~I heart faces…..touch of nostalgia

Every time we get together with Duane’s lil sister, we take a group shot of the kiddos. It started way back when Cody was a baby and Cristy was still a teenager. I had lots of pics of the 2 of them together. Now it’s all 5 of the kiddos (and one really cute dog, who actually poses for the camera) So of course when they were here this summer I HAD to get a group shot!  But the really nostalgic part of the pic is the brick building.  The building the kids were leaning on, is my old school. It was build in the 1870’s (and no, i’m not that old, even tho my kids seem to think so) Even as a child I loved all things antique, vintage and old!!!! So the zillion year old school was very intriguing to moi.  Now I have a really special picture with the kiddos I love and the old school that I love!
Click on over to I Heart Faces      to see what other people get nostalgic about.

~what a co-inky-dink!

Aunt TT came to stay for the summer while their new house was being built. TT is the name Cody gave her when he was a little guy because he couldn't say Cristy. Look how cute these pictures of Cody and Aunt TT are! While editing pictures I had a feeling that the picture somehow looked familiar, so I started going thru pics of Cristy and found the one of Cody and Aunt TT on July 4th, 1996 at Ft Bragg. She had come down to visit us before leaving for Army basic training in SC. Now that Cody's taller than her, she has to lean on him LOL

~baby Ashton

<><>My beautiful nephew Ashton is such a sweet lil man. We have fight over who gets to hold him :-) I'm so blessed to have them living with us for the summer, so that I get to see him everyday!

From Collages

~Lets hear it for the boys....I heart faces boys week

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click on the button to see all the entries, leave some nice comments and go enter one of your favorite picks of your favorite boys ;-)

I heart faces ~ Kids sepia

Love those summer memories!

~I heart Faces .... Sepia tone week

Thought I'd have a little fun with this weeks "sepia toned" theme. I'm feeling creative. When I think of sepia photos I automatically think of pics of ancestors on my moms stairway walls. I thought I'd turn myself into one of those vintage photos with a lil help from my paint shop pro program. I have one of Duane too but since it was his DA photo and I didn't take it, I can't use it for this contest. If I find the original pic of myself that I took in sepia mode, I'll add it later.

~Memorial Day Weekend

making cody test the swing for me ;-) if it holds him, it'll hold moi.
We ended up having an impromtu cookout at my parents Monday night when we went to pick up Courtney who was playing with her cousin Cora. A quick jaunt to the store and Viola`, instant cookout! Any excuse to eat brownies and other junk is fine with me :-) My Dad tilled up some land for me to use for pumpkins so we got those planted too. Yay I won't have to buy the dern things for the kids this year! I've run over to my parents house 4 times in 4 days which is back roads the whole way. Is it any wonder I have to wash my car all the time?

Beautiful ending to a lovely day.......

~Happy Mothers Day!

I had a peaceful Mothers Day spent in the backyard eating BBQ. Ahhhhhh! We had all the 'rents and siblings over after church and just hung out. We acted like Ohioans and played cornhole and tossed around the football. And for some strange reason I have no pics of any Mothers!

And my hubby and kiddos got me something I've been wanting all year............
I'm in love :-)

~Cue the Flowers

Wahoo I've got foliage!!!! I've never been into gardening until this year. Probably has something to do with all the hours of weeding I was FORCED to do as a child. It's been a few years and I guess I've finally gotten over it and moved on. When we bought our new house it didn't come with anything except a lot of trees and those don't really count as "landscaping". Do they? We've been here for over a year and finally decided to do something about the pitiful lack of foliage. That might not be the whole truth, the kick in the tush might have come when a teenage neighbor came over and said he'd help me with a flowerbed this year if I wanted him to. If teenagers are starting to notice your lack of flowers then it's pretty bad! The plants are still pretty puny right now but they'll fill out soon enough. It's a good start :-)


Before:

After:

~Welcome to the world, Ashton

My sister-in-law, long time BF, Cristy was pregnant with baby#3. Unfortunately her hubby got sent to DC for work and wouldn't be around to finish what he started. (lol) So Cristy and I came up with a plan. She was to get induced on a Saturday morning. I was going to drive up (with Mother in law in tow) on Friday morning, we had a girls day all planned out. Shopping, Hibachi for dinner and Dairy Queen ice cream cake for dessert (we were also celebrating HER birthday and Mothers Day), head home to watch a chick flick and chill out before the big day. All girly, all day :-) But the lil man didn't think much of our Girly Day, so he showed up on a Tuesday. Cristy called at 7am saying her water just broke!!! Luckily I was already packed because she had been having false labor pains for a couple of days and I'd just been waiting for 'the call'. We got up to Lansing in about 3 1/2 hours and ran into the hospital. Luckily her dear friend Renee was available to drive her to the hospital since I couldn't. They even made a little pit stop to a few stores on the way. True Cristy style :-) Two hours after I arrived, we had Ashton Grant and he's beautiful!!!!! And yes I said "we" because I got to be her 'hubby' LOL I had the wristband on, I coached her, I got dirty and I got to cut the cord. I have a whole new repect for what the men do. I had Renee helping with all the running around and it was still exhausting (kids, dogs, cooking, cleaning, etc. on top of being at the hospital all day). But it's sooo much cooler when I'm not the one in labor! :-) Seeing a new life come into the world is amazing. (my MIL doesn't think so, she about passed out) I felt the exact same when Cristy's first lil guy was born when we all lived out in Colorado, I was there for him too. I'm not all that great at giving birth myself but I'm good to have around if someone else is :-)

Proud big brother and sister

Dad was able to fly in for a few hours to meet his new baby