Some Photos

So, Tate and I ventured down to Oklahoma City this past weekend to visit the Jennifers and we had a fantastic time! We hung out with the girls, went swimming (got lots of mosquito bites, youch!), did some chatting, some shopping and Tate got to play with Javier. Oh yes, and I also got my first baby photo practice time with Enrique...Yep, he's a cutie for sure! Not bad for first baby shots I thought! All black & white conversions and textures are from LCH Photography. Have I mentioned how much I ADORE her photoshop goodies?! Gorgeous stuff!









And here's one of Javier and one of Tate fromt he weekend as well:





I do have a couple of layouts done, but I need to get some pics of them when I'm at the store this weekend. Hope the rest of your week is fantastic! :)

Monday Monday....

The weekend just flew by! But it was probably because I was having so much fun! The scrappy girls and I went down to Tulsa for the Creating Keepsakes Convention Friday & Saturday. We had lots of fun, spent lots of money and ate lots of great food! (Olive Garden, The Cheesecake Factory and I was even persuaded to try some Asian food at Peiwei--and it was pretty good!)Anyway, I just have a few things to share this morning...first is a picture of Tate taken with my new camera. I added a texture layer from LCH Photography...they are SO neat!



And the next 2 are a couple of my layouts for my class this Saturday at Chasing Rainbows. And I'm super excited about my class Saturday. Along with my regular favorite people that will be attending my class, my good friend Charlotte from The Nook is also driving down to take my class and do some cropping! I'm so excited to see her again! She's the sweetest! So, here's 2 of the layouts we'll be doing on Saturday:





And one of the best things that's happened in the last week is that I found my good friend Stephen on MySpace. He was seriously one of my best friends ever back in the day and we lost touch when I moved from OKC to Kansas, so we've been chattin it up and catching up on everything that's happened in our lives. He was the sweetest friend ever and one that I had missed the most from my past! The internet does amazing things!

Have a fantastic week everyone! :)

I {heart} Brown!

Brown -- as in the UPS guy that is! Wanna see what he brought me today? Well, do ya?? I'm still in awe.........






Yes friends...that would be my new Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR! Talk about quite a change from my little Canon S2iS point & shoot...but I've been doing nothing but manual mode on my P&S for a while now, so I'm a little familiar with settings, but this thing has so many buttons and gadgets on it that it's a little overwhelming. I played with it a little while I was at work (needless to say that I didn't get much done today in the way of work!). It's been rainy out today, so I havn't got any good shots to share yet. I also got a great guide on my specific camera and I'm already several chapters in. It's helped a ton and seems to be a great book so far--very easy to understand and process!

I still don't know how I talked the hubs into letting me get this...and it was a lot easier than I even dreamed! Just a few promised favors... *snicker* I really figured he'd buy another cow or 2 with our extra money...but really, we have enough for the moment I think! Camera ----- Cow, Camera ---- Cow...hmm, easy choice!

Finally, A New Post!

A few of you have asked me when I'm gonna finally update my blog, so...here I am! It's late and it's raining again. It has been all day, but I have to tell you that the cooler temps today have been really refreshing! I sleep good when it's like this, so I'll be ready to cuddle into my down comforter with my new copy of Breaking Dawn after I finish this post. Yep, the 4th and final book of the Twilight Series is out. It kind of makes me sad...this has been one of the best book series I've ever read and it's almost over! I'm about halfway through the book, but I'm trying to take my time so it doesn't end so soon.

I've been keeping myself busy with some crafty projects too! Here are a few layouts I've done...some for myself, some for the scrap store. There are actually 2 more that I've done, but don't have pics yet...they are for my August layout class at
Chasing Rainbows and they're currently being displayed in the store.









I've also been on a mini accordian album kick lately...Here are 4 of them...the other 2 are made, but don't have pics in them yet.





















And this last one is a class I'm teaching at the store on August 16th. It's a Chatterbox Mini album and it's adorable! I love the shape of it! I'll have pics of the inside posted in my Scrapbook Nook Gallery either tonight or sometime tomorrow!



That's pretty much it for me! Have a great weekend/week!

The Waiting Game

Yep, I'm no good at waiting...for anything! I'm an instant gratification kind of gal for sure. So, what am I waiting for you might ask? I tossed my hat into the ring for a DT spot for American Crafts.

Yes, I am an American Crafts junkie!!!

It's one of my very favorite companies of all time, so I figured it couldn't hurt! So, with that, I wanted to pay tribute to some of my very favorite AC layouts from the past and present.

My newest little project is a simple card...I love how it turned out!


This is my best friend Teresa's cutie pie little girl, Callie...hence the title :)


The rest you have seen before, but I still love them!








You know...probably 99% of my layouts have some form of American Crafts products on them....Did I mention that I am totally addicted to their Thickers? I rarely do a layout anymore without using them. I pretty much quit buying anything else for my titles...You just can't go wrong with so much variety--chipboard, vinyl, felt, velvet, glitter...so much dimension and so many different fonts!

Okay, so wish me luck because I know there are some ginormously talented ladies out there competing for these coveted spots. Let the wait begin!

Proud Mama Moment!

So, the 3rd and 4th of July is always rodeo time around here and probably the most anticipated event by Tate this year so far. Not only is the rodeo known for awesome bronc and bull riding, calf roping and steer wrestling...but it's also known for mutton busting. And this is where Tate comes in. Apparently his good buddy Tyler was telling him all about this fun little event...and Tate immediately said that if Tyler was doing it, so was he! The conversation went a little something like this:

Tate: "Mama, I am riding a buckin sheep at the rodeo."
Mama: "Oh, you are, are you?"
Tate: "Yes mama, I am. And I have to wear my cowboy hat so I don't hurt my head."
Mama: "You think your cowboy hat is going to keep your head safe?"
Tate: "Yes mama, it WILL. And I AM going to ride a buckin sheep at the rodeo."

Well, anyone that knows Tate knows that if he has his mind set on doing something, not much will stop him. And this was all I heard about for the next week until it was finally rodeo time. Now, I have to be honest. Tate sometimes ACTS so brave and sure of himself, but chickens out when it comes right down to it...I was honestly thinking that he might get in the shoot, sit on the sheep and change his mind. (My mommy brain was secretly hoping for this.) But that didn't happen. He was brave. And he was GOOD. And he finally fell off. And he cried. And I almost cried too. But he was the second youngest out of the 15 or so kiddos that lined up for their turn at conquering the sheep...and he came in second on who held on the longest and went the farthest. The little girl that beat him was about 6 or 7 years old. My brave little 3year old beat out a lot of kids...a lot of them much older than him. And he earned the prize he won. Three dollars which he spent today on a little blue scoop tractor at Orscheln's. And yes, I was snapping pictures like a mad woman...until the end when he fell off. I didn't get that one because I was too busy running out to make sure he was okay. So, here are some pics from last night!

The wait and anticipation...It was awful. He wanted to go right that minute, but he had to wait his turn.






Finally Tate's turn...Shawn and Joey were helping them and offering good advice like "Hold on REALLY tight!"




And out of the shoot he goes! (This is where my heart started frantically thumping out of my chest!) Notice Tate's hat flies off and Shawn makes a great catch!










So, I don't have pictures of the graceful dismount, but I can tell you a little about how it happened. He held on for so long and the sheep went so far and was going so fast that when he finally DID let go, he planted the side of his face in the dirt and he rolled several times. Then the tears started. After the tears quit, this is what was left (ain't he cute?!):


And the dirt stayed there for a while...proof of the brave battle he fought with the menacing sheep. Everyone we passed gave him a good pat on the back and told him how great he did. I've never seen him so happy and I've never been more proud to be his mama!

Here's a few more pics from afterward...Tate being silly and cute. The last one shows my little brothers who are growing up SO fast! My dad and family were in town from Tennessee this week and came over to the rodeo for some fun as well!







I hope everyone is having a great 4th! We spent some more time with my dad and family this morining/afternoon and I think we're just going to hang out at home this evening. We should be able to see some decent fireworks from our house!

More Stuff!

So, the creative bug has really bitten the last week or so and I have a couple more projects to share.

This first one is made from the July kit papers over at My Scrapbook Nook. They are the fabulous new Passport papers from Making Memories. It's an 8x10 wall hanging and I did a class on it for the Nook. You can find all the instructions HERE.



And while I'm not 30 yet, I will be in another 7 months or so and that got me thinking...I don't feel old. At all. And I wanted to make a layout about that. This layout is made using mostly products from one of my all time FAVORITE companies -- American Crafts. The bold patterns and bright colors are right up my alley!! Love me some AC! :)



Have a great rest of the week and weekend!!