~ this must be love ~

he's not a good father. he's an absolutely incredible father. you can tell by the way they look at him. when he walks in the room, squeals of sheer delight echo throughout our house. in that moment it's as if they cannot crawl, scoot, catapult quick enough to lunge themselves into his arms. my sons have the most incredible daddy.  holy freaking stockings, this picture makes my heart skip a beat!                     

today after i got home from my photoshoot, my heart melted onto the floor in about 537 thousand freaking pieces when my little men responded to my homecoming greeting, by hollering with almost panicked delight, as they realized that, yet again their little legs and arms could only aid their travel to my arms, so much. i quickly came to their rescue and scooped up all 40+ pounds of my two 9 month-ers into my arms, and we had a snuggle, kissy fest. 

o. m y. g o s h. being a parent is, without a doubt, the most amazing privilege God has ever seen fit to bestow on me and my darling hubby.

on that intoxicatingly fantastic thought, happy sleep, darlings.

sister's bump

  

today was the perfect day to snap some belly shots. and i knew just the model i wished to use! my sister is pregnant with her second daughter, my third niece. kyra, my second born niece, came along to make mommy laugh. :) thank you B family for letting us use your amazing property! 

here's a few of my favs:

and what photographer, auntie or not, could resist snapping a few {or more! :} of this adorable creature?! 

isn't she a peach?! i even had to get in a couple with her...

after we were all done shooting, a trip to starbucks won a unanimous vote..

taking pictures is exhausting, thought this little doll.

but then she went and got a snuggle, and all was better!

perfect ending to the perfect shoot!

thanks for tuning in, darlings! 

 

they call her gramma ~

my boys are so blessed to have such fantastic grandparents! hubby and I both have unendingly loving and supportive parents. incredible!  Today my mum-in-law and I took the boys to our favorite local coffee shop, Jakes, to have have a meeting with the owner about the Ladies Night Out once a month events we are planning. 

I've never lived in a small town before. there's something to be said about knowing almost everyone that walks through the door. Well, I don't know as many folks as my friends who have grown up in this area do. That and the fact that I am ever still forcing myself to get over my fearsome shy side! but, knowing people who know everyone, is intriguing to me! :}  

We had a grand time hanging with Gramma today, as you can tell ... 

isn't she beautiful? :) her love for my boys makes her EVEN MORE so!

every coffee shop should have a comfy orange couch to lounge on while sipping coffee, or, uh, bobbies, as my boys like to do. i've even shot bridal portraits on this very couch before!

 When we got home i was unpacking {because you have to pack as if you were moving out of the country every time you leave the house when you have kids}, I looked down to see my eldest twin ... {he DOES have two legs i promise :}

 No clue what he was doing, but he was VERY intrigued by his carseat. One of those times when I desperately wished for a window into his little brain. I'm sure, if he's anything like his mum, his mind was baby-racing a mile a minute!  

 Tom is such a good boy withe our babes. He's so gentle even when they yank on his fantastic, albeit very tempting-to-pull "hair"! {we don't call it fur, because Tom doesn't HAVE fur. Tom's hair is the type that us women pay THOUSANDS of dollars to have!} 

 It was like CHRISTMAS in my house today! My Thirty-One order arrived from the Ladies Night Out a few weeks back. Even though only 2 things were for me, I was elated while sorting everyone's stuff. 

I finally decided this print is my print! Here's my new Zipper Pouch! Slowly, but surely, I am incorporating 31 items in this most fabulous print into my daily life. I LOVE being so fashionably organized! ;)  

 Happy birthday to my sweet Dad! So wish we could celebrate together!  Boy can this guy play the guitar! I LOVED listening to him play and sing to me as a wee one. He's a quiet, yet strong man, who loves God with all his heart. I admire him for his devotion and faithfulness. 

Love you, Dad!                     

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since you are on the penelope jane blog, here's another P.J. photo fav! my friend kassi's pup missy, letting P.J. know that all was safe, and no hungry kittens were nearby waiting to pounce! this was taken in '09. penelope darling must've been only 6 months or so.

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happy friday night, darlings. enjoy this amazingly refreshing cool weather!

~ l.r.

{operation: baby food}

i've loved this adventure of discovering how to make my own baby food! it's fantastic. here's what i do:


 I boil whatever veggie or fruit I am giving them, then i freeze it in ice trays. Once frozen, I put it in ziplock baggies. Makes it super easy as well as accurate when it's time to feed them. I know they each get X amount of  "cubes"... 

i was out of their food a couple days ago, so it was time to make more. i boiled squash and sweet potatoes. i also boiled organic eggs. {I just introduced them to boiled organic egg yolk this week, for a good source of protein.} i separated the egg yolk from the whites, and saved the whites for my hubby. the yokes i set aside to mix into the baby food. after the food was all done boiling, i used my trusty magic bullet to purée all the food together. {i kept the squash and potatoes separate from each other, but added the boiled yolks, and a little water, to each mixure.}


thanks to my trusty iPhone, i documented it for your viewing enjoyment. :}

{tonight's "dinner" defrosting. well at least for half of us. :}

{these little mesh bags are FAN-frggin-TASTIC! i crush up a "cube" of their frozen food, and then it's ready for them to eat, without me worrying about them choking. genius!!}


 I also juice a lot for my babes, as well as for myself and my hubby. Making homemade juice obviously contains no added sugars, only natural fruit sugars. The reason i find it's beneficial to juice is because it breaks down the fruits and veggies and removes the fiber, which makes it easier for their bodies (and ours! :) to digest. 


I'm not planning to make a habit of giving them too many processed food items or sugars even after the big first year bday. The only processed thing they've had is organic brown rice cereal.
I figure they will have their whole lives to eat whatever they want, so I want to give them the best nutrition I can when they're young. There's tons of different opinions out there, and I am no expert on what is "right or wrong" to give your babes, but this is working really well for us! 

{this nifty contraption is an apple corer from Pampered Chef. since the apple seeds tend to hold in toxins, i use this guy to remove any and all seeds, without having to cut up the whole apple. you can purchase one for yourself from my rad sister by clicking here!

{washing in vinegar to remove any dirt and grime} 

{ready, set, JUICE!}

{after i finish juicing, i make a yummy soup out of the pulp. haha...just kidding. 
this is for the dogs. they freaking LOVE it! they come BOUNDING into the kitchen as soon as they hear me pull out the peeler, and then HOVER the entire juicing process until we get to this part:

yeah, they love this stuff}

{and some is set aside for our iguana}

{i didn't add any celery to my babies juice yet, so the canning jars have the celery added in, for hubby and i. here's what i did with the rest:

i froze it in ice cube trays so that it is a cinch to pull out, plop in a bottle, defrost, dilute, and serve! :}

{of course i had to have a glass after all that hard work! :}

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our ladies night out at jake's coffee shop last thursday evening was fab! so much excitement from the vendors, and visitors. i, myself had an absolutely marvelous time! we are all putting our heads together to come up with a fun once a month event to put on...i'm so excited!

here's a couple pictures:

my Belle Voir Photography table 

my Thirty-One table

i was so proud of these hand made flowers! i made them earlier that day, and had to show them off! :)

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the other day i was typing an email, and as ALWAYS seems to happen to me, i wrote, "i am attaching a file for you to look at", but of course i DIDN'T remember to attach it before pressing "send".

so what does my "smatter than me" gmail do? why it grew a brain and a conscience, and thoughtfully alerted me with this message:

Did you mean to attach files?

You wrote "I've attached" in your message, but there are no files attached.  Send anyway?

like the child that i am, i tried it 2 or 3 {ish :} more times before attaching the file, out of pure curiosity and awe! it NEVER would let me send, no matter how many times i pressed "send". i first had to either click "send anyway" {which i did NOT do}, or {like i finally did, once i was done goofing around} go back and add the file that caused such a ruckus. oh gmail, i love you!

a few days ago i bought myself a paper cutter. i am embarrassed to admit just how completely stoked i am over my new little paper cutter. to my defense, i literally am the world's WORST "free hand" paper cutter. literally. this new gadget is marvelous! it even has a SCORING BLADE! i can't believe i am admitting this, but i had to consult my friend Google again...i had NO CLUE what a scoring blade was! i'm thrilled to learn what it's useful for!

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in honor of father's day, a couple of my favorite childhood "daddy and me" memories . . . 


every time i had a loose tooth, i would wait in excited anticipation for my dad to get home from work. then he and i would choose which one {usually i was too freaked} would yank it out {because i have absolutely NO PATIENCE at all whatsoever, so as soon as i felt it budge the TINIEST bit, it HAD TO COME OUT!}!  after the extraction, i would head off to bed, feeling a little wiser {haha}, and awaiting the "tooth fairy"! dad was always so excited for me when i would lose another tooth!


he worked on a construction sight. some nights he would have to work all through the night. occasionally my sisters and i would have the exciting honor of going with him to the job sight, and camping out in the car, while he worked. i remember how stoked dad was to have his girls with him. he would spoil us with the best food ever on those trips. we always looked forward to those times with great anticipation!


one sunday after church, he took me and one of my sisters to work with him, and let us "drive" one of those MONGO cranes commonly found on construction sights. this was quite the bragging story for me growing up . . . "well, i've driven a HUUUUUGE crane before!" said the 7 year old, to another 7 year old, who was green with envy. :}


i love you, Dad!! happy Dad's day!


and happy father's day weekend, everyone!! 

"attack each other, attack each other!"

. . . kids really do say the darndest things. 

my sister and i, as well as our friend miriam were all at the water park with our kids this fine warm weathered day. my twins were in their pac n' play enjoying the fresh air. they had been wrestling with each other earlier when mirm and her boys first showed up. it seemed her eldest son william found the sight of two babies in a crib, quite amusing. a little while later, i saw him mousy back over to the side of the occupied pac n' play, and as he peered down at my babes, he started energetically cheering ~ 

"attack each other! attack each other!"

haha, i had myself a hearty and fantastic laugh!! {makes me sound like santa claus!} i mean come on, what in the dickens could ever be more entertaining to watch than 2 babies wrestling with each other?! thanks for the grins, william!

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for those of you in the area, i am hosting a "ladies night out" at the local coffee shop tomorrow night, 6-9. stop by, grab a coffee, bring a friend!

ok, so, mushrooms, olives, hominy, what do they all have in common? uh, that would be that they are vegetables that this veggie loving freak cannot stand. {"cannot" is underlined because i am extremely emphatic about my distaste for these edibles} unlike peas, which i really do not prefer, the prior list of  veggies literally make me shiver. 

i guess i really should've added squash and zucchini to my first list. really do not like. but, nonetheless, today i found myself washing, peeling, cooking, purée-ing ~ squash. 

i had to hold my breath {no seriously, i did} when preparing these yellow puppies to be frozen in ice trays, for baby food.

so in a few days, i will be introducing squash to my poor children, and then i will see if they too find squash as detestable as their mum. 

sad that such a pretty looking vegetable could taste {and smell} so vile.

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these, my darling friends, would be strawberries from my very own garden! o yeah, baby! nothing like home grown food. 

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today i attempted to teach myself the skill of making paper flowers. i had this grand idea to photograph them once done designing them, so that you guys could all be wowed by my new found skills. :}

uh, yeah right. i tried taking a couple pictures of the ones i finally finished. let's just say it's pretty bad when you create something and then as you study the photograph taken, you can't tell if it's a rose, or a crumpled up "big mac" wrapper. haha, guess i'll try again!

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have a fantastic sleep, friends! may your dreams be lovely and happily picturesque, and may you wake up feeling refreshed. :}