I have to be honest and let you know I am NOT a baker!  I am an eyeballer when comes to a lot of things so when I bake which calls for preciseness, yeah not working.  Cooking is a  little more forgiving, but baking not so much.  Last time I baked cookies for a Christmas cookie exchange and it was disastreous!  They tasted okay, but I like BIG cookies!  And I made then way too big  so they didn’t cook right. Therefore didn’t cool right, and just stuck together which resulted in a cookie log chunk! Some girls didn’t even want them mixing with all the other pretty cookies, SAD!  But they were still edidble but yeah pretty?  Not so much. This is my sister eating hers. She said they were good.  I think she was just being nice……

So I must say I was pretty happy with myself when I did these! I love making rice krispy treats.  No baking involved.  It’s okay if the measurements are off and you add too many of the 3 whole ingredients!  And I could go crazy with sprinkles!  The dipping was a little tricky because they had to dry upright.  And the dark and white chocolate melt differently and you don’t want it too melted.  So needless to say I had chocolate dripping everywhere! To make them extra pretty I added some Tomkat Studio  DIY labels!  Easy Peasy and PRETTY!  Yay for me!  My mother-in-law thought I bought them somewhere.  Hmmm, really?!?  That made me smile and I could feel my head get bigger too!  Ha.   I am happy to know I redeemed myself after my Christmas cookie fiasco!

See cutie patootie huh?  And YUMMY! Wishing everyone a wonderful day with all of their LOVED ones!

CLICK HERE FOR QUICK SLIDESHOW

Anyway isn’t my sister so pretty?  My niece is her twin.

My sister always tells me my children are quirky like me.  hmmmmm, really?  REALLY? What about yours? Yeah.

She is so beautiful!

I love these.  She so fun and such a little model!

This one is my all time FAVE!  Love, LOVE  it……..and look at my sister’s hair.  Not fair.  She has Kate Beckinsale hair.  That is what happens when you make fun of people and tease them about their hair.  That’s why I just make fun of myself , hoping for a backfire!

I have known Mom since we were in junior high.  She is like a sister.  A sister that I fight with. That I laugh with. And that I love. She is crazy talented with knowing how to make things pretty and simple.  Not me.  I am an overembellisher.  She shares her many ideas on her very popular blog.  Her son is my daughter’s boyfriend.  When I was explaining to my daughter that a boy will ask her to marry him and then Mommy and Daddy have to say Yes too, she said Mommy I want you to say Yes to T .  And it is really funny cause when they hangout it is really like they are BF and GF.  They snuggle and stuff.  Cute now cause they are under 5!  Might have to seperate them for a few years!   T is a sweet sweet boy and I would love to have him as future family!  There is so much inside him just bursting to come out and I know it will at the right time.  Now sister has personality overflowing from her little piggies!  She’s sassy and spunky!  You should have seen her just struttin’ err…. walking in the parking lot.  Normally it takes a few minutes for me and the kiddos to warm up, but my best shots of these two were right off the bat.  I think they could be models! 

I love these next ones.  I love the trees.  I told Mom and Dad to snuggle and get close.  Mom is a HUGE obssessed Twilight fan so I told her to pretend Dad was a werewolf.  That got a giddy giggle out of her and an eyeroll from him.  hahaha!

What perfect little family!

Some sweet moments…….. Lil’ sister was Ah-mazed by the lightrail.  If that thing was around she was not looking at my camera.  But I caught this cute face!  The excitement in her eyes! 

 Thanks guys!!  I hope you like them! So weird writing to you like this.  hehe.  Anyway here’s your slideshow!

I love this session for many many reasons. These are our wonderful friends. This was the family who bid and won the auction I had for Kate  and helped me bless the McRae family. This is the first family I took pictures of last year.  This is my all time FAVORITE redhead and insurance agent. 

I absolutely adore their little girl.  She has a special place with me.  I don’t know what it is.  I love her confidence. Her uniqueness. She definately knows what she wants and does it.  Not out of defiance. Just cause she is a free spirit.  When I asked her to maybe put her hand on her hip or sit down, she instead said I don’t want to do that, I want to do this! And would give me something better than what I was asking of her!  She’s a super smart cookie too.  Almost too smart for her own good.  I love her and hope she never compromises and never poses with her hand on her hip!

How cute is she?!?!  She totally befriended the  lonely little girl who didn’t talk and read her book with her!  And was sooooooo into it.  Apparently they were reading Little Mermaid……

Meet her lil’ sister who was only a bump last year in mom’s belly at family photo time.  She is the quieter one of the two but speaks volumes with those eyes!!!!

See look at her face. Doesn’t like the hand on hip pose……..

I am sure Dad was wondering if I had a giant remote and big screen to go with the giant pink chair I asked him to sit in……………

And FYI if you wear white plan on getting dirty when shooting with me.  I will ask you to lay down, squat down, roll around!  Oh and don’t play kickball the day before and tell me you are sore.  I don’t care……..this is how I get the shots people.  Just doin’ my job.  Just doin’ my job………..hahaha, wink.

And lastly one of my favorites.  I love the feel of this one for some reason.  Dads and their little girls get me every time…..

Thanks again you guys!! Great job as always! 

CLICK HERE FOR THEIR SLIDESHOW

Cotton Candy Fantasy Body Spray – My family doesn’t exchange Christmas presents between the adults.  We are all grown and it is too much pressure and stress  to buy presents for each other.  And really isn’t the meaning of Christmas.  So we skip that part.  We just buy for the kiddos.  Every once in a while if we see something or want to get each other something, of course we can.  My little sister is the best at getting fun inexpensive stuff that you will actually use!  One year she got me this stuff and I have been hooked ever since.  I am a migraine sufferer so I can’t wear perfume.  So this stuff is perfect.  Only $6 at Walgreens!!  You’ll be singing Flo Rida’s  …………..I smell like sugar…….( I smell like sugar), this candy’s got you sprung, (this candy’s got you spruuuuung)……….

Solano Hair Dryers- I am kinda biased on this one because I have actually never used any other dryer.  I started using these in hair school and never switched.  If I find something I like I don’t change.  Call me stubborn.  I think I am more  loyal. They can be pricey, a Benjamin or more  if you will.  But I have been buying mine from here and they have the best prices even better than some beauty distributors!  And you don’t have to be a licensed hairdresser to buy. The reason I love these so much is because of the nozzle.  Their nozzles are thin. Ladies, having a nozzle on the end of your hairdryer is the key!  It keeps the heat concentrated and direct. I love blowdrys with this dryer. I hate it if I don’t have it and have to use a random.  It feels weird.  Maybe one day when I am brave I will post a video tutorial about how to blowdry your hair.

M.A.C. Vanilla Pigment-  LOVE this stuff!  This is a staple in my makeup kit.  I have tried other shades of pigment and get irritated if I don’t have this one. See how loyal I am??? I never thought of myself as picky but I am starting to think I am????  Anyway this is a great highlighter.  I love dusting it just below the brows to highlight.  I see women using shadow colors for this and may look good in the mirror but then take a picture.  What do you look like??  Kinda like a Bratz doll or clown right??? This stuff is irradescent so it catches the light subtly versus relflecting a white brow!!  I also dust a little down the bridge of my nose along with some shading and I can give myself a painless nosejob!!! Or a little in the corners of the eyes or on cheeks.  LOVEE!

Ardell  Lashes-  I LOVE my falsies!!  I am desperately trying to get lash exstenstions in the budget so I don’t ever have to wear makeup again!  Anyway, I always go with black.  Always go with dark fonce glue.  And I always buy the DEMI wispies.  I think these are the most natural looking in my opinion. The key to lashes is to trim them the length of your eye.  It will be more comfortable and you won’t look like Britney Spears being interviewed by Matt Lauer with a lash hanging by a thread.  Is that weird that I noticed that and that is what I remember from that interview????  I remember thinking You are a billionaire GAZILLIONAIRE and you can’t hire someone to do your makeup???? It was a rough time in her life  and I am over it. When applying the glue less is more. Use a toothpick to put just enough on the strip.  And I use strips versus indies……

Brushes- If you get anything out of this post make it this.  Brushes can take that shadow application to the next level!!  Blending colors with brushes will make a huge difference in the way your makeup looks.  Not only are brushes important for application they can save you money as well.  Some brushes can be $30 but well worth the investment.  Brushes should be used when applying foundation.  You get an even smoother coverage and it saves your product.  Sponges soak of the product and you waste a lot.  Get a brush and your foundation will last a lot longer! Well that’s it.  Stay Beautiful!!

I am very blessed that my children get along and love each other so much!  We just got my son a big boy bed with a trundle and they sleep together everynight!  Many times she falls asleep right away but he stays up and sings to himself……..VERY loudly.  My husband and I just look at each other and laugh.  But  all I have to do is ask him do you want to sleep with mommy and daddy? He then literally squeals Nooooooo!!! He then shuts his eyes and goes to bed.  He would rather be with his big sister than mom and dad.  I love that.

And here is a meat and cheese platter I was proud of.  I am not really a presentation person or very good party thrower or hostess.  I leave that up to my sister or my friend Kim.  But I signed up late for my daughter’s party so all that was left was the meat.  And it was take 2 kids to Costco to pick up a tray or make due with what I had.  I chose Lazy and stay at home!!  I think it would be super cute to make for Thanksgiving into a Turkey.  I thought about making these into spiders with the sticks as legs but yeah too lazy!  But aren’t they cute???

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!!