Lean In

This is as close as he'll come to a "mohawk"...

Ok, so this is the deal..Chaz had gone like 8 WEEKS since his hair had been cut..now, if his hair was the right texture and all, I would be all about the shaggy look or whatever, but his hair won't do that look unfortunately..so by the time we were able to get to Ms.Keeli for a cut, it was BAD looking..ugggh..it stresses me out when his hair is bad looking..is that weird? (I'm acutely aware I have issues...it's OK)...soooo, when we get there, I overhear him asking Keeli to give him a mohawk...ummm, NO!...sorry mohawk parents, but we're not into that look (as in CUTTING/SHAVING your hair to fit the style)...thankfully, Keeli knows some of our family and suggested she cut his hair as usual but how about we style it in a "fauxhawk"...I was Ok with that...sooooo, .....

(For our church members, doesn't he look like a Jason Bowen mini me? our music minister )

for example....

 

....ha...OH, he was stoked! He kept looking at himself in the mirror asking me if he looked "cool"..lol ..hilarious..he DID look cute though, I have to admit..so he wore his hair like this to baseball practice (and that is where he has gotten the idea he wants a mohawk..ahem, Jagur and Tristan)....and then he wanted me to style it like this this morning for school.however, I am not a good hair stylist..so it was a bit lame but I tried..and by the time he got home, it was back to normal..lol..let me tell you..that hair style was way too high maintenance for school mornings..No Way!!!

Now, I know he had something like this pictured...

but SORRY!   However, in reseaching "mohawk hairstyles" in Google, I came across lots of pictures of him...swoon

Ummm, I CAN  handle the "David Beckham fauxhawk look"...my goodness, that is one fine man...I'm just sayin'....

I'm dying a slow death down here in Georgia in the Springtime...

(image from Fickr)

The older I get, the more it affects me..and today is one of those days..my head hurts, my nose goes from being stuffy to running, there's sneezing, etc...ugggh...could be because the pollen count is 640, which, in comparison to the past few days where it was 1377-2790, that's low, but I guess it's all built up in my body... ?

This is the one negative about Spring here..otherwise, it's great!

Georgia Aquarium--in pictures...

How can it be that I never posted these? Maybe because there were so many, I knew it would take awhile to get them all loaded? Well, maybe, but it's time..we let the kids stay out of school one Wednesday a few weeks ago and took them to the Aquarium (cause Brad and I despise going anywhere where there's a huge crowd..so we figured mid week should be good), to Centennial Olympic Park, and to eat at The Varsity...They proclaimed the day "the best day ever"..lol..we had a great time..here are pictures..

Scary!!!

Hellow Mr.Turtle..so nice of you to give us a little wave :)

 

Chaz took his book and was constantly whipping it out and looking stuff up..and he always buddies up with the tour guides anywhere we go..and impresses them with his vast knowledge..seriously..well, if we are somewhere there are snakes, reptiles, sharks, sports, or things like that...

 

Grumpy looking suckers, aren't they? lol...

This is one of my favorite shots..love the colors..this is where the seahorses lived..

Jelly fish are such strange creatures to me..

Mandatory snake picture for Mimi...

Wow! A White croc! Sort of neat looking..in an ugly sort of way...

Piranhas!!!

Centennial Olympic Park is across the street..For our wedding, my Maid of Honor bought us and our other friends who got married right before us a brick with our wedding dates on it to be placed in the park when it was being built way back in 1995-ish? We finally found it in person (there is a way to locate the general area online)..it took us a few minutes to find it though...

and then we hit The Varsity...it was the kid's first time!

These hot dogs are highly overrated in my opinion...

We had a really fun day! Hope I didn't overload you with pictures..I just liked so many of them..and well, it's my blog :) 

I've had a few requests to add my music back on here...

..so I did :)   and thanks for making my childhood goal of being a DJ feel somewhat true..true story, I can remember wanting to be a "DJ"...

by the way, I LOVE this first song so much..I listen to it over and over..and it makes me want to blast it in a convertible car..that I don't have...

...and now I must go make a Target run...in my minivan..sigh...

Her first sleepover...SUCCESS!

Bailey has been dying to have a friend over to spend the night like Chaz does...but she just turned 6..and not many little girls are quite ready to spend the night away from home yet..our kids will because they have spent the night once a week at my inlaws since they were babies..and technically, Bailey has spent the night at one friend's house..my friend Meredith's with Perrin and Griffin..and she got a little homesick for a minute according to Mer, but she distracted her..lol..so we have been trying to find a time when her bff in her class, Emma, could come over and stay the night..Her Mom thought she would do fine..Well, Saturday was the DAY...and what fun they had! They played and played and played..and Chaz had his friend Tristan over too for the day, and they all four were like a tornado blowing around the house...goodness...

(Yes, Brad got the dutch door put into the playhouse!! Yay..now I've just got to paint the door red)

They sort of like each other...

 

(and Emma really likes bunny ears..lol)

I'm sorry, but they kept INSISTING I take pictures of them..seriously..what was I to do?

When it was dinnertime, we all made our own pizzas, which is always a  hit with kids (and is NOT my original idea..I got the idea from my friend Amy who had the boys do this at her son's bday party a few years ago)

Tristan always looks at me like I'm crazy when I'm snapping pictures, so I don't take too many of him..I swear, he thinks I'm weird.. :P

Tristan's pizza made me laugh..

The weather was so nice, we all ate outside...

See? Emma will even do bunny ears on herself..hee hee

and then...AND THEN, I had a "special dessert"...I know, Mother of the Year award is mine..

Emma was super pumped!

mmmmmmmmmmmm.....

and then they played and played, but we all were going to church this morning, so they had to get baths and GO TO BED!

There were some giggles and talking...and getting up for "water"...but it didn't last long before they conked out... 

and we all got up this morning, Brad cooked pancakes, and we all went to church..and then we dropped the girls off at Emma's house for the afternoon..mercy, they should be tired! School starts back tomorrow...and I can get back to a routine...for about 35 days before they are out for summer...

She caught me!

This afternoon/evening, I had my first experience photographing two Seniors..so fun! So easy, both are naturals in front of the camera....I'm not sure how many pictures I took, but there are many..and many are good! Can't wait to post peeks...Brent's Mom was also doing some snapping of her own..and caught me!

This spot was awesome with that old building in the background..lots of good shots from here..

I can't believe I'm posting a picture of me from behind with my big booty, but this is so me..I have to carry this little stool with me because I am so short (5 feet) and to keep people from having to look down at me (which isn't very flattering in photography..you really want people looking up at you)..and Caitlen was 6 feet tall!! lol..so my stool went on every shot where she was standing...

Obviously, I squench my nose up really badly too..lol

and I'll climb in the middle of bushes, on top of things, or whatever it takes to get the shot..

You know, I had been feeling really unenthused about doing photography anymore..thinking of giving it up except for my own stuff...but after today, I feel inspired again..just had a really good time...

(and yes, I am growing my hair out...but am going this week to get a "shape up"..)

A good little read...

Admittedly, I am not a big reader..used to be, but nursing school ruined my love of reading..seriously..now, magazines and quick reads like that, I like, but I've bought so many books that I start and never finish, it's not even funny..I've pretty much just given up..HOWEVER, I LOVE this book..each chapter is only about 2-4 pages and just about every single chapter I can apply to my everyday life..You may have heard of "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"..I bought it years ago and still have it and will dig it out and read it again sometime in the future..I bought this one several months ago and pick it up here and there and read a chapter..so applicable and useful! I just wanted to pass it on...

You can find it online here...

Today...

We went to Callaway Gardens...it was a lovely day..nice temperature, we rode bikes, had a picnic, looked at flowers (which Chaz just loved ;) ) and butterflies, and then went and ate some country cooking (just what I needed..NOT, but dang it was good)...Most of my pictures stink from the day because I had my f-stop set on 2.8 the whole time? I guess that was the deal..so my area of focus was really small? Still not really sure what the deal was, but some turned out cute..will share later..got to go to bed..work tomorrow..

 

Today...

Somebody went fishing...

(hard to see the fish in the above pictures..it's a catfish)

Somebody went out to eat lunch with her Nannie and Mama...

and somebody also got a new ("used") game for his new PS3 that his Daddy got for a sweet deal from a guy at work...

and none of us went to Minnesota to the Mall of America...very early this morning Brad got on the computer and checked the flights and some ungodly number of people had listed as non-rev..sooo, we may have made it on the plane, but all four of us would have been spread out all over the plane and I'm not doing that with a 6 year old..just decided it was too much trouble to try to get there..so we did the above things today (as well as the post below)..and tomorrow we're taking an excursion to Callaway Gardens to ride bikes, visit butterflies, photograph flowers, spend time outside...

Under Renovation...

Bailey and I have a little renovation project we just started...well, Brad is involved too here and there..he had to get the thing cleaned out first..yard junk/tools all stored in there and firewood piled on the porch..see, this playhouse has history..Brad's grandfather built it for Brad's sister way back when she was little (and she's 48) and it matched the real house they lived in (I have a picture of it from way back somewhere I must find and scan)...when Brad's parents moved from their old house, Brad and some friends loaded this little house up and moved it down to our house with the hopes that someday we would have children that would play in it..well, we did have children, and a girl that is now 6..and it is just now getting fixed back up..grrrr...Bailey has really been on Brad to clean it out for her the past year..he finally did it the other day..she has laid claim on it..today we moved her art easel and her kitchen up there..I swept and cleaned out cobwebs, we went to Pike's and bought some flowers for the front porch cause flowers make everything look better..I made mental notes of how I wanted to decorate it...wait, it's Bailey's right? lol..Oh, I have plans..we found a little table at the thrift store that I'm going to paint white and shabby up..I'm going to make some sort of window valences, paint the front door, put up the antique mailbox that I have up in the attic, get a doormat, paint two walls with chalkboard paint, etc etc...OH YEAH, window boxes will be added too..lol..nothing can really be simple..things HAVE to be cute around here! Brad really needs to put up a new wall on the back wall..annnnd, I think we need a dutch door?

Those are red petunias and sweet potato vine we planted..they will grow and spill over the pots and look cute on that tiered stand that I've had forever...thinking we need some monkey grass to line the walkway...I've warned Bailey she has to remember to water all these flowers! My mother bought her the hummingbird thingie today...she HAD to have the hummingbird..lol..it looks cute..

Ah well, it gives us a new project to obsess over ...and search thrift stores for..