Oops!!

I forgot...we DID celebrate Memorial Day this year!!

Organizing my photos, and realized I never blogged about our Memorial Day weekend!

So, here are the lost photos!
Lost Memorial Weekend Photos, Post One: The Bush Open Reunion/Golf Tournament

As always, we headed South to Bartlesville, Oklahoma for our annual Bush family reunion and golf tournament. The Carl (Bapo) Bush family was decked out in our OSU orange for the 2nd year in a row. We considered changing our color up, for fun...but realized that Bapo would only want us in sporting bright orange for his Cowboys!

The guys left Winfield early that morning to get to the golf tournament. Barrett and I headed to Wichita to pick up Mom, Sarah, Emma, Lauren and Jones from the airport. Then we headed to Oklahoma. It was a busy day, but fun to see all the family.

Barrett and I were SO excited to see baby Jones!
We hadn't seen him since Christmas, and Barrett LOVES his only boy cousin :)

Barrett was happy to see his Daddy come up the 18th hole.

So happy he ran out onto the green and might have disrupted Daddy's last putt.

He had fun playing with baby Lainey too.

Jones saying hello to Uncle Bobby

Lainey and her Daddy, Jake

Checking out the pictures from past years. My Aunt Debbie puts these together every year.
They are so much fun to look back at...and usually we laugh!
The 80's and 90's had some crazy fashion!

To end the day, we had a minor emergency at home. It was around 10 when we got home, and we were all exhausted. Barrett was running around the corner of our entry/hall (to come get me in the bathroom), and fell right into his door frame. He was going full speed, and hit the edge of the door trim with his forehead. I heard it and flew around the corner to get him. He was screaming, and the tiny impact bump on his head popped out in about 60 seconds! It might have been my first frantic mommy moment!! The bump was HUGE! It's looked like a freaky growth smack dab in the middle of his forehead.  

All I could think about was my friend Megan saying "if it pops OUT, it's good." That calmed me a bit, knowing it was popping out and not causing internal damage. BUT we still  decided to call our sister, Kim. She only lives a few blocks away, so she ran over to look at it and brought Barrett a teddy bear ice pack. Within two minute of Kylie and Mimi coming in, Barrett was up dragging out toys, jabbering, and acting just like himself. 

Even so, I decided to keep him awake for another hour+. I fed him strawberries and blueberries, read him stories, and let him watch 'Little Bear'. Finally at midnight, I took him to bed with us. Just for that night, I wanted him to be close.

Of course I took a few pictures before we headed to bed. These were taken over an hour after the crash...the bump had gone down a LOT.

My poor baby!
This was a month and a half ago...and he still has a little mark on his forehead.
(Yes, he's watching 'Little Bear' here. In the zone, huh?!?)

f*i*r*e*c*r*a*c*k*e*r

The Fourth of July used to be my favorite holiday! 

All though my childhood, and into college, we spent the entire weekend at Grand Lake with family.
Decorating the golf cart with streamers, balloons and American flags, for the annual golf cart parade my grandparent's lake community put on. Waking up and getting right into your suit, then living in it all day long. No makeup. No need to do your hair.  Lots of home-cooked meals and treats. And, of course, watching fireworks from the dock. They would be everywhere...for miles and miles along every shoreline we could see. They were so beautiful reflecting off the lake water.

This year was different, but we tried to make the best of it. Justin was on-call for work, so we didn't go anywhere. Both of my brothers are in another state, so there was no big family celebration. On Saturday night, we had dinner at Justin's sisters. It rained off and on the whole day, so we set up our tables in the garage, and would sneak out to shoot fireworks whenever the rain would break.

On Sunday (the 4th), we hung out around the house. I cleaned, Justin golfed, and Barrett napped. NOT exciting Fourth events! Later that evening, we headed to a BBQ at Kane and Audra's. They were wonderful hosts, and it brightened my spirits a little to enjoy the evening with my friends. We had steaks and a whole bunch of other dishes. Barrett's favorite was the rice-crispy treat with sprinkles, in and ice cream cone! Thanks to Lydia's Grandma Connie!

Barrett's not used to having BOY playmates at bfe celebrations. He had fun playing with Aiden.

After dinner, the kids headed outside to POP some firecrackers!! Barrett was only 18 months old last year, and he wasn't really into it. BUT this year, he loved it!! The snappers were his favorite, since he could do them all on his own. He liked to watch Kylie and Emily do smoke bombs, and he even helped Daddy with a Roman Candle. Mommy was not a fan of that!! I'm a big fuddy-dud! I like to watch, but don't really want anything to do with lighting.

Here is the 4th of July craft we made last week for the kids.

We had high hopes for a great photo of all of them with their little star wands, but it's never as easy as it sounds. We finally got them all seated at the same time, holding their wands...but then they were all two feet apart. We told them to act like they liked each other. It didn't work. Oh well, still very cute!

After we left The Hittle house, we headed in town to watch the community firework show. Looking for a good spot in the Pecan Grove, we spotted Megan, Brent and Norah Kate. We sat our chairs up next to them, just in time for the show. Barrett sat on my lap and was mesmerized the entire time. We were really close to them (the only way I really like to watch fireworks), so they were right over our heads and loud. I was surprised that Barrett never flinched. He was actually a jabber-box the whole time. "Mommy, see that one"... "Mommy, that one big"..."Daddy, that me favorite." It was so much fun to see his excitement!! Norah Kate wasn't as big a fan. She was so cute, with her hands over her ears. She was sitting down the row on her daddy's lap, and every once in a while, we'd look over to see her hiding under a blanket.

The only (fuzzy) pic of me and my boy! I didn't think to hand the camera over til the end of the night.

Tag...You're it!!

My friend Christie has tagged me on her blog. So here are my responses.

1. What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous)?
Mexican! Usually tacos, with salsa and guacamole. It's all very quick and easy.


2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A successful business owner, with a boutique studio downtown. That's if "when I grow up" means after all my kiddos are in school :) Until then...I love my business, but I'll do it all out of my home.


3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)?

HA!! I can't read! Well, I do know how to read...but picking up a book and sticking with it is almost impossible for me. I love to read, I just don't have the time. I know that sounds silly, but every spare minute I have is spent on the computer editing or hand assembling wedding invitations. If I ever give myself a vacation from work, I'll read a book!! Promise.

4. How do you relax?
Massage and pedicure are my favorite ways to relax and pamper myself. I think I'm due for one!!



5. What color are the interior walls of your home?

What color aren't the walls in my home?!? I am a WARM color person...rust reds, golden wheat yellows, olive green and chocolate brown. They make a home cozy. AND, I'm still waiting for the paint fairy to come re-paint my kitchen and family room!

6. What is your guiltiest pleasure? 

I'm with Christie....watching "The Real Housewives of... any season!" I fell in love with the show at the VERY beginning (first Orange County season). The OC ladies are still my favorites. But now I'm ashamed to admit I watch them ALL...NYC, NJ, Atlanta, OC and coming soon DC! They can be SO MEAN to each other, so I always feel guilty watching it.

7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?

Ahhh...bedtime! What is that?!? I have become quite the night owl! For the last three weeks, my bedtime has been anywhere between 2am and 4:30am! Right now it's 2:45am, and I'm blogging while a client gallery loads to the website...it's called multi-tasking ;) !!

Getting up time is usually around 7:30am, when my "little alarm clock" hollers for me! But lately he's been sleeping in til 9 or even 10! He must know Mommy needs a little extra rest!



8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?
I spend about 30 minutes reading friends' blogs...about every-other-day. But I have a few photography blogs I read daily. I think of it as continuing education.


Perfect timing...upload is complete! Back to work :)

Now I would like to tag...Jennifer!