Trying to get caught up

I cannot believe that I have not posted in almost a week! So sorry. Life happened. It never ceases to amaze me how getting behind on one day easily snowballs into being a week behind. Does that happen to anyone else?

 

Anyways, my husband had surgery (it was relatively minor) last Friday and it threw our family schedule out of whack much more then we anticipated. My in-laws were here to help with the kids but things were still completely crazy. I had no idea just how much more work I would have to do while taking care of my "patient" and not having his help with the kids. Remember this article, well again I feel so thankful for my husbands support in our day-to-day life.

 

My in-laws left today and my husband is getting back to full speed and I feel like I am climbing out of an overwhelming pit that is also known as my to-do list.

 

One thing I finally did today (actually just now at 10pm) was upload my images to flikr for my Opposites Class. I was 3 assignments behind. Awesome. Here they are.

 

 Day 2: New

(My daughter has "newly" learned to do the big girl swing all by herself.

 Day 3: In

My sweet baby indoors...doing baby push-ups. My favorite.

Day 4: OutPlaying outside. My daughter watches adoringly as her baby brother attempts the sippy cup on his own. 

If you want to sign up, you totally still can! Remember that it is FREE! Do it here.

 

Oh and for those interested, yours truly is doing the Wednesday lesson. Maybe you will learn something new. Maybe.

 

I gotta get some sleep. Will try to catch up a little more tomorrow. Adios.

 

What's in my reader

I started blogging over 3 years ago when a good friend of mine encouraged me to share about our family. Back then I had a few blogs that I kept up with but they were mostly personal friends. As time has gone by, my list of blogs that I follow has grown substantially. Many of them are still personal friends, but I have also stumbled across several that are inspiring one way or another. I now follow almost 100 blogs (thank goodness for Google Reader!) but there are a few that I always read first. Just in case you have not heard of these, I thought I would share:)

 

MomTog- Awesome photography blog with all kinds of good stuff.

 

Kerianne Brown Photography- Another amazing photographer. She posts daily images of her son that are just stunning and so inspiring.

 

Blue Cricket Design- Creative goodness. You can get all kinds of great ideas here.

 

Everyday Beautiful- The Fabric Shoppe blog. Lots of great sewing ideas and inspiration.

 

Lil Blue Boo- The blog for the famous shop. Owner Ashley shares business tips, photography stuff and sewing tutorials.

 

Ucreate- A blog filled with amazing tutorials from around the web.

 

Thrifty Decor Chick- This is a great place to find home ideas on the cheap. This woman has amazing ideas and stories. She and her husband just recently went through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and became debt free- they paid off $125,000!

 

Go check out these awesome blogs! Got any good ones to share? Feel free to leave them in a comment.

 

Sweet Jillianlee- 5 months

One of my best friends let me take some 5 month birthday pictures of her precious daughter Jillian. They have amazing natural light in their house so we just shot for a few minutes in their living room one morning.

Isn't she precious?

Actions Actions read all about them!

Stupid title, I know.

When you edit in photoshop and photoshop elements you typically do things in layers...adjust lighting, color, maybe add texture, etc. "Actions" are pre-determined changes that are grouped together and saved under one "action" so that they can save you time in photo editing. Creating actions is (in my mind) is really tough stuff.

Lots of people charge big bucks for actions but some people give them away for free! In case any of you are photoshop people, I thought I would share my finds.

Here are some of my favorite free photoshop elements actions and where I downloaded them from. (The links to download are listed at the end...)

 

original

Pioneer Woman's Boost

original photo  

  Texas Chicks Drama

 original

 Texas Chicks Color Boost

 original

Coffee Shop's Lomo

 original

 Coffee Shop's Butterscotch Vintage

 original

Pioneer Woman BW

 original

 Isabella LaFrance's Easy123  

 original

Paint the Moon's Vanilla Pop 

 original

Paint the Moon's Sunny Days  

You can download these actions and many more from these sites:

Coffee Shop Blog
Isabella LaFrance Photography
Marisa Hugonnett Photography
Paint the Moon
Texas Chicks
The Pioneer Woman



If you have any other great sites with free actions that you can recommend...please leave the information in the comments for others to share. 

Because I love my readers...

I have a fun giveaway for you! Remember this post? Well, I have these outfits back from the fabric company and, guess what?

I am going to give BOTH outfits to one lucky reader! That's right, TWO free boutique quality outfits for one reader. This is perfect for Christmas...they are just waiting to be wrapped up.

 Seriously, so cute!

 She likes this dress and I know your little one will too!

 The halter dress has shabby chic rosettes on the bodice.

 Made with this pattern.

 This outfit has traditional length bloomers.

 It is great as it is or layered over long sleeves and jeans for winter.

Made with this pattern.

 

I can't wait to give these outfits away to one of you! A little information for you- both outfits are a size 2t. They have all been sewn by me and bear the Noodles & Milk logo. All pieces are professionally finished with a serger.

 

In order to enter the giveaeway, please do the following (in separate comments please):

• Leave me a comment telling me how much your little one will love these outfits. =1 entry
• Fan Noodles & Milk on facebook and leave a comment telling me. =1 entry
• Follow this blog and leave me a comment telling me. =1 entry

(If you are already a follower and FB fan, just tell me that you are)

 

This giveaway will remain open until Friday, December 10th at midnight at is only open to US reader. Good Luck!

 

Fun etsy finds: Shop Local

Have you ever used the "shop local" feature on etsy? It is super cool! You just type in the city or area that you want to shop in and it pulls shops of all categories from your area. This is a great way to meet local crafters and often times you can save money on shipping. Not everyone would do this, but often times local vendors will cut the shipping and offer pick up or delivery options.

Here is a little of what I found when I searched Dallas/Fort Worth:

 Bella Fleur: Look at this gorgeous headband! Isn't it precious?

 Cuddles & Crafts: Of course I LOVE this TCU beanie!

 Go Birdie: Look at these great flashcards. I love how the letters are made into the animal shapes...too cute!

 Just Plain Vintage: Okay, these plates are wonderful! This shop is full of great vintage finds.

 Knitty Knitty Bang Bang: This scarf is ah-mazing! Seriously, I love it.

 Speakbot: Precious baby shoes.

 Noodle and Lou: This shop is full of the most amazing original artwork. This painting is fabulous, absolutely fabulous.

 Phat Straps: This shop makes funky camera straps. I have one on my camera and I love it and get compliments on it everywhere I go.

 Sand in the Sky: Jaw dropping leather wrap bracelet! This would make a great gift.

ShuFly Jewelry: I love charm necklaces. I told my husband that I wanted jewelry for Christmas and this necklace would definitely fit the bill! 

Now, go check out what etsy goodies you can find in your own neighborhood. Happy shopping!