Hanging with the Hagartys

This past weekend Jac and Darren came down with the kiddos! Jac bought these swimsuits because she knew that Alexis had it as well. So, what do we do? Have a watermelon photo shoot of course! I love these little girls! Their personalities are so very different! Hayden loves to please and take photos and Logan is just not happy about much of anything! Last summer she wouldn't even look at Brian and I and this year, I GOT MULTIPLE HUGS! I was so excited! She was so sweet and not afraid of us! However, she was not a fan of the photo shoot! But, can you really blame her? She is still so very cute and those curls are just darling! Hayden cracks me up! She loves commercials and infomercials. I think she is going to be in sales when she grows up because she was pitching us all sorts of gadgets, including the gyro bowl. It was hilarious!

Alexis loves watermelon but it still has to be on the rind.

I mean, really??? Look at that beautiful face! She is so sweet!

She may be grumpy, but she is so cute! I couldn't resist this photo!

While the boys HAD to go shoot shotguns, we had some fun in the pool. If you notice the top right picture, I actually got Logy to smile for me! I had to bribe her, but I got the picture and she looks like she is having fun. Hayden LOVED posing for the camera underwater.

Once again we had some fun out on the lake. This drought is really hurting us. If we don't get rain soon, we aren't going be able to get the boat out and we aren't going to be able to swim in the water anymore. In the last week we have lost so much water and it is only going to get worse if we don't get LOTS of rain.

Ryan and Kristen came up Saturday afternoon last minute and we all had a blast. I can't wait for next time, hopefully it won't be a whole year before we can do it again. I can't believe summer is almost over. We've had tons of visitors and I'm sad to see the summer slowly coming to an end. This weekend we are hanging with the cousins and hopefully we can get the boat out.

Thompson Train Comes to Town

My friend Joy came back to town last week and we got to have two play dates! We had so much fun. I hosted the first one with all the kids and most of the moms and dads. I think some of the dads were a tad bit overwhelmed but it was a lot of fun. We were only missing Megan's group, but it was the first time that the majority of us could all get together and allow the kids to play. Then the Bains, Jaime's parents, allowed us to spend the day on their lake. It is AWESOME out there! There was fishing, swimming, jet skiing and even tubing. Gage and Keely tubed for the first time and Anna even caught her first fish. The water is boiling by their pier, as Daddy would say. All you have to do is cast the pole and with in seconds you've got a bite! I love watching kids catch fish, they get so excited!

Keely, Jaime, Alexis and I, Nate, Joy, Gage, Anna, Melissa and Cole. I love having play dates with my friends. I still can't believe we all have kids! I'm so sad that I only have a month of summer left! We have had the best time and I don't want it to end!
Keely isn't one for group pictures, so this was the best I got. All of the other pictures had one adult or another putting a kid back up and making sure one didn't fall off the dock!

This picture is so sweet. Cole is making sure A doesn't fall and Alexis looks like she is having the time of her life. Anna is loving having Nate in her lap and Gage is just doing his own thing! Typical kids!

I tried out Alexis's puddle jumper for the first time and she loved it! I think I love it even more. I don't have to hold on to her and she just swims on her own. She was in the water for several hours, with me near by, of course, but she was so dependent and she can keep her face out of the water. It is perfect because it teachers the kids how to balance their torso and keep their heads up or they can lay on their stomachs and actually swim. If you don't have one and you are trying to get your child to learn how to swim, I'm telling you this is the tool! I truly believe that this helped Anna, Cole and William learn how to swim and I'm already starting A in it! It is perfect for the lake since we spend hours out in the water. Alexis even tried her first Popsicle and she seemed to love it! Cole enjoyed the driving shipwrecked boat. This boy loves his boats!

Everyone caught a fish!

We had so much fun tubing! All four of us girls got on it, but I don't have a picture. We were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe! We tried several positions, including on top of each other. I'm sure it looked even funnier than we thought it was! Of course, Peggy wouldn't let us catch our breaths long enough from laughing and that didn't help us any when she was trying to throw us off, and she was trying hard! We all ended up in the water at least twice!

Ok...So, these pictures seriously crack me up. Notice, no Keely! So we had to figure out a way to get her in the picture and have her Mommy close by. So, we made Jaime start on the right and run across the group. Sure enough Keely came running. Hilarious is all I have to say! Every time I look at these pictures, I giggle just a little!

Admit it, you are laughing! I am!

This is parenting at its finest! On this particular day, I could do nothing to please A. So, what do I do? I hand her a bag of snacks. And where do they end up? On the floor! Do I stop her from eating them? Absolutely not!! She was satisfied and not crying so I let her go to town! Again, no judgements, people.

A month of Posts

We've been on the go since I've been off work. Between the visitors at the lake and parties at home, I've hardly had any down time. It's been a great summer. Here's all the Mannion happenings over the last month. Hopefully I will be better next month.

Kynlee Rae Comes Home

Fourth of July

A Weekend of Celebrations

June Play Dates

Alexis 11 and 12 Month Pictures

Welcome Home Kynlee Rae

Introducing Kynlee Rae Brown! Home from the hospital and ready to pose! Thanks to Deanna for taking her newborn pictures.

Oh this post holds so many memories! Jamie, Rachel and I have been close our whole lives. I have to admit, they pretty much admired me my whole life! We grew up spending almost every holiday together, no matter how far away Jamie lived. We have looked forward to our kids growing up together and sharing hoidays since before I can remember. I think God had a plan when he decided to give us girls for this time in our life! The only thing missing is Brody, Bryce and Bubba. But they are having the times of their lives in DC with their MeMaw. We have been waiting for this photo shoot since Good Friday, when Kynlee came 12 weeks early! In keeping with the tradition, she came home just in time for July 4th! She already weighs 6 pounds and 13 ounces; she's a fighter, just like Alexis. I think she is a perfect mixture of Moulder and Brown. I can definitely see Uncle Kenny, partly because she has no hair, and she has Rachel's jaw line. I guess that leaves the middle for Trey! She is just so precious. I can't wait for Thanksgiving so we can get them together again.

As you can see, Alexis wasn't digging the pictures with her cousins. It was like she KNEW we'd been dying to get the perfect picture. She wasn't digging her cousins that much either. The strange thing is, normally she is all over Laureli! I typically have to pry Alexis off her! Oh well, she can't be perfect all the time!

Just trying to get her to look at the camera.

As good as it gets with today!

She is thinking about loving on her.

Laureli and Kynnlee for the first time!These are the outtakes for the day. Alexis decided if we were going to keep taking pictures then she was leaving! Kynlee is already over the pictures!

Time to celebrate the Fourth of July! I love the one of Alexis with the phone! It reminds me of Rachel! Her favorite memory of me is when I would sit on the cordless phone, I guess they were rare back then. So the only thing that would keep A's attention is the cell phone!

Welcome to your first fourth of July Kynlee and Laureli!

Fourth of July...Take Two

We had another fabulous Fourth this year. We had 18 people and six dogs packed into the house and the RV and we had lots of fun with many laughs. All the kids had a good time and I enjoyed watching Alexis get to play with her friends. I love capturing Alexis with all her friends and cousins. She even got to play with Kynlee for the first time. But that deserves a post all to itself.

I forgot to add that we had a couple of photo shoots this weekend. We took a sunset cruise and got a couple of family shots. I think this is going to be our newest tradition. If you can catch the sunset just right you can get some amazing pictures. I can't wait until the next time!

Alexis wasn't very cooperative this weekend. She did not want to pose at all! But you can always count on Anna to put on a show for the camera!

I've been trying to get her new squishy face on camera for two weeks now. She LOVES being outside, playing in the sprinklers and apparently she loves watermelon. However, I think she just likes to eat it off the rind, she won't eat it when I put it on her plate.

We ate a lot of watermelon.
Lots of posing in the lake.

Lots of swimming too.

I came in one night and found B laying on Ranger. I love these two so much!

We let the kids go to town on the cupcakes. It was really neat watching each of the kid's personalities coming out with their eating habits. Anna ate hers nice and neat while Cole dug right on in and got Blue everywhere. Ryder dropped his immediately and wasn't too keen on getting his fingers dirty while A didn't waste a DROP! She ate the icing, at least most of it and devoured the cake. Then there was William. He didn't want all the icing because it was too much sugar. Quite frankly, I think he just didn't want to get dirty like his brother and Daddy. They were all very cute eating their cupcakes. I can't wait to look back on all these pictures in twenty years and "remember when."

Everyone wanted some Loving from Alexis. I think Paw Paw's loud voice is starting to scare her, but she did sit with him and give him a kiss if someone else was holding her. Then she wanted to share her goggles with Grandpa and give Pa Pa B some sugars. She is way too sweet!

One cute picture of A and Ryder. We couldn't get them to both look at the camera, but we can't ask for perfect pictures every time.

That's right, July 3, 2011 Alexis officially started walking! I think it is fitting she was wearing red, white and blue!

As usual, there was plenty of fishing, but this time Cole caught his first fish! He was SOOOOO excited. I can't even explain how giddy he was. His poor mommy waited all morning to see this and ten minutes after she went in to take a shower he caught it! I ran out to get as many pictures as I could. Their new dog Jack even wanted some of the action. When his mommy came out she asked him how big it was and he spread his arms all the way out. Typical male! I'm sure this is just one of many fish stories this little boy is going to tell.

Nonstop Partying

Two weekends ago we were on the go for every waking minute, literally. We started off the weekend with Melissa’s family at Mo’s for a Mickey Gilley concert. As all parties with the Williams clan go, it was one for the books. We had a great time and took lots of pictures with lots of love ready to be given to everyone. I especially had a good time because I think I two stepped the whole night. I was even sore the next day. I don’t get many opportunities to country dance so I danced the night away

Hanging out before we went to Moe's. The sun was going down and we had sunglasses on. Not to mention we were in the house. Just another party with the Williamses. Brian and I A family photo op before going in. You be the judge. Lots of love going on. I think the boys had a great time too! Brian with Nathan, Jason and Blake.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to attend Ryder’s first birthday. It wasn’t very easy and Mommy didn’t have much of a voice. But Alexis and I made it just in time to eat some yummy Chick fil-a! Exactly what Mommy needed after a long night at Mo’s. Ryder received plenty of goodies and LOVED his cake. His daddy didn’t quite appreciate the mess he was making. I think he was starting to have a panic attack; he barely let the poor baby dig in before he started itching to clean it up. It took a while, but we finally got a cute picture of the kids together.

Just a few of Ryder's friends.

He didn't waste any time digging in!

He has the most beautiful blue eyes. I pray they stay that way!

From the birthday party, we drove to Sugarland to celebrate Aunt Kenzie and Uncle Grant’s upcoming wedding. We are so excited for them and we can’t wait for the big day in October. I just know it is going to be fabulous and tons of fun. We didn’t have a baby sitter for Alexis so I didn’t get to take pictures because I was watching her. But she had a great time and was even able to take a nap while Mommy socialized without baby and the fear of her falling in the pool.

Back in '09 at the Saints Texans game. Oh the great times of all day tailgating! This is when Brian and I actually made it on TV!
Kenzie and A swimming at the shower.

We ended the weekend at Asher and Caige’s 3rd birthday party. It was a pool party so we didn’t get all four of the kids in a picture. But I did steal a hug and a kiss from each of their sweet faces! A sat still long enough for us to capture one picture of her and Carter. Needless to say, we were all too excited to sleep in our beds that night. Unfortunately Daddy had to wake up early to go to Austin and Mommy had training so I didn't even get to sleep in. But it was all worth it!