a bag of chips

Tourist attractions.

My other in-laws from Trinidad are visiting now.  My father-in-law, Donald, his wife, Christine, and their daughter, Rebecca, are in town for a spell.  (Jonathan, Rebecca's delightful younger brother, came last year near the end of his summer break from college in Florida.)  Yesterday we braved the crazy LA freeways and went to Venice Beach, Bel Air (including a detour to see my grandparents), Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and then we raced through town, fighting traffic and approaching dusk, to get a shot beneath the Hollywood sign.  It was a long day but we had lots of fun.  Here are some shots from our excursion.

(Photo #1 was taken on the Venice Beach pier.)

(Photo #2 is of some statues being sold by a beach vendor.  I loved how cute they were.)

(Photo #3 is of a savvy and talented young man selling his CDs to passersby.  He was a good salesman, too.  Not too pushy, knew when to move on.  And he posed for me.  So cute.)

(Photo #4 is Rebecca outside Dolce and Gabanna on Rodeo Drive standing alongside a lovely young man who was a dead-ringer for Owen Wilson.  He offered to pose with her and how could she refuse?)

(Photo #5 was taken as close to the Holllywood sign as we got before it got too dark.  They were standing in the middle of the street, risking life and limb just for the shot.  Totally worth it.)

RAK winners!

Okay, my sister-in-law, Rebecca, has picked three numbers between one and fourteen (the number of comments to this post) and she has picked 8, 9 and 10.  So, congrats to:

Josette

Joy

Andrea 

Please send me an email with your addresses and some happy mail is headed your way.  If your wish is that I donate your RAK to charity, please provide me with that information.

Also, I found out that one of my local scrapbook stores, Scrappin' Attack, has a "garage sale" where you can pay a $5.00 fee to sell your unused supplies.  I bring them my fee and my box of stuff, they give me a "number" and they track my sales for the day.  I don't even have to be there if I don't want to or can't be there.  And then I get some yummy store credit to splurge on fab new CHA releases.  I plan to sell most of my beloved Stampin' Up stamp sets (many unused and/or unmounted), lots of cardstock and older papers, eyelets and other such stuff.  If any of you out there have a need to sell off some of your supplies, see if your local scrapbook store has a garage sale or similar event, or suggest they have one.  The garage sale at Scrappin' Attack is this Saturday and I'll post next week about how that went.

Anyway, thanks for playing and congrats to the lucky ladies.

Cheers!

Can you believe...

...that Nadia is going to be FIVE MONTHS OLD in a week???  Holy heck, but where does the time go?  I know this is the most cliche of parenting mantras and rhetorical questions, but it just happens to be the most truthful.  I don't know if having two other children and a busy extra-curricular schedule has contributed to the fastest moving almost five-month span of my life, but I get whiplash just thinking about just how fast it's gone. 

Today she had her third meal of solid foods.  Rice cereal and squash, to be exact.  She's also had bananas and seemed to like them pretty well.  What I had forgotten about is how messy it can be spoon feeding runny cereal to a baby.  She sits in her Bumbo chair (greatest baby invention EVER) and merrily sucks the food from the spoon, then shoves the plastic, pocketed bib into mouth while I scoop up another spoonful.  She gets it EVERYWHERE.  And you know how hard those neck creases and behind-the-ear creases are to clean.  I am also hoping that adding solid foods to her diet will help with the sleeping-through-the-night thing.  Hoping, hoping, hoping. 

It felt strange buying baby food.  I mean she was JUST born and here I am buying baby food already.  Though I have a feeling that, next thing I  know, I'll be shopping for furniture for Aidan's dorm room at UCLA where he's getting a full-ride on a football (or basketball) scholarship, a prom dress for Makena and fighting over whether she can get a backless gown (I will win that argument and she'll say she hates me and then we'll kiss and make up over Frappuccinos and madeleines), and arguing with Nadia about her learner's permit and that, no, you can't have daddy's car just because it's 25 years old.

So, here's Nadia, looking adorable as always, Aidan with his beloved stick, and Makena trying to whistle.

 

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

So, does it feel like something's different around here?  Remember in my last post how I said one of the things I was working on was a website?  Well, I realized that there was no way that I was going to get a business website (for which I have to do all my own HTML coding) done any time soon.  So I've created another blog.  www.tcphotography.typepad.com.  This blog is dedicated to just my photography.  I'll share favorites from recent sessions and all my portfolio images will be there as well.  To your left, just below my photo, is a link to it.

This blog is just about me and my family and scrapbooking.

So, dear friends, take a detour on over there and let me know what you think.  And if you're still considering scheduling a session with moi, now is the time to get it on my calendar.

So I've decided to...

...sort my alphabet embellies (chipboard, mostly) by alpha group rather than by manufacturer.  I found that when I punched a chippie from its original board and then changed my mind about using it, what to do with then it was an issue.  I've seen some other gals around who have sorted their stuff this way and I've decided to try it for myself.  Beth Proudfoot has shared a photo of her embellishment storage at the Simple Studio and I'm seriously tempted to do this as well.  Besides, it looks pretty.

...purge, seriously purge, and RAK (random act of kindness) the results.  I love all of my supplies, some merely for the fact that I paid good money for them.  But it's time to let some of them go.  Like the SEI papers that are now over five years old and need to find a new home.  I've also got a few pizza-sized boxes already full of stuff to give away.  I'll randomly choose three names from those who reply to this post to receive my loved but (mostly) unused goodies, or if you can provide me with a charity to donate the supplies to.

...bite the bullet and get a Website for my photograghy business.  It's about time.  My goal is to have it up and running by the end of March.  I've purchased a Winklet template which requires the user to do all the coding, so we'll see in a few weeks if that goal is realistic.  The hardeset part right now is choosing the photos I want to use. 

...lose weight, but after my Girl Scout cookies have come and gone.  I mean, I want to give myself a fighting chance of at least getting off to a good start and having six boxes of Thin Mints in my house is just asking for failure.  My goal is to walk at least three times a week (I plan to start this next week), and maybe even join a gym.  I'm not hoping to drop a huge amount of weight, just enough so I feel a bit healthier and look a bit better naked.

...post some recent layouts (the black-and-white layout is of my gorgeous grandmother and is for a challenge at the Simple Studio, and the green one is for a challenge on the Look Blog):

Cutie Patootie.

Miss Nadia, my 4.5 month (!!!) old baby girl is THE cutest thing on the planet.  She is chubby and has this full head of hair.  I call her my little Chia Pet.  She's a droolin' fool lately and puts everything straight in her mouth.  She's been exercising her vocal cords with reckless abandon and has given me a few precious belly laughs.  She hates tummy time but has managed to roll from her tummy to her back twice, each time out of sheer anger and frustration.  She sleeps through the night now and then and catnaps throughout the day. She *LOVES* her big brother and sister and they love her right back.  And she is getting big enough to play in her little exersaucer thing. 

We visit with B., Nadia's birthmother, about every other week, though the last few times Nadia screamed whenever B. even looked in her direction.  I'm going to make sure Nadia has a good nap next time we see B. to see if that helps Nadia's disposition.  B. is doing well and is in school and working. I'm so proud of her.  I miss her.  After spending nearly every day together before Nadia's birth, I had gotten so used to her company.  Aidan and Makena miss her too.  I'm hoping we'll get a chance to see her this weekend.

So, as promised to Joyce, my favorite mother-in-law who is now back in Trinidad and back to her daily grind, here is a photo of Nadia from two days ago.

She's three!

So she was three almost two weeks ago and here I am just now posting pictures from her big day.  This girl is so stinking adorable it very nearly makes me weep. She is the so affectionate and goofy, and she'll just stand around and clap and sing and dance. She's just a happy girl and she has been such a blessing in our lives. She loves her brudder and widdo sistuh and her mama, and she is a total daddy's girl. And we love her.

The last photo is Makena with her cousin. He is in *love* with her! It's the cutest thing.

Photo sessions.

Interested in booking a session?  Please view the "Prices and Other Info" link to the left and then email me with interest.  Looking forward to hearing from you!