You guessed it!  It’s that time of year again!  Family portrait time.  It’s been a while since we took family portraits so we thought we’d take advantage of the 98 degree heat and lack of naps to take some family photos.

We took our friend Peachy along for the ride.  We figured we’d get some fantastic, wall-worthy photos.  Alas, we got a few, but that illusive “perfect family shot” got away yet again.  Maybe we’ll give it another try on a day when it is much cooler.  And, when we’ve had success getting the kids down for a nap.  At least we got a couple shots of them…right?

While we’re at it, I couldn’t resist throwing in a few pictures of Trey.  Laura and Haley went to a birthday party this past weekend and of course, I had to pull out the camera.  Trey’s been making this awful looking face where he wrinkles up his eyebrows when you tell him no.  I managed to get one shot of that (the one in the black and white below).  And yes…that is a faux-hawk.  Not only did I do it for the pictures, but I managed to give him one before we went to church on Sunday too.  The nursery workers loved it!

So we rushed home to get her some panties and still managed to catch part of the parade.  Haley didn’t mind holding up the police escorts by stopping for a little hopscotch.  Afterwards, there was refreshments and we got a chance to get the kids’ pictures taken with the policemen.  Haley seemed to enjoy it, but Trey wanted nothing to do with it.

That evening, we invited over some friends and had a “cookout” in the cove.  I put cookout in quotes because we didn’t really cook.  A few of our friends did, but we ran to Little Caesars for a $5 hot and ready.  I know…pretty lame to celebrate the Independence of the United States with a pizza.  The Lakeland fireworks weren’t bad.  In fact, we’d have probably thought they were awesome had we not seen Bellevue’s the weekend before.

We rounded out the weekend with a visit to Tupelo to visit my grandfather and a trip to a friend’s house for dinner.  We were able to get a few fireworks shot off that night before hitting the sack and wrapping up a solid 4th of July weekend!

The concerts were great as were the fireworks.  Since I was busy taking pictures, I didn’t have time to enjoy all the things I normally enjoy at Starlight.  Things like corn dogs, funnel cakes and other tasty carnival food.  I did manage to find time to chow down on a snow cone.

Laura and I were “kidless” for Starlight.  Haley and Trey are with my parents in Jackson.  We get them back on Wednesday.  Its been fun doing things that we can’t normally do when the kids are around.  Things like hitting J Alexander’s after church with friends and going to the movies.  But we sure are ready to get them back.  I’ve talked to Haley on the phone a few times since she’s been gone.  She sounds so old!  I guess I normally talk to her face to face and physically see her as my little bitty girl.  But on the phone, when I don’t see her in front of me, she doesn’t seem like a three year old.  Makes me sad.

We also had a fun weekend in Jackson last weekend.  We went to celebrate the marriage of Michael and Anna Walley.  It was great to visit with family and catch up with friends.  We quickly realized we are the veteran married couple and couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming weddings of all our engaged friends!  It was fun to watch Hayden having fun with some old buddies…he hadn’t realized how long it had been since they’d seen each other.  Good times.

But the drive was worth it.  Jerry’s was pretty neat.  It really took you back to a time around the 50’s.  Lots of people driving up, waiting in line for their frozen concoction, and then sitting around on the sidewalk, parking lot and hoods of cars just enjoying the frozen treats.  We just hung out as the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky.

It really did seem like time stood still for just a little bit.  Haley seemed to enjoy her snow cone.  Of course, Trey did as well.  If it is edible, Trey is on board.  We’ll definitely be hitting this joint again before the summer is over.

Trey’s getting into everything.  He just had his first birthday a couple weeks ago.  So he’s officially one.  We had to get outside and get his one year old pictures.  We got some great ones. 

When Haley turned 1, Laura went to portrait innovations and got some pictures made.  They turned out pretty good.  Nothing to write home about, but not bad either.  They had this prop.  It was a block with the number “1” on it.  She wanted to get the same shot of Trey, so much to my disagreement, she took him.  Well, the pictures came out bad.  Mediocre would be putting it nicely.  So there you have it.  I hope she learned her lesson.

We had a dinosaur party for Trey (T-Rex, as we called him this weekend) and it was fun.  I loved getting the decorations ready and trying to make his day special…even if he is a little to young to know what a great party he had!  The Simons, Murphy’s, Nana Clack, KJ, and my parents were all in attendance.  Friday night we had a little cook out and ate dinosaur cookies for our dessert…made by Haley and I!  Saturday was the real party and since the pork took a little longer than I planned, we opened presents and ate cake first!  Trey had a great time watching Haley and Seth open all his presents and show him what he got.  He just smiled and laughed at all the commotion.  We’ve already started playing with all the new toys and reading the new books.  Trey wasn’t feeling that well on Saturday so he took a time-out to rest with Dad on the big chair.  That didn’t stop him from eating his cake.  Haley helped show him the good stuff- ICING.  She helped herself…as an example, of course! 

It was a special day and gave me pause to reflect on the blessing of both my kids.  I am overwhelmed that God has loaned us these amazing people to teach, love, and encourage.  Every night when I check on them before I go to bed I thank Him for the amazing gift Hayden and I have of parenthood and for these incredible individuals.  What an amazing year!

Saturday morning we were up and at em.  I went on a short bike ride with a group and was back home around 10.  After devouring a bit of food, I took a nap.  We spent Friday afternoon at a Mickey Mouse birthday party for the Little’s kids.  A great time was had there.  We rounded out Saturday night by having some great friends over for cards.

Sunday was pretty typical.  Church followed by an awesome nap.  After a bit more backsplash work and finishing up Sherlock Holmes, the weekend was over.

Laura packed up a picnic lunch and off to the zoo we went.  The kids seemed to have a great time.  I really enjoyed it as well.  It was awesome hanging out with the family and taking the time to just enjoy the outdoors.  I’d better get my fill of it…I’m sure it will be 95 degrees every day before we know it.

Trey is growing like a weed.  He still hasn’t really learned to crawl.  Even at nearly one year old.  However, he is cruising around the coffee table and reaching out and cruising over to the couch.  I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be walking before he crawls.  He’s starting to get a lot more vocal as well.  Its funny to listen to him lay in his crib and practice his words.

Saturday morning brought spring cleaning.  We decided that if we had items we hadn’t used in over a year (and they weren’t “kid” items that we may need again), we’d get rid of them.  We’re going to list some of the stuff on Craigslist this week and what doesn’t sell will go to Goodwill.  Good riddance!

Haley and Trey were up this morning and ready for Easter.  They both seemed to enjoy their Easter baskets.  We decked them out in some duds that a friend’s grandmother made for them and we were off to church.  We even managed to have a little time to squeeze in a few pictures before the service started.

Right now the kids are napping and we’re getting ready to hide eggs.  Should be a blast!