Thursday, December 15, 2011

Holiday Cheer....

This month I have been a busy bee trying to get our house decorated for Christmas. This year we are staying home and welcoming some friends over for Christmas dinner. I have been moving stuff around this week and making new decor. So far I have only purchased one new item for this holiday season. Everything is either homemade or from the past 2 years. Here are a few images of our house decorated for Christmas. (not much, but I love its simple charm)


This will also be our first year having Santa bring gifts. Joseph is really excited about Santa and we love seeing his face light up when he talks about him. We also started the Elf on The Shelf with Joseph this year. We have all really enjoyed our elf Max. 



Happy Holidays from The Patton Family

We have spent the last few months traveling all over visiting family. It has been such a blessing to be able to see everyone. Since we have been non stop traveling, we have decided to stay in Childress for Christmas. I have to say, I am a little sad. But this might be a new tradition for us. who knows

We just want to say Happy Holidays to all of our friends and family we haven't gotten to visit with. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.


Friday, December 2, 2011

Tips for taking pictures of your kids

Yes I was a photographer and I have a nice camera and photoshop, but you can take good pictures of your kids too.
Here are a few tips I use when taking pictures of Joseph around the house or town.

1.Learn how to use your camera and what the different shooting modes. I shoot in manual mode, this gives you complete control of your exposure and aperture
(click on that link and it will help you out)

Not sure how to use your digital camera? Well here is a great blog post over at Kevin & Amanda to help you out.
Link: A Quick Guide to Understanding Your DSLR Camera



2. Dress them in a solid color with a texture or print as an accent
You don't want superman all over their t-shirt, its too busy and it takes away from their sweet little faces. (this is the only graphic tee shirt I have of him)
In a Graphic Tee



Nice Solid Colors




3. Try to use natural light
Putting them in natural light coming from a window in your house (not directly in front of the window, a little behind where the shadow starts to fall) or in a more shaded area ( not too dark of shade then you cant see them)

This is in my kitchen with Joseph sitting in a little kids chair




4. If they are squinting, the light is too bright for them
Move them into a less harsh of light. Direct sunlight is harsh to shoot in

Direct sun shot

In the shade




5. "SAY CHEESE"
This phrase makes them fake smile, so you want to get the natural smile you love so much when they are laughing or being sweet.
I start by telling Joseph to close his lips and look at the camera. Once he is looking, I say "Don't you smile!" "I mean it!" "Don't do it!" That brings the perfect smile to his face and he doesn't even realize what I am doing.


Our CHEESE face


These are just some tips I use when I am taking a few shots of Joseph. You don't have to use them and its not the law. SO PLEASE do not be offended if you like your kids in printed tees or want them to say cheese. That may be the way you want your pictures and that is great.







Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sonjias Designs

For all of you handmade lovers out there, visit my mothers new jewelry website!
She is a jewelry maker based in San Antonio Texas and is having a show in West Texas next week!
Click on the Shows & Events page to get the details for next weeks show
(note: the images of jewelry on the site are from this summer and have been sold, they are to show what kind of peices she makes.)

New pictures of her jewelry collections will be posted after the show next week.
I love you mom and we are so proud of you!!


What do we do??

With our first homeschooling term coming to an end this month, I have been thinking a lot about what we will be doing next fall. Public school - home school? I cant decide....
We love homeschooling and its advantages, but our new community isnt very homeschool orriented. I think if we had more of a support group in the area, we would be happier. We want Joseph to have more friends and homeschool, but so far we havent really found that.
Anyone else out there home school in a small town with limited local support? I would love to hear how you manage your home school life.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Halloween :{}

Ok last post for today.... I promise :)
Just wanted to say Happy Halloween!














Denver City Visit

After we got home from Alabama, Joseph and I loaded up our car and hit the highway again. This time to visit my family back home. Since moving to Childress, I have been very homesick. Being 4+ hours away from everyone is hard. The last time we saw most of the family was in August at Josephs birthday dinner and some back in July.
Joseph and I got to visit grandma,grandpa,meme, grandad,nana & uncle billy. It was nice resting up at my grandparents house for a few days.
Joseph played for hours out on the ranch with his great grandpa (who just turned 84 & can keep up with a very active 5 year old). He even made a few new friends that liked to follow him around in the pins.Having 4 siblings means lots of nieces and nephews, so in fall spirits we loaded up and headed to the famous Corn Maze in Shallowater. All the kids had fun trying to figure out the maze (most of the time they were in the right direction). Thanks to Papa & Nana for a fun trip with all our little munchkins.