Capturing Time

Time.

It goes too fast.

Look how long it's been since I've last posted? See what I mean.

I've been feeling those warm feelings of completely loving someone.

Bunnyboo's vocabulary has exploded the last 6 months. I love how she says certain words and how she phrases things so they make sense in her world.

Lately, whenever she hears a noise, she'll turn to me with one hand over an ear and ask......


"What's that noise about?"

I swear I could eat her up at these moments.

Which reminded me of my other kids most memorable phrases.

Boobear used to get the word structure mixed up. When he meant although or wanted to use the word but ~ he would INSTEAD tack but/though on the end. As one word.



Like: " I really wanted to ride my bike, but/though."

And chickiepoo would say "hairpoo" instead of shampoo. I loved hearing her little girl voice say it and would try to get her to say it as many times as I could.


But my oldest, bugaboo? I can't remember ONE specific example.


And I'm heartbroken over it.

I've been racking my memories for days. Nothing.

Was it because he had some severe speech issues and being a first time mom I couldn't relax enough to separate what was normal from problematic? I'm not sure.

It took me more than a day to remember EXACTLY what boobear said. So maybe it's just the old mommy mind at play.

I am returning to my blog long enough to record these memories and hope to add more.

I refuse to not capture those words that fill me with love, but/though.

(All pictures capture each child around 2 years old)

SPT: Something Blue ~ The Kids of the Shores

It's SPT Tuesday and the theme is something blue.

I present to you: The Kids of the Shores!


Here's Bunnyboo........



And boo bear............

And Chickiepoo.........

all of eyes of blue.

And then we have Bugaboo...........eyes of green

.......but wearing blue.

Go see whatever else may be blue @ Amuse-Bouche.

Our Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.


I was able to totally surprise My Man with the help of a friend or two and their husbands.


After waiting years, and years, and years..........My Man finally has a large, flat screen tv. On the 23rd of Dec. our family went to dinner with a few friends while my above noted elves snuck into our house and set it up. I couln't have pulled it off with out their buying advice or sneakiness. Ain't it good to have good friends?



The kids got most of what they wanted from their list, with the help of Grandparents and Santa.


Bugaboo's favorite gift was the PlayStation that I deemed unnecessary but obviously was outvoted.





Chickiepoo loved her red laptop.

Boobear is always easy to please as long as there is some kind of sports ball involved.

And Bunnyboo...........she didn't make a list but wouldn't get out of her pushbuggy car. She also got a sweet tooth and has been demanding candy and sweets hourly! Have no idea where she could have gotten that from!

I got a few things I've been drooling over including adorable cupcake stands that I've borrowed that last few times I've needed them.

Again, I didn't take many pictures....but these are a few. Maybe this should be a resolution for 2009? Take more pics!!! I hate to miss anything and somehow feel like I'm not there when shooting pictures. I also hate the early morning pictures that aren't staged. What? Me? A perfectionist? Nah..........

All in all ~ a very good Christmas!

Christmas Card Photos

I've told you how HARD it was.

But are you wondering which pictures I used for our Christmas Card this year?

All's well that ends well.

I had to cut the Holiday Wishes part of the card off for privacy reasons.

You understand.

How hard can it be?

Seriously, how hard can it be to take a picture to send holiday cards???

My family is obviously photographically challenged. Can we get disability for that?

I realize that I have made it exponentially harder each time I add another baby.....but I'm done now, I swear! I accept that I am not photogenic and therefore will hate any picture including me. But I failed to realize I could pass this gene on.

I shopped for coordinating outfits for all 6 of us, avoiding anything too matchy-matchy. Then I find a day when our schedule is fairly open. This is MUCH harder than it seems, as it is basketball season. A few things I didn't count on when trying to organize: the windy, overcast weather, My Man losing a game the night before, and as previously mentioned, the un-photogenic gene.

Throw those three challenges together with a willful toddler, two kids in braces who don't like to smile, and a hyperactive child who either smirks or has the widest fake smile, and can't seem to look at the camera unless he's blinking. Oh what a very, merry Christmas time, this year!

We haven't taken a family picture in about 4 years and Bunny boo has since joined our family so we thought we'd try to get one of these.

Here's a few examples of how it worked for us:

This was our first shot and bunny boo was still cooperative. The wind, however was not.

We switch sides of the gazebo trying to avoid the ONLY ray of sunlight, but the wind is still crazy.
Bunnyboo is getting fussy. Let's go to the boardwalk and see if the wind is blocked a bit. Nope.
Let's go back to our friend's house (she is the photographer for the day). But all Bunny boo wants to do is swim!
Bunny boo is done at this point. My Man is over it. Let's just go with what we got and try to make something work.



I played with photoshop for a few days but just couldn't get anything I was happy enough with to make 100 cards out of. I'm new to photoshop and it shows! I told My Man we would choose one of the family ones and just make a few 5X7's to give to grandparents, but I thought our best shot was a card with picture of the kids.


So yesterday, I decided to take the kids out back individually and shoot a few pics. The weather wasn't a problem, it was a bright, sunny day with just a bit of wind. My Man wasn't AS stressed. And I didn't have to be in the pic. What else could go wrong? Genetics, baby!




I know you have braces, but could you please smile????

I guess not.

I sound like a broken record, but: I know you have braces, but could you please smile??

OOOHHH, maybe not.

Hey, I'm over here!

Have you been into the benedryl again???

All that's left is the baby. Should be a piece of cake! I mean babies look cute all the time, right? Ummm, not so much.

Nice drool!

Don't tell Mommy no! I promise not to take anymore pictures.

No need to hit the camera. I swear that was the last one.

By some miraculous feat, I managed to get at least one decent shot of the three older kids and the baby's just shows her personality. It's just this year's card. I can do better next year. Maybe I should start working on this in May..............

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has this affliction. PLEASE!

Cheesey Halloween Pictures.........

Bunny Boo still E N U C I A T E S all the words she says............so why we kept saying, "say cheese!" is beyond me.

But, this is the result:



This one is her trying to escape:




And God forbid I get a picture with all four of my children looking at me:




So after many tries, I gave up and took one of just the older kids:




So to recap: I SUCK at being a photographer............that is all folks!

PS: anyone notice the new length of a certain pirate dress? she lost part of the costume since last friday night so we had to make do. whatevah!

Happy Halloween........

From ours to yours........


This picture was from last year. You'll have to wait for this year's photo until after tonight!

SPT: The twilight's last gleaming..........

Yesterday was Tuesday. Tuesday is SPT day. Yesterday was a crazy day in Bahama Shores.




Due to all the thunder storms (mini hurricanes, as my kids like to think of them, since they have to help clean the yard afterwards) I was unable to get a new shot to fulfil this week's challenge. I planned on digging into my files and coming up with something fitting. I found it..........however the universe transpired against me and prevented me from posting on Tuesday.



So now it's Wednesday and I need to quick put this up and pretend it's been up since yesterday.

Here's the twilight's last gleaming last summer in Florida when my nephews (in the hats) were visiting. Notice Boo Bear throwing the gang signs? You may have to click on photo to make it large enough to notice the details. Yup, more on that later.

We love to go to the beach at twilight. We will often send a mass email to everyone local and turn every Friday night into beach night. Meet after dinner and bring dessert and drinks to share. Spread out a blanket and a few sand toys and RELAX. Add a couple of flashlights, or neon necklaces or big jar candles and once the sun sets, it's a real treat for the kids to be playing flashlight tag or kickball on the beach. Sometimes only 2 families show, other times we've had close to 25 families. You just never know. It's always a great time. I have yet to start back up this summer, but as soon as the evening storms pass ~ it'll be on!

This pictured Friday night beach night last summer we changed things up a bit since we had my brother and his two boys visiting. We went to Caddy's, a casual restaurant right on the beach, where the kids can play in the sand, or volleyball or swim in pairs in the shallow part, and the adults can sit at the outdoor shaded tables, enjoy a drink and listen to live music (while keeping an eye on the kids) We had dinner there this night and the sun was just beginning to set when I took this picture. I have better pictures of the kids from this night, but this showed the "twilight's last gleaming" the best.

I had gone so far yesterday morning to find this picture and scan it, but before I could start writing a post the phone rang. Boo Bear had jammed his finger at basketball camp. I got the baby and myself dressed (hush, I'd only been up for a FEW hours) and hurried over to pick him up. I took him to our pediatrician who thought his hand was actually broke. She referred us to the outpatient radiologist at our local children's hospital where we waited. And waited. And waited some more. My Man took pity on Bunnyboo missing her nap and came to relieve us. Boo Bear came home with a McDonald's McFlurry and in need of Motrin and ice. We then had to wait all day to have the Xrays read. Yup, he broke his hand. My Man took him to the pediatric orthopedic today and he is now the proud owner of a bright orange cast! Just look:

Summer has just begun and EVERYTHING is over for him for the next 6 weeks. No camps, no ball (he plays on a travel baseball team), no skateboard, no scooter, no bike, no running (remember he's my active one), no anything. Except swimming. THANK GOD for the waterproof cast.

One more thing to add to the No list: No more gang signs!

(Now he just needs to get to work cleaning up the pool and yard after the last few nights of storms)

Head over to Amuse- Bouche to see more twilight!

Sincerely Fro Me To You: Can you spell ACTIVE?

Thursday has become my favorite day of the week again. As a kid it was Saturday for obvious reasons, then in High School Friday night took over. Once I hit college, Thursday Nights were THE NIGHT. Once I started dating and early in our marriage Sunday was the only day My Man usually had most of the day off so it was our day. When my kids were old enough to go to school I started loving Monday morn's after they left me to do my house work! It seems like I am the only one who doesn't get a weekend without work around my house so once they are all off to school I get my weekend! But now, Kristen over at We Are THAT Family has brought Thursdays back for me. I love to see what everyone dug up this week for Sincerely Fro Me To You ~ go on, you know you wanna see too!

I present you with a picture of Boo Bear. He and Chickie Poo were mad that I hadn't done a picture post of them yet. Be careful of what you wish for.


This was taken this past winter. I just got my camera and Boo Bear was his usual self ~ some would say ACTIVE. He had a litany of "MOMLOOKATME!" with a few "CANYOUDOTHIS?" thrown in for good measure. He is what my grandparents would call "ALL BOY!". He is constantly in motion. He forever has bruises, scrapes and scratches. He busted his chin open, which is why the ill fitting bandaid is on. I'm not sure what he was jumping off of........but he could probably give the whole back story. And then some. That kid can talk!

This pic of him captures his personality, with his hands in motion, jumping off something, face busted up and mouth open wide shoutin'!

It's our Boo Bear. And we wouldn't trade him for anything (today).