Pumpkin Fun | 2013

It's that time of the year and pumpkins are all the rage, of course! With a new little one in the family we had to take Liam (aka Baby Man) out to the pumpkin patch for those notorious fall pictures. We headed to the Custom Wood & Garden Shop at Hamilton Mill and I-85. They feature seasonal products, and this time of the year that includes pumpkins! They had lots of pumpkins, bunnies for petting and purchasing, ponies for riding, and jumpies too!

Liam was such a great sport! It was so hard to decide which pictures to share!

LiamsFirstPumpkinPatchI love that pouty face!

After getting a lot of pumpkin shots, we decided to have a little fun with bunnies! Liam really liked petting the bunny, and the bunny was quite tolerable. I was the only one not having absolute fun, worried the bunny would go rogue on Liam and he'd leave the pumpkin patch crying with nibbled fingers. No such thing happen, and no bunnies were harmed! haha But we did get some absolutely adorable shots!

LiamandBunnyWe had the Chunk Master with us, and Paul could not resist getting some classic shots of Chunk and the pumpkins.

ChunkandPumpkinsI love the shot of Chunk and Liam... they look like the best of friends here. Unfortunately Liam was losing patience with Daddy, so it was only a matter of time before we had to hit the road!

Paul's Mom and our niece and nephew, Kennedy and Trey, met us up at the pumpkin patch for some more fun pictures. Had to get some sweet pics of the "grand-babies" in for GaMa!

CousinsWe then headed back to GaMa's house for some pumpkin carving! Trey and Kennedy made some creative jack-o-lanterns! As night fell, Paul was able to get some creative shots of all the kids with the glow of the newly carved pumpkins.

I love my photographer Husband! Our house will be filled with beautiful photos of our family! See all the photos from our Pumpkin Patch Shoot Here...


Liam is Almost 3 Months! Boy Does the Time Fly!

Liam is just shy of 3 months, now 11 weeks and he is doing great! He's been right on track with all his growth and checked out great with the pediatrician, cardiologist and neurologist! We couldn't be more excited at his amazing progress! He's an amazing baby "man" and we love him sooooo much!

He's not sleeping all the way through the night just yet, but I'm sure we'll get there soon! He is a good sleeper when he does, and when he's awake he's all about checking out everything and being a part of the action - just like his daddy! He's smiling and laughing all the time, is ok with bath time, but absolutely hates being rubbed down with lotion! We'll have to fix that! We are all about the softness in this house! ;)

Check out these photo collages of Liam from day one until now!

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To see more pics of Liam from his 8 week shoot click here!


Howl-O-Weenie 2012

I'm feeling pretty good as I've been behind on my posts, but I am however getting this up before Halloween, so this is progress! A few weekends back, I think it was the same weekend as the Greek Festival, we finally got the opportunity to take Chunk to Howl-O-Weenie!

Last year we were out-of-town for a wedding, so Chunk went without us, and the year before that I think we may have actually had another wedding. So we were so excited to be able to check out the festivities!

They had all kinds of great contests, starting of course with the costume contest. While we were certainly proud of Chunk's banana costume, it was no match for all of these other creative doxie owners! We didn't even try to compete!

 I wish we had gotten more pictures of Chunk in the banana costume, but this was the best we had... doesn't do the coolness of the banana costume justice.

But there were definitely a lot of cool costumes, and it wasn't just the doxies dressing up, but they were duos with their owners! Check out the Wicked Witch and Dorothy!

I couldn't resist including this little guy! He's a ferocious lion and while you can't see his owner... they were dressed as the Circus Lion Tamer!

But my personal Best in Show were these three! The Bus and Crosswalk Lady comes in third, The Doxie Jockie duo come in second, and finally the Allpotraz Convicts come in first! There were so many creative costumes... it was a very cool event!

After the costume contest, they had the licking contest which Paul was a judge for, then it was onto bobbing for weenies (which Chunk would have been great at - but he was a little out of his element!).

And I can't forget to thank Paul's cousin Lori, her husband Larry, and their adorable girls Lexi and Lena for coming out to the festivities! They have a big dog, so this was a new experience for them! And Lexi and Lena loved holding Chunk! Paul got this great picture of them, so I just had to include it!!!


Chunk's Day at The Georgia Dachshund Races!

We've had Chunk, our dachshund for almost 3 years, and have wanted to bring him to the races ever since we brought the little guy home! He was lucky enough to go to Halloweenie last year, but unfortunately Paul and I missed out on it as we were out-of-town. Our friend Robin was nice enough to take him last year.

Paul has designed the brochure for the Races for these past two years and we were finally about to make it out to let Chunk with run with his kind! We had high hopes for Chunk Master as he is quite the runner at home.

Our friend Gina and her mini doxie Ella came out to join in the festivities. It was a lot of fun and we were excited to see how Chunk would do!

Chunk was up for his heat and we were ready for him to show the world his skills! So check it out, we were in lane 3! I was the re-leaser and Paul was receiver

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZcFfBiqqR0&w=750&h=422]

Unfortunately, we have found that Chunk is more of a free-style runner! It was all in good fun, and I think he'll be ready next year with a bit of training... or maybe some toys or treats! Who knows, but I think it was a fun experience for all of us! Here's to an even more competitive 2013 races! :)


Two Weekends @ Lake Oconee!

Paul's parent's have a beautiful house right on the lake at Lake Oconee, GA, and we have been lucky enough to spend time down there not once, but twice in the past month! We did a spontaneous one night trip down with our good friends Desi and Tristan, and it was a nice "pre-Memorial Day" weekend getaway! It was nice as we were able to test out the experience with Chewie, and Arnie (Desi and Tristan's little ones) and it was their first boating and lake experience! It was a gorgeous weekend and we were wishing  we had thought to go down sooner!

We were greeted by the neighbor's dog Sam (the beautiful black and white boxer pictured above), and he was super excited about having not only Chunk to play with, but two new pups! We spent as much time on the lake as possible! Getting out as soon as we got in and and settled and back out the next morning for a full day on the lake! The boys did great, Chewie was a great swimmer and Arnie was getting the hang of things but definitely preferred to be on the float or on the boat! Chunk too took a couple dips, but definitely enjoyed the beautiful breeze!

We were also able to catch a guy on a really unique seated ski called a "sit-down hydrofoil." Paul caught some awesome shots of him flying big time! It looks like a lot of fun! I'm not a skier myself, but I honestly think I'd be willing to try this. We talked to the guy after we caught these pictures and he said it was actually pretty easy! Probably easy for him to say, but it seems pretty cool!

And then we were back for Memorial Day weekend, and it was just as good if not better! We stocked the fridge with tons of good eats and this time we were not only hanging with Desi and Tristan, but also our good friends Derrick and Jesus came down from Charlotte and it as a great gathering of good friends. We all hadn't been together since Paul and my wedding over a year ago! We spent the entire long weekend relaxing on the lake, drinking delicious beverages and eating even better meals! It was AWESOME!

It was so hard to leave! We are so thankful that Paul's parents allowed us to take over the house for the holiday weekend and couldn't have asked for a better time with great friends. Can't wait to get back down there again soon!


Our Little Chunk Model...

It's been way too long since I've posted, so now it's time to delight in some great photos of our precious little Chunk Master!

He's such the model... I took pictures of him this past weekend while he was lounging on the sofa. Isn't he just beautiful???


St. Patty's Day Fun | Party ON!

So this past weekend was St. Patty's day weekend, and while we have gone to bars and traveled to places like Savannah to celebrate in the past, we decided to have our own little party! And I must say, while I have always enjoyed going out and drinking green beer with a bunch of strangers, it was a nice change from the norm, and we did it up right. Our close friends, Andrew, Desi & Tristan, and Storey came over for a festive dinner and drinks and an evening of drinking and fun!

In the spirit of St. Patty's Day, we of course had to make some Irish dishes, and what better than Corned Beef Brisket, Reubens and Cabbage in every form. Paul and I purchased two large corned beef briskets and I cooked them up in style! I was a little worried about cooking two at once, in one pot, but they turned out AMAZING! Paul prepared some amazing Reuben Sandwiches with all the fixin's - Rye Pumpernickel, Swiss Cheese, Sauerkraut and of course Russian Dressing. Absolutely AMAZING! Desi brought some awesome Cabbage Casserole as well as her little experiment, which turned out really good - the little cabbage, bacon, cheese puffs. That was the best way I could explain them, they were delish!

The evening continued with drinking with great friends, and I must say it was one of my favorite St. Patty's day celebrations yet, even if it was low-key! Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Chunk has his own little get together too!

Chunk's friends, Arnie, Chewie, and Eddie all came out to play for St. Patty's Day! They had a blast roaming the house and our yard, and I think all of them were quite tuckered out by the end of the night. Especially Chunk!

I couldn't finish off the evening (and post) without noting I did also make a desert with a little "green" to it! I wish I had pictures... but they were eaten up too fast! But I did get the idea from Pinterest, and they looked just like the pictures! Check it out here! I altered the recipe slightly using Ghirardelli Double Brownie Mix instead of Chocolate Cake.

It was a great evening and I truly hope all our friends had a blast!


Our Family Santa Pictures!

Paul, in coordination with Elaine, planned this year's Annual Family Santa Shoot, and of course we couldn't miss out on getting pictures with Santa. We had the privileged of getting pictures with Santa last year, and our dog Chunk has a blast!

So naturally, we have to make a tradition out of it and we got some great shots with Santa for 2011! We had a lot of fun and Chunk really enjoyed visiting with Santa too!

Check it out!

To get more information about the Santa Shoot, go to SantaShoot.com or you can contact Paul or Elaine by clicking on their names!


Santa's Back! Get Your Santa Pictures with Our Favorite Santa

Last year we did a photo shoot with Santa (at our house) and he's back again this year! I'm definitely planning to get some family shots (Paul, Chunk and myself... the cats aren't really into pictures).

Chunk really enjoyed getting his picture taken with Santa, and I know he will be excited to visit with him again this year! Check out some of the great shots we got last year!

Paul is working with the REAL Santa Claus and they've got some great packages for your holiday photos! And if you just want to give your kids a great Santa experience, it's totally FREE! The only cost you would incur is if you want to walk away with photos. Either the sitting fee cost (for those that choose to bring your own camera) or you can buy photos, discs and holiday cards.

The atmosphere will be warm and cozy at the festive Perdue Mansion with great holiday sounds and complimentary Milk and Cookies! Oh YEAH!

Definitely check out the details at SantaShoot.com or contact Paul directly at 770-316-2812 or [email protected]

Also you can check Paul's photography out at PaulPerdue.com!


The Chunk Pumpkin!

Desi and Tristan came over tonight to help decorate for our Halloween Party tomorrow night - and have dinner with us (Paul cooked up an amazing roast!)! Anyway the decor was not going to be complete without The Chunk Pumpkin! This was my first ever attempt at carving a pumpkin and while it was harder than expected, I am very pleased with the outcome!

Our friends Natalie and Michael Webb sent us a template cause it looks just like our dog Chunk. I was so excited save the stencil for over a month in my inbox waiting for the right time to execute our work of art!

Paul started out by cutting the top (lid) and cleaning out the inside. He started to do the set-up or the stencil, and cut out the nose and first ear and then I took over the rest! You can check out the template above and see some photos of the process below. Chunk even stayed by me while I made his pumpkin portrait! I'm so excited, it turned out awesome!

Such a beautiful Chunk Pumpkin! If you've got any cool pumpkin art, I'd love to see them. And if you have recommendations for what we could do next time, I'd love to try them out!

Happy Halloween and check back soon as we'll be posting more fun pics from the fun weekend ahead!