Monday, July 02, 2007

Happy 4th! (Not sure you'll remember me!)

I had all the best intentions, really I did. I've been meaning to post all kinds of updates. The bad thing is the longer I waited, the more things had happened and the more there was to update....so the longer I waited. It was one of those vicious circles, I'm afraid. So I finally had to jump on in and I figured the 4th of July was a good reason (excuse?!) to do that!

A quick recap of the past 2 weeks:
After I returned home, and beyond the jet lag (and yes, to those I promised sharing AUS photos, they will eventually make their appearance here...cross my heart!)...there was Father's Day and Turner's Birthday. And since T's bday was the day after Father's day, we celebrated the same day. We went to a petting zoo, had pizza and, after I got through with it, an upside down cake. It didn't start out that way - it began life as a very cute spiderman cake, complete with web. Of course I have no pics of that to proove it as it soon landed on my mom's wood deck. Thank goodness Turner took it better than I did!

So the actual day of his birthday, we had his t-ball game. All the boys were laying down trying to rest up for it as the games go on pretty late in the evening when we hear this thud and before we can get to the stairs, Ethan is flying down them crying, "Carson is hurt and is bleeding bad!" So not what you want to hear. As Hoyte and I rush to him, we can see the blood pouring from his head. Yep...he decided to take the words literally to "5 little monkeys" and did his darndest to re-inact that song. So Mama called the doctor and the doctor said we had to come in quickly for some stitches. Poor thing.
He looks so sad and pitiful here, but I promise after the whole sewing process was over, he was his normal self and never looked back! (He was even a trooper when we had them out 4 days later!)
After that, things became a whirlwind with the upcoming CHA show and other work-related activities which show little to no signs of slowing, which hopefully somewhat explains my lack of posting.

But yesterday was the annual Preher 4th of July Bash (early this year as it's always held the Saturday before the 4th)...it's the event we look forward to all year. Amy and Scott always put on the most amazing, kid-friendly day. Everyone has a fabulous time - especially the kids! Things don't get started until about 4:00 in the afternoon, but they last until the wee hours. Ok, not so much for us - we're the lightweights who head home at 11:00, but still, it's always an amazing day!

We had food galore, kareoke, water balloons, sack races, volleyball, horseshoes, trampoline, bouncer, pool - you name it, it was there. And then when it got dark, there were the mandatory sparklers and fireworks show.













(Btw, the little redheaded cutie is my friend's daughter, Emma....don't you wish you had that hair??!)I think there were a total of at least 25-30 children, the majority of them my kids' ages. Turner had his best friend from preschool there and Ethan and Carson soon found some buddies to hang with too. They were like a swarm as they went from one activity to another. It was a riot to watch. They didn't want to go home when we finally pulled them away at about 11:00 that night. Already we can't wait for next year.

Happy 4th to all of you. Be safe and try to stay cool :) (P.S. This is my one year blog-iversary! I didn't realize that my first post was the 4th pictures from last year, so I feel a little RAK coming on. Drop me a comment with your name and what you did on the 4th and I'll enter your name to win a little something. Not sure yet what it'll be, but I'll figure that out here shortly! I'll leave this open until Saturday the 7th at midnight EDT and draw for the winner on Sunday!)

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

great pictures. glad to see you're back posting!

Lea L. said...

Those are adorable 4th photos Kelly...they will make for a great layout!! Glad you had a great time, and hope you are enjoying yourself through your busy time!

Have a great day!
~Lea Lawson

Anonymous said...

Oh Kelly!! 5 little monkeys!! poor Baby!! and prro mommy! Both Anna Claire and Jackson have had stitches... not my most favorite things, but I will tell you what Thomas' best friend told me when Jackson decided to be a monkey....... "chicks dig scars!"

I kid you not ;) I LOVE your photos! I so wish that you would tell me your secret for getting such great shots!!

Happy 4th!

Unknown said...

So sorry about Carson! What a little trooper! (he sounds so much like my youngest! They get hurt and then they bounce right back!)
Love all your pictures ... always do.
Well, we already celebrated up here in Canada - on the 1st. We kept the kiddos up late (11 pm) to watch 15 minutes of fireworks. they were so excited but completely grumpy today!! SO MUCH FUN!

Micaela said...

Not remember you? As if! :P Great pics Kel, thanks for sharing!

Can't wait to see those Aussie pics! ;)

Anonymous said...

Happy 4th of July! Here in Canada we celebrated our holiday on July 1st Canada Day! Love reading your blog and seeing your beautiful work.

Valerie

Christi said...

great shots, Kelly!
I'm going into Boston to see the Pops and the Fireworks. I've always wanted to go so I'm excited!!

Anonymous said...

Your pics are CUTE- what a nice family!

Angela Daniels

april said...

Happy 4th Kelly! Looks like you had a great time!

Rita S. said...

Love the photos Kelly - and your work! Your layouts in "finding your groove" POP out at me everytime!
Every year for the 4th I look forward to a trip to my sister's with the kids - she's the only sib with kids close to the same age. Her town has the BEST parade ever, and of course there are fireworks and way too much food!

Heather said...

love those pictures! We had some similar ones with a BBQ! My pics didn't turn out nearly as well though- need the secret. :)

Patricia said...

What great photos! Sounds like you had a great time! My favorite part of the 4th was watching my kids make s'mores! We tried the Paula Dean recipe with chocolate chip cookies and bananas! Yum!

Anonymous said...

that little redhead is a doll! :)

Anonymous said...

Happy 4th to you too. We celebrated with a family picnic and ended the evening with homemade icecream, smores and watermelon. Can you say bellyache?

nic said...

i scrapped. lol

Michelle Payne said...

So many great pics I can't decide which are my favorite. Awesome firework shots. Those can so hard to get. We probably ended up with five great ones out of 30!

Paula said...

Awesome pictures! Our 4th included food, family and fireworks.

I really enjoy your work!

Allison said...

what a little trooper you have. he is pretty adorable in the stitches photo though.

i spent my 4th at a cardinals baseball game (yay!!) then we watched the fireworks show afterwards. so much fun!

Lisa J. said...

Great photos. Sorry to hear about your baby getting stitches. Sounds like things have been crazy for you. Hope life calms down a little for ya. Love that little red head Emma. I have a red head curly haired Emma too but she is 7. Can't wait to see AUS pictures. My 4th was ok. Did fireworks at IL's but mostly during day as I had to be at work at 6:45 the following am. I know I am boring. LOL

Theresa Tyree said...

Did you get those shots with Bella? Those are fantastic! Poor little Carson. Oh, to be a boy...

Will you be at CHA? I hope so! I'd love to get me another Kelly fix. Hee hee!!
Theresa

Theresa Tyree said...

I forgot to add, I love those cute painted tatoo. Connor had one on his face too. So tell me, did you Karaoke? We went to the city park to watch the fireworks. I took a few shots of Connor playing. Right when the light show began, my camera battery went dead, so I didn't get any great fireworks shots like you did. I was wanting to try that out this year. Oh well, I guess I'll learn to check my battery next time. :o(

Kay said...

Hey Kelly! Glad to see you posting again. Sounds like you've been busy! We went to the fireworks on the fourth with family members and had a blast.

Kelly Goree Photography said...

Thanks Everyone for your posts :)

I'll announce a winner in the morning!

Jana said...

WONDERFUL pics.....good to see you back!!

mimi said...

Poor little monkey !
i hope he is ok now.
can't wait to see your pictures of australia, i loved your classes there. i just saw the layout you did with the koala, it's so cute.
take care
Mimi