & I celebrated Valentine's Day a few days early & had a nice dinner at Connor's Steakhouse. He took me to "The Fossil's" to pick out a new watch! I was SO excited! I finally got the watch I had been wanting forever!!
• We finally got around to doing Grayson's 1year pictures. I can't not WAIT to see Jenny's amazing work! We had a blast!

So. Here's to February!! I hope that March brings as much fun, friends, & happiness!!

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Photography Backdrop Craft

A couple of months ago, I got a message from my amazing photographer friend, Jenny, asking if I could possibly make a "fabric garland" for her to use as a backdrop. I took one look at the picture she had sent me of what she wanted and jumped on the chance to make it! It was seriously one of the easiest projects I have taken on!! We spent a good two or more hours at the wonderful Hobby Lobby picking out our fabrics. I could not wait to get started!

We picked a morning for her & her son Christopher to come over so we could work on the backdrops (yes. i said BACKDROPS! we couldn't settle on fabric for just one...so we got enough supplies to make two large ones & two smaller ones!) Thankfully, Grayson napped the entire time Jenny & Christopher were here. We started at around 10:30 & finished up by 2pm.....we did take a break long enough to feed our starving children & to break up a few arguments! It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would!

Last weekend, Jenny took some pictures of newborn twins....and used one of the smaller "basket garlands" I made. I am SO beyond anxious to see how they turn out!!! But, knowing Jenny, they will be anything short of amazing!

this one is my favorite.

we used two different cotton fabric patterns, brown tulle, & sage green burlap.

the colors in this one are so soft & feminine. it can be used for babies, engagements, or even wedding/bridal pictures. i just LOVE it! and the "basket garland" is just as amazing!

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the second one we did, we used this AMAZING green fabric....and i honestly fell in love with it as soon as i saw it!!! i pretty much made jenny buy it!!!

with this one, we used our leftover tulle to break up some of the green fabric. we also used an ivory burlap to add some texture. this one turned out really good also!! it's feminine, but still somewhat masculine. i must say, i'm very proud of us for our creations!

it's been a while!!

Wow! I have slacked on my posts for a while there!! Life has been keeping me super busy!! Here's just a quick recap of what's been going on the past few days around here:

• the hubs got a new job.
• my car decided that it didn't want to go to sc.....and the airbag light gave us a scare! $45 later we found out it was nothing & just needed to be reset. so. our trip to see colin & molly is being rescheduled!
• lots of crafting!!
• grayson decided that having a pretty black eye @ 13months wasn't cool enough, so he decided to add a bruise on the forehead AND a fat lip. thank goodness we're doing pictures next week instead of saturday!!!
• valentine's day.....got super spoiled by the hubs!
• my 29th birthday....again....got super spoiled by the hubs! biggest birthday surprise....a brand spankin' new MacBookPro! so in love!!!
• colin & molly come home on friday for the weekend! so beyond stoked to see them!!!

I promise to give a more detailed update once life slows down just a bit.......whenever that may be!!! But until then, here are some pics of some of the craziness that I call my life!!!

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Valentine's Day Goodies for the hubs & kids!

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Ava was laying so nice watching a movie & Gray decided it was time to practice some wrestling moves! I guess he figured that since Uncle Tom was coming soon, he needed to get started!

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Ava & Zoe passed out on the living room floor!

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My Valentine's Day gift from the hubs! I LOVE it!!

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Just a peek at my latest crafting project.....a ribbon wreath for the spring!

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My sweet girl!! Oh how I love her!

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Look what I found at WalMart!!!! I totally bought the last 5 that were left on the display. Is that bad!?

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She's such an amazing big sister!!!!

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Just chillaxin' on his big stuffed dog!!

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Ava had a nice seat warmer the other morning while she was playing on the computer!

Crafty Goodness

I have been SUPER busy with some craft projects lately! And I must say.....I have been thoroughly enjoying it!!!

Here's a little peek at what I have been working on!!

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these first two pictures are fabric/ribbon garland that i made for the photographer friend (hint hint jenny....hurry up and make a blog!!) they turned out amazing!!! i'll do a full post on both of these mini ones & the two HUGE ones we spent pretty much all morning on yesterday! i can't wait to see them in use!!

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i spent superbowl sunday working on some valentine's day shirts. and i must say, i absolutely LOVE the way they all turned out! all i have left is ava's! and IF i can find a shirt for grayson......i may have to whip one up for him! i can't wait to see the sweet girls wearing their pretty shirts! the two that match are for our neighbors daughter's emmy & ashley......and the the other one with the big "LOVE" on it is for the photographer's daughter, kenzie.

My next goal is to put together a "fan page" on Facebook. Everyone has been trying to get me to sell my crafts.....but it makes me nervous! The hubs even thinks it's a good idea! So, I guess after I get better pictures of my creations, I'll get started on that! The hardest part is coming up with prices for everything!

*weekend recap*

This past weekend was a good one! It started with some GREAT news for the hubs.....he got a new job!!! He's beyond excited to start something new & get back to what he really likes doing (and actually went to school for!)! We celebrated by going to a local Mexican restaurant with some good friends Friday night. Nothing beats Mexican & Margarona's with good friends!! Saturday, we sort of laid low at the house & caught up on some laundry until it was time to meet Chick & Dude at the civic center for a hockey game. Chick won some tickets last weekend from one of the local radio stations. Ava was SO excited! While I was in line waiting to pick up our extra ticket from will-call, Jason grabbed me out of line & said we didn't need it. But, he was missing one child! Turns out, our 2nd family was also at the game & had an extra ticket for us to use! Awesome! So, not only did we get to watch the hockey game with Chick & Dude, but we got to watch with the entire Sandmeier family! It was a great night! I was so shocked at how well both kids were. We didn't leave the game until after 10pm. And, Ava did NOT nap at all before we went! As for today, we plan on being lazy. The hubby went for a run, the kids are napping, and I am about to start on some Valentine's Day shirts.

Have a Happy Sunday & GO GIANTS!!!!!!

**Just a few snapshots from the past few days.........**

2.4.12

Ava & her "big sister" Ali at the Havoc game! First hockey game was a success!! She had a blast!

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2.4.12

Grayson also enjoyed the hockey game!! He sat like such a big boy next to Dude!

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2.3.12

someone found the toilet paper.....and he was oh so proud!!

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2.3.12

he decided that he didn't want to wear his pj pants anymore.

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2.2.12

for whatever reason, gray decided he wasn't in the mood for rice with his dinner. i think more of the rice ended up in his hair than in his belly!

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2.2.12

totally crashed on the living room floor after breakfast.

Remind me again.............

..........on why we are friends!?

I have been seriously DYING to ask a friend this exact question. However, I'm too chicken & don't want to start any sort of argument. Because Lord knows, it will only cause drama & probably ruin our "friendship" forever. But maybe that's not a bad thing.

I feel like a horrible person. I can honestly say that this "friend" has changed SO much in the past few years that I feel like I don't really know her anymore. And, I'm not a fan of the person she has become. I feel like everything is a competition. She always has the "better" product/family/house/car.....whatever it is....her's is better. Whenever we talk, it always revolves around her & her kids......and someone is always sick. Really. It drives me insane & I am beyond over it right now.

But how do you tell someone that they have become extremely superficial & annoying & you just don't like the way they are.......nicely??

......a photo a day........

who would have guessed that we would be doing yard work on the last day of januray.....barefoot!?

1.31.12

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yummy rosie's!

2.1.12

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clearly lunch & shopping dates with christopher are exhausting...she didn't even make it through her movie!

2.1.12