Christmas 08 in a nutshell

I wish my Christmas 'break' could actually fit in a nutshell. Then maybe my brain would have time to process it all. As it is, it's now the new year and I'm just getting to posting about it. I guess that's what happens when you travel 7 hours to visit family and get in a few months worth of visiting in a couple of days! WHEW! Now we're back home and we have some time to breathe!

Where did I leave off last time? Does it even matter? LOL! I did finish my 25 days of Christmas album, and I have to tell you that I hope it's a tradition I'll remember to continue each year - it really made the season stretch, which was MOSTLY a good thing ;)

From the 17th to the 20th we took it easy for the most part. We enjoyed things like the kids' Christmas concert "Santa Goes Green" (how many of your kids did the same program???) which I enjoyed - of course, I enjoy anything with MY children in it ;) My BB was a little reindeer, with the cutest little nose wiggle you ever did see!

We watched some good movies, and some bad ones, had some hot chocolate, and enjoyed some merry making (which didn't involve alcohol, but equally gleeful hot chocolate).

My birthday was one of the BEST I've had in a long, long time. For my birthday "date" we went out for Chinese food and to see the flick "Eagle Eye" which I LOVED but it was SO INTENSE from the first moment to the last! My sides hurt from holding my breath and my fingers were numb from grasping onto the arm rests. It was so much fun, though :)

On Sunday (my actual birth DAY) we had some fabulous friends over ( I won't show the photo I took of you, K - we both know it wasn't the most flattering. Next time I'll grab the camera and take the picture! LOL!). We enjoyed some DQ ice cream cake (my fav.) and opened some fabulous gifts from my hubby. i got a couple of books I've been wanting, AND the BEST was the DVD set of Season One of SHE-RA!!! Okay, WHO remembers this show?? Any takers? I was obsessed as a kid. I had all of the figurines, and even played with my brother's He-man guys to make the story complete ;) I've had such a trip down memory lane watching these babies. LOL!

My husband also bought me the BEST gift of all - a green iPod nano! HAPPY JOYFUL DAY! I LOVE it!

Christmas Eve featured our tradition of acting out the nativity with the kiddos. Our family is getting bigger (and older) which helps. Somehow, though, I still managed to stay BEHIND the lens as the narrator ;) Hubby was Joseph, TJ was Mary, B was a wise man, BB was a shepherd, and JJ was a very reluctant angel (is there such a thing?).We opened one gift from each other Christmas eve, set out each stocking in it's appointment place, set out a plate of cookies, a cup of milk, and some carrots for Santa and his reindeer, and then promptly marched the kiddos off to bed. Santa was coming and he had a lot of work to do. Well, not really since we've let Santa know that he doesn't need to wrap his gifts. We like it much better with the gifts all laid out nicely in each child's designated spot, waiting for them to show up! This means less work BEFORE Christmas, and less mess AFTER. Though, we still managed quite the mess :)

I spent an afternoon during the week working on a gift for my husband - a "BOX OF LOVE". Okay, I know - I could have worked more on the name of it, but I've been busy. Give me some slack! LOL! Lately my husband has been feeling very BUSY and very CRAZY with going back to school AND working full-time AND serving in a demanding calling as young men's president in our ward. I have seen how TIRED he is (which doesn't happen with him very often) and how WEARY he is - mentally, physically, and otherwise. I wanted a gift that would be meaningful and would help him see himself the way those who love him see him. I asked several family members and friends to write him short (or long) notes of encouragement and love. WOW~! Did people ever come through for him! The little box (which I mod podged some photos on) was filled to over flowing with lovely notes and letters that he spent Christmas morning reading. If I ever feel low I can read my awesome blog comments and feel MUCH BETTER. Sadly, he is no blogger - so I had to fill that void somehow ;)

The girls were ecstatic with their gifts - especially TJ with her hamster cage (with a letter promising she could pick out her own hamster at the pet store), B with her Fur-Real Parrot, BB with her HUGE unicorn stuffed animal, and JJ with the candy. Hubby bought me a movie to watch on my iPod, and I gave him the BOX OF LOVE. The joys of Christmas morning were short-lived, however, as we no sooner had enjoyed our gifts, shovelled breakfast down our throats, and packed a couple of our gifts, than we were headed off to cow town to visit with family and friends!

We arrived at about 4:00pm their time - the ride was smooth and quick (if you can call 7 hours quick). We visited with the in-laws and settled down for bed.
The next day was HELLO boxing day - so it was off to Children's Place and Old Navy for some shopping with my SIL, J. It wasn't as crazy as I expected (though we were there right at opening!). Bought jeans for the entire family and one or two extras ;) Then, we headed out to the zoo with all of the G cousins, except the newest.


After a wonderful turkey dinner, and another rush trip back to Old Navy, we came back to the house for the annual "let's-go-nuts-with-presents-with-12-kids-under-12" partay! The kids all bought each other gifts, as well as some fabulous gifts from grandma and grandpa. Lots of gifts- lots of gifts with a zillion little parts. Lovely. We couldn't resist trying to get a nice cousins photo. Well, we got 'A' cousins photo. Did I mention 12 kids under 12? Enough said.

My niece, S, stayed the nice with TJ and early the next morning, we all trekked out to the Children's Place to help them spend the awesome gift cards TJ, S, and B received for Christmas. The minute we walked in, B saw a cute sweater/jacket thing that she HAD to have. SO, she bought it. S was right behind her wanting to buy the same sweater. Not long after that, TJ decided that's what she wanted, too. Sooooo...

Lovely, aren't they? :)

Later that day I took off with my oldest sister to one of the LDS church bookstores that was closing it's doors and was having a HUGE sale. I bought a few nice things, but the best part was running into several friends! NICE! We headed out to visit my other SIL, T, and discovered how much my husband enjoys "Rock Band". He's a born drummer, folks. The trip was also VERY worth it because T hands over a HUGE box filled with some gorgeous clothes for my girls AND me. Is it still called a hand-me-down when SHE has lost weight and she gives the clothes to me? Wouldn't me-weight-down make more sense? ;) I was thrilled with the prospect of even fitting in anything she has recently worn! YES!

Sunday was lovely - we went to church, saw more old and dear friends, visited with one my sisters in the afternoon, then again with two of my sisters and my brother in the evening. Want to see what my brother gave me for Christmas? I know you do ;)

I LOVE IT! Do you want to know the best part? HE MADE IT!! I KNOW!! It was the shock of the season, for me. He not only handmade one for me, but he made one for each of his 5 sisters AND his mother. Each Father Christmas is holding a block with the initial of each family name. Each one is wearing different cloaks cut from scratch - and holding different unique items. It's SO special to me. Now I wish I had gotten him something :S

Monday was one of the BEST days of our trip for two reasons. First thing Monday morning I had the privilege of photographing some good friends of mine - a buddy of mine growing up and his sweet family. They were so photogenic and fun. It was clear to see how much they adore each other. Really, it didn't feel like work at all. Their sister in law had given them a photo session as a Christmas gift! How sweet!




Immediately after the photo shoot, we headed down south to High River Airport to.....

GO ON MY VERY FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE!!!! SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAALLL!!

My brother in law recently earned his pilot's license, and he offered to take me up in a tiny 4 seater cessna for a ride. UM YEAH!!!! I was ecstatic! Not only was I going to be able to go up, but all of my girls and my hubby would have a turn as well. I went up with TJ and JJ, and hubby went up with B and BB. I LOVED IT! I was expecting to get sick to my stomach because of the small plane, but conditions were perfect and my BIL is an awesome pilot. It was absolutely the most exciting thing I had done in a long, long time. Anyone who knows me well knows how long I've waited to finally fly. And what a way to do it!
We flew close to the mountains, over farms and small towns. It was SO AWESOME! And to do it in a small plane with a pilot who explained everything to me, answered my questions, and even let me fly for a couple of minutes (that's only how long I lasted before BEGGING him to take the controls back). It was SO awesome. THANKS, D!!!

We also had a great visit with my BIL, B, who I just love getting to know better. He is so smart, and thinks things through really well. He certainly helped me to think about things in a different light through talking with him.

Oh! And I got to visit with a good friend, M, as well. She is going through a pretty big trial in her life right now, and I was amazed at her positive attitude and perspective on things. I know she doesn't feel that she is very positive right now, but I can see it. It was nice to be able to just sit and listen. There is nothing like listening to another's trials to put your own into proper perspective. She is handling things very well, and I can see that she is becoming an even stronger person because of these hard times. I LOVE YOU, M!

Well, we headed back home on the 30th on some terribly treacherous roads. Hubby lost control of the van once, started fishtailing it at 100km/h and freaked me out. Thankfully he regained control and we were okay, but I rode with my heart in my throat the entire way back home. I was grateful to set foot back in my own home and settled down a bit.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break. I love this season, with all it's craziness. I'm sure next year will be super quiet as we will probably just stay put here. I'm going to miss it all.

So, now that the new year has begun, I want to know what kinds of tutorials you are interested in seeing? What technique have you seen somewhere and you're dying to learn how to do it? What question has been nagging at the back of your mind and you want some help solving it? Speak up, folks, and I'll do my best to help you out in the new year!

A Big Thank You and a tutorial: Smooth Skin!

THANK YOU!

Thanks for your fabulous comments! It was a birthday wish come true! Now I don't feel as old as I thought :) I woke up this morning and I was still me, maybe with one or two extra wrinkles. LOL! I really love hearing from all of you, my good blog buddies! Thanks again!

Now, I've been promising a fun new Photoshop tutorial that I've recently fell in love with, and I'm going to share it with you. It's a wonderful skin smoothing technique that give your subject that "supermodel" smooth skin while keeping the edges sharp. This is great for skin tones that are slightly uneven, or maybe have some small blemishes, or just any photo you want to add that "glam" touch to!

Now, this is a technique that will require the use of layer masks, so don't run away at the sight! These layer masks are SO useful in adding a technique to only certain parts of a photo. Stick with me and you'll have a lot of fun with this technique.

1. Open a photo of a person - a fairly close up photo works best for this. Remove any major blemishes with the healing brush tool or however you usually do it. When you're photo is almost ready to save, do this technique.

2. Duplicate the photo layer by clicking on Layer>Duplicate Layer OR just click on the thumbnail of your photo on your layers palette and drag it onto the "create a new layer" icon to the bottom right. What you will see is a duplicate of your image on your layers palette. You can name this layer "Smooth Skin" if you'd like.3. Now you will add the Median filter which will smooth and kind of blur the entire photo. Don't worry about that - we'll be fixing it soon. So, click at the top of the screen on Filter>Noise>Median. You'll see a little screen pop up that looks like this:

Where it says "Radius" enter a number between 5 and 10. I entered "6" here, and it's a good all around value to enter. The higher the number, the smoother the look. Click OK.

4. Now your photo will look smooth ALL OVER. We don't want that, right? We just want the skin to be smooth! So, there are a couple of things we can do here. I'm going to use a layer mask to cover the smooth effect, then erase back the skin parts so they are smooth and the rest is still sharp. Still with me? Okay, here is what you do. Create another duplicate of the background layer by clicking on the background thumbnail on your layers palette. It's the one on the bottom. Then repeat the steps in step 2. Layer>Duplicate layer. Now you'll have another layer called "Background copy" right above your background layer on your layers palette. Drag that copy to the top of your layers palette. So, now your layers will be in this order:
5. Now we will add the layer mask. You do this by clicking on the little square with the white circle in the center at the bottom of the layers palette. If you have a version of elements that doesn't support layer masks, then you can skip this step and I'll explain what to do next.


6. Select a soft round brush on your tools palette, then make black your foreground color. Now, you can paint over the skin on your photo and watch as it magically becomes smooth! Be careful to avoid eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, nostrils, hair etc. JUST do the skin. If you make a mistake, just change your foreground color to white and paint over the mistake.If the smoothing is too much, then just lower the opacity of the skin smoothing layer in your layers palette until you like how it looks. When you are happy with the results, you can flatten your image!
Okay you Elements users - if your program doesn't offer or support layer masks, then you simply use your eraser tool to erase the top layer to reveal the smooth layer beneath. You need to be careful because if you make a mistake, you can't undo an eraser tool as easily. You can still adjust the opacity of the smooth skin layer to your liking. Flatten your image when you're done!



Make sense?

If it doesn't make sense, it's okay - I've created an action for it! Merry Christmas! You can download it here:

(3) Bobbi's Smooth Skin.atn

Elements users, you can try it out. If it doesn't work well in Elements, I may try to come up with one that works. It worked for me in Elements 5.0, you just have to flatten the image yourself. If you need a refresher on how to load actions into elements, check out this past tutorial HERE.

Merry Christmas everyone! I doubt I'll be back before Christmas. Love you!

30 years ago.....

A baby girl was born
She had masses of thick black hair, was chubby which slanted her eyes, and had light jaundice - so her grandpa thought she was half asian! He called her China Baby. He wasn't very politically correct.

She was immediately adopted into the best family ever! She never felt like they weren't her biological family. She was brought home from the hospital on Boxing Day - her mother called her her late Christmas gift!


And one day, she was sealed to them for time and all eternity. So, she was theirs and they were hers... forever!


They loved to camp - a LOT! Their favorite place? Mount Kidd in Kananaskis Country. BEAUTIFUL!

They also vacationed EVERY SUMMER in Pentiction, B.C. which she LOVED. Epecially swimming and playing in the sand.


She grew up very happy, even with a younger brother who loved to torment her poor soul.

She had a mother who was crafty- not in the sly sense, but in the "I can sew you a dress to match the wallpaper" sense :)


As she grew, so did her hair. Way past her butt, which became annoying by the 7th grade when she was FINALLY allowed to cut it. Her big sister D had to do it when mom was in another Province.

She had so many great friends growing up - especially as a teenager. She love to have fun and hang out with her buddies. Her FAVORITE thing was going to the dances. Her parents taught her how to jive and she loved winning prizes with her Jive partner "B".

Soon, she graduated from high school- with honors. Which was easy because she loved school and loved learning. It was bitter-sweet, however, as she knew she would loose touch with many good friends.


She couldn't find a modest graduation dress anywhere, so her mother (the crafty woman is she) sewed her a modest dress that the girl felt comfortable wearing outside the house. She had a BLAST!

A couple of years passed and soon she began wishing for her prince charming to find her. It wasn't long that a handsome young man arrived home from a mission in a far away and strange land (California). He swept her off her feet, and they were engaged to be married within 2 months of him arriving home. Hey, when you know, you know!


Soon after, their very best friends met and became engaged to each other! Two matches made in heaven!


Those first couple of years passed quickly. SO quickly that they can't even remember those days with no children!

But, after 10 years together, they had a beautiful family of 4 daughters who were the apple of their eyes.

Yes, the girl was happy, content, and still in her twenties...

Until December 21, 2008!

Yes, folks. I'm turning 30! HOW did that happen?? Okay, I don't need any explanations, I know exactly about how the earth spins and how the years pass. And so, here it is. A new decade ahead of me! There is something exciting about that, isn't there?? I love it! I only have a few days before Christmas to really celebrate my past 30 years, and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth :)

In an effort to really boost my morale, I'm asking YOU for a birthday gift. If you have followed my blog for over a year, then you know what I'm going to ask you lovely blogiverse friends of mine. I'd love for you to leave me a comment here. That's all. I'd LOVE to reach 30 comments for my 30th birthday (but no pressure) - tee hee hee. I want to meet any lurkers out there who haven't said hello, yet. I don't bite! (Usually)

Thank you all for enriching my life these past couple of years. I just love hearing from you, exchanging ideas, hearing your advise, laughing with you, crying with you. Thank you for being my blog buddies and for stickin' with me - even when I get UBER BORING (yes, I'm aware that it happens) :) Thanks again, everyone - and have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!

Days 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15... well you get it!

Day 9 :A tradition in our home is drawing names between the 6 of us and buying a gift - for $5 or less. We had a lot of fun doing this - the kids adore being the ones to pick out the PERFECT gift for their parent, or their sister. And you know? I think they did a fabulous job! These gifts we will exchange on Christmas eve.

Day 10:
We spent a good part of the day baking three batches of cookies that we packaged up to deliver to some friends and neighbors. We baked chocolate chip, peanut butter, and ginger snaps (one of my personal favorites). AND you'll be proud of me - I only ate ONE COOKIE! YES! So, I'm still doing okay for the 10 lbs in 100 days challenge over at my SIL's blog. (BTW - WAY cute link over there for you ladies with kiddos. Check it out!) I'm down 7 lbs and have been for a few weeks, but at least I'm not GAINING, right?? Okay, just to sabotage all of you, here is the recipe for the gingersnaps ;)

Chewy Gingersnaps

4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine (I always use real butter - yummo!)
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together butter and sugar until very smooth. Add eggs and molasses and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add to the creamed mixture and stir. Roll into balls and dip tops into some white sugar (optional - but yummy!). Drop onto a cookie sheet and press down lightly with a spoon or fork. Bake for 10 minutes (do not over bake these babies!)

DONE AND DONE! Soooo good.

Maybe some day I'll share my other cookie recipes - I'm a nut for cookies. I'm trying out some white chocolate macadamia cookies today or tomorrow, if I have the time (Ha!).

Day 11:

Simple. We played Santa and delivered those scrumptious bags of cookies to my husband's home teaching families, and looked at Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

I also had a way fun photo shoot of a gorgeous mom and her son - seriously SO easy to photograph. I can't wait to finish editing them so they can have them in plenty of time for Christmas! AND I'm glad TJ wasn't around during this photoshoot - there is no way she would have been able to resist this Brad Pitt in the making!

Day 12:

Day 12 was one of my favorites! I was having a rough day (who doesn't have those now and then?) and for me - nothing fixes a bad day like time with family and CHOCOLATE! Our treat for day 12 was gourmet hot chocolate (for me and hubby - kids got the carnation brand) and a new Christmas movie - Barbie in A Christmas Carol. It's fun! We liked it.


I bought the kids some stir sticks from the dollarstore, which were a big hit (until they broke, but that's what you get when you pay $1 for four~). We also had another cheeseball! I know, I know - how am I still maintaining my 7 lbs loss? Good question. I have no clue - and I don't want to. It's just one of those Christmas miracles ;) This cheeseball was a bacon and ranch one. YUM! Here's the recipe for that one:

Bacon Ranch Cheeseball

2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 pkg of dry ranch dip mix
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup bacon bits (I used the real stuff for this - if I'm eating the calories anyway, I'm going real, baby!)

Whip the cream cheese together until very smooth. Take your time doing this part - it makes ALL the difference! Mix in the ranch dip mix and cheddar cheese well. Roll into a ball (this part can be messy, but just think of the goodness waiting for you!). Spread the bacon bits into a shallow bowl or a dish. Roll the cheeseball into the bacon bits. Wrap cheeseball in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Enjoy with some crackers or chips!

Remember, as long as you eat it with one or two good friends, it fat free!! HELLO!

Friday was also "Family Day" at my daughter's pre-K class. They have these every month, and I look forward to them! This time we made these WAY cute snow globes!


Oh HOW do I make those? I'm sure you are asking ;) Okay, SUPER EASY! Here is what you need:

- a glass jar with a tight fitting lid
- Glue gun and glue sticks
- liquid dish soap (just a drop will do ya)
- glitter (white is preferable so it looks like snow)
- water
- miniature items to create your scene (look at Wal-Mart, Michaels, or whatever craft or hobby store you've got)

Make sure the jars are super duper clean. Remove the lid and hot glue the miniatures onto the inside of the lid. Set aside to dry. Make sure you use a lot of glue - glue them well, especially the little figurines. Take the jar and add some glitter - not too much or it will be too cloudy to see the scene, but enough that it will mostly cover the lid once it settles. Make sense? Fill the jar with water, then add a drop or two of liquid dish soap (this helps keep the snow from floating instead of falling). Screw the lid on tightly, checking to be sure there aren't any leaks, and your globe is done!

I can't wait to make these with my older girls, too. I just LOVE THEM!

Day 13:

Our most CRAZAY day this week! It started with my final photo shoot before Christmas, and it couldn't have been a more amazing one! This family was seriously some of the nicest people I've met through my photography. SO easy to talk to and SO fun! And their little girl "E" was GORGEOUS! It was an hour long session, and most babes don't seem to last for more than 20 minutes tops. Not this one! She was SO happy and it was infectious! It was a pleasure photographing her and her parents. So much so that I went through 2 memory cards just with them! That never happens!

I whittled the photos down from over 400 to 34. Man, that was hard. I mean, this child looks like a gerber baby!

After the photoshoot we went to my hubby's work children Christmas party at "It's a Blast!", an indoor playground that was anything but a blast for me ;) The kids really did have a blast, though, and that was the point right? They got to play on all of the playground equipment, make new friends, and best of all - see Santa and receive their early Christmas gift!We stayed less than 2 hours, but the girls had 2 DAYS worth of fun in there! They each loved their gifts and were ready to go by the end.

Later that night we went to the Ward Family Christmas party at the church for a scrumptious turkey and ham dinner and program. The place was packed full, which is always nice to see, and the kids had a little TOO much fun with the sing-a-long. One thing I can certainly say about my girls - they aren't shy of performing!

Our girls and our friend's children performed "Christmas Bells" which went...okay. I mean, they are all under 9 years of age - so they did a good job, it's just they could have sang louder (and would have needed to because the room was SO full and SO noisy!). But I was proud of them!
Also on the program was this beautiful trio of musicians in our ward who played a GORGEOUS song. I LOVED IT! The girl in the middle, "S", is so amazingly talented, and so HUMBLE - I admire her so much!
Day 14:

We went to church, which was lovely! One of our new Relief Society teachers gave her first lesson and I thought she did an amazing job. She really knew how to get the women talking, and she seemed quite comfortable. She also artfully kept us going in the right direction, and knew when to end the lesson and HOW to end it. She is a very talented teacher, and I'm so glad we get her!

Later that evening we went back to the church for our Stake Christmas Contata. It is an evening of beautiful music and the spoken word. It was breathtaking! My daughter, TJ, sang in a girls choir and we mothers of those girls sang a duet with them as well. It was fun, and I think it was a great experience for all the girls involved. Since it was in the chapel, I don't have any pictures of the Contata, sorry!

One thing I need to mention about it. We were all encouraged to invite friends and neighbors to attend, which my husband did (though none were able to make it). TJ asked me if she could invite some school friends, and I kind of shrugged like, sure, whatever. Well, one of her friends came! It was so neat! Her mom and I visited afterwards for a few minutes and I got to know what a great person she is. TJ stayed right by her friend until they left and she said her friend was even singing along to the Christmas carols. So sweet. I was so proud of her for being brave enough to invite her friends at school to come to a church activity. Could I learn something from her there? You bet!

Day 15:

Laundry and editing photos took up most of my day, but for our special treat we decorated a gingerbread house. VOILA!

We went the easy route with a premade kit from Wal-Mart. Nice. It didn't take long to decorate, though the icing never did harden very well. There is something to be said for making your own royal icing. Next year...

Day 16:

The girls have their school teachers their Christmas gifts today:

Don't get it? You attach a card that says:

"We WHISK you a merry KISSmas and a happy ROOTBEER!"

We made one for each of their school teachers (which meant 5 since two of my girls have 2 teachers in their classrooms) and one for each of their primary teachers (another 5 since JJ has 2 nursery leaders). I love this gift idea, and it's super DUPER simple!

I hope you are enjoying this Christmas season thus far. I have been more and more each day! I can't believe it's getting so close to Christmas! And even closer to my birthday - the big 3-0! YIKES! HOW did I get so old? ;)

Take care and I'll be back later in the week for a new free Photoshop action and a special request for my birthday! Ciao!