Pool Time!

 It's starting to get hot here in Arkansas. It's not even June yet but most recent afternoons you can find the mercury hovering somewhere near almost 90 degrees already! While we are still fostering JoJo, it's hard to find things to do to entertain three pups...one of whom is VERY lively! JoJo can't really be satisfied very long with laying still. He's need entertainment. They've been playing outside a lot lately especially while I'm inside getting some editing done. While shopping at Target today, I bought a kiddie pool thinking it would be a great way to entertain these three.

JoJo jumped right in! He LOVED it! Love might even be an understatement. He kept hoping in and out of the pool, lapping up the water, splashing Scooter - it was so fun watching him. :) Scooter was a bit on the fence. He kept drinking the water and every now and then would stick a paw in. I could tell he WANTED to get in but he just wouldn't take the plunge. I even got in and tried to coax him in but it didn't work. And to no surprise Conner wouldn't even go near the pool. He likes to stay dry. Conner's my little prissy dog. :)

Well, MY two dogs might not have loved the pool but JoJo sure had a great afternoon. :) Whoever ends up keeping this little guy either needs to have a pool or a pond for him to swim in. 

I didn't get much video of them playing but here's a quick clip of JoJo I thought was cute. :)

I hope y'all are finding ways to stay cool this summer!

Carson's newborn pics

As a photographer I have the wonderful privilege of capturing some special moments. The most special moments to me are when I'm able to photograph my own family. A few weeks ago, my nephew Carson Thomas was born into this world and I was there to photograph only a few minutes after he made his debut. Those family shots, first bath shots and when everyone gets to hold him for the first time are probably my favorite... but a close second are the posed newborn pics. Here are a couple of my favorites. Check out all of the images over on my photography blog... www.carabethstudio.com 

For the birds

Lately here at our zoo, I've been concentrating on a different type of animal: BIRDS. I've always loved birds. I love watching them. I love nests and eggs and baby birds. Springtime is the best time to get into birds and I noticed that our home is really not "bird friendly." We had one feeder up in the backyard but it was really low to the ground, low enough to where the dogs could jump up and knock it down. So if the dogs could reach it, more than likely the birds were not going to feel comfortable going to the feeder with three canines staring it down looking ready to pounce!

So, I decided to make our front/side porch area a sort of bird haven. Buie and I spent several days redoing a flower bed on the side of our house. I found the perfect bird bath at Pier One to put in the flower bed. This is the same flower bed where we buried our cat George, so it's special to us. I know it sounds cheesy but we like to think of George watching the birds too. :) 

Buie was my DIY project hero and hung my new feeders - one small one on the front porch and a larger one we nailed to a tree in our front yard. I have the perfect view of this one from our two white rocking chairs on our front porch. My new favorite thing to do is to sit outside in the morning and drink my coffee and watch the birds. Yesterday morning I saw several cardinals, a blue jay, a little wren and several robins. Before you know it, I'll be out there with my binoculars and field guide looking up different bird breeds. ha! I'm not sure when I become such an old lady but I'm not complaining. I'm a bird lady and I'm not ashamed to admit it. :)

Wedding Weekend

You know when you are so happy for someone else you can't stop crying, squealing, smiling, etc.? Well, that was me all weekend. We attended the wedding of some of our best friends: Alicia and Brian. I've known Alicia since 2005, my senior year of college and we were instant friends. We quickly decided to be roommates after college once we had both moved to Little Rock. We were roommates for a couple of years in two different places in Little Rock after college and those were some of the best times I can remember. Late night talks on the back porch, so many spontaneous dance parties at Calais apartment, plenty of cooking experiments gone bad and so much fast food it would make us shudder now! Over the years, we have watched each other grow, mature, get "big girl jobs", date plenty of losers. We've both gone through heartache but I found my guy pretty early on. It was so wonderful to watch Alicia find and fall in love with this boy named Brian. :) We all fell in love with Brian and couldn't have asked for a better guy for her.  Their wedding was a wonderful celebration of their love and the reception was so much fun. Plenty of dancing for everyone - enough to wear me out for literally two days. ha! Congratulations to one of my dearest friends - I hope y'all are having a blast on your honeymoon this week!

Wednesday's thoughts

Well, May has already kick started and I feel like I haven't stopped to breath in quite some time. From the birth of Carson, trying desperately to keep with a new business in it's busy season, eat healthy, pay attention to my own family, get enough exercise and lose weight, oh and have some sort of social life...well, there is little to no time left. But isn't that everyone struggle in life? Finding the balance in life. I just feel blessed to wake up everyday and do what I love everyday. I know not everyone in life is that lucky. So if I don't blog as often as I used to, just know I'm busy doing what I love...enjoying life, making memories, loving on dogs & cats, taking pics and soaking up life's little sweet spots. :)

Sweet JoJo is still with us... not sure what this means in the long run but for now 

we are lovin' on him like he is already a part of the Buie's zoo. :)

 Whenever I am gardening this is my view. They just sit by the gate and watch me.

 And I caught them when they were perfectly lined up by height. Small. Medium. Large.

 I love it! I'm pretty sure this is a framer! 

Hazel has been enjoying more days outside this Spring. I always watch her to make sure she stays right around the house and she always does. She loves the sunshine but when she wants a little shade, you can find her in the dog house because heaven forbid my little princess get a sunburn. ;)

Hope y'all are having a great week!
-The Buie's Zoo

Happy Birthday, MJ!

Yesterday was my niece's first birthday. My bags were packed and I was ready to go when BOOM! Saturday morning a migraine hit me like a ton of bricks. See, I had made plans to get up Saturday morning and drive down to Ruston in time for her party. At 8am, I was on the floor hugging the porcelain throne for at least 5 hours. (Sorry, TMI?) Well, needless to say, I didn't make my niece's first birthday party and feeling a bit sad about it today, I'm dedicating this post to her. Makaylan Joy. And what a JOY you are, little girl. This past year you have brought a smile to so many faces. Happy Birthday to you, MJ! I can't wait to see you grow up into a young lady who loves to laugh, has compassion for others and most of all who loves the Lord! Happy Birthday from Aunt RaRa. Keep rocking that hair, girl!

Here is MJ sitting in the chair I bought her opening presents on her birthday. 

Isn't she adorable?

Carson Thomas

Welcome to the world little one. This week my second nephew, Carson Thomas Walker, entered the world as a big 8 pound 14 oz healthy baby boy. Born on Wednesday, April 25th,  Carson was 21.5 inches long and had lots of dark hair just like Landon did. He is perfect.  

My parents with Landon (who will be 2 yrs old this July) and brand new baby Carson

Me getting my turn at holding Carson

My brother's family: they look pretty good as a family of four. :)

Momma and baby Carson

I can't wait to take Carson's newborn pics soon. :) I'm sure you will be overwhelmed by baby pics so just bare with me. Who doesn't love baby pictures though, right? 

Easter Weekend

This Easter weekend was all about family. My mom and dad drove up from Louisiana to spend some QT time with us. This was the last time they would spend with Craig, Nicole & Landon before Carson gets here! yay! He's due on the 25th of this month. So we soaked up as much Landon time as possible! :)

Friday evening Buie's parents drove up as well from Rison and the whole family had dinner at Maddie's Place. We all shared a plate of Louisiana crawfish and watched Pop teach Landon how to howl like a coyote which was quite entertaining.

Saturday morning I dropped our foster dog JoJo off at CARE for adoption day with my fingers crossed. Each time, JoJo goes to a new home for a trial run or to a adoption day it's bitter sweet. I have high hopes he will one day find the perfect family to take care of him like we do but in my heart I wonder if there is anyone who will really love him as much as I already do. I'm kind of mad at myself for falling in love with this dog. Why oh why do I love animals so much? Well, I picked up JoJo from CARE and no potential owners asked about him. No one wanted more information on him. No one. But I was just as happy to take him back home to me. Sometimes I wonder if this is where he belongs....

Mom and I headed over to Dempseys Bakery to get a couple of Easter treats and grab lunch. They had a gluten free hot dog stand! I was pretty excited actually. It's been about 5 years since I've had a hot dog with a bun on it (which is actually just a wiener). If you're gluten free and live in the Little Rock area, you HAVE to check out Dempseys Bakery. EVERYTHING they make is GLUTEN FREE! EVERYTHING. I only allow myself to go in their every month or two for a treat. It's so tempting just to open up my purse and start dumping things in and screaming "I've been deprived of these things for YEEEEAAARS!!" But I don't. They might call the cops or something. I managed to only eat a hot dog, some chips and two gf cookies and I was stuffed. But man! was it gooood!

Saturday night, we went to a swanky engagement party for one of my dear friends and I'm mad at myself for not taking any pictures because it was at a gorgeous house overlooking the Arkansas river. Oh well. You can just imagine how pretty it was. Sunset over the river. Aaahh. Pretty huh?

Sunday was Easter and I woke up to this: Sweet right? Not only does my husband cook all of my meals for me, he surprises me with Easter baskets filled with my favorite magazines, favorite candy and a new book to read on the beach next week. Oh, and he's all mine, so no, you can't have him! ;)

Monday mom, dad, Landon, Craig and I spent some time downtown and I rode my first trolly but I'll save that for another post... Hope y'all are having a great week!

February Pinterest Project

I'm playing catch up on my Pinterest projects. In January I decided to pick one Do-It-Yourself Pinterest inspired project each month this year and yes, I have done one the first 3 months of the year. In February I put to use the many corks I had saved from the past few years. You wouldn't believe it from looking at this bulletin board but I actually am not a big wine drinker. This is an accumulation of corks since I was about 23 or so. There are so many ideas of Pinterest to use wine corks, including trivets, and even a bath mat made out of corks. This bulletin board was the first to catch my eye, but since I don't have that many corks, I decided to make a small bulletin board.

orginially from this blog: Life as a Thrifter

I actually already had the frame so there was really no cost in this project. I started hot glueing the corks in a pattern around the outer boarder working my way towards the middle. Once I got to the middle, it was harder to squeeze in the corks. Some of them I even had to sand down to make them fit.

In the end, they all fit and I was pleased with the turn out! This cork board brings some texture to our kitchen. We can tack pictures or our favorite recipes on the board - whatever we want! :) Thank for the PINSPIRATION!

Check out January's Pinterest project here.

Cousin Time

I'm catching up on some blogging and I can't NOT blog about these two cuties. After our Mexico trip, I did a quick load of laundry, picked up my car at the dealership, packed up some photo props for my next shoot and headed down to Louisiana. I had made plans to shoot two birthday parties in Shreveport, but FIRST I had to see my niece and nephew. My family (minus mom & Buie) met at our favorite local catfish restaurant, Port au Prince, to enjoy a little food & fellowship and of course entertainment from these two:

Lately I've seen my niece, Makaylan, more often than usual. My oldest brother, his wife, and Makaylan came up to Little Rock a couple a weeks ago for some family time. We loved seeing the two of the kids interact. I just know they are going to be best friends!

Pretty soon we will have one more niece and one more nephew to add to our family! My nephew, Carson, will be here in less than a month! Woo hoo!