Picture Princess

So awhile ago, I found this website for a company called, Shabby Apple, that sells some of the cutest little girl clothes! I just love all their dresses. They are so pretty, unique, and feminine! (They also sell some great looking women's clothes!) And as it turns out, I happen to have a little girl who is pretty, unique, and feminine, so the dresses fit her personality! I would love to have a lot of their cute dresses for her as she would look precious in them. Shappy Apple happens to be having a great contest to find the next picture princess and I think my little princess would be perfect in the winning role as a model for their summer line. Plus, it would be a way to score their spring line of adorable dresses! My favorite being the Creamsicle dress. You can find all the little girls and girls dresses from Shabby Baby, here.

Callie should be the next picture princess because she is a princess or at least she believes that with all her heart! She loves all things girly, pretty, and princess-y. She loves to dress up in pretty dresses and dance around the house, smiling and swaying to the music in her head or what is playing on the stereo. Callie loves having her picture taken too. She loves to pose and then can't wait to see how the picture turns out. She thinks it is super fun to dress up, ham it up in front of the camera, and then view the results. Callie is by far a picture princess!

O Happy Day...

I said goodbye to my braces today!


(and good riddance too!)

KJ would like everyone to know....

that he is the 5th best disc golf player (same thing as frisbee golf, I am just not allowed to call it that as disc golf sounds a lot more cool) in Nashville. He and Kan played in the Crockett Park Ice Bowl on Saturday. KJ placed 5th out of 100. Kan placed 100th. He had a great attitude about it though! He said someone had to be last and he was just filling that role.

Randomness

It seems as your kids get older, life gets busier. We are entering a new phase of life (actually we have entered it and been there for a little while now!) This new phase involves lots of sporting events and lots of helping out at the kids schools. I am loving it all! I am pretty sure that from now until college starts, I will probably have a sporting event to watch on the weekends with only short breaks for holidays and in between one sport ending and another starting. However, HJ is loving it and we love watching him!
I am also kinda the official baker for any school function going on. There have been a few things going on in January that have required lots of baking. I am the muffin and cookie queen! I will do a post soon of the recipes I am using in case anyone is interested in having some great, tried and true, recipes for taking somewhere or entertaining. They are very well received! Be looking for that if you are interested.
We have also enjoyed friends coming to stay with us. It is like fun pajama parties. I love getting to really talk and visit with people. When they stay with you for a weekend, you really get to bond in a way that doesn't happen when it is just little bits of times together here and there. We love having people come stay with us and it is all new as we never had people stay with us when we lived in Ktown. So we will just say there is an open invitation to any one wanting to come to Nashville. You have free lodging here if you would like it!

Here are some random pictures from some of HJ's basketball games and some time with friends!


We put KJ's friend Kan to work helping to FINALLY after a year, install our basketball goal this past weekend.


HJ is the point guard for his team. This is him calling play #2. KJ is so proud he can't stand it. HJ is one of the littlest kids on the team but he plays the hardest and hustles the fastest! I tear up at some of the games because I can't believe how mature, focused, driven, and sweet my son has become. It is hard to believe only a short time ago he was a baby and now he is a leader among the other boys. It just doesn't seem possible for him to be growing up this fast!




These are random pictures from different games. I definitely need a new lense for shooting sports photography, especially in a dark, old gym! I need some better instruction too, on how to take good shots under these bad lighting, fast action conditions.

Below, are some of the million pictures I took over the weekend of our friends and their now 3 month old baby. I posted pics awhile ago of this baby when she was 6 weeks old. She has only grown cuter in the 6 weeks since we have seen her! The family shot is one of my favorite pictures I've taken. I can't decide if I like it better in black and white or color.

Saying Goodbye

This week saw the passing of my Granddaddy. He has been sick with liver disease for awhile and was admitted into the hospital last week and died on Sunday. My only memories with him were happy ones, as I can't remember a time he was upset or unhappy. Granddaddy just always seemed so genuine. I think that is the lesson I take most with me from his life. He is one of the most genuine people I have ever know. He never cared what anyone thought but just tried to live his life right and treat others right. That genuine love, respect, acceptance and truth he gave everyone, is in my opinion, his legacy. I can definitely take a page from his life and try to remember that it doesn't matter what others think of me as long as I am living for God. That is something I struggle with daily and just seemed to come naturally to him.
Granddaddy was also so content! He always seemed absolutely happy and content with what he had, never seeming to look and yearn for something else, just was happy to have what was his. I think that is something so many of my generation struggle with and can learn so much from the older generation, including myself. His sweet presence filled with quiet life lessons will surely be missed as I didn't even realize what he was teaching me until it came time to reflect on his life. Isn't that just the way it is with so many things? Isn't it so sad that I didn't realize how much his quiet life lessons and presence resonated with me, so that I could have told him? I hope he knows!
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve his hugs. He gave the best hugs! He would completely wrap you up in his strong arms and lift you off the ground while swinging you around. It was a safe, secure place to be and so filled with the absolute certainty that this man thought I was so special. There just aren't many people in life that give you that kind of absolute acceptance and love! Some of the smells that bring back childhood are his too. He always smoked a pipe when I was growing up (he quit quite a few years ago). Now, whenever I smell a pipe, it brings back fond memories of times spent with him whenever we would visit.
I will surely miss my sweet Granddaddy and hope he know how much he meant to me and how much I love him. I am so glad his suffering has ended. I love you Granddaddy! God Bless you and Keep you!

Only In Nashville...

does your son get to play basketball against Steve McNair's son!

KJ snapped this picture last night with his phone at HJ's basketball game against Steve's son. He was the only one of the Dad's to have the nerve to ask Steve if he could take his picture. All the other Dad's were jealous and they all spent the evening staring at Steve like little girl's would at Britney Spears.

Beach Dog

So we took Molly with us to the beach. I am now convinced that dogs and people must have an inbred love of the beach and water. She just adored going to the beach and was instantly a beach dog. She literally could not get enough of it. She would race through the surf and tide pools as fast as she could go. I swear it looked like she was smiling the whole time! Her favorite thing to do on the beach was chase HJ. They were a pretty cute pair. I am glad we got to take her as it was a lot of fun just watching her. She kept us all entertained with her beach antics. Unfortunately I didn't get many pics of her racing around because she is just too darn fast! Before I could get the camera pointed in her direction, she was off in a different one. Anyway, the pics below aren't great because I couldn't get close enough to them without them running away but they give you an idea of the fun had!