Saturday, February 28, 2009



Isn't this stuff lovely? It is American Crafts. I am so in love with their stuff. It is so bright, cheery and inspiring.

This is Heidi Swapp's House Warming Book over at her new business adventure....House of 3. All of their stuff over there is fully printable/digital. This is so freakin' adorable. It is their house warming event this weekend. You HAVE to go check it out. They have freebies and blog couture....like $1.50 for banners and backgrounds to dress-up your blogs!


Nichole Van took these photos for House of 3. She is such an amazing and talented photographer. If you have time, check out her work here (flickr or google her) and see more pictures from the House of 3 photo shoot on their website.

What else has been totally inspiring me? I added some more blogs that I love to look at for scrapbooking inspiration.

Totally tired today. Took a nap on the way home from McPherson today and I am ready for bed. I think I might finish up reading the third book in this series. I only have a couple of chapters left. Night!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Hey everybody!!!!!! How is everyone. We are hangin' in there over here. Well, it is official, James and I are now part of the unemployment community. Don't panic. We still have a job, but they cut our hours to 32, but we will be receiving unemployment for the other 8 hours. Hey, we are getting a 3 day weekend. Fridays off!!!!!!! So, Nolan "HAS" to attend school on Fridays, so it will be some reconnecting time for us. :)
Hmmm, what else is going on? Nolan is learning about his body at school. He is learning the skull, ribs, humerous, femur and phalanges. In addition to the he will learn the brain, heart and stomach. They traced their bodies on Monday, and then on each day they get to draw what the part of the body they are learning on their outlined bodies. Did that make sense? He is doing really well....such a cool project and I'm sure it will be something that I hang-up here at the house.
Well, just wanted to give a quick hello. Gonna go stalk some blogs now!

Oh, one last thing. Here is a picture from the dog session I had a 2 weekends ago. This is Brailey.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

So, I haven't posted any pictures in my last couple of posts. I thought you wouldn't mind "seeing" what we have been up to.
Nolan has really been playing with his blocks lately. He isn't necessarily building anything in particular, but sometimes he stacks his car inside them like a garage, or sometimes he builds a really long train.


Nolan loves to draw. I can't tell you how much we have spend on notebooks alone this year. I am tellin' ya that when it is back-to-school season and notebooks go on sale for 5cents a piece, we will be buying a case. Any who, Nolan and I have been drawing tattoos on each other lately. It was really cute the other day because I drew a heart with the word Mom inside. Wish I would have gotten a picture.


On the same day, Nolan decided that the pantry would be his new house. He took some of his stuff and made it his own. He woke up the next morning and was like, "Hey, who moved my stuff." His dust pan fell over. Jeez.....


Nolan and I stayed home sick yesterday. We were both coughing something terrible. Since the kid just won't sit still, we made this fun heart art thing (specific huh?) and hung it from our bar light. He made more of his own Valentines and cut out some underware (probably by accident) and felt the urge to hang those up as well. One thing about Nolan is he LOVES tape. OMG. I cannot keep it in the house.





Since on Thursday they are making friendship cookies at school, I mixed up some egg-free sugar cookie dough (the best dough by the way....even compared to ones with eggs) and we made what he didn't need to have here at home. James LOVES sugar cookies!!


So, here is the funny/scary part. He he....So, I'm rolling out the dough and Nolan makes a cookie into a ball. He then puts it in a scale/cup thingie and puts it in the microwave for 16 secs. We allow him to cook as long as we are supervising. Well, I just took some cookies out of the oven when he likes, "Look Mommy, there's smoke." I checked the oven thinking that is where it was coming from. I buzzed around the house turning on the ceiling fans and opening windows. There was a lot of smoke! I told Nolan to go outside. I was like, what the heck. I opened the microwave and a huge cloud of smoke came out. Here I'm thinking this doesn't make sense because he put it in there for 16 secs. Well, I guess the cup wasn't microwave safe and the ball of cookie dough looked like a burnt turd. ha ha ha......
Let me just say, "Thank goodness I got my grape candle today." That is the best smelling candle ever and my house totally needed it!!!!!!!!

Enjoy.......

Sunday, February 8, 2009

I need a longer weekend.........

So, I had all these great ideas to do this weekend, much of which involved working on my new website. Well, I did work on it, but not as much as I had hoped.

Friday night was the usual. I didn't stay up to late because it was such a long day. It was just personally stressful.

Saturday I had plans to really get some serious work done. Nolan's friend Jarren came over and I was super excited because then he would be leaving me alone! Okay, I know that sounds bad, but seriously, I can't even sit down to do anything without him up my you-know-what.....So, my friend Katrina calls and asks if we all want to play at the park. Well, she wound up coming over here with E and all the kids played together. I really didn't get anything done because it is kinda rude to be sitting at a computer while your friend is there. KWIM????
She stayed at ate dinner with us and by the time she left, there wasn't much left in me to really get into a flow to work on stuff.
I did however go through some more of my Dad's papers and found all of his military orders, my sister's birth certificates along with his first Wife's. It's pretty cool to see where my Dad had been and when along with all of his military accomplishments.

Today my Mom came over and I made it perfectly clear that I had work that needed to be done. Well, I woke at 7 am with a massive migraine. This is the second one I have had this week. The kind that when you move your head it is just a sharp pain......So I took 4 Tylenol's fed Nolan some breakfast, tried to stay up for 2 hours and finally decided to go back to bed. James was nice and got up with Nolan so I could try to sleep it off.
I did work on the website some more. It is sooo not what I have in mind and I realize it is just going to take time. This (and continued work to improve it) will work just fine for now. I am just starting and it's not like I have a ton of money to be buying a flash website. They really are not that expensive, but I do want like a $360 lens to add to my minimal arsenal before anything. Most lens (that pros use) are well over $1000.00, but this is why I'm affordable. I don't quite need L glass yet and unless I'm doing something super important, like a wedding, then I think most people will find my lens just fine.

Okay, so before working on the website today, our power was out for 3 hours. We went and picked-up my Mom and when we got back home I decided I really needed to get Nolan's valentines done for his classroom party of Friday. I really don't have time during the week, so with no power, it seemed like the perfect time. Here is what I made:

Does this not scream Nolan to you? It is so cute and only took about 2 hours to make 23 of them. Nolan stole one of the boxes of candy to make me a "book," so I guess he won't be getting one. I used Hershey kisses instead of peanut butter cups. Oh, I got the idea from here.

Hope everyone has a great week. I still need to make James' Valentines gift, make my business card holders and get some ideas going for my two photo sessions this weekend. Eekk.... so awesome to have some business!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Bad, bad, blogger

So, I really have been a bad blogger. I wish I could use the excuse that I have been terribly busy, but I have had time.
I officially started my photography business: Kim City Photography. My website is live, but has very little on it. There is a ton to do with a website and it is very time consuming. I find it difficult to get anything done because Nolan is usually hanging on my arm.
I had a photo session with my great friend Caitlin today. I love being around her. She is so fun and just makes you feel good. We spend about 2 hours doing different photos around Wichita. Some are in formal wear....mixed in with a little urban, and a lot of punk/urban shots. I even got a cute Mary-Tyler more type shot that I just love! I am still editing, but I am hoping to have some up on my website this weekend.
Just a little bragging rights on Nolan. So, just to remind you he turned 4 in October. He knows all of the months of the year, everyday of the week, his alphabet (both saying, recognizing and sounds) and can count to who knows how high!
He is quite the artist in both music and drawing. At school they are watching him develop my making 3-dimensional art instead of flat art. He seems to be the only one who is doing this. It makes my Mommy heart burst! We have always encouraged him with anything he wants to pursue, so I am glad to see his creative side flourishing.
Since it has been so long since I have blogged, I have forgotten everything that I wanted to tell you. I am hoping I will be more diligent as I am trying to wake earlier and enjoy some of the peace that the morning offers. I seem to be most creative early in the morning between the hours of 2 and 6. Weird because I am usually asleep during those hours!