so long jacksonville...

jacksonville's skyline...

blaine's multitasking...

with the wind in our hair....

the jaguars stadium...

Well, with the move coming up...or should I say sneaking up....we thought it would be nice to say hello and goodbye to our favorite hangouts. These are pictures taken along the boardwalk~

take me out to the ballgame....

cheesiest grin ever...

or is it this one?

Are my men cute or what??

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity

it's quiet.....a little too quiet....

Need I say more?

if i couldn't...

If I were denied a cottage, I'd take on a farmhouse in its stead. I love those wrap-around porches and narrow staircases. And they always make me think of Anne of Green Gables....haha!

a father-son business....

advice taken...

this pics for you mom, haha!

bye bye long haired hippie...

See, I do listen to my parents. Blaine got a haircut yesterday and is loving it!

Easter fun....

on your mark, get set.....

new additions to our family, cousin madison and zoe...

blaines belated basket

Well, I committed an Easter gaffe by not having Blaine's basket ready for him that morning. The basket itself was ready, but I did not put it out because I had to be at church early for choir. Big mistake! All of his teachers and friends kept asking him what he got for Easter and he looked at me as if to say..."What basket? What are they talking about?" He got it eventually, after church.......and a nap lol. We also went to an Egg Hunt that afternoon at his great-grandma's (Mema) house. He was more interested in the old fashioned water pump than the eggs with candy in them and even then, he had a great time!

some random designs...

Every now and then I get the bug....the fashion bug, that is. I don't find a lot of petite apparel out there that I like, so I design my own. Sure wish I knew how to sew...haha! Maybe some day I'll take a class (curse me for not taking home ec in high school!).

cottage charm....

Oh glorious, glorious!!! If I had an endless pile of money....I'd build my very own cottage and fill it with antique shop and garage sale finds~

in daddies shoes....

It started out with Blaine wanted to wear his dad's shirt. When I looked up again, he had put on his daddies shoes too. So cute!

helicopter mania....

lil helicopter

balloon helicopter...he was fascinated...

Blaine's been obsessed with helicopters lately, he even sleeps with one! Truth be told, I kind of encourage it :).

Can you believe that I have just finished reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Me, who loves everything science-fiction and fantasy, not having read it until now?!? Shocking. The Hobbit I'd read some years ago and loved. Having seen the movies first, I was afraid that I would walk away from this experience either hating the movies for not being more like the books or vice versa. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!!! I'm sorry....I've just always wanted to say that, haha! Truthfully, I don't like one better than the other. The books are amazing in detail...the language is so rich, the characters are fascinating the storyline is imaginative. There is no, and I mean NO, way that everything in the book good be turned into a screenplay. The writers included what they could (without it being 40 hours long) in the motion picture and the result is awesome. I think JRR Tolkien would have been impressed. The costumes were great, the actors you believed and you know I loved the music. So what I'm really trying to say is that both the movie trilogy and the book trilogy are mind-boggling and inspired pieces of work that could stand on their own for the rest of all time!

(Do you think this was a little over the top? No? I didn't either!) :)

sophia....

blaine's curious...

mother and daughter

trying to wake up...

Michael's sister, Rebekah, had her baby last week. This weekend we drove up to see the family and they are all doing well....congratulations!

"gotta get every last kernel..."

"do you like sea food? see, food....get it? hahahaha"

love this face!

blaine turns 2!

totally unenthusiastic, not knowing it was cake!

he gets it now, lol....

m-ma (what he calls grandma), papa and blaine chilling out....

My baby boy turned into a toddler last week, how frightening......and wonderful......and sad. That was rather incoherent, but you know what I mean! But what made it really special was having mom and dad there. I didn't plan the party thinking they would be able to make it...but they did and what a nice surprise!! He got some pretty cool and crazy gifts including a Beta fish we named Gill. lol. Thank you all for the presents and warm wishes, Blaine is one lucky boy!!

mini vacation

Owie...Blaine fell at the park and busted his lip :(

a carousel ride (built in 1927!)

took time out to see the fort...

can you see the dolphin? it was amazing!

Blaine, Michael and I went to St. Augustine this weekend for a mini-vacation and we had such a good time! Blaine loved staying at the hotel. Maybe a little too much since he didn't want to sleep lol. It was beautiful too...couldn't have asked for more~

a parents worst nightmare....

That their son plays with dolls. Haha, this is Blaine's new favorite toy, Strawberry Shortcake. Notice her hair....he drags her around by it like a little cave man. I don't think daddy is too happy with this turn of events.

another day at the beach....

It was warm enough to be at the beach this weekend so we snatched at that opportunity! We had to leave earlier than planned when they started to do a bikini photo shoot, lol.

the greatest gift....

Blaine loves play-doh...or as he likes to call it..."the cool"

"Do I have to put it together myself, dad?"

"Are you sure I can open this? You're always telling me not to touch!"

Is love, would you not say? Spending time with your family, enjoying each others company is one of the best gifts of Christmas~ (again, I will post video of Blaine's first steps and his 2nd Christmas when I can figure out how to convert the vid files lol)