Cousins

I had all the Burback cousins today at the mall.
It was hilarious.
Ayla is in love with Hadley.
But as you can see, I'm pretty sure Hadley's not so in love with Ayla.

But she humors, Ayla. So that's nice. :)
And all the cousins in one spot for 2 seconds.
It took some bribery.
They had tons of fun together for a couple hours.

And I didn't lose any of them.
Or my mind.
So that's a good thing.
I handled 5 for a brief time.
Fairly proud of myself!
Plus, I got in a lunch with Lisa.
A good last day before school starts.

And just so you don't think I have a favorite...

...I'll post some pics of my other children.
We love them just as much.
It's just that Ayla is at the perfect photographing stage in life.
But these two are pretty cute, too...

This is Ayla's very first princess nightgown.
Thanks, mom...ha!
It's a battle everytime I try to pry it off of her.
She loves it.

And oh how this makes my heart HURT.
An actual physical pain in my chest.
Love them so much.
And I think Brigg and Lani could pass as twins!

And we call this series of photos "Soccer Queen"...

Not much different than "Dancing Queen"...

Yes, she really is that talented.

Or, maybe I just snapped at the perfect time.

Either way...hilarious!

I can't help it

all these photos just show her personality so perfectly.
and it's my blog...so i'll post them.
ayla in a nutshell...i mean sunglasses.

 

 

 

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Today

We had golf tournaments Thursday, Friday and today. Brigg was in all 3. He got third on Thursday and Friday and first today. Lani did not place in Friday's or today's. (and she didn't play Thursday) I felt so bad for her.
But she was super proud of her brother...

And fortunately for her, she is a good big brother.
He told her she could have his trophy from today.
I snapped her picture with it and she said,

"No Brigg, you should keep it. You worked hard."
Sweet.
Love them so much.
Love to see them growing up together and their relationship growing.

Ayla Ayla Ayla

I don't know what to say about her.

She is cute.
And those eyes...

Have I mentioned her teeth?
We've been seeing a little too much of those teeth lately.
And you, my bloggy friends, are not very helpful with that! :)

I took these pics at bath time last night.
It cracks me up how her looks change when going from dry, curly hair...
...to drowned rat hair...

She's been a handful.
I don't know if I'm making the right choices with her.
Something new everyday.
I'm learning how to parent all over again.
We love her so so much and she bring so much life to our household!
I honestly don't remember what life was like without her.
And I'm really looking forward to these days ahead with just mommy and Ayla.
We're going to have a blast.

More golf

Brigg's golf group.

Nalani signing her score card.

And Brigg placed third.
He was happy.

Taco Tournament

Really behind on blogging.
Been soaking up the kids as much as possible.
Friday was the Taco John Golf Tournament.
I went with Brigg, so I got some shots of him

And Paul went out with Lani, so this is all I got of her...

And Ayla got passed around between mom and Amy and Steve.
She's something, that's for sure...

The real reason we sign the kids up for the tournament??
Free tacos and soda.
All you can eat.
And when it comes to tacos, I can eat more than my fair share!!

Feeling a weight on my chest.

Thursday Brigg heads back to school.
Lani joins him on Friday.
I'm sad.
And stressed.
And feel this huge weight on my chest.
So not ready to send them off again.
I've been busy trying to squeeze in as much time with them as possible, so i haven't been blogging too much. So much going on, but just wanting to soak it all up.
Another transition.
More change.
It's all good, I know.
And really, it will be nice to have some one-on-one time with Ayla...if she would just quit biting me.
I'm serious when I ask for any thoughts or ideas on this subject. It's bad.

I'VE known for a long time...

But apparently the rest of the world has only recently discovered it.

I have a friend.
Her name is Jody.
You may have heard me talk about her a time or two on my blog.
She's funny.
And fairly amazing.
And highly remarkable.
We have been friends for a number of years now.
So she has nearly crossed the line from friend to family.
She tells me what I need to hear and rolls her eyes at me often.
I really don't know what I'd do without her in my life.

About a year ago she mentioned raising money to build a well in Africa.
Since that day, life has been a little bit busier and much much fuller.

See, Jody has this passion for water.
And she has a gift for sharing that passion.
She has become a water activist and is recently being honored for all her hard work.
And if you could only see her work.

Because in addition to being a water activist, she is a wife to an extremely talented and BUSY musician and worship pastor.
She's very involved in his ministry and his work as well as their personal life! :)
And oh, did I mention she has 6 children.
Yes, SIX.
She's running all day every day.
You she see her when she talks about her family.
She glows. She adores them.

And you should see her when she talks about water.
She is passionate.
She works tirelessly to raise awareness and funds for Water for Christmas.
Her passion is spreading and a few weeks ago Lifetime got a hold of her story.
They find her a bit remarkable, too. :)
So through Thursday of the week, if you are watching Lifetime television, you might see her face pop up during a commercial.
This is a HUGE deal. A great honor for Jody.
And more importantly, a big deal for water.

Also, Jody is quite humble. So she's trying to avoid this topic.
And well, it has been fun mocking her relentlessly for the past couple weeks.
(remember, she's more like a sister...so making fun of her is not optional. plus, they said she baked and crafted. which is hilarious!)

In all honesty, I love her.
And am beyond proud of her.
And she is WAY more than a water activist to me.
I learn so much from her daily.

So if you have a chance, go check it out.
You can read her bio on the Lifetime website and watch for her commercial this week.
At week's end, they will be posting the video online with her bio....right beside Michelle Obama and Maria Shriver. (I'm so not kidding!)
And if you see her, make sure you tell her how remarkable she is. Then watch her roll her eyes. It's great.
So yes, I have known for quite some time that she is remarkable.
So glad the rest of the world is figuring it out!

So proud of you Jody!

Our room

our room was full of antiques and books and such.
it was small, but cute.
like i said, no air conditioning.
windows open and ceiling fan one 24/7.

we had a private bath across the hall.
(have i mentioned that paul LOVED me taking photos of him all week?)

at the end of our hallway, there was a little balcony.
this was the view.

the hallway outside of our room.
historic photos lined the walls.

and we fell in love with the innkeepers.
such neat people.
also very "shy".
they wouldn't let us take their photo.

The Pentagoet

Our cute little Inn.
We loved it!
No air conditioning.
No TV.
An old-fashioned alarm clock.
A flag out front.

This eclectic little pub...

A wrap around porch.
Where we ate breakfast each and every morning.

Wicker furniture.
Where I plopped my butt.
And my camera.
And my coffee cup.

It was like being in a movie.
So so peaceful.
I just don't have adequate words to describe it.
It was just the whole atmosphere.
Calming.
Refreshing.

Thursday-Golf

Wednesday we got home and it was baseball.
And then we went for a quick swim before the pool closed for the day.
We were the only ones there.
Although the lifeguards hated us, we had a blast. It's much easier taking care of Ayla when no other people are around.
Today and tomorrow it's all golf.
The morning Brigg was in the city tournament. He moved up an age bracket this year to the 8-10 age group. It was a beautiful morning and i got to spend it on the course with my one and only boy. I love one-on-one time with the kids. And today's morning with Brigg was no exception. He threw me the "I love you" sign language sign several times. I love 8. It's great. He can stay 8 forever! :)
He played 5 holes and then we stuck around for lunch and awards ceremony. He got 3rd place this year. He was very pleased! And I did not have my camera. A friend took some pics though, so I might get those later.

Tomorrow is golf again. Brigg and Lani are both in the Taco John's Tournament at Geneva. I'm just excited for the tacos! See....I just plain love food. It doesn't even have to be "Fresh" for me to get excited about it!

Amazing how refreshed I feel after our trip. I think we need to do adult trips more often! I feel like a better mom and wife. It's great. I week and counting until school starts. And I DID shed some tears this morning when Lani's teacher came for her home visit. I'm just not ready to send this one off. It's going to be rough adjusting. I'm trying to focus on happy thoughts until next Thursday arrives.

So golf it is. Happy happy golf...