jonathan canlas!

One of my favorite photographers on my little blogstalking list has just launched a HUGE fundraiser! My heart skipped a beat when I saw his blog. Actually...it still isn't beating quite right. Generosity. Jonathan Canlas is amazingly talented. Really, really amazing. Please consider him for family pictures in the month of September and help with THIS cause. Please, please.

my morning...

A morning on the floor...with this...

and this.

Could my life be any sweeter today?

Happy Birthday Kristin! I love you and am so glad you are my friend. So, so glad. :)

my recent thoughts...

I'm a bit overwhelmed the past few days by everything the Nielson family is going through. I don't know Stephanie or Christian personally, yet my heart aches as if I do. Each morning I head straight to the computer to get an update. If you haven't heard or read somewhere else, NieNie and her husband were in an airplane crash in AZ on August 16th. They are now in drug induced coma's being treated for 3rd degree burns, Stephanie's being the worst with over 80% of her body burned. The pilot Greg Kinneard did not survive the crash. My heart hurts for him to. It actually hurts. How is this possible when I have never met any of them?

I'll tell you...after spending huge amounts of time reading her blog and other blogs created by people who know and love her, I am touched. Moved actually. Crying for people I have never met and probably never will. She has 4 beautiful children. Just a beautiful, beautiful family. You can tell she adores her husband and her kids. Not just by what she says, but how she looks in the pictures when she is with them. You KNOW they feel it too. She isn't afraid to shout out what she believes in. She is gorgeous. I'm not even sure that it's the shiny dark hair, the perfect high cheekbones, the freckles. It's something more. You see it every once in awhile in people. She absolutely radiates. I want to know her, and somehow emulate her.

Earlier today, as I was trying to get the older 3 out the door to school, I lost it with Alex. I barked at him...several times. He tried to hide that he was crying, by running to his room, but I saw it. I saw it and instantly regretted what I had done. What I had said. There is no time for stuff like this. There really isn't. My children and my husband need to KNOW how I love them. There should never be any reason to doubt. There just isn't time.

Several blogs are doing auctions today in hopes of raising money for this sweet family. Check some of the stuff out. Help where you can. Click HERE, and HERE for starts. Thanks. <3>

*Blue Lily Photography

there's a new girl in town...

As I'm typing, I'm singing that song from Hairspray in my head. If you don't have the soundtrack...you ought to go buy it right away. Anyway...we got Molly's new baby in the mail yesterday. She thinks the mailman bought it for her, but Daddy did. She has had baby #1 since she was born. I can't really remember when she became attached...somewhere in that first year...and has had BABY with her every night since. We've had a few scares where we thought we may have lost her. Lots of tears when Baby has to go into the wash (which is where she is right now...and YES...she stays gray). Molly loves to hook her finger through the loop at the top of Baby's head. She now has several holes, and we just didn't know what to do. Thanks heavens for EBAY where one man's trash can become anothers treasure. Granted, we spent triple what the bear was worth in the first place, but look how cute she is. I had forgotten what she really looked like.

Her face when I opened the box and showed her what was inside...it was priceless. I actually got a little teary and called Dave right away. She was SO happy...so I was happy too.

After her nap, she told me she didn't want old Baby anymore. :( She actually tried to slip her in the trash a little later, until Dave helped her realize her good fortune of having 2!

swimming...

I love our community pool! I really do. We spent an awful lot of time there this summer. In the past, we'd do swimming lessons, but the thought of me going there alone with 4 kids made me more than slightly anxious...so I didn't do it. I'd go with friends once in a blue moon, but to be really honest, it was stressful. Too stressful to be enjoyable. I wanted to talk to my friends, but couldn't keep track of my only decent swimming children. This year I tried it a lot more often. Alone. And this time with 5 kids (my niece included). We had such a great time. The kids were in heaven...and I actually felt like I could relax a bit. I have to keep a close watch on Molly, but as long as I know my bigger 3 are in the same pool as me, I'm fine. Alex and Lizzy actually did the waterslides alone. Can you believe this is still me talking? Amy? The stresscase? I really enjoyed it. We may even get season passes next year. GO SCHOFIELDS!

WATERSLIDES! YEEHAH!

home sick...and it's only the 3rd day...

Poor Emily. She gets sick alot. By sick, I mean that she is nauseated and vomiting for the day, then fine by the evening. I remember Alex doing this alot when he was little too. She's so sad. Noone likes to throw up. She spends alot of time on my bed, a few inches from the trash can. What's the one thing she keeps asking for? Not candy, popsicles, movies, stuffed animals. She wants to cuddle. She wants me to lay down next to her on the bed and scratch her back. She wants that alot anyway, but when she's sick, that's ALL she wants. I remember when I was little, not feeling well, and just needing to feel my mom's hands on my back or rubbing my tummy. Something very healing. Emily loves her mom. That makes me so happy. Her requests should serve as a reminder to me that I need to slow things down, be present with my kids. Not just home with them all day, but WITH them. Not on the computer...like I am right now. Gotta go! :)

the reasons behind my smile...

I am quite happy today. Not that I haven't been recently. I'm generally a pretty happy person, but today...today just felt a little different...and it's only halfway over. :)

My little doll. The twins went back to school yesterday. We miss them. I'll tell you what though...Molly has been talking. Non-stop. She no longer has to compete for my attention. She has me all to herself. All day. And I have her. I can already see a tiny change in attitude. In just 2 days. She said to Daddy today...I say no, no, NO to my Mommy. We had a little discussion about it. At least she can acknowledge her faults. :) She is really into saying THANK-YOU. She will ask me questions incessantly, and every time I say YES, she says thank you...in the teeniest, most delicious little voice.

These are peaches I picked a few minutes ago. They came from our very own tree. It's hard for me to believe we got such amazing fruit without having to go anywhere. These things are great! The birds think so too...and my neighbors. :) I could have filled this basket 10 times with all that we got! They are so sweet and SO juicy...just not free-stone. Oh well, that's life.

Dave and I ate at Magleby's today. I had a gift card that he gave me for my birthday...and it was hollering at me. I love everything about the place...namely their breadsticks and this cake. My good friends, the Bouchards, bring me some of the rolls quite often after they go there. They've got inside connections. :) The cake...oh my gosh...I don't even know what to say. Homemade...daily. Melts in your mouth. Perfect mix of chocolate and vanilla. Heavy, dense, moist. I've gotta go take a bite...Bought a small sheet cake (about 7x9 inches). It's in the fridge getting even more dense. I will eat it. All by myself. Happy late birthday to me. :)

The next Bachelor. JASON. I actually teared up when I heard this today. Michelle called me as soon as her friend Megan called her. She knew the joy I would feel...and dang, was she right? Yippe-yi-yay! Do I seriously have to wait until January?

The icing on the cake. My great friend Brittany is coming in town this weekend. Yeehah!

us...

I feel so happy that there are finally some decent pictures of the 2 of us. I am beyond obsessed with getting pictures of these great kids of mine, but seem to neglect us. Laura took these Monday night after our first full day at the beach. The house was amazing...right on the bay...huge decks. Had I known we were going to have a tiny little photoshoot, I would have insisted on another shirt for him, but I don't really care. I love them anyway. Dave may be the greatest man that I know. A few words that come to mind when I think of him...funny, smart, handsome, dedicated, hard-working, kind, gentle, pleasant. He is always pleasant. Even when he is frustrated, sick, exhausted. I feel really safe when he is around...in every way.

NO...

I've mentioned to some of you that we seem to be having a teensy bit of trouble with our darling 2 year old since we got back from vacation. Her naps are a nightmare. In DE, she slept on the floor...for 2 weeks. Whenever we needed her to go down, one of us (I'll be honest...it was usually Dave) had to lay down with her. Now, she wants the same thing. Every day. She was so easy at naptime earlier in the summer. Lay her down with a book, she talk to herself and sings for a few minutes, she's out. Oh well, I should take full advantage of her allowing us to cuddle.

She also really enjoys saying NO. I take that back...shouting it. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense, she just yells it. No reason...aside from maybe liking the way it sounds. Last night she woke up twice before Dave and I went to bed. She woke up twice yelling NO. Eyes closed, laying down on her pillow, yelling NO. We have a serious problem here. In her sleep? Help.

worth it?...totally.

I'll tell you what...getting everyone ready for the beach every morning is rough. We even had Christy helping us, and it was still hard. Swimsuits on, sunscreen slathered, snacks packed, strollers loaded, chairs hanging from every limb on your body, trekking 10 minutes to the sand dunes, then UP and DOWN the dunes, pick your spot, hurry though...your feet will burn...relax. It is so exhausting. SO worth it though. Each morning I would think...uugh...I can't do this today, but I did, we got there. As soon as you spread out your towel and stick your feet in the ocean, your cares are gone. I think that is how a lot of things are in our lives...especially with kids. SO MUCH effort. I always try to convince myself that it's not worth it...the stress, sweat, headache...but it is. It always is.

Forgive the size of these next 2 posts. I totally understand if you don't want to spend the next 30 minutes flipping through my vacation pictures. It's OK. But I really wanted to do it. I needed to. So I can remember everything. Since I already introduced you to everyone a few posts back...I'll spare you a million captions. I'll only talk when I have to. Sound good?

I do have an awful lot of pictures of Molly...her 1st REAL beach experience though. We can let it slide, right?

We had GOBS of beach toys. GOBS. But you know what they wanted? Shovels. Big shovels to dig big holes.

Our first 3 days were like this. So much mist and humidity you felt like you were in the middle of a cloud. I wouldn't have changed it though. Hot, but not NEAR what it could have been.

I have a lot of these far away shots. I realize they aren't portrait quality, but they are my memories. This is what I would see all day long. These details are the kind I don't want to forget.

Lizzy was so jealous of Alex and Annie out in the water with my niece and my brother. She just stood there (a bit pitiful...but CUTE pitiful) until Joe finally came and got her. Where was her Mom, you ask? Being lazy in a beach chair a few feet away. Really though, I had been in all day...I needed a rest. :)

I have a lot more where these came from! Can you believe it? I know, I am ridiculous. I had such a great time. I felt like the only way to make this experience last longer was with pictures. If I saw something I wanted to remember...click, click, click.

and still worth it...:)

THE END!