My little helper

I read some where that if you let your kids help you cook they will actually eat their dinner.  Gia always gives us a hard time at dinner. Takes her hours just to finish. So frustrating.!! Welp i gave it a try., and let her cook with me. 

  Here is my little helper....... 

As i watched her cook (of course i was right there!! lol) I was taking pictures in my head. I know that sounds funny but really, its like saying to yourself.. ohh, that would have been a good shot! or That would be a great B/W photo!   There were too many of those thoughts so i had to grab my camera.  

She really wasnt making anything special..lol (plus im not much of a cook!)  We just boiled some water, had her put in some seasoning, threw in a bouillon cube and once it boiled we added chicken.  Just had her stir away! She loved it.

When dinner was ready she went and set the table All on her own!!

God she is so cute!! 
Are you wondering if it worked? did she eat her dinner?  surprisingly YES! I really didnt think it was going to work.   I wish I had my camera while we were eating though. The faces she was making was hysterical. She didnt like it but ate it anyway..making those lil gagging faces LOL and went on how good it was. OMG too funny!!
  I think it came out great though  =)  for real! Im not just saying that!  it Did come out great!! Ill be doing this more often, she had a great time and she was soo proud of herself =D

<3  CB

Schibell Family

Meet the Schibell family!!!  Absoluty adorable =)

A walk in Asbury Park

A stroll in Asbury Park board walk =) 

 

 

 

 

 

 A friend who came with me. He is also new to photography but its more of a hobby for him.

 

 This one i did A LOT of editing. Wanted to test out my skills w/ LR. There were a few things that i removed but I felt i had to put in an antique setting. It took away the little markings that were left from cloning!

 

Here is the original.....what i loved was how the lights were only over the bench then fading to dark. Had wished the guy walking his dog wasn't there AND the cones.....

 

 Here is the photo edited. I think i did ok but if you really look you can see some spots that were hard to get. So that is why i put it in Antique =)

 

Had a blast doing this with a friend and cant wait to do it again =)

 

<3 CB

Easter Surprise!!! THANKS MOM!!

So once again my Mom has sent a package for us =) This time for Easter....
(i know im a bit late posting this, what can i say.. im a busy girl!) 

The box was filled with so many things.. i cant even remember what was in it..LOL!  A LOT of stickers tho and the girls loved it!  Then of course her awesome cards! 

I love looking at my moms cards.. to see how she made them.   i think i have said this before but you can tell where i get my creativity from.. lol

REALLY think she should go into business making cards.. I LOVE THEM!!!!  

This one is cute, the bunny slides from one side to the other.

So simple yet looks great

Before this came i had talked to my mom about knitting/croche.  I absolutely love the baby cocoons that Photographer use for their session. And ive seen the cutest hats too!  So, I thought i would give knitting a try and perhaps be able to make the cocoon & hats. Grabbed 2 pencils (yes pencils!!!) had yarn from the dollar store and looked up videos on how to knit. That was very interesting..but got an idea on how to do it. So my next step was to actually BUY the stuff!!!! 
Well i got the Biggest surprise in this package.....................

How freaking cute is my mom!!! lol  I absolutely loved it!   I got started right away....

Ok so it took me maybe 3 to 5 tries to get it started =P  Once i got going... I moved onto the next step....

And....... thats as far as i got!  LOL  Well not bad for a first try!  just havent been back to continue. I found a few friends who got into this and we talked about getting together.

Ill keep ya posted...........

Thanks MOM!!!!

Alex has Autism but Autism doesn't have him!

I first met MaryTara (MT) , Alex's mom,  2 years ago, through the moms group im part of. Our daughters were close in age and got along great!!! and so our friendship grew!  When she told me her son has autism i really didn't know what that meant. All i knew about it was that they had issues socializing.

Taken 8.2008 w/point & shoot

When i first met he looked like every other kid with these beautiful BLUE eyes!  Its funny how you assume that when i child has a condition you automatically think they "look" different. At least that is what i realized about myself and its all changed now!!!

  I was pregnant with Nadia at the time and MT had told Alex that there was a baby in my belly. He got close to me and used his elbow to touch my belly. I thought it was a bit strange but the look on MT's face was surprising. She was very excited to see him do that, he doesn't usually touch people and especially someone he doesn't know.  There was another time i had met up with MT, we were sitting at a table chit chatting and the girls were off playing. Alex was just sitting with us playing with something (i cant remember) There was some commotion &  MT went to take care of the situation. Now here i am left alone with Alex, and to be honest i was uncomfortable! Not sure how he is going to react with just sitting with me. I mean this is the 2nd time meeting him.  Well with out saying a word, i grabbed a paper and crayons on the table and began to color. Then slowly brought it over to Alex, then he began to color with me.  After a little bit he took the paper away and took the crayon our of my hand, and i understood that i was no longer allowed to color. LOL.  This was another surprising moment for MT. I found out that he does not let people color with him.  You know im feeling special... right!??!! ; )     Now this boy has got my heart!!!   

 

 In the 2 years knowing Alex and his family i have met many others dealing with the same situation but different struggles & triumphs. I may not know ALL the details but now have more understanding.  

I ask MT to give more information on it and this is what she had to say : 

April is Autism Awareness Month


Autism affects 1 in 110 children. In NJ the rate is 1 in 96 or 1 in 64 boys. The organization in NJ that does training and helps families is POAC www.poac.net
Autism is a Spectrum Disorder. Its characteristics, traits, and symptoms can range from mild to severe - and it is like a rainbow. It is said that "if you have met one child with autism, you've met one child with autism". Kids with autism are not all alike. Some of the most common traits are impaired communication/speech, stimming (flapping, rocking) or other repetitive movements, poor eye contact, sensory issues, tantrums or meltdowns.


Autism largely affects the ability to communicate. Some people with autism cannot speak (but that doesn't mean they have nothing to say!) others have limited verbal skills or speak with echolalia (repeating), some talk non-stop! For example, Alex is verbal but he uses a lot of jargon and repeated phrases. He will talk a lot about his favorite video game, but he has a hard time having a conversation. He also gets pronouns incorrect and will say "You" for "I" etc. He also has a lot of sensory issues (doesn't like loud noises, loudspeakers, struggles in big groups, etc), has a hard time playing with others, etc. But, as you know - he is very smart and also he likes pretty girls And bugs :) :)

4.2010 w/ Canon Rebel xs

 In a lot of ways he is a typical 9 year old boy but others not so much.
MaryTara

Thank you so much for sharing that and so happy to have met you and your family.

She hosts a "Blow Bubble for Autism" every year.  I attended this year and of course brought my camera =D
 Here is a peak!!!

 Each bubble represents HOPE!

Alex checking out the bugs

 

Gia blowing bubbles.. well trying...

Gia & Belle

Look! i captured his blue eyes!!! 

<3  CB

Happy Easter =D

We had a wonderful day!  Gia was very excited about the easter bunny coming and Nadia just followed along. LOL 

Easter bunny had decided to take a break and paint a little something for us......

Girls did the egg hunt, we had family over for breakfast, vistited more family in the after noon.. Then i brought the girls to the park to take some Easter pics =D  fun filled day!!!!!  

hope everyone had a wonderful easter with family & friends.
<3    CB