We are so excited about our Christmas cards! I laid them out from scratch this year, and it was so much fun! We would love to send you one, but we have to have your address first! If you would like a card from the Hudsons, please e mail your name and address to:

shootus@thehudsonsrock.com

We're on our way to Texarkana and then Dallas right now to shoot a wedding and then head to our annual Christmas get-together, plus a bonus trip to Ikea and Six Flags. I REALLY want to get these cards out, though, so we're bringing them with us! : )

Hope you're all enjoying the holiday season so far! Tons of pictures coming soon...

Now off to Texas!

Autumn is 8!!!!!!

Well, believe it or not, my sweet baby girl is 8 years old now! I, for one, can believe it, because she's been acting like she's about 13 or so for several years now, so 8 doesn't seem so bad. ; )

Try as I might to convince her that it would be oh-so-fun to have her birthday party at some place like Different Strokes or the Boys & Girls' Club (where I would not have to do the cleanup), Autumn was absolutely insistent that this year, she was going to have a slumber party. Now, don't get me wrong, I love slumber parties. In fact, one of my fondest childhood memories is from my friend Rachel's 9th birthday party.

The Meskos had a large playroom that was a fair distance away from her parents' bedroom, so they somehow let Rachel talk them into inviting roughly 25 girls over to spend the night. You can imagine the chaos that ensued. Long after we were supposed to have been in bed, and probably a good hour or two after her parents had given up on ever getting us settled down, we were still screaming and running around like a bunch of caffeinated monkeys wreaking havoc in the dark. It was at this point that her dad, the infamous John Mesko, silently made his way up the hallway. His silhouette loomed in the doorway, and we froze as he flipped the lights on. We were terrified. His signature mane of wild white locks was in a particularly impressive state of disarray, seeming to almost stand on end over the rest of him, which stood tall in the doorway wearing only his tighty-whiteys and a dark and evil glare.

He paused for full effect. Once we were properly silenced by our terror, his low, even voice announced:

"Your mamas are not here to protect you. Go. To sleep."

I don't remember if we actually settled down afterwards or not, but it was a great try on his part either way! In light of this memory, among many others of parental torturing at various slumber parties in my youth, I was a little overwhelmed at the thought of being quite so outnumbered. But then I figured, hey, if all the other brave parents of the world can do it, so can we!

So once I helped Autumn narrow down her guest list (she desperately wanted to invite pretty much every little girl she'd ever met!), we set to work on the invitations. Since we had decided on an art theme, Autumn came up with the idea of painting the invitations to send out to her friends. I thought it was such a cute idea! We went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some blank notecards, and then Autumn created a little scene on the front of each invite.





Once the front had dried, I gave each one a title and wrote it on the back.





On the inside, I wrote down all the pertinent details, and then I painted each girl's name on the envelopes. On the back, I painted Autumn's favorite doodle, a heart with a little squiggly tail, as the envelope seal.







We kicked off the party with pizza from Papa John's, after which the girls helped me get mix up the birthday cake and get it in the oven. Then, while the cake was baking, we headed downstairs to our very own Artists' Studio that we had set up in the basement! We brought in some studio lights, hung some curtains, laid out a huge drop cloth and then stocked the room with dozens of paintbrushes, canvases, sponges, artist pallets and every color of acrylic paint under the sun. We even had finger paint set out for Norah!






We also had a picture frame ready for each girl to paint so that they could take it home in the morning with a photo from the party as a keepsake. I would say they had a good time! Here is the before and after:






Once the girls had finished their paintings and washed up in the basement's handy dandy mud sink, we headed back upstairs to pull the cake out of the oven. Then, while it was cooling, they got in their pajamas, opened presents, put on lots of lovely pink makeup (probably Autumn's favorite gift!), and sat at the table making necklaces and bracelets out of assorted glittery beads.

Then, once the cake had cooled, the girls went to town decorating it. Mmmm... Yummy!





Then her adorable little friend Ana played "Happy Birthday" on the piano while we all sang. It was so cute!





Once they were done devouring their creation, we got them settled in the living room to watch Hannah Montana and start to wind down. Once it was over, I had them brush their teeth and head to bed. Between the bunk beds, the trundle, the cot, Barrett's bed and his pull-out chair, there was plenty of room. I patted myself on the back when I went to check on them at around 12:30, and they all appeared to be peacefully sleeping. Then I went to bed myself, considering the evening to be quite a success.

It wasn't until I woke up with Norah at around 7:30 that I realized something had gone awry... All the little girls were squished into just 3 of the beds, and there were blankets and toys scattered all over. Apparently things have gotten more sophisticated since I was a kid, and now the girls are smart enough to be very, very quiet when they make trouble in the night so as to evade detection! Word on the street is that they stayed up until 4 a.m. I have no idea if this is true, but everyone escaped major injury and no property was destroyed, so either way I figure it isn't too big of a deal! Silly, sneaky girls!

We finished the party off with a yummy pancake and egg breakfast, then the girls played outside till their moms came. All in all, I would say it was a success!

There were way too many favorites for me to narrow it down to a blog post, so I dropped them all into a slideshow instead! As I was trying to pick out a song that summed up the evening, I realized that only one would do: Love Story by Taylor Swift, because the girls listened to it approximately 3,000 times over the course of the evening. : ) Click on the picture below to check out the slideshow!





Thank you so much to all the moms who let us borrow your precious girls for the evening! We all had a great time, and we can't wait to do it again! Happy birthday, Autumn!

I heart Latisse!

Call me hopeful, call me gullible, call me crazy, but I am a really easy target for flashy claims made by beauty products. If a cream promises to reduce the appearance of my fine lines and wrinkles by 25%, it's mine. If a toothpaste guarantees me teeth that are 3 shades whiter in just 2 weeks, you can bet it will end up in my medicine cabinet. So when I saw Brooke Shields batting her long, luscious lashes at me in a Latisse ad along with a cheerful voiceover telling me about their impressive numbers from the clinical trials, I immediately knew that I, too, must have lashes that were 25% longer, 106% fuller and 18% darker in 12-16 weeks.

From the Latisse website:




Despite my relentless optimism when it comes to the quest for beauty, I am somewhat realistic in my expectations. Usually if you even a small fraction of the results promised in these ads, you're lucky. Sometimes they even seem to do more harm than good. So when I started my nightly Latisse regimen, I wasn't necessarily expecting much. Hoping, yes, but expecting... Not really. So I was surprised when after about a month I noticed that it didn't take me as long to get my mascara to look great. Then a few weeks later, I had to switch mascaras because the Lancome Hypnose with the Cils Booster (awesome stuff, by the way) was just too much. After 4 months, no joke, if I go out in a strong wind, I can actually feel them blowing in the breeze! It's pretty bizarre, but I absolutely love it. I decided it was time to switch to the maintenance dose of every-other-day application when I noticed that my eyelashes were so long that they were almost touching my eyebrows! (See the last photo below)

Here are my lashes (with mascara) before:





Here are some images of me before Latisse, but with fake lashes on:





And here are a couple of me now (also with mascara):





This is what I've figured out: My lashes without mascara now look like they did before when I had mascara on. Now, if I wear mascara, I get the same look as if I had put on fake lashes before. I actually pulled out a set of my trusty MAC lashes to look at while working on this blog post, and when I tried them on, I discovered that my own natural lashes are now just a tiny bit longer than my fake ones were!

I am posting this here because I know that many of our brides, in the quest for perfection on the wedding day, wear fake lashes. Don't get me wrong, I am very much in favor of this. When done properly, they look incredible, especially in pictures. I used to wear them for photo shoots all the time. The thing is, they also require tedious application and putting glue on your eye, plus they could theoretically fall off or lift a little at the edges during the wedding day. We actually see this a lot! Also, even if all goes well on the wedding day, fake lashes aren't much good to you while you are splashing around in the Caribbean on your honeymoon!

Just think, if I'd had Latisse back them, my lashes could have waved in the breeze in Barbados!




And I could have had alluring lashes as I played "swimsuit model" for Jason in Cabo (clearly before I got a little help from Dr. Taylor in other departments as well! Ha!)




So if you are looking for an option that will give you incredible lashes so while you are cuddling with random monkeys and making sultry faces on the beach (or normal activities like dropping your kids off at school in the morning, chasing your toddler through the sprinkler and taking the trash out in the rain), I highly recommend that you talk to your doctor about Latisse. If you live in Northwest Arkansas, give Dr. Taylor's office a call to set up a consult. I have used them for assorted beauty "enhancements" since 2006, and I have nothing but good things to say about him and his staff!

Vital Stats
Cost: about $120 for a 1-month supply
Regimen: Apply nightly before bed
Results: Some improvement after about a month, full results in 12-16 weeks
Side Effects: Minimal in my experience, see the Latisse website for full information
Tips: My "1-month supply" actually lasts 2 full months because I use a clean eyeliner brush to apply it instead of the brushes that come with the product. I have found one drop total (instead of 1 per eye, as it suggests) is plenty with this approach.

DISCLAIMER: I am not in any way qualified to dispense medical advice! I am not a doctor, I am a photographer, and Latisse is a drug, not just a beauty product. This blog post is just to inform you of my own individual, anecdotal experience with Latisse! If you think you are interested, please talk to your doctor first and listen to whatever he or she has to say about it first. In other words, if your eyes fall out, please don't sue me! : )

Cyber Monday!

First off, let me say that I really think the name "Cyber Monday," is stupid. Granted, it's not quite as morbid as "Black Friday," but it's still not the kind of fun, cute name that I feel should accompany a shopping holiday. Who came up with these names? Clearly men. And men who must not even like to shop, at that. No self respecting fashionista, or newly minted "frugalista" for that matter, would give happy days involving shopping, sales and holiday music such boring/dark names.

That said, I really love to shop. Especially when there are deep discounts involved! So even if I do think that those are silly names, I will still gladly participate in the madness! : )

I realize that it is technically Tuesday, and not "Cyber Monday" anymore, but I just discovered that one of my very favorite kids' shopping sites is still offering a 40% discount on all items, plus special "Treasure Tuesday" (now that's more like it!) items hidden in each department with even deeper discounts!





It's called Naartjie Kids, and I have it bookmarked on my toolbar as "cool cheap clothes," which I think is very apt! With the 40% discount, nice boys' dressy shirts like this one are only running around $11.99:





They also have a bunch of beautiful little girls' shirts and sweaters, like this sweater, which I just think is gorgeous, that is marked down to just $26.96:





Their baby stuff is also just precious. Additionally, they have a lot of cute coordinating items if you (like me) are a sucker for baby sisters and big sisters matching! For example, I just ordered these matching pajamas to be their "Christmas pajamas" (more on that later) for just $11.99 each:





All of the items on the site are Naartjie's original designs, and they base each season's collection on a set of harmonious themes and colors. This makes it easy to coordinate your kids with each other, and also makes the items a breeze to mix and match so you get more mileage out of each piece! Here is a screen shot from their current theme page (this is the winter page, not the holiday page):





I also snagged a pretty good deal on some kids' snow pants and holiday dresses at Gap, but I just checked, and they aren't running any current online promotions right now. But aren't these dresses for the girls adorable!





They also have some really cute stuff in their new Stella McCartney line...





Well, I suppose I should get back to Photoshop now! If I can get enough done this afternoon, I may get started on a blog post about our Thanksgiving break. We had so much fun! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too!

The Hudson- Daniel Family... DAY! OF! FUN!

Well, we had heard that the incredibly fun-tastic Robinson family was heading to Silver Dollar City on Tuesday for an impromptu break from the daily Photoshop grind, and at first we decided that we just had waaaaay too much to do to be dropping everything and heading to Branson on a whim.

But then when Norah woke us up bright and early at around 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday with her customary "MamamamamamaDadadadadaBaMaBaDaGaaaaah!" and obligatory repetitive face-smacking, we thought again. We could just see those merry Robinsons packing their adorable kiddos into their Honda Pilot and making their way to the City of Lights, Buffets and Celebrity Impersonators Extraordinaire, and we decided we just couldn't stand to miss it!

So we woke up the kids with false threats that Mrs. Garcia had called us to let us know that school was on for the day after all followed by promises of roller coasters and all the salt-water taffy they could eat. Unfortunately, shortly after we managed to get everyone just about ready to go, it occurred to us that perhaps we should check with the Robinsons to see if they were even in fact still going to Branson, or if Silver Dollar City, with its unpredictable hours, was even open on Tuesday. No and no. Being at least slightly less procrastination-prone and impulsive than we are, they had realized already that Silver Dollar City was closed that day and had elected for a day of local family hi-jinx instead. Well, once you use promises of a road trip to convince a kindergartner and a second-grader to get up out of bed on their school holiday and actually take baths and get dressed, it's virtually impossible to change this plan without guaranteeing yourself a day of misery, so we decided to head to Branson anyway and see what trouble we could stir up in what we declared the "Hudson-Daniel Family DAY! OF! FUN!" : )

Silver Dollar City may not have been open, but we had a great time anyway. We sang lots of silly songs on the car ride up, then checked out all of the unbelievable exhibits in the Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not Museum. There was actually some really cool stuff in there! I could have done without the shrunken heads and such, but the disappearing lady and the giant yarn ball were pretty impressive. The 2-way tongue-rolling mirror was also a riot!

After that, we had a bite to eat and then hopped in Go-Karts to brave Wild Woody at The Track. We also checked out assorted flea markets and craft shows where we acquired a host of obscure Star Wars memorabilia and a large vinyl doll who unfortunately has already managed to have her foot and her hand fall off! She was only $9.95, so I guess you get what you pay for, but I better get busy with the glue before Autumn gets back from her Dad's for Thanksgiving... She was pretty traumatized about her doll's spontaneous amputations this morning!

After our flea market explorations were done, we had a FANTASTIC dinner at Landry's. I'm kind of glad we don't have one here, because it was a little pricey and we ate WAY too much, but oh my goodness was it delicious! Then we went down to Branson Landing to wander around in the beautiful Christmas lights and enjoy the fountain and light show.

We were mostly too busy having actual fun to worry too much about documenting our adventures with the camera, but we did snap a few pictures along the way:












We had such a good time! I love days where we just get to relax and enjoy each other. They are the best! Speaking of which, I am about to turn off my computer (yes, you read that right!) and finish packing for Thanksgiving weekend in Little Rock and Mena. I can't wait to get to eat all the yummy food and enjoy the good company. We have so much to be thankful for, and we are going to appreciate every minute of it!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well with your families... Happy Turkey Day! : )

A couple of last-minute yummy recipes!

Well, this post might have been good to make last week some time, but if you are a procrastinator like me, you might still be trying to figure out exactly what all you're going to cook for tomorrow! I figured I would share a few recipes for Thanksgiving yumminess in case you are stumped. All of these are tried-and-true winners, most of which I plan on eating tomorrow with great joy and reckless abandon! : )

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Cranberry Relish
From: Marilyn Jones (Jason's wonderful aunt)

3 oz. package raspberry Jello
1 small can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 apple, chopped
1/2 bag fresh cranberries, chopped
orange peel (optional)

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Heat juice to boiling, then dissolve the Jello in the hot juice. Add the sugar. Then add all other ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or preferably overnight) before serving.

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2 Best-Ever Deep Dish Pumpkin Pies
From: Kori Hudson

Pie crust Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
12-15 tablespoons cold water in a cup

Filling ingredients:
3 15-oz. cans pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup whole milk or half-and-half

1. In a large bowl, stir the flour and salt together. Using a pastry cutter, cut in shortening until it looks like pea-sized coarse crumbs. One tablespoon at a time, sprinkle the water over part of the flour mixture and gently toss it with a fork until it's combined. Then move the moistened dough over to the side of the bowl. Do this over and over until all of the flour mixture is done. It takes forever, but it's worth it!

2. Then gently divide the dough into 2 balls. DO NOT OVERHANDLE IT!!!!! BE VERY GENTLE!!! One at a time, carefully roll out the crusts on a large, lightly floured surface until they are about 13 inches or so in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. DO NOT RE-ROLL THEM NO MATTER WHAT! You might as well just start over or eat leather as to trying to eat a pie crust that has been over-handled.

2. Get your pie plates ready. Use deep-dish ceramic or glass plates. They will cook better this way. To move the dough over, gently wrap it around the rolling pin and then unroll it into the pie plate. Ease the pastry in, but don't stretch it. Gently make sure the all of the crust is touching the inside of the pan. Then trim the crust to 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pie plate.

3. Fold the crust edge under and crimp it. I usually put my thumb in the inside of the crust, with my other thumb and forefinger on the outside and press them together gently to flute it. It doesn't have to be perfect! It will still be yummy! You will have some dough left over. This is okay. Better to have a little extra then to not have enough and end up with a crust that is too thin or has holes in it.

4. Make your pie hats. Take 2 12-inch pieces of aluminum foil and fold them in half. Then tear or cut a pie-ish sized half-circles out of the middle of them. When you open them up, they should have nice circular holes in the middle. Check to see that they cover your crusts, leaving space in the middle for the filling to cook.

5. For the filling, mix the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Then add the eggs and beat lightly just until they're mixed in. Gradually add the whipping cream and half-and-half. Stir until combined.

6. Put your pie crusts on the oven rack. Then pour the filling into them. Loosely put your pie hats on, folding the edges over gently. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Remove the pie hats, but don't get rid of them just yet! Bake about 20 minutes without the pie hat. Then check on the pie. If you insert a knife and it comes out cleanish, you're done! If not, put the pie hat back on to keep your crust from getting burned and cook them for 10 more minutes.

7. Refrigerate them overnight for optimum yumminess before serving!

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Kori's Tips for Perfect Pie Crusts!
1. NEVER overhandle your pie crusts or they will be terrible.
2. Measure as accurately as possible. If you have too much water, the crust will be tough. If you have too much shortening, it will fall apart.
3. Don't make your crust too thin. Also, don't poke holes in the bottom of it. This won't really help.
4. Use a glass or ceramic pie plate for perfect, evenly browned crust that isn't soggy in the middle.
5. Be patient. Good crust takes time, but it feels really special when you get it right!

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Corn Casserole
From: Thelma Anderson (Jason's Nana)

4 beaten eggs
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 4-oz. can chopped green chilies (optional)
3 cans creamed corn
Grated cheddar cheese

1. Mix everything but the cheese together. Top with the grated cheese. Place in a greased 13x9 pan and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

2. ENJOY! : )

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Norah is losing patience with my blogging now, so I am going to go play Mommy for a while! Hope you all have a great day-before-Thanksgiving! I will be posting a few pictures here in a bit from our HUDSON-DANIEL FAMILY DAY! OF! FUN! yesterday, and other than that I will be spending the day chasing kids, straightening up and making yummy treats for tomorrow in the kitchen. I love the holidays!

Yay for holidays!

We are making the most of Autumn and Bear's time off of school. After a weekend that was about as activity-packed as possible (a playdate, a slumber party, Christmas shopping, hanging out with Garner and Papa, 3 haircuts, a Razorback game, Christmas shopping, a New Moon matinee, a wedding, MORE Christmas shopping, etc!), we had a consult this morning and a playdate with the fabulous Core family this afternoon.

Autumn and Bear turned their trampoline into a wrestling ring with their 2 older boys, Noah and Wyatt, and Kru and Norah kicked it with Sarah and me in the house. We had a great time despite a few minor injuries and Norah's unbelievably cranky pants mood. Here is Autumn with her bloody/probably not broken nose and Norah with the face she made for most of our visit:





After Autumn had recovered from her injuries thanks to the miraculous healing power of popsicles, she headed back outside for some more trampoline craziness. We decided to bring the babies outside too, partially so that we could remind the big kids every few seconds to be careful on the trampoline and partially so that we could take advantage of the pretty sunset light that was streaming through the trees into the yard.





While baby Kru stomped around in the puddles in his boots, Norah crawled around in the leaves and even managed to stop crying for a minute! (Mental note: buy teething tablets!)





Also, on a completely unrelated side note, isn't their dog Kyah (I have no idea how to spell that, sorry Sarah!) gorgeous?





Now I better go get the lasagna out of the oven before it burns to a crisp... I'm pretty sure the timer went off before I got distracted making this blog post. Yikes! Have a great evening everybody!