insta spring 2014

what better way to catch up than a good ol' fashioned phone dump. 

if you show up at our home and no one answers the door, we are most likely in the backyard. the hammock is a family favorite as it has been for years. i remember laying in it pregnant with tucker and grey napping beside me under the trees. now the five us pile in together. 

there are always critters to be caught. the boys were on the hunt for a skink.

second to the adventures in the woods, the trampoline holds it's popularity around here. 

kite flying. i can't help but smile when we do this. there is just something about seeing the wind take it up and flutter all around up next to the clouds. maybe it's that i wish i could do the same.

a field of weeds brought hours of entertainment for all of us.

if i could only remember and document all of the things we catch. our most recent was this beautiful butterfly! tuck remains our resident bug and critter expert. he's usually deep in the woods on a hunt. 

grey bear is learning daily about being the biggest brother. i am so grateful for him and his leadership in our family. i see his tender heart changing constantly as he steps up in big ways around here. 

he and annabelle are still such good friends. so grateful for their relationship.

grey ran in the fun run at school last friday. we cheered him on even ran a few laps with him. we were very impressed with his endurance. he ran close to 2.5 miles in the end! what we enjoyed most was watching him have so much fun while doing it.

tuck bomb. this boy is just an absolute blast to live life with. there is nothing but adventure waiting around every turn with him. he keeps life fun and always very interesting. i have so much to say about this little one. good thing his birthday is coming up because he'll have a post all his own. 

reading before bed.

oh tuck and his lila girl. he frequently tells us that they are going to grow up, get married, move into our neighborhood, lila is going to have four of their babies and they are going to get each child a cat. this is a very true story. and it never changes.

tuck has one of the more precious hearts in action i have ever experienced. he is so genuine in every single facet of life. matthew was out of town for a week and tuck asked how he could help me. so i put him on vacuuming the van. he did the entire thing then offered to wipe the inside down. and when he was done with that, asked how else he could help. (he's also a very hard worker and probably did a better job than i would have done) it brought me to tears. 

 he works so hard at everything he does, he still takes a nap every single day.

catching butterflies.

and then there's this guy. he's always up to being silly. his imagination runs wild these days and is tucker's right hand man.

he likes to play in our bathtub. i love to listen to him play.

stinker. that smile. matthew and i have the hardest time sticking to our guns with him. 

this is his good friend luke. we get to go play with him about ever other week. they are in the same mmo class and melissa (his mom) is a good friend of mine.  they play and we talk. i love seeing these relationships develop at such a young age. 

'morning william.

family.

on the way to school one morning will and tuck were belting out a tune and i looked back to find this. will told me "i am just praising the Lord mama." 

there's nothing like taking these boys to clemson. 

all gathered around the table. these times are few and far between but oh so sweet.

bedtime stories with marmie and cousins. 

mendy and i took the kids downtown by way of the train to go to discovery place. we all had a blast! the kids didn't want to leave. we made some really awesome memories and hopefully we will find ourselves doing that again soon. 

we tried a new restaurant in downtown rock hill while my parents were here. the five and dine. it was delicious and they had handcrafted sodas. we all enjoyed daddy's. 

rainy days ALWAYS end up being Lego days.

afternoon. tulips on the table. back door open. and a cute little conversationalist.

i find myself here all too often. wilson's is by far one of my favorite places to just piddle around. and dream of outfitting our yard with all these blooms. sometimes i will just go to walk around with no agenda. i always leave happy and very inspired. i'm pretty sure i went to the correct university for agriculture but seems as though i majored in the wrong thing. sociology won over any agricultural degree. dadgum.