oh, how I've missed you

hello blog land. hello to my whopping 14 followers! lol. really do appreciate you guys :) I don't know why when things get busy, I tend to leave this little tiny piece of my life behind and determine that I'll catch up eventually. When in reality, this blank white space is such an escape for me. So here I am. Hopefully back for good...for a while...maybe.

what a whirlwind these past few months have been! and unfortunately, my Picasa account is completely out of space (free space, that is) so I'm in the process of transferring files and such....so no pictures today :( Really hoping to get things up and running soon because I have some great Christmas tutorials for you! Me and the littles have been busy this week getting ornaments made, collecting pine cones, putting up lights and getting ready to make Christmas-Sunday-wear!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Look for those tutorials soon :)

experimental photography

There were a million shots I wanted to get of Ryder for his "first birthday" pics. Pinterest had me enthralled with all the props, backdrops and outfits. But time marched on and what were supposed to be 12 month photos, quickly approached 14 months. I knew I just had to decide on something and do it! And with a 3yr old to occupy in the meantime and a house to pack...did I mention we are moving next week??...I'll tell more later. Needless to say, simple was what I needed.

So what I ended up doing was nothing like I had imagined. But I LOVE the way they turned out.

 

Ryder is a busy busy boy. I love that I was able to capture that in these photos. Again, not the professional, smiling, still shots I had imagined. But that's not Ryder. I also love how he just started playing with the wooden letters, stacking them, throwing them...again, so Ryder.

 

 

 



Oh, and lets not ignore that bruise on his forehead and the faded one on his cheek. I promise I don't beat him! He's rough. I usually don't even know which one of the dozen falls in the day caused the marks, since he rarely cries due to pain.

 

Location is always the hardest aspect of photography for me. I have a good camera, but not a great one. The lighting in my house is either too dark or too harsh, but unless its completely overcast outside, my boys' sensitive eyes (unfortunately passed on by his mama) will be squinted in every pic.

 

so where did I do these??

 

his bedroom!

 

I brought all the lamps I had into the room. pulled the blinds. set up the big white blanket and added the props. OH, and trying to make sure there was no bad reflection in the mirror was a little tricky!

 

BUT for those of you experimenting with photography, you may want to give this idea a shot.

 

 

I really love the way the black and white look, but I just had to show you one in color :) His skin is so beautiful, and I just love that blond hair (us DeGuzzies don't have much experience with blonde's! ha) and lets pay some special attention to that precious outfit given to him by his Grandmomma :) Thank you!

 

After about 20 minutes of it, he had enough!

 

 

So in an effort to get another pose in, I just stripped him and added some baseballs a little later:)

 



 

just to clarify, he doesn't have a mullet...not sure why it looks like that in this pic! lol.

 

 

He was such a trooper! He put up with the whole thing almost 45 minutes!! But once again, there was a meltdown. But his faces were just so darn cute, I kept snapping :)

 

 



haha....

 

here is my favorite from the day...

 

 

 

hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my experimental photography. I'm always looking for tips and ideas so feel free to shoot some my way!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend

Door adornment

There hasn't been much crafting going on around here lately. But I did manage to get a fall wreath made recently.

 

I love that its simple. colorful. and I'm obsessed with wooden letters.

 



And though they portray a simplistic style, these leaf flowers were far from simple to make! but I love how they turned out.

I bought some pumpkins yesterday...so hopefully you will see them featured here soon :)

sweater makeover

When I was a teen, I never understood the women who would talk/complain about never buying things for themselves. I didn't get why they're wardrobes were so outdated. I mean, when I wanted new clothes, I took my foolishly spent earnings and bought them!

But now that I am one of those women, I totally get it! No, I don't do the homely drab, "I have to dress like this because I'm a mother" look. BUT I will say that my wardrobe is just about the same as it was in high school. Same jeans, same shirts. Very little color. Lots of black.

Let's just face it, when I have extra cash to spend on clothes, I always end up buying something for the munchkins!

Anyway, I pulled out some old sweaters and decided it was time for some of them to retire. And others to be made over.

Here is one I did....

please just ignore all the junk in the background....not sure what possessed me to take the pictures here amidst Clairsy's scrabble game, on top of my brightly colored comforter with junk all over the floor. lol. just keepin' it real folks. 

Not sure why I still had this! I'm pretty sure it never looked good on me. Drab GAP sweater. Looks like it belongs in the boys department, right?!

Here's what I did with it...

I cut it down the middle, attached ribbon and buttons to one side and made button holes on the other. Made some ruffles from another shirt that needed a meeting with the trash can and sewed those in random swirls. And Voila! A new and improved sweater/cardigan for the fall :)

I still desperately need a shopping spree, but its a start.

So if you have some of "those" sweaters in the closet...you know who you are...consider turning them into something better!

hello fall!

We celebrated the beginning of a new season with a beautiful day at the Zoo. It was our third trip there this year and just as rewarding as the first.

Look at this beauty, isn't he just majestic??

Clairsy wore her zebra ribbons to match her favorite fuzzy friends.

see those "I'm only smiling because I know she won't give up until we do" grins? lol

Did you know we have wolves in FL?? FLORIDA!? crazy. She is called a red wolf but kinda looks like an overgrown, prettier version of a coyote.

 

This sweet baby giraffe was rubbing on his mama. so cute.

 



She decided daddy's shoulders provided the best view for the day. Good job, Daddy :)

About half-way through, the sun was beating down pretty hard and we found a fountain to dip our feet in. Clairsy dipped a little more than that.......

Ryder enjoyed the freedom from his stroller....

 

The lions put on a good show for us...

 



Sweet moments like this are just too precious for words...

 

goodbye summer, you were wonderful.

 

and hello to fall! we are looking forward to all the memories you will hold.

 



Avocado plants...see how we've grown!

Remember my tutorial on growing avocados? Well here is an update on how these babies are doing!

Aren't they just lovely??

They have almost outgrown their home. (see that cute red birdhouse? I found th

Roots are strong and growing like crazy. Its almost time to be planted in dirt :)

So have you had avocados since reading the tutorial? and tell me, did you pop those pits in some water??

Happy Saturday, friends. Go plant something.

KC

Our September family birthdays were concluded with my awesome brother-in-law's 20th! Woop Woop!

This is coming a little late but, Happy Birthday Kartwright!
(sorry for the stolen pic)..ha

Kartwright is my Hubby's brother. And his twin. not really. but he could be.

He is funny.

Passionate.

Creative.

Thoughtful.

He loves his family.

Almost as much as he loves his Jesus.

I can't wait to see what the Lord has for him in the next few years. Kartwright is ambitious, bold, and unashamed of the Gospel. Wow. What God can do with a heart like that is so exciting!

Keep up the good work, Kartwright! Thank you for being a man of God. Thank you for your laughter :) Thank you for your kindness to your niece and nephew. They LOVE their uncle K! And so do we.

Happy Birthday Kartwright! Glad we were able to celebrate with you over a yummy meal.

oh..and sorry we lost your presents :( ....long story people.

well, i guess not really. left the presents on top of the car. drove away. end of story.

last minute summer dress

I had such very good intentions this summer to make Clairsy lots of fun dresses to wear in this Florida heat. Unfortunately, life got busy, other more important and some not-so-important things took priority and it just didn't happen.

But I did whip this one up a few days ago because how can you go a whole summer with a 3 year old girl, Hobby Lobby minutes from your doorstep and 3 wonderful sewing machines and NOT make a dress?!

note the giant plastic ring on her finger! she was determined to wear it ;)

 

The more I look at this fabric, the more I love it! The sweet little birds and birdcages, the contrasting colors, and polka-dots in the blank spaces....just lovely. AND I got it on clearance!

 

 

I was fortunate to find the coordinating green fabric on a separate visit! I'm so happy with how well it matched up.

 

 

I'm sure we won't get any REAL fall weather for another month or two, giving her plenty of time to prance around, like she loves to do in dresses, and get some good use out of it :)

 

I guess I should start thinking of some Fall Wear to make.....hmmmm? any thoughts?