Rainy Days

On rainy days the temptation to turn on the boob tube is so well, tempting.  It never fails, if I leave them alone with their imaginations something amazing always happens.
I didn't stage these pictures at all.  I just found them in my room talking to him, reading to him, mothering him. Bless their souls. I love them so.  These are my favorite kind of pictures.

She caught me clicking

xoxo

Boo

Simple was my theme for Halloween this year.  In years past, I started planning costumes earlier than I would like to admit here on this space where others could judge me.  Then I would try to make everything.  This year I bought the costumes.
Also Kevin is convinced that Halloween is not a pagan holiday at all, but that it was invented by dentists trying to get more money from candy rotted teeth.  He may be right, he's a clever fellow.
Because we are not ashamed to celebrate a holiday that encourages poor dental health we went to multiple venues to get candy.
Lovely.

Two aren't looking and one is blurry,story of my photographic life

Baby bandit stole my heart

Look they blend right in with all the other wild animals.  Our zoo hosts a "ZOo Boo" for Halloween.  I did not realize that involved a lot of candy and all of the families with children in the Hampton Roads area. Wow. 

The night before Halloween, I decided we needed to carve pumpkins.  Kev stopped at Kroger and picked out several small pie making pumpkins and the last, very sad, large pumpkin they had left.  By the time he got home and we ate dinner it was 7:30, but by golly it was the night before Halloween and we were going to carve pumpkins.
 Who does this?
 It was not a good idea.
It was messy, and carving a pumpkin takes a long time.
To add insult to injury, the $3 carving kits my darling bought the girls lasted all of two seconds and wouldn't have even sliced cheese let alone a very solid vegetable.
Before the night was over Kev had out his power tools and we got those pumpkins carved.
We roasted the seeds.
We lit candles inside of them.

Instagramed

True story, the owls beak was made by Kevin's largest drill bit.  

Since we've had the children we have always spent Halloween with friends.  This was the first year to be on our own.  Since our neighborhood is somewhat seasonal and we weren't sure if folks trick or treated around here we opted to go to a local church trunk or treat.

It was homey and they had an old truck that drove the children around a field on a wild hay ride.

The girls loved it.  I could hear them squealing the whole time.

And yes, they had more candy, and we found that several of our neighbors did have candy. So we got more and more and they know exactly what is in that candy bag at all times.
Somewhere there is a dentist laughing at us, rubbing his hands together, saying "the Joneses are all mine!"

Baby son looks like he's dipped into a few too many Butterfingers.  In other news, one sock on and one sock off.  Some things never change.

There conscience.  It's done for you.  Halloween 2013 documented. Libby was a cheetah, no a leopard, no a wild cat, no a puma, Maggie was a zee-bra, if you're American, she was a ze-bra (short e sound) if you're British, Cooper was a raccoon, or a thief, that verdict is still out.
Happy Hauntings.
xoxo

To See What She Sees

There is a good possibility that you are going to think that you have stumbled upon the exact same post as the previous one I posted weeks ago.  You have not.  This place is just a really great place to take pictures.

We went there again not long ago and because the autumn sun makes everything look so darn pretty, we couldn't help ourselves but snapped picture after picture that looked almost identical to our last walk here.

Liberty Rose wanted little to do with walking close to the family. She ran far and wild away from us most of the time we were here.  She would pop up out of the tall grass only when our words were stern enough to throw out  all three of her names because she was out of eye sight.

To tether her in, we handed her the camera and let her experiment with the buttons for a while.  She took about 1000 pictures of the sky, the golden rode, the cat tails, the water, the sea oats, and here and there she captured one of her family.

She is pistol.  I am not exactly sure what people mean when they say that, but I have heard it said about her.  I think they are right.  She is extremely strong willed.  She knows what she wants, how she wants it, when she wants it and when she doesn't get it, she will talk about it none stop until you find yourself  wishing that you had just given into her desires.

I think about Atticus Finch a lot when I am guiding her.  He said “You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.”  She's clearly not a man, but I do remind myself to remember what it was like to be in her shoes.  To her anything with glitter,sparkles or rainbows  is better.  Then I sigh, and wish that I could go back and see everything with that kind of magical imagination.

To be honest, I rather like rainbows myself and given the choice would choose glitter every time.

Pretty sure she and I walking in very similar shoes ;)
Grace and Peace
xoxo

A Lovely Place To Walk In A Busy City

We have been in Va Beach for several months now.  I would be lying if I told you that I love it here.  Everywhere you go there are people and traffic and red lights.

Horns honking.

Lane changing.

Stopping.

Going.  

Lots and lots of cars.

You understand what I am saying?
It is busy.

There is a part of me, deep in the core of who I have always been who loves wide open space.  A dirt road, a field of tall grass, trees with chunky limbs that invite you to climb them, mountains topped with spruce trees that point heavenward.

None of these things are around the corner from us here.
Deep in the core of the one God paired me with, is a man who needs adventure and outdoors and fresh air.
My husband has a knack for finding places off the beaten trail.  He found this little nook of loveliness just down the road from our house.

Who knew that tucked between beach houses and condos was a patch of earth claimed by the city to protect it from developers.
Thank you City of Va Beach for caring about natural places and wild things.

While I'm not in love with the place that we live, I do love the reason why we live here.  My family actually gets to spend real time together.  We find "abentures" as my darling Littlest says.

The best part about these pictures is that you will find that all of the Jones got their picture taken, because we were all here.  We weren't trying to make it on our own without Daddy and Daddy wasn't trying to make it on his own without us.

I'm so thankful we live in this congested city.

Here are the girls making friends with some fisherman.

I wish that this shirt came in my size.  I would wear it everyday.

Kev has a really nice smile.  He kind of tilts his head back and closes his eyes for a second when he smiles.  I don't think I'll ever catch him doing this for a picture. For pictures he only offers me the "why are you making me stop to take a picture face."

This last picture I give you as gift, because if she doesn't make you smile I don't know what will.  Maggie Bell, sweetest girl I know.  Corkscrew curls, dimpled cheeks, and deep blue eyes...my gift to you.

Grace and Peace
xoxo

Every Detail

Tiny son, I will never get tired of the way your little body fits with mine when I hold you.  Like a missing puzzle piece you were meant to be mine and I yours.

Loving you is effortless.
Waking up with you is my joy.
Swaying back and forth with you in my arms is a gift.

Tiny son, what a surprising necessity you are to this family.
Your presence calms me.
You are making your Mama sweeter with your sweetness.
You are teaching two little girls to be little mothers.

We didn't know how badly we needed you in this family.

Tiny son, I am so thankful that you are mine.

xxx