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.

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. ;-)

photos in the park...

a few moments captured at the park yesterday....

what a blessing it is to be able to play at the park with these littles. really, i think i enjoy park play as much, if not more than they do. i'm a kid at heart, i suppose.

i love the little people in the photos, in case you didn't already know.

love their expressions here..

lily's observant stare and leafy's look of determination.

on the lookout? ;-)

have a wonderful, blessed weekend!
~kelly~

moments at the pond...

a last minute trip to tn/ga this past weekend.

we were able to spend time with grandma and grandpa aka mamaw and papaw.

also in town were the much loved cousins, "x" and "k" and of course their sweet mama (the world's best sister-in-law) tina.

there is a nice pond on the property complete with ducks. 

the kids had fun! leafy spent most of the time fishing with the neighbor girl so, pictures of him are few. he is always on the move and quickly. ;-)

he can be difficult to "catch".

glimpses from pond play...

not the best of photos, but the only one of leafy (i just had to include my boy).
he is flicking flowers here.

sweet cousin love.

the mood changed just as fast as the temp, i'd say. oh my, miss lily!

i love capturing lily deep in thought. ;-)

till next time...

blessings to you!

~kelly~