Fourth of July fun :)

** warning TONS of pictures alert **

ok with that being said, and following in my always just a smidge late style.. here are some pics from our 4th.

We spent the holidays here, in town. I would go out on a limb and say we had a "staycation" but I digress I cannot since we really did not "go" anywhere (and I don't think the qualifications of the above said mean STAY at home)..
But stay-go- whatever, we did have a good time :)

Since the Thunder Monkeys got the 3rd off (who knew they allowed off days in softball!!) we were able to hit our hometown to watch the show.......


the diva and her "take a picture of me" pose ...

the dude's smashing new shoes .....

The dude and some buds...


The diva and the girls...

GO USA!!!!

My shots.....
They shot the fireworks over the High School Football Stadium so we got great seats across the highway :)












Hope everyone had a great 4th :)

A man boy of many faces....

Baby Fever....

I had the priviledge today of not only getting together with probably my oldest (and NO not in the essance of age mind you more like long-standing relationships) and bestest friend and her brand spanking new son L, but I got to photograph them too!

Nothing delights me more then babies... well ok, maybe next to chocolate, a trip to Bennihanna's, a pedicure...
BUT.. I LOVE babies.. love them love them!
And I love good friends who have babies- cause it means I can hold them and not feel weird about it (hey you try holding some random ladies baby and see how weird you feel!)

Melissa and I have been friends since 2nd grade, when I moved here and she loaned me a pencil (yes, I came to a new school without a pencil my first day.. gasp!) We walked home together, played every day together, had sleepovers, told secrets, played softball together, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.. heck we even taught at the same school! Yes she was THAT friend, the kind you want to have, the kind you want your kid to have.. the kind that... no matter where you are, or how long it has been, you know each other like a book and you can pick up like you saw each other yesterday- yes.. we're good like that ;)
We even have kids the same age.. GIRLS in fact.. so it could be a tradition in the making.. hehe

So to be able to capture any moment as precious as that of her new son, was a great honor to me..
Now, mind you, this was my first baby session but all in all I think it went pretty well :)
Here are a few sneaks of mommy and son and some on his own :)

A week in review

Seeing as I am always a tad behind (hey... that is just how I roll people.. at least it gets done eventually), I felt it was best since THIS week is half over to just do a "week in review" of LAST week. ** There will not be a week in review of this week as we have done not much of anything cept sit inside and swelter!!

But last week was exciting.. busy.. and even came with a few milestones :)

The dude spent the week at baseball camp (sorry no pics..I mainly did a drop off and pick up thing here as there were a ton of kids and the dude was not wanting to be photographed for this (** although I did get a few sneaky ones). In amongst the week (and weekend before) he lost his first tooth and then 2 days later lost his second! Imagine the tooth fairies delight to get to come to our house twice in 3 days (especially since the tooth fairy is known for NEVER carrying cash and relying on her debit card for all her purchases)..

But no need to worry your pearly whites over it, the tooth fairy came through for the dude and now has made mental notes to keep small cash on hand hidden for those treasures. And the dude got good lesson in adding up change :)


In amongst baseball camp, the dude also got to to to sleepover church camp. He was just beside himself with excitement as apparently there is nothing better to him then being away from home with the comforts of travel size toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, etc, an impending swim test to ensure deep end swimming, and the use of a trash bag to return all the muddy/crusty clothes. The dude also loves to hang out with his soccer buddies, most of which went along to the camp.

So with the dude gone, the diva and I set out to find entertainment fit only for true high class women...

We did not have to look very far....

The dad provided us with enough for the rest of the summer (literally as he plays every Friday) in the form of an ever gripping game of we are to old to play baseball anymore so we will play this instead softball.

Now don't take that wife of the year prize away yet. I love the dad, and one thing I have always loved about him was his ability to play ball... baseball or softball.

Just not sure I am in love with the team name "Thunder Monkeys". Course what more could a high class woman like myself want in her husband's team name...



complete with camo jersies.... the dad was even sweet enough to get matching ones for the diva, dude and myself....




How lucky am I!!!




Course the diva has not yet mastered the fine art of graciously declining, and flat out said NO when asked if she wanted to wear her shirt...


She prefers western wear with her mother's name instead... hey at least I got a bow in her hair (or hair clip..)which as you see below came with a price...




And we practiced feeding the animals (or at least it kind of looks that way.. in reality it was the dad asking for one)

Then we ventured over to the dad's parents house for some well needed swimming...

And as I went to use the restroom (INSIDE) apparently the diva decided she did not need a restroom...(*photo compliments of the dad)

Too bad she was not wearing her Thunder Monkey jersey... would have made the picture complete...

But we did swim.. or the diva and dad swam, I sat and said a silent prayer that my sweet adorable daughter was not turning into a mini dude complete with urinating outside took pictures...

of jumping with fish

jumping without fish

and practicing for the shamu show...

now you see where the diva gets her attitude red hair from :)

and it was also high time for some new... GOOD pics of the diva since she turned 3 on the 10th (birthday pics to come.. just so many I am trying to get them done). So we headed over to one of my favorite spots for a little mini session :)

hard to believe she can look that sweet?

This is one of my favs... DEFINATELY more her "look" like she has something

brewing in that head of hers (and all that brewing is making her hair swirl)

Saturday came with the dude coming home tanned, tired and frankly not all that happy to be home. I guess having to eat something besides pizza and snacks and going to bed at a decent hour are not all that high on his list of things to do this summer... (hey I could give him a swim test though... and a few others...)

But his mood quickly changed after a nap and the finding of a certain magic ticket which awaited him.....

As we I set forth on uncharted territory...

That of a teen sensation concert....

Behold (as the AHHHHH music sounds in the background) The Jonas Brothers World Tour...

Now, don't get me wrong.. I have done the concert thing.. even the crazed teen sensation concert thing.. I WAS that girl who cried when Joey Joe from NKOTB sang "Please.... don't go girl" (don't even ask who they are if you don't know.. I am not in the mood to feel any more older then I did Saturday night)

But I have never been the OLD person at the crazy teen sensation concert...

Or apparently the OLD person with the camera ....

But they were good I will admit. And they are good kids who have good morals and make good choices. They actually play and sing.. one of which plays pretty much everything and sings (I think he is Nick?) gasp, I know.. sorry, I mean to remember his name. And it was fun night, even complete with the hysterically crying girl that brought back such fond memories for me (to bad I can't find that old "Joey Joe's future wife" shirt.. that would fit right along there with my "wife of a Thunder Monkey one"

And who knows.. maybe next time they come, I may actually be able to sing one of their songs ;)

A Father's Day Friend or Foe

For Father's Day I decided I would be nice and do the yardwork. I figured really, how hard could it be, not like dusting in nooks and crannies or cleaning the toilet of a 6 year old boy right?

So I let the dad know that part of his gift would be a week of no yard duty- he was hesistant at first due to my last altercation with the headge trimmers which resulted in one of our front bushes looking like Mr. T. But I assured him that I would be good this time.

So he showed me how to work the weed eater, edger, and mower.. explained to me how to stay in a straight line.... how to ease into the blade while edging..... etc. I was pumped, I mean it sounded just like coloring and tracing.. stay in the lines.. careful around the corners...

And it was a gorgeous almost 100 degree day outside and I was ready to work on that non-existant tan I have, so I got my yard clothes on and headed out for a day of being "wife of the year"....

He forgot to tell me the weed eater is mean....


More like brutal, and abusive.. that thing HURTS! Never was I informed of the SHARP pieces of flying debris that would immediately come back at my legs....

Nor was I told it probably is not a good idea to just plow over grass which has pieces of wood chips in it.....

But, in the end, I got it done.... and have a nice sunburn tan to prove it. And the dad was rewarded with a yard already done for once... I hope he is happy....

Cause it won't ever happen again :)

Happy Father's Day (yes I know this post is late... sorry that is just how I roll) to the best hubby and daddy I know!

Stay tuned as I will soon be posting our "week in review" from last week as it was a pretty busy one :)

GIVEAWAY!!

SQUEELLLL, you know how I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some giveaways!!
Well this has to be one of my favs so far, and what makes it even cooler it is one of my bestest friends, Tracy who is doing it!! (wait, does that mean I cannot enter?..)
Well, regardless, I still wanna give her a shout out cause this is about the coolest thing I have seen lately!

How many of our kiddos complain that the seatbelt rubs their neck? I know mine do! And the little covers you can buy at BRU aren't all that "cute" so Tracy has started making these ADORABLE seat belt covers and she is giving a PAIR away on her blog!! So GET OVER to her blog and read about them NOW!!

** sorry, cutie pie Brayden is NOT included ** :)