We Are Still Alive...

We made it thru Christmas all in one piece! I'm not going to leave you with any pictures today...but, I thought y'all would appreciate me taking the time to take the blog out of Halloween/Fall mode and kick it into next year already. So, there you have it...This may be my last post of 2011, I'll have to make it a resolution to be a better blogger. For that to happen, Owens' Originals would have to slow down...and we don't want that! :) Happy New Year to you and your families, may 2012 bring bigger and better blessings!

I might...

I might have something interesting to blog about in the next week. Or, I might not...because I might not be done Christmas shopping. I might be cursing the new grading system our district implemented...it's terrible. I might be done editing everyone else's Christmas pictures...but I might not have taken any of ours yet! I might curl up and just pretend Christmas isn't 6 days away.

You might need to commit me when this is all said and done. I might be joking, or not. :)

Random.Ness

It's Friday...can I get a Hallelujah? I only have to make it thru one more FULL week before we get out for Christmas break...that deserves a Hallelujah with your hands held high!

I thought y'all might need some photographic proof that Trey and Em are still alive and well...

We took the kids {and Grandma & Papa too} to Santa's Wonderland Wednesday night. Always makes for a fun night. I was a little worried that Emery wouldn't even look up from the iPad though...

Speaking of 'i' stuff, my new iPhone 4 case came in the other day.....LOVE

{make your own @ getuncommon.com}

Last Friday night I got a girl's night out with my mom and Billie {aka Grandma}. We went to the auction and I got some fun stuff. I usually go looking for photo props but come home empty handed. Luckily this time, I threw off the average age and the old folk didn't want what I wanted! :) I also got Joe a cool cross...we have a thing for crosses in our house...and license plates too. We're classy, don't judge.  While you're at it, don't judge the iPhone pics either...my camera is working over time lately. :)

I told y'all this was Random...ok, so I didn't but the title did. To finish up, check out what Skippy's been up to lately.

Enjoying a bowl of Lucky Charms under the tree...

The sugar ants enjoyed it to. :-\

Joe was in charge of this one...

So thankful Grandma & Papa came and cleaned it up before we got home!
Which leads to their masterpiece below...

Grandma & Papa thought Skippy might be thirsty. :)

Peek-A-Boo, I see you!

More Skippy Fun...

We are having a great time with Skippy...the kids wake up every morning and from every nap to check on him. We had a minor meltdown yesterday morning when Emery realized that Skippy had snagged one of her last donut holes! Speaking of melt downs, the following Skippy picture has a story...wait for it.

Skippy was perched upon one of Trey's little play houses in his room. Trey was out of his room, but Emery went in there to play. While playing, she bumped the house that Skippy was sitting on...knocking Skippy off. Joe and I looked at each other when we heard these massive sobs coming from Trey's room and we couldn't make out what she was saying. After some deciphering, we discovered she was saying 'Skippy TOUCHED me!!' In the book that comes with Skippy, part of the story is that you can NOT touch Skippy or he will lose his magic. Emery thought she had RUINED Skippy. We're talking, she could not catch her breath. We finally calmed her down and told her it would be okay. If you've watched the TV movie about the Elf on the Shelf, then you may have caught the part where the brother touched him and the other elves had to give him cinnamon or something like that? I wasn't doing my best job of listening when the kids were watching it...anyways, I'm going with that. SO, that night, Skippy made his way into one of my old mason jars with some cinnamon and sugar to get his magic back! This was one of my favorites so far. It convinced the kids that Skippy was going to be OK...so sweet!

Moving on...this is what Skippy's been up to the last couple of nights...

The Abominable Snowman seems to be his favorite...Yahtzee!

 Spooky Skippy!

Yesterday, the weather was YUCKY! Skippy opted to e-mail Santa and let him know that Trey and Emery had been very good. I woke up at 3 a.m. to find Trey trying to read Skippy's note...

I'll leave y'all with an iPhone pic of our tree this year!

Skippy is Here!

Y'all...seriously. Last year I said, "I will not purchase Elf on the Shelf...$30, no way!" We tried using a little reindeer stuffed animal we had...um, not so much. The whole concept is genius, and I think Joe and I may be having more fun with him than Trey and Emery!

During the day, Skippy perches somewhere and keeps an eye on things. After the kids go to bed, he 'flies back to the North Pole to report Trey and Emery's behavior to Santa'. When he gets back, while everyone is sleeping, he usually gets into something. Every morning for the last week, Trey and Emery have woken up and said, "I wonder what Skippy was up to last night?!"

This is what he's been up to this week...

Night 1: Got all of the colors out and left his mark in the coloring book.

Night 2: Skippy vs. The Abominable Snowman in a serious game of checkers.

Night 3: Skippy is brave!


Night 4: Trey ended up in our bed, so Skippy decided to go keep Trey's bed warm for him.

Stay tuned for more of Skippy's antics. Leave a comment if you're doing Elf on the Shelf...I'd love to get some more ideas! :)

November?

Whoa, what happened to November...for real!

What have we been up to? Well, football season ended the weekend before Thanksgiving. We fought a hard fight...not gonna lie, it was REALLY nice having Joe home and relaxed the week of Thanksgiving. That hasn't happened in a couple of years!

I made an awesome dessert for Thanksgiving...a pumpkin dump cake. I got the recipe from a fellow coaches wife. She served it at one of our last parties and it was the hit of the party. Here's the recipe. Make it, you won't be disappointed. If you are, let me know and Joe will come take the left overs off of your hands for you.

• 2 cans pumpkin
• 3 cups evaporated milk...I used fat free, not sure it made a whole lotta difference
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger {I didn't have any, so I left it out...still loved it}
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsps salt
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick of butter, sliced into pats
• 1 cup chopped pecans...totally didn't measure, just covered the whole top

Directions: Mix pumpkin, evap. milk, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, eggs, sugar, and salt together well. Pour into greased floured 9x13 {if you have a larger one it wouldn't hurt, this fills it up}. Sprinkle the yellow cake mix on top. Lay out the pats of butter across the cake mix...I just did like 4 across and then spread them out down the rest of the mix. Cover the top with the pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour and 20. One suggestion I have is that if the pecans are getting too toasty, maybe cover with foil? Regardless, this was gobbled up on Thanksgiving. Grandma said she preferred it over pumpkin pie because it was fluffier...and oh, so yummy!

Moving on...

I did go Black Friday shopping at Walmart.......never again. I did get some great deals, but the craziness...SO, not worth it. My mom and I showed up about an hour and a half before the sales kicked in. Just FYI, if you're going to go in the future...Walmart is OPEN, but they don't let you check out until 10:00 sharp. Also, our Walmart personnel didn't really care if you took things off the palette before 10:00, so my buggy was full of what I needed and I was in line by 9:15 to check out. I was 6th in line and was out of Walmart by 10:15! The electronics people {the ones sitting in the pet food aisle were not so lucky}...

Yesterday, we got the tree up. I did NOT want to go back to school without the tree being up. Joe helped me get it out of the attic and assembled...then the kids and I did the rest....I'm liking the tree this year. It's no designer tree, but we like it. :)

To top it off, we are doing Elf on the Shelf this year...and so far, it has been a HUGE hit. Meet Skippy! Last year, I skimped and didn't spend the money, and that was a mistake. Skippy has already provided his money worth in entertainment! Stay tuned, I'm documenting with my good camera!

I also made our 25 days of Christmas bags, we and are starting that Wednesday night...I know that Wednesday is not the first, but you do what you gotta do when daddy has his Fall Sports banquet Thursday night. We are starting it off big with a trip to Santa's Wonderland. We've learned that a week night trip is SO much better than a weekend.

Have a great weekend!! Only 3 weeks left of school for the Fall semester!!! YAY!

Love Them.

Trey...the kid keeps me guessing. God love him, he is a sweet boy....he's just A BoY! :) That means, everyday when I pick him up from Kindergarten I have to ask, "Good day or bad day?!" Then, I have to hold my breath and turn the page in his binder to where a note would be from his teacher.

Yesterday, I was fulfilling my civic duty of voting...with the kids in tow. Moms, I know you know what that can entail. On the way there, we had the discussion of how to act at the voting place. VERY quiet, whisper and you have to stay right by mommy. Luckily, we vote at a church, so I got to a booth that had a row of chairs near by. I instructed Trey and Em to sit there and be quiet...I then went to hand Trey my iphone. He totally snubbed my phone, and says "It's okay mom, I'm going to look for my sight words"...as he's thumbing thru the Bible. I almost cried. It was the sweetest thing EVER.

It's moments like those, in a week that is never ending, that God reminds us to STOP. I stopped and just thanked HIM for that reminder to enjoy these moments with Trey and Emery...and then I gave Trey a big kiss on the forehead for being Trey.

Emery's not to be left out...she's a character. She's decided that she should be practicing her spelling like her big brother. Any thing you ask her to spell right now is 'P-E-R-E-Y'. So she'll say, "MOMMY, I can spell SEAT...P-E-R-E-Y....SEAT" She did that for a good 5 minutes last night at the dinner table and we were all just laughing. Trey was getting frustrated because he knows how to spell it and she fights him on it. It's really quite comical.

Love my 2.

Got questions?

I thought I'd do a little more interacting over on my Owens' Originals Photography blog, so I'm going to do a little Question and Answer session. The only problem? I only have 18 people following over there, so I thought I'd bring it over here...click on THIS LINK and head on over to ask your questions. It can be about Photography Stuff. Camera Stuff. Football Family Stuff. Whatever you got {as long as it is blog appropriate...I feel like I'm talking to my high school kids, sorry} :)

...and I'll leave you with one of my favorite recent pictures from a session! {Sorry, a little partial...my Godson, Lane}

{Halloween 2011}

Another Halloween is in the books! I pulled a Mother of the Year...more on that later. I'll butter you up with pictures first.

Em, and her special face...

This was his tough dude pose.

Awww.

Help me, please...she gives me gray hair. 

Bein' sweet for 2 minutes.

How about a cross eyed clown? That dang nose would not stay on.

She does these faces all on her own. I swear. I know, we're in trouble.

 That's one mean turtle.

They were ready to go!

Emery being nosy. Every picture of them at the door looked like this.

Wanna hear about my mother of the year award? Y'all know when you're taking pictures of the kids, when you say, "Wait, one more!" Well, Joe was done and the kids were ready to go. I said, "WAIT, I need one of Emery withOUT her special face"...so we got a few more shots. Joe said, "come on Em, let's get in the car"...and then it happened. She slipped on the rocks and landed booty first. She immediately got up and cried the 'I'm hurt' cry...moms, you know the difference. I didn't see anything, but Joe checked her in the car and came back and showed me what she landed on. There were some small metal spiky things that we didn't even notice. She had a few scrapes on her 'cheek' and I was 'sick to my stomach' mad at myself. We got home quickly and got her all cleaned up, and once the bandaid was on then all was right with the world again. My guilt is finally starting to ease up. At first, I was sure we were going to end up at the ER clinic having to get a tetnis shot...here's a newsflash for you {that I didn't know}...if the kids are caught up on their vaccinations thru age 4 or 5, they don't have to get a tetnis shot when something like that happens. WHEW. There it is for for ya...one more reason I will have the M-O-T-Y trophy on my mantle.

4.7 Miles

4.7 miles...that is now all that separates Grandma & Papa from us! Grandma & Papa have semi-retired and moved down here from Dallas. We've had a countdown on for the last couple of months, and this weekend was the big event. Their furniture however, will be here tomorrow...thanks to some heavy fog in Dallas. Trey and Emery are beyond excited, and to tell the truth Joe and I are too! :)

Last night they got to come over for some Papa Murphy's and hanging out...and it felt so funny not telling them good bye and sending them back to Dallas! I'm not sure it has quite sunk in yet. They say it feels like a permanent vacation. :)

Joe posted this picture on Facebook last night with the caption, "I could get used to this." Yep.

Welcome to Cypress, Grandma & Papa!

LONG week

You know it's going to be a long week, when you stay up Monday morning until 1 a.m. and then get up for work at 5:15. I thought I was going to bed early last night...a whopping 11:15. Tonight, I have my sights set on 9, but we'll see if that happens! What am I doing up at that hour you ask? Editing, editing, and some more editing. I had an October 1st wedding that I shot solo, and that's what we have here...Enjoy. {I promise Trey and Emery will make an appearance on the blog, sometime this month!} :)

Need a Good Laugh...

There are many days that it is SO easy to get stuck in the rut of being a wife, a mom, a teacher, a photographer...and the list goes on. To lighten my mood, I turn to Pinterest to take a load off and to get my mood in check. I bring to you some of my favorite Pinterest 'humorous' quotes...

I'll start with the ones that I would love to display in my classroom...however, I value my job way too much to actually follow through.

Source: sawdustcityllc.com via Kristy on Pinterest

Source: demotivation.us via Dolores on Pinterest

Source: icanrelate.info via Kristy on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Kaylea on Pinterest

Source: redbubble.com via Kari on Pinterest

Now for some random stuff that makes me laugh. Usually at my desk, and yes...I usually get crazy looks from my students.

I definitely have these days...do you?

Source: chocolatechipsandsnickerdoodles.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

No joke!

Source: tumblr.com via Missy on Pinterest

Not gonna lie...

Source: icanrelate.info via Katie on Pinterest

I had one of these days last week...No, really.

Source: terborg.typepad.com via Lacy on Pinterest

Another Week

Yet another week has FLOWN by. Tomorrow is October 1...how did that happen?! Football season is rolling along. My photography business is booming {LOVING it}, and school just finished up the first 6 weeks. Y'all remind me, the next time someone asks me to be in charge of a new gradebook system for 300 teachers....to say NO. We updated our system this year to Teacher Access Center, and it's a nightmare! Teachers, if you use it, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

Moving on. There hasn't been much excitement this week. Trey had to dress up as his favorite nursery rhyme today. He chose Humpty Dumpty. I looked online for ideas on a costume, and refused to buy one. One of the 'homemade' options was to cut a hole in a poster board and have his face go in that hole, and then draw the egg on the poster board. Really?! I'm sure that would have lasted 5 minutes. So, while Joe and I finished off the last 3 episodes of 24, season 6 {ADDICTED to that show, we may just start it over when we get thru season 8...I'm not joking}, I painted. This is what Trey's Humpty Dumpty looked like. {I'm a bad mom and didn't get a picture of him in the shirt this morning...hopefully, it's still in one piece this afternoon.

Tomorrow, I'm off all day to photograph a friend's wedding. It's going to be so much fun I can hardly stand it. I'll miss another football game, but I won't miss the after party. Grammie is keeping the kids, and they are SO excited about that. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

Sibling Love

Here's proof that Trey and Em can be super sweet together...

...OR not.

BBQ Pulled Pork & S'mores Bars

I thought I would share the two recipes that got rave reviews at the party Saturday night. We only had a handful of bars left, and only one scoop {from 2 crock pots!} of the pork left. I'd say they were a success!

Let's start with the Pulled Pork...it was SUPER easy. Maybe you can keep a secret better than I can when someone asks you how you made it. You know you are supposed to say, 'A little of this and a little of that'...but I spilled the beans. Oh you know, from a McCormick's packet of seasoning. Seriously, find this little packet on your spice aisle:

Ingredients:

3 lb boneless pork roast {shoulder, butt...whatever, just no bone!}

1 pkg Slow Cooker McCormick's BBQ Pulled Pork seasoning

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1. Place pork in crock pot. {I ALWAYS use the crock pot liner, LIFE savers!}
2. In a mixing bowl: dump the seasoning packet, ketchup, vinegar, and brown sugar...mix well
3. Pour sauce over pork
4. Put the lid on the crock pot, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for about 4 hours.
5. Open the lid after desired time, grab a couple forks and get to shredding.
   {The recipe says remove pork and shred, but seriously...who wants that mess?}

I served these on hamburger rolls with different cheeses, mayo, mustard, you name it. I also had the ramen slaw as a side, and some people added that to their sandwich!

Okay, now for the dessert!

Golden Graham S'mores bars...people were ALL over these! I doubled, and still almost ran out!

Yes, they are as sinful as they look.

Ingredients:

1 box Golden Graham cereal

1 - 10 oz bag of mini marshmallows {about 6 cups total}

1 - 12 oz bag of chocolate chips

5 tbsp. of butter

1 tsp of vanilla {optional, but I did it!}

Put chocolate chips in refrigerator to chill. Spray 9 x 13 dish and set aside. In a large bowl, pour out the box of cereal. In a mid-size sauce pan, melt the butter. When the butter is almost all melted, add 5 cups of the marshmallows {save 1 cup for later}. Stir constantly, until almost completely melted. Add in 1 tsp. of vanilla. Remove from stove, and pour over cereal in large bowl. Stir until cereal is coated. Stir in chocolate chips. Add in remaining 1 cup of marshmallows, and gently stir until well distributed. 

Press cereal mixture into 9 x 13. Cover and put in the refrigerator to set. After set {I had mine in the refrigerator most of the day, just because I made them early}, run a knife along the edges of the pan and it should come right on out, and set on a cutting board. Cut your bars, however big you want them! Warning, if you want to double it, I think it is just easier to make it twice instead of trying to make it all in one bowl. It can get messy. I made two separate, and it stayed much cleaner! Y'all, I'm serious...delicious!!

Soccer!

Trey had his VERY first soccer game Saturday morning! I must say, 5 year old soccer is quite entertaining!

Joe started it off with a pep talk...

Before the game started, we had to have a team discussion

about Trey's loose tooth...game plan, who needs one?

And then, they were off! Like a bunch of fire ants!

It doesn't take long for Trey to find the best spot on the bench?
Smart boy.

Houston, we have a daisy picker...

Whew, that was tough work!

Don't worry that he pulled himself  out of the game to take a water break.

We had to have a little discussion about toughening up.

Trey was ALL over the place, but he knew he wanted the ball!

I may have teared up when he scored the first goal, of his first game EVER!

He ended up scoring 2 out of the 4 goals for his team. Yes, I'm proud!!

Stay tuned...I'm going to share the recipe to the pulled pork sandwiches and s'mores bars that we served at the football party Saturday night...they were a HUGE hit!