Sunday Snapshot~ The Light

second grade, and lovin' it. she has a teacher who wears fashion boots and silver painted nails so they're practically separated at birth the way she tells it.

but don't let the sparkles fool ya. she's every bit a tomboy and doesn't mind getting her nails dirty- I had to clean them out one morning before school when she snuck outside after a bath the night before to plant the seeds from her apple in the backyard.

this year we're The Lady Raven. who is that you ask? well, I'm so glad you did because her costume this year was totally pieced together bit by bit from about 3 different thrift stores...all based upon the mask that grandma brought home from Cracker Barrel. the name is as made up as her costume. she wanted to be something totally unique and believe me, this get up is so her.

she is definitely the light. aside from a bit of sassy that has turned up since starting second grade she is still her big hearted self looking to save the world, or at least all of the creatures living in it. she's still loves to make things. just this morning she took all the toilet paper rolls and stacked them together putting a green pom pom on top and called it a toilet paper tree. she insisted we keep it in the bathroom as a much more aesthetically pleasing way to store toilet paper than in the cabinet.

here she is defacing my new People magazine before I can get a chance to crack the cover. it comes on Fridays and is my guilty pleasure. now i have to wonder when Beyonce' grew a mustache and freakishly long armpit hair.
this was summer at the county fair getting a brain freeze from a spaghetti sundae

our First Lady is something else i tell ya. sometimes i wonder what it will be like when she's 16 because i swear i can't keep up with her now at just 7. she speaks her mind and stands her ground... nothing gets passed her. of course, that's the way her daddy and i like it-

any future boyfriends had better look out.

Sunday Snapshot~ All eyes ...

sixth grade, but still my baby boy. all he has to do is look at me with those eyes and i find myself saying things like "yeah, you can have a second cupcake before dinner"

{which is what i heard myself saying about 15 minutes ago}

really. i'm not that big of a pushover

this boys loves to flaunt his abs, especially in front of his dad who claims he's still gott'em......somewhere when he was 3 his little sister was born and they had this bond like no other. he would always reach for her little hand almost as if it was a comfort object. Now with Lil' Lady its the same deal. he can't stand to see her cry and will give in to her every time. that's why she hangs with him most of the time

found these two jammin' when they were supposed to be getting ready for bed

yeah, those eyes. he says they scored him a "girlfriend" week 2 of sixth grade.
whatever

during our annual pumpkin patch tour he came up missing when we were waiting for him to bring his pick to the counter.

dad found him sitting in the car seat sneakin' the last bit of kettle corn.

those of you who know him know that food comes first. he'll probably be rushing through the line at the China buffet minutes before he's to be standing at the altar

i have faith that this boy will do great things someday- he wants to play professional baseball and own his own restaurant. if anything i know for certain that someday he will be an amazing husband and father. i can't wait to see that.

Sunday Snapshot~ Lasts

seventh grade. wow. i remember being surprised i had a kid in kindergarten.

now look at him
5.5 and three quarter inches and 113 pounds already. thanks to fracturing a big toe about a week ago we've been to the doctor a few times - so now i know his stats we used to get by on two gallons of milk a week. lately he's been having a jug glass
with his cookies after school; now i find myself calling the hubs to pick up a third gallon on his way home from work every now and then.
i'm starting to get the sense that he'd rather spend more time with his friends than with us, and i've found myself missing the little guy he used to be so many years ago. There's a book I bought years ago when he was just a toddler titled " Let Me Hold You Longer" by Karen Kingsbury. Another teacher recommended it and I used to get teary just reading it then. It's a lesson on not just remembering their firsts, but their lasts as well. I wish I remembered that last night that I carried him up to bed. Because there was one ya know, and I just don't remember it. If I knew it was going to be the last time I certainly would have tucked that memory way back in my brain. Or even the last bath I gave him or the last time he snuggled on my lap. I told myself when I got that book that I would pay attention and try to take note of those lasts but they slipped by me so quiet and fast that I missed them. I mean, how can you really catch them? When do you know it's going to be "the last"?
i don't know, but I may have caught one a few nights ago when I convinced him to go with me through the haunted cemetary and he grabbed my hand and held it tight the entire way through.

i'm thinking I better remember that one.

More baseball??

yep. the season was not quite over yet. the brothers vounteered to be Miracle League buddies for a few special players so two more games it was,
and even though we hadn't cleared them with the Lil' Lady, she was fine with it. after all, she did sit through every game of the season...what's two more?

Our oldest was assigned his buddy right away and they were off to practice in the outfield

and have a little conversation during the game.

our second with his buddy who loved to run

brothers and buddies met up on third
after the first of two innings, all players gathered to sing "take me out to the ball game"

{Li'l Lady loved that}

at the end both teams lined up and shook hands

you could tell that these players couldn't wait to get on that field and play the game.

for the the next game the following weekend, we had warmer weather

and new buddies

if those two boys were nervous about helping out they certainly didn't show it. they took their responsibilities of assisting and protecting the players seriously.

i'm so proud of these guyswhat better end to a baseball season could you have?