I'm no princess

A glimpse into the making of a princess...sort of...maybe...kinda...(I love this series!)

What do you mean I can't fly?

Are you sure? I have a magic wand and a glue stick...

I just made my big brother a frog!

Love

In the words of Cindy Morgan: Thank you Lord. How could I ask for more?

As luck would have it...

I'm no photographer, but sometimes I get lucky. Really lucky, and my pictures are priceless (even if just to me). Here are the ones that take my breath away every time I look at them (I''ll post 'em as I take 'em, and maybe as I find 'em).

Will's first play in the sprinkler. He was, and still is, the happiest kid.

My little monkey, a.k.a Rachel's second Halloween

Sometimes I think she just tolerates the rest of us...

But her brother still loves her, and has from day one. Look at that face! SOOOO sweet.

Fields and fields of daffodils, but only one Rachel

Her first birthday

Right after bath; she always smelled so sweet

I wish I knew what goes on in that little head...it always seems that those wheels are turning.

These two shots are from our annual trip to Destin, two separate years, but both when they were three and equally as amazing.

Quite possibly my favorite picture ever. I love that it isn't perfect; she is off-center, and the light is all wrong, but it is so her.

Returning to our roots...

Not Haley style, but Anderson/Erwin style. We went camping! All of us! Even Princess Rachel. And one stab at who liked it the most...you guessed it, the Princess. We decided on an overnight trip, and set out for the Buffalo River a little later than we wanted (always the case with the Erwins). We settled our camp a little before dusk, and Momma went to work on dinner. After a bit of a challenge on the fire; not the camp fire - we had that down. It was the darn charcoal grill that gave us a hard time. Anderson/Erwin won, and we had a great dinner by campfire.

Hook 'em horns? What the heck is that? Well, Ray is excited anyway...

Is that a marshmallow are you just happy to see me?

My boy. And yes, it is a marshmallow, and I made it all by myself, and my Momma is so proud of me she could burst.

Will, lovin' life, albeit dirty life. I DID NOT go crazy with the germ juice this weekend. I let go and let God, and we had the most incredible time.

At one point, I walked the kids and Kirk away from the camp, away from the campfire and lanterns, and I said, "Look up", and you could see stars from here to tomorrow. It was awesome. And my kids, who have never seen anything like that, gasped. It was the most precious sound, next to their first cries.

Mr. Kirk found her before I stepped on her. He knelt down, and she crawled up his finger, her wings still wet with the morning dew. She opened them, and tried to fly, but just wasn't quite ready yet. We were patient, and we followed her with camera in hand, which allowed us to get these great shots.

Captain Kirk

He took care of us, all of us, all weekend. He kind of liked that camping stuff too.

We did it. We didn't know until the morning of if it was the right thing or not, but who knows if going canoeing with an 8 and a 4 year old will work? After breakfast, we decided that you can't come to the Buffalo and not canoe. We loaded our gear and set off for a 3 hour tour. It was incredible; the water so clear that they both were surprised at every rock, every fish. They were great. We stopped at a couple of banks, and Kirk and I fished while they waded; we both caught a fish, small but fun. And Kirk got to learn a thing or two about tying a jig and taking a fish off the line. I was as proud of him as I was my little ones.

Why we love this place. Because it is a gift from God. We are thankful for every trip, every memory.

Saying Goodbye to OliveOyl

I used to be a dog person, and at heart, I think I still am. I just think our life is so very busy that a dog becomes somewhat of a burden, and at no fault of the dog. I have a thing for perusing craigslist. It was on craigslist that I found her. Its not that I haven't had other dogs, even other weimaraners, but not OliveOyl. She was the most beautiful blue weimeraner I've ever seen. And she was a short blessing in our lives thanks to another family that could give her the life of a dog. We were just too busy.

You know how sometime it seems that there is only so much of you to go around? I used to feel good at everything. Then I had children, and because of my desire to make their lives full and exciting, I find myself giving a percentage of what I have to everything else. Which is what ultimately led me to find OliveOyl the perfect home. And boy, did we ever! I called the closest Weim rescue, and they paired us with the Valeroite's. Wendy and her two daughters, Sydney and Kate, and her Mother drove to Little Rock from St. Louis the weekend before school started just to meet Olive! I knew they were the perfect family. They brought treats and a dirty shirt of Wendy's husband so that Olive would know his scent. They were destined to be Olive's family. I was sad, but happy for Olive. They met Olive on Saturday, and on Sunday picked her up to take her back to their home in St. Louis. Whatever reservations I may have had vanished when I saw their car...


The girls decorated every window with "We got Olive", "We love Olive", "Olive Express", and I was so touched by this obvious, outward sign that they were going to love Olive like she deserved.

The artists, Sydney and Kate, pay homage to their new best friend

We wish Olive the very best in her life and hope that she blesses the Valeroites with all the love she has to offer and they return it to her.

I'm ashamed of myself...

So many pictures, so little time...so I'll try to catch you up. I mean its only been since '07, if that tells you how wonderfully filled our lives are! I'm sure I'll have to fill in the gaps, but we've celebrated Will's 8th birthday on August 29th (I know, can you believe it?)! He got a Wii and ran around in circles in excitement. We also took he and his best friend, Austin, to Magic Springs for a day. I think he had a good birthday, but you can be the judge...

Will discovers his Wii. NO, not that one! His Nintendo Wii

It wasn't in the box long. The Wii that is. Can you tell Rachel, thankfully, has no idea what a Wii is? I'm sure Will is happy with that.

Will's card from Granny and Grandpa who are financing his college one card at a time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Austin and Will worn out from all their fun in the sun

Two sweet boys who didn't mind Will's little sister coming along

Nothing like rides, slides, and getting all sugared up to make the ride home super fun!