A Day in the Life of the Outlaw Mama

Homeschooling? Us? Oh yes!

2010-07-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

Because with everything else going on, we decided we needed one more thing to try to devote time and attention to! LOL

My daughter is brilliant.

Yeah I know. All moms say that, right? Well I mean it! And most people we know would agree with me, too!

So like most five year olds, McCayla started Kindergarten last fall. We sent her to Alkek Elementary here in town. It's a nice school, and we really loved her teacher, Mrs. Lopez. (who happens to be the daughter of my Drivers' Ed. teacher and his wife who taught my little brother in elementary school!)

But it wasn't very long into the school year when we noticed a few things.
Once the new wore off, McCayla wasn't behaving. And I don't mean the typical pack-mentality where she just wanted to play like everybody else.
She wouldn't listen to the teacher. She would get up in the middle of class and start running around playing during lessons. She wouldn't stop what she was doing when it was clean up time. Not to mention she was acting up a bit at home as well.

Do all kindergartners do this? Yeah, probably. But this is quite out of character for her. Highly. We asked her why she was misbehaving, and got an answer that both surprised us and relieved us.

"I'm bored."

Turns out, she already knew everything they were teaching at school. For my daughter who could read at a 1st and 2nd grade level, having to sit still and learn "The A says AHH" over and over (and this was still going on toward the end of the school year) was just too much for her to handle. She was already in AR (accelerated reading) but that was stuff she brought home to do, not something to occupy her during her uninteresting school day.

So when school let out for the summer, James and I discussed our options at length. With both of us being former homeschoolers (him of the curriculum variety, and me an Unschooler), we ultimately decided that it may be the best option for our children as well. Or at least for McCayla. At least for now. And the best part is, we can teach her what SHE wants and needs to learn. At a grade level that is appropriate for her brilliant mind. :)

We started a week ago (yes, I know it's summer. But this kid craves learning daily!) and she is really enjoying it! We went for a blend of Unschooling with a little bit of bookwork and worksheets thrown in.

We started with doing reading and math every day for the first few days. Basic addition/subtraction and such mostly, and reading books from the library and some sight word lists for 1st and 2nd grade just to be sure she is on track (she definitely is). We are now getting into some more "fun" stuff and I am going to post about that separately. I figure this is a good way to keep track of the things we have done (for my records) as well as keep my family posted on what The Girl is up to. :)

More to come!

Where in the world is Outlaw Mama??

2010-07-01T04:22:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a long time since I updated, and I apologize! Things have been crazy around here, and lots of major milestones have happened - not the least of which is our pregnancy!

In late February we were elated to discover that we were expecting again. We planned to get pregnant, and were blessed that it happened (much to our shock) the very first month.

When I broke the news to the kids, I asked if they thought it was a brother or a sister. McCayla wanted a sister. Canon said it was twins.. twin boys to be exact. Three year olds can be so funny!

A few weeks later, I made a late night trip to the emergency room for some severe cramping and minor spotting. An ultrasound revealed the source of the spotting: a small subchorionic hemorrhage (SCH) that was not a serious threat to me or our baby as it was no longer actively bleeding, and was more of a clot at this point.

However, it also revealed something else. Another baby.
Yes. That is what I said. Another baby. Twins. Fraternal twins.
I had about a split second to be shocked. Another split second to be overjoyed. And then an instant later, everything changed again.
They told me that the SCH was right where Baby B was attached to the uterus. There was a chance that the hemorrhage would reabsorb itself and cause no issues. It was also possible that it could bleed out slowly, which would also rectify the situation without too much concern. Most likely though, it would just stick around "as is" for a while.. which in and of itself is no problem. The problem was that it was in the way. It was right where Baby B needed to hang on for dear life.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened. Baby B was not able to get a good enough grip when laying down the groundwork for his/her placenta and could not get properly attached. We ended up losing Baby B, which saddens us deeply. The only thing that makes it a little easier on us is that we had a heads up and knew that it was likely. I am grateful that we were not caught off guard with a sudden and unexpected loss.

We are thrilled to announce though, that Baby A is a very healthy little BOY and is due around Halloween 2010, give or take a week or so either way. :) We are excited and trying to finish preparing for his arrival.
I have all of my cloth diapers and accessories ready, most of the clothes that I will need, and I am working on collecting the last few things!
Nikolas (Niko) currently doesn't have a middle name, though I think we are close! LOL As soon as we know more, I will let you know! And I will do my best to keep this updated better this year.. (blush)

Thanks for sticking around even though I haven't posted anything in eons.. I have LOTS to talk about this year so expect more updates!!
:)

Corn Maize - FINALLY.. and a Christmas Parade too!

2009-12-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

We did eventually make it to the Maize before they closed for the season! And it worked out great. It was chilly but not freezing, so not too stuffy in the tall Maize Maze (ha!).. and that day happened to only be open by reservation for Scouts, Homeschooling, etc.. there was our group, one older Scout group, and one small homeschooling group. No crowds! Plus they threw in the hayride and barrel train for free!

JoAnn has the pictures since I was using her camera to take photos, but I will add those when I get them from her.. :)

They did get patches, they say "I survived the Maze!" hehe

Last Saturday was the Bandera Christmas Parade - the scouts (not just our troop, the whole Bandera Service Unit) rode on a float singing Christmas Carols (if you could call that singing! lol) and throwing candy.. turnout was decent considering it was FREEZING. (it was 20* when I took McCayla to the Legion to start decorating the float, my windshield was covered in ice which is RARE around here!)..

James was shooting the parade for the Bandera Bulletin and got a few photos of "our" girls :) The group of littluns up there in front is our's, and the red hat is Mrs. A. I'm the pale faced one next to her. HA!

(That's my little girl behind the post - long hair, looking confused.. hehehe)
They got awesome patches from a wonderful eBay store (TroopMoore) and I can't wait to put her's on her vest!

We started their Christmas craft at this week's meeting - we'll finish it next week, and we're also doing our holiday party. Sounds like fun! More updates soon!

She does so many giveaways, I have a new favorite blog to follow!

2009-07-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yep, Mama B is doing a Kissaluvs giveaway too! And these looks SO nice! I didn't know KL made prints but these sure are adorable!

http://www.mamabee.net/2009/06/product-buzz-kissaluvs-marvel-fitted.html

I love the Mocca Swirl, I'd love to own that! (hey is there a :drool: icon here?!?)

Booroi covers anybody?

2009-07-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

So I keep seeing posts on "Booroi" covers on Diaperswappers.. so I looked into them and they look SO awesome - like PUL cover meets gDiapers, in a way - you can reuse them if they're not soiled, but they have INNER gussets to hold everything in! How cool is that? And they appear to fit well..
I broke down and ordered one from Diaperlicious and can't wait for it to come, but honestly - it looks like something that's going to make me want to convert my entire hodge-podge of a stash into nothing but Booroi covers and prefolds! (eeeek!) Unfortunately you can't even find the dang things on FSOT because everyone wants them, though!

Anyway I entered a giveaway on Thrifty Mama B's blog, hopefully I win! I'm using all possible entries hehehe but you guys aren't allowed to go enter, because **I** I have to win!! I WANT THAT BOOROI!!!

http://www.mamabee.net/2009/06/product-buzz-booroi-reusable-cloth.html

Custom Camera Strap Cover Giveaway at Swanky Straps!

2009-05-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

Swanky Straps Giveaway

I love the one strap cover that Mandy made me, so I'd love to try one from Swanky Straps. I entered. Hope I win. LOL

In other news, the Outlaw Studio is almost up and running! Just waiting on "lit up EXIT signs" before they'll issue our Certificate of Occupancy. Sigh. There used to be signs here.. a previous tenant must've thieved them. Gah!

I've been MIA, I know! :/

2009-04-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

I've been so focused on Lil' Outlaws and Outlaw Photography (Lil' Outlaws division) that I have totally slacked on the blog! Eeek I'm so sorry!

I have been blogging lightly over at Lil' Outlaws, though!

I'll try to make some time to come post new pictures and stuff soon.. a lot has been "missed" - including a broken arm on my 2 year old son!

The latest updates - including babies and soap!

2009-01-26T15:14:00.001-08:00

First of all, I'd like to say that I am SUPER excited and proud to announce.. I'm being interviewed for WAHM Wednesdays on Heidi's blog !! I sent her some soap in a swap, and she liked it so much that she decided to review them on the blog.. I am THRILLED! My interview will be February 4th, you guys make sure to go check it out!

Next up, new "soap porn" - AKA photos of some of my latest soaps :)

Blueberry Pomegranate (now sold out!)
Fredericksburg Peaches & Cream (Part of the Local Soaps Project)

Special "Inauguration Day" soap, scented with "Democrat" - limited edition

and one more, so I don't hog up the post with pictures..

Tomato Basil Salt Bars

Also I want to thank Jennifer from Jennifer Morais Photography, she sent me some photos she did in some Lil' Outlaws Baby Leggies - how sweet of her!

aaaaand finally for the pictures today.. my last maternity shoot, Barbara, came back yesterday and brought their beautiful 7wk old daughter, Ellarie. Here are a couple of my favorites :)

and last but not least, the few updates on the kids:
I've finally switched both kids around to forward facing carseats. McCayla hit the rear-facing limits on her's, and Canon hit a growth spurt so that even though he has a few pounds on the limits, the straps didn't fit anymore. So we saved and saved and bought them two very nice, SUPER safe carseats. We went with the Graco Nautilus - it's a 5-point harness up to 65 lbs and then a belt positioning booster to 100lbs, so basically the last carseat the kids will need. I only wish it were rear-facing as well, so that if we ever had another baby we would be able to get by with one carseat from infant to 10 years old! Oh well, it's still the safest carseat we could get, and we couldn't be happier.. and the kids are pretty happy too, I might add!

(just noticed that McCayla had her chest clip pushed down.. we were parked though LOL)

Everything else is going well here.. still trying to sell the houses and move, but who isn't? Housing market is pretty much shot right now.. Oh well!

Thanks for checking in!

-Jacklen

Miscellaneous Updates and a fun contest!

2009-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Contest first!
My friend Holly's company was reviewed on MySentiment Exact Lee - and how cool is that!??! She makes pendants using breastmilk, preserved in a resin bead. I know some of you think "okay, that's a bit nuts" but as a mother who breastfed my children, I think it's beautiful. Making human milk is a special gift, and once your children are older and that gift is gone.. well, you have nothing left but memories of special bonding moments with your babies. Her pendants are a great way to hold on to a bit of that :) And MySentiment Exact Lee is having a giveaway - just post a comment to be entered, but it ends tonight at midnight! So act fast :) Holly has graciously offered to give one lucky winner their very own pendant! I entered - will you?

http://www.mysentimentexactlee.com/2009/01/hollydaydesigns-breastmilk-pendant.html

and I'll be back later with more updates - Canon has a doctor's appointment today for a weird rash and stuff so I need to go get him a bath and get the diapers folded :)

It's been a while, I know :( TONS of pics included..

2008-12-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since I updated.. it's just been one of those months.. holidays are so hectic, lots of rush orders for Lil' Outlaws , trying to get my website updated with a shopping cart feature, plus lots of stuff going on around Bandera in general. Here are a bunch of photos from recently, I'll try to add more text ASAP!

TONS of pics here..
First off, you guys wouldn't believe how many packages have gone out in the last couple of weeks. I finally closed down customs from last Friday until the beginning of the year - however I will be having an after Christmas sale over at Raining Baby Fluff for the few days following Christmas (starting at midnight 12/25).

Check out all the outgoing orders...

And this is how I keep orders straight.. as they come in and get paid for, I copy shipping info and order details to a text file on the computer.. every evening before James gets home, I copy the orders into categories on a dry erase board. When James gets home, he watches kids and gives me free time to work. I knock out all of the day's orders every night, so they can ship the next morning. This is how I get all orders (except wood crafts and Tumbleweeds) out within 24 hours.

And some of my favorites from recently..

Mint Chocolate Pony Soap (scented Mint Chocolate with a toy pony inside, intended to match the fabric of the same name):

Joy to the World embossed soap:

Tumbleweeds:

Bath Fizzers:

and I also now offer bath crayons! Here I wrote on my fridge to test the color intensity..

Let's see, what else..? Oh yeah, we took the kids to drive through Johnson City to see the Christmas lights.. Canon was asleep by the time we got there, but McCayla had a BLAST. Lights are her favorite part of the season..

And we got some snow one night.. it didn't really stick and it was so late at night that we didn't really get any photos.. but when we took McCayla to my mom's the next day there was still a little bit sitting in the shady areas.. here's McCayla with a handful she got off of the trunk of my dad's car..

We went to the Tarpley Christmas Party down at the old schoolhouse.. it was a potluck, so I took my Andes Mint Pie..

And McCayla took this picture of James at the party.. check out the full beard!

And I also started trying my hand at a different kind of soapmaking - I usually do melt and pour soapcasting, but now I'm trying cold process and I really like it. Still getting used to it, I'm only 4 batches in.. but I really am having a lot of fun.
Down front is my first, it's a bluebonnet swirl.. the round ones are Chamomile Tea shampoo bars for my mom, the orange one is a pumpkin spice..

and this is batch #4, it's Sweet Milk and Amber, made with goat's milk..

aaaaaaand yet more pictures :) Lots of photos from the studio - babies and maternity, hooray!

and FINALLY, some photos from this past weekend... we went to the coast with my "sister" Danielle and did round one of her senior photos.. is she amazing or what??

..and then my darling, wonderful hubby dropped me off at the aquarium for a last minute dolphin show :) It's my favorite part and he knows it.. so he watched Canon in the car (Canon was sleeping) while I ran in and watched the dolphins :)

and last but not least, I want to wish my Mommy a very happy birthday - she turns [expletive deleted] today - so Happy XXth Birthday, Mom!! (ROFLMAO)

I've never seen so many packages in one day!

2008-12-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day at the Post Office!
I finally finished the tidal wave of orders that came in for Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend! I sent out a total of 15 packages today, and the wagon we took to the PO was overflowing! I wish I'd have had my camera, I'd have taken a picture of that - kids piled ontop of boxes and packages :)

Here's the packages before they went out: (I still have one more for Terri here that goes out tomorrow)

and then I got 9 packages in the mail today - I missed the PO Friday as well as Saturday, so there were a few waiting for me :) I have more coming too - I was lucky enough to be able to trade my soaps, detergent, etc. for items from other WAHMs for my family's Christmas gifts. (Hooray!) and I'll post pics and links as those start coming in. I have a few things that I'm very excited about!

Here's today's fluff, unopened:

and opened (contents list coming next):

The five diapers on the bottom, along with the white/pink shirt and three flowered hair clips are from Sabrina - traded her for some longies and fleece footies that Canon wouldn't wear (cry). All for the studio, except maybe the clippies :D
The thing on the right is a flattened wine bottle (yes, real!) that is now a really unique spoon rest (like when you're cooking and have the dirty stirring spoon). Two DVDs, new in package - for the kids for Christmas. Elmo for him and Happy Feet for her.
The pink diaper and tiny striped diaper are for the studio (I may let Canon wear pink - that's a Jellybean Muttaqin Baby 3SR there!), also traded for them. The white hat, rainbow hat, and rainbow scarf I got in a trade for some rump solution - rainbow is Canon's if it'll fit, otherwise it's for the studio. (Okay I really need some babies in the studio - if you have a LITTLE baby or will have one soon, please email me!) The thing with cars on it is a flannel sleep sack for Canon so he stays warm in bed this winter. And finally, my favorite part of the fluff for today - the brown hat in the middle with teddy bear ears - and a tail!!
Here's an action shot of that - it's just to die for!
(he was mad because McCayla kept trying to steal his hat)

and last but not least - I finally finished and shipped the large letter order today! Hooray! (that was the big box in the outgoing fluff picture)
Here's the finals on them:
Here's the inspiration for that one:

and the inspiration for that one too:

Okay I think there's way more than enough photos in today's post - more tomorrow! :D

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

2008-11-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

9Hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving - my family certainly did! We did Turkey Day yesterday with my parents, here at our house. Then my parents decided to take both kids overnight while they went to stay at Kim's house (to do "real" Thanksgiving today with her and Danielle).

Before I get to the pictures and fun, I'd like to copy our MySpace announcement here for you guys - if you're local to Bandera, go ahead and book your kiddos!

Good evening mates! I hope you guys are ready to rock Thanksgiving break! It's going to be a fun week, no doubt.

I wanted to share first with our MySpace mates that we are doing our first-ever Children's Christmas Portraits special event on Sunday, Nov. 30, beginning at 1 p.m. by appointment only. As always, you guys get first wind of our best specials and offers. We're timing this event to help you get your prints back in time to send out with Christmas cards to family and friends!
The format is the same as our Easter special, which was a huge success. You pay $20 for your session, which includes a free 8x10, and you're welcome to purchase additional prints during your post-shoot viewing. And as always with our Uniquely Wonderful 100% satisfaction guarantee, there is no risk to come in and shoot!
Jacklen will be photographing all the kiddos for this event. Her Lil' Outlaws children's division of Outlaw Photography has really taken off this fall. She is hard at work as I type this building props for this awesome Christmas special event.
The shoot will be held at our new studio location in the Athletic Academy office next door to Taquerias Aguascalientes in the strip mall in Bandera.
We are limiting this event to 12 sessions, so book your shoot today! Our official announcement will go out to all our clients and on our web sites this weekend.
To book, e-mail James@outlawphotography. net, or call 830-688-1564.
Thank you for supporting Outlaw!
James Taylor
The Outlaw Photographer
OutlawPhotography. net
830-688-1564

And now for the boring stuff LOL

The kids made handprint/footprint Turkeys out of construction paper on Tuesday - they are SO cute!

And yesterday while we were making T-Day dinner, McCayla got to help me crumble the cornbread for the dressing. It's a family tradition - my mom has pictures of me helping her, at just about every age from birth to adulthood. McCayla has helped me since she was 7 months old :)

..and we got to spend a little time with my parents. They live a couple of hours away, so it's always great when they get a chance to come on out to lil' ol' Tarpley :D

Dinner was delicious - turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans, crusty bread, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, lemon meringue pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. Yum-O!!!

Today I went out to pick the kids up from Kim's house - while we were there, her cat Tux decided that my mom was a pirate.. Arrrgh!
(and I must add, while I was at Kim's I was lucky enough to indulge in her apple pie and deeeeeelicious fudge!!)

I took some product photos on my way home, but they're on James' camera so I'll add those when he gets them to me - I'm THRILLED with how they came out, and I hope Jen (the owner of the products) likes them as much as I do! My favorites were down at "Heaven" - and any of you Bandera locals know exactly where that is!

Then I came home and worked (and worked and worked..) on my big letter order. I guaranteed it to ship by Saturday so I'm trying to work on it as much as possible. And today really helped - I'm almost done!
Here's the progress so far:

**John Deere "M" and weathered black "C"**

**"Family" in weathered hunter/cream

**monogram kCc in pink/brown elephants** (it's sitting in the wrong order)

**monogram cCk to match the Aloha bedding from Pottery Barn**

and then separate from that order, I'm working on a Oakland Raiders themed wooden cross for my friend Terri - it's a Christmas present for her hubby, JT.

More later, maybe! :) (edited to add this little doohickey I stole from my dad's Opera page)

Kids' Christmas shoot, Ergo contest, maternity stuff and more.

2008-11-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

First things first - any of you babywearin' mamas want to win a free embroidered Ergo? Yeah, I thought you might!
Entry is free, give it a shot!
http://www.alongfortheride.biz/Win-a-Free-Organic-Embroidered-Ergo-Baby-Carrier-s/49.htm

Took the kids to the studio yesterday, a little practice for next weekend's Christmas Mini's. Got a few cute ones, though the kids weren't really in a cooperative mood this time around.. a few of my favorites:

(yeah, he's in a giant stocking hehe)

and one for Jennel - this is her new OS fitted diaper, in an awesome Cowboy Clause print.. love it!! (Perfect for Bandera, eh?)

and finally, I did a maternity shoot today - I haven't seen the photos since James got ahold of them but I think it went well. I'm excited to see them when he has time to process them! :)

Flying kites and kicking balls..

2008-11-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

So I *finally* cleared my memory card and I have some really cute shots of the kids I've been meaning to post.. then some from today that were cute too :) Lots of pics tonight!!

Kite Flying at Mansfield Park

ZOO BOO at the San Antonio Zoo (10-30-08)
The kids had a great time, they got to play games and Trick-or-Treat throughout the zoo (along with about a billion other kids! Yeesh!) - Canon was fascinated by all the goings-on, since it was new to him.

(Canon playing mini-golf)
(McCayla playing fling the frog)
(Both kids playing musical chairs - he's covered in lollipop-drool!)

Letter order I recently finished - cute sports theme for the precious little Tristan.

And then today, James and I took the kids to the youth soccer field with a little ball to run around and burn off some energy - and boy, did they run! Just a few (okay *quite* a few!) of my favorites..

And finally, last thing for today - a lot of people keep asking me how my two kids both fit in their carseats. Many of you who know me personally know that they are both still rear-facing. That's right - one year and twenty pounds? Are you kidding me!? NOPE. My daughter is 4.5 years old and just hit 34 pounds. Her seat rear faces to 33lb so I need to turn her around, finally. (I'm upset about this) My son is 22 months old and almost 30 pounds. He has the same kind of carseat. So the universal question is, how do children of this size FIT rearfacing? Isn't it uncomfortable? Aren't they cramped? They can't be happy like that, can they!?
The answer? NO they're not uncomfortable. NO they're not cramped. YES they can be happy like this! Want proof??

(Those are some happy kids, there!)

McCayla sits cross-legged and is happy as a clam. Canon puts his feet on the back seat and doesn't complain one bit! We are SO very proud and happy to be an extended-rear-facing family! Hopefully more people will follow suit - especially those who didn't think it was possible to do it this long! :)

As always, thanks for reading - more to come as I'm able :)

Chilly outside much?

2008-11-15T21:29:00.002-08:00

Wow it's getting chillier every day! This is the first day this year we've actually had the (one and only) heater in the house going all day! And my tootsies are still freezing!

Right now, weather underground says:

42.5 °F / 5.8 °C

Clear

Windchill:	42 °F / 6 °C
Humidity:	39%
Dew Point:	19 °F / -7 °C
Wind:	3.0 mph / 4 km/h from the NW
Wind Gust:	3.0 mph / 4 km/h
Pressure:	30.43 in / 1030.4 hPa (Rising)
Visibility:	10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:	0 out of 16
Clouds:	Clear - (Above Ground Level)
Elevation:	1730 ft / 527 m

For later though it says:

Freeze warning in effect from 9 PM this evening to 9 am CST Sunday...
	Tonight Clear...colder. Lows in the upper 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Below freezing! wow. I should put a bowl of water out to freeze for McCayla to see. My mom used to do that for us. We were fascinated by it being frozen in the morning :)

Time to dig out the knit hats/beanies, scarves, gloves, and coats! I hope they're not all in the bottom and back of our 10x10 storage unit.. that would be a PITA!

..

2008-11-15T21:29:00.001-08:00

My heart feels better...

2008-11-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

Ever just had one of those weeks? Where you feel like death would be a welcome respite?

Yeah. Me too.

But as of today, I do feel quite a bit better. Things still aren't perfect, of course, but "better" is a good thing. My kids are still driving me batty, my house is still a disaster, our debt is still insurmountable (yayyyyy recession!).. but our love is strong and our family is, too.

So I've been looking through some old photos on the laptop and found some of my favorites.. just wanted to share, because they made me smile. Even when I felt like I couldn't. :)

Life sucks..

2008-11-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt like the world was crashing down around your ears?

That is all.

Wow it's been over a week!

2008-11-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

I got so caught up with the fundraiser and Halloween and everything else, that I just "forgot" to come post! Eeek. Family says they're getting bored, I need to post entertainment for them!

Let's see, what's happened lately..
The fundraiser of course - did decently but not as well as I'd hoped. But we did make a bit of money for charity, which is always good! Plus I got some business cards out there, which is great too!

Plus some pics of the kids I took at the fundraiser - aren't they adorable?!? Little Miss Priss was just a show stealer, of course!

Halloween was fun - the kids were Raggedy Ann and Andy, but Canon wouldn't keep his wig on.. I was a butterfly during Trick or Treating but then I took off the wings and wore a Press hat when I shot at 11th Street.. didn't want my wings getting broken in the crowded bar!

And speaking of 11th Street, the show on Halloween was phenomenal.. Zona Jones rocks my socks!

Election Day - w00h00!! I could not be any happier about the outcome.. we went to the old schoolhouse here in Tarpley to vote, and on the way back Canon got to drive with Daddy :)

What else...??
Oh yeah, Canon has started potty training and he is SOOOO cute!

and then he was proud of what he did :) He had to show me...

and uhm... oh yeah, kids being silly - and Canon sleeping on Daddy. Nothing makes me smile more than seeing James and the kids being all sweet and snuggly :) Especially in the mornings when they're still in bed!

And this face makes me die laughing every time...

so sweet...
and so funny! (they have the exact same goofball smiley face!)

Okay I think that's it for now! More tomorrow, hopefully!

Zoo Boo, Halloween, and my little Rag Dolls..

2008-10-31T23:03:00.000-07:00

James and I managed to take the kids out to Medina last weekend for the last day of the pumpkin patch at Love Creek Orchards. That place is huge and sprawling - tons of pumpkins, a hay-bale maze, "stuff" to buy, and a hayride back to the parking lot! w00t! The kids had a good time, especially running around in the maze.

[pics coming tomorrow, need to resize]

Yesterday I wanted to get the kids out of the house, so I decided to take them to the zoo. Only upon arriving at the gates did I find out that it was a special event that night.. it was closed for "Zoo Boo" - which is essentially trick or treating and carnival games throughout the zoo. Such fun! So I decided to pay the extra and go ahead and take them. After all, I'd driven over an hour and we weren't going home without some zoo-ing :) The kids had a great time - Canon learned the concept to trick-or-treating, and they both played some games (and won quite a few little rinkydink prizes, which they loved!)..

[pics coming tomorrow, need to resize]

I was so excited that today was finally Halloween! It's my favorite holiday, without a doubt - and I just couldn't wait to dress the kiddos up! When my older brother and I were young (about McCayla's age, I think) we were Raggedy Ann & Andy for Halloween.. so I figured it would be sweet to do the same for my kiddos. And OMG they were soooooooooooooooo unbelieveably adorable!!! They had a blast getting candy, and have been nothing but smiles all night. It's 1am now and they're still going strong.. hooray for tons of sugar!

Concerts, Co-Ops, and Fundraisers - Oh My!!

2008-10-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

On Friday I was lucky enough to get to shoot the bands who were at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar. The Hawkes, opening up for Charlie Robison. Good Ol' Charlie is a Bandera hometown boy, and very very good. But the Hawkes surprised me. I'd never heard of them but they were quite good! I had a great time listening to them, I only wish James could've joined me there instead of babysitting the kidlets. We could've "cut a rug", so to speak :)

^^ The Hawkes

and then Charlie

After many many purchases from other co-ops, I have finally been asked to do a co-op of my own products! I'm excited and flattered :D
I got about 16 orders, which thrills me.. not too bad at all, for my first one! I worked straight through a day and got all of them made, shipped out all but 3 packages today (and those will go out when I get shipping info on them). My kitchen floor was filled with Pail Pardner and Rump Solution LOL

And finally, I bring you the information on the First Annual Lil' Outlaws Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser!
(C/P from James' blog/bulletin/newspaper article)

Lil' Outlaws of Tarpley to host cancer research fundraiser

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Jacklen Taylor of Lil' Outlaws handmade crafts and soaps of Tarpley is hosting a fundraiser sale benefitting the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure,

The event will be held Sunday, Nov. 2, from noon to 3 p.m., at the Bandera Athletic Academy and Outlaw Photography Studio next door to Taquerias Aguascalientes in the Bandera Village strip mall.

On offer will be Taylor's handmade wooden crafts, soaps, bath and body products, baked goods, and Breast Cancer Awareness pins. All of the profits from the event will go toward cancer research. Donations of checks made out directly to the American Cancer Society will be accepted.

Free samples will be available, and a drawing will be held for an Outlaw Photography photo shoot and print. Outlaw Photography will be on hand to take free photos of visitors in the Outlaw Studio.

For more information on Lil' Outlaws, call 830-822-5999 or visit www.liloutlaws.net. For more information on cancer research, visit www.cancer.org or www.komen.org.

Those of you who are local (Bandera/Medina/Tarpley/San Antonio), **please** come out and show your support if you have a chance! We'd love to see you out there - plus we're giving away samples and door prizes :)

That's it for now.. more later - for now I'm tired and my thumb hurts (cut it on a broken soap mold that came in the mail today.. cry.)

The Littlest Outlaw is growing up :(

2008-10-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's finally happened. After almost two years, my "tiny baby" boy has gotten his first haircut!
I remember when McCayla got her's, too - she was 2 years old, also - my kids are baldy-locks and their hair grows really sloooooowly. But he finally had hair hanging over his ears and looking shaggy at his neck. So we went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids and got him the 1st Haircut Package. He sat in a little taxicab, watched a Spongebob movie, and got his little cut. They put a lock of hair and a polaroid in a little card for me.. he was such a big boy! McCayla was the same way with her first cut, very brave and still and well-behaved. I wish we'd have known about this kids' hair place when she got her's, though! We'll take her there next time she needs trimmed..

"Before" - fuzzy and unkempt

First Cut

He's proud of himself!

After! - Look how nicely groomed he is now :)

Also I forgot to post more photos of Jocelyn from the shoot - James finished processing them for me, so here are a couple of my favorites :)

(here she is rolling over for the first time ever!)

Isn't she just precious?!? Almost cute enough to make me want another one LOL ;)

Tried Canon's Halloween costume on him the other day, forgot to post the pic.. he's Raggedy Andy to go along with McCayla's Raggedy Ann..

Let's see, what else.. ?

Oh last night I got to shoot The Hawkes and Charlie Robison at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar here in Bandera. Of course Charlie was awesome, but I was really surprised at the opening band.. I really enjoyed them a lot and am happy to hear that they'll be back again in December. I had a lot of fun listening to both bands, but I wish James could've been in there with me.. we coulda had a little two-steppin' action going on hehe

[photos when James finishes them]

Also on the agenda, today I will RE-start my FLYlady program.. I'm bound and determined to get my house in order!! argh.
I joined a group on CafeMom called Fluttering Flybabies - for people like me who just can't seem to get the hang of FLYing. According to them, this week's zone is the Master Bedroom.. so although I believe there are other rooms in the house which need desperate attention more than my room, I'm going to follow the guidelines and just do what I'm told. :D

More to come later - I need to get started FLYing and also need to work on some letters. Making great progress with a couple of BIG orders, which I'm thrilled with. The "aloha" monogram is coming out great, almost finished. The elephant monogram is about half finished. TRISTAN is about half finished, the John Deere initial is almost finished, the distressed M is almost finished, and all the BCA items are finished. I need to finish the above items and also need to do "FAMILY" for the same people. Then I get to start planning the letters for all of Jennel's kiddos! Hooray! :)

Add to that, I got my first Lil' Outlaws co-op order today - I'm super excited and hope to do more in the future. I'll let you know how that goes once it's finished :D

Soapy Goodness!

2008-10-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Oooooh I had fun last night :)
Experimenting with soap stamping (embossing) and embeds.

I made 3 bars with sea animal sponge toys embedded inside. These are like the little pills/capsules that you give kids and they dissolve them in hot water and watch the toy "grow".. ? I pre-grew the sponges and put them inside clear soap. These are scented with J&J Bedtime Bath, which is a nice scent for kids.. helps them wind down for bed :)

Then I made 3 bars of embossed soap - and I loved them so much that I made 3 more!
These are scented with
Pumpkin Apple Spice
Coconut Hibiscus
Very Sexy (the last of this one, I need to order more fragrance!)

and then
Wild Sarsaparilla
Kumquat
Chocolate Orange

(some of the embossed ones)

Loving them! Luckily for me I "accidentally" messed up one of the sponge ones, so my kids get to use it :)

*************************************************************************

Went to the Post Office and got a big ol' package from Miss Alli - a beautiful Moses Basket that belonged to her adorable twin boys, she gifted it to me for the photo studio and I simply cannot wait to have a chance to use it!
On the way back from the PO, Canon got to 'drive' the car.. he was overjoyed, as you can see in his expression..

I also finally uploaded a couple of pics for Jennel - the Lil' Outlaws diaper and BCA items, though I promise to get some great pics in the studio as soon as McCayla comes back from her Nana's house.

Jennel and Raining Baby Fluff have my heart..

2008-10-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

And my business!

As I said before, the Animal Crackers on Parade congo is, sadly, no more. However I was offered the wonderful opportunity to guest-vendor on another Hyenacart store.
Lucky me! As you may have guessed, the wonderful store owner is none other than my good friend (and now joint business buddy) Jennel Alexander from Raining Baby Fluff!
Our big reveal was an hour ago and we were stunned by the amount of traffic that was going through "our" store. Typically RBF has 1-3 people in it at any given time. At one point we had over 60! Raining Baby Fluff quickly skyrocketed to the #1 spot in the "Where are the Hyenas?" list on HC, telling people that RBF is the spot to be shopping right now!

Jennel and I couldn't be more excited, and we'd love it if YOU could come browse when you have a moment. There's a little something for everyone, from cloth diapers and soakers, to soaps and wooden decor, to fluffy quilts made by Jennel's mother!

Also, I got my breast cancer awareness items from Jennel today - I sent her some adorable fleece and she made a pair of board shorties for Canon, along with a t-shirt for McCayla. I can't wait to use them in our BCA shoot this year! Are these adorable or what!??
Her mom also made me a pink ribbon iron-on so I could make a coordinating shirt for Canon - and of course McCayla will have some pink shorts or a skirt somewhere - what princess doesn't!?

More to come later - I'll keep a-twitterin.. ;)

Tonight's progress report..

2008-10-18T18:51:00.001-07:00

Besides housekeeping and zookeeping (errr, I mean child rearing), I managed to get some Lil' Outlaws work done today! (Hooray!) None of these are finished, but it's a start :)

I got T and R started, which are part of TRISTAN, in a cute sports theme. Waiting on some more supplies to finish up but here's a rough idea..

And I started an initial M in John Deere..

And some stuff for the Breast Cancer Awareness fundraising.. (again, not finished.) There's a lap-type tv tray coming soon too, hopefully (if I don't run out of time!).

and some of the hair clippies and soap I made for the fundraiser, as well..

aaaaaaand... that's it for now :)

Four days without posting.. :/

2008-10-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long, but most of us in the house came down with a yucky stomach bug. James (so far, knock on wood) has escaped it but both the kids and I were pretty ill.
Luckily it didn't last long, but I pretty much wrecked my spine while puking (TMI, I know.).. had to go to my mucho awesome chiropractor yesterday and get it cracked back into place, and I'm feeling a lot better today. Still stiff and sore but at least I can move. I spent two days hobbling like a 90 year old woman and in too much pain to sit and type.

So again, sorry it took so long to post anything else, but I'm back now!

Updates, let's see..

Tried on McCayla's Halloween costume last night, and OMG she was sooooo cute!
When I was little like her, my older brother Ray and I were Raggedy Ann and Andy for Halloween (my mom and Jim were too). Now that McCayla and Canon are getting about that age, I figured it was only right :)
Jennel is helping me make the last couple of pieces for Canon's costume, but for now, here's McCayla in her's! (awwwww)

What else? Oh yeah - I am very sad to say that the Animal Crackers On Parade congo is no more. :( It seems when it rains it pours. One member had to leave due to military issues, one to family issues, a few just have a lot going on around them right now.. and by the time that was all said and done, there were only a couple of us left and we decided that it would be best to close down the shop. I will miss working alongside these sweet mamas, but we do all intend to stay in touch regardless, which pleases me.
Mookie Doodle will still be contributing Breast Cancer Awareness tarts for the local fundraiser, which I'm very excited about. You guys that are local, please be sure to come out and see what we have! We'll post details very soon :D

Remember that shoot with the beautiful little 3 month old girl, Jocelyn? James has managed to get me a couple of teasers which I am just thrilled with! Yeah I know - enough blabbing, let's see the cuteness!
(a quick thanks to my friend Rebecca for making me this tutu! It's an awesome studio-tutu, and she made it exactly to my specs. I absolutely did not have the time to drag my materials back out of storage and she was kind enough to take that hassle off of my hands and I can't say how happy I am about that! I highly recommend her to anybody who wants a tutu, she's terrific. Thank you so very much Rebecca!)

I just love this little diaper - it's a Nanipoo, and it's just precious! I really want more of these wonderful diapers someday..
Isn't that a cute expression? It was our first set, she was trying to figure out who the weird lady with the camera was ;)

And here are the final pics of the Ava, Ryann, Boo, and picture frame I was working on..

One last thing for now, I added the Twitter widget to the right hand side of the page - you'll see mini-updates there every now and then, so if you don't see any recent posts here, check Twitter :) At least I can do that from my phone, even if I'm sick..

Soybeans. Hate 'em.

2008-10-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well we've been doing Canon's food elimination thing for a while now.. we started with all forms of soy (protein, oil, lecithin, you name it). Well the GOOD news is, I think soy may be the culprit. Canon's rash is completely gone for the very first time in his entire life! I am so happy for him and his poor little tush.. finally, his bum is as smooth as.. well, as a baby's butt! He still has scars from previous awful rashes, but not one speck of redness to be seen. I'm beyond ecstatic and just so relieved and happy for him that I could cry. Okay, I won't lie - I have cried. (almost every time I change his diaper!)

Now the bad part..
I spent a good chunk of money on this allergen-free spice cake mix for him (I mean like, 8.00+ for a cake mix! geez.). I was so excited to finally be able to give him a little something sweet, since he hasn't had anything tasty or interesting since we started his allergy-diet. Both kids finally settled in and went to sleep last night, so around midnight (yeah, still up..) I decided to make the cake into muffins for a delicious breakfast treat when they woke up the next day. It's a really yummy smelling mix, reminds me of gingerbread.. you just add oil, eggs, and water and bake it.. I was thrilled for Canon's tiny little tastebuds.
So I mix it up, get it in the oven, and start cleaning up the mess. As I put the vegetable oil away, I read this on the back of the bottle:
"INGREDIENTS: Soybean Oil"
WhaaaaaaaT!?!? Since when are soybeans a vegetable!?? They're a legume - a BEAN - which is a protein and more closely associated with the meat category than the vegetable one! I would've never imagined that vegetable oil would be made of soy. This is just getting ridiculous!
I could've used applesauce instead of oil, if I had known! But I didn't. So now this delicious cake that I put a lot of money and thought into making just for my poor little no-dairy/no-soy baby.. he can't even eat. Cry.

Add to that frustration, the night before that I was eating mini-marshmallows that are chocolate coated. Well I dropped two and Canon grabbed them. I could've yanked them out of his mouth but my first thought was "well it's only two tiny marshmallows, what could it hurt? Just don't let him have any more".. yeah, nice thinking Jack. He wakes up in the middle of the night, screaming his head off and is inconsolable. I get him out of bed and start to take him to the living room, since that usually calms him down. Well halfway between the bedroom and the kitchen, the poor thing pukes all over me, himself, the floor.. and he just keeps puking. Finally he gets a break and I strip him down, get him cleaned up and changed and we go to the couch. Pitiful little thing, he keeps trying to get comfortable but you can tell he doesn't feel well. A little while later, he starts screaming again - so this time I put a bowl there and he pukes some more. This keeps going most of the night/early morning. He'll be sick, then he'll try to rest but can't, then sick again. Finally it seems to be over for the most part and he seems to be able to rest now. We sleep on the couch together and he dozes pretty weak and icky feeling most of the day and into the next evening. He has diarrhea, bad gas, a little more puking, and is just hot and sweaty. I feel like the worst mother ever. I knew he can't have milk, and yet I still didn't take them out of his mouth. All the pain and discomfort (and fear, he was so scared because this has never happened before) he had to go through was my fault. I could just kick myself.

Sigh.

Well in an attempt to add something positive to this post, I found a great forum this week! It's exactly what I'd been looking for, though I wish it were a bit more active.. maybe it needs more time, not sure how new or old it may be..

The Soap Making Forum

I love Sea World!!

2008-10-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today I took Danielle and the kids to Sea World - Dani had helped me out a lot, so I've been promising to take her.. the season is getting close to ending, so we decided to hurry up and go LOL - yeah, it's mid October.. yeah, we were in shorts and playing in the water. It was 90*+ today. Hooray for Texas Autumn hehe

A handful of pics from today - I'll add a couple of videos (of Dani on the rollercoasters!) later on :)

Dani in front of the sharks - she says she swam with some once at Disneyworld.. lucky! That is just awesome :D

The penguins.. I love penguins, they're oh-so-cute!

Danielle on the Great White - she's toward the middle/back in the yellow - see red arrow :)

She was riding the Steel Eel - we were waiting at the bottom to take her picture and McCayla tried to kiss Canon.. obviously he didn't think that was such a great idea! LOL

Danielle liked getting wet on the Journey to Atlantis water-coaster :)

McCayla was getting splashed when the coasters came down and then jumping in the puddles - she got some awesome airtime on that jump!

and now McCayla and Danielle are both soaked!
Last thing before we left for the day, McCayla wanted to ride the Shamu Coaster (the only one she's tall enough for!), so she and Dani went on that and Canon and I waited for them.. he was in a silly mood, though!

And there's the top of her head as she came around the curve! (Notice another red arrow!)

I'll add some videos later, for now it's after 11pm and I'm exhausted. Both kids are still riled up (long naps all the way home!) so I'm going to bathe them and hope it settles them down :)
Nighty night!
(errr... I mean, I HOPE it's time for nighty night!)

It's been a good day..

2008-10-10T20:45:00.001-07:00

As seen in the fluffy mail post, my day started off wonderfully!
Then I got to go see my favoritist sister in the world (okay, so she's the only one.. whatever. hehe) - I got to do her makeup for homecoming. I just can't believe she's a senior! OMG where did time go? She is gorgeous, I gotta tell ya! - here's a pic of her, though not from tonight (none handy, though I'm sure Jamesey got some at the ceremonies).

and then the kids and I went to Sonic (mmmmm) for their chili cheese coney and tots special (2.99!) and a cherry limeade.. limeades always boost my mood, and since I was already happy, it just made it even better!

Came home and made some soaps for Breast Cancer Awareness (October is BCA month, ladies - squoosh your boobies, please! Gentlemen, feel free to squoosh your lady's boobies, if necessary); these will be stocked at the Animal Crackers on Parade (ACOP) congo for BCA toward the end of the month, as well as part of a collaboration between myself and Jenn from Mookie Doodle (a little pampering package of awareness items, with proceeds going to charity).
I'm also planning on doing a big one-day fundraiser here locally (in Bandera), featuring a lot of my items. Soaps, lotion, bath salt, milk bath, fizzy bath bombs, wood crafts (such as crosses, coat hooks, picture frames, etc.), and some pink ribbon tarts from Mookie Doodle also. In addition, I plan to offer baked goods alongside the smelly-good stuff :) ALL proceeds from the one-day sale (that's 100%!!!) will be going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Still figuring out the date for that, but keep your eyes peeled for an announcement, both here and on MySpace!

[pics of soaps coming later]

Now the kids and I are just chillaxin.. about to eat and then bathe kiddos and hopefully get them off to bed! I need to work on some letters (Ava, BOO, and the frame are finished - Ryann and Sam are mostly finished), start on some of the BCA wood crafts, take my own shower (imagine that!), and sweep the house. James has been running and gunning all day with the Homecoming festivities, so the least I can do is give him a clean house (and wife!) to come home to! LOL

Hooray for fluffy mail!

2008-10-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Especially when it's RAINING BABY FLUFF! (RBF)
This WAHM is just the greatest. By far and without a doubt, my favorite. She's sweet, generous, and oh-so-good at what she does :)
She makes diapers and fleece (soakers and longies) - two of my favorite things!
So after YET ANOTHER wonderful trade, I got a huge box of fluff today!

3 pairs of longies for McCayla

3 pairs of longies for Canon

2 soakers

and 3 diapers - these are the icing on the cake :D

You think they look good now? Wait til you see the backs of the white ones!

This one is made of a shirt I sent Jennel to work with:
(w00t w00t!)

and this one is a diaper cut that was embroidered by Katrina (and it looks great, thank you, Katrina!) -

Is that not the coolest thing ever?!?! My logo (and my son's lil' buddha butt) on a diaper! Wowee!

Jennel is just the coolest - even James knows who she is when I say her name, and it's probably because I say it quite often :) McCayla knows her by name too.. I brought the box in today and she said "what's in the big box?" - I said "it's from Jennel" and she squealed and said "my package! my pants!" LOL

I'll get some pics of the kids wearing some of the stuff later - right now my camera battery is dead (at least I managed to squeeze out enough juice to take pics of the fluff straight out of the box!) - but they'll be wearing RBF for daaaaays :D

Thank you SO much, Jennel - I can't even tell you how much we love everything!
(insert :wub: here!)

ETA:
A pic of Canon in his Obama diaper :)

Pictures from earlier this week

2008-10-09T21:39:00.001-07:00

So this year, McCayla wanted to take cheerleading classes - Travis from the Bandera Athletic Academy (where we sublet for our studio space) is her coach. She's really having a good time.
Here she is stretching, cheering, and getting ready to learn cartwheels, from her class last Tuesday.

And here are some soaps I made this week :) I really like the way they came out - the way they're wrapped makes me think of Miss Tori, the scrapbooking/vintage/crafty queen :)

And here are all the letters I was working on today - A picture frame, "BOO", "Ava", "Ryann", and "Sam" .. it's been a busy day!

Pumpkin Painting!

2008-10-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a difference from last year!
Canon couldn't do much of anything last year, he was still too tiny - but this year? Oh, man!

Last year's pumpkin painting:

And this year's! :

Boy, aren't they growing up fast?? McCayla looks so... big kid-ish. :( And Canon was such a big boy, painting all by himself - Mommy didn't need/get to help anybody this year! Guess I'm off to paint my own pumpkin! LOL

Here's McCayla's finished pumpkin

and here's Canon's

On another note, I got a sweet smelling package today!
Melinda from Buddha Bunz finished up my wool dryer balls and Boo Boo Bumm Bumm Spray so those finally came in the mail, hooray! The dryer balls are awesome, I can't wait to use them - you use them in place of dryer sheets (good for the environment, since dryer sheets aren't biodegradable - and safe for cloth diapers, won't cause repelling!) to fluff things up - and she scented them with Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey - so they'll still make everything smell yummy like Bounce sheets do :) This Bumm spray is made with essential oils (something I've always loved) and is rumored by her other customers to heal even the worst diaper rashes quickly - and at this point, I'd try ANYTHING! Cross your fingers and hope it helps :) And thank you Melinda for your hard work on these things, I'll let you know how it goes!

******************************************
Okay McCayla fell asleep on the couch so Canon and I went on the porch so Mommy could get some pumpkin paintin' in :) I love Halloween so much, so I just couldn't wait!
He played in the sandbox (there's purple sand everywhere!) while I painted a few...

This one is for Canon, my "BunjBah" addict ;)

and this one if for McCayla - a pink cyclops monster

This one is for the family, a glittery monogrammed pumpkin

and the last one for tonight... my BOO squash

More tomorrow I think!
:D

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch..

2008-10-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

Or as Canon says, Pumpins.. hehehe
We planned to go out to the Pumpkin Patch in Medina today, not realizing that they aren't open on Wednesdays (our Family Day) - so we went to the church patch in Boerne (after buying much cheaper pumpkins at Wal-Mart while the kids were asleep, of course! lol).. The kids were adorable, as always - And Jamesey did a great job taking pictures of them (as always), which I appreciate - I know he wasn't feeling good, but he still got out there and enjoyed it all with us. I love him so much. :D
I'm not sure who enjoyed the patch more - Halloween is my favorite holiday, so the opening of the pumpkin patches always symbolizes what is to come, which thrills me :) The kids ran amock and just had a blast - Canon sat on a pumpkin and it rolled out from under him, but he laughed it off.. he also met a little girl and flirted with her (he's such a Taylor man). McCayla loved all the tiny pumpkins, and the weird looking bumpy pumpkins.. they're such inquisitive kids ;)

Some of my favorite photos from today - love 'em!

Also, here are some updates on the letters I'm working on now. Ava and Ryann are for Laura, in exchange for some most-awesome wool longies to match a hat I knitted for Canon.

Ava in lavender/mint/ladybugs

Ryann in pink/girly

Sam is for Dawn, in exchange for some awesome engraved wood allergy jewelry, plus I'll be doing some product photography for her soon :)

And here are some Halloween items I made for today's stocking at the ACOP Congo
(They're not finished, paint is drying and then they'll get a glossy coat)

(Not sure why this is sideways.. ? It's not on my computer but it is when it posts here.. strange.)

And the matching picture frame, still drying.

That's it for now :) More tomorrow!

6th is always grocery day..

2008-10-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

So I always do my BIG grocery shopping on the 6th, and then little trips for milk, soymilk, etc. every week or two. Today is the 6th, so I'm gathering up my lists (from thegrocerygame.com) and coupons (which I'm still printing out) to see how much I can save today...

Today is also the day I start Canon's food elimination/journaling to see what's causing his poor bleeding diaper rashes (he's had them his entire life - he's allergic to milk but nothing else showed up on his allergy testing, so we need to find what he's "intolerant" to now).. Which means grocery day equals several different stores to find things without soy or without gluten (the two things we're trying first) but yet that are ALSO without dairy products.. sigh. I wish we had a Trader Joe's around here, I hear they have so many more options than Sun Harvest and such.

BTW if anyone has coupons for those kind of things (soy, vegan, tofu, "healthy" stuff, or just general coupons to Sun Harvest) I would LOVE them if you don't need them! Or a link to printable ones.. ? (Thank you!)

******************************************************************

Alright, well SEVEN HOURS LATER we're finally finished shopping! Geeeeeeez it's been a long day!
We went to Sun Harvest and got some no soy/no gluten/no dairy items for the boy, then we went to the HEB Plus (like a cross between Super Walmart and HEB) for the rest of the groceries.. and OMG I got lost in there! It took me over two hours in the dang grocery store! I'm exhausted! :/ That HEB did have awesome shopping carts, though - the first "two seat" ones I've seen in real life (4 leg holes in the seat so two can sit side by side up there, saving valuable basket space). They also had the car ones, but not like I usually see - usually it's where the car is in the very front and they sit inside (I don't like those, I can't keep an eye on them).. this one was up top, close to me and they were on top where I could see them! Love it!

But on a good note, we'll start Canon's "diet" tomorrow and see how that goes. I hope we're able to figure it out quickly, because it sure makes grocery shopping a PITA!

Now I need to clean house, bathe kids (yep, it's 10pm and we just got home!), get them in bed (pray for me!), and gather the stuff we need for our storage at the studio tomorrow.. and then hopefully get some sleep!
Oh yeah, I should probably do some more work on the letter orders I'm working on right now.. guess that all depends on if the kids cooperate or not! ;)

It's Sunday now and everything's alright..

2008-10-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

I like Sundays, sometimes. James usually has to be up at the crack of dawn to go and do Granite's bidding, but today he didn't. Hooray! (He's working very late to make up for it, but it's all worth it!)
We slept in (as much as young Master Taylor would allow), then had a nice breakfast as a family (Iced Cinnamon Twists... yummy!), and then we headed off for moving day!
No, not the house (I wish!) - the studio! We're finally able to move the studio out of the Bulletin office. Deana and Travis Lara (from McCayla's cheerleading class) are letting us rent out space in their dance studio.. hooray!
It's big, open, airy, and has high enough ceilings to accomodate the lighting. I had a shoot today, so we got to christen the new studio space LOL

The shoot today was really (really) good - I'm beyond super excited about it and can't wait to see the pictures. The little girl, Jocelyn, was just the cutest little baldy locks ever! Big ol' eyes and a smile for days.. she's 3 months old and really starting to show personality - lots of laughing and cooing. AND, the best part... she rolled over today, for the first time ever! Right there in front of me. Her parents couldn't have been more thrilled :)
I'll post pictures when James gets them to me, of course!

Not much else.. James has some kind of infection or stye or cyst or something in his eye.. he looks pitiful :( Poor guy. Bought him some eye solution and chamomile teabags today, hoping those will help clear it up - it can't be comfortable!

That's about it for today... will post pics from the shoot, and also some of the new studio space, as soon as I can!

:D

ETA: Stacey showed me her blog, and it had the cutest little picture on there - like the stickers you see on car windows. So I had to have one of my own :)

Saturday = Soccer Day

2008-10-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

For James, that is. Today he was doing the team photos for BYSO, and that is seriously a hectic all-day affair! I don't envy him, I know that.. Have I mentioned how proud I am of him? He works so hard to provide for our family and I'm sure he's exhausted.. I wish I knew how to repay him for all his work. (Hooray for Pail Pardner!). She looks so much better, which was (in a way) like a little reward for James when we picked him up this afternoon. He hates a messy car, but what can I say? I have a toddler and a preschooler who demolish everything in their path - and that backseat is in their path frequently LOL But it's all cleaned up and organized now, and James couldn't be happier about it! (which pleases me) Aaaaaannnnndddd - as promised two days ago, the pictures of the ladybug set all finished (ok not completely, I added another ladybug on the S after I took the picture)..
I'll take a picture tonight of the progress I'm making on the three names I'm doing right now..
(SAM is shades of green, AVA is lavender/pink ladybugs [this seems to be a popular theme, along with sports for boys], and RYANN is just pink and girly)

James had to shoot the Library BBQ tonight, so we got free dinner - always good! They put onions in the takeout boxes, which is just nasty to me, but easily taken off.. unfortunately the whole (freshly cleaned!) car smells like onions now.. :( I hope that goes away quickly!

And I'm really excited, my friend Jennel from Raining Baby Fluff (this girl is terrific, I wub her!) is sending me a package this coming week with allllll sorts of goodies. I will definitely be posting pics when that comes! She's one of my favorite WAHMs..

Also in the "I'm excited" category, I'm recording something on the DVR for James, I think he'll really love it, so I can't wait to show him.. and already recorded, we have two episodes of Y&R so James and I get to snuggle on the couch when he gets home and veg out to the Newmans ;)

Otherwise, not much going on here today - I need to get up and clean house, but at least I took the trash to the dump this afternoon, and I washed dishes tonight. If only I could motivate myself to put them away hehe - now I'm off to fold laundry, that needs done badly! Then time for bath and bed for the kiddos (I hope!)..

:D

Yesterday ended too late..

2008-10-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

So no blog update yesterday. We got home late and exhausted.

Wednesdays are family day for us - it's James' day off for the week (yep, he works weekends too).
We intended to take the kids to the zoo, go to Barnes & Noble, etc.. and then Kenai's birthday party in the evening.. but by the time we fought traffic and stuff, we got to the zoo too late. We only had a little while before we had to turn around and head off to the party across town, in 5:00 traffic :(
Canon was asleep in the carseat when we got there, so James stayed in the car with Canon and read a book.. I took McCayla and we rode the train at Brackenridge Park - we had a lot of fun, took some pictures and a video and laughed a lot. We waved at Daddy in the car on our way back around...

Waiting for the train - she's excited with her little ticket ;)

Goofing off on the train - she's such a ham!

Daddy and Canon waiting for us in the car - he's waving, I don't think you can see it though ;)

Then we fought a ridiculous amount of traffic and went to Kenai's party at Chuck E. Cheese - it was remarkably fun, which surprised me because those things usually give me a headache.

(Kenai, the birthday boy, he turned one year old!)

The kids had an absolute *blast*, lots of running, screaming, and playing games..

I went up in the tunnel thingies with both of them and they were just squealing all the way..

Anyway, the pizza was really good, which also surprised me - I don't usually like the pizza at Chuck's. Now I want more... mmmm. And McCayla got to dance around and talk to Chuck E. Cheese himself, which thrilled her endlessly!

I finished the ladybug letters and have started THREE more names - pictures later! (Procrastinate now!)

Today was pretty good - I'm really sore all throughout my back and shoulders - you know what from? Playing the rhythm boxing on WiiFit. Yep. A Nintendo game kicked my butt. :/
I didn't sleep well because everything hurt (!) so I was exhausted and dragging slowly today.. but I went and took the car to the Chevy dealership - we have a "wump wump wump" sound coming from the tire that we needed checked out. Turns out that one tire is wearing worse than the others, so we need two new tires and an alignment.. helloooooo 350.00!!
:(

Let's see, what else happened today... a whole lotta nothing, really - except I did come up with a brilliant idea! More on that tomorrow - for now, it's dinner and bath time for kiddos. :D

Just another Manic Tuesday.. ??

2008-09-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

Boring day so far, but still so much to do!
Let's see..

Started off the day with some delicious apple cinnamon muffins, which Canon helped me make (he stirred and handed me muffin papers)..

Then we lit some tart buttons from The Serene Dream Shop in Texas Storm and Southern Rain - my house always has tarts burning, usually more than one at a time! I'm an addict. :D

We did some laundry, painted on some letters, swept the porch (I still need to do the front porch and patio), washed the dishes..

Then we played Wii Fit for a while - Canon loves to watch and play beside me. He swirls his hips like a hula hoop, lifts his feet for step dancing, and throws punches when I'm boxing..

(Yes, I'm still in my pajamas.. well I mean I'm not right NOW, but I was then.)

We went to the Post Office.. nothing good :( But then I got home and the UPS man came with my big ol' box o' soap and stuff! Hooray, now I can make soap!
I have some orders I need to fill and ship out tomorrow, and I want to make some soap for Kenai for his birthday.. I'm going to put his name inside the soap :D
And now we're just about to have lunch and pick up some more stuff, fold laundry.. more painting letters.. I'm finishing this order today and starting the next one - I can't wait to get through these so I can take more orders!

*****************************************

Alright so after lunch, Canon fell asleep on the couch. I wanted to nap with him, but I just have too much to do...
I'm exhausted, however I did manage to finish the pink/green ladybug order! Hooray! Just waiting on the glossy coat to dry so I can package it up. :)
I'll get a pic of that tomorrow, since it's after midnight..

I was really missing McCayla today, so I decided to drive up to Mom's and pick her up. I couldn't wait to see her.. which, of course, lasted about halfway home. I have a migraine the size of Montana right now. Argh. And yes, it's midnight and both kids are still up. Welcome to my world!

Anyway, at least the kids are bathed (which is good because McCayla came home so dirty that even *I* was embarrassed by it, which is saying something. I guess she was playing in the dirt..) and they're fed, so if I can just get them tired....

Off to try to wear them out, clean up the mess they've *already* made in the fifteen minutes they've been playing, and get them to bed (please!!!!)... Pictures of finished letters tomorrow.. along with the cupcakes that are baking right now :D

Yay for lazy days!

2008-09-29T17:59:00.001-07:00

Sure, it's Monday.. but it went more like a Sunday here :) Canon and I were lazy most of the day.. did a little laundry, worked on some letters and stuff for our upcoming Halloween themed stocking at the congo.. ate cookies like they were going out of style, made pizza flips and lemon poppyseed biscotti for dinner/dessert.. it's been a good day :)
James is still at work, but he's getting a lot done, which is always good.

Our Realtor called James today, he said the people who came by yesterday really liked it and wanted it, but she needs to sell another property first (otherwise she'd have bought it right then, at asking price, which is fantastic!).. she bought the general store down the street, so I know she has money - apparently she owns other properties too, one of which will have to sell first. Hopefully she'll still be interested at that point!
I need to get out there tomorrow and try to get my lawnmower working again, our yard looks like a jungle..

Off to give Canon a bath, then more work on Lil' Outlaws stuff - I've got leggies, shirts, and hair clips to make for stocking the congo, and I'm about 6 deep in letter orders so I need to get going on those. My current custom is almost finished and then I can start on another - it never ends, but I certainly am not complaining. I love what I do.. I get to express my creativity, zone out and destress, and when I'm making soaps and stuff I also get to sniff yummy things all day :)
And speaking of yummy things, I have another tart from Mookie Doodle burning right now, it's called Chocolovers and it's just divine.. mmmm my house smells good enough to eat. hehe

Man, I need to clean house :(

2008-09-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

So we're trying to sell our house.. okay actually BOTH houses. James' dad lived next door to us, and sadly he passed away this May. Now we have two houses, which means two mortgages. Which means we want to sell both houses and move, preferably soon.
So our Realtor, Rick, calls me tonight. He has two people who want to see the houses... right now. They're down the street, will be here in five minutes.
Great!, right? Nope.
As you may have read, I've been feeling not-so-hot for a couple of days.. meaning I haven't done a darn thing around the house.. Canon has demolished it, I haven't picked it back up. I've got a matter of a few minutes to make this place presentable, and I'll be honest here.. that's really not possible at this point in time.
So I rush around (still not feeling well, I might add), I throw as much dirty laundry as I can fit into the washer and dryer, just to get it out of sight. I bag up things and put them in cabinets. I grab my Bare Naked cleaners (I love this stuff, it's natural cleaning products that don't bother my children and their asthma/allergies; check her out here - I particularly love the citrus toilet cleaner and the all-purpose cleaner!) and I rush around the house spraying and wiping counters and appliances and flat surfaces. If nothing else, it puts a great smell in the house LOL
Then I light the candle in my tart burner to get some more "clean" smell in the house (at the moment I'm burning half of a tart from The Serene Dream Shop (pink sugar!) and half of a tart from Mookie Doodle (banana!) at the same time, mixed together. My house smells delish.

Anyway, the people who came have FIVE children, so hopefully any mess that was left won't be taken to heart hehe.. cross your fingers for us, because selling this house would be the greatest thing to happen to our family in a LONG time. Maybe forever.

And now I'm off to ACTUALLY clean the house :/

Quiet day, but man I'm forgetful..

2008-09-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

So today was pretty easy - my daughter is at her Nana's house this week (she loves her Nana and Papa so much) so it's just me and Canon for most of the day. We were all up late last night, but luckily we also got to sleep in a bit today. Canon and I got up before James and snuggled on the couch watching Spongebob for a while. I'm nursing a really bad sore throat/headache, so I'll take any rest and relaxation I can get.
James got up and headed out to work, he has a photoshoot today (bridals) so he had to head into San Antonio. I went to take some stuff to the storage unit and then I was going to go in to San Antonio so James and I could meet up when he finished.. however, I'm forgetful. Which ruins it all.
The gas light comes on so I pull into the station, start to get the credit card out and.. crap. My wallet is at home on the kitchen counter. Like 30 miles away. I go to a gas station in town that I know takes checks, just to get gas to get home. But by the time I go all the way home, there's no point heading back into the city.. guess we're rescheduling our "date" LOL

The photoshoot yesterday went well - it was animal themed, four models, plus me on makeup and James and another photographer (Andre) behind the cameras.
We had Tiffanee' as a golden snake, Jesse as a wolf, Ines as a peacock, and Kelcie as a cheetah. Every one of them has been in our studio a time or two, and they all did great. Jesse, in particular - but that's because he's been in the studio so many times we've lost count! He's just incredible and really puts himself into his shots.
Some teasers for you guys, then I'm off to work on some wooden letters for a customer's order (I'm so close to finished with them, I just want to knock them out so I can start on the next order!)

And a peek at what I'm working on..
This is the customer's bedding set

And here is the progress on her DD's letters - still adding more flowers and buggy-trails LOL but they're getting close!

More tonight or tomorrow :)

Quick overview - Team Outlaw

2008-09-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, so you're not confused in the future, let me just break this down for you.

Jacklen (Me)
- I run Lil' Outlaws (children's items, decor, and soap/body products)
- I'm a makeup artist for Outlaw Photography Studios
- I'm a retired professional model
- I am the photographer for Little Outlaws, which is the maternity/children's division of Outlaw Photography.

James (hubby)
- He runs Outlaw Photography Studios
- He's also the photographer/editor for the local newspaper
- He has a side-business working on marketing and web design/consults for local businesses.
- He's so cool, his photography is on at least 3 billboards in town. :)
- He's my hero.

McCayla (daughter)
- She's 4.5, which just about says it all.
- She's not my offspring, she's my clone. She looks exactly like me as a kid.
- She's very spirited and can be hard to deal with, but she is so sweet and loving that it makes up for it :)

Canon (son)
- He's named after the camera.
- He'll be 2 in January, so he's really into everything right now! Such a sweet boy.
- He looks exactly like James as a baby, but with less hair. We both have strong genes, I guess!

Outlaw Photography Studios
- previously mentioned company belonging to my darling husband. He's the photographer, I'm the makeup artist, and Little Outlaws is the offshoot for children.
http://www.outlawphotography.net

Lil' Outlaws
- previously mentioned children's items/decor company - everything there is handcrafted, so even when there are imperfections, it's still perfectly beautiful. Wooden letters are one of my best sellers.
http://www.liloutlaws.net/generalstore

Animal Crackers on Parade
- a congo on Hyena Cart, where some of my friends and I have come together to sell our goodies. Until I get the shopping cart feature set up on Lil' Outlaws, this is a great way to purchase - although not everything is listed there yet. We stock every other Wednesday, and our stockings are usually themed. Everyone there makes adorable stuff, I highly recommend trying them out! If you're new to Hyena Cart, you'll need to sign up for a free account in order to shop, but it's so worth the time! There are hundreds of shops on HC, from jewelry, to cloth diapers (we love cloth!), to soaps, body products, photography, and more!
http://www.animalcrackersonparade.com

Like I need another hobby?

2008-09-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

So my husband, James, keeps telling me that I should start blogging. Which is all good and well except for a couple of things:
A) I can't write well to save my life.
B) I don't have anything interesting to write about.
C) C'mon.. like I really need yet another thing to occupy my time!??!

Here's the deal -
I have two kids (three if you count James!), two houses to take care of (don't ask.. I'll just say that it's not a good thing), a fledgling maternity/children's photography company, a makeup artistry company, and a home-based crafting company.. ALL of which I currently don't have the time to deal with! And yet, James says that people may be interested to see how just ONE mama finds a way to manage. I respectfully disagree, of course, but we'll see.
Who's right? You choose!

More soon, for now I'm off to a photoshoot; makeup by me, photography by James.. then home to work on Lil' Outlaws (crafting) stuff.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have a few minutes to show you some of my work :)