where the wild things are...

a couple of weeks ago...we made a very quick trip to northern arkansas for our very first family camping outing! i use the term "camping" very loosely...because we only stayed for the day...but we did the whole deal (well, minus the tent) and had such a fun time with the tucker family!!!!

the heads of our households (aka: the daddies) have been going to the richland creek wilderness area for about 10 years now and they finally decided to let their family in on the little gem! it was absolutely gorgeous up there...waterfalls, rope swings, creeks, peace and quiet...it was all wonderful!

we set up "camp" and grilled hamburgers and then let the kids swim in the little "swimming hole". it all felt like a scene from a movie! they had the best timeplaying and exploring...and we only had one minor injury...from you know who! poor, poor maddie boo boo! she just can't catch a break!

we stayed until dusk and then headed back home! we plan on making many more "camping memories" and i'm pretty confident that we will work our way to a full fledged camping experience...more than likely when we don't have a baby!!!!! although ava was a.m.a.z.i.n.g! she just hung out in her stroller the majority of the day and dipped her little "toesies" a couple of times for good measure! she's such a joy!

thanks guys, for allowing your families to experience your camp with you! it's nice to finally know where all the world's problems have been solved!!!

our little razorback...oh, where did i go wrong?!?!

some of my favorite kiddos

beautiful water hole...

ava getting to wet her tiny toes...

these kids had a BLAST!

look at that amazing waterfall...

someone is not too sure about the rope swing...

this was our treat on the way home!

transformers bootcamp

in other words...a little bit of hell on earth.

and i am NOT kidding.

it all started with a flyer and a teensy bit of motivation.

two personal trainers decided to give us moms a bit of a nudge. oh my word.

today was our first day...and i can honestly say that i almost got very sick and fainted. yeah, i was that girl. it appears that taking off from bootcamp for oh, the last 33 years seems to have caught up with me. it was horrendous. and i only have a few more hours to recover before i'm supposed to show back up again.

that is if i can find enough strength to roll out of bed and push my accelerator.

the heat was probably the most excruciating part of the whole deal...which probably didn't help my "almost got very sick and fainted" status. here's to hoping for some cloud cover tomorrow!

we're scheduled to report to bootcamp for six weeks...1 day down...23 more times to go.

yuck.

let's hope that i have enough fortitude to prove to myself that my muffin top doesn't have to take permanent residence around my middle.

cause that is seriously the only reason i would put myself through this!!!!!

same song...different verse...

you may remember this backdrop...and these precious little people...they're regulars...

but their duds are "new"!

i have been approached by a lady who sells these dresses and many other brands such as anavini, silly goose, heart strings, & kite strings (to name a few)...to have a home show here in shreveport (she is based out of dallas). her dresses...such as the ones my "models" are wearing are precious and you can't beat her prices! these dresses were $24 (thanks, honey!!!) and her smocked dresses usually run around $34-48!

if you live in the area...or even if you don't...and are interested in coming to the show...please let me know either by commenting here or sending me an email mere877@yahoo.com

i've never done anything like this before...but her clothes are just so adorable...i thought i might as well give it a shot!

***for my friends out of town...we could definitely work out something if you're interested in seeing her collection!!!!!

it could have gone unnoticed...

that he brought home flowers from the grocery store...for me...picked out by our girls.

that he took our children to breakfast on saturday morning (as he most often does)...so that i could have some "me" time.

that he tried to pick up his shoes from around the house...

that he took a walk with us and played in the sprinkler with his girls just to get a laugh...

that he works really hard to provide for us when it's not always easy...

that he sometimes fixes fabulous suppers for us so that i can watch "my tigers!"...

that he knew it was important to his girls for him to sit down and work a little mermaid puzzle with us...

all this could have gone unnoticed...

but it wasn't. and won't be any time soon.

jeffrey winston price...your girls love you for all the ways we notice you love us! thanks for being our special guy!

our little safari scout...

our precious madeline started back to school this past week! she is a sumlin safari scout this year and seems to be doing great! she was a little "iffy" about not being with mrs. poleman again...but i think she is making the adjustment well!

mrs. sumlin is precious and says that maddie has emerged as the leader in her class...it is so great to see your little one's personality develop...and i have no doubt that maddie is a little mother hen! she is such a nurturer!!! we are SOOO very proud of her and her sweet and gentle spirit!

so far this week, they have been learning the letter "m" and the number "1"...talking about "liking me" and "being the best they can be"! we are excited for another wonderful year at st. paul's and are excited to continue to see maddie learn and grow!

here are a few quotes from maddie's first week:

"we had pahcorn and lemonade for snack"

"james frew up in music today...on his shirt...but he stayed in class" (ewww...was my first thought...my 2nd...WHY IN THE WORLD DID THEY LET HIM STAY IN CLASS!!!! hoping she got this w.r.o.n.g.)

"chloe had to go to the sad chair today." to which i asked "maddie, have you ever had to go to the sad chair?" to which she replied "NOOOO, neva"

"mrs. sumlin wings a bewl when we are supposed to come in fwom the playground"

"i think ava misses me vewy bad"...

yes, maddie you are correct...we ALL miss you when you are away!!!! love you baby girl!

not just a place...

the price fam hit the road to corsicana, texas for labor day. it is a place that i hold near and dear to my heart. the home of my great grandparents...gran & grandma "biscuit". they are no longer present on this earth...but they are very much still present at this place.

being there was like stepping back in time. the smells. the sights. the sounds. it's like nothing has changed at all...

it was just so surreal.

there are chairs that have been there since i was a little girl. you wouldn't think that chairs would mean so much...but they do. a lot.

i think the thing that i loved the most about the weekend was getting to share those memories with my little girls and my husband. for lots of years, this place has been just that to them...a place. i would talk about "the farm" and all the special things about it...but it was just words to them. now it has meaning. and that means something to me.

when i was growing up, this farm was fully functioning...meaning my gran grew just about everything we ate while we were there! onions, potatoes, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, peas, chicken...and that's just some. it was truly amazing. he wore long sleeves, pants, and steel toe boots every single day. he worked tirelessly. and he loved endlessly. he was, and will always be, one of the kindest men i have ever known.

sweet gran

"biscuit" was famous for other things...like...biscuits!!!! she was a persnickety little lady...very unassuming and very sweet. she loved having the whole family to visit...but i really think she may have liked us leaving a hair more! ha! she had lots of pretties that usually had to be displaced in order to sleep everyone! i loved being in the bathroom after she got ready in the morning and smelling her dove soap. i loved the house coats that she wore. i loved the way she crossed her legs to the side.

"biscuit" making biscuits with brooke & me

i just loved everything about those two precious people.

my dad's family is H.U.G.E. and when everyone gets together it's a bit of a circus. my dad coined the term "defensive eating" and that's just what has to happen if you are going to get a smidge of the deliciousness that would be chocolate ice cream, pound cake, orange sherbet, peach ice cream, sugar cookies, etc. it makes me hungry and nervous even thinking about it now...i'm always afraid i won't get my fill...and that feeling is 33 years in the making!!!! i could use another large cup of chocolate ice cream right about now!

it was so fun seeing ella, maddie, & ava swinging from the same tree that all my many cousins and i swung from many years ago. it was fun to see the same ticking mattresses, sitting on fences, being used on a hayride that we used many years ago. it was neat to bathe my daughters in the same well house that i was bathed in when i was their age. it was neat to be the family with the baby that got to sleep in the little room outside. it was neat to shuck corn with my maddie just like i used to do. it was neat to travel the same roads on the hay ride that i traveled as a little person.

everything was neat.

the beauty of this place isn't just on the surface and it can't just be seen with the eye. it is felt with a heart that has loved and been loved on every square inch of the property.

i am so thankful that there are memories that are now part of the present and not just things of the past. i'm thankful for every single one.