Merry Christmas 2012!

Thought I would share our 2012 Christmas card! We waited until the last minute to get Trey and Em out to do our own pictures. We failed with the self timer, so I went with my first idea. I knew I wanted shots of them in what they are currently obsessed with. I love how it turned out...and even though these cards are not on their way to the mailboxes any time soon, here ya go!

{click to enlarge and read}

You can check out some other really cute cards HERE and HERE.

*CRICKETS*

*crickets*

I'm pretty sure that's the sound you've heard when you've visited the blog the last few months. It always crosses my mind that 'oh, I should blog that'...but you can see how well that has worked for me. Now that school is back in full swing, and I am at a desk more and more every day I thought I'd give this another shot. So without further rambling, here's what you've missed out on.

{These are in no particular order}

Trey started flag football...
You'd think some of these parents {not on our team}
thought this was the superbowl...

Almost makes me nauseous the pressure they put on 6 year olds.
So glad we're letting Trey have FUN.

Galveston for Labor Day weekend.
Dolphin watching!

Trying to be organized...baby steps.
We love this new addition to our kitchen!

My little giant started ballet.
Say a prayer for me, SO NOT a dance mom! :)

SFAVB Reunion
My MOST favorite people on the planet.
Besides family...and some friends are considered family...
you know who you are. :)

Lazy mornings...

One of the BEST inventions...EVER.

What have I done?

First purchase @ abercrombie kids.

We got ready for daddy's football season...
Emery is Wildcat'd out!

I bought some 'fake' TOMS online, and painted them.
Saved me about $50! 

We visited Longhorn Caverns...very cool lil' excursion.

We had art time...
These canvas' are now proudly hanging in their rooms.

Road Trips!!

Celebrated an AMAZING daddy for Father's Day.

 Mommy felt like painting...
Here are the guinea pigs.

To top off the last of the summer...
Trey lost a battle with a Bird of Paradise trunk...
Yes, all of those black dots are splinters.

...and when you're in Galveston, and need the Dr. to
check his hand, you end up having a sideline call at
Dynamo stadium. We have an AMAZING doctor.

I Heart Faces: {Hey Girl}

Today I was reminiscing by going back thru some of my Facebook albums. I was multitasking and happened to see that this weeks I Heart Faces challenge was featuring a woman's face. This face is beautiful to me. It's my Nana. She's been gone a year now and I hold this last picture of her close to my heart. We new the end wasn't far away and I struggled with bringing my camera in to the nursing home because I was afraid it would be uncomfortable for her. If you look closely in her glasses, you will see the reflection of my kids, and you can see in her expression how much she enjoyed them. My nana is probably throwing off the average age in this photo contest, but I love everything about this picture.

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see more fabulous female faces this week.

About Us Link Up

I thought it'd be fun to link up with Kelly's Korner today...she's hosting a fun link up to check out blogger's in your area!

My blogging has gotten sporadic at best. Thanks to 2 jobs, a hard working husband, 2 little ones, and life in general! Hopefully, over the summer it will improve...only to fall off the band wagon again next fall. :)

A little about the Owens'. Joe and I met almost 14 years ago at Stephen F. Austin State. He was a freshman football player, and I was a freshman volleyball player. I joined a sorority {Delta Zeta}, and he a fraternity {Kappa Alpha}...I needed a date for my grab-a-date, and I grabbed Joe. The rest is pretty much history! We graduated and both started teaching and coaching. I coached volleyball and softball for 3 years, until I had Trey. He's 6 now and in kindergarten...Lord help me, we've almost made it thru kindergarten. It's been a ride, that's for sure! Joe continues coaching football, and while the hours are c.r.a.z.y. and he's gone almost all fall...we wouldn't change it {at least today we wouldn't...ask me in September}. Emery came along 3 1/2 years ago, and what an addition she was. Spunky, sweet, hilarious...you name it. Trey is a great big brother...he makes sure he is the only one that can pick on her. He is a super sweet boy with a heart of gold...120% boy.

We absolutely love our church, Community of Faith...and try to help out as much as possible when we can. We've made some great friends there, and it has helped us in our marriage and family immensely. We are also active with an amazing ministry, Coaches Outreach. Holy smokes, this is a marriage saver...I will forever recommend it to any coaching family.

3 years ago now, I started a journey that I never thought could of taken off like it has. I started my own photography business {along with my teaching}, and it has erupted in the last year. I absolutely love it, and while my sleep suffers, I couldn't see myself without it. I LOVE making people gasp when they see their pictures, and it just makes my heart feel good. {http://owensoriginalsphotography.com}

We are counting down the days until summer time. We are off to Illinois again this summer, and can NOT wait to get on the road!

If you're in the area, and hopped over here from Kelly's blog...drop me a comment, I'd love to meet you and it makes my day! :)

product of the week: picmonkey

I thought I would venture back out to the land of the living in the blog world! I've kept a lot of my potw posts in the photography realm, so why fix what ain't broke?! :) I am a Photoshop lover and doer, and will be until the end of time...and Lightroom too. 

However, I have a ton of friends that (a) don't have Photoshop, (b) don't have the patience for it, or (c) could care less. Such friends had turned to sometimes using Picnik to edit their photos quickly and for FREE. However, Picnik is finito as of yesterday. Enter PicMonkey. I had seen a pin for it on Pinterest and said to myself 'Let me see what all of this fuss is about'. It's really pretty nifty. Don't worry that one of the little filters they have available is 'WEIGHT LOSS'. {it's subtle y'all...not 20 pounds} So, if you're in the need for a quick little fixer upper for your photos, I'd definitely check this out! You don't even have to make an account. 

Head on over to Tiffanie's blog to check out some other cool people and products!

Time...

Time is flying by! I can barely keep up with my family schedule, hence the lack of posts! Spring is in full effect, and it's a miracle if we don't have something on any given day. My lil' photography business is blowing up, and I'm loving it...but, haven't found the nerve to take the plunge full time. {I kind of like my 'clock work' pay check, that I know is going to show up in my account every two weeks} :)

Joe and I got to escape on Saturday and go celebrate two of our friends getting married. We had a blast. We can clean up pretty well, when we want to.

The kids are growing at an alarming rate. Not really alarming to us, but any body that goes too long without seeing them. We are surviving Kindergarten, and everything that comes with it. Emery will start preschool next year. We're going to hold her back, so she won't start Kindergarten until she is 6. {This may or may not be for athletic purposes} 

There are only 26 days left of school.........I think I can, I think I can. We'll be off the first of June to Illinois for our road trip. CanNOT wait! Well, maybe I can wait because last time we drove the 16 hours Emery wasn't talking. It could get interesting this go round! 

The Wheels are Off!

We've been outside a lot lately enjoying this awesome weather...you know, before we have to monitor the extreme heat here in another month or so. :) Trey's bike has always had training wheels, but for whatever reason lately they really haven't been doing the job...in other words, they were all jacked up. Not sure how it happened, but the only time they were really touching the ground was when he was turning. So, yesterday morning Trey just told Joe, "Daddy, please take off my training wheels"...Joe obliged. You know the scene when this happens, right? You see a daddy running behind the bike, holding on to the seat. Not with this kid...the wheels came off, Trey hopped on, and off he went. It was SO much fun to watch. He came back to the driveway, jumped off, and got high 5's all around.

I told Joe, "Well, it's like everything else he does..." For instance, potty training. We didn't really have to potty train Trey...it seriously was from one day to the next, no diapers for me. I can count on less than my 10 fingers how many accidents he's had in 3 years. Time for the big boy bed...there were no fits, no sleepless nights, just jumped right in. Reading? He knew his sight words early on in Kindergarten, but having the patience to sit down and read sentences? No way. Until one day he came home with his card that he was in the reading club...Mom of the year moment as we pull away from the car rider line last month... "Hey mom, I'm in the reading club now!" Me: "You can read?!" Trey: "Duh, mom...that's why I'm in the reading club!" You know what that means? Spelling things out so the kids don't understand is coming to an end pretty quickly...DANG IT!

I love this kid {and his sister too!}.

Catch Up!

Goodness gracious, this blogging thing is getting away from me. I'll attempt to catch you up on some of our latest happenings via Instagram...

• Joe and I were lucky enough to get away and go to the opening night of the Rodeo. Alabama was playing, and I must say we had a blast. It's fun when you know every word of every song. The sad thing? Only one of my students actually knew who Alabama was. {yes, I'm shaking my head}

• The first couple of days of Spring Break Joe blessed me with a girl's getaway. We are adding another coach's wife to the group, and we wanted to celebrate! We had a shower for her Tuesday morning, and then surprised her with a quick trip to L'auberge in Lake Charles. Have you been? Um, hello...amazing. Something more amazing? When a super special friend gambles enough to get you the $1100/night suite COMP'd. Yes...free. We were running thru that suite like the kids from Real World when they get to the house...yes, we're all 30. Don't judge. Elaine's on the left, she's getting married next month...excited for that! If you look past the girls, you can see into the living area of the suite. There was a half bath, a bedroom, and an amazing bathroom. {the water for the jacuzzi tub came down from the ceiling.} I don't get out much, so it was SUPER fun.

• We came back and then for us it was party time. We had a wedding to go to Friday night, then parties on Saturday and Sunday. Here's Trey and Em at the wedding. That tie maybe lasted 30 minutes on Trey, and then Emery decided it would make a fabulous accessory...

• We are back in the full swing of things now. Trey came home Monday with this piece of work in his binder. If you can't tell...the boy is girl crazy. Audree is his 'real' girlfriend, but he does have eyes for Lilly too. He's 6 y'all...I don't even want to think about the teenage years. I think it'll be a good thing that he can run.

That catches me up for a little while. The countdown to summer is already on. Only 9 more Fridays!!

Product of the Week: Fage Yogurt

Okay, Tiffanie...I'm gonna try and make a POTW comeback. :) I may be one of the last people on the Fage {Fa - Yeh} bandwagon, but I hope not. My mother-in-law {who's awesome} introduced it to me, and uses it religiously in her kitchen.

Here's the beauty of this yogurt..not only is it great with fruit/granola...try substituting this for sour cream. It works like a dream, plus it is a lot better for the diet. I can't tell you the last time I bought sour cream. Things I've used it in? Chicken enchiladas, broccoli salad, ranch dip, and the list goes on. Try it out, you won't be disappointed...well, maybe if you're my college roommate who is the poster child for sour cream and eats it religiously, but that's besides the point. Oh, and it's on sale at Kroger this week.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend, we packed up Saturday morning and hit the road. All week, I kept telling Joe...I just wanna get out of our little bubble, even if it's just for the night. We made it happen, and we didn't break the bank. Every where I was looking for lodging had a 2 night minimum and would easily run us about $500 just to stay somewhere. Um, hello...remember, we're both teachers. SO, I finally came across this place.

Before you bust out laughing, it was quite pleasant. Joe said it kept reminding him of The Shack {the book}. There was a master bedroom and a pull out sofa for the kids. That's all we needed. Did I mention that this place was on 10 acres with 2 ponds? It was, and it's run by the sweetest lady Ms. Carol. Whom Trey took to in about 10.2 seconds. He hopped out of our car, and accompanied her into the house, and down the road, and back again...then, proceeded to beg us to go back to Ms. Carol's house almost all of Saturday afternoon. Here is pouting when we made him come back from her house. The boy never meets a stranger...

Here are a few pictures of what we did....

A little fishing...{don't worry that there weren't any fish in there}

A little 'driving'...we didn't have the keys

A little 'exploring'

Inside the house was the coolest antique stove...it served us well for dinner

I also had it set in my head that I would take pictures of my kids for once.

We didn't even do Christmas pictures this year...shame. 

Any how, we got a few.

This is Emery's usual...

"Oh, mom has her camera out...I'll look anywhere but at her"

My two loves.

Getting so BIG!

Trey and his cheesy smile...

I also got SUPER pumped because we kept seeing

patches and patches of these...

Do you know what they are?! 

Maybe you should click here and see if you can figure it out! :)

Wildflowers!

Hey Y'all! Super pumped about the wildflowers that we are bound to have this year. With all of the recent rain, surely we will have some fabulous flowers. Thought I'd share the newest mini session coming your way. Head on over to Facebook to be a follower, or check out the blog too!

{click on the image to view larger}

Product of the Week: Bags!

Well, it only took me two weeks, but I'm back! Linking up again for Tiffanie's Product of the Week.





I thought I'd focus on the bags I like to carry...whether it be my 'black hole, dump everything, pseudo diaper bag' or my camera bag...I kind of consider myself a bag 'snob'. I won't buy a purse just to buy a purse. The snob part is in my blood I think, it started when I was 12 and Dooney & Bourke hit the scene. I went to a school that was considered 'snobby'. My mom tried to give me a 'knock off'. Um, not happening...us 12 year olds knew those things forward and backwards and how to tell the difference. It was not one of my finer moments. Pretty sure there was some door slamming/screaming involved in that fit, and the purse went back. No, I didn't get a 'real' one for a LONG time...my mom didn't fall for my antics! :)

MOVING on. I have carried the same purse for 5 years. Yes, you read that right. Several years ago, Joe and I were strolling thru the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo booth's when I had an out of body experience. I walked into the Two Bar West booth. Y'all, it was surreal. Any way, it took me a year or two to convince Joe to drop half of our car payment on a purse...but I did it! I tell him that the average woman buys a new purse every season, so for the amount of time I carry this bag, I've saved him $! :) The beautiful thing about the majority of their bags is that you can switch out the straps, which I've done a couple of times with this particular bag. They have since switched to the Nutcracker Market, instead of the rodeo...and then they only go to the National Finals Rodeo to sell...yep, two shows all year. You can't really order online, some small town boutiques carry them, but your best bet is at the Nutcracker. I will be at the Nutcracker, come heck or high water, next year to retire this bag. They also make saddle bags/luggage, which we also have. {yes, it's an obsession and I'm okay admitting that} Here is an up close pic of my bag/strap...

Moving on. When it came time to ditch my standard camera bag...I seriously looked at a way to make one of their bags work for me. Hasn't happened yet, but I'm considering sending them an e-mail. Enter Porteen Gear. My love for distressed leather could carry on in my camera bag! You can design your own, and they are fabulous. They even have an Etsy shop with some ready to ship bags. I will be upgrading my bag shortly, to get the larger bag. If you just tote around your DSLR with one lens or so...their regular bag will work for you. I sometimes need my DLSR, 3 lenses, and a flash...hence the need for a larger bag! :) Here is Joe carrying my bag {or his murse}...and my reflector...he has no shame. :)