LJ is 5!!!

I know, I know, I skipped Halloween! It's coming, I promise! Photography stuff is busy for me lately, and I am editing our family photos in order of "ones I can't wait to play with", rather than "I took this one before that one, so I'll edit it first"... :) Sorry! Halloween is next, I promise! Until then, Here's the stats on my little Mr.:

Our little boy is growing up! I always saw "5" as a big age. The age from which he would go from a baby, toddler then a baby boy to a BIG BOY. And he is, I mean it! He knows what he wants and he's not afraid to go after it. He's passionate, hard-headed, loving, curious & rarely cautious. He will tackle you to the ground in football with all his might, though he'd never push you down just because. He eats almost everything, but there are some things he will NOT take one bite of. He's sure it's disgusting, just by looking. His heart is big, his energy tank may be bigger, and he's everything I ever imagined a 5 year old could be and more! One blessed momma.

White Sox Win! I had to share the pics from the big "Championship" game! How cute are these boys? It was SUCH a blast! I think we will always remember that night! (That's the line-up above)

"White Sox!"

Nana & Pops were in town so they got to witness the greatness ;)

Swinging as hard as he can :)

#1!!!

Funny Pic

We had a photo session with a local photographer today. I took pictures of her family, and she took some of ours! We burned CD's directly off the cameras and swapped. What a deal! There will be more to come, but I wanted to share some tonight! Hope you like 'em! :)

I am so sorry I've been absent from this sweet blog! I can't tell you what a fantastic month we've had!! LJ is really enjoying school, and it seems 4-5 year old tball has taken over our evenings! They play Tuesday and Thursday with occasional Monday night practice. So, add that with football games, and our weeks are full! LJ LOVES it, and Lance has taken up as an assistant coach, so I'm not sure who's having more fun ;)

I've been SUPER busy with photography, averaging 3-4 sessions most weeks. From babies, to families, even a session for a guy's upcoming CD...it's been awesome! I've also been doingCrossift - an awesome workout and started playing tennis. If I'm not editing photos, swinging a racket, finding a new fun dinner recipe to cook in my kitchen, (halelujah!), we're probably at the ball field. What a fantastic life!

Lance has a small tear in his elbow, nothing rest won't fix, so he's working out hard through cardio and the occasional pick-up basketball game. :) I think this is the most "free" off-season we've ever had, and we are taking full advantage! We're not sure what God has in store for us next year, so we are patiently waiting and enjoying our time at home until a decision must be made.

I hope you guys are having a wonderful fall! I'm really going to try and catch you up here more often! Life is good for the Cormier fam ;) I hope it's good where you are, too! Enjoy the jumble of tball pics below :)

Waiting for his turn to bat :)

high 5's after a big win!

The only time you'll see those pants white...as we head to the car to go to the game! ...and sometimes not even then :)

Wow! What a whirlwind! I can't believe we haven't even been home a week yet! You won't believe all we've done! LJ has started t-ball practice & Pre-K. We came home to a cat, we call her "Sister", and she lives in our chiminea. We went to our first Bama game of the season, and even saw Big Al...on the sidelines, no less! What a crazy 6 days, and what a hugely blessed week. Sorry it took so long for me to update - enjoy the pics below!

First t-ball practice, and he had a BLAST!!! He ran the bases till he couldn't run any more and made lots of friends :)

He's the one in the black shirt and gray pants :)

I guess, when you're BIG, this is how you pose for your "First Day of School" picture. Game face on, pop-tart in hand.

...and you walk to your class like a big boy!

Here's a picture of "Sister". Isn't she pretty?

Here she is in "her home"...I wonder how she'll feel when we start making s'mores in it?

After his first day! What a big boy! We're so happy to be home!

Right by our apartment are some great inactive railroad tracks. So, we went to go "work on the railroad". What do you think? His Pops worked on the railroad once upon a time. I bet he'll love these :)

CAUGHT!

Our Days are pretty tough, huh? Here are some of the pics LJ & I took of our days here in Durham with our underwater disposable camera ;)

On our last full day in Durham, I dragged the boys we all decided to grab our passports and head on over to the Canadian side of the falls to see the Butterfly Conservatory. Lance's game had been rained out, and we had enough time, (or so I thought) before they closed. I LOVE stuff like that, and LJ & Lance just tolerated it because they love me! As we headed for the border, we hit some traffic. The traffic was pretty much bumper to bumper, 40 minutes, and we were past the point of "no return /I don't want to go to Canada anymore" so we just waited. We had so many different little interruptions, Lance finally yelled to no one in particular, "WE JUST WANT TO SEE SOME BUTTERFLIES!!" LOL

Well, we finally did. We got there, paid full price and and went in just an hour before they closed. In my book, totally worth it, but you'll have to ask LJ and Lance what they think. Lance looked a little bored, and LJ has recently developed a fear of ALL flying insects. Not a fan. He tolerated it, but there was no way he was letting those little guys land on him. I had to tell both of them more than once, "you CAN'T swat the butterflies!" The picture above was taken of LJ while he had NO idea that he had a butterfly on his hat. Lance, though, could probably have cared less if a butterfly landed on him, and at one point he had FIVE on him! So cool! I think they loved his shirt.

So, all-in-all, a great trip. My sweet little family totally indulged me, and I enjoyed every moment. I hope you enjoy the pics. It was pretty dark in there so a good picture without a flash was a challenge. I totally recommend this if you're ever near Niagara!!

Thank you, Durham Bulls! Otherwise, we would probably never have traveled to Buffalo, NY and seen such beautiful stuff!!

I had a little friend who traveled with me on my hip :)

The brown and white butterflies LOVED this little hanging plant. They were all over it.

Niagara Falls!!

We certainly are taking advantage of our location here on our road trip to Buffalo! It has been SO much fun! We are only 20 minutes from Niagara Falls, so we headed on over today to ride the famous "Maid of the Mist" boat near the falls. Totally worth the trip. In hindsight, I think a trip to Niagara Falls would be incomplete without it.

No, we didn't go all gussied up like this, but I had to include this one. It was before we got on the plane yesterday. We managed to get on Lance's Southwest flight! LJ was like the mascot to the team. They all huddle around him and tell him "Roll Tide" and give him high five's. The kid doesn't even know any different. He just soaks it up!

Here we are today with our tickets. It was a SUPER long line but ran like a well-oiled machine. I couldn't hear anyone speaking English but us. It was crazy. Tons of foreigners! Good for them, though. We should all come see the falls!

A big milestone - we made it to the elevator. next, we wait in the line down a few floors, actually in view of the boat!

Ponchos on! Lance said the people in line had "camera envy". Every Asian person there stared at it for a little while :)

I had to "take one for the team", so to speak. I couldn't really wear my poncho. They only give you one, and my camera was really my biggest protection priority. After the ride, I was soaking wet with mascara everywhere, but my camera was safe! You won't see any pics of me on this little jaunt.

This is one of my favorites because of the bird in front of the falls. They were everywhere! It was like it was their playground :)

Yes, indeed, he does!

Last night at the game, we couldn't find a stuffed mascot. LJ actually collects them. I think he has somewhere around 12 of them! He falls asleep with all of them every night, and I have to go in there and pull them out from under him. It's a party in there. Anyway, There wasn't one at the field, (they are the Bison(s?) ) but we found one in the gift Shop today. Best of both worlds - A "cuddle buddy" (as LJ calls them) that is the mascot of the field wearing a t-shirt of the "Maid of the Mist" A 2-for-1! :)