This weeks guest judge:  Me! 
(Ok, not really a guest, but I thought I’d judge the photo challenge this week!)  
This weeks challenge: Me and Mama.
The challenge: This weeks challenge is just a bit different. Take or find a photo of your baby (or kid… or puppy… or kitty) and you. I know we did a self photo challenge a couple weeks ago…. but, this time I’d like to see you AND the babe in your photos. 🙂

Here are a couple links to some free photo editing software if you don’t already have something:
Picnik
Picasa
Gimp
Pixlr

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There always has to be rules… I know, boring right? But, it’s to help me and you. 🙂 Click on the link for more details… Each entry does need to link back to my blog… Click here to see last weeks winner… All photo entries need to be in by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on October 14th…
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Winners so far:

• Fingerprint: … Captivus Living …
• A hint of color: … Love3 …
• Confusion: … Unofficial Mom …
• Me and Mama: … no one yet …

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If you have an Etsy shop and would like to give away an item as a prize… please drop me a line! I ♥ sponsors and will show your shop some love for your contribution. 🙂
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<a href=”https://thepapermama.blogspot.com”><img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N5YyoVHof0Y/TCp76y9cYUI/AAAAAAAABbA/je3l_yRK6B0/s200/paper+mama+button+copy.png” alt=”The Paper Mama” width=”127″ height=”127″ /></a>

This weeks guest judge:  Me! (Ok, not really a guest, but I thought I’d judge the photo challenge this week!)  

This weeks challenge: Confusion!.?!
The challenge: The challenge will be based around your children. Take or find a photo of your baby (or kid… or puppy… or kitty) confused, unsure…. just plain flabbergasted!

• First place: Unofficial Mom:

Why I chose this photo: “Oh man. How could I not choose it? That confused face is perfect. The eyebrows. The eyes. The fingers in the mouth. I just want to know what was said to her right before this photo… maybe, ‘You will be changing your own diapers from now on.’ I also love the bokeh and the lighting on her face is lovely. It’s so clear and sharp too.”

Congrats! Please feel free to grab a “fact: I’m awesome … #1 winner” button below. Because: you ARE awesome! And, thank you SO much for participating!

<a href=”https://thepapermama.blogspot.com”><img src=”http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/4847449308_0ccb29e29f_b.jpg” alt=”The Paper Mama” width=”150″ height=”150″ /></a>

• 2nd: Brooke Martin Photography:

 Why I chose this photo: “That look is so great! I’m also digging the light/shadow of this photo.”

•  3rd: Freebird:

Why I chose this photo: “Oh Miss Lila. She has SO many looks! This is just another VERY cute confused look. I love it.”

•  4th: Photo Freak:

Why I chose this photo: “She SO wants a piece of that cake… and CANNOT figure out why she’s not eating it already!”

• 5th: Not always picture perfect:

Why I chose this photo: “He just looks like he’s thinking of a VERY intense math problem. That’s probably what I look like when I think of math.”

 Congrats to the top 5 winners! Great job, and please feel free to grab the top 5 button below! You’re all awesome!

<a href=”https://thepapermama.blogspot.com”><img src=”http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/4846828687_512b90c587_b.jpg” alt=”The Paper Mama” width=”150″ height=”150″ /></a>

•  Little Yellow Treehouse:

• Hi, Baby.

• Me and Mine:

• Luvin Life:

• And for good measure:

If you’re one of my favorites you are more than welcome to grab a “Paper mama hearts me” button below!

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I’d like to flashback to a day I wasn’t sick. That’s all. Thanks. I feel like blah.

All I wanted was a clear sharp photo of Princess….But, NOOoooo… She wouldn’t let that happen! Everytime I picked up my camera to shoot her…. she would get EXTREMELY close to the lens and rub her face on it! I’m used to this… but, with my new camera I thought it might be easier to get a photo now that I can control the shutter speed.

Pffft. My Canon is no match for a wiggly, curious kitty. 😀 Out of the 112 photos I took of her… I got two clear shots. I have MANY blurry or up close and personal nose shots. 🙂 BUT, I actually like the blurry photos I took of her. It’s totally her. ALWAYS moving.

Bio:

• Name: Princess Aja. Also goes by: “Princess Pretty Pants”, “Piiiiiiiii” said in VERY high pitch voice, and “Pretty”.
• Age: 7 years young
• Hobbies: Scratching furniture…. then scratching furniture faster when we tell her to stop. Sleeping on clean clothes. Sticking her head in socks. Opening doors. Fetching. Getting too close too baby (she likes baby to pull her hair… I don’t know.). Drinking water out of cups… then pulling those cups over and breaking the glass. Hanging out with anyone that needs to use our bathroom.
• Dislikes: Me telling her no. Picking her up. Doing what I tell her to. Cleaning herself. Covering her “dumpings”. 😀 . Pistachio (our other kitty). Closed doors. Dry cat food. Long car rides.
• Her perfect date would be: Enjoying a nice glass of water, in the bathroom… with Chelsey. 

She’s a weird cat. 

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Sooooo, I’ve been slowly adding bookmarked pages to my “Birthday Party” file for Ruari’s first birthday. Lots of inspiration. I’ve come up with a challenge for myself. My budget for decorations, invites, and desert for her first birthday is: $65. Whew. We’ll see if I can do it! I know printing, envelopes and sending out the invitations alone will be about $20. SOOOO, that gives me $45. I can do it! I have a TON of art supplies.

Anyway, here are my Three picks on Thursday: inspiration for Ruari’s first birthday party…

1) A rainbow birthday cake. I got this idea from Lacey from Our Life. I think I’ll make it a 2-tiered cake instead and create a little paper cake topper. I already have a cake plate. 🙂 So, I think I’ll need a couple of boxes of cake mix (no way I’m making it from scratch) and a couple tubs of white frosting. Oh, and of course the food coloring. Shoot, this may take about $15 from my budget! Ok…. down to $30….

{Our Life}

{Our Life}

2) You better believe I’ll be making a paper banner! 🙂 Here are some awesome favorites:

{Found on Kara’s Party Ideas}

{Via}

{Birthday’s on a budget}

3) I plan to decorate with candy. 🙂 I already have all the jars… etc. I just need the candy! I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to place a wad of paper, or something, in the center of the candy jars to take up space. Save a few bucks! By the way… all these inspiration boards below are from The Party Dress. SO much inspiration there.

{The Party Dress}

{The Party Dress}

{The Party Dress}

Questions for your guys: Where can I get bulk candy cheap? Where can I get rock candy cheap? Where can I get those fancy lolli’s… cheap?

Oh, and if YOU would like to get those little mini gumball machines… I found them! Cute! Here’s the link to Beau-coup.com. Search for “Mini gumball machine.

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Flowers

Black and White Wednesday:

For whatever reason I can NEVER just stick to black and white… I always add a bit of color. 🙂 This looks very Halloween-ey to me! WHICH is why I’m going to make a HUGE stretch and include this for Shutter Love Tuesday’s: Pumpkin. Ha! HUGE stretch. She looks like a pumpkin? Ha!

AND: the theme this week for Ten Thousand Words is: 7. I CANNOT believe it. I just realized Princess is 7! No way! Has it been that long? I found her as a little kitten meowing in a bush… at the Crossroads Mall…. in Bellevue, WA…

Okay… And, I would love to remind you that I have some special coupons ending VERY soon!

• BabyLegs 20% off code: PAPERMAMA … Ends: October 31st
• Designer Blogs 10% off code: REFERRED BY THE PAPER MAMA … Ends: October 15th
• Tiny Prints $10 off “$75 order” code: AFF75

Oh yes. AND, the winner of the Pear Tree Halloween sticker giveaway is…

That Keriann from Blue Jeans and Pearls. Give her a visit! She’s got a cute blog. Congrats! I’ll let them know you won!

{Ruari is sick for the first time. It’s very sad. She can barely breath through her nose and can’t sleep because she wakes herself up coughing. So sad. She doesn’t look too happy, huh?}

{It’s Tuesday night. I’m tired. Babe’s asleep. I’m going to bed. I feel like blah. Happy Wednesday all!}

{If you have a Wordless{ish} Wednesday, please feel free to post it below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… (Wordless Wednesday HQ, 5 Minutes For Mom, Parenting by Dummies, Jolly Mom, Go Graham Go, Supermom,  and My Wee View.). Happy Wednesday to all of you!}

{Don’t forget to check the announcements above the posts. Giveaways and the photo challenge: Confusion.}

{And, thank you SO much to everyone that voted for me on Top Mommy Blogs. I love it! As of tonight, I’m up to #19! Thanks! So, I’m going to do a giveaway! Weee! I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully I get it up and running. And, just so you know… you can vote everyday. Thansk!}

I just found this blog guidebook website. It’s really nice because it’s not too large that it’s overwhelming to browse through. Please, give it a look!