summer fun | Page 4 | Minivans Are Hot

Happy Blistering, Sweltering, Melt Your Face Off Father’s Day

June 21, 2010 by Kelli

We celebrated Dad yesterday. It was a day meant for eating, sleeping and watching golf, just how Dad likes it. And so we ate, we slept, we watched golf and we enjoyed the day together as a unit. We missed being with our own fathers – two men who are the hero’s that Lee and I look up to with all the esteem that can be given to men of wisdom and stature such as they are. Without either of them in town, Father’s Day seemed a bit lacking this year. But we still enoyed our time together doing what we love to do – playing together.

Of course, what better way to celebrate Father’s Day than to watch the US Open together? And as we watched, Lee got the itch to go hit golf balls. I wanted nothing more than to support his desire to do just that – but I also didn’t want to be left alone with the kids who were threatening my sanity, so we packed everyone up in our (rockin’ hot) minivan and trekked to the driving range. And under the sweltering, blistering sun, we made a memory.

Or, as Landon put it, “We hit da baw hawd.”

This smile comes from hitting the ball past the 75 yard marker.

I really, seriously, truly, madly and deeply love this family of mine.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon, Lee, Life, Sloan, summer fun, Tia Tagged With: Dad playing golf, Father's Day 2010, Kids playing golf, US Open 2010

Take me out to the ball game

June 14, 2010 by Kelli

Pretend that these pictures are from Sloan’s first game of the season. Let’s pretend that this wasn’t the first time I actually remembered to bring my camera with the memory card in it. Let’s pretend that I’m much more organized than that and that I would never actually forget to put the memory card in my camera until the season was half over.

Nope not me. I would never do that. Enjoy photos from Sloan’s, ahem, first ball game.

Sloan is the only player on his team with a groupie. We can’t decide if we should change Landon’s nickname from Bubba to Mini-Sloan because he wants nothing more than to be exactly like his big brother. This means that whenever he can get his hands on Sloan’s uniform, he wants it on.

It may possibly be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen…

Play Ball!

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Sloan, summer fun Tagged With: Kids Baseball, Sloan

The Carpenter’s Son

June 7, 2010 by Kelli

On Friday the kids were doing what kids do…fighting.

Well that, and playing outside. At one point I looked out the window and saw Sloan surrounded by several pieces of scrap wood, a hammer, nails, the electric screwdriver and a saw. Um…that seemed like a good moment to go check on them.

“What are you doing, bud?” I asked as I stepped out onto the driveway.

“Oh I’m just making a chair for Tia and me to sit on,” he replied. He balanced a piece of wood precariously on another and raise the hammer high above the tiny nail pinched between his fingers.

“Uh…Sloan?”

“Yeah?” he asked, squinting up at me.

“I think we should wait for daddy to come home before you start hammer nails into boards.”

It took a bit of convicing, but he finally agreed to hold off on smashing his fingers and sawing his arm off. And when Lee got home, Sloan pounced.

“Canwemakeachairdad, IreallyreallyreallywanttomakeachairformeandTiatositin. Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeaaaase?” Lee agreed to help make a chair…on Saturday morning.

And make a chair they did. When it was all assembled, we threw down a piece of plastic and opened up some cans of leftover paint and let them have at it.

It turned out quite nice:

Yep. We like our new chair…

We like it a lot!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon, Lee, Life, Sloan, summer fun, Tia Tagged With: building with dad, Carpentry, Kids and prjects

To Arkansas and Back

May 17, 2010 by Kelli

We spent a lovely, relaxing week in Arkansas last week where we kicked off our time celebrating the graduation of Lee’s youngest brother from the University of Central Arkansas. Zach was thirteen when I first met him. He was fourteen when Lee and I got married. And now he’s all grown up, has a job and is such a great guy. I’m so proud of him.

I’m getting verklempt. Talk amongst yaselves. I’ll give you a topic. The Partridge Family was neither a Partridge nor a family…discuss.

We heard rumors that Kris Allen (also a UCA alum) was at the graduation. Actually, it wasn’t a rumor – Zach’s girlfriend got stuck behind the mob of young fans wanting his autograph. I didn’t see him, though, and it’s too bad because I think he’s a doll. I would have stared. I’m not afraid to admit it.

My son is a goofball. Seriously, where does this kid get his over the top personality? Lee and I are so reserved and shy…

My sister-in-law, Becke’, photographer extraordinaire, sat down and gave me some great photo tips. I learned about ISO (they’re like worker bees. Trust me…), f-stop, shutter speed, and how the three work together to create the perfect exposure. I learned how to shoot in Manual mode and, while I need a lot of practice (I still can’t take a decent picture indoors) I came away taking better pictures from just one session. I’m telling you – Becke’s good.

(She is equally skilled, incidentally, at killing mutant Arkansas wasps that better resemble a hummingbird than a wasp using nothing but a Steno Pad and sheer force while others, who are less brave than she, look on. Don’t ask me how I know this.)

Flowers are the best practice subject. They have vibrant color, unique shape and they’re still while you take their picture. Not like my kids who are apparently allergic to sitting still.

See that blurry background? I set that! I determined how much blur I wanted (the f-stop, if you will) and adjusted my shutter speed and ISO to match. Me! Let’s all do the happy dance together, shall we?

Now I just want an editing software. I am hereby entering every contest I come across for Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I need Lightroom or Photoshop, but my want is riiiiight on the border of a need.

Besides photo lessons and graduation, we enjoyed an abundance of family time. We ate out every night – and when I say every night, I mean every.single.night. My stomach is in rebellion. I’m on a bit of a detox today of dried fruit, water and green tea.

We watched the kids soak up as much cousin time as they possibly could. From putt-putt to Wii, those kids relished every moment together. I loved playing with my cousins growing up and have so many cousin memories, so I’m excited to see my kids building the same memories.

The lone girl. She held her own with all those boys, even trying to convince her older cousin that she had boy parts. We’re still trying to get her to understand that she is, indeed, actually a girl.

The baby of the family was so thrilled to be invited along with all the big kids that I thought he might actually jump out of his skin on the way to play golf.

Sam – the concentrator.

Cade – the sports nut. Feel the emotion.

Eli – the cut up.

Sloan – the one who’s here to have fun.

We are officially back to life, back to reality. But – glory! – school is almost over. Tia has three days left. Sloan has ten. I can’t wait for summer vacation.

How long do you think it will take for me to wish school would start up again?

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Landon, Life, Motherhood, School, Sloan, summer fun, Tia Tagged With: Arkansas, Kids, Lulu Photography, Motherhood

Favorites Week

May 10, 2010 by Kelli

I’m spending the week in Arkansas and I have limited access to the internet, so posting will be sparse. This is a good thing. I’m enjoying some time away from the computer and plan on reading a lot, sleeping a lot and not having a schedule.

Did you hear what I just said?! Not having a schedule…I thrive on schedules, actually. I hate not having a plan to my day. But the last few weeks have been so crazy and so over-scheduled that I’ve experienced a bit of a burn-out.

And when I say a bit of a burn-out, I mean I’ve been almost in full blown panic mode and have felt the need to carry a brown paper bag with me at all times.

Lee and his dad and brothers left while it was still dark this morning for a week of golfing and boy time, in which I’m sure they will eat, drink and be merry in abundance. And I will spend the time relaxing with my mother-in-law and my kids. Not having a schedule. Not having anywhere I have to be. Not having anything I have to do.

Today was my first unscheduled day and I found myself a little nervous. I didn’t really know what to do with myself. So I took a nap. Then I read a book while watching my kids play outside. Then I went to see a movie with my mother and sister-in-law. Now I’m squeezing in a bit of computer time before I go read some more.

And tomorrow will be more of the same. I’m nervous and excited. More excited than nervous, though…

So I will be reposting some of my favorite posts from the past couple of years this week, while sprinkling in new posts when I have the chance – just so I can have something up here. Enjoy your week, all! 🙂

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Random, summer fun Tagged With: Busy, Motherhood, Relaxation, Vacation

The First Sleepover

August 23, 2009 by Kelli

On Friday night, we hosted our first sleepover. Sloan had two sweet friends over and they spent the evening playing Star Wars, watching Star Wars, eating S’Mores, playing UNO, and altogether wearing Lee out.

In typical sleepover fashion, they hopped up on junk food and got very little sleep. But they also made sweet memories. We are blessed with good, good friends. The two boys Sloan had over are great kids. They’re the kind of kids you want your child spending time with. They bring out the best in Sloan and we altogether enjoyed watching the three of them play together.

Tia and I went to my mom’s house while the boys played. Mom was out on the town, but Tia and I had fun girl time watching Little House on the Prairie and painting our fingernails. I let Tia paint my nails – she also managed to paint a majority of my fingers as well. Though my nails are now an assortment of colors (red, purple and orange were her color scheme) she was so proud, I couldn’t bear to take the polish off. So I sported my sassy nails at church this morning. I think, though, that I’ll clean them up tonight 🙂

Suzanne and Nicole, thanks for lending us your children for the night. They were absolutely fantastic. For your enjoyment, I’m going to list some of my favorite quotes from the boys and a few pics from the super awesome, totally cool first ever sleepover!

Me (upon returning home and finding the boys all nestled shirtless into their sleeping bags in the tent): “How was your evening, guys?”
Bobby: “Mr. Stuart just told us an…unusual story…
Apparently Lee told them a rather animated story that scared them just slightly…Luke ended up practically sleeping on top of Lee.

Sloan: “When I go to heaven, I’m going to see Granny. I have a Granny (his great-grandma) from my Arkansas. She died.”
Luke: “My grandma died one year ago. She made the best muffins.”
Sloan: “Your actual grandma died?” I love his distinction between a great-grandma and an actual grandma…
Luke: “Yeah – she made good muffins.”
(Don’t you love their sweet honesty?)
Bobby: “I have a great-great-great grandma who’s an Indian. An American Indian I think.”

Bobby: “The only thing that would make this sleepover better is if we could stay two nights.”
Luke: “Yeah. I like everything about this sleepover…except the sleeping.”

There were so many other sweet quotes from the evening, but those are the only ones I could remember. Listening to 6 year old boys communicate with one another is a hoot!

Summer '09 153 Summer '09 157 Summer '09 164

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Sloan, summer fun

The Campout

August 17, 2009 by Kelli

On Friday, Lee bought a tent. For some time now, we’ve talked about wanting to campout with the kids. I have great memories growing up of camping with my family and I wanted to create similar memories for my children.

So, with a little help from some very excited kiddos, Lee pitched a tent in our backyard. We figured that was the best place to try a first campout in case we needed to bail in the night. But we did not need to worry! The kids did fantastic. They had a ball. We ate S’mores, put a movie on the garage, let them play until well into the darkness with the neighbor girl, then hosed them off and tucked them into their sleeping bags.

They fell asleep around 10:30 and slept all night! I was very proud of them. Lee, of course, slept in the tent with them. I did not…

Not because I didn’t want to, ahem, but I wasn’t comfortable with Landon asleep in the house by himself and we don’t own a monitor anymore so I worried he might wake up. I can’t say I was overly diappointed, though, when Lee stumbled in the house Saturday morning with a sore back and circles under his eyes.

It went so well that this Friday, weather permitting, we’ll do it again. Only this time we have scheduled Sloan’s very first sleepover so he and two friends will sleep in the tent. Because we’re gluttons for punishment, I guess. Lee will sleep with them, of course – only this time, I think he’s using an air mattress!

Enjoy…

Daddy pitching the tent.

So excited...

It's up!

Much fun was had by all

S'Mores

Tia thoroughly enjoyed hers. Who's surprised?

Time for bed

Landon and Mommy slept well in the house...

Pancake breakfast in the tent

It was a fun way to “end” our summer vacation. Today is school orientation and tomorrow is the first day. Stay tuned for a weepy mom post sometime tomorrow. I know…you can hardly wait.

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Life, summer fun Tagged With: camping with children

Heavy and Light

July 21, 2009 by Kelli

Sometimes my heart whispers to me. Does yours?

It usually happens in the still moments, most often at night, when all the commotion of the day is done and the quiet overtakes me. Sometimes, my heart whispers so ferociously that I cannot sleep.

The whispers are often sweet, though I confess that when the darkness engulfs me, these whipsers can be terrifying.

Lately, my heart has been aching. And as I ache, the whispers have begun to move into my everyday thoughts. It’s distracting. But it’s also good. You see, I find that when my heart is whispering, I generally turn the whispers into prayers. If the whispers are causing fear, I pray for peace and sweet release (I’ve had terrible whispers of bad things happening to my children and I’ve spent many a night praying that the Lord free me from fear.)

If the whispers are sweet, I turn them into songs of praise. Like last night, as I sat in a chair on the beach watching the sunset, my playing children framed in a halo of orange and red – the whispers were grand – very, very grand.

Were I not surrounded by a group of strangers, I may have voiced the whispers out loud. But that is not my personality and so I just just sat, my heart swollen, and drank in the scene before me.

Sometimes, the whispers are sadness. These are the heart whispers I have the most difficult time with. The sad whispers are the ones that forbid me to sleep. When the whispers are sad, I pray that the Lord turn the mourning into dancing. But, in the still of the night, the sadness can sometimes feel too big, too great to become anything but a mournful hollow at the base of my throat.

When the light comes in, however, and the darkness has fled, the whispers once again remind me that I have a God who is far bigger than the whispers of my very human heart. As cliche as that may sound, I believe it with all my might.

Trusting God is hard sometimes. It shouldn’t be, of course, but given my tendency to want to control and fix things on my own, such independence leaves little room for trust. I’m working on that. I need to work harder on it in the daylight hours so that the nighttime would be more peaceful.

Because I have bags under my eyes, and I’m much too vain to have bags under my eyes!

I’m excited to come home and be in my house, with my routine and my husband – that will help quell the sad whispers a bit. As will time, and the Lord’s gracious healing that I await with expectancy. (It’s a healing of a spirit that’s needed – we are all well. And my heart whispers a litany of grateful praise for that…)

That was heavy, wasn’t it? Writing about the heaviness of my heart eases the burden a bit. There’s something grand in sharing a burden with others.

__________________________________________________

But enough of that. Now for the light.

What is greater than a group of kids, enjoying ice cream on a hot summer’s day? I’ll answer that for you…

Nothing.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, summer fun

Week One in Pictures

July 14, 2009 by Kelli

We’re having a great time here in the Sunshine State. I’m already exhausted. Here are a few pictures of our week so far. This is a small glimpse of what we’ve been up to. We’ve had a ball. You photographers out there – if you have ANY idea why my pictures are turning out so fuzzy, I would LOVE some help because I’m getting frustrated.

We have one more week of fun in the sun then it’s back to life (sing it with me) back to reality…

: And we met our cousins at the splash pad where we wore ourselves out. I wish I got a picture of all 7 kids together, but, you know – there were 7 of them…

: We spent two nights in a hotel which was very exciting. They got to watch TV until they fell asleep – what’s not fun about that?!

: We went hiking in a state park and climbed an old tree trunk.

: We went to Orlando where we spent the weekend riding around on Boss and Byshka’s new boat.

: We celebrated a 6th birthday, Star Wars style.

: We took the Wave Runner out for a ride and even Landon got a turn this year. I’m not sure he really enjoyed it.

: We played in the waves at the beach.

: Even “Boss” (my dad) got to join in the fun.

: The kids having a water gun fight.

: Beware the She-Pirate!

: We became pirates for the day.

: Landon finally figured out how to stay afloat with his floatie on. Yay for independance!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, summer fun Tagged With: Florida vacation

Nashville

June 2, 2009 by Kelli

Thanks for all your kind words, thoughts and prayers. We had a lovely, refreshing weekend in Nashville and came home rejuvinated and encouraged. A special thanks to Rob and Kyna and Matt and Erin who made the weekend such a blessing for us. There is still heartache present, but also peace.

The kids had an absolute blast with their friends. Here are just a few of the things we did:

We ran through a wide-open field…