feeling the blues...

the blueberry blues, that is!!!

this past sunday, on a complete whim...the price family decided to go pick some blueberries. picking fruit was one of our favorite things to do in the blue ridge mountains of virginia...and i suppose we were feeling a bit nostalgic! we knew that about 4/5ths of our family was not going to survive the scorching summer heat of louisiana so we decided to go out in the evening!

not many blueberry farms are open on sundays...but poverty hollow farm in oil city was open for business until dark so we gave it a try! i was so happy to find out that the only thing sprayed on the precious blue fruit is rainwater...which meant VERY happy price girls...the best part of picking your own is the grazing that accompanies it!!!

what we didn't account for were the massive amounts of chiggers that we would later find out had made a fantastic feast of my family...namely the mommy in the family. i suppose all the itching is worth it in the long run because we really did have fun...but man, these bites are NO fun!

anyway, the farm was very peaceful and the picking was good. we were able to score over 9 pounds of blueberries for only $5! what a deal...and they are SOOOOOO good! the sweet little man even gave me a dozen fresh eggs for free! i will have bags and bags in my freezer...anyone with good blueberry recipes...please share!!!!!

it was a fun way to spend the evening on father's day...even though daddy was still a bit warm! as much as i tried, no one was really in the mood to take group pics...but i was able to snap some of the girls when they didn't know it!!!

we were invited back to fish in their pond and even pick some purple hull peas and squash! i love these times spent with my family...

and on this particular evening...

the only thing feeling blue...

were the blueberries!!!!

our "fourth" child...

no...i'm not speaking of another "human child"! (mom, you can stand up now 'cause i'm sure you have fainted!!!)

i'm speaking of our new landscaping!!! our home got a "haircut"of sorts.

i heart our house. i mean, i really, really love it. but the landscaping had gotten a bit wild and wooly for my taste! with the help of a local nursery...we got a "facelift" and i just couldn't be happier!

we went from this (if only you could see all of the weeds & overgrowth):

to this!

so far, i have been able to keep it all alive...which is a HUGE feat for me!!!! which is why i say it's been like a fourth child...requiring lots of tlc...and water!!!!!

for posterity's sake...

the end of school marked the beginning of "crazytown" for us and i was never able to share any pictures from the girls' end of the year celebrations!!! they were both adorable!

maddie's class hosted a precious nursery rhyme performance where she made her debut as jill with her special little friend parker (as jack)! they did such a great job...and maddie was not shy at all! the whole class each performed their parts...and then all the little girls danced to "twinkle twinkle"!!!! too cute! part of hearts will always be with mrs. poleman and the puppy class!

ella and the rest of the older children performed some very sweet songs...one of which was "i am a promise" that i distinctly remember singing when i was just her age!!!! she has just grown up so much...we just couldn't be prouder of her and all that she is!

it's hard to believe that this year came and went so quickly...to think that we didn't even know ava when school started...and now we're on the downhill slide to her first birthday! time flies when you're having fun i suppose!

thank you mrs. poleman and mrs. rogers for loving our girls. you've been the cause of many smiles around our house...and we'll be forever grateful to you for teaching our girls way more than you had to!

baby blue...

is the color of her eyes.

"blast from the not so distant past"...

our memorial day was a complete blast...thanks to our neighbors and their family!!!!

on saturday morning of memorial day weekend, my very tired husband (who had traveled through the night in a rental car to get to his girls) and the rest of our little family saddled up and headed to st. joseph, louisiana for a weekend of fun at lake bruin!

our fabulous neighbors (God has really blessed us with those everywhere we have made a home) invited us to spend the weekend with them and it was awesome! our girls were in hog heaven and officially turned into "water bugs"...they literally swam ALL weekend! ella even woke up at 6:30 one morning because she was SO excited to head to the lake!

here are some of the things i'll remember from the weekend...

dee-lish-ous bar-b-que chicken, tubing with ella and laughing SO hard, watching ella & madeline overcome their fears and swim, swim, swim!, pushing ava in the swing on the pier, chicken foot, scott giving us the greatest gift he could EVER give us...we truly still owe you, sunset swims, hearing the sweet little giggles of our gals splashing in the water, family jumps off the pier, boat rides, watching beth's sweet mom & dad love on ava so i could enjoy my other two, seeing jeff bust during his tube ride, twizzlers, beautiful sunsets, footprint pavers...truly the cutest, taking sunset pics of everyone, relaxing, seeing swimmy diapers on my 7 month old for the first time, seeing the stars, spending time with new friends...that are fast becoming like old friends...

thanks beth & scott for such a fun, fun weekend! we loved every second!