*Road Trip!*

My sister Jessica and I went on a road trip to Branson Monday...it was so much fun even though it was so rainy and gross out! I love rainy days, but mostly when I can stay in with cozy clothes and read a book :)

We've been talking about taking a shopping trip together forever, but this time it happened because Katie really needed new clothes and I was having a really hard time finding any here. :)
So we packed up and went to a mall along the way to let the kids stretch their legs and play...for the first time ever Katie was *really* excited to play on the rides! Even on the train that she got strapped into and she drove it on a track away from me, smiling and laughing all the way :) The pictures of her smiley face make my heart melt! :)

So after an emergency stop to get Katie some french fries (she was getting a little cranky in the car! hehe) we made it to Branson, grabbed some yummy lunch at Ruby Tuesday's

and did some hard core shopping at Carters, The Children's Place and Bath & Body Works :) If the truth were known I had really spent my budget at Carters...but wouldn't it be silly to just go to one shop?? :) I thought so too :)

Katie picked out a hat that she *had* to get at The Children's Place, I don't have a picture of her wearing it yet but I will get one soon. It's a turquoise cowboy hat with a built in tiara! :)
She refused to let go of it even after we got home and slept with it on her chest :)

And the last picture is the stash of clothes I came home with, you can't tell but it's about 6 layers deep :) I think little Katie's definitely set for clothes for this Summer!

We had such a good time, I love spending time with my sweet sister and nephews! :)
Charin

P.S. I also uploaded some recent pictures of Katie here, come see! :)

Making changes...

Hi! :)
I have been working on getting some things started for my photography business and in the process I have decided to change the name of my photography blog. The web address was much too long to fit on business cards! :)
So just an FYI, I have changed the blog address to www.ablphoto.blogspot.com.
Thanks so much to those of you who have been supporting my photography business this far! I am really enjoying getting to work with all of you. :)
Charin

It's crazy that this makes me a little sad...

I can't believe (or can I?) :) that this video actually makes me feel a little sad! Poor sweet little ducky ;) I was looking at the first page of comments on the youtube page and quite a few people said it made them teary eyed! Yay for us emotional, sentimental people! :)
P.S. I posted pictures of my new little cutie in the post below this one today. :)
P.P.S. You can pause my music player on the right side of my blog to watch this video in peace :)

Here she is! :)

Here's a picture of my new little sweetie, Emma! :) I *love* having my dream dog to dress up in cute little dresses and cupcake collars :)

I've wanted a Maltese for the longest time, and we were really blessed by a sweet family that gave her to us when they paid $865 for her!!! She's 4 years old, which was the only hesitation on our part having a little one in our house, but she plays very well with Katie. :) Katie loves her lots and can be heard saying "PUPyyy! PUPyyy!" all the time :)

The craziest part for me is that her name is Emma...a long time ago I picked out Katie Shae and Emma as baby girl names. :) We definitely won't be naming our next girl Emma, that's for sure! haha but she's had her name for 4 years so there's no changing it now. :)

She's a sweet little soul and we're happy to have her as the newest addition to our life :)

What I did tonight...

I should have gone to bed because I'm fighting off being sick...or trying to anyway :) but instead I stayed up and made these! :) Just a simple card for a very sweet friend, and this little mini scrapbook page. Yes, I scrapped about gum :) Why not? :) Ever since I started using these albums by American Crafts I have been really loving throwing in some 6x6 pages every once in awhile for random things :) It's great to document the "everyday" things that make us *us*! :)

And I totally used the same supplies for both projects, less waste that way! hehe

Have a great day, the weekend's almost here!
Charin

*Senior session*

I had so much fun doing a senior session for Marianna! She's lovely :)
You can see more pictures from our shoot here
Have a great day! :)
Charin

I'm still here...

Hi :)
It's been awhile since I've updated!

I wanted to share my latest scrapbook projects, one of my cutie Katie Shae and my first ever clear mini album! :) It was fun to work with something completely different than normal. I've been wanting to get these pictures scrapped from my fun weekend at Elsie's. :)

I have news! :) I posted awhile back about us possibly getting a Maltese, and we did! She's adorable :) She's 4 years old and she only weighs 5 lbs, soooo tiny! She's getting along really well with Katie and *one* of my cats...the other one hides under my bed 24/7. ;)
The weird thing is her name....Emma! I have had that picked out for a baby girls name for about 5 or 6 years! Guess I won't be naming any girls that. :) She's too old to be changing her name now. The best part of all? Her previous owners paid $865 for her and *gave* her to us!! So happy about that! :) I've always wanted a Maltese or a Pug but couldn't really justify paying that much for one.

Other than that life's just been busy as always, I have been getting our house a lot more organized which feels wonderful! I've been re-purposing baskets and file cabinets, etc. to make good use of them and it makes me so happy. :) Lame, huh? :)

Katie's walking a lot more, she hardly crawls anymore. She's getting so big :)

She still has random hats on her head all the time and doesn't eat very well. Still calls me "MamaDee" and loves Charlie Brown cartoons :) Love that little girl! <3

I'll be back soon with some pictures to share very soon from a graduation photo shoot that I took, I've been working on getting those edited. I also need to get some pictures of little Emma to show you! :)
Charin

Afro-licious! :)

I just wanted to share this picture of my little Katie, it cracks me up! :)
Have a happy and *safe* weekend!
Charin

Yessssssssssssssss!!!!! :) :) :)

I am so happy that David Cook won American Idol!!!! :) :) Yeah, baby! He rocks, so excited for him...not that he'll ever read this...but I love his music and will *so* be standing in line to get his first CD :)

*make believe*

I love this song so, so much! It's beautiful and so wistful...love it!
The artist is Jeremy Larson, my friend Elsie's boyfriend.. :) He is a really cool guy (even though he wouldn't sing for me when I was at Elsie's! haha. But he did carry my luggage for me, so I can't be mad at him) Anyway, just wanted to share some music inspiration! :)

And speaking of music, tomorrow night's the deciding moment for the David's! :) I voted for David Cook...even though he didn't do as well tonight. I just wanted to give him a hug when he cried after his last song! He's going to rock, even if he doesn't win :)
Charin

Ribbon Rings, pages and Inspiration Journals :)

Hi everyone! :)
I just wanted to share a few things going on in my scrapbook world lately :)

Maggie mailed me some samples of the new Ribbon Rings to try out, they're a great option to store your ribbons wrinkle free! I'd have to get a *lot* more ribbon tags, I have a little bit of an obsession with ribbon. hehe :) But it looks like you can get 30 for $10, not bad at all!

I also wanted to share a few recent layouts, I have been holding onto that yellow and black American Crafts paper for a long time and finally used it! :) I love the poem in my journaling, it really is how I feel about my Katie Shae :)
And the second page is my new favorite, of Katie's first steps! Angie asked me to design another page for her, so much fun! :) I chose her cheeky monkey stamp, I think it's adorable and I know I'll be reaching for it for lots more pages. Thanks, Angie! :)

I also *finally* started an inspiration journal! :) I couldn't pass up that cute 3 ring binder at Wal*Mart...love the color and pattern! I have been in such a "purge" mode around my house lately, so my stacks of Creating Keepsakes magazines were the next thing to go. ;) I am pretty bad to hang onto things thinking "what if I want them later?" but I'm really trying to get over that. It makes things so much neater and simple! I'm really loving having this binder to fill with pages and articles from my favorite artists and ideas/color combinations...whatever is inspiring me at the moment. :) Sometime soon I want to print out some tutorials from blogs like this and this to stick in there too.

What are some of your favorite storage/organizing solutions? :) Have a great day!
Charin

Who gets my vote??

Nope, I'm not talking about politics...American Idol baby! :)
I love David Cook, he's been one of my favorites since the beginning. I really hope he wins, but even if he doesn't I know I'll be able to buy a CD of his soon which makes me happy :)

I just wanted to share this little photo of me and Katie...this is so simple, so real..she and I share lots of smiles and laughs when I'm giving her snacks in her highchair :) I'm so thankful for my little sunshine! She makes my life beautiful :)

I also wanted to say that you should scroll through my playlist on the side and listen to La Valse D'Amelie...it is so beautiful it makes my heart hurt.
Good night! :)
Charin

Thank you!! :)

I had a box of happiness waiting for me at the post office today! :) :)
I won a giveaway from the super talented and sweet Mara-May for NSD, all of this looks even cuter in person! :)
Hope your week is going well! :)
Charin

Happy Mother's Day!!

I hope all of you lovely Mama's out there have a great day today! :)
Don't forget to tell *your* Mother how much you love her and appreciate her :)

~Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother!~ Lin Yutang

Maybe?? :)

I have had a Maltese picked out as my dream dog for quite sometime now, tying with a Pug :) I just think they are so adorable! And after talking to one of my photography clients today I just might be getting one of these cuties! :) :) :)
We'll see if it works out, I have to find out if it's still available and if she'll play nice with Katie. :)
p.s this is not the exact dog, but I just wanted to show a visual for those who aren't familiar with Maltese's.
Charin

Score!!

I got an early Mother's Day gift today!!! Kevin got me this super sweet Fisheye camera from Urban Outfitters..I am so excited to use it. It will be different using film after using me Rebel all the time!
I've been wanting one like this since I saw these pictures of Elsie earlier this year. Love love love! :) Can't wait!

kickin' it old school :)

Completely inspired by Leigh-Ann's post today, I thought I'd share some of the music that I used to dance to and sing really, really loudly in my parents living room when they were gone for a date night :)
Memories! :)
Killing me Softly-The Fugees

Wannabe-Spice girls :) yep, I know...the Spice Girls!

All that She Wants-Ace of Base-yep :)

Heart and soul- T'pau

I could list so many more...but it would take forever :)
Don't be shy, list some of your favorites!

Weekend loves :)

I just wanted to share a few pictures from this weekend :) Yesterday afternoon the lighting was perfect for pictures! Katie always has fun playing outside...until Mama makes her stop eating dirt (see the last photo? haha)
Have a great day! :) :)
Charin

New-ness in Katie land :)

This has been a fun week with my Katie Shae :)
She has a new favorite toy, these wooden blocks. She is so much fun to watch with them, she's so delicate and careful stacking them! She can get them stacked about 10 high, all wobbly and leaning over :)

She has an obsession with an old hat of mine, she puts it on and wears it pretty much all day. :) She looks so cute and sassy wearing it! I don't have a picture of her wearing it yet...it's one of the golf style caps? I don't know the real name of them...can anyone help me out with that? But it's cute and girly, not something you would actually wear to play golf! :)

And the best new thing, she started walking today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I am so excited!
I wanted to share this picture, even though you can spy our messy living room floor...she was playing a lot today and made a big mess. :) Oh well!
She took her first step last night, and I was watching her do it but it didn't register for a second. I'm so used to seeing her cruise along our coffee table and stand on her own, I wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
She'll be 16 months old on the 4th, so she was a "late bloomer" in the walking department. She's really steady for just learning! She'll take about 7 steps or so and then drop down to crawl. She hasn't fallen yet, I hope she doesn't. But unfortunately I know that's part of raising a toddler. :)
Just wanted to share some new things about my precious girl!
Charin

Smile :)

This video made me smile, so cute! :) And so did
this sweet post from my husband :)
Happy Monday!
Charin

The winner! :)

Congrats, Talia! I used a random number generator and it picked *you*! :) Just send your mailing address to charinkellie@yahoo.com and I'll get your little goodies sent out to you ASAP!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered, hope to see you back soon! :)
I also wanted to share this cute post on my husband's blog, if you love babies this will make you smile! :)
Charin

Robot love & a giveaway! :)

The super sweet Angie Delarie asked me if I would make a page using her cute stamps, and of course I agreed! :) I love her stamps, they are so unique and cute! I used her *stripes* stamp on my page, and she has several others available here!

*And* as a bonus in her package from Australia was her cute *spirit* stamp to giveaway here! :)
Since I thought little spirit would be perfect for a card or scrapbook page of your favorite teen girl I picked some of Love, Elsie's Claire line to give away with it :)

I will pick a winner early next week, just sign your name in the comments section! :) If you do not have a blog acct you can click on "anonymous" and just add your name at the bottom. :)
Charin

I miss you!! :)

This has been a busy week! I haven't had time to post this week, *but* I did want to let you all know that I will be back in just a few days with a giveaway! :) Check back Friday! :)
Charin

Spring lover

I say this all the time, but I love, love, love *love* Spring!!! :) So happy that it's here.
We played outside for a little while today, Katie loves being outside with the wind blowing in her hair :) I wish this beautiful Season could last all year!
Charin

Tilly and the Wall

I have really started loving this band over the past several months, I think I would automatically like any band that was quirky and cute enought to have a tap dancer instead of a drummer! :) My absolute favorite song of theirs is "Rainbows in the Dark", which you've probably heard pop up on my playlist if you've visited here before :)
What's your favorite new band?
:) Charin

Saving time...

I love reading blogs, I really really do :) But I am so glad that I found blogarithm so that I'm wasting precious time that I could be spending playing with my daughter, cleaning up the DVDs that she's spread all over the floor (again! haha) scrapbooking, reading, watching movies with my husband or sleeping :)
If you're like me you should check blogarithm out! It e-mails you when you're favorite blog's have been updated so you don't waste time checking them for updates. :)
We're almost to Friday! Yay!!
Charin

Something new...

I just wanted to share, I have my blog set up now for my new photography business! :) here it is
I'm really excited about this new venture, I've been doing several sessions and have more lined up for some seniors and babies. :) Love it!

I love getting "real life" pictures of people, love capturing their emotions and love :) So much fun!
If you're local and are in search of a photographer at a very reasonable price please give me a call or e-mail me at charinkellie@yahoo.com
:) Charin

I *love* Claire :)

I just wanted to share these two projects using the lovely Claire line from Love, Elsie! :)
I love it, such pretty colors and girly graphics :)

I am sending the card to my sweet friend Magan, who I miss like crazy!! I hate living a couple of hours away from my best friend. It's really hard sometimes. But we could be even further away from each other, I try to keep that in mind :)

Yay, I have something else to share now! :) I'm a big nerd, I keep two internet browsers up so that I can multi task while my pictures are uploading (ha ha) and I just found out that this page of mine was chosen for this week's catwalk on SIS tv! :) That made my day, seriously! :)
I have had one other page on there, and it was of Katie also..what can I say, she's my good luck charm :)

Have a wonderful day! I need to go scramble to get ready for work. :)
Charin