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Photography Tips for Taking Pictures of Your Beautiful Baby

Feb 192013

Photography Tips From Erin Manning

Just before Bubbles was born my husband and I went to select and purchase a new point-and-shoot digital camera. With a new little one on the way we knew there would be hundreds of memories, poses, and expressions we would want to capture in the first months of her life. Having a new camera gave us slightly better quality prints over what we could take with our phones but it didn’t make us great photographers.

Photography Tips for Babies

I think most of the pictures we took back then were pretty cute (see above) but in the course of two years we’ve definitely learned a lot. Some was through trial and error, some was thanks to Pinterest (there are lots of suggestions for taking photos of your baby on there). Much of it was just through lots (lots) of practice. Continue reading »

Up, Up, and Away in the Journey to Oz Tour Balloon (Plus a Behind-the-Scenes Look)

Disney, Entertainment 4 Responses »

Feb 172013

Oz the Great and Powerful: Journey to Oz Tour Balloon

Oz the Great and Powerful Journey to Oz Tour Balloon

Hot air balloons have always been fascinating to me. When I was very young, one abruptly landed on my parent’s lawn (true story, a topic for another post). They are also a large part of the celebration around the Kentucky Derby. There is a Balloon Fest (which includes a race, tour, and glow) here each year and it’s quite a sight with balloons of every color and dozens of designs.

So the new Journey to Oz Tour Balloon is something I find very cool. The balloon had it’s first appearance during the premier at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on February 13th (search the hashtag #DisneyOzEvent on Twitter and you may see some photos of it from a few fellow bloggers who attended). The second appearance was today at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Two more planned stops include the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach on February 20th and then Central Park in New York City on March 5th and 6th. Continue reading »

Slow Cooker Recipes: Cheesy Pizza Dip

Book Reviews, Recipes, Reviews 31 Responses »

Feb 152013

Bubbles’ birthday party is next weekend and I’ve been working on our menu. Most of the party ideas I found earlier were for sweets and decor; only one of them was for something to go with the meal. And while Minnie Oreo pops and cupcakes sound delicious, I think our guests might also like something savory. Appetizers, dips, and finger sandwiches all came to mind as they’re usually easy to throw together and people can graze while they talk and hang out.

My husband makes a great cheesy sausage dip that we often have for family gatherings and tailgating but I thought maybe for this party we’d have something just a bit different. I don’t want to serve my guests anything I haven’t tried before, though, so for the last few days I’ve been cooking up small batches of dip to sample. One that I found that I like is the Pleasing Pizza Dip submitted by Jennifer Crsip to Gooseberry Patch’s new cookbook Slow Cooking All Year ‘Round.

Slow Cooker Recipes: Pizza Dip from Gooseberry Patch's Slow Cooking All Year 'Round

DIY Crafts: Heart-Shaped Knotted Fleece Pillow (Perfect for Valentine’s Day)

Crafts, DIY, Holidays, Valentine's Day 44 Responses »

Feb 122013

Easy Valentine’s Knotted Fleece Pillow

DIY Crafts for Valentine's - "Torn" Pillow

Even before having a family of my own Family Fun magazine has always been one of my favorites. I subscribe to a number of magazines but Family Fun is one that I save each issue to refer to later. It always has lots of fun activities, recipes, and crafts to do and make with the kiddos. In their recent December/January edition they had some cute DIY gifts that kids could make and one suggestion was for baseball and football knotted fleece pillows. As soon as I saw them I knew I’d love to do a heart-shaped one for Valentine’s Day.

One of the best parts of this craft project is how quick and easy it is to complete. Bubbles generally naps for about 45 minutes and I had time to do a couple of chores before sitting down to make the pillow. I think they’re really cute and will be a nice homemade addition to Bubbles’ Valentine’s gift. Continue reading »

10 Valentine’s Day Crafts and Recipes

Crafts, Holidays, Recipes, Valentine's Day 13 Responses »

Feb 102013

Suggestions for Valentine Crafts, Recipes, and DIY

Valentine’s Day is this week but there is still plenty of time to make or bake some treats if you’re feeling crafty. I hope to have one more craft tutorial for an easy gift and one more quick recipe for you before the big day. Until then I wanted to share some of my favorite Valentine’s ideas from both Pinterest and some fellow bloggers.

(Really, what did we do for inspiration before Pinterest?)

Valentine’s Recipes

Heart Cupcakes from A Helicopter Mom

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

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