THE Gingerbread House . . .

Last night while we were out stocking up on (hint, hint) BAKERY SCENTED CANDLES at AC Moore (where they are on sale for - gulp - $2.00 each) . . . we picked up a Wilton Gingerbread House Kit. Around 11:00 p.m. we started . . . and finished around 1:00 a.m.

Jeremy is credited with the bulk of the creative foresight and application . . . this man is a master at piping royal icing!

I'm soooooo ready to start baking cookies, fudge and chocolate covered pretzels for holiday gifts.

A Puppy Photo Shoot . . .

Today I was supposed to be shooting an engagement session for Jeremy's sister and brother-in-law . . . Julie and Mike . . . those photos didn't turn out as planned so a reshoot is scheduled for next weekend . . .

BUT . . . I did get some adorable images of their Golden Retriever puppy - Riley. Is she not the CUTEST little bundle of fluff?!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday . . . Bradley is camping in Potter County with a friend, Jamie spent the day with his dad at his Aunt Donna's and Jeremy and I spent the afternoon with his family.

Here are some of my favorite fall photos from flickr (these are not mine!) . . .

Knox Loved the Snow!!

I know, I know . . . I'm so very late with these pics!! We've been busy . . . Knox absolutely LOVED the snow. He was mesmerized by it . . .

Yesterday (11/26/08) he weighed in at 54.2 pounds! He is now as tall as Onyx!

Fall Photos of the Dogs

Yeah - it was a photo shoot for the dogs!! So picture Jeremy and I, in the front yard on Sunday morning, with a pile of photo props such as a orange Halloween witch's hat, faux pumpkins, faux fall leaf vine, my favorite red chair and more . . . coaxing the dogs into sitting pretty. It actually went pretty well with Onyx and Knox - Jeremy simply held a treat in his hand and then positioned them which they held in their prettiest "I want a treat pose."

We also tried to capture his mom's Yorkie puppy, who is still quite inexperienced as a model! Tessa will learn too though!

Here are my favorites from the day . . .

New Scrapbook Pages!

I was working on some business logos for Denita today . . . and it really put me in the mood to do some digi-scrapbook pages. You know digital scrapbooking is really QUICK!! I can scrap SOOOO much faster this way - I put all these pages together in just over an hour.

Knox is turning 13 weeks old . . .

and as of yesterday weighs 30.8 pounds!

Some new photos . . .

And more Knox pictures

What a big boy he's getting to be! He goes to the vet today and is now over 20 lbs. - at 10 weeks!

Another Horse Show . . .

Yesterday, Jeremy and I packed up the puppy and headed off to Twin Brooks - where my sister Denita and her daughter Leslie were competing in the Extreme Trail Event. If you are a local rider, you may want to check it out - they have beautiful grounds and family oriented events.

This event required the riders to navigate their horse through a series of obstacles and challenges to test the horse's agility, quietness and trust. Obstacles/challenges included things like dragging a pile of empty milk cartons behind the horse, backing within a specified course, a small trail type jump, walking over water and a small bridge, etc.

Denita's horse Reese wasn't too sure on a few of these, but overall did VERY well. Leslie - as always - was a hit because she is so darn cute!! This girl is truly a mini-Denita . . . Grandma Lentz came along to help too . . .

This is hard work . . . it was in the low 90's with no shade . . . we were all hot and tired by early afternoon . . .

We also learned that puppies and ponies don't always mix . . . I was trying to get a cute shot of Knox and Reese kissing when Reese struck out at him with her front hoof, just catching him on the head above his eye. The yelping will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. Jeremy was remarkably calm and held Knox until he stopped crying and we could try to determine if he was seriously hurt. The white of his eye is still red, but he seems ok. Needless to say . . . new rules about how close he can get to horses from now on . . .

Here are some of my favorites from Denita's class . . .

Morning Photo Session with Knox

So this morning, Jeremy comes home from work to find me in the front yard, in my pajamas and camera in hand, with Knox - trying to get him to pose in a chair!! Of course, once Knox saw Jeremy . . . the photo session was OVER!!! At least as far as Knox was concerned.

I did manage to get a few more shots to add to our rapidly growing collection of Knox photos . . .

Knox is home and pictures to share . . .

We brought Knox home on Thursday evening . . . we are using a crate for him overnight and so far no accidents!! Good dog . . .

He is seven weeks old and weighs 14 pounds . . . he tries to play with the cats, but they aren't too sure about him yet. Sophie seems absolutely fascinated by him and stays very close to him.

Here are some photos from yesterday . . .

I photographed Miss Haley again . . .

Almost six months old now . . . Melissa got her the cutest little leg warmers . . . paired with an old suitcase . . . what could be cuter?

Here are my favorites from yesterday's shoot . . .

Our Camping Trip . . .

I went camping over the long weekend with my mom and Denita and her family. The boys spent the time with their dad . . . . they don't "get" the camping experience.

Mom took her horse and Denita took one of hers. While I didn't do much riding, I really enjoyed the camping experience.

Last month, in preparation, I bought a huge 10x20 tent from Jen . . . uh yeah . . . this is the Hilton of tents!! With Jen and Adam's air mattress, I slept very comfortably! Although it was a bit cold the first night.

We cooked over a campfire and do need to hone my fire starting/maintenance skills . . . but the food was delish!! In the mornings, I made sausage with peppers and onions, bacan and eggs . . .

It was great to spend time with family and enjoy the outdoors in such an intimate way . . .