Eight is GREAT!!!

Happy Birthday Poodle!!!!!  I know we mostly call you Bear at home, but you were our Precious Poodle when you were a baby, and that's about the time that this blog got started.  Then, later, your Aunt Sessie started calling you a certain nickname which eventually got shortened to Bear.  (I still won't use y'all's names on the blog, although there are days I wish I could!)  So, you're our Bear, who lives in our Zoo, who acts like a monkey along with your monkey siblings.  And your Daddy and I could NOT be happier with the multitude of blessings that are YOU and Toot and Lollypop!

You were THE girl.  You made us parents.  You made 4 people grandparents.  You made a number of people aunts and uncles.  That's a whole lot of making for a little girl.  And what an outstanding girl you have always been!

Still to this day....  you can't put your shoes away and you have no interest in keeping your room tidy and if you're not interested in something, then you don't really care about doing it "right".  :-D (handwriting anyone?  heehee!)

But - you know what???  You have a heart the size of Texas.  You cry when someone else is hurting and you love with a passion that is felt down into your bones.  That passion is something that you have for LIFE...  you may not care a whit about putting your clothes away, but you rarely go to a playdate without making eleventy pictures for your friend.  And you take care of little kids in the waiting area at TaeKwonDo because that's who you are.  And Lollypop runs to you when she needs to feel better (when Mommy can't do it for her).  You CARE.  You care about people and you care about your family and you care about your friends.  You're smart and you KNOW people.

It's your heart that makes you who you are, and I hope that you will grow up to embrace that part of yourself and be who you ARE.  Who the Lord made you to be.  Because this world needs a lot more people just like you.  The world needs a lot more people with your incredible sense of humor and passion for people.

I'm not gonna lie.  You are bossy, girl.  Whooo chile!  :-)  But I pray that all that creativity and passion and internal strength is used by God to do big things.  You say right now that when you grow up you are going to be a homeschooling mommy and a ballet teacher.  :-)  Well, you know what, I think you will be GREAT at those things.  Or ANY thing else you decide to pursue.  When you love something, you work hard at it.  And that passion that you have inside of you flows over into everything else that you love.

Oh, babygirl, we love you.  We know it's really hard being the girl who has to teach her parents everything.  But, you know what, there's nobody better for the job.  You love us even though we mess up with you ALL the time.  But, God is merciful, and He gave us a little girl who is understanding and compassionate and full of laughter.

We praise HIM for you, dear little girl.  Eight years ago, we became parents.  Because of YOU.  And you will never be able to give us a better gift than that.  You make us so proud.  And so happy.  And so very grateful that God blessed us in spite of ourselves.  Sweet girl - we love you with all our hearts!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR PRECIOUS, FUNNY, LOVING POODLE!!!!!

Session for TWO

I took Poodle and Lollypop out to MooMoo and GaGa's "Back Forty" for their 8 and 2 year old portrait sessions.  Poodle's are still in editing phase since it's not quiiite her birthday yet.  But, here are the Baby's!

I should have seen it from minute one that she wasn't trusting NObody but GaGa that afternoon.  Do you see the look she's giving me?  Let me translate:  I know you have the camera.  I understand what you want to do.  I do not agree with your thoughts.  You must quit thinking them.  sigh...   GaGa is the only one who gets me.  sigh...

Okay, I will run and skip through the grass that we interrupted GaGa from cutting.    I will make you sing the Little House on the Prairie theme song in your mind.  But, I'm only running back to GaGa, you see.

My daddy wants this tractor.  GaGa won't let him have it.  Poor Daddy.....

Mommy loves me and my cuteness!

Two, two, wonderful two!  Do you love me?,  'cause I love YOU!

Hmmm.  I haven't seen GaGa for about 2 1/2 minutes.  I'm thinking I need to know what he's doing.

<3 <3 <3

I see GaGa!  Please give me back GaGa.  GaGa, please come get me away from crazy camera lady.

She. Told. Me. No.   I am full of sadness now.

But I have looked at the camera and been cute for you.  Why must I still sit here?

<3 <3 <3

I can't find GaGa!  Mommy is making him hide from me!  I am full of misery and sadness!

I see him!  Come get me GaGa!  Save me!!

::exhale::  The only one who loves me.  GaGa.

Y'all, I kid you not about the GaGa thing.  MooMoo wasn't going to brave the slightly slippery trek to the "Back Forty" because of her recent knee surgery, so it was just GaGa back there.  And Lollypop was having no one but him.  It was crazy!

And now a few after I changed her clothes:

And that was our Lollypop's session!  She is our lovely, precious Little Squirt of a girl.  We love you sweetheart!

Go Sharks!!!

Awwww......  I'm sorry, but Tooter was So. Stinkin'. Cute. tonite at his very first ever soccer practice.  Ever.  :-)

I was so excited to get this post up to share with the grandparents that I didn't even edit the pictures.  (gasp!)  So, you all get to enjoy the overexposed, hazy, uncropped cuteness because those little under 6 kids are adorable!

They are going to be called the Sharks.  Heehee!  The Sharks.  They picked their own name.  Adorable, again.  There are 6 boys and 2 girls on the team.  Half of them have played before, and half them (like Tooter) have never been on a team.  They all did great!

We were very proud of Tooter's willingness to listen and run fast and try hard and be positive.  AND, I think I might even get in the back yard and help him with drills!  heehee!

They will play 8 games, and then that will be it for their "season".  I'm sure we'll all go out for pizza afterwards and they will all think that soccer is "the coolest thing EVER" when it's all over.  :-)  They're so cute.

Did I mention they were cute?

GaGa, who at one time helped coach his own boys on soccer teams of this sort (one of them went to a state championship!  Go Express!  ha!), came out with MooMoo-the-intrepid-total-knee-replacement lady to see his first practice.  It was GaGa's birthday today too (Happy Day You!!!), and I think he really wanted to mostly watch Tooter, but Lollypop kept him occupied a great portion of the time, because she lurves her GaGa.  And she stole his hat.  Cause that's what she does, too.

Yay for Soccer!  (And, psssstttt....  Poodle auditions for the Nutcracker this weekend.  First time for that also.  I'm not a little giddy about that at all.  Not at all.  No really.  :-D )

Go Sharks!  :-)