it was party time!

Summer birthday parties are a breeze! The kids swam, snacked, danced and swam some more. Even the grown ups got involved in the water activity due to the hot summer sun. Ashlyn had a bunch of friends come and share this special event with her and she is still talking about all of the fun that she had. She is even offering to pay me back for all the money I spent on the party. The girl has a huge heart.

Here's my version of her party scrapbook - collages signifying all the fun, capturing the smiles and remembering the laughs.

All the kids were swimming and the next thing you know, the girls start getting out to dance to the music. It was so funny! They did the Macarena, the ChaCha Slide, Hoedown Throwdown and the YMCA. Ashlyn also broke out into the sprinkler - who knew?! It still makes me laugh to think about the way this transpired.

As I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning, rearranging and throwing away after the party, Ashlyn turned to me and said, "It's kind of sad that I'm six, isn't it? ". I told her I thought it was and asked her why she thought it was. She said - and it breaks my heart - " I won't get to sit in your lap anymore." I assured her that she would NEVER be too big to sit in my lap and that no matter how old she gets she will always be my baby girl.

sweet & sassy & six

It's so hard to believe that my baby girl turned six today. Six years ago I was living the dream of having a precious little girl to dress up, put bows on and buy lots of pink for. Thank goodness she is a girly girl and still enjoys all of those things. She is such a breath of fresh air with the things that she says and the smile that could light a room. She is beautiful on the inside and out.

Please visit here to see pictures of Ashlyn from birth to age five. I was posting that as I sat in a hospital room with Trey as he was recovering from surgery to remove a staph infection - hard to believe that was a year ago.

Here are some hilights of her special day. It started early and finished late. She told me that this was the best birthday ever and that no one spoiled it.

She spent the morning at Science camp in which her Mimi made her cupcakes to share with everyone (just now thought about how special this is since she has a summer birthday party and doesn't get the chance to share it at school). Mrs. Patti and Ms. Christy were kind enough to let her indulge in this special moment with the 21 other campers.

After Science camp we met friends, Cindy and Corbin, for lunch and fun at Mesquite Aquatics Center. We even got a slush at Sonic on our way home.

We got home, showered and headed to Alex's birthday party. (Alex's mom and I have been BFs for 25 years and these two girls were born three days apart.) This party is slumber party so Ashlyn is there enjoying popcorn and chocolate milk (yuck). Kudos to Allison for giving this brand new experience a try. I'll gladly let her be the "cool mom" of the group :)

I am sitting here thinking back to how much fun the past six years have been since the birth of this precious baby girl. She has added much joy to our lives, keeps her brothers in line and no matter what or when, she will always be our baby girl.

And I am not going to think of the song, "You're Gonna Miss This"... because I will get very sad.

just beachy

Three nights and four days in Cozumel with four great and fun friends. These pictures speak for themselves. We created memories to last a lifetime!

bring your intertubes, we've got the rapids

Obviously, what brings annoyance to some, brings joy to others.

After hours of endless rain/ terrential downpours, booming thunder and bright lightening all through the night and well into the afternoon - this is what happens to a small pond in a small town. *please note: captions are under each picture.

Sharing our pond with the neighbors ...and probably all of our fish.

The culvert balancing out the water level - it is gushing, sounds loud - just like you are at the river.


The Davis rapids - come give 'em a whirl.

Seriously, how did Noah survive 40 days with a bunch of animals?! I barely survived 15 hours with three kids. It finally let up enough for me to head out and get my pedicure. Some things are worth the wait ... and the mud.

at the Harbor

On Wednesdays, I am taking photos for Gotta Scrap, in Rockwall, customers. Today we spent the day at the Harbor - thank goodness for it being overcast and windy to keep it comfortable outside. I met six gorgeous kiddos and they were so much fun to catch on camera.

C was so photogenic, full of ideas and all smiles.

Sweet A and big boy F were so incredibly cute. She was not in the mood to smile but she is so striking, smiles weren't needed. He was full of life and enjoyed

We had so much fun and look forward to next week, it's dress up day!! Please email me or visit the Gotta Scrap website for more information.

just keepin' it real

Jared had a birthday last weekend and because I am cheap, we don't buy cards. I have a daughter who is more than willing to design and create cards for any occasion. When Jared came home from the fire station, the day after his birthday, this was the card that was created for him by our five year old princess.

Happy Birthday Jared, with many more birthdays and gray hair to come.

one tired mama

Kids got out of school Monday, teacher work day on Tuesday and inservice Wednesday through Friday. My summer break has only just begun and I couldn't be happier. There was only one night last week that I was home, Jared was at the station all but two days and the kids were gone every night. Their summer kicked into high gear Monday afternoon at 1:35.

Clayson spent every night this week with Nana and Pop. He has been involved in outdoor chores - mowing the yard, weedeating and some outdoor fun - in the pool. He has agreed to mowing every week which in turn earned him a nice bike (that he wants to keep upstairs). He had a friend over one night and stayed up the whole night but apparently never got tired. Clayson has been digging being the "only child" for a week.

Trey spent two nights with Nana and Pop and two nights with Mamaw and Pawpaw Davis in Plano. He has met a friend across the street from them and loves the friend's uncle that has cerebral palsy. Trey is known for his tender heart and patience. He also spent some time watching TV - imagine that. I asked him if he watched his regular shows (I Carly and such) but he said they don't have Nickelodeon so he watched Jerry Springer. I laughed and asked him why he watched this show and he said he likes it when they fight and it's the only thing that comes on after Family Feud. I also heard today that he ate nine mini-snickers and became hyper - you don't see that side of Trey much. So, you can only imagine what it must be like for him to come home and not have so much free will.

Ashlyn spent two nights with Nana and Pop, one night with Mimi and one night at home. She spent three days with Mamaw and Papaw and her Friday with Anna, Ross and Jen-Jen. She has had so much fun in the pool, on the computer and with her friends. I heard she even tried a corny dog this week - that's progress.

I went to water aerobics Monday and Tuesday night, Clayson had a baseball game Tuesday night, Wednesday night I was at home and loved every minute, Thursday night we took the A girls to the harbor as an end-of-Kindergarten/summer- kick off and last night I took baseball team photos and headed to Plano to pick up Trey. I was one exhausted mama last night.

Today I have actually been enjoying cleaning house and doing laundry. There has been a bit of retraining going on for the kids that have been spoiled rotten all week. I'm setting up camp on the kitchen table to get my photography business organized. The idea bothered me but then again, how often do we have company that would see this set up and how often do I cook dinner that we truly need the table?

It has been a crazy busy week, there is some slow down on the horizon and better yet, Cozumel is six days away.

school's out for summer!

It is official, summertime '09 has begun! An early release day, a talent show and an afternoon of moving boxes out of this year's classroom into next year's classroom made this Monday feel like a Friday. I am whooped already. That's okay, I have two months to catch up on some r&r and I plan to take full advantage.

Here are the kids all geared up for the last day of school. The boys tried to muster a smile but they just weren't in the mood for a picture - I have yet to find a time when they are. Ashlyn thought she was "all that and a bag of chips" in her Party City attire sponsored by Mimi.

It was "surfin' into summer" at our schools and Ashlyn was all over it. (I plan to have a special Kindergarten reflection post in the near future. For now, I just want to celebrate and not get all sad and stuff.)

Needless to say, we are happy to have summer days and late nights to look forward to. And lots and lots of fun in the sun.