Small Things Are Big Things

Hot Hubby and I were walking into the Just Spotted Blog Awards and a strange guy begged us to get into his photo booth (wearing uber cool nerd glasses, no less)… not really.
Well, he really was wearing the cool nerd glasses
(<–see) but we weren’t accosted by him; we practically jumped at the chance for some free family photos (Christmas card?).
Darin owns Capital Photo Booth Co and after talking shop (kiddos and farts) for only a few minutes we knew he was great!
I thought it would be fun for you to “talk” to him too…
Tell us a bit about your family…
My wife Kristen and I have been married for a little over four years. We have a beautiful daughter named Avery who just turned one this July. We also have Winston, our ginormous Boston Terrier and Avery’s best friend. My wife is a 3rd grade school teacher in Anaheim.
How long have you been the “photo booth guy?”
It seems like forever, but its only been about five years now. In a previous life I was a “graphic designer/photographer guy” who would take photos with a far less awkward “camera”.
How long does it take for the pictures to pop out of the booth?
It fluctuates a bit between 35-43 seconds for a set of double prints. I know this only because the photo booth program keeps a log on printing times, and not because I’m an obsessive weirdo who holds a stopwatch next to his booth.
Why should people book a photo booth for their events?
They’re just plain fun. I think a photo booth truly brings out the honest, unfiltered personality of the people being photographed. A photo booth seems to wash away any preconceived ideas as to what one should or shouldn’t do while being photographed. Creativity prevails! All in all, by the end of the night your friends and family will have left you with a wealth of hugely memorable photos.What is the quality of the booth photos?
I’ve been told that its good 🙂 I think its good. I’ve had several wedding photographers say very nice things about them.
Three words that describe your booths…
BOX O’ FUN!
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As you can see we agree… (mom- if you click on the pix you can see them bigger)

This was my “big plan” photo. The Reader’s Digest version of our life…

Brad and I kissing…

Me preggers…

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Us tired with 2 kiddos…

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Us happy as can be!!

Just Spotted hosted the OC Blog awards at Wowzville.

“What the hay is Wowzville (you’re thinking)???!?!?!”

The short answer: A Kid’s Party Venue.

The long (and funner) answer:

Geoff, the owner/creator (and daddy to 2 girls) used to work for a little company (called NASA) then ventured out to start his own business… Wowzville!

He spent about 2 years writing the code for the interactive games in each of the themed rooms: Fairyland, Racing Zone, Space Adventure & Crime Division.
Wowzville is geared toward school age kiddos (though Eli and Cora Jane had a blast) and is reasonably priced (Check the FAQs section under Services).

Racing Zone – 8 races can go on at once and the race is projected on the walls. Larger than life FUN!

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Space Adventure and the Crime Division are in the same room (but not at the same time). Everything is interactive and the way things play out are different every time!

We spent the greater part of the evening in Fairyland (which is why we missed the Dippin’ Dots Cart… you owe me DippinDotWoman… and I won’t forget!). This room is awesome, complete with loads of dress up stuff… I may or may not have slipped a tiara in my purse. (Of course I didn’t take one… you thought I stole a tiara!?!)

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My pictures don’t do this place justice and honestly neither do the ones on their site. (Geoff – Gina, Jen or my new friend Tammy can help you out with that!)

Of course the gals from Just Spotted (Kelly & Coleen) wouldn’t let us leave without favors! Some Smart Girls Who Surf chemical free Sunscreen & Daddy Cakes Pancake and Waffle Mix. It comes in yummy flavors, I got Glamorous Gingerbread and Sinful Cinnamon. Some of us got more than others… Kristen!

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That’s right folks, Kristen over at Meringue Bake Shop (& the creator of the fabulous Margarita Cupcake) has enough Daddy Cakes batter to make us all breakfast for the rest of the year!

Thanks Just Spotted, we had a blast and we can’t wait for next year!!
Don’t forget to pop by tomorrow when I reveal our photo booth pix from the night!
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Coming soon…
4 Nights of Disney
Pageant of the Masters
Pacific Symphony
an inspiring Suzie Says
&
The Eli’s Lids Birthday Bash Giveaway Announcement!!!

Thanks for joining in!! For all the details about our Remember When Carnival go here.
Now come along with me as I Remember High School…
I liked High School. I wasn’t popular but I wasn’t unpopular.
I think I was probably considered “nice girl.” Which is fine with me 🙂

Here I am… Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior… (1994-1998)

I was a cheerleader (yep folks… all 4 years!) but my sophomore year Cheer was 5th period instead of 6th so I was able to join the swim team. This was one of my favorite years. I loved that I got fit and tan before Summer.

I drove this beast around. I loved this car. The only station that wasn’t fuzzy was KEarth 101 (Oldies).

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Most of my High School memories center around Cheer.

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My best friend was Lara. We have known each other since kindergarten. We had so much fun together… REALLY! I think we are still the kind of friends who can just pick up where we left off!

I had a blast my senior year! Just being silly…

I wasn’t really into dances… but that could be because I wasn’t very boy crazy. But I remember loving this dress I wore to homecoming. I think it might have been the first dance I had a store bought dress.

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The Drama department put on The Wizard of OZ (one of my all time favs). I tried out for Glenda the Goodwitch. I didn’t get it. I got the dancer part… it was fun but I just know I would have been an awesome Glenda!!

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Hasta La Pasta Invisible Friends… enjoy the gawk fest!

Presents are F-U-N! At lunch last week we were loaded with ’em…
GG made Cora Jane her quilt and it was topped off with a matching pillowcase and a pink rubber duck!
Cora snuggled up with it that afternoon for her nap. The quilt is an official part of the family as of yesterday when Cora pooped on it. Never to be left out Eli got pillowcase from GG too! (pillowcase tutorial coming soon)

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Auntie Sarah just got back from Russia and gave the kiddos a set of nesting dolls each!! They are a huge hit! We love them Auntie Sarah… but most of all we love you!!

(remember when I sat on the nesting doll)

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For my birthday my parents got me a sewing class (taken with my mom, of course), lunch at the American Girl Cafe (with my mom and Cora, of course) and some cold hard cash. Thanks mom and dad!!

We love hand-me-downs!!
We take them, we give them.
We were given this stroller from our great friends and it had been very loved!
I hustled my bustle down to the craft store, got 2 spicy colored fat quarters, ripped apart the stroller and sewed it back up again!

This is the first time I had ever made my own binding. How fun is that??

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Little Miss Cora Jane LOVES it! I’m so glad I thought to keep the buckle to sew in the new spicy stroller!

For $3 (each fat quarter was $1.29)I was able to totally revamp the stroller.

Some shortcuts: I couldn’t take off the stroller shade because it was screwed on and frankly, I didn’t want to take that much time for a baby doll stroller. So I just hot glued the matching binding over the ugly stuff. For the handles, I cut 1″strips of fabric and used loads of spray adhesive to stick the strips on… durable, easy and fast!

A couple of months ago, in Family Fun Magazine I read about using small cereal boxes as postcards. I thought it was a cute idea, but shelved it because we NEVER get those little boxes.
Lo and behold our camping trip came along and we “needed” a variety of cereal for all our camping buddies!
To make the postcards…

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The address and a short message fit snugly on the back.
Any kiddo will be tickled pink to receive such a fun postcard.
We sent the first 2 postcards we made to the precious kiddos we sponsor in Africa through Compassion.
AND we have a growing stack at home. Who knows, you might have a surprise in your mailbox…

PS
Postage for postcards is $0.28!!






Don’t forget about our Remember High School Carnival on August 18th! Details here.

Remember the Comic Pumpkins I made last Halloween? Remember how the two little ones were still alive in February when we moved and I lovingly packed them up to move into our new place?
Remember how cute they looked even out on the 4th of July?
I’m sad to say (type) that there is only one left now. During her weekly poke test I discovered she was smushy.
Goodbye small squatty pumpkin!
You balanced out my mantel so well and brought joy to all who gazed upon your colorful mod modged surface…
(Only one left and it’s light as a feather. I think it’s fossilized from the inside out… is that possible!?!?)
Don’t forget about our Remember High School Carnival August 18th! Details here.

The last night, instead of going to the group campfire funness we decided to lay low and have a few friends over for smores. These is when we learned the awesomeness of using Coconut Marshmallows instead of plain ones… WOW! The outside caramelizes into a sugary shell. Even Hot Hubby, who isn’t too hot on coconut, LOVED them (thanks Porter family!)!!

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We got this tent on Amazon. It was AWESOME!! There were 3 “pods” surrounding a large room. Plenty of room for all 8 of us 🙂 Each pod had room for a queen size air mattress plus a bit more space. The center is huge.
I can’t blame Hot Hubby for never wanting to camp again. It was a lot of work and our air mattress did have a slow leak and I did make him get up with me in the middle of the night to go potty and the kiddos were filthy and Eli threw up a lot the last night… but the memories are…. ummm…. Memorable!!!

Thanks Kingsfield we (I) can’t wait for next year!!
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Don’t forget about our Remember High School Carnival August 18! Details here.