Archive for the 'Ella' Category



20
Jul
11

superhero party!

Whenever my friend Jen does birthday parties at home, she does them big!  Yesterday was Asher’s best friend, Caden’s, 3rd birthday party.  He had a joint party with another buddy in the neighborhood too.  It was a superhero party and very cute!

Jen’s cupcakes:

super hero cupcakes!

A photo booth:

Gotham city skyline!
Caden, Cole, Rilyn, Levi, Ella, Jamison, and Jake

Superhero “training” to fight the bad guys:

Asher’s first slip n’ slide experience!

Fighting the “bad guys” aka Caden and Gavin’s daddies aka the Green Goblin and the Joker:

The bad guys were trying to steal their cake!

Pinata time! (Asher tapping the pinata, Rilyn is the one who finished the pinata off and let the candy fly!)

19
Jul
11

water park fun

We drove to my mom’s house yesterday to treat the kids to a morning at the local water park.  It was actually overcast, so the crowds were away, and it was a little cooler than our normal 100 degree temps as of late.

being silly

Can you see Rilyn and Ella underneath the play structure getting poured on? (Asher was scared of this and wouldn’t go near it!)

down pour!

Rilyn and I got to race down these slides together! It’s fun having a child who is tall enough now to do more rides!

last year Rilyn was too short to go down these

Here is grandma duck with her little grandducklings (Ella was probably floating away in the lazy river somewhere!)

The kids loved this splash pad because you could “breathe” under the water fountains! 😉

a rare picture of all three looking at the camera AND smiling!
ella
asher
rilyn

Ella relaxing after a fun morning!

Thanks Grandma!

06
Jul
11

july 4th with no fireworks

For a scrapbooker like me, July 4th with no fireworks devastated me.  No cute pictures under the bursts of light, no cute firework stickers…the holiday is just not the same!  We celebrated at my parent’s house this year instead of the Octaranch in College Station because we couldn’t light our own fireworks.  We swam and my dad grilled!  We ate LOTS of good food and enjoyed great company with my brother’s family and Kristy and Bill.

they were trying to do synchronized pool entrances!
Love cousin Caden’s hair as he flys off the slide!
Asher’s turn on the slide!
Have to have a picture on the July 4th float!

Leave it to my mom to give the kids all light sticks!  She saved the holiday!  So when we got home that evening, the kids ran around and had a “light show”. They were totally happy and didn’t even remember there was no fireworks this year.

running with American spirit!
05
Jul
11

“austin-y” things

We have done plenty of “Austin-y” things while Kristy and Bill are here from Idaho.  I took advantage of having another couple with us on South Congress to take the picture of James and I against this wall.

Jo’s coffee

We also went to Stubbs BBQ, Home Slice, and Hey Cupcake. Before cupcakes though, we watched the bats come out from under the bridge on South Congress!

You can see the bats in the sky too.  I guess all those boaters don’t mind bat guano!
yummy dessert
Bill and Kristy with their goodies!

On Saturday we remembered the Alamo. 😉

me and the girls

Again, I took advantage of having adults with us to take pictures for me with the kids. I realized I don’t have too many! Here is me and my Ella Bella eating at the Riverwalk.

On Sunday, I did a little photoshoot with Kristy and Bill at Mayfield Park. Click here to see those! Here is a peek:

playing with shadows

After church, Kristy and I went to a card-making class! I’ve decided that next time, I will bring my girls! I love that Kristy loves to scrapbook like me!

cell phone pic-sorry!  We made 4 cards in 3 hours!
02
Jul
11

the Capitol

My oldest and dearest friend, Kristy, is here, from Idaho, visiting my family with her husband.  (That will be a different post.)  Because she was coming, I wanted to show her around Austin.  So yesterday, we went to the Capitol.  I’ve lived here for 4 years, and have never been!

a rare picture of me with the kids!

The visitor center is pretty neat, especially for being free!

Ella looking through the telescope to see the Capitol
you could dress up like a cowgirl

We have discovered that Rilyn loves museums. We took a tour of the inside of the Capitol, and Rilyn had to be at the front of the group to listen to the tour guide’s every word!  She kept telling me “how fun” it was to be at the Capitol.  She did not get this from me people.

If you can see the gold bars that are behind the tour guide (the young gal in a white top and khaki skirt), Asher went behind them and started hanging on them.  I knew this was bad, but I couldn’t get to him fast enough before the tour guide stopped talking in mid-sentence to reprimand him.  He could of cared less.  Me…um, that is pretty much mortifying.  I was definitely embarrassed.

the tour guide was explaining the painting

So, yes, Asher was becoming rambunctious at the end of the 45 minute tour. I guess I couldn’t blame him.  The thing was that I wasn’t allowed to have any food inside which would normally be my “go to” fix for his behavior. But, I discovered he liked me taking pictures of him and then showing him what they looked like afterward on my camera screen. He must be my son! 😉

this is where the Senate meets…I think.  I really wasn’t listening.  oops.
Look at me mom!  Take a picture!

This next picture frustrates me because I never can get all three kids to sit still together in one picture. And at this moment, in this ugly spot under some random painting of a man, they wanted to sit, and they were still. Ugh.

 

24
Jun
11

staying cool

I babysat my nephew Caden yesterday, and the kids had so much fun playing in the backyard pool with each other (minus Rilyn, she said “it’s a baby pool!”).

Asher making a face because he wants to go swimming NOW!

patience is not his gift let’s just say.
these boys l.o.v.e each other!

Time for popsicles!

mmm mmmm good!

Ella got out to go to a friend’s house, but the boys? I had to make them come out after 3 hours of play! And they have the hands to prove it!

23
Jun
11

summer’s here!

In honor of the first official day of summer on Tuesday, here are some photos that I took of the kids in front of some sunflowers.  Rilyn and Asher were not into this mini photo shoot, so Ella has a lot more pictures of just her.  Ella is my little poser, she is always telling me to “go get your camera!”  🙂

So after I got a couple of these cute shots…

Then this ‘tude happened.

bad attitude

And they were done taking pictures. But Ella still had it in her!

posing!
how about I run?
21
Jun
11

hula girls

Last Tuesday we were so happy to be home after a long day of traveling through the night!  Our girls looked so cute in their souvenirs!  We got Asher a cute ukulele, but sadly, in my sleep-deprived stupor, I didn’t get a picture of him playing with it.  He just wanted to cuddle with me all day anyway.  🙂

19
Jun
11

dad day

We love you!  Happy 8th Father’s day to the world’s best!

08
Jun
11

ready to relax

We are in Hawaii now while you are reading this and celebrating our 10  year anniversary!  We are ready to relax and be refreshed in God’s beautiful nature.  James pointed me to Hebrews 4 earlier this week about Sabbath and how we can rest because the goal is already complete in Christ.  Busyness is not godliness.  Our society incorrectly treats exhaustion as a badge of honor, when in reality exhaustion is a sign of need.  And the need is there to point us to Him!

Speaking of relaxing and resting well…my girls were showing me how it is done yesterday morning when I caught them playing this:

Ella massaging Rilyn’s arm

Rilyn asks for sliced cucumbers as a snack normally, so I didn’t think anything strange when she asked for cucumbers this morning. Then I see this happening in the living room and they tell me they are playing “spa”! Hilarious. They must of seen it on TV because I have never put cucumbers on my eyes! I love having girls!

Ella’s turn!

When all was done, Ella enjoyed the lotion a little too much, and proceeded to put so much lotion on herself that it was to the point that I couldn’t see her arm anymore. It was just gobs of lotion up and down. She will be very moisturized this week! 🙂