The Houx Family

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” - Dr. Suess

2010-11-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

This quote has always been a favorite of mine! My husband said something to me this morning that lifted my spirits back up...he said...People want you Leslie, they don't care if you are "Sweet Child of Mine Photography" or if you are "Babahead Photography" (that was out of my darling Leyla's mouth) they want YOU! YOU are the artist!

I hope that on this beautiful Sunday (kind of, it's pouring right now) that we all remember that we should be true to ourselves and be original.

And just because...here is a picture of my beautiful sweet Leyla.

Aug 14th, I will be at the theater watching this...

2009-07-05T23:02:00.001-07:00

Fun in the sun...

2009-06-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends in the whole world is leaving me and moving her and her girls back to Utah, to be closer to family. I am so excited for this new chapter in Julies life. She is going to go back to school to further her expertise in photography and graphic design.
This week we are making it a point to hang out every chance we get between both our busy schedules. So today we kicked it off with a pool party. Her other bestie Leanna and her kids came to join us for some fun...

My new little nephew...

2009-06-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

I just love her with all my heart....with everything that I am!

2009-06-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Check out all her new "angel kisses"...I love them!

Enjoying the sunshine...

2009-06-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

We LOVE having a pool! Cleaning it is a pain in the butt but it is all worth it! We are going to have some great memories in this pool...

Mermaid lessons...

2009-06-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Leyla loved becoming a mermaid the last two weeks. She did a great job and loved her teachers!
I have more to post from other days of her swimming but these two pics are from her first day. It was so cold that I didn't even want to take pictures. We were told that the pool was going to be heated...it wasn't :( Poor Leyla had blue lips every time she got out of the pool.

Real princesses know how to do anything in heels...like jumping!

2009-05-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but grab my camera when I saw Leyla jumping on my bed with her princess heels!

One of our favorite spots...

2009-05-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

Every week Leyla and I go on a little nature walk. We look for bugs, pick flowers and just get dirty. Leyla always brings along her handy dandy princess camera and takes pictures...especially of herself :)

Mother's Day {Part Two}

2009-05-12T09:58:00.001-07:00

After visiting our families in Temecula, we ended Mother's Day at the beach. It was such a beautiful day. We invited my girlfriend Julie and her girls to join us for a little BBQ on the beach. The girls had a ton of fun building sand castles and running from the waves. It was a perfect Mother's Day...

Mother's Day {Part One}

2009-05-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

baby bridget

dillon & leyla...best buddies

leyla & Nurooto

love this picture...brian & danielle

best family picture ever...don't be jealous :)

Just because pictures...

2009-05-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Splash Park...

2009-05-12T09:29:00.001-07:00

Leyla's birthday celebration...

2009-05-05T22:32:00.001-07:00

the birthday princess

whitter's and leyla

mr. gavin

sweet ammy

i love that smile

my miss j's

my favorite picture taken by my very talented friend julie

mykan and i

one of my very best friends...julie

On Saturday May 2nd we finally had the chance to have Leyla's forth birthday party. It was a ton of fun!

I'm all smiles right now, it's finally ready...

2009-05-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

So here it is...

www.sweetchildofminephotography.com

Take a look at it and tell me what you think, I would love to hear from you!

I wish we had a photobooth...we would have so much fun!

2009-04-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

I just love my Leyla. I love her spicy personality and her dreamy blue eyes and the way she can make me laugh. She makes up the funniest stories and tells them with such enthusiasm. I am so lucky to be able to spend my days with her, she reminds me that I need to enjoy the little things in life and to be a kid again [in between doing laundry, cooking dinner, etc]....playing duck duck goose, finding rolly pollies, smelling every flower that you see, spraying water from the hose and pretending that it's raining, spinning around till you are beyond dizzy, blowing bubbles till your cheeks hurt, knock knock jokes, jumping on the bed [that is what she is doing right now] and singing silly songs at the top of our lungs. The joys of childhood...

Leyla & Makai

2009-04-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today Leyla, Makai and I had a fun girl day. We started our adventure after lunch by swinging by Mc Donalds to get some yummy icecream, that was my little bribe to them to be good at the cool antique store in town. We bought a vintage vanity seat covered in gold crushed velvet and tassles and got a cool 1940's kodak camera. Today I decided I want to start collecting vintage camera's. It sounds fun, plus I haven't collected anything since my rock colecting days in second grade. After finishing up our quick retail therepy session we jumped in the car and blasted Taylor Swift for our 20 min. ride to our favorite park. Both Leyla and Makai want to be Taylor when they grow up. Leyla wants to be the "real" Taylor and Kai wants to be the Taylor that plays drums. Their favorite song is "love story", they both sing there hearts out when it comes on. We ended our day by me crimping the girls hair and putting blush and lipstick on them. They looked adorable. I am so glad that Leyla and Makai are so close. They play so well together. Leyla tells people that Makai is her sister but her cousin. I always have to stop and explain that one to people when they give me a weird look...

Little Miss Leyla turns 4...

2009-04-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my ladybug turned four today. Four, WOW time sure has flown by. She is my biggest blessing in my life, she is my best friend and my mini me. I thank God everyday for blessing me with her and giving me the greatest gift of being her mom.

Some fun things about Leyla:

~Taylor Swift. She is her biggest (littlest) fan. She loves to pretend to be Taylor and loves it when I call her Miss Swift. Mama gave her the CD today and the look on Leyla's face is priceless. I am glad that we don't have to keep searching for her songs on the radio :)

~When we go out shopping and I want to take a look at some clothes or other items that I shouldn't be purchasing she likes to be the mini mom.

She likes to call me "honey" or "sweetie" and tell me not to touch anything and that we are just looking with our eyes.

~She loves to pretend that she is older (15) and being a big sister to all her babies.

~Singing, playing her guitar and making up songs while she pretends to be on a stage.

~LOVES being in ballet and tap (her first recital is June 27th)

~When we moved we got a home phone line and she claims it is her "cell" phone. She is so cute when she answers it and she talks on it like it is only hers. She is known to hang up on you when she is done talking even when you are not, so beware.

~She has gotten so good at sneaking into our bed in the middle of the night that we hardly even notice (or mind).

There is so much to love about her I could dedicate a whole blog to about her.

Happy Birthday my Ladybug, I love you baby girl!

Some fun pics from January...

2009-01-31T22:46:00.000-08:00

75 degrees and loving it...

2009-01-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

Oh, how we are going to miss living so close to the beach. Our 2 min. drive will forever be missed :(

Our family pictures...

2009-01-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend Julie took our family pictures this year, we love them!

The past year...

2008-12-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

2008 was a year of new beginnings, a year of answered prayers and a year that some of my greatest fears were overcome. Through every bump, every ditch and every wall that I came upon, I know it was for a reason.
It was a year of rekindling friendships that somehow got lost in the years before. Discovering a new friendship, someone who is so unbelievably strong and has made me a stronger person myself. It is also a year that I will leave a few friendships behind for reasons I will keep to myself.
2008 was the the year that I decided to share my love of photography with others. It is the year that my dad believed in me more than I did and he purchased me my first SLR camera and gave me the push that I needed. It was the year that opened my eyes to believe in myself and to know that I can do this! It is hard, but I am understanding that not everyone will love you and that is ok, it should never take away from who you are because you are the only one who can decide that.
It was another year in my life for every breath that I took meant another moment I LIVED laughing, crying, smiling or on my knees praying and that I will be thankful for forever.

So funny...Only us "twilight" lovers will really get it.

2008-12-21T21:08:00.001-08:00

Just a few pics from Disneyland...

2008-12-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Our 4th Anniversary...

2008-12-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

We spent the day on Coronado Island at the Hotel Del Coronado. We enjoyed a very delicious lunch on the beach and after lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon ice-skating. Only in Southern California can you go ice-skating on the beach. We ended our night having dinner overlooking the San Diego skyline at Peohe's.

Thanksgiving...

2008-12-13T16:03:00.000-08:00

My everything...

2008-12-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

Treasured keepsakes...

2008-11-23T21:35:00.000-08:00

Today while I was organizing picture files I came across these pictures. When I saw them they made my heart melt. How lucky am I to have these pictures of me and my Poppa. Usually I am the one behind the camera and on this day, I gave Leyla a break and let her take the pictures. I am so glad that I did! I will forever have this moment between my Poppa and I , it will always be ours thanks to the beauty of photography!

Twilight Movie...

2008-11-21T21:10:00.000-08:00

Mykan (my SIL) and I braved the long lines and a ton of screaming 14 year old girls so that we could be apart of the midnight showing of Twilight. There was no way that I was not going to be one of the first to see it! We lucked out and got amazing seats, next to a group of 12 girls that had been in line since 1:30 to see the movie. I didn't dare tell them that we got there at 9:45. When the movie finally started Mykan and I did find our inner 14 year olds and screamed in excitement when Edward came on the screen!
Over all I did like the movie. I am not sure if I love it or just like it a lot. Of course I would change a few things...but over all I really liked it. I wish it could have been a 10 hour movie just based on the love and emotion between Bella and Edward. I am going to see it again in a couple weeks. Then I will let you know if I still like it or if I really love it!

This is what fall looks like in So. Cali...

2008-11-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

Today we spent a couple hours at the tide pools in Carlsbad. It was so beautiful, the weather was perfect. We are enjoying our little heat wave, it has been in the 80's here. The tide was very low today so we were able to see an octopus, lots of sea anomies, sea cucumbers and we got lucky when we found that huge starfish! We LOVE living here!

2008-11-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

I can't wait to see the movie Twilight. The 21st of this month is not coming quick enough! Ryan thinks I am crazy, but I know I am not the only one out there who hearts Edward! There are probably a million girls out there with my same feelings...I guess I can share :) I read the whole series in 8 days! I know, crazy but every night I had to read it. Seriously addicting, I have never been so into a book like I was with all four of those! The only thing I read our gossip magazines and a few others. I also can't wait for Stephanie Meyers new book Midnight Sun, a book from Edwards point of view. On her site she shares the first chapter, I can't wait to read more!
Only 9 more days till the midnight showing!

The masked bandit and the kitty...

2008-11-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I had a chance to go out for Halloween this year with our friends Casey and Cole. We went to a Halloween party at a restaurant in Temecula. Thank goodness for Casey (miss social butterfly) for getting us in for free! They wanted $20 a person to get into the place! We had such a fun time, we saw a lot of people that we haven't seen in a while and it was just nice to get out and be us. Many thanks to my mom and dad for letting Ryan and I have the night off and having movie night/slumber party with Leyla!

Our Halloween...

2008-11-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a great time trick or treating with Ryan's family. This is the first year that we have gotten together on Halloween. Leyla was a ladybug, this year I couldn't imagine her to be anything else since that is her nickname :) Dillon was a dragon...the cutest dragon I have ever seen! Leyla and Dillon are only a couple months apart so they had a blast together trick or treating. Grandpa was a good sport and pushed them in the stroller since they were both to tired to walk.

The next morning Leyla was so excited to tell me what she wants to be next year and the year after and so on. She want's me to start calling her "bumblebee" now because that is what she wants to be next Halloween :)

Our very first post....

2008-10-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Every year we try to make it out to Bate's Nut Farm or as my mom always calls it "Nate's Butt Farm". This month we were so busy that we almost didn't make it out there. We went last minute today, but when we arrived we were totally bummed out, all the fun stuff like pony rides and face painting were gone. We did have a good time though riding the tractor hayride, running through the corn maze and looking at all the funky rotting pumpkins. We did manage to pick out a pumpkin that was still in good shape! When we got home we let Leyla pick out a design out of a pumpkin carving book and she picked out Mr. Meowkins. I think we did a pretty good job! Leyla loved it!