men in sleevless shirts, crafting!

Have you ever done a project or craft that made you almost lose your salvation? this past week i decided to make layne's 3rd birthday invitations...football theme. every party has to have a theme. everything should have a theme actually... like the theme of my house is "looks like you've been burglarized". anyway, all that to say, when we do birthday's for the kids, we like to put some effort into them. mainly so they can look back on it and affectionately say, "i don't even remember that party".

but the really neat part about this hellish crafting experience is that my husband did the craft with me. how many men will do that?? like really, he rolled up his sleeves and dug in. what i meant to say is that he actually ripped off his sleeves and dug in. i despise when men wear sleeveless shirts, and this is nato's only one. but i didn't complain about his wardrobe because free labor is impossible to find in this economy and i wanted him to keep working in my makeshift sweatshop.



and lastly, not firstly, layne has worn this outfit for 3 days straight. to the store, on play dates, on walks, in the bath-- but never to sleep in of course... that would be just plain unsanitary! occasionally he will take his goggles off and put them atop his head...but other that that, he refuses to wear anything else. he gets up first thing and immediately asks where his goggles are. then we fight about it for, oh, 10 minutes and he gets his way. i'm like, if this your passion in life dude, go for it. i say NO to a lot of things he wants, so i feel like it's ok to give in to a few things that aren't deal breakers. i will have to wash those trunks sometime soon though and i know it will be tough for him to part with this "outfit". not emotionally, but physically-- trying to get the underwear part unattached from his bun cheeks. just keep us in your prayers.

hooray america.

these pictures pretty much sum up our 4th of july experience.


My sister maggie, shown here holding her seeing eye dog, stole candy from little children as it was thrown from the parade floats. you might also notice that my brother, keaton, in between maggie and nato-- looks more like nato's brother than mine. it might also be shocking for you to know that my dad, over there on the right, is actually sucking in. that is, i guess, the best he could do.






here in the second picture you can see layne enjoying the events inspired by freedom and sacrifice for our country. his attitude is nothing short of inspirational for every American. candy from parade + toddler-ness+ inability to cope with life in general = FUN!! please notice lila in the back of the stroller singing worship songs, smiling, and knitting blankets for orphans.



and in the third picture, my husband shows that jumping over a candlestick is not just the stuff of nursery rhymes...however, this candlestick was a dangerous ball of fire and smoke called "the exploding panda". i'm not sure what he was doing, but i'm told it is a custom done to celebrate America's independence over in the philippines. because every country celebrates the 4th of july...am i right or am i right?

hope you had a fun 4th of july too!

Stinky Brownies and Amazing Photography

my friend emily anderson took our family pictures a couple weeks ago and did a phenomenal job.
The mere fact that she was able to take these pictures after the kid's bedtime and still manage to make us look cute is a miracle(not even seen in the bible).

she is in orlando now, but maybe you could fly her in and she'd take your pics too.
check her site out

and can i just share a funny story not related to photography, but simply a nice juxtaposition to these beautiful photographs?

our son Layne is newly pottytrained. itold him that if he can't make it inside to go potty, just to pull his pants down and pee on a tree. not 5 minutes later did i look outside in the FREAKING front yard and there he was taking a dump on the driveway. I have wondered often what the neighbors were thinking when they saw a brown child pinching a loaf off for their viewing pleasure.

when i went outside he said, "mommy, i couldn't make it inside". but he had this side smile going on that made me think he was just exercising his newly found freedom... knowing full well he wouldn't get in trouble because he was just following instructions. actually, i almost praised him for his uncanny knack for finding a loop hole in the system.

well, i didn't tell nato where the turd was, in hopes that he might step on it on his way inside. i thought it might be a great way to top his day off. but alas, he missed the "stinky brownies"(that is what layne calls poop).

I know that is twisted, but i will do almost anything for a good laugh. just ask my brothers and sisters...they have plenty of stories. some even involving poop.

our vacation condensed

well I decided the rest of the vacation would be condensed in collages. i mean, who wants to see more pics of just me and nato...pictures are so much more fun when the kids are involved. later this week i will put up the family pics my friend emily took. she did an incredible job, for real. you guys need to fly her from florida to KC to take yours.

so here is the plane ride and the beach. wish you were there. NOT.

kissing in st. augastine

Well, we just got back from our VA-CA in florida. we went to a marraige conference and stayed at my friend emily's house for the first half and a B&B the last half. It was 7 days long...which means we were missing our kids for 5 of those days. but it was fun. and we kissed a lot. this was done by using the good ol' timer functin on the camera(so no one had to witness the make out festival we were throwing).

i'll post some more later which don't involve us kissing.

are you gagging yet?

filipino fun

Lila finds her reflection