Happiest Place On Earth

That's where we're going in less than three months!!! Disney World, here we come :c) We have done all the necessary things to prepare (as much as we can at this point)...

- Ensure Anna Kate is tall enough for the 'big' rides: {check} (43.5")

- Plan all Character Meals and Shows: {check}

- Begin my search for custom Disney attire for AK: {check}



- Save money (AK has her 'stash' piling up): {check}



I made these penny rollers for her to save all her money in. She can save a roll or two for the pressed penny machines at Disney and then cash in the rest for the gift shops. She's SUPER excited :c)

We will drive our RV down and stay at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground again. It is SO.MUCH.FUN! Anna Kate will visit Epcot this year for the first time. I have a passport to make for her, well as a Character autograph book, but both will be custom by me :c)

Suffice it to say, April can't get here soon enough...for all of us!

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Rain and Star Fall

I simply cannot believe it is raining AGAIN. Things are so wet it's insane. Although I slept through the storms last night, it was evident it was rough when we got in the car this morning. Everything is just soggy, muddy....ick! And from what I understand, we have another front of storms coming through early next week. Yay.


Anna Kate on her way in to school.


This was at 7:15 am and on my way to work

But, there is a silver lining...

I was able to wear my new rain boots!

WWW.STARFALL.COM - anyone familiar with it? Well, I have lost my laptop to it. A certain little 5 year old girl has taken over my computer to spend hours on this website. It's an educational site that she learned of in computer lab at school. I'm thinking one of those $75 netbooks off of EBay is looking REAL good!

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Long Weekends

I love long weekends!!! We've done a variety of things the past 3 days, so it's been fun.

First, Anna Kate's BFF Anslee, had her 6th birthday party Friday night. It was so cute! It was a 'Pretty Party' where they painted their own pillowcases, made homemade lip gloss and had their finger and toe nails painted. They munched on popcorn, M&M's, cake and drinks. When everyone left, we let Anna Kate tell Anslee her big secret.....they were spending the night together. OH.MY.GOODNESS...the reaction was priceless. Those girls jumped, squealed, danced in circles, declared to be sisters - they were excited!


Painting her pillowcase



Getting her nails painted



LOL at her toes!!! 100% her creation



Making homemade lip gloss. She dumped every flavor available in it.



BFF's!!!


So while AK was off spending the night with Anslee I finished this little hat.




Then Sunday I decided to take some pictures of the little Diva dressed up for church. The girl LOVES to strike a pose!






This one is my favorite. It reminds me of a catalog ad :)


AK & Jeff


AK & Me


(After viewing and editing these photos, it's clear that I either need to have my camera serviced or it needs a GOOOD cleaning. Phew!)

Today has been laid back. I spent all morning editing wedding photos (yes, still), so after lunch I made a blanket tent with chairs in the playroom and AK & I lay under it and watched the Wizard of Oz. *Note to self: I am too old to be laying on the floor.

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A Fire and An Elephant

This past weekend was SO.COLD! Painfully cold, for Jeff & Anna Kate anyway....I'm use to it since I was born and raised in West Virginia :) We were all suffering terribly from cabin fever so we decided to get Jeff's new fire pit out and give it a try. We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. It was fun, but cccccold!!!

Can you believe this get up? This is what she considered 'cold weather gear'....
Hat, SpongeBob flannel pj's, Hello Kitty rain boots and her Bass Pro Shops robe. Perfect.



Luckily Jeff didn't have the same outfit in mind



It sure did keep us warm for a while



While we were waiting for the fire to get going Anna Kate wanted to draw with her sidewalk chalk. She whipped this elephant out in a matter of seconds. And no Aunt 'D', it's not in honor of your 'people'..... :)

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Skating anyone?

On my way to work this morning I had to do a double-take at the lake....it was/is frozen!!! Not solid of course, but the fact that there are large patches on the surface that are ice, well that just doesn't happen in this neck of the woods. I ran in my office real quick, grabbed a camera and went back to take pictures. Hope you can see the ice too!

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Smart Girl!

Anna Kate came home with her second report card for the year and we are SO proud of her! She got all A's (S) and had the following note from her teacher:

"Anna Kate is a wonderful student that has made so much progress this year."

With her report card she received her January 2010 DIBELS test scores. We are AMAZED!

Initial Sound Fluency
child's score 38
benchmark 25

Letter Naming Fluency
child's score 71
benchmark 27

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency
child's score 38
benchmark 18

Nonsense Word Fluency
child's score 27
benchmark 13

We are over the moon with this report :c)

In fact, I wanted to show you how well she's reading:



And not only did she get good reports, she also received an award in 'Notification of Character' in the Character Counts program. She received the award in Caring with this description:

"Anna Kate is kind and caring to all of the students in our class."

PROPS ANNA KATE!!!!!!!! We are so very proud of you :c)

A little off topic (okay, a lot) but you all know how much I love monogrammed things. I received this little prize in the mail today :c)

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Isn't she lovely?!

Are you singing that Stevie Wonder song in your head? Me too! LOL!

The week of New Year's I had a huge wedding to shoot. A few days before the ceremony we did bridal portraits. Here are just a few of my favorites.







I haven't finished editing the wedding day pics yet (it's taking f.o.r.e.v.e.r.), but here are just a couple.

I LOVED the bride's shoes!




The bridesmaid were tired of keeping up with their bouquets :)







My contract allows me two weeks to edit and publish the proof gallery, and I do believe it is going to take me all fourteen days. Phew!

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Baby it's cold outside!

Greetings from South Alabama, where it's colder than a well digger's butt :c) The high yesterday never got above 27 and is may be 35 today. Needless to say, we're all suffering from cabin fever!



The poor dogs are freezing and stay tucked up under me and my blanket all.the.time.



So, I decided to make them sweaters. Bell's took me about two hours to complete, but I'll have to make a few modifications around the neck next time. Barkley's....don't you dare laugh! I attempted to 'monogram' it with a 'b'. I still think he's cute in it though ;c) They love them and stay in them. Glad to know they appreciate my hard work. Ha!







He looks like he's wearing Harley Davidson gear :c)



Anna Kate and I have played with her Easy Bake Oven. She wanted to make a cake for daddy, so that's what we did. *Note to future users: You have to eat it fast or it turns into a brick.



Fun times!


And remember that project I told you about last time? It is complete and I just love them!!!! They were pretty easy and turned out so cute. I wanted a black one, but couldn't find black tissue paper anywhere in this town. I'll keep my eye out for it though, because the corner is just calling it.







I still need to paint the frame around the mirror (propped against the wall) a glossy black, and I'm thinking about doing something 'groovy' with the white table beside the chair. You'll just have to wait and see........ :)

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Completed Projects

I spent three days of my Christmas break painting these for Anna Kate's new playroom. The room is done in black, white, pink and zebra accents.











(All free hand, by the way!)

I will have to take pictures this weekend once I finish THIS PROJECT. Going to do three of them in pink, white & black, and then the room should be complete.

Anna Kate has become a lover of boots this winter. Such the fashion-ista.






















Wardrobe:
- Old Navy Skinny Jeans
- Black fur boots (Wal-Mart)
- Black cross tee (Aunt Stacy)
- Black glamour purse (Target)

Isn't she precious?!

And finally, my friend and co-worker finally got around to exchanging our Christmas gifts. I guess they were more like New Year's gifts. Ha! Anyway, her daughter Kaitlyn (AK's babysitter) gave Anna Kate the best gift. I'm looking forward to spending this cold weekend playing with it :c)

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