This is all of Eric's siblings (and their spouses), nieces, nephews and one great nephew...
She was all excite to go, had been begging me all day if it was "dance time". When we got there, (no surprise), she froze. I had to peel her off of me just so she could stand in the middle of the room. It broke my heart because she had a tear in the corner of her eye the whole time. 
At first, she had her back to everyone. As the class progressed she slowly turned to watch the other girls. About the last five minutes, she completely turned. There were a few times she looked like she was going to mimic the teacher, but then froze again. This was a huge progression from last year.
I explained the situation to the teacher and she said she'd keep at her. When class was all said and done, Caitrin expressed that she wanted to go next week. I won't be allowed in the class room, so we'll see how that goes. The recital is in January, I have a feeling my child is going to be "that" child that either just stands there, or is crying behind the curtain.
He didn't feel like wearing his tennis shoes or his cleats, soo..... flip flops are the next best thing before a game.
Trying to get his attention with a phone in his hand is like trying to pry a meaty bone from a starving dog...
But his team is undefeated... you got to give him that. 
Cooper was the first to enter into the football era in our family four years ago. Trent got his year last year and now Jackson steps up to the bench. We got VERY fortunate. Trent and Jackson ended up on the same team.
Boys have to be boys and bang their helmets together. Their first game is September 4th. I can't wait.
At the beginning of spring, I invested in some of those hanging strawberry planters. I figured what the heck. I haven't had a strawberry garden for the last 4 years, what would one more year be? I have picked a few here and there, but this is the first batch where a lot have come through. 
They loved every minute of it!!
So of course they all had to make armour for themselves.
What makes the best armour? PAPER PLATES!!
The boys had too much fun. I didn't even get out of Kooskia before they were both catching up on much needed sleep.
We bought our house from a little old Jamaican lady who was a HOARDER. Our back yard literally had five sheds and our carport was boxed in for more storage. I think we took 4 loads to the dump before we actually got to move in. At some point in the backyard's life time, there were beautiful trees, we never got to see them. We inherited stumps that were made in to shrines. There were all sorts of rock gardens every which direction. Our first attempt to have a back yard was to remove all but one shed. We then burned out the stumps and removed wheel barrows upon wheel barrows of rock. 
Around the second year, we thought we'd be able to till under and reseed. Our tiller hit more rock and GARBAGE. She buried her garbage in the back yard. But first she was so kind as to lay the black plastic down, throw her garbage on then bury it with dirt. That took us all summer to dig up and remove. In the mean time, the kids had hay days with shovels, dug trenches, holes and race tracks. 
When I called Eric to let him know that our tree had fallen, I told him that I was blocked in the carport. I was unable to go anywhere. His reply "Where did you need to go?" THAT"S NOT THE POINT!!! 
This is the bull pine that stands between our house and our neighbors. The bricks we raised during the windstorm. I'm contemplating calling a tree faller and getting that bad boy down. I really don't want it falling on the neighbors house, since it's on our property.
Of course Caitrin had to have her picture taken next to the root ball. We aren't sure what we are going to put in place of the ornamental cherry tree. Eric's thinking another tree, I'm thinking a front porch. I said many prayers last night as the wind storm continued. I woke up to find that God heard me.
We inherited this Cottage from some friend of ours, their girls our grew it so they passed it down to us. 
We got her all snuggled in with pillows and blankets. She didn't ask to have any of her dolly's, teddy's, of stuffed animals with her. Oh no.... she had to have the real deal......
What's a cottage without a trusty guard? Adella would be so lost without her kids.The other night we went to Wal-Mart. When I say "we" I mean Eric and I, plus 5 kids in tow. And mind you it was around the 8pm hour. Surprisingly we made it through our trip with no one crying, hitting, screaming or knocking any endcaps over. (Yes, this has happened many times). As we were leaving through the "Exit" doors, people were trying to come in, going against the currant. Trent had noticed that it just rained and there were mud puddles everywhere. While the people were coming at us, he seemed to be doing a dance on his tippy toes and what looked like the potty dance.
Kind of annoyed I asked him what the heck he was doing.
In the middle of the crowd of people he cried " I don't want to get my high heels wet!"
Eric and I just put our heads down and pushed through, hoping no one in the crowd recognized us.
Trent didn't want to get the white parts dirty after the rain.
She's got the "do as I say, and not as I do" part down really well.
She knew of the haircut, but the highlights were a surprise to her. She was shocked. I asked her how she wanted her hair, if she wanted bangs, thick or thin chunks? She didn't know what the heck she wanted. 
I informed the lady that I didn't want thick chunks in her hair, a weave would suit her just fine. I didn't want her first highlights to look totally hoaky. Then Tarren asked me is she could have bangs. I, for the most part, don't do bangs with the girls, it's one less thing for me to deal with. But she's old enough to make some decisions in regards to her body/hair, and she's well old enough to take care of her own hair.
Needless to say, she was very excited on how her hair turned out. Dad claims that she looks just a little bit older, which saddens him. 
I dug this picture out of my wallet, so it's a little worn. As you can see, we've been Saint's fan for a long time. This is Trenton when he was about 2, close to 3. It also helped that Eric's parents were living across the river from New Orleans at that time. 
As I dropped Tarren off at her class room, I ran into one of my nieces, Hannah. You can't tell Tarren is nervous at all.
I didn't get any pictures of the dance routine because I have a camera that would just take really dark pictures. We were in the far back corner, so no matter how hard I tried nothing was coming out worth a darn.
She was given flowers by her Grandma Hart. I absolutely LOVE this picture. With Tarren being 11 going on 25, I don't know a thing about a thing or two. We constantly fight. So when I held up the camera to take the picture, she quickly gave me a kiss. Affection is few and far in between with her, I only pray that it's a pre-teen thing she's going through.
