The One and Only

Lil' loves a cell phone. She wants one of her own so badly. Of course she's only 5.975 years old so we don't let her have one but needless to say she spends a lot of time on ours. She loves to play all the games, sometimes she'll record a video of herself but lots of times, we retrieve our phones to find many, many self portraits of the one and only...

Last.

Last week was IT for us. The last dance. The last hurrah. The last of our summer free for all. We spent each day doing as much fun stuff as we could. Lots of beach days, fishing days, bowling, bike rides, ice cream, staying up late. Soaking up each scorching hot second and trying to make it last and last. Before last week got here, I was really dreading it. I hate lasts. But the lasts gave me some of favorite summer memories and moments to hear things like....

"I wish I could start this day all over again."

"Thanks for taking us Mom."

"Thanks for making that happen."

and these moments will stick with me. They will last.

We All Have Fun

Camp She-Me is a little something we all look forward to every summer. When it's time for Camp She-Me it means that we get Miss E all to ourselves for a whole week and that means we are all gonna laugh a whole bunch. It also means that we are gonna go to the beach, the water park, the children's musuem, swim in the pool, eat chicken nuggets and gelato and play with every single toy in this house. It means that we . all . have . fun .

Hear Her Roar!

EEEEEEEEEKKKKKK! I almost forgot to share one of Lil's biggest moments this summer! One random day back in June I woke up and decided that was the day Lil' was getting her ears pierced. No big holiday, no birthday just another ole' day that we were gonna make special. When I asked her if she wanted to go she couldn't believe what I was saying - I had always told her that we would go on her birthday. And even though she was completely nervous, she was ready! We convinced "little angel" to come along seeing as how she was already an expert at this sort of thing. Thank goodness for little angel because she made Lil' feel so much better. She hardly even cried. She is gonna be great a childbirth.


Brace yourselves... Lil' is woman - hear her roar!


Walking into Claire's...

Sittin' in the chair...

After! 

What Your Camera Catches...

I took the kids on our "annual" summer road trip to visit my grandparents. This little trip is so important to me on some many different levels. The first one selfishly is that I hope they remember the memory and weave it into the fabric of their children's experience. I hope they take their children to visit Arizona and Chapin and make an effort for their own kids to have a bond with their great grandparents. You have to know where you've come from to have any idea of where you may want to go in this life. Find out why certain things are important to you.


Second, I had to check on Mabel to see for myself that she is okay. I had to lay my own eyes on her and absorb her new surroundings. She recently moved to Greensboro and left the beach. Lord and Clyde only know how hard this must be on her but she is handling it and handling it beautifully I might add.


Lastly, a visit to Wagram will always set things straight in your heart and your head. It's good to get there and get yourself ironed out and see what your camera can catch...


Lil' and our family's infamous Boot...

Thinkin' bout things...

One of the houses my Dad grew up in...

Wagram's Front Porch...

Still ponderin'...

Aunt Beck..

I've done this very same thing so many times...

Grandma's House...

Pep In Our Family

Cheerleading camp was a gamble. I wasn't sure how it was gonna play out but it proved to be a tremendous success. Lil' not only loved it, she was good at it. The cheer thing has never really shook my pompom but there are lots of things that I don't know a whole lot about that Lil' has introduced me to.  She definitely puts the pep in our family...

Perfection

I love being with my friends and when you throw being with my friends on top of being with my family, well.... it's just brilliant. Our July 4th tradition was born several years ago and it has grown and turned into... perfection.