New Photography Blog!

I'm working hard on my new website which I'm so excited about! So to go along with that I figured it be a good idea to seperate my personal blog and photo blog. So here's my new photography blog:

http://alicialooneyphotography.blogspot.com/

Hopefully my website announcement will be soon behind!!

Pictures from the World's Worst Luau

The Birthday Girl!

My sweet little hula girl

I had 3 people offer to buy the cake for me just to avoid me making it. Why is it that other people can see your craziness when you can't? I should have taken them up on the offer. It wasn't hard to do it just took sooo much time (which I don't exactly have excess of these days). I have to say I was pretty proud of it though!

Why won't my kids pose for a picture like this with me?

This is what I get:

Gift time!

Kynsley ADORES Emma. They were running through the sprinkler--a safe distance from the pool but after the earlier events of the day I made Kynsley wear her floaties anyway.

I'm sure Jay's folks loved those grassy little feet in the pool!

Have I mentioned that I hate throwing birthday parties?

Seriously....hate it. Anyone that knows me at all can tell you that I'm the most laid-back person in the world. I let things roll of my back and try to spin everything in a positive way so I don't get stressed out. I can have 7 people waiting on picture orders, 4 albums to design with 3 shoots lined up for the weekend, 2 loan closings in one day and auditors in the office and you'd never guess that I had that much going on. Maybe because that's a fairly normal week, I don't know but throw a birthday party for one of my children into the mix and I'm a hot mess.

Sure they all start out fun...the planning...picking a theme...deciding on a cake...choosing a birthday outfit...

then it ends by staying up until 3:00 in the morning working on a stinking cake and then having both of your children almost drown at the party.

So I know all of you attendees have written about how much fun the party was...well if you happen to be reading this and did not attend:

1. I'm sorry you weren't invited

2. It was awful--you didn't miss a thing

well, except

• The WATER SLIDE--oh wait, that's right, it NEVER SHOWED UP
  


• BRYSON whipping the pool with his green swimming noodle and getting so into it that he fell in head first--I didn't actually see the incident but I did see him just as Pawpaw was pulling him out. He did really good-I was quite proud. He was doggie-paddling his little heart out and managed to have his nose & eyes above water anyway..granted his eyes were about the size of saucers but he did good!

• BRYSON's clothes and football "underpants" as he calls them proudly displayed on the bush for all to see while they dried out from his unexpected dip into the pool



• ME climbing into the pool clothes and all (with cell phone in pocket) to pull out my 2 year old a/k/a the birthday girl herself when she ventured past the steps of the pool while I turned my back to get her floaties


• An 8 month old baby cracking its head on the side of the pool so loud it silenced the whole party (thank goodness I'm not responsible for that one--by the way he's just fine as far as I know)



• ME not getting my act together and cutting the cake before guests were already leaving! (sorry about that)

So that's the nutshell of what you missed. Sounds like fun, huh?

So on top of apologizing for the party itself, I would like to apologize for my parenting skills. Letting both my kids fall in? It's a wonder DHR hasn't already come and taken them. Jay was gone to pick up pizza on the first incident and I'm not sure where he was when Kynsley had her turn under water but I accept the blame. I was extremely negligent. I guess I just figured with daddy, aunts, uncles and both sets of grandparents, someone would watch my kids while I did all of the party running around stuff. Well, I will definitley not make that mistake again! Unless I have specifically asked someone to keep an eye on them I will not assume anything.

Until 2 weeks ago Kynsley would not venture past the steps even with someone holding her. She finally got in further with Jay holding her a couple of weeks ago but still wasn't too sure about it. All she's ever wanted to do is sit on the side and kick her feet. Naturally she'd pick this day to be brave. I had literally just put her swimsuit on 30 seconds before and had turned my back to get her floaties and there she went.

Oh and apparently, I did not show enough motherly panic as I rescued my child. Holly said I just casually walked down the steps of the pool and pulled her out. Poor little Kynsley's head went under and she just slowly sunk with her arms stretched out beside her and those blue eyes looking up hoping someone would get her. It seems like more often than not I just feel like the biggest failure in the parent department.

So, technically it wasn't my party but I'll still cry if I want to.

P.S. I'll post the "fun-filled" pictures as soon as I can finish the wedding pics from last weekend and get them downloaded.

Shutdown threats, sunglasses handicap and new clothes!

Jay has been urged by a couple of husbands to shut my blog down. Thankfully, he never reads the blogs or he might actually give that some thought. On the other hand, I know of at least one case where a wife read her husband my blog about Jay's thoughtfulness and after calling him a jerk, he then proceeded to come up with a very thoughtful surprise for his wife the next day! See there, even though I fear my blog is slowly changing from random tidbits to more of an ode to my fabulous husband it looks like it's helping at least one husband who might need just a little help in the idea department to do something special for his Mrs. I hate to put you through this gushing about Jay again but he just keeps on with this stuff! I don't know if it's because he's gotten some feedback and feels like he has to do something for me to blog about or what but he's been even more over the top than usual lately! (So keep the bragadocious comments coming ladies;)

Sweet Thing #1

He got me a father's day present. You read that correctly. He got me a father's day present because I made him a father I suppose. (any excuse to buy me something will do for him) I think I mentioned in my turmoil over what to get him that I ended up letting him get some sunglasses he's been wanting. He has to have perscription lenses so he had to pick them out. Well, he wanted me to look at the frames before he ordered so I did. He had me try on some pairs while there just to "see how great the lenses were". This may seem obvious to all of you that I had a pair of sunglasses coming my way but it in no way crossed my mind because...

SUNGLASSES ARE NOT MY FRIEND

Anyone that knows me very well has undoubtedly heard me mention that there has never been a pair of sunglasses created on this planet that look good on me. I'm sure you're all thinking "oh, I bet there are some out there that would look good on you!" NOPE. Don't waste your time. People have tried before. One of my best friends, Anna, just knew I must be being overly dramatic about the topic so she had me try a ton of them on in Target one day. After the 15th pair or so she finally said "You don't even try to look good in them" She hasn't argued with me about looking bad in sunglasses since. Even the clerk when Jay decided he wanted me to try some on kept handing me different pairs saying "hmm...how 'bout trying these. No....let's try these..." and so on. He knew it. I'm just not cut out for sunglasses. I've accepted it and just buy any $5 pair at walmart that will serve the purpose. Well, Jay knows this too but hasn't quite accepted the fact. So when he picked up his uber-expensive sunglasses and brought them home guess what...you guessed it...my very own pair!! I'm sure you can sense the sarcasam because I don't know how I could type it any thicker. I really, really appreciate his effort. It's so sweet of him and looking through them is great. Just don't look at me while I'm wearing them. Or do--you're sure to get a good laugh.

Oh, and I failed to mention--you'd think that he would have gotten an understated pair knowing my handicap. Not Jay! He got these big white sunglasses with amber lenses. The look amazing...off my face...when I put them on...I look like Speed Racer.

Sweet Thing #2.

I cleaned house Monday night! I'm sure that doesn't sound too much like news to most of you but with me juggling the jobs and kids the house is a little neglected. Hey, better it than one of the kids, right? I manage to keep the basics done but deep cleanings are a little spread out. Well, I stayed up until 2:30 scrubbing and cleaning. I could barely get out of bed the next morning--or 4 hours later, whatever you want to call it. I inherited my mother's back and when I over exert with scrubbing--especially 2 days after a wedding I pay for it. Well, my sweet hubby, to show his appreciation had a surprise for me when I got home from work on Tuesday. He had went shopping and bought 2 new outfits for me! Say what you will but having a metro husband is priceless!!

Okay, I'm done with the bragging for today. So husbands...get your dirty comments ready.

What's that heaven close to?

How in the world do you explain death to a 3 year old?



It doesn't help much that Bryson is the most curious little booger ever. He wants to know exactly how everything works, why it works that way, what happens next, etc... Mama Pearlie's passing has brought on all of those tough questions about death that I don't guess you're ever really prepared to explain. Since Jay was asked to officiate the funeral he was a little bit pre-occupied so that left me to deal with the questions. It has brought quite a bit of humor with it though.



I was always a little iffy on the "he/she went to heaven" line. I kind of felt like that wasn't my place to tell people and what if I was lying...you know-typical over thinker that I am. Well, clearly people tell children that because it's the easiest way to try and help them make some since of death without scaring them and saying "he/she may be in heaven but they might be in hell too, we just don't know". I realized this pretty quickly and went with the "she's in heaven" bit. When we were getting ready to go to the visitation he asked



"So now we'll just go visit Mama Pearlie at the funeral home & not the nursing home? I just want to go to the nursing home."

I told him the we were visiting her there for a couple of days so we could say goodbye before she went to heaven.

"Oh, okay, okay." (his resonse for almost everything)

In the car on the way to the funeral home it continued:

"Well, what's that heaven close to? Is that heaven over there with the black mailbox?"

I explained that it was the same heaven where God & Jesus are and when we pray 'Father in heaven' that was what we were talking about.

"Well, can we go visit her there in heaven?"

So I told him if we're really good and do all the things God tells us to do then we'll get to go there one day. Now I really felt like I had made some progress. Getting the ole message in there...maybe it'll stick a little bit.



Like I said in the previous post, the kids were able to visit Mama Pearlie the day before her death. Her mind was coming and going in the end and while the kids were there she kept talking about needing to cook a turkey. Well ever since then Bryson keeps saying "Mama Pearlie sure does want to cook that turkey. Can I eat some?" I think he reminded every single person at the funeral home that she really just needed some turkey.

I know opinions are vast on letting kids view bodies at funeral homes but for our kids I thought it was best. I thought it would confuse them even more if they never saw her again. They did totally fine with it. They kept wanting to see her "just one more time". Every time we went to potty at the funeral home Bryson would ask "Is it okay to flush it or will that wake Mama Pearlie up?"

When it came time for the funeral, there was so much family that it overfilled the designated family section so we were seated in the main chapel. When they brought the casket in, Bryson yells "Why did they close Mama Pearlie's little door?" (on the casket) Well, Jay preached the funeral-thankfully Ashley was there to help me with the kids and then it came time for them to take the casket out to the car. Bryson asks, as loudly as possible "Where are they taking Mama Pearlie?! Are they gonna roll her around the house?"

Ahhh....3 years old. Lovely age. It's just so hard to explain the events. The concept of a soul and body are hard enough for me to understand much less relay them to a 3 year old. Kynsley just rolls with whatever. I don't know if it's her age or that she's just that much like me but she was just happy to be there. She wanted to stay right with the body at the funeral home though. She didn't want to leave Mama Pearlie's side (except for when Pawpaw took them to the break room for crackers and pizza of course). Overall the kids were extrememly well behaved. I was pretty proud of them throughout everything.

Mama Pearlie

When Jay and I started dating he had 3 great-grandmothers living. I thought that was really unique because mine had passed away when I was a little girl so to be a teenager and have that many living was just amazing to me. Last week, Jay's remaining great-grandmother, Mama Pearlie passed away.

She was 91 and lived a great life. She was 20 years old when she married Jay's g-grandfather. She became pregnant soon after and lost the baby 6 months into the pregnancy. Her husband was so disappointed he wanted to try and have another child right away. He worked road construction and during the winter came down with pneumonia from working in the harsh conditions. He died just a few days later. Although she did not know it at the time, Mama Pearlie was 17 days pregnant with Jay's grandfather when her husband passed away. I cannot imagine living through that--especially during the depression. She was a single parent for 5 years until she re-married.

Mama Pearlie was one of the most spiritual people I have ever met. Every time you were around her she was talking about God and spiritual things. Any time we'd visit we would always find her reading her Bible. When each of our children were born she gave them each a Bible with a special message in it. She always told us "Make sure they know the Lord--that's your job." She was a very wise women.

During the last few months she has been in the nursing home and the kids loved going to visit her. Kynsley always wanted to make sure Mama Pearlie's feet were covered up so they wouldn't get cold and Bryson always liked helping Nana wash Mama Pearlie's gowns and take them back to her. The kids ended up staying with Nana last Tuesday and went to visit Mama Pearlie for over an hour. Although she hadn't known anyone that day, Melissa (Nana) said that she recognized them right away and said "Bring my babies over here for some kisses." I am so glad it ended up working out that they went up there that day. (They were originally going to stay with Angela but Anna Beth was sick). Mama Pearlie got very bad that night and passed away the next day. I really hope the kids will remember her. I know they're young but hopefully they'll be able to remember just a little of what a great women their great-great-grandmother was.