Festival of Lights

How was your Thanksgiving?  Mine was good, except for the fact that I slept through most of it!  No, it wasn't the turkey--we didn't even have the traditional fowl this year.  For some reason I was just feeling under the weather.  Despite the fact, I was most appreciative of being with my family, eating good food and giving thanks for God's manifold blessings.  Fortunately, things began looking up this morning and the family headed out to Yountville to enjoy their annual Festival of Lights.  This is the day when the entire town is lit with holiday lights.  There, we enjoyed good food, warm beverages and live entertainment.  

stringing up the lights 

beautiful fall colors 

family 

cute boys 

 us

adorable baby 

more of baby 

 even his walk is adorable

 holiday trolley

Let the Little Ones Pray

Blame it on the rain, or the cold, or writer's block, but I've found myself feeling the need to channel my creative juices more so than usual lately.  My latest project is this:

I have Pinterest to thank for the wonderful idea!  But I've tailored it somewhat to make it more appropriate for the little girls I had in mind.  The result is this:

I thought this was such a great way to encourage little ones to pray.  They can grab a few and pray for those chosen, alternating each day.  Anyway, I plan to make more of these for my son's friends as Christmas gifts.  Shhh, please don't tell Ellee, okay? ;)

Advent Calendar Tutorial

At the request of a friend, here is an explanation of how I made the advent calendar I posted about just a few days ago.

Backing:  This was made out of foam board that I bought from Michael's, which was no more than a few bucks, $3-4.  I wrapped it in gift wrapping paper.  Make sure it is thick, high quality paper!  You could probably even use wallpaper or lining paper if you happen to have some lying around and it has a suitable pattern/color. By the way, I sprayed the foam board with adhesive spray before laying the wrapping paper on top.  Be careful when you do this because you don't want your paper to end up crooked or wrinkled.

Boxes:  These I also got from Michael's, though they might be cheaper if you bought them in bulk from somewhere else.  Be sure you measure the size of your board backing so that all the boxes fit.  Before gluing the boxes onto the board, I laid them out to get an idea of how it should look.  Then I glued the bottoms of the boxes and stuck them onto the board.

Decor:  Now comes the fun part.  Because this is your advent calendar, you can choose any design or theme you want!  I went eclectic, though the color scheme kept mine cohesive.  You may decide to do a snowman theme or bible theme.  As for materials, I used whatever I already had on hand--scraps of paper, ribbon, stickers, stamps, etc.  I supplied the rest with free printables I found online--the internet is an amazing resource!  One other thing I didn't do, but plan to later on is punch two holes at the top of the board and tie a ribbon to it so I can hang it up.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  Happy creating!!

Kicking Off the Holiday Season

To celebrate a dear friend's birthday, we headed to the city to observe Pier 39's tree lighting ceremony. At first, unexpected showers threatened to ruin our plans, but God was gracious to blow the rain clouds away and allow a fun, festive evening.

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I did it!

I made the advent calendar inspired by this one.  I wanted it to match our Christmas decor, hence the red, green, black and gold colors.  Anyway, this was pretty easy and so fun to do, and definitely a lot cheaper than buying it elsewhere.  Plus, it's nice to be able to customize them for yourself.  Now I need to think of what to put inside of them...The fun never ends! ;)

A few close ups of individual boxes.

Cool Hues

Today I got to photograph one of my favorite families, my sister's.  Needless to say, it was a pleasure spending time with them and taking their pictures.  As you can see, they are a lovely family and my nephews have to be the cutest in the world!  Call me biased, because I totally am. ;)

 Hey, where are you going?!

big brother

little rascal

 a family stroll

There's the grin I was looking for!

 Can you guess who is the crafty one and who is deeply concerned?

Kudos to my sister for her balancing act skills!  You may not be able to tell, but the ledge they're sitting on is pretty high off the ground.  The risks one takes for the perfect shot!

 "Oh, there you are mommy."

One of my faves!

A study in gray.

Goal!

It's been roughly 2 1/2 years since Andre started playing soccer.  In that span of time, he's gone from being more interested in hopping on the cones to scoring goals.  Yay!!  Here's one of five goals he scored at today's scrimmage.

My Goofy Boy

For those of you who know our son, you know how extremely shy and reserved he is...NOT!  So when I decided to take some photos of him, I should have expected it to be a challenge to get a nice, normal shot.

 Uh...

 not quite

 what I'm

 looking for.

 Close

Closer...

Success!!!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

That's what I've been doing lately...with my camera.  As I mentioned in previous posts, my sweet hubby bought me a camera for our anniversary, a friend and I took a class learning how to use our cameras, and in the last month or so I've been practicing taking portraits of my friends and their families.  They were willing and gracious guinea pigs, and I think we all won out at the end.  I got my necessary practice, and they got some family photos in return.

Below are three photo shoots I've done so far.  And in case you were wondering, no, I'm not aiming to do this professionally.  I just want to be able to take really great photos for personal use. :)

From the River to the Woods

This was not only my very first attempt to take outdoor family portraits, this was my first attempt to take family portraits ever!!  For that reason alone, I was somewhat nervous.  Fortunately for me, my friends were flexible and patient.  Here they are looking so refined and elegant, though I love how their little dog Winnie adds a touch of cuteness and whimsy to the portraits.

 ~From the riverfront~

Don't they look so presidential?  At the least, senatorial. ;)

~To the woods~

This one's gotta be one of my favorite shots--so fun!!

It's especially humorous due to Connor's deadpan expression.

This couple is a hoot!

Handsome boy

A-dorable!

Groucho!! Lol!

Father and sons

Mother and daughter

The lovebirds!