What's in a name?

So you may have noticed I changed the title of my blog. How very observant of you! ;) That was me being Captain Obvious for a moment, a funny game we like to play at my house (maybe one day it will make for a moment worth sharing?) Just naming my blog after my dear little family caused me to feel as though all I could share was stuff about my dear little family. I want more than that... so much more. You see I admire many blogs and bloggers who share many different things, and I want to branch out a bit. I'm not nearly the photographer that NieNie is or the storyteller that cJane is and I don't quite have the knack for humorous honesty like Ann, but I've got a lot to share! I don't make up all my own recipes or design and decorate amazing things for my home... yet! However, I do know a whole lot about little people and ice cream! I just know that every one wants to know more about children and ice cream!
So changing the name is like declaring my freedom to change it up a bit with what I share. It may be humorous stories about children I've worked with over the years. Children are definitely good for funny stories... and messes! Could be just about anything!
Like my thoughts on the eternities, because the world lost another good man to cancer far too young. It really puts things into perspective. Like my Taryn drawing a TV on the wall next to her bed with a dry erase marker (did you know those are harder to clean off walls than permanent?), not such a big deal--that's what they made paint for, right? Or my children pulling all the couch cushions off the couch for the 37th time today, no sweat! At least I have three sweet little munchkins to provide that service while one more looks on! My man Steve is with me, right now, in this life! I am blessed! In the eternities the messes and stresses won't matter, but the snuggling and reading and ice cream will! Life is precious and sweet, and I want to savor it! And share it, more of what makes me tick, gets me thinking, and gets my creative juices flowing. Of course the posts about Manning's hair and my other children's antics will show up here too! I KNOW I won't maintain more than one blog... I struggle enough with this one!
So when life hands me lemons, wall drawings, flowers, treats, stress, love, laughter, tears, hope, joy, sadness, charity, doubt, faith... I'll be swinging the world by the tail! And posting about it here when I feel so inspired... and the stars align. :) That's how I feel a lot... I'm just taking what comes and swinging it my way, bringing joy and fun to it whenever I can!

*Inspiration for my title came from this song:
Killing the Blues by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant

The Whole Hairy Story!

My name is Manning, and this is the saga of my hair. It is a bit long and full of pictures! 26 I think... still working on my numbers, but hey I can type! :) You need all the pictures to see how adorable me and my hair are, and as proof that my family is mean when it comes to my thick, luscious mane! My mom keeps saying something about "lots of black mail pictures" to use when I'm a dating teenager?!? I'm so lost!

Hair, now that is something I know a bit about! This is me a couple days after I was born. I look a bit milk-drunk I think!Totally adorable new born fuzzy hair!

I affectionately call this my "chia pet" hair style!

The classic part! A bit long to be a missionary hair cut I think!

Byron gave me a faux-hawk, so I could look just like him!
He is one cool dude and I want to be just like him when I get big!

Ummmm, hmmmmm?? Not sure what to say about this one? Taryn had her turn combing my hair!?! Then I started to cry... I mean, come on people! I am not a doll here! Real boy!
I am a real boy, just ask Gepetto, he'll vouch for me! :)

Here my hair looks like a dandelion, and I need a nap!

Crazy Hair! Crazy Eyes!
"You say one mean thing about my hair and I peel you!!!
Like a carrot!"

You makin' fun of my hair??? Take this, "thpfllt! Neener neener!"

Bed Head!
Nuff' Said!

Mom called this one the "President Howard!" He ran the country? Or ate steak? Or was the president of steak? Something like that!

Boo hoo! I told you they're mean!!! They made me look like Donald Trump! Waaahaaahaaaa!

I mean, come on... no one looks good when they start combing their hair from way over here!

Now even I've got Bieber Fever!!! Just call me Justin!

That stuff on my head has a mind of it's own... or maybe a lot of little minds, one in each hair? Whatever, you know you want to be on my team! ;o)

My mom kissing on her cute little baby girl! What? Wait a sec, me again! I told you they were mean! Brace yourselves it only gets worse!

Just my normal, wild-haired self! Wait till you see what the do to me next...

Pigtails!?! Who do you think I am? Cindy Lou Who? Aw man, I look like a really cute little girl!

I kinda like this one! Does that make me weird. I think I look like a human water fountain! I mean that is like eight whale spouts. "Thats right my little 7 month old, female counter parts! Count them and weep!" (Except you Jules, only cry a little!)

Coolio?!? Rapping?!? WHAT THE???

"You give me one more crazy hair-do and I'll tell you what I'll do to you..."

"I can't believe they are doing this to me! Will some one come and rescue me? Please? I think my whole family is...

TOTALLY NUTS!!! And I'm gonna get them for this!!!"

Be afraid little Mann! Be very afraid! "What are they going to do to me?"

Good thing Josie loves me, because I think she is a little jealous that my hair all fits in one pony tail and she still has to wear two!

Taryn says I'm her unicorn! I wish I had wings so I could be a pegasus unicorn, ah well we just have to work with the things God gave us!

When Josie softly, okay not so softly removed my horn, this is what happened...

POOF!!! Is my dad laughing at me?

"I make all this hair look good!"

It's been a long day, can you leave a poor baby's hair alone??? See even dad feels my pain!

If you want to play with awesome baby hair like mine you'll have to pray that your next baby (or baby brother/sister) has hair like mine! Do me a favor and pray she is a girl too, for the baby's sake! Or buy yourself a troll doll!
Since these pictures were taken I've had two haircuts, and the torture continues! :) I'm sure the hairy story isn't over yet!

The Dino-Whore Park!!!

I hope no one is too crushed when I inform you that there aren't any Dinos in my pictures... or whores! I stole my post title from Elijah, my adorable nephew who calls all dinosaurs, dino-whores. It is my favorite. Sometimes I ask him questions about T-rex that I already know the answer to just so I can listen to his cute little voice as he tells me all about his beloved dino-whores! Someday he'll say that word perfectly, and I'll be a little sad... until then I'll love it & him!

We love the Dinosaur Park out in Alliante, but it was too hot for me to take pictures of Byron's 5 minute-at-a-time dino digs in the sand box! The too hot part of that last sentence is a little entertaining, because the high here is 68 lovely degrees tomorrow! :o) That said, it was lovely to watch the children run amuck at the splash pad there. One crocodile was even so kind as to spit a large amount of water on the back of my pants while I took pictures... I just wish he'd done it earlier, it was cool! Here are some fun photos of our day at the Dino-whore Park!

Taryn would not commit to getting her hair wet... funny girl! I guess I understand, we did spend 42.5 minutes getting her to look that good in the morning. Who wants to waste that kind of hair-do dedication?

On the other hand... or should I say foot? Josie was totally dedicated to getting her feet wet. She had a lot of fun jumping in puddles, and doing this!

I think the little boy running through this shot is too adorable! Taryn is thinking, "I think I'm touching the water! Am I touching the water? I'm not sure... what am I trying to do here again?"

Like I said... funny girl!

This is my favorite shot of the day... quite possibly one of my all time favorite shots! I love the action I caught and Kaitlyn's expression. That girl was even more hard-core than Byron in her commitment to the splash! Too cute and made for a fabulous photo!

Chelsa is such a gorgeous, hot mama and Griff is such a handsome little guy! He is getting so stinking big! Love her hat!

I LOVE these 3 munchkins! This is the spitting crocodile being questioned in the wetting of my pants! Ummm, that didn't come out right!?! ;o)

Josie loved the crocodiles with the same passion that Eli loves his dino-whores! She did however prefer them when they weren't spitting.

Taryn too! What a gorgeous cheeser this girl has on her!

How fun is that park!! You should see the baby dino's coming out of their eggs, and the enormous Triceratops head! Fun to be had by all!

California Dreamin'

*I have tons of photos that I have finally uploaded to my computer, so I'll do a bunch of posts before I re-date them chronologically! I'm so excited I finally learned how to do collages, so I can share more pics!*

In August we went to California with my family for our summer vacation. My parents own a time share in Newport, and we love to go with them. There is a lot for the kiddies to do, and Steve and I always love escaping the Vegas heat for Cali. temperatures any chance we get. In fact, we looked at these photos and dreamed of escaping the lingering summer temps here and running back to California. For now memories will do.

Swimming in the pool!

Chillin' on the beach, burying kids, building sand castles and fun stuff like that!

Exploring the tide pools, climbing rocks and Josie was really good at stalking the sea gulls!

Catching hermit crabs and putting them right back where we found them. Playing 'king and queens of the mountain'!

It was a great trip. A great mix of hanging out with extended family, and just chilling with our little gang! We all had a lot of fun!

What a mug!

Could she be any cuter?

I don't think so! What a smile!

She is getting so big, and she loves to feed herself!

Such a cute little mess!

I love her hair that sticks up all the time!

Oh, the enthusiasm! She is quite a character!

I wish I could read baby minds!

I bet it would be entertaining!

I love to nibble on those luscious cheeks!

I love the Josie B!

Truly, Josie B living the good life!

*These pictures were all taken within the past month!