My little princess turns 1

This campaign has had me going so much, I’ve really neglected the blog, even for the most important of posts such as this one.

That said, on July 17, my precious little baby girl turned 1 year old.

I remember when Tara was pregnant with her, and we had Joshua running around. He was my pride and joy, the center of my life. I couldn’t imagine how another baby would fit into our lives.

Ella didn’t have any trouble fitting into this family. She’s a doll. And she even gets along with her big brother.

So, without further ado, click here for all the photos.

20 bottles of wine and a sunburn

Our journey began last Thursday, traveling from Jackson, MS, headed to Jamestown, NC. This was our first long car trip with the kids.

We stopped overnight in Gwinnett, GA, just outside of Atlanta. The next morning, we continued on to NC, where we visited with some old friends from Forest, MS.

The purpose of the trip was a wine festival featuring 19 wineries from North Carolina. The Taste Carolina Wine Festival was a one-day event held at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market in Colfax, NC.

To say we enjoyed ourselves was an understatement. We were without the children, with old friends and sampling a wide variety of wines. (I’ll share my observations on the wine in a separate post.)

Because of baseball practice for one of the Howell children, we decided to start our tasting after lunch. We arrived about 1 p.m. Despite a crowded event, little time was wasted getting through the gate.

The pourers also kept people moving through the various tents, as well, without skimping on the discussion of the wines and vineyards.

About halfway through, my wife was already feeling the effects of the tasting. (This is a combination of her low tolerance and the fact that she has drunk very little in the past three years between being pregnant with and nursing our two children.)

We were standing, the Howell’s and the Hall’s, discussing the number of bottles we were going to purchase. Tara, my wife, wanted to make sure we were not going to go overboard.

My estimation was 15 bottles for us (five for Tara and 10 for me — I’m the wine lover).

“Fifteen!” she explained with bugged eyes and a slight look of shock. “I was thinking more like five total.”

Then something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

“Ooooh. Are those desserts?” she asked her friend as she turned toward the neighboring tent. “Come on, Denine.” And the two were off, all discussion of how much we were to buy gone from her mind.

We ended up with 20 bottles of wine per family. The festival threw in the sunburns for free. And though I’m sitting shirtless for most of today (nothing can touch my neck), it was a great time. We hated to leave and travel back.

Bubbles, balls and a break from Merlin

I’m learning how to use Merlin, a project management tool that I plan to utilize as I manage various projects for different clients. For managing a campaign, I believe it will be quite useful in tracking all of the different staffs, consultants, projects, etc.

But there is only so much sitting in front of a computer on a pretty Saturday afternoon one man can take. So when Mommy and Joshua headed outside for some playtime with bubbles and his favorite ball, I couldn’t resist joining in on the fun.

We left Ella asleep in her crib, but we were right outside her window to hear her if she woke up. (She never did. She’s still asleep as I post this.)

Here are a few bubbly shots of Joshua and Tara. And since I promised pictures of Joshua’s birthday party and never delivered, you can see them here. His aunt, uncle and two cousins came over. (Kristen is Tara’s sister.)

Now, it’s back to the tutorial.

Ella’s first Easter

This was Ella’s first Easter. Her mother donned her with Easter Bunny ears, which were a bit big for her head. Nonetheless, she was as cute as could be.

This is Joshua’s third Easter and also his second birthday. We’ll do birthday this afternoon. At 2, he’s surprisingly adept at unwrapping small chocolate eggs and helping himself. Before we noticed, he had eaten four or five. (We’re hoping he crashes from his sugar high about the time we get to church.)

His favorite Easter Bunny gifts were two hot wheels. Dad enjoyed them about as much as Joshua during breakfast.

Enjoy some of the scenes from the Hall Easter morning here.

Back later with Joshua’s second birthday. It’s an Elmo theme with a splash of Cars, his favorite two things.