there's a party going on

Tomorrow a friend of the Chica turns one year old. We went to her birthday bash over the weekend to celebrate. I know it's terribly cliche, but it feels like yesterday we went to her house to meet her for the first time. She was a few weeks old and a such a teeny little thing. At the time, side by side Reesie seemed like the marshmallow man from Ghost Busters towering over the sweet newborn.

But now look at them. In less than a year the Birthday Girl caught up.


The party was in the Birthday Girl's backyard. Inflatable swimming pools were scattered all over the grass and thoroughly enjoyed by every guest. This little water table was on the patio. The girls took turns reeling in the big one.


Last year when three of us were pregnant with these three girls (confused?) we went to a motherhood convention together. All of us were well into our third trimester. As we waddled around the convention center together, people couldn't help but stare. I don't blame them. We were a sight to behold. Three pregnant women about to pop. After the convention we went to lunch and they gave me advice on motherhood. (At the time they were both pregnant with their second child.) Back then these girls were three fetuses, tucked away in their mothers, developing their respiratory systems. It's incredible what a year does.


Big Sis wanted in on all the posing.


Singing. Do you see those matching outfits? Handmade and monogrammed by their mother. And that huge chocolate cake? She whipped that baby up herself too. She's Supermom I tell you!


Here's Birthday Girl in cake zone. I think she's either reflecting on her past year of life or just under the spell of some really good chocolate frosting.

Any woman who's at least one can identify with both.

move that bus!!!

Quick, get me a bullhorn. Can we get Ty Pennington on the phone? Because somebody had an extreme makeover blog edition and I think it's the hinton home!

I hope the face lift didn't confuse you. One time I went to a youth girl's house for a pool party. I walked through the open garage and right up to the interior door only to be met by a scared elderly lady I've never seen. I was two steps from breaking and entering the neighbor's house. It was humiliating.

The last thing I want to do is humiliate you bloggers. I hope you didn't type in our address, arrive at our new destination and fear the cops were minutes from arresting you for being at the wrong place.

We still live here. We've just had a face lift. For Mother's Day Reesie and her padre went in together to get me a personalized blog design. Kelly at Fabulous K Creative went to work for me. I shopped around and I couldn't find anyone with her quality of work that could beat her prices. There's a reason she's fabulous. If you want to see why, scroll down and click on her button on the right side of the screen.

I've had a couple of questions come up about our pictures. Almost every picture on our blog is something Danny or I have taken. One exception to this is my profile picture. That little picture to your left was taken on our honeymoon at Yellowstone National Park. We were sitting in front of Old Faithful. I credit that picture to the stranger behind us. :)

What smidgen of photography knowledge I have was acquired from the Internet. These photography sites are my favorite so far.

Speaking of photography,this sky picture is from our backyard. I'm so glad I grabbed my camera when I did because ten minutes later, the sun was gone.

Before you go, could you do me a favor? There's been a discrepancy concerning the location of Reesie's picture in the purple outfit. Some people are seeing her at the top right, just under the blog header and above the Bible verse. Others see her when they scroll down to the very bottom of the page. So how about it? Do you spy her? If so, could you give me her location?

Thanks bloggers!

eternal power, divine nature

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

Romans 1:20

swing away

Today we took some youth girls to the park.


We played team tennis. Water balloons and bed sheets replaced tennis balls and rackets.


At the end of the game, while the winning team celebrated with a victory huddle, one of our interns beaned them with a water balloon. We were all rolling.


Meanwhile, the Chica was kicking it with her padre over on the playground.


It was her first experience in a bucket swing.


Is it just me, or does she seem a little nervous?


Such a stoic soul.


The jury's still out on whether or not she liked it.

can't wait

Is it June 2 yet? Because I can't wait for this CD to hit stores. It's hard to believe heaven's going to sound even better than this.

the art of sharing

The beautiful baby in this picture with the Chica is one of Reesie's friends. Their nursery teacher says they sit side by side on Sunday mornings and talk to each other. Just two girlfriends kicking it over a snack. Nothing like bonding over some quality Cheerios.


Notice Big Girl didn't actually bring a snack of her own. So she thrust her mooching hand in another woman's snack cup.


Thank goodness Chica's friend has an older sibling and is well versed in the art of sharing. Because our girl could teach a course on the art of stealing.

summer storm

"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds with his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you."

Deuteronomy 33:26-27