Another fabulous party

Sweet sweet magnolias

One of my favorite parts of spring are the magnolias. Our neighbor has a gorgeous tree that my camera has been asking to shoot. They are so elegant and regal. I can just imagine tiny fairies inside of them.

The last thing that caught my attention was how many petals were on the ground! So sad. Spring is so beautiful but so short!

Eatin' grass

I know, these are from yesterday too. But I had to share. I was shooting Isaac and Livi when I noticed that Caleb was being VERY quiet. He had his back to me and I couldn't quite see what he was doing. As I saw his hand reach out I sort of knew what was coming.

I slowly snuck around to see if I could catch him in action. So far, just feeling it.

And thinking about it.

Ah, there it goes. And he hasn't noticed mommy.

Really pushing it in there. BUSTED!

Kinda like seaweed, or spinach, man, it's good!

Saving some for later.

The joy of discovery.

I missed yesterday!

Last night I was having connection trouble with the internet and was unable to blog these! We played outside from 12:40 until 7. It was absolutely gorgeous. Let the housework pile up, bring on the grass stains, I'm gonna play with my kids!

A little walk

My camera felt lonely. After so much use over the weekend I didn't touch it at all yesterday. It was so beautiful and I PLAYED all day long! I wrestled, and rolled in the grass, and painted barefoot. WELCOME SPRING! Tonight I grabbed the camera and headed out to find some flowers. These are in the middle of an old run down putt putt place that isn't open yet. Just close your eyes and breathe deep- they smell great.

Finally, a few shots from the party

This darling 6 year old is a good friend of ours. I couldn't get enough pictures of her- she was cracking me up! She is so full of life! The series below needs a little explanation. I'll caption them.
"Hey have you guys ever seen that show where someone gets cake pushed on their face?"
"Should I put my cake on my face?"

"DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" (Holler 10 6 year olds)

Others soon followed suit!

These are the "High Flyers". They put on a great show! Here is just a sampling of what we saw.

Brown County State Park

I know that I said I would post some party pics, and I will. But I had to post a few shots from Brown County. What a beautiful park! It will be much prettier when it gets green again but even with a lot of brown it was breathtaking! The older two just wanted to run and were not to cooperative with mom's camera. Caleb hasn't quite learned the "no paparazzi" stance. We enjoyed a wonderful warm spring family day. May many more follow!

500+ shots today

I feel like I shot a small wedding! We went to a friend's birthday today and I took A LOT of shots. It was a great party at a local gymnastics place. It even included a group called "High Flyers" that put on a great show. There are so many pictures that I need to go through and pick some favorites. I'll post them tomorrow. So, instead of the party, I'll show you how my day started. Olivia loves her doll house. She and Caleb were playing side by side this morning- it was SO SWEET. It amazes me that he is getting old enough to "play" with his sister!

Friday night means one thing. . .

PIZZA, PIZZA, PIZZA! And family time and usually a movie. I must say that I made a VERY tasty pie tonight. I tried a new dough recipe and threw on some tomatoes, red peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, garlic, and onions. And of course my secret recipe sauce! (By secret recipe I mean that I usually don't remember what I threw in last time and just make stuff up.) Sometimes it goes well. Mmmm.

Penelope

This is my other baby. Penelope has been on my mind a lot lately. We adopted Belly in Chicago shortly after we were married in 2000. She was my first baby. I used to hold her while I cooked! She sleeps under the covers right next to me. Her nickname Belly comes from her wonderful chunky middle. Some days she looks just like Jabba the Hut! She adores Isaac and climbs his ladder to sleep with him. Lately she has been limping with one of her back legs and tonight when she tried to climb Isaac's ladder she fell. It was so sad. I put her up there so they could snuggle a bit. Time that seems to fly so fast anyway goes even faster with animals. She is already at least in her middle ages!

A little pet rock

Feel like a bath?

I did until I saw this!

Yesterday I took a black out day from blogging because we laid to rest Grandpa Sam. The service was very well done and it was nice to see so much family. There were times, like the 21 gun salute, and the look of joy/grief as stories of Sam were told, that I really wanted to have my camera in hand but as a family member I knew that that was the last thing that I needed to be doing. We arrived home around 9:45 last night and I headed up to throw 3 tired kids in the bath. SURPRISE! The wall of my bath was missing! These pictures are from tonight when it is half way fixed. What I saw last night was a gaping whole complete with very wet squishy wood and soaked insulation. To get to our shower downstairs you had to wade through the flood water. Just what I needed to come home to! We had loose tiles and when our landlord started to investigate the problem just kept getting worse. Again, praise God we're renting! When is our move out date?! Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be back to normal photos.