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A few months ago, I decided that I was tired of toys. Laugh..yeah yeah…. I am sure you are thinking HELLO crazy woman! You have 3 kids! You are going to have TOYS! Wait! Let me finish! I am tired of toys. Not ALL toys, but the kind that your kids beg you for, play with for 5 minutes, and forget. Those kind of toys! It is such a waste of money! Not to mention, they do nothing for the growth and development of our kids. I decided I wanted my children to have quality, timeless toys. Mulitpurpose-use your imagination to make it work-kind of toys. So I locked myself in my kids room, and I got knee (ok Im short, so it was more like waist) deep in toys. I threw away/gave away 80% of their toys. I kept things like dress up(anything that was not torn or too small), dolls (only the ones in good shape and no doubles), only 3 extra doll outfits and a handful of blankets and bottles, blocks, kitchen and playfood (wood or felt only), puzzels, and their doll house. Let me just say, its SO nice now! I still feel overwhelmed sometimes by the amount of toys there are, but I know that its because I have 3 children in one bedroom.
ANYWAY…. I have been wanting to get the girls some playsilks for a while now. If you are not familiar with playsilks, let me tell you about them. They are simply a piece of silk. They come in all sizes and colors. They can be used for just about anything. So far, they have been used in our house as doll blankets, skirts, butterfly wings, doll slings, and we even scrunched up a white one into a baby bottle to pretend it was milk! Veils, tents, super hero capes. Yes, my girls like to be super heros when they watch Super Why.
Of course, I would never take the simple way out and buy them already dyed. So we ordered 10 white silks from Dharma Trading Co. We got the 35″X35″ and 2 of the 11″X60″ to use for ribbon dancing. LOL! Then we picked up a zillion packets of Kool-Aid…well maybe it was the off brand, but they were 10 for $1.00 and Im pretty cheap.

The first thing I did was soak the unwashed scarves in some warm water with a bit of vinegar.

Then I mixed 3 packets of Wylers fake Kool-Aid with 1 1/2 cups of hot tap water. I mixed them in glass jars. Then I stuffed one playsilk into each jar.

Then I set the jars into a pot that contained about 2 inches of tap water. Brought it to a boil. Not a splashing, crazy boil..just a nice easy boil. While the water was boiling, I squished the scarves down into the water mixture. When I thought the color was set (either the water turned clear or milky depending on the color used) I took the pot off the stove.

Thats when I put my kids to work. I had them cool off the jars.

Next, I rinsed them in cold water. The water should run clear. I had some problems with the orange and red. They didnt set all the way, but I plan on hand washing these, so it shouldnt be a big deal. If I have to re-dye them, it shouldnt break the bank!

They thought the silkies (that is what they call them) smelled very good!

Then we hung them out to dry. That took about 5 minutes. The girls thought that was far too long though!

Arent they pretty? I will share some of the girls playing with them soon. This post took long enough though!

I will gladly show pictures of the kids room. I am sure you are curious as to how I fit 3 kids into one bedroom. Right? If you would be interested in something like this, leave me a comment. Im kind of a nerd when it comes to organizing. Especially my kids things.

Savanah, I am not sure I have the words to express how wonderful you are. You are so beautiful. Inside and out. You were such a delite to photograph. I drove all the way home with a smile on my face. I imagine you do that to many people. Leave them with a smile.

With that, I leave you with her smile.

flaky skin. tiny bumps. hairy shoulders. pouty lips. curled bodies.

Dont you love newborns? Each time I photograph a sweet new bundle of joy I remember my own three newborn babies. Rocking them even after they are asleep, kissing their wrinkly forehead, inhaling that addictive newborn smell….dreaming about what they would be like as they grow.

Amber and Jerry, your new baby boy is beautiful. Enjoy him. Thank you for allowing me to spend a few hours with your little man. He was perfect in every way!

This is my favorite from the day. I scored this awesome hat at WC Mercantile. If you have not visited this store…you should. Its wonderful!!!

“Thats enough!”  He said that each time the shutter clicked. So we moved on. I followed him around. Constantly.

Mr. J was alot of fun. We explored the pond for crawfish. We studied a hole in the tree..and his daddy informed me that it was probably a home for a black widow. Great…so glad I knew that!

I had a great time Mr. J! Thanks so much!

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Join my fan page and you will be included in fun giveaways, facebook only specials, and of course my random thoughts…thats always fun! Hope to see you there!

Oh and if anyone knows how I can link to my fan page with the F button on my blog…I would love to know the secret. As of now, I can only get it to link to my personal page….I wish I didnt have to ask questions like this…

Of course, I have a picture. It has nothing to do with facebook or me being completly non-tech savvy…but its darn cute. I give you my dog niece, Chloe Belle.

These kiddos are super close to my heart. I have known both of them since they were itty babies! These two girls are some of the sweetest and most polite girls in all of Navasota!

Miss R and Miss H, I had a great time with you girls. I hope you enjoy your pictures. Many thanks and much love to you both!!

She is beautiful isn’t she?

Both of them are….

I remember feeling like a princess when I wore silky dresses too…

and a little fun to end our session…

You know when you have one of those days…one of those days where everything just clicks and goes oh so right? This day was like that. I met the P family downtown. She said she had 2 girls. One was 4 and one was just 12 weeks old. I will admit that I was a tad nervous about this. I have had a 4 year old. They tend to be busy. I have had a 12 week old. They like to sleep and eat and poop and cry. Well, we got to our location and within maybe 1/2 a second of me opening my door, the 4 year old was chatting my ear off. I could tell things were going to be fun! I was so right! I had such a blast with this family. Such a beautiful family! It was super windy so we had to get creative…but it worked out very well! Both of their girls are so sweet and so pretty! Of course, they have pretty good looking parents, so that wasnt much of a surprise!

The fun part is..I went to school with Daddy P. Mama P is the one who contacted me. I kept thinking, wow that name is familiar…surely she isnt married to….yep she was!!!! How fun is that? It was great to photograph an old friend…and his wonderful, perfect family!

Thank you P fam! You are all beautiful!

I got to the park early. I planned on scoping out the perfect place to have the adorable Miss K model for me.  Her mama sent pictures of her outfit. Pink, frilly, and oh so adorable. I KNEW she would be perfect for what I had in mind. Balloons. Pink and white. Big pink and white balloons and a tiny, blonde haired little girl. How sweet would it be? So, as I waited at the park I could barely contain my excitement. All the kids on the playground were eyeing my super cool balloons. I brought 6. I wanted 3 in the picture but I wanted to be sure that I had extra in case they got away from her. I suppose a smart photographer would leave the extras in the car. Smart photographers-yes….me-no. I saw a truck parking and thought YAY she is here! At that VERY moment, the balloons drifted off….all 6 of them. I was super disappointed in myself. How could I bring the extras out? And who was I kidding…the extras were for ME not her! sheesh..

Luckily, Miss K did not need the balloons. She rocked it out without them! Here are a few from her session. Dont worry, you will see more of her very soon. The Galleries section of my blogsite is on its way.