Adore the Pioneer Woman's Actions

So, I love to take pictures of my kids. That is kind of obvious, I suppose. I am not very good at this picture taking, and even worse at knowing how to edit my pictures. My taste leans toward bright colors, lots of light, and pretty eyes. I only know a couple of tricks to help me out with that, but I plan on learning more. (I ordered a book to teach me more.) :) I got a brand new 35mm lens for Christmas, so I also plan on reading more about how to take better photos. I'd hate to have all of this nice equipment that my husband bought for me, and not know how to use it. Anyhow, in an attempt to dive a little deeper, I have downloaded some stinkin awesome "actions" from the Pioneer Woman. Can I just say how cool it is to have someone else do all the hard work for you in the editing? Very cool. So, I have been playing with a few of my favorite pics with these "actions" and came up with these results. I really enjoy having pictures all over the house, and I like to keep them fresh. Since I actually print my pics, I am happy that I will be learning more about how to make them better! Enjoy these photos from my first day of learning to use "actions!"Confession: Alan took this one of Payton while I was shopping.

Giving Thanks

Well, this Thanksgiving I had a heart overflowing with things to be thankful for. My salvation, the salvation of my husband and daughters, my amazing family of five who I am just humbled to get to spend my life with, God's provision for our family through my hard-working family-loving husband, and the list just goes on and on and on. I am blessed. Before we left for a fun Thanksgiving in Austin, Payton had a Thanksgiving day feast at school. She loved trying all the different food (weird, she never tries anything new!!!) We met my grandmother in Dallas for lunch and then went back to Austin for Thanksgiving with my mom and dad. It was a lot of fun and there was so much good food and a sweet time together. Blake had a pretty rough time while we were there. He got pneumonia and was really very sick. After we had an early Thanksgiving with my parents, we headed back home to have Thanksgiving with my amazing in-laws. We spent a lot of time playing, eating, shopping, and really just enjoying being together. We are really looking forward to getting both families together for Christmas in the mountains!! I will post when we return! Till then, enjoy these pics!

Payton's table centerpiece Silly turkey!Maci got to go with my mom, my sister and me to the Christmas Affair in Austin for some girl-time! She was a perfectly amazing shopping partner. She and I had a blast sampling every single piece of candy available to the point of making ourselves sick! We shared some serious laughter there! I loved my time with this beautiful girl!This child, adorable as she is, is not a shopper. She was not invited on our little outing because once we entered the building, the first words out of her mouth were sure to be, "My legs don't want to walk anymore." Therefore, she stayed behind with the men and played in the leaves, raked the leaves, watched movies, ate cookies, and had the attention of her favorite people all to herself! Trust me, everyone involved got exactly what they wanted! :) LOVE this kid more than words!This is just a random picture of my handsome little stinker covered in his Oreo cookies! He makes me smile!