The many faces of LB

My posts tonight are on the heels of cutting for a stamp camp and so they are totally random!

I was going through photos from our trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly Marine World) and this series of photos caught my eye. L and I were going to ride on the swings and I was so excited to sit in front of her and take photos until the ride operator came by and squashed those hopes...fortunately I had taken these prior to giving up my camera. L celebrated her 7th birthday on July 29th and it seems like just yesterday I was holding a newborn baby girl. She is such a sweetie!

These photos capture different expressions and I love every one of them. They are so Miss L!

Of course I am biased but she is as sweet on the inside as on the outside and it is that that I am most proud of!

A Harvest of Our Own

My sister (chapter2lifetogether.blogspot.com) posted photos of carrots and tomatoes from her garden and it inspired me to get busy and post our own little garden story. We bought our house 3 years ago in May and the previous owners were French Nationals. As part of their CA experience they planted 2 varieties of grapes on the side of the house and numerous palm trees. As CA natives we promptly gave away those palm trees knowing how quickly they grow and what a pain they are to remove when they get big and worked on killing the grapes as we were not interested in the upkeep that was involved with them. That said, they are on the side of the house and it is an area off limits to our kids and while not off limits to us it is infrequently visited. Last weekend my sisters and their families (minus one brother in law and niece) were at our house and we discovered grapes on the side of the house...a true surprise. T brought in a bunch and our kids promptly ate them. He told me that we did not have anymore. My niece D (shown below) inquired about the location of the grapes and I went and showed the messy side yard to her. She and I looked and discovered lots and lots of grapes. It was exciting! For the rest of the afternoon all of the kids were eating these tiny red seedless grapes.

They were so sweet and tasty!

D and her harvest!
Nothing better than homegrown, ripe fruit!

So, rather than try and kill them we are now watering them, will be building trellises for them...whoever knew that we could have a vineyard in our backyard?

The last 3 weeks have been a blur (well, maybe the last 3 months or more) and I have so many fun photos of our kids with their cousins that will be appearing soon! Keep watching!

100 pounds plus on Daddy's shoulders.

Yep! 100 or more pounds on daddy's shoulders! The kids sure did like this. I caught the entire sequence with the camera and it is fun to see! L and A are all smiles...not sure about daddy.

Daddy Time and More Missing Teeth

L is a toothless wonder...check her out!

Daddy is so lucky to get so much attention. We have photos of him with his niece and nephews on his back right after we got married. Almost 10 years later it is our kids on his back.
Love that smile!

My goal is to update on a regular basis...not always so easy but tax time is over and hopefully there will be a few free moments here and there for computer time (that is when the kids are not monopolizing it........)

Easter 2008 - Post # 2

Look! Taken shortly after the photos in the previous post...L lost her top front tooth while eating Easter lunch. We always do a change of clothes before going to my aunt's house because she has a hilly and fun yard and the kids love to climb and slide..I LOVE this photo of her! What do you think?

Easter 2008

Better late than never! T was on a business trip and did not home until Easter afternoon so my mom and I had fun taking these photos of the kids....read on!

L with her Easter Bucket in the backyard..love those braids and that smile!
L with her new webkins duck!
My sweetie
Hambone A dishing it out!
How sweet! These two really do love one another.
Let me call you sweetheart. :)
Say cheese!
L's tooth was super loose and she had a great time playing with it...check her out! My mom and I were busting up with laughter because of her silliness...A was totally oblivious to it!
"Let me go"...I LOVE this photo..my little guy at his finest.


Happy Easter!

A Birthday Party for Teddy

On Saturday L dumped out her toy basket filled with stuffed toys and found the teddy bear that my mom bought and made with her when we visited the Boyd's Bear Headquarters in Gettysburg, PA over 2 years ago. She played with it all day on Saturday and made a bed for it in a plastic shoe box with blankets and put it in her bed and slept with it all night. On Sunday morning she woke up and announced that today was Teddy's birthday. So...what are we going to do? Have a birthday party of course. We made a cake, A got his special teddy and we sang to him too. We did not get many photos and this is the only one that is worthy of posting. Happy Birthday Teddies!

A New Family Portrait

WOW! I am speechless. We have a budding artist in our house and he drew a brand new family portrait finely created in black Sharpie marker. Oh, his artwork also made it to his hands. Guess that I should be upset but I am still giggling. Nothing that a little paint can't remedy and that room is one that is on the agenda for this year anyway...

From left: Mommy (the circle in the circle), Daddy, A and L
I don't know what that is on my hand
Hmmmm?
HMMMMMM....
By, the way I went under the dining room table and did this too!
How do you like it?

In other news, we have been sick for quite awhile and need prayer. Specifically for me this time. I have developed asthma and had a horrible attack that I am still recovering from. All of the medications have left my body a mess. Please pray for a full recovery.
Thanks! K