Shannon Gurney Photoblog

Cousins

Jesse and Kensy have been getting to come hang with us a little more lately.  Ty loves it when they come since Jesse pretty much drives him around on the golf cart ALL DAY (even if he is tossed out of it once or twice!) and Kensy loves playing outside in the fort with him.

That's pretty much like heaven to Ty.  Playing outside WITH someone...anyone, but especially his cousins!  So, while they were here the other day, I talked them into some photos...more like BEGGED!

 

Ty can't hardly keep from tormenting poor Kensy.  She always does what I ask and he always makes faces at her while she's doing it.  Poor thing. 
 

Eventually, though, she get's sucked into the goofyness right along with him!

AND then, there's Jesse.  He's a great kid and really keeps an eye on the kiddos for me...even if he is a little hard on his sister.  He's finally to the point where he's actually more help than not when he's here.

He's gonna be a looker, too.  Can you tell?  He's already got that whole "James Dean thing" going for him!

Back to the funny faces!
 
 
 
Such a doll face!

AND, if you're wondering where Wes was in all of this photo commotion...it was naptime...

But, here's a sneak of what's coming tomorrow...HALLOWEEN post coming soon!

 

Without even trying...

It's funny how when you're not trying very hard something good always falls in your lap.  Today, while outside playing with my boys, I was fooling with my camera settings trying out some new techniques...

I slowly, very nonchalantly, pointed the camera in Ty's direction (If he sees me taking photos, he immediately runs the other way.).  He's going through a NO PICTURES phase.

Then, it happened.  I got these without even trying!

They are my new FAVORITE photos.  There are only a couple because as soon as he realized what was happening he ran off.  But these two are worth twenty of my usual chase Ty around with the camera shots. 

My sweet innocent boy and his happy little grin... 

Does that make this the opposite?

I know...I should've warned you!  HA! 

The truth is I LOVE this shot almost as much...  It totally captures his dramatic little self at this point in his toddler life.

Party Pics

or should I say snapshots?  Probably snapshots.

This past weekend was Taylor's birthday.  He turned "5".  I'd been telling Ty about the party for, at least, a week and when the actual day came Ty was sick (not puking or anything but sick all the same).  I didn't have the heart to make him stay home, which I should of done because he was a bit of a party pooper.  Luckily, my mom decided to go with us and she kept Ty happy (and Wes, too) while I was able to get my usual bit of snapshots for Taylor's momma.

Here are some of my favorite (totally random) shots...

The birthday boy.  He had a John Deere cake, too.  He must've been really good this year!
 

The party was at a really cool farm where the kids were able to pick out pumpkins, pet lots of animals, eat tons of junk, ride on a carousel, and a whole lot more...

Did I mention learning to milk a cow?  Okay, so it was a fake cow, but still!
 

That train was super neat.  All the kids thought so...except Ty, of course, who was whining about feeling yucky and laying his head on the side of the car.  No pictures of that...BORING!

Wait a minute...he's perking up....

CANDY!  It solves all the world's problems!

AND then, the carousel...you can't go wrong with that!
 
Unless you're Wes...

Poor kid.  Oh, the terror of a carousel!
 

I can't remember Ty ever being afraid of the carousel.  In fact, if I remember it correctly, he's always loved it.  But, my little Wes is a very unique individual...

It's a good thing Grandma's always around to keep him safe.  Especially, since I'm always in the corner laughing (with my camera, of course!)...

My poor kids will probably be scarred for life!

No one else seemed to mind.  They all look happy enough, right?  I guess that means my kid has issues...

Alright, back to pumpkin picking!  Check out Taylor's face...he's so, totally pumped about that pumpkin!  I love this shot (above)!
 
 
 
 
 

Yes, he recovered from the carousel.  BUT, the pumpkins were TOTALLY gonna get him!  The TERROR of it all!

THESE GUYS are the scary ones!  Watch out, Wes!

AND last, check out these super, cool vampire teeth we got to take home!

well...not those EXACT teeth, but you get the idea!

Best Buddies

The boys and I spent Monday morning at Kaleb and Hayden's house.  K and H are Ty's absolute BEST BUDS.  Their momma happens to be one of my best buds!  AND...on Friday they will add a new baby brother to their cute family!  I can't wait to see the new little dude!

I was lucky enough to get to take some maternity shots of their sweet momma and I'll be sharing those soon, but for now....

Let's see some fun pics of the boys in all their best buddy glory!

 

 

 

Apparently, Ty is the comedian of the group...or it sure looks that way from these pics!  This next one cracks me up...

 

Wes loves to have his picture taken.  AND, he just couldn't miss this opportunity!

 

 Yes, even lunch time is fun.

Once upon a sunny day...

Yes, it was sunny today!  Rain was expected, but it didn't happen.  The sad part is...

I spent the entire day cooped up in the house...cleaning out closets and rearranging furniture.  I'm not sure why.  I just felt the need to purge and organize.  Maybe it's because Fall is coming.  I love Fall - AND football weather!

But, back to the sunny day...

This is the spot where our new house will be built.  It was once a big dirty mess from having the dozer clear trees and smooth out a spot for the house pad.  But, summer has turned it into a gorgeous, yellow, flowering paradise...at least for my boys and me.

Here's the drive you take to get there...

Eventually, it will be covered with gravel and concrete when you get up closer to the house.  But, for now, it's dirt.  I love driving (mostly on the golfcart) the kids around back here.  We talk about where the house will be and where they'll be playing (even though they do get to explore back here now).

So, back to our flowering paradise.  The flowers are taller than Ty, which makes for a super cool hiding place...except for all the spiders and bugs.  ICK!  I have a thing about spiders and creepy crawlers...

Speaking of creepy crawlers...I don't much like bees either...

The purple flowers are nice.  But, if they come with these, I prefer to stay back.


Actually, I got a little close for these....

Wait a minute!  Whose that sneaking into my line of view?  AWE shucks, what a cute little rascal!

A rascal with really BAD hair.  Poor kid...he's gonna look back on all these and say, "Sheesh, Mom, why'd you have to cut my hair like that!"

and then he'll hit me with a stick a few more times!

Watch the lens, buddy!

Back to our yellow paradise.  AGAIN.

Upon closer investigation, it seems these are covered with creepy crawlies, too!

These bugs were everywhere!  Literally!  Does anyone know what the heck they are?

We are never without our pooches either...


Back into the golfcart.  Did I mention we have carved trails all throughout our woods just for the golfcart?  Pretty neat, huh.  The kids love it!

the mailbox was here pre-Gurney family...  it looks like it was used for target practice...

Always looking for treasures...

Ty spotted this one.

And, back out into the light of day...SUNSHINE!


Here's our view coming out of the woods on our soon-to-be driveway...eventually that entrance will be super cool!

Hope you enjoyed our adventure!  Have a happy Monday!

Rain Rain Go Away!

It's raining again. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that we're living in tiny TINY accommodations on our 10 acres while in the process of building our new house (except the "process" hasn't officially started).  When I say TINY, I mean something like 600 square feet - SERIOUSLY!

That being said - when it rains...we pretty much have to leave our tiny abode to go elsewhere because Mommy can't take being cooped up with rowdy, bored little boys for more than 10 minutes.  Who can?

First, I try to occupy them in constructive ways...





But, that can only last so long.  This paint project took up an entire 30 minutes of our boring, rainy day.  AARRGHHH!

All I can say is THANK YOU for Mother's Day out!  Both boys started this year and I was so glad they were able to spend one of their rainy days (this week) playing with friends.

And then...AGAIN...

Today, it was raining...
But, have no fear, the fair was here!  YIPPEE for the State Fair!

We spent the ENTIRE day eating, walking, riding, petting, getting wet, and eating some more!  Just take a look!


Is that?  Can that be?  Mommy?




Just thought the light was cool...

Ty spent most of the day "hanging" on my good buddy, Karri...


Try to ignore the big pile of poo!  I was too lazy to edit it out.

Check out this really cool 4-wheelin', mud boggin' type of event.  We could've actually DRIVEN this route, but I was too chicken!  Ty was spellbound watching the guys drive the course.  But, like me, he was happy watching from the sidelines.


and if you're wondering how in the world we got such a cool pic from UP SO HIGH, we took a ride on this...

and a few more...

ignore the smudge spots - these were taken through the rain covered windows on our needle ride...


So, one rainy day down - what to do about tomorrow...

Always stuck

Not only is Wes climbing on EVERYTHING these days, but he is always getting himself stuck, too!  He's either stuck halfway in the kitchen chair hanging over the edge (while trying to climb to the top of the table) or stuck trying to climb out of the high chair or halfway up on Ty's bed...

You name it, he's stuck there.

He wants to do everything Ty does, which leads him into trouble frequently.
(please ignore the nasty dirty bike - it was a hand-me-down and the mosquito infested legs)

halfway in/out of everything

I'm sure it can be very frustrating!

That last shot was taken after Josh squirted him with the water hose to keep him from climbing on top of the mower while it was being washed.  nice.

1...2...3....TROUBLE

Wes is getting around well these days.  He's BIG on climbing.  Yes, I said climbing.  He nearly gives me a heart attack on a daily basis.  Honestly, I don't know how to keep him from it - he literally climbs onto the end tables beside the couch and hangs out there beside the lamp!

If he's not on top of the end tables, the kitchen table (SERIOUSLY!), or the coffee table...then he's trying to get out the front door or into the dryer!  The CLOTHES DRYER people!  Say, WHAT?????  Yep!

So, I've given up trying to rescue him and figured I'd let him fall a few times so he'd know how it feels and would quit this climbing business all together!

I'm starting out small.  This is Ty's "small" slide (he's actually out-grown it).  Wes is constantly trying to get up there and do a little dance at the top.  So, go ahead little man!


Hi there!

Gotta check out all the angles...

Zipper, you want in on some climbing action?

Time to slide!  Normally, I hold his chubby little hand about now...but not this time!

Whoa!  AND...he's off!


What a horrible expression!  BUT, wait...

It didn't phase him a bit!  He was back up and ready to go in no time!

Sheesh!

Shoot 'em up

UPDATE!!!!  I found it on Amazon!

Ty received this six shooter gun set for his birthday last year and we're still playing with it!  Does that count as a toy with "staying power"?  I would think so!  It's the coolest set!

To play you simply push a button on the back of the log, stand the bottles and cans up along each spot, and take aim.  The log actually flips the bottles and cans up/over when you hit the target!  AND...it makes a super-cool-fun shooting sound when you hit the right spot!

For a while, Wes was scared to death of it since it does make quite a racket while you're shooting.  But, after close deliberation and observation of fun, he's decided he might like to try it out.

I wish I had the soundtrack to go with these photos.  Wes just keeps on pushin' that trigger!  Ty and I were holding our ears by the time he was finished!




I know the game came from Target, but I can't find it online anywhere right now.  If I do, I'll put up the link.  But, for those of you with boys - this makes a ROCKIN' gift!  AND it was CHEAP!

Oh, try to ignore the quality of those photos.  We were playing right before bedtime and it was super dark outside.  You know me...I refuse to use a flash!

By the way, you can visit Erin's blog to hear about some more toys with staying power!

UPDATE: I found it at Amazon!

Stuck at home with Momma

In case you're wondering why there hasn't been a lot of photos of Ty lately it's because he has been ditching me quite frequently for his daddy.  Yes, we are home during the day (usually), but it's hot and we've been finding stuff to do indoors.  As soon as Dad's truck rolls into the driveway though, Ty bolts out the door to greet him leaving me in a trail of dust.

That's okay.  I forgive him and am glad he loves his daddy.

But, poor Wes.  He doesn't quite understand why Ty and Daddy are always outside without him or off gallivanting around the countryside in the "hunting" truck...and he can't go, too.

He stomps his little feet and gets so upset.  It's actually a little bit funny to see.

Once they're gone though, Wes gets the run of the house.  Lately, his favorite spot is in Ty's window seat.  Have I mentioned Wes is a climber?  Well, he is...  it's ridiculous how bad it can get.   He's either on the kitchen table or on top of the bathroom cabinet by way of the toilet lid...or in Ty's window seat.  Once he's up there he sits and looks out the window watching for the boys to return home or for the dogs to stroll by.

Now and then, he'll bring toys up there with him.  I tried to capture a shot of him playing with one of those toys on this day and in an excited fit he decided to throw it at me...

This was all I got as it came hurdling through the air in my direction.  I actually love the shot since you can see his little piggies at the bottom...pretty funny.

But, I did take the toy away so I couldn't be whacked with it again.

Have I told you how dramatic he can be?  Sheesh, take one toy away and here's what I get...

Luckily he calms down pretty quickly...with the help of his binky.  I know, I know...he'll be two soon (February) and I should already have taken the silly thing away.  I'm afraid it's more of a security blanket for me than him.  But, did I mention how dramatic he can be?