Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Baby Ford

This past Fall my brother Mac and sister in law Lacey were blessed with their first child. A boy. Donald MacDonald Russell, IV.  They cleverly call him "Ford".  He is a hunk of gummy love. 

 The above is a pic of me with Ford at Crawford Christmas. 

He has grown so much since then. Check out his most kissable cheeks.


We hung out with Ford and his parents a few weekends ago in Birmingham. Shindigs Food Truck was in Mountain Brook Village Friday night. We were thrilled. Made the three minute treck from Mother's house. Enjoyed a good visit with the fam and a gourmet dinner! 

Fairchild, who knows the value of a good snack, had a blast feeding Ford puffs. One after another....after another.



 Aunt Lacey handing out jelly bellies. We liked those as much as Ford liked his puffs!
 Couldn't resist throwing in the twirl pic of Fairchild below. She rates all clothing based on two factors (1) twirl and (2) color.  If the clothing item twirls but is not a favorite color, she will still wear the item. If the clothing item does not twirl but is pink, she will still wear the clothing item.  If the clothing item does not twirl and is not pink then there is no way she is putting it on her body. No need for further consideration. Period.

Above, Fairchild twirled for Uncle Mac in appreciation of his fabulous truffle fries. In Fairchild's world, fries are a food group.  Macaroni and Cheese is another food group.  Ketchup and chocolate complete her food pyramid. Wonder what Ford's favorite food groups are going to be. I suppose for now its milk and puffs.


Aunt Lacey has the sweetest of friends. They gathered for some Friday night chat over dinner.  We enjoyed sharing the patio with them. (and no arrests --haha!) Ford is blessed to have such wonderful "aunts" in his life.

Sam, Fairchild and friend Billy with Uncle Mac and Chef Chad.   If you are in the Birmingham area, I highly suggest stopping by for lunch or dinner. Check out Facebook and/or Twitter for their location (changes daily). 

Can't wait to see you again Ford!! Love you lots - Aunt J

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Entertaining

In Selma, whether by natural inclination or need due to lack of viable alternatives, many are very adept at entertaining. I am not necessarily one of those people but I do love to be entertained. If you want someone to appreciate a good hostess, invite me - I get that it takes a lot of creativity, energy and consideration.  I will praise you and thank you for it. I have been blessed that some of my closest friends are also some of the ultimate hosts in town. I am going to do a series of several posts on  some parties I have had the pleasure of capturing digitally.  Visit Through My Eyes by clicking on the photography button above for my first installment.

Unplugged....

I am currently sitting on the couch with Fairchild who is watching Diego.  A lovely place to be.  The last several weeks have been a blur. A fun blur but a blur nonetheless. Finally, Thursday night I crashed. My energy level has rarely felt as low and I still have not quite recovered. So I decided to go with it and unplug. Not from technology of course - just from moving much!

A few pics from activities I have not quite had the chance to blog...

Pie & Pal took us to the Rodeo in Montgomery

Elle Gibbs had a wonderful safari birthday party

Sam was first to line up to ride the camel

Fairchild & Kylie enjoying refreshments and chatting it up

Kylie, Fairchild & Bonnie at the balloon release in honor of abused children

Sam ready to release his balloons

Playing at playground with friend Billy while visiting JuJu in Birmingham

Getting to see our cousin Ford too!!
Tonight, planning to order a pizza and select a movie from Netflix.  Life unplugged is kinda nice!!


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter 2012

The  Easter celebrations began Thursday with the Leika's Easter Parade. 


The children in the kindergarten class create their Easter bonnets with the help of parents. Sam chose monster trucks as his theme. Worked out much better than anticipated - thank you Family Dollar for your timely shipment of monster trucks!!  








The children in the younger classes make their bonnets in class with their teachers.  Fairchild loved hers because it's pink (her favorite color, of course!). 



The children don their headgear and parade around the block of the school with the parent paparazzi as their primary audience before heading back to school for their class parties.




Friday the children were out of school in observance of Good Friday.  Paul was "Mr. Mom" most of the day while I was at work.  Determined not to miss out on playing golf (Paul really? - determined not not miss golf, no - never!!), he took Sam and Fairchild with him to the golf course in the afternoon.  Exciting news to report is that he made a hole in one on number four. Paul was pleased to have made the hole in one and more than pleased his children were there to witness it. Fairchild summed up the golf experience, "I fell off the cart and my Daddy made a one in the hole!"  To celebrate, we took a family photo on the 4th hole. The idea is to look like a one - can you see it? Thank you "Aunt" Amanda for your photography assistance!



Saturday morning and afternoon we attended eagerly anticipated annual Easter Egg hunts.



Each year we take several family photos at this hunt.  This year it was windy with lots of light and shadows wreaking havoc with the attempt to obtain decent photo. I thank Kea, my friend and photographer of this pic, for her persistence.

Kea was also my photographer for the obligatory family with bunny shot.

She took several that turned out well but honestly, this was my favorite!!!
It makes me laugh -- you?

In the afternoon, neighborhood hunt at my friend Bradford's house. 
The cat managed to find its way into the photo to the distraction of a few of the children. Can you find the cat tail?



Sam's two favorite grown up items these days - money and Dr. Pepper ("Mom, it's what the big kids drink.")  He got them both at Miss Bradford's hunt. Loved it so much he snuck back over later that night to hang out at her house  - thankful she lives next door!!

Sunday morning, we enjoyed the Easter Bunny treats before attending church and going to my grandparents house for lunch.





I took many more photos during the weekend than posted here.  In the next day or so I am going to post them on the Through My Eyes photography blog. If you are interested in seeing more, check it out by clicking the photography button at the top of this blog.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Spring Break in Orange Beach

For Spring Break, we spent several days with friends and family in Orange Beach. It was a wonderful trip. Tennis in the morning followed by the Island or Beach for the afternoons. Dinner Out. This was the pattern formed early in the trip and maintained throughout. Photo taking sporadic!


Sam and Fair swimming in the Bayou

Boat Ride to Lulus for lunch

 Sam and Fairchild swimming off "the island"

Sam Brackin skim boarding

Will Brackin skim boarding

Paul - our anchor, literally & figuratively

Paul & me

Fairchild with Sam Brackin - he was so sweet to her the entire trip. She loved the attention!
Harbor Grill with the Stewarts, Brackins and Jones

Bradford Brackin

The Jones boys --- hilarious humor!

Tara Jones (aka "domestic diva")

Sam Garner - love him!!

Fairchild and me
Sam and Fair playing on beach - lots and lots of sand castles during the week!