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

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!!

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 :(

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!

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..

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..

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.. :/

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.

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!!

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!)