1. Ty recently turned 16.  16 y’all.  He’s so grown up now.  Pictures forthcoming….as soon as I get around to taking them!  I have to twist his arm and bribe him these days.  The teenage years y’all…..I’m a big mix of proud and panic.  His time here at home with us is going by way too fast.  3 years….I have 3 years left with him at home.  I just want to say that’s not long enough, I need more time, why does it have to go so fast?!  Hey universe, that’s not fair.  This feels like yesterday.

2.  Ty isn’t the only one who turned 16 this month….this old girl turned 16 too.  I swear she has the fountain of youth pumping through her veins.  We love you Kylie girl!

3.  Ty is currently at the beach visiting my mom and step dad and I’d give my left arm to be over there too!  Oh how I wish I could pack up my family and go for a few weeks.  We aren’t quite ready to try and make the trip with Jude again.  The biggest challenge is finding food we can eat there.  Good news is that Whole Foods is building a new store in Mobile, only 45 minutes from her house at the beach, slated to open in 2015.  I’m already planning trips in my head.

4.  I got word tonight that Ty and my mom are going parasailing tomorrow.  OMG.  Coolest grandmother ever award goes to my mom!  Seriously, what grandmother does that….goes up in the air 800 ft over the Gulf of Mexico.  He’s going to remember this for the rest of his life and so help me if someone doesn’t send me a photo I’ll develop a twitch!  Way cool, Gee, way cool!

5. When I was a kid I have fond memories of sitting on the porch with my grandmother talking about hot air balloons.  She always wanted to go for a ride in one and spoke of it often.  They lived out in the country, in Aurora, Oregon and we would often see hot air balloons in the area.  I wish more than anything that I’d been able to do that with her  and made that memory with her while she was alive.  My grandmother and I were super close, so much like Ty and my mom.  Someday, I’m going to take that hot air balloon ride in honor of her.  I love love love that my mom is taking the bull (er….parasail) by the horns and creating this memory with Ty.  My mom is rad, y’all.

6.  Jonah is officially army crawling and is on the move, big time.  He discovered he can leave the living room when we set him down with his toys.  He’s also discovered the fireplace, my planters, the kids homeschool workboxes, the mini blinds on the back door, the dogs feet, the dishwasher and he scowls in confusion at the photos in the 10 foot photo frame in the foyer.  I imagine he’s trying to figure out why the dog is up there and he is not.  Easy answer kiddo….your momma is a slacker!

7.  Or he could be wondering why the dog is so.freaking.big.  It reminds me of a great Larry story.  My step dad is not a dog person.  Or an animal person, in general.  I wasn’t allowed to have pets growing up.  So when we went to live with my mom and Larry after Hurricane Katrina, we had Kylie with us.  It was fairly easy for us to just not tell him and have Kylie live outside temporarily on the down low.  Larry has a spinal cord injury and wasn’t getting around much at that point.  Anyway, one night he was watching tv and was facing the french glass doors leading out to the back yard when he pipes up and says “Jane, that sure is a big ass cat staring at me.”  I have NO IDEA how my Mom kept her composure but she did and we are all still getting a good laugh about it 8 years later.  So freaking funny!  I still don’t think Larry knows that “big ass cat” was our 70 lb Kylie dog!  Ha!

8.  Our other (idiot) dog happened to jump up on top of the washer and ate a whole entire bottle of grapeseed extract.  She was sick for about 5 days. Maggie finally started to feel a bit better last night after we gave her some bones straight out of our broth that was cooking. I’d like to say she probably learned her lesson, but I doubt it based on all the random crap she’s eaten in the last 2 years. One thing we are sure of, Maggie is yeast and parasite free!

9.  If you missed it, go check out our birthphotographers.com facebook wall.  I shared some absolutely stunning images submitted by our members honoring dads for Father’s Day this past weekend.

10.  I am officially back to photographing births again!  If you know anyone looking for a birth photographer, please send them my way!  This birth junkie is thrilled to be back!!!!