bump.set.spike.

Another Monday (even if they are being posted on Wed), another volleyball tournament until 9:30pm. M's game keeps getting better and better and she is getting proof of that with more court time. Her serves are now more consistent and powerful and in one game, she had 10 serves in a row not be returned! We are so proud of how confident she has gotten and can't wait to see her play for the junior high team this year along with her regular club tournaments.

girls being girls.

Being a pre-teen, M has what seems to be a non-stop stream of girls coming in and out of our house. Now she has gotten it into her head that not only do we feed most of these girls but now she needs photo sessions with them too! Though you should know, I really don't mind either as it means I can actually spend a little time with my M from time to time. Here are the couple girls that were over the other day.

One thing these three have in common is that they all play volleyball, both at the school and in club together.

Happy bday to my little man

Today my baby boy turned seven years old. Seriously, I want to just break down and cry. What right does he have to grow up so quickly?? To celebrate, Daddy took the day off work to spend it with him beginning with the unveiling of his first gift. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, all he would say is "the Mario cart from Academy." Earlier in the week, I snuck out and bought it and then we hid it in our bathroom to charge it up. This morning, C only thought that he and Daddy were going to see if they could buy one; he had no idea it was sitting in the driveway...
He opened up all the cards that were left in the driver's seat, making sure to read each one out loud.

But then it was time for a test drive...

This little cart lived up to all the expectations he had and then some!

After he rode for a while and let everyone else have a turn, it was time to go pick out a cake and go to the movies to see Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen in IMAX with Daddy. At first he wanted to go to Ihop for his birthday dinner, but then he changed his mind to Mommy's angel hair pasta with salad. The night before he'd had "Daddy's famous chicken" as they call it so the week was full of his favorite foods. Once dinner had a chance to settle, we lit up the cake, sang "happy birthday" and blew out the candles (a few times for photo opps).

By this point, Lola was pretty much birthdayed out.

Once C had consumed all he could stand of his pirate ship's bow, he dove right in to the birthday goodies from his sisters.They know him so well!

C and his loot.

He had a terrific day today, but I know that his favorite part was having Daddy almost completely to himself. Come Sunday, he will be in heaven when he, Daddy, Chippy & Papa have their boys' trip to see the Astros play the Mets!

be involved.

It is so important for kids to be involved in some activity or sport that builds confidence and motivation. Studies (and admittedly, I rarely put a whole lot of stock in them) have shown that kids who are active are far less likely to be involved in drugs and alcohol or teenage pregnancy. I personally believe that more important than the activity is the involvement of the parent which is why everything I do professionally is scheduled around my children and their lives. I did not have children because it was convenient or "fit" with my life. They come before all else and so do their activities. On this (as with most else but mostly this) my husband and I agree completely. Is it expensive? Yes, but we find a way because all the material things they have been given do not remotely compare to the way they light up when M's serve goes over and becomes an ace or when L touches the wall to see that the next swimmer is no where near her or C gets his belts. These are the things we could not give them, it's something they earned for themselves and is priceless.
We took these pics yesterday for daddy's office and each of them expressed their pride in the idea that they would hang in his office along side his accomplishments because in all that daddy has done in his field, they are his greatest achievement (and mine too).

a very good season.

I have known that she is determined when she sets her mind to something, I just had no idea just how determined she was until this swim season. Her goal was to win every freestyle event she swam and to earn high point swimmer in her age group. She worked that tiny little hiney off to get there, sometimes taking two practices a day on top of hour long private lessons by her own choosing. All that hard work certainly paid off, she won the event in each dual meet though fell short of first in divisionals. No matter, she got the four medals out of the five events she swam and she was satisfied. Add to that the ribbon she won in the fifth event was hot pink and she was one happy camper! As for high point 7-8 girl, she took that one by miles. At first she was a little offended when she would hear other parents tell their girls that if they worked hard like her, maybe they could beat her but after a long talk about how that was probably the best compliment she'd ever received, she learned to welcome those comments. Now that summer swim is over, you'd think she'd be relieved to have some down time to stay up late and get up when she felt like it but no, she misses swim and can't wait to start swimming competitively in the fall. Even the thought of three practices a week excites her. Wow. She's found her "thing" and I couldn't be prouder of what she's accomplished. Oh and I couldn't end this post without a huge thank-you to the best coach she's ever had, Coach Shawna. I know that without her support, encouragement, and tough love L would not have the season she had.

this one too.

I think this is the last of the frames that are hanging around with no picture in it. There's nothing like one free & clear day to torture the kids with an all day photo session especially since yesterday was a day of room cleaning. With days like this, they'll be begging to go back to school!

Just a couple extras, cus my kids are so dern cute!

and this one.

I have this problem with collecting frames and never filling them. I think this one dates back about 18 months and what's truly sad is that I bought the dress to match the frame and now she is about to outgrow it. Ok so here's the real dilemma. I have finally taken the pictures and as normal, now I can't pick one for the frame.

This one is going in my offiice for sure...

so i have this really cool frame.

I bought this rockin frame at Ikea (love that place) and I had visions of putting the kids pics in it to mimic a photo booth. We all had so much fun shooting these that narrowing it down to seven was next to impossible!