The year of the camera

For the Chinese, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. But for me, this is the Year of the Camera. Remember when my friend Vickie gave me this camera? Well, for my birthday I got two more cameras! Can you believe it? Vickie sent me this Brownie with a box and owner’s manual!! Look at this baby:I can’t wait to get some film and see if it works! Even if it doesn’t work, it’ll be a great addition to my collection. Then, a few days after I got home from my California trip, my other friend Raegan gave me this little number:This is a Metascoflex TLR (TLR stands for twin lens reflex – instead of today’s SLR, single lens reflex).This one didn’t have an owner’s manual but came in this awesome leather case.It has a little window that pops up on top and becomes your viewfinder!And this is probably my favorite picture I’ve taken in a long time. 

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Thank you, friends! You’ve sent me over the moon with your gifts. See guys, I told you I had the best friends anyone could ask for!

New school building and California dreaming

Remember me? My name is Amber and I used to write a blog called Freckles and Fences. I’ve been a little MIA these days. Eight days, to be exact. I’ve been quite busy but I’m sure you don’t want to hear my excuses so I’ll just get one with today’s post.

Yesterday, the boys’ school (and I attended as well) had a groundbreaking ceremony for their new building. The school has been around for just over 40 years and a new building is long overdue.

Jackson was so very excited. The other day he told me that he couldn’t wait for next week. When I asked him why, he said he was excited for the new building. For some reason, he thought the building would be completed in one week. I had to explain to him that it was going to take a tad bit longer than a week for construction to be completed. Cute, huh? Ethan had misconceptions as well. He thought they were actually going to be knocking down the old building yesterday. Yes, destroying the building that currently houses the elementary school. Yes, destroying the building while all the children were in the parking lot with only Halloween-type construction helmets on. Oh, to be young again.

Here’s a snapshot of some the kids watching the ceremony:

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In other news, this weekend I will be traveling to California! I have been giving the opportunity to interview Roma Downey (from Touched by an Angel) for a new children’s DVD series that she and her husband are producing. I’m thrilled at the opportunity and even more thrilled that it’s in California (the prettiest state, if you ask me). My flights and hotel (for one night) are paid for so I decided to stay a few extra days to enjoy all the photo ops – I even bought a new lens for the occasion. I’m sure you’ve heard me say more than once that I really hate the beach. Actually, it’s the Gulf Beaches that I hate. The Gulf of Mexico is nothing like the Pacific Ocean and I’m unable-to-sleep-excited at the thought going to my dad’s old stomping grounds. It’s been way too long since I’ve made it to the West Coast and I haven’t been able to wipe the smile off my face.

I’ll for sure be updating my blog while I’m there. Any great places in the Malibu/Santa Monica area that I have to see? Since I’m only there for a short time, I’d really love to be outside for most of the time, so unless there’s a mall that’s to die for, no need to suggest it.

Stepping out

There are two types of boys in this house. One never likes to be naked. Never likes to be without a shirt or even socks. The other one would be shirtless and bare footed 24/7 if he could. He’s the one that has no problem stepping out of his clothes on the way to the bathroom. And he has no problem parading around the house after he steps out of his clothes. I have to admit that his cute little backside makes me giggle.

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The problem is that unless he’s reminded all the time, the clothes would stay like this. Who am I kidding, both boys leave their clothes (and towels) all over the bathroom floor. Am I the only one that wonders if I never said anything, how many articles of clothing would pile up on the floor? Would they end up picking up after themselves because they couldn’t stand it any longer? Has anyone ever tried this tactic? I sounds like a fun experiment to me.

And the winner is…

Oh my, am I ever behind? This last week has been super crazy around here. Nothing major, just lots and lots of little things. We took a trip to Legoland on Friday (pictures to follow soon) as well as a trip to Ikea on Saturday (finally got the dining room set I’ve been dreaming about for a year).

I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to picking a winner for the giveaway. In between the announcement for the giveaway & the actual winner being chosen, it’s possible that the my friend, the mask maker, is now in talks with Martha Stewart’s company to be in an issue of her magazine. I cannot even believe it as I’m typing this. She was squealing at the possibility of being in Martha’s magazine. It’s like the Mother Ship was calling her home. I’ll be so happy for her if this goes through. Nothing is set in stone now but just the thought of it makes me over-the-moon excited for her. 

Now, onto the prize. Let me tell you, we had a very high-tech way of doing this. See for yourself.

We had the names of all our contestants:

A random name generator:

And finally a winner was chosen:

Congratulations, Raegan! I’ll be getting your masks to you in the next few days. This was super fun to do and I hope I have the opportunity to do it again sometime.

On the home-front, Ken has started his new job. Today was the first day and it seems like he’s really going to enjoy working for this company. I’m really glad this lay off didn’t last for months and months as it did last time. On one more home-front note, I will get the opportunity to go to California later this month. I’ll share more about that as the date nears but let me tell you this: I just may never come back home! A (almost) free trip to California? Heck, yes! I’m thrilled at the opportunity I’ve been given and can’t wait to share it with you once I have more info. 

My first giveaway!

OK, I promised a giveaway last week and it’s finally here! (My very first giveaway – squeeeeee!)

Let me tell you about my friend Alisha. She is co-owner of Mahalo. They’ve been getting quite a bit of sweet advertising these days. First of all, they were featured in a magazine. The August issue of Parenting magazine. Yes, Parenting magazine! And then that issue of the magazine was on The Office last Thursday. Then they were featured on Gilt.com (similar to Groupon.com). And just this week, I’ve seen them in two other online publications (here on page 53) and here. When I first started this blog, I told you that I had some pretty awesome friends. Remember this post? That post was about my friend Anna. Alisha is Anna’s mom. Cool/awesome/crafty/nifty/swell just runs in that family. 

I’m giving away both of these masks. I think they’d make a cute little Halloween costume, don’t you? All you have to do is leave a comment & tell me your favorite part of Halloween. Personally, I’m not a fan of the holiday. I think most of the decorations are gross and I’m so not good at coming up with costumes that my boys like AND want to wear. I can make a birthday card. But a costume? Not so much. So tell me what all the hoopla is that surrounds Halloween & maybe I’ll enjoy it more this year. It seems as if I’m the only one that’s a party pooper when October rolls around (except on my birthday).

Oh, and tell your friends and family about the giveaway. They don’t have to subscribe to my blog or sign their name in blood (although, that would be fitting for the holiday, no?). I want to get the word out about my awesome friend’s awesome etsy shop. And I don’t want to host a giveaway and have zero comments. So, go comment and go tell your friends, too.

Edit: Since choosing a winner is too much pressure, winner will be chosen randomly. Comments close on Friday.

 

Say hello to my (new) little friend

Remember yesterday when I told you I received a package in the mail? I’m here to reveal the contents. My friend, Vickie, sent me an antique Kodak Brownie camera! I just love her (yes, my camera is a “her”). Take a little look-see and enjoy for yourselves. 

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And now I have enough for a real collection!

Now I have to find the perfect place to display them. Aren’t they cute little buddies?

Special delivery

So, today I received a special delivery. A very special delivery.

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Want to know what it was? Well, you’re just going to have to wait till tomorrow! Oh yeah, I just did that.

 

Food shapes and a hair cut

Been a little lazy with the Photo of the Day thing lately. Ethan was feeling my pain and made a cube with his M&Ms. He insisted that I use it for yesterday’s photo.

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And today, I decided to trim Jackson’s bangs. 

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Got some cool things planned for the little blog later this week. Think: giveaway! I’ve mentioned before that I’ve got some super talented friends and I wanted to feature one of them. I’m so excited to be able to do this. Can’t wait to share it with you guys in a few days.

Have a great week & please, if you live up north, send some fall weather my way, okee dokee?

Home sweet home

I was reading one of my favorites blogs the other day, A Beautiful Mess. She was giving tips on how to photograph your home. Most of them I already knew but it gave me a kick in the rear to actually DO it. I especially liked tip #1 – One Room at A Time. Don’t feel like you have to clean your entire house and then photograph it. Clean one room (or a portion of it) so it’s to your liking. Then look through your viewfinder. You’ll be surprised at how NOT clean it looks when looking through your camera. It’s ok to clean only for a photo shoot. As an adult, it took me some time to realize that I didn’t have to save cleaning only for times when company comes over.

Then pick things you like about your room. No one says you have to show us everything. Have unfinished projects? Don‘t photograph them. Have a broken lamp? Don’t show us. No need to show your dirty laundry (literally). For instance, my carpet isn’t finished (thanks to a breakfast bar addition) so I decided not to show you that. Of course, now I’ve told you & the cat is out of the bag. The point is to pick and choose what you want to show off and just do it! Your kids will love to have a record of what the house looked like when they were young. (There’s probably a good argument in there about documenting your life like it normally is – dirty laundry and all.) I think it’d be neat to see how my house changes over the years. I may make this a yearly thing.

This is my favorite couch I’ve ever owned. We did end up paying it off but for a while, we thought we’d have to give up our firstborn. It’s the only thing in the room (or the whole house, for that matter) that we’ve splurged on.

These chairs were the best yard sale find I’ve ever found. Ever. They were $15 for the both of them and they match the room perfectly. They’re short (which I love) and they spin (which the boys love). 

I took a pillow making class and made the pillow. The afghan is one that my grandmother made years and years ago. I love that I have it. The little basket on the two tiered table is full of books that I’ve made in my scrapbooking days. And the curtains. Oh, the curtains…they came from an estate sale. My mom found them and I think she spent less than $10. I just love the pop of color and the vintage feel they lend the room. I’ve had a few people tell me that they had curtains like that growing up.

Here’s a close up. I just love the turquoise!These are another cheap find. I scored four of these from eBay. Here are two:And my favorite part of the room. This little clock makes me smile. My dad made it for me! It was a Christmas gift a few years back and it still makes me smile every time I look at it. Unless I’m running late. Then I curse at it.

And this was another gift from my dad. I was giddy when this arrived at my house. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong decade.

And there you have it, my little corner of the world. That wasn’t too hard. Now you try it!

The best laid plans

Today started of so nicely. I took the boys to school and headed to the car wash. Since our car’s antennae is broken & stuck in the “up” position, we can’t send it through the regular car wash without it coming out really broken. So we get to wash it by hand. It’s probably a fix that’s under $100 but it’s WAY down on the list of important things. I mean way down there. It’s not really something I hate doing. Give me my headphones, some good music and I’m good to go. Even a 14 year old car cleans up nicely.

But even the best laid plans go awry sometimes. For instance, less than 12 hours later, my car looked like this:

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I promise you, every single time I wash my car, it rains.
Every.single.time.
It’s a good thing I like the rain.

On a brighter note, my husband found a job! In case you didn’t know, he was laid off back in August. He has had quite a bit of activity on his resume and even a couple of out-of-state companies were interested in him. But in the end, the job he was offered is right here in town. I was really praying that we’d find something that would let us relocate but I guess this isn’t the right timing. But I’m not giving up. I’m still praying that one day I’ll live in a place that has four actual seasons, is a nice place to raise children and one that I actually love. So, while I’m happy that he has found work, I won’t lie and tell you I’m not disappointed it’s local. I know, I know…I should just be happy he has a job. I know that it’s tough “out there” for a lot of people. So I’m thankful. And hopeful. Thanks for your prayers. I really appreciate them.