a little fun w/ the animals

and not just my crazy tribe!! but they did look super cute.. I know.. I know.. do I have to theme, everything?? BUT OF COURSE!!! Since Brigham's first visit to the Indianapolis zoo at 1.5 weeks old sporting his yellow giraffe romper, to Beckham's first visit at 10 days old in his giraffe and elephant adorned gown....it has just become a way of life for us.. lol- Even Brig noticed right away and pointed out that even Dad put on a shirt w/ a mammal on it. I was the lone odd ball w/ out a theme!!

Beckham had the best seat in the house as he enjoyed the sights and sounds .. of course decked out in his tiger romper!

And my husband knows me too well.. we always stop by the grocery on the way to the zoo to stock up on lunch items to fill our cooler.. I had no idea what he got until we were ready to prep our lunch.... ZEBRA CAKES!!! awwwww. I am so blessed. seriously.. my man just "gets" me.. and even indulges in the little humors to participate !!

The day started off with Tatum being a bit timid around some of the animals... so this became her look out spot. It worked quite well for most of the time, until she realized that Brigham was off doing something and then she wanted to join in-

and sooo the animal spotting began..

who doesn't like the elephants. seriously we could have watched this little family (there was a mom and dad and baby) for hours...

and even more fun when baby decided to take a dip in the pool! I am so glad we happened to be there for this. It was a lot of fun to watch!

Brigham found his favorite mammal... and enlightened us with all kinds of fun facts he knew about the:

polar bear. Daddy's kind of a big fan of this one too.. LOST fans anyone??

The desert is not my favorite attraction, but this little dude posed for my camera...

and this guy always makes me think of the movie Swiss Family Robinson!! anyone know what I am talking about? the middle brother picks the ostrich to race in the family marathon!! hilarious... anyway...

We had to prove to Tatum that she was not tall enough to ride the coaster... plus how cute that her giraffe matches him !

and more giraffe watching... we missed the time to feed them, so we'll have to catch that on the next trip. We did this the first week school was out.. and need to get down 2 more times before the middle of July when our pass expires.

and near the end... we cooled off at the splash park. I think we could actually go down and just make a day of playing in the fountains. The kids had so much fun

Even little Beckham got a little wet!!

and this is a TERRRRR-ible picture taken by my husband.. but I kinda like it.. perfect for scrapping this event!!

I hope you liked your little tour of our zoo trip.. we've been on the go for our first month of summer and it doesn't look like things are slowing down. We are having a blast and I hope you are too!! If you care to leave a comment.. share a fun summer activity that you have done so far.. I love hearing new ideas to get out of the ol' routine !!

Can 3 yr olds have self image issues?

As I sit at my computer editing away and away (and away)... my darling daughter is sitting at her little table drawing and "writing her name" (one of her favorite past times) . Though it comes out different every time.. verbally , she has been calling herself "Ta-Ta", and when she was about 2.5 it transformed to "Taymum" and well now , I over hear her say as she scribbles down letters... " B-O-H-R.. PRINCESS MILLER.. yep that is my name" !!!!!

apparently she has herself up on a pedestal. I have no idea why? !!!



ETA:: I so apologize oh faithful blog readers for my lack of postage.. we have been on the go tons, enjoying our first 3 weeks of summer, I have been insanely busy with my business and working up some new things to launch soon, and just having a great time hanging out as a family! (and trying to stay dry.. and cool as mother nature has dealt us quite the weather pattern here in the Midwest!)... hope to get thru our fun pics and post very soon!!

do you have kids?

do you love adorable kids clothing .... especially accessories? as in hats? super , duper cute ones?

and I might add that they are totally unique.

well head on over to my photography blog to check HEARTSMILES, an addicting site on etsy.

I was super honored when Abbie (the uber talented owner) contacted me to take pictures for her little shop. (AND) I have to say that my darling daughter was thrilled when the packages started showing up for her to model =)

this is just the first of many sneaks into what Abbie creates!! so go take a look!! and make sure to head over to her site and tell her I sent ya ! =)

catching up..

our school doesn't do graduation, thank goodness.. personally I think after 4 graduations by the time they are 17 or 18, what meaning will it have when the walk across that stage ?..lol.. but at any rate, I made these little diplomas for his pizza party.


with the last week of Kindergarten.. (sniff.. sniff)... ok, why did the last day affect me way more than the sending my baby off for the first day last fall?? this was on pet day, where everything from a big dog, a bird and a rat were brought in. He thought for a second about bringing in He-Hatch ,the fish, but decided that Ashley's cat might eat it. and so Hailey our wonder dog got to go to kindergarten.


Brigham was so excited to have her there. I loaded up the troops and we went for our visit on the hottest day of the week!! And Hailey made her memorable debut by crapping right on the sidewalk. of course only my dog. only my "outside -all-the-time" dog crapped. I guess it was stage fright..


Brig got her to do some tricks and she did wonderful with all the hands wanting to pet her and the chaos of the kids fighting over who got to give her treats. I had Beckham in my arm so this was the best shot I could catch one handed! lol








why did the last day affect me so much?





maybe because he grew up so much in one year. really.. we just keep commenting on how mature(if that is possible for a 5 yr old).. how tender-hearted, and helpful, how smart, how aware, how loving.. how defiant(yep.. got some of that in there too), and how sassy.. ( and not like his sister cute and sassy..lol) We have definitely gotten into the "back talk" stage.. ugh. I am soo happy that I made the decision to let him go all day(ok, that I listened and submitted to Andrew's wishes) AND that I gave in and let him ride the bus. What a whole wide world both of those opened up for his little life(and for ours as parents). It really has been such a positive in him being around kids- all types of kids. We had so many teachable moments this year. So many questions asked? So much innocence to the way others act. We want our children to shine as lights in the world. To be a little different( in all kinds of ways) but more importantly to be different in that they are living out their faith. I am so happy that we chose not to shelter our kids, put to throw them in and watch them figure it out! Throughout the year I helped with class parties and a few other things in the classroom and Andrew ate lunch with him about once a month. It is just so cool to witness how he is with others. and how others are with him. So proud of my kiddo and just love him to pieces. seriously, how did I get so lucky?



This was on the second to last day at their class pizza party. Grandma and brother and sister all joined in the celebration. I made some cut little "diplomas" out of swiss cake rolls and their school colored ribbon.
(see above picture, sorry couldn't move it down!)

My boys... the best I could get. Brig was not at all interested in leaving the activity to come hang with mom.. but I made him!

don't ya just love little B's mow hawk? I think one of these days I'll add some product and really funk it up.. =P !



Brigham and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Brown. In fact we just got a thank you in the mail today from the gifts we gave her. He was super excited to get a note from her.

the pizza party was just for their class and a lot of the parents siblings came. there were fun outdoor games and activities for the kids to play. of course papa johns pizza and all the yummy sweets were a high light. but even MORE, was the signing of the shirts.

Apparently the older classes have a tradition of doing this, so some of the kindergartners with older siblings were asking to do it too. Brigham was super excited for this. It was pretty darn cute as they all ran around signing each other's t's. I even got asked to sign a few of the kids.. pretty funny, actually.

It was only a few months into school that our little Brigham became BRIG. and so that is what he was signing and what was on all of his papers he brought home. good thing we saw this coming and like this as a nickname when we chose his name.. lol.


and finally .. all in a year.... this was last Augs (can't find his 1st day of school pic) but you can find it here.

and the last day.......

he hasn't changed a bit has he? love my little dude!!