It's hot out.

Is this what it's like in your house? Our kids have to be carefully trained for the summertime. We have to turn off the tv and invite a little creativity into their minds. Right now, they're " jammin' " with their guitars. Sounds awesome. Tyler can play the intro to 'Walk This Way' over and over and over. . . . . and over. Paige has a fake Barbie guitar. You can imagine the tunes that are going on here. Who needs tv?


Yesterday Mo and I whipped up a little roasted chicken for dinner. She LOVES to help. . . and pose. It's hot out. She insisted that she cook in only a diaper. . . and an apron. At least she chose to keep the diaper, otherwise, you wouldn't be seeing any pictures.

It's very hot out.
We decided it was time to get a pool.
Big decision.

Some might say it's not good enough.
We've never said that.
When you're hot, you find a way to cool down. ANY way.

Maybe it's a blow up pool.
Maybe some of us swim without suits. . . with only diapers
Maybe our grass is dead.
Maybe the pool is full of grass and leaves.
Maybe we don't care.

Maybe she looks like Quazimoto with her goggles on :)

Maybe he's a little pruny.

awww, I love you Quazimoto!

We have to end the day with a little snack. Mo's favorite and mine. She eats everything except for the dark green rind. We try to offer a new piece before she takes it that far.

Time in Cali

So, Shane took a job with a doctor in Scottsdale. PHEW! Relief. The commute is a little lengthy, but it will work. Last week was his last week officially "unemployed" so we decided to take a quick trip to California before the new job started.

Due to unforseen events and several weeks spent completely together, the conversation was seriously lacking on the drive there.

I'm talkin' crickets chirping for 6 1/2 hours people.

Is this what it's going to be like when we're old and retired. Possibly. Am I ok with that. . . sure. I mean, hearing the love of your life breath for 6 1/2 hours COULD have a calming effect. . . if I were more patient. I mean, it's better than NOT hearing them breath. That would just cause panic.

ANYhoo, we made it there safe and sound, and at a decent hour. We played with little miss Molly (Grandma and Grandpa's puppy) for a couple of hours and then hit the hay.

Day 2 was spent at a lovely place called Point Loma and then San Diego. Have I included enough pictures?

Picnic lunch with the squirrels
Spotting boats with the binoculars
Choking a spanish explorer
A tour of the Lighthouse
Exploring the tidepools
A walk to Seaport Village
Dinner at Anthony's

Day 3 was spent at the beach. . . ahhh, lovely. No pictures. Sometimes I just want a break from being behind the lens.

Day 4 Barb and I participated in the Aflac Iron Girl 5K at the fairgrounds, and then we drove home. Such a fun few days!

(A view from the bottom of the spiral staircase in the lighthouse.)

This metal sculpture was along the pier in SanDiego. Cool huh!If you look closely, you can see our reflections. Looks like a little Super Mario Land.

Welcome to the Jungle

Today, I tackled this:

I'm not talking about my kids. . . or my ac unit.

Those would have been much more fun. I'm talking about the WEEDS the size of my kids. Now, this photo was taken during our treasure hunt at Easter. Easter. A whole month ago. Those weeds have doubled in size since the photo was taken.

Grueling. . . and sort of embarrassing.

And that's just the side yard. I also took on 3/4 of the back yard. Now, that wasn't as bad. The weeds were much smaller.

The worst part: 85 degrees. Bending over. A gap on my back where my shirt and pants didn't meet. Didn't know until 3 hours had passed outside. HELLO sunburn shaped like a frown.

Common now, it's time for you to expose your dirty secrets. Laundry piled up? Dust thick enough to grow veggies in? So many dirty dishes that you resorted to paper and plastic? I just feel like being truthful, that's all. You might feel better too, if you just show us your true self.

Time to Purge

It's been too long. Now so many things have happened. Where to start? Here we go. . .

End of March - Shane was laid off from his job. They've been really great to him, the Dr's and techs. They've sent out his resume. They gave him more than 30 days to transition. It's been over 30 days now and he has an offer. In fact, right at this very minute he's heading out the door to go talk to the new doc who offered him a position.

So. . .what do you do when your hubby comes home and tells you that he has 30 days left to work. Ummmm . . . .

1. panic
2. pray
3. weigh your options
4. pray
5. try your darndest to explain it to your kids
6. pray
7. continue your day to day (VERY frugally)
8. pray
9. try to make light of the situation
10. pray


Are you seeing a pattern yet?

SO many people are going through this right now. We feel so blessed to have leads and opportunities coming our way.

Before Shane's job fiasco, I had booked a long weekend to Memphis to see some old friends. Luckily, I still got to go because Tommie had rounded up a handful of shoots for me while I was out there. Here are a few of those results:

Aren't they cute families!

I'd already forgotten the slow pace and the relaxing feel of the mid-south. It all came rushing back to me the minute I set foot into the Little Rock airport. You feel it in the air. Makes you want to burst out with a HI Y'ALL! . . . and then let everyone know what'cher "fixin" to do. I had Morgan with me, and she was sooo good!

She picked up a few spare grandpas along the way:

o.k, so not such a great picture. This little one is hard to catch in a smile. . . . Morgan, not Jeff!

Larry and Morgan


Of course, we made a stop at Fat Larry's BBQ in Barlett. If you're ever in the area, you MUST go. We had our way with some juicy bbq sandwiches, one fabulous bleu cheese grilled chicken salad, fried green beans and fried pickles.

Left to right, Glenda, Micaela, Tommie, Sally and Morgan


BBq pork sandwich topped with coleslaw and larry's AMAZING bbq sauce
I don't care if you don't think it looks good. Pictures could never do it justice.

Also having seperation anxiety from:

Tommie was oh-so-generous and picked up a little stash for me to bring home. What I witnessed the next day may go down as the newest version of Gone In 60 Seconds. I told him that the only way to get more is to go back to Memphis. Dang ;)

I also had a great time doing a little junkin' with the girls.

I still can't believe I had to leave this beauty there. sniff sniff

Glenda and I tackled our first official "mistreatment." We think it looks pretty snazzy. Now I need to put up some window treatments in my house.

I had such a great time! I can't wait to come back!

left to right: Tommie, Glenda, Me and Morgan

Today we cashed in on the movie tickets that some generous ladies from Shane's office gave us at his goodbye party. We saw:

We LOVED it! A bit scary for little girls, but not my girl. . . nope, she's not scared of anything! Even Morgan enjoyed it, although her 3D glasses were broken before the movie even started.

Last, but not least, we headed to Tucson last weekend for Shane's last continuing education conference with his company.

On the agenda: swimming, swimming and more swimming

What really happened: Swimming, swimming, and sunburn. . . . ouch. But lots of fun anyway.

Over and out