The last few years The Elf of the Shelf has been pretty timid, but this year, he’s really starting to make a mess!

This morning we found he had been hang gliding in the living room…

Here’s what I found in the wee hours of the morning!!!  We named our elf Ralph, and he must have needed a snack and some entertainment after he got back from the North pole…

Here’s  a cel phone shot of where we found him the first day…

It’s around the age of 13 where things matter more than they did a few years prior.  Things like facebook, shoes and girls, but it’s also around that same age where seriousness is way over rated.  A time where trying to look tough is not an easy thing to do, and your buddy’s silly faces don’t make it easy.  A couple of my favorite football players…. These boys make me laugh and make me so very proud!

For the first time EVER… Our family has a pet, well unless you count the Beta fish we had a few years ago!

This is Pete…   He vicious… Can’t you tell! He’s an 8 week old Springer Spaniel Puppy, and for the past week, none of us have slept through the night.  It’s pretty safe to say he is as much work as a baby!

This was Pete on his 2nd day home.. .One week ago, I’m pretty sure  he  has doubled in size!

Now… If he would quit chewing everything in sight… we would be good!  

The Yahooters are a super cute group of women with spunk and personality. They put on a great show, and recently put out a cookbook to raise money for the Susan G Komen breast Cancer foundation.  Their are lots of great Southern recipes and stories about the adventures this group of women have had.  I did their promotional photographs for the book and let me tell you these ladies are a hoot! (Pun intended!)

You can order a copy of the cook book by mailing $12.00 per book  + $3.00 postage per book to;

The Yahooters

2001 Oakbowery Rd.

Opelika, AL 36801

Make sure you include the address where you would like your cookbook mailed.  At this time I don’t have any online ordering info, but will add the web address if it comes available.

Special Thanks to the Opelika Sportsplex for the use of their kitchen for the shoot, and congratulations to the Yahooters for putting out this great cookbook.

A year or two ago I read an article in a magazine about how to teach your children to be thankful when opening a present even if it was something they already had or something that they didn’t really want.  I wish I could find the article, but I’m sure the magazine is long gone. It was a gift game, and we put our own twist on it and our entire family laughs so hard and our children learn positivity and thankfulness while having tons of fun.

We start out by getting a gift bag for each family member, but any old bag will work. We used some bags we had saved from last year. We set the kitchen timer for 60 seconds and each family member had to run though the house and find one item to put in their bag to gift to someone else.   Here’s where it gets fun…

We started from youngest to oldest and Conner (4) passed his bag to Daddy.  He opened up a spoon, FROM THE DISHWASHER that had not yet been run.  I about peed my pants.  Now my husband had to open the spoon and say 2 reasons why he loved the dirty spoon, and if you know my husband, he was all sorts of disgusted.  Giggles turned to tears of laughter and he came up with  “he could eat his oatmeal every morning and he would think of Conner every time he used it”.  Conner was so proud because Daddy was so happy about his dirty spoon he had chosen for him.  Alec (9) received a pair of shorts, that were twice his size.  Once again we laughed, he held them up and told us how excited he was because they would be great to play outside and they would keep him warm.  We all took our turn and then ran around playing several more times laughing so hard and being extremely proud of our children for coming up with creative ways to use their gifts while making the gift giver feel great about the gift they gave even if it wasn’t a great gift.

Now, I’m sure you could play the game with nice gifts from around the house, but we ended up with someone’s toothbrush, an empty soda can, junk mail, a tape measure and who knows what else.  But that made the game even more fun because it was a challenge to say how you would use the gift even when it was something outrageous.   I hope you and your family can play the game and have as much fun as our crazy family.  It’s almost Christmas time, Hurry and play nice!

What will you find in your gift bag???

It’s a little chilly here in Alabama, ok A LOT chilly.  So I hope you are taking this opportunity to snuggle up with your loved ones and enjoy the twinkling lights of your Christmas tree!

Photo Tip;  To take a great picture of your Christmas tree, Turn OFF your flash and turn up your ISO.

These images were shot in Manual mode at ISO 1250, Aperture f/3.2, Shutter 1/25 hand held

I know the saying is supposed to go something about “taking time to smell the roses”, but I seem to kill any and every flower that I have ever planted, so instead I took a moment to watch the patio heater.  Akward, I know.  I think we went non stop all weekend, Halloween parties every night, and every afternoon, the syrup festival, hosting a party for the kids, all the preparation, then trick or treating…. I’m tired just thinking about it.  So last night after the last dish was washed, the kids went to bed, my husband and I sat on the patio, enjoyed the silence and watched the glow of the patio heater.

And yes, this picture is crooked, this is my exact view laying back with my feet up!  Hope everyone had a safe and  Happy Halloween!

A fallen leaf is nothing more
than a summers wave good bye

All summer I watched the big green leafy trees shade the backyard, and in the last week, almost overnight, it changed.  The browns, the reds and the yellows are making their debut.  So I am looking forward to the cool breezes and all the beauty that Autumn brings.

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I blogged.  Gasp!  The past month and the next few have been a whirlwind of weddings, baseball championships, moving, weddings, travels, weddings and unpacking!  First, we moved.  We are still in Auburn, we just finally found a house that we liked with our own pool.  Something you take for granted when living in Arizona, where almost all the homes have pools.  So when I say busy, that may be an understatement, because moving along with all of the new home remodeling has been crazy.

I also wanted to take a moment to congratulate the Auburn Dixie White Sox for their win in the championship game.  They played hard, and they all did a faboulous job, I may be a little biased because my son also plays on the team!    All I have are cel phone pictures since we waited for hours in the rain, I wasn’t brave enough to bring out the big camera…

Check out the facbook page for more sneak peek shots of recent weddings!

Happy Summer!

I know this is a photography blog, but it seems like every time I make my guacamole, I get asked for the recipe.   So I decided to share it on my blog since I’m actually am a big cheater and make it in about 5 minutes, but I did include pictures, so that counts…right??  Here’s what you need;

2 Avocados

1 lemon wedge

1 clove of garlic or garlic powder

1 container of Italian Rose Salsa from Sam’s Club

While you are at Sam’s Club, so ahead and grab a bag of the “On the Border” tortilla chips to use when the guac is done!  You can probably use any kind of thick salsa or pico de gayo, but this is the kind I use, and it works for me.  You don’t want to use salsa that has a lot of liquid, the thicker the better.   I also make sure my avocados are slightly smooshy, so when I press my thumb into it, it leaves an indent.   If they are hard, they aren’t ripe and your guacamole won’t be so good!

1. Cut your avocados in half and scoop out the inside with a spoon and place in a bowl.

2. Mash with a fork until you don’t see too many big chunks.

3. Add 2-3 heaping spoonfuls of your salsa.

4. Squeeze your lemon wedge into the mixture. (The lemon also prevents it from turning brown)

5. Add fresh garlic or a few shakes of powdered garlic. I’ve used both and they both work well.

Mix it all up  & Voila… Homemade Guacamole!  You can add more garlic and salsa even salt if you prefer.