happy birthday to my favorite stitch!

jaden turned 7 on the 21st!
since her birthday fell on a thursday, she was lucky enough to have a week-long celebration...

first, her family party:
the theme was butterflies, hence the nets we used as goodie bags...

we usually make our own cakes, but this year jaden's grandma offered to help out and take care of them...

my cousin, jeromy...never one to take a serious pic!

jaden and monk...

opening presents...{and apparently not agreeing with whatever kacy had to say}...

her new bike...she was so excited!


and, of course, a little rock band to top off the evening...

jaden got to take cupcakes and treat bags into school on her actual birthday...
the next evening, she had a little sleepover with a couple school friends....


they had a little camp rock sing-a-long...


and then they decorated butterflies...

senior pics...

okay...my cousin, jen, is a senior.
she and i talked about getting together to take her senior pics...(i'm not a photographer. in fact, i've never done any kind of formal portraits...but i thought it would be fun to give it a shot.)

so, 2 weeks ago, she called me and said "i'm coming over and we're going out to take my pics." {nevermind she graduates on the 29th!}

anyway, we went to a couple different spots in our community, and these are some of my favorite shots...{it was NOT easy to pic faves since she's such a gorgeous girl!}











all pics edited at picnik...my new favorite site to upload and edit photos!

prom red carpet...

so, my community has a little obessession with prom...

every year, the whole community comes out (moms, dads, neighbors, friends, students, strangers) to line up outside the high school to watch the prom-goers arrive.

the school puts up ropes and bleachers to "control the crowd"...

when the beauties start arriving, it's like red carpet at the oscars.
moms yelling "over here!" and friends hollering "stop! look here!".
flashes going off all over the place...
and the prom-goers EAT IT UP!!!



that's sarah and bobo...her senior year, his junior

i don't know who this is, but they made both of their outfits completely out of DUCT TAPE! seriously!

jen (my cousin) and her date, alex...they were the LAST ones to arrive...
we waited almost an hour after everyone else went in before they showed up...
it was worth it...at least we got to witness some drama in the meantime!

a few more pics...

pics from easter...

i've been playing on this new site called picnik... you can upload and edit your photos for free...(there's a premium plan that you can pay for that has a few more editing options...but i'm good with the free one) {all of these pics have been edited with "lomo-ish", "vignette", and "cross-process"...i also love the "1960's"!}









{i don't actually favor monkey...jaden just refuses to sit still long enough for multiple pics}

for sale...

lots of fun new fabriscrapped chipboard words in my etsy shop ...



















and i just listed a bunch of scrap mags on ebay...

so proud...

of this girlie!
one of her art projects was selected for display at our local city building...







she's an amazing artist and i hope she keeps her love of art and creativity throughout her life.

ain't she purty...

my little sis...
also known as "brat"...