Travis Dew Photography

So…..one of my very best childhood friends (the kind that can trigger laughter with tears, urine and hyena noises in about 2.5) and I were on the phone today…..and she says to me, “The Zoo was great and all…..but it’s time to update.”  Okay bossy boots.  Here’s a little peek at a project I’m working on for an upcoming Fashion Show for Charleston Fashion Week – it benefits the MUSC Children’s Hospital and these little cats are some really cool patients who will be struttin’ the runway next week! (I’m trying to remove my BIG FAT WATERMARK …I have to geek out and remember how first….)  Go HERE for tickets….

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.U. we went to the ZOO.

Last night at dinner I was asking the children if they had gotten their reading done…blah blah blah…and my youngest says something along the lines of…”what are you about to say?”  I don’t understand what kind of ~vibe~ we give off…but every time we try to surprise the children – they know we’re up to something.  “R” was 6 years old….came downstairs for breakfast and saw a suitcase downstairs and said, “What, are we going to Disney World?”….uh, yeah, we were surprising them with that THAT morning….but what in the WORLD about a suitcase downstairs screams DISNEY WORLD?  I’m not really into things like this….but I do sorta kinda think I possess this talent to guess things as well….one time, when my husband and I were newlyweds…..he walked outside of our apartment and I got this OVERWHELMING feeling that he had gotten me a bicycle…..so I wrote it down on a piece of paper so he would believe me if I had to say…”you ain’t gonna believe this but….” and doggone if he didn’t roll in a green bicycle with a basket.  No birthday, no Valentine’s, no anniversary.  Just because.

So….bring it back to yesterday….and because the children have a long weekend and I wanted to do something fun…..I took a bag of change out of our closet….cashed it out at the bank….and bought tickets to the Zoo with it.  They brought along some spending money of their own and we had ourselves a grand day at the stinky zoo.  I must say the theme song of “Freaks come out at night” played through my head….I’m just sayin’.

On our way there – we were the FINE recipients of a good old fashioned HIT-N-RUN on the Interstate.  A girl…side swipes us ever so slightly in a red Honda CRV…she speeds up only to bob and weave in and out of traffic to get out of sight….we FORTUNATELY get her tag # (GA – Henry County – AXM 0891….uh huh…I know it’s a long shot but I mean, she could be your next door neighbor’s baby sitter and you could be lookin’ at the tag right now) and call police.  Low and damn behold….those tags come back to a Chevy Camaro…not a Honda CRV  Well, poop.  I reckon we better start saving those quarters again to fix that little swipe mark.  We decided: instead of overwhelming frustration….we are going to count our blessings that we weren’t sent spinning down the Interstate at 70 miles per hour.  And here’s what we continued on to see…

 

Last night’s benefit concert for MUSC’s Children’s Hospital was a booming success.  Darius Rucker gave an unbelievable 90-minute show singing Frank Sinatra classics…..backed by an orchestra led by Peter Graves.  The concert brought in $260,000 for the Children’s Hospital……incredible.  Many thanks to Beth and Darius for all they do…..and I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone in Charleston…..

(I’ve uploaded a slideshow – different than the one below – that was shot for the benefit…..it’s HERE….)

Good grief…. I enjoy these people.  Mama is so great and calls on me every now and then to capture these fun, little, crazy daisies.  I really can’t explain these eyeballs……they’re ALL unbelievable.  But, the most enjoyable thing about this crew is how they live life…WIDE OPEN.  And…instead of Mama getting uptight about a little rough-housing….she enjoys watching it herself.

Thanks for calling me again.  I LOVE playing with you guys.  Oh, and “J”….hang on tight, brotha.

 …It’s just the baby’s blanket….

I’m not sure anyone ever noticed this wardrobe malfunction….and nobody cares.  Perfect.

 

My sweet neighbors had some family come into town to celebrate Lash’s daddy’s 80th Birthday!!  The energy was FANTASTIC……a house full of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all enjoying each other’s company.  I appreciate you letting me barge in and whiz you all around before (what looked like) a fabulous meal at a great, big table.  Love those times.

Happy 80th Birthday!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

She slept through the e-n-t-i-r-e morning…….with ALL the kisses, moves, and outfit changes.

All I can say is if I could start every other day with a fun shoot like this …..PLEASE…easy breezy!  First of all, these three little girls have names that make you think of PINK, Curls, Bicycles with baskets and SkiPpiNg all wrapped up in a big fat GIggLE.  They have the GREATEST girls’ names EVER.  Mama and Daddy have been friends of ours since my children were about this age….and are two of the nicest…..

Thanks for having me over to meet little Miss “T”……what a fun morning.

 

 

I’m about to start working on a project that helps support this fabulous benefit coming up in February….the MUSC Children’s Hospital is one of my favorite places to be and Darius and his wife give, give and give some more to the hospital.

Darius is putting on a BIG BAND show in February benefitting the Children’s Hospital – so if you like Frank Sinatra and you haven’t ever seen it……it’s FANTASTIC and a must!  Get your tickets HERE and type in “Darius Rucker” in your search…..

Hey…..A great Valentine’s Day date night out.

I know you’ve seen some of these cool cats before…..but they had the whole crew down under one roof for New Year’s…..so I had to get out to see them!  9 grandchildren…..and out of that bunch…..1 sweet, little, red-head girl.  She rolls with them just fine though.

As always, great to see you all.  Thanks for having me out for a little play time with the FROGS……a little duck-duck-goose on the trampoline…..and of course: a cousin pyramid.

Happy New Year Crew!

We have had the most magical Christmas.  Our break from the everyday hustle and bustle has been fabulous.  From impromptu gatherings with friends around the fire pit….to decorating Christmas cookies with neighbors….it’s been perfect.  My children SO enjoy our traditions that have developed over the years.  It’s really fun pulling them together to do things like making toffee for the neighbors. They love it.  I make sure I have all my chickens back in the house to start this process – and they help from beginning to end and love it.  Apple cider is going…Christmas music is flowing…I shut down my crazy self and get into ‘them’.  You get the picture.

Some of our Christmas traditions include planting Paperwhite bulbs to watch bloom in the kitchen…..I love the way they stink.  We planted these just before the children got out of school….around the 15th of December.  This is what they looked like Christmas Eve day.

We made a Gingerbread house….

decorated Christmas cookies with our peeps in the hood…..

…AND waited on Santa.  Lists were made, elves were hunted and just good old fashioned Christmas fun.  My children sang in church Christmas Eve (Oooh – just had a thought to bore you with a video…..but their choirs really are beautiful…we’ll see if I can make that link happen.)

Guess What…Santa came!

…and we spent Christmas morning enjoying our toys…..outside….with the neighbors and their toys.  Okay, yes, there were some mimosas and bloodies……and then oysters and beers…….but fun times had by all.

Look what Santa brought….. FORCED. FAMILY. FUN.

The day went on….and even the rain didn’t get us out of the yard.  The laughter NEVER subsided.  My oldest son finally said around 8:00 p.m. that he was done….it was time for him to shut down.

 

A 1000-piece puzzle was received as a gift…..and started Christmas night……  Many, many hours of puzzling later…..we have this!

Ah the Holidays.

Okay……here’s the deal.  The tree came down on the 26th…decorations got shoved back into the attic and I’m ready to strangle Karen Carpenter.  The snicker doodles are in the trash……I’m tired of scraping up wax from your new crayon maker and finding marshmallows from your new marshmallow gun is killin’ me…..hang up the new clothes……throw away the boxes….the Paperwhites have bloomed and it’s time for your lil’ a**es to go back to school.  That’s right….I had a blast and we squeezed the season for all there was to offer.  But buh bye.  Go’on so this house can remain somewhat in order for a millisecond.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve…..and my husband and I are headed to a dinner party with a Murder Mystery game.  My character is a reporter…..and my husband is an old, gray-haired housekeeper.  Thelma.  Hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaahaaaa

I love these people.  Mama and Daddy are some of the funniest around…..and the children are as sweet and nice as they can be.  We changed locations here and there today…..but everything turned out fine.  We had fun jumping on the trampoline, riding in the golf cart and building pyramids!  And, of course, Mama and Daddy thought they were the only parents that this (below) has ever happened to….

 

If you follow my blog at all…you’ve seen a fair share of brothers smiling and carrying on….with a sister in the background either pouting, crying, or both.  People….it’s in the DNA….just ask my husband.  I mean, he would, FOR SURE, tell you that I am the exception.  Thanks for having me over…..loved seeing you.

Off to engage in a Christmas vacation tradition with my oldest son…..Monopoly.  Just call me Trump cuz he’s goin’ down.