{Hi......}

It's kind of a thing in Texas to round up your kiddos and go trample our beautiful state flowers for a photo opp.  (Illegal?  I think it may be....)  But man, it sure is awesome!

One a side note, I was really enjoying the ease of creating collages in Picnik and as you may or may not know, Picnik is NO MORE!  SO, do any of you use a free website for creating collages quickly and easily?  That's the name of the game folks,... QUICKLY/EASILY.  Let me know your thoughts.

I'll be back with a Dallas Flea update, promise ;)

{Faces Of Cash}

Really, are there any words?? I think not.

{Just A Little Photo Shoot}

A few weeks ago I found this really cool place to take pictures. I want to go back everyday. It's so pretty. We went to brunch one Sunday morning then headed out to take pictures of Cash. He is growing SO fast!

I don't think it's possible to have more beautiful eyes than this little boy right here.

This started out as pictures of Cash and a lady showed up and asked if we wanted a family picture. While I hadn't really planned for family portraits that day, but I LOVE how this turned out!

It's FRIDAY!!! (12:09, so I guess technically, it's Saturday) Any awesome weekend plans? I am going to try to hunt down a ladder. I have been looking for an antique ladder like this to display my quilts in my sewing room and at the Dallas Flea. SO, it looks like Cash and I are headed to First Monday. Wish me luck!

{"Winter" walk}

Upon returning from Maryland for a long holiday, we discovered some BEAUTIFUL weather!! Cash & I took this walk about two weeks ago and the temp this day was about 70 degrees and as you can see, beautiful skies!! I want to go on record and say that this is not typical Texas winter weather! It does actually get cold here. No really! I wasn't living here last year, but there was snow!

It was the perfect day for a walk with the boy and some photography!

There has been a MISTLETOE INVASION here!!! Amongst all the dead, brown, lifeless trees are patches of beautiful, green, vibrant mistletoe! Is this happening all over the country? I didn't do any research on this or anything, but I am a little curious why it randomly grows from these dead trees?!?! We actually discovered this a year or two ago when we were here visiting. Quite the phenomenon,.... or maybe not?? Do you have mistletoe growing near you?

kiss kiss ;)

We were surrounded by all kinds of cool things. It's not the first time we've taken this walk, but it's always different and I always find new things. (for some reason I must have a slight obsession with moss??? Weird)

I was finally able to get a bit of lens flare in the picture above! I LOVE it! I have struggled trying to get pictures with flare,.... I guess it has to do with where the sun is in the sky??? Anyone have any tricks for getting lens flare?? It's just pretty!

Speaking of the SUN, I am so thankful for the longer days!

Big blue eyes is 8 months old! TODAY! It's seriously been an entire 8 months since this little guy was born?!?!? He is, no lie, the size of a 1 year old! Such a big boy!

At 8 Months Cash is:

STILL teething!!! When are those things going to come IN!?!?

Crawling at warp speed all over the house

LOVING his animals. Just the sight of them makes him giggle

A bit of a mama's boy

Sleeping straight through the ENTIRE NIGHT!! 11 WHOLE hours!

Pulling himself up to standing on chairs & ottomans

clapping!!

He is so much fun!! (and so much work) The light of my life!! I wish I could just go back to 8 months ago, just for a minute, and hold my little tiny baby boy again!

Please pay no attention to the skeleton jammies he wore on our warm "winter" walk.

Sewing,... yes, there has been a very little bit of sewing going on right now. Cash was sick for a while, I've been kind of lazy since the holidays, then I was sick. I am hoping to get back into the groove and have some new things for the shop soon. I am even planning on a couple paper items! You know, to go with the "paper" part of Paper Box Quilt Co. :) Stay Tuned.

XOXO

{Ryan, Natalie & Weston}

Oh hi! :)

A couple weeks before the holidays I took some pictures of an old friend and her growing family! Natalie grew up next door to me in Texas, in fact, I used to BABYSIT HER! And now she's having a baby! I. Am. Old. Awesome.

OH, let's not forget Duncan & Lola, the pups!

Congrats to Ryan & Natalie and little baby Weston!

I mentioned that I had some holiday projects to post about, but I'm not entirely sure I took pictures of everything. So, here's the shortened run-down... New quilted stockings, handmade paper ornaments, lots of crocheting (it hits me every winter), old WIP's, new Etsy items, tactile baby blankets, a mini quilt... that's all I can think of for now. And even after all that (and even more new WIP's than I started with) the wish list of projects continues to grow. A car trash bag, tote bag, table runner, curtains, aprons, clothes,... and on, and on.....

And the husband wants me to fix pants and sleeves. Doesn't he know how BUSY I am???!! ;)

{Happy Day}

Nothing really interesting to share today but I thought I'd say hi. I took this picture the other day near where I live, on my way home from taking pictures of my Etsy items (yay). I kept seeing this super cute turquoise truck parked at this old fashioned gas station and, HELLO the red & aqua!!! Just perfect. I finally stopped to get a picture. Happy Day :)

I have real updates,.... a couple photo shoots, a 5 month old, some Etsy stuff, but I realized that I take WAY too many pictures and then can't narrow them down. Then I spend so long editing them,.... I need to come up with a new system. For now,... it's FRIDAY!!

See you soon! XOXO

{Happy First Birthday Will}

Wow,... this has been a long time coming! I took these pictures at a first birthday party like 2 or 3 months ago! Falling behind much?? Have you seen any 5 month pictures yet?? No? Yeah.

Anyway, I digress, PARTY. WOW! Isn't it beautiful?? Right up my alley, from the COLOR (hello!) to the awesome 5 tier ombre cake to the candy "buffet", the BUNTING!,... I can go on and on! I was so lucky to photograph this party!

You might have noticed that I have kind of changed things up a little on my blog,... just a little. Lots of collages. So, I wanted to fit more pictures into my posts (as if I needed to put MORE pictures) without stringing them along,... one,... at,... a,... time. You know? I just have such a hard time narrowing them down. MORE pictures!!! :)

For instance,.... I took several angles of these treats,.... and I like them all, I couldn't decide, so here they ALL are!

Marshmallow pops, didn't have any, but HOW CUTE!? Banana whoopie pies (I ate two. To make up for not eating the marshmallow) Cake batter rice crispy treats?? YUM. YUM.

Everything was perfect. Down to the matching birthday outfit!!

CAKE SMASH!!!! (there is frosting on his leg,... I'd say that was a success!)

And to top it all off,.... cake-in-a-jar party favors! WHAAT?? I can't handle any more adorable-ness.

I hope you all had a great weekend! The weather here was BEAUTIFUL but it was still pretty lazy around here! Can't wait to take the little one out for some tricks and treats tomorrow! Pictures on that soon!

By the way,... it took me allllllllllll day to create this post, not entirely sure why. I fell asleep last night editing photos (at 8:30 I need to add, yes, 8:30. On a Saturday night. Lame). I worked on this post between a little sewing, a little grocery shopping, a semi-home-cooked dinner, some strained green beans which neither me nor Cash were too fond of, Scream 4 and Bridesmaids. Here I am finishing up over 24 hours later. Again, I don't know why. :)

XOXO

{The State Fair of Texas}

I spent the day at the Texas State Fair Friday with Cash and my sister-in-law. Believe it or not,... after living in Texas for about 20 years I NEVER went to the State Fair!!! Man was I missing out! I think I might plan on this being a yearly adventure. I didn't ride one ride, but the fried fair food consumption more than made up for that! Not to mention, some of the coolest pictures!! What is so magical about giant spinning wheels, flying swings, galloping horses on poles and hot dogs fried in cornbread batter???

This is "Big Tex" who is NOT magical but in fact extremely creepy. He is like a million feet tall and HIS MOUTH MOVES!! Ewe.

Can someone explain how this is possible??? A third of a man on a pole?? I have no idea. He said his grandchildren were working at Jack in The Box,... as antenna balls. :)

Seriously?? How do you think they do that. As if butter isn't unhealthy enough as it is. How about fried cheesecake, beer, pickles (yum), ice cream, oreos.... the list goes on, and on,... and on.

And of course,... the quilts. I was actually surprised, there weren't too many, BUT they were beautiful! I am actually considering entering one next year, IF I can get one done in time. Janome was also there with ALL their awesome machines! Wish I could have taken one home.

Anything fun happen in your weekend??

{Hawaii}

Me & the Mr. on Megan's wedding day

We're baaaaack!!!

Oh,... I guess that's old news. Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from our trip to Hawaii!!

see that person waaaaay out there on the paddle board,...

I'm sad that my baby won't remember this trip, because it was so pretty.

Thanks, Megan, for being my friend.