Looking for their next adventure, cousins Riley and Hogan.

Hogan caught one in the net.

Aunt Pat throwing the shrimp net.

Riley...hoping for another.

Pappaw.

Sarah. I love the colors in this one....looks like she has no legs. lol

The Catch Of The Day

Riley's big catch of the day.
The hook, cousin Ben with the scoop....and Riley with the prize!
He's not a bit proud...can't you tell?

Click on the storyboard above to see a larger version.

SWEETNESS

I love these little bent-down ears when he wears his hat.

Ahhh...sweetness. Love these smiling eyes.

A pull-back shot of Leland waiting for the parade to make it to our roadside spot.

QUICK snapshots of Tori.

This is one busy little girl. Not sure why the color looks so whacked on here. Not great shots to begin with, but the color does look better in photoshop for some reason.

July 2009-Trip to Dairy Queen

This first photo never fails to make me smile. I told him to "smile", and this is what I got.

Ho-Ho-Hopeless!

LOL. That's what I am: Hopeless! A hopeless procrastinator! I just did the annual Christmas card photo shoot this morning! I created the card and did a test print at the 1-hour photo, and I LOVE how it turned out! We went with a whimsical theme this year, and I'm so happy with how they turned out! Riley was super cooperative (what's up with that?!) and we were done in no time! Here is a photo from the quick, throw-it-together-and-get-it-over-with Christmas card photo shoot this morning. This is NOT the photo that's going on my card.

Soulful eyes...and dirty face!

Leland again. Mom and I kept him on Wednesday, and he wanted to play with my camera. After I snapped this picture, I turned the camera around to show it to him on the LCD screen and he laughed out loud. Kind of hard to believe after seeing this expression isn't it?! He'd just eaten a fig newton, and the evidence is all over his face. Look at those eyes, though! Messy face. Distracting background. BUT tack-sharp eyes....ahh, I love it!

ICY you.

Wintertime is comin'! Riley found this big piece of ice outside the other afternoon, and he thought it was the coolest thing. He brought it inside because he wanted to keep it. huh?! I don't think so! I swear if it would have fit in his pocket he'd have tried to keep it! He thinks I have to see every single piece he finds. My poor southern boy! He wouldn't know what to do with himself if we ever got snow! (actually he has seen snow twice, and he enjoyed every minute of it!)

SINK BATH

Leland took a sink bath at our house after his daddy let him stomp through some puddles in the driveway. He didn't want to get out! Love that last one with his foot sticking out of the sink.

He's a BIG boy now!

Well, I knew the day was coming sooner or later, and it arrived this past Thursday. There was no more putting it off. Leland was in dire need of his first haircut. He looks like such a big boy now. It's kind of sad really. He does look better, but I miss those baby locks! This child truly has my heart. He is such a little sweetheart!

The Youngest of Our Clan...

is baby Tori, and what a cutie she is. I believe she's gonna be a hard one to contain once she's mobile. Her little legs go all the time! Mom and I have been keeping her some this week, and I snapped a couple of pics of her while she was over with Bill today.

Monster Truck Nationals

Ogulthorpe Speedway, Saturday, 27, 2008.

Shanon and I took the boys to the Monster Truck Nationals last Saturday night. I shared these on Facebook, but thought I would share them here as well.

Nature boy

This is Hayden's latest "friend". Now, Riley likes to find and catch frogs and lizards as much as the next 6 y/o boy, but Hayden has taken the "sport" to a whole new level. He's even a little obsessed with it! I took a picture for him this morning. Here it is:

HEEBIE JEEBIES

This kind of stuff just makes my skin crawl. This spider has made herself at home right outside of one of our living room windows. She isn't very cooperative either. I would like for her to crawl over onto the other side of her web so that I could get better pictures. As it is, I can't get her colors to really show up unless I shoot through the living room window...which doesn't make for a sharp photo....not to mention the more distracting/brighter background. Icky old spider!

From the other side (shooting through the living room window).

My sweet nephew

turned ONE on Saturday! Just a few photos of him enjoying his first birthday cake. What a sweetheart! Happy Birthday, sweet Leland! Aunt Aim loves you!

Mmmmmmm!

FIRST GRADE...HERE HE COMES!

Riley is officially a first grader! Today was his first day back at school, and he was ready for it. He'd never have admitted it, but the fact that he was ready to go as soon as his uniform was on was testament enough! He reportedly had a good day. He met up with Riley and Noah on the playground and played some basketball. We're praying for a good year. It's going to be alot different than kindergarten, but with a little luck and a lot of prayer I'm sure we'll come through it without any lasting scars.

The house was blessedly silent without any Sponge Bob Squarepants for background noise today....at least until 2:30! Ahhhh......

Victory!

It is very hard for me to teach my child anything. Why? Because he has about as much patience as........I DO! It is inevitable that we will butt heads along the way. Consequently, he has been in velcro shoes because I've been unable to teach him to tie his own shoes! Well, he picked out a pair of tie shoes at the beginning of summer, and I thought it would be a great time to try again. It was a NO GO, and we hadn't tried again since! Today, FINALLY, victory was achieved (in about 10 minutes)!!!

FREE!

If you come while mom isn't home, I have a pair of love birds that are free to a good home. Heck, any home will do....but it's best if you're hard of hearing!

Hee Haw

These photos of Riley in the corn field remind me of the show "Hee Haw". We only had a few minutes to snap a few pics before the rain came. It was thundering and lightening while we were out there, and we were next to a good sized tree....so we didn't tarry!