Mom in the Photo Challenge: Day 5

Well, I managed to finish the challenge! It's an iphone photo. We've run away to the beach for a looooooooong weekend. Today was gorgeous and we enjoyed many hours at the beach. Peyton is her mama's girl and loves the beach. She even managed to take a little nap in the wagon.

I've loved this challenge. It definitely takes some effort to get into the photo, but I know the kids will love these pictures when they're older. To keep this going Thursday is going to be Emrace the Camera day and I'll post a picture of me with one or both of kids. (Great idea, Emily!)

Mom in the Photo Challenge: Day 4

Not much time today. We're off to the beach for an extended weekend in just a couple hours. Today's picture I took while Peyton was eating some lunch. This will be my last day of the challenge since we won't have a computer at the beach, just iphone internet.

Mom in the Photo Challenge: Day 3

Daddy isn't a big fan of the 70s look, so we're doing something different today, just for him :o) We used the self timer with the camera propped on a book and I got down and laid on the floor with my girl who, by the way, is NINE months old today. I can't believe it!

In other news, somebody is doing some crawling. I guess that's what you call this. It's not pretty, but it gets her where she's going.

Mom in the Photo Challenge: Day 2

Laying on the floor trying to hold my heavy camera above us.

Camera sitting on a piece of furniture while I let Hunter continuously press the button.

A Challenge

My friend, Emily (amazing photographer and mom of 4) posed a challenge on her blog this week. The challenge is to take a picture with one or all of your kids each day this week. Moms are always behind the camera and have to make it a real point to get in front of the camera. Some don't want their picture taken, but in my case I'm just always holding the camera. I looked up how to use the self timer on my camera and also let Hunter push the button on a few to get these shots. I ended up with a few favorites instead of just one. Then I had fun editing them so there are a couple different versions. So day one is done. I'll have to start getting creative to make it through the rest of the week!

Hunter took this one!

Hunter with a little bed head from his nap

Loving the 70s take

Not the most in focus picture, but I love it anyway.

SCORE!!!

Hunter scored his first soccer goal last Saturday! And actually, he scored a total of FOUR! I saw it coming in the week leading up to the game. We kick the ball A LOT outside and I started seeing a big improvement in his ball control. It was so exciting and he was so cute. The last game is this Saturday. He's really enjoyed playing so I think we'll stick to soccer and let him play again in the fall.

Here's a scoring kick!

And his goal dance! Jumping up and down with his hands in the air. Adorable.

Another scoring kick

And here's the team with the coach.

A trip to Jax is never complete without a trip to see Uncle Ronnie

Never a dull moment at Uncle Ronnie's house. Hunter didn't even fish during this visit. That tells you just how many other things there are to do there.

He's got a horn on his truck now.

He never tires of kicking the ball. And look at the form!

Tee ball is always fun, too. He can hit it pretty far.

Feeding the geese. That's an automatic feeder that drops corn 3 times a day, but Hunter insists on pushing the button so he can see the corn fly out.

Some baby geese.

Quick trip to Jax

It's been a month since we've seen my parents and we don't have plans to see them again until mid June so the kids and I decided to go visit during the week. Hunter played hooky from school one day and we made it back before his Saturday soccer game.

We spend one day at the beach while Peyton stayed with Grandma. We met up with one of my high school friends and two of her kids. The boys hit it off and we were able to catch up. The tide went out and left a bunch of little pools which was perfect for the kids

Hunter stayed busy at Grandma's. He washed some dishes.

Put away the silverware.

Checked on the garden at least once a day.

Peyton enjoyed some of Grandma's hand picked blue berries.

It's Pool Time!

The pool is finally warming up! It took a little longer since winter lasted unusually long this year. But it's over 80 now so it's tolerable. Hunter is swimming well, but we're going to do a quick refresher week of lessons next week. Peyton has been in twice and seems to really like it.

We're off to visit the grandparents tomorrow so no blogging for a few days. We'll be back in time for Hunter's soccer game on Saturday. Daddy has a list of projects to work on while we're gone :o)

Mother's Day and Parent Commitment with Peyton

Mother's Day was a busy one for us. We did Parent Commitment at church with Peyton. For anyone that doesn't know, it's what Baptists do when a child is young instead of christening them. We stand up in front of the church and vow to raise our child in a Christian home. When the child is older and saved is when they can be baptized.

Here we are on stage while they introduced us. See those crazy looks Heath and I are giving each other? They said Peyton McCLAIN instead of McCann AND THEN they said Den-uh instead of DEE-nuh. Pretty sure we were rolling our eyes in front of a few thousand people, ha!

Love this

In trying to get a family picture, this is actually my favorite. I might even frame it :o)

Eight Month Comparison

I like taking similar pictures of Hunter and Peyton around the same ages. Here's one where they're both around 8 months wearing the same hooded bath robe. They definitely look like siblings. Peyton is just my little chunker :o)

Muffins with Mom and Sod Update

Today was Muffins with Mom at school. Moms were invited to come to class with the kids for a quick bite before they started their day. We were given a vase and flower they made and a tile with their handprint. The kids answered some questions that were filled out on a sheet of paper. Hunter said that he thought I was 4 years old and that I was pretty as a flower. We had a quick circle time to listen to some songs and things the kids have learned. It so fun to see how much he loves school.

It's really hard to believe that Peyton will be in this class in 16 months. It will be a whole different experience. Hunter is the very oldest in his class and Peyton will be the very youngest.

Last Saturday we finally found some time to lay sod....3 palettes of it! Heath had been suffering from a little cold all week and Saturday he woke up feeling awful. We decided that somehow we'd get it done. Our yard has looked terrible for too long! After Hunter's soccer game we managed to get one palette down while the baby napped, but it was obvious we needed some help. Our brother-in-law came over to lend a hand and two gracious neighbors (that we barely know) volunteered themselves and their kids. The last two palettes were down in just over an hour. It's amazing how much a few extra hands can help. We were so grateful!

I hope they always have this much fun

This may sound crazy, but one of my goals this year was/is to take more pictures. I take a lot of pictures, but there have been times when I should have grabbed the camera and didn't and later regret having not captured that moment. Tonight this was happening and it was one of those moments when I had to make myself get up and go get the camera. I'm so glad I did.