GRANDPARENTS VISIT... FINALLY

FINALLY, I am blogging about my parent's visit, which was two months ago. They were here the last weekend in April, which meant they were here for mine and Marc's birthday. We were blessed to have them with us for four days, and boy, did we keep them BUSY.

The first day after they arrived, we went to the Richmond Zoo. I started working on that post a couple of weeks ago, so click here to see all about that day.

On Saturday, we ventured into Fredericksburg to do some shopping. We hit Costco and then had lunch at the Fredericksburg Pub, which is located in the new "Outdoor" shopping area of the Spotsylvania Mall. I don't think I would recommend this restaurant to anyone, due to the experience we had there. The service took FOREVER... you would think, when you see a customer has two small children, you would want to move things along for them. And to top that, the food wasn't that great.

The only good thing about the "Pub", is that it is directly across from one of the Greatest new stores EVER... Charming Charlie's. This is a Jewelry and Accessories store on Crack. In my mind, the equivalent would be... this store is to women, what Bass Pro Shop is to men. If you haven't been, I highly recommend you go, but make sure you have a least one hour to spend there. After sending the boys home with Marc and Dad, Mom and I spent the afternoon shopping at the mall.

On Sunday, we took them to Church and then laid pretty low the rest of the day.

That evening, Dad wanted to take Luke fishing, so we headed down to the 'ole fishin' hole.

Luke was more interested in fishing with his hands than with his pole.

But once he got on the pole... he and Marc pulled in a whopper.

Once fishing grew tiring, we all headed over to the playground. Luke was all over the jungle gym, showing Grandpa is climbing skills on the tires.

Grey, along with me, headed to the swings. Can you believe, I'm actually in a picture?

On Monday we headed to Richmond to do MORE shopping. After first visiting Wal-mart we went to Short Pump. While there, a huge thunderstorm blew through, so we waited it out in the food court where there was a play area for the boys. They had a blast.

After shopping all day, we met up with Marc at the Cheesecake Factory and had a delicious birthday dinner.

The next day, Grandma and Grandpa had to leave us and head back home to New Mexico. We tried to get a picture of them with the boys, which was like pulling teeth. This is the best one out of about ten... and it's still not that great... oh well.

We all look forward to them coming to visit again... sooner better than later.

TODAY WAS ALL ABOUT JUMPING

Father's Day weekend has started off with absolutely beautiful weather, so of course, we packed up early and headed down to the beach. The last couple of times we've been at the beach, Luke has slowly worked his way down the dock jumping into deeper and deeper water. Today, I had my camera, and was able to capture all his jumps.

I love how you can see his shadow in this one. His shadow looks like a gecko.

After a few solo jumps, his best friend Lilly joined him. They jumped together, holding hands.

Then his jumping turned into throwing - with the help of Daddy.

And then...

he was ready for the big time.

1... 2... 3... GOOOOOOOO!!!

And then again... again... and again....

Marc said he must have jumped sixty times. Marc then made him sit down for a little rest.

And your wondering..."where was Porkchop the whole time?"

He was content to play in the sand, moving shells from one pail to the other... to the other.

I HEART FACES: FIX-IT-FRIDAY

Through my girlfriend, Brenda (check out her website here),

I found a website called I Heart Faces.

It has definitely become my "GO TO" website for all things photography. I've learned quite a bit to help me hone my budding photography skills.

Every Friday, they have a photo challenge, where they have a photo made available for downloading,

so you can practice your editing skills.

This is the first Friday that I have participated.

Here is the original photo.

And here is my "Fix-It".

Using Picnik, I did the following edits:

1. Rotated the photo

2. Cropped the photo

3. Worked with the Color and reduced the Saturation slightly

4. Made photo Black & White and then

slightly faded the color back in

5. Applied the Orton-ish tool and then

slightly faded back to original

FELT DAHLIAS

I found these beautiful Felt Dahlia Broochs, while perusing one of the many crafty blogs I follow. So of course, I ran out and bought a bunch of felt.

Now, as I'm sure you all know, I love all things miniature, so I had to try to adapt the pattern and make some rings. Big oversized costume jewelry rings are all the rage right now, so I thought these would fit right in.

If you want to give it the old college try and create one of these beautiful flowers for yourself, go here.

I hope you think they are as beautiful as I do.

MINI BEEF RAVIOLI ANYONE?

Why is it that I can not get enough of pictures of my boys in eating predicaments?

But ooohhhh, look at those eyes!!

FIRST STEPS... AND WELL, THIS...

Grey is definitely on his way to becoming more independent. Every day, he takes more and more steps. I looked up yesterday, and he was walking down the hallway... granted our hallway is not even four feet long, but still.

Here he is practicing with Daddy's help.

Mom and Dad, notice the tongue? Wonder where he gets that from?

Besides walking, this is his other favorite thing to do...

It definitely rings true about the apple not falling far from the tree.

SOME WHERE OVER THE RAINBOW...

Today, during a brief torrential downpour, the sun broke through the clouds and created this little bit of MAGIC. I love how you can see the raindrops.

Hope this makes you smile.

FIRST STEPS

Last night, Monday, June 7th, 2010, at the age of 1 year and 3 weeks, Grey (aka Porkchop) took his FIRST STEPS. I didn't get pictures of it, but I promise I will soon... and hopefully video.

These pictures are from this past weekend when Grey took his first dip in the water in the baby floaty. I just thought they were cute.

Gotta Love the SMILE.

"BAD" BOY HAIRCUT

This past Saturday, it was time for Luke to get his hair cut. He usually needs a cut about every three to four weeks, because, just like his Mommy, his hair grows like a weed. When it starts to get long, he looks like he's wearing a toupee.

As he and Marc were leaving, I told Marc to... "go a little shorter than last time."

And boy did he go SHORTER...

Basically, his head is shaved.

I swear, every time he gets a haircut, he comes back looking older... this has to STOP.

Not only did he look older, but he seems to have a whole different attitude and personality... and let me tell you, I don't like it one bit. Because of this haircut, he has turned into a "Bad" boy. In the last four days, if he can get into AN Y kind of trouble, he does. He's definitely pushing all my buttons.

I told Marc, he can NEVER get his hair cut this short again.

MORE EATING PICS

Just some more cute pics of the boys eating...

How'd that Pretzel get on your head?

Aftermath of Chocolate covered Pretzel... He's going for the Hitler look.

Porkchop's first Pancake.

MY IN-LAWS... NOW GUARDIAN ANGLES

CLYDE

Christmas 2004

Brigitte, Clyde & Marc

Early this morning, Yvette was joined in Heaven by her husband, Clyde.

So not fair that my husband and sister-in -law had to lose both their parents in the same year... only three months apart. The only blessing to this sadness, is that neither of them is no longer in any pain... and Max now has Nan and PaPa with him.

Clyde, we love you and we will miss you.

EATING

Just a few cute pics of the boys... eating.

Spaghettios

Beef Ravioli

Luke's first Corn on the Cob (he never actually took a bite).

I know this isn't an "eating" picture, but it shows my little boy growing up. We bought him a step stool so he can brush his teeth by himself. Well, that was the plan. He plays with the step stool and I still brush his teeth... actually, I hold him down to brush his teeth. I'm sure eventually, teeth brushing will happen as I originally envisioned.

KICKOFF TO SUMMER

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures over this past holiday weekend, but I think these two shots, pretty much sum it all up.

We had a great time enjoying the beach and spending time with our friends. By Monday evening, we were all pooped.