Cousins

I was catching up with some editing and came across these gems! Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Snaps: Something Sweet

The kids have been saying some of the sweetest and funniest things lately!

Maggie one night about a week ago: "I think Savannah is going to be at Kaitlyn's birthday party because they are best friends. I don't have a best friend. I wonder who my best friend is? Maybe it's that girl I met once at the park named Audrey. Maybe she's going to be my best friend."

(It surprised me that she didn't name a handful of girls off as her best friends because this girl has many girls she absolutely loves...)

Maggie this afternoon: "Mom!! I know who my best friend is! It's Magson!"

Magson about ten times a day in his best teasing voice: "I'm growing up, Mom! Hey Mom, I'm growing up!"

Maggie when I checked in on her the other night at bedtime: "I can't honk out, Mom. I keep trying to honk out, but I can't honk out."

Maggie to Baby Magnolia who snuck into Grandma's pantry on Sunday: "Girlfriend, you are making all kinds of messes!"

Magson just now in my bed (he's supposed to be in his bed sleeping): "Hey Mom, maybe you could sleep in Maggie's bed tonight, and Daddy could sleep in my bed tonight...that is a great idea."

(I guess his queen bed isn't big enough for all the growing up he's doing...he wants to cast us out and take over our king-sized bed.)

Magson a few minutes later: "I just love you, Mom."

All of the above melts. my. heart.

Anyway, above are some pictures I took of the kids mostly on Sunday. Magson really does look huge in that sleeping picture--he's like the length of the couch! Waaaah. The girls and I were matching, so I hopped in some too. Man, I love my little ones, and while I'm talking mushy, I can't tell you how much I love Will. He is always so willing to take pictures so I can be in some too, and whenever I ask him to help me watch the kids while I take pictures, he drops everything he's doing (even a really good book) and says something like, "You bet." I love that he loves me taking pictures. It's the sweetest thing. :)

Birthday Girl!

I think one-year-old babies are so fun, and I sure enjoyed this lovely/beautiful/sweet family! One of my favorite moments was when this little doll baby would snuggle up to her dad for no reason--so adorable! That third to last picture just gave me the warmest and happiest feeling as I edited it because it was such a genuine moment. Loved that. :)

Anyway, I hope you guys love your peek!

Snaps: Happy Sad/Sad Happy

Whoa! My life has suddenly stepped on the gas. I definitely have some catching up to do in just about every area of my life, leaving me extra scatterbrained. But somewhere in this jumbled brain, I've been categorizing some of the happies and sads around here.

Happy: Our neighbors spontaneously came over with lots of delicious guacamole the other night. I devoured more than my fair share as we played games. So fun and so yum!

Sad: I bought overpriced avocados the very next day because we loooove guacamole at our house, and I wanted to try out my neighbor's recipe since all I ever do to guac is add chile powder and garlic salt. One of the ingredients to her recipe was green chiles. So, after I smashed a fortune's worth of avacados, I grabbed green chiles out of our cupboard. I opened the can and thought to myself...

These chiles are one yucky shade of green...

I brought them to my nose.

These don't smell like green chiles...

I inspected them further.

These don't look like green chiles.

But whatever. I dumped them in, thought about those above thoughts one more time and concluded that I just hadn't seen, smelled or eaten green chiles in awhile--apparently I'd simply forgotten what canned chiles are like.

So, I mixed them in good.

And then it occurred to me that perhaps they were bad green chiles. I went to the trash to retrieve the can, and sure enough I saw "Best Used By August 2007" laughing at me in the face. What a depressing waste. We were all salivating at the thought of guac on our fajitas that night, too.

Happy: After a guacomole-less dinner, we had a spontaneous family movie night and watched "Bolt." I shed a few tears and almost wanted a dog after watching this animated/pretend movie. *Almost. Oh, and the baby sat on my lap for almost the entire thing! Extra cuddles, yes please!

Sad: After the movie I went to the kitchen and found water all over the floor and bubbles climbing the cupboards, threatening to drown our kitchen. Somebody put dish soap in the dishwasher. (Me.) Oops.

Happy: The kids loved playing in the bubbles and actually cleaned it all up with the help of the sweetest husband on earth. Aside from laundering a mountain of towels the next day, I didn't have to lift a finger.

Sad: Will got a speeding ticket on our way home from our dinner date on Friday night because I had him so wrapped up in conversation that he stopped paying attention to how fast he was driving. Shame on me, and goodbye dear sweet $150, you will be sorely missed.

Happy: When the kids didn't respond to me after calling and calling them for dinner (happy part coming), it finally occurred to me to look out front. I stepped out the door and eventually spotted them sitting on our street corner talking to their friends who were sitting on their opposite street corner. It was the cutest thing ever and somehow made me feel like we were living in a different era. Barefoot kids trying to be as near to their friends as they can on a summer evening without their parents knowing is just adorably priceless, I think.

Just Because

As much as I am in love with my now--baby/toddler/preschool-aged little family, and as often as I give my munchkins a hard time about growing up, being around this family made me really look forward to the school-aged days! They were all so classy, loving and very fun! I loved how when we'd walk to a new spot, the girls would catch up to their mom and put an arm around her-- just because. I hope my girls love me as much when they're teenagers. And my goodness, these parents are so in love! I definitely went home from this session wanting to be a better wife and mother, so thank you for that!

I hope you enjoy your little peek; there are lots more coming!

Snaps: I Slept Until 10:30AM!

This evening, as Will and I were packing up to go home from his parent's lake house, we looked at each other and had to agree that it was the perfect day--a perfect weekend, really. We had so much fun at the lake on Saturday, that after church on Sunday we got our things together to head back out again.

(The kids dressed up for church)

Can you blame us? This place is absolutely breathtaking. I go there and everything seems right in the world.


Straight away we made s'mores. Maggie is getting quite into it lately!


Yum!


Of course, we watched the fireworks that go off every 4th of July out on the lake. I didn't get any pictures of the show because I was too busy snuggling up to Magson. Both he and Maggie fell asleep in our arms before the show even started, but I definitely didn't mind gazing at their eyelids and kissing their foreheads a million times.

But here is a picture of the aftershow. Every year Will's parent's floating dock is used as a launching pad for the fireworks. Below is the aftermath. I've never seen firework canister things up close before. I thought they were pretty cool lookin'.


I still can't get over this, but Magnolia slept in until 10:30am the next morning! This means that I slept in until 10:30am! She just barely started sleeping all night long, so I was flabbergasted! I'm pretty sure that the extra shut eye helped me enjoy this weekend even more!


All the kids spent some time in the pool, Maggie especially. She can now swim the length of the little lap pool! We are so proud.


Here are Grandpa Billy and Grandma Rise with the kids. I have the best, best inlaws ever. I'm serious. I don't know how I got so lucky.


A family shot in front of the "fireworks":


Afterwards, the kids got ice cream cones for being so cooperative...

Oh, and I wanted to mention Maggie's bonnet. Will's aunt made it! I think it is so cute. If you're interested in buying one, I can get you her info. She's an amazing seamstress.


Actually, we all got icecream cones for being cooperative. :)


Really. This was the best weekend ever. I loved every second, and I'm so thankful to be living in this grand land! Happy 4th of July!

See more of me looking like a human firework over at Notes She Wrote. :)