Bieber Fever

A couple weeks ago, the Biebs joined our family. Lily got a Justin Bieber doll for her birthday. Oh boy - did Brady know who he was. As soon as she opened it, Brady yells, "that's Justin Bieber!" Lily kept calling him Ken. It was so cute. Of course, Lil now knows that he is Justin Bieber. Tonight, as I was putting things away - I walked into Lily's room and saw this.

There was Justin...just chillin' with his guitar and headphones. I guess the hottie cuties have got Bieber Fever.

Oscars 2011

So...this has nothing to do with the Campbell's...but, I'll give you my opinion of the Oscars last night.

Yesterday in Gilbert was a chilly, cold, sometimes rainy hail day. A chili kind of day. So, that's what I made for dinner. Yum. I invited the 'rents over for chili and cornbread. The cuties ate mac and cheese...and cornbread. During dinner we watched the start of the Oscars. Once my parents left - the Hottie and I continued watching. These are our or maybe just my thoughts.

1. The Oscars are so boring. The red carpet is better than the actual show. It's a snoozefest.
2. We'd much rather watch the Grammy's or the MTV awards.
3. We hate when people whip out speeches they wrote on paper (just in case) they won.
4. We also hate when people get up there and have nothing to say.
5. Being a host of the Oscars is a true art. Mistakes are not forgiven. You should not be too giddy. Nor should you be too boring. James and Anne...they have not mastered that art. (although I do like them in their movies!)
6. We don't even know what half of the awards mean.

So...let's get to the best part - the dresses!! My dad is a fan of Mila Kunis and Helen Mirren. The Hottie - well, he likes Scarlett Johansson. And, as someone that is more often a style victim, here are my favorites. Take it or leave it.

Reese Witherspoon. The back of the dress...so cute! And, her hair is super cute (although I know it seems everyone hated her barbie style) and her makeup is so pretty and fresh looking.

Sandra Bullock. I love red. Enough said.

Halle Berry. I love this fitted, nude dress. If it only looked so good on all of us! I also think that she has just about the most flawless skin on the entire planet.

Gwyneth Paltrow. To me, this dress is a little edgy and a little fancy. I love it. I would have like to see a different hairstyle - but, oh well.

Jennifer Hudson. OMG! Flipping amazing. p.s. I love orange tangerine.

Michelle Williams. I love her. I don't know why. Her cute pixie cut that only the cutest of people can pull off and her vintage Chanel. Simply stunning.

Anne Hathaway. She got the pleasure of wearing a load of dresses. But....her Valentino Haute Couture, red carpet dress was my favorite. I love, love, love the floral rosette appliqué detail on the dress. I love the low, loose swept back do, too. This could be my favorite of the night. Seriously.

Mandy Moore. Her red carpet look. I don't even remember this in the Pre Oscar show. But in my Oscar search for this post, I found her look. And, I love it. I'm not normally an off the shoulder kind of gal, but the line and sparkle in this dress is perfect. Not to mention it seems to be made for her. I love it. I think this one is my favorite. Oh, and I love her simple, smooth, clean pulled back hair and makeup. Absolutely perfect.

Camila Alves. Matthew McConaughey's lady. Her dress was absolutely stunning. She looked amazing!

Here are my NOT favorites. Remember - this is from someone that has pretty much no style!

Natalie Portman. Considering she is with baby, I was SOOO excited to see what she would wear. Unfortunately, I was SOOO disappointed.

Mila Kunis. I promise I'm not against Black Swan. For some reason...I just didn't like this dress. But, I completely realize I'm alone in this thought.

Nicole Kidman. I know she loved this dress because of the structure of it...but, I just don't. The detailing is a bit much. I might not like it, but she did seem to pull it off. p.s. I didn't like her pony much either. Her bangs seemed to flare out like mine do when I straighten them at a weird angle. Sorry!

Jennifer Lawrence. It's not that she didn't look super hot in this dress - she did. But, it was too boring. Her hair was too blah...and this look was more fit for a dinner party - NOT the Oscars.

Cate Blanchett. I love her. I really do. But...I SOOO did not like her dress. I liked the yellow beading surprise. But...the detailing on the front made her look boxy and flat-chested and it really ended up looking like she was wearing an oval picture frame on her chest.

Scarlett Johansson. Although the world thinks her hair looked so bad - I actually loved the edgy style of it. But...the dress...I did NOT like it. Not at all.

Helena Bonham Carter. So awful. But...I think that is her. That's her goal. So...she pulled it off.

Penelope Cruz. So, she just had a baby. And, boy oh boy - she looks great. But, her dress was more suited for a cheesy cruise photo. And those boobs...OMG!

Gayle King. OMG. This could be the worst dress ever. It looks like she made it herself. And, it doesn't even fit. My vote for the absolute worst dress. Sorry, Gayle!

Since I wasn't invited to the Oscars - I did not get to take these pictures with my camera. So, in case anyone is wondering these photos are from either: Huffington Post, Entertainment Wise, or People.

Pavilions Car Show

Long, long ago - I would hang out at the Scottsdale Pavilions. I guess Bryan and his dad would hang out there, too. But...we were doing totally different things. They were showing their car or viewing other cars on Saturday nights at the car show and I was hanging out with my friends at the movies.

Kind of funny how you are at the same place - but, you never meet until years later.

Well, Bryan and his dad still like cars. So does Brady. When Grandpa comes in town, we go to the car show. The boys love it. This visit, the weather was perfect. Us girls focused on which ones were prettiest. And...the boys picked their favorites.

This was Brady's:

Matsui Thinks Brady Has a Natural Swing

This was a big...and I mean BIG weekend for Brady. He filmed a commercial. Yes...our 7 year old will be in a commercial. It might only be shown in Japan...but heck, he's in it.


A few weeks ago, my cousin George sent me an email about an open audition for 7-10 year olds that have played little league baseball. George does some acting and happened to see the open audition notice and thought of Brady. So...we signed him up for an audition.


A few days later, we dressed Brady in his Cubs baseball shirt, pants, cup, cleats, and hat, grabbed his glove and bat, and headed to downtown Phoenix for his audition. At the audition, they had him stand on a circle in front of a green screen, swing the bat, pose as a baseball player for pictures, and answer some questions. They gave him a piece of candy...and we were done. The next week we were contacted - he was selected for the commercial.


No, he's not the star. He's an extra. I have no idea how many total kids auditioned, but they needed 40. For all we know, there were only 40 that auditioned :)


The email that we received instructed us to come in this past Thursday for a wardrobe fitting. At the fitting, they fit him for a uniform, snapped some pictures, and gave us the shooting schedule/location. We were told via email that 10 of the kids would be selected for some still shots.


The filming of the commercial was today at Papago Baseball Facility...the Oakland A's spring training practice fields. The hottie took him because I was taking the girls to Rylee's 6th birthday party. We debated back and forth who would take him. Although I'm sad I missed it...I am SO very glad that the hottie was able to take him. It was way more than we expected.


We did NOT know this ahead of time, but the commercial involved Hideki Matsui. We thought the commercial was for Komatsu. My Googling discovered that Komatsu is a huge international construction-type company. We were imagining Field of Dreams in a commercial. Well...I'm pretty sure we were wrong. Matsui's dad worked for a Japanese company called Komatsu for over 20 years and he endorses this company. The commercial seemed to be about some type of hitting and swinging instruction led by Matsui. The kids were swinging and hitting and Matsui walked around, swung the bat, and watched the kids while providing feedback to them on their swing.


Um...I don't think this could have been more perfect. Yesterday we found out that Brady's new little league team is the A's and now he gets to "play" ball with a real-life A player. The hottie was in HEAVEN. I'm pretty sure he loved this even more than Brady.


They arrived to the shoot at 9:30am. The hottie was told that Brady had been selected as one of the 10 for the still shots. So, Brady and 9 others went to a separate area where they got to take still shots with Matsui. Yep...again...HEAVEN.


After the stills, the 10 kids met up with the rest of the kids and went to the outfield and spread out so there was room to swing the bat. When the director yelled action, the kids were instructed to keep swinging the bat. Matsui walked around, gave instruction, demonstrated proper swings, and helped the kids with their swings. He stopped at Brady for awhile. And get this...he told Brady he has a natural swing.


During this entire part of the day the hottie was a good distance away - so he had no idea what was being said. But, you better believe he was excited tonight when Brady told us what Matsui said. Too funny.


The commercial wrapped early today due to weather...but, our little actor is heading back out tomorrow to finish up the shoot. He did get paid today...$50. He thinks he's rich. Too cute! I asked him if he wanted to do more commercials. He said..."um yeah - you get fifty dollars. awesome!"

Lollipop Valentines

Last year I saw this crafty valentine idea...but, it was too late. And, I was too lazy. So...we tested it out this year. This is what you need:

• a cute kid that is willing to take a picture
• some kind of computer software such as Picasa, Photoshop, or even Paint
• Lollipops
• X-acto knife
• Cutting map or glass

Step 1: Get your cutie all snazzed up and ready for a picture.
Step 2: Take a close-up photo of your cutie with their hand out in a fist (like they are holding an imaginary bouquet of flowers)
Step 3: Upload your photo to the software of choice. Add in some Happy Valentine's language.
Step 4: Upload your picture to Costco or any other photo printing lab. Convert to wallets.
Step 5: Pick up photos from the lab.
Step 6: Use your X-acto knife and cut a slit into the picture at the top AND bottom of the cutie's fist.
Step 7: Slide the lollipop into the picture slit.

And...wa - la. You are finished.

p.s. once we were done...the hottie said they were kind of scary. oh well...I guess Brady's class got some "scary" valentines.

from this standard picture...

to this cute valentine!

Happy Love Day!!

I hope this Valentine's Day finds everyone in love. In love with something...anything. If you're like Brady, that may very well be Skittles and Skateboards...and Justin Bieber. Check out what all he loves. See if you can decipher it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

the Campbells

Super Bowl '11

To be quite honest...I didn't care much about the SB this year. My team wasn't in it - well, really my team was pretty much out the first week of the season. Seriously. But, I always look forward to the annual Babcock Super Bowl party.


We the Hottie made green chili stew. It was spicy. Even for me. But really, really spicy for him. He still ate it. Brady cheered for the Steelers and the Hottie cheered for the Packers. I didn't care. Lily didn't even know we went there for a football party. And, Charlotte...well, she just like playing with Talon and eating cupcakes.
 Ashley and I took a few pictures - you know...anytime we can practice photography!! Thanks Jacki and Sheldon...another great SB party!

Yes...it was a bit of a nursery at times. Old friends. New friends. And...Charlotte just got passed from person to person. She loved it!

Super Bowl Girls

I snapped this shot of Lil, Charlie, and Rylee at the Babcock Super Bowl party. I love how it turned out of all 3 ladies!

Date Night...Kind Of

Friday night the kids wanted pizza. We obliged. They both have crazy memories and wanted to go to the pizza place with mints. So, Vito's it was.

Yummy.

We love Vito's. We ate salads and a half pepperoni, half sausage pizza. Brady and Lily wanted mac and cheese (as always) and Charlie...well, she was introduced to saltine crackers. And ohhhhhh man...she LOVED them. She gobbled them up as quick as possible. We ate and then Lily fell asleep (again at 7pm) right at the table.

After dinner, we drove around a bit. Then...we decided to grab some ice cream as a treat. On the way, Brady and Charlie fell asleep, too. So...it was the Hottie and I and our 3 sleeping Cuties driving around in search of ice cream. We settled on a place near our house called Udder Delights. It was a first for us. We parked. The Hottie ran in and ordered his and then I ran in, ordered mine, and paid for the two of us. We both had the very best coconut ice cream EVER! We ate our treat in the car chatting about date nights and how they have changed since the arrival of the Cuties. We laughed at how we felt bad that we were eating ice cream while our kids slept. We ate our treats and then headed home where we carried each cutie in, put them in jammies, and placed them in bed. Then, we both accidentally fell asleep watching TV on the couch until we woke up at 3am because of our neighbors LOUD pool pump.

Date nights. Yes, they've changed. But...we do get some normal-type date nights, too (thanks Mom and Dad!!). But...it's worth it. Yes, DEFINITELY worth it.

It's 7:10pm

And, Lily is already asleep! Seriously....our party animal has been falling asleep at 7pm EVERY night! Ever since her bout with RSV last week, she's been a sleeping machine.

All this sleeping...while Charlotte plays. Of course, with her tongue hanging out!

In the meantime...Brady practiced for "his commercial."

Minute to Win It

Our secret family addiction...Minute to Win It.

Brady loves it.

I get anxiety during each and every minute challenge.

One minute.

60 seconds.

Feels like forever.

I love watching Brady watch the show.

He gets SO involved.

He imitates Guy Fieri.

Oh man does he love this show.

We all do.

Anxiety and all.

What nerds!

Please Pray for Kate

picture courtesy of prayforkate.com

Awhile back, I posted this.

Remember Kate McRae? Over here at the Campbell household we have been praying for Kate for the last 1.5 years. Back in November they celebrated with such great results from her scan...and now a mere 3 months later, they received such devastating news. Another spot has shown up on her brain.

Please pray for a miracle. Please pray for her healing. Please pray for this family during this difficult time.

Thank you.

I Started Another Blog

I'm not sure how long it will last. I have a hard enough time posting to this blog!!! But, I'm trying to track my progress with the new camera. So...if you're interested...head on over to...

Drum roll, please.

Campbell's Canon.

Enjoy!

p.s. since it's a photography blog...it will mostly be pictures. But, knowing me (and how I like to ramble) that's NOT a promise!