Mamatography - Week 8 - Feb 19 - 25

Mamatography for the week of February 19 through February 25

Week 8

2/19 - Sunday - The boys just hanging out.

2/20 - Monday - President's Day - Big K's last day off. He enjoyed a 4 day weekend. He made a race track for their cars out of a shoe box. When they are done playing, you can put the cars inside and then close it up. Little K did not understand how it worked. He kept trying to sit in it! :)

2/22 - Big K had an eye appointment after school. 

2/23 - The colors of the Little K's crib set. It perfectly matches the boys rooms. A friend of mine was looking for some inspiration, and I was hoping that these colors might help! :)

2/25 - The kids and I took the hubby to work. It was a nice treat for the boys to be able to spend some extra time with Daddy. It turned out to be a crazy day.... beautiful weather in the morning turned into a mini snow storm for about an hour. Then it went back to sunny skies.

*We're participating in a 366 day photo challenge at Diary of a First Child. To see other Mamatography participants for this week, please visit Week 8.                    
To visit past Mamatography posts, please go here .

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

• Diary of a First Child
• African Babies Don’t Cry
• Woman of the Willows and Wetlands
• From Cristin To Mommy
• Princess poet’s Life Adventures
• Loving {Almost} Every Moment
• The Artful Mama
• The Family Patch
• Boo Roo and Tigger Too
• Becoming Crunchy
• Vibrant Wanderings
• Actually Mummy…
• Boho Mama
• Casyfamily
• Loving Earth Mama
• Baby Dust Diaries
• Baking Momma of Two

• Momma Jorje
• The Mommy Metamorphosis
• Boobie Time
• Toddler In Tow
• Mama Unfurling
• Attached Mommyhood
• Adventures of the Raanan family
• Mommy and Little I
• A Living Family
• Fun with Ima (mommy)
• ShariMamatography
• Carrigan’s Joy
• Becoming Three
• take more pictures
• Girls Can Do Anything
• Anktangle
• Growing A Life

Pay It Forward - Part 2

**This is a 6 part mini-series of posts.**


This one has been my favorite gift that I have made so far! My family LOVES when I bake goodies... but I haven't much energy to do much baking lately. Participating in the 'Pay It Forward' has given me a good reason to bake something yummy! I had found a recipe on Pinterest that I was really looking forward to trying... I just needed the perfect reason time to make it! While on Pinterest, I found a picture of Krispy Kreme Cupcakes. In the right-hand corner, you will see a link for where the Pinterest post came from.  For the recipe, please, go here . It is posted on another web page, and I want to make sure that I give credit to every place that I visited to make these cupcakes!


{ I know... Pinterest can be very confusing if you have never used it before. It can also be very addicting! There are a TON of great ideas on there!}



Krispy Kreme Cupcakes - in pictures

My glaze (frosting) did not turn out quite the way theirs did, and I am not sure why. It was very delicious, but mine didn't dry white like the ones in the pictures.


I am pretty sure I got 13 or 14 cupcakes out of this recipe. I shared 6 with my friend and her family as my 'Pay It Forward' gift, and I kept the others for my family. They were gone within a few days! The first batch wasn't even gone yet and Big K was begging for more!

The other part of her gift was two handmade cards. For whatever the reason they keep trying to load sideways ..... which is very, very frustrating. So, I am not going to keep fighting with this thing to get them loaded the correct way.

**Thanks for following this mini-series of posts! I hope that I have inspired some of you to get to creative and make something handmade for your family and / or friends!



To see the other posts in this mini-series, you can check out these links:

Pay It Forward 2012 - Initial Post

Pay It Forward - Post 1

Stumbling Silly Blog Hop

This morning, I "stumbled" across this cute little blog hop! :) This is not like blog hops I have joined in the past. Instead of posting the main link to your blog, you link to a specific post that you want others to see. It is a neat idea. I get to direct people to the exact post that I'd like for them to see. :)

It's a great way to bring traffic, discover new blogs, maybe make some new friends and get a new comment or two! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Shutterfly review

Do you like to personalize your Christmas cards with a family photo?  Do you send out Thank-you cards that have a picture of the kids? What about personalized invitations?  What do you do with all of the pictures that you take?  If you are like me, you have a TON of pictures saved... well everywhere! The computer, prints in boxes, albums, on disks, in frames, on memory cards, the camera, even on my cell phone!



My favorite company to use to get all of my photo related items is Shuterfly. They are a reasonably priced online company that will print your picture on just about anything from notepads to playing cards.

One of my favorite things is their photo books. They are so easy to make. They are a fun way to show off your pictures. I typically make the 8x8 hard cover photo book. They have all different sizes and styles. The reason I like the hard cover is because the books have a spine that you can type the title on.. just like a real book. So, when you see all of my photo books on my book shelf, you can look and see which one you want to look at!

(This is a book I made of my paternal grandfather's funeral service. He had a military service.)

We have ordered a wide variety of things from Shutterfly over the years - photos, photo books, cards, invitations, magnets, mugs, notebooks and most recently travel mugs. I have both the 16 oz and the 20 oz travel mugs. I love them! Even as a stay-at-home mom, I use my 16 oz mug every day!! I use it around the house, and I take it with me when I go out. It is especially nice if it gets knocked over, because I don't make huge mess!

A coffee mug I made for my husband.

Our 16 oz and 20 oz travel mugs. 

Another thing that I love about Shutterfly is their customer service. I have only ever had one problem with anything I have ordered from Shutterfly. I had ordered a book for my Grandmother's 80th birthday. Not only was it the first time I ever had a problem, it was also the first time I had something directly shipped to the recipient. I did not get to see the book before my Grandmother did. Within the first few days of her photo book arriving, the first few pages had fallen out! I was so upset! I have 20 books of my own, and have made and given out probably 20+ for other people, and never had a problem with any other books. We called their customer service. Within a week, we had a replacement book free of cost to us! They truly do value their customers!!


I can't tell you how many great offers I have received from Shutterfly! Seriously! They are a very generous company! Free 8x8 hard cover photo books, magnets, address labels, mugs, and prints. Those are only ones that I can remember off the top of my head!


I am also a member of a few other photo companies. I have tried them out for their free or discount offers, and every time, I love the quality of Shutterfly more! If you aren't already a Shutterfly user, please stop by and check them out! :) If you decided you would like to join, please send me your email address. I'll send you a referral email and we both can enjoy free prints! Just for signing up for a free account, you receive 50 free 4x6 prints!



**I did not receive any money or gifts for doing my review. I just wanted to share my knowledge and love for the company! Thank you for reading! :)

Mamatography - Febuary 1 - 18

*We're participating in a 366 day photo challenge at Diary of a First Child

Please visit Mamatography - Week 7 to see other posts from this week!

:)

I am hoping to do the Mamatography posts on a weekly basis starting with this post. I am still not remembering to take a picture a day. It seems I remember that I needed to take a picture after the kids are in bed or after I am in bed. I have been a bit scatter-brained lately. We've had a lot of evening appointments, and problems with our car that cause my mind tends to be in other places. I'll get there, though! :)

I hope you all enjoy our pictures from February 1 - 18. 

2/2 - Krispy Kreme Cupcakes (Pay It Forward - Post 2 - will be posted soon!)

2/3 - The front of a card I made for the same friend that received the cupcakes

2/4 - Little K fell asleep on my lap before bedtime - 2 things that NEVER happen!

2/5 - a little blurry -  Little K and Daddy reading his favorite book! He points to an animal and wants you to make the noise of the animal. It is so cute!!

2/8 - I had to leave the house during nap time (something I try VERY hard not to do!) and I found Little K sleeping soundly with his legs hanging out of the crib. It didn't look comfortable, but it must have been!

2/11 - This was a rare treat for Little K! His favorite thing to do is to climb on the couch and jump (or fall) off! So, I always keep laundry baskets on the couch to keep him off .... unless we have company coming over. The moment I remove the baskets, he is on the couch. I caught a picture of him before he started jumping! :)

2/12 - Little K took a hand towel while I was folding wash and decided it made a nice toy! He played with it for a good 30 minutes!

2/12 - Big K was reading and making animal sounds with Little K. My boys are very sweet together! :)

2/13 - Little K sitting with Daddy. He brought the covers over and snuggled up with them on Daddy's lap. He likes to bunch the covers up on his lap or under his chin.

2/14 - Little K playing in his castle. He went in and closed the door behind him. I was able to peek in the top thanks to him bending the cardboard of the one door.

2/15 - This is what I try to do during nap time! I have the video monitor set up and I try to get blog posts typed out or pictures uploaded. It is the only bit of quiet time that I have these days! There is always someone else up when I am up (unless I get up at 4am -which is not happening!), and someone always seems to need me for something!

2/16 - I gave Little K a crazy straw to keep him busy while I was doing dishes. He insisted it belonged in his snack cup!

2/17 - Little K emptied most of the toys out of his bin and climbed in! I guess he thought it made a good seat! ;)

2/18 - Big K left his DS on the floor. Little K found the ear phones and knew exactly what to do with them!

2/18 - Little K decided to try and sit in a wipes container! He can be so goofy sometimes! This was the only picture that I was able to take before he fell over. He tried numerous times to get back to this position, but he was unable to do so. 

Pay It Forward - Part 1

**This is a 6 part mini-series of posts.**



Part of 1 of my 'Pay It Forward' posts



The first of my handmade items is this scarf that I knitted.  This is the first thing that I have knitted in many, many years! I am more or less a self-taught knitter. I learned to knit when I was in the fourth grade. My best friend, who lived across the street, learned the basics and then taught me. The only problem is, I never learned how to do anything other than cast on and do the basic knit stitch. Learning to read patterns and how to cast off took me quite awhile. It was quite a different time back then. This was before we had the internet. We didn't even have a computer yet! Could you imagine not having the internet? Do you remember before you had a computer or the internet? Let me just say, finding information back them was much more difficult!



The yarn that I used is a pretty purple color that has a little sparkle to it. I absolutely love this yarn! It is something that I have had in my yarn bag for quite a long time. I don't remember where I got it, but it has to be one of my favorites!

**Thanks for following this mini-series of posts! I hope that I have inspired some of you to get to creative and make something handmade for your family and / or friends!

Pay It Forward 2012

**This is going to be a mini-series of posts.**



Have you ever heard of 'Pay It Forward 2012' on Facebook?




You post the following saying:

"I promise to make something handmade for the first five people who comment. They must in turn post this and make something for the first five people who comment on their status. The rules are it has to be handmade by you and they must receive it before 2012 ends.... it can be as simple as making a friend a cup of coffee. :)"



Then, you follow the directions. :) It is that simple! For the first 5 people that comment your Facebook status - you have to give them something handmade by you. I think it is such a neat idea! I had 5 people right away! Actually, I had 6 people .... I decided that I will make something for all 6 people. The last person to comment had made my family a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, so I thought this would be a great way to pay her back!



The other posts in this series will include pictures of the things that I make.  I have 2 of the 6 gifts made and have already given 1 of my friends their gifts. :)


Stay tuned for the rest of my 'Pay It Forward' posts! :)

Mamatography - January

I am just a little behind on posting my pictures for Mamatography 2012. To get caught up, I am going to post my January pictures as one post. There are a few days missing here and there. I am really bad at remembering to charge the camera battery. It often stays dead in my purse. That does not help us when we need the camera, but I don't think about it until I need it!

1/3 - Big K's 9th birthday :)

1/6 - A very old building that used to be a school.

1/7 - Pretty scenery while we were driving

1/7 - Went to an open house in the town my hubby and I grew up in. It was always a beautiful old house. I always wanted to see the inside.... this was the first floor bathroom. You don't see many toilets like this anymore!

1/12 - Watching Bubub's bus drive away to school.

(He does this every morning!)

1/12 - Playing with the lights. :)

1/13 - Big K reading to his Little K :)

1/14 - Using his little piggers to play with his laptop

1/18 - A scarf I knitted as part of a 'Pay It Forward'

1/18 - Still likes to sit with his Momma while he drinks his milk. :)

1/19 - Little K's favorite book - we read it multiple times a day!

1/20 - Another view of the scarf I made for the 'Pay It Forward'

1/22 - Dinner for the hubby and Big K's birthdays! We tried a new place called - Jake's Wayback Burger. YUM!! :) The separate burger and chili cheese fries were my meal. My fries were only ONE order!!

1/22 - Pay It Forward - scarf number one finished! :)

1/23 - Little K patiently waiting for his Daddy to get out of surgery!

1/24 - I tried to get a picture of Little K with a hat on....

1/25 - Little K's favorite toy! (Thanks, Nancy!) :)

1/26 - The start of a Mickey Mouse scarf I'm working on as another 'Pay It Forward' gift.

1/27 - You have to love the area I live in... this piece of non-street legal farm equipment is being towed by a street legal truck. There are NO lights on the farm equipment and it is larger than the lane. (Hence the non-street legal part!)

1/27 - As you can see, there is someone driving a non-street legal tractor on the road in front of the other guy. Not only were they larger than the lane, they were driving in the middle of the road so you could not pass!

1/29 - Bubub (that's what Little K calls Big K) left his cards on the floor... I just want to play with them! :)

 

To check out posts by others participating in Mamatography, please visit Diary of a First Child - Mamatography index. You can view their posts. Participants also link up through the weekly posts.



*We're participating in a 366 day photo challenge at Diary of a First Child .