Heritage "prop"

We have held on to certain things just b/c J is a JR. We have daddy's old flight jacket from the Air Force since it has "their" name on it, daddy will never fit in it again. We also kept daddy's old baseball glove. Maybe it will make it to be passed down to another namesake. In the meantime, we have an adorable photo for all time! Some things have more heart value than monetary worth!

Took the step

I am blessed with a husband who backs me no matter what, and bought me a professional camera. I have been compiling a portfolio of photos, and I finally started the Facebook page. Wish me luck!
https://www.facebook.com/KathyMendozaPhotography

Kev's birthday photos

This young man couldn't be more photogenic or more laid back! Taking his birthday photos was a pleasure and I can't wait to take more photos of him and his family in the future!

Leaves

It's not even officially Fall yet, and the leaves haven't even begun turning either, but our yard was full of leaves. John brought out his new toy, the leaf blower, and piled them up, currently on the way to the landfill with a trailer full. Of course in the meantime he gets on me for giving T the bright idea to play in them. Come on, there are just certain things kids HAVE to do growing up, the least of all is leaves (I have still to get them muddy from head to toe.)

Of course, knowing me,  I have to memorialize this for all time with a picture!

So, while it isn't officially Autumn, I will sit back and enjoy my warm beverage of choice, comfy in my hats, scarves, and boots, asking the kids what they will be for Halloween, and say "Happy Fall Y'all!"

My Day

See this kid? He's mine, and I'm one proud momma! I cried at his graduation, freaked out during his wisdom teeth removal, steamed when he did something he knew he shouldn't, laughed over silly stuff, got hooked watching Walking Dead with, and boast over his accomplishments. He has turned into a responsible adult that I am proud to call my son, who I soak up watching be a big brother. In 6 short days it will mark the 4 year anniversary when he became part of our family, and I thank God for the luck in getting him, I will never forget that day! When he comes to visit I can't get enough of how loud my house gets with the laughing of my guys, and I miss the way it was before he flew from the nest. And you know what else, this fine young man is about to become a fine young Marine, leaving for boot camp in a few months. While I can't wait for him, and I look forward to attending one of his graduations once again, I also know that's it, he is an adult, holidays likely won't be the same, and the possibility of visits will be much more limited. He will have so many more milestones to accomplish that will take up his time and attention. So, from now on, I will just relish the time we will have together and wait to hear about his accomplishments!

Catching up

Things haven't been busy exactly, we are just all getting settled in having moved my dad in with us from Florida. We have had family visits and are looking forward to an upcoming extended stay from one of my brothers. Hunting and fishing is taking up the conversation of what is to come, followed in a close second by J starting school in a few days. I am still in the process of decorating, poor John said this week he didn't know where he was when he woke up, all over a newly hung shelf in our bedroom. I have made a few pieces of jewelry that have been gifted to family and I am currently stuck on my next project of personalizing canvas shoes. But, last night, in an attempt to allow J some time to himself, T and I updated his scrapbook, doing pages from Disney and Legoland. I realized I hadn't even shared pics from either day!

 T was in heaven when we were able to walk right in to see Mickey!

J could not have had a better day!

Family Reunion

We had a gorgeous day on the Gulf to be surrounded by family! Unfortunately not all of my cousins and siblings could come, but we had a great time nonetheless, and my Great-Aunt, still going strong in her 90s, managed to come for a short time! Planning for the day, and compiling the family history, was almost as memorable as the day itself! I am anxiously waiting to see the professional photos from the day!

Graffiti Dye Shirts - Disney

   We will be making a day trip to the Magic Kingdom in the near future and I figured I would make shirts for us all.  John did opt out of this, but he does already have a Mickey shirt, so I guess it is excusable.
   This is actually very simple, I have done shirts using this method for breast cancer awareness and also for a bowling team.

- I stick with white shirts, so no matter what color paint you use the color will be true, it won't be changed. I have done yellow shirts before, but the paint colors were black,  red, and hunter green.
- I buy the $1 bottles of fabric paint and dilute with A LOT of water in the 2oz travel size spray bottles that are 50 cents in most stores. Literally, the amount of paint won't be the width of your thumb in the bottom of the spray bottle. You can save yourself and buy the fabric paint in spray bottles, the ones I have seen are about $7 a bottle.
- Cut out whichever silhouette you want to use on cardstock paper or cardboard (you can even find an image online and trace the outline on regular computer paper off your screen if you don't trust yourself freehand. Then you will use that cut out to trace onto heavier paper/cardboard and cut again.)
- Place folded newspaper inside the shirt where you will be spraying. This will prevent the paint from seeping through to the back of the shirt.
- Tape the silhouette's onto the shirt and spray away. A little goes a long way, and you can layer colors. I do put the shirts on cardboard, so in case I am too enthusiastic with spraying it doesn't go on anything else. I also did these outside, but I have done others right on my kitchen floor.

I will post a photo of myself and the boys in our shirts at Disney later this summer!

Rhea's Family Photos

One of my very close friends came for a visit and I had the pleasure to take some pics of them all at a gorgeous park nearby. I am so pleased with how happy she was with just the pics off the camera, but I still did a little fine tuning this morning.

Chocolate FILLED strawberries

I have always dipped strawberries, but I saw this and figured it had to be easier! Perfect with 2 kids running around, seriously do not need to add in the messiness of chocolate to the mix!

I used a 2lb container of strawberries (with a few eaten along the way, I had help from T on that.) When cleaning and cutting the leaves off, cut a little extra out of the middle, leaving it hallow. Arrange in a plate, hole up, and fill with melted chocolate. I prefer chocolate chips to baker morsels since they melt quicker. I used a full 11.5oz bag of chips, melting half each time in a sandwich bag, 30 seconds then squeezing bag, then an additional 30 seconds, then all you have to do is cut a bottom corner off the bag and squeeze! Refrigerate to chocolate hardens.

So easy and yummy!

(Use small strawberries, otherwise the larger strawberries will have so much chocolate that hardens inside it is more difficult to bit into.)

More Ryan - B&W Collage

I love framing my photos in squares, just to be a little different, and I have always felt black and white photos seem to have more emotional depth.
What a cute way to capture more aspects of a moment than in a collage. I almost wish I had done something like this with my boys to do a wall of collages like this to easily see the changes that happen all to quickly! I say almost because hubby already teases me about hanging photos, even though we have more space and I haven't hung half of what we had in the old house!

A Mother's Day surprise - Ryan

I was lucky enough to get newborn pics of a friend's new baby, and I realize newborn pics are MUCH harder than any other age! Definitely need more practice!

Where's mom......

.... behind the camera. My kids are seriously going to get tired of seeing me pull out the camera, but I can't resist, not only for practice, but also bc they are so stinking cute!

Season of change

Our family has seen a number of changes in the past year, but the most exciting has to be that we moved back to my home area! This puts us closer to hubby's work and my family from my mom's side, in a larger home (we felt on top of each other in our other home.) We are blessed to be in this place, literally and figuratively. I cannot wait for all of the new memories we will make here! 

Enjoying our new backyard.

New camera

I am blessed to have a hubby that backs and believes in me. He recently bought me a DSLR camera so I can do more with my hobby of taking pictures. I got a couple of the boys last week while just familiarizing myself with everything. Other than lighting, which I knew would be an issue, I love the pics! Can't wait to practice on more than just my own kids.