Emma Grace 38 Weeks and Cornhole Board Building Fun!

Emma Grace is 38 Weeks Old!

Follow Emma Grace’s Weekly Photo Project Here!

It has been a crazy week here at the Smith household!  As many of you know not only does hubby work a full time job (we are talking a lot of 12 hour days) but he then comes home every night to his second job…custom cornhole boards from The Cornhole Guy!  I’ll save the story about about how our little hobby has become a lot larger business then we ever imagined for another day.  Needless to say we have been pretty busy this month and my kitchen is full of cornhole boards.  The count is up to 6 sets inside at the moment and another 3 in the workshop being built.  We try to work on them while the kids are sleeping at night or during nap time but this month has been a little different.

Emma Grace has been enjoying playing while I tape off boards in the kitchen.

While Jake enjoys a good book while Mommy takes over the kitchen testing out the projector that we borrowed.  The new joke is that instead of Jake mowing lawns during the summer for extra cash when he gets older we will just let him start painting with us more and he will be known as “The Cornhole Kid.”  Haha get it?  Okay Jeremy and I thought it was hilarious because Jake loves The Karate Kid.  On a regular basis we tell him that “your focus need more focus!”

Between 3 sets for local businesses, 2 sets for the Cinco de Mayo celebration at the resturant, a couple for upcoming College graduation presents and we need to restock the sports shop where we also sell our boards at…I think we will still be busy for a while.  Okay so enough sharing about our week because I have more painting to do!

Happy Friday!

It’s time for a change..its time to update that room!

I have to admit it.  Poor Jake has been put on the back burner when it comes to a room update.  He will be eight in a little over a month and has been sleeping on the same bedding we bought before he turned two.  We talked about changing things up a bit when we moved into our new house a couple years ago and then again right before we found out that we had a baby on the way.  Well that adorable little baby took over our guest room and now we have no where for guests to stay when visiting.  Usually if it is just one person we kick Jake out of his twin bed for the night but with my in-laws coming into town next week I don’t think Nana and Granddaddy would appreciate sharing the twin bed!  So with the amazing help of my parents we are doing a little bed switch-a-roo with their second guest bedroom and Jake is the proud new owner of a full bed!  With a new bed coming soon its time to start working on an room update!

At this age the problem is trying to figure out something that will be a little bit more grown up for Jake so that maybe we can get another six years out of one room design!  He is a good boy and is down for just about any of my crazy ideas…it is his Daddy who is hard to convince!  I’ve been lusting after the Ronan Set from Serena and Lily for a long time now.  Jake’s favorite colors are navy and lime green so come on this is perfect!

Ronan Collection from Serena & Lily

Unfortunately at $180 for the Duvet Cover and no matching stripe standard pillows it really wasn’t an option for us.  So, a couple months back when this beautiful picture showed up in my inbox from West Elm I felt like the fun stripes were still a possibility!   The only thing that was missing was the lime green piping.  But are you serious…I can make some lime green piping!!!

 Stripe Duvet Cover & Shams in White/Navy from West Elm

At $69 for a Full Duvet and $19 for matching standard shams I think these babies should be shipping to my house any day now.  But alas….I still have to convince hubby which I have been showing him these pictures for over a year now.  We will see how that goes.  Every time I bring it up and tell him that Jake says he likes it, Jeremy turns around and asks Jake if he wants me to buy him camouflage bedding and paint the Marvel comic heroes on the wall.  Guess what his answer is???  “SURE DADDY!”  This is then followed by “Mommy can you paint flames on my wall??”  I give up maybe one day.  Until then here are my other ideas.

Nicole LeMieux Johnson on Pintrest

I love this twist on an accent wall made with reclaimed wood.  The wall that I want to put the bed on has a huge window so that I think even with all of that wood it would not be too heavy for his room which is on the smaller side.  The wall I’m thinking about is similar to this one but with a larger window and more space on each side.  I’m also in love with the industrial lighting.  I think this design would be able to stick around for a LONG time, what about you?

Real Housewives Of Bucks County via Andrika King on Pintrest

Chris from Just a Girl updated her son’s room to this edgy design perfect for her tween.  Again, I’m in love with the bright and accent wall.  She was also working with a smaller room and seeing this one makes me think its totally doable in his room.

Well those are my thoughts again for the time being.  For anyone who knows me it is impossible for me to decide on a specific direction but once I find something I like, I’M SOLD!  Well ladies and gentlemen…I’M SOLD on this one.  Any suggestions on how to sell it to the hubby??

Emma Grace 37 Weeks

Emma Grace is 37 Weeks Old!

Follow Emma Grace’s Weekly Photo Project Here!

Each week I take Emma Grace’s photos after Jake gets home from school in the afternoon because he loves to help me.  I usually have him stand beside me since he is great at getting her to laugh!  All he has to do is either say her name, make a funny face or a sound and she lights up!  After I’m sure that I’ve gotten a couple good shots I hand the camera over to him and let him shoot a couple pictures of his own.  It is always interesting to see his perspective when shooting.  So here you go.  This is Emma Grace through her big brother’s eyes!

Capturing Life In The Little Details

Last month I was asked to photograph a wedding.  The idea was so exciting and daunting at the same time.  The couple had been married before and wanted a simple ceremony this time, they hadn’t even considered a photographer.  At the advice of their wedding planner (who just happens to be an awesome friend of mine) they decided it couldn’t hurt to have have someone come in to take photos of their special day.  With less than a month’s notice I started reading up more on my camera and getting more comfortable with the manual settings.  I know the couple did not want anything fancy but I felt this was a great opportunity to start building a portfolio!

After going through over a 1,00 photos I learned a lot from my experience.  I learned that the formal pictures are not always the most important way to capture the day.  Yes those may be the ones that a couple may frame to hang in their house but sometimes it is the little details that really capture how special the day is.  Whether it is the beauty of the bride’s flowers or the loving touch of a husband admiring her jewelry.  I love these little moments.  These are the moments I try to capture every time I pull out my camera.  Overall I learned a lot,  had a great time  and I thought I would share  a couple of my favorites with you today!

 P.S. All of these photos are the originals and have not been edited!  As an amateur photographer I’m pretty proud of these!

Emma Grace 36 Weeks

Miss Emma Grace is 36 weeks old!  I think I’m finally getting a good handle on not only setting up each shoot but conquering my skills of manual mode!  I had been noticing the difference in color from week to week and figured out I needed to correct my white balance.  So this week I metered the white balance to her white onesie and I think the results look great.  If you look really close you can even see those two new teeth she is sporting!

While you are at it I’ve added a page under photography with all of her photos so far.  Check it out here!

 

Have a great weekend!