Emergency surgery for one of our pets...

Phew...what a last couple of days! Long story short...our big fat kitty named Thor ate some birthday ribbon, balloon ribbon & the elastic string on Avyree's brand new real ballet shoes she got for her birthday! He was throwing up for almost two days. I forgot he had eaten the balloon ribbon (the only one I knew about) until I took him to our local vet and we started talking! Then I remembered the balloon and the fact that the long string was down to about an inch! He was dehydrated from not drinking for two days as well. So we hooked him up to liquids via IV and ordered Xrays. The Xrays showed that indeed....there was a large blockage in his intestines! Poor Thor and poor checking account. After the $450 it cost just for the visit, xrays and liquids I got a minimum quote from my vet for the surgery...$3500! YIKES! After a phone call to my crazy cat lady best friend Sabina...she referred me to a GREAT vet that was much cheaper! We picked up Thor from our vet and headed to the new vet. Later that day he has the surgery and boy was it a large blockage! That is when I learned he had eaten the ballet shoe string and the birthday ribbon. On part of one of the ribbons you could read the words "happy birthday"! No joke! They now call him the Happy Birthday Kitty! It came from this present...



The surgery went well and we fell in love with the new vet and will be going there from now on. Not only are they cheaper but are truly the nicest and most compassionate people...to the animals and the owners! They told us we could come visit him everyday and to call in the morning for an update on him. So I called this morning at 9am and the vet told me that Thor started the morning with a very high fever (but no signs of infection). Cats run normal at 102.5 and Thor was at 107! I about died and was so worried! They gave him chilled liquids in his IV and so far so good. The fever is gone and hasn't come back!

So the girls & I went to see him today and I brought my camera along! I only took a couple but we spent almost an hour with him. He's such an awesome laid back cat and has won the hearts of everyone there. They can do anything to him and he just lays there and chills. But I knew he was really scared because his pupils were HUGE! No hissing, growling, ears not back...just wide eyes! But after we were there for about twenty minutes, his pupils went back to normal. So I knew we were helping him by going to visit and loving him up for an hour! So we'll be going back everyday until he gets home. The vet wants to keep him until at least Saturday (he had the surgery yesterday) which is a bummer. But we know he's in good loving hands and will get better before he joins the loud crazy house again. And we have a new rule in the house...no balloons or strings!

Here is our poor baby Thor...

Haylee giving Thor love! Thor loves Haylee! She is calm and laid back like him...



Aw...my poor scared baby...


Thank you little machine for giving my boy the liquids he needs...


He never moved from the back of the cage but relaxed soon after we got there...


Hi Thor "Happy Birthday Kitty" Ziegenfuss! Hurry up and get better so you can sleep with me! I miss you...


Oh my sweet baby! I just wanted to curl up inside there with him and cuddle him. You can already see that his pupils were getting smaller! Love you big boy...


Oh...and the new vet will be charging us a MAXIMUM of $2500! So at least a $1000 cheaper and I have a feeling it would have been even more than $3500 at our vet! Sorry Ancu...I do love you but that's just a rip off! I'm pretty sure since he has to stay until Saturday, it will be the full $2500...plus the $450 I already spent at our vet! Expensive week...

If you got this far..thank you and please keep our kitty in your thoughts. He's a part of our hearts and we need him home!

Nugget turns FIVE...

I have moments that I cannot believe my baby is five! But then I remember she gets to start Kinder in a week and I get excited! I have been home for TEN years with a child! So to say I'm excited to have them BOTH in school for six hours a day five days a week...is the BIGGEST understatement of my life! Ha! Six whole hours to myself...for the first time in TEN years! Sorry I keep saying it. It just feels SO good to say!

Okay...back to today's post! Lol! I'm a little out of order! I finally finished the Idaho pictures and they are all loaded in the Idaho Summer 2011 album now if you'd like to see them! There are almost 500...hence not posting them on my blog! :) Then I edited the shots from the head band shoot I did with the girls! I posted a couple here already. And I'm pretty much done with those!

We then went to San Diego for the weekend and visited a flight deck ship & Sea World. I have yet to edit those. Then the following Wednesday was Nugget's actual birthday...which I am sharing today! :) As soon as I edit the San Diego pictures, I'll load them! And I have one more post right after this one...which is from today! See...totally out of order. But one of our animals had to have emergency surgery, so I took a couple pics today...that I'll share next!

So here is Nugget's actual birthday. I only took pictures of her opening presents with us in the living room. Her big party was San Diego. We did cake but not until after dark when our friends could join us!

***all edits were done with Michelle Kane's Bland to Brilliant & Pure Actions A Pinch of Warming, (some) TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses & Michelle Kane's See Things Clearer on her face only***

Opening her first bag. She was very excited over the water balloons which she's obsessed with but not so excited about the lip gloss...which she's also obsessed with...



The girls got Bop It up in Idaho and had to share it! So Daddy got Nugget her very own Bop It...XT even! Now they don't have to share! Yay...


She doesn't seem to be as excited for the educational books though...


This one we knew she would be very excited about. She loves to take pictures and videos with one of Daddy's old cell phones! So Daddy got her her very own digital camera (which we later returned cause it was a hunk of junk & gave her my old FujiFilm bridge camera)...


Can you tell she loved it...


The one present I picked out! Happy that she liked it...lol...


I think that's a happy 5 year old...


Every year Haylee goes into her room & picks out things that she thinks Avyree will like and gives it to her...


Nugget telling Sissy thank you...


Oh my Barbie...what beautiful hair you have! Who does it?...

Oh my Nugget...what a beautiful strip of color hair you have! I love you...


Haylee is now putting one of these on her birthday list! She loved trying new hair styles on her...


Thanks for looking and stay tuned to hear our animal story...

365 197-224...

Wow...that's a lot to catch up on in one post! Lol! I'll get straight to it...


Ice Cream cart at the park...

(edited with lilyblue simple set earth adjusted, tra boutwell magic glasses & mk see things clearer)



The life kids have these days...

(edited with red leaf color vibes 50%, mk light/shade to burn the computer screen & mk see things clearer)




She lubs him...

(mk bland to brilliant 100%, my mz xp soft 75% & mk see things clearer)

Almost ready for our trip! Notice my two camera bags...ha...

(edited with... red leaf washed brighter 75%, mk bring on the bokeh 50% masked on bokeh that was already present, tra boutwell magic glasses 70% & mk see things clearer 30% both on focus areas only)
And we are on our way to Idaho to visit my Pop & my Grandma...

(edited with... bland to brilliant 100%, ziggy licious strawberry cream & peach cream 15%, blueberry cream soda 20% & mk see things clearer...not the greatest edits)



Went for a walk with the girls near my Pop's house...

(edited with mk bland to brilliant adjusted, pure actions as follows... boost yellows, pinch of soft light, snap that baby 30% cloud 9, ziggy licious dollop of whip cream & mk see thing clearer 30%... if I don't put a % then I don't remember)



This is a trail that starts at my dads street across from his driveway and leads to this fishing lake...

(edited with... pretty much the same as 365-202)



The girls with Brady in my Pop's backyard. They had a HUGE crush on him. Who can blame them. If I were them I would have too. He's a cutie...

(edited with... lilblue simple set but can't remember which one, ziggy licious peach cream, strawberry cream, carmel cream all at 15% & blueberry cream soda at 30%. not happy with this edit and when i edited them for real i went in a completely different direction)
There are deer every where on my dad's property...

(edited with... lilyblue simple set but again can't remember which one)



Fun at the lake. Northern Idaho has THE.BEST.SUMMERS...

(edited with... lilyblue simple set again and a few other things that I can't remember. i don't like these edits either. these are all i have left to edit from our trip & i'm so unsure how i'm going to edit them. the light was so harsh that i couldn't find an edit i liked. we'll see if pure actions will come to the rescue....lol)



We took a lot of walks! Shot with my Tokina 16-28 on my 5D...

(edited with pure actions as follows... boost yellows 60%, a pinch of soft light, cloud 9, boost shadows, tra boutwell magic glasses & mk see things clearer both on focus areas only. i love these edits)



On a road trip with my Pop...

(edited with... lilyblue simple set simple 1, ziggy licious creams sodas as follows.... kiwi cream and strawberry cream at 15%, blueberry cream soda 30%, root beer 20%, cherry soda 10%, lime soda 15%, tra boutwell magic glasses 50% & mk see things clearer 20%. not happy with this edit either and went a different direction when i did my actual editing)



My dad has a great rustic man's way of decorating that I've always loved since I was a kid...

(edited with... pure actions as follows... boost yellows 50%, look at all that color baby 50%, boost the shadows 30%, cloud 9 (left shot only), tra boutwell magic glasses 100% & mk see things clearer 30% both on focus areas only)



My grandma! No words will ever do justice to how much I love and respect her! Eight years ago she had a stroke that took the use of her right arm and her speech. She hasn't been able to talk for eight years. And this is the most independent woman I truly have ever know! I could go on for chapters telling you all the things she did in her life! She was 77 (and a young chic beautiful 77 who drove a full size truck, worked & swam at the YMCA 5 days a week, worked in an antique shop 3-5 days a week and moved those antiques, stripped, glued, stained them etc) when she had her stroke and just turned 85 at the beginning of June. I miss her so much and wish I could live closer to her and see her all the time. I wish she could see the girls more and I sooooo wish that they had her in their lives the way I did so she could share her wisdom & love with them like she did with me. For all she's been through and her advancing age..she's doing pretty darn good!

(edited with... mk bland to brilliant adjusted, ziggy licious peach cream & strawberry cream both at 15%, pure actions cloud 9, mk glisten for eyes & see things clearer)
It's already been 10 days and it's time to come home! I will miss Idaho and can't wait to go back...

(edited with... mk bland to brilliant 100%, mk light/shade to burn light pink bag a bit, lilyblue simple set simple 1, ziggy licious peach/strawberry/carmel cream 15%, blueberry cream soda 30%, tra boutwell magic glasses 100% & mk see things clearer 30% both on focus areas only)



We came home to many surprises! My wonderful husband threw me a surprise welcome home party with our close friends and decorated. Then he surprised me with this AWESOME Fox purse I wanted so bad and asked for for Christmas. Then...this was the BIG surprise! He's been wanting to get the girls names tattooed on him for years. I always joked that he should put my name on there too....never ever ever thinking or expecting him to actually do it! So I about died when I saw this! He was hoping I'd cry when I saw it. I was too in shock and our friends were there staring at me. But whenever I think about it or write about it, I start to tear up...like I am now. He told me that I am at the bottom because I am the ribbon that ties it all together. Aw....10 years and I love him more each year...

(edited with... mk bland to brilliant 100% & see things clearer 35%)



Missing my healthy food...

(edited with... didn't write it down...sorry)


Miss the beautiful green of Idaho and so NOT inspired this day. Reflection shot in the bumper of my truck...lol...

(edited with... didn't write it down...sorry)


Not inspired this day either so you get a rotten lemon...HAHAHA....

(edited with... didn't write it down...sorry but I do remember I used 3 florabella textures on top)


Love this one. Took an up close picture of our flag in the backyard and the breeze blew it just right...

(edited with... not 100% sure but I think it was a lilyblue simple set action...possibly simple 3)



Another surprise Eric had for us was that he planned a trip to San Diego to go to Sea World for Avyree's birthday (the very next weekend after Idaho...I was tired lol)! So we left early in the morning, checked into our hotel and dropped our bags off then headed to the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier (which I still have to edit)...

(edited with.... pure actions just can't remember them all because i forgot to write it down again and tra boutwell magic glasses & mk see things clearer)


And Saturday was Sea World (which I still have to edit)...

(edited with...same as above)


Between walking on the USS Midway for 4 hours, swimming after for hours, walking around Sea World for TEN HOURS then more swimming, the girls were BEAT (and Avyree ended up getting sick by the end of the day with a high fever then throwing up thankfully after we got home & not in the truck)....

(edited with... didn't write it down...sorry)

Too tired for anything...

(edited with... didn't write it down... sorry)


Not sure why my 16lb fat lazy cat is so tired. This is all he did all weekend with no Lily to chase him around! He had the place to himself, lazy cat...

(edited with... lilyblue simple set for sure just don't remember which and tra boutwell magic glasses & mk see things clearer)



I just can't believe she's 5 already and starting Kinder on the 7th...

(edited with pure actions just don't remember all and tra boutwell magic glasses & mk see things clearer)

And then poor Haylee got what Avyree had. She threw up less but had a higher fever, 102.2 when I took this pic...

(edited with... didn't write it down...sorry)




Eric bought Avyree a little cheap digital camera for her birthday! She loves to take pictures and little video clips. The first was total junk so he exchanged it and the second one wasn't too much better so he returned it too. So she ended up with my old FujiFilm S3000....which is the camera that started it all. Wonder if she'll get the bug...

(edited with pure actions as follows... look at all that color baby & boost the shadows baby 100%, snap that baby 50%, cloud 9 100%, tra boutwell magic glasses 100% & michelle kane's see things clearer on focus area only)



So I totally dropped the ball and writing down my edits the second half! Lol! I've been trying my very best to write down my 365 edits because I get a lot of people that ask and have asked me to say on my blog! I'll try even harder to remember to write it down! Lol!

And since I've already edited 400 Idaho pictures, there are simply too many to put on my blog and I could never begin to pick and choose. Lol! You know me, I have to tell the whole story. So I created a Zenfolio folder where I can share them all. You can click each one or view as a slideshow etc. All the shots besides the lake shots that I've yet to edit (but will load in that album when I do) are already in there. I also did a head band shoot of the girls (which I shared one shot of each girl with 3 different edits here on my blog) that I might load in the Idaho folder as well since I took them in Idaho! So...if you would like to see all my Idaho pictures, click below...

Momaziggy's Idaho Summer Trip 2011

Okay...I need a Photoshop editing break and I don't say that often! Lol! Thanks for looking and I hope to get back on my Friday schedule! Have a GREAT weekend!

We are back from Idaho...

safe and sound! We had a GREAT time and I took 1086 pictures. I've been loading the ones I've edited so far. There are just too many to put on the blog, so I've loaded them into my Zenfolio as an album, if you'd like to see them! Idaho Summer 2011 Album I will be adding more as I edit them!

I'm also posting to say that, yet again, I will be missing my 365 post tomorrow! Lol! The next 365 post will be huge! We are leaving early in the morning for San Diego for the weekend. Nugget's 5th birthday is on the 24th, so we are all going down to Sea World to celebrate! But the following Friday I will get them all posted...promise! I have no plans to go anywhere! Lol!

And because a post is sad & lonely without pictures I'm sharing 2 shots of the girls. A dear friend & fellow photographer makes headbands and asked me if I'd be interested in a swap. I take pictures of the girls wearing them and keep the headbands and she gets a copy of the images for her business. So I had her mail them up to Northern Idaho so I could take advantage of the beautiful scenery and greenery there! I have a compulsive disorder that requires me to edit my images in order. It's all a part of my storytelling style of photography. It's ingrained in me and I cannot fight it! But I did pick one favorite shot of each girl to edit so I could show Misty of Lilly Anna Kids! Be sure to check out her site and if you love her stuff, go crazy shopping! And I swear that advertising her business was not part of the deal. Her stuff is just that good!

So onto the pictures then I need to finish dinner and figure out a 365 shot for today! Lol! I couldn't decide which direction to go, and since I love to edit, I did a clean edit, a creative edit & a filmy B&W.

Clean edit...edited with Pure Actions (quickly becoming my favorite clean actions of all time & loving their new Haze set which is creative and hazy but not over the top or too contrasty). Crystal & Rachel (owners and creators of Pure) are the most amazing, sweet & talented women I know! I've known Crystal for a few years back from the beginning of the iVillage photography board days and met Rachel on 2peas in a bucket! But that's not why I'm plugging their actions. I truly truly believe in these actions. They are true to their name...PURE! I've never been a big clean edit kind of girl, but with these actions I am now finding myself doing more and more clean edits. The detail these actions retain, the texture of clothes and skin and the overall detail of your images are totally retained while giving them that perfect PURE pop! They are quickly becoming my favorite actions and I'm in love with their Haze set! They are all so perfect! So...that got a bit long...sorry about that! :)



Then for the creative edit, I started with the clean edit & duplicated the photo and ran my FREE MZ XP Soft at 100% and that was it!


Then once again I went back to my clean edit and duplicated it to create my b&w. I ran Lilyblue Just BW from her Simple Set and adjusted it to taste then added some grain! YUMMY. I truly love me some filmy grainy b&w's!


Now Nugget's picture! I love when my girls give me the serious face rather than the cheesy snapshot smile and head tilt! Again, all pure actions...


Also started with the clean edit and ran MCP Fusion Creamsicle (Creamsicle 35% & One Click Color 30% with other layers adjusted in this folder)...


Same thing again but this time I ran Lilyblue's Soft BW from her Simple Set and made adjustments...


I have many many more to edit from Idaho and also many more of the headband shoot to edit! Then I will have many from our weekend in San Diego & Sea World. Yay...fun shots to edit! I love it!

Hope everyone had a great 2 couple weeks and that your weekend is even better! See you soon! :)