Photos of My Sister and Her Kids

My sister needed a new family picture.  Since they came over to see my brother we took the opportunity to set up the back drop and lights and take some pictures for her.

These were her favorite family photos.

The first one I took Kara's face from another picture and put it into this one.  Can you tell?  I'm really enjoying that now!  I learned a better way to do it and it's so fun!

More Baby Photos

I wasn't real thrilled with the pics I got before.  I really wanted one of him with his feet in a "v" where you could see a little of his face.  And there were some other sleeping poses I wanted to try and get.  But again, he was wide awake.  And I had Tanner and Mackenzie with me.  So I didn't really get too many.  But I got his feet in the "v"  I actually had to combined 2 pictures to create it.  Since he was awake, he was moving and so his mom held his feet and I combined to photos together in Photoshop.

 In the 2 pictures below... he was actually holding his head up himself, just a couple weeks old and he was holding his head up like that.  I couldn't decided which one I liked better, really just his eyes are different.

He is such a handsome little boy!!!!!!  

Poor TJ

Poor TJ!  He had to take a trip the Hospital instead of visiting Santa!  The boys were throwing balls at him while he was in his hot air balloon.  He left a note for the boys telling them how hurt he was that they would want to hurt him.  And he explained about going to the hospital and how he'll need to rest for a few days before he will be well enough to return to Santa.  So it will give the boys time to apologize and behave before he goes back to report.  And he did sit there for a couple of days till he was well enough. 

Having the Elf around is supposed to make your kids behave because they know he's watching... nope... not my boys!  It did not change a thing!  As much as they love the elf I was really hurt that they were throwing balls at him trying to get him down.  They did apologize a lot to TJ.  And they never did again.

Our Silly Elf

TJ took some underwear and Dave's birthday balloons and took Dino for a "hot air balloon" ride!  Silly TJ!

TJ Playing B-Ball

TJ loves Tanner's basket ball net and ball!

Santa Hat Treats

I saw this idea on Pinterest and Tanner and I decided to make them for his preschool class.  It was his day to bring the snack in and he was so excited to make these Santa Hats and share them with his class!

Baby Photo Shoot

A friend of mine had a baby boy just before Thanksgiving and she let me come over and practice taking some pictures of him.  These were my favorites...

 The bow ties I made didn't really work so well.  He was very much awake most of the time I was there.  So he kept moving them.  I had wanted to use them when he was asleep, but he wasn't asleep very much.  However, he is still oh so cute!!!!

It was so much fun to try posing him and taking pictures of him!!!!  And I sure loved holding a little tiny baby!!!!  He is such a doll!!!!!

TJ Threw a Party

It was Dave's birthday so our Elf on the Shelf, TJ, threw him a little birthday party...

Tanner and Jayden thought it was the coolest thing!!!!  They loved that TJ was throwing their daddy a birthday party!!!

Baby Boy Bow Ties

I have a friend that had a baby boy and she is going to let me come and take some pictures of him.  So I made these 3 bow ties for props.

You can Click here to follow this tutorial.  I basically used this tutorial, I made a few small changes to mine, but nothing big, I think just sizes.  And I didn't put the clips on them because I'll just be placing them on the baby.

Elf on the Shelf

We just got our Elf on the Shelf this year.  It took the boys forever to decided on a name, they finally decided on TJ for Tanner and Jayden.

For those that don't know... This Elf on the Shelf comes with a book telling all about him, that you can read to your kids.  I bought mine at AC Moore craft store but I've also seen them at Target.  You have to name your Elf and register him or her (you can also buy a girl) with the North Pole.  The kids are not allowed to touch him but I had to make an exception for Mackenzie and told the boys that babies didn't count.  If a child touches the Elf he looses his magically powers and can't return back to Santa.  Each night the Elf returns to Santa and reports on how the kids were behaving, whether they should go on the naughty or nice list.  And when he returns he's in a different spot in the house and the kids race to find him.  The kids are encouraged to talk to the Elf, but the Elf is on strict orders not to talk to the children.

This was our first morning with the Elf, and this is what he was doing.

Another Photo Shoot

I did another photo shoot for a friend who needed some pictures for their Christmas card.

It was a beautiful late fall day!!!  We really lucked out on the weather.

It was so fun taking their pictures!!!!  They are such a fun Family!!!

Here were some of the favorites...

Mini Photo Shoot

I did a mini photo shoot for a friend of mine.  It was about 40 minutes before it got dark.  So we hurried and just sat around her yard taking some pictures of her cute little family!  He kiddos are so cute!

Here are some of my favorite ones...

She had posted a blurry family pic on facebook that a neighbor boy took and said it was about the only family picture they had.  So I told her once I figured out my camera a little better I'd come and take some pictures.  And I finally did!

And it was great practice!  Thank you for letting me take your pictures!!!

Tiff and Kolin

The day before when Tiffany dropped Kolin off he kissed her belly and it was so cute.  She said he always kisses her belly.  So when she dropped him off this morning I wanted to get a picture of it.  So literally in like 2 minutes I just snapped a couple quick pictures, so Tiff could get to work.  She was wearing green and he was wearing red, so I just turned it black and white and cropped it.  That was all the editing I did.  Oh wait, I blurred the background a little more.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  I just wish in this first picture I had asked Tiff to hold Kolin's hand, but it's still cute!

 I can't really decide which crop I like... and in the one below I didn't blur the background, a little more like I did in the first one.  It really just makes the counter line not so sharp by his nose.

The top one is centered around the kiss and the bottom, the kiss on the line of the rule of thirds.

I don't normally like black and white pictures, but I like these!
What do you think?

Italian Shepherd's Pie

This has been my favorite recipe ever since I started making it!  I love Rachael Ray!  However when I make it I only use 1 pound of Turkey burger, one box of pasta and the whole small can of tomato paste and basically keep the rest the same.  And this is amazing as left overs!!!  I don't normally eat left overs, but this is fantastic reheated!!!

I used my own picture but copy and pasted the rest from her website.  I'm surprised she doesn't have a picture of it!

ITALIAN SHEPHERD'S PIE

by Rachael Ray | on 10/29/07

Click here for the link to the recipe on her website.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds mini penne or any mini short-cut pasta (whole wheat pasta can be substituted)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3 pounds ground turkey
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 5 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium-size or 1 huge softball-size onion, diced
• 3 medium-size carrots, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons (2 palmfuls) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk (eyeball it)
• 2 cups provolone, shredded
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese, shredded plus additional cheese for garnish

Serves 8

PREPARATION

Preheat oven 400°F.

Place a large pot filled with water over high heat and bring up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain well and transfer pasta back to the cooking pot.

While the water is coming up to a boil for the pasta, place a large skillet over high-heat with 3 turns of the pan EVOO, about 3 tablespoons. Once the oil starts to ripple, add the ground turkey and break it up into small pieces as it cooks using the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Cook until the turkey is nice and brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Add all the veggies to the turkey and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock, tomato paste, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes, stirring every now and then.

While the veggies and turkey are cooking, place a medium-size saucepot over medium heat with the butter. Once the butter melts, add the flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly so the flour doesn't burn. Whisk in the milk and the rest of the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer and cook until it has thickened. Once thick, turn off the heat, add both cheeses to the post and stir until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the bottom of a large, oven-safe baking dish with the turkey and veggie mixture. Meanwhile, add the cheese sauce to the drained pasta in the pasta pot. Stir to coat then transfer the cheesy pasta to the baking dish. Spread it out to cover the turkey mixture evenly. Sprinkle the top with a little extra Asiago, place in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Serve with a green salad and your favorite vinaigrette alongside.