Fun Photo Shoot

I was playing with my camera settings today in my house. DH came inside to see sheets hanging from the walls and lying on the floor. (I do not have professional photographer drapes but gosh would I love them!) I got my tripod and changed my ISO to 400 because I wanted a gritty look to the photos. I love what I got! Alexis was a very willing model. =0)







Last but not least here is the one I chose to use as photo of the day...



I also have my POTD for Friday to share. My in-laws came over and picked up all three kids for a sleep over. Ronnie and I decided to go out to dinner. I did not remember until late that evening to get the photo so I took a picture of the super cool neon sign outside the restaurant. The food there was delicious, but it was too loud! We ate in the bar because it was overly crowded due to Copeland's being a seafood restaurant on a Friday during lent! The music was so loud, and there were lots of teenagers there (not in the bar) dressed up for prom. Honestly it made me feel old, and I missed my kids! LOL



Saturday afternoon I had to go to work before the kids came home. I had been missing them terribly. Even though they are loud and obnoxious at times. They are awesome kids, and I missed getting my snuggles. When I got home from work they were all sitting in the back of Ronnie's truck waiting for me to pull up. I love this photo just because it shows how country we can be at times. Do not ask me what Ronnie had them dressed in. I had to laugh. Here is Saturday's photo of the day...



Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!
Hugs,
Heather

POTD Update Again

This first photo is the reason why I scrapbook. The other day my husband asked me to dig out some old photos of his cars. When I was pulling them out, I had to set some of my completed scrapbooks to the side. Jordan and Alexis poured over them and kept saying "remember when we did this..." and they were all smiles and were so excited. That my dear friends, is why I scrapbook. Our lives are recorded, and every little moment is important.



Yesterday Ronnie took the day off so he could stay home and watch Brandon. I got to go with Jordan on her field trip to Little Chef Academy where they baked lemonade cookies, and mini pizzas with almost no adult interference. It was loud, it was fun, and a bit overwhelming to be around forty preschool children. They had a blast. In the photo below Jordan was showing me her flour covered hands. The owner of the academy kept telling them to wipe their hands on their aprons, but she knew "She's not supposed to wipe her hands on her clothes." I had to go get her a napkin. LOL The look on her face cracks me up!



Today was a dark and dreary day. It has rained all day long. Last night the thunderstorms were so bad that they woke up both little ones. Jordan ended up sleeping in our bed, and I got up to rock Brandon in the recliner. The poor dears are terrified of loud noises, and to tell the truth I do not like them much myself! No one got much sleep. Here is a photo of the little flower bed in my front yard surrounded by mud puddles. It seemed to fit the day. I was lucky enough not to have any errands to run today, and so I stayed home and scrapbooked instead. It was lovely. I do not get days like that often!



Thanks for stopping by my blog. I will try to post another questions session soon, but the kiddos have just gotten off of the bus, and I have to go wrangle heathens!

Hugs,
Heather

Freebie Digi Kit and Today's POTD

As part of my JAD's design team position, I am sharing some of my older paper packs with the girls there. I thought the only nice thing to do would be to share them with everyone as a freebie! The first one I am sharing is one of my favorites I ever did. It is inspired by life in New Orleans. The preview is below.



You can download it here. I really appreciate comments if you have a free minute!

I also have today's POTD to share. I have a bit of an obsession with Stickles, and while I have no where near the collection that some of my friends do, I was having a hard time finding a storage solution for my small space. I finally came up with using Velcro to adhere them along the bottom of my bulletin board. They are stored upside down, just like they are supposed to be. Yes, I have them organized by color. Every time I look at them, it just makes me happy! If I have two of one color I use a marker to mark which one is opened and in use. It keeps me from having two open at the same time.



Thanks for stopping by my blog,
Hugs!
Heather

I promise!

I promise that this is my last post today! Seriously, life has gotten away from me again, and I have to catch up on POTD pictures. I have been doing a lot of work for my classes, and have not had much time to catch up elsewhere. If I owe you an email, do not worry, it is coming! Hopefully today. LOL

My POTD for the 19th is of the Causeway bridge shrouded in a soupy fog so thick that I could barely see a quarter of a mile ahead. This photo was taken at almost ten o' clock, so that tells you how bad it was! (Do not worry, I was careful. We were only going about 25 miles an hour.)



For the 20th I just had to take a photo of Jordan drinking "coffee". She has been fascinated with watching me make coffee lately, and I remembered when I was a little girl, my grandparents would let me drink coffee with them. They did this by putting a teaspoon or so of coffee in my milk. It made me feel so grown up because I was drinking coffee just like them. With this memory in my mind, when Jordan started showing so much interest, I thought it would be neat to pass the tradition along. We made the coffee together, then I mixed mine up and poured her a cup of milk. We sat at the table, and I put a spoon of coffee in her milk. She was so proud. It was a moment I could not pass up photographing, and I totally intend to scrapbook it!



Yesterday at the crack of dawn my lovely husband left the house and told me he was going to pick up breakfast. He came back with breakfast and the Twilight DVD that was just released that day. He knew I wanted to buy it, and I have been waiting until it came out on TV to see it. (Yes, I am one of those Twilight fans! LOL) I was just so surprised and touched that he went out of his way to get it for me. He even had a conversation with the check out lady about it. LOL



Today's photo is just a small glimpse at the chaos of my life. Brandon and Jordan are really good at deconstructing clean rooms. In this photo they have pulled the covers off of the bed, and emptied an entire toy box onto the floor. Jordan is sitting near the TV after refusing to wear her glasses so she could see. As you can tell she is completely comfortable in the midst of the chaos. Brandon decided the room was too messy to play in anymore and was on his way to me, to get me to pick him up over the gate so he could mess up a different room while I cleaned that one.



In related news, we finally had to put our five year old vacuum out of it's misery. Yesterday it made a horrible noise as it died. It has been a good vacuum. May it rest in peace! Want to know another reason why Ronnie is a good husband? He went and bought a replacement one with a HEPA filter (A must have in my home of allergic people.), and he picked out the one with pink attachments because he thought I would like it. A bonus is it is specifically made to pick up pet hair. I swear if I ever find the person who posted on their website that pugs do not shed... I will probably do something mean! Our dog sheds more than seems possible!!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog,

Hugs!!!
Heather

Wow... just WOW!

Today I got the link to see the rest of Jordan's photos from her Little Hero's Photography shoot. Completely amazing! Just beyond words!!! I am going to share a few of them here, and then share the link.

Remember her dressed up as a fairy? Here is another one! I just love the expression on her face. I can't believe it! I think this one is even more gorgeous than the last one I posted. Just wonderful!



And remember how excited I was about the Punk Princess costume? Here is why!



Here is another... Is that not the cutest costume you have ever seen?!



And this last one is my absolute favorite. I mean it takes my breath away, and shows me how much she has grown up. She will always be my little girl. The expression on her face just melts my heart. She is such a little beauty!



I want to say thank you again to Heather Munsterman. She has given our family a wonderful gift with these photos. It is so hard to get Jordan to sit for photos and the patience she showed, and her creativity truly made the session amazing, and as you can tell... her photography is beautiful, and it truly captured Jordan's spirit. If you would like to see all of the photos from her session you can go to this link.

http://albums.photoonweb.com/ouatphotography/Jordan/

If you would like to see Heather's other photography or set up a session with her, you can go to her website at...

HeatherMunsterman.com

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, and sharing my joy in these photos!

Hugs,
Heather

Check me Out!

I was featured on the Graphic 45 blog this past Friday! I love their scrapbook papers so much, and I was so excited to be chosen to be on their blog. Click on the link below to check it out!

Graphic 45 Blog

Thanks for stopping by!
(There will be lots more posts coming today as I catch up.)

Hugs,
Heather

St. Patrick’s Day/Questions Session 17

Yesterday for St. Patrick’s Day I baked green cupcakes for the kids. I tinted the batter green, and the icing! The kids really loved them, and it made my day. We usually do not do much for St. Patrick’s Day, but I wanted to make the day special for them. Jordan was convinced that leprechauns brought them to her house. LOL

Today’s photo is of the flowers the Jordan picked for me. Our Azalea bushes are blooming in the front yard, and she is always picking me flowers. Even weeds! I do not mind though. I always find a vase and stick them in it no matter how squashed they are by her little hands. It is a little thing that means a lot to me.

Questions Session 17

Question One: Tell me about your car. What color is it? What kind of car is it? Do you love/like/hate it? Why?

I drive a red Dodge Grand Caravan, and I completely love it! I always swore I would NEVER drive a minivan, and I meant NEVER, but when we decided to have three children I decided a van would be the most cost effective and spacious way to go. I am glad I did. I have power side doors, and they open at the press of a button which is important when you are trying to keep all three kids from running off into traffic. I did choose a red minivan because I figured if I HAD to drive a minivan, at least it could be a cool color. I have to mention that it also has a name “Vannie”. Jordan names everything. (See the post about Truckie and Parry! Hehe)

Question Two: Do you lie to yourself about anything?

I lie to myself about how much time I have left to get things done. I am a procrastinator when I do not want to do something, and I will put projects off by telling myself, “I will do it in an hour.” Then when an hour comes I say, “I will do it first thing tomorrow morning before anything else!” LOL Even when I know I will not and will end up waiting until the last possible second. It is a habit I should break.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Hugs!

Heather

An announcement!

You may have noticed that I have a new blinkie on the sidebar of my blog! I was accepted to serve on the design team at Jean's Art Dolls! I am so excited because the site supports all types of art. Mixed media, painting, digital and paper scrapbooking... A little bit of everything! I am so thrilled to join their team. They have some lovely ladies working there as well. If you get the time, stop by and visit!

Jean's Art Dolls

Hugs,

Heather

Littlest Hero’s Project

I discovered the Littlest Hero’s Project when someone posted on my Flickr  asking me to post a photo of Jordan on their photo stream. I went to their website http://www.littlestheroesproject.org/Littlest_Heroes_Project/Home.html, and I immediately signed Miss Jordan up for her photo shoot. She was approved, and I got to correspond with Heather Munsterman of Once Upon a Time Photography in Loranger, La. to set up her appointment. 

Jordan and I both looked forward to the appointment. I was so thrilled with the prospect of someone who knew about special needs working with Jordan. One of the issues we have when taking Jordan into professional photographers is that they do not understand her sensory issues and insist that she wear scratchy things. Then she begins crying, and we do not get our picture. Another issue is the posing. She is not capable of holding poses long, and can not do some poses at all!

Heather was SO considerate, and when Jordan balked at wearing a costume, she went out of her way to find a slip so that the itchy costume would not touch her skin. She made everything fun, and played games with Jordan to get her to cooperate. At once point “Hannah Montana” even got into the deal by calling to ask Jordan if she would sit still for one more photo!

We had a wonderful time! Jordan is convinced that Miss Heather is her new best friend, and I am pretty convinced as well. I can not say enough good things about her. She was amazingly patient, and funny. Just an all around wonderful person. When Jordan would get impatient, she would just let her go play for a while, there was no pressure! Here is Miss Jordan taking a break and riding a toy car in her Punk Princess costume.

AND her photography is STUNNING! She sent me a preview photo last night before editing all of the others. (Which I will get in a week, and am sooo excited!) I just have to share the preview photo she sent. It is breathtaking, and it made me tear up. She truly has an amazing talent.

Do you see what I mean? Is she not fabulous!? The fairy costume was beautiful, and before we started shooting Jordan refused to wear the wings. Heather took it all in stride and this amazing photo is the result! Heather, if you are reading this… like I said before a million thanks to you! We had the most wonderful time, and you are an amazing person AND photographer. You can check out her other amazing work at http://heathermunsterman.com/.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Heather

POTD Update

Last Thursday when we were heading home from Jordan’s Hippotherapy appointment, I stopped at a red light and looked back at Alexis. I hurried to grab my camera and snap this. She is so rarely still! I have been asked why there are not more photos of her in my POTD series. She never sits still long enough for me to take them! I am planning to bribe her into doing a photo shoot for me soon. I have to find the perfect bribe first!

Friday was the only day I got to stay at home last week. Some weeks are spent running errands, and making appointments non-stop. I cleaned up the house, and settled down to scrapbook. I heard loud crashes in the living room, and went in there to find this. Brandon was creating chaos as usual. I like to think that it reflects well on me as a Mom that instead of yelling… I got out my camera. LOL

On Saturday I had a class, and when I got home Ronnie had given the kids a snack. Brandon asked for “cackers”, and Jordan for “loop loops”, so they ended up with a little of both. The girls were being loud and Brandon had enough. I turned to see him plugging his ears with his fingers and grinning. He knew he was being silly.

Yesterday, Jordan and I had the privilege of having her photographs taken by a wonderful photographer named Heather Munsterman. At the end of the photo shoot Jordan had decided that “Miss Heather” was her new best friend. This was especially touching because she is usually very wary with new people. (I will be blogging more about this in a later post all by itself, but here is the POTD for Sunday.) Jordan and “Miss Heather” posing together on the chaise lounge. While it is not the best photo ever, it truly shows how much fun they were having!

Today’s photo is of the duck weather we have been having. Duck weather is when it is grey and drizzling. You always see ducks out playing in the puddles. Today was no exception. At Jordan’s therapy place they have lakes, fountains, and ducks. Here is a picture of one of the pretty fountains. The funny thing is that all of the ducks were playing in the ditches instead of the big lakes.

That is all for this post, but we have had lots of exciting times, and good news that will be posted in a bit!

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Heather

Tree Hugger, and Why You Should Not Hug Trees

We had an extremely busy day today. We were up at the crack of dawn to bring Alexis to her psychiatrist's office. I had to drive through pea soup thick fog to get to the appointment. Thank goodness I had the good sense to leave early. After we dropped the girls at school, Brandon and I went and bought milk and aluminum foil. We stopped by the house to put the milk in the refrigerator, and then headed to get Alexis' medicine.

While we waited for it to be filled, we went to the park across the street. We had a wonderful time, and I got some really great photos! Brandon insisted on hugging the trees in the park, and when he found one that had fallen down he had to hug it too. (See the photo below!) Here is the one I chose for the photo of the day... (This is the reason why you should not hug trees! They have creepy things in them. ) It is rather pretty with the droplets in the web. You can even see the worms building the nest if you look closely. Gross but strangely pretty.



Here is my little tree hugger! He is such a funny little man. I have no clue why he feels like he has to hug trees, but it sure makes for some cute photos. (And scrapbook pages later on!)



Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Heather

POTD Laundry Loathe, and Scrappersaurus Humanus

Yesterday's POTD was the huge pile of laundry on my couch. I loathe doing laundry, and since there are five of us here. It is practically never ending. The piles you see are from just two days. I do laundry every other day or I am completely overwhelmed. I need a laundress to help around here. A maid would be nice too! LOL



Today's photo is me poking a bit of fun at myself. One of the challenges over at Scrapbook.com is to scrap your "Natural Habitat". Of course I had to take a photo of me sitting at the scrapbook table in my jammies with my hair sticking up all different directions. I am planning to do the scrapbook page with the title Scrappersaurus Humanus. Which would be my title if I were a dinosaur. I know, I am strange. LOL



In other news, not much has been going on around here. Alexis got grounded this morning from going to gymnastics since she misbehaved so badly this morning. I finished reading another Torey Hayden book. She is a special education teacher, and I really enjoy reading about her teaching methods. I am working on cooking chicken spaghetti for dinner. Jordan is industriously coloring in her coloring book and ripping the pages out. Brandon is helping her by stealing the colors and coloring on the walls. Thank God for the Mr. Clean magic eraser.

Speaking of scrapbooking and coloring, I did get two scrapbook pages done today. Here they are! As always you can click on them to make them bigger and read the journaling.

My Little Monster
by Miracles_momma
Scrapbook.com

Two Cute
by Miracles_momma
Scrapbook.com

Signing off for now! Duty calls. Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Heather

POTD Catch Up/B’s Birthday/Questions Session 16

You will all have to bear with me a bit today because I am three days behind on photo of the day pictures again, and I want to post about Brandon’s birthday party this Saturday too!

On Friday, all three kids were out of school for a teacher development day. For me, that meant a hectic day of trying to get ready for Brandon’s birthday party on Saturday. Usually, when they are all home, no one ends up taking a nap. For some reason both Brandon and Jordan crashed out on the floor right next to each other. It was too cute to pass up, so it became Friday’s photo of the day.

On Friday night after everyone went to sleep I made Brandon’s birthday cake, which was an adventure in itself. I made fondant icing for the first time, and was pretty thrilled with the way it all came together. If I had it to do over again, I would have rolled the dots just a bit thinner before applying them to the cake.

Of course his birthday was train themed. He is obsessed with trains. He even steals my die-cut trains off of my scrapbook table to play with. When he woke up on Saturday, I had the dining room decorated with the Thomas banner and tablecloth. He jumped up and down and hollered “It’s a Choo Choo!” It totally made all of the trouble worth while.

We rented a bouncer for everyone to play in, and at first he was scared. Eventually he started smiling and playing. All of our guests totally loved it, and Mommy and Daddy even ended up in it from time to time. After all, we are the biggest kids!

The photo of the day from Saturday is of Ronnie kissing Brandon on his head while taking a break from bouncing in the bouncer. I just see so much love in this photo.

He was not very interested in blowing the candle out on his cake. Instead he hollered “Mine!” until I pulled the train off of it, and handed it to him. Instead of cake he had birthday cookies. (He is the only child I have ever known that does not eat cake or ice cream!)

Opening his presents was a lot of fun, for Alexis and Jordan that is. Their version of helping included opening everything for him and handing him the toys while he yelled “Mine!”. I think the terrible twos are starting!

At the end of the party, he slept so hard that he was sleeping with his eyes open. (Which always freaks me out! LOL) I took this photo while he slept. Note the dirty face, and the super cute T-Rex shirt.

Today’s photo of the day is Brandon being silly. He was smushed between his bed and Jordan’s, and when I teased him and told him to move, he stuck his tongue out at me. Silly little bugger.

Yes, I know it is the Brandon show in this post, but it WAS his birthday! LOL

Questions Session 16

Question One: Do you feel like chivalry is dead? Why or why not?

This is a hot point topic for me. It makes me so frustrated when I see people not being polite. In my opinion chivalry is not just for men! I was taught to be polite from a very young age. Even now at twenty-eight years old I still say “Yes Ma’am, and Sir” to anyone older than I am. I hold doors for people who are struggling, and give up my chair whenever someone needs it more than I do.

I do not feel like chivalry is dead, but maybe it is in hibernation? I am teaching my children to be polite as possible. I expect them to be respectful, and be little ladies. I expect Brandon to be a gentleman. It is a lost art. I wish more people would teach their children these important values as well. As time passes, I have noticed less and less people in the general population taking time to be kind to one another.

Question Two: Along the same line, describe something chivalrous that someone has done for you.

The one thing that sticks out in my mind is when people hold the door at the doctor’s office open for me. I am always struggling with a stroller, and trying to hold Jordan’s hand at the same time to keep her from falling or God forbid, running off into traffic. When people notice, and hold the door it just brightens my whole day. The little things count!

Thank you for stopping by for this super long winded post!

Hugs,

Heather

Jordan Rocks! And other stuff...

My photo of the day for Tuesday is of Brandon and Jordan sleeping in the van. Jordan stayed home from school because she had been coughing and had a terribly runny nose. The doctor said she had an upper respiratory infection, and gave her antibiotics. They fell asleep on the way to the pharmacy to get her medicine. Here they are...



Wednesday I had to go to the school for Jordan's IEP. I am pleased to announce that she will be in a "normal" class next year instead of integrated or special education. She is a brilliant little bugger, and I was worried about how much actual education she would get in a special needs class. They will have to make some accommodations for her handicap, but she is a determined girl, and I am sure we will work it all out.

After I got home from the IEP, I tried to cook dinner. Brandon was crying because he did not get a decent nap, and Jordan was trying to comfort him by kissing and hugging on him. He got even madder, so what did I do? Grabbed my camera of course. Jordan really tried to make him feel better.



Today, Jordan wanted to go to school again, and even though she had a bit of a runny nose, I decided to let her go. I probably should not have, because I got a call at lunch time to go pick her up. She told the teacher during P.E. that she was having a hard time breathing. We came home, and I worked in the yard cleaning up the flower beds while she played in the rocks. Since she was little, she has always loved playing in the rocks on the walkway and driveway to our home. I saw a layout the other day by a friend of mine (Jill), and her daughter is the same way. She scrapped it, and I thought it was an excellent idea. So when Jordan settled down to play in the rocks, I grabbed my camera, and snapped away. I had a hard time deciding on which shot to include so I am uploading two. The first one is the one I chose as POTD, and the other is just for fun.



I love the contrast between her dainty little hands and the chalky rocks.



We have been preparing for Brandon's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. I cleaned the entire house from top to bottom yesterday, and today I worked outside for a while. I still have to clean the BBQ pit. That is not going to be fun. Wish me luck, I had better get busy before the sun goes down.

Hugs!
Thanks for stopping by,
Heather

Whoo Hoo He Is Two!/Questions Session 15

Today is Brandon's second birthday! I can not believe how quickly he has grown. He is as tall as a four year old and rambunctious as all get out. He loves cars, trains, and anything related to transportation. He is the most loving little boy, and we are so thrilled every day to have him in our lives. He celebrated his birthday by passing out on the floor in his room with his hands tucked under his tummy, and his legs pulled up like a little frog. He seems so grown up sometimes, but times like these remind me he is still pretty little.



Only one question today... inspired by a question a friend of mine had to answer on her daughter's pre-kindergarten application. List five words that describe your children. (If you do not have children, list five words that describe you!)

Alexis: Determined, Energetic, Introverted, Enthusiastic, and Tough

Jordan: Exuberant, Musical, Intelligent, Sensitive, and Stubborn

Brandon: Brave, Intense, Loving, Forgiving, and Tender

Me: Determined, Musical, Creative, Introverted, and Intelligent


Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Heather

POTD’s and an Update

Alexis and Brandon are feeling better, but Jordan and I are not! Ronnie never did get sick, which just baffles me.

The POTD for the 27th is of Jordan trying on Ronnie’s old glasses. She found them at the bottom of his dresser, and was modeling them while laughing hysterically.

I am an Aunt again! My sister-in-law had my nephew Christian Wesley on Friday! He is just the cutest little baby. I am so excited to go cuddle him once everyone is feeling better.

Yesterday Ronnie and his friend went to race at the Pinks All Out competition in Baton Rouge, La. His friend won both of his races, but sadly his class was not picked to advance. I did get some super cool photos out of it, including this one that I am using as the POTD.

Here is a photo of the host of the show just for Leah, because she likes him so much. LOL

This is Ronnie’s friend’s truck. It is pretty cool!

Here is today’s POTD! Lady was passed out on the floor sleeping. She was sleeping so hard I could not even see her eyes. After a while she looked up at me and snorted, I guess she was telling me to leave her alone and let her sleep. LOL

I am all caught up! I will try to come back and check in tomorrow. It is almost bed time here, and I still have a million things on my to do list!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Heather