Passion for Photography

I have thoroughly enjoyed my latest photo sessions... one with two adorably cute little girls and the other a family of three (soon to be five) that we are good friends with.

I have finally found something that I absolutely LOVE doing. It is an amazing thing to find something you have a passion for that actually can help out your family financially. Its been an amazing journey so far and I know that there is so much more to come.

If you haven't already please check out my blog on my photography at www.capturedmomentsbycallie.blogspot.com
A website is soon to come, I am in the midst of working on one as we speak.

On another note there is so much going on with us right now its unbelievable.

Next week Gerod and I will be leaving the boys with Gerod's parents, otherwise known as Granci and Papaw, and Gerod's sister and brother in law (they are switching off). We are excited beyond belief for the cruise, but are sad to be leaving our babies for such a long time. This is our first major trip since our honeymoon five and a half years ago. My parents are going with us so it should be a blast!

After we get back I have another photo session and then that weekend we will be celebrating Gibson's 3rd birthday at Dynamo gymnastics play place with friends.

Once all that is done we have the Walk Now for Autism where we will be walking for Gibson and all other children and families who are affected by Autism. Our team name is Gibson's Goonies after one of Gerod's favorite movies... "Hey you guys".

In the middle of all that, somewhere, I will be working on some fundraising ideas to reach our $1000 goal to raise funds for the Autism Speaks organization. I have just over $600 left to reach the goal. If you are interested in making a donation please go to our donation page if you wish to make a donation!

Lastly I am working on growing my Jewelry business by helping out other women who need more income. If you are interested in hearing more about the exciting opportunity of Premier please let me know.

Just thinking about all of these things on my plate makes me anxious, but also excited. I am glad to finally have some things going on that are keeping me busy, although the boys do a pretty good job of that on their own.

Cowboy BOOTS!

He was saying "BOOTS"... in case I didn't know what kind of shoes he was wearing. Needless to say Gibson LOVES his cowboy boots. He got them for Christmas last year from his Great Grandparents. They buy the boys new boots every year for Christmas. I had to snag some photos of him in his awesome cowboy boots while we were out at the park during a photo session the other day. Love this big smile and big green eyes!!

He thought it was pretty cool that I allowed him to stand up on the brick ledge.

Love this!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have lots of plans... Gerod is golfing tomorrow, we had a birthday party on Sunday, as well as a photo shoot and small groups from church. Should be a fun weekend, but as always it will probably go by too quickly!!

Spaghetti Night!

At our house spaghetti is a HUGE favorite... maybe its because its a good hearty meal, or maybe its because its pasta (and I just LOVE pasta), but I think the biggest reason we all love spaghetti around here is because I have my Mom's spaghetti recipe that is Ah-Mazing!!
Chad had never experienced the amazing goodness of Gigi's Spaghetti until Friday night. We decided that since he is eating table food like a pro now that we would let him get messy and feed himself. This was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen.
Here is Chad at the beginning of the meal... you can tell because there isn't sauce all over his face
A little apprehensive about the whole thing but "trying" it

This face just makes me smile!

And this one... well... I think this is one of those pictures that you save for black mail. We aren't quite sure why he didn't pick the spaghetti up with his hands but he began to get very frustrated because he wasn't getting any using this method. Finally Gerod just had to feed him.

I am pretty sure he LOVED it! What do you think?!?

If you want my spaghetti recipe it is as follows:

1lb ground hamburger meat

1 tbsp minced/chopped garlic

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1-2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Cook the hamburger meat with the garlic and drain once cooked through. Add tomato sauce, tomato soup, and cream of mushroom soup and mix until well blended on medium heat. Once everything is well blended add the Italian Seasoning and nutmeg and let the sauce simmer over low-med heat for about 10 min.

Serve over noodles! :) YUM-OH!

I love serving this with Mom's salad that we have named "Sabrina Salad"

Lettuce (I usually use Romain lettuce in the bag so I don't have to chop it... I'm lazy)

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Italian dressing

Cook almonds on low-med heat until they are a toffee color and then remove from heat. Once they start creating a nutty smell they are almost done and WILL burn quickly *I know this from experience!* ;)

Once the almonds are cooled down mix lettuce, almonds and Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Add the Italian dressing right before serving the salad.

Hope you enjoy the recipe! Tell me what you think about it if you try it out!

Captured Moments by Callie

Since I got my new DSLR camera, nearly two years ago, I have fallen in love with life behind the lens. I am enjoying photography so much that I have decided recently to see if there is a career in it for me. I already have quite a lot of interest from friends and family so I decided, "Why not give it a chance?". Especially since I love it so much.
I have created a separate blog where I will be posting pictures from sessions I have done until I can work up a website for myself (this may be way later down the road).
I came up with the name Captured Moments by Callie because I feel that describes in full what I intend to do with my company. I want to capture the moments that you never want to forget.
If you have a moment please check out my new blog Captured Moments by Callie. I hope you enjoy! And thanks in advance for your support in my new endeavor.

Hard Night

Sometimes I have these hard nights... When I think about the future... And how Gibson's life will be as he grows up. I have a hard time wondering how he will fit in when he starts school, if kids will make fun of him and how much pain that might put him through. I wonder what might have happened if we had caught this earlier, would we be in a different place than we are now? Would Gibson be further along in his progress? I am usually really good about seeing all the positive things that have happened since we had him tested and got him started in therapy. I think of how much he has grown and how much he has learned. He went from having a vocabulary of about 5-10 words to 250+ now and learning more every single day. But my son doesn't know/understand the things that he should. Everything for him will be harder than it will be with most kids. He will have to learn things that come natural to most kids.

Its so hard knowing that your child is going to grow up with Autism, and not really knowing what all you can do to help him. I don't know what is going on in his head, I don't know what will cure him or if there is, or will ever be a cure, and I certainly don't know what the future holds and sometimes that just flat out scares me!

But then I look into these sweet blue-green eyes of his... and see that adorable smile and I know that God has given me the biggest blessing that anyone could ever ask for. He has given me a beautiful son who loves me and loves Gerod and everyone else he comes into contact with. He brings laughter and smiles to everyone he meets. He is a genuine, silly, crazy little boy that I love more than life itself. And I know that God can get me through times like tonight when I worry about the future. Because it is ALL in His hands!

I know there will be many more nights like tonight when I wonder what will be, but for now I am just going to stick with looking forward to tomorrow. Another day with two of the cutest little boys I have ever seen! I look forward to watching Gibson learn something new, try something different, or maybe... just maybe show that he truly understands something we have been working on.

I pray that I can show him every single day JUST how much I truly love him and that one day he will be able to tell me he loves me too. Until that day his smiles, sweet kisses and BIG hugs will give me all the assurance I need that he does understand some things even if he cant express them.

Thanks for letting me get my thoughts into words tonight.

Lake Weekend!

We had a blast down at Lake Brownwood. We were there for Gerod's cousin Travis' wedding, but that doesnt mean we didnt catch some lake time!
The wedding was beautiful and we welcome Shannon, Naz and Belle all to the family! :)
Here are some pictures of the kiddos enjoying the lake on our first afternoon there.

Gibson had so much fun in his tube. He got to swim around all by himself! Daddy and Bug

Love this face on my sweet little man!

Look at those curls!

Gibson was ONE dare-devil. He jumped off of the diving board of the neighbors dock. He had a little help, but kept insisting on "jumping"!

1...

2...

3...

Daddy and Chad walking back up to the lake house.

Gibson loved Travis and Shannon's dog

Playing with Presley again!

Too precious!

And last but not least... Chad in his new birthday rocking chair from Granci and Papaw!

Matches his room perfectly.

We had a blast with the boys at the lake and we hope to make it back down there a lot more next summer. It is an awesome way to get in lots of fun and good family time! We will miss you Lake Brownwood... until next Summer!

Out on the boat

We had an awesome time out on the boat with Granddaddy on our last day at the lake. Gibson hasnt been out on a boat since he was 9 months, and Chad has never been on one. They both were a little apprehensive at first but then they decided it was pretty fun. Here are some pictures of our time out on the boat.

Getting ready to leave Granddaddy's dock Chad was a bit unsure about the whole thing

When the motor went on Chad started crying, but then he decided it wasn't so bad after all

Once we were out of the no-wake zone and started going Gibson was a bit scared, but quickly calmed down again.

All three of my amazing boys! I love them so much!!

Daddy and Bug

Chad kept trying to get in the water. He loved being in the lake!

Bug and Mommy enjoying the ride!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

Granddaddy letting Gibson sit in the captains seat with him.

This was absolutely precious!

Chad didn't know what to think about the wind

Bug is getting sleepy!

Photo Session with Mommy behind the lens!

I took some pictures of Chad yesterday at one of our local parks. It was terribly hot outside but I think I got some really good pictures. Especially considering I am not a professional and quite frankly I don't know what I am doing! :)

Hope you enjoy my favorites of the over 200 pictures I took of little man. Gibson was in a sour mood so I didn't get ANY good pictures of him and this was kind of meant to be Chad's one year photo shoot too.

Hope you love them as much as I do!