Day 68 - June 30, 2011

It was another hot one day...SHOCKER!! I had the pleasure of taking care of 5 of the 7 grandkids this morning and since it was already in the 90s at 10am, I thought 'Lets play in the sprinklers!' The girls had a blast and I had fun watching them. I took this picture of Aubree as she was taking a break for water (an essential of Texas living). I caught her just at the perfect moment of her making the 'fish's face. Haha!

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Day 67 - June 29, 2011

I love this picture...and for three reasons. #1 - Ashley's leg position is cracking me up. I have no idea what she was doing. #2 - I love that Ashley & Ruth are playing together. They are almost exactly a year apart. #3 - (my most favorite reason) Ruth is standing up!! She was born with Spina Bifida and she's letting that SB know who's really in charge here. Go Ruth!!

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Day 66 - June 28, 2011

With today's activities, of course I am going to post a picture like this. Ashley & I are currently on our first Amtrak train and we're headed to Fort Worth. It seems like they overbooked the train so we got placed in the viewing car (where the picture was taken). It was pretty cool for a while but then the seats got uncomfortable and the glare from the sun gave me a headache. After our last stop, they moved us to the quiet car and I'm loving it! Ashley isn't being so quiet though. Anyway, I love the look of the viewing car so I posted a picture of it.

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Day 65 - June 27, 2011

This picture is pretty nasty looking but that's the way photography goes sometimes. :) This is my eye. Pretty ugly looking, huh? I don't know what is wrong with it but it itches like crazy and is obviously bloodshot. I'm hoping its just allergy related and will go away soon.

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Day 64 - June 26, 2011

We drove home from San Antonio earlier then we originally planned today. San Antonio was super muggy and we were all tired from not getting a lot of sleep last night. It was pretty clear skies most of the way home until we got just outside of Temple. I felt like clouds and blue sky made a good picture. And I used the faux HDR setting again...which looks cool with this one.

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Day 63 - June 25, 2011

I am quite fond of this picture. In my opinion, I made it look a lot like a painting. And the weird thing is that I didn't do that much editing to it. We headed down to San Antonio and on our way there, we stopped at Cabela's in Buda. Ashley absolutely loved the animal exhibit (which is where I took this picture). Kinda neat how it came out.

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Day 62 - June 24, 2011

I have figured out that Diesel is pretty hard to photograph and for two reasons. #1 - He never stops moving. LOL #2 - He has completely black fur with almost total black eyes. Which basically means for me that its hard for me to show his eyes. I have found that increasing the exposure on his face helps a little but it makes his head not look the same as his body. Haha! I'll figure it out before too long. Here's one of him that I was able to show his eyes pretty well.

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Day 61 - June 23, 2011

You can't have Amanda here and not do a photo shoot with her! We did a short shoot while Ashley was taking a nap and we got some great shots. She's an excellent actress so I was able to get all kinds of different shots. Haha! This one was one of my favorites. It doesn't show her personality very well but I love the lighting that I was able to catch. She's such a great model!

Day 60 - June 22, 2011

Wednesday, Ashley and I took Amanda to Belton Lake. It was the perfect day! A cold front had come through the previous evening so it wasn't crazy hot like it has been. It was during the week so the beaches were pretty much empty. Ashley loved it out there! This picture, to me, looks like an excellent Summertime post card. The weird thing about it is that I was laying on by back (soaking up more sun) and I actually took this picture looking upside down. I love how it came out!

Day 59 - June 21, 2011

We had a beautiful Texas sunset the other night and after seeing a picture similar to this one online a while back, I took the opportunity to try it out. It worked pretty well. It's not perfect but I was able to angle the camera to where it looks like Amanda is holding the sun in her hand. I'll keep trying this one. :)

Day 58 - June 20, 2011

One of my best friends from high school, Amanda, came to Temple to spend a few days with my family and I. We had an absolute great time together and took a ton of pictures. On Monday, we soaked in some sun. Amanda, being the Marilyn Monroe look-a-like that she is, made this such a fun picture.

Day 57 - June 19, 2011

Today is Father's Day and for the most part, we stayed inside and just relaxed. For a good end to our day, we met Chris, Cheryl, & the boys at The Weigh Station for some frozen yogurt. It is located right by the river so we decided to take a dip. It was so nice to cool down and have some water fun. I took this one as I was standing on the small man-made dam and put the camera right by the water. Thank goodness, I didn't drop it!

Day 56 - June 18, 2011

Again, its been HOT!! Our high was 106 on Saturday and I decided to try something. I put this pan outside in the direct sunlight for 4 hours. After it had enough time to warm up, I tried cooking an egg on it. It failed epically!! The only thing it did was evaporate...haha! We had Chris, Cheryl, & the boys over and Gavin was very intrigued by the egg (even though it didn't do anything).

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Day 55 - June 17, 2011

After Eric came home from work on Friday and Ashley immediately ran to him. They cuddled on the recliner, watched cartoons, and Eric fell asleep. I love seeing them cuddle together. Ashley is our last baby so I'm taking it all in.

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Day 54 - June 16, 2011

Last weekend, we spent a few nights at my brother, Matt's, house and it was hot (as usual)! We brought the dogs with us and they hung outside with Matt's dog, Duke. They have a water trough in the backyard and Duke was taking full advantage of it. How fun does that look?

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Day 53 - June 15, 2011

The posts for day 53 & 54 are going to be pictures that I have taken in the past because unfortunately, I did not take ANY pictures these two days...you know I had to have been busy. :)

This picture is from Aubree's birthday party a few weeks ago. We had two cute babies there...my niece, Ruth, and my 2nd cousin, Pearce. I was able to get both of their attention as they were sitting the portable crib together. Too cute, if you ask me. :)

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Day 52 - June 14, 2011

As I've stated before, IT'S HOT! And we are learning the importance of water because of the heat. I've been drinking about 8 cups of water everyday but I still think I'm getting dehydrated. Ashley barely drinks any water and Aubree only does when I won't let her drink anything else. :) So today, I bought this 64 oz. water jug to help us all out keep up with our water intake. Aubree is at her cousin's house all week but when she gets home, the 3 of us have to consume 3 of these jugs a day...with me obviously drinking the majority of it. With just Ashley & I right now, we're doing 2. I took this picture at this angle to show how big it looks. Make it look like the impossible. Not really...Haha! Sorry for the long post today. :)

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Day 51 - June 13, 2011

It's time for you weekly Jade & Diesel moment. Everyone say it with me....Awwww! These two make it hard not to take pictures of them. Diesel is getting bigger by the week (now 11 weeks old) and Jade is getting more gutsy with him. Diesel bites the heck out of Jade's neck and usually, Jade just takes it and gives me sad eyes. Not anymore! She gets him back. Their cute moments together are fading so I figured I would photograph them as often as possible. :)

Day 50 - June 12, 2011

This one is taken at night but it was after midnight so technically it qualifies for today's picture. We spent the weekend at Matt & Sara's house and Ashley woke up in the middle of the night. So I took her outside with me to take the dogs to get some fresh air. Matt's house reminds me of a Medieval building and the lights gave it an erie feel. Ashley was my good model.

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Day 49 - June 11, 2011

So, I didn't take this picture today but I wanted to post it today. I got a new editing app on my phone & I wanted to show some of cool effects. I took this picture of myself a few months ago. The effects I used were High Contrast B & W, Aged Paper, & Lomo. I really like how aged looking it is. Just felt like sharing. :)

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Day 48 - June 10, 2011

Of course, today I had to post a cute picture of my Aubree. It's her 6th birthday. I can't believe how much she has grown. I love her so much! We took a road trip up to Keller for the weekend & it was Diesel's first road trip with us. He did excellent! And Aubree was a big help. Here is a picture of them 2 cuddling in the truck (no Aubree is not asleep...she wanted to make it look like she was). Aubree is learning so much responsibility with Diesel. Awesome!

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Day 47 - June 9, 2011

I am actually quite proud of this one. This is Ashley & myself...taken by me. :) Ashley and I went outside before it got warm and we played around a little bit. I obviously took this picture without looking through the view thingy. The only thing I don't like about this picture is that you can REALLY see how old I'm starting to look. Ha!!

Day 46 - June 8, 2011

Yesterday, we had over our friends Amber, Evan, & Avrie so the kids could cool off in the pool. Usually, we have the pool set up closer to our house because it is a lot more level. But I decided to set it up on our inclined front yard so one end of the pool was shallow and the other end was deeper. The kids ended up loving it! Aubree and Evan were having a good time jumping off the shallow end and into the deep end. It took a few times but I was able to catch a decent picture of them jumping together. Love it!

Day 45 - June 7, 2011

Ahhh....the wonderful effects of Summer! Usually, I'm not a big fan of ice cream (unAmerican, I know) but when Summer rolls around, I enjoy it a whole lot more. :) I took this picture originally to show how good 220 calories looks (I am counting them...the only reason I know) but I messed up the measurements and instead of scooping 1 cup, which is 2 servings, I gave myself 2 cups. So LOOK HOW GOOD 420 CALORIES IS! Oops! :)

Day 44 - June 6, 2011

It was another scorcher today! Gotta love Texas Summers. We hit 101 degrees this afternoon and this sunset was a beautiful one. Yes, I was driving but I had to capture this one. I used the faux HDR effect and I love the way it came out this time. What's your opinion on the effect?

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Day 43 - June 5, 2011

It's pretty obvious I love water. :) And what better way to show it, then at a local spray park on a HOT day at the beginning of Summer. The child behind the water spout is my cousins' son, Gavin (you've seen him before and will be seeing him a lot more). He has a fascination for the drain and I thought this was a cute picture of him playing with the drain while I play with the water. Cutie!

Day 42 - June 4, 2011

Today was Aubree's 6th birthday party and her theme this year was 'peace signs & tie-dye'. I found a recipe online on how to make tie-dye cupcakes & icing so Aubree and I decided to give it a try. The cupcakes came out really neat! I also found a homemade buttercream icing recipe that is the DEVIL....soooo delicious! The 'tie-dye' for the tops of the cupcakes didn't come out exactly right but it worked & Aubree was happy. For today's post, I am putting up a sequence of photos to show the inside & outside of the cupcakes. Enjoy!

This is the tops of the cupcake complete with homemade buttercream icing:

Then we have the unveiling of the inside...notice the colors on the cupcake wrapper:

The sides of the cupcake:

Ahhh....the cupcake cut in half:

And the cupcake missing a few pieces:

Day 41 - June 3, 2011

Tomorrow is Aubrees 6th birthday party and I'm making her a tie-dye cupcake cake. Shes not a fan of the store-bought icing so I decided to try my hand at a homemade buttercream frosting recipe. It is delicious! And this is how much I made...that is a lot of butter & sugar in there. Hope she likes the outcome.

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Day 40 - June 2, 2011

I told you she would be showing up soon. :) Today was Aubree's last day of Kindergarten & we are some proud parents! We took her out for ice cream and she was giving me some of the cutest poses. This one was my favorite. I'm raising some models here. Ha!

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More Aubree Coming Soon!

I looked through my old posts today & noticed that Aubree is barely in any of them! She has been in school all day and most of the pictures I take are during the day while she is gone. But...she graduates Kindergarten tomorrow and I get to have her home with me for 87 days! So, I will be having a lot more pictures of her on here. I can't wait!

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Day 39 - June 1, 2011

If this doesn't make you go 'awww', nothing will. Ha! Jade & Diesel have been quite the pair. I love that Jade finally has a companion that she doesn't have to be 'careful' with. And obviously, Diesel LOVES Jade. Perfect match!

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