granny does your dog bite? no, child, no.

sweet cheeks has music class once a week at school. she absolutely loves this class. i really think she takes after her dad in so many ways. one being her love for music, instruments, and singing.

sweet cheeks and i were laying on her bed last night after what turned into a 40 minute bedtime tantrum. she had finally calmed down enough for us to talk about our day's events, which we do nightly.

she told me that her music teacher brought in "something like a violin that you play on your shoulder but it is called a fiddle." i love hearing her fascination with new things and new words. it really makes everything so new to me as well, hearing it with her fresh tone.

suddenly, i couldn't help but think of the song "the devil went down to georgia" as the only example of a fiddle-playing song. there has got to be others (probably all by the charlie daniels band) but i can't think of them.

after a quick second of singing the song to myself, i realized it probably isn't a good one to be sharing with sweet cheeks. not just yet anyway.

she was hit in the face with a mint... that's what i said

we had a great holiday weekend.

the fourth of july rocked for us. we started saturday off with a parade. sweet cheeks was so excited for it as she remembered the stash of candy she received last year. so she was smart this time and brought an extra, empty purse with her for collecting candy. she got lots. she was even pegged in the head with a mint! poor girl. it actually made her cry and left a bruise!

after the parade, we went for some fun kid activities. unfortunately, we got there way too late and the only thing for the kids to do was face painting.

sweet cheeks jumped right into the chair and said, "i will have a butterfly with pink, red, and white." the girl knows what she wants.

here she is all smiles- face paint & snow cone (cup) in hand.



we walked to see the fireworks. again, it was wonderful.

here is the husband pulling sweet cheeks in her wagon (which we only use once a year, and the fourth of july is it)



me, sweet cheeks, and her hot fudge sundae. nothing says happy birthday america more than a mcdonalds sundae.



here is the moment. this was absolutely my most favorite part of the fireworks. i do not think of myself as the weepy, emotional type but this did me in. i wanted to make this moment last forever. seeing sweet cheeks sitting on her daddy's lap watching the fireworks, he all smiles while pulling her hair out of her face, and the both of them intently staring ahead. i could not take my eyes off of them. it was a moment i seriously wanted to freeze in time to allow me to take in every possible thing that my 5 senses would allow. i was so happy in that very instant. that was all it took.

wordless wednesday

sweet cheeks + steak n shake hat + camera = bobblehead

you’re a little late, i’m already torn

we all have our own thought process.

we are all entitled to our own beliefs, attitudes, and opinions.

i do think that a majority of our beliefs are not necessarily our beliefs at all, rather are passed on from generation to generation, from grandparent to parent to child, through genetics and example.

i know that once we, ourselves, enter into adulthood, we have the choice to change who we are and change our own personal beliefs and opinions. i think a lot of that happens naturally with exposure to the world and experiences.

i changed as i aged. though i still see so many similarities between my parents and myself, i also now see so many differences. i did not rush out into the adult world with the intention to change myself, it was just a natural progression with life.

one thing that is still similar, and won’t ever change, is the fact that we both want to provide for our children to the absolute best of our ability and instill values within them.

i am torn as to just how much of our own opinions we are allowed to teach our children as being exact and correct.

i am a mother, and without words, sweet cheeks knows so much about me, my thoughts, my beliefs, and my opinions through my behavior and actions. i am ok with this because, though far from perfect, i know i do my best to be a good person, as well as a good example.

what do you do when you know parents, who may be very good parents, but their opinions of others different from themselves are so poor, and those exact opinions and attitudes towards others are now being expressed through their children?

do you say something to the parent?

do you say something to the children?

or… do you keep your mouth shut, say nothing, and impatiently wait for that child to grow, experience, and eventually form their own opinions?



i welcome comments, so please share them.

a life in balance

i really believe in the yin & yang of life. sweet cheeks is the complimentary balance to my stressful moods.

she makes me smile.

i thank her and love her so much for that.

family matters

sweet cheeks was fortunate to spend a lot of time with her cousins this past weekend.

friday night we had dinner out with my sister, her husband, and their two kids to celebrate my sister's birthday. after dinner, we took the kids to get ice cream and they had so much fun playing chase and having races.

the kiddos on the bench outside the ice cream parlor. they have so much fun together, as seen by those happy faces.




saturday, sweet cheeks and i made the two hour drive up to my parent's house to see my dad for father's day(sadly he wasn't feeling that well that day). my sister was there with her kids, and 3 of my brother's 4 kids were also there. so sweet cheeks had a great day playing with 5 of her 8 cousins.

here she is on the porch swing with her cousins and her uncle jeremy!



sweet cheeks took this picture of me with my mom. my shirt looks weird because i had to try to photoshop my weird, tori-spelling-like cleavage out of the picture. not sure how that happened!



sunday, sweet cheeks, the dogs, and i were all out in the front yard for a short stint of time. none of us could take more than 5 minutes in the 90 degree heat. it was brutal. i was quick though to try to get some good swing shots of sweet cheeks!

here she is swinging, while the dogs were lounging! you have to squint to see bodi there in the way background. blue always lays in the same spot.. in the way!



adorable in her new orange and white carter's dress.