there was this one time...

ok so i guess i am excited for halloween now

thanks to chris and his pictures from today's parade at school...

els was supposed to be pablo from the backyardigans.. we've been working on putting it on and telling her about all the hoopla... but she just wouldn't do it. i guess she was just freaked out that her *hero* was there in real life, not on tv! lol! thanks cousin jaeden for the hand me down tinkerbell costume. els looooves it! :) fah-fah-- means flower costume. that's what she asks for. :)

this morning.. she almost walked out of the house with this costume on and a Buzz Lightyear hat on and a pirate sword in hand. she is such the little sister. :)

and are you ready for the heartbreak story of the day? OHHHHH....

this is caleb outside of his classroom.. getting ready for a class photo... els runs up and sits on his lap and teacher says she needs to get out of the photo...caleb had tears in his eyes, but of course only chris and i could tell. he is such the good big brother.. he takes good care of her yet doesn't spoil her-- doesn't hesitate to give her a shove when she takes something of his. LOL... awwww.

and last one. this is pretty much straight out of the camera. the fires have been slowing down.. the 95 degree day is down to a high of 78... glorious day. :)

trying

to get in the swing of the things for tomorrow... just today bought pumpkins.. i don't know why i am not motivated this year.. i usually love halloween-- i especially love scrapbooking halloween! so much cute product out there for this day! someone doesn't get to carve her pumpkin.. she believes in doodling. :)

and she.. who doesn't believe in getting goopy hands.

and he... who IS SOO READY for tomorrow!! :)

thanks for all the contest participation! i got most of the addresses of winners.. check in if you haven't! i will get to the PO later this week... been busy scrapping- it's the first of the month at the garden tomorrow night!!! :)

Winners!

OK, Chris was adamant about this being totally random, so he went here and entered the total number of comments (260 at the time) and had the random integer generator kick out 10 numbers, one for each winner.  We then went down and matched those numbers with the order in which comments were received and tada, our winners were chosen!
Here's the list as kicked out by that fancy computer:

Our winners are as follows:

Nicole at 12:01PM (105) Stamps

Deb at 1:01PM (135) KIT

Jenney at 12:39PM (125) KIT

Trine at 11:06AM (74) KIT

Melanie at 10:26AM (56) CAL

Mindi at 12:43PM (127) CAL

Lily at 9:22AM (18) Stamps

Ululani at 9:10AM (14) Stamps

Jessica at 3:27PM (175) CAL

Kathleen at 12:02PM (107) KIT

Winners, please email me at jamiekcc@mac.com with your mailing address.

And for everyone else, I really do wish I could give something to all of you. We started this blog two years ago to document our trip to Australia for our kids and never dreamed it would reach anyone else.  Your kind words over the last couple years have been a great encouragement to our little family, so thanks to you all for taking the time. 

I'll be doing another giveaway for the 5,000th comment which is just around the bend.  I've got a cool idea I'm mulling for the prize, it will be fun!

Thanks everyone, have a great weekend!

PS Here's a layout I did for Halloween (can it really be that time of year already) posted over at KI Memories.

"for the blog readers"

9:20 pm EDITED: as soon as monkey goes to sleep, i will get going on choosing winners. :) WHHHHY she's not asleep already is beyond me! hmph!

as chris and i were watching grey's last night.. out of nowhere he said.. you should do something for your blog readers. i said, like what? everyone? how could i? i wish i were some digital genius that could come up with a free kit to give you, but i can't. so instead. i am going to give away stuff.

up for grabs:

-2 NEW DESIGNING WITH 2008 calendars. I got my stash yesterday, I was sooooo excited. I tore it apart and looked through the entire year. It's gonna be a great year. :)

-3 random kits that i will put together for you ala my scrap stuff. there won't be any layouts or instructions in there.. just baggies of STUFF. good stuff though. :)

-some stampsets that have not gotten love from me but need a good home. :)

-a few 2peas gift certificates.

how about that? leave a comment with either CAL, KIT, STAMP or 2Peas and i will pick a few random winners tonight.

and this seems so long ago... we had a few days of cold before it got hot again. it's supposed to be 95 on halloween. eeeek!

happy friday everyone!

me and him in san fran :)

we went up for the weekend to shoot a GOOOOORGEOUS wedding at this winery.  we obviously love our kids but gosh... some time away is always SO nice. i think it should be mandatory that every couple go away for one weekend every few months! :) it was our first time leaving elsie overnight, for two nights.... i am happy to report that she did a great job. i was so relieved! (and so was grandma!) :) :) :)

grubby, grubby girl

strawberries, noodles, oranges...these are a few of her favorite things! (pics taken right after lunch today)

and this from the other night.. SO rare to get all 4 in one photo. so yeah, they look pretty crazy but i'll take it since they are all t o g e t h e r. :) they are crazy, CRAZY I TELL YOU!

label tulip for october

this month i had the pleasure of scrapping some layouts for label tulip. i fell in love with everything they picked out- such cute stuff... LOOOVE the adorable stamps that cindee designed, too! i seriously love getting kits in the mail. because i scrap upstairs, it's away from the family room... and i like being able to carry my ONE little box of stuff downstairs with me.. and scrap where all the action's at. :)

and this little bookie for my mama who is doing some major babysitting for us lately : )

friday

early morning sun on her face as we drove the kids to school. love it when i have my camera nearby!

today was the bear parade. so cute.. seems like just yesterday cam was in 1st grade doing the same thing.. and caleb was on the sidelines watching. i know i'll say the same thing in a few years when els does it. except there won't be anyone on the sideline... maybe a dog. lol

absolutely love this rascal. her new thing. pulling one arm out of her long sleeves ala flashdance (but just not at home, she wants to do this in public too, eeek!)...climbing on the kitchen counter...turning the sink on and filling up cups and sponges with water and soaking everything. nice! (not) ahhhh the joys of toddlerhood!
tomorrow we have a wedding and i am sick. hmph. headache disappearance-happy, joyful smiles and spirits much needed on my part. i expect to be magically cured in the morning. :)

have a great weekend!

just this week

-she started calling me mimi
-she developed a fascination with spiderman (thanks big brothers) we actually do have a leftover spidey costume... maybe we'll stick her in it for halloween! ha!
-she points out pumpkins...and right now they are everywhere, so that's lots of pointing
-she started to say, 'i sowweee!'-- TOTALLY OUR favorite phrase now :)
-she has perfected her circle/swirl drawings and writes them on every scrap paper she can find
-she had her first fever reaction to her immunizations
-she's 21 lbs.

the boys at a restaurant on sunday... proof that the good entertainment doesn't have to be toys-- they were highly amused with these rubber bands for a long time!

thank you for all your kind comments on new biz... chris and i are touched by your support! :)

our new baby :)

a few years ago, a friend asked if I'd be interested in shooting his brothers wedding. i'd taken pictures of his beautiful daughter, and for some reason he thought me qualified to shoot grownups...in fancy clothes...on the most important day of their lives...bolstered by his confidence in me, and a healthy dose of nievete, I agreed to take the job, and brought chris along for good measure. that night, chris and i drove home with the greatest kind of buzz (and no, we didn't partake of the champagne); we'd spent eight hours being creative, around two beautiful people who were madly in love, and found it to be anything but work. sure, our feet were tired, but at the end of the day it felt much more like a date than a job. best of all, the couple loved the pictures! so when the next call came, we didn't hesitate to jump at the chance to do it again...and then again....and again.....
after a couple years, a ton of homework, some upgraded equipment, much practice, and many great "dates,"... we're making it official. come check it out.

this isn't going to take over chris' day job and i am definitely NOT going to give up scrapbooking. i love it way too much, i am far too addicted. but in one of lifes great little happy accidents, I guess we can add wedding photographers to the list of things we happen to do and love.

another layout for fun and some product talk :)

was so giddy to get this kit in the mail the other day! it's tara's at cocoa daisy.  i went to find a picture of me and hub and randomly pulled this out.. (my photos aren't in any order whatsoever-what's new? nothing in my scrap area is) from 1999! i only had a little time to scrap but her kit made it so easy because there are so many cute things, you don't even have to think if it's going to work or not, it just does. :)

and other product thoughts:
-i got to use some of this cute stuff today and i love it! perfect for the non sewer like myself! 
-excited to use some of this stuff! especially some of the albums!
-THis  is probably one of my favorite papers out there right now. looovely! 
-you might know that i love diecuts and i was so happy to see this release  from them. one of my all time favorite die cut people. :)   these guys are a close second. :)
-also love this release too :) 
-also a new love!
-cooooool! :)
-if i were a crafty-make-things-for-my-children's-classes kinda person, i would come up with something brilliant with this cool kit.i can't even get their costumes ready till the last minute! :)

ok that's it. :)
have a good weekend! we will- it's 3 days! :)

zoo pics ala iphone

daddy and i snuck away with els for a few hours to the zoo---we had gorgeous weather and els is in an animal phase- totally enamored with them! particularly dogs, but other moving animals will do. we purposely didn't bring the camera but managed to snap some pics with chris' new phone. :) not too bad!
me... before the zoo trek.... filling up on some yummy, much needed coffee. :)

 

lovely day... hooky isn't such a bad thing. :) only when we do it, of course. :)

thanks for all the kind comments on the layouts. so sweet of you all!

layouts galore

some layouts for KI:

these are some old pics of kira and the challenge was to scrap a color and i haaaad to scrap our little soleil's (that's her middle name) first color word. :)

my layouts for 2peas- the theme is memorabilia:

apparently i have a thing with suns with kira...you know, since her name is kira soleil. :)

a layout i did at the oasis crop.. this was the last one i did that night before i called it quits.

here's a layout i did for linda:

and the one she did for me :)

and had to share this pic too :)
chris entered a contest at blu domain and it was one of their favorites! ha!