Groovy!!!

My creative mind needs a project now and then and the lastest issue of Parents magazine reminded me of....... TIE-DYE!!! I actually have never tie-dyed anything before but always wanted to and this weekend my mom was coming in town so I thought it would be a cool project for Eli and I to do with her... of course, from the pictures you can see Eli helped for about... oh.... 5 minutes and then just wanted to dump the water back and forth, but I knew this was mostly for me anyway so My mom and I finished several T-shirts and other items... As you can see, Eli only needs so many T-shirts so some of our lucky friends will be getting packages from us in the mail soon:)

Fourth of July

What a great weekend we had!! We spent time with family and friends and enjoyed the summer weather and great food!






















Thursday night we went to the Sugar Hill festivities and saw some fireworks. Here are those pics.

Then Friday we were invited to the annual fourth party at Bill and Janet Hammocks house. They have a pool, sand volleyball court, great food and Eli's two best playmates as grand-children, Bryn and Dylan. We spent all day there and had so much fun. Here are those pics.























Saturday and Sunday we spent with my friend Ami and her fiance Blair at their dock on Lake Lanier.

We then spent the rest of the weekend with my family, who were great to come visit us.. recapping our great times makes me feel so blessed... I hope everyone else's weekends were great too!

2008's best week

We just got back from a great week at North Myrtle Beach with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. It was wonderful weather and fabulous quality time with Eli and the family. I am already missing the ocean breeze. I took lots of pictures and am too lazy to write info for each of them so I have broken up the pics by day so that I can describe what we did.

Day One
We all left Saturday from our house in Buford. Family friends (Thanks Scotty and Sharon) let us borrow their deluxe van which was awesome. Last time we rented a mini van and this was so much better with more cargo and people room. I will brag on Eli(you might hear this alot) because he was really patient and great on they way down there. Uncle Burt taught him how to play air guitar and Aunt Christy kept him from getting bored. As soon as we got there, we headed to the beach... Overall, Eli loved the sand and the pool.. the ocean was a different story.
Here are the pics from Day one

Day Two
This was a very hot hot day!!! We went to Wilmington to see the city and take some tours. I will say that my family was very sweet to accommodate this trip because it was basically for me. I wanted to take a studio tour of Screen Gems studio in Wilmington.. they shoot lots of movies but most importantly, they are the sets for the show One Tree Hill and the former Dawson's Creek. For those who know me, know I LOVED Dawson's Creek and am a fan of One Tree Hill but, either way, the tour was really cool... We couldn't take pictures inside but got to walk onto the show sets including, for those who know, Lucas' house, Peyton and Brooke's house and Peyton's office. It was really neat. Afterwards, I asked our tour guide, Kristen if I could take a photo of the Dawson's Creek mural outside.. she agreed and then told us they still had (Dawson's Creek fans will understand) Pacey's Boat 'True Love' there and took us to see it and take pictures.... IT WAS AWESOME!!!! While Mom, Christy and I took the studio tour, the boys toured the USS North Carolina battleship... which they loved. Later, we went downtown and had lunch and walked around. The tour guide also gave me a list of places in Wilmington that were important to the show, including the brick wall Pacey bought for Joey in Season Three!!! The last picture is of a message from Joshua Jackson written on the wall in the city market! Ahhh..... I loved it!
Here are the pics

Day Three
Day three started at 3:30 a.m. when Eli woke us up vomiting... Poor guy. So we took most of the day pretty easy staying inside for most of the morning and venturing out only later in the day. That night we went out to dinner at Broadway at the Beach where Eli and PawPaw rode the carousel.
Here is day Three

Day Four
Eli seemed to be feeling great, so we spent the entire day at the pool and beach. It was a nice day.. Eli loved the pool.
Here is day Four

Day Five
It began familiarly at 3:30 a.m. with Eli vomiting... Again..... Only this time it continued most of the next day also.... We had no idea what was wrong so we just kept him in out of the sun. That night my parents were sweet enough to let Josh and I and Burt and Christy go out to dinner alone and babysit. We ate dinner at the House of Blues and walked around Barefoot Landing. It was nice night. Here is Day Five

Day Six
We figured out that Eli just had a bug but we aggravated the second time by giving him dairy.. so we kept him away from milk and cheese and he was good. Day Six I tried to spend some time videoing instead of pictures so there aren't many during the day. That afternoon though I decided to take some portraits of Eli on the beach. He did so good, although I have great backups(Mammie, Aunt Christy, Uncle Burt) that are willing to make fools out of themselves to get him to smile... That night, after dinner, we went back to Barefoot Landing to get our pictures taken at Preservation Station.
I'll post those pictures later but we got to hold a tiger baby and a monkey. Eli loved it and still says this was his favorite part of the trip. It isn't cheap but if anyone is traveling to Myrtle Beach, I highly recommend it.
Here are Eli's portraits

Day Seven
Our last day before leaving and Burt and Josh, along with Mammie and PawPaw decided to go parasailing... The pictures are pretty far out but you get the idea. I was still trying to take a lot of video but here are the few pics I did take. Day Seven
That night we took our family portraits on the beach. It went very smoothly, believe it or not:)
Here are those pics

And that was our trip!!!
It was a great time! My mom and Dad are awesome for planning it for us! I am already looking forward to next time. Stay tuned for more pics and video.

A special day

Many Many Many Many Many years ago, a wonderful woman was born... then, many many man many years later, she spent her birthday giving birth to a wonderful baby boy...

Today, Eli has something to tell them

Wedding Season

When I started shooting weddings, it really made me nervous... Like with anything, practice evokes confidence. Now I feel like I have hit my stride! I really enjoy shooting weddings, from the beginning to the end... (Actually the editing is my favorite part) And I am still surprised how different each one turns out.

Here are my lastest two events!

Charity & David - March 1, 2008




















Christy & Josh - April 12, 2008

Mother'sDay

This weekend we journeyed to Rutherfordton to spend time with Gram and Grandpap. On Saturday we went to Lake Lure to see the dragon races...which were pretty interesting... Saturday was a gorgeous day even if Sunday wasn't.... We had a nice time seeing all the family on Mother's Day! I missed my mom and grandmothers, but talked to them and will see them soon!!


































































Here are the rest of the pictures

Day Out with Thomas!

This weekend we went to ride on Thomas the Train! Eli isn't a huge Thomas fan but my sister-in-law got us free tickets so the whole fam went to the Tennessee Railway Museum to see Thomas! Eli has been asking to go again every day since Saturday! It was a great day!
Here are the pics

Click here for something new!!

Better Late than Never

So.. these are the Puckett Easter pictures.... Yes, I realize Easter was a month ago... but, sometimes I am ridiculously behind!!! Oh well, enjoy them any way:)

P.S. The beginning includes a few pictures of Eli's Easter celebration at school.

Another Game Ranch visit

Eli has still been talking about the bears, squirrels and ducks that we saw at the Yellow River Game Ranch last September so last weekend, when Uncle Burt and Aunt Christy came to town we went back. They had alot of baby animals which were really cute. I tried to take more video this time, which I will work on soon but here are the few pics I did take.



Christy got to fulfill her dream of feeding a squirrel:) Here are the rest of the pics.

Extreme blog catchup

So, I have several things I have been meaning to post but time has gotten away from me so this is the result! three blogs at one time!!

First, since most of this blog is dedicated to the life and times of Eli, I wanted to prove Josh and I actually do get some adult time occasionally;) No need to blush, just a birthday party. In February my friend Ami celebrated her birthday with a wine tasting/housewarming/birthday party at her house. She and her boyfriend Blair just finished some major remodeling after a storm last July destroyed the top floor of their Lake Lanier home and they welcomed all of us to see the finished product. For fun, we all brought a bottle of wine in a paper bag and had a wine tasting where we judged which wine was the best. My friend Christen won with her, believe it or not, $8 bottle of Sutter Home Cabernet. It was loads of fun! Thanks Gram and Grandpap for babysitting.




Here are the rest of the pics

Is his last name Manning?

Eli is a sports fan... baseball, football, soccer, golf... he loves them all. We've been playing with all his equipment for the last year and for some reason last week, he created this unusual windup when he throws the ball...

It cracks me up, so I taped it.

A Very Solemn Post

Several years ago, the Daily Post ran a health story about parents of kids with lukemia... I remember because I chose a quote from one of the mom's in the story for the headline, because I really thought it summed up the entire story......

"Kids shouldn't have Cancer..."

Today, a little girl in Iowa, named Shaelynn Sue Kelly died from a brain tumor. She was 1 month older than Eli. I didn't know Shaelyn or her parents... I actually just found her story when she was diagnosed about a year ago, on a blog of a blog of a blog, etc... I've been following her story every week and am very sad today for her family... and amazed at their faith and strength...

This post isn't meant to depress anyone, but just a small form of therapy for me in hopes that my prayers, or any of yours, can help the Kelleys in the next few months....

The Next Iron Chef

So, I mentioned Eli's new interest in helping in the kitchen... I pretty happy with it because it is the only thing that can occupy his time long enough for me to cook dinner(with the exception of Dora, Curious George or Little Einsteins..which I use quite enough)... and for those who know Eli well, he does not entertain himself... and that drives me crazy before Josh gets home and I am trying to cook dinner.

Anyway, this is a short video the day I discovered his interest.... I'm amazed at what a bowl, spoon and some egg noodles can do for a mom's sanity:)

Happy Late Valentine's Day

We have a late post... as usual. I always have such great intentions of posting these things on the right day but, oh well... I wanted to show the cookies Eli made with Mammie (my mom) the weekend before Valentine's day. He loves helping me cook. It's amazing because it's about the only thing I have found lately that can hold his attention fro longer than about 10 minutes...

Here is the valentine we sent out to family:)



Here is the slideshow of the rest of the pics

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

So, we are big Sesame Street fans at my house. Eli realy enjoys it and, to be honest, I promote that because I really enjoy it:) I think it's pretty funny. Anyway, I heard him singing this by himself during this morning's episode so I grabbed the Flip. It's not as cute as before he saw me with the camera but I wanted to capture it anyway!

BTW: That's peanut butter on his face from his peanut butter bagel breakfast!

Georgia's version of a snowstorm

For all the bloggers in more northern parts of the country, I know this isn't anything, but for us here in the Atlanta area.... this is our first official snow!!!!

Last night when it starting accumulating we took Eli out to see it, just in case it was gone by morning... and honetly, he wasn't impressed. I think he was too cold. Even this morning., he just wanted to see it from the window... But of course here are the few pics.



The view down our street


Across the street

Maya!

Since, I like to archive this blog like a diary, I wanted to write something about Maya.



Since I was little I have always loved cats.... I'm just a cat person:) And while growing up, I I always had cats.. When I went to college of course, while living in apartments, I was cat free for 4 years... and hated it so when I graduated from college, my brother gave me Maya as a graduation present.

On New Year's Eve, we had to put Maya to sleep. She was a loyal pet full of personality. She was almost 9 years old. She was independent and moody, which is what I loved about her!

Christmas catchup!

I'm sure you fellow bloggers know how I feel.... When you take so many photos at an event... like Christmas... It's a bit daunting trying to find time to post them...

But I finally did.... here is the slideshow!

We spent the weekend before Christmas in Chattanooga with my family... We have old and new traditions. We always go to my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve so t there are pictures of that and this year we started a tradition of taking Eli to my mom's carousel to ride Rhett.. then the fam went on a walk around the riverfront... It was so much fun.

Then, on Christmas Day, we traveled to North Carolina to spend time with Gradnpap and G, Uncle CHuck, Aunt Amy Trip and Quinny. The boys have so much fun together...

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Santa Claus is ALL OVER town!!

Let me begin by saying that last year Eli and Santa were not a good combination... we tried several times didn't want to have anything to do with him.... but this year, since we have seen him everywhere, Eli is warming up....

First we saw him in downtown Buford at the Christmas tree lighting...


Eli needed Daddy to help him this time..

Then, we saw him again at Chateau Elan...


And THEN Santa visited the kids at Eli's school.....


Overall, he did a great job and I was very proud of him.... I think next year will be a home run!!