Summer Memories

So I am officially terrible at keeping photos updated on my blog, my facebook page, mailing out prints, and even editing my photos. I do however, LOVE making Shutterfly books!!! Here is my latest:

Click here to view this photo book.

Best Spongebob Party Ever!

It may not have been the best, but we thought it was! I think I put more hours into preparing for this birthday party than I did...well I can't think of a good analogy right now, but you get the point. I tend to get obsessive over all the details and go completely overboard with these types of things. Go Big or Go Home? I have just always had it on my heart that I wanted to make a really big deal of each and every birthday the kids have.

So, here are some photo highlights from the party.
Invites:
Birthday Banner:
The Water Works, bounce house water slide:

Jellyfish Fields: (Way cooler in person, of course)
Party Favors:


The Spread:
Officially the BEST cake I have ever made, both taste and appearance:
The Moment that make it all worthwhile:

Catching Up

My summer bucket list includes 4 blog posts a month. (Feel the need to update our log book.) As I opened the folder titled 'blog' on my computer I stumbled upon 11 folders holding pix just waiting to be added to the blog. I will most some must shares and then try and bring us to present day, considering most of these are from a year ago.

Guess Who...

Cambry on her 1st Birthday...

and her 2nd Birthday...

and her 3rd.

Check back in a few weeks, she turns 4 then. lol.

A Tidbit from the Performance

Cambry had a year end performance and gallery art show to wrap up the pre-k year. The book below is the newest version of her art portfolio. (You may remember I made one in Dec of 2008.) Many of the art pieces were created at home, however, towards the end of the book, you can see her work from school - studies and recreations of works by Monet, Picasso, Warhol, Kandinsky, etc.

Click here to view this photo book.

Here is a clip from one of the songs are their performance.



She was a sleepy bear for the play, the first part of the performance. She was not on stage two seconds before she started searching the crowd for us. Apparently the stage lights were getting in the way.


Complete hilarity!

Here she is during the play - acting her part as the sleepy bear.

Off stage preparing for the song and dance number.

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

Because I Won't Be Able to Much Longer...

The babies are growing up SO fast. Sometimes my only rationale for doing this is "because I won't be able to do them much longer." This is the same line of thinking that drove me to cut Cambry's hair myself. You may remember how short Cambry's hair was earlier this year when we moved to Texas. Check Here

This was her hair at the beginning of August.


I wanted to trim it before I took her 3 year photos, so away we went. She had a whole spa experience, complete with mani and pedi. :)


I started trimming just a tad. At one point she turned her head quickly and I cut several inches in one place. It ended up much shorter than I originally planned, but cute none-the-less.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Yes, it's quite sad that I haven't posted on my once daily blog in nearly two months now. It is even more sad that I am about to post about a trip that happened in July of this year. :) I should just catch you up with present day events, but hey, the pictures are cute - I have to share. (Well, really, I should be ironing my work jacket, not blogging. ahem.)

In July, we took our first annual "Mommy and Kiddo Road Trip" to Navarre Beach, FL. Three Moms, four kids, one mini van, and enough snacks to feed an army for a week - what more could we need? The trip was such a wonderful learning and bonding experience.

What I learned from 8 days on the road with a group of my favorite people:
1 - Silence, even for a moment, is always golden.
2 - I do not appreciate the way sand feels anywhere other than on my feet.
3 - Having first time experiences through the innocent eyes of an child, melts the heart like none other.
4 - It is wonderful to have a hug from your friends, even when you see them multiple times a day.
5 - Patience is even harder to come by than energy when I have the flu.
6 - Having friendships in which you can disagree yet not loose respect for one another, is priceless. (Love you ladies!)



Raymond's Grandma had us over to her house one day. She is an artist, and opened her studio for our budding artists to create. So fun.

After having the stomach flu for the first three days of the trip, I decided I needed a breadk, so we skipped the beach and headed to the splash pad.

Raymond's Grandpa took us out for the day on his boat! Awesome!



"Mom, there are still some refried beans on that spoon."

Boston LOVES the water, especially the salt water. He kept putting his face in a the smacking and licking his lips.

The was the sound side (above and below). The water was calmer there.

This photo I took just before sunset on the gulf side. Yes, the sand was really that white. :)

Holiday Happenings

While in Omaha, for Independence Day, we joined a family friend and her wonderful family for a holiday BBQ gathering. I might add that at this fabulous party I met a man who had taken some of the most incredible photos I have ever seen. He played a slide show for me that afternoon. Some of the other people at the party joined to view his work. I seemed impressed. I had to interrupt their comments to say, "I don't think you really understand. This man has captured things we would never see with the naked eye. We are not that focused as people." (For example, the reflection of the house in the water droplet on the blade of grass in the back yard.) This man brought such perspective to how intricate this universe really is. And...and...he let me touch his Canon 5D Mark II !! I got to shoot some with it too. Truth be told, as much as I have sought after my own SLR, I have never actually held one...until that day! The sound of the shutter is enough to stand are my arm hairs on end. :)

These pictures were not taken with the 5D, just with my point and shoot, but they were taken that day at the party.

I Missed This Week

I missed this week at I ♥ Faces. This week participants were to post a "Contemplative" photo. I found this photo is my stack of 'photos to post on my blog.'

Gram Takes on the Heat

After we returned home from Omaha, my mom came down to Houston to visit. This time it was actually hot...yeah, like 110 hot. I had to return the Traverse that week, uhhhh - I'm over it now though. :) It was really, really nice to drive a brand new car for 8 weeks. This was a first for me. I have never had a brand new car. We spent the whole day detailing both cars and preparing for the return. Cambry was thrilled (as you can tell - see below) to have the 'lady bug' car back.


Or was it that she was thrilled to finally be let behind the steering wheel? Ironically, after I returned the Traverse, the A/C quit working in my Equinox, again. I am knocking on wood as we speak. Although my car has recently been dubbed the 'holy car,' yes literally. Every time something goes wrong with it, it is due to a hole in that particular part. However, we have been new hole free for 3 1/2 months. Yeah! My Mom was a trooper, didn't complain about the heat even once, even when we drove 30 minutes to church without A/C. We even spent the whole day one day down at Hermann Park. This was a great experience for all of us!




One of Cambry's favorite things to do with Gram is to have a popcorn tea party.

Thanks for coming Gram! We can't wait to have you in Houston again.

What Have We Been Up To?

I really don't have an answer to justify the amount of time I have left my blog without any real, updated substance. Before I blinked last it was June 3rd and we were packing to head up to Omaha. I am not sure beginning this post (a post meant to tide you all over for another week) at midnight is the best idea either. (I have used the backspace key more than all the other combined. ahem) So let me just post a few pictures for now...keep in mind most of these are from about three months ago. Enjoy! Stay tuned, oh, and thanks for the nagging (nagging may be a little strong, let's go with persuasion.) :)

Visions of tokens, tickets, and pizza dance in her head.

Yes, that's pink eye. We all caught it, some of us twice. And then there was the Influenza B, the ear infections, strep throat, and sinus infections. That was a great couple of weeks. :)

After that, we spent some time just hanging around.





I think all children's movies are shown in 3-D now-a-days. 'UP' was our first family movie, and it still serves as many a reference point in our house.

Life requires bits of spunk.