We now officially have a new blog. Run, don't walk your mouse right over to check it out... JillJarvis.com.
How many of you realized that on Wednesday there is a cool number thing going on? Well i hadn't realized it either until i was catching up on blogs and found this post from a fellow scrapbooker (Dear Lizzy). Document what you're doing at this time (either the am or pm option). Write it down, take a picture, tweet it or whatever, just be sure to leave a reminder so in 20 years when someone asks you, you'll remember!
Beware this is a bit of an all open post...remember i warned you. Here goes, rarely do i talk about my parents but for a moment i need to brag about my dear dad. He is by far the most unbelievable person that i know, yes he does have his faults but that makes us love him even more. He makes me want to be a better person and make him proud. And the best part of all is how much he loves God and wants to learn more about Him. His walk with the Lord is inspiring.
We had an awesome Independence Day! It basically started on Wednesday evening when Kelley & her family arrived for a visit. This was the first time that her husband Scott and son, Austin had been to our house {also the first time that James & Scott had ever met!}. We had planned to spend time at the pool and a little time at the lake. Well there was a situation at the pool on 
Wednesday night which lead to the pool being closed the entire time the Anderson's were visiting {actually the pool isn't scheduled to open back up until Thursday :( }. On top of the pool issues, the Ratliff's boat a had a glitch which meant that we basically spent time at the beach and on the dock. So Thursday Jameson & i hung out at the dock with the Andersons and Ratliffs. After we swam and played for most of the day we headed home for dinner with James. Following dinner i headed out with the Andersons 
to take some family pictures. It is always fun to photograph friends, especially ones that are willing to experiment with me. i'll be posted some sneak peaks soon! Friday we basically repeated the above except that the Ratliff's boat was fixed and James was off work!! Double bonus! Early in the day James & Scott put sod out onto the side yard...can you believe James would make his guest work?! {That was what all of the neighbors were saying as they drove by, Scott says he enjoyed it! Either way, thanks for helping out Scott!} Friday evening we had crab boil with a few of the neighborhood families. i personally think it was even better then T-60 {less spice!}
Saturday morning Kelley & i got up at 4 am to hit the Jockey Lot. i think she may have planned her trip around being here for a Saturday morning?! Either way it was fun to get some one on one time to catch up with each other. Friday evening it actually had struck me that as much as i love seeing her entire family and having them around my whole family, it limited the amount of time we got to catch up with each other. Which is what most of our past visits have been, mainly all of the retreats where we roomed together! So Saturday morning it was nice to get a chance to talk, even though it meant getting up SO very early! Once we got back from our shopping their family headed onto their next stop...Jekyll Island.
The rest of our 4th was spent at the Ratliff dock. By the middle of the afternoon it was obvious that Jameson was going to need a nap but he didn't want to leave the excitement. So Carrie & i headed out on the boat to nap the boy! The best part is that it worked! After returning to the dock we flooded around in our life jacket diapers for a few more hours. When the sun started to set there were 3 boats that tied up together and we watched the fireworks. Seeing fireworks over a body of water is the absolute best. And this year it was even better because Jameson wanted to snuggle in my lap (which is why there are zero pictures of fireworks from this year!). This little boy is going through a major snuggling phase and i LOVE it!
Onto other news, i've been keeping busy editing pictures from various sessions from the past couple of weeks. Be on the lookout for some exciting specials that will be offered for Jill Jarvis Photography!
While riding on the golf cart with Jameson & Cade we were discussing who was the biggest. They of course both said me. I then said who is the smallest. They looked at each other and thought for a minute. Cade, who will be 5 in August, said i'm 4 and a half so i'm bigger then Jameson. Then Jameson said well i'm 4 and a second so i'm smallest. The 4 and a second has stuck! He has started asking if so & so is 8 and a quarter, etc. So cute!That is all i can think of right now, but i'm sure there are lots that i'm missing. Hope you have a wonderful day!
We wanted to wish all of our many father's a wonderful day. We are so blessed to have each and everyone of you in our lives.
Wow really where does the time go? I didn't intend to be away from the blog for quite this long. But guess what, this isn't even going to be a real detailed post either...ha. Too many other things keep pulling me away fro
m here, mainly the pool & the lake. And guess what that really is more important to us right now (don't take it personally)! Yesterday Jameson & i actually didn't have very much time to spare but we were in the pool for 15 minutes and it felt great! The pictures to the right are from earlier this week. The Stacy triplets were down visiting from Ohio and we invited them and the Coulter boys to the pool. We lined them up in age/height order and then they jumped in - i was surprised to see that Jameson was the first to hit the water! The pictures from the boat were from last weekend. i was on the Leon's boat so i could capture Carrie's whole boat and tube in the shot - this is summer to us!!
Next week i'm heading off to Florida for the ADPi convention. i'm planning to keep the tweets coming with updates, especially with exciting pictures of the awesome desserts. There are usually some amazingly creative desserts at convention. And my personal goal is always to leave the last bite (that is my diet for the week - ha). You can also follow along through the blog that was created - here.
One more thing before i go, we wanted to congratulate Brandt on his high school graduation. We are so excited to see what God has intended for you!
One more thing, this weekend at RiverTree, Greg Nettle spoke about how our DNA has wired each of us to connect with God in a different way. Such as serving others, through nature, contemplation, etc. He had 5 other people speak about how they are wired to connect to Him. It was a cool message. One exciting things about the advancements in technology, it allows me (or you) to hear the rest of this series, even once we're back home and unable to attend RiverTree. Click here for audios of their messages.
Have you been wondering where we've been lately??? We've been actively living life and i just haven't gotten to the blog to post any updates. All good things, just not enough time in the day to blog! Here are a few of the things we've been up to...Jameson's last days of school (Miss Frances loved the bird feeder he picked out for her!), graduation program at school, i attending the student ministry event to take pictures, James has had a few important client meetings, preparing for our trip to Ohio, 4 year check up for Jameson (included 4 shots - yuck), a birthday party for our friend Aubrey, a photo session to capture 
this sweet boy at 5, i snapped the picture of myself in the mirror of an old truck (the angle of the mirror worked to help hind some curves!), add in that my laptop was gone for some upgrades and you get...less blogging! Here are some pictures from some of the above mentioned activities! We hope you are doing well and enjoying life!
"I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." Revelations 3:8
Then as we were pulling into Sams i reached for my purse to get the membership card out. My wallet wasn't in my purse. Then i remembered that i'd taken it out shortly before we left to pay a bill. So we went into Sams so i could submit a photo order. On the way there Jameson asked for a pretzel and luckily we had a few dollars in the truck so we shared a pretzel. The next step turned out okay because i had gift cards for Home Depot. So we decided to get his teacher's gift from there. (She is getting a nice bird feeder and some food, i think i'm also going to make something too.) From there we headed home since we only had about .95 cents left. We did head back out once we got home but we went the other direction to finish our errands. While we were in town Jeannie called to ask if we could get together so i could help her with some scrapbooking. It turned out good that we were still in town and James wasn't going to be home until late tonight. Jameson had a blast with their itty bitty puppy, Daisy. Overall as crazy as the day seemed it was pretty good!
Today was the annual Shine project for FCC. For 3 hours on a Saturday in May we serve the community. James & i were leaders for the group that was painting the park near our house. It is amazing what 3 hours of manual labor can do to a faded park. i am so grateful for the members of our team...the park looks great now! The photos above show the before and after. It looks so much better now. Even the little ones got involved. Jameson was so excited to help out. He was actually painting quite a bit. Look at the paint splatter all over his face & clothes. Luckily I got his new shoes off before they got paint all over them too. Never too young to serve!
This year I challenged myself to make all of the gifts that we gave for Mother's Day. I did it! The cards I created were fun because I decided on a color and found coordinating papers in my stash (just went to the green folder - love having my PP organized by color!). I used the cricut to cut out the butterflies. The piece that I made was creating hybrid bracelets (8 total - yes we are blessed!). I used photos of the boy and digital bits from various Songbird Avenue kits. In addition to the bracelet the mothers each received a really fun fabric wrapped decorative photo thing (that is the true technical term for it). More pictures are on facebook if 
you want to see some up close shots as well as the second version I made for Nana Susan with pictures of Addy. Full credits for this piece can be found at TheDigiChick (hybrid pieces from Sugarplum Paperie & Ali Edwards).
Now we're off to help with Abby & Caroline's babies. They have something at school with the big kids so Jameson & I are going to watch the littles. I told Jameson about it and he said but mom I'm not a girl so I can't help babysit. Such a funny boy.
Okay so i know most of you that know me realize that i can be a bit obsessive. Well the focus lately has been on twitter. On Tuesday i think i updated about 2 dozen times...too much for a normal day but there was a reason for that day. One it was Jameson's birthday and it was a quick easy way for me to update our activities. The other reason was that it was Jesus Loves You day and i was spreading the truth that He loves us. So now i'm going to go the other direction. i just read about this idea on Stacy Julian's blog & Jodified's blog about unplugging for an entire day. No internet. No TV. No Phone. No Computer...for 24 hours. i'm choosing this Sunday as my day. i will be at church in the morning and with my two guys the rest of the day (so no need for a phone to be contacted in case of emergency). i'm actually excited about it. Last summer every weekend i would walk away from the computer. i need to remember to do that throughout the year, not just when the weather pulls me away. How about you, do you realize you have an obsessive personality and do you know how to counteract it?
Wow have we had a fun-filled weekend! It basically started Friday, with Western Day at school! They had a horse drawn wagon, a goat named Ding-Dong, hamburgers on an open flame, stick horse races, horseshoes and best of all...cowboy hats for everyone. Look at how cute this little guys looks! Then later that afternoon James' mom (aka MC/Nana Susan) and Joe-Joe arrived. James even came home a bit early from work! We had a nice relaxing evening here at the house.
Then on Saturday we had Jameson's birthday party...at Home Depot. Oh boy was he excited! So our plan for the day was for Susan & me to get dropped off at Home Depot while the guys went to do something else. Well Jameson wanted to help set up for his party, and he actually did help! His party was all about what he is into these days...The Home Depot and Chick-fil-A. Add in a mix of friends and family and you've got his utopia. The entertainment was that the kids each got to made a wooden wheelbarrow planters. Jameson got done with 
his before most of his friends arrived so he was entertaining himself with a tape measure. He thought it was the best when it would fly off the end of the boards...simple joys! After everyone was done with the project we enjoyed chicken and cake. The cake was adorable and not only did it look great, it tasted even better! Jameson even wanted to cut it himself, luckily the cutting tool was just a putty knife! Overall the party was a great success and Jameson is starting to look forward to being 4. He keeps asking if he is already 4 or if he has to wait until his official birthday (Tuesday). So funny the different ways he always looks at things. And now I'll answer the question that you're probably thinking, yes we had his party at Home Depot. No they don't typically do parties there but I asked and the manager said yes. We did find out that they aren't really supposed to do it but since they had told us already they went ahead with ours. So if you have a little boy that is also obsessed with HD, you most likely won't be able to have a party there.
After the party we headed up to Split Creek Farm to check out the baby goats. Caroline & Lily were also going so Jameson had someone else his same size (a common question when we're going somewhere). Jameson thought it was hilarious that the goats would try to eat his clothes. He and Nana Susan each had little nibbles from the little goats! This photo of Jameson & Lily was right before Jameson gave Lily a kiss. They are so funny together!
The next activity for the weekend came today. The Fanello girls were all receiving their First Communion. It was nice to get to spend this special time with them and lots of extended family from Ohio. After mass we all headed back to their house to spend some time together. During mass the Priest mentioned something that I thought was very interesting. He said that in Eastern cultures women with small children will bring them to the altar for communion; and it is given to both mother and child. However in Western culture they must wait until the age of reason. The part that has stuck with me throughout the day was that this church has given the age of reason a specific age. Is it possible to set a specific age on when a child is old enough to reason? In my mind, welcoming Jesus into your heart to choose to follow him on a daily basis varies person to person.
