This is how they REALLY looked on Halloween! :)

Okay...the picture of ME in my slutty burlesque costume was taken by my MOM on her camera...so I don't have it!

I know...BOOOOOO!!!

And my husbands TEETH...handsome, sexy, vampire teeth didn't work! AS IF...so he went as a Gorilla! So I just imagined him as Jacob...I had to squint my eyes...

But in Reality...I have my OWN Jacob everyday... because my husband is part Indian...and he's warm, and strong...I know, I'm totally lucky! :)

I did, however, get pictures of my kids!


Here is my Fairy Princess...


I had to make sure to get a picture of what her make-up looked like. Hello...I was a genius...I think I missed my calling...I should have been a Make-Up Artist!!!

If this picture didn't make you jump...then I don't know what will!

I would've taken lots of pictures of DCar in his Grim Reaper outfit...but there is only so many poses...he did tell me that he was making a VERY SCARY face behind that mask!!!

The Grim Reaper was getting a little violent!

I think this is what maybe irritated the Grim Reaper...the Princess Fairy's wings kept getting in his way! He promises he was smiling in this photo! Oh and my husband did her make-up for the NIGHT...so who did a better job?

Wait....

Don't answer that...I don't want my husbands feelings hurt!!!

THIS is a Trunk-or-Treat! They are FABULOUS...and I think there should be state laws making this the NORM and STANDARD for all Trick-or-Treaters...promise, if you keep an open mind...you will realize the logic!

K---she's just adorable right?

She has such natural long eye lashes...that she kept getting streaks of mascara underneath her eyes...I only Dream I had this problem!!!

Here is PeePs and DCar with the newest cousin Oaks! I'm not quite sure what she is...but she's dang cute!!!

We had a good time!

NOW...those of you who like playing along on MONDAYS for my Don't You Hate It When contests have a NEW prize to go for...think QUILT and AMAZON.com!!! I think you'll like it! So get your POSTS ready...and remember everyone...this is all in GOOD fun!

I do this so you have a chance to just post something silly and inventive...it can be real or not real...just something to make others laugh!!! The prizes are COOL and worth entering a post for! If you don't win...try again the next week! Tomorrow I'll explain more about asking people to please READ the posts and vote on the FUNNIEST one...but I also love that people are rallying their forces or FAMILY behind them to vote also!!!

But basically...have FUN WITH IT PLEASE!!!

This is KINDA how we are going to look tonight!

OKay...since I dont' have my OWN pictures of what we look like for Halloween...and I am in charge of my SON'S School Halloween party...(I know, I'm new at the WHOLE pressure "Will you be the ROOM MOM thing...it only is this and this"...THING) So go ahead and laugh all you MORE experienced MOM's ...either way, I don't have time!

So I went for SLUTTY Burlesque... like this

Except I'm not a nurse...and this is NOT my party that is being held...I just liked the picture because it looks EXACTLY like me! :)

This is DCar's costume...after weeks and weeks of trying to decide what to be...he caves and goes for LEAST creative...the GRIM REAPER! Bleh...but the kid was SO excited I couldn't make him feel TOO bad!

PeePs looks like this...except totally different...the only thing that's the same is the leg warmers, tutu, and hair...everything else is changed! But we are calling her a Fairy Princess! :)

And this is what MountainSport Man is going to be...it was easy...we made his skin WHITER...put in some FAKE fangs...and spiked his hair. Put a name tag on him that says, "I'm Shelle's Edward...get your own!"

Okay...scratch the name tag...but that might be a really GOOD idea...so I might actually do it...if I do, I'll get a picture. But he is going as Edward...

Can't fault a girl for wanting her VERY OWN blood sucking vampire for a day???

Can't wait to see what YOU guys came up with!

Oh...BTW...I actually am a FINALST for THIS contest...Go click on my name "SHELLE" if you like my story best (which, of course, you will)

SO GO VOTE FOR ME...because if you don't, then I will be ashamed that I'm not as POPULAR as I think I am...don't make me actually PAY for a therapist...that would just be sad! :)

Now I'm going to be thought of as UN-Creative!!!

You know what sucks more than wasting a post on CONTEST rules? It sucks that one can NEVER have an original idea about anything because it's already been done!!!

Or so it seems in the blogging world.

Everyone knows I am a wanna-be-writer…always have been.

My parents say it has something to do with never reaching "my potential". My husband says I have a bad habit of talking myself out of things.

Either way…I'm a Professional Wanna-be in A LOT of things…and NO ONE…I mean NO ONE can take that away from me!

For instance…

I feel like I can never tell you guys about how MountainSport Man and I met because I don't want people thinking I am copying this story of THEIR wild and crazy romance…cause even though OUR story is pretty crazy, less romantic, but good to say the least…it just couldn't and wouldn't be written AS WELL, and so I feel like it wouldn't be given its justice…it would just be another passing couple story, trying to be like THEIR story, and that's IT!

I couldn't deal with that. The FAILURE!!!

Another example…

I've always wanted to write a Romance Story. But not a relatable one…one that touches in the paranormal…the unbelievable…because the best thing about reading a book, I THINK, is being taken away to somewhere UNREALISTIC…where a lot of the time there is Happy Endings, and good feelings, and the heroine of the story gets what they want!

But can I write that story now?

NO…

Because incredible and crazy writer Stephenie Meyer took that away from me. Now if I write a book I will always be known as the girl or WOMAN the followed the all time great Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT series…that nothing could be COMPARED to that…so on, and so forth. Even though there have been HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of incredible great paranormal romance stories before the TWILIGHT series, and most definitely will be AFTER the series…for some reason I feel if I attempted to write one…that I wouldn't do it justice anymore…that I would be plagiarizing in a way.

I'm just keeping it real people!

Last, if not BEST, example:

Sue from Navel Gazing at its Finest, whose writing I ALREADY adore but only updates her blog once a week or twice, if we are lucky, wrote TWO posts yesterday!!! And because I have Google Reader I was notified of the second post! I was freaking excited to see what she had to say. The title was, "Where Sue gets herself into a bit of a pickle"…so of course I hopped right over to see what in the heck could be more of a pickle then forgetting to pick up her Kindergarten daughter from school…which would've been her FIRST post of yesterday.

It wasn't only INCREDIBLE…it was AMAZAZING…

She has been writing this other blog…"My Super Hopeless Romance" about a girl named CORDY…but the cool thing is, she wrote it in blog/journal style…AND she didn't tell her readers it was only fiction! Seriously GENIUS! She just started the blog up and started writing about a LOVE or CRUSH this Cordy had with her best friend and people reading the blog thought that CORDY was a real person…telling her life story…

Not understanding what the hullabaloo was all about, cause I had never heard of her other blog before yesterday, (she already had over a 100 comments by the time the post showed up in my Reader) I decided to go over and check it out.

From the very first post I was ENTHRALLED by this fictional characters romance. She is relate-able! (Although Cordy is sometimes dumb…is whiny a lot of the time…which is funny because SUE wrote this post about a dumb BELLA from another popular series and totally ripped on her…yet her character, to me, is somewhat the same, because she is totally in love with Seth and it effects her whole life…interesting...I'm not saying that's a bad thing...who doesn't let their infatuation rule their life?)

I read the whole thing in like an hour and a half. And RIGHT when it was getting to the good part of the story, fictional or not, she cuts bait…and your left unfulfilled. You see, this unassuming blog became EXTREMELY popular. People were wrapped up in CORDY's life…giving her advice…emailing SUE what this CORDY should do…only they thought they were emailing CORDY…not SUE. Anyway, Sue started feeling guilty about people thinking, because they had no other reason NOT to, that CORDY was real! So SUE let the cat of the bag (hey that's two post in a row that I mentioned that phrase…)!

But it was great writing! Seriously! You should go over there when you have time and read it!

And BRILLIANT that it was swept up like it was!

But getting to my point…now my crazy unsuspecting blog I WAS GOING TO START can not be any longer ***shakes head***. Because NOW I would be copying SUE.

*Throws hands up in the air*

I can't WIN! I have TOO many grammar mistakes as it is, anyway, to be a writer.

Do you sometimes decide not to post about something because it seems to have already been POSTED about and you don't want to be thought of as a plagiarizer…or worse…uncreative?

Love,

Shelle

That's why I'm the photographer!

The BEST thing about being the PHOTOGRAPHER on a family or children shoot is that I'm not my HELPER!

Seriously...it's a hard job...and sometimes downright degrading.

If you get a child who won't laugh or smile...you have to use creative measures to get them to...

Helpers also have to pay attention to those I'm taking a picture of to make sure they are looking their best! They also have to make sure they concentrate on looking at the lens and not the HELPER while he/she is dancing around acting like a made crazed person to get the little one to smile!

It's GREAT! For me anyways...

But I'm also incredibly lucky...because I have SWEET family members who volunteer their time to be MY helper!

A few weeks ago when I went to take pics for a family...my Sister-in-Law KT came along as my helper!

I couldn't have found a better helper if I had PAID them..(Although she did raise her helper prices from FREE to a meal at Carl's Jr.--Best $3 I ever invested in!!!)



Here she is tying the little tyke's shoes...the parents had wandered off to take care and play with the other 4 kids and we were trying to work with little Man here to get one pic of him smiling!

See...I just get to snap away while she makes sure the kid is picture perfect!



Here she is trying to show the kids what they need to do for the picture...and trying to convince them how cool it is!

Seriously...she was awesome...had to snap a pic of it!!!

So I'm giving KT a shout out!

Telling her that even though she IS technically my Sister-in-Law...which legally gives me the right to hate and complain about her...

I choose to look at her as more of just a sister...like my true FLESH and BLOOD...

Because, dang it, I love her! And her comedic husband! And her two adorable kids!

Plus, on Saturday she turned 31, I believe...which makes her OLDER than me and makes me love her even more...because NO MATTER how much cuter she looks, how much MORE weight she has lost, or how LIKEABLE she is to everyone around her...

I'll always have that!

Happy Birthday Freak Show...i love ya!

Shelle

P.S. So who wants to be my NEW HELPER??? Cause I'm pretty sure now that I've let the cat out of the bag...I might just lose my volunteers!

A Waste...Voting at the Poll...and Internet Dating...

You know what sucks about holding a contest...is when you have to waste a WHOLE post to explain it. Ya know? Totally annoying!!!

Anyway...now we have our FINAL FOUR...which is WAY more exciting then the final four during March Madness...

Just saying...

Those four are:
Week 1-Kenz (A funny yet sad story of heroism and honeymoons)

Week 2-Nan (An embarrassing story of confetti down there!)

Week 3-Shannon (A funny story of Drive Thru windows and Birds chirping!!!)

Week 4-Bonnie (talking about nipples and pipes and everything nice to Brad Pitt!)

Here are what the FOUR are competing for:

They can pick the color they want and get to engrave something on the back! Pretty cool right? :) Now this is a SHUFFLE...not to be confused with a NANO...got it...NO SCREENS on these babies...just something to click on yourself while you listen to your tunes!

Okay...this is how it will go...

On my RIGHT hand side bar there will be a POLL...with each of their names...you just CLICK on the name of the person you want to vote for and VIOLA...it's done!

Now I would appreciate it if you would ONLY vote ONCE...but it's on your honor because I will have no way of monitoring it! You will have until October 31, 2008 to vote...all the way up until MIDNIGHT--MST TIME....wooooooo...Maybe it will be like EBAY and I stay up watching until the last minute to see who comes out the winner? Or maybe I will take a shower, pick my dry boogers, turn off my lights so the Trick or Treaters will know I am SCROOGE of Halloween and nod off to bed?

One never knows!

Okay...the voting starts now...

Kenz, Nan, Shannon, and Bonnie? You might want to get people to come over and vote for you all week...text message your friends and family or pay people off! Whatever you must do...just make sure you mention somewhere in your post how COOL I am...(I wouldn't have to say that if I really WAS cool...but oh well!)

Okay...well...the rest of my friends...that stick with me even when I have to waste a post on explaining DUMB rules about contests...

Will you answer me ONE THING?

If you could meet me in person...Would you? Or what that freak you out? Like internet dating does with some people...although I find it quite romantic...Internet dating that is...not meeting my BBFF's in person!

Just wondering...

Love,

Shelle