HOMECOMING PICTURES, TODAY IS THE DAY

Hello ladies,  the sweet Princess and Young Prince have left for the Homecoming Dance. Oh man do I wish to be a fly on the wall there, haha.  Let me just start by showing you what the temps were on Thursday and even on Wednesday. The windows were open, shorts and flip flops back on, the hot sun was out. Of course we wake up TODAY.... HOMECOMING DAY to rain and gray gray clouds. First I had to freeze at Sam's 9am soccer game, HE SCORED THOUGH SO I WON'T COMPLAIN!!

 

Now we can move onto the getting ready part, just had to mention how lousy the weather was today the day we wanted sunshine, only 50 degrees and not much sun. That didn't stop Renee from being tickeled pink all day and counting down the hours and bursting with excitment all day long!!!!!

The before shot, see she's PINK, lol

This is my hairstylist and I share her with my kids

I love Hallie smiling at Renee in the first one and Renee's grin in the second, not sure what happened with Hallie. She did great with Renee's hair and make up. So glad we came here and had fun with her.

We had to rush home and get dressed and eat fast to get to Tylers, so this is their first photo together. She has never done this nor has he. So cute they were and HE TOTALLY TRUSTED HER WITH THE PIN, I LOVED THAT ABOUT HIM.  We are at his grandparent's beautiful home, so nice to take the pictures here. I'm going to just show my favorite pictures now without words. Just know we were doing our best to make them both feel at ease and relaxed. I think they make a cute couple and looked GREAT!! I also want to remember Renee was so cold she was shaking so much before putting his flower on him. I would say we were all cold actually but she was shaking!!

I love this, unposed and just being funny

I love this one too, us moms told them this is how they should dance tonight. Remember in DIRTY DANCING, MY SPACE YOUR SPACE, haha we told them to keep their distances when dancing!

I love this close up of her, so dang grown-up....

Playing the Wii for 20mts was the reward for all those pictures and smiles!!

PROJECT LIFE CAUGHT UP

I finally got last week's Project Life pages done, was slow this week on it. Glad to have it done and love what I did. Here is the full spread with my 29 faces in September added in, I am only showing you this peek of the faces since I haven't posted all of them yet. Those are my toes peeking in the photo, this is to remind me it was finally warm enough today for bare feet, YIPPPEEEE!!!

Here is a close up of the left side. All these pictures except the weather one are from last week. Isn't it great when PL works any way you want it, some weeks are like this and that's very OK!! I just realized the date is missing again, seems to be a pattern for me, not sure why??? The little AVEDA is from my haircut place, like adding this little piece in. Lucky is so cute in these pictures, need to include him more in this album. I LOVE LOVE the cloud pictur collage, lots of those this year.

Here is my favorite part, the right side. It's full of one day, a perfect fall day on Saturday. Instead of trying to choose from the 100+ pictures I took, created collages highlighting the day events. So happy with collages this year and the way they can tell more of the story. Again, this week really didn't have a week's worth of photos, some were from last week and then all from one day. Sorry for the glare in the upper right hand, I try not to let it bother me. Just seeing the colorful trees in the small pockets makes me happy. Can't believe it's October already, want this fall season to slow down for me.

I had to add this one in, tonight sunset!!! ALL PINK and PRETTY!!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

29 DAYS OF FACES CONTINUED AND A CHALLENGE

Hello!!  I actually finished my 29 faces, HOORAY HOORAY!!!  I admit a couple days were combined because of time or lack of idea. So glad to see it thru and being inspired to do more. This is a bad photo, it's dark and rainy out and that darn glare in the upper right. Here is a rundown on them:

 

face 1.... a male face, all marker and I like it

face 2.... a little girl face and pigtails, Renee helped me with them

face 3.... this was a favorite for the hair color, messed up on the mouth a little

face 4.... PURPLE PURPLE, LOVE THIS, I had the image in my head and just stopped here so I wouldn't mess up doing the rest of her face. I'm ok with this, the rules were unfinsished faces allowed

face 5.... this one went wrong, the background color didn't work and marked it up and the face just didn't come out as planned. Thinking I do like white boring backgrounds with the faces

face 6.... hello BIG FACE, used a mix of things on her. Kinda like it for some reason

face 7.... hello Aunt Martha, this one came with a name right away, I really want to work on curls

face 8..... hello to my favorite, I keep going back to this one. I'm starting to like the no hair look as you will see in my next update. I was kinda down that day and it reflects it, liking all the white

day 9.... HELLO COLOR, watercolored background and black marker. I like this background better then the face 5 background. I like the pop of color and life it gives.

 

Now for some thoughts on this project. First I noticed that working on the left side of the faces/hair/eyes is easier for me since I'm a righty. Still can't figure out how to work the balance on the right side, it's a awkward angle for my arm and squeezing into this small space is hard. Anyone have ideas that could help this please share and I hope this made sense. These were all made for fun, no big masterpieces or WOW factor going on. Working on what supplies I like best, so far it's my sharpies or gel pens. Crayons just don't come in good enough and colored pencils are ok, painting is harder. Most of these were made with an image/color in mind not just random drawings. I want to learn/work more on the noses, eye expressions, making them look more lively and with feelings.

 

In doing this challenge for 29 days,  it has helped me do something new and out of my comfort zone. It became part of my day and just seemed natural to sit and create a face everyday, it grew on me and I started to really enjoy this time. What I realized most is doing something for this long shows that YOU CAN DO IT!!  So I want to ask YOU to join me in this challenge... 31 days of doing something, ANYTHING for 31 days this month. I  know YOU can do it and it will be fun to share and cheer each other on. Choose anything, arts, crafts, cooking, walking/jogging/ quilting, drinking more water, reading, organize your house, make a card a day to mail out at Christmas, really it can be anything, the choices are endless. I had about 10 ideas and kept coming back to my faces, it really made me happy this month. I know we are a day late on this, but really who cares, START TODAY AND COUNT YESTERDAY AS A FREEBIE!!! For some of my PL readers you could even do something and add it into your album like I am. It's been a long time since I've sat and night and just doodled so I'm also challenging myself to start that again too. Last night's page is done and I'm already planning today's page.  So in the comments please let me know first if you have one favorite face that you liked and what challenge you will do with me. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Keep it simple!

 

Thank you for the sweet comments on my previous post, Renee goes to bed each night to dream about homecoming. We are on countdown mode and she just wants it to come already. If you missed this special post scroll down to read it. I won't have my PL post till later this week, little behind.

 

COME JOIN ME IN THIS CHALLENGE, WOULD LOVE TO HAVE COMPANY!!!!!

 

 

ONCE UPON THE TIME.... the sequel.....

Here we are again, a year later and another ONCE UPON A TIME, story to tell. As some of you know from last year, my Renee is very into fancy dresses and dreamed of the day she would finally shop for one, last year that dream came true and she loved her dress and the whole homecoming night was magical and fun for her. This year the fairy tale isn't as magical but still a story for me to tell.

 

ONCE UPON A TIME THE SEQUEL starts on a Saturday morning with an eager girl excited about dress shopping. Let me first back up and explain how she almost didn't plan on going to the dance. The young Prince she has been dating for some time now had told her he didn't go to dances nor does he dance. The young Prince was pretty sure he wouldn't be going and was ok if she wanted to go without him and be with her friends instead. The Princess was very sad and didn't know what to do, she wanted to go but yet reallllly wanted to be with the young Prince. I told her instead of the dance I would take them to the movies and dinner so they could still have a fun night out. The Princess thought about it and said "yes, that is what we will do."  A short time went on and the Princess really wanted to attend this magical dance so she decided to call up her Prince and ASK HIM TO THE DANCE!!  The young Prince said YES !!! Oh, the Princess was beyond happy about it and even though he warned her about not dancing and not sure about the whole dressing up part. She told him she's not that good of a dancer and they would dance and have fun even if they looked crazy. So off to the mall we went that Saturday. Oh this Princess tried on many dresses at several stores and none of them really spoke to her like last years dress. I also gave her a budget this time and the rule to stick with colors that would still go with last year's shoes/jewelry. This didn't make the Princess very happy and it did make finding a dress much harder. The smart mom of this Princess made sure she only tried on the dresses we could afford. This was a lesson learned from last year, once that Princess has on that magical dress with a high price tag her mom will melt and buy it. We both know that their is still a navy blue/black long ruffled dress still at the store that would have fit her perfectly and looked amazing on her. That little dress was priced higher then last years though, so it STAYED ON THAT RACK. Finally after going thru all the stores and dress after dress this is the one she picked. I was excited because it was lower then the budget, on SALE BABY!!! Look at the colors and sparkle on this dress. It fits her well ( a little too well) and makes her look grown up and taller. This will match the shoes and jewlery from last year, she's thinking no jelwery though because the dress is so busy and pretty already. Now the young Prince went shopping next and his mom found him a  sharp pair of black pants and black shirt. They are still searching for the right tie to match this dress. So far no luck but they did find a hat he may wear. She says he looks very sharp and handsome all dressed up. The Princess has a hair appontment that afternoon for a haircut and style for the dance, she loves this part also. The young Prince and his mom will be taking Renee out for an early lunch that day before they get ready, this was planned instead of a rushed dinner before the dance. We will be meeting up at the Prince's grandparents home for pictures, can't wait!!! I'm told they have a lovely home and fireplace that would be a good setting for some pictures and if weather permits we will go outside too. The young Prince is actually getting excited and is saying YES we will dance and have a good time. These two lovebirds have been keeping me on my toes lately and have been so cute to watch grow together and finding their way. To be honest they are total opposites and have few things in common. The most amusing opposite they have is "FOOD, FOOD, FOOD"!!!! My Renee has always and will probably always be a fast food lover, deep fried lover, french fry lover, forget good foods and eating at home. She wants to eat out all the time, so funny she is. Well, this young Prince doesn't eat out, doesn't like fast food nor fries, nor pizza. What does he like SUBWAY!!! I laugh all the time about this, for years I've teased Renee that her children will only like veggies and good food and she will have to make it for them. Never did I see a boyfriend who doesn't like fast food in her life. HAHA!!  I'm hoping that he will help turn her around and maybe getting her to try SUBWAY and enjoying home cooked foods more. The one thing they have in common and is strong between them is the bad struck of luck that GOD has given them,  for Renee it's  a health issue and for Tyler it's a family issue. They both lean on each other and help the other one get thru the ups/downs they each have. For this I will always be thankful, she's kept silent all these years and has only opened up to him and he is honest with her and is slowly opening up to me and trusts me. So much has changed this past year and I hope this next year will be even better for my Renee and even for this sweet young Prince. I will of course post pictures and tell the rest of this story next week. For those of you new to my blog, in my October Archives is the story from last year if you'd like to read it.

 

If you didn't read my previous post, check it out for some fall photos and a happy day we had this weekend. The weather is already back to freezing, was 39 degrees this morning, brrrrr. I will be late on my PL pages, hoping to have them ready for later in the week. HAPPY OCTOBER EVERYONE!

TODAY I SAW..... FALL AND SUNSHINE

This was at 6:45a.m. I had just walked outside with Lucky and saw how WARM & SUNNY it was, so I told him to sit and wait while I ran and got the camera. He came running to me when I came back, so dang cute and happy, LOVE THIS!! I am so happy to say the day was warm all day and the sun stayed out. With camera in hand today I captured a much needed great fall day.

 

TODAY I SAW

these pretty daisy like weeds all over our yard, LOVE

the last two pumpkins, they were baby's when I first showed you

just peeks of fall colors coming in

wind blowing the cattails, happy I got this one

the fall leaves reaching for the sunshine

this little building at the soccer fields, crazy but I love chipped paint

this beautiful stone and brick together, a favorite combination of mine

Sam and buddy played a good game today. SAM SCORED! We loved watching it in the sun finally and no rain and freezing cold like the last few weeks. Love these two guys, friends for 7 years now.

my sister helping my niece to try riding her new scooter from our dad, LOVE THIS

my other niece getting on it instead and taking off

Sam loves his new scooter too, pray he doesn't wipe out

these gorgeous yellow trees

these two different fall trees together, LOVE

I came home to see playtime in the backyard, click on it to see Sam and Lucky better. LOVE THIS

my favorite way to end the day, gorgeous sunset and fall colors

a sink full of dinner dishes that I will wash since my hubby cooked an amazing dinner for us while I was at movies with the kids. He enjoyed this day just as much as I did. We both needed a warm day.

 

I took 120 pictures today, tried to narrow them down best I could, so hard with all these pretty fall phtotos. Can you see all the joy in these and happiness, seriously it was from just seeing the SUN and NO RAIN for once. My mood was going down all week and this really lifted me up. Hope to get more of these next week if the weather is right. Enjoy your last weekend of September, YIKES!!!!

RIGHT NOW

I love love writing these kinds of posts as most of you know. All week I've had some ideas on what to write about today, couple of special posts or just the random right now post. Due to busy schedule and not even being home right now this will be a random RIGHT NOW post! Today this is a prompt given by the wonderful and amazing Ali Edwards, check out her blog to read hers and more like this one. Hope you will link up and join the fun also.

RIGHT NOW:

I am at the library typing this while girls at church choir and boys at home hanging out

My hair is short and curly after a much needed haircut

Summer texted me from the bus to remind me to "GET RID" of the spider she saw in the bathroom,lol

Sam has the worst runny nose he's ever had, LIKE EVER!! It won't stop running and he has to keep blowing it so his nose is red and chapped and it's driving him crazy.

LOVE LOVE that soccer season has started and seeing my boy out there on the field running brings joy to my heart even after all these years. Even in the rain and cold it warms my heart just watching him!!

Renee has been collaging at random times thru the day/bedtime, LOVE THIS

The girls just had braces adjustements and are in pain and hate eating right now, soft foods for now

wishing the nights didn't get dark yet, Rich and Sam like to bike when he gets home, soon they won't be able to. Will have to do it only on the weekends.

Wish the rain would stop so we could have the last bonfire and smores for the year, love doing this

Sam has been asking for snow to come for his bday (Nov.10) and we keep saying NO WAY!

We've been watching the Cosby Show at night before bed, so nice to have a show we all enjoy

Doing my Project Life pages each week and loving it more then ever. CAN'T WAIT TO GET THE NEW ONES COMING SOON...... IT'S LIKE CHRISTMAS FOR ME

The amazing sky and clouds lately have me taking more pictures of them instead of the kids. Seriously loving how cool and pretty they've been.

Excited thinking that in a few weeks will make it 2 years since we got our dog, Lucky. Special post coming up on that, love love this dog!!

My hubby is busy busy at work, working a little more hours lately

Proud of my hubby for heading back to the YMCA to work out and for me back to walking again, feels good

Getting one daughter ready for homecoming and watching her relationship grow with her boyfriend. Puppy love/teen love is very serious in our house right now. Mixed feelings about this, wanting to go back about 10 years when it was easier and more fun.

Kristin is planning her trip back home for Christmas, HOORAY

Sam brought home his library book which he picked out for me... A CRAFT EVERYTHING BOOK, he's so sweet and funny. Can't wait to create something from it.

So happy and ready for fall: pumpkins, cider, jeans, color leaves, Thanksgiving just makes me love fall more

The girls waking up so good in the mornings early for school, Sam who is buried under his covers though and doesn't want to wake up. LOVE waking them all up softly and gently each morning.

Playing cards with Sienna when I watch her. Our favorites: Slap Jack, hi/low and Go Fish. She is GOOD!

Little Colt growing up and being soooo sweet right now. Blessed to watch him and his sister.

Enjoying church every Sunday for 6 months now, can't even describe how it feels me with peace.

Making more Morning Glory Muffins and comfort warm foods, love leftovers in the fridge for lunch

Thanks for letting me ramble on. I love being the storyteller more and more in my family. Thanks Ali for this prompt today and letting us share it with you.
Oh and I cannot forget to add watching the new seasons of The Middle and Modern last night and Grey's tonight, happy for fall tv shows.

PROJECT LIFE AND RENEE'S 29 FACES

Welcome to another week of PROJECT LIFE!!! I can't believe how fast this week went by, no more blinking for me. This week has a nice variety of stories, some planned and some not. This led to harder time picking out photos so I sneaked them in for next week already,lol  gotta love that!!

Here is the left side, look at those pumpkins in my front yard, FALL TIME!! Made some amazing and can't stop eating muffins (sharing recipe later). The start of colds for Renee & Summer which kept them home a day and me following them around with a Lysol can, haha.  Click on the image so you can read the journal cards, that 3rd one is funny and you can blame Sam if we get snow early this year. Feel free to send him a not happy message about it!!!!

This is the right side and I LOVE IT!! Look at those cute munchins playing so good together, lots of this going on here. Now if you remember my ONCE UPON TIME Story from last year and guessed  what it was, CONGRATS!!! We went homecoming shopping for the dance in 2 weeks, sadly this trip wasn't as much fun as last year ( post and dress coming later on). We had a CRAZY CRAZY WEATHER WEEKEND and here is just one shot of it, Rich outside while the hail was pelting down on him. This happend a couple of times thru the weeend along with lots of rain, black clouds over us, windy, COLD TEMPS and peeks of sun. This pattern repeated all weekend long, CRAZY!!

 

I am going to post Renee's part of 29 Days of Septmember now while I can, busy week ahead. She did hers on computer paper and I'm thinking of just making my favorite kinda of collage and adding it in with mine. She didn't last all the way but still did a great job. So here is peek at hers.

The first 3 days did start off with just pencil then she decided to add color

I love that she did guy faces also, inspired me to do mine

COLT..... RIGHT NOW!!!

This little guy is growing up so fast in the last few months, despite my telling him to stop growing. I only see him once/twice a week so I try to SAVOR AND ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT!! Lately, with his big sister in pre-k we have the mornings together which gives me more time to really spoil (love and play and hug) him and not worry about his sister being left out (not that I don't spoil her). So today I need to write down some RIGHT NOW thoughts before he grows out of them. Oh and I don't always get the best pictures, he's always moving, smiles too late/soon for pictures but that's ok it's who he is fast and curious and playful at this time!! I just love this little guy more and more!

 

right now you love hugs and just laying your head down on my lap when you need to

right now you love playing at the window and love when tractors/trucks go by

right now you are getting tall, look big even next to your sister

right now you still suck your thumb when sleepy, sad, upset

right now you ALWAYS make car sounds when playing cars, LOVE LOVE THIS

right now CARS are your favorite thing, moving them around, hiding them, putting them into rows

right now you love to sit and put bunches of toys on your lap and laugh

right now you are running, soooo very cute

right now you can also walk backwards and spin

right now you love to stand up and fall on your bottom 50x and laugh so much

right now you SMILE and SMILE all the time for soooo much

right now I think smiling is your way of communicating

right now you are learning to talk and are so proud and happy about it

right now you give knuckle touches and give them often

right now you love my pets, always watching and excited by them

right now you do have tantrums, throw yourself in the floor and cry LOUD

right now you can be talked out of those tantrums and given hugs and love

right now you want to go outside often and if the kids go out you want to follow

right now you are learning to share and take turns with sister, good job buddy

right now I love watching you sit with mom, dad, papa in church, so sweet!!

right now you eat so well and aren't too picky over here

right now you are reading books more and laughing at them

right now you drool all the time and everywhere, LOVE THIS

right now your looking tall in your high chair

right now you love to walk in garden looking at pumpkins and flowers

right now you laugh when Lucky chases the ball

right now you know Sam is the other boy here and LOVE HIM

right now the girls are your sweeties, lots of hugs given

right now you take GREAT naps here, 2 hours most times

right now you are such a JOY for me, so easy going and happy

right now you like to stand up the toy people and try so hard at it

right now you SMILE BIG when toys work right and esp. when blocks fit together

right now you LOVE your big sister and playing with her

right now you love to play chase with big sister

right now you want me to tickle you, taking my hand and making me know you want me to tickle you, so much laughter when we do, love that you do this and enjoy it

right now you have a pouty lip when crying and sad, makes you CUTER!

right now you still look at your hands and my hands not sure why

right now I want to bottle you up and keep you RIGHT HERE AT THIS AGE

right now is pretty good and I'm so blessed to take care of you and watch you grow!!

Colt and me!!!

LOOK AT THAT SMILE!! LOVE THIS!!

 

I hope you enjoyed this cute post of my little man!! Will be doing something this weekend and sharing it next week if all goes well..... think ONCE UPON A TIME THE SEQUEL from a post last year at this time ( my older readers might remember). Have a great weekend ladies!!