Photo Friday: Young Love

Last weekend, my brother and his girlfriend were kind enough to be models for me.  Here are a few of my favorite photos from their photo shoot.  As always, critiques are welcomed and encouraged. 

Products I Miss

If I like a product, it is almost a guarantee that it won't be around for long.  Here are just a few examples:

I have always loved Vegetable Thins, especially covered in Easy Cheese.  When we were on our anniversary trip, I bought a box of Vegetable Thins and the box promised a new improved recipe.  Nabisco, I don't like the new recipe and I don't like that the crackers are no longer shaped like vegetables.  I refuse to buy another box of Vegetable Thins until they bring the old recipe back. . .wishful thinking, I know.

I can't even find a photo of my favorite shampoo that disappeared off the face of the earth.  I LOVED the smell of VO5 Fruit Sensations, but it no longer exists. . .

Revlon, Before you discontinue a lipstick shade, you should make sure that no one is using it.  I used Revlon Raisin Colorstay lipstick for years and then they discontinued it.  I have yet to find a lipstick shade that I like as much.

I'm not 100% sure, but I can't find my Reese's Bites anywhere?! Have these too been discontinued? I sure hope not.  They might be the most missed item on my list.  

Do products you like disappear too, or is it just me?

My Happy List #2

1) My Dad's double hip replacement surgery went well; now we are praying for a fast recovery.

2) I. Am. Not. Ready. For. Summer. To. Be. Over.  HOWEVER, I am SO thankful to have a job to return to, especially in this economy.

3) Speaking of school. . .I am loving Staples' one cent sales; thus far, I have stocked up on pencils, folders, and paper.  I thought I was going to stock up on spiral notebooks today, but they only had wide ruled--I'm going to try the other Staples tomorrow.

4) Lastly (for my list anyway. . .I have so many other things to be thankful for), I'm excited that Colby and I have begun a "date night." He said he doesn't want to call it "date night" because "that's nerdy" (but that's what it is!).   

Photo Friday: Falling Behind

How do I keep falling behind on Photo Friday during the summer?! Maybe it's because I never know what day it is. . .

Awhile ago, I posted some photos I took of a friend's daughter for her modeling contest.  This is one of the photos I did not post.  I chose not to post this photo before because there are so many things about this photo I wish I could fix without it looking over Photoshopped:  blown out highlights, the shadow across her forehead, the shadow on her right eye, and a sharper focus on her eyes.  Even though there are many things that bother me about this photo, there are many things that I love about this photo:  her colorful clothing and accessories, the daisy, pollen, and grass in the foreground, and most of all her carefree pose.  As always, critiques are welcomed and encouraged.

Bye Bye "Fafa"!

Since "someone" began teething, he has been extremely attached to his "fafa." Before bedtime, we would have to find three "fafas":  one for his mouth and one for each hand.  About a month ago, we began talking about giving his "fafas" to the babies.  About a week ago, I noticed he went to bed WITHOUT his fafa. . .or two. . .or three! He has been "fafa-free" for one week now.  He asked me for a fafa a couple of days ago and I told him they were all gone.  He asked, "Babies?" I said, "Yes, we gave them to the babies." He asked, "Mailman?" I said, "Yes, we gave them to the mailman to give to the babies." My baby is not a baby anymore (sniffle).

Caden and "Fafa"

Vaccinations: A Mommy's Intuition

Recently, according to the Register Guard (http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24817111-41/peacehealth-patients-clinics-vaccine-vaccines.csp), almost 20,000 of PeaceHealth Medical Group's patients may have been administered vaccinations that were not stored properly.  Caden was one of these patients.  Caden's nurse insisted that we re-vaccinate him.  I expressed my concern about re-vaccinating him to his doctor and he gave us another option; he said we could have Caden's blood drawn to do an antibody titer.  This way, we could see if he actually needed to be re-vaccinated or not.  He admitted that this was not being encouraged because it costs more than just re-vaccinating everyone.  Even though we were told that nothing would happen to Caden if he was re-vaccinated, we chose to have his blood drawn.  It broke our hearts to hold him down so he could have his blood drawn, but we saved him from receiving unnecessary vaccinations; Caden's blood results revealed that he did not need to be re-vaccinated.  Even though PeaceHealth Medical Group claims that nothing will happen from re-vaccinating children, they need to make parents aware of the alternative option considering all of the controversy surrounding vaccinations-even if it will cost them more.  Our children are priceless.

Caden sitting in his new chair that matches Mommy's new sectional!

Voodoo Doughnut

This week, we finally went to the infamous Voodoo Doughnut! We weren't sure what to expect, but we definitely weren't disappointed.  Caden was so excited to go get a doughnut (even though I don't think he had ever had one?!).  I asked him if he wanted the doughnut with sprinkles and he said, "No! Candy!" So, needless to say, he chose the doughnut covered in miniature M&M's; he's usually not allowed to have candy so that made his day!

I had the best doughnut I have ever had.  It was a chocolate covered doughnut with Chex, pretzels, drizzled with peanut butter, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  I don't even want to know how many calories it had--it was my breakfast and lunch! We definitely won't be going there often, but it would be a fun place to go during the school year when we have the occasional Monday off as a family.

(Not photographed:  Colby had a maple covered doughnut filled with Bavarian cream which he also loved.)

Photo Friday: A Few Days Late

I am "behind" on blogging.  Colby was off for two weeks and we enjoyed our time as a family.  I haven't been taking many photos lately; my two-year-old keeps me busy from sunrise to sunset.  These two photos were taken a couple of weeks ago at a high school track near us.  I am extremely disappointed with how these photos turned out.  I saw these cleats hanging from the telephone line at the beginning of summer and have wanted to take photos of them ever since.  Overall, I think these photos are boring.  They definitely aren't what I had envisioned.  Thus far, I haven't decided whether or not I will re-shoot them or let them be.  As always, critiques are welcomed and encouraged.