I absolutely love taking pictures of kids!  They are so much fun and I really don't have to do much posing with them.  They pretty much just do whatever they want and I keep my camera on sports setting.  You end up taking 6 million pictures that way, but it's worth weeding through them all to find the good ones.  Kids are just adorable.  Period.

Of course, with these kids, I'm a bit biased.  :) 

What can I say?  I'm a proud auntie!

 No front teeth!!!! I love it! <3

 



 Miss Haley.  Almost 11 years old!

 

 Sisters <3

 

And last, but not least, Baby Luke!  He's getting so big and he's the

happiest baby I've ever seen.  Preciousness! <3

little miss blue eyes

Mollie Grace.  Miss Cutie Pie.

This afternoon, while everyone was indulging in a little Sunday snooze, Mollie and I ran outside to snap some pictures.

While she is extremely photogenic, getting her to actually take her eyes off the ground and smile at the camera is quite an achievement! 

I am very pleased with the results I got!

 Trying to run off all of that energy.  Where does it all come from????

 Playing in Mimi's bushes.

 Hug the pole!!!  Give the pole some lovin'!!!!

 Those eyes!

Yay!!!!

I just had to throw this one in!  This was the response I got after

shrieking, "Oh my GOODNESS!!!!!".

8-20-12

Monday afternoon I got to hold my brand-new handsome nephew.

 

 

Little Luke, Aunt Mana is so excited you're here!!!!  XOXOXOXO

at my leisure...

I am currently taking an unintentional-turned-intentional break from blogging.  Why?  Because it's summer and that's just how things seem to work out.  :)  However, I decided to check in for a bit today and let you in on what's been going on with me.

I celebrated my 21st birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I have always loved having a summer birthday because there is absolutely nothing else going on and I can enjoy it without any interruptions.  And of course, my lovely family took over the dishes and the laundry for the day.  Awesome! 

Typically, I don't like bragging about gifts that I received, but I just can't help it!  Daddy managed to find a vintage rotary phone that actually works!  I love it!  It was actually in working order in my room for about a week before Sarah made me unplug it.  The loud ringing disturbed her...  Another gift that I am extremely proud of is the DVD of the 25th Anniversary performance of the Phantom of the Opera.  Let's just say I'm a huge fan and leave it at that. ;)

Artistically, no paintings to speak of.  I'm in the process of planning one, though, and I hope to start on it soon.  Most of my artsy time has been spent sketching randomly and attempting to hone my skills with the human face.  A very frustrating task at times.

We've had a big change in our house.  Well, the upstairs of our house.  It has been completely turned upside down, rearranged, and reorganized.  I'll spare the details except to say that Sarah and I (and Elly) are now occupying the garage attic/bonus room/ whatever-you-want-to-call-it.  It's ginormous!  Especially after living in my tiny windowless sewing room for a month.  I now have a nice large window with a lovely view of the huge tree in the back yard.  Love it!

Sewing?  Most of it has been devoted to expanding my Grammy's wardrobe.  I might post pictures in the future.  We shall see...

The rain this summer has been absolutely ridiculous!  I mean that in the best way possible.  Green grass in July is rare.  Green grass in August is simply unheard of, but we have it!  It's absolutely gorgeous outside!

I have recently become quite obsessive over nail polish.  On my hands, that is.  I have always worn it on my toes to cover up the ahem deformities, but rarely did I wear it on my hands.  Now, I love it!  Although, the Bon-Bons look done by a three year old isn't quite my style...

We are patiently awaiting the arrival of the new nephew/grandbaby!  He should be here any day now!Can't wait for you to get here, Luke!

These are the random highlights of my summer.  It's been a relatively busy one.  Tomatoes, green beans, and field peas galor, people coming and going all the time, random shopping trips, etc.  But, I've also had lots of down time which I have been enjoying to the fullest and I intend to continue to do so until we get back into the full swing of things.  (Just a couple more weeks.)

Until then...

...I'll just be chillin'.  :-)

my dad is the awesome-est!!!

Today, the day before her birthday, my mom awoke to find, not one, not two, but NINE DOZEN ROSES in the kitchen.

Yes, you read that right!  108 roses.  We counted 'em!

I don't think I've ever seen her that dumbfounded before!  Sarah and I were rather speechless ourselves!  We spent all morning arranging them and now we have huge bouquets of roses scattered around the house!  I love it!  :D

Oh yeah, my Dad is the greatest!

having fun :)

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday.  Actually, he seems more like my brother than an in-law because he's been hanging around since I was about 3 years old.  He just kinda latched on and never went away!

Anyway, we all got together and had a big party yesterday to celebrate his thirty-something-th birthday. ;)  We all had a great time!

 I just thought this was too cute!

 When I got home and started going through the pictures we took, I was horrified to find that this was the only one we managed to get of the birthday boy (right).  Oops!  Sorry, Jacob!

 Soup's on!  Literally...on the table.  Mmm...it was good!

 This makes me smile. :)

 Awww!!!!

 I thought I'd throw in a picture of me just to prove that I was there!

 Papa, getting a kiss from Princess Mollie.

Ok, so I may not have gotten any pictures of Jacob yesterday, here's a recent one.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!  We're so glad you're a part of the family!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  From my family to yours. <3

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas as you create memories and celebrate God's blessings and His miraculous gift of salvation through His only Son, Jesus.  

Safe travels and warm wishes to you all!

12-22-01

Exactly one decade ago, on the eve of the eve of Christmas Eve,  my very first niece, Haley Ann, was introduced to the world.

Happy Birthday, Miss Haley!!!!  I love you bunches and bunches!

secrets...

Sarah and I have some pretty cool things going down in the sewing room lately.  Unfortunately, I can't talk about them because certain people might read it, and then, so much for Christmas surprises... We haven't even been able to talk to Mama about what we're working on.  You have no idea how hard that is for me!  I love talking about what I'm working on.  I love discussing different options and everything related to what I'm working on.  I love talking in general, as anyone who knows me at all with readily tell you, but I digress.

This secrecy is killing me! Sarah, on the other hand, is as silent as a rock.  Apparently, she got the "silent gene" while I was out discussing the solutions to the world's problems.  She's the best secret keeper I know besides Mama.  Then, of course, there's me...total opposite.  Even if I do manage to keep my mouth shut, my poker face can be read like a large print book.  

On the up-side, Daddy knows about one of my projects (it was his idea), so that makes it a little bit easier.  Mind you, a very little bit!

Thankfully, I only have roughly four and a half more days to keep quiet.  I just hope I can make it that much longer without giving something away!

'tis the season for...

...travelling...

...nights spent with lovely friends and homemade candies...

...posing for pictures...

...and more pictures... ;)

...fun on the lake...

...showing off...

...ten flickering candles...



...yummy cupcakes!

...chillin'...

...fun with family...

...yummy food...


...being adorable... ;)