Random Summer Pictures

Here are some random images from this summer (and NOT in order because that takes too much time).

Josh sliding into third at the all-stars games in Dyersburg.

Photo by my mom at the creek. Don't they look like they love each other??

This is how long Ellie's hair was right before she cut it. She loves to read about "Francis". I love it too because I remember it from when I was a little girl.

Josh's 13 year old Allstar team

Josh and Ellie swimming in the pool in Dyersburg. It was the first time Ellie had been back in a pool since her trauma -- swimming lessons.

Josh in Dyersburg.

"Model" Ellie showing off mama's sunglasses -- right after she got her hair braided. ADORABLE!

Ellie "chillaxing" at the ballpark on one of her favorite "blankies".

Josh on second base -- ready!

"THE" Haircut -- I called it the modified mullet.

Ellie's haircut afterwards. She is celebrating at her friend Natalie's birthday party.

Josh (#74) at the first scrimmage of the season.

WOW -- Life is going so quickly!!

I have taken a two week hiatus from work. I needed the time to get our life back together, back on track and ready for school. I have worked at this job for nine years and don't remember EVER having two weeks off. I'm beyond excited. Of course, not getting paid won't be such a great thing, but there is more important things right now that need to get done.

So, I'm doing a quickie blog post to try to cram everything in our lives in one post. Possible? Probably not.

Summer has flown by so quickly that I would swear we didn't get one. School starts back next week for Josh and on the 23rd for Ellie. I think she is looking forward to getting back to her friends. Josh, not so much.

Summer held lots of time at the baseball park with Josh. He was chosen to play on the All-Star team this year and we travelled to Dyersburg for the State tournaments. We didn't place, but the boys did well and it was fun going, being with friends and getting away a little bit.

Kevin has a new job and it allows him to work from home. Of course, he still works in the field quite a bit, but his primary base of operations is a home office. We have YET to get the office cleared out to make him an "appropriate" office, but hopefully during my two weeks off we can get that done.

Consignment has been going hot and heavy and I have completed two and have two more to go before Fall season is over for me. I'm glad to report they have spread them out some so I'm not doing back to back to back. I have gotten some great finds for Ellie's fall clothes. We haven't been looking for any toys or large items this time because the girl has more than she can/will play with. As a matter of fact, we are trying to weed things down some.

Speaking of Ellie, she had a riot of passage this summer when she cut her hair. I was working consignment and she was upstairs while Kevin was working. Later that evening we found the PILE of hair all around her room. This was a Sunday. I was SICK to my stomach. Rebecca, who cuts our hair, was off on Monday but I called and begged and she made a special trip in to cut it Monday evening. Ellie is now sporting an ever-so-cute little wedge/bob cut. She pulls it off incredibly, but the first day she went to MDO, she wore a hat and wouldn't take it off. I think we are past that now, but occasionally she mentions how she wants long hair again.

Josh has now started middle school football and that has been a totally new experience. We have been so spoiled with such a great team with the Vikings that this year's change has been ... interesting. Not bad, really, just different. I suppose I don't do change well. We've had one scrimmage and another for Monday night before we open the season. I'll reserve judgment for a few weeks about how I think the team will do this year. I think it's too early to tell.

And, like the blink of an eye, summer passed and so did Josh's middle school years. Seems like it was yesterday he started middle school and now this will be his last year (8th grade). Don't blink, someone said. I get it.

We are all still dealing with the loss of my dad in January this year. Yes, I suppose it gets "easier" if you will, but it still hits hard sometimes and at the craziest moments. Today it was while I was clipping coupons and saw one for Efferdent. I used to pass those on to my mom for him.

I started my photography business this year, Maria Latham Photography, and am pleased with how it is coming along. It is one of the other reasons I needed to have small break -- to get some things done/caught up there. I am hopeful it will continue to grow because it is something I truly LOVE to do -- it is my passion. It is where I can experience creativity and get lost in myself and my work. It makes me happy and proud.

So, that's pretty much all that has gone on with us, I suppose. Somehow, life stays REALLY busy to just be this much. I joke and say that I didn't realize that I would have the "Hormone Trifecta" going on in my house -- a 13 year old going through puberty, a 3 year old asserting her drama/defiance/independence and a 40 (something!!) who has been hit with hot flashes that could take down the best of them. Life is ALWAYS interesting in our house. Is it hot in here to anyone else??

Easter 2011

(This is a back post since I am so behind).

I spent a lot of time before Easter wondering how it would be. One of my favorite and most recent memories of my dad was from Easter last year. We had lunch at our house and then afterwards we had egg hunts for the kids and daddy went outside to fly kites with the kids. It was just a sweet day.

This year, Kevin's mom took us out to eat for Easter the weekend before Easter and mom took us out to eat on Easter. By the way, if you go to Red Lobster on Easter Sunday in the middle of a tornado warning, there will not be a wait to get a table. File that away for future reference.

It was a rainy kind of morning and I didn't get any really good photos of the kiddos before (or after) church.








The Easter bunny came and brought goodies to both Josh and Ellie. I love this little outfit Ellie was wearing. Her Aunt Rhonda got it for her and while it's not pjs, she likes to wear it as pjs. Check out the hair too!






Josh looks like he just rolled out of bed -- oh wait, he did!






When we got home, we had our annual egg hunt. We have separate hunts for Josh and for Ellie. Josh hides Ellies and this year we let Ellie help hide Josh's eggs.

Even though it is blurry, I love this picture of Ellie RUNNING down the hill toward an egg. She does everything with wild abandon!







Josh thought he was clever hiding Ellie's eggs in the back of her tricycle.





MeeMee helped Ellie find a few eggs.




Josh won't think the reporting of this is funny, but MAN, it was funny. While he was trying to find his eggs, he hit a muddy spot (from the rains earlier in the day) and his feet flew out from under him and down he went. I think we were all shocked and just stared at him for a bit before I managed to ask him if he was ok.













I love seeing smiles on his face -- they seem really rare these days.




And look at THIS face!! He's such a jokester sometimes.





In honor of Daddy, Josh and Kevin tried to fly Josh's new kite. They got it up once really well and then it crash landed.

Is it just me or am I too sheltered?

Today I had to stop in a less than savory part of town to buy gas. I was so far down past "E" I was afraid I couldn't make it much further down the road, so I stopped at a station where I would not have normally stopped. I went in -- another thing I normally wouldn't do -- because I was thirsty and wanted to get some water.

As I was standing there waiting to pay, I glanced around at some of the "offerings" in the store. Keep in mind I had already passed a c*nd*m display on my way to the register. Then I saw the magazine stand. Of course, I was not nearly as shocked at the girly magazines as I was the one I saw on the bottom of the stand: The High Times. Again, I needed that video camera following me around as they watched the cogs in my head start to turn.

I am pretty sure that my mouth fell open as I stood there.

Cover story from this issue: Build Your Ultimate Grow Room. Really? No. Can't be, I think to myself.

I'm a little naive. I'm wondering (seriously) if this is a gardening magazine. I'm trying to see the photo on the cover to see what it is (it IS a plant after all; it might be broccoli or something).

Another heading confused me a little more: Grow Big Buds in Small Spaces. Ok, so this is a FLOWER magazine, right???

The bottom story title: Stoner Conservatives. I'm starting, at this point, to think it might not be a gardening magazine. I didn't DARE go pick it up because what if the police come in while I'm perusing The High Times. I resolve to go home and investigate more.

I leave the store wondering HOW in the WORLD they can be selling a magazine about m*riju*na in a CONVENIENCE STORE????? It's illegal to buy, sell and grow here so how can there be a magazine detailing how to do it. I ponder this the entire time I pump gas. And then, of course, it leaves me until I get home and bring it up with Kevin.

I came home and googled it to see if that was really what it was (still holding hope on the gardening angle). I told Kevin that should I die and they search my computer to PLEASE make sure he told them why I was googling this magazine. It is billed as the voice of the m*riju*na community. Seriously? Wow.

I am too sheltered, I think. I like it in my little bubble.

Cicada Drama

I am SUCH a girl.

Cicadas have hit Middle Tennessee. For those of you who don't have a clue what a cicada is, here is a photo of one.

Mealy looking creatures aren't they? It's been thirteen years since they were in the Middle Tennessee area, and honestly, I don't really remember them. That's not surprising since I don't remember what I had for dinner last night either.

My understanding is they can number up to 1.5 million per acre. I saw or heard most of that 1.5 million today and the ones I didn't see or hear hit my windshield as I drove down the road. I could actually SEE piles of them dead on the interstate. Eewwwww... gross.

Cicadas live on tree roots underground for 13 years then crawl out, shedding their shells (which is what I've been crunching on as I've walked through yards the last week) and then this week they've begun to "sing" (the males' mating call). Overall, I suppose they are harmless, except ....

They might cause you to hurt yourself, or, oh, I don't know, jump out of your car with it still rolling ... or something. I'm just saying.

Today as I was driving to my next house, I noticed something (large) black on my white skirt. I immediately figured out it was a cicada. Now, surprisingly, I didn't scream or jump or anything. I reached over, grabbed my work camera and snapped a picture of it (thinking I might gross out Beth Collins with the picture). Turns out it was blurry. Oh well.

And then it moved.
And that's where things went south.

I could see the street I was turning on. I was running mental calculations at record speed to see if I thought I could get to that road and pull over before this MONSTER BUG climbed further up my skirt and might even start flying around my face.

I pulled in to the road just as bug-eyes made his move up my leg in rapid form. I jumped out of the car with GREAT intentions of flipping him off my skirt and then getting back in the car and going on. It was THEN I realized that I didn't put the car in park AND it was sitting on a hill. If the mental calculations were fast before, they were lightning speed at this point. I'm sure there was steam flying out of my ears as I jumped BACK in the car, putting on the brake, putting the car in park and jumping RIGHT BACK OUT as I saw that the darned cicada was still attached to my skirt and climbing his way back up.

I managed to get back out without letting him loose in the car, flicked him off, got back in the car and realized that if I had ONLY had a video camera handy, I could have been $10,000 richer because this HAD to have been a RIOT to watch.

I don't like cicadas.

New Look - Fresh Start

I should be entering paperwork. I should be picking up all the little magnet letters all over the floor, including the one I just fished out of the recliner while looking for the remote. But my heart screams, "BLOG" so I am.

I miss my blog. I miss "thinking" in blog style. I miss being able to look back over the past months' entries and watching our lives.

I've missed a lot in the last several months, but it hasn't been any less full; if anything, it is due to the fullness of my life that I haven't had (didn't take) time to blog.

I think, in all honesty, I've attempted my best to deal with my dad's death by making myself astronomically busy. If I were busy before, I've become off the charts lately.

After spending several months not knowing quite what to do with myself, I decided it was time to get my photography business up and running and to put in the attention it deserved. To that end, I have launched my own business, Maria Latham Photography and have honestly been thoroughly enjoying it. Of course, I still have my primary job (insurance inspections), and my real job (mom), which takes up a wee bit of my time as well. But this has been something I feel passionate about.

Josh spent his first season playing soccer as a Sycamore Middle School Knight. It was nice to be back with some of the people we started out with in sports with Josh's early on soccer years. Since then, he has done spring training with the Knights football team. He is such a great football player. I love to see him do well on the field. I love to watch him play. Football is over (it was just a two week spring program) until fall training starts in July. Even before it was over, baseball practice started. We have our first game Saturday. Since it is 13/14 league, I think we will travel a bit more than we did in year's past.

Ellie has really come into her own in the last several months, especially since turning three. I think my last post was on the eve of her birthday and party. I will try to post some photos catching up on her birthday, Easter and a few other fun things we have done in the last few months. I can't get over how long her hair is finally getting and how beautiful it is. It has the most beautiful highlights and easy curl. She has really developed a mind of her own. She likes to pick out her own clothes most all the time. Her preference: tutus or ballerina clothes. I've tried to get her signed up for a dance class but have been hitting a dead end on all turns it seems. She is definitely going to be something artistic. She loves music, dancing, being dramatic and commanding attention of others. She has done so well in preschool this year, and tomorrow night is her preschool graduation/promotion ceremony. Her class is singing several songs -- should be fun!!

During the past several months, Kevin lost his job -- only to be rehired back by the same company. We aren't sure how long this will last, so he continues to look for another job that is more suited to his background and education as well as one that is closer to home.

So much more to write and report. I think I'll just update the blog with some new photos from our lives over the last few months.

Ellie's Birthday Party

A Strawberry Shortcake Themed Party that was fit for a Princess!

Chef Ellie helped bake her birthday cake -- a strawberry cake made from scratch that was YUMMY. Does she look happy about this process or what??

And let me say that I won't EVER be quitting my job to go into cake decorating. I waited too late to get Kenya to do Ellie's birthday cake (she had a wedding) and so I decided I could make a fondant icing Strawberry Shortcake cake all by myself. What WAS I THINKING???

My mother in law, Mary, came for the party and helped the night before. It took two of us and we still didn't do a great job of putting the fondant on. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning trying to get the cake just right. You'll see the final result a little farther down the page.
Here is a sweet picture of Ellie with Aunt Jeanne.

The train table was a bit hit with all the kiddos.

This screams, "It's my party and I'll pout if I want to" doesn't it???

It was a riot watching these three boys all sitting in the floor glued to the Strawberry Shortcake movie.

This was one of the two tables of goodies we had to eat: cupcakes with strawberry filling, strawberry Crush soda, strawberry lemonade, chocolate covered pretzel sticks, sweet and sour meatballs, chili cheese dip, strawberry "whoopie pies", cake balls, spinach artichoke dip, BLT dip, peanut butter/jelly sandwiches (mini-shaped sized), and a veggie tray.

Ellie's BFF, Addie, was checking out one of Ellie's presents from Ava.

AND .... the previosly mentioned cake...

Crazy, that's all I can say. But, Ellie loved it, and that is all that mattered in the end. I mean, look at this face.

Blowing out three sweet candles.

Wonder if she wished for anything?

Ellie and Maverick are definitely cut from the same cloth -- go, go, go and play, play and play.

Katherine and Princess Ellie

"I'd like to phone a friend."

It was a lot of fun for Ellie!! She had great friends around to help her celebrate; she got so many wonderful presents AND she had cake. We had a great day celebrating this little one's life.

My facebook status the day before her birthday read:

Somewhere in Kyrgyzstan, it's already 3/29 and a mama is certainly thinking about a birth three years ago. I hope, in her heart, she can somehow know how VERY MUCH I love this child, what a wonderful life she has and what a blessed gift she was to our family. I wish I could tell her.

I'll leave you with a funny quote from Ellie from the day before her birthday:

"Pink is not my favorite color anymore." Ellie

"Really? What is your favorite color?" Me

"SPARKLES" Ellie

Her new nickname? Sparkles Latham

Ahh... the life of a girl who likes sparkles.