Pulling Teeth: Wednesday Night

Why oh why is trying to get pictures of your own kids like pulling teeth? Just like pulling a loose tooth....it's not painful, it's just aggravating, takes lots of tries and the thought just makes you cringe! I guess I can only speak for myself....but it reminds me of trying to get pictures of my 3 monkeys!

Now a days I prefer the "doing life" shots and that's great cause no one has to pose and it doesn't matter if no one is looking at the camera...it's usually better when not everyone is. BUT, it is nice every once in awhile to get that cute shot of your kids where everyone is looking...it's the one the grands and great grans want for their frame on the TV. It's also the one that leaves everyone feeling unnerved and ready to scream!!!! It's like pulling teeth I tell ya! The anxiety starts well before you even pull the camera out.

I leave you with our well documented attempt at getting "the" picture.

OK, Parker...Anna Claire, come sit down. Let's take a picture.


Peyton....Peyton! Pay attention please...come sit by your brother and sister.

Love each other...OK, smile. Stop choking your brother, LOVE him!

Kids! PLEASE!!!! Pay attention. Parker, scoot closer to your sister.

Anna Claire...look at mommy!

Peyton...please smile normal...K?

Great (insert impatience here). Kids! Now! LOOK. AT. ME!

SIT. STILL....PLEASE!

(if you command please, does it still count as manners?)

Candy for everyone if you listen....(sweet and pleading tone here)

(bribing your kids for pictures isn't all that detrimental...right?)

aaaand...this is "the" shot we got. Classic!

Then you throw in other family members to the mix and you throw in a whole new recipe for....impatience and frustration. Note to adults....when in staged picture with kids....please, Always, ALWAYS look at the camera! It greatly increases the chances we will get "the" picture you want. The one where everyone is smiling pretty and looking directly AT the camera...yeah, just as I thought.

Kids picture with the great grandparents....take 20!

Perfect!

Ummm...not. really. working

(love AC pulling Parker's hair...classic)

There we go...improvment...2 adults looking at the camera!

Aaaaand....we're done! D.O.N.E!

Our option at this point...crop everyone else out of the picture to get a cute shot:)

Pa Pa and his big girl

Pa Pa started asking for a baby girl pretty soon after Chris and I were married. He has 3 grandchildren...ALL boys! No pressure...but he REALLY wanted a baby girl. I remember when we were at the beach with Hannie and Pa Pa one summer. We had been married for 2 1/2 years and not really thinking of kids just yet. I remember a little girl toddling by us at the pool. Pa pa looked over and said, "I'd like one of those one day". Fast forward about 9ish months later and we were 20ish weeks pregnant with twins....finding out they were BOTH BOYS...identical too! I laughed and told Chris he was going to have to be the one to call and tell his Pa Pa the news. I just couldn't bare to tell him. Of course he is crazy about the boys and wouldn't have it any other way. But, boy howdy, I think he did his first back flip the day we told him baby #3 was a GIRL!!!! To this day she is known as "Pa Pa's BIG girl"! We had to change it from "Pa Pa's baby girl" when she became to insistent about the baby part here lately. Having to encourage the potty training you know!

Mommy and Miss Priss

-of all the pictures that turned out...why didn't we take this one at the beach! Go figure!

alligator and sea urchins Day 3 & 4

We just could not have asked for a better week. The weather was perfect! There was so much to see and do. I could have used another week! We're already counting down the days until our beach trip this summer!

There was no shortage of activities at the place we were staying. Tons of kids programs were offered and it was a great way to get the kids out of the sun for awhile. In case you didn't notice...our kids don't have the best skin for tans:)

Parker especially loved the animal man. He brought all kinds of animals for the kids to "pet" and hold. Parker thought it was hilarious when the bull frog peed all over the girl holding it. I'm not so sure she found it that funny. Peyton is NOT an animal person and it was hard keeping him interested. Parker stayed the longest of our 3. As long as it is not a dog, he is all for meeting new animals. Anna Claire is our animal lover. She had been shopping with mommy and Aunt Betsey that morning and had her nap cut short. To say that she was not in the best of moods is a bit of an understatement! You just never know what you're gonna get with a two year old without a nap!

thrilled I tell ya!

Nothing a good snuggle wouldn't fix

The idea of "wimmin" perked her right up!

Peyton was loving the lazy days at the pool

There's my happy girl!

I'm not gonna lie...I'm a beach girl through and through. I can only take so many days at the pool! Purely selfish, I know. It worked out great that we alternated every other day at the beach. The best of both worlds and everyone was happy. I'm the type that likes to open and close the beach...with a good book in hand of course. Thankfully, our kids are taking after their mother. It warms my soul I tell ya. Chris would rather be in the mountains....he's a good sport to follow the rest of us to the beach year after year.

I LOVE the beach with kids....it's so much easier than the pool. You can sit and tan or even sit and read a book as they play for hours in the sand. Ours aren't brave enough to want to venture into the ocean by themselves so it doesn't take much convincing to get them to play in the sand. At the pool you are on CONSTANT vigil especially since ours are not swimmers yet. The beach....you can kick back and relax a bit more. I love getting down and dirty with them too! An endless supply of sand is a dream. An endless supply of sand and toy trucks...well whats a boy to do! So yes, being on the beach is easier with kids...but it's not like I'm twisting their arms to get them there either.

This picture just warms my soul

Thankfully the water was too cold for lots of swimming 'cause these things were everywhere!

sand + trucks = one happy momma

Itsy Bitsy...

Teenie Weenie....baby girl's got her first bikini! Not so sure daddy is real excited about this one:) But whats a girl to do when her great grandma has such good taste and buys you said bikini for your birthday? Enjoy it on the beach I say! Thanks Hannie for my gift. Here are the pictures mommy captured at the beach in my very 1st bikini!

He he he...and this is what happens when you go sans swim diaper:) Let's just say this day helped us jump start potty training!





I just love this little tush!!! You can only get this shot for so many years!

Now you can see why we went without the swim diaper....cause ain't nothing else was fitting in that suit! Her momma can't wear Roxy suits for that same reason!!! They make them soooo tiny! This was a 2T and I'm not so sure we are going to make it all summer. She is not even in 2T clothes...still in her 12-18 months summer clothes from last summer. We grow 'em petite round here. This shows you just how TINY this suit was...and why she will NOT be wearing this brand at 16:)

The boys doing what they love best at the beach

"Oh, that's a bit cold!"

Here's to hopping this is her last summer in a bikini for 30 more years!!!!

Lets go shopping!

The day is here. We have been looking forward to it for many months. Yes, even Chris is excited! Trust me...it takes A LOT to get this boy excited about doing some shopping. Anna Claire, however, is a girl after my own heart. She told Chris just the other day: "Daddy, I ready to go shopping now, I ready to go to mall"...oh dear, what have I done:)

So, if you're looking to do some shopping today. Join us here and you will not be disappointed. It doesn't take much to get Chris to agree to some new tunes. A new outfit, now that is a different story. We will be buying this today and supporting a dear friend at the same time.

We have known Carlos and Heather for 6ish years now. We first met them in California. Carlos was leading worship at Sandals Church. We instantly knew we had found "the" church for us the first time we stepped through the doors. Everyone was so welcoming! Not to mention people wore flip flops and jeans....hello, you've got my attention! Then we heard Carlos lead worship and Matt preach....let's just say they had us at "hello"! The hardest part about leaving California was leaving this church and the family we had made through this church.

We were out in California with all our family on the East coast. We had twin boys born 8 weeks premature...our family was on the East coast. We survived thanks to our new family at Sandals church. Heather was a major participant in our lives. She and Tammy showed up unannounced on our door step to send Chris and I on a date. Not only did they keep the boys, they took them to have pictures made AND cleaned our home TOP to BOTTOM! Heather and Jamie sat over many a breakfast and held babies as I cried and claimed "I just can't do it any longer". She lead Chris and I to a great marriage counselor when "I can't be a mom any longer" turned out to be post partum depression. I could go on and on about how dear these friends are to us.

Not much longer after we moved back to Georgia we found out they too would be moving here. We were ecstatic!!! I now had a way of getting "my Carlos fix" with Sunday morning worship and I more than delighted. We would drive an hour on some Sunday mornings to worship along side him. Once you have heard him in person you will understand. He has a gift for leading others before our Lord in worship. He has the ability to connect with us in the audience in a real and authentic manor. It's refreshing, it's real, it's a time of worship you will never forget. He leaves you longing for more. Not more of him...but more time worshiping our sweet Jesus through the songs you are singing.

Of course it wasn't long before we were moving again. We tend to do that:) Once again Carlos and Heather came to our rescue. It took us forever to sell our home. Once we finally did, everything moved so quickly we had not had time to find another house. They let us live with them rent free until we could find a house and gather the necessary funds. Um, how many people do you know that are that giving? Let me make this a bit clearer....there were 4 adults and SIX kids age 6 and under all under ONE roof! That my friends is sacrificial love. It was rather nice actually. We all had free babysitting built right in. Chris and I payed a maid to do all the cleaning:) Heather and I did not have to lift a finger!....and we shared cooking duty!!!! Clearly we got the better end of the deal on this one 'cause that girl can cook! No really....AMAZING food! They have earned free Chick-fil-A for life:)

I've written about them on our blog before. Here on their compassion trip to Africa. Also, here in 2006 when they adopted Losiah from Korea. If you are interested in their adoption story, you can read more here and here (my favorite video of their story). I say all of this so you can "get to know" snippets of them. They are the real deal. Their hearts are full of love for others just as Christ's heart was. It's more than just music for them. One of Carlos' favorite parts of worship on Sunday mornings is when they cut the music short in order to do believer baptisms. He loves hearing the stories of others. He has a HUGE heart for winning others to Christ.

You may think he looks familiar. He is pretty well known in the blog world. He is not afraid to talk about the hard stuff. He has a great sense of humor and is not afraid to share when he has goofed in the parenting department. You just might have seen him on Good Morning America the week before Easter. The video where his 3 kids are singing "All the single ladies"? No? Well watch it here, it is pretty funny. Let's just say it got a bit of attention! Maybe you saw him on LA INK?

You might also like this post and video of Carlos' too. It's amazing how God works when we least expect it. It is a story about Danny.

All this to say...if you are looking to do some shopping today, head on over here to pick up his new album. It released at midnight last night! If you like Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United and other similar praise and worship sounds...you're gonna love Carlos! It's real, it's fresh, and the man behind the mike is someone we are honored to call a friend.

Carlos and Heather we are so very excited for you! We've seen some of the road you have walked the past 6 years and are proud of all you have done. Who knew we would go from listening to you at church on Sunday mornings at Sandals in California to listening to you in Atlanta 6 years later...in our car!!!!! Now I can get my Carlos fix every morning on the way to preschool and I couldn't be more excited!!!! Well done! Hope you enjoy this day!

This is the day the Lord had made, let us REJOICE and be glad in it!!!!

Cheering you on,

The Darley clan

Easter 2010

We had a wonderful Easter this year...not that last year was awful...we were, well, not in the best of health. A tummy bug circulating through 8 of us will do that to ya! Needless to say we have not celebrated with our church family these past 2 years.

Oh, we had the cute, all decked out just for Easter, Sunday clothes last year....that we took a picture in. We had much too many germs to make it to church. So, this year we skipped the fancy clothes fan fair and opted for different attire all together. 12 of us soaking up the sun, surf and sand!!!! We celebrated the resurrection of our Savior at the beach! It was the only week all of Chris' side of the family could gather for a long dreamed of vacation together. 4 generations to be exact!

I guess you could say our family Easter picture is less formal this year.

Spring Break/Easter 2010

Spring Break/Easter 2009

Chris and I did not even get dressed last year. We dressed the kids up long enough to grab a few pictures. I will not be buying smocked dresses with bunnies on them anymore!

Our "Easter attire" this year...thanks to the skillful hands of Mimi




I guess you could say an 11 hour car road wore them out.

They haven't slept together in a long time. It brought back many sweet memories for us.


Easter gifts from mommy and daddy made it to the beach too!




Mommy scored big in the Target dollar bin this year!

A diva in the making!


Every time we turned around this week she had candy in her mouth...we never did find her stash!

Hmmm, maybe we have found our potty training bribe reward :)


Daddy was especially disappointed excited with the kites!!!

He was so looking forward to time flying them this week:)


We spent the afternoon waiting on Uncle Greg, Aunt Betsey, Cousin Josh, and "Cousin" Shane to arrive...


by doing this





and some of this...



and of course this!

(I promise no bystanders were squirted with the water gun...well almost none!)

There was a good ole fashion egg hunt too



you know...the hide throw the eggs on the ground kind. The mad dash of kids big and small.

Yeah, that kind.

Daddy, you look tired! How hard was it?

Eggs stuffed with candy, our favorite!

You mean I gave up pool time for this? Really?

In the spirit of The Masters...many a round of 18 hole putt putt was played.

A bit of coaching from daddy

That's it Peyton!

Parker celebrating a hole in one!

Oh the concentration!

Yet another great shot by Mr. Parker!

Hannie and Pa Pa even joined in on

a round with the kids!

We hope we are this young and spry when we have 3 great grand kids! Thank you for a wonderful week at the beach Hannie and Pa Pa. It was so nice having everyone together on vacation. The weather was perfect and the memories we made unforgettable. Peyton and Parker are still talking about our fun week. Anna Claire often asks "we go wimmin today"?