the four of us :: june 2011

* one family photo * MY family * each month * for an entire year *

June. School is out, Dairy Queen runs, it rained almost the entire month, the situation with my sister heated up again, we had our first fire of the season with neighbors, s'mores, booked a wedding for 2012, hanging out with friends, building furniture and otherwise decorating our newly finished space, went to a couple of movies, the tween has a horrible case of hives, the boys sailed through their swimming lessons and have moved on to the next level, and my mom's dear friend passed away after a long battle with cancer. June.

straight out of the camera [sunday]

Just a quick one from a session I had earlier today:

Have a great week!

basement remodel :: week 8

Things slowed down a bit for us this week. We spent a great deal of time assembling IKEA furniture:

Which is still in process. We purchased the television and Tony spent time in the wall, doing things only he could explain.

And adding special touches, such as the magnetic chalkboard wall in the office:

And two photo collages in the family room. The small collage is below:

The large collage is still a work in process (they goofed up my order and didn't send me any of the tween's pics). You can peek at that collage HERE (I'll post final pics when it's really, truly complete).

I fretted and fretted about hanging the collages until I learned an extremely valuable tip that I shared HERE. (You can find the grid wrapping paper at Walgreens or Hallmark.) With several more collages still to hang, this will save my walls from hundreds of unnecessary holes!

We hope to have more furniture next week (we've been waiting on an out-of-stock sofa) and THE WALL in my office will hopefully be complete!!! Until next time...

summer was in the air | Minnesota Family Portrait Session

I caught a glimpse of this delightful family at a wedding I photographed last summer.

And had no trouble recalling this little dancing machine :)

The family was a beautiful blend of personalities.

The kids were a joy to work with...

pure joy.

Here are a few more from our time together:

As popular as fall family sessions tend to be, I've come to realize that SUMMER is my favorite backdrop. Gotta love the rich greens and lush trees.

Thanks again Jason & Suzie for sharing your day (and kids!) with me.

5 Fun Things Friday

1. The best tip EVER for hanging picture frames. The "straight & even" tutorial is HERE. I tell you.

The best...

advice...

EVER! (I'll be sharing real pics of the artwork in my next "basement remodel" post.

2. Uncle Jerry's secret stolen Apple Dumpling Surprise recipe.

Crust: 1-1/4 cups flour, 1/3 cup powdered sugar & 1/2 cup butter

Mix above ingredients and pat in greased 9 x 13 pan. Then peel, core and slice 5 apples (5 cups) and mix in a bowl with 1-1/4 cups sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 cup flour. Pour this mixture over the crust. Dot the apples with 3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks). Bake 40-45 min at 350 degrees.

Cool completely. With a wire wisk, mix two small packages of french vanilla instant pudding and 2 cups milk until pudding consistency. Spread pudding over the apples when cooled. Frost with 8 oz. cool whip and top with chopped walnuts (about 1 cup).

3. This ADORABLE word art that I so badly want in my basement.

Source: etsy.com via Tina_Vega on Pinterest

ADORABLE.

4. We are about to have gobs of bookshelves in our basement. I'd like to make the most of the space both functionally and creatively. Click HERE for a great post on artfully stacking your shelves.

Source: southernaccents.com via Tina_Vega on Pinterest

5. Speaking of bookshelves, isn't this cool?

Source: pbteen.com via Tina_Vega on Pinterest

A revolving bookcase - great idea for a small space.

Happy Friday!!!

my 10-year anniversary

In honor of my 10-year anniversary as a Creative Memories Consultant, I'm offering 20 percent off all orders made this week. Just call or email me to place your order (offer not available on orders placed through my CM site). If you have any questions, let me know!

straight out of the camera [sunday]

Spotted this while curling my hair this morning and it made me smile :)

No matter how many times I've told the munchkins they are PRETEND apples, one just had to go and take a bite.

Or ten.

basement remodel :: week 7

Now that construction is officially over, the decorating process has begun.

My favorite part.

I ordered custom blinds this week (received a great deal, including free shipping, through JCPenney). The family is pretty bummed about not being able to use the bathroom for six more weeks (our neighbors have a view straight inside) - personally, I don't know what the big rush is... because once they start using it, I'll need to CLEAN it.

Throughout the decorating phase, we will be adding pieces that belonged to Tony's father. Little reminders of him. Such as these seashells:

Which we've incorporated into the bathroom.

The office is coming together nicely as well.

We are creating a custom-looking piece behind the desk and are waiting on three pieces before moving forward any further. (Hint: It involves magnetic chalkboard paint!)

Some of the 10x10 prints for the "smaller" collage arrived as well:

Just waiting on the 16x16 prints (for the big collage) and a shipment of frames before making our first official holes in the walls.

Tony added a little bling of his own.

Electronic bling, that is ;)

Until next time...

PS: I almost forgot to share the GAME CLOSET:

We've since added green IKEA boxes to the bottom, filled to the brim with video games. This closet = a dream come true :)