(Embrace the Camera) July 29

It looks like he is squealing with joy but really he is screaming and trying his hardest to get away from me. :) I was interrupting his play time with Mamay.

Check out more EtC here.

Wanna see the latest Moonpie Designs creation? Scroll down. :)

Personalized Burp Cloths

I got an order from a return customer (YAY!!) for these burpies. It's been a while since I did any of these so it was fun to get back in the swing of things...even if I was up until after midnight finishing them. :) That's ok - mom and DD stayed up with me and we watched The Proposal (for the hundreth time) so I had company.

What do you think?

wild.

This is what his hair looked like when he got up this morning...
He's a nut!
***********************************************************
In other news, several people have emailed and commented asking if I will make them a mini-wallet and what I charge. The answer is !!!YES!!! and they are $10 personalized and $8 plain plus shipping. I can do any country or state or an initial or maybe another small symbol if we talk about it first, and the colors are totally customizable. :) If you don't know what I'm talking about, scroll down to the next post.

Mini-wallet

I got crafty with it this morning and made myself a new little mini-wallet for my key-ring. I don't like to haul in a big bag everywhere I go so I keep my credit card, ID, and occasionally some cash in a mini-wallet on my keys since I have to take my keys in anyway. :)







Yep. That's Africa. :) Whatcha think?

the birthday celebrations

We had a full week of birthday fun. :) Silas had his first party with my family and his friend Emma-Claire while we were in Louisiana and then he celebrated with Momma and Daddy on his real birthday by getting a new bike helmet and going for a ride, and then Saturday we had his little party here with family and friends. Throw in preparations for all of that, swim lessons every day, and a fish fry and you've got a full week! It was fun and Silas seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself.

Cupcakes in LA

His "smash cake" in LA

Dummin'! One of the things Mamay and Pops got him was this cool drum and instrument set. He LOVES it!

I made him a little hat out of a paper plate and as you can see he was NOT about that (which I totally expected...I just wanted a picture). :)

Yum yum!

This was his birthday dinner in LA - Roast Beef and Rice and Gravy, Purple Hull peas, and Parsley Potatoes. It's always my birthday dinner too 'cause it's my FAVORITE! He ate and ate and ate.

We got bikes recently so Justin and I can ride together since he can't run with his back and of course we wanted Silas to come along too. We got him a WeeRide seat that goes in front of you instead of behind you and he thinks it is the greatest thing! Mom and Dad like it too because we can see him the whole time. On his actual birthday we gave him his new helmet and then went for a ride and he smile the.entire.time. He very much enjoys the wind in his face. :)

When we got back he kept pushing Justin's hand off of the handles so he could drive.

Since he loves everything to do with water so much we had a "Splash Party" for him here. He and the May boys played in his pool and in the sprinkler and we all had Otter Pops (and now we all have raw tongues and mouths from the otter pops). I made him a fish smash cake and the grown-ups got their choice of chocolate or vanilla cupcakes.

Ready for smash cake Round 2

Mmmmm!

I put him straight in the sink after he ate his cake.:)

Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!

Fishing

We saw this little shrimp boat coming in when we were getting ready to launch. Those seagulls and pelicans know exactly what kind of boat that is!

A little closer shot

I just loved how the pelicans were all lined up. :)

Louisiana

The trip out to Louisiana was wonderful. Silas was a happy boy the whole way there and I got lots of reading done. I finished Radical by David Platt on the way home and let me just tell you - you NEED to read that book. We also were able to listen to a few sermons that were both challenging and encouraging.

Because this post could get really looooong if I talk about everything we did, I'll just share some pictures and talk about them. Trust me, that's going to be long enough. We also had a party for Silas while we were there because he turned ONE on Sunday. Those pictures will be in a separate post.

On Saturday we went to the zoo. It was hot as heck but we had a blast and the boys did too. Sarah blogged about our day.

Micah playing on the playground

A tired and delirious boy loving on his Daddy

We spent lots of time just hanging out in the lake and on the porch eating watermelon and watching Silas play with the water hose.

Eating watermelon with Mamay

This is how most pictures of me and Justin look because I am always wanting a picture of us and usually when I think about it there is no one around to take it so I do the whole stretch-your-arm-out-and-hope-it's-centered thing.

Silas got plenty of naked time. He would literally scream when it was time to go inside after he had been playing with the water!

On Thursday Justin and I went fishing down in Lake Charles with Doug, Rachael, and his friend Brian. We wanted to go out on the gulf (I really wanted to catch a shark like they had been doing all summer) but the swells were too high so we went out on Big Lake. It was a great day and we had a blast. Justin caught 8 (flounder, redfish, and black drum) and I caught 4 (redfish, croaker, and black drum).

One of Justin's Reds

Another one

Me and Rachael

Just in case you were wondering what a flounder looks like up close...

Yes, they have teeth. And yes, their eyes are on the same side of their body.

Doug with one of his flounder

There were pelicans everywhere. This is where we cleaned the fish and the one that looks like he is eating something is eating some guts and stuff that Doug threw to him.

Friday morning Silas played in the lake and dirt for a long time. He was having a blast until it was time to go in and get rested for his party. :)

There's nothing really special going on with this picture. I just love it.

Pops gave him a worm (for fishing) and he played and played with it. He tried to eat it but wasn't thrilled with the dirt that got in his mouth. :)

This one CRACKS me up! I stuck this on Justin's head while we were doing the cake and cupcakes for his party. I don't know why.

It was a fabulous trip and we can't wait until Christmas when we can both go out there again.

I just realized that I left off a couple pictures from our fishing trip so stay tuned for a separate post with those and birthday party #1 pics. :)

HELP hungry orphans in Africa

**UPDATE** Over $4000 were (was??) raised yesterday to send formula to Ethiopia. Thank you sooooo much to those of you who helped. There will always be a need for formula so feel free to continue giving.

Kristen over at We are THAT Family has shared with us an opportunity to feed orphans in Ethiopia. You see, there is a formula shortage there and many infants are hungry because of it. I cannot imagine having babies to take care of and love but not having enough food for them. The thought breaks my heart and (if I may be so bold) it should break yours too.

You should go to her blog to read about how you can help in detail, but just in case you won't I will share the basics here for you.

We need you to go to WalMart and buy cans of milk based formula (no soy please) and send it to this address:

Heritage House ’76, Inc.

919 So. Main St.,

Snowflake, AZ 85937

***OR...

You can go to WalMart's website and order a gift card and have it shipped directly to the address above. This is what I am going to do because it seems to be the best use of money - you can spend more on formula and less (NONE) on shipping. All of the gift cards sent will be used to buy formula and they will get it all to Ethiopia.

Between 26,000 and 30,000 babies and children die every day from hunger and preventable disease.

We can help change that. Will you join with us?

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

(Embrace the camera) July 1

Whoa! I almost completely forgot about EtC today.

But I have a good reason.

I have been cleaning and packing for our trip to Louisiana.

We leave in the morning (hello 5am!) with our besties following us. Zach and Sarah and the boys have never been to my parents house and it is the last stop on our Hometown Tour. :) Well, unless you count Paris, which I'm sure Zach does since he grew up there. It might be awhile before we make it there though. Maybe we should say this is the last stop on the US Hometown Tour. I digress.
Anyway...picture.

Guess I should get to that.

This week it was Justin's turn to Embrace the Camera. :)They are so cute.

I am actually looking forward to the 10+ hour drive tomorrow. I have loaded several sermons on my ipod and I am in the middle of an absolutely incredible book, Radical by David Platt. I can't wait to finish it. When I'm done with that one I have The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel and it looks to be challenging as well.

What are you reading (book or online) that is making you think this summer? Please share.