Our Trip to Destin

Let me start out by saying that even if its warm in Florida the weekend after Christmas the water is still cold!!! But not to this little guy, our nephew Blake who is 7 and from Wisconsin, loves to swim in the water no matter how cold it is, they left snow to come down here for a week of fun in the sun. To them it feels like summertime!

This is Mark, Lisa and Blake. We only get to see them at Christmas and this time it had to be a quick visit. We drove up there on Saturday, then had to leave to come home Sunday around noon. It took 6 hours to get there and then 7 hours to get back. Traffic was a little hectic!

But it was worth the travel time to get to visit with them. Maybe next year we can go to Wisconsin...We will see!!

Aw! Brother & Sister Love!

Below is a few pics that I took of the kids on the rocks, the beach was beautiful. I just wish it wasn't so foggy. The sun never came out enough during the time we were there so most of the pictures are dark or foggy looking. We have hopes of going back there sometime during the summer when its warmer so we can see all the pretty colors of the water and stay longer to enjoy it!

Hope you all have a Safe and Happy New Year!

What's In That Big Box?

It was left with only a tag that said From: SANTA

Another Box to unwrap...

I snapped that picture in the right moment to have her say "It's a Wii!"

Surprise was the theme for this Christmas...we really didn't think we would be able to get them a Wii but when we sold the boat I found a very gently used one online we bought it and ever since, I have toyed with the idea of selling it because money was so tight and if I sold it we could afford to buy more gifts they wanted instead of just this one thing and a few smaller things. The last time I told my mom "I think Im gonna sell the Wii, Brant wants a skateboard and Chey wants a bike and a camera" She told me "NO don't sell it, let me help and get them one of the other gifts they asked for this year." So she did...

Brant got a skateboard freshly built from the Van's Skate park in Orlando and Chey got a beautiful purple "big girl" bike from Mimi this year (Thanks Mom for all you did, you made their year) plus they got really great gifts from everyone in our family...Between all the opening presents, eating and visiting everyone here in our big family had a wonderful Christmas!!!

And as a added bonus the Big Boys (meaning Larry, Bubba & Jeremy) got to play the Wii and entertain the rest of us all day! Here is Larry & Mandi's Bubba boxing while Pop watches.

I will have to tell you it is addicting, Larry and I stayed up until 11:00 last night playing Mario Kart and Pool!!! If I come up MIA in the blogging world you know where I am (playing the wii)!!!

We are leaving in the morning for Destin to see Larry's sister Lisa. They are flying in from Wisconsin tonight and we have not seen them since last Christmas. Im excited to go, I have never been there and I heard it is beautiful! Hopefully I will have some great pics to share when we get back on Sunday!

Not Me! Monday

I'm going to apologize now, this one is a little long. There is quit a bit to confess this week with pictures (which by the way cannot be used as evidence...nope!)

*This one I should have confessed last week...we did not adopt another dog and he is not completely attached to my son!

*I did not make my kids put on the Santa hat to take a picture of them!

Me niece does not remind me of Cindy Lou Who from "The Grinch"
I do not have a great husband who cooks us the best breakfast sandwiches on the weekends and I don't drive him nuts with my camera!
My sister is not going to kill me when she finds out I posted this pic on the Internet!!! Love you Mandi!!!
*We did not spend 6 hours last night baking Christmas goodies!!! This is a tradition Mandi & I started several years ago and we look forward to every year until the last hour of baking then we cant wait for it to be over!!! That is not some sort of batter or white chocolate on my shirt either!Its a family affair...everyone helps in some way...even Pop, well he supervised!

*We did not eat all those delicious sweets and the dips Mom & Mandi made instead of eating a regular supper last night, that would make me a crazy mom for letting my kids eat junk instead of real food.

*I am not looking forward to Christmas morning to surprise my kids with something I didn't think we would be able to afford, but we have been very blessed by God, he works in great ways and we have a great family that has helped tremendously!

Check out Mckmama's blog to see other Not Me! Monday posts!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday~Firsts

This is my niece Katie during and after her first dance recital last Saturday. It was her first one and they were all so cute!!! The whole recital was awesome and all the kids did great in their performances! I cant wait to see the one in spring.

I had my first newborn shoots today! I did 2 this morning. One of them was for my cousins', Tabitha & Bruce, newest edition Little Miss Taylor 3 weeks old! Here is a sneak peek.

I will be adding more on my Blessing Captured Blog by this weekend when I'm done editing them.

Not Me! Monday

Wow the weeks are flying and Christmas is next week!!! I cant believe it! I missed last weeks Not Me! Monday so I wanted to do one today! For all of you that have some Not Me's you would like to confess or just read other Not Me's click on over Mckmama's blog and check it out!

*I did not have a total reality check (and cry alot) yesterday while at the church Christmas program because again this year I have forgotten (well not totally forgotten) the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

*I have not been so stressed over presents; what to buy, where is the extra money going to come from, is the present that I do buy not good enough. But sitting there yesterday and watching it all made me realize that all the worry is not going to help the matter only magnify it. All I need to do is enjoy this season because it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and thats all that matters!

What I want to know is how it all got so commercialized into making us feel we have to do more and more every year?

*We have not eaten fried pork chops twice this week, oh, and fried deer too!!! I forgot how wonderful fried food taste!

*I did not also make those Chocolate Mug Cakes three times last week either. Nope you cant prove it...the evidence is gone!

Can you say strict diet after January 1st!!! LOL

*I am not looking forward to this coming Sunday because we are going to do our Christmas baking...need I say more to that. And I will get to see that precious baby girl Lola!

*Larry & I have not started watching all the rerun episodes of Extreme Home Makeover and cried like babies over everyone of them (shhh don't tell him I told you he cried too).

*I'm not incredibly nervous about making the decision to take the kids out of Marion County Schools and put them into Wildwood after Christmas break or that I may be substituting by February...this is a big change for us, but I know it will work out!

*I do not without a doubt love taking pictures. I have finally found something that I have a passion for!

Yay Me!!!

Normally I would not "toot" my own horn at making such a small accomplishment...however I am so proud of myself for this one! I have been wanting to learn html and to write code to be able to do all sorts of neat things on the web and everything I tried usually left me extremely frustrated. The biggest thing I wanted to do was learn how to make a "button" which is a image that when you click on it you will be rerouted to another website and how to link to my email address.
Well thanks to one of the photography groups on Cafemom.com, someone posted a website that shows you how to do html easy!!! It took me several tries but I finally got what I wanted!!! Look to the left of this blog and see my Blessings Captured Photography button and my "click here to email me" link? I did that!!!!

Now I just need to figure out how to have the little box below it with the code just In case anyone else wants to put the button on their page and help my advertise my photography!!! I will be working on that next! Yay Me!!!

I would like to share with you a recipe we learned this week at 4-H. It is super easy and fun for the kids! Mrs. Tammy's son Isaac did a demonstration on this Tuesday. If you love chocolate you have to try this! Thanks Tammy & Isaac!!!!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tablespoons self rising flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
splash of vanilla
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well.
Add egg & mix thoroughly.
Pour in milk & oil and mix again, make sure there is no dry ingredients on the sides of mug.
Add chocolate chips and vanilla, then mix again.
Put mug into the microwave for 3 minutes...it will rise over the top of mug but will not run over (great fun for the kids to watch!)
Allow to cool a few minutes, then take out and tip onto a plate...top with your favorite
topping, IE. frosting, whip cream, chocolate syrup!!!
Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday~New Baby

The first couple I took the maternity photos for had their baby girl on Monday!
Miss Lola Vaughn Farmer! Isnt she adorable?! Mom, Dad and baby are doing well, I cant wait to take her newborn pics.
However, while we were visiting the hospital she heard me say "Im going to snap a few pictures with my camera", she pouted up and looked like she was going to cry and covered her face with her little hands...LOL. She is a sweetie!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend in GA

We went to Americus, Georgia for our Thanksgiving weekend, which ironicly is in Sumter County Georgia! My Brother went to college at Georgia Southwestern University to play baseball and while up there he met his wife Kiley. After finishing college they moved here to Florida and were married 3 years ago. So we have been up there several times throughout the years.

Last year my Mom and Pop bought a camper and decided to take it up to Andersonville, GA which is near the hunting lease Jeremy has and we all spent the weekend up there. We had a nice time, the weather was good, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Kiley's parents house and spent most of our time picking up pecans and visiting Plains (the home of Jimmy Carter) and Andersonville Civil War POW museum and cemetery.

So this year we went back for hunting, hopes of more pecans and taking some photos while there . Everyone else left a few days before us but we got there just in time for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. During the middle of the night it started raining and it didn't stop it followed us home on Sunday. The guys still went hunting a little but didn't see anything...They mainly just got wet. I did not get to do the photo shoot I was supposed to do either, but hopefully we can get together down here to get them done. Cheyenne, Mom and I spent most of our time in the camper or at Mrs. Julie's (Kiley's Mom's). We did venture into town one day and did a little shopping, but mostly we watched TV or read.

I bought the book "The Shack" after a recommendation from Lori...I finished it Monday night. It is a great book and very insightful. It will make you stop and think about your life and how you live it. If you haven't read it you should...its truly life altering.

It did stop raining for a couple of hours on Saturday so we ventured down into the little town of Andersonville. If you blink you literally will miss it. They have an old settlement down behind the little antique stores. We walked around and I took some nice shots of the old houses and the railroad tracks. The leaves have turned fall colors and we enjoyed looking at the different beautiful shades of brown, gold, yellow, purple and orange. One of the ladies from an antique store said "Don't worry about all the buzzards it's their mating season..." so needless to say there were buzzards flying around all over there too, roosting on the water tower...

We went over into the POW camp and rode around and took pictures. I can't count now how many times we have been there, but every time we go it just makes you think about all those men who were held captive in that camp during the Civil War. It really is a beautiful place but knowing what went on there and then going into the cemetery where they all were buried it is very sobering (that is how mom describes it).

There were no pecans either... last year we picked up a large box full, this year there was not one on the ground or in the trees. But even though it rained, the men didn't shoot a deer, there was no pecans and the drive home was horrendous. It was still a good holiday weekend spent with family and that is all that matters!

Here are some of the pics I took, it was pretty for a blink of an eye!

Not Me! Monday-A Day Late

I know Im a day late, but I have some Not Me's I need to let out!!!

*I did not buy a frozen bake yourself pumpkin pie last week only to at first not cook it long enough, then put it back in the oven to burn and get thrown away!

*I did not buy a new pre-baked pumpkin pie the next day at Walmart.

*Cheyenne & I did not eat that entire pie within 2 days with cool whip!

*I did not over indulge on all the Thanksgiving food over the weekend.

*My little love seat in the living room does not look like this...its my craft couch...LOL

*I did not let my kids skip Tuesday & Wednesday last week of school because they weren't doing anything anyway...plus I had alot to do...shhhh!

*My mom did not have this brilliant idea a few weeks ago for us girls to try on Mandi's pageant/bridesmaids gown and go outside barefoot to take pictures...

*I did not decide to let Cheyenne put all the ornaments on the tree this year...she did a good job don't you think?

*I do not get major shopping anxiety every time I go into a store because Christmas is 23 days away and Im not sure how we are going to pull it off this year...I just have to have faith!

****I do not secretly wish that I hadn't gotten irreversibly "fixed" so I could not have more children...

Ok, I feel better...