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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Pictures

If you live in Birmingham (or close) I have a friend that you need to meet!


Let me introduce you to one of my good friends Jessica.

(sorry Jessica, I took this picture from your website without telling you,
but I figured if it was already on the Web, you would not mind if I included it here)

Jessica has to be one of the kindest people in the whole world!
She is one of those people that just exudes love!

Not only is Jessica the sweetest, kindest person I know, she is also one 
of the best photographers I know!


Jessica is the owner/photographer of Jessica Wright Photography.

Jessica has taken all of the portraits of our kids since we have known her.  
I will start out by saying I am not one of those mom's who has portraits taken every six months.   Honestly, I don't know what I would do with all of those pictures!  So, when we do have pictures made, it is a pretty big deal.  Up to this point, we have had pictures made when a child turns 6 months and two.  This spring was time for our "2 year old" (just a few months late) pictures for Sara Wells.
I had no doubt that Jessica would be able to capture Sara Wells's 
2 year old/independent/3rd child personality.

When we got the pictures back, I could not believe just how perfectly she captured Sara Wells.

"I am not going to smile."
"Humph...I will not do it."
"Did you say cupcake?"
"Nice try, but it did not work."
"Oh!  
You want me to smile...
Why didn't you just say so???
CHEESE!"
Not only did Jessica capture their individual personalities perfectly,
She also perfectly captured their love for each other.
I think this is one of those pictures that will stay etched into my memory forever!

But this photo shoot was a little different the others.

Jessica knows how much the Lee Kids love to dress up and thought it would be really fun to just "capture" them as they played. 

So as soon as I was satisfied with the amount of "nice" pictures we had taken,
we pulled out the Dress-Up Box.
Turns out Jessica had a great idea!
The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever
to have their dress-up clothes at the farm.
And I am still blown away every time I look at these pictures!
I still have not ordered any 
because I just cannot choose.
I never thought I would want a portrait of Spiderman on my wall,
But, I really think I do!

As you can tell, I had a very difficult time even narrowing down the pictures just to share with you.
And believe it or not, I did not even share all of my favorites?

Click here to visit Jessica's website where you can find all of her contact info.

You also need to sign up for her newsletters on her blog.  She has been having the greatest events at night like, "How to use your camera."  Of course I have not been able to go to anything yet, but I definitely plan on it.

I know this is such a tease for those of you who do not live in Birmingham.  So sorry about that.  But I have been/still am so excited about these pictures I just had to share them with you!

I hope you all have a great Labor Day Weekend!!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

SLIME

What makes any boy happy???

GREEN SLIME!
And his sister is equally happy with Pink Slime!

About 3 days ago I asked Miller if he would like to make some slime.  

Big surprise what his answer was..."YES!!!."  

I told Miller I would have to put the things we needed to make the slime on my grocery list so we could make it later on that day.  Miller knows me well and knows that I am utterly incapable of getting everything on my grocery list or including everything that I really need on my grocery list, so he decided to make his own.  And he carried his list all over the grocery store marking off as we went.
 Fortunately there were not many items on his list!

All you need to make slime is:
1 1/2 cups clear glue
1 1/2 cups liquid starch
food coloring
Add glue to the bowl (I love this look on SW's face, she is so proud of herself!)
Then add liquid starch (again, look at her concentration)
The next part is a little on the messy side.  Miller would not do it.  You just have to roll your sleeves up and get your hands in the bowl in mix the glue and starch together.  

Mix and mix and mix until you get the consistency you want.

When you have desired consistency, add food coloring.  In my plan, I had four different bowls to make four different colors of slime.  Of course Miller just wanted to mix them all together.
I know this picture is disgusting.  It looks like brains.  
Of course that made Miller love it even more!

If your slime seems too "slimy," you may need to add a little more glue.  I only had white glue.  If you use all clear glue the slime looks transparent.
Then you just squish and stretch and mush and squish and fold until it is just how you want it.
As excited as Miller was about making slime, it took a little while until he was ready to get his hands in it.
But it did not take long
 before he loved it!
The slime provided hours of fun this afternoon.
Poor Sage could not figure out what was going on.
I had to seriously threaten Miller and Sara Wells just to get them to stop playing with their slime long enough to make it on time to pick up Ella (I was not the last in line today, but very close)
Although Ella was very sad she did not get to help make the slime (she is very sad that life goes on without her home with us) she had lots of fun playing with the slime!

Have fun making this with your kids (or for yourself, I won't tell anyone)!

Guaranteed hours of fun!!!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Improvising

Our oven is broken (has been broken since right after the 4th of July).  It really is amazing how many times I have chopped up vegetables to put in the oven or bought ingredients for a meal at the grocery store only to realize when I got home that I could not bake the dish in the oven. 

So, we have been doing some improvising around here, like pizza on the grill (and a casserole or two).
 Although it is not how I would have planned to cook a pizza (or casserole)
it does not seem to bother the kids.

 If only I was as flexible as these little kiddos and up for an "adventure" at any moment!
We have learned a lot from our kids over this past year.
Most importantly, we have learned what really matters.  It is not whether your appliances work, whether they are even "your" appliances, where you live or the things you have.  What matters is that we are together, living life where we are striving to glorify the Lord, giving him all the glory for the blessings that he gives us every day!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Happy Thursday!

Last night I was going through our Disney World pictures 
(read between the lines: I just put them into a scrapbook, only 7 months later)
and I found these pictures.
They might be some of my favorite pictures!
They will always bring a smile to my face.

Happy Thursday!

Monday, August 20, 2012

First Grade

 Ella started 1st grade today!
 To be honest, I was a little nervous for Ella.  She started a new school this year and almost 
everyday of kindergarten she told me she just wanted to stay home with me.
 Any worries I had were completely unnecessary.
Ella loved 1st grade and cannot wait to go back!
 Today was a big day for Murray as well.
Today was Murray's first day of morning carpool duties for the next 14 or so years.
We celebrated Ella's Big Day last night by eating Ella's choice of chicken tacos.
 Then we celebrated this afternoon 
 with chocolate covered
 donuts!
What a day!

I cannot believe that this day has finally come and gone.
We are definitely entering a new phase in life, but it seems right!
I know everyday is not going to be a chocolate covered donut day, 
but we are excited for all that comes with being a big First Grader!