I got a new ap on my phone called piczplz...It has a lot of cool effects you can do after you take the picture. I like the way it turned this casual everyday pic into something really neat.

I hope Ty will always look up to his big brother like he does now...and I hope Zane always thinks he's as cute as he does now. They have a really neat bond....makes me proud

School Days

Last week the Book Fair was in full swing at school. So one day was "bring your parent to lunch day" Which I aptly translate into
"get your mom to come by a book from the bookfair day..., oh and you can go to lunch too"

Don't get me wrong I don't mind it's just kind of funny to me. I usually don't exactly look forward to this because the kids lunch hours are so spread out. Ty's lunch starts at 10:40 and Kaylee's starts at 12:00. so it's an all morning kind of thing.

but this year I decided to take the camera along and try to snap a few pictures of the kids with their friends. I also got some one-on-one time with each of them. Time where they could say, "hey see that kid, he's the one that....." That's the kind of info you don't get anywhere else.

I actually enjoyed myself quite a bit and the kids had a great time buying some new books.

I tried to get pics of Trent and Kaylee but they were too busy shopping that I failed to get them. Maybe next time!

Kaylee - The Animal Whisperer

 

 

Baby Doll Transformation

Recently I was shopping at Ross. I found this really soft Baby doll. I just love these kinds of dolls. They are super squishy and look sweet to cuddle. Best of all the cost for this doll was a whopping 5.99

My friend Robyn use to have these dolls for her daughter, they called her Baby. I remember Robyn had a stockpile of "baby" in her closet...just in case.

anyhow, I really wanted a "baby" for our new daughter, but I wanted her to look Asian. Asian looking dolls are HARD to come by..... and by HARD I mean IF you can find one they are mucho dinero.

So my first project once the kids got back in school was to Asianize this caucasian doll...(that was made in China, by the way)

Step 1. Unsew and Unstuff the doll

2. Turn the face part inside out and gently unsew the area under the hat that holds the hair.

3. Take some black yarn and make some hair. I used scotch tape to hold the strands together.

4. Insert the hair and stitch in place. (I used the sewing machine)

5. Hair all done. Now to work on the eyes. I took a washable marker and drew in the shape of the eyes.

6. With a seam ripper or small sharp scissors, gently remove as much of the blue stitching.

7. Using a dark brown DMC floss sew the eyes in place using a satin stitch.

8. Restuff the doll and sew the back up.

9. Now cut the hair to a more desirable length.

10. Ta DA...all done

11. Repackage the doll, hide her from the sisters and hope nobody finds her until our new little girl gets home.

Or run back to Ross and buy a second doll so Mia can have one for Christmas as well..

face painting

As you can see Kaylee's big into face painting. She'll paint anyone who will sit still long enough to let her.
Ty apprently was her victim. I mean customer

6th Birthday

It's hard to believe Ty is already 6 years old. That also means he's been home with us for 3 years...That also means he's been with us LONGER than anywhere else in his little young life. We've hit a milestone.
And to say that he "fits in" is an understatement. He not fits in he's "IT" most of the time.

He is super loving, super kind and very fun to be around. He's rarely ever in a bad mood and wants to try everything!!! If only we could all have that personality.

He started Kindergarten last week and seems to enjoy school and is very anxious to learn to read. He is taking gymnastics and LOVES it....

We see the plastic surgeon in a few weeks to see what's next on our "to do" list for his Cleft. We anticipate a surgery in the near future but we'll see what the Dr. has to say.

WANT to Make

I've discovered something almost as addicting as Facebook.
It's called pintrest. bascially people can post pictures of things that they like, make them laugh, want to cook etc from around the web. I have found several pintrest boards that I really like. many are quilting and/or sewing related. I love all 3 of these quilts and have them on my "to do" list....

I love the pattern of this one...not necessarily the colors...OK NOT the colors. But I like how they made the diamond in the left hand corner.

It's likely I'd ever do this...but I think it's really cool.

Drought

It has absolutley shocked me little rain we have had the past 6months. Our usual daily dousings have been zilch, zero, zip. Which has postive side affects, less humidity, no mosquitos.
But it means serious issues with water supplies, farming, etc.

Kaylee was taking random pictures the other day on our drive home and I just discovered this one. It shows how low the San Jacinto river truly is. Where people once water skiied and tubed is now growing trees and bushes. I labled where the water normally is.

I heard on the news tonight that it's also causing major water pipe breaks in neighborhoods. Last night alone there were 100 different pipes that busted in Houston.

We need Rain in a bad, bad way!

First Day of School

Marching Band

Zane started Marching band for the first time 3 weeks ago. He is really enjoying it. Even in the triple digit heat for the last 20 days, he has not complained. So that has to count for something.

.

I went a little early to pick him up one evening and took the camera.

I operate under the mantra: "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission"

Especially when photographing Teenagers.

But he didn't complain. And I'm glad to have a little record of the last 3 weeks.

Maybe the most satisfying thing is when I asked him "How's it going?" he said, "Really good, I like learning something new"

Me too Zane, me too