Behind the scenes

Lovely rolling canola fields

I had the best time Monday evening sitting in on an engagement photo shoot for my sister, Kirsten, and her fiance, Scott.

Karey, the photographer and previous owner of ma'baby(Nikon D90),

thought it might be fun for me to tag along with my camera and grab a few shots of my own.

You know, get a little 'schooling' under my belt.

Which, indeed, is long overdue as I've been strictly shooting in 'Auto' the whole time due to my lack of know-how with ye' old 'Manual' setting.

{EMBARRASSING}

Karey

At the same time, arrangements were made to snag a couple pics of Karey as she's a glowing 35 weeks pregnant with her third child, and--

Get this...

Never had maternity shots taken of herself.

This to me is shocking because Karey is, in my opinion, one of the most talented, self-taught photographers I know, especially in the avenue of maternity and newborns.

She nails it every time.

But, you know what they say--

Always the photographer,

never the photographed.

--'k, I'm not even sure that's an actual saying...

In fact.  I'm certain it's not.

You know what I mean.

Always behind the camera and never in front of it.

Bride & Groom to-be


Between Kirsten, Karey and myself--

The golden hills were alive with the sound of
camera shutters forever snapping.

Ridiculously cute...

So, yeah...

These are the few gems I gathered from that particularly glorious sun-kissed evening.

Love.Sweet.Love.


Check out Karey Wood's Photography & Design blog, here!

Dippity Don't



{Yesterday at the spray park}

Have I ever told you about the time I accidentally

applied Dippity-Do hair gel to James' sunburn,

instead of Aloe Vera?

Think Steve Carrell in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin',

whilst getting his chest waxed.

....Much like an 

'AAaaaGggh-- KELLY CLARKSON!'

                sorta situation.

Poor guy.

Yesterday, was another scorcher--

not unlike the previous incident.

Beautiful.

Sunny.

Not a cloud in the sky.

And likewise, we find ourselves in the same predicament--

James with a toasty, roast-y red backside.

It's a good thing for him I've learned

a thing or two from my previous misgivings.

Like how to read the label.

--Now, if only he'd learn to read the label 'sunscreen'?!

It's been a long-ish while....

....since anyone's asked me to take photos for them.

So I guess you could say I was pretty jazzed when Dan & his lovely wifey Nichole summoned my assistance in taking photos of their highly anticipated new addition, due this September.

It was a beautifully sunny evening.

The mosquitoes were vicious.

And we had all but less than an hour to muster up a couple good ones.

Keep in mind my amateurity,

M'kayyy, thanks!

Enjoy :]

Congratulations Dan & Nichole

Colorful Cupcakes

That's what Ava calls them, anyhow.

Melted Crayon Cakes: How-to

This is a project for the kids, y'all.

It kept Ava busy for a good 30 mins!

Wahooo!

Preheat oven at 250 degrees.

Gather up all your kids' mangy busted-up crayons.

Have your kiddos peel off any papers remaining on the pieces of crayon.

{Ava hard at work}

Once disrobed, let the kids arrange

the crayon pieces in a muffin tin.

Be sure to fill each section at least 3/4 full.

Ava had enough gusto to fill 3 muffin cups!

.....And then she quit on me.

Bake in the oven for 15- 20 mins.

....until melt-y looking.

Remove muffin tin from the oven and let cool.

Once cooled, crayon cakes should easily release from the pan.

Check these babies out!!

Psychedelic or what?



Important sidenote:

Despite what the post title might suggest, these cute cakes
are definitely NOT edible :]

Unless you're one of those 'My Strange Addiction' people....
In which case,

num nums!

Geek Alert

I take that back.

I would much more prefer to entitle this post:

Tremendously.Cool.Kid.Alert.

Is anyone else seeing the sheer epic-ness of this poster?!!

Brilliant, right?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2.

Out in theatres this Friday.

I've got my golden ticket.

And my merry band of Potter admirers, too.

Merlin's beard...

Why must all good things come to an end?

A perfectly rainy day.

It happened just last friday.

A beautifully dreary morning spent painting

ceramics at Crankpots with my darlings,

Aaron & Ava.

Followed by whoopie pies from Crave

and a quick bite of lunch with

Auntie Kirsten, my dear sister.

Another activity successfully performed and crossed off

the all-too-amazing

101 Bits of Summer Fun list.

Dear List,

Whatever would my summer do without you?

Project: Summer

One way to ensure total summer awesomeness.

This is without-a-doubt The.Best.List.Ever.

So happy to have found it over at The TomKat Studio.

This summer,

We Are Going To Destroy This List.

.... As in, the activities on it.

Like, totally going to conquer it.

                 ....most of it.

Look out List.