Project 365/52 - Week 21

Random Friday

• Instead of asking directly asking for things, Rory has started saying things like, "you knoooowwww I love playing on the playground." (usually as we're walking to church) or "you know I looooovvvee ice cream." (as she's just finished breakfast). And then she'll look up at me with puppy dog eyes. It doesn't usually work on this hard-heart mama.
  

• Camden has requested we add music class, library day, show and tell as well as P.E. to our daily schedule since he had those at school.

• Now that Lee has been crowned the next American Idol, Jack Bauer is off in hiding, Sandra is the sole Survivor for the 2nd time, Chuck is on spy hiatus for the summer, and Castle is off to the Hamptons for the summer, we're relying on Netflix to catch up on some TV beginning with Lost Season 1. We stopped watching around season 4/5 when Rory came home from Korea and there was no time for TV. I've also decided I'm going to tackle a Korean drama this summer.

• I've heard Camden say many times this week that he just can't kill bugs because they're one of God's creatures. Pretty sure he learned that from school since I most definitely haven't taught him that bugs are part of God's creation.
  

• In direct contrast, Rory's favorite outdoor activity seems to be chasing and squashing ants with her finger.

• We have two baseball games, two graduation parties, and one graduation in the next 36 hours. It will be a busy Friday/Saturday followed by a quick visit to Missouri to see lots of family on Sunday/Monday.

Credits here


Lauren Reid/Emily Merritt: The Graduate

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for the dramatic improvement we've seen in Camden over the 6-8 weeks. He is doing so much better in the self-control department and has been a joy to be around. We are very proud of him!

He's also pretty darn funny.

Exhibit A: An animal got into our trash and when Camden saw the yard he exclaimed, "look at all this litterage!"

Exhibit B: Last night on American Idol when William Hung joined the Pants on the Ground guy, Camden said, "I can't take all this coolness. His hat is the best!" And he was completely serious. Side note: we decided several years ago not to let him watch the audition portion of American Idol because I didn't want him learning how to make fun of people. Apparently, that strategy is working out okay. :)

Thankful for her mischievous smile, infectious giggle, and the twinkle in her eye. She makes life so much fun! I'm also very thankful to hear, "Mama, I willy, willy love you." more times in a day than I can count.

And there's no picture to illustrate this one, but VERY grateful Brian only has one more day of school until August!

Joe

I'm sure you've gathered I'm not exactly an outdoorsy sort of girl. I would happily stay inside and never venture out into the heat/humidity or deal with any creepy crawly creatures. My children, however, are a different story. Saturday they played outside for hours, mostly with a "teeny tiny" frog. Now I'm not really a fan of bugs or snakes or spiders, but a frog really creeps me out. They loved their new little friend, named him Joe, and kept themselves entertained by watching him try to jump out of a bucket and carrying him around. I'm fairly certain Joe did not survive their love because by the time I took these pictures, he was barely moving. We encouraged them to let him go, and they very reluctantly told him goodbye at the end of the day.

Field Day

One very tired boy arrived home from school yesterday, but he had a good day. Sounds like there was alot of pizza, sugar, and inflatables - what more could you want?

Blue lips courtesy of the blue snowcone he had earlier.

And Rory's always willing to have her picture taken if Camden goes first because she's worried she's missing out on something. Of course, I take full advantage of that.
We actually have nothing on the schedule today other than life/laundry/house stuff. We're on our own since Brian has 4th grade graduation at school tonight. Hopefully, the kiddos will enjoy being together on this first official day of summer break. I'm sure the peace treaty won't last long between them.

Weeds and Wildflowers: Sweet & Simple Kit #4

Our Hot Saturday

While Camden was doing this on Saturday . . .

. . . Rory was doing this.

Because of a game delay, we spent a very hot and humid 3+ hours at the ball park Saturday. Rory did so well until the last 30 minutes, and then she was done. The poor girl was so hot and sweaty (as was her mama!). Thank goodness one of the other mothers was better prepared than I was and had brought along sunscreen. I have one big patch on my arm that clearly missed out on the sunscreen and it's so painful. I think Rory turned 3 shades darker even with the 50 spf sunscreen. Brian was on dug-out duty and missed out on some of the heat, although dug-out duty is its own kind of torture.

After half of our day was spent with baseball, I thought the kids might be tired of being outdoors, but they came home, rested for a couple of hours, and then spent several hours playing in the shade.

Goofy kid

She was not too thrilled that I had the camera out.

Brian decided to pull the bikes out and let the kids spruce them up.

Today is Camden's official last day of school. The last academic day was Thursday, but today is a field day and he is quite excited. His baseball schedule has been rearranged and the last 4 games of the season are all this week. This is Brian's last week of school, and he is crazy-busy finishing things up and dealing with 21 hyper-active 4th graders. With the exception of Thursday, we have something going on every single night (including Saturday) so the week promises to be a bit hectic.

Lauren Reid: The Bestiest

Shabby Miss Jenn Designs: Batter Up

Project 365/52 - Week 20

The Graduate

Last night was Camden's kindergarten graduation, and I'm fairly certain I have never seen him so excited. He literally did not stop talking and explaining about the program and graduation from the moment I picked him up from school until we dropped him off at his classroom before the graduation began. The two kindergarten classes had a combined program. Camden had a speaking part and then there were 7 songs. He knew every single word to everyone's parts and could recite them all. Both teachers commented on how well he knew the whole program. It completely cracks me up because he is fairly quiet in person, but he loves to do programs on stage.

I feel like this is a glimpse into my future. They both look quite mature in their dress-up clothes.

Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz

Gram and Gramps

Us :)

Mrs. Lawrence, his very sweet teacher

Tre, one of his best buddies.
I hope they're friends for a very long time.

At Wendy's after it was all over

He won an award for a 100% in math, phonics, and reading (there were only 4 kids out of 28 who got this award) as well as one for 100% attendance.

And a few quotes from Camden during the night:

• My favorite way to show Jesus I love Him is to sing. I'm really good singing in the shower.

• I just want everyone to see how good I am and how well we know our songs.

• I just love to be front of everyone on stage.
  

• This was the best night of my life.

Once again, he is not lacking in the self-confidence department. I actually think it's kind of sweet that he hasn't reached the point yet where he realizes his flaws. Those moments of childhood in which you have supreme confidence in yourself are so fleeting and I know they won't last much longer.

Busy Day Ahead

It is very sad that I was almost happy to go to my annual mammogram yesterday morning because it meant a trip to and from Nashville plus several hours in a waiting room ALONE! I took a book and enjoyed some quiet time. Now if I could just get rid of those hospital gowns and the quirky people in the tiny waiting rooms. Oh, and the actual mammogram could go away too.

Today promises to be very busy. This morning we're headed to the other side of Clarksville for Part Two of that project I can't talk about. Back home for lunch and then we're going to Nashville for a haircut (I did not plan to do these both on the same day, there was a last minute change of plans yesterday). Back to Pleasant View to pick up Camden from school. Hopefully Rory can take a late nap, and then we will be attending Camden's kindergarten graduation tonight. Whew! I'm a little weary just thinking about it all. Rory and I are going to be spending some serious time in the car today.

Lauren Grier/Shawna Clingerman: Happy Happy Joy Joy

Say Cheese!

New Scrap Supplies

If you're not a scrapper, you can just skip to the bottom. If you are a scrapper, then I say "you're welcome" for all the links. :)

My new favorite Dani Mogstad kit: Flying High

New template by Gina Miller found here

On sale for $1 today: Soho Afternoon papers


Soho Afternoon alpha

And a really fun kit that I picked up over the weekend is Happy Happy Joy Joy (scrapped page coming later this week)

And for you non-scrappers, here's a little tidbit from Camden this morning. "Is it going to be 2011 or 3001 after my birthday?" Apparently, they haven't covered dates in kindergarten.

Stir Crazy

I ended up spending my Friday afternoon/night and all day Saturday with a sick girl. Rory quickly developed a fever after not feeling well Friday morning, and we made a trip to the doctor Saturday. He put her back on the inhaler/albuterol for the wheezing, and it seems to have done the trick even though her cough still sounds like she's a chain smoker. She was quite a bit better by Sunday afternoon, and I am very grateful. Not just because I hate to see her miserable, but from a purely selfish point of view, it's exhausting. When Rory is sick, she deals by crying. And not sleeping. And crying. And not sleeping. And then crying some more. She sobs over and over, "I just don't wanna be sick, mama." It's as if she can't believe this is happening to her. It is completely pitiful. And exhausting. I'm very relieved that this seems to be contained after 48 hours.

So after the weekend indoors with a 3 year old attached to me like glue, I'm kind of ready for a new week. Since she's been fever free for almost 24 hours and is so much better, we're hitting the grocery store this morning and then hopefully she'll still feel well enough for gymnastics tonight.

In other news, Camden bid $70 (and won) for a pie at our church's annual pie auction. Too bad the previous bid was only for $25. And he didn't exactly have permission. Money means nothing to a 6 year old. :)

Camden comforting Rory after a crying spell. Notice his finger stroking her arm.

Lauren Reid: The Way We Used To Be

Project 365/52 - Week 19

Lens Review

I've had four or five emails asking about my lens so I thought I'd just tell you how much I love it on here instead of via email. :) I've used my 50mm lens almost exclusively for the last 2 years mostly because it's much faster and sharper than the kit lens or my other 18-200 lens. But this one might be my new favorite. It seems fast and it's sharp (see picture below), and I had no idea how much I missed having a bit of a zoom. So in case you're considering a purchase, the Tamron 28-75 F2.8 seems like a really great lens. And considering the Nikon version of this lens is $1700, going with the off-brand was a no-brainer for my budget. :)

Here's one of the first pics I took yesterday with it straight out of the camera.
And a b/w version just cause I wanted to

Game Ball #2

Rory did great at the dentist's yesterday (even though the trip there and back in addition to the 2+ hours in the waiting room translated into a very large chunk of our day). She is quite funny with a mouth full of cotton and laughing gas in her system!

Camden had a game last night and the whole team played alot better than our previous games. I guess a night with no potty incidents at bat is an improvement. :) Camden actually won the game ball for the second time. He's the first player to do that this season and I just love his face in the next pictures - he was so surprised and excited.

Rory decided she should show off something too (my sunglasses)

Rory and I had a fun little errand/project this morning that I cannot tell you about quite yet, but it's very exciting! Unfortunately, she seems to have picked up a little bug and woke up with a cough and sore throat and is generally quite pitiful. I've got her camped out in front of Max and Ruby with a chocolate shake. That would make me feel better!

I've had several emails about my new lens so I'm going to post a sample picture and review later on today. :)

Coach Camden

After school yesterday the kids played outside (despite the crazy humidity that had us all sweating), and Camden convinced Rory to play catch and then very sweetly coached her for a good 20 minutes. This is most definitely a feat because (1) he's not generally very patient (no idea where he gets that); (2) she does not generally want coaching/help at all. Apparently, he thinks the way to go is to speak very slowly and in a high pitched voice because that's how he was talking to her and it was so funny and sweet. I found out later that he really just wanted practice catching himself, but he still gets points for sweetness.

Look at that form :)
Camden tried to coach her on that as well, but eventually gave up.

If you look closely (or click on the picture to enlarge) you'll see the sweat and dirt on her face. She played hard!

Rory and I will be spending the morning at the dentist while she gets the last 2 cavities filled. And then I'll spend the rest of the afternoon waiting on my new toy to arrive via UPS. Camden has a baseball game tonight so I should be able to put it to use right away!