egg dyeing

all set and ready to go. picking the perfect color for each egg.

telling me which color belongs to which friend.

physics lesson:
small bouncy balls do have the power to knock an egg off the counter top when thrown from across the room.
and it will crack upon hitting the tile.

rainbow happiness!

some eggs got names,
others the rubber band treatment,
and others made their own designs.

resting

after a very full and very well spent day yesterday.


i've been slacking here on the blog.
and in my picture taking too.
somewhere my mind and my heart got caught up in taking "perfect" pictures.
who know the kind that you blow up, hang on the wall, and cherish for years.
but really, aren't the perfect pictures the ones that capture those special and not so special moments?
the moments we want to saviour and the things we want to remember always?
no matter how important or insignificant?

but yesterday, i realized how much i missed my camera.
(it didn't help that i forgot it once again.)
there were so many moments that i could have captured that would have told a story of our day,
no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.
that's why i started this blog after all:
to document our days.

so my goal is to get better about capturing those moments and sharing them here.
because lets face it, i am no professional.
my pictures will not always be perfect, if ever.
(see the above for a sample.)
yeah, from time to time a picture may be blurry,
but rest assured it will be telling a story.
after all they are MY pictures, MY moments, and MY memories.
the things I want to remember forever.

sure there will be times when i am "resting" from the blog.
but right now, i seem to have found some inspiration from the ordinary, day-to-day stuff.
plus, we have been partying it up around here, birthday style.
and i wouldn't dream of missing those milestones either!

august and the iphone

my boy loves taking pictures with my phone.
it's fun to see things from his view.
relaxing in the hammock on a beautiful spring day.tons of these while mama pumped gas. and last night lots of blurry blaze pictures.
i think he missed her after our weekend away.
we celebrated a special little girl's 5th birthday,
and i can't wait to go through all of my pictures from her survivor party.

running and fame

friday night 5k in ap.
let me just say that spring was not in the air.
hot was in the air.
before the race.

at the finish line.
thanks to the paper we have a photo finish.
too bad it wasn't for 1st place, but we still did a great job!
hopefully this great shot won't be my only claim to local newspaper fame!!
(can't get the pics to my normal size...probably a good thing!)

cracker trail hoedown

there were slides, cute babies,

train rides,

roping calves,

or yourself,

putt-putt,

bowling,

a cake walk,

sand art,

snow cones, bounce houses,

new kinds of clogging music,

and a good time for all!

84

my granddaddy turned 84 this week.
we celebrated with a family dinner, cake, and ice cream. somebody put gin's ball in there,
and she was bound and determined to get it out.

a very convincing king of the table with his hands on his hips.

the boys chowing down.

granddaddy got an important birthday phone call from mr. davis.
who then told mom a supermodel joke.

i know where my uncle keith gets it from!

candle time.

the boys let granddaddy blow out the candles first.

then they had their turn.

august saying, "please, can we help open?"

digging into all the presents.

august saw the bell on the bealls box,

and starting shouting, "taco bell! taco bell!"

funny guy.

happy birthday granddaddy!

love you!

races 2011

another year of the races and another year of fun!
not one, but two "little" miss 12 hours were on hand! hot and tired boys taking a break.

then back at it for some trailer jumping.

cheetos time!!

watching the band.

and brooker joined the band with his own performances.

i see a singing career in his future!

us girls.

love the nole hanging over bonny's head.

it's trying to tell you something, bonny!

kinleigh and her "cousin" brooker.

you see, kinleigh seems to think that brooker is a cousin.

most times when they come down to visit,

brooker and family join us for our adventures.

and we are so thankful to have them as extended family!

on saturday, we all headed out for more fun, sun,

and dirt.

some very tired, hard core race fans!

photo credits to bonny.

see years past here, here, here, and here.

golf cart riding

bonny and jared swung by the other day,
and invited auggie for a golf card ride.
we were trying to get some real smiles.but they were intent on being silly.

the boys adoring miss mary kate.

and mary kate making quite the face herself!

turning 80

my grandmother jahna turned 80 just over a week ago.
just as beautiful in her younger years as she is now.
a photo collage throughout the years.

almost the whole crew was able to gather and celebrate with dinner and dancing.

the birthday girl with the oldest half of 8.

and with the youngest half.

trying to get all 8 children with their spouses.

tough group to tame.

august got flipped and turned throughout the night and loved it!

backup singers showing off some moves.

paiger looking sweet as always.

getting on video some funny moments i'm sure.

granddaddy would be proud of him for having out the video camera!

more flipping and tickling.

the backup singers gained another,

and did a good job with margaritaville.

(note: salt shaker!)

ray charles impersonations

jules and her love.

1/2 the twins

grandchildren and great-grandchildren

almost the whole gang

love this family so much.
thank you grandmother and granddaddy for such a beautiful family.
happy birthday grandmother!!