Danny's 15th B-Day...Surprise movie night

We had a great time this weekend celebrating Danny's 15th B-day. Traditionally, if we would have had all girls we possibly would have been planning a big Quinceanera, but Jerry is thanking his stars he didn't have to.  So instead we've somewhat started a family tradition to celebrate the boys 15th b-day with at least an extra special surprise party each that has happened to work out to be themed around something that totally describes who they each are.


For Chris, we surprised him with a music themed party of course, where we rented out a rehearsal room at GC Studios just for him and his friends to jam and hangout. Totally Chris and it totally rocked!

For Danny, we surprised him with an outdoor movie night right in our back yard.  The boys had attended a few parties earlier this summer where they had seen this theme and I loved it. I knew this was the perfect for him. If you know Danny, you know that he absolutely is a huge movie buff.

He can tell you when most movies are coming out, premier dates, who the actors are and if they're his favorites then he can even tell you what other movies they've been in. So of course, we started planning.

And the day arrived. We rented a projector and made a very rudimentary screen out of a plain white bed sheet hung up with clothes hangers- it worked people! That's all that mattered. We also had fun getting all the fixin's you would find at the movie theatres including a popcorn machine (with jalapeños no less), popcorn trays from a local theatre, a candy bar, nachos and individually wrapped hot dogs and soda.

Danny was excited to see his best friends were there along with his cousins. Its been nice to see him wanting to connect a lot more with his peers lately, and having them there to celebrate with him was just the best.

Jerry surprised all of us including myself by taking care of  setting up a few video clip previews as a way to start off the movie just like they did in the good ol' drive-in days. He included some old Fast food commercials, a classic Disney cartoon, and threw in some really fun Brady Bunch song clips that we all most of us remembered the words to. Then he showed a movie he had put together of Danny pictures throughout the years that made me laugh, cry and be amazed at just how much our baby has grown up. It was beautiful! Thank you Babe!

 
And before we actually put the movie selection on for the night- Spiderman 2 (Andrew Garfield version- his favorite!), we sang Happy Birthday and he blew out his candle on the Popcorn bucket cake I attempted to make for him.

I got the idea from a friend (Thank you Karen Wright!) who used it to make the cutest popcorn cupcakes for her son's movie night so I just expanded the idea to make a larger size cake. Although it turned out very rustic, He loved it!!

• Baking tip- I used the Pampered Chef batter bowl I've had for years to bake the cake. You can put it in the oven and it gave me a wonderful little dome for the popcorn.

• Decorating tip- the popcorn is made out of cut up marshmallows and yellow food coloring for the butter effect- so genius right? You spray your kitchen shears with cooking spray to cut through the marshmallows so they don't stick, and you attach them over a layer of frosting. Refrigerate to set the cake.

Anyway, Spiderman 2 turned out to be a pretty good movie and the night turned out to be a success. It was nice to hear our guests express how much fun this had been. This is something that we'll definitely consider doing again next summer just because.

Danny isn't one to say very much, but he was definitely very grateful and thanked everyone individually for coming and celebrating with him. It was an amazing birthday weekend according to him and that's what we were shooting for.  I think we this will be a special one we will all remember.

We love you Danny and hope to share many more memorable birthdays with you baby!

From my little corner to yours...Thanks for stopping by!

Documenting life...The next generation

Christian posted this two nights ago, and it took my breath away.  Is it possible that my love of pictures and documenting our lives was finally being passed on to the next generation, to my boys no less...well at least my oldest for now? Wow!!!  

His words were inspiring and sincere and they made my heart overflow. I was so proud of him. 

He came down after he posted this, all excited about his 'picture project' and told me how he couldn't  wait to see what his year would look like in pictures. That he wants to put all his pictures into an album of sorts...What??!!

And with just as much excitement I told him that this is exactly WHY I take soo many darn pictures, why I do Project Life, why I blog, and why I document their lives, our lives, and everything we do in between. 

I emotionally quoted him Becky Higgins who developed Project Life- 

"Cultivate a good life and record it!" 

Omg, because its soooo important to preserve those memories of your life! To be able to look back through pictures is a gift you give yourself and your loved ones.

I can't wait to follow his journey and to see what he does with this idea. I can't wait to see how develops his own style of taking pictures and documenting. I'm excited for him because this is his Senior year and it will be a year full of amazing events worthy of documenting. And I can't wait to help him figure out how to put it all together at the end. 

Christian, Go For It Babe. Your life is waiting to be told.

I love you!

From my little corner to yours...Have a great day!

Foto Friday- A "Kat" in the water...

Who says cats don't like water? Well, our family's little "Kat"-arina (oh boy am I corny today- forgive me!) absolutely LOVES the water and I caught her in action while I babysat her last Sunday.

I recently had to send my new 40mm lens back to Canon to get fixed and this was the first time since getting back that I had a chance to test it out, and fell in love with it all over again. Its a great lens for low lights and so I was still able to get some great color even an overcast day like Sunday was. I can use it as a wide angle lens, but its flexible enough that I used it that day as a portrait lens and got some nice tight shots. I am still very new to prime lenses like the 40mm, but I am slowly learning why people love them so much. So I am excited to practice with it every chance I get.

Anyway, It was really hard not take a whole bunch of pictures (100+) of a cute baby girl fully enjoying the wonders of  water spouting from a water ring on a hot, humid day. So I wanted to share some of my favorites, and there's quite a few so I will try to keep them to a minimum. I'm really happy with how they came out, but even more importantly, I just love how I was able to capture just how much my niece loves to play in the water. Hope you'll enjoy as much as I did. Here she is...

 

 

 

I loved watching her watch the water come down. Every so often she would just stand there and take in the moment- so sweet.  I was also able to front focus on the water as it traveled and as she tried to catch the water.  So happy with this love this lens right now.

Her moments of sheer excitement and expressive movements were also the best

  And then I took some in black and white just because it makes these moments something special...

 Thank you Katarina for giving me the wonderful pleasure to witness and record your 

beautiful little carefree self.  Your Titi loves you!

From my corner to yours...Happy Foto Friday!

The Turtles are Back...

 and they are totally AWESOME!!!

 

The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot
Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until
four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April and her wise-cracking
cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder's diabolical plan. Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles starring Megan Fox and Will Arnett, directed by Jonathan Liebesman.

                                          

Its been all about the Turtles in our house lately. We got  TMNT masks and it was impossible to resist taking this picture with the boys which representing each one of their favorite turtles as I joined in on the fun. Chris picked Leo because he's also the leader of the group.  Danny's favorite is Raph because he says he's the muscle, and Mikey likes, well guess who?- Michaelangelo (or Mikey) of course because he's just as silly and pizza loving as his namesake. 

So this past Saturday, we took the boys to a screening of the new live action #TMNTMovie at the Live Regency Theatre in Downtown, LA (Thanks to Allied Hispanic) and no one could have been more excited than Danny. He's been waiting to see this movie for months and it was on his birthday wish list to do, so it was nice to be able to surprise him and the boys with the screening before it comes out this Friday.

Although we have been fans of the many other TV and movie versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we're happy to say that this version did not disappoint! I really liked that the movie explains the TMNT's history in a way I hadn't seen yet, and it helps you better understand how and where they came from and their connection to April O'Neil (Megan Fox).  There was action from beginning to end and although some of the action scenes could be considered over the top, they were awesome none the less. What else would you expect from these Ninjitsu, bad-ass, crime fighting heroes? The movie was also hysterical in many ways and I will let you experience those moments on your own. All I know is that I caught myself  laughing out loud along with the other adults just as much as the kids did. Its a kids movie that can totally be enjoyed by adults as well.

These turtles are bigger (literally), badder and funnier than ever. Mikey and Danny were not convinced that they had to be portrayed so big since they're used to seeing them in a more thinner animated version but after seeing the movie they got it.  Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo continue to have the personalities we've come to know and love, but Donatello was a bit of a surprise for us as it was the first time we had seen him as
the nerdy-broken-glasses-wearing-techie turtle, which I guess is the new cool, so they made it work. But my favorite was truly Mikey; he was just adorable with his not-so-subtle flirtations, his corny jokes and his comedic timing was genius. And the forever tense relationship between Raph and Leo never fails to bring heartwarming moments as well.

 

I have mentioned before that we don't usually see movies in 3D for a few reasons, one being the added cost of the ticket.  Well, the 3D imagery in this movie was so AMAZING and well done, that I'm here to say that it would be totally worth paying those few extra bucks to get this kind of viewing experience. So go for it!

On a personal note- Watch out for Galen Walker in the credits as one of the producers of this film (also producer of the 1997 TMNT animated movie).  He is a friend of the family, and we couldn't be prouder to share this shout out for this job well done. We wish him and this movie much success always!

 #TMNTMovie IN THEATERS This Friday, AUGUST 8TH!!

http://www.teenagemutantninjaturtlesmovie.com/

 From my little corner to yours... 

Cowabunga Dude!!