ball season begins...

Tball and softball season has officially begun for the kids. Getting in the flow with the schedules of the kid's schedules will obviously take time. Yep, what I was afraid to do most I ended up doing...River missed his first game because I goofed on the timing. That will not happen again. Mommy is so sorry about that, River!!
Turns out that when I thought Aspen would be having her game at 6 and then River's at 7:15, that I was sadly mistaken. They were going on at the same time at two different fields. The rainy weather we had earlier that week had changed up the schedule, and mommy did not remember to adjust. Oops!

But, River did get to practice when he finally did get to the field where he was supposed to have played earlier. He is doing better and better. Mommy and daddy are so proud of him...obviously not just because he is turning into the cutest little ball player, but because he is our kid and growing up so nicely. He is a great kid, and we love him!

Here a few glimpses at the evenings events (I prefer to let photos to the talking for me anyway).

I will be sure to add more shots of the kids actually playing ball as the season goes on... ;-)

Oh, and happy birthday (it was actually the 19th..the day these photos were taken at the game) to our lovely niece, Ashley! She turned 11 and I just can not believe how fast she is growing up!!

photo mix...

a little mix of photos featuring the folks i love..i am truly blessed to have them in my life.

everyone else enjoying this lovely warm spring weather? i do believe camping is in our very near future!

oh, and i realize i have fallen behind on this little blog, but...life happens. i will work on focusing on getting it caught up, though. 

you can tell that my lovely folks can have a major serious, contemplative side...but, i like how the last photo shows quite the opposite. they can be silly, too. ;-)

have a lovely weekend and consider rope swinging in your pajamas...(hey, it works for river and lily).

-kelly

recent happenings..

first off...wow! it's been a while since my last post..just so busy. i am going to do my best to get you all caught up on our happenings since my last post.

well...the weekend before last we headed back to tn for father's day weekend. it was mainly a work trip, but we squeezed in some fun while we were there.

saturday we headed to hiwassee river for canoeing and tubing. we encountered thunderstorms while on the river complete with hail...we were very blessed to be able to make it off the river quickly before being pelted. Praise GOD!

here are some glimpses from the trip to tn...(which, unfortunately...does not include photos from the river adventure as that was a very wet trip and well...water and my camera do not mix).

a snooze on the way to tn.

one of tina's new kittens getting his bath. ;-)

gary and debi's (my in-laws) first tomato of the season. isn't it a beauty?

first cucumber of the season...and it is so cute!

the above photo is of my sister-in-law tina working on one of her beautiful ceramic creations. you can check out more of her work on her etsy shop, Xarine Creations. she is super talented!!

time at the duck pond

making father's day cards..

then this past week included another VBS for river...he had lots of fun learning about ways we can take care of God's creation through recycling, preventing pollution, leaning more about the animals God created and how our actions can put them in danger, etc.

here is a snapshot from VBS...

'the little zoo that could' brought in animals to help the kids learn more about them. here is one of the monkeys.

while river was at VBS, lily and i got to enjoy some time together..here, she is clearly getting tired of all the picture taking..oh, but i can't help myself. i mean..look at those gorgeous eyes!

also this week we had friends come to visit us from tn....our buddies, kent and his son daniel.
here are some photos from the activities which took place while they were here...

meet daniel.  ('beast')...a new term i learned from him. i will forever remind him i know this word. haha! he thinks it sounds funny when i say it because i'm not a kid. oh, that makes it even more fun to say around him.

oh my! i love this man!!

making pancakes...river supervising. ;-)

i also finished my homeschooling list (which includes the subjects as well as a materials list). you can find the subjects/curriculum list under the 'homeschool' page. i will be frequently adjusting this list (especially once we actually get started...so, you might want to check back often.

and then saturday fires broke out in gulf shores...what a terrible mess. when we were at the beach we saw this....

afterwards we drove around and snapped a couple more photos of the fire...
here is a news bit on the fire in case you didn't hear about it. gulf shores fire news story.
my friend amy reminded me that the trees being burned are the ones that had just started to fill in from being hit from hurricane ivan. how sad!





well, how's that for a catch-up post? ooh...remind me to keep up with my at-least-twice-a-week-posts so, i can keep the posts a bit lighter. ;-)

i hope you all are doing great and have a fantastic week!

love,
kelly

matthew, mariah, and mama!

this weekend we had the privilege of getting out to the beach, enjoying God's creation, and photographing our friend, alissa and her two adorable kids...matthew and mariah

they live here in our apartment complex...right across the breezeway from us..such sweet neighbors to have!!

matthew and mariah love to play with lily and river (leafy's real name) and vice versa! this bunch together, makes an awesome lizard (and apparently tree frog) catching team.

anywho...here are some of my favorites from the shoot.

you can go to my flickr site to see the rest... (just click on a photo to go there)

the reality of portraits...sometimes one does something silly...but, it keeps it fun!

aren't they an adorable family? their blue eyes are stunning! yes...they really are that blue! gorgeous!

leafy and lily had tons of fun on this shoot...well, near the end lily got pretty hot (as it was a pretty hot day) so she eventually became pretty grumpy. but, other than that...it went beautifully!!

it was our first shoot using our new reflector, which is so exciting! i can really see how the reflector makes a difference in the photos and i am so thankful to have it!

have a great day!
love, kelly


linking up with life made lovely monday.

memories of mud...

these were taken a couple years ago {9-11-09} to be specific.

i was reflecting back over past pictures and noticing how much the kids have grown... {tear}

i came across these.

i remember the day (and the mud) like it was yesterday.

i am amazed how much they have grown and blossomed.

so...is this something you would let your child do? ;-)

i know...i should have stripped the kids down to just the essentials before such an event, but clearly...this wasn't planned.

so...we just went with the flow {and grabbed the camera}.

but, clearly...fun was also had (in addition to mud in the ears) so unplanned, messy, muddy fun was totally worth it.

oh...and just so you know....the area that is behind the kids in the pictures looks quite different now-a-days...{a tornado ripping through will do that} our house, orchard, and vineyard are still in tact {we are very thankful} but now we have an amazing view of the mountains which we knew were there, but we couldn't see them before..now we can.

have a blessed weekend, all!
~kelly~

books, friends, & fountains..

on tuesday, amy,  had the idea to head to books-a-million for some book exploration (both of our kids loveeeeee books)...

amy reading to the kidlets

next...we headed to the fountains, which are located right outside b.a.m. (talk about convenient location). ;-)

laura joined us at the fountains...she has two of her four kids in this picture (she's preggie with her 4th). ;-)

the gang in all in their colorful fountain-playing attire

little miss, 'c'...the youngest of amy's three precious kids.

lily trying to stop the flow..

lily realizing the water is pretty chilly..

my other friend, amy, (wow, amy is a lovely, yet popular name here) just recently did a post on her blog of her adorable daughter, MM, at these very same fountains (just on a different day)...see it here.
seriously...MM is precious!

i really am loving my new friends in gulf shores and will miss them dearly when we leave later this summer. i know the kids will miss their friends, too.

but, for now....we will continue to enjoy every moment...as each is a blessing from God.
even when we do leave, i am certain we will keep in touch. plus, when rocky gets his pilot's license (and an airplane)...we will be making weekend trips back here, i am sure. ;-)