this life of ours

Weekends like this are what life is all about. We started off with a little "going away dinner" with our Tallahassee friends (minus Steph and Dennis). We went to "A Taste of Texas" Steakhouse which is fabulous and is also where John and I had our first dinner when we moved to Houston seven years ago. A lifetime ago. At one point during our dinner, we all started laughing about the fact that we are all going to be together quite a few more times before we move. I guess it could be considered our "first" going away dinner. Still bittersweet. My sweet Tally girls have been an amazing stability and a little piece of home to me. We all know that we can lean on each other when the homesickness sets in. I am so proud to call them not only my "Tally friends" but some of my closest friends.

Ansley, Sommer, Laura and myself

The whole crew

The next morning, daddy and I loaded up our little family and headed to Galveston for a fun in the sun kinda day. We planned on going to Moody Gardens' little "faux beach", which we knew had a man made sandy shore and water. Boy were we surprised. It was a full on water park. What an amazing day. We explored every square inch. We jumped waves in the wave pool, got drenched by spontaneous bursts of water (me) at the Splashpad, floated in the lazy river (yes, all five of us), ate ice cream and lounged on the "sandy beach". Bliss. After a full day of sun and fun, we loaded up, grabbed some fresh seafood and headed home for a great dinner.

I am all over this post! Ha! Waiting to get on the bus to head to the waterpark. The kids were starving so my mountain man husband whipped out some spicy venison jerky. Love their faces.

We quickly made the conclusion that toting the camera around would not be wise. Daddy snapped this as we were leaving.

End-of-the-day pigtails. And one little sass who was too pooped to even push her hair out of her eyes. The mark of a great day ;)

Sunday morning we lounged around, made cinnamon rolls and didn't rush out of our pajamas. When we did decide to stop dragging our feet, we threw on "bathing soups" (Emory) and headed to our local splashpad/park. I love watching my kids play. Genuine and authentic.

Haysie baby.

Making memories and reaching milestones. Baby Hayes graduated to a convertible carseat. Apparently looking this good is tiring work.

Too cap things off, we had some post-nap popsicles. Ashton wanted me to take "close ups" of his orange popsicle.

They both chose orange. Ashton chose orange because orange is cool. Emory chose orange because Ashton is cool. Baby Hayes had his favorite flavor too: frozen teether. Mmmm.

Best weekend I can remember in quite a while. This is what life is all about...

pretty girl smile.

I realized a few weeks ago that my kids don't really smile for the camera. Which is fine. I truly prefer taking shots of them "in action". Doing what they do. That being said.. I have, quite frequently on occasion, been known to do everything short of a tap dance to get them to smile at me. It finally dawned on me that maybe I should just ask them to smile for me. Hmm. The other day I coined the term "pretty girl smile". Emory is into all things "pretty". Every morning when she gets dressed, she tells me, "mommy, I wuv my pretty dwess." She loves to wear pretty jewelry, play with her pretty baby, brush her pretty hair, etc. You get the point. So, I figured, if I call it a pretty girl smile... Well, it may have worked a bit too well.

I know I need to stop. Not sure I can. If some of these are blurry, it's because I'm giggling behind the camera. She tells her daddy, brothers and I that she "wuvs" us about a million times a day. My heart bursts at the seams every single time I hear it. Oh Emory. My love knows no bounds, sweet child. No bounds.

natural light.

I think I am hooked on "natural light photography". A few of my favorite pictures from this week, all shot using only manual settings and no editing...

Father's Day 2011

Father's day this year was filled to the brim with sunshine, laughter, saltwater and amazing fellowship. Our neighbors are more than neighbors. They are some of our dearest, closest friends. We have made so many memories over the past seven(?!) years. We are all the same age, and moved into our homes at the same time. Hands down, leaving them will be the hardest thing about our move to Georgia (which I haven't even mentioned on here) next month. Ok, I'm about to make myself cry. Moving on. We spent an awesome day on the San Jacinto river, with the big Texas sun shining all day! Here are some snippits from our day.

Loaded up and ready to roll out!

I love how his lifejacket squooshes up his big, ole cheeks. Edible. Emory looking relaxed :).

Tiffany and Jennifer. Two of the kindest people I know.

Jennifer and Travis getting in their workouts for the day ;)

An extremely rare photo of Ashton looking at the camera and smiling. Extremely rare.

Our captain and his first mate. Sweet Aidan.


Dominic almost ready to pass out. Fun overload.

Emory with her hands in the sassy position due to walking on sand. Baby Hayes channeling my Papa in his sporty hat.

I love this. Looks like she is just taking it all in...

Boatmates Jenn and baby Hayes. LOVE Ashton's stance. So grown.

I was there too!! Ha. That is me holding baby Hayes on the boat. Proof.

And after we got home...

Sufficiently sun drenched. And totally pooped. And still permeating sunscreen. That combo is one of my fondest memories of childhood.

One last treat after baths and before bed. Popcorn and a movie. Emory was obviously overwhelmed. Her jammie top says "i heart daddy". She does. On Father's day and everyday.

Speaking of Father's day, a little shout out to my dad and husband. The. Two. Single. Best. Men. I. know. Here are ten of the (many) reasons why I love each of them.

My Daddy

1. He is a living example of selflessness. Every single thing he does is for the greater good of his Savior and his family. 2. He taught me how to change my oil, drive a stick shift and fix a flat. 3. He utilizes every single gift he is given. If I give him a shirt, he will wear it until moth holes take over. If the kids give him a coffee mug, you better believe he is drinking out of it everyday. 4. He has, on several occasions, babysat all three of my children, all by himself. 5. He is hilarious. And his humor is always current. That's how he rolls ;). 6. He has, many times, silently hugged my while I sobbed uncontrollably. And if I told him afterward that I didn't want to talk about it, he would simply say "ok.". I was usually crying for really important reasons like not liking my outfit. 7. I used him as my template when dating. I decided when I was young that I would settle for no less in a husband than what my dad encompassed. That led me to John. Thank you, dad, for that. 8. He is big and strong and has the most tender heart a person is allotted to have. 9. He takes his coffee with a little cream and no sugar. Just like me. 10. His faith in the Lord is inspiring and humbling.

My Husband

1. He cooks gourmet-esque meals every night and fixes my plate. His plating skills are restaurant grade. 2. After he works his tail off all day, he comes home, immediately scoops up his babies and wrestles and romps until their giggles wear them out. 3. He makes me feel beautiful when I am covered in green pea puree, finger paint and baby urine. 4. I feel safe with him. 5. He only uses chopsticks to eat any type of Asian food. 6. If I tell him that I really, really want something, he makes it happen. 7. He helped me create the three most beautiful little beings on Earth. And I love that they all look just like him. 8. He is kind. And generous. 9. He lets me sleep in until 7:30 almost every morning. 10. He is my best friend.

Dad, Ashton and John circa 2007

almost ready for the pigskin

Baby Hayes is gearing up for football season. Has there ever been a cuter lil Nole?! He will soon learn that we covet this time in our household. Nothing trumps a Seminole football game around here. Nothing. Pretty soon he will be running around in the backyard throwing the old pigskin with daddy and Ashton. Time. It is a flyin'... sigh. If my boys inherited anything from either side of our family, football will surely course through their veins. Their daddy, papa and granddaddy were all quite the football stars. Papa actually played football for FSU in the 70's under the great Bobby Bowden. Daggum! I am thinking Ashton at quartback and Baby Hayes' thighs just "scream" linebacker ;).

Sometimes they disagree...

about really silly things. This was the object of extreme interest this afternoon. Emory's pink second birthday hat and the 3D glasses that Ashton obtained when daddy and I took him to his first movie a few months ago. I didn't get a pic of Ashton with the hat and glasses, but I did score the gem below of him looking quite smug during his "turn".

cowboy rain boots

We have a sun hangover. All of us. Yesterday, in honor of Father's Day, we took our boat out with the neighbors for a fun filled day in the sun. Boy, was it. The next blog post will expand on that ;). This morning Ashton and Emory Anne started their two week swim refresher courses. And I say "Emory Anne" because that is how she introduced herself to the only other little swimmer in her class. We are still on the fence as to whether she will be Emory Anne or simply Emory when she starts school. Any suggestions??? I can certainly tell which way she is leaning :). After a very, very full day yesterday, lots of playtime this morning and swim class, my sweet littles are pooped. Ashton went down for his nap crying because he didn't get to shut the front door when we got home. Yeah. Emory, on the other hand, went down super easy. That is, I thought she went down super easy. I just noticed that her bedroom light glaring out at me from under her door. Hmm. I went to check on her and found her like this.

Ashton calls these her "cowboy rain boots". Mainly because Emory insists on putting them on and galloping around the house saying, "yee haw!!". At first Ashton tried to correct her, saying, "No, no, no Emory. These are not cowboy boots, they are rain boots!". It didn't work. So now he just goes with it. Cowboy rain boots. She has become such an accesorizer, that girl of mine. I guess even a napping sassy girl can sport some sassy cowboy rain boots. Yee haw.

"I did it!!!" "No, I do it!"

These are two phrases we are hearing quite frequently lately. Whoa. Little sassafras (by the way, Ashton asked me today if he should call his sister sassy pants or sassafras. yeah.) goes back and forth between praising herself about every small victory throughout the day and asserting her independence every chance she gets. If she wants a juicebox, I hear "No, I do it!" if I even go near trying to insert the straw in the box for her. And as soon as she gets the straw in the box, I hear "I did it!!!!" If she needs to potty, and I try to help her with her "pwincess pullup", I hear "No, I do it!" and as soon as she (hopefully) does her business, I hear "I did it!!!!" And so on throughout our day. It really is the sweetest, and of course, sassiest thing ever.