Circle skirt fun with miss P

I couldn't resist.

Parker needed some of these:).

Can we all just agree that MADE is awesome?

Yes? Okay, good. Got that out of the way...

Remember this recent photo shoot of a certain sweet boy?

Well. Miss P's wasn't quite as easy going.

There were ant bites. Sun in the eyes. A brown dog who was quite a bother. Almost nap time.

You get the picture...

3 year olds are ready to live independently.

Didn't you know that?

No? That's strange...

Nah. Just kidding.

It's not so bad having to listen to your silly mom.

She's pretty funny, even if she's making you take pictures in the blazing sunshine.

Back to the skirts...

Super easy. Super fun. Super twirly.

A 3 year old fashion must.

A girl fashion must.

This one is my favorite.

It's her favorite because of the Minnie Mouse shirt (thank you Skylar:) ).

I can't even tell you how weird it is that those are my daughter's legs.

When did that happen?

If you know a little girl, you should make her one of these.

Then you should make one for you...

I'm gonna do it!

Alright.

Time to go.

SO nap time....

That's a circle skirt wrap!

Just things

Busy.

Doing things.

Planning for a garage sale.

Ugh. Not a fan of the process...but of the money? Yes!

Parker's becoming a lego builder.

As long as it's her Jessie legos.

She's really good.

Her shirt says "Turtlie Awesome."

:)

A goofy dad.

A baby boy chewing on a bracelet.

I don't know.

Normal. Right?

Happy.

Always.

I love my family.

Kids Clothes Week Challenge is almost over & I haven't finished a thing.

Grr.

Almost done with a little green dress...that's a sneak peek for ya. But it's a terrible picture.

Our camera was in the car & I was lazy & took one with my phone. Blah.

Anyway. Back to the dress...it's actually coming along pretty well.

Just wish I could finish it...

Vitamins

Yesterday I found a post on a favorite blog.

Many of you may have seen it too.

You can read it HERE.

She was asking for something so simple.

For children who come from poverty & hurting.

It spoke to my heart when she asked for vitamins.

I have a girl who begs for vitamins everyday.

However...she gets 3 full meals everyday, that she can most certainly count on.

Not to mention the snacks that often come once or twice a day as well.

Seeing the faces of so many babies who will have nothing more than some form of corn meal or mush each day, & one egg, & 2 vitamins once a week truly breaks my heart.

Something about having children, softens a heart to hurt.

I can only imagine what it must feel like to not have anything to give your child to eat.

So...we went on a hunt for vitamins.

Not that you have to hunt that hard:).

And, I thought you might like to have that chance too!

Having a happy heart to give freely to others is not always easy.

I'm learning more & more everyday how so rich I really am, & how so many are so poor.

But I want my kids to know that helping is not so hard.

In fact, helping is what we're called to do.

And when it comes to sending hungry kids vitamins, to help build up stronger bodies that will one day reach more for Jesus...

that should make us all giggle with joy.

Go read Meg's post & send her an email if you want to help out.

And if you can't...don't worry:).

Prayer is the most powerful thing of all.

Countdown 1 year {9 months}

Tucker! You are 9 months old...

Next month you'll have double digits.

That's hard to believe.

At 9 months...

you are 18 lbs 15 oz (25th%)

& you are 28 3/4 inches long (75th%).

You are a master of many skills.

At the end of your 7th month you started waving hi & bye.

I forgot to tell you that.

But, this month, you've learned to wave about 3 different ways.

You're SO close to saying bye.

Your new love is Lilly.

When you wake up, we walk into the living room & you point with all your might at the back door.

One day, you'll be very close friends, I'm sure.

I'm pretty sure dog will be a first word of yours too.

We'll see...

You still love your mama.

What a fool I am for you...

You reach for dad now all the time, too. You point with all your might when he walks through the door & yell so loud he can't stand to not pick you up & give you a big squeeze.

He might not admit it, but he's mush for you too.

Anything you touch goes straight into your mouth.

And, boy, are you good at picking ANYTHING up.

But, that also means you're really good at eating cubed up food.

It makes you so proud to eat the chunks of food I put in front of you.

You are an adventure waiting to happen.

You are SO fast when you crawl.

You show up under my feet when I think you are across the room.

Today I found you ON the fireplace.

I don't even know what else to say about that...

You still look so much like your dad.

You are really loud.

You love birds, bugs, dogs, books, plugs, cords, crumbs, climbing, standing, squealing, growling...you are such a boy.

And we all love that.

Even your sister.

She gives you tight hugs everyday & calls you buddy.

She loves having a buddy.

And, man, so do we.

Happy 9 months, tiny guy.

:)

Project 9- delivered

Pillowcases.

For kids with cancer.

My friend Jennifer joined us.

Her little boy, Slade, is 2 1/2.

I'm sure he loved the Lightning "a-Queen" pillowcase as much as our resident 3 year old.

Seeing the face of your child beam at the thought of a pillow covered in their favorite color, person, thing...really made the reality of what we were doing sink in.

Soon these cheerful cases will cover a typically peaceful, comfortable thing.

But as I was ironing out the seams, tears filled my eyes thinking about what they represented.

Parker watched me iron & we talked one more time about the kids who needed some cheering up.

Then we prayed for each pillowcase's new owner.

And their families.

Parker really wants one of her own.

I told her we'd make her a healthy girl pillowcase.

Because we're so grateful to have a healthy, happy girl.

She giggled & skipped on her way.

But I really am grateful.

Grateful in more ways than I can count.

And hopeful.

Hopeful that the kids ConKerr Cancer touches will be blessed.

Blessed by the Master Healer.

I know He knows them & loves them.

Grateful for a chance to remind them of God's love & the hope He brings.

Craft Hope

The deadline for Project 9 is coming up.

September 15th.

If you still want to get some pillowcases made, that's awesome.

I'm going to send mine or deliver them by hand this week- just need to finish up my last 3- geez.

So...if you would like me to take yours & send them off too, then tomorrow would be a great day to get them to me.

Or, if you don't know me from church, leave me a comment & we'll figure it out.

If not...no big deal. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Something super fun:)

Or at least I think so.

Kids Clothes Week.

Go read about it.

You'll want to play along too. Yay!!

Destin Florida 2010

This was our 3rd year to go to Destin as a family.

Each year has been different from the previous.

Our first year, Parker was 3 months old:).

Last year our trip was with a 2 year old.

Now...this year. A sweet baby boy joined our journey from the prairie filled Texas, through the swamps of Louisiana, the quick hops through Mississippi & Alabama, & finally to our beach friend, Florida.

And he, along with his big sis, did awesome.

But, why would we expect any less?

Alright. Here we go...

On the road.

Any road trip with me MUST include a stop at DQ.

Mmm...heath blizzards.

I agree with the cup: mighty good.

Mississippi.

Once we arrive in Destin, we hit the house, unload, unload, unload, get somewhat situated, then get into some swimsuits!

Tuck's first time to dig his toes in the sand.

He really loved it.

He also enjoyed the waves.

And eating the sand. Ick.

That girl was awesome.

Last year was great with Miss P at the beach, but this year, she would've lived down there...

until she got hungry. She'd come home for food...I think.

Our quick trip to see the beach before dinner, & we got to see a crab.

It was oh so exciting.

Parker kept her distance as she squealed.

Tuck watched the birds.

Mitchel almost had his finger pinched off.

Good times.

Pizza after the beach...

ahh. When can we go back?

First full day...Day 1.

Oh Donut Hole...how we love you.

That WAS a good donut, wasn't it?

They even had red velvet this year.

Sigh.

Not sure what happened to the beach pictures from our first full day???

But, we ended the day at Fuddpuckers.

Don't say that 5 times fast, you'll get in trouble!

There are real live alligators to see here.

Miss P was all about that.

And also, all about sitting on that giant one with her brother & I.

That's just a giant shark jaw.

Hello beautiful.

We miss you.

Day 2.

Hangin' in a hole,

that you can also get buried in.

She has great sand talent...

or maybe her dad does:).

Don't look at my chub...

Oh sweet boy...

you need a tissue.

I love that baby.

And those babies.

Desserts at Shakes.

Sorry bud, none for you.

We hit the docks after dessert for some fish feeding.

Tons of little silver fish hang out waiting for sweet little hands to toss them their dinner...

and a big, smart bird hangs out on some jet skis waiting for sweet, little hands to feed them, so he can get some dinner too.

Sorry.

I just couldn't leave that out.

Yeah, I squished them I after I took that.

Irresistible.

Day 3.

More beach fun.

We had awesome weather the whole time we were there.

This was my morning with Miss P on the beach.

She's a great beach buddy.

That night we cooked our own fish then headed to the beach for pictures.

We stayed right across the street from this bridge out to the beach.

It was perfect.

We had our dinner out there that night.

Peaceful.

Day 4.

P wasn't into the picture that day.

Memories.

That girl is sweet.

We ended that day in Panama City with a free Chris Tomlin concert.

Yep, you heard right.

It was cool.

It was really humbling singing to the Lord in front of the ocean.

You feel so small. He was there.

It was really cool.

And, I love watching our girl sing those songs. Makes my heart full.

Day 5, we shopped.

And, had lunch at Johnny Rockets.

He's so silly...

But that was dang good.

Dancing with dad the next morning.

Day 6.

Last day.

It was PERFECT.

Calm waves, no sea weed, awesome weather...

the kind of day that makes you want to pack up all your stuff & move in.

A hermit crab found by my scavenger husband.

She touched him. Over & over.

She was very proud.

Hmm...being chased:),

in my grandma suit!

I'll be getting rid of that one now.

That was a really great day.

Yeah. We went back.

They're really good.

We went back to feed the fish one last time & a couple was there catching fish to use for bait.

He let Parker catch one. It was really nice.

One of those moments that makes a mom tear up, because her baby is so happy thanks to someone else. Why do we do that?

Then it was home to bed. We packed up, then headed out the next morning.

The kids were awesome all the 12 hours home.

We're very blessed.

Hello Texas.

It did feel good to be home.

And now it feels like we were hardly gone.

Time to start planning next year:)...hehe

If you made it this far on this post, congratulations, you've reached the end!

This was long, long, long...