Weekend wrap-up and why I love my camera

As we unpacked our stuff from the van when we arrived in Dallas last weekend, I found that somewhere along the way my camera's power got turned on. I had no way of knowing how long it had been that way.

But the next day when we went to the marina to take Luke's three year birthday photos and I took this,



and this,


and then the camera died completely and I was able to deduce that it had probably been on for the majority of our drive the day before.

I was so bummed. What terrible timing. My mom had her cute little camera in her purse and was kind enough to let me use it.

I realized how very spoiled I am. Mom's camera is very nice and actually takes really good pictures. But I am so used to the quick firing shutter and the easy zooming. It was a struggle to get anything.

I have learned by experience that I need to take A LOT of pictures just to even get a few that are really good. And it's easy to take A LOT of pictures at 3.5 per second. It is not easy to take A LOT of pictures of a boy that moves like lightening with a camera that clicks a pic when he's already out of the frame.

The pictures are still on Mom's camera so I don't even know what I got. I don't know if the opportunity will present itself to re-do the photo shoot. I guess the pictures will tell. Or at least help me decide whether to make an opportunity.

We made Luke a dump truck cake. It reminded me of the movie Clueless when they refer to a girl as a "Monet". From far away it's ok, but up close it's a big old mess.

Same as our cake.




He liked it though. And I nearly caught his "hide-a-smile" with my newly charged camera.


Whenever he's embarrassed or wants to stay unattached for whatever reason, but he really is feeling happy, he opens his mouth wide and covers his teeth with his lips to hide his smile.

The presence of the missionaries as dinner guests and Happy Birthday singers was making him a little shy.

For his birthday Luke got a zhu zhu pet, book, and shirt from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don, a watch from Ava, a race track from Dan and I, and a T-ball set from Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Max. He was pleased with everything!

Of course we ended our weekend with fireworks.



The boys stayed home and watched from the balcony, while us girls took to the road so we could get a closer view.


We didn't make it quite as close as last year but we enjoyed them just the same!

A Walk to Remember

We recently returned from a fun filled 4th of July weekend in Dallas. The remnants of the tropical storm brought us some rain but we didn't let it spoil our time.




It started out like this,

Grandpa and Ava on the balcony watching the rain fall.



I'm not sure what was said but before we knew it Grandpa had a kid on each arm and was leading them through the rain to the flooded golf course.




First there was caution.




Then there was running.



Which quickly led to jumping, chasing, and laughing,





splashing, sliding and rolling.




Once they were soaked, they played with abandon.






Meanwhile, Dan and Max were happy to be dry,



Murphy thought they were crazy,



And Luke and Ava had an adventure they will never forget.

Three!

From then




to now,



Luke is still my little sweetheart.





Even if he does suck the juice out of all the oranges before we can sit down for dinner. every. single. time.



He gives out so much love. Hugs and kisses all around. I'm so happy he's mine!



Happy 3rd Birthday, Luke!

Max bustin' a gut

Summer Nothings

Our summer is going fine and I am grateful for that. The days seem to stretch on for more hours than they're supposed to, but I guess that's alright. I find myself caught between wishing they would just hurry on up and wishing they would continue to crawl by. My baby goes to Kindergarten in a matter of months after all! That seems crazy to me.



The idea has been on Ava's mind a lot too. The other day in the car I heard her talking to Max in the sing-songy voice she likes to use to get him to smile. She was saying,

"You-don't-know-what's-gonna-happen-in-Kindergarten! You-don't-know-what's-gonna-happen-in-Kindergarten!"

She says she is really excited and she can't wait, which is good. The only hold-up is, she openly dislikes things related to letters and numbers. I am slowly trying to acclimate her to the idea that there will be some letters and numbers in kindergarten. Like a lot.

We haven't been doing much of anything in particular though we did have the great opportunity last week to go up to my parents for Father's Day weekend and overlap visits with my brother Bret and his family and also with Mimi.



It was a good little trip. Short and sweet but really fun.


Luke finished up with his speech therapy this week. He has progressed amazingly. They re-did the assessments and in most areas he is now right on track. Except for one area which he still falls very much behind, at least by the assessments' standard.

His adaptive score was still really low because Dun, Dun, Dun....he's not potty trained.

I think it's time to start, but I'm a little scared. He wants nothing to do with the toilet. He is totally willing to sit on the potty unless there is the possibility that something might come out. He knows when he's gotta go, but no amount of talking about candy or any other nonsense can convince him. He just yells,

"Don't WANT to!"

My boy turns 3 next week! I've toyed with the idea of telling him for his birthday he gets to wear underwear, but something tells me he won't think that is much of a treat.


Oh well, I reassure myself that he won't go to college in diapers. I'm really not too worried about it. I'm in no rush to get that boy growed up. He is such a delightsome little creature I wouldn't mind him toddling along by my side, just the way he is, for the rest of our lives.

And as a parting thought, yesterday Ava asked me for some peanut butter on a spoon. As I handed over a probably-too-huge helping, she said with wide eyes and a smile on her face,

"That's the spirit, Mom!"

Goodbye Zac Efron...

Weeks and weeks ago, in fact so many weeks it's probably more like months now, Luke was sporting his shaggy hair. Now that I think of it, it had to be months ago because he is already starting to be shaggy again.



But even with his shaggy hair and broken tooth, he is such a cute little thing. His hair was reaching un-chartered lengths.


I started hearing comments daily from random people. Always along the lines of:

"...his cute haircut!"


"...so trendy!"


One lady went as far as,

"... he looks like a young Zac Efron!"

I thought my sister in law would be proud. (Wendy, what do I have to pay you to start blogging again?)


Funny because I hadn't intended/not intended his hair to look in style. Lucky for us I guess, unkempt is really in right now. He didn't have a 'do, he had a "didn't."

And while I appreciated the supportive comments, when Grandma came to town, we shed those long locks. This time he actually cooperated for approximately one minute and thirty seconds before going bananas.


We bid farewell to the shaggy Luke that we knew and loved. The cover of his hair fell to the kitchen floor, revealing underneath, a bolder, fresher, braver Luke than we had ever known before!




And I can now introduce Luke: The Snaggletoothed Backyard Avenger!


Fighting style: Sometimes aggressive, sometimes sneaky!





Weapon of choice: Spray bottle



Best fighting technique: The Scream and Squirt




Favorite food: Frozen waffles


Mission: To defend the innocent from loud lawnmowers, the whole world over.


And spray all the knot holes in the fence along the way.

Sage

I have returned from my Sisterly Visit.


I spent a couple of days soaking in the cuteness, as it was very abundant.


Of course any time spent with my sister is a fun treat and this was no exception.
Time passed quickly, even the 14 hour drive back to Texas via Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

I brought a suitcase full of girl clothes, made girly hair accessories, ate more than my fair share of fresh strawberries, was reminded (though I didn't need it) that I miss nature, large trees, soft grass, and chirping birds, and we had our new baby photo shoot.

Proceed with caution. This baby is cute enough to make your uterus hurt. If you have one, of course.














Dan keeps reminding me, "YOU HAVE A BABY! HIS NAME IS MAX!"

I had such a great time and even though it seemed to fly by, I really feel refreshed as a mom. It was just what I needed.

Dan and the kids did great here at home, which helped me enjoy my time away even more. Our kids not only survived but they all had a pretty fun time with Daddy. Fortunately, the only glitch presented itself on the next to last day, when Ava got the pukes.

But you wouldn't even know it from the upbeat reports I received. The trip was one I will always remember thanks to Leah for birthing the baby and letting me butt into their new little family, thanks to my mom for letting me hitch a ride home, and lots of thanks to my Dan who takes really great care of me and our little chicks. Really, all I've got to say is that Dan is a rockstar and I'm just feeling lucky to have front row seats.