I heart baseball.

I really do love baseball. I love being a Cardinals fan. Josh and I had the incredible privilege of going to the All Star festivities this year. It was amazing. I know you want pictures of the playroom and of my children....perhaps even some of my children playing in the playroom. Well, you're just going to have to wait. It's on my list of things to do. If you'd like to see our playroom, just invite yourself to our house. We would love to have you. Until then, here are my baseball shots:

Ryan Franklin, one of our pitchers.


Ned and Mimi, Josh's cousins


"Which one of these is not like the other? Which one of these does not belong?" I always knew San Francisco was different.




The Stealth Bomber. This was seriously Josh's favorite part of the game. He was shaking for a couple innings afterward.


All Stars. If you look carefully on the top-to-mid right of the picture, you can see Stan Musial. He was bringing out the ball for the first pitch.


Mom jeans? You bet. Check those puppies out.


At least he's not a Cubs fan.


Josh's cousin Johnston caught the first ball of the game thrown into the crowd. Here it is on display.


Me and the hubby, shiny and happy.

sweet love

This is a Yia Yia who loves her little girls. And these little girls could care less about me when she is around. It's like, "Mommy? Mommy who?!" She nurtures these tender hearts with all that she has in her, and then she can stretch even farther. She's an incredible example. Sure, she's quirky and imperfect, but she's awesome. We love us some Yia Yia around here.

new

When Josh and the girls picked me up from the airport after my week in Seattle, Hunts told me that she and daddy had a surprise for me at home. It was something they had "made" and was in the front yard, so I thought it was going to be a fun handmade something out of a big cardboard box welcoming me home....um, not so much. We pulled up to the house and Josh said, "There it is...." but I didn't see anything until Huntleigh said, "Mommy! It's your new car!!!!" And then I looked up and saw my new car and starting screaming. Lucy started crying because I completely freaked her out. How could I have missed a Suburban? Seriously. I am so dense. Will you check this bus out?! It's my first brand new car ever. Major points to my husband who went by himself with two little girls to the dealership and came home with this car to surprise me with....all in the span of time that I was flying back across the country. Nice work, babe. And I'm so proud of my three year-old, who actually kept it a secret. Impressive.

i spent a week in washington state and all i took was this lousy picture of a donut shop.

So one week after returning from Hawaii, I got on another plane headed west with my good friend Shannon and her three kiddos. I left my hubby and hunts and lu behind to fend for themselves in a sweaty and sultry Saint Louis while we entered the blissful and beautiful summer of the Pacific Northwest. We've spent three great years with the Walkers and it was time for them to move on to Bellingham to plant the church for which they've been preparing. Shannon's children are 5 years, 3 years, 7 months and she's almost 20 weeks pregnant with twins. I thought it would be fun/necessary to help her fly to Seattle while her husband was driving across the country with all their possessions. We spent a few days in Seattle where I met almost every single person in her extended family and where I took this picture of Top Pot Doughnuts....as I was eating an amazing raspberry glazed ring. Then we left Lucy & Will in Seattle and drove north to Bellingham with Ada to begin preparing the house for the arrival of the moving truck. It wasn't really a week of sight-seeing and so I seriously did not take any pictures of, well, anything. In the span of three days we cleaned, did some more cleaning, picked out paint colors for an entire house, painted the entire interior of the house (with the help of about ten other people), and unloaded the truck. We ended our time together with a meal at Boundary Bay, an excellent local brewery. Overall, it was a very successful trip and I was glad to love my friend by just being present with her. Friends like her do not come along everyday, and in my experience, they always seem to move as far away from me as possible (i.e. Alabama, Idaho, Washington). Love you, Shannon.

last day with will and lucy

Our good friends, the Walkers, moved to Bellingham, Washington and this was our last play date with Lucy and Will for quite some time. I took the four kiddos out to the mall by myself (which I was very proud of, but kudos to all you moms out there who do that on a regular basis and think nothing of it!) and we had a fun lunch at Johnny Rockets complete with milkshakes for all. And because Pottery Barn Kids closed down their business at the Galleria, we came up with creative things to do instead that included throwing pennies into the fountain, browsing through the Apple store (too much temptation) and ending up at Build-a-Bear as a special treat. I didn't tell the kids we were going there until right before we walked in and they were all pleasantly surprised when they figured out they could choose their own stuffed animal. It was super cute to watch them as they rubbed their animals' little stuffed hearts in their hands, on their ears, and then close their eyes to make a wish. I think the thing I love most about the pictures is that I can see Huntleigh turn from a skeptic into a believer as she followed the woman's directions on what to do with the hearts that they stuffed into the animals. We love you, Lucy & Will.
Boy, are we gonna miss you.

Sweet friends


Hunts, the skeptic


Hunts and Will clearly demonstrating how tricky it is for a three year old to make their eyes stay shut. I just love it.


three new successfully stuffed animals

good friends. good for the soul.

Our good friends the Miltons came into town and amidst numerous potty breaks and plenty of other interruptions, we were able to manage some encouraging conversation and reconnect in the space of an hour. It wasn't nearly enough time, but it was treasured, nonetheless. Here's a few pics of our multiplied ones. Jd, you're just awesome.

the four


the newest one


two little pistols....they just look like they're plotting mischief.