Hair-Tastic

I have been debating for months to shake things up with my hair.

I have done the pink and brown look...

Then I went back into the working world and had to say good-bye to the pink and re think my style since pink is a big no no in the corporate world..

I decided to stick with the brown and added red to it try and keep fun... God knows I don't like boring hair.... 

Since I am on the hunt for new hair ideas I have hit Pinterest on the hunt for a new look...

Here are some of my favorites

Since I am looking at ways to go back to work I have to keep my hair fun yet "natural" colored for corporate sake...

I am loving the blond, black and red mix here!

I like the ombre look here with the blonde to black fade...

Peek A Boo red is something I am familiar with. 

 

I have been looking at this look for a while now and I like it a lot.

 

If you like these ideas and would like to see more that I have pinned check out my Hair-tastic board! 

Which one is your fav?

 

While We Were Away.... A Snowy Weekend

 Thursday night around 10:45 we started to get snow! Though we are not usually known as a snowy place we have been able to indulge in this beautiful winter wonderland every year since we have moved here. 

They made the call about an hour later that Friday day would be a snow day.

As a mom I always have mixed emotions for these days... 

I was super excited about it this time since we actually got snow and no ice and the kids were able to get out and enjoy it for about and hour or so.

What was even better is that by 3 pm or so it was all pretty much melted and gone away. 

The roads were not bad and we were able to get out of the house and run errands later that day. 

We totaled about 4 inches for the day and this mamma was ok with that. 

The kids enjoyed it just as much as they always do but the most fun was to see our fur baby Rebel (who is a 1 month old red nose pit) go CRAZY for it! He pounced and played and ran and dove in it and it was a work out just to keep up with him!

Since we were to get snow Thursday me and the hubby hit the local movie rental spot to get us some snow day movies to watch. 

Since I decided I wanted to catch a cold or whatever this is that is kicking my ass I was more than willing to cuddle up on the couch and veg... 

Here is what we got...

The Martian

 I don't know what it is about movies that have to do about space but they are ALWAYS forever and a day long... and to me when this is the case I am skeptical on how they can make a movie exciting enough to fill in the space of a 2+ hour movie... 

Well The Martian did a flawless job on keeping it interesting and the choice of cast was spot on.

Since I have older kids this is one that would be great for a family movie night though the hubby and I didn't have any of our babies home. This is has mad the list of movies to buy for sure! 

The Intern

 I LOVED this movie. 

It kind of hit home with certain things that have gone on in my life and so for me it was a fight back the tears kind of movie but if you aren't emotionally attached to it you will enjoy the comedy part of the film.

Another to buy list! 

Bridesmaids:

 HILARIOUS!

 Defiantly a chick flick and not interesting to the male species but OMG! 

I was REALLY feeling like crap while watching this so I am half tempted to invest in the movie just to watch it again and I am sure that this is one my girls will treasure soon. 

Of course since I chick flicked it up with two movies this weekend I have to get the hubby some of his action movies... 

We ended up with

 

12 Rounds 3: The Lockdown

I can't say that I really watched this. The point though is that the hubby enjoyed it and since he happens to also enjoy the WWE nation he of course HAD to see this one. 

I am sure that this one will also be added to our vast movie collection in the future.... 

along with...

Hitman: Agent 47

 

I did manage to watch this one a little bit more then 12 Rounds but I do have to say that I am VERY disappointed that they did not leave the actor the same for the man who played the Agent... 

I think that this has always been a huge mistake in sequels and feel that a lot of them would do much better with the original cast and crew... people get attached to characters! Hollywood should know this by now! I mean seriously... 

The rest of the weekend was the girls back and forth at sleep overs, house cleaning and honestly I tried to rest as much as I could with the way I have been feeling. 

I am glad that our snow day was short lived and hopefully we only get one or two more for the season! 

What did you all do this weekend?

Did you all get some snow?

Let it Snow. Let it Snow. Let it Snow!

After much anticipation and some doubt the kids will be excited to see we have a

 SNOW DAY! 

Check back with us Monday for all the details! 

It Is A Party Over Here!

With my sister now living super close we are now able to tag team birthdays and that means 7 birthday parties a year! 

Since I am a HUGE party thrower and LOVE birthdays I am SUPER excited about this year. 

On Friday I shared with you all the party themes that we have thrown together this year for my kids so I thought it would be fun to share with you all what we have planned for my sisters kids.  

This last weekend we started off our party year with my youngest nieces 3rd birthday!

Of course all little girls just have to have a Frozen birthday and that is just what she got! 

I will share with you all how things turned out later this week.

Bring back the 80's

In July her oldest daughter turns 10 and she is bringing back the 80s with a full blown 80s themed party! 

We are talking neon, big hair and 80's music...

I am super excited about this party and I hope you will be back to see how this went.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

When we hit August we start a marathon of parties back to back...

Towards the end of the month we celebrate my nephew turning 13! Thank God the force will be with us for this party since we will officially have 3 teenagers after this year ends.  

Alice in Wonderland

In September my sisters 3rd kid will be celebrating her 8th birthday and why not have an Alice themed party! We are talking teacups and so much more! 

This years party plans have gotten us pretty excited here and I hope that you will follow us to see how they all turned out! 

Do you plan themes for your parties....

Operation Brace Face: Phase.... UMMM...

Yesterday we checked in on operation brace face...

I couldn't believe when they said she has been in braces for a whooping 34 month! 

I thought D was exaggerating when she said 3 years and well no she wasn't... jeesh! 

Last time we checked in I caught you all up on the phases that we have missed over time...

Before

 

 

 

After

 

Yesterday's appointment was seriously super quick and just checking in on how things were lining up. She has a few gaps in teeth that I am having a MAJOR fit over seeing that we are towards the end of all this and they are still there plus we have paid WAY to much money for results like this but they are reassuring me that they will all be gone VERY soon and these bad boys will be off before we know it! 

They chained her top brackets to do just that and I am SUPER excited she got to pick a color again! 

There for a while she was grounded from color choice due to lack of her brushing skills but we are in hopes that those days are behind us and she will get it together so these things can be off her face sooner rather than later... I mean we have already DOUBLED our treatment plan time and I am sure they are ready to get her finished as much as I am ready to see her mouth without the metal accessories. 

We are to go back in March to see where things are lining up and how the gaps are doing in this time of moving into place! I hope that the next appointment they one they schedule is for removal! 

Here's to crossing fingers, toes and maybe eyes!

Stay tuned!

And the Theme Is...

If you stay and hang out with us here on the blog for any length of time you will come to find out several things about me.

#1: Birthdays in this house is a HUGE deal!

#2: I plan for these things WAY in advance...

Perfect example... I have the theme picked out for 2 of my daughter's sweet 16's ALREADY!

#3:  I tend to go OVER THE TOP for them and I REALLY don't care...

Growing up I was taught that each year you are given on this earth is a gift. A gift from God and should be celebrated. As a mom I couldn't thank my grandmother enough for giving me this knowledge to show and share with my children just how important their lives are not only to God but to me. This is one of the things that I hope they will pick up on and continue on one day with their own children. 

ANYWAYS...

As you may have guessed I have already been brain storming what the 2016 birthday parties will bring us and I can tell you that we are SET with themes for my three girls and I am EXCITED! 

Plus since my sister and her kids are here we get  more to plan and that makes me even HAPPIER and we are one shy of having them worked out. Once we do I will share them also. 

So without further ado...

Here are our birthday party themes this year!

HORROR MOVIES:

 My oldest turns 14 in March and to be honest I am SCARED TO DEATH! 

I think it is really the number that gets me but the knowledge of knowing the things that I did at 14 worries me too but that is another story we WON'T be going into :) but either way I am fearful. A TON has changed in a year and she is no longer Mommy's "baby" but a young woman and recently that fact hits harder and HARDER each passing day...

Dakota chose her party theme this year since I said no horror movies til she was 14 and she thought it would be great to make it a BIG deal and use her birthday party to do so.

Since I am SCARED to death of her growing up it fit well for us both. 

I am not a horror movie fan these days and refuse to watch them anymore but it is HER day and I am REALLY EXCITED to do this one...

GHOSTBUSTERS:

My youngest Aaliyah will be 9 in April and I am really unsure why she decided on this one but since I was a ghostbuster fan as a kid myself you can say I am kinda proud...

She has never picked a simple party for mommy so I love the challenge she gives me every year for her big day!

The hubby's bday is also the day before her so when she picks a unisex party like this it is easier for mommy to feel a little less guilty that daddy got the shitty deal of a birthday party that is well peacock themed like last years... 

I am grateful he is a good sport about these themes because LORD knows it takes a strong man to embrace pink, fairies, Minnie Mouse and peacocks as a birthday themes...

BONFIRE:

Alora ends our birthdays for the year in September and this year she graduates from the tween status and graduates to being a TEEN...

YES THAT IS 2 TEENAGE GIRLS IN MY HOUSE!!!!

Since her birthday is in the fall she opted for a bonfire themed party... 

and since we ALL LOVE bonfires you know I am game!

Ideas are running 90 to nothing in my brain and I am keep having to think about I still have A MILLION other things to worry about first.... 

Speaking of birthdays this weekend we get to celebrate my youngest nieces birthday with her Frozen aka Elsa Party! 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Which party are you most excited to hear more about?

 

Trendy Thursday: Boo Style

The other morning as the kids here were getting ready for school it dawned on me that my youngest kid has turned into a trend setter hipster...

She had came out of my room ready for the day and looked like this...

Of course she had to have her pitt in the picture with her when I went "OMG you are the cutest! I have got to take a picture to show EVERYONE!"

That morning she was wearing some skinny jeans, a plaid button up shirt over her super awesome Ninja Turtle T-Shirt, her black mocs and her daddy's beanie...

She picked out her newest teal plastic framed geek gear in August for this school year that she LOVES and there you have a Boo Styled Day.  

Later through out the day I had realized that Aaliyah aka Boo has ALWAYS had her own sense of style and with her body proportioned the way it is she usually can pull of ANY style, look or clothing that is made...

I thought it would be fun to show you JUST what I am talking about...

Here is a look in to the Boo Style...

Enjoy! 

New Kitchen Decor... On a Budget!

 I have a HUGE addiction to the Target Dollar section...

99.99% of the time there is not a trip that I go into that place and NOT find an amazing buy that I of course think that I CAN NOT LIVE without... yesterdays trip of course was no exception to this little problem of mine. 

The "problem" with this trip was due to the fact I am also stupid obsessed with baskets and cute containers that are themed or match my home decor...

If you have a personality trait like mine I am ALL about organizing and putting things WHERE they belong when they have been used etc. 

Which hints the obsession with baskets and containers... but they have to match the decor and they have to of course be adorbs as well...

If you have these traits I HIGHLY recommend a trip to your local Target! 

Since it is the organizing season and EVERYONE and their uncle is all about getting their shit together after the new year Target has heard our cries and has brought us all an AMAZING SELECTION right now!

I could have EASILY spent a small fortune on them and I STILL have my eyes on a few more that I NEED to grab STAT before they fly off the shelves! 

Poor Ant shook his head when he saw my "gold mine"... he just doesn't get it!

 Check it out!

 

My cafe themed kitchen has been sporting last years 4th of July finds and since that point I have been on the hunt for a neutral type basket that could be used year round. 

I hit the mother load with these amazing metal baskets...

I also snagged the super adorable calendar since Santa forgot to bring me one this year :)

I will be hitting Target again hopefully later this week or over the weekend to see what other goodies I can find!

 

The Begining of What the Photography...

You all have heard me time and time again mention the fact that I have been trying to start my own business. 

This bomb has been lying around from the very beginning from our first post to when I was MIA and more recently when I shared my goals for 2016 post, and everywhere in between...

The art of photography has been a passion of mine since I was young and up until I had my oldest I just kept the idea of photography more as a hobby than as a "career goal".

I started teaching myself techniques, practicing ALL the time (perks of being a new mom) and decided to work in an one hour photo lab. 

I played around with the idea of opening up a biz then but I was very scared and worried about being able to provide for my girls that I opted in for journalism school... an epic fail later I was BACK to the photography idea and played around with it more and more.

The year before I moved to Arkansas I decided I was GOING for it and came up with the name What the Photography thanks to some amazing friends at the book store I was working at. 

Things were picking up some and then we had to move out of state for the hubby's new job...

When we moved to Arkansas we knew no one but my God father and What the Photography was put on hold...

 Since I had also become a SAHM with the move I decided that I would enroll back into college this time focusing on getting my degree in the art of photography while I awaited the right moment to introduce WtP to the Central Arkansas area. 

I wish I would have waited longer to do so but when I took over a year off with it when I went back into the working world then had to take a leave due to our oldest and her health, I figured there was no better time than that moment to do a HUGE REVAMP!

Now I am PROUD to RE-INTRODUCE 

What the Photography!

The ONLY thing that has stayed the same is the name and our colors. 

We have re done our logos, website, facebook page, blog and so much more! 

Some of the details are still being worked out things to that nature so please excuse some of the layout errors etc :) I just COULDN'T wait any longer! 

Metal Mouth Madness: Checking in Round One

It is so hard to believe that today we had our first check up on Alora since getting her braces!

If you missed the post about that you can read and catch up on that here. 

As always I took a before the appointment pic...

You would think that they would be used to this... ugh...

The appointment went well and she is already moved up to a stronger wire... yay!

We are in hopes that the last few adult teeth that she needs to come in will honor us with their presence before her next appointment in March so we do not get behind on her progress. 

She was super excited she did not require the spring spacers again this time and that her appointment was super quick and she could make it back to school in time for choir class.

Along with the adult teeth coming in between now and March we are hoping they can finish adding all her brackets then and we again advance to another wire level. I know she is ready to see a difference and though she just got them on she is ready to beat her sisters time as a brace face...

In the mean time she was reminded about brushing skills and angling that toothbrush head to get around those brackets :)

YAY for a great visit and a new wire!

See you all in March with Checking in Round Two!

Ringing in 2016!

Well 2015 ended and 2016 began with a bang! 

Our New Years Eve "party" turned into a straight out PARTY that I am sure our kids will not forget for a few years to come...

 Only problem is  now I am unsure how to top this one...

hmmmm...

 There's no better way to end a year and start a new one than with family and our babies... we held a straight out party! We partied hard... had 3 pass out early, one throw up, 3 party crashers that hung out for a while, a fight, drama, drinks spilled, danced in the new year and laughed the night away... 

Earlier in the week I sat down and threw together activities for the kids and placed them in paper bags with times on them. 

Each kid got to draw one activity and they varied from dressing up to doing a craft. 

This years craft was making memory jars!

Each kid got to make a jar to keep their favorite memories of 2016 in and they loved this idea!

We also did make overs, wrote down our favorite memories of 2015 and of course shared our resolutions for 2016...

This is one of my favorite activities for several reasons...

1. Some are REALLY funny "resolutions" 

2. It is SO cute to listen to the kids from the different ages come up with their ideas... 

They are as follows:

Dakota 13:

Try New Foods, Wear more dresses, Dye her hair and try a new hair style 

Ashton 12: 

No pictures taken for the year, to dye his hair, and be a vegetarian for 6 months... at first he said vegan but his tone changed quickly when we said no cheese :)  

Summer 9:

Go mud riding, play soccer, and own a horse

Riley 12:

Not to be "fat"... not sure WHY this is an issue at this age! UGH!

Write more music

Get good grades

Alora 12: 

Play softball at her best ability

Raelyn 11:

Work on anger

Work on softball skills

Aaliyah 8:

Hang out with Ashton more

Eat meat only... smh...

Kara 7:

Pet a goat...

Lanie 9:

Get better grades

Crystal 33:

Get her GED

Start culinary art school

Get a place and ride

Anthony 31:

Well the hubby is STILL anti-resolution.... 

maybe ONE year this will change... 

Sandra 31: 

If you missed mine on Friday you can find them here

Our Party Crowd!

The youngest party animal :)

Of course the day and night was filled with food galore that my sister and I threw together for the kids to snack on through out the party.

 and once we hit the dance party stage of the evening it was on! 

I threw together a play list on Spotify and used Alora's bluetooth light up speaker to set the mood. We gave the kids the living room area, turned off the lights and let them dance the night away while the adults hung out in the kitchen chatting and enjoying some wine. 

At midnight the kids enjoyed their "wine" aka sparking cider and their midnight "kisses"

Of course we got a few "awww that's gross" remarks when I did get an actual midnight kiss from the hubby... got to love kids...

After they toasted and "kissed" away I sent them out the door with noise makers and for a running lap around the house...

They took A lap into like 20 but whatever :) 

Three of the kids didn't make it to the count down and we found them either like this...

Or in a random bed in the house. 

We had one get sick and throw up...

We had 3 kids show up we didn't know...

and I had red solo cups and paper plates scattered through out the house...

We ended the kids party with a sleep over and a movie and us adults stayed up drinking, having music wars and chatting... The party stopped when my sister's 2 year old told her it was time for bed at 5 am...

Dang party pooper!