Birthday's, Father's Day, Friendship Oh My!

Happy Father's Day to my Husband! Happy Birthday to my Husband. Isn't he lucky that he gets to celebrate his first father's day on his birthday? I think so. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life. We have quite an explosive relationship but I would never changeit for the world.

We had a very busy weekend.  Here are just a few snapshots.

Hangin at the Pool

Trying to keep little man  still .. he learned to crawl this week

Naptime with Daddy

Yummy Wine at Birthday dinner with Friends at Tristan

Dinner Kiss

Happy Birthday to the Trifecta ... David, Mike and Christy

My Birthday Present to Mr M... Chef's Table at SNOB. DELISH

 I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as we did. My Father's Day present will be coming soon.

Birthdays and School Projects

photo credit: Barnes and Noble

Our First Virtual Book Report for 3rd Grade and boy was Momma nervous. These projects get harder every  year and require me to be more and more  creative. So What do you get when you mix the below???

Photo Credits: Google Images

BigGirlH hard at work on the hair

Justin Case the Pumpkin....

This guy looks so smooth

BigGirlH is so proud of her  work

And LilMissJ is modeling the outfit BigGirlH will wear to school to present the  project.... We texted this picture to Mr.M and he thought this was her outfit for school "on purpose". Guess he forgot she was going to be a Nerd for Halloween.

We celebrated Hope's Birthday AGAIN but only 1 day late. We baked cookies and opened presents. She got quite a bit of baking accessories this year. Which is great bc she loves to cook and bake.

For all of OUR birthdays we went to the Waterfront Park for some playtime and to enjoy the weather before it gets too cold.

I love that my girls get along so well and like to play with each other.

Then we just go to some extreme silliness

This was not fun whatsoever. I had to sit down for a while to get the world to stop spinning. They did not torture me enough so they thought I should try this:

Call me a glutton for punishment. Then we are off to Whiffle Ball and Football

I love this man so much!

Until Next time

My New Best Friend

Thank You Thank You Thank You .. I cannot contain the excitement and nervousness I am feeling.

Nikon D3100

In less than 12 hours of owning this  camera I have taken 100+ pictures. I cannot wait to take classes at Charleston Center for Photography!! I will keep everyone updated on my progress with the camera!

I did try to take the typical blogger self portrait but it is not working for me yet. First one had flash which looks wrong. The second was blurry and no flash. I have no idea how I did that and the last one is my husband doing my same picture but on his own!! Think he may be a secret blog follower.

Here is where MrM was playing around with the shutter speed and got these amazing droplets of water.

Regardless of how well I can take pictures now... I do know that is takes a great picture of my lil man.

1st Day of School

LilMissJ and BigGirlH

BigGirlH

LilMMissJ

Hello 3rd and 4th Grades!!! This is the one and only day besides picture day that I will be able to get my girls to look cute and normal. After today they will be picking out their own clothes. Notice the bow in BigGirlH's hair??? That was a challenge. One day they will appreciate that I stayed up late last night sewing on the ribbons to the shorts and polo shirt arms. Not to mention making the Corkscrew hair bows for them. Last night, I just got the call  from Mr.M that BigGirlH had a talk with him to "speak to me about making her wear a hair bow." REALLY!!  I got the talk that she really doesn't want to and he  reassured me it was only a faze and she would grow out of it. I guess it could be worse. She could want to wear hot pants right? But doesn't she look cute? Anyhoo, I like my girls to look like girls. No harm no foul. They have their own freedom to dress themselves 90% of the time. I overrule for church, picture day and the 1st day of school. I am mom you can give me those 3 things.
We got to meet our teachers last night at school and write about 10 checks -- individual checks might I add. Thanks to the school for coming out with the SAME water bottles from last year BUT with a fancy new lid. So of course we had to buy one   two. Both of our teachers were very nice. Both girls have  friends in their classes which is a lifesaver. All in all I feel we are going to have a great school year.
Last nights, soccer tryouts were cancelled due to the fields being to wet. Yes I am that mom that is cramming way too much into an evening the night before school started. This turned out to be a relief. We did end up going to Yamato Japanese Steakhouse for dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday. It is a tradition that we always take the kids to celebrate together. The best part of course is the leftovers.

Hope everyone has a great 1st day / week of school. Hoping the traffic calms down soon!!

Washington DC Our Nations Capital

The Shaw's went on a Family Vacation to Washington DC. It was a very educational trip for the entire family. Mr.M's parents traveled all the way from Canada to have a visit with the granddaughter's and us of course. This was the first time they got up close and personal with the baby bump ~ BoomBoomShaw.

One can dream right?

As you may recall I mentioned that the Shaw Girls would be  riding on the train to DC. Here is a little montage of our 1st ever experience with AMTRAK. As you can see we all had a great time. We played games, read books, watched movies and Explored the train. A few tips I learned after our first experience,  bring layers. Meaning, a jacket or blanket. They keep these trains very cool. We carried on our luggage so I had plenty of layers to share with the girls.Another tip, bring a cooler. I packed a lunchbox with Uncrustables, grapes, juice boxes, some cakes cut up. We also brought dry snacks like SCRABBLE Cheezits - a game and snack all in one. Lastly, the girls and I made our own  trail mix.

 

We are so lucky we had the opportunity to go to some of the Smithsonian Museum's and other Monuments. Upon our return and 300+ pictures later, I think I am in less than 10 total. I created a photo book off MyPublisher. It has not arrived  yet but I am going to share some highlights from the trip.

The White House - with MrM's arm blocking it

GDaddy, Nanny, BigGirlH and LilMissJ

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

The Hope Diamond

National Zoo

Hop on Hop Off Tour and Lincoln Memorial

The Train Ride



Back Home in Charleston



I did spend the entire time just eagerly waiting to get to The White House. I was slightly disappointed at how far away it was. In the movies it seems so much more up close and personal. BigGirlH wanted to see President Obama very badly.

Also, while we were away, we celebrated Mr.M's birthday in China Town. YUMMY. When we returned to Charleston the family celebrated Mr.M. The girls wanted to show  him just how  much they love him. We all love him and appreciate him. Please excuse the bottom left picture, someone got a little sun burnt. Birthday and Father's Day all wrapped into one weekend. Whew we are tired.