Vacation Bible School

Last summer I was cranking out posts at least every other day. I was editing photos almost daily and out and about shuffling between the pool, the museum and dozens of playdates. Fast forward a year later and after anywhere from 3-11 bathroom trips during the middle of the night, I'm ready for a nap after breakfast.

So needless to say, my posts are WAY behind but I was hoping the first paragraph might get me a few sympathy votes. Vacation Bible School was actually the very first week of summer. I have thrown all chronology out the window when it comes to this blog.

This year our VBS theme had to do with being good stewards of God's Earth. Justin played the guitar throughout the week and our VBS is for ages 3 and up. At the time Campbell was only 2 but about to turn 3 so they allowed him to come.



He put up a good act when he "caught a bubble" and made a duck tail down the hall that he was going to be good but the little stinker was a handful the first day but improved throughout the week.

 

Anytime there's an arts and crafts activity, I know Nolan's all in. Believe it or not, but Campbell actually was interested more than 2 seconds too!

 

The kids got to try a variety of fruits and vegetables from Farmer's Markets. Most they liked. Others...not so much.

They also painted ladybug houses.

This picture of Campbell with the red paint on his face reminds me of Tears of a Clown. Thank goodness for aprons and washable paint!

Later they released lady bugs in our community garden. Notice my boys, a step back from the ladybugs. Because you know ladybugs are so scary and mean and all. 

They would rather watch from a distance.

A nursery across the street donated trees to every kid. Shhh, ours is still in the bucket. Picking up a shovel in 105 degree heat 7 months pregnant isn't exactly up there on my priority list. 

The boys got to also help plants some trees at church. Getting their hands dirty didn't seem to be an issue with them at all. 

Maybe once we finally get a break, we can put our tree in the ground and I can use them as child labor. 

 

Until then, we'll just have to keep watering our tree everyday so it won't die! 

Roller Derby Party

My title to this post makes me laugh...because there was absolutely nothing "derby" about this rollerskating party. Our friends, Gabe and Andrea, had their daughter's 6th birthday party at a rollerskating rink. Let it be known that I haven't stepped foot in one of those places since middle school.

There are certain memories that are ingrained in my brain from those days. The smell of the rink, how the skates felt like they weighed 20 lbs. each and even the yearning feeling wishing I could be one of those super cool girls that could skate backyards to roller dance with their crush. I even remember that feeling of stepping on the carpet after skating for what seemed like hours and feeling like how forgot how to walk.

 

I love all things that look like they're made doll-like and toddler rollerskates are no exception. Seriously, I want a pair of these for him to keep, not all the bumps and bruises that go with them....just the skates.

 

 The process of getting shoes laced was only about 10 minutes long per child it seemed. 

Getting to the rink was even more of a feat and Nolan quickly learned that this rollerskating stuff was not nearly as easy as it looked.

With my lovely lady bump, skating was not in the cards for me although I wanted too so badly but there is not doubt that I would have fallen and busted my rump.  So that meant double duty for Justin....poor guy. After one round with Nolan and a round with Campbell that took 10 minutes each, we went straight to the counter and bought a walker. Worth.every.last.penny. Where were these things when I was learning to skate?



And while Justin would take one for a loop, the other would keep me company. And after many-a-toe-smooshings,  sitting was the best option.

 
We learned really quickly carpet was safe (mostly), using a walker, and sometimes just getting hauled like a sack of potatoes was the quickest mode of transportation with the least amount of injuries.

 
Pretty soon, all the moms and dads were really digging the walkers....so were all of our backs and sore muscles.

 
Of course Nolan now wants a roller skating party. He switches every other day between roller skating, a gymnastics party and a pumpkin party. By the time his birthday rolls around, Landry will be here so maybe I can make a fool of myself and try to skate backwards with my grown up crush, Justin.

Girls' Getaway

I just got back from a girls' scrapbooking getaway. It was so so so much fun and exactly what I needed being 7 months pregnant and with no break from the boys all day this summer. Last year we went to Memory Lane Inn in McKinney, but this year we went to Tyler because McKinney was booked. It's owned by the same girl who definitely knows how to do things right.

Embarrassingly enough, I didn't take one stinkin' picture while I was there. Justin needed our nice camera for a photo shoot for work so I just had my point and shoot and so I stole some of these pictures off their website and some from my friend, Kelly.

 

My trip didn't start off so smoothly. Last time we ordered the chef menu which I HIGHLY recommend. Unfortunately, if at least 12 people don't want to order it, then it isn't available. Well, the six of us wanted it but the other group didn't. So that meant packing our own food and ordering out.

   

But when you have a kitchen that looks like this, it doesn't make it so bad to be in the kitchen.

 

 But I'm a total airhead and forgot ALL MY FOOD at home! Talk about cutting off a lifeline for a pregnant lady. So I had to make a pit stop and do some shopping once I got into town and I mooched off the other girls too. 

The accommodations were awesome. Everything you could possibly need for scrapbooking that I didn't even leave for 4 days.

There were six of us that stayed in the room. Only three came last year and we added three more girls this year. I was a little nervous about everyone getting along but everyone got along so great and we laughed with each other like we had known each other forever.

We found out that Tyler is quite the happening place and even got to order Chuy's one night. Yum!

  

The had great sitting areas outside but I was so busy scrappin' that I didn't really utilize any of it. I did take the trash out once but there was some monstrous thunder that scared the living daylights out of me and I hurdled about eight of these bushes. I think everyone got a kick out of my hurdle skills 7 months pregnant. Wasn't really thinking that one through, it was just instinct!

 

I think the latest we stayed up was 3:30 a.m. Not sure how I did that considering I can hardly keep my eyes open at 10:00 at night normally. I guess I was just in the groove and having too much fun. The best part...that I got 14 spreads complete! WOOHOO! I'm so behind and I'm still only caught up to August of last year. My goal is to get caught up at least through Christmas by the end of the summer. 

 

These aren't even all of them but I figure I wouldn't bore you completely to tears!  We're already planning our trip for next summer! Wish I could do it more often but with our third one about to make her appearance, I feel lucky to get away this much. I'm so thankful for a husband who knows that I'm a better wife and mother because of these trips.

Quarterly Top 5 photos

Once again, it's so hard to pick my top 5 photos from the past quarter. Mostly because we've been so busy and we've had warm weather and I think outdoor photos make the best ones. I'm linking up with Amber from Amber's Articles, Click it up a Notch, Naptime Momtog for my Quarterly Top 5 photos.

I took this one last week when my boys were playing catch with my husband in the backyard and I just love my boys' blue eyes and some days they almost glow they're so blue.

 

I'm expecting in September and this time we're having a girl. We've been working hard on the nursery. It's far from being done but at least it's done enough now that I was actually able to get a photo in there. 

We are so excited about meeting our sweet Landry in 9-10 weeks!

  

T-ball season is officially over and the Texas triple digit heat really made me second guess my decision to play this summer. But moments like this helped me know that I made the right one and that we're making these kind of memories. 

 

My youngest son just turned 3 and we had a cookie monster party. This is my favorite photo from the party. We've been working on getting that third finger up for months and he finally got it and I just love that it's focused on his chubby little fingers with his face blurred in the background. 

 

Lastly, we took this picture on a perfect evening having a playdate in beautiful weather with friends at a nearby park. In photography, you hear about how the "golden hour" is the perfect time to take photos and this picture was one of my best moments of actually capturing the sun kiss. 

I love these quarterly top 5 contests because it forces me to take the time to go through what I've taken recently and really pick out moments in our lives that make me proud of being a mom and/or photographer...even if I'm an amateur.

Soul Sisters

Sometimes there are things that happen in the universe that happen to freak me out a little bit. Some might call it coincidence or others, fate.

My best friend, Angi, and I have been best friends since 5th grade. We seems to live parallel lives and now I'm even more convinced. She was pregnant with her twins the same time as I was with Campbell. We were due two weeks apart. Her twins came a little earlier than expected and are 11 days older than Campbell.

She became pregnant again back in the fall and her due date was the exact same day that I had with Campbell (July 8th) and we found out that we were pregnant a week later. This time our due dates a week apart. Sadly, we miscarried but were pregnant again withing a couple of months.

Well, wouldn't you know that she had her precious girl June 28th, on Campbell's birthday. What are the chances?

Introducing...

Rylan Tate Tims

7 lbs. 7 oz

19 inches

 

Isn't she so beautiful? And I'm not just saying that because she's my BFF. I couldn't believe that now our children share a birthday. So here we are exactly three years later at the same hospital going to see her precious baby girl. By the way, it was a surprise what she was having (although my gut was a girl the whole time). And I couldn't be happier that we're both having girls just weeks apart from each other. 

It was such a great trial run for the boys to see where Landry was going to be born and to get a sneak peek at a newborn. There were eating it up.

Campbell seemed to be the most intrigued by such a little person and even wanted to smell her.

 
 It really got me excited about things to come and seeing the boys' excitement was priceless.


I couldn't stop staring at Rylan and all this coincidence led me to another discovery. We've finally decided on a middle name last week for Landry....Kate. I've always loved that name and just think it's so classic. I recently discovered that both Justin and my great grandmother's name was Katie. So it just fits perfect.


On my way to the hospital to visit Angi, I realized that Rylan Tate and Landry Kate will have rhyming names. I swear that we DID NOT plan that.


I recently read that the best way you can show your friends that you love them is by loving their children. Well, after holding Rylan today and staring at her like she was mine, Angi should have no doubt about my love for her.