A New Year, A New Me!

For my 34th birthday, I decided to "tweak my image" a bit...AKA "invest in a new wardrobe : )"

I'm calling it...Hippie Chic.  

I love etsy.com!!  

I found some vintage 1970's items and snatched them up.  

I've only received one  shirt so far, and it's super cute!

I can't wait to get the other things.  

While shopping for vintage things on etsy, I must say I was extremely disappointed to discover the 80's are now vintage...What!?

 When did that happen?  

My childhood decade is now vintage. 

I guess that means I'm getting old : )  

What A Day!!

I had the best birthday yesterday!!  Thank you so much to everyone who sent facebook messages, texted, and sent cards!!  I definitely felt the love : )  

I wanted to document my day hour by hour with pictures.  

Sit back and hang on for a day in the life post!

My first hour was spent editing photos from my photo shoot last week..

Then Tenley arrived and it was play time!

Then my sister called and we got to talk for like an hour!!  We never do that, so when we do it's always great!

And for the very best part of my day...meeting up with my Mom and other sister to get Maddie!!!

She has spent the last few days with Grammie and PaPa and we have missed her.  Even Gracie was wondering where Maddie went.  I got the biggest, best hugs when she saw me!!

We met up at the Children's Hospital for my nephew Evan.  He had a doctor's appointment with one of the specialists there.

He was diagnosed with Minimal Change disease back in 2007.  My day just kept getting better, because what looked like a grim diagnosis back then, is now a thing of the past!!  The doctor said unless he shows any signs or symptoms, she won't need to see him again! : )  Yay!

Next up, was my birthday lunch.  I chose Abuelo's.

Maddie attacked her plate without any help (well, Mom did have to cut the burrito into a few pieces) and she sat in her own chair the entire meal!  She's growing up.

Next on the list...cupcakes!!!

We went to the new place Pinkitzel.  

Maddie enjoyed horsing around...while literally pretending to be a horse!

The place is decorated so cool!

and who doesn't love a candy store?!!

On the way back my sweet Mom wanted to help me document the day.  She grabbed my camera for a quick shot.  

oops...

uh oh...

Totally  nailed it!!  Way to go Mom : ) 

On the way home Maddie and Tenley both fell asleep.  

I went out and checked the mail and found these lovelies!!

Kyle wanted to take me out for dinner, but since I was still stuffed from Abuelo's I really didn't want a big meal.  I also really didn't want to clean the kitchen!!

So off to Chick-Fil-A we went!!

After  that we headed out for a walk.  

Maddie smelled the lilacs in bloom...

and investigated some other pretty flowers.  

Then, she and her Daddy had fun with their shadows...

and it was time for a shoulder ride to finish out the long trek back home.

After we got home it was time to enjoy our cupcakes!

Maddie sang "Happy Birthday" to me.  Her first time to ever sing!!  We have it on video, I'll try and post it some time : )  

And that concluded my fabulous 34th Birthday!!!  

Thank you friends for helping make it so special!! : ) 

Could She Get Any Cuter?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!

For my birthday I got a new website!!

Check it out at http://www.samschasteenphotography.com/ 

I am so excited about this...its going to make ordering photos soooo much easier!! 

A couple of weekends ago, I got to photograph one of my newborns again!!

Remember this?

We lovingly refer to her now as the poison ivy baby : ) 

Well, look at her now six months later!!

I just want to pinch those precious little cheeks!!

And I love this...it shows all of her many, many expressions! 

So much fun!!  I love that I get to watch these little ones grow.  

And speaking of little ones...Maddie comes home today!!!!  

Can't wait to see her. 

Maddie and Me

Maddie left yesterday to finish out her spring break with Grammie and PaPa.  

I miss her already!  

But...I do have a lot of things to do to keep busy!

Like sew her Easter dress.

Edit, Edit, Edit photos from my previous photo shoot.

Take more photos for my upcoming photo shoot.

And then there's always housework.  

Still at the bottom of the list!  : ) 

Passover Seder Banquet

Sunday night our church hosted a Passover Seder Banquet to learn more about what Jesus would have experienced at the last supper and gain a deeper appreciation for how we view communion services on Sunday mornings.  

It was incredibly enlightening!!

 Brian Crawford with the Chosen People ministries came and spoke to us.

He explained the Seder plate and what each item represents.  

What I love about these Jewish customs are how they teach the children who they are and where they've come from.  Seder is the Hebrew word for order.  

We learned about the significance of the cup of wine and the new covenant.  

and the significance of the matzo bread being striped and pierced and then broken to foreshadow the crucifixion of Christ.  

  Everything looked so pretty!  

It took several weeks of planning and preparing and lots of hard work to cook and serve, but those of us on the planning committee worked together and accomplished it all!! 

My role was preparing activities for the kids.  

 

I made these Passover kits to illustrate the story of the ten plagues of Egypt.

First was a strip of red fabric to represent the water turned to blood.

Second was the plague of frogs

Third was the plague of gnats so I used the sticky hands to represent swatting at the gnats.

Fourth was the flies and I found these at the Dollar Tree.

Fifth was the diseased livestock.

Sixth was the boils. I used band-aids to represent these.

Seventh was the hail storm.  I used Styrofoam balls.

Eighth was the plague of locusts.  I couldn't find anything to represent locusts but I finally found a coloring page with locusts, so I shrunk it down and rolled it up with a crayon.

The ninth plague was darkness.  This one a little tricky but I found these glow sticks at the Dollar Tree.

And last was the death of the firstborn.  I found these ugly babies at Hobby Lobby.  

All ten plagues in one easy-to-tell format! 

I also put together a fort-building kit to represent the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  

I think everything went over well.  

If you ever have a chance to attend a Seder Banquet I would highly recommend it!  

Maddie in Curls...and Tears!

I've been putting Maddie's hair in these cute little twisty-buns the last few days.  

So, yesterday for preschool I took down the twisty-buns and she had the most glorious curls!

But when she saw herself in the mirror...

 She was not happy!!

First she cried and then she just got mad!

I think she must be the only woman in the world who actually prefers the straight hair God gave her!  

Don't go messing with good thing : )  

Happy Friday!!

Anyone Else Buried in Laundry?