Idle Time on My Hands

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Thanks Jamie, you knew I would just Have to try this!! LOL!!

Introducing Fred and Phyllis Frog

Meet Fred and Phyllis Frog, they are the newest member of the Diva's shoe collection family! They arrived yesterday in all their green glory! She had spotted Fred and Phyllis's cousins a few weeks back at the apple orchard and wanted a pair to call her very own so I set out on a search (Amazon.com)! Yesterday evening, I opened the box and she about jumped out of her skin when she spotted them! She put them on with her jammies and wore them all evening! Come bed time, she did not want to take them off or let them out of her sight! We finally convinced her that they were tired from their long journey and needed to rest beside the bed!! Ha! Ha!!

She put them on the minute she got out of bed and wore them until time to take a shower!! Then we put them on again and there they will stay for the rest of the day! It is raining so we may have to test them out when we go to retrieve the Moody Teen from school later! In the mean time, I convinced her to do a photo shoot with Fred and Phyllis to share with you all!! I even took the time to test out my gray card to help me fix photos quickly with a couple of clicks!! She was a great gray card holder!! I know what you are thinking, that is not a gray card, it is a white, black, off white, gray card! Yup, it is multipurpose but the gray section worked for me and for Lightroom so all is right with the world!! LOL!

I got some good shots but she really did not want to cooperate today and, to be honest, neither did Fred and Phyllis! I think they are still jet lagged from their trip to our house!!



Hope you all have a great day!!

A Great Family Christmas Gift!

Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific is going on right NOW! Would this not be a great family Christmas gift? I know this would be more fun than trolling the local mall searching for the perfect gift! I am ready to pack my bags and head out now!! There are one million hotel rooms available at amazingly low prices that make a family trip more affordable but you need to take advantage of these deals now!

Here is how it works: Pick the destination of your dreams! I know that Australia is on the top of my bucket list of place I really want to visit! Not to mention that my bollgy pal Liss lives there so I could see her too! That's my dream but you can choose China, Japan, Bali, Fiji and more! Next you need to book your stay between October 27th and October 30th then you take your trip between December 2009 and April 2010! How easy is that!!

So pick your favorite and book your dates! This is absolutely the best Christmas gift I could get this year! A great destination, time spent with the ones you love and bargain prices on your hotel package all equal the perfect gift!

Kasey and Heath - Looks Like You Made It!

I love this cute little family and was proud to be part of their big day! The last picture is a little cutie who belongs to the newlyweds and he was so anxious to be part of the big day that he had to be bribed with smarties candies and chocolate!! Ha! Ha! For more of this beautiful family you can go to Picture Perfect by Jo or my website.

I LOVE My Bloggy Buddy Lin!!

This is Lin of Duck and Wheel with String fame! Is she not the cutest? Let's not forget her handsome hubby Joe! What a sweet couple!! They drove from the burbs to have me take their family photos and I am so glad they did! We had a blast roaming EIU's campus and chatting!
Poor Em got the brunt of all the leaf fun but she was a really good sport about it!! They are a family who likes to play!!
I love the walking away photos and had to laugh when Lin asked if I could Photoshop her booty to make it smaller!! Puleeze, she is just so cute!!
If you want to see more you can visit my photo blog Picture Perfect by Jo.

Go Illini!!

OK, I know it's too little, too late for the football team but we are praying that the basketball team can bring the hope back to our Illini loving family!! So since we are between seasons (well, almost) I thought it was the perfect time to do the bow photos with her cheerleader outfit. For those of you who don't know, the Diva is the resident bow model for Personalized Creations! Tammy sends us bows and I take the photos for her website! It is a great trade!

I suggested the Illini bows to Tammy knowing that she is a Missouri fan even though she is now in Florida! Anyway, she agreed in the spirit of the longtime rivalry and the bows reached my door! They are so cute! Since it is raining today, I thought I would do the photos and this is what I got from the Diva!

You would have thought she knew what a cheerleader was supposed to do! Which made me wonder if this is a knowledge that girls are just born with!! Ha!! Ha!!

Before I knew it she was jumping and yelling "Go team, Go!" which really made me wonder! Especially since we hardly ever see cheerleaders when we are watching a game!! Yes, I watch football and basketball and the Diva watches with me!

Is it not the cutest thing you have ever seen? She even wore the outfit to eat Chinese today! We got lots of compliments about just how cute she is!! And now all the cheering and Chinese have caught up to her and she is napping on the couch! I think I will join her in preparation for photorobics this weekend! I have a wedding on Saturday and bloggy buddy Lin and her cast of characters are driving from the burbs of Chicago for a family shoot on Sunday! I am so excited to see her again!!

Sorry For Ignoring You!

I promise that I have not been ignoring you on purpose but I have been so busy doing sessions lately that I really have only had time to eat, sleep and edit!

I can prove that I have been working if you just head on over to Picture Perfect by Jo you will see my new stuff or you can go to my newly redesigned website at www.pictureperfecttoo.com and check it out to!

Well, that is all for my update today because I have a newborn on her way to my house for a session! Photos to come soon!!

Pink Dreams - Week 41

This week at I ♥ Faces is all about pink! October is Breast Cancer Awareness month as most of you know so a pink week ties in perfectly! I have walked in several Race for the Cure events but have never been touched personally by this disease and it is my desire that a cure be found before my daughter is old enough to even know what it is! So here is my dreamy pink entry! Now dance on over to I ♥ Faces to check out the other wonderful entries!!

I Have Been Warned!!

OH yes I have! I was checking email only to find one today from Entrecard saying that I was being warned for having music on my site! So now they can tell me I cannot have MY music on MY site! MMMMM, sounds a lot like censorship to me! I deleted the music but I think this may be the very last Entrecard straw for me! I have not been dropping or advertising and I really don't care to at this point!! I do continue to visit sites, I am just not an active ECer at this point! What is your thought? Has EC gone too far in not allowing us to have music on our site?

Early Wake Up Call!

I am so not a morning person! And by morning, I mean before the sun comes up!! Ha! The alarm went off and it was still dark and I did not want to get out of my warm bed but I did! I ran to turn up the heat (memo to me: program the digital thermostat with winter settings) and then jumped quickly into a warm shower so I could get ready to be at the church by 8 AM! Thank goodness this was an in town wedding and not one where I had to drive an hour to get there!!

I also had to drop the Moody Teen off at the High School so he could get on the bus for the U of I Marching Band competition by 8 AM! He made it and I got caught on that side of town by a train! UGH, I hate the train tracks in this town because if you get stuck on one side or the other you are going to be late getting where you need to be! Sorry, I just needed to vent!

I made it to the church, a little late, but well before the groom so I was good to go! The atmosphere was so laid back and fun! I had a great time and so did the Knight and the Diva when they arrived! By the way, this is the first wedding that the Knight and I have attended together since our own wedding!! LOL!

So now we are home and the Diva has spiked a fever and I feel sort of out of it so we are just laying low for a while! Wow, that motrin is fast for both of us, she is dancing around the living room!! LOL! Anyway, lots of editing and photo work to do so I better hit it hard! Photos to come soon!!

Apples and Pumpkins and Gourds, Oh My!! A Weekend in Pictures.

We were on the go from the moment we got out of bed on Saturday until late Monday afternoon!! Talk about sensor overload for one little Diva, but she had lots of adventures along the way!!
Running on the prairie while I took pictures at Lincoln Log Cabin. The Diva and daddy had a great morning together!!
Sunday after church we headed to The Great Pumpkin Patch with daddy! She started out in the wagon but did not stay there for long!
She made a new friend!! I think the two daddies were playing matchmaker!! LOL! They know each other and now the two year olds are best buds!!
I just love this grass stuff!! I really did not know that it gets that tall!! I am trying to convince the Knight to put it around our fence line for privacy but he is not buying it!! Sigh.....
I just adore fall! Look at these gorgeous colors!! I could live in fall all year round!! LOL!
Monday morning found us at the Curtis Apple Orchard and I could not resist this picture! Look at the size difference between my two babies!!
The Diva loves to stick her head in these cutouts and get her picture taken! I wish you could hear her during this photo because she is buzzing like a bee! Too funny!
Wondering which way to go next. There was so much to see and do that she could not decide.
Playing and posing in an apple crate. Then she decided she was playing hide and seek and that she was "it" first!!

The Chief statue at the orchard! He was huge and no, there is nothing under the loin cloth!! We checked!! LOL!
This little cutie was in the same spot the whole time we were there. I wonder if he knows the guy he is curled up with is just some mechanical dude!!
The forgotten wagon! I just liked the shot so I took it! Kind of nostalgic don't you think?
By the end of the day we were all exhausted but the kids wanted to trek out to the actual pumpkin patch so the Diva caught a ride and off we went (apple sipper in tow).

Wow, what a weekend!! Now it is back to editing and laundry and shopping and house work and cars that have been hit by buses while parked at the moody teen's place of employment!! I will save that story for another day!!

My Mentor.

I remember well the mentor who forever changed my life! She just happened to be my sixth grade teacher, Mary Jane Saunders. I loved her teaching style and found it very easy to learn from her. She encouraged my love of the arts and all of my creative outlets and even found ways to integrate my passions into my classwork. I was sad to move on to seventh grade just because I knew I would miss her but I returned to her classroom over the years to help mentor other students.

I was so close with Mrs. Saunders that she even attended my wedding and gave me a beautiful mantel clock that I still have to this very day! I think of her every time I look at it! It is a reminder to me of her and her love of teaching!

Do you have a mentor who has touched your life so profoundly that you wish you could get in touch with them to let them know what a difference they made in your life? MyLife is America's number one people search and they can help you find that special mentor! All you have to do is to go to mylife.com and begin your search. It is that easy!

I wish I could say that I could reunite with my mentor, however, she passed away several years ago! Please locate your mentor and let them know what a difference they made in your life!! Happy searching!

New Photos Share!!

Here are the latest from two shoots this passed weekend!! If you want to see more of these great families click here and here!!

EXCITED!! - Week 40 at I ♥ Faces

I really don't know what dad did behind me that got this little guy so excited but it sure was something!! Now hop on over to I ♥ Faces to see the other EXCITING entries for the week!!

Weekend Wrap Up!

I know the weekend has not officially started and to some it may be too early to wrap it up but this is a busy one (like the next three in October)! First, I am praying for the rain to stop so things can dry up a little, after all, it is really hard to ask 6 kids and two parents to smile when they are posed on soggy ground!

This weekend is full of photo antics! Tomorrow kicks off with the lovely family of 8 that I just referenced! We are headed to Lincoln Log Cabin for a fall shoot in the early AM (can you remind me why I do this to myself)! I cannot wait to see what madness occurs during this shoot.

Next, there is the possibility of a shoot with my friend's 18 month old! They will be in town from Nashville tomorrow so we will have to wait to see what transpires with that little guy! I hope it works out so I can see my long lost friend! I could tell you lots of stories of the antics we used to pull in our radio days but then your image of me would be tainted so I will leave those in the deep dark recesses of my brain (and hers) for now.

The afternoon holds another shoot with a cute little family of four! The mom is super cool and has sent some cool ideas of some poses she would like to try with her little gang! Another shoot with young boys should, again, prove to be fun and exciting.

Is it Sunday yet? Well, Sunday will be the normal church activities followed by a trip to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur! The Diva has been begging to go so Daddy and I will take her to roam the patch, see the animals and pick a pumpkin for our yard! With Daddy along it will be easier to drag my camera (and new lens) to get some great shots.

Whew, I am worn out and I have not even mentioned Monday yet!! Yup, another school holiday so I got the brilliant idea to do a family shoot of my niece and her two boys at the Curtis Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch in Champaign. Really I just want the apple donuts! But toss another bloggy buddy (Diana) into the mix and I am sure that the fun will be ginormous! I owe her some photo tips and she was going to the Orchard anyway so it worked out great! By Tuesday I will need to stay home and rest because my old bones can't take all the excitement anymore!! Look for lots of photos in the coming week!

Wordless Wednesday - Savanna Part 2

Scopin' Photo Locations with the Diva!

I'll admit, I could not just say "let's go scope photo locations"! I had to make it fun and exciting so I told her we were going on a little adventure! Good thing she bought it and we were off to Douglas Hart Nature Center which just happens to be next to the church I will be shooting at in a couple of weeks! I wanted to find some cool locations to take the bride and groom for a little shoot following the wedding and this is close with plenty of nice spots to shoot! There are trees and prairie grass and cute little bridges and when the colors turn, well, let's just say cool location! I do have one small confession, that I am somewhat ashamed to make! OK, here goes: this is the very first time I have EVER been there and I have lived here all but 5 years of my life! I can promise one thing, this will not be the last time!

This colorful little guy flitted buy to say hello!

Does this not feel like Little House On the Prairie to you?

Can't you just see a bride and groom walking toward this bridge?

The Diva had "the best adventure ever"!

I love the play of the shadows in this photo of the Diva!

Again, the feeling of living on the prairie!

Little windmill on the prairie!

The fruits of fall.

We did have a great adventure and the Diva brought home lots of acorns and pine cones! I cannot wait until our next big adventure!