Run! Run!

So the beginning of the year started with Princess A learning about her new school following a gingerbread man to see what is in each hallway and where the important rooms are- like music, art, PE and the cafeteria! She came home so excited and telling us all about it.  She even had a little black and white reader with the story of the Gingerbread Man saying, Run! Run!

Well, here we are at the end of the semester and her entire class built gingerbread houses together. Can you imagine 22 kids creating gingerbread houses together?

Each kiddo got their own bag of icing to glue the candy pieces on and create their own masterpiece! She was a happy girl for sure getting to be in charge!

 It was quite fun and one of my favorite memories of each of the kids.  They each have a photo as a momento of the occasion.  Each one of my kids is proud to show what they did as they were 5 or 6! 

growing time

wow. those shoes are BIG!

how did they get that big- are you sure they fit?

yes. I growed.

When? When did you grow?

well, it was in the growing time.

When is the growing time?

Well, member when you did all that laundry? that is when I growed.

Wow... good to know, Hap.

laundry=growing.

Silly Happy Girl

Love my Princess A she wakes up running to me with her blonde locks all over the place. "Good Morning, Dandelion!!" I tell her as she jumps up into my arms all excited about the day. First order of the day is a bowl of cheerios- it's not breakfast without Cheerios

she still uses her baby towels when she can find them and surprisingly they fit! She finds everything funny from a silly dance her siblings make up, to running in place to saying the word "poopy". She is so very 4.

love in the midst of a shoot

messy summer hair
comfy clothes
warm sunshine
unconditional love
yep, that just about sums up this moment in time lovely, isn't it??
Princess A has no clue I am there watching and loves with all of her heart while Queen V sees me and pastes on a quick smile.... they played for hours together this hot summer day under this pecan tree
I still have the buckets, cars and shovels under the tree to remind me of this moment while I ran around getting pictures for a client and her moving cards. All in the midst of my trying to get a little work done there is love of my children that pulls at my heart. I think I will leave the buckets only for the girls to have a moment under our pecan tree again when the weather gets a little cooler.

curiosity

I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.
~Eleanor Roosevelt

red, white and a whole-lotta blue!

under a Chinaberry tree we found the most lovely patch of bluebonnets. It was a dream with the fence, the two barns and lots of shade... I could have had an entire day spent here with Princess A. This was the day to teach her how to walk in the bluebonnets so they wouldn't get trampled....
very carefully she stepped through them. There was a perfect patch here and there to allow for little feet to step through and pause just long enough for me to catch a few photos.

Busted on Christmas

When most people would be angry your Aunt Mary lovingly makes sweets to share on Christmas with all of us. She carefully follows recipes,makes them pretty and all to have you run your finger through the frosting.

She doesn't mind that you double dip but loves that you find her sweets so good and take swipes and her confectionary with a smile on your face.

And here I am with my camera... capturing this moment in time. A moment worth remembering both your happiness in having something sweet and the memory of the love your Aunt Mary had for all of us!

Keep your Christmas-heart open all the year round.
~Jessica Archmint

Princess A

what you say:
peeeeas
oct'pu
shoe
no! go! mine!
cack!
daw
eeat!
oh no!!!!

what you do:
draw on your legs
eat paper
pretend everything is a cell phone
steal everyone's shoes
push your siblings on the swing
look under water
bite
hide face when you are in trouble
holds babydolls
pretends to read

dream big, little one!

love how little my girl's hand is with this candy... all with little saying that mean so much!!

feeding the baby

Mr. T found it most entertaining to feed Princess A. She got a kick out of it too!
It was a messy job but full of smiles and giggles.
By the end of it actually more got in her mouth than just on her face!! Fully tummy makes for a happy baby!

man, I got a good lookin' family!!!

Well, we didn't get to the pumpkin patch on my birthday or out of town like I wanted..
we waited till the rains subsided.. at least for 30 minutes..
got everyone together
in long sleeves
and grabbed a shot!!
Thanks to the older lady who mesmerized my kids while the timer went off on my camera..
I never use the thing and had to figure out where it was- LOL!
My sweetie met us at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch and we got a few shots, jumped in bounce houses and played in all the pumpkins!! They were so big!!!
There were no whines or tears that afternoon.. it was a perfect family outing..
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

lessons learned

so there were lessons learned today...

Mr. T thought that he could hide choc'ates in the potty... my sweetie is STILL plunging... lol

Princess A..

she is another story all together.. being mobile she as the WHOLE WORLD at her fingertips...

new rules applied to her today.. things I thought I would NEVER say...

RULE #1: don't eat dead worms (notice the dirt around her mouth???)

RULE #2: don't bite the toilet seat

yep, these rules apply to my lovely daughter.. think she'll remember???

all 4... the latest of all 4 of our kiddos

each one is such an individual
Lady G is "little mama" always protective and sensative
Queen V is our little sprite/fairy with her head in the clouds
Mr. T is alllllllllllllll boy... today's adventure was flushing choc'ates down the potty to "hide it from mama" nice, huh?
Princess A is just plain happy!! (although this shot would fool you...)

Smiling with Grandpa

out to catch a whopper!

trying to sweet-talk Grandpa into letting her jump ship with him... she can't get enough play time in the water!
Lady G, Grandee and Aunt J... catchin' a few rays :)

"Did you see that fish jump over 'der? I'm gonna catch a whopper!"

No matter how hard she tries Queen V can't catch a whopper.. she loves to try though.... We'll go again soon!

barefoot in the back

doll for a doll house

what a little doll she is..


I absolutely love this little girl. I still can't believe she is ours... but she is. every smile. every giggle. every shriek of joy.. yep, she shrieks with joy. It took us all by suprise the first time we heard it but she does..
What we all love to see now is that she folds her hands in prayer while we all say Grace before we eat dinner. She smiles ear to ear and then puts her hands together again when we say Amen.. how sweet is that??

an a-ha moment

For all my friends who received my crazed email with my a-ha photography moment Here is on of the pics from the series I took the day the math finally kicked in for me... my parents should be so proud! lol! all that money towards education and geometry is finally understood as something useful! lol!!

sunset snuggles

Mom came over for a sunset dinner with us tonight..
We had chicken (cooked in the crockpot), rice (not as good as Mom's), steamed broccoli, fresh pineapple, and fresh apple pie made by yours truly... (should have gotten a pic of that but we were too interested in eating hot apple pie!!)
but at the end of it all I dropped Princess A into her grandmother's lap and snapped a few.... after she grabbed her arm.. notice the napkin Mom is holding on her arm??? yep, Princess A got a good hold and didn't want to let go....
Anyway, she obliged me using the best evening light.... love that time of day whenthings are winding down here.
And we need them to wind down... it has been a hectic winter with flu on 3 out of 4 kids... and 2 of them got it twice... 5 ear infections... allergies.... birthdays... celebrating Mom turning 75!! and so many more things.... whew! Where does time go? anyway, sunset nd taking pics... the best... it lets me take a deep breath and just paint... I love it.

2 of my angels

Lady G and Princess A

two of the sweetest easy going kiddos I know...

oh, how I love my kids!



what am I grateful for today...
finding out Princess A does not have flu again.... just ear infections
watching Lady G in a play she created with friends and it is so.... CREATIVE! She has a competition with it on Saturday and I can't wait to see it again!!
Mr. T taking a nap and trying to help clean up the lemonade he spilled in the kitchen.
Queen V for skipping into school- gotta love a kid who is genuinely happy to go to school!
Mom for babysitting so Mr. T didn't have to go into an infected doc's office.
My Prince.. for offering to pick up dinner when he found out I had another migraine.