i heart faces-scenic black and white

 Every summer we travel with my husband's family to beautiful Mammoth Lakes, California. We always have a wonderful time, but my favorite part of each year is when we discover someplace new and equally breathtaking, another hidden treasure that our beautiful Earth has to offer! This afternoon, while on a day trip to Yosemite, we happened upon this spectacular sight. The usual Yosemite haunts were all extremely crowded and so we kept driving further into the park. ZZ looked out the window and saw this HUGE rock, and said, "Let's climb that!". My father-in-law, who never passes up the opportunity for a new adventure, thought it was a perfect idea. Thankfully the climb to the top was relatively easy, and even our littlest man made it up without a hitch! And WOW, the view from the peak was more than amazing! I feel so grateful that my kiddos have had so many opportunities to experience nature and the outdoors. Be sure to check out all the other spectacular scenery in this week's contest at iheartfaces.com!

i heart faces~orange

That sure is a funny-looking pumpkin! The theme this week at I Heart Faces (www.iheartfaces.com)  is ORANGE. For the first time in one of these challenges I knew exactly what image I wanted to use! My little guy's church preschool hosts the biggest pumpkin patch around. He had so much fun there, but the best part was that he blended right in! He is the only red head in our family since his great-grandmothers so needless to say he gets lots of attention for that head of hair!

i heart faces-pink

This week the theme at I Heart Faces (www.iheartfaces.com) is all about pink because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This one is near and dear to me as both my grandmothers and a sister have been affected by this illness. We are so thankful that my sister has been cancer free for five years, and we love to celebrate her good health every year at the Komen Race for the Cure! Thanks, I Heart Faces, for raising awareness in the hopes that there WILL be a cure before our precious daughter grow up. Head over to I Heart Faces to see all the other PINK entries this week!

i heart faces-chalk

Sidewalk chalk is my hero! It keeps all my kiddos, the little ones and the big ones, entertained, and for the most part happily playing together!! ZZ and Razzie were outside drawing a big "scene" together and as you can see I think ZZ sat right down in the middle of the sky! Razzie got such a kick out of discovering the sun on ZZ's rear. Good thing it wipes off, too bad the feet of his jammies aren't as easy to repair. The theme this week at I Heart Faces is chalk. You should check out all the other great entries at www.iheartfaces.com!

i heart faces-smirk

So, I sat my dad down and told him I'd like snap some pictures of him with two of his precious granddaughters, but little did he know that I'd told them to sneak in some kisses just as I was about to take the shot. I love how you can tell they are smirking, even though you can't even see their smiles. Their eyes tell the story! This week's theme at I Heart Faces is of course-SMIRK! There are some really great interpretations of this theme, so head on over and check them out!

i heart faces-vroom vroom

The kiddos love pushing their little brother around the house on that car. Good thing he is a daredevil! The theme at I Heart Faces this week is Vroom Vroom. How fun! Make sure you head over to www.iheartfaces.com to check all the other awesome and creative entries this week!

i heart faces-photojournalism

I love this picture from Steve's homecoming. Words can't describe how wonderful it was to greet my husband after a year long deployment, but the look on Razzie's face says it all. I love the way she's resting on his gear, and you can almost hear the thoughts going on in her little 5 year old head. It's as if she is looking up to heaven and saying, "Thanks, God, for making my family whole again." A feeling of joy, yes, but more than that, RELIEF, and oh, how's she's hugging his bags... If I could pick one picture that symbolizes the sentiment of our entire little family on that day, this would be it. I'm entering this photo at I Heart Faces for this week's theme, Photojournalism. Head over to www.iheartfaces.com to see all the other wonderful entries this week.

i heart faces-pets only

This week at i heart faces(www.iheartfaces.com) is all about pets. This is my wonderful nephew-dog, George. He belongs to my sister, Kim, and her family. He is such a character, we had so much fun with him during our visit to Dallas. Check out all the other great pet photos at i heart faces!

i heart faces-teens

This week's contest at I Heart Faces (www.iheartfaces.com) is all about teens! This is a photo of my beautiful niece, Tessa. The kids and I recently took a road trip to Dallas, and we were able to watch Tessa practice with her club softball team. We really enjoyed watching her, and I am so impressed with her dedication to the sport. It's great for my little ones see their big cousin work so hard at something, and I'm happy for her that all that hard work seems to be paying off! Stop by I Heart Faces to check out many more fabulous teens!

i heart faces-babies

This week at i heart faces (www.iheartfaces.com) the theme is babies.  I love the look in ZZ's eyes....after being bracketed by 3 girl cousins/sisters on either side of him, his face says it all.  "I finally got a baby brother, and boy do I love him!"  I also love how baby Gus is holding on to ZZ,  "Okay, big brother, you better take care of me!" Things aren't always perfect in the sibling world, but I think it's important to remember moments like these and remind ourselves (and them) that at the heart of things there is only love.

i heart faces-play

This week's theme at i heart faces (www.iheartfaces.com) is PLAY!  We were in the middle of movie night this weekend when Gus got a little bored and decided to go outside, and pretty soon my kiddos plus two of their close friends started parading down our street, complete with American Flag to start things off!  Preparing for the 4th, perhaps?  Nonetheless, it was a beautiful evening, and what a perfect way to spend it...playing!

i heart faces-soles 4 souls

This week I Heart Faces (www.iheartfaces.com) is bringing attention to the Non-profit Organization, Soles 4 Souls.  The kids and I actually read about these folks right after the tragedy in Haiti.  My kiddos collected a bag of shoes that has been sitting in a corner of my bedroom since then..  I always have good intentions I swear! The first photo above  shows some of those shoes, and THIS week we are going to drop them off at a local collection station...guess I need to work on my follow through.  The second photo was Ellie's (my 10 year old) idea when I told her that this week's theme was about feet and shoes.  She collected all her younger siblings and posed them (well their feet)  so I could snap this picture.  She recently won honorable mention in a  photography competition for a local non-profit here in San Antonio.  The girl has got an eye, I'd say! I can't believe all those toes grew in my belly, and gosh are they getting big!

i heart faces-yellow

Yellow is the theme at I Heart Faces (www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com) this week. So many fun and cheerful pics have been submitted! This is my baby, Gus, on his 2nd birthday last week. Big sister, Papa, and big brother all have had birthdays in the last month, so by the time his came around he was ready to be the star of the show! The best part was watching his three older siblings revel in HIS celebration. They were completely content to be on the giving side of things this time. Sure makes me feel like I'm doing something right!

Dear Kids

Well, my sweet kiddos...this blog was supposed to about the year that your papa was deployed to the Middle East. I was going to write about all of our wonderful and sometimes not so wonderful adventures. I was going to write down all the cute things you said, I was going to write about all the craziness that ensues when you are one parent down and mom is outnumbered 4 to 1. I was going to write about how all said adventures/mishaps have resulted in numerous life lessons and personal growth for yours truly. Well, as you know Papa left last July, and this is the first time I have actually written anything down. Things haven't turned out quite like I've planned. I've lowered my expectations and this is what it boils down to: Survival. That's it. My hopes are that when your papa comes back in July that we are all still here, healthy and happy that he's home. This year has been tougher than I have ever imagined(more about that later), but the good news is we are almost done...well, done for now anyway. Hopefully, Ellie, ZZ, Razzie and Gus, from this first post you have learned at least one thing. It's never too late to start something, to change your course and try to accomplish what you've set out to accomplish. I love you all more than you could ever imagine. Here's to new or should I say delayed beginnings? Cheers!

i heart faces-faces and flowers

This is my entry for this week's contest at i heart faces (www.iheartfaces.com). Razzie LOVES flowers! There are so many beautiful wildflowers that bloom in spring here in Texas, and as we would drive around she would look out the window at them and ask (on a daily basis) if we could stop and pick some. I would always promise her-"yes, sweetie, one day soon, I promise," and on this day I finally did it-I stopped. She ran around and pick flowers to her heart's content. It turned out to be such a special moment for both of us, and it felt wonderful to make good on a promise. I love that girl!

I heart faces-Mom's Day-5.10.2010

This is the pic I've entered for the I Heart Faces photo contest (www.iheartfaces.com). So many great images, what a great way to celebrate the mamas!