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

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!

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!

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.

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..

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?

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!