“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
-David Viscott
"A grand adventure is about to begin."
– Winnie the Pooh
"Together is my favorite place to be."
"”Spontaneity is the best kind of adventure”
"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."
-Mother Teresa
"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."
-Angela Schwindt
"Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
— Zelda Fitzgerald
“To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.”
― Mark Twain
“Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.”
Fall is here! Which means it's time for some corn mazes and a visit to your local pumpkin patch. Our big ol' blended family and our friends went to Barton Hills Farms in Bastrop this last weekend to get in on some fall festivites, eat some BBQ, and paint our faces.
"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
— When Harry Met Sally
This engagement session has a little more than meets the eye. These two beautiful people, along with their pup, announced to the world that not only are they going to marry each other, but their going to have a baby!
Welcome to the world, Oliver!
When it's still 90+ degrees outside in October AND your big kids have a day off from school, what kind of activity do you plan? Any kind of outdoor exploration with SWIMMING!
Reimer's Ranch had been on my list of places to visit, as we have not been there since before 2010. With the beautiful Pedernales River flowing through, coupled with all the beautiful flora+fauna and insect friends, it was a perfect spot to have a weekday adventure with our friends.
Austin is one of those festival cities. You know, where most of your favorite musicians and bands show up to a play a 3 day festival and everyone and their Mom's dog shows up from all over the globe to see them play. Most of the locals have accepted their city's festival fate by either participating, ignoring, or leaving town.
This last Friday, I went to go see KUTx's Live at the Four Seasons ACL showcase. With local names like Lincoln Durham, Gina Chavez, Walker Lukens & The Sidearms, and Israel Nash, it was definately something I did not want to miss. Aside from the amazing music, can we talk about the grounds of the Four Seasons hotel? It's beautiful with its lake front lot and hammocks spread about. There was such lush flora and fauna, the kiddos and adults alike were climbing trees and spread out on the lawn. I could see how it was a first pick venue.
$10 dollars bought me my admission, copious amounts of coffee, a breakfast taco, a granola bar, time spent with good friends, and a front seat to some awesome music. Did I mention that all of the proceeds go to the Seton Shivers Cancer Center? Best $10 spent, ever.
I'm going to be honest. I never thought I would be a football mom. It's not my THING. Growing up in California where the culture of football season is not so widely broadcasted and without a family member who watched sports, football was not even something that was on my radar. Nevertheless, you cannot escape football in Texas. Football permeates the air in the Fall. It's essence is palpable and even electric. Some might even argue that people live, eat, and breathe football in Texas. I don't think I could dispute that.
Despite personal ignorance of the sport and lack of interest, football just happened to be my son's THING. Out of the array of things he was exposed to and given opportunities to experience, this was what he chose (or did it choose him?). Believe me, it didn't happen without hesitation or even a bit of dissent on my part. However, after many years of flag football, the pads came and tackle football somehow got stuck into my son's heart. What's a mama to do? Well, you show up. At every game-- I show up. I hold my breath when players (on any team) get hurt, and I root for his team. I might even admit that I kinda like it. Maybe after all these years watching my boy play a game he loves and knows so much about, the love of the sport snuck in my heart too. Perhaps it's just love of the boy. Yeah, probably that.
This particular game was their team's second game and Homecoming. The first game of the season was defeating: too many injuries for his teammates and a big loss with no points on the board. It was a hard beginning to recover from. However, this game was different. After playing some arduous quarters with NO injuries on the field--VICTORY! They WON!
(Score: 40-0)
Life has slowed down a bit since making it back home from our travels. On this particular day, we headed to our neighborhood park for a quick swing and slide down the BIG slide. Our littlest has begun riding her tricycle more and more. I think she will be taking off in no time!
Another thing we saw at the park: BEES! It is always a pleasure of mine to shoot still lifes of plants, insects, and animals. This vine first attracted me because of its heart shaped leaves. As I got closer, I saw these hardworking bees dancing around in the pollen. They were kind enough to let me photograph them. (No person was stung during this encounter!)
