TGIF!

Oh how grateful I am that the weekend has arrived and there are no major plans on the horizon! It seems like its been a busy couple of weeks around here! A marathon of sorts! Phew! But Ty is home from his fun little trips with the guys, and I'm hoping the weekend will entail lots of family time! That is, if Ellie is feeling up to par. The poor thing has been suffering from the worst diaper rash I have EVER seen!! It actually sent us to the pediatrician's office yesterday (Thursday) because it is now oozing, puffy, red and INCREDIBLY painful! You can typically find us BOTH in tears as I have to change her diapers (which have at-least doubled in quantity over the last week) because the pain for her is horrific! I can't even touch her little bum. It's off to the bathtub each and every time she needs changing. :( Its no fun....no fun at all! (Maybe part of me is glad its Friday because that means I'm not the only one that has to change all those sticky diapers! LOL!)

Anyway...enough about poop!

What I REALLY came to post about are the super fun pics I took of the kids last weekend while I was scoping out a location for a photo shoot. Again, you Facebookers have already seen these, but mostly I'm posting for those who aren't in the FB world...namely Aunt Nancy and a few others. Anyway...here are my sweethearts...














Don't ya just LOVE them?!

In other news, our trip to the beach on Wednesday turned out great...for the most part! Like I said, it was my first time taking the kids without Ty and I was a little nervous about how it would go. Luke, of-course loved every minute of being there! He jumped in and out of the waves with his little buddies and was even a willing participant in getting buried in the sand! He couldn't have been happier!



Ellie, on the other hand, was a whole different story. From the moment we set our bare feet on the sand, she was not having it! More or less, she cried and wanted to be held most of the morning. :( The only thing I can guess is that she remembered (and was traumatized) by falling headlong into the water while we were on vacation. It took A LOT of coaxing for her to even allow me to dip her toes in the water, and even then she was clinging to me for dear life! She relaxed into the morning a bit after my friend Claye (who works in the nursery at church with me and knows Ellie fairly well) took her over with her boys to dig in the sand a little. After that point, Ellie at-least was willing to sit in the beach chair alone and watch the others play. Silly child.



The beach was SUPER crowded that day, so we didn't stay much past noon. Besides, the kids were growing tired and I was hoping to make it home before the dreaded rush hour traffic (which, by the way, starts at 2:30 pm here in California! It's insanity!) So we showered off, packed up the car and off we went!

The rest of our week was spent either swimming at the pool in the mornings before it got too hot or hanging out here at home (with that trip to the peditrician yesterday thrown in for good measure). Oh! And who can forget the trip to Rite Aid yesterday for a much needed ice cream break (and a little butt paste for Ellie! LOL!) Let me tell you....there are some exciting times happening around our house! :) But really...days like these are what childhood is supposed to be made of! Swimming...running through sprinklers...ice cream treats...playdates with friends. Life really can't get any sweeter! :)

Already? (Beware, its a marathon post!)

As I sit here to type, I am having a hard time believing that it is already mid-July! Half of our summer is nearly over, but it feels as though it just began! The 4th of July has passed us by, Luke finished up his last day of summer preschool this past Thursday (we decided to do the short 4 week session just to keep him in a nice routine. He loved it!) and now we are already looking ahead to Ellie's 2nd birthday in just a few short weeks! Crazy!

So before things get REALLY carried away, I thought I had better get caught up to speed. :) We spent our 4th of July this year as we have for many years past...in the company of good friends! My dear friend Laura lives within walking distance to the stadium where we have watched the fireworks each year for as far back as I can remember. Instead of hauling all of our kiddos INTO the stadium this year, Laura graciously opened her home to a brood of us. :) We ate yummy food while all of the kids played; and as the sun set, we settled into our lawn chairs to watch the fireworks. Both Ellie and Luke LOVED them again this year! No fear in this family! Ellie snuggled up into my lap for most of the show and I giggled with her as she'd 'ooh and ahhh' over the colors. :) Good times. Here are some photos of the day...

Hanging out at home before the big festivities...



My babies and I...

A replica of an older photo...you can see how much the kids have grown!

Luke made a new little friend!


All dressed up :)



Luke playing soccer with his buddy Hudson

Us girls (Sarah & Laura)

The Fam.


As I peeked through my July photos, I came across this one....the first time I got to paint Ellie's little toes! :) A BIG deal to me! I was so excited to pretty up those piggies of hers! Its always just kinda been my 'thing' with the girls in the family. From the time Taryn would hold still for me, it was always my little bonding time with her to paint her toes. :) The tradition carried on with Megan when she was tiny (though she wouldn't dare let me come NEAR her toes with polish these days!) and even now, its something I look forward to doing when the girls come to visit. So finally being able to paint Ellie's....well....honestly...it almost made me cry! :) LOL! I just LOVE having a little girl!



So with Luke's summer preschool completed until late August, I have been busy making plans for playdates, trips to the beach and lots of time at the pool! I'm gonna need to keep these kids busy, that's for sure! I'll be braving a Daddy-less beach trip for the first time in a few days with two other friends and thier kids. While I'm a *little* nervous about doing it solo, I know that the kids will have a GREAT time and it will be a blast! You know I'll have pictures of that (although it might take me two months to post 'em! *giggle*)

AND, the BIG news for me is that Ty and I will be going camping for 3 days (without the kids) at the end of the month to our favorite little niche in the world up near Sequoia! Most of you recall that we used to venture there every summer for awhile, and that we actually got engaged there! This trip will be our first time back there since *I believe* 2003? Oh my goodness!! I can HARDLY wait! I have actually been dreaming about it...literally! I have been LONGING to go for some time now, but with the kids still young, it hasn't really been possible. The altitude it too high (7400 at base camp), the terrain a little rough, and the nights too cold for tots. Maybe in a year or so! But WE can go! :) Thanks to the cooperative efforts of Meemaw and Grandma & Grandpa to watch the kids. :) I am sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!

So I think that about sums it up for now. But wait! There's more! As I was looking back to make sure I didn't miss any photos, I found these from Luke's end of the school year picnic in June (yeah, there's me being a bad blogger again!). They are much too cute to forget to post! He has made some wonderful friends at school! These are his three best friends there!
Meet Aiden...the sweetest boy you'll ever come across!

Meet Jesse...a church and preschool friend! He'll be coming to the beach with us this week!

Meet Lindsay...she LOVES "Yuke"! They were incredibly adorable together this day! Holding hands everywhere they went and just being so sweet!


Her mom and I joked that maybe they'll get married someday! :)


And this last one is of the stepping stone we made to place in the school garden. Each student can make one if they'd like and leave it for 'the next generation'. :) It's kinda a tradtion. We made a cute little frog! :)


So that REALLY is it, folks. How's that for a post?!

You have GOT to watch this!

So I have been following this certain blog for quite some time (for those of you who are familiar with the Christian music group Selah, the blog belongs to Todd Smith's wife Angie) and she posted this video the other day. Seriously, it is one of the cutest things I have EVER seen....this 3 year old girl is SO precious singing her heart out to one of Selah's songs! I just HAD to share...




Seriously...LOVE it!!

Video day...

I caught this cute little video of Luke reading "Going on a Bear Hunt" yesterday and thought it would be fun to share! Just for the record, he isn't actually reading, but rather reciting what he has memorized. He definitely has a keen memory; though in the video he is a little distracted by the TV, and his little sister antagonizing him! :) LOL! A morning in the life of us....

(Sorry for the video quality...I was trying to conceal the fact that I was filming him! He realized I was there before too long and wa obviously self-conscious of the camera. Oh well. AND beware....it's kinda long! :))

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And since I'm here uploading video, here is a clip of Luke swimming on his last day of lessons! You can see Mr. Bruce lift him out of the water for a breathe, but he swims ALL the way across the pool! We are so proud of him!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Just to get myself a little caught up and not have to spend too much time typing, I thought I'd do a recap of Ellie's first plane trip to see Heidi and Amy in the form of photos. For those of you on Facebook, you've probably already seen all these, but oh well!

We had a WONDERFUL 5 day visit to northern California, and Ellie did amazingly well on the airplane! She LOVED to gaze out the window and marveled at each new thing she saw! It was so nice to spend time with my girlfriends, and have our kids get to know each other a bit better!

Here's a few shots of her during our 2 hour wait in the airport! She LOVED to watch the planes, and she basked in all the attention the other travelers gave her as she jogged up and down the hallways of the airport! :)

After settling in and getting a good night sleep, we all headed to the park the next day. This is the only shot I was able to get of all three of them sitting still and smiling! I feat in and of itself when you're dealing with three two year olds (or almost two, in Ellie's case.) BTW, remember they are all about 10 weeks apart in age...Brandon turned 2 in March, Sara in May and Ellie in August. :)

Bath time!

Ellie modeling her first pair of sunglasses :) Little diva....

A little water play...


This child LOVES the water!

One afternoon, we headed to a neat park that has some awesome water features!

Unfortunately, I forgot Ellie's suit, but that didn't stop her from cooling off! :)

After leaving early on a Thursday morning, we arrived back home after 8pm on a Monday. Ty and Luke met us at the airport and after a bite to eat, we headed for home. I had missed my boys SO much, but I was so grateful to have had those several days to just enjoy Ellie. We spent lots of time playing, cuddling and just being together! We snuggled together under the covers in bed each morning and I could tell that her little heart was full having mommy's undivided attention! I found myself falling more and more in love with her each day we were away! It was definitely a special trip! :)