I already mentioned that our vacation was mostly rainy and overcast. In fact, it was SO rainy and overcast, that I can only remember putting sunscreen on my fair-haired, fair-skinned babies a grand total of one time. I know, I know, you can still get burned when it’s cloudy. But when it’s cloudy, raining, and you’re huddled
There are almost 700 frame-worthy photos from David and Abby’s wedding, but these posed shots are some of my favorites. Jason, Kristie, Amanda, Tom The Southall grandkids The girls in matching dresses The Southall girls This is a candid picture of my mom and sister between poses. I think I was maybe white-balancing? It doesn’t
This is at least the fifth year we’ve spent a week at Smith Mountain Lake with Tom’s family. It’s a summer tradition now — we’ve done this every year since Tom and I got married. Except I can’t really remember the first years, the years before we had kids. Now there isn’t much relaxing, recharging,
Five years ago when I got married, Pinterest was still just a glimmer in the Internet’s eye. Brides like me — those of us who planned weddings before Pinterest — like to say that we’re glad we didn’t have that extra…um…Pin-spiration. But, I dunno, it was still pretty overwhelming. Way back then I used theknot.com
During the week we spent at Smith Mountain Lake, David hardly asked to watch TV at all. Because who could stare at a screen when we have non-stop access to Caleb!? These two boys have been friends from the very beginning, and I marvel about how well they played together from the start, even way back when David
In the 18 days since David’s birthday he has taken exactly three naps. The nap strike started on the day of his birthday. It’s as if he read somewhere on the Internet that some kids drop their nap at age three and thought, “No more napping? Yeah. I think I can make that happen,” and then
We were honored when my brother and his fiancee asked David to be their ring bearer. He did a great job. He did such a good job that the first line of his resume now reads “proficient and bearing rings and wearing bow ties.” If anyone else out there is looking for a ring bearer, I know
It rained on the day of my brother’s wedding rehearsal. It was wet and gloomy, and we all scorned the clouds and passed around umbrellas. We looked at the sky and made optimistic comments about how we didn’t mind the rain today, as long as it was gone tomorrow. Rain on your wedding day is
July was a huge month for my family. My sister was in the country, which doesn’t happen often, and my brother got married. We were making memories on top of memories, and with all the travel and early mornings, I barely got any sleep. That’s why I’ve been blogging so much about my visit with my
My parents still live in the house I grew up in, and it’s awesome because I get to see my kids exploring the woods I used to explore, swimming in the pool I used to swim in, and sledding down the same hills I used to sled down. And they do things that we never