6.30.10 - peaceful

doesn't this spot look so peaceful?? it's a new spot. we have quite a few new cool spots around here this summer! the fountain is an item from w's favorite store that was closing. i think they might try putting a fish in it...if the dogs or birds don't get it...we'll see! :}

6.29.10 - snugglebug

mr. happy is a snugglebug. always has been. hopefully that'll last for a lot longer.... :)

he was so comfy snuggled up to his big sister here. this was one of our science books from this year - and my kids LOVE to go back through and look at all the pictures again and reread about all the amazing creatures God has made! :)

oh, and yes, that is a tiara on l.m. sunshine's head. don't you wear a furry pink tiara in the morning before breakfast too??

6.28.10 - snow cone cupcakes

thanks to lauren for the idea of these cupcakes! :)

6.27.10 - boswell

this is boswell. he was my brother's cat. until my brother went to college. now he's my mom and dad's cat. :) he's a proper cat. he crosses his legs. do your cats cross their legs, jodi? i think it's pretty cute. :)

again. dumb camera on my phone was on the wrong setting...so the picture is too yellow. oops. i fixed the setting now though. and the next picture was taken with my actual camera. aren't you glad?

6.26.10 - happy buckets

just a stack of happy buckets i saw in the store today. the colors make me happy. have i mentioned that before? :} dumb camera on my phone was set on the wrong light setting...thus the off color... oh well :)

6.25.10 - jonafan

mr. happy is still working on his "th" sound. :)

shannon and jonathan came to swim with us today! so much fun! jonathan was rather nervous at first...can you tell? :} but after shannon and i took turns pulling him into the water with us, he slowly warmed up to the idea....but only with a life jacket on, floating on top of a swim ring! lol :) but hey, it was progress! he did have fun watching my three little fish swim, dive, splash, and slide. his momma was a water baby, so i'm guessing his water shyness comes from his daddy... ;)

come swim with us again soon, buddy!

6.24.10 - sky on fire

6.23.10 - catnap

this cutie patootie loves the pool but took a break to grab a quick catnap - on a towel in his floaty ring! :) kinda like his own air mattress i guess. :)

6.22.10 - germamamo!!!

that's what mr. happy likes to say when he jumps in. :)

lauren and family came to swim with us today. i love when people come see us! you should come too. yes, you. :)

6.21.10 - ripples

i just liked the way the water was rippling from the drips off the water slide. :)

6.20.10 - happy father's day, dad!!!

6.19.10 - pergola

this is one of our new favorite spots to hang out during the day - when we're not in the pool. my kids dad built this pergola over the back porch. the fans help keep the bugs away and make it a little cooler so we're still able to eat lunch outside. last year at this time it was just too hot to sit out there! now it's a happy little spot. :)

6.18.10 - father's day crafts

"happy father's day!"

once again, one of my favorite websites had some super cute and fun ideas for father's day!

click here for the tape measurer cards.

click here for the "fresh off the grill" cupcakes.

(fyi, this recipe says to use a brownie mix instead of cake...probably so it won't be so round at the top when you're done baking them. i just did cake though and it worked fine.)

6.17.10 - just another view from my deck

6.16.10 - office clothes

mr. h. brought this outfit down to me this morning and said, "kiki, will you help me put this on?? i wanna be all ready to go work at an office! ...or horse racing. this would be good to wear to horse racing too!"

a little random. but very cute! :)

6.15.10 - gotcha day

it's final! maddox is officially and forever a member of the beck family!

i have been to three adoption finalizations in my lifetime...and i only barely remember one - my brother, daniel's. so it was so special to get to be there this morning for maddox's adoption finalization. the judge is on the left. hillary, the one standing next to me in the back, is the one who connected the beck's with the birthmom. and now she is in the adoption process herself! :)

congratulations, becks! thank you for letting me be a part of today! :)

6.14.10 - yogurt pops

little yogurt cups.

plastic spoons. or forks. whatever you have on hand.

poke them through the peel-back lid.

a freezer.

wait a couple hours.

run the cup under hot water just for a second.

twist the spoon to make the yogurt pop slide out.

enjoy!

6.13.10 - s.p.g.

those who know me best know that i am a small purse girl. if i could get away with not carrying a purse of any kind at all, i totally would. i'm also extremely picky about my purses. therefore i only have one or two at the most at any given time. with my love of color and of having matching things, you would think that i would love all the cute purse choices out there! i don't. i am also usually a walmart or target purse kinda girl...their prices are just about right! i never thought there could ever be a big purse designed that would have the slightest ability to persuade me to even consider converting from small to big. until today.

i was at the mall sitting in the massage chair in the front of the brookstone store with m (much needed for both of us to ease our sore muscles after yesterday's tubing!) when i happened to look up at the store across from us. there on three different mannequins was this BIG, RED, ruffly, cute, cute purse! my eyes kept going back to it while we chatted with the friendly sales manager and after she left to help another customer, i told m i had to go check out the purse.

i walked into the store - one that i never shop...it has beautiful clothes...and beautiful prices to go with them! there were no purses just hanging up for me to look at so i asked the sales lady if i could see one of the ones on a mannequin. she said, "oh yeah, sure! and here is a coupon good for $10 off anything in the store too." that did it. i told m i knew that if i didn't get that purse, i would forever regret it. it's happened before. i so rarely find a purse that i like that when i do, i usually buy it. it's usually time for a new purse anyways since i use them until they're worn out!

so to all those friends who know me as an s.p.g. ...amazingly enough, i think there's a chance i just might be on the road to maybe becoming an official big purse girl!! yikes!!

6.12.10 - tubing!

I realize there are no actual tubing pictures today...but i wasn't about to take my "real" camera with me today and i didn't want my phone to get wet on the river either...thus...there are only before and after pictures. oh well. :)

michael, eric, and i went tubing today. deciding where to go and getting there was a struggle because...well...guys are impossible to plan with. they just are. :-p but i knew once we were there it would be fun and it was. michael was worried about rain. he kept telling me, "i don't want to go tubing in the rain!" which amused me because we would already be wet so who cares about a little rain! ha. however, i prayed that it wouldn't rain while we were actually tubing and it was a little rainy on the way down but just as we arrived and got out of the car, the sun came out and stayed out the rest of the day! the water was *COLD*! but it was so much fun i didn't care a bit. i got dumped out on one of the rapids but managed to hang on to my tube and just float it out until i got close enough for the guys to pull me to shore to catch my breath. the actual tubing trip was over too soon even though it took a couple hours. i love water activities. :)

(i have no idea why blogger just changed the color of my font randomly...)

anyways, here's what's happening in the pictures above:

1. going up the mountain just past gatlinburg

2. the parking lot at newfound gap

3. view from the lookout at newfound gap

4. more view at nfg

5. coming home we decided the interstate might be the fastest route. we were wrong. it took around 2 hours to get there. it took 3 and a half to get home. they're still working on that rock slide and it goes down to 1 lane. but before it narrows down the lanes, everything backs up...for about 17 miles!!!

6. this is what eric did while we were going a whopping 0-5 mph. slept in various positions in the back seat of my car.

then we came back for pizza and games with some other friends. i found a new game. it's by cranium and it's called party playoffs. you should try it sometime. or come see me and we'll play it. :)

wow, that was a long post for my photo blog.

6.11.10 - ooooh tooooth fairy!!! (said in a sing-song voice...)

her first loose tooth finally came out!! it actually came out yesterday but i had to do m's picture yesterday. :) she was tickled pink! and i can't wait to hear all about the tooth fairy's visit. :) she has joined the ranks of a "big girl" in yet another way! sniff sniff.... :}

6.10.10 - from my fridge

can you tell who this is?? this is my All-Time-Absolute-Favorite picture of him. ever. soo stinkin' cute!! :)

today is his birthday.

it was an...interesting...day for him. in more ways than one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!!

i hope you had at least a little fun today...and will have fun this weekend, whatever we end up doing! :)

(rebekah...yes, that is an old note from you on my fridge...it makes me smile every time i see it. :)

6.9.10 - squish

another post coming soon on my regular blog about this colorful goop! :)

6.8.10 - kiss

from a photo shoot i've been wanting to do at some gardens close by.

6.7.10 - colorful

watch for a post coming soon about what made these baby wipes so very colorful! :)

6.6.10 - ??

what's wrong with this picture??

6.5.10 - here.

yup. this is pretty much where i'll be for the summer. wanna come swim? :)

6.4.10 - cutie patooties

6.3.10 - tricky

still learning how to get those pants on the right way! lol :}

6.2.10 - hiding place

so we cleaned out the playroom today. it was a disaster!! now it is sooo much better! i told LM Giggles to go throw things away for me and she happily ran off and did so. or so i thought. later as i was making lunch, i walked by the oven and wondered what i saw inside and found this! i called her to me and she took one look at the open oven and me with my hands on my hips and said, "what, kik.....OH." i asked why in the world she chose to hide this stuff and she said, "well, i just like it!!" i explained WHY i had told her to throw away each item - 1) you can't play cards with 2 cards from a tiny deck! 2) there is nothing productive to do with the empty cover of a school workbook 3) that spongebob is from a game that is already missing half the pieces 4) the crayon box actually had a puzzle in it...and it is also missing half the pieces.

that girl!! :-p

6.1.10 - math

tutoring lauren in math...what better place in the summer than sitting outside on a cool evening at SB? :)

5.31.10 - movie

sheesh. if only it were this easy to plan his bday parties!! :-p

we went to see robin hood tonight. intense movie.

5.30.10 -

5.29.10 - pretty

5.28.10 - loose!!

look who has her first loose tooth!! this morning at breakfast she thought she had something stuck between her teeth because her tooth felt weird...then i noticed it was not in its normal tooth position so i asked if her tooth was loose...and sure enough, it was! she is sooo excited!! she has wanted for soo long to be just like her big sister who has had several loose teeth. now to see how long it takes to fall out!

tooth fairy: stand by!

5.27.10 -

5.26.10 -

5.25.10 -

5.24.10 - love the commercial

this is from our game night the other night. shannon got these little pieces candies - almond joy, york peppermint, and dark chocolate. catherine started making designs while waiting for her turn...so i had to join in. :)

5.23.10 - must be cool...

...to be flying so high, all alone...(i would add "in the sky"...but that would rhyme...and that's just cheesy!)...must be an incredible view!