five for friday

 1. Violet has a thing for apples.  She stares at them everytime one of us eats one and she will do just about anything to get her hands on one.  She was extra fussy one evening as I was trying to make dinner so I put her in the highchair and gave her an apple.  She acted like she was gonna bite it a couple times but mainly just played with it.  You do what you gotta do around here and it did the trick.

2. She loves her new swing in the backyard so much that she relaxes enough to fall asleep.  It's so sweet and sad at the same time.  Oh, and I didn't realize it was that crooked.  Yikes.

3. This picture makes me smile.

4. We got to celebrate our niece Ellie last weekend.  She is turning 5.  Crazy.  I made her one of those little "make-up" bags and filled it with girly goodness!  I think her favorite was the make-up brush.  

5. The kids always have so much fun with their cousins.  It's pretty awesome.  This particular time, they created a full blown musical parade.  It was quite entertaining.

fun gift packaging

I love ideas for fun and personal gift packaging so I thought I would share mine.  I try to use photos every chance I get because I just love them!  So for Mother's Day, I made a little collage of Jason's Mom holding each of the babies at close to the same age and had it printed in a 5x7.  I used it as her card and wrote on the back of it, taped it to the top of brown paper packaging, and tied it with cute twine.

For my Mom, I found a picture of me holding Tyson which was similar to one of her holding me as a baby and used it as her card as well, taped to the top, and completed with pink & white twine.

And whoever came up with the idea to use the bottom part of a button up shirt sleeve as a gift card holder was genius!  I don't remember where I first found this idea but I use it all the time!  It can be cut and stitched up in a matter of 10 minutes and makes giving a gift card just a little more fun!

My niece is graduating from highschool this weekend so I need to finish working on her gift!  Pinterest to the rescue once again...

end of season soccer party

Tyson's soccer team had a little end of season party at Skyline last night.  The team all sat at a big table together while the families of the players sat at tables all around them.  After dinner, they each got to pick a cold treat from the freezer.  Tyson was pretty happy with his popsicle.

The siblings and parents even got to pick a sweet treat.  Mia's ended up being too much for her and half of it went everywhere but her mouth.  She was a mess but she sure had fun.

I got really excited when I realized that the lighting was amazing for pictures.  We were at the perfect table and so I had a ball snapping away.

Mia had to turn around often and check out what the boys were up to.  Avery kept asking if she could go "check on Tyson".  It was sweet.

There was a coloring contest among the team and Tyson was the winner. The coach said his name was written the neatest too even with half those boys already in kindergarten.  I was one proud Momma!

Then it came time for the coach to hand out trophys and Tyson began to pick his nose as he waited patiently for the coach to call his name.  That's our boy.

When his name was called, he totally lit up.  It was awesome.

He gave the coach five and accepted his trophy.  

He was so proud.

Then this morning as he played he said, "Mommy, remember how I got a trophy?"

another photo shoot

It's no secret that I love to take pictures of our babies.  And it is no secret that their Grandmas want nothing more than to have new pictures of them for gifts.  So for Mother's Day this year, I dressed the kids and headed to our new favorite spot a few miles down the road.  

Our photo shoots always end up fun even if someone isn't too happy about the idea at first.  

These are definitely my new favorites...

Tyson wanted to hold her and then immediately went crazy saying he was going to drop her.  It was actually quite funny and Violet didn't mind a bit.

And these sweet models will work for marshmallows!  It's a good deal.

mother's day

Mother's Day is my favorite.  Much better than a birthday because you don't have to turn a year older but still get spoiled!  

This is where it all started...my Mama and her girls.  I am the little blonde holding her hand.  My sisters are 8 & 10 years older than me.  We were an all girl household from the time I was 3 years old.  And just a few years later, I was planning out my life as I played with my baby dolls.  I was going to have 3 girls just like my Mama.  

Fast forward about 30+ years and here I am...

in all my glory as a mama.  A mama of 3 girls with the added bonus blessing of a sweet boy.  I totally hit the husband & kid jackpot and for that I will be forever grateful.

I am always behind the camera so this is my one rare request every Mother's Day.

Looking at these photos is completely surreal for me.  I can't believe they are mine.

It was a very Happy Mother's Day to me.

Jason started it off right by coming home from work on Friday night with these beauties.

And then as if my cup wasn't running over enough, he gave me this card in the morning before church. He may not be a good speller (ha) but he sure knows how to write words from the heart.  I could run on the fuel from this card for the next year...  

And to top it all off, Tyson drew a picture of me in the card.  Perfection.

So incredibly blessed.

the art show

Avery came home from school one day and told me that her self-portrait was chosen by the art teacher to be in the art show.  She didn't act like it was a big deal and didn't have any idea when the art show was.  So I told her that was awesome and we moved on.  

A couple weeks later, I got a congratulatory letter in her school folder from the art teacher letting us know that her work was chosen to represent her school in the district art festival.  It was a big deal.

There were several pieces of art chosen from each grade level at each school and it was all displayed at the high school for the arts festival.

Since Avery wants to be an artist (as well as a veterinarian, singer, & animal rescuer) she was very proud when we went to the festival along with both Grandma's, PaPa, & Aunt Beth to see her self-portrait on display!

She thought later about she forgot to add her freckles.  Oh, well.  I thought it was perfect.  I was so excited for my girl to have a little boost to her confidence and it was so neat to see her art on display!

We walked around picking our favorites and Mia cracked me up carrying her purse just like Momma.  I loved it.

So proud of our little artist.

five for friday

1. Jason took the big girls to Waffle House on a date last Friday night for dinner.  They were beyond excited!  They got to experience a restaurant for the first time that they assumed was a house made of waffles, ride in Daddy's car, and get all of his attention during dinner!  He asked them on Tuesday and Avery counted down while Mia asked me each day if it was time for her date.  They have been on dates with Daddy before but not together.  They got dressed up and Avery had mentioned Daddy wearing a tie so he did.  He is awesome like that.  These girls have no idea (yet) how amazingly blessed they are to have the Daddy that they do!  

2. Tyson had quite a large fan club at his soccer game on Saturday.  He wasn't really feelin' it that day and spent a lot of time waving to his fans.  He is a crowd pleaser.  He says soccer is awesome but also says that he likes the games because of the snacks.  Oh, well.  It just might not be his thing.

3. My Momma came to stay the night and help out early this week while Jason was out of town for work!  It's always nice to have her around.  I got to give her Mother's Day gift to her early.  She loved it.

4. We love pajamas around here.  I mean we live in them somedays and it's awesome.  Throw 2 or more babies together in jammies and I am in heaven.  So stinkin' cute.

5. My oldest sister Stephanie has a birthday on Mother's Day this year.  I used this picture of Violet and added a little message (on picmonkey) for her card.  I taped it to the front of the package.  I was so excited about it because how could you not smile when you see that face?

HAPPY FRIDAY!