Talking Heads

Posting Vacation Days

We arrived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina today with my family. I'm going to try to do the same as our last family vacation and post a photo a day as a way to keep me using my camera and to document the trip.

Maxin' and relaxin'...

Elijah Turns Six

We saved all of our big vacations for the end of the summer and now are in the throws of packing, unpacking, and repacking. Let me tell you, there would probably not even be a blog update were it not for a foot I injured in San Francisco that has to be put up at times.

Steven and I had a "get-away" vacation on the west coast that I'll blog about at a later date. And one week after arriving home, we will be headed with my family to the beaches of North Carolina.

In the midst of the chaotic week in between vacations, my favorite little red head turned six. So all work was put on hold, as we celebrated Elijah's birthday. I felt so blessed that day as I recounted God's unexpected gift to me only 14 months after my first baby arrived. God knew Elijah was exactly what our family needed. Elijah is my tender-hearted little boy who is always thinking of a new thing to the thank me for. I honestly don't recall meeting a more grateful child. On his birthday, he squeezed me tight a couple of times and an whispered things like, "Thank you for my boat ride" or "Thanks, Mom, I always wanted a bike." I love my boy!

Hanging with his buddy Jack and being chauffeured around Burke Lake by his Uncle Tyler:

His new bike:

Family Portraits

Getting family portraits done when you're the photographer, photo subject, and mom is a serious pain. I knew we need to get some done for 2009 but was procrastinating and dreading the job. Then it dawned on me- surely I was not the only photographer out there without a recent family photo that actually included them. So I contacted a friend who is a local photographer and asked her if we could swap family portraits. I thrilled when she agreed, and we had so much fun with the whole project. Here are some of the beautiful shots she took of our family:

Thanks so much, Janelle!

Motorized Bikes

One of my boys favorite things at the family reunion we attended was the motorized bikes that were there. No pain, all gain...I could hardly keep them off!

Spas Family Reunion

The whole crew minus the photographer:

Piñata bashing...Adriana's turn:

Isaiah's turn:

Elijah's turn:

Pin the beak on the flamingo:

Steven with his dad and brother all in their Hawaiian garb:

My hubby thought he was quite big and bad with his borrowed do-rag:

Three Birthdays

We traveled to Michigan last weekend for a family reunion (photos to come). While there, we had a little party with Steven's immediate family celebrating Adriana's, Elijah's birthday, and Great Grandma's birthdays.

The 14 month age difference between Adriana and her cousin Trinity is quickly becoming less and less of a gap. The two of them had more fun than ever playing together. As they played, they would stop and grab each other for an occassional hug.

Teeth, Coins, and Fake Fairies

For about two weeks, Elijah wouldn't allow us to pull his first loose tooth. Finally two nights ago, as his tooth practically dangled in his mouth, Steven called me into the bathroom. He said that if we didn't pull it out, he was worried it would fall out in the night and that Elijah would actually swallow it in his sleep. We tried talking to Elijah to convince him that the time had come for an extraction, but he refused to comply and started screaming. After trying to calm him down with no results, we explained that we would be forced to do this with or without his consent. He continued to scream through the two seconds that it took to pop his tooth out. When we finally got him to calm down, he told us, "Well, that didn't hurt." He went from panic mode to beaming with pride, and excitedly put his tooth under his pillow so that the tooth fairy, "who is actually Daddy; right Mom?", could visit him.

The rather large and masculine looking tooth fairy did visit him in the night with a bunch of coins, and in the morning I could hear squeals of delight coming from the top bunk. A little while later, Elijah jumped out of bed and ran to me again in a panic.

"Mom! Mom! A coin is in my belly!"

"What!? Are you kidding me!?! You swallowed a coin?!"

"No, no! I didn't swallow it; I put a bunch of coins in my ear and one fell down!!"

I sighed in relief, "No, honey, coins can't do that. It must have fallen in your bed."

He replied confidently, "Oh, no. It went down. It's in my tummy."

A few moments later his big brother helped him find the missing coin, and Elijah's personal piggy bank theory was dispelled.

Another Reason Summer Is The Best- BREAKFAST WALKS!

How does a mom of three get the kids fit in breakfast and a walk before the heat of the day? Breakfast walks!

This summer we started breakfast walks on some mornings. After the kids get up, I get them dressed, pack their breakfast in sandwich bags, and load up the wagon. Then as we walk, I pass out breakfast- a simple idea with little clean-up and lots of fun!

A Princess Birthday

I was a very girly girl who grew up, married her prince, and had two very boyish boys. Now don't get me wrong; I'm happy that my boys are into cars, sports, and all things boy. But when the ultrasound technician reported to me that my third baby would be a girl, my mind filled visions of dresses, pink, and dolls. Shortly after that it struck me, that my daughter would have two brothers; and I realized that I my sweet one might end up as quite the tomboy. To my delight (no offense to tomboys), besides the fact that my girlie can produce a pretty decent gun shot sound, I have one seriously girly little lady on my hands. And as her third birthday approached, Adriana had very set ideas on what it would look like. She wanted a princess birthday, more specifically a Cinderella birthday. So a princess birthday we gave her. She counted down the day for months, and I asked her wishes for many details of the day:

What color decorations? Pink.

What color cake? Pink.

What flavor of ice cream? Pink.

What flavor of cake? Chocolate. (That's my girl!)

We ended the day by playing "Pretty, Pretty Princess" with Momma, Aunt Nanny, and Grammy:

And now my princess is three.