Our Adventures with Ryan and Riley Cate

insta-march

western day 2012

family photo shoot...

we had family photos taken back in november, but I didn't post them at the time because they were classified top secret for my christmas card!  now that my card is out, here are some that didn't make the card, but were still favorites (and some that were a little bit goofy)!

and one last, "real life moment":

30 day photo challenge (gratitude): wrapping it up

well, I didn't end up getting a photo for every day.  life happened.  but I am thankful that I set out to do it, because it made me look at things in a different way this november. 

I am thankful for the biggest blessings in my life: my husband, my children, my parents, my extended family, my health, my home, my faith, my job.

but am I thankful enough for the smallest? 
I noticed things (and was thankful about things) I have not specifically thought about being thankful for before now: my childrens artwork, 20 minutes of time before dinner is ready to play bingo, school field trips, beautiful weather to take ryan out to ride his new scooter, a closet full of clothes for everyone in my family, sirius radio, heat on a cold night, a sweet old dog with bad breath, a 24 hour pharmacy to pick up medicine for a sick child, a smile when riley wears my UGG boots after her shower, squeals of children on the biggest slide ever.

I may not have been thankful for those things before, but I plan to be now.

and the award for best angry bird face goes to...

he wanted to make an angry bird face for my camera (how cute is this angry bird hat from my friend Mandy?!), and I would say he has the look mastered.  as much as I don't like to admit it, I see the "angry bird" face fairly frequently actually, just without the hat... hahahahahahaha!

and this is what the sister did when I asked her to make an angry bird face..

she looks pretty fierce with that hawaiian punch mustache..  perdip, perdip!

30-day photo challenge (gratitude): week two

7 {something funny}:  riley cate orders a sprinkle donut and then only eats the sprinkle topping
8 {favorite color}:  my favorite girl wearing my favorite color, pink!
9 {inspiring person}:  my inspiring husband, who teaches the children that others consider unteachable
10 {nature}:  my jungle animal, roar!
11 {something old}:  may be an exaggeration, but age 6 is feeling really old these days!
12 {hands}:  love when riley clasps her hands under her chin, it's her signature pose
13 {written words}:  a sweet note from a daddy to his girl, left in her play kitchen
14 {movement}:  sliding, sliding and more sliding!

30-day photo challenge (gratitude): week one

1 {favorite food}:  mexican food, and chuy's has some of the best tex-mex (and cute t-shirts)!
2 {smile}:  love this smile from my sweet boy when I brought him lunch at school on halloween
3 {happiness}:  bike riding in the cooler weather
4 {leaves}:  not a lot of fall leaves around in our neck of the woods, but I am loving my fall mums
5 {sky}:  a chance of rain today, and for that I am definitely thankful!
6 {books}:  my current read, nicholas sparks, the lucky one

question: what are big brothers good for?

answer:  licking your ear during family pictures, of course!
we had our family pictures done over the weekend and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! 
more to come...

30-day photo challenge: gratitude

I found this idea on pinterest and love it! 
I am planning to do a weekly post with all the days from that week throughout the month of november.  I am going to take the photos with the instagram app on my iPhone and am really looking forward to highlighting things I am thankful for this month through this photo challenge.

I am already working on this day by day and will post the first installment sometime this weekend!

{home}

 

there is something incredibly special about seeing your parents love your children.
this is the reason that we call lumberton, texas home.  in our case, home is where your family is,  and ours is here.