Photo Shoot, Mount Hermon Updates, and My New Blog

Hello, everyone! I hope your week is going well so far. :) Things are going well on my end, although I'm starting to feel the pressure of the upcoming conference and all of the last minute details I have to wrap up before then. :}

I will be leaving for Mount Hermon on Thursday, and won't return until late next Tuesday. As you can imagine, posting will be pretty scarce this week...perhaps even nonexistent. I'm not sure whether I'll have Internet connection or if I'll have any spare time while I'm there. However, I plan on taking pictures and sharing them with you as soon as I get back. :) I've decided to take my Zelfs Dorothy Doe and Petal with me to help document the experience. ;)

In other news, I started another blog last week. This one is just for my writing. I'm taking things slow for now (there are only two posts up so far). I just thought I'd mention it here in case anyone was interested. You can check it out on WordPress HERE.

Spring is definitely starting to show itself around our house. Last week, our cherry tree broke out in glorious blossoms, so I seized the opportunity for a photo shoot. It's been a long time since I've puttered around my yard with a camera, a doll, and some toys. I enjoyed myself immensely and got some pretty nice shots, too. ;) I hope you enjoy them!

While she's kind of an odd-looking little thing, Dorothy Doe is quite photogenic and one of my very favorite Zelfs. :) 

Charlie decided to join the photo shoot today, too. She's all decked out in her new outfit (provided by my mom). :)

Beautiful blossoms! 

Elfa in her natural habitat. :)

These pretty little flowers grow wild in our backyard.

Petal is one of the Zelfs I picked up on our birthday trip. I'm so glad I did. She's just adorable! :)

That's about all for now. I hope you all have a fantastic week. I'll be back sometime next week with lots of conference news to share! :D

I used some of my Zelf pictures from this photo shoot for a new header, so here's a copy of my previous one. :)

A Day Outdoors

Okay, so much for my theory that being at home would make blogging easier. ;)  The girls are supposed to stay home from school until the lice is completely gone, so I'm continuing the seemingly never-ending cycle of hair treatments and laundry.  Middle Gal ended up with lice Sunday night, and both Oldest Gal and Little Gal still have some in their hair even after treatment, so we're not clear yet. :{

Today, my mom came over and helped me treat all of the mattresses, the couch, the loveseat, and the carpet with the RID lice spray.  She also helped me give the girls a second olive oil treatment and brought combs, a vacuum, and another type of lice treatment to try.  (I have the best mom EVER!)

The spray we used can't be inhaled or touched, and you're supposed to wait until it dries to use the room you spray it in, so we spent most of the morning outside.  Thankfully, the weather was much cooler than it's been lately, so the day was pretty pleasant.

I snapped a few photos while we were out there.  Here are a few of my favorites. :)

Elfa enjoying the outdoors:

The girls had fun playing a game with their Barbie and Disney dolls.  The dolls were lost, so they had to camp out in the wilderness (hence the beds of leaves):

The girls had a great time playing and getting some fresh air (they've been feeling rather cooped up with the whole head lice thing).  I gave them another olive oil treatment today, and put them in shower caps while I let the olive oil sit.  I just had to share this pic because they looked so adorable. ;)

I do hope to get things together enough to get one of my planned review posts up by the end of the week, but I can't make any promises at this point.  The laundry and combing have been quite time consuming. :}

Talk to all of you again soon!

Mosi Photo Shoot

Ever since I got my Hearts For Hearts Girls Mosi, I've been wanting to do an outdoor photo shoot.  She is such a beautiful, photogenic doll.  A couple of days ago, we had a lovely overcast day, perfect for outside piccys. :)  I hope you enjoy looking through these as much as I enjoyed taking them! :)

Here are a few that I played around with on ribbet.com to get some fun edited photos:

Zelf Photo Shoot (Extremely Picture Heavy!!) :}

Hey everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend with your families. :)  In keeping with our yearly tradition, we spent Saturday with my family and did an egg hunt and a big meal.  That way, Sunday is reserved for the true meaning of Easter.  Unfortunately, I caught a cold that prevented me from going with my family to church on Sunday, so I spent most of my Easter on the couch with tissue and tea. :}

Anyway, on Saturday, I brought several of my Zelfs with me so I could take a few outdoor photos.  I had a great time figuring out perfect places for them.  My daughters and even my dad had a few suggestions, too. ;)  I hope you enjoy the results:  

Birchy 

(clockwise from the top left) Lil' Lady B, Birchy, Dandy Lion, and Dorothy Doe

Flitter 

Flitter and Buttershy

Elfa

Not a Zelf, but too gorgeous to pass up. ;)

Flamy

The whole gang :)

Mermalade

After I'd taken several photos of the Zelfs in different outdoor poses, I thought it would be fun to take some pictures as if I were a wildlife photographer, trying to get pictures of them in their natural habitats.  It was fun coming up with unique shots to give that effect:

Each of my daughters got to find a Lil' Zelf egg on their Easter egg hunt, so they asked if I could take some pictures of their Zelfs, too. :)  They came up with the "poses" and locations.

Middle Gal's Dorothy Doe in the jingling garden bells...

...and in one of Papa's planters.

Oldest Gal's Lady B. in the strawberry patch...

...and taking time to smell the roses. ;)

Little Gal's Webina in a plant pot...

...and by the pond. 

The girls also decided that this would be an appropriate picture for Easter weekend. :)

It's been a long time since I've done an outdoor photo shoot.  I had so much fun. :)  I definitely need to make time for more photo days. :)

Since I had so many fun photos to choose from, I decided to do a Zelf-themed blog header.   Here is my former header (one of my very favorites!):