my closets are really clean, y'all

Noah is very talented but not at balancing balls on his head.  Someone was behind him, holding it. 

This week's most exciting thing for me so far was cleaning out all of my closets (except one).  Yay, clean closets!!  Yeah, not that exciting.  But, but!, I did have a fun weekend and so did the boys.

I went to Dallas with some of my friends from Edmond and we had fun shopping at Sam Moon and Ikea (Krista, I bought the pillow! and the whole set of dishes!!).  And I know now that every trip to Dallas will include a trip to Sam Moon.  It has accessories and handbags galore!  I bought two purses and could have bought more but reigned myself in. 

While I was having a good ole' time in Texas, the boys went to Relay for Life with Seth.  His company sponsored a team so they went down there and had a great time for a really great cause.  I think they had ice cream around midnight? Then they watched Cars 2 the next day.  By the time I came home, all three were exhausted!!

So we haven't done much this week which is okay. 

I did watch The Kennedys miniseries on Netflix and wondered what exactly was so controversial about it that it was not shown on The History Channel.  It actually painted them in a very sympathetic light and nothing that everyone doesn't already know was in there. 

This being the last day of June and all, I find myself looking forward to July.  Here's what we've got going on:

• Fourth of July Laser Show in Canyon, TX (the boys are more excited about this than they ever were for fireworks)
• Summer Drama Workshop (I can't fathom that I'll be the one watching the plays this time.  I used to be in those plays!! I just hope the boys have as much fun as I did.)
• Seeing good friends (I was going to say 'old friends' but decided that I don't like using that word to describe people my own age anymore.  Ha!)
• Spending time with the families
• Dry heat (You think I'm crazy, but all of us are having such bad allergies, I welcome no humidity for awhile.)
• Harry Potter!!!
• a slow month.  I really hope it doesn't go too fast.

Happy 4th of July, because I know I won't be blogging before then.

the time: a little before sunset

The boys were playing basketball with their dad and I sat outside and noticed the rays of sunshine coming through the clouds.  I had to grab the camera and take some shots.  I love clouds.

Here are some other things I'm lovin' right now:

• Rescue Me, the tv show with Denis Leary (catching up on Netflix)
• Purplish gray nail polish for my toes
• Feta Cheese tossed onto a salad with Italian Dressing
• Boo's little dream barks--when she is sleeping, she sometimes makes small "woof" sounds and it makes Seth and me laugh everytime.
• the fact that Rhett can put in and take out his contacts all by himself now!!!
• the fact that Noah wants to be a mascot for his summer job during college (specifically, a shark named Chompers)

See ya!

some love for my blue-eyed son

Rhett is such a ham in front of the camera, but I did manage to get two good shots of him.

First, his serious side:

Then, my favorite, one of him laughing. He just lights up when he laughs. It is uninhibited and loud and sometimes he just falls down cause he has no control.  That is a good laugh and I really love it!

                    


Christy, you said that Noah looks like me. Well, Rhett looks so much like Seth but the other night, Seth and I looked at Noah and Rhett and for the first time said, "Wow, they really do look related!" I don't know what it was (was it the blue shirts they were wearing, their sun-lightened hair, the way they were eating ice cream?) but we just stared at them for a few minutes.

I wish I could show you a side by side picture of them, but instead, here is something they thought of on their own:

So goofy.  Love it!

 

They are having a blast this week at Tennis Camp. They come home exhausted! I, myself, can't believe how fast this month has flown by but then don't we all say that every year during summer? I know that Seth and I have forgotten a couple of important dates and we are working on making that up to people. I kind of forget to look at a calendar when summer rolls around. Oops.

 

I hope everyone is beating the heat! Yesterday, it was actually pretty nice but the heat is back on today, so I'm sure the pool is in our immediate future.  Have a great day!

 

 



and, you, my brown-eyed boy

I found this photo of Noah on my older camera that I took to Charlotte.  I had forgotten that I had taken the camera to school for his Thanksgiving play.  It kind of took my breath away.  His eyes.  Could you not just get lost in those eyes?

a weekend away with my sister

This past weekend was so much fun!  I loved getting to see Krista and hang out.  It had been too long.  I really didn't take that many pictures but we did a lot. 

The photos we did take are from the Segway Tour of Charlotte.  Segways are the funnest way to travel for sure. 

Here are two beautiful pictures of my sister and me:

But, really, we do look awesome.  These were taken before we were allowed to get on them.  You should have seen us once we were though, zipping along.  I was amazed at the muscles you use in your feet, legs and back.  I don't know how much we learned about Charlotte (the tour guide was fun, but didn't know much) but honestly, I didn't care. 

We went through one of the oldest cemetaries in Charlotte and it was segregated.  Here is a poignant headstone that our guide pointed out:

This one was interesting as well:

The man was killed by a lion! 

We went through beautful parks and greenways and made our way to Uptown (which is Charlotte's Downtown) and I had to take a picture of this for the boys:

The Carolina Panther! This is emabarrassing to admit, but Krista and I couldn't remember the name of the NFL team that plays in Charlotte.  Had no idea.  When the tour guide said something about the Carolina Panthers, we both were like, "Oh yeah!"  So yes, here is the panther.  Looks kind of scary.

We also went to Ikea (spent 3 hours there!), and did some shopping at a mall and basically did things that you don't want to do when your kids are around because it is too much work.  It was great!

Hold On*! We also watched Bridesmaids and laughed and laughed.  So funny. 

I can't forget to say that I also saw Krista's husband.  He was there for a Heroes Comic convention and so I didn't see much of him but it was nice to catch up.  He has a new blog called The Temple of Kemple which showcases his art. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

But it is back to life.  Rhett is at Vacation Bible School (Noah refused to go) this week.  We'll probably go to the pool a lot because its hot, hot, hot.  Rhett also wants to go to church camp this weekend but I think I missed the deadline on that one.  Oops.  He won't be happy with me but I think we may get to go to a baseball game on Saturday, so that will make up for it, hopefully. 

I'll leave you with something that Krista made.  It is my favorite thing ever:

Isn't it adorable? I love it.  And he is waving! Aww... Be still, my heart.  :)

{thanks, sis for a fantastic weekend and my owl.  thanks, chris for getting the boys awesome comic books! they've been busy drawing their own after reading the ones you got for them.}

*a surprise from the movie-one of my favorite (girl) bands from the 90s had a cameo.  Can you guess which one?

oh what beautiful webs they weave

Yesterday, we watched a small spider weave her web.  I assume it was a she, but we kept calling it a he, so who knows?  The wind was whipping the web back and forth and it looked like the spider was on one heck of a thrill ride, but she still continued until she was done.  Then she went back to the middle to wait.  It was pretty amazing. 

After it got dark, we climbed up onto their fort to roast marshmallows (with candles-it was funny) and to begin reading Tom Sawyer.  We only got through the first chapter and then I had to explain what happened because the language is such that we all are not used to (pantaloons, anyone?) but I have to admit that I started laughing when Tom and the boy dressed in the pantaloons were fighting over whether or not Tom would beat him up lick him. 

Tonight we have our last baseball game. Rhett is ready for a break from baseball (as we all are).  And then tomorrow, I am flying to Charlotte, NC to see Krista and Chris! I can hardly wait! Right now I can't decide whether or not to bring my good camera.  It is kind of bulky so I think I'll take my older, smaller one.  I am also trying to fit everything into a small "weekend" bag.  I don't think "weekend" bags were made for women but I'll try. 

I'll leave you with this:

I took some photos of the solar lights hung out on the fort, where we roasted marshmallows.  I wanted to mainly to work on taking photos at night.  This is without the flash, on auto.

 This one above is on manual, and after working on shutter speed and white balance and ISO.  I can see why people need tripods when taking photos at night because the shutter speed is very slow.

So slow that you can't move or it will blur.  But I did this one above on purpose.  I shook the camera as I took the picture and this was the result.  Kind of cool.

Ok, enough of the boring light pictures.  Hopefully, next week I'll have some of Charlotte.  Til then, have a great weekend!

Being boys i.e. Captains of Adventure

Well, I talk about boys

Don't ya know I mean boys

Well, I talk about boys, now

Aaahhh, boys

Well, I talk about boys, now

What a bundle of joy!

                                -from the Beatles "Boys"

Don't you just love boys?  The drink mustache (I think its Sunkist), the sunscreen residue in their hair, the sweaty sideburns...

the freckles that dot their faces, the wide, holey smiles, the cool shades...

Day 1 of our Summer Adventure included getting new sunglasses because this is Rhett's first time to wear the ones he has always wanted to wear with the rainbow lenses.  So excited! Rhett wears his contacts most days now, unless I'm not there to help him put them in.  This, we are working on.   We also went on a picnic at the riverside.  This will be an ongoing adventure because the boys really want to explore the river but today we were not in a good spot.  We walked down a small trail, slid down a small hill (even me), and looked around at the trashy and stinky water.  Like I said, not a good spot.  So, I hoisted the boys back up and they pulled me back on the trail (Rule #1 of being a good Captain of Adventure:  Always help the smallest person up a hard spot to climb first, then they can all help pull the biggest.  It worked really well.  Thank goodness or I'd still be there at the waterside!) 

After walking around the playground a bit, we then decided to go back home and play Beatles Rockband where we jammed to some good tunes, including the one at the top of this post.

Now, we are taking a break and waiting for Seth so we can go swimming at the pool. 

Ahh, summer...

Oh and we are working on getting along with each other also.  See how well its going?