Elephant Juice

Project 365| February 10th-16th

2012-02-19T10:25:00.000-06:00

DAY 41| FEBRUARY 10TH

I think I actually took this photo on Thursday night, Feb. 9th...but I don't remember.

It was getting dark and we were headed out the driveway. The snow was beautiful, and I wanted to get a photo of our house in one of the first snows since we moved in!

(Taken and edited with the iPhone, so the processing gave it a little bit of an erie look. Our house really isn't erie! haha!)

DAY 42| FEBRUARY 11TH

Sent him to the chair in the spare room for a "time out"...

He had been told by Daddy once not to mess with the locks on any of the doors in the house.

BUT he somehow managed to lock his bedroom door.

DAY 43| FEBRUARY 12TH

Went to tuck him in before I headed to bed....he looked so darn adorable, I couldn't resist!!

DAY 44| FEBRUARY 13TH

DAY 45| FEBRUARY 14TH

Went for a V-day lunch at College Hill Coffee....

These beauties were on our table, so I took some iPhone pics :)

DAY 46| FEBRUARY 15TH

Back at CHC again....

This day I set up my Elephant Juice display. Over 30 images of my clients from the past year. Kim helped me, and we got them all up! So excited and honored to share these, and I hope everyone loves the display. If you're in the area, stop in for some yummy treats and check them out! They are up through the end of March!

DAY 47| FEBRUARY 16TH

Sorry to include two sleeping shots in this weeks' images...

but how can I not with this adorable face! Sweet boy fell asleep on the couch :)

Love those lips and long eyelashes!

SNOW day!!

2012-02-16T15:33:00.000-06:00

Woke up Monday morning to this view out the bedroom window!!

I love it every morning, but it was especially beautiful snow-covered!

Schools were closed for the day!!

Even though I had no sessions scheduled, and Barrett doesn't have school on Monday, it was still FUN to have the "snow day." A great excuse to just stay home all day!

We stayed in our PJ's until lunch. And ran around the house from window to window watching

all the beautiful birds playing in our trees! They were everywhere...vibrant reds and blues.

{I took this one through the window of our dining room}

After lunch, Barrett cousins came over to play out in the snow!

He was SOO excited!!

They came in for cookies and hot cocoa!

After snacks, Barrett wanted to go back out.

We were all out of our snow clothes and didn't want to head back into the cold, so Mimi suggested bringing the snow inside! Great idea!! Barrett re-filled this bowl with fresh snow four times over then next day and a half! He sat there on that rug in the dining room for hours playing with his cars and toys in the snow! This might not work so well for all children, but my child takes after me. He's very neat with things like that. He never tried to take any of the snow out of the bowl. He's also just never been the ornery, mischievous type...that could still change though :)

It was a fun day!

AND today Barrett ask me "Mom, how do we make it snow again"?

Crushin' on you...

2012-02-13T23:26:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

{a sweet photo shoot with my little camera ham, a peek at B's Valentine's treats, and a download for you}

I got this shirt from Etsy, so I could send a few shot to the shop owner.

{BK Chic Boutique}

Then we changed, and did some more...

Barrett always humors me, and goes along with my crazy photo shoots!

If you've ever read tips on "How to get genuine smiles while photographing kids."

I simply tell him "You'd better not laugh...don't do it...don't you laugh."

It works like a charm. Almost too much. I get a LOT of images like the above!!

He usually even asks, "Mom, aren't you going to tell me not to laugh"?

AND this is my cue that the shoot is O-V-E-R!!

There were a million adorable ideas for Valentine's on Pinterest!

I wanted to be somewhat original, so I tried to put my own spin on a few I found.

BEAR HUG treats for school and friends

{chocolate teddy grahams, cinnamon gummy bears & pink conversation hearts}

Barrett signed (with a "B") and drew a picture for each of his classmates on these little cards.

Download bag topper HERE

Topper is sized at 5" wide by 6" tall (3" tall when folded)

It's made to fit on the tall clear treat bags. I got mine in the party/weddings section at Walmart.

You could also use a baggie that is 5" wide.

Download the jpeg file, and insert it into any 8-1/2x11 document to print

(print two per page)

CRUSH soda for teachers and friends

Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine's Day full of LOVE!!!!

Project 365| February 1st-9th

2012-02-09T16:49:00.000-06:00

DAY 32| FEBRUARY 1ST

Celebrating the amazing weather...car ride with the windows down and a t-shirt on!

Headed to CHC to meet Mimi for lunch.

DAY 33| FEBRUARY 2ND

Starting to wonder when our days of spring-like weather were going to run out.

(I think the finally did after this day)

I painted in the garage every afternoon this week, and Barrett played outside every second he could.

Under his fort "digging for gold" he told me.

DAY 34| FEBRUARY 3RD

Me and my boy cooking dinner!

DAY 35| FEBRUARY 4TH

We took a last minute trip to Derby for shopping (Lowe's and Kohl's) and dinner at Applebee's.

We got home at 10:45pm, just in time to watch Saturday Night Live and enjoy some tasty beverages.

DAY 36| FEBRUARY 5TH

Superbowl Sunday!!!!

We {LOVE} football in this house! College and NFL!

Barrett was excited for the big game...asking about every 15 minutes "is it time for the Superbowl yet"?

We got a lot of little projects done around the house, then made tacos and watched the game at home.

Just the three of us ;) We had these Smores marshmallows for a treat!

We were sad our Packers weren't playing, but happy the Patriots got beat :)

Perfect evening!!

DAY 37| FEBRUARY 6TH

Monday afternoon I headed to El Dorado for a special session with this beautiful girl and her horse!

The location, the lighting and the natural beauty were all right up my alley!

I loved that session! Totally my style :)

DAY 38| FEBRUARY 7TH

After Barrett got home from school, we had a little Valentine's photo shoot!

We had so much fun!!! My little man is such a ham for the camera, I love it!

More to come from this on February 14th!!

DAY 39| FEBRUARY 8TH

{Self portrait}

DAY 40| FEBRUARY 9TH

Getting more shipments in every day for my College Hill exhibit next week!!

This is a grouping I ordered for ME! Barrett's 3yr session at the fire department.

Wow...that's already been almost a year ago!

(They will hang the two 10x20's on the sides, and the 10x10 squares stacked in the center)

Project 365| January 23rd-31st

2012-01-31T11:52:00.000-06:00

DAY TWENTY-THREE| JANUARY 23RD

One of our most favorite evening activities....dinner at College Hill Coffee.

This night we sat by the fire, Barrett ate Broccoli soup, and we played 'Go Fish.'

I was invited to exhibit my photography there in February and March, so we were

checking the display hardware :)

DAY TWENTY-FOUR| JANUARY 24TH

He may be FOUR now...but he's still my baby boy.

I don't mind when he falls asleep in my arms on the couch. I usually wait a little while to carry him up to bed.

You know, just for a few extra minutes of snuggling and kisses. Man, he's sweet!

DAY TWENTY-FIVE| JANUARY 25TH

Got out of the shower to find this view from my bedroom door...

My little man playing with Mr. Potato Head

Love that all our bedrooms are upstairs together and close.

Love all the natural light in Barrett's room (and the whole house).

Love decorating his "birthday" door with signs and balloons, just like my mom did for us every year when we were growing up.

DAY TWENTY-SIX| JANUARY 26TH

My little man's first trip to the dentist!

I won't lie...I was nervous about how he would do. If he would be clung to my leg, even sit in the chair, scream bloody murder. Boy, was I wrong!! He was a rockstar patient!!

We took Tiny Monkey, but he didn't even want to hold him...he tossed him to me!

He opened wide, and didn't shed a single tear. He looked so grown-up.

I almost shed a tear just because he didn't need me. Not to sit close or hold his hand.

He got to watch cartoons, so that helped!!

In the car on the way home, he told me "that was FUN."

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN| JANUARY 27TH

I opened the pantry to make lunch, and found this!

The pantry drawer was a parking garage :)

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT| JANUARY 28TH

Helping Papa put a new window in the RV.

Justin and I went to Wichita for the day (antique shopping, house stuff shopping, Abuelo's and to the new casino),

so Barrett stayed to help Papa work. He loves the RV, and loves to take his bag of tools to help "work" on things.

DAY TWENTY-NINE| JANUARY 29TH

Barrett's first trip to Walmart to spend his OWN money.

He's been saving up money in his wallet (duct-tape wallet made by his cousin Emily).

He picked out a new car, and gave the cashier his money.

DAY THIRTY| JANUARY 30TH

Beautiful afternoon! I painted furniture in the garage, and B played and played!!

This was taking a break. He told me he was going to sit down because he "really missed his daddy."

Two weekends ago, we cleaned out the garage. Made a huge garage sale pile (I am SO ready for garage sale season), and cleared out my side, so I can park in there finally. *You can see my Craigslist find from Sunday night! Two matching nightstands for our bedroom for $25! I was so excited!!

They were in Winfield, and match our bed and fireplace wood perfectly! Score!

DAY THIRTY-ONE| JANUARY 31ST

Snapped this from the front door after I got home from taking B to school.

The sunrise and clouds were beautiful! Another gorgeous day!

Vroom, vroom....Race Car Birthday

2012-01-24T12:10:00.001-06:00

Barrett's BIG Birthday week is over!

He had a playdate party with friends on Monday, took treats to school to celebrate on Tuesday, opened gifts and went to dinner with Mommy and Daddy on Wednesday (his actual birthday), and had a family party on Saturday!

To say he's sad his Birthday week is over would be an understatement.

His favorite thing to do is play with cars, so this year's theme was a no-brainer!

Planning this year's party was the most fun yet. Barrett is at a great age to help!

AND he was such a great helper...really!

{party invite}

designed in photoshop with images purchased from vectorstock.com

orange patterned designs-digital paper pack from Sassy Designs

{welcome guests}

we made a race track on the sidewalk up to the front door.

Barrett had a blast helping with this!!

{drinks}

We put our own labels on bottles of orange Hawaiian Punch (lemon berry flavor)

*Happy to share the digital file for printing the labels at home, just email me

{party favors}

CARS, of course!!

THANK YOU! I am "wheelie" glad you came to my party!

little plastic "paint can" jars from Paper Mart

Cars & Ribbon-Walmart

Bakers Twine- www.sweetkaity.etsy.com

coloring books

*Happy to share the digital file for printing color book cover at home, just email me

{fabric light garland}

Barrett's favorite project!

We worked on "pattern power" making this baby!

blue, gray, orange...repeat...a million times!

My sis-in-law helped make the 'b-a-r-r-e-t-t' tags and cupcake toppers with her Cricut

gray and orange paper straws and cupcake liners from The Bakers Confections on Etsy

(cute, cute, cute stuff for the Bakers out there!!)

Gummy cars from Oriental Trading

They come individually wrapped. Assorted blue, green and red. I just picked out all the blue ones :)

The mommy snack area...

Chow time!

Cupcakes, and since it was morning, I threw in some fruit kabobs-cantelope, blueberries and peaches!

*******

Saturday night family party-opening gifts with Kylie's help!

Barrett had to open gifts first, so after gifts we had taco soup and then treats!

{guest book}

{family favors}

Cookies and a sucker

Sucker from Oriental Trading

(supposed to be a car, but Justin didn't think it looked much like one!)

{party treats}

More sweet treats! Thought these were bright and fun!

Just stuck a popsicle stick in sprinkled donut holes from Walmart Bakery.

We made these Fruity Pebble treats for Barrett to take to school
(recipe here)
They were cute and SWEET! His teacher told me I "really sugared them up"...Ooops!!
I told her I would have made a healthier snack, but it was his birthday!

Another fun Birthday week!
And the very best part of it all...we finally got to host the birthday festivities in our OWN house!

Love you, Barrett Russell!

Project 365| January 17th-22nd

2012-01-23T15:09:00.000-06:00

DAY SEVENTEEN| JANUARY 17TH

Barrett got to take the treasure bag and treats to school on the 17th! It worked out perfectly, since his birthday was the following day. He Was excited to take a few of the new "worker trucks" that he'd gotten for Christmas and his birthday.

DAY EIGHTEEN| JANUARY 18TH

BIRTHDAY BOY!!

Big boys can butter their own rolls!

DAY NINETEEN| JANUARY 19TH

Had another session in my natural light "home studio."

Barrett was at school, and I had a sweet little newborn girl session here.

Loving the new house more everyday!

Here is one of the images from the session....

DAY TWENTY| JANUARY 20TH

Continuing to be blessed with amazing weather in January!

Barrett and I love to walk out to the mailbox on these nice days. It's a great little mid-afternnon exercise!

We also enjoy our view of the golf course out the front door.

DAY TWENTY-ONE| JANUARY 21ST

Shot of my desktop...

Was working on some edits, and trying to finalize the re-vamp of my branding/marketing stuff.

DAY TWENTY-TWO| JANUARY 22ND

Barrett had his final birthday party on Saturday evening. One for family.

He got a Leap Pad from Gigi and Papa, and has been getting it all figured out.

He loves it. He calls it his very own "iPad."

Here he is tracing the letter "G" for Gigi!

FOUR

2012-01-18T22:55:00.000-06:00

My little man turned FOUR today!!

We slept-in (one of B's favorite things to do), and then headed to Norah Kate and Cal's for a morning playdate with friends and lunch. Aunt Megan even made special ice cream sandwiches!

After Daddy got home from work, Barrett opened some presents from us.

This was "my favorite present ever," he told us.

The birthday boy got to pick where we went to dinner, and he wanted Montana Mike's.

He got a virgin strawberry daiquiri and a green balloon. He was thrilled!

When we got home from dinner, the boys put the new workbench together, and Gigi and Papa came to visit!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

I hope you had a great day!!

journey of our tree

2012-01-17T13:59:00.000-06:00

I set up our Christmas tree earlier than ever.

Right before we left to head to Nebraska for Thanksgiving.

We weren't sure if our house would be sold before Christmas at that time, or not.

Very soon after that, we found out we would be closing on December 19th!

I was NOT going to take the tree down, and be without one for the holidays!

So, I made my hubby load 'er up in the moving truck!

I rode in the back (probably very illegal) holding the tree upright, out to the new house.

Justin and I talked on speaker the whole way, so he could make sure I was okay :)

{self portrait of me and my tree bouncin' along}

At the new house, on December 17th, we set the tree up in the family room...

After the ride, it need a little TLC. Branches squished, ornaments all over, etc.

Audra and I scooted the tree out, and painted the family room...

A few days later, we had to move the tree AGAIN!

It went to the entry, so new carpet could be installed...

I kinda liked it there!

I got a NEW bigger tree on Clearance after Christmas, so maybe this little guy will go in the entry this year. I got it on Clearance the first year we were married ($7 at Walmart), so I'm kinda attached!

Finally, it moved back into the family room.

We had carpet and furniture, so Justin picked out a new spot for it.

Wowsa! That poor tree must be exhausted!!

Holiday Rewind--Belated Tuttle Christmas

2012-01-17T13:38:00.001-06:00

Neither of my brothers were in town for Christmas day, so we celebrated later in the week.

Everyone got to town late-afternoon on the 28th, so as soon as Justin got off work, we had Christmas!

Did everything just like we normally do on Christmas morning...only a few days later, and in the evening :)

Mom's beautiful table set for Christmas dinner

The kiddos love their Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jenn

Took the annual 'cousin Christmas jammies' picture, we usually take Christmas Eve.

Jones wasn't really a fan...

The next day the girls went shopping!

Me and my sis-in-laws...

we all tried on the same outfit, and bought it!

That night we went for Mexican and margaritas, then to the Isle of Lights

Brian, Sarah and the kids left Friday.

But we had a couple more days to spend with Brandon and Jenn in town.

We went to dinner at Montana Mikes...

We took a few pictures before Brandon and Jenn left town.

holiday Rewind--bfe kiddie Christmas

2012-01-17T13:38:00.000-06:00

The week after Christmas, we hosted our first "party" at the new house!

We had my girlfriends and their kiddos over for a belated Christmas brunch and gift exchange!

There are now seven bfe kids, and one more on the way (Amber is due in July with BOY! YAY!).

Lydia, Caroline, Hadley, Jillian, Norah Kate, Callum and Barrett

Holiday Rewind--Christmas 2011

2012-01-17T13:09:00.000-06:00

Barrett woke up in his new house on Christmas morning!!

I LOVED that he got to come down the stairs in his Christmas jammies! It was so cute!

Our new carpet had just been installed two days before.

It was nice to finally have clean, cozy carpet to make it OUR space.

That Friday (Dec. 23rd) after the carpet was done, I hurried to get the tree moved back into the family room, the furniture arranged, and mantle decorated. I wanted it to be home for Christmas!

{burlap wreath my creative sis-in-law made for me}

Gigi and Papa got to come over! Barrett is not your typical 'get up at the crack of dawn' child.

He slept-in until about 8:30am, I think. That is actually early for him.

Then we called Gigi and Papa to come over, and kept Barrett entertained upstairs until they got here.

I think it's safe to say he was excited about everything!!!

After the gift excitement, Barrett and I both took a late-morning nap on the couch.

Then we went outside to try out the new bike!!

We had a late lunch at Gigi and Papa's, and celebrated Gigi's birthday!!

**************

The weekend before Christmas, Barrett has his Christmas program for school.

They did it during the regular Sunday church service, and that place was packed!!!

I was sad I couldn't see Barrett at all from our pew, once his class got up there to sing.

He was front and center, and I think a little in shock at all the people.

He was mostly frozen for the whole two songs. Luckily Norah Kate's dad went up front and got it on video, so we got to watch that. This is the only pic I could get...AND I snapped it too soon. Just a blur of Barrett's head. Oh well :(

After the service, we went home and CLEANED like crazy. The house was mostly empty, and the new owner was supposed to come after 1pm to start moving things in. We had worked hard to clear out several rooms for her to have. Long story, short...she didn't end up moving anything in that day. We had rushed to do all that work (me vacuuming like crazy in my sweater, skinny jeans and boots) for nothing. That was the day I had a breakdown. It had all been moving so fast, I hadn't really had time to think about leaving our house. There was so much going on, our house was bare, and I knew it was the last night we'd ever spend there. {additional post on that later}

That afternoon (Dec. 18th) we went to my parents for early Bush-Tuttle-White Christmas.

Aunt Clara and Uncle Doug had made a "Bush Family" Jeopardy game!

Categories consisted of: Grandkids, Mom & Dad, Colleges, Sports, etc.

It was very fun!!

There was even a question about me under grandkids...

"Professional photographer in the family"

Who is---> LAURA

Justin had one too ;)

"Cable guy"

Who is---> JUSTIN

We were divided into three teams.

Mamo's team won!!!

It was fun for me to learn all the towns Mamo and Bapo had ever lived in, What job Bapo worked to get himself through college, and Bapo's favorite song.

holiday Rewind--Christmas Eve

2012-01-17T12:16:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve 2011

Dinner at Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Rusty's....

Present time :)

Making food for Santa's reindeer

After Christmas Eve with the family, we headed to our new house for our first Christmas Eve at HOME!

We made a batch of cookies for us, and some for Santa.

Then we "cheered" as Barrett says, to our new house!

He loved the sparkling grape juice...he said it was "spicy."

Barrett left Santa cookies and "spicy juice" by the tree, and headed to bed!

Project 365| January 9th-16th

2012-01-17T11:33:00.000-06:00

DAY NINE| JANUARY 9TH

Barrett enjoying some morning cartoons.

We finally got the TV off the floor...it sat on the hearth in front of the fireplace for several weeks until we decided where to put it.

AND of course "Biggie" is in this photo. Barrett favorite blanket.

DAY TEN| JANUARY 10TH

We have been blessed with so many beautiful days this month!

We get outside to enjoy them every chance we get. Barrett rode his new bike (from Santa)!

I simply ask him to stop on his bike for a second so I could get some pics.

The photographer son in him did this instead: Got off the bike, pushed it to the grass, stood behind it "posing"

Cracked me up! Had to shoot from this angle when I noticed how he was standing...with legs crossed.

I think he'll be a pro come "senior session" time!

DAY ELEVEN| JANUARY 11TH

Barrett fell asleep on the couch, the floor and/or Daddy's lap, about three or four times last week...at about 5pm!

Since moving to the new house, we got WAY off our schedule. My boy that usually took 2-3 hour naps every afternoon wasn't napping. I thought maybe he'd just outgrown them. BUT after last week, I think it's obvious he still needs them. At least every-other-day, if nothing else!

DAY TWELVE| JANUARY 12TH

Bundled up in a soft blanket watching Cars!

DAY THIRTEEN| JANUARY 13TH

After almost a week without painting anything, I was having withdrawals!

HA HA HA HA

So, I decided to paint the risers on the stairs. I painted on, took a pic and texted it to Justin for approval. He said looks great, go for it! So I did them all! Took all afternoon, but I love it.

They were dingy white before with LOTS of black scuffs. Now they are warm, cozy and clean!

{I will show you the "after" another time}

DAY FOURTEEN| JANUARY 14TH

Barrett and Daddy like to "fish" on the iPad.

This night Barrett caught a 69 pounder! I had to get a picture of his big catch!

DAY FIFTEEN| JANUARY 15TH

We spent the afternoon finishing up these favors for Barrett's birthday party!

DAY SIXTEEN| JANUARY 16TH

Barrett had his friends over Monday morning for a birthday playdate!

That afternoon he played contently by himself for hours!! He loved all the new toys.

Before & After {the mudroom}

2012-01-10T13:39:00.000-06:00

We have almost been in the house for one month. That doesn't even seem possible!

AND we have had just a few days/nights "off" from home projects. We are having a blast,

but we are ready for the day we can just enjoy...that is a long ways away!

One of the first projects to complete was the mudroom closet.

I saw this idea on Pinterest several months back, and loved it!

I knew then if we got this house, the mudroom closet would be the perfect place to do this!

Here is the BEFORE....

{I am bummed I didn't get a really good "before," with the bi-fold doors on, and the old linoleum floors}

We took off the bi-fold doors, which made a huge difference in opening up the small room.

They were always getting in the way. The door to the kitchen (on left), the door to the garage (on right) and the bi-folds were constantly crashing into each other.

We painted the inside of the closet with the same color as the kitchen (Baguette-Sherwin Williams).

Then added the bench with baskets and small storage tower (from Target!).

I wanted this to be a clean space for a little extra storage.

I found the three plastic bins up top at Walmart in the clearance isle.

The little pillow is Walmart too! Everything else we had.

Now, we always know where our keys are when we're ready to walk out the door!!

The long basket is a great spot to toss the mail when we get home.

A little bowl of chapstick, hand sanitizer, etc. for before you head out.

My friend Danielle gave us the "McPherson" piece. I need to have it framed.

Barrett knows that his hats and gloves are in the middle basket =)

We LOVE it!!

Project 365| January 6th, 7th & 8th

2012-01-09T10:46:00.000-06:00

DAY SIX| JANUARY 6TH

Friday was GAME DAY for our Wildcats! Barrett and I wore our purple, made lots of yummy game-time food, and cheered loud. Unfortunately it didn't lead to a win ;( But it was still a lot of fun. Barrett looked for Aunt Audra, Aunt Christie and Aunt Amber in the crowd, but we didn't ever catch a glimpse of them. It was exciting to know they were there in that BIG 'ol Cowboy's stadium!

DAY SEVEN| JANUARY 7TH

We were so busy working around the house on Saturday, I kinda forgot about my photo challenge. But I found this photo on my phone I snapped of the gorgeous sunset out my kitchen window! I love my view!

DAY EIGHT| JANUARY 8TH

Our goal for the weekend was to finish the powder room! So, here are Barrett and Daddy working on the new sink plumbing at about 10pm last night! As soon as Barrett saw Daddy was under there working, he ran to get his little tool set, and came back to help. I have no doubt he is going to be extra handy, just like his daddy. He is very interested in things like that. Last night I overheard a conversation between the two of them...Barrett ask what this "long yellow thing was," and Justin was telling him about what a level does and how it works.

(I had to zoom in a little, since Barrett prefers to run around with no pants on!! My crazy child!)

New "studio"

2012-01-06T14:45:00.000-06:00

I've always said I didn't want a studio...

I wanted to do everything on-location, and outdoors only!

BUT, after moving into the new house, I am liking the idea more :)

One of my favorite things about this house is all the natural light! So many big beautiful windows.

The first thing I do every morning is open them all wide and let in the sun!

Our dining room has big french doors, hardwood floors, and right now it's an empty room.

That makes it the perfect natural light "studio."

So until we get dining room furniture, I will use it as my new studio!

My dad made me this new backdrop stand...

I wanted to use it for a one-year old session yesterday, so Barrett helped me test it out!

He's a cute little test subject, huh?!?

After that, I had my first "official" client session at the new house!

It was beautiful out yesterday (65 in January), so we went outside for a few pictures by the pine trees.

Then we used the "studio" for some backdrop shots and a cake smash.

It was perfect!

I am in love with the new house even more after that! I got to work, and I never left my house!

Now....next up, I need to get my office painted and organized!

Project 365| January 5th

2012-01-06T14:36:00.000-06:00

DAY FIVE| JANUARY 5TH

Oh gracious, I love this boy!!!

He is my heart and soul.

He will be FOUR in only twelve days.

That doesn't even seem possible.

Project 365| January 4th

2012-01-04T22:21:00.000-06:00

DAY FOUR| JANUARY 4th

It was beautiful out this evening, so when Justin got home from work, we did some things outside.

Then we all walked down the drive to get the mail and trash cans. Geese were flying over our house.

Our painter finished the trim last week, and it all looks so nice and clean!! I am excited for Spring, to start working on the landscaping and having BBQ's in the back yard!

Holiday Rewind--Thanksgiving

2012-01-04T12:31:00.000-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Sidney, NE with my little brother and his wife!

It was so much fun, and they were wonderful hosts, as always :)

Thanksgiving Dinner! Brandon showed that turkey who was boss...

injecting, cooking and carving!

The Packers got a WIN, and then we ate :)

Barrett wanted only veggies!

After dinner we walked over to the high school football field to work off our dinner!

The weather was beautiful!! Notice Brandon in shorts and t-shirt!

The next day is snowed! Crazy, Nebraska!

This picture just cracks me up! Jenn trying to block Charlie from tackling Barrett! Haha!

That evening, we went to the park!

As usual, Justin and Brandon had more fun that the three year old!

The next day, we went to visit their CUTE coffee shop/bookstore!

AND of course we went to Cabela's!

LONG drive home! Made better with the iPad!

Thanks for having us, Brandon and Jenn!

We love visiting you!

Project 365| January 3rd

2012-01-03T17:29:00.000-06:00

DAY THREE | JANUARY 3rd

Just a real, everyday moment at our house this morning! Bed-head and all!

Barrett dresses himself multiple times a day...most of the time in costume.

Spiderman, Packers jersey, superhero cape, etc.

In the dining room is one of his favorite places to race cars.

We don't have a dining room table yet, so the room is pretty wide-open!

*I don't know if posting two photos is "allowed"...

but I couldn't resist the first one. Wow, he looks grown-up!

Project 356|January 2nd

2012-01-03T16:03:00.000-06:00

DAY TWO | JANUARY 2nd

"Happy House"

We've had many visitors to the new house in the last few weeks, and we love it!

Our sweet friends, Megan, Brent, Norah Kate and Callum stopped by last night and brought us a sweet basket of goodies!

Megan got me my own Sherwin Williams paint fan deck (I'm not sure what they're called exactly). I was soo excited!!

Now I will have that in my purse when I shop for house accessories and linens!

New Year, new challenge {Project 365}

2012-01-02T11:35:00.000-06:00

Happy NEW YEAR!!!

I have so many new photos to share (Christmas, new house, etc.), but today I am starting a new challenge!

My sweet friend, Bethany, has encouraged me to join her in a "photo a day" adventure!

Share one photo from each day of your 2012--I guess I'll call it {Project 365}

It can be someone...something...perfect and edited...simple and captured with your phone...

I am excited! I feel like I really failed capturing 2011. I used to take (and blog) my everyday/personal photos all the time. BUT I just got so busy with my business and client photos in 2012, I fell behind. So, I am ready to join in on this new adventure! Like Bethany said on her blog, I will sometimes take my photos with the 5D and edit. OR I may sometimes just snap them with my iPhone. I doesn't matter, I just want to capture our everyday life! COME JOIN ME!! Start your challenge too! It's only January 2nd! It will be fun to put the 365 photos into a book at the end of the year!

DAY ONE | JANUARY 1st

Home improvement fun with my hubby! We spent most of New Years day in Wichita, shopping for our home (shelving, towel bars, etc.). Then Mimi kept Barrett overnight, so we stayed up until 5am working!! We had so much fun, and I will remember this night forever! We sang along to Pandora. We talked about how much we LOVE our new home...how every step of this journey has been guided by God. All along the way, we thought we knew what we wanted, but He always had bigger plans.

We put a second coat of primer on our Master Bath. It had wallpaper, which my mom (bless her heart) peeled. The walls were in bad shape after that, so Justin patched them with sheetrock mud, sanded, and we primed. Two coats of primer and two coats of paint later...I love it! We also painted the mudroom close and gave it a makeover! Will share that later! AND we put together a shelf and bench. We had a blast, and at 4:58am, we crashed.

PAINT!!!

2011-12-13T02:21:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been over seven years (I think), since I created my last "color board" at Scott Rice.

AND even longer since I created my last residential "color board" in studio at K-State! Gosh I miss that place!

BUT...the past few weeks, I've been putting my college degree to use!

You're welcome, mom and dad!!

***

We first saw our new house in July.

After 6+ years of searching, and having heartbreak after heartbreak...

I was reluctant to get too excited, too fast. I couldn't take another disappointment.

Now here we are, 5 months later!

Our "cottage" on Cherry Street is sold. We have our closing date set for December 19th. This coming Monday.

Although we had been patiently waiting for those 5 months, it all started moving really fast after Thanksgiving. So, I had to decide paint colors fast! (Thank you, Audra, for your help!)

I love to paint, but I've never done a whole house at once!! I was a little stressed. I have all sortsa crazy ideas for what I want on Pinterest :) BUT I don't have bedding or things like that yet. So, we went pretty neutral, but still warm and cozy. Then we can accent with our colors pops down the road.

My PAINT BOARD...

I had to start with this, so I could see all of the house colors next to each other...

I wanted to make sure everything had some sort of flow!

*the paint square for hall bath, Barrett's room and guest room are looking a bit pinkish' to me here.

Sandy Ridge is what we currently have in Barrett's room though, so I know I love it!

From this, I've started working on color boards for each room.

Here are a couple...

That is an actual picture of our cabinets. We are dark wood people, so we were very excited that those won't need painted or stained or replaced! They are in very good shape. Just gotta do something about those gold knobs! This room will need work...there is currently a lot of wallpaper up, and the counters are a black marble-looking laminate. Sweet, huh?!? We just got a new fridge (like shown but with another small drawer between the freezer drawer and french doors), range and dishwasher tonight!

{before}

Found this fabric on fabricworm.com, and love it! Gotta get some ordered and hope my talented sister-in-law will help me make something with it :) There is a standard closet with bi-fold doors in the mudroom, and I'm thinking about converting it to something like the top right photo! Justin even thinks it would be cool :) The walls in the mudroom are currently hunter green, so more work to do! Who wants a floral balloon valance? Highest bidder wins!

{before}

(closet I mentioned is behind me/in front of Barrett...door to garage is just to my left)

Very excited for this room! It's small, so it shouldn't take much...and I've always wanted a powder room.

We just got this vanity and faucet over the weekend, so we have a start! Another fabric I found on fabricworm.com. Any ideas for that?!?! Basket-liners in the those wicker baskets for under the vanity?? More wallpaper to remove, and the pedestal sink is outta there. Sorry if you have one, but we are not fans! ;)

{before}

So, that's where I'm at so far! NOW, we have to get to packing up this house!! I've been staying up til 2:30am or later every night for almost a week straight! It's killing me, but I have to get client edits and orders finished up for 2011. Just a few left still! I finished my last 2011 wedding last night, and it feels great! I think come February, I will be taking a nap every.single.day.

Ideas and advice welcome! If you want to come to the painting party/moving party, just let me know :)

AND feel free to tag me on Pinterest, Pinterest friends, if you find something I might like!

Elf Adventures

2011-12-09T01:38:00.000-06:00

On December 1st, we had a little package show up on our front porch...

We had just watched the "Elf on the Shelf"movie while we were at Brandon and Jenn's for Thanksgiving,

so Barrett knew all about Santa's elves, and how they get their magic and lose their magic!

We opened the box right before school, so we decided to wait until Barrett got back home to take him out and give him his name!! Barrett named him...

MEET Lil' Red Chippy

Lil' Red Chippy... "Chippy" for short, has been up to some pretty mischievous things at our house!

Chippy loves Bobby and Jenn!!

For some reason, Uncle Bobby finds this creepy...I can't see why?!?!

AND that is the most recent adventures of Chippy the Elf!
It's a fun tradition for Barrett (and Mommy and Daddy too)!

Treasure Bag

2011-12-04T18:27:00.000-06:00

Every couple months at Barrett's preschool, he gets his turn to bring something for show-and-tell.

We know when it's his turn, because this red bag comes home in his backpack...

THIS is the "Treasure Bag" for his class!

He can pick two or three things (that will fit into the bag), to take for show-and-tell!

Bringing the treasure bag also means that it's his turn to bring snacks!

In September, Barrett took his Packers helmet and jersey!

I made him a little poster with pictures of him wearing it last Halloween to show his classmates.

He just had his second turn with the treasure bag a couple weeks ago, and that time he took some cars.

His little Lightening McQueen, Chick Hicks and a big yellow work truck.

He likes school, and it's fun to watch him come out of his shell...

He looks so grown-up when he hangs his back-pack up in his cubby, kisses me goodbye and runs off to play with his friends in the morning!

FALL FAVORITE THINGS SWAP

2011-09-24T12:57:00.000-05:00

It's time for the 3rd Annual {Fall Favorite Things Swap}

Although my head is spinning with photo sessions, editing and other business stuff...

I couldn't pass up doing the Fall Swap! It is my most favorite time of the year!!

Post it on your blog and/or Facebook page, and spread the word!

The more swappers we have, the merrier it will be!

Come one, come all... Let's swap our favorite things of Fall!

{HOW IT WORKS}

----> If you would like to participate, just send me an email at elephantjuiceswaps@yahoo.com

You must include ALL of the following information in your email:

first and last name
mailing address
blog address/website (if you have one) AND/OR Facebook profile link
short snippet (a few sentences) about yourself

* Please note: You DO NOT have to have a blog to participate in this swap.

HURRY!!! You have until SATURDAY, October 1st at 10 p.m. to email me with your information, if you would like to participate! On October 2nd, you will receive an email from me with your swap partner's information. Then, you can start gathering your own favorite fall stuff to mail to them!!

Spend around $10-20 on your Fall goodies. If you love it, share it with you swap partner!. It might just become one of their favorite Fall things too! Your favorite: lip gloss, candles, Fall recipes, herbal tea, mug, scarf, etc. etc. You can also include a little note about why you love the things you've included.

Packages for the swap should be postmarked by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21st at the latest.

Once you receive your fun little package in the mail...if you have a blog, you can post pictures of your goodies and THANK your swap partner!

IF you have a blog, you are welcome to post information about my swap! Be sure to link back to this post on my blog. You can also post about it on your Facebook page! Just link this post on your wall!

*********

If you have any questions about the swap, please feel free to email me!

Happy Fall!!

Tractor Show

2011-09-23T15:16:00.000-05:00

At the end of August, we took Barrett to the K&O Steam and Gas Engine show.

It was the last day of the show, so there wasn't a whole lot going on, but there were still LOTS of tractors and demonstrations. Barrett loved it, of course!!

We hit the "big lemon" before leaving for a strawberry lemonade!

B's little head was soaked with sweat just from walking around.

That's a wrap {Summer 2011 wrap up}

2011-09-03T18:17:00.002-05:00

Thanks to my friend, Sky, all of my files were recovered from my old/dead MacBook!

So, I can finally catch up on a few of our Summer activities.
I had forgotten about some of the things we did and photos I took. They'd been trapped on my dead computer for so long.

So, as we celebrate the end of Summer this weekend...

I will post a wrap up of our summer activities & photos!!

We did a LOT of swimming and Gigi and Papa's pool.

Barrett loves the water, didn't complain a single time about wearing the vest
(I hope we can find one like this next year too...didn't rub his chin at all), and is one tan little fish!!

Barrett took several classes from the Arts & Humanities and Rec Center.

Super Heros, Wacky Water, Dora & Diego, Dinosaurs and swimming

Dora & Diego Class with his friend, Lydia!

Wacky Water

Swimming Lessons

This was the first year that Mommy didn't get in the pool with him. I was very nervous about how that was going to work. It wouldn't be so bad if parents could sit semi-close to the pool to observe. Where the kids could see them, and felt a bit more comfortable with the situation. BUT no, they are strick that parents aren't allowed by the pool. I sat back behind a big row of shrubs. I could hardly see Barrett, and he usually couldn't see me. It worked, but I wasn't too happy. After the first day, he did pretty good. I was happy to find out that Norah Kate was in his class, so that helped him feel a little more comfortable with it. All-in-all, he did really good. He didn't learn much, as it was mostly just free-play. That was okay with me. I was just happy with the step of letting mom be so far away :)

We went to the 2011 Cowley County Fair!

It was HOT...so we only made an appearance for one night.

(I also didn't "block off" the Fair on my portrait schedule, so I was bummed I had sessions EVERY night but one)

We took Barrett to the Demolition Derby on Thursday night and he LOVED LOVED LOVED it! While we were there we checked out the animals, and walked around. We didn't get to ride rides this year, since it was after 10pm when the Demo Derby was over, and there wasn't anyone around to ride with B. He was a little sad.

We had picnics in the park...

and got a new Jeep =)

Barrett helped Papa with mowing!

We went on a weekend vacation to Table Rock Lake with Justin's family...

We relaxed, fished, cooked, went tubing and swam off the dock.

Mimi was the worm lady :)

The kids were catching little perch off the dock, right and left. They had a blast!

Barrett made us so proud and went tubing!!!

We had some issues with the tube loosing air. It kept getting pulled under the water, and we had to bail. But Barrett was a trooper.

Even Grandma went tubing!!

It was a great summer, but we are looking forward to FALL!!!!

AND we're still trying to sell our house before we loose the new place! Please say a little prayer, and if you know someone in the area that needs a cute little cottage, please send them our way!!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

First day of Preschool!!

2011-08-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

About two hours ago, I dropped my little man off for his first day of Preschool!

I have held it together pretty well, until I went to publish this post.

Looking through the photos I took of him this morning cracked me!

When did my baby boy turn into a 3-1/2 year old ready to head off for school?

I am so excited for all that is ahead of him this year...new friends and new experiences.

I know he will love it! He didn't want me to leave at 8 o'clock when the school bell rang, but there were no tears, so that is a good thing! He's growing up!

I'm looking forward to being a room mom for Halloween and Christmas parties!

So many fun things to come this year!

Right NOW...I'm looking forward to going to pick him up!

I can't wait to hear about his day :)

Happy FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL, Little Bear!

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! We love you to the moon and back!

___________________

We made a little gift to take to Barrett's teacher on our "meet the teacher" night!

I got the idea from this blog. If you need a teacher gift, you can print the straw flags HERE!

The cup I had made locally by Krenzer's Kreations!

She is great to work with. I designed it, and she made it.

(Barrett and I both have our own cups like this...we've used them all summer and love them!!)

A couple pictures from "meet the teacher" night at his school....

Oh, to be three again....

2011-07-27T15:40:00.002-05:00

I (very) often wish I was three again!

With nothing to worry about but if mom will let me wear my Lightning McQueen shirt again today,

eat cookies for breakfast, and run through the sprinklers shirtless tonight!

Ahhh....those were the days!

Justin spent almost every evening last week getting our sprinkler system back up and working. Even though it's on a irrigation well (aka costs us nothing), we hadn't turned it on yet this summer. BUT all these 100+ degree days were making our lawn look like poo! So, with the first few waterings of the summer, Justin had some heads to work on. Barrett LOVED running though them as he tested each zone. Then, the day after he got them all working, I mowed the front yard and....mowed right over one of the heads that hadn't gone all the way back down! Oops! Lucky for us my dad had the part we needed, and now it's all fixed. I haven't been allowed to mow the front yard since ;(

And also...we've got some {hopefully} big changes happening for our family soon.

After many years of house hunting, and even thoughts of building, we've found a home we love.

Our house went on the market a couple weeks ago. If all goes as planned, our cottage will sell soon, and the new home will be all OURS! Prayers for a speedy sale, please!

Mater & McQueen!!

2011-07-15T00:40:00.000-05:00

Say those two names, and Barrett will light up like a Christmas tree!

He LOVES the Cars movie.

Last Friday, Justin got off work early, so we decided to wake Barrett up from his nap and surprise him.

I woke him around 4pm, and ask if he wanted to go to the big movie to see Lightning and Mater.

He sat right up in bed and said "yeahhhhh, mom! Right now?"

This would be his very first movie theater experience, so we wanted it to be special.

We decided to take him to Wichita to the Warren! I was excited too :)

We went to dinner at Jose Peppers, and then headed to the 6:30 show.

We were there early, and Barrett was thrilled to see that they had a REAL Mater tow truck parked in front of the movie!

We took pictures by it before heading in to get our tickets.

Barrett really liked the big rainbow curtain that rolled up before the movie started!

Barrett did so great at the movie. He sat up on one of the booster seats for the first half, then moved to Daddy's lap for a bit. It was a looong movie (I thought), so I was getting restless too. It was cute, but not as good as the first. BUT still fun!

On the way home, we of course made stop at DQ for blizzards!

It was a great family night, and so exciting to see Barrett having so much fun, experiencing new things.

Can't wait for our next movie!

Fourth of July weekend

2011-07-11T00:05:00.000-05:00

I'm back in a blogging funk!

So many pictures, and so far behind posting them.

Coming soon: girls weekend (from June), Barrett's wacky water class, Barrett's first movie theater movie

We had a great Fourth of July weekend with family and friends.

Justin was on-call for the holiday weekend, so we just stayed in Winfield.

Saturday night, we went out to grandma and grandpa's for some water balloon tossing and desserts.

I didn't get too many pictures.

Sunday afternoon we met Barrett's friends (Norah Kate, Lydia and Kennedy) and their mommies at the pool. Sorry, no pictures ;( We had to clear the pool only about 45 minutes after we got there because a storm was headed in.

Sunday night, we went to dinner at Montana Mike's and then took Barrett to the fireworks stand. He was SO excited to pick out fireworks. Then we went to Gigi and Papa to shoot them off! Since the storm had come through around 4:30pm, it really cooled things off. It was the perfect evening to be outside. Barrett's favorite was the smoke balls and sparklers.

On Monday it was HOT again, so we swam and had a cook out with Gigi and Papa. I was sad (as always) not having my brothers here. Hopefully next Fourth we can be together. Monday evening we celebrated at the Wolf's house with a BBQ and some small fireworks for the kids.

Some pictures from that evening...

(I only had my Bloggie camera, so they're not the best)

Yes, they both did a lot of this...covering their ears! EVEN when it was just smoke balls ;)

After dinner, we headed to the fairgrounds/Pecan Grove, to watch the Winfield fireworks show! For years and years and years, Megan's parents and many of their friends have gathered to watch the fireworks together. They also always bring along homemade ice cream and desserts. They set it all up in the back of the suburban and we dig in! Barrett seems to enjoy this tradition already.

They fired off some really LOUD cannons or something in the grandstands prior to the fireworks show starting, and it scared the living daylights out of Barrett. He's usually not afraid of the fireworks, but this made him burst into tears...every. single. time! and they fired them off three separate times! The second time he was in the middle of eating a cupcake, and the cupcake flew out of his hands and upside down into the grass in front of his chair. After that, he sat on Daddy's lap! Baby Cal on the other hand (seen sleeping in his carseat in the photo above), slept through ALL three super loud cannon firing rounds!

It was a great Fourth of July!!!

Green Apple Sno Cone

2011-06-28T00:40:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we took Barrett on his first trip to the local Sno Shack!

I hadn't had a sno-cone in for-ever, and had been wanting to go.

You should know that I am a bit of a sno-cone snob...Okay, not really.
BUT in the early 90's, when I worked at my family's Mini Golf, I made lots and lots of Hawaiian Shaved Ice!

So, anytime I have a sno-cone OR shaved ice (different things), it takes me back!
You know...the good 'ol days at the Mini Golf where I spent Summer after Summer, and met the love of my life!

I think you can tell from the photos below that Barrett very much enjoyed his first trip to the Sno Shack!

I don't even remember what flavor I ended up with, but it was pretty! Orange & Guava, maybe?!?
Justin and I were a little overwhelmed with the hundreds of flavor combinations! =)

I LOVE all of the Summer activities and traditions we get to do as a family!
Looking forward to our next trip to the Sno Shack! This post has me craving one NOW!!

SUPER BARRETT

2011-06-22T01:21:00.000-05:00

Our Summer activities have been in full-swing for the last couple weeks.

Last week, Barrett took a Super Heros class at the Winfield Arts & Humanities (my old workplace).

It was taught by one of my friends, Stephanie.

Barrett loved it. He was so independent, and I enjoyed watching him in a new environment with older boys.

Gigi came with us to class one day, so she could see what Barrett was making.

Painting the boxes for his belt!

Throughout the week, they worked on different parts of their Super Hero costume:
Cape, mask, belt, power band bracelet, etc.

Barrett wanted an orange mask, green boxes for his belt,
and a blue cape with an "B" and "light bulbs" (a.k.a lightning bolts)

________________________

It was so beautiful out Sunday evening, we went to "find a good spot," as Barrett said, so I could take some pictures of him in all his gear!

What a sweet little Super Hero I have!!

Father's Day

2011-06-21T14:40:00.000-05:00

Father's Day 2011

{thanks to my Mother's Day gift...the Bloggie camera...I have pictures to share}

We let Justin open his gifts on Saturday evening.
The surprise we'd gotten for him hadn't come yet, so we wrapped up a picture of that surprise!

After gifts, we headed to Wichita for Father's Day dinner out at PF Chang.
It's one of Justin's favorite places, and it was Barrett's first time there.

He loved eating with chopsticks. We might have to use them at every meal, he ate so well!

Feeding the ducks and catfish while we waited for our table

After dinner, we headed straight back home, because the weather wasn't looking too great. We decided to take cover in a car wash stall in Augusta, because they were forecasting ping pong ball sized hail South of August (i.e. our route). Then we decided we might as well head to DQ while we were stranded. So, at 10:15pm on a Saturday night, Barrett was awake eating ice cream! AND he had not had a nap that day! We had been at Josh's wedding (Justin's best friend). To keep Barrett quiet during the ceremony, I fed him about eight Starbursts. Then at the reception, while waiting for cake, he ate about five Hershey Kisses out of the favor bags! Jeepers!! I have no idea how he didn't have a meltdown that day!

________

On Sunday, we woke up to a little visitor in our bed. Not sure what time he snuck in there, but he was upside-down when we both got up.

We had brunch with my parents and enjoyed some time by the pool.
Barrett is becoming quite the little fish!

That evening, we had dinner with Justin's family!
THEN...we took Barrett out for a quick little photo session!
More to come on that soon =)

On Monday, Justin's Father's Day present finally arrived!!
Better late than never....

An iPad2!
This is keep him happy in the evenings when I'm working on the MacBook and he wants to browse the web!

oil change

2011-06-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

Barrett loves to "work."
He's always carrying his plastic tool set around the house saying "Mom, if you need a job done, I can fix it."
It cracks me up the things he says these days!!

Anytime Daddy or Papa are working on something, he wants to be right there beside them.
So, when Justin changed the oil in the jeep a couple weeks ago, I came outside to find this....

He definitely has his father's work ethic. We'll see if that's still the case in about 13 years!
Shortly after these pictures, we traded my beloved Jeep Cherokee (Stella) for a newer & bigger model.

A Jeep Commander. I haven't named her yet, but I love her!

2011 Staycation {day two & three}

2011-06-10T13:21:00.000-05:00

Day two started out with Emma's soccer game. The weather was very chilly for mid-May, and we did not travel with appropriate wardrobes for it! Jennifer had a baby shower to host that day, so she was away with her friends. After Emma's game, we went to lunch at the T-Rex Cafe. Barrett was in HEAVEN!! It was Justin and I's first time there too, and we even enjoyed it! We got to eat at a big round table under a jellyfish, and the kids loved that! Some of our photos from lunch....

A VIEW OF OUR JELLYFISH TABLE

After lunch, we did a little shopping at Legends. Barrett fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder. He was out. I held him for a bit, and then Uncle Bobby held him. He ended up sleeping while we finished shopping, all the way back to the car, and the whole ride home to Overland Park.

The kids were excited to get out the bounce house when we got home.
AND Aunt Jenn made it back from her shower in time to play with them all!

That night we hung out around the house....

Brian grilled for us, and we stayed in to watch a movie.

Sunday morning we took a few family pictures, and then everyone headed home.
It was a great staycation! Thanks to Brian and Sarah for hosting!
Looking forward to our next family vacation or staycation!

Gigi and Papa with their four grandchildren

{Lauren, Emma, Barrett and Jones}

The whole fam

2011 Staycation {day one}

2011-06-09T14:17:00.000-05:00

Staycation (stay-cation): a period of time in which an individual or family stays and relaxes at home, or vacations in their own country, possibly taking day trips to area attractions.

In May, our family spent a long weekend together in Kansas City, at Brian and Sarah's new house! We called it our "staycation" since we just hung out around the house, and ventured to a few fun places around the KC area. Brian and Sarah planned lots of fun trips, and Barrett especially liked the train restaurant, dinosaur restaurant, and Kaleidoscope! I didn't really care what all we did, I was just happy to have my WHOLE family together!

We got to stay in Emma Jean's room for the weekend.

How sweet that she gave Justin and I our own drawer in her dresser!
It was marked with this tag when we arrived Thursday night :)
"Lala and Wheat's drawr"

On FRIDAY, we slept-in and hung out around the house in the morning. Lauren and Barrett had a ball playing together. Brian had to work half a day, and Emma went to school for half a day. Before lunch, we got to go pick up Emma from her school, and see her classroom! Then we all met back up at the house and headed to lunch at Fritz's.

Barrett's FIRST bag of cotton candy!!

This picture, we took for Justin's mom ---->

she has three dachshunds!!

After lunch at Fritz's, we stopped at a few stores in Crown Center, then headed to Kaleidoscope! This was my first time at Kaleidoscope, and it was so much fun (for the kids AND the adults)!!

We went to one of the Family Art Sessions. They are 40-minutes sessions for children of all ages. You explore and create with your own family, at your own pace. Barrett favorite activities inside Kaleidoscope were the tunnel with drums and music, the glow in the dark painting, and the puzzle making station, where he got to paint and cut his own puzzle.

We left Kaleidoscope and went to tour a few model homes! It's always fun to dream...

My mom and dad sold their hot tub, so my dad and I think it would be fun to do something like THIS on their covered bedroom patio!

After our eventful afternoon, we were all exhausted!
We went home for a couple hours of rest before our dinner reservations at a family favorite...Cinzetti's! Yum-o!!

I think they ate too much!!

Crepes...Justin's favorite Cinzetti treat!!

That's all for day one of the Tuttle family Staycation!

My Mother's Day

2011-05-11T15:17:00.003-05:00

Guess what friends!!!
I have actual photos from my camera (not my phone) to share!!

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.
I was spoiled by my boys, and loved every minute of it!

I totally over-planned my weekend, so by Sunday, I was ready for some R&R!
I decided to have a garage sale on Friday evening and Saturday morning, so I spent most of last week preparing for that. They are so darn much work! Oh well, got rid of clutter and made a little moolah for Summer trips. Saturday evening I had a session downtown. By the time I got home at 8pm, we were all starvin'. So Justin and Barrett took me out to dinner at Montana Mikes. We splurged with appetizers (stuffed mushrooms...yum-o) and a Boulevard Wheat for Mommy. Yes, that's splurging for us, I guess!

Sunday morning I got to sleep-in a bit, and woke to my little guy with an envelope in hand saying "Happy Mudder's Day, Mommy...we got you presents...come see." LOVE my new video camera! It's a Sony Bloggie Touch, if you're interested. It takes up to 2hrs of HD (1280) video and still photos. Just what I need to tuck into my purse for all the Summer activities we have coming up! Then we went to brunch!

That afternoon we went to Belle Plaine with my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and nieces to a concert at the Bartlett Arboretum. It was the perfect way to spend the day! We had a picnic on the lawn...Kim made tons of yummy treats, and enjoyed the sunshine and scenery. I hadn't been to the Arboretum since I was in elementary school, and I was just in awe of the beauty and peacefulness. Oh my goodness, I would give anything to live there! How amazing to wake up to those view every morning, and walk those grounds every afternoon.

Here are a few of my photos from the day. You can see ALL of them over on my photoblog. I put up a special Mother's Day post and tried out the "photo gallery" feature on my new blog. Enjoy~

the new camera in action =)

A circle of moms and daughters

brought to you by....

2011-05-04T01:08:00.000-05:00

...my cell phone camera.

Still no motivation to pick up my big cameras and document our every day life.
It's sad. It's unfortunate. But it's the truth.

So, in no particular order, here are some random phone pictures from the last few months...

Story time with Miss Jo
This was the first session after Barrett moved up with the bigger kids, when he turned three.
In the other session (0-3yrs), the moms sat on the floor with the kids, so I wasn't sure how he would do when I noticed the moms weren't on the floor. I think he made himself comfy!

Working on a Humpty Dumpty project in Toddler Art

Snuggling in bed with Mommy while Daddy was in Vegas for work.
We missed him, but enjoyed all those snuggle nights.

On the floor in his room with biggie, pillow and favorite book of the week: "If Dinosaurs Came with Everything"


This one just cracks me up! It looks as if I made him put on the bunny ears for the picture. But he was the one that wanted to put them on, and get his picture taken. Silly boy!

Enjoying coffee and muffins at CHC for Aunt Megan's birthday.
Barrett loves Cal!

Just being silly! This one totally reminds me of my little brother Brandon!

We've been spending lots of time outside!
Dinners on the back patio are Barrett's favorite!

Finally!!! We get to move the basketball goal that Santa brought OUTSIDE!!
We've been enjoying family games of Horse, and I think Barrett is better than Mommy!

1.) I LOVE Chipotle
2.) This cup cracks me up. Justin was reading it aloud on our way home from Wichita one day, and I was crying, I laughed so hard.
"If there was a chip-appreciation society, I would probably join in (as long as they didn't meet on Wednesday nights, because I have my ceramics class on Wednesday nights, and next week I'm making a bowl) But on any other night, I would be happy to meet up with folks and talk about how awesome chips are."

Good 'ol Kansas hail storm!!

Sorting through his goodies after the Flashlight Easter egg hunt!


Justin and Brent were helping me pack up all my furniture after the Spring Mini Sessions... they had a couple little tag alongs :)

More eating on the back patio. LOVE steak and asparagus!
My hubby makes the best steaks (although he probably won't like this picture because it makes the steak look over-done)


On this night, Barrett decided his flip flops needed to join us at the table??? Luckily Justin and I were done eating.

Rush hour traffic!
This boy is crazy about cars. They entertain him for hours and hours.
We take them everywhere we go!

Barrett and Kylie helping me with my Spring planting.
Barrett loves to put on his Diego gardening gloves and help.

YAY!!! Justin finally got my photo wall collage up!
It looks great. I'll have to get a better (non-camera phone) picture soon.
As soon as Barrett got up that day, he noticed the pictures. We were sitting on the couch, and he came out of his room to sit on my lap. He looked up with sleepy eyes and a raspy voice and said "beautiful pictures, mom." It was adorable!

How about these, Dad??
Trying to buy new shoes for Daddy via picture messaging!
Justin helped me shoot a wedding last month, so I bought him so new, comfy dress shoes.

This is from the other night...
I was mowing, and Justin was weed-eating and spraying weeds. I should have known Barrett was getting sick, when this is all he wanted to do. He crawled up in there himself, and stayed in there for over an hour! He would just wave at me every time I'd pass by with the mower.


Our favorite spot at the local coffee shop. Reading a new library book.

Kisses for Mommy!

At the coffee shop again!
Look who joined us...as always.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T16:10:00.000-05:00

We had a very low-key Easter, and it was perfect!

It didn't really feel like Easter, since neither of my brothers were with us. AND the rest of the weekend had been very busy with a wedding. One of my good friends (I call her my honorary little sister), Candace, got married. My hubby helped me with the wedding...setting up equipment, carrying cameras, and even a little shooting at the ceremony and reception. It was fun to have him with me, and we worked really great together. I'm going to have him studying up on his gear a little more, and I told him we could make a good hubby and wife wedding team! Here is the beautiful bride....

So, after 12 hours of wedding photography, I came home Saturday night and stayed up until 2:30am editing some {peeks} for Candace and John! I should have known that was a bad idea! We were planning to go to early church for Easter. I set the alarm for 7am, so we would have plenty of time to see what the Easter Bunny left, and get ready for 8:30am church. Well, I'm not sure what happened between 7 and 7:56am...but at 7:57, I woke up, looked at the clock and freaked! I shook Justin and yelled "we have to leave for church in 20 minutes!" Whoops!! I have no idea how, but we rushed around and made it to church right on time.

Luckily the Easter Bunny knew we'd be going to Gigi and Papa's after church, so he took Barrett's basket there! After church we went out to brunch. It was delicious, and mom and I were happy not to have to cook or clean-up! Then we went to Gigi and Papa's to see what treats Barrett got, and dye some eggs. That afternoon we all three took a much needed nap!

I can't get over how big he looks in these pictures!

He was so handsome in his Easter outfit!!

Hope you all had a blessed Easter with family celebrating the resurrection of our Savior!

I'm forgiven because you were forsaken
I'm accepted, you were condemned
I'm alive and well
Your spirit is within me
Because you died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be?
That you, my king would die for me
Amazing love, I know it's true
Its my joy to honor you
In all I do
I honor you

Where has April gone?

2011-04-19T16:18:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's true...

I've just had the longest blog hiatus since I started blogging in Spring 2008!

I've just been busy livin' life and drowning in work.

April has been a whirlwind.
11 regular sessions. 26 mini sessions in one weekend. 1 wedding

That's what I've been up to!

I am currently working my way through editing the 26 mini sessions,

and preparing to shoot a wedding this coming weekend.

You can visit my photoblog to see some recent sessions and peeks from the Spring Minis.
Elephant Juice Photography

Then there's my little man and hubby.

We've been spending lots of time outside, cleaning up the house and yard.

Last weekend I had a rare weekend with no sessions, so I took full advantage,
and got outside to plant flowers and clean up my beds. It was wonderful!
I LOVE my job, but all the evenings and weekends are a sacrifice of time away from my family.

I have been too busy shooting for others, I have lost all motivation to pick up my camera and document our day to day life. It's sad, but true.
Thank goodness for my cell phone camera. It's always there, and easy!

So for now, that's all I really have...

I'm hoping in May I will be able to pick back up on shooting for me!

life's an hourglass

2011-03-24T09:13:00.000-05:00

We did it...we finally made it to the fire station for a photo shoot with our big three year old.

The evening was perfect, the firemen were so nice, and Barrett loved it!

When we got there, the firemen were all sitting in the office. We just walked in and ask if we could take some photos of our little guy by their trucks. (I did call a week or two before to see if they allowed this type of thing). They said sure...then they started opening all the big garage doors, pulling out the big fire trucks (and the little ones), showing Barrett their heavy fire hats and giving him one of his own. It was a hit! It took Barrett a little while to warm up, but he did. They offered to let him get in the front of the big truck, but he wasn't too sure about it. There was even a grass fire call while we were there, so Barrett got to see them running to get on all their gear, and take off with sirens on. Our small town fire station has so much historic charm. I just love the way everything turned out. Barrett's going to make the firemen a thank you card, and send them a picture.

Every single image makes me smile....huge.

They are all just so him!

I stayed up late last night putting them into a slideshow and ordering prints.
{you can see Barrett's fire station slideshow here}

I was so excited to come across a new artist yesterday as well...perfect timing. The mom behind one of the blogs I follow {Mom*tog}, recently announced she was expecting her 2nd child. Then just this week they announced what they were having with an adorable video!! You can see it here if you're interested. SO cute!! I am going to attempt one of these sometime! The song she used was by Mindy Gledhill, and I loved it, so I looked her up on itunes and found the song for Barrett's video.

Little boy, when you speak
I can’t help but kiss your cheeks
I love the way you grab my hands
And tell me all about your plans

Rocket high, comets fly
You and I could take a ride
And fly away to Neverland
And give our best to Peter Pan

When you reach for the stars
Don’t forget who you are
And please don’t turn around and grow up way too fast
See the sand in my grasp
From the first to the last
Every grain becomes a memory of the past
Oh, life’s an hourglass
Life’s an hourglass

Story’s read, prayer is said
Close your eyes sleepyhead
While angels linger in your dreams
And hold you in their feathered wings

Just like you, I was small
Not that long ago at all
I wish you all the happiness
That God gives freely if you ask

We love you so very much, sweet boy!
Mommy & Daddy

Above: headed out for a grass fire

Below: Barrett watches intently

After the fire station, we headed to one of my favorite alleys for a few more shots.
The evening was too beautiful to just go home and stop shooting.

Daddy did a little work behind the camera here, and did a great job :)

I just ordered this one in a 16x20 canvas!!!
(Got it for a great deal thanks to Groupon)

{Mister B's outfit}
shirt: Pumpkin Patch Kids

jeans: Old Navy
shoes: Gymboree

meow

2011-03-18T16:34:00.000-05:00

One of Barrett's little friends, Miss Norah Kate, had her 3rd birthday a few weeks ago.
We were excited to celebrate with her at a kitty party!
Megan did a great job with the kitty cat theme!

Some snapshot from the day...

I think Barrett's favorite part was the kitty whiskers.
He wasn't sure about them at first, but then ended up wearing them the WHOLE day!
Then ask for his daddy to draw them on every day after that for a week :)

Thanks for inviting us to celebrate with you Norah Kate!

Spaceships & Laser Beams

2011-03-14T12:05:00.000-05:00

I was contacted a few weeks ago about being featured on Spaceships and Laser Beams.
After checking out their site and Etsy shop, I was honored to say YES!!

You have to check them out if you are:
- a mom to little boys

- a mom to little girls that like boyish things (dinosaurs, cars, etc.)

-throwing a baby shower or other party

They feature party ideas with "BOYISH CHARM."
Sooo many great ideas! I will definitely be using this site for inspiration at Barrett's next party!

Even if your party isn't boyish...you can still get tons of great inspiration!

Barrett's Dinosaur party was featured HERE
His Cowboy party will also be featured soon.

***Some of my favorite featured parties***
Owl Baby Shower
All For Camp Four

Choo Choo

Flawless. 'Nuff Said

Elephant Juice

Project 365| February 10th-16th

SNOW day!!

Crushin' on you...

Project 365| February 1st-9th

Project 365| January 23rd-31st

Vroom, vroom....Race Car Birthday

Project 365| January 17th-22nd

FOUR

journey of our tree

Holiday Rewind--Belated Tuttle Christmas

holiday Rewind--bfe kiddie Christmas

Holiday Rewind--Christmas 2011

holiday Rewind--Christmas Eve

Project 365| January 9th-16th

Before & After {the mudroom}

Project 365| January 6th, 7th & 8th

New "studio"

Project 365| January 5th

Project 365| January 4th

Holiday Rewind--Thanksgiving

Project 365| January 3rd

Project 356|January 2nd

New Year, new challenge {Project 365}

PAINT!!!

Elf Adventures

Treasure Bag

FALL FAVORITE THINGS SWAP

Tractor Show

That's a wrap {Summer 2011 wrap up}

First day of Preschool!!

Oh, to be three again....

Mater & McQueen!!

Fourth of July weekend

Green Apple Sno Cone

** SUPER BARRETT **

Father's Day

oil change

2011 Staycation {day two & three}

2011 Staycation {day one}

My Mother's Day

brought to you by....

Easter 2011

Where has April gone?

life's an hourglass

meow

Spaceships & Laser Beams

SUPER BARRETT