{Ask Elizabeth}

I always get excited when Wednesday comes around. I particularly love the Ask Elizabeth posts because depending on the question the post can go so many ways.

This week, I am answering a question posted by Karla. 

Karla asks:

Right now you are wearing so many different shoes, I am curious as to where you see yourself 10 years from now if everything along the way goes as you have planned?

This is a great question {and who doesn't love talking about themselves?}

You're right, I am wearing so many different shoes. I have so many goals, and those goals are constantly changing as life comes my way. Right now, I am in school, working part time, and running Hoot & Bumble, all while being a full time Mommy, and wife. I explained a little about my life here.. 

In 10 years, I don't see us being able to slow down at all {does life ever slow down?}. Life may even get a little crazier first, if everything goes as planned.

I'd love to be at a point where I can work on Hoot & Bumble closer to full time. It has always been a dream of mine to have a handmade business. My life won't feel complete until my handmade business is thriving enough that it is my full time job. It has also been a life long dream of mine to write children's books, and I fully plan to make that happen some day. I've even been thinking about writing a book from the content on this blog. But I'm not close to there yet on that one.

 We will have another child some time in between then too, and hopefully, both children will be in school by the time 10 years comes around. I would also love to be teaching at a University, teaching the classes I am taking now. 

So you see, I have big plans for the next 10 years, and even beyond. I'm looking forward to the journey of making all of my goals happen. 

What are your goals for the next 10 years? How are you planning on making them happen? All it takes is some hard work, focus, time, & you can do anything.

Fresh Lemonade- A Summer Favorite

One of my very favorite things in the summer is sitting outside with a cold glass of something sweet and some good conversation. Lately, it's been fresh squeezed lemonade that has been my go to. It is so easy to make, and it's super refreshing on a hot day.

Jackson loves helping me make lemonade. His favorite part {and admittedly, mine too} is squeezing the lemons.He's so cute when he uses all his strength to push and squeeze the juice out.

 He also loves to stir.

It's amazing how many lemons it actually takes to make a pitcher of lemonade. I so long for a lemon tree in my back yard. 

I also love that you can add anything you want to lemonade to get different flavors. One of our favorite add ins is strawberries. I like to crush them up a lot, so that when I drink it, I get the strawberry chunks as well. Other good add ins are blueberries, mint leaves, sweet oranges, even cherries or tea!

So sit back the next time you have a free moment and enjoy a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade.

Our Super Easy Lemonade Recipe

4-5 Lemons (I usually have 3/4-1cup of juice) 

Warm water

1/2 Cup Sugar

Ice

Pretty Pitcher

Cut lemons in half. Squeeze out the juice using a juicer. Strain out the seeds. I like to use a strainer with large holes to let the pulp drain through too. Add the sugar. Add warm water to fill pitch about half way. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste to make sure it has the right ratio of lemon juice:sugar. It will be a little strong, but you should get a good idea of what it will taste like when done. Add in any flavors you want. Add ice until the pitcher is mostly filled. Stir. Pour into pretty tall glasses. Get a good book, go outside, and enjoy :)  

{Better You Challenge}

Last weeks Challenge was to make a list of some goals you want to work on. Long term and/or short term goals. Then get to work making those goals happen.

Making goals, and actually writing them down has been a regular part of my life the last year or so. I really feel like it helps keep me focused. I usually write some goals down once a week or so. Typically on Sunday or Monday. Anything from the previous week that wasn't completed gets moved to the new list. I keep separate lists of long term and short term goals.

Some of my short term goals for this week are:

-To get my books for my school classes

-Work on some new Hoot & Bumble prototypes

-Decide on blog giveaway details

-Make more cloth napkins

My long term goal list frequently changes as life happens. 

The long term goals consist of things like:

-Reach 20,000 page views on my blog

-Reach 1,000 likes on facebook

-Be featured on a popular blog

So, did you write down your goals? I'd love to hear some of them. Have you started working on them? Please let me know what you've been up to. Comment below :)

This weeks Better You Challenge is to do something nice for someone. It can be as simple as getting a friend coffee, or listening to a friend who is having a hard time right now. Reaching out to people in positive ways is something we should all be doing every day. Giving of yourself, and not always being on the receiving end is what relationships are all about. It's what life is all about. Do something today to make a relationship better, then tell me about it! I can't wait to get started on this challenge!

Elizabeth

xxxx

HootandBumble@gmail.com

{Our Weekly Family Recap}

We had another great week. We had a lot of adventures and "firsts". 

Earlier in the week we visited the Grand Opera House and saw a showing of Pinocchio. It was Jackson's first trip to the theater, and he loved it. We also visited a local wild life refuge with friends. We had the most perfect weather for it, and we were able to learn some pretty awesome facts.

Kyle's family is very musical, and many of them play instruments. They love getting together to play bluegrass music. Saturday night we had a super fun family gathering that included live music, dancing, singing, laughing, kids running everywhere, and great food.

Even our little Jackson played music. He has a guitar, and he loves to sit in the circle with the other musicians and pretend to play. He actually keeps a pretty good beat. I see lots of music lessons in his future. 

I even played a little. Well, not really, but I tried. {One day I hope to learn to play too, so I can play with the family}

***

Sunday Kyle, Jackson, and I spent a few hours at Lums Pond State Park. We took Jackson on his first paddle boat ride, and we got to watch the zip liners fly across the pond over our heads. 

Kyle also spent some time teaching Jackson the fun of disc golf, a sport his family loves to play. Jackson loved the concept and enjoyed throwing his frisbee while Kyle and I played a few holes. This was Jackson's first disc golf experience of many.

Some more photos of our visit to the state park.

Words can not express the joy I feel when I get to spend time with my family, doing the things we love. It doesn't get any better than the days we had together this first weekend in August. 

A blog update

Since I am new at this blogging thing, and I am still trying to figure everything out, I have realized that the blog post schedule I set a few weeks ago isn't working for me. & since I am my own boss, I can change it up :) So here is what I am thinking the new schedule will be:

Monday- Family Updates- A recap of the week before

Tuesday- Better You Challenge

Wednesday- {Ask Elizabeth Series}- Until the end of August

Thursday- Being Mommy- parenting tips, activities for kids, reflections on motherhood

Friday- Craft reviews, tutorials, sewing tips, recipes, etc.

I won't be posting on the weekends unless there's a post I really want to share.

{The book above, Blog INC., is what I am currently reading from our local library. I am really loving this blogging thing} 

The Best Wake Up Call {Ever}

I have the sweetest boy in the world. 

At some point in the night, Jackson sneaked into our bed, right in the middle of Kyle and I. I normally hear him come in. Last night, I did not. 

He likes to some times sleep with out a shirt on- like Daddy- and waking up to see his little bare arms with their disappearing baby fat pockets in the middle of the night was priceless.

Around 7:45am, I was woken by a soft sweet kiss on my neck, and the words "hi mamawuv".

I call him babylove sometimes, and one day he responded by calling me mamalove. It melts my heart every time. I adore it. 

Please, let him stay as sweet as he is now. 

First Dance + Song Lyrics Wedding Picture Tutorial Part 1: How to create a photo graphic

November 28, 2009. 

A day that changed my life forever. 

In one of the best ways possible. 

The day I became Mrs. Kyle Leahy.

I will never forget our first dance as husband & wife. We were both so nervous, in a smiley, embarrassed kind of way. We aren't great dancers + we don't like to be the center of attention. But when I walked up there to the dance floor- with the most handsome man alive- my husband{!} all of that nervousness I felt melted away. It was just me and him. Forever. Always. My Endless Love.

We chose Endless Love as our song because it's a song that we both love. We chose the Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross version. We feel the lyrics of the song fit our relationship perfectly. I just love everything about the song, and it is even more special now that it is our song. 

I found this picture of a couples first dance  with the words from the song printed it on pinterest, and knew I wanted to make one. For most of my graphics, I use PicMonkey.com to create them. It is fun, and easy to use, and can turn most pictures into something amazing with just a little creativity. My only complaint is that sometimes the editing and saving is a little slow. But as long as I don't have many pictures to edit, I can handle it.

So for this project, I found our cds with our wedding photos, and took a little trip down memory lane, getting distracted a few times before deciding on this picture to use.

I uploaded it into picmonkey, using the edit a photo button, cropped it to the size I wanted {in this case, 8x10}, and began editing. 

First, I took all the color out of it using their colors tab on the left side. Then, I adjusted the exposure so it was a little darker. I wanted the shadows to be darker than normal so the white words would stick out on it a little better.

{On the left side of the screen there are basic edit buttons. For most of my photos I use exposure, color, and crop.}

Next I started the process of adding the text. To get text options, click on the "P" on the left side of the screen. There you will find an add text button, and a vast variety of font options. Play around with the fonts to see which one you like.

Click the "add text" button at the top left, and a box will pop up on the screen. From there you can adjust the size, placement, orientation font, and color of the text. While making mt picture, I used a different text box for every phrase, or size of the text. This made it easy to adjust and move the text around to be how I wanted it. I also used the circle above the text to rotate some of the words for variety. There were some words I left out too. This project is completely flexible, and easy to personalize.

When everything looks how you want it to look, click save at the top of your screen. This will allow you to download your file back to your computer. I usually just click "download it" under "Having trouble saving your photo?" because the other saving option doesn't always work for me. 

I have made so many graphics and great pictures using PicMonkey. There are so many ways to use the website to create amazing things. There is even a Royal, or paid version {like a membership}, but so far, I haven't needed it. I use all of their free options. 

Here are some of the other graphics I have made using PicMonkey.

Now, I will upload the wedding lyrics picture file to my favorite photo printing website, and order an 8x10 picture. When I receive it, I will show you how I plan to make a photo canvas out of it for our wall.

I'd love to see your photo creations, if you make any using PicMonkey. Please share them with me on Facebook, or email them to me at HootandBumble@gmail.com

**Updated to add the link for Part 2 pf this project: how to create a photo canvas**