I Heart Faces Challenge- People's Choice Voting

I love this photo of the Fort Worth Brahmas goalie. He is ready for whatever is coming his way!

To see more great photos, please check out I Heart Faces.

Medieval Times

We celebrated Ben's birthday by going to Medieval Times tonight. It was a first time experience for both Ben and the children. 

 

Annie loved all of the food. I think she had more soup on her rather than in her. Max was not fond of eating with his hands. However, he quickly worked through that problem when they served the apple turnover.

I love how the steam was captured in this photo. So fun taking pictures!

 

I can always count on Max for a silly look. He was so excited tonight to wear his knight vest. I love his originality!

Annie was more worried about the hat messing up her hair. Yes, she is only 6 and is already worried about "the hair". God help us when adolescence hits. We are going to have our hands full!

As soon as we walked into the place, Ben notices the bar and heads to buy a beer in a memorable glass. And, the kids head to one of the vendors selling kid junk. If you are a parent you know what I mean. They had princess outfits, multiple types of swords, and a wide variety of dragon items. So, you can imagine what Max and Annie wanted. The swords were played with from the time we bought them until the time they went into time out. Yes, we have swords in time out right now.


Good times! The swords glow, lights go up and down, and there is a shiny ball that spins in the base of the sword. I thought I was going to have a seizure at one point.

Seeing all of the dragon items in the store lead Annie to think that at some point in the show there would be a dragon that appears. She asked me multiple times "mom, is this the point when the dragon comes out?". Makes sense, right?? No dragons, just dudes on horses. And, one really cool falcon that flew around the arena.

When you arrive, you are handed cards and hats that tell you what section you are sitting in, which means that is the knight you cheer on. Our knight was the blue knight. 
 
There are multiple times that they come out with small carnations to give out to the ladies. Annie was so thrilled that she was able to catch his attention and she received a red carnation, which he kissed first before throwing to her.  

She was tickled pink! She leaned over and told me that he kissed it before throwing it to her and that he loved her. Oh Lord, I am not ready for this child to be a teenager!!!

Driving home she explains to Ben and myself that because he kissed it he gave her his "Coochies". Ben quickly clarified- "Honey, I think you mean Cooties". Ben is still recovering from this slip of the tongue :)

Overall, it was a great night and a great experience. We have a beer mug, 2 swords in time out, many photos and memories to last a life time.

I Heart Faces Challenge- Innocent Wonder

This week's challenge is called Innocent Wonder. I chose the picture from our trip to the Fort Worth Stock Show yesterday. For those of you that don't know my son, he is intelligent, cute and charming, but he can also be very challenging. We recently received a diagnosis of Asperger's for him, which is in the autism category. He really struggles connecting with other children and adults, but he LOVES animals! In this picture he is really studying the cows tied up on the outside of the barns. I worked really hard this week to not have a posed picture for this challenge. He did not know I was taking this picture b/c he was so interested in watching the cows. We were so lucky to find an FFA student that allowed him to pet and feed her cow. For me, this represents the innocent wonder of Max.

For more great entries, please check out I Heart Faces.

Fort Worth Stock Show 2011

Every year we go to the Stock Show at least once. Ben loves it, and since his birthday occurs around the same time it's just understood this is going to be something we do annually. I remember by mom taking me to the stock show as a child and loving it, but also trying to avoid the stinky barns. I also remember wearing new boots and wondering why I did that when I returned home with blisters. SO, that is why my kids wore boots to the stock show today. Because of my childhood memories. However, they have worn their boots multiple times and multiple locations. And, I had a back up pair of tennis shoes for Annie in my purse.

This is the last year Annie can wear one of my favorite shirts (of hers). We had to stop by the vendor that sold this to see if they had any neat shirts for next year. Luckily, they did. Can't wait to show of her new cowgirl shirt in 2012 (yikes).
 







Max and Annie had such a great time this year. We spent a lot of time searching the open pins on the outside of the barns. This way Annie had fresh air and was not pinching her nose walking around talking about how smelly it was. Max was able to find some FFA students that allowed him to pet their animals. And, mommy and daddy were able to take some beautiful pictures! The weather could not have been more perfect!

Max loves to wear Ben's hat. It makes me laugh how he tries so hard to be big. His eyes are very sensitive to sunlight, and it can be challenging to get them both in a position where Annie has some sun on her, but the sun isn't blinding Max.

Today was my favorite stock show day ever, and I hope our children will always remember these days and want to recreate the fun when they have families (MANY years from now).

Ben did inform me on the way out that he foresees one more trip this year. Heaven for bid we miss the sheep dog trials. So, if you're local and haven't been, you have until the weekend of Feb 5th. And, if you want to know the rodeo schedule or the different exhibits you can find out more info at:  http://www.fwssr.com/

Yeehaw~

Enjoy some tunes...

Okay, so each week when I go to look at others' blogs for the I Heart Faces challenges I am amazed by the photography and blogs. It has inspired me to keep tweaking mine as well as my photography. 

Today I added music to my blog. So much fun trying to find songs that inspire me and allow me to remain calm. I decided not to add any of my wild music in fear that someone would want to quickly depart this blog. If you have a blog and you are wondering how to do this, you can follow this link for instructions on how to add music.  

Yesterday I found myself lost in a sea of blogs. I have never felt so pumped from reading websites.These wonderful women and their skills are just AMAZING. I would find one blog, and they would recommend some blogs, and then they would recommend some blogs. By the end of the day, I was ready to bake, sew, decorate tables, scrapbook, take more pictures, and quit my job. Don't worry mom, I'm not. I don't know how these wonderful bloggers do it all. They put Martha Stewart to shame.

Here are some of my new favorite websites & blogs. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did:
http://www.bakerella.com/
http://www.livinglocurto.com/
http://justsomethingimade.com/jsim-diy-projects/
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/
http://thepioneerwoman.com/

I Heart Faces Challenge- Winter Wonderland

I was so excited that the forecast included snow a couple of weekends ago (which is very rare for the DFW area) as I was trying to think ahead and plan for this challenge. I am referring to this weather as a "sign from God" that this passionate hobby of mine is what I need to do right now. My husband thinks I am a little crazy. 

For more great winter wonderland pictures, please check out I Heart Faces.

Look a new blog header...

I have learned so much this week. I have found free PhotoShop Elements actions, which are prescribed improvements to pics. It's amazing. It really makes one obsess over one picture, because there are so many editing options. I really enjoy thinking about something creative.


This week has been really frustrating with work and some struggles with the school. I really find this thinking to be very therapeutic! 


My new website find today is: Paint the Moon. If you like them on Facebook, you can download some free actions.


Enjoy~ Heather

I Heart Faces Challenge- Best Smile

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Best Smiles". I love Annie's smile right now. She has 3 missing teeth. Not sure if you can see that one of her big teeth is missing. We call this her pumpkin smile. She is so excited right now because her other big tooth is loose and should be coming out within the next couple of weeks. What a picture that will be!

Storyboard Project

We had so much fun going to the Brahmas hockey game this Friday night as a family. We sat on the first row close to the ice. It was great to be there as the players slammed into the wall and the puck would coming crashing into the plexiglass. If you don't like sports, it's okay. You will be on alert for the entire game. It's the only way to go~

I was a little embarrassed during this game, because it was the first time to take my camera in public. Not only did I have my lovely Nikon 3100, but I had the extended lens (up to 300mm). I looked like I knew what I was doing. However, at this point, it is all a facade. I am really trying to seize the opportunity to find a photo opp. wherever I go. I thought having a trans-racial family got you a lot of looks. You should see what carrying a huge camera and lens around your neck with a trans-racial family will do! Good times!

I found this great free action on CoffeeShop Blog website. This is one of the best websites I have visited. Not only do they have tutorials, but they also have free actions for PhotoShop and PhotoShop Elements. My goal for this weekend was to: 1. take a picture for next week's photo challenge, 2. learn something new, 3. implement something new. So, this is my new exercise for this weekend. Storyboards. Aren't they fun. Click on the link above to find the tutorial and download. I would recommend bookmarking this website. 

I am really enjoying this new hobby! It is really nice to challenge my learning and do something that I enjoy for ME. Not for my profession and not for my children (although that is debatable, and I okay with that). My spirit is renewed! Hope you enjoy!

I Heart Faces Challenge- Absolute Best Face Photo of 2010

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Absolute Best Face Photo of 2010"

I have decided to jump into the deep end. Just received PhotoShop Elements and a new Nikon, but decided that I would pick a picture for this challenge before I put my big girl photographer panties on. You have to start somewhere, right? I chose this pic because I think this is truly one of the best face shots I have from all of last year. Annie had her face painted at school, and she was really proud of her art work (on her face) and could not wait until she got home to show her mommy. Hope you enjoy as much as I do~ Heather