The Hilyers

Project 365, SIKE!

2011-04-27T23:26:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I still haven't been motivated to start back. Sorry! It will happen sometime. I did want to share this mini session I did with A dub this afternoon. I dressed her up in a dress I wore when I was little and we took off for a nearby wildflower field. I wanted sunset lighting, we got clouds. We will try again! :-) I do love these.

I don't have much to show from Easter. In fact, I don't have one good one of our fam. :-( I'm not going to stress about it b/c it seems like Easter+pictures+Hilyer's=notevergonnahappen. I had on this, what I though was a cute white dress from Old Navy. I ended up looking like a cotton ball. Not attractive.

I've been dealing with a lot of smart mouths in my home lately. I have not been a happy mama. Why can't my kids always act like they do when I lie down with them at night? I want my babies back.

Turkey hunting is coming to a close at the end of this week. Hallelujah. I am SO over the turkey calling going on in this house. They have NOT killed one and I'm convinced it's karma for back talking. So there. ;-)

Here are the pics. :-)

I'm not posting them from Flicker, so you'll have to click here to see them:

http://www.allisonhilyerphotography.com/?p=603

Cease...yup!

2011-04-23T06:59:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Honestly, I was a little burned out on Project 365, so I decided to take a little break. I did take these of my kids earlier in the week, but I'm not finished editing them. Here are a few. :-) Once again, I sharpened these for Facebook and Flicker over-sharpens, so they don't look right. ;-)

Project 365...Days 98 & 99...99 red balloons...sort of...

2011-04-12T22:04:00.002-05:00

I am in t-r-o-u-b-l-e with this one. I will refrain from posting the pictures of him torturing Ford in the yard right after this cheezzze smile. I'm going to have to stay on my knees in prayer. I don't worry about his heart, though. It's big, compassionate, and tender.

Day 98

Day 99

Due to having two older brothers, AW knows things they didn't at 5. There is a current song, never mind that I despise the words, in which a guy stupidly sings "I'll catch a grenade for ya," to his "shawty." Another REALLY dumb word that makes me want to puke. There's nothing like turning on Praise music in my car to, in turn, hear my 5 year old baby belt the words, "I'll catch a grenade for ya." Yeah, sure you would, dude. So, anyway, the question presents,

"Mommy, what's a grenade?"

Me(thinking, am I really having to answer this?) "It's sort of a mini bomb that explodes and they use it in war."

Her, "Do daddies die in war?"

Me, "Yes, they do and it's really sad."

Her, "Does the government make them go?"

Me, "Well."

On a brighter note, I had a session this evening and dropped A dub off w/ my parents. I planned on doing a little mini-session with her b/c I bought some polka dot balloons online(8 bucks for 5) and wanted to use them. We spent 20 minutes in Publix getting them filled with helium(5 bucks) and headed to Mama Sue and Papa's.

I had her all color coordinated and cutesy. Super pumped about this. I tied the balloons to her wrist so they wouldn't blow away when we went outside. Apparently I don't know two toots about tying. The SECOND I positioned her where I wanted her to stand, they were violently ripped from her wrist by the wind and are on their happy way to the moon.

Plan B. Mama Sue's porch swing. I think I love these more than I would have the balloon pics!

Day 98...Mama Sue Rocks!!

...and some of my favs of her swinging...

Project 365...Days 94-97...Red, I am...

2011-04-11T11:27:00.005-05:00

Red skin, I have. It is the result of 14 softball/baseball games in 48 hours. Ford's team came in 2nd(again) and Cope's team made it to the semi-finals.

If you are desperate for conversation, all ya need is a sunburn. It's really that easy. People you've never met in your life will approach you, poke your shoulder, and inform,

"Hey, your pretty red."

Or, my personal favorite, "Hey, did you know you are sunburned?"

And another, "What are you going to do about that sunburn?"

I can answer all the questions with, "no, I wasn't born with nerve endings or site, so didn't know. Thank you for telling me."

I repeat, 14 games in 48 hours.

We are zonked.

It was hot.

On Thursday, Ford and his bud, Grayson, got their deer back from the mounter/stufferpeople. I refused to have it in my living room/den, so it's hanging in his room.

Day 96

Day 95 before AW's Friday evening game...

Day 96 Copie catching the throw down from the catcher and trying to tag out the runner...who was safe, but a good effort on C's part. I didn't have a good lens for this shot, but I liked it anyway. :-)

Day 97 Sunday devo with David's 9U team...

spectator...

Project 365...Window light is my best friend...

2011-04-06T14:17:00.003-05:00

I love preschool. Not because I get a break, okay, that's a tiny fib...but I mostly love it b/c my daughter loves learning. She hops up in the GG(gas guzzler...gas is 3.69/gallon, no biggie) and promptly announces, "Quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord." She kind of yells it. Our family is loud in case I haven't mentioned this before.

She says, "mommy, what does that mean? Does it mean patience?"
Me, "uh, yeah, honey."

Wow... I am being taught so many lessons from my children.

Now, onto pictures...

Amidst the photography journey, I learned about window light. For the longest time, I always positioned my subjects, or chicken wings, facing the window. There, you have beautiful, natural catch lights in their eyes. Lovely lighting on the face. In most circumstances, you don't want to shoot with light behind you...unless you really know what you are doing. Don't try this at home...j/k... However, for these shots, I wanted the room to appear like it was filled with sun. I love these. This is today's pic of the day...there are a few...

Day 93: Sis demanded that the bear be there...

Day 92...Turkey Calls may be the death of me...seriously. I can't take it.

Day 91 is entitled, "meanest mom in the world"

Ford wanted to stay up and watch the NCAA basketball final game. Fine...but not fine. His usual bedtime is about 9:00, later than past years of 8:30. He's 11 now and practically a teenager...uh huh. We'd gotten in from B'ham at 11 the night before, so I told him he could stay up and watch the game if he came home from school and took a nap. You would have thought I'd slapped the kid. Guess who won that little battle?

Project 365... 5 day update, people!!

2011-04-04T11:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a whole 5 days since I've posted my 365. I AM taking pictures everyday. I just don't always have time to edit and post them.

Beginning with last Wednesday...We rushed home from Church for the Fantasy Baseball draft...because this stuff is life or DEATH...for real! This is the side I saw of D that night...

ANDDDDD...onto Thursday where my sweeter had her first t-ball game. I confess, the socks just do it for me. If I could wear those and get away with it...I might be a trend setter.

TGIF!! I had a session with some old friends visiting from Chicago. My blog will be updated with those soon. I snapped these of Copie helping my dad cut his grass. When your kids are old enough to cut grass, they are practically grown. I can't stand it!

Saturday morning, AW had her 2nd Softball game. Good stuff. Good for the soul. I'm serious. If you are depressed, bitter, forlorn, crying, old, have indigestion, or your hamster just died...DROP by a little girl's t-ball game. Preferably, A dub's game...she needs more fans. I assure instant belly laughs that will take 5 years off your life.

Right after her game, David, myself, Ford, Copeland, and Copeland's friend, Brock, strapped ourselves in the gas guzzler and took off for Birmingham. A dub stayed behind with the grands. Ford's Dirtbags team played in a tournament in Homewood. We spent the night and lived at the ballpark for 2 days. When I say the weather was perfect, I mean perfectly perfect. I know we won't have many more weekends like that. Here's a silly self portrait taken through the eyes of D. He just couldn't take his eyes off me, so I thought I'd brag about that. ;-) Don't be jealous of his $10 sunglasses. AND, YES, that is the SAME black wrapamajig that I love and I wear everyday.

Last, but not least...here are ALL two I took this weekend. I was on a camera vacay. Even cool people need one. Ford's team came in 2nd out of 13 teams. We got home last night at 11 and we are TIRED!!

Ring Pop breaks are the best.

Project 365...Days 84 & 85 Girlwanda...

2011-03-29T20:55:00.004-05:00

When I got ready to title this post, many thoughts popped into my head...

I'm not sure why my poor long term memory allowed me to remember "girlwanda". I've had 3 diet cokes today and ya know aspartame fries your brain. I'm sure it does and I still drink it. Kind of like, I'm addicted to sugar, but I still eat it. Very disciplined, I am.

I used to say this silly word a long time ago and I cannot remember if it is from high school or college. Ann Welch is my "girlwanda"... a sweet sassy spitfire. Like my alliteration? I might have to add this word and definition to Wikipedia.

I dressed her up in one of my old dresses(I think my Aunt Jane made it). I didn't pull her hair up or attempt a bow, b/c I wanted a country, natural look. Not redneck country, but open farm land country. I envisioned the wind blowing her hair, maybe adding an azalea flower at her ear, and her gazing at my camera with child like fondness. You can laugh now. HA! What I got was "a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll."

I had a doozy of a time editing this picture. I wanted light, airy, and vintagy(?) but there was literally NO sun...instead we had full cloud cover and that doesn't make for the best lighting.

You may see a lot of pics with azaleas in the background for the next few weeks. I'm making use of them since they don't stay in bloom very long. This is the only time of the year my yard looks good...so shoot me. Yesterday A Dub played in lip gloss...she then smeared the extra from her finger all over her cute dress. Awesome.

Today has been an emotional one. I may have cried a few times while listening to praise music on Pandora. Harmony from Selah...I can't take it. It gets me BAD during "that" time of the month. Close your mouth, it's the 21st century...at least I didn't use the term "aunt flo" Gagmewithaspoon.

Day 84

Day 85

Project 365...Days 81-83...Sports social hour...

2011-03-28T11:07:00.002-05:00

We spent our weekend at the ballpark...surprise, surprise! ;-) Honestly, I love sports...most of all, baseball. We were blessed this weekend when both of the boy's teams ended up in Montgomery and at the same facility! I was stuck b/w two fields, but I'll take it!

One thing I've noticed about boys and sports is the relationships they are forming. They are learning camaraderie, how to be encouraging to one another, sportsmanship, respect for their coaches, discipline, and work ethic.

I love contact. Ask David, I am an affectionate person. I like touch. I like to see others touching...well, most of the time, but we won't go into the whole "PDA to the extreme" thoughts. Let's talk touching "baseball style". A glove bump, a pat on the shoulder or bum(don't understand why guys do this), a high five, a made up handshake, a pile on, arms around each other, a ruffle on the head, a hug from the 3rd base coach. Human touch, it's communication.

Once again, sorry for the over-sharpened pics, I've got to figure out a better alternative other than Flickr. :-(

Day 81

Ford

Day 82 "Flowers for mommy"

Day 83

Copie...and the one on the bottom is of F&C together. Awwww...Ford came into Cope's dugout after his game to pump up our guys. It worked!!

Days 78 & 79... Just Breathe!!!

2011-03-25T09:02:00.002-05:00

I am amidst a busy photography season so pardon my infrequent updates.

STOP SIGN right here for the prim and propers. I'm warning you. Delicate subject matter to follow...

1. Do other families use as much toilet paper as we do? I mean, c'mon people. I'm either going to go broke from buying TP or Gas...one of the two.

2. Sometimes, even though I KNOW I could get stranded on the side of the road, I don't wear a bra(I feel the need to whisper this) when I take the kids to school in the morning. AW prefers me to walk her in, but lately I have been dropping her off in carpool. Try explaining to a 5 year old the reason you can't take her into the building. She didn't get it.

3. Yo Yo dieting is spiritual warfare.

4. Red Riding Hood was the WORST movie ever written, produced, and plastered on the big screen. I am certain a first grader wrote the script. The acting was a joke, the plot was ridonkulous, the guys weren't cute, Twidaddy gave a poor performance, AND...SPOILER AHEAD...big bad werewolf man was killed by a severed hand with silver panted fingernails. AND...just for LG, "SPORK"!!

5. Check out my site to see what I've been up to and why my home looks like a tornado went though it. www.allisonhilyerphotography.com

6. I have an awesome husband. He loves me despite my many faults. Thank goodness, so does the Lord.

7. My 9 year old son thinks dogs can be identified either male or female by their ears.

Now, onto pictures!

I call this one "freckles". Yes, I do put sunscreen on her face.

I call this one, "desperately need pic of the day so, "kids, stick you heads through my baby class table and lets do this thang." It's all in fun. Actually, I brought my camera to Church on Wed night to take a pic of my babies. Some were missing, LOUISE JONES ;-), so I am waiting to take that pic later. Let me just tell you, the kids had a ball with this one.

Project 365...Day 75, 76, &77... BUSY WEEKEND!!

2011-03-21T10:28:00.003-05:00

I had a very busy weekend that included 3 sessions. Project 365 was on the back burner.

Unless you count the deer carcass I snapped to show my boys, as I was leaving my Saturday evening session I realized I didn't have a 365 pic for the day. It was after sunset, not the best lighting for any pic w/o the aid of a tripod. I'll spare you the picture of the skeletal deer. Yummy.

I took this one of the chapel in the Waters. It was dark outside, and there is really nothing special about this shot except that I do have a picture for that day to document! :-) I will admit that landscapes are SO not my thing.

Friday night AW had softball practice. She got to play a little first base. Hey, "hit it to meeeee!"

Last night, we had the BEST time at our Young Families Church fellowship. We played "Minute to Win it". Hilarious stuff. I will post pics of it later, but for now, I'll leave you with David trying to clean up the Fellowship Hall with a few helpers. :-)

Project 365...Day 74...Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them...

2011-03-17T18:11:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed a BEAUTIFUL day at the zoo with some of our besties. I said I would never use the word "bestie" b/c it got on my nerves. I lied, I guess. Call it peer pressure. I'll never use it on Facebook, how about that.

Despite the fact that I waited 30 minutes for a cold hot dog and Ashley waited 45 for a grilled cheese and a chicken sandwich, all 4 of us fancy the Mongtomery Zoo. We forgive them for being super crowded on a gorgeous day. We do.

Check out the big girl flower in A dub's hair. She thinks she is BIG stuff now.

My dad, Papa, took the boys to lunch today and to shoot basketball at Faulkner. He made their day. Anytime my sugar lovers deny dessert, they have truly savored a meal. He told them he would take them anywhere they wanted to go...they chose Jim and Nicks BBQ. I'll admit, I find J&N pretty tasty. They have awesome salads. But, lets be real here...everyone chooses J&N for the cheese rolls/biscuit/thingamajigs...

I put this on Facebook today, but I'll share it here as well. Am I the only one who looks at Prince William and thinks...guy with bad breath??? If I had that much money, I don't think I would care about my breath. He just looks like he has a stinky mouth. I dunno.

Please excuse the WAY over sharpened pic of the day...FLICKR'S fault..I have to remember to save different files for FB and Flickr.

Project 365...Days 72 & 73...Spring Breaking it...

2011-03-16T17:18:00.002-05:00

We are home this week enjoying Spring Break. The boys have spent the days playing outside with the neighborhood boys. AW is recovering from a fever/cough virus. Blah... We managed to get a little throwing and catching practice in this afternoon w/A Dub.

This is her serious face... day 73...

and her, "oh great, more pictures," face...

and her, "hey, I can morph my face into an azalea," face...day 72...

and her, "sick and snuggle in daddy's arms," face...

Project 365...Days 69-71...let's hear it for the boys...

2011-03-14T15:35:00.002-05:00

It's Spring Break, let's party!! I wish...we'll be staying home and playing outside. No vacay for us this year.

Our weekend consisted of baseball and more baseball. I sent AW to my mother-in-law's because Saturday we were in Auburn for 13 hours. She loves to come, but that was too long.

I had the pleasure of cutting my boys hair a few hours ago. Yes, I do it myself. Yes, they whine the whole time. Yes, that is why their hair gets too long in between cuts. Yes, I prefer their hair long. .

Saturday, Day 69

"the rundown"

If I could pick a part two of Saturday, It would be this one...

Sunday, Day 70

from the other side of the fence, a mom's view...

Day 71...Where's waldo? Turkeys, ya better watch your back.

Project 365...Days 67 & 68...husbands...

2011-03-11T16:22:00.003-06:00

On day 67, husband taught A dub how to "squish the bug." YES, the ball in that picture hit me. A picture is worth a bruise, sometimes.

See, he's cute, right? The scruff, I like. The gray favorite Nike pants...not so much.

On day 68, husband succumbed to a dare(he has awesome friends), shaved off the scruff, and sported a nasty stache. I looked up synonyms for moustache, b/c synonyms are my friend. Here's what I got. Vote for your favorites...

1. Lip rug
2. Cookie Duster
3. Face Furniture
4. Lip Spinach
5. Lip Toupee
6. Mouth Brow
7. Soup Strainer
8. Flavor Saver

Lets just establish that MY favorites won't be posted on this here blog for obvious reasons. Google it, you will howl...if you do that sort of thing. I don't. SO glad that lip rugs aren't vogue, b/c ewww... I'm not even going to say what he looks like with one.

Project 365...Day 66...Dog in a bag...

2011-03-09T16:13:00.002-06:00

It doesn't get any more "Beverly Hills" than this in my house. Vera Bradley with a dog stuffed inside. What can I say? It's raining outside. First, I found her tucking Dixie under the clean laundry(that obviously is littering my living room). Then, I witnessed Dixie, happily I might add, goin for a ride in a brown tote bag. I don't know how to use commas, so forgive the over or under use of them.

BTW, my husband has been listening for Pandora for like, 10 years. I've just discovered a love for it myself. Praise music is blaring from my computer all day and I just love it. AW and I dance...and she laughs like she lives for these moments.

I had visions of getting pictures of the boys jumping in puddles this afternoon, but David picked the boys up from school and took them back to his office. Right now they are probably breaking their teeth on mints and chugging whatever soft drink he has in the fridge. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to daylight savings time this weekend! Wahoo for longer daylight hours!

Project 365...Day 64 & 65...Shadowing our idols...

2011-03-08T13:42:00.006-06:00

It's gettin kind of crazy around these parts. All three kids are playing ball for the first time. Awesome. ;-) We are always on the go.

After I picked up A Dub from school today, I caught her watching a "real ER" type show on the Health channel. . What I saw was an sweet, little old grandma with what appeared to be a mangled hand. This was no ordinary cut up hand, it was super bloody, unidentifiable almost...it looked like a piranha latched on and went to town. I felt my stomach retch and immediately grabbed the remote. I had to turn my head. I used to work in Labor and Delivery and have seen my share of blood and guts, but this took the cake.

AW touched my arm as I was pointing the remote at the TV..."No, mommy. I like watching this."

"Really? Doesn't that make you sick," I asked. The Dr was stitching her from the bone up...literally. The poor old lady was wincing and obviously in tremendous pain.

"No, I'm sad for her, but I want to see."

So, I guess my girl might "shadow" her Mama Sue and be a nurse. I can think of nothing I'd want more than for my daughter to learn to be a servant. Both of her grandmothers are servants...both unselfish, Godly women.

Yesterday's picture of the day is my boys-on-the-go. Get ready for the baseball/softball pics...b/c there will be bunches of them. :-)

Project 365...Days 61, 62, 63...Weekend..

2011-03-06T21:41:00.002-06:00

Apparently I can't count b/c this is the second day 61.

Our weekend was rainy. It involved cancelled baseball tournaments, date night, Ann Welch's first softball practice, and worship.

Here are the last three days...

The boys had Jump Rope for Heart at school Friday...

Daffodils!!

Nighttime wrestle...she won. :-)

Project 365...Day 61...Just go with it...

2011-03-03T14:16:00.002-06:00

Okay, so my picture of the day has nothing to do with what I'm about to say, but... I had to post about the movie I saw with the girls last night.

"Just Go With It" was:

1. Hil-ar-i-ous. Stomp your feet, snort out loud funny.
2. The 6 and 10 year old kids in the movie cuss, twice. Why is this necessary? No one laughed...it made me furious.
3. a. There is a scene where a sheep is given CPR and I almost spewed my diet coke on the poor folks in front of me.
3. b. Diet Coke, yummy. $5 movie diet coke, you've got my number.
4. Adam Sandler is gosh darn cute.
5. Some women have great genes. REALLY, REALLY great genes.
6. If chick flicks are wrong, I don't want to be right...

Have I mentioned that I love my girlfriends? They let me slap them on the shoulder during the funny parts of the movie and don't slap me back. We share popcorn, but not diet coke. It's all mine.

Picture of the day is...none other than my little darlin.

Project 365...Purplelicious weeds...

2011-03-02T14:47:00.002-06:00

I couldn't decide which picture to choose today...so I combined two. I seriously think these might be my favorite pictures taken to date...of 365. I love her expression in the b/w. I tried to edit this in color, but it didn't do anything for me. I loved it in b/w. The skipping with the red basket happened by accident. It seems, whatever I have planned for pictures, she does her own thing...and guess what? It all works out.

What's black and white and read all over? A newspaper

What's black and white and purple and red all over? AW playing in the weeds.

Project 365...Day 58...War Paint

2011-03-01T14:18:00.002-06:00

Well, not really war paint, but it looks like it. Sister got into her paints this afternoon. I had this GREAT idea for her to ask Santa for the Melissa and Doug art easel. Fantastic idea. Jolly fantastic.

Sooo, um, when we first got it, I patiently cleaned up EVERY time she painted but it took me forever. A chunk of forever. Lately, when she asks me to paint, I'm like, "oh, honey...did you notice your dolls are waiting to play school?" or... "Is your room clean, b/c if it isn't, you know what that means homegirl." Just Kidding, I don't call her homegirl. Or, maybe I do.

Right this minute, while her paints are getting crispy, I'm blogging. I'm over it. It's nice to see her creative side, but it's a booger to pick up the pieces. FULL head to toe bath, magic eraser, clean the brushes, etc, etc, etc.

Photography note:

I processed this a tad with the free MCP Fusion action they recently gave away on Facebook. I am trying not to use actions much, but I like to play. This one was okay, not really my style, but it was fun trying it out. I took this in front of our window in the kitchen and so I used my giant reflector. It worked great! Nikon D7000, 24-70 lens, focal length 55mm, f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 400.

Project 365...Day 57...Bradford Pear, I love you.

2011-02-28T13:15:00.003-06:00

Please don't leave me when it rains. Seriously...I LOVE these trees...God's beauty is surrounding us right now.

I entered another "I Heart Faces" contest this week. The theme is "anything but a face". So...I took two of my favorite things and smushed them into one picture and subtracted another favorite thing, a face.

One of my favorite things told me on the way home from pre-school,
"mommy, I know what retiring is...it's when you are too old to have a job."

Project 365...Days 55 & 56...Put me in coach...

2011-02-27T19:59:00.003-06:00

Copeland's baseball team began their season this weekend in Auburn. We played 5 games in two days. I am pooped and a little sunburned, but most of all excited b/c they won it all!! :-)

We had 5 boys in this house last night and I kept smelling sour feet even after they'd all taken showers. I really don't think 9 year old boys know how to shower. I find myself doing a "sniff test" every time mine get out. Sometimes they pass, sometimes I send them back to re-wash.

Tonight at church, our Hispanic Ministry Church joined our regular worship and it was very moving. We sang verses in English and then Spanish. It was easier than I thought to keep up. I hope we do that more often!

My little nephews went back to Nashville today. Boo...I will miss their faces. :-(

Before I took Walker(the 2 year old who is potty training) to a basketball game, I said, "Walker, if you have to poo poo, what are you going to do?" Without batting an eye, he said, "poo poo in the grass." Guess where Mama Sue was letting him wee wee this week? ;-)

Then, while we were at Copeland's baseball game Saturday, he walked up with some one's half consumed Gatorade bottle. He turned it up and finished it off before I could stop him. I said, "Walkie, whose drink is that?"

He replied, "that one's over der at the corner."

Ahhh, he is sooo funny.

At the ballpark, Ann Welch and Will spend the better part of the day doing this:

and this:

Here are days 55 & 56 plus a few more...

Taking down the coach after the big win...

I <3 Baseball. :-)

Project 365...Day 54..Guess what's for dinner??

2011-02-25T17:00:00.003-06:00

Not much, b/c all of our money is going to pay for gas in the ginormous car we own. I would love to trade it in, but I'm afraid we wouldn't get what we want for it due to impending gas prices of $5 a gallon. :-(

Gas tank, you are not my friend.

and...a funny from the beach. D and I saw this woman at the pool while the kids were swimming. She had this, sort of, body zip snuggie thingamajig and we were laughing and (maybe) a little jealous. I took a pic, but in order NOT to exploit her, ASHLEY R...I made her face a pink and green circle. So there. ;-)

...and one more of my little loves.

Project 365...Day 53...When you visit Aunt Allison...

2011-02-24T20:44:00.002-06:00

Visiting Aunt Cool/Awesome, I mean, Aunt Allison brings joy to the cousins. Why? The answer is simple. Candy. That's all. :-)

Project 365...Day 52...Guess what's on sale at Publix?

2011-02-23T15:14:00.002-06:00

LOVER of the acronym BOGO+
LOVER of ice cream+
LOVER of Blue Bell+
LOVER of my nephew+
LOVER of my daughter=
picture of the day

...and a few more beach pics...

MARK this down in the "brotherly love" books...

...and the "friends for life" books...

...and the, "freezing my tookas off b/c I'm dumb enough to get in the water in Feb" books...

...and the, "I know how to dig big holes at the beach" books...

...and the "reader of man lit...ya know...espionage, etc??" books...

and the..."please don't grow up" books...

Project 365...Day 51...Cousins from Far Far Away... and a little beach thrown in. :-)

2011-02-22T16:33:00.002-06:00

My nephews are here from Nashville! We went over to visit them at my moms earlier today and I couldn't resist AW reading to little Walker. He sat so still and listened to her "read". "Still" and "Walker" usually don't relate. I know my sister is missing her sweet boys, so I hope these cheer her up!!

Skivvies. I love little chubby boys in underwear. It just made my day today to see my 2 year old nephew decked out in TTT britches. His legs are all scratched up and chunky and I did squeeze them every time I got my hands on him. Will is in the picture at the bottom of the collage. He and AW are best buddies. He is peeking out from behind the blocks my parents bought US when we were little.

I know y'all want to see more beach pics...I'm going to post a few each day.

The Crosby's silhouette at sunset. LUV THIS!

GORGEOUS Caroline.

eyelashes to kill...

We LOVE it when the Rives invite us to their beach house. I mean, what could be better? They are awesome and we think their kids are too. :-) Christian friends like them are treasures. Oh, AND they are HUGE Alabama fans. That's a plus too. ;-)

MORE beach pics to come...so stay tuned. :-)

Project 365...Days 48-50... CATCH UP Beach style...

2011-02-21T22:18:00.003-06:00

We just got home from a SPECTACULAR weekend with friends at the beach. The weather was fabulous...high 60's to low 70's and sunny. I am only going to post the three P365 days I've missed tonight...I am just too tired to edit the rest, but they are coming. :-)

Car convo on the way home.

Prelude:
AW doesn't travel well. Yes, she is 5 and we know she should. She is a pretty easy kid for the most part, but car behaviour isn't her strong suit. We don't have the fancy schmancy dvd built in, so we usually bring a laptop. SOMEONE forgot the adaptor.

AW, "Let's play guess if I'm drinking water."
Copeland, "Aw, okay."
AW, "gurgle, gurgle"
Cope, "you are drinking."
AW, "nope, I'm not" {giggle, giggle}
Copeland, "yes you are, I saw you swallow."
AW, "okay, guess now."
Cope, "you didn't drink this time...you are faking."
AW, "how can you tell?"
Cope, "I see you spitting the water back in the bottle."

This continues until I cannot take it anymore and say, "QUIET! NOBODY says a word. DO.NOT.TALK"

AW, "Can I hum?"
Me, "NO!"
AW, "Can I cough?" cough, cough, cough, cough
Me, "NO, you cannot make a peep."
AW, "peep"
Me, "Wow, David...a little help here."
I give him a tender love pat on the shoulder.
David, "OWWWW, SUNBURN!".
Me, "Me, oh, sorry...are you getting sleepy?" {I ask this every 15 minutes}
He gives me the, "I never get sleepy, I'm a man" look.
Ford, "How many miles do we have left?"
Me, "NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING!"
Cope, "Can I have a hot tamale?"
Me, "NO, you aren't supposed to eat chewy candy with your braces! Remember? We go through this everyday...and STOP TALKING."
AW, "I need to go potty NOW!!"
Me, "Hon, pull over(for the 4th time) and make sure it's a two seater this time, will ya?"
David, "Hey! Look at all those deer that just ran in front of us."
Me, "HELLO?"
Ford, "Are they bucks...can you try to hit one with the car?"
Me, "you are so dumb, fo real."
AW, "It's my turn with the ipod."
Cope, "NO, it's still mine."
AW, "but IIII wannnt a tuuurrrnnnn....."
Me, "qqqqqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttttt!!!"

Can you tell I'm a little stressed from the ride home? The good news is, the boys didn't fight on this trip. Hip hip...

Day 48... Full moon reflecting on the water...

Day 49... Beach Picture Non-traditional style. I wanted bright color.

Day 50... AW's beach hat...

Project 365...Day 47...Loser baby...

2011-02-18T22:23:00.002-06:00

The boys played in the semi-finals tonight and lost to a team we've beaten before. Boo Hoo. We didn't play well which makes it harder to lose.

I had to leave after the third quarter to meet my mother in law and sister in laws at the Dinner Theater to see Steel Magnolias. Funny stuff. :-)

I won't be blogging again until either late Monday night or Tuesday but I promise to have lots of pictures to make up for it!!

I wish this picture was cropped differently and that his face wasn't blown, but I literally grabbed my camera and shot this super quick. It's so "him."

Project 365...Day 46...I feel the need, the need for speed.

2011-02-17T17:52:00.002-06:00

JGH, age 11. He's got a speedy arm, a speedy smart mouth, and speedy eating habits. He's speedy on tests at school, feeling the need to finish first. He is a speedy teeth brusher and you KNOW what that means.

Sistah stopped to make me happy...all I wanted was a look. I got tongue. I finished reading her "Anne of Green Gables" last night. It is a younger version of the book with some pictures. She told everyone today about the ending when Matthew died and Marilla was possibly going blind. We are starting on Little Women tonight.

NOTHER topic... Air Soft Guns. If you are against children having a little fun with toy guns STOP READING HERE. If your son is of elementary age, I'm sure they've heard of this new phenomenon. Afternoons in this household are spent outside engaged in air soft gun wars with the neighborhood renegades...eye gear is not optional.

Project 365...Day 45...Yo ho...

2011-02-16T16:38:00.003-06:00

Why are Wednesdays hard?? Nobody wanted to do "picture of the day" today...and frankly, I don't blame them. I didn't either. I just wasn't in the mood to chase everyone around the yard for a lifestyle shot.

David put out fertilizer today at lunch. When I realized what he was doing, I shouted out the door,

"HEY!! You aren't poisoning the yard today, are you? You know the kids are going to want to play outside this afternoon!"

His response was, "Chill, babe." No, really, it was, "Just tell them not to put their hands in it."

Um, okaaaaay smartypants. MEN...

We have Church tonight and I teach the babies. I LUV babies.

So...back to picture of the day...

CAPTION:

Pirate girl with yellow flower, half nekked. I am aware these flowers are technically weeds. AND David probably gave them a death sentence today. AND my daughter is rubbing one on her baby face. BUT, this one was hiding in the corner, so I snatched it up before the wind blew.

...and, AW is going to be a "SWEETIE". That's the name of the 5-6 year old tee ballers. Do you know how hard it is to hold a camera, focus, and pitch at the same time? She is sooo excited! Check out the outfit she put together to wear outside. Somehow, I felt black and white was fitting for this picture. The colors together made me want to pluck my eyeballs out.

Project 365...Day 44...He Loves Me...

2011-02-15T14:56:00.003-06:00

Tulips...chocolates(that I don't need)...delivered by UPS on Valentine's Day...in a big box. MAJOR brownie points. ;-)

Project 365...Day 42...Listen to your heart...

2011-02-14T14:19:00.002-06:00

Pre-sucker and chocolate face.

I decided to enter another "I Heart Faces" contest. Click here to view my entry. :-)

Happy Diabetic Coma day. My kids will come home with so much candy, half of which will be eaten before we get home. I want it OUT of my house...so I let them. Don't judge. ;-)

Today, at the Y, I swallowed a bug in my water. Happy Valentine's Day to me.

David and I are going to enjoy these after the kids go to bed. :-) If you know me, you know I did NOT make them.

Publix bakery did.

Daddy makes us laugh at lunch time...We love him.

Project 365...Days 41 & 42...Baseball and the Grammys

2011-02-13T21:13:00.007-06:00

It's been a busy weekend. Baseball has begun. We are still playing basketball...how is that possible? Actually, C had a practice game Sat and F had one today. I'm posting days 41 and 42 together b/c I haven't had a minute to blog until now.

Saturday night, David and I went out to dinner with friends. It was a hilarious night. I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Edited to say:

WHAT-EV-AHHHH Grammy Awards. I didn't watch it, but I think my husband did...which is weird. He came to me while I was uploading pics and said, "you've got to google Lady Gaga's alien look." MmmmK. Honestly, I really don't want to give Lady FREAK-A the time of day...but I did check out people.com to view the pictures from the show. That's all I care about...what the folks are wearing.

My main observation was the amount of women sporting hair extensions. Wow. Must. be. nice.

Project 365...Day 40...Gap find...

2011-02-11T15:31:00.003-06:00

I found this little "cowgirl" hat online at Baby Gap. I fell instantly in love with it and my mind started swimming with ideas for pics...none inside. Well, when it came in, the instant love died. It doesn't fit well, it's flimsy and doesn't hold it's shape. I took some pictures of her in it anyway. The hat may be on backwards in a few pics. I'm not sure. That's how dumb this hat is...you can't tell. :-)

For photography buffs, I decided put several in the collage below so I've got some limb chops. I also have "written" a few of my own actions...a first for me. :-) Does anyone see green in my b/w's?? Do they look muddy?

We have predicted temps in the 60's everyday for the next week!! I am going to try for a fun Valentine's session with the kids. We'll see how that turns out with 9 and 11 year old boys.

Project 365...Day 39...No snow.

2011-02-10T16:00:00.002-06:00

Watch out. Momma's in a bad mood. It may be weather related. It may be kid related. It may be that my husband told me he didn't turn down the heat when I know he did. The evidence was there. I cannot function in a 64 degree house when it is 25 degrees outside, my hands and nose turn blue. My nose was in serious danger of falling off.

I was charged .25 cents for this picture. It was worth it. I think I'll charge her 5 bucks for all the whining I've listened to this afternoon. We might call it even b/c she just told me my hair looks like Barbie's.

I see a hot soaky bubble bath with a book and a diet coke in my future.

Project 365...Day 38...Hey Mr. Weatherman...

2011-02-09T15:17:00.003-06:00

Hey Mr. Weatherman,

We enjoyed playing in the sunshine today, but please be right about the predicted snow tonight. Kthanks.

I have this little problem with the weatherman. I expect him to be right ALL the time. I get a little frustrated when he is wrong. I am becoming VERY cynical and may NEVER believe another word from a weatherman again.

However, I might need to learn to not judge WM so harshly. You see, my oldest son is a weatherman in the making. He refuses to admit this, but he is. The child spends GADS of time on the computer researching weather all over the world and knows what "dew point" means. Yup, I'm raisin' him right.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be greeting you with beautiful snow pictures...but for now, here's one of my little AW before she turned somersaults down the hill in our front yard. Sunshine, a little windy, 53 degree weather. Thank you Lord. :-)

And, here's one more I snapped of A Dub treating Dixie like her baby. Believe it or not, Dix was content...so don't call PETA on me.

Project 365...Day 37...Mirror, mirror on the wall...

2011-02-08T13:41:00.005-06:00

I decided to enter the "I Heart Faces" contest this week. The theme is Valentine's. I was only allowed to submit one of these pictures, and I'm certain I won't win, but it was fun nonetheless. The official picture is on my photography website:
www.allisonhilyerphotography.com.

This sister loves to play in my makeup. I'm terrified that I'm going to catch her sneaking one my lip glosses in her backpack next year. I see daily backpack inspections in our future.

Last night, I heard her telling our dog, "you must have self control, Dixie. You must!" She then she sang in her shrill little voice, "the fruit of the spirit's not an apple..."

The children and I had a "deep convo" on the way to school yesterday morning. I said, "guys, I mostly need to work on patience and self control." It is humbling to share my faults with them...and BELIEVE me, patience is my biggest struggle. Unfortunately, many of the times I pour my heart out, I get comments like, "momma, do you think we're going to have a tornado in Montgomery this year?" or "Is it Nancy's(Italian Ice) day?

My mom has inspired me to begin reading to my kids again at bedtime. I was SOOOO good at that when they were little. As they've gotten older, a little vice we'll call "ESPN" has taken over our nights. I made a deal with David, who was more than willing to help, that we should read out loud to them 30 minutes a night...most nights. Last night was our first attempt and it went well. They even wanted to go on to the next chapter. SO....mammas...listen to your mommas. :-)

Project 365...Day 36...boys+ball=fight

2011-02-07T17:54:00.002-06:00

EVERY time my boys play ball together, the game ends in a fight. If I'm lucky, the fight will go something like this:

F, "Cope cheated."
C, "no, Ford cheated."
F, "no way, Cope cheated."
C, "uh uh, Ford did."

That is on a REALLY good day.

A medium day is more like this:

C, crying, "Ford says I'm no good and he cheated."
F, "He isn't good. I won. I won. I won."

On a bad day, I get a few more gray hairs and maybe a new zit(sorry again, mom) and the fight convo is of this nature:

F, crying, "Copeland punched me in the face and my nose is bleeding."
C, "No, I didn't." He is the KING of denial.
Me, "well, C, why is Ford's nose bleeding?"
C, "A bird fell from the sky and pecked his nose."
Me, "Really, do you have this on video?"
F, "moooommmmm, punish him!"
Me, "okay, Cope, go to your room for 17 hours."
C, "but you didn't hear my side of the story!"
Me, "oh yeah, what is your side?"
C, "Ford cheated."
Me, "is that why your punched him?"
C, "yes, he's a cheater."

Got the admission. Bam, I'm good like that. Did you notice the "cheater" theme. They love it.

In happy moments, they look like little basketball synchronized swimmers...except they aren't swimming.

David assures me they are going to love each other one day. He grew up with a brother and they used each other as punching bags daily.

I, on the other hand, had(past tense) a mean sister. ;-) I will never forget the day she threw my makeup out the 2nd story window. I am CERTAIN I did nothing to provoke her.

I sense a "love thy brother" lecture coming on...

Project 365...Day 35...sistah...

2011-02-06T16:10:00.002-06:00

Little sister got to attend a birthday party for a sweet friend today. The mom had a lady paint canvases with the kids. WAY up A Dub's alley.

This morning when I was fixing her hair, she said, "my hair is all soft because of all the air conditioner." And then she gave it a little flip.

Can I just say...

1. I don't know who is playing in the Super Bowl.
2. I don't care about the commercials. Does anyone really like commercials?
3. I won't be watching.

Project 365...Day 34...Cause country's what they love...

2011-02-05T18:42:00.002-06:00

In this post...

You might see a big bro giving his little sister his jacket and hat after she threw hers in the creek.

You may even see a daddy giving his son a high five. Doesn't he know this isn't a basketball game? While we're on the subject of basketball, I'm might as well brag on my husband(coach) and boys. We are 7-1 and probably going to be the first seed in the tourney. Brag over.

You could see a posey family of 5 picture...just for kicks. I sat my camera on the rack of the 4 wheeler for this one and only got a few thorn scrapes while running to beat the timer.

Unfortunately, you will see a child of 9 driving a 4 wheeler. Guess which parent has a problem with this? Guess which parent nearly got thrown threw the Mule window when the same 9 year old was driving? Guess which parent pitched a fit in the pasture regarding all the above issues?

Maybe, you'll see a little sister refuse to look at me when I ask her to. Can you imagine?

My children want to move in with the grands. I wonder why?

I took this pic of AW while she was sitting on the back of the 4-wheeler waiting on the boys. I cannot decide whether I like it better in color or b/w, so I posted both.

Project 365...Day 33... Birthday money...

2011-02-04T13:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was my birthday. 35. That is honestly hard to type. I know some people don't have a hard time aging, but I am. Especially after the Y incident earlier in the week. I promise I won't mention that in every post. I want to be 25, not 35. Whine, whine, whine.

I needed a new computer for my photography business, so I ask for birthday money this year. Yesterday morning, Copeland comes into my bedroom sounding like an old man jingling change in his pocket...or a kid jingling change.

He shoves a zip lock bag at me and says, "happy birthday momma." I happen to KNOW this is all the change he had in his piggy bank. He also wrote the exact amount on the bag and who it was from...and for some reason, decided to add that it was also from the dog. I have already used .50 for a Diet Coke. He was proud.

Onto another VERY important topic. Mom clothes. Similarly to my addiction to children's clothing, momish apparel rocks my world. I have a system...it goes something like this:

Day 1. Buy something I cannot live with out(this is totally relative...so don't judge).
Day 2. Wear it.
Day 3. Wear it again the next day.
Day 4. Maybe wash it the following day, maybe not.
Day 5. Wear it again.
Day 6. Decide my husband has to be tired of seeing "new favorite outfit" and wear something different.
Day 7. Forget that I care if he cares and wear the outfit again.
Day 8. Spill something on the outfit. Darn. Must wash or send to the cleaners.

REPEAT with next outfit.

I typed all that to say...you've probably seen this outfit on me at least 5 times already. Black pull on open tunic thingy, footless tights, and brown cowboy boots.

Project 365...Day 32...signing day=sickness...hmmm

2011-02-02T19:57:00.002-06:00

For the second year in a row, Ford has been sick on National Signing Day. No really, he is sick...I think. ;-)

Project 365...Day 31...the making of a homemade deer...

2011-02-01T17:19:00.003-06:00

I am slowly recovering from being told I look like a 60 year old woman earlier today. Not that 60 is old... ;-) If you missed the story, read the post below and prepare to be sympathetic.

I'll admit, I staged a reenactment today. This weekend, when our buddy G came over, Copeland dressed up as a deer so they could shoot him with rubber band guns. When I say he dressed up as a deer, I mean that he:

1. Collected an old laundry basket that was coming apart.
2. Pulled the centers out of several rolls of toilet paper. Nice.
3. Placed the cardboard cylinders onto the broken areas of the laundry basket so they stuck up like antlers.
4. Pulled the laundry basket over his head and strapped it on with a belt.

Wala...a deer.

All this was going on while I was in bed with the barf virus and my dear(no pun intended)husband went to my parents to pick up AW. They live 5 minutes away. He was gone 2 hours.

When the boys got home from school, I convinced them to dress up AW as the deer and we could recreate the moment. Sure. Yeah. It worked out just like I'd planned. Of course, that gave Ford an excuse to make another gun out of twistable crayons. The minute Cope got outside, he planted himself in the Fort and started shooting in the air. He also decided the fire poker would work for antlers this time. ;-) Creative fella, he is.

Dixie ate the yellow flower in AW's hair. Hope she's okay.

YMCA freaks...project 365 to come later...

2011-02-01T09:23:00.006-06:00

OK, people, I am alternating between laughing and crying here...literally.

David and I have been going to the Y together in the mornings. I've been working out at this Y for years(when I am being diligent)so most of the people there are familiar.

There is this man(who is always there)...old enough to be my dad...but not old, whom I chat with on occasion. Nice man, super sweet wife.

Act One Scene One

I am at the mirrors doing bicep curls and David is running on the treadmill.

I truly cannot remember what took place in the conversation prior to the "judgement".

Man, "smalltalksmalltalksmalltalk."

Me, "smalltalksmalltalksmalltalk."

Man, "so, you've got someone coming with you in the mornings now."

Me, "yeah, it's nice."

Man pauses...

I wait while he forms his next thought...

Man, "IS HE YOUR SON?"

Me, "pardon?" (cough, choke, cough, choke) INSERT "I WILL SURVIVE" lyrics in my head.

Man pauses again.

Me, barely audible, "uh, nooooosir, he's my husband."

Man clearly realizes his misapprehension.

Man realizes he needs to say something b/c my mouth is gaping open and I cannot form a word.

Man, trying to redeem himself, "Uh, well, the couple that works out together, stays together."

Me, as I'm putting my headphones back in my ears so I don't have to give an audience this conversation anymore, "haha, yup."

REALLY??

REALLY??

I immediately put the weights down and sat on the floor to stretch b/c I could not stand. I felt this bubble of laughter present itself in my stomach but I pushed it back down so I wouldn't look like a fool. I tried to smile at him a few times to let him know I would not be chasing him down with a machete.

Then, I lowered my head and set my fingers to work. I texted all my close friends b/c I needed assurance RIGHT THEN AND THERE that this man was FREAKIN(sorry mom) CRAZY.

Guess what? Immediately, four sisters replied with,
"STUPID"
"IDIOT"
"OLD"
"BLIND"
"SPECIAL NEEDS" (not trying to offend anyone here.)

Thankfully, David was off the treadmill at this point and I snatched him up and said,
"I've got to tell you something INSANE, but we have to get out of here first." I grabbed a cup of coffee and hollered in my best grandama voice, "son, bring me my cane...I can't seem to get past this door jamb." No, I didn't.

We joked all the way home about it...about how I should have said,
"Yessir, I birthed him when I was 4 months old. (I am 4 months older than him) and we don't know who the father is, might be someone from the neighboring bassinet in the hospital nursery. It was a hard delivery, but the doctors helped me through it."

I called my bud, Ashley, b/c I knew she would pee in her pants(sorry again, mom), but got her husband instead...he's a funny guy...had to tell him. His comback was that David should have come up and planted a big one on me and said, "mom likes it when I kiss her like that." Eww, but it made me laugh...even harder.

...and then, I boohooed a little more b/c, REALLY?? I DO NOT DRESS LIKE MAW MAW AT THE Y.

My "SON" and I had a great time at the beach over Christmas for our 13th Anniversary. Project 365 to come later...

Project 365...Day 30...He will kill me...

2011-01-31T09:27:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure about you, but I do most of my reminiscing when I watch my kids sleep. If I could have one wish(besides eating what I want and being skinny for life...j/k), I would want one more day with each of my children when they were 3 months old...and then again at 6 months...and then again at 18 months...and so on...and so forth.

This C of mine...he's a character.

He told me as he got in the car Friday from school, "J broke up with K because he didn't pay enough attention to her. Now J is my girlfriend and K won't talk to me." Oh, dear. 9 year old drama...

C would kill me if he saw this picture posted on this blog...so lets just not tell him about it, k? I'm fairly certain his comrades don't stalk SATB.
He hates his freckles, but I love them. This picture is kind of weird looking, but the mommy goggles are forcing me to post it as day 30. DAY 30! 1/12 of the way through.

Project 365...Day 29...Recovering...

2011-01-30T15:17:00.002-06:00

This Sunday I've been home recovering from "the stomach virus".

It gives my stomach a gurgle and makes me break out into a sweat just to type those words.

David came home from church this morning and asked, "uh, are you going to take a shower?" Haha, funny thing is, I took a 2 hour bath while they were gone and he couldn't tell. Guess I still look pretty rough. I will get him back when he comes down with it tomorrow. ;-)

AW camped out in the study today to color, cut, glue, and terrorize me. This face is how I've felt the past two days. She understands me.

Project 365...Day 28...Ruby loses a digit, or two...

2011-01-28T15:48:00.012-06:00

Bitty Baby Twin, Ruby, is in corner #1.
Dixie, the cheweenie, is in corner #2.
Dixie-1, Ruby-0

Fact #1. American Girl dolls are expensive.
Fact #2. Dixie chews. If something is left on the floor, which never happens in our home, it is devoured by the dog...including unmentionables.
Fact #3. Dolls don't get as much love after they've sacrificed a couple of digits.
Fact #4 Dixie was number oneing in the picture above. Shocking, I know.
Fact #5. Yes, I am as ghostly white as I appear in the last post.
Fact #6. I cheated and wrote this post yesterday so I could have a break today. This morning, I woke up with a stomach virus. Fantastic.
Fact #7. I hate the way Flickr over-sharpens pictures.

Project 365...Day 27...STARBS on me and mommy guilt...

2011-01-28T13:18:00.005-06:00

Remember my post about having a bad day earlier in the week??? WEEEEELLLLL...

Yesterday, in the mail, I got the sweetest smiley face note of encouragement and a $5 gift card to Starbucks. This was from someone who isn't that close to me, more of a friend in passing and I know she wouldn't mind me telling you that. We run into each other at school and the Y and always have something to talk about. What a beautiful spirit she has. I have been inspired. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, JULIE. YOU ROCK!! :-)

Here is another weird looking self portrait. I decided to go this route b/c this is the first day this week my hair hasn't been up in a ball cap.

Onto "mommy guilt". The mornings in our home are chaotic. I'm just being honest. If I was more organized, maybe they wouldn't be. After we got in the car this morning, I told Copeland to get out his reading story and read it again on the way to school. Instead of doing what I asked, he smarted off to me that he had to put on his shoes and some other garbage back-talk.

I'll save you the details of the rest of the car ride of punishments, crying, more taking-away-of-privileges, more sassy mouth...and so on, and so forth.

At one time, the following came out of his mouth,
"You are the meanest mom in the world and I wish I didn't live in this house."

Really, honestly, that doesn't hurt. I don't mind being "mean"...BUT WHAT HE DIDN'T YET REALIZE... was that he'd started a competition with me. I had to win. I'm not proud of that...just being real here.

At this point, I was so fired up from all the other jazz, I came back at him with,
"Well, C, I'm sure I could arrange for your transport to XYZ country where the kids have to walk 30 miles a day for their water and sleep on roach infested floors." Yes, I did spout that nonsense.

The morning did not end well and I hate sending my kids into school unhappy.

So, all day I have worried about this...worried that I was too hard on him... Because, NO DOUBT, I should have handled things better.

I wish there was a backspace button in my life...MUST get over it and move on.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

***I am not a writer, so don't be too hard on me. ;-)***

Project 354...Day 26..."That's the biggest bow I've ever seen."

2011-01-27T12:44:00.002-06:00

I'm not going to apologize for being a bow mom. I like em. Bows are personal. Some people prefer a la naturale when it comes to hair and THAT IS TOTALLY OKAY. I like that look too. :-)

As she gets older, we are slowly progressing to braids, piggies, clippies, and ruffle ribbon. HOWEVER, graduation from bows hopefully isn't right around the corner. I'm not ready to give them up. Headbands are in our near future and my daughter is psyched.

A dub wears the mack daddy of big bows. The super-southern-might-help-her-be-identified-on-a-deserted-island-bow.

Conversation today:

Person, "Why, that's the biggest bow I've ever seen!"

Me, being a little offended b/c it obviously was not a compliment, wanted to say, "save your breath, no one wants to smell it." But, my mamma taught me better, so I politely smiled and bit my tongue.

This little collage of pictures is posted in picture-flesh to show you that my daugher can play in bows. She can frolic until her heart is content with her huge bow clipped to her head.

Project 365...Day 25...The Devil went down to Wal-mart...

2011-01-26T10:31:00.002-06:00

The Devil went down to Wal-mart, he was lookin' for a little temptation.

Stacey's Pita Chips shouted to him that she would do.

Do you see my ipod?

I have been back to my workouts with my cute partner, D. He's a machine on the treadmill. I told him this morning that I will be so glad when it feels natural to run again. Never mind that I didn't have to grip the treadmill for dear life like the dude next to me. I have another stigma. I am a red faced runner. The kind that looks like she is going to die before the run is over. Brandon Flowers kept me going. He is the man.

Perhaps I should pass on the Stacey's Pita Chips next time. She kind of negates the cardio. I need to tattoo that on my hand for tomorrow.

Project 365...Day 24...There is sunshine in my soul...

2011-01-25T13:36:00.003-06:00

It is a dark, cold, dreary, cold, rainy, cold, wet, cold, funky day in Montgomery. I am also having a bad day. :-)

I was warned by a few, when starting my photography business, that sometimes you have to learn things the hard way. I don't like that truth.

I have a BRAND NEW computer. I was getting ready to burn a DVD of pictures and accidentally(don't ask details) got a foam thingy stuck in my DVD drive. I tried to get it out. It became lodged further. Now, the DVD drive doesn't work and I cannot see the foamy thing.

My BRAND NEW External Hard Drive crashed, with a TON of pictures on it. The company tells me to format it and it will work again. Formatting it=loss of pictures. I hate Western Digital.

My house is a wreck.

My child is begging me to tickle her.

We need groceries.

I need a shower.

So, there ya have it...minus a few things I won't mention on this blog.

What am I doing? Blogging? Why? It's therapeutic, I guess...better than retail therapy right now.

HOWEVER...The Lord is so good and that fills my soul with sunshine. That sounds so cliche, but it's true. We are safe, healthy, and I get to watch this little sister jump in puddles. :-)

Project 365...Day 23...Bubs has a metal mouth...

2011-01-24T17:14:00.003-06:00

B-brackets
R-rubber bands
A-alive(he made it!)
C-chick-fil-a milkshake and cheezies pizza
E-expensive
S-sore

My 9 year old got braces today. I told him when he got done we would swing through the Chick-fil-a drive through and get a milk shake. Ya know, my poor baby...with a sore mouth. I think he's okay, though, b/c he wolfed that down and then added two pieces of Cheezies Pizza.

I sped home so we could have some daylight for the picture. He started complaining the minute we got outside and the only thing I could do to get him to smile was to say, "copie, you look like you're tooting." Even the, "coooooppppiiiieee...what do you think the girls are gonna think," didn't work. I feel certain that someone is going to suddenly feel terrible when it's time to go to school tomorrow.

Project 365...Day 22...Urban Basketball...it's a boy!

2011-01-23T12:53:00.002-06:00

Readers of this blog may have forgotten that I do, in fact, have two boys. I have neglected them during this project. But...they are alive! Ford and I went outside before Sunday lunch for a little round ball. Him, to shoot. Me, to shoot. HA!! Get it??

For some reason, he thought he had a "say" in which pictures were posted on my blog.

I just have to tell this little story. It's funny to me...may be too much information for some. But...if you know me, you know that I don't always have a filter. The boys of the fam have been spending a lot of time hunting. Saturday, Ford and David were "stuck" in a tree stand for about 6 hours watching the same buck. David was supposed to keep AW b/c I had a 3 month baby session. He texted me, "I'm not leaving until the buck is either dead or gone." Alrighty then. The next text I received (during my session) said, "I just told Ford about the 'Birds and the Bees' DEER STYLE. Ford said, "That's weird.". Yes, buddy, it is. ;-)

I tried something a little different with the processing of these pictures and added a little urban grit.

Project 365...Day 21...I can't live, if livin' is w/o you...

2011-01-22T19:22:00.002-06:00

The title of this post means nothing except I heard the song today and can't get it out of my head. I love it when that happens.

Birthday parties rock. Especially ones where you get to bake and decorate your own cupcakes...from scratch. Especially when the mom hand makes every little darling their own apron. Especially when the same mom had three kinds of milk to choose from...chocolate, white, AND strawberry. Strawberry milk...tasty stuff.

I photographed this birthday party today for a special friend. This is a "sneak peek" of what is to come. I will post a link to her blog later this week so you can see all the fabulousness. Many of you probably already read it.

I had a 30 minute chat with AW on the way to the birthday party. The topic was Heaven. The girl has LOTS of questions. For instance:

"Will God let us collect gold from the streets?"

"Will we have Church in Heaven?"

"Will the food be really good in Heaven?"

and so on and so forth. It was deep.

I WILL post pics of my boys this week. I will!!!

Project 365...Day 20...mini-pedi

2011-01-21T16:34:00.001-06:00

The girl loves nail polish.

Project 365...Day 19...Messy Room

2011-01-20T13:11:00.003-06:00

This little sister has a messy room. She has to stay in there until it is clean. She thinks I'm going to do it for her. Maybe I've been a little too helpful in the past. Of course, my room is perfectly spotless. It is never a mess and it is most definitely not the place I shove everything. ;-)

Project 365...Day 18...The Thrill of the Hunt...

2011-01-19T15:33:00.003-06:00

What have my husband and two young sons been doing lately, you ask?? Hunting. Deer hunting.

Do I like my guys dressed in camo, entering the woods with guns...searching for Bambi? Nope.

Do they live to hunt? Yup.

Is it a man thing? Yup.

Have I been checking them out of school before chapel at least two times a week to go? Yup.

Is this picture good? Nope.

Did they want to take the picture? Nope

Did I care? Nope.

I sent Ford with my phone b/c he is sitting in a stand by himself today(with no gun...so don't freak). He needed to be able to text his dad. I had to erase all the sappy texts David has sent me in the past few weeks so he wouldn't read them and think his mom and dad like each other. :-) Ewww.

Ford killed a 10 point about a month ago and you would have thought the child met Dustin Pedroia.

Daddy/son bonding. It's essential. :-)

Project 365...Day 17...CATCH-UP=DONE!!

2011-01-18T18:03:00.002-06:00

I am officially caught up! Check out the posts below for updates on our girl's beach trip. :-)

I brought the kids back a few treats from my trip. Ann Welch's favorite is this lips sucker. Trust me, it tastes as good as it looks! Target, I love you.

Project 365...Day 16...Buh bye PCB...

2011-01-18T16:35:00.002-06:00

Playing catch up here...again. :-) Day 16 documents a small bit of our last day at the beach. :-( Lara stocked the fridge with Izze. When I wasn't partaking of Diet Coke, I settled on this. Isn't it cute? ;-)

Before we left Monday morning, I forced the girls to the porch for one more picture(s). They were thrilled. Keri "my beautiful/humble/friend for life" had to leave the day before so she missed the last beach pic. After that fun-ness, we packed up the car and headed for the Sandestin outlets. Since I don't really have any money to spend right now, I just drooled all over the clothing at the J. Crew outlet.

Nia, resident Queso dip expert, suggested our last meal together be of the Mexican food variety. Did you know Sandestin doesn't have a non-gourmet Mexican restaurant? I had given my GPS to Keri the day before, so we relied on Melissa's phone GPS which really liked hole-in-the-wall graffiti-windowed places. It took us to 4. Finally, an hour later, we settled on a place in Defuniak Springs. Queso, here we come.

We enjoyed the meal, the company even more, and set off for Montgomery...or so I thought. I am NOT good with directions. Instead of heading North...I drove South...for 25 minutes...until Melissa "the smart one/fellow appreciator of footless leggings" noticed we were going the wrong way. I am cool. No biggie that I took us 45 min out of the way.

Thank goodness Jamie, "the singer/chick with a tendency to get carsick" sang with me the whole way home to keep me awake. Lara, "the hand model/fellow appreciator of romance novels" and Nia, "the queso dip expert/fellow appreciator of romance novels" sat in the back and made fun of us. They are just jealous. Carrie, "the perfect body and hair/super cute dresser" told me at one point, "I can't take this anymore....did I just say that out loud?" :-) Carrie would never hurt a fly, so I know she didn't mean to attack my song choices.

I LOVE these girls. I have NEVER laughed as hard as I did this weekend. Not once did anyone bicker, gossip, steal money, or refuse to share candy. I mean, what more could a girl ask for when choosing her friends?

This was our 4th trip together and we hope to still be going when we're 50.

Project 365...Day 15... Better late than never...

2011-01-18T12:24:00.003-06:00

I'm late posting day 15 and 16, but we were just too busy having fun for me to blog. I got home late last night and snuggled up with my husband and kids...it was great to see them!

These pics are from Sunday. I will post Monday's picture tonight.

Sunday, we went to worship and ate a delicious brunch at Another Broken Egg. Although it was a bit chilly, we spent the afternoon on the beach. We finished the night off at a Thai/Japanese/Sushi Bar. The food was okay at best, but we laughed so much at our 16 year old waiter, we didn't care.

In case you were wondering, I am not Chinese.

Project 365...Day 14...Tradition continues...

2011-01-15T22:46:00.000-06:00

I am having a fabulous time at the beach with my girls but my husband is missing me terribly. ;-)

So far, we've kept our yearly traditions of shopping, eating at Panera and Firefly, and going to see a bad movie. This is our fourth trip and EVERY year, with-out fail, the movie we pick is terrible. This year, we decided on "How do you know" with Reece Witherspoon. It was awful and I usually like her movies. :-(

Carrie introduced us to the best lip gloss ever, Bare Minerals, Buxom.

We went to bed last night after one and slept until 9. Tomorrow, we plan on going to church and then spending the afternoon on the beach. The best part of the trip, so far, is definitely my driving. It's awesome.

Project 365...Day 13... Girls gone wild...

2011-01-14T22:02:00.005-06:00

I am at the beach with 6 of my closest Christian friends for 3 days! David took this picture of us before we left today. I am really the only wild one of the bunch, but they put up with me anyway.

Project 365...Day 12... It's wild 'round here.

2011-01-13T15:48:00.002-06:00

Cousins. They are the best friends a kid could ask for. In our home, anyway.

Copeland, Mary Reagan and Jewell are all in a play this weekend. I picked them up from school today. I don't remember the drive home, I've already blocked it out. 5 kids, all screaming, wow. :-) Why did I bring them sugar?

Project 365...Day 11... So what?

2011-01-12T14:58:00.003-06:00

Somehow, Ann Welch dug up a Popsicle from the freezer(under all the deer meat). So what if it's been in there since Summer, and so what if it's 20 degrees outside?

You will probably see many more pictures of her(than the boys) during project 365 because:

1. She is easily bribed. Yes, she is. I am not ashamed.
2. She is home at 12:30 but the boys don't come home until 3:30.
3. She will wear pink and green. For some reason my boys have a problem with that.
4. I like her window light.

This morning she politely asked me to move my coffee away from her face because, "it smells like skin." Kinda killed my coffee mood.

Project 365...Day 10...Do not proceed unless you love Diet Coke and Trunk Show Clothing...

2011-01-11T14:13:00.003-06:00

Despite the 30 degree temps, I have been browsing though my Spring/Summer trunk show catalogs...and websites...while feeding my addiction to Diet Coke.

1. I would save $10 a week if I quit drinking Diet Coke.
2. I would save $1,000,000 a year if I quit buying trunk show clothing.

BUT, how much fun would that be? ;-)

Seriously, I'm not planning on totally cutting out the DC, but I need to scale back...and that means NOT BUYING THE 24 PACK FROM WAL-MART EVER SINGLE WEEK.

I am also scaling back on trunk-show-clothing-buying. It is going to be VERY hard to narrow it down this year. Do you see the DARLING catalogs in the pic? Well...there are twice as many websites as catalogs.

Did I mention that our annual girl's weekend beach trip is THIS WEEKEND??

Did I mention it is likely that I have adult ADD, so if you have a hard time following my posts there's your answer.

Project 365...Day 9...Three for the price of one...

2011-01-10T13:28:00.003-06:00

I decided to post three pictures today...I won't charge you for the extras. ;-)

I love this picture, because:
a. It was right before Ford threw AW's American Girl doll up in the air and batted it down with his hand.
b. AW put my mom's old quilt on her bed and it was her idea.
c. The lighting is really bad and the picture is super noisy.
d. I wanted to show off AW's AG doll's hair that I just fixed. Oh, never mind, you can't see it.
e. all of the above
f. a and b

If you guessed f...you are the winner. Contact me for a prize...sure.

I like this picture b/c:
a. We have awesome neighborhood boys.
b. No one was crying.
c. It sort of looks like there is snow on the ground..."looks" being the key word.
d. all of the above.

The answer is d. Winners pick d.

This is truly the picture of the day. If you are into photography, you will notice that the window light is hitting only one side of her face and it is blown. Guess what? I don't care, I love her expression. Innocence. I wish it would last forever. :-(

Now, I'm off to take Ford to the Orthodontist. Awesome.

Project 365...Day 8...shawty fire burning

2011-01-09T17:07:00.003-06:00

Not Shawty, because...who in the world is Shawty anyway?

In preparation for the "Blizzard/Ice Storm of 2011," we drove to David's parents to chop firewood. I use the term "we" loosely b/c guess who didn't chop any wood?

We can now heat our home if we lose power. We're smart that way. I need a roll eyes smiley. I won't be surprised if we have nary a flurry. My kids will be super disappointed, but we are enjoying the fire anyway. :-)

Project 365...Day 7 Self Portrait...moles and all

2011-01-08T15:53:00.003-06:00

Let me just start off saying, I do not like pictures of myself. This is very hard for me. BUT, I'm going to try some self portraits over the next year. Maybe, I'll learn to embrace my frizzy hair and moley face. Is moley a word?

Project 365...Day 6 Camo Dixie

2011-01-07T16:27:00.002-06:00

The dog is camouflaged into my rug. I thought this was funny and my kids liked the picture...so here ya go...day 6. :-)

Project 365...Day 5 "Ring my Bell"

2011-01-06T13:27:00.002-06:00

When my Nene died earlier this year, my Aunt Jane had the wonderful idea to pass along Nene's bell collection to the great-grandchildren.

This morning, I was cleaning my kitchen and looked up to see one of Nene's bells on my counter. It's been there for a while...a reminder...I love and miss her everyday.

When I picked up AW from pre-school, we had the following car conversation:

AW- "Mommy, I want to be a dog."
Me-"Why, that's dumb."
AW-"I think it would be fun and nobody would ever be mean to me again."
Me-"Dogs just sit in the grass all day."
AW-"Yes, I know. I would like that."
Me-"Guess what our picture of the day is going to be??"

Soooo... pay no attention to the fact that her mouth was stuffed with a fruit roll up during the "shoot". Maybe no one will notice???

Project 365...Day 4 Enthusiasm is everything...

2011-01-05T20:07:00.002-06:00

Copie...my song writer/guitar strummer... He may kill me for this one day, but for now, his air soft gun won't do the trick.

He brings his songs to me to "approve".

Songs like, "babeeee, when we are together...the world is right...yeah, uh huh..."

or, "why can't it be like it used to be....babeeeeee?"

and my favorite, "Nobody loves you like I do...ooohhh....ooooo....ahhhhh....yeah."

He's 9...

Just hum a little when you repeat the above phrases and you'll catch on.

Justin Beiber, anyone?

Thank you, Mama Sue and Papa, for the real live guitar and lessons. Maybe he'll pay you back one day when he's a teen heart-throb... :-)

Project 365...DAY 3... the mutt

2011-01-04T17:54:00.002-06:00

Our mix breed/mutt/chiweenie doggie, affectionately known as "Dixie", has taken over the children's love. David and I were suckered into "buying" her last November. While we(as in David and I) tolerated her this past year, she never engaged our feelings much. I do like animals...as long as I don't have to smell them, clean up after their "messes", or endure long periods of barking.

Last month, Dixie was hit by a car. :-( We were lucky that she only broke her paw. We have all now bonded with the chiweenie dog...but the kids still love her the most. :-)

Picture of the day...the boys are back in school...so what's a girl to do??

2011-01-03T12:19:00.003-06:00

The boys started back to school today. I have mixed feelings about this. Ann Welch's pre-K doesn't start back until tomorrow. We had a little Peppermint Tea Party on her bed and I snapped a few pictures.

I am posting more than one...if you'll allow me. I recently invested in the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens and I love it for shots like this.

We rented Ramona and Beezus which is too cute for words and she is now watching it for the second time while coloring on the floor.

PROJECT 365...oh, yeah!

2011-01-02T19:48:00.004-06:00

I have decided to take part in "Project 365". Basically, I will take and blog one picture a day.

I love this picture of my independent AW climbing up onto the Mule at Papaw's house. This photo was taken about 5:00 pm(hence the noise) in Papaw and Mimi's woods.

f is for flurries, family, and fudge...

2010-12-26T23:10:00.003-06:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone... We are blessed beyond what we deserve...that's right, Dave Ramsey, you aren't the only one. Our Christmas highlights included:
**SNOW...no, it didn't stick, {much} but my kids still loved it.
**FAMILY... we are SOOO fortunate to have both of our families right here! Our tradition is that we spend Christmas Eve with D's fam, and Christmas afternoon with my fam.
**LOTS OF FOOD...back on the diet soon...
**PICTURES...really?? me??

Also, last weekend, David and I took off to the beach for a few days for our 13th anniversary. It was awesome! :-)

T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L

2010-11-26T00:40:00.002-06:00

My life has been sooo crazy while starting this photography business... I haven't had time to blog. It is now 12:47 and I will pay for this tomorrow! We had a fabulous Thanksgiving today at my sister-in-law's house. She hosts every year and we LOVE it! My dad was sick and my brother missed his flight. :-( My sister and her family came from Nashville to pig out with us. We ended up spending the whole afternoon fishing at my in-laws. Here are some of my favorite pics from the day...

www.allisonhilyerphotography.com

2010-11-11T16:09:00.004-06:00

is here!

www.allisonhilyerphotography.com

It's still a work in progress, but it is ALIVE...haha!

PLEASE help spread the word. If you are not already a "fan" on Facebook, click
HERE and become one!! :-)

3 sessions edited!

2010-11-06T23:58:00.002-05:00

I had 7 mini sessions today. 3 are partially edited. It has taken me A VERY LONG TIME... but, I feel like Christmas when I open the pictures on my computer. Opening a file is like opening a present...surprise and joy.

I had the BEST time today...with ALL the families! Literally, I enjoyed every minute. I learned lessons in patience, the fruit of the Spirit I most need to work on. Not MY patience with the children I photographed, rather I was inspired by observing how OTHER parents have patience with their OWN kids. Does that make sense??

I promise this isn't going to turn into a business photography blog. As soon as I get my other one going, it will be the source of all my new goodies/pictures. :-)

Here are a "few" of my favorites from the day...

The biz...

2010-11-05T16:16:00.003-05:00

I'm s-l-o-w-l-y learning what it is like to go into business. Mom-brain has a lot to process. I hope to have my photography blog up and running next week. I do plan on having a website as well, hopefully by the new year. Here are a few pictures I took earlier in the week at Shakespeare(of my kids).

5 Novembers...

2010-11-02T21:36:00.003-05:00

My precious baby girl was born 5 years ago today. What a wonderful blessing she has been in our lives! We decided not to do birthday parties for any of the kids this year. Sooo, when she asked for a Nintendo DSi, we decided to get one for her. Not paying for a B'day party gets you a better present...haha! We did have our own little party at home with cookie cake and candles from around the house. (kinda forgot to buy birthday candles...I'm mom of the year.) I also took Krispy Kreme to her class at school and those kids can put away some donuts!! After picking up her cake, Copeland dropped a pumpkin on it. Story of my life...doesn't he know he can't smush the cake before I get a picture of it? C'mon!! :-)
Here are some Birthday girl pics...

Don't judge my candles, now!

Needle in a haystack...

2010-11-01T21:48:00.002-05:00

I took the kids to Shakespeare today for our first attempt at Christmas Card pics. I say first attempt, b/c it usually takes about 3. After we got out of the car, I remember tossing my keys to the side at some point(not sure why I did this but...)and proceeding to take 1,000,000 pictures of my kids. About 30 minutes later I thought to myself, where are my keys??

The kids and I looked and prayed for about 30 min. As you can see from the pic below, they were thrilled... Stupidly, I left my cell phone in my locked car...so I had to ask "man-reader-hoggin-the-bench-I-wanted-to-use-for-pictures" if I could borrow his cell phone. I left a voice mail for David to come and get us. Next, we explored, took more pics, had a few meltdowns, and watched for daddy. Daddy never came. Finally, I grabbed little hands and prayed again that the Lord would help us find my keys. 10 minutes later, I found them! :-)

It was nearing dark, and I had promised/bribed Nancy's Italian Ice, so we took off. I called David and asked if he knew what voice mail was??? Ya know, b/c he never came to rescue us. Apparently, it was I who made the mistake, though. I dialed the wrong number and he never had a VM from me. So, I am thankful that the Lord answered my prayer with a yes. Otherwise, we might be sleeping under the stars tonight. ;-)

allison hilyer photography...coming soon!!

2010-10-31T15:04:00.001-05:00

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Jingle Bells, Bat Girl smells...

2010-10-28T22:32:00.003-05:00

So....tonight we "trunk or treated" at our church. Fun times! Ann Welch was Bat Girl. I thoughtfully posed her in the, ya know, "traditional bat girl pose" so she would look like she was flying. I thought that was super dooper cute. It wasn't until I posted a picture of her on Facebook with the title, "up, up and away," that my husband teased, "uh, you know Bat Girl doesn't fly, right?" Right. I knew that.

I have MANY more pictures of her, b/c the minute David put the car in park, I didn't see my boys until it was time to leave. Church-wide-pre-teen football rocks their world.

Copeland was a Phantom, for a VERY short period of time. I mean, in the car short period of time. He took his costume off right when we got there. He did make use of his costume earlier in the week when he scared AW to death.

Ford(biggest AL fan on the planet) was Cam Newton...with a laptop. I know, I know. We are Bama fans, but honestly we think Cam is pretty cool. AND, I'm glad our state has AWESOME football!!

Some of the pics below are taken with a (gasp) flash. I don't like to use it, but in the dark, there aren't many choices.

HBTUHBTUHBDFHBTU...

2010-10-20T13:20:00.002-05:00

My baby...is not a baby. He is 11 today. Wow. Hmmmm.... Wouldn't it be cool if we(as parents) could just say, "um, nope, you can't turn 11. I'd prefer you to stay 10". I'd do it in a heartbeat.

He wanted a custom glove for his birthday and it came in the mail yesterday. I went to bed early last night b/c I wasn't feeling well. Not long after, I woke up to the sound of David pounding the glove with a hammer like device. Breaking in a glove totally comes before everyone else in the house sleeping. No biggie. ;-)

Last night, we took Ford to eat crab claws at The Pub. Both sets of grandparents joined us. Too bad I'm on a diet and can only have salad. Today, David, AW and I went to eat lunch with Ford(and Cope) and took a cookie cake to share with his class. My kids(and me too if I wasn't on a diet) could live off of cookie cake.

Going back in time a few days...Copeland had football practice Monday. I took my new camera and snapped some pics of AW and our PRECIOUS church/football friend Marley. She is the cutest thing ever!

Despite the fact that this camera does great in low light, I still underexposed this picture b/c I didn't want to use my flash in the dark. I decided to put a little texture on it to make it look different.

HOT diggity dog!!!

2010-10-18T16:35:00.004-05:00

If you see me doing a little heel click on the side of the road, I'm happy today. After Amazon sent me a "nasty" email letting me know that they had NO IDEA when my camera would ship, I caught wind of some info. Best Buy had a few in stock. I GOT THE LAST D7000, people!! I had to buy the kit instead of just the body, BUT desperate people (like me) do things like that.

My 50mm f/1.4 came in today too, sooooo I bribed a certain 4 year old with Nancy's Italian Ice if she would let me take some shots of her.

Okay, so we've established that I still have a lot to learn about Photoshop and photography, but I wanted to share a few of the pictures I took today. For you photo-maniacs like me, I shot wide open. I'm gonna be a little busy the next few days...

Does anyone else think I shouldn't be getting the peace fingers from a 4 year old?

Thumbs down to cell phone pics BUT...

2010-10-15T13:34:00.002-05:00

...at least I have photo documentation of our last couple of weeks. These pics are horrible. I did tweak them in photoshop, but the noise(grain)is just too much to work with. I am posting them anyway...for my memories.

THESE ARE ALL CELL PHONE PICS...my pride made me say it again. ;-)

me and Copie at the Pumpkin Patch(field trip #3 in a week)

AW before school and directly after she snipped a hole in her new pants with scissors. Fantastic.

My trip w/AW's class to the Pumpkin Patch.

Family Reunion in Valdosta. We're looking pretty rough.

Ford's field trip to DeSoto Caverns. 100% humidity=hair in a bun.

and...last but not least...dinner with Sarah Palin. Wow. It was great! She spoke at the Faulkner University Benefit dinner.

Death of the D50...

2010-10-02T16:14:00.004-05:00

My "dinosaur" Nikon D50 died today at Copeland's football game. While I am feeling a little sad/loyal, I'm also ready to move on. I am pre-ordering the new Nikon D7000 from Amazon and am adding to my lens collection with the 50mm f/1.4. Soooo, until my new camera comes in(late October), I will be camera-less. I might feel a little lonely. All three of my kids have field trips during the next two weeks. :-(

Yes, I do realize I need an eye lift.

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Fall=Bliss

2010-09-30T10:32:00.003-05:00

I am pumped b/c I actually got to wear a sweater yesterday! ;-) It's the little things...

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Happy Fall Y'all!!

2010-09-28T19:37:00.000-05:00

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are you ready for some football?

2010-09-27T10:45:00.003-05:00

Copeland is playing football this year. Here are some pics of our last game. He is #33.

and one of AW and Hunkalicious at Cope's game....

A few of AW lately. SO thankful for cooler temps!

and one more of me, and my wonderful siblings!

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Nene and Papa Jack's Legacy

2010-09-21T13:28:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, we celebrated the life of my dear Nene. She passed away peacefully surrounded by her 3 loving daughters. My precious Papa Jack, her husband, passed away 7 weeks ago. Our entire family was there and it was wonderful to be together. We all stayed at the same hotel in North Alabama. Here are some of the pictures from the weekend.

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Ken and Barbie...I LOVE weddings!! :-)

2010-09-05T21:46:00.006-05:00

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of some dear friends! Haley and Neil are such beautiful people inside and out! :-) Here is a preview of some of my favorite pics from the day.

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Beach food...

2010-08-27T20:05:00.007-05:00

Last night we drove to Foley to eat at Lambert's. If you haven't had the opportunity to eat there, you are missing out. The highlight of the eating experience is the fact that they have a little man rolling around a cart of fresh, hot rolls. That's not the best part, though. Just raise your hand up in the air and Mr. Roll Man chunks one at you. People are diving all over the restaurant, seriously. For a baseball family, this is rip roaring fun. I'm not sure why we even ordered food. None of us were hungry by the time the food came, we ate too many thrown rolls. My boys idolized the roll thrower, wishing that someday if they have a Summer job, they too could be a roll thrower. Ambitious children, they are.

We had David back today. :-) Too bad the weather was rainy and windy. :-( About 4:30, after a day of indoor pool swimming(not always the funnest), Disney channel, and Club Penguin, we headed to Tacky Jacks for dinner. Hmmmm, lots of fried food. It was okay. The service was good, but when we got our bill, I realized I forgot to ask the waitress a very important question. "Do the kids meals come with a drink?" Well, at TJ they don't...and they are 2 bucks each. Thataway to jack up the bill quickly. David and the kids ate Alligator bites for an appetizer...none for me, thanks. As you can see from the pics below, my children ALWAYS have good manners while eating. We never put french fries in our mouths like Walrus' tusks and we especially never tear crackers open with our teeth. Can you imagine???

Finally, we headed back to the condo to TAKE BEACH PICTURES. The highlight of the trip for me...haha!! I think Jackson was thanking his lucky stars he didn't have to dress up. I gave him the option, but couldn't quite convince him that it would make his mom's whole week... :-) I snapped a few anyway and WOW, that boys is so photogenic!!

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Mama forgot to pack extra ponytail holders so we are *GASP* without a bow. :-)
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A little bit of swimming on this yucky day.
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This picture makes me want to pray more fervently that my boys will treat each other better. It is hard to see them fight...hourly.
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I can't seem NOT to blow out my whites. :-(
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My goodness, the eyes on this sweet boy!!! LOVE him! We have really enjoyed having him with us this week. He is a good buffer b/w the boys.
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sand and water...

2010-08-26T15:40:00.008-05:00

day three here in Gulf Shores. I could stay here forever. Reality stay away...

Would you rather???

2010-08-25T20:34:00.011-05:00

So....ewwww... have you ever played, "Would you rather?" with your kids? We took off on a drive around the beach tonight and we needed a car game. Well, wouldn't you know, someone started this nas-tay game. I'm going to write about the "tame" questions b/c old people read my blog too. ;-)

...."Would you rather walk barefoot in throw up or eat cow poop?"

...."Would you rather get eaten by sharks or be thrown into a pool of vipers?"

I vote NONE OF THE ABOVE, PLEASE.

I prefer, "Would you rather stop at Nancy's Italian Ice or get a Chick-fil-a milk shake?"

We've had a pretty fun day. It started off with a 45 minute mornin trip to the Verizon store. My phone died. Luckily, I was due for an upgrade. Then, we stopped at Target for food and one of those beach-side-air-brush-tee-shirt-stores for floats. DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS RUN AROUND unsupervised in one of these places. I found Cope, Jackson, and Ford pushing some button that repeated phrases I wasn't ready to explain. Fantastic. See, Lara, I DO need you down here!! :-)

A Dub got stung by a bee at the pool. She cried a little about that and a lot about other things. We are missing our daddy! It's strange being the mommy and daddy at the beach. I mean, what 34 year old woman doesn't LOVE riding the waves for hours?? I usually get to lay out and read my book. Guess how much of my book I read today?? 5 pages, yup. The waves were monsters today, so I had to keep a hand on AW.

Tonight, we went to ride bumper boats and go carts. Tonight, we were ripped off. Uh, 33 bucks for each of the kids to ride 2 things for 3ish minutes. They love it, though....and it made their whole week. I could ask my kids, "Would you rather have 10 million dollars or ride go carts and bumper boats?" Guess which one they would pick??? ;-)

So, now I'm up and sweet Jackson(who is playing brick breakers on my phone) is up...all three of my kids are conked out. David is still at the other hotel preparing for their Arbitration tomorrow. We will have him back Friday and Saturday!!

BTW, Flickr SURE IS SLOW TONIGHT!! I'm trying to upload all these pics and it is taking forever!!! Okay, so it's not just slooooow, it's not uploading the rest of my pics. More tomorrow!

Jackson giving a little cannon ball...

After the bumper boats pose ;-)

All ready!!

Building a wall...

moooommmm....

OB...that's Orange Beach...

2010-08-24T22:05:00.005-05:00

So, we're at the beach!! Wahoo!! :-) David has an Arbitration in Foley, so we packed everyone up and headed down to Orange Beach for the rest of the week. We brought along our super BFF, Jackson.

Our baseball tourney last weekend... Ford catching...

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Poor Jackson...

Ann Welch's clothes for sale...and a few boys too!

2010-08-13T13:18:00.002-05:00

After selling to a few friends, here is what I have available to sell. Please contact me at ahilyer13@charter.net with questions. Shipping and supplies is $4.50 per item plus one dollar per extra item sold. Anything under $20 will be $3.50 shipping.

Click on the link to view the clothes:

http://picasaweb.google.com/adh36117/ClothesFallwinter2010#

Back to school!

2010-08-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

"mom, I'm 40% ready to go back to school."

2010-08-06T14:34:00.003-05:00

We had processing today at school. Ford is going into 5th grade, and Copeland, 3rd. Both have wonderful Christian teachers! Ford gets a locker this year, so YOU KNOW he is practically a teenager. I can't take it! He's not even 11 yet, but he acts like one(a teenager)...in attitude and smarty pantsness.

As you can see in the pic below, my Cope now has a retainer. A Swartz to be exact. Hopefully, this mucho expensive appliance will add a little more room in his mouth for teeth to come in.

I am still experimenting with photo shop and feeling like a big dummy every second. I think I've now learned how to use about 6% of what it offers. Seriously. I'm still working with my dinosaur camera. I know a new camera would provide better pics, but with braces, school tuition, baseball, etc, we just can't afford that right now. I finally figured out how to make my pics a little bigger. There has to be an easier way, though.

A dub starts school later in the month. She is starting gymnastics next week. We(She) decided to stop dance and go the gymnastics route which is fine with me! :-)

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It's time to update the ole blog...

2010-08-01T21:56:00.010-05:00

I just got Photoshop CS5. I am so excited!! It's verrrry intimidating, though. It might be 2015 before I know how to use it. I was also super pumped about getting to use Pioneer Woman's actions. Wahoo!! I'm cheating, I know, but I am telling myself that it is helping

me learn...a little at a time. :-)

We have a small reprieve from baseball and that has been nice. Last weekend we traveled to North Alabama for the funeral of my precious Papa Jack. He was a wonderful man who always

made me feel good about myself and my children. I will miss him very much. We got to see all our extended family too! I forgot my camera...what an idiot! :-(

School starts back next week. I am sort of excited. Does that make me a bad mom? I am ready to get back on my schedule. I haven't done well with working out this Summer. During the school year, my routine is to drop the children off at school and go to the Y. I am going to miss going to the pool and watching my kids play outside with their buddies. But, most of all,

I'm going to miss sleeping until 8-8:30. PURE BLISS!!!

I need to get around to updating my 100 things about me. After re-reading them(two and a half

years later), I'm pretty embarrassed I wrote some of that stuff.

Here are a few pics from the last month...

Hmmm...not sure I'm liking this conversion.

We made 50 bucks having a fruit punch lemonade stand. It was only 108 degree heat index. No biggie that I almost had a heat stroke out there. Lake hair...

My first experience in photoshopping eyes and I overdid it. Oh well, live and learn.

I do love this conversion. Thanks PW!! :-)