Fall Fall Everywhere

While Christmas is my favorite time of year, I completely understand why so many people love fall.  I think especially in Georgia where it has been so hot you can't even go outside unless you are swimming, it is so nice to be outside again.  While I love swimming, I am so glad for the break from sunscreen and loads of towels.  So for that reason, fall is quickly moving into my second favorite time of the year.  We get to go back to the playground and play in our yard, I don't have to mow the yard, there are so many fall family activities, and it just feels wonderful outside!  Speaking of those fall activities, they kept us quite busy in October.  Here are some highlights:

Georgia National Fair in Perry: I took the girls during the week, and we had so much fun!  I was so thankful our friend and neighbor, Charlie, could come with us because without her Katherine wouldn't have been able to ride her first fair rides

Girl loves animals- she would have crawled in their with the donkeys had I let her

Pony ride

Abigail got some donkey lovin too

All by herself in the car ride

We also had a girls weekend in October in Saint Simons.  My dear friend, Caroline opened her house up to her mom, me and my mom, and my friend Kathryn and her mom plus all our kiddos.  The kids played wonderful together the whole time, and we loved spending time with our best friends and moms

Abigail's first time in a pool since walking

We loved being able to swim in October

I love this progression- waiting

There it is!

one of my favorites

Baby best friends!  We are missing a few but here is Charlie Watt, Maggie, Henry and Tom Dorminy, and our two

 Later in October we headed to the Rock Ranch.  It was a beautiful fall day and we loved being outside all day enjoying all there is to do there.  Best of all Jonathan got to go with us!  It was great family time.

Their favorite slide through the hillside

They loved Tiny Town

This is as close as we ever need to come to Jail

She's getting to be a pro at pony rides

Katherine and daddy feeding the horse corn off the cob

My best attempt at a picture of them both looking at the camera

This bridge may have been there favorite attraction

We love when we get to have daddy for the day!

Catching Up

It seems like it has been a crazy month around here, but when I think about it, nothing really crazy has been going on- time just slips through my fingers every day it seems.  I wanted to get caught up on September, and no matter what I try I can't seem to get all the pictures in the right order.  It is perfectly imperfect, just like my life. 


Here are some pics of the kiddos from September:

Teddy Bear Picnic- Katherine's 2K class had their Teddy Bear Parade and Picnic.  She loved it, and our box is now almost shredded on the bottom.  She just carried on with her parade for the rest of the day- through the school, bookstore, parking lots, up stairs.  I will admit I had to fight back a few tears watching her stand with her class- she is growing up too fast!

Rounding the corner in the parade!

Our teddy bear and what was soon to be a worn out box

She had so much fun

Picnic with Katherine's class. 

I just love this picture to much to not include

Labor Day at Fripp Island- what a wonderful trip!  Jonathan was able to join us, and we met up with all of my cousins and their families on Fripp Island.  It was so fun to meet all the new little ones and see them all play together.  Plus, the food was unending and delicious thanks to mom and my aunt, Beth

Love having a picture of the grown cousins- the babies in the back crack me up

One of my favorite pictures ever














Our Twin Lake Vacation- gotta love the hubby having a whole week off!  We didn't go far, but we got out of the house so that I could actually escape from the never-ending laundry and dirty dishes

family photo- probably not a Christmas card

Love how much fun they are having

Katherine loves taking care of baby Hank

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through October.  Jonathan and I have both turned another year older, and we are looking forward to enjoying all the fall activities.  Hopefully I will be back soon to share some pictures from fall festivities.

My Real Life Camera

  If anyone has seen my phone, then the concern that it could die at any moment is not far-fetched.  The face is shattered, and I can see some of the internal components, but it just keeps going.  One of the things I love to do is to look back over all the pictures I've taken with my phone camera.  These are the real life pictures, the precious moments when you are able to snap a quick picture of the day to day.  I would be so upset if I lost them so I moved lots of the pictures to our computer so that I can forever have these images.  So, all that to say, here are some of my favorite pictures over the past year captured on my phone:

"I can see you"

Love watching them learn new things

Spaghetti- my favorite!

 I spend many hours on the floor with these 2 babies

Pretending to call friends over

After-nap snuggles

Their wonderful daddy and Bitty Baby

a fine bottom

Been Krogering?

Potty training- a week I might would like to forget

Baby Abigail

Back to School!

The girls have finished their first week of school- which is really only 2 mornings, Tuesday and Thursday.  Abigail is in Mother's Morning Out, and Katherine is in 2 year old preschool.  They are both at Ingleside Baptist which makes it so nice to be able to drop them both off at the same place.

Abigail has gotten a good report both days- they tried to color today, but the teachers said they really just wanted to eat the crayons so I think that was a quick activity.  It will be so neat to watch them grow over the year.  By the end of the year, I bet they all master coloring with crayons.  Abigail already knows a few girls in her class- Belle Wengler, who's dad works with Jonathan and Caroline Stewart who's mom and dad went to Tech with Jonathan.

Going to meet Abigail's first teachers at Mother's Morning Out Open House

Katherine is excited to teach Abigail all she needs to know about MMO

Katherine is so excited to be in "big girl" school and to be able to carry her Teddy Bear tote bag.  She is in the Bear class this year, and she got a new tote bag with a bear, her name and her number, 17 on it- she wants to carry it everywhere.  Here are a few  pictures:

At school

Picking Katherine Up- she looks worn out from her long school day

 This is our first carpool experience and to make things even more fun, we get to take Ellie Thompson, our neighbor, to school with us in the morning.  She is in 3 year old preschool and has been able to show Katherine the ropes.  She introduced her to everyone as her cousin, Katherine (I just went with it) and walked her to her classroom- Katherine didn't even need me.  We love having Ellie with us to eat breakfast and ride to school.  She has a personality that won't quit, and she is such a joy to be around.  She is Katherine's little best friend, and I am sure you will be seeing and hearing more about Ellie in posts to come.  Here are some pics of our time together in the morning:

Not to worry- we are in carpool line.  Everyone was securely buckled for the ride over

This is the pitiful face I have gotten each day at pick up when Ellie rides home with someone else. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pizza, Pizza

There have been several changes in our day to day living going from a family of 3 to 4.  Some of them include, but are not limited to: more laundry, more trash, more dishwashing cycles, less sleep, more messes, more crying, taking forever to get out of the house but much more fun, laughter and love- which makes it all worth it.  Because my girls love to eat like their mama, and because Abigail is now eating table food, this has meant needing way more food. I do not like spending money at the grocery store, and at this stage in my life it is the ONLY place that I am a big spender with Diapers.com coming in at a distant second.  Every week with a $100+ checkout, the same thing runs through my head, "If I could just take a portion of this each week, I could have an updated wardrobe, or money for a rug, or a trip of some sort."
 
And it is these times each week that I am so thankful for God's grace and brought back to His word for wisdom and truth:
"A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." Proverbs 14:30- so true, right.

So learning to be content with where we are, I am grateful that we are able to get what we need at the grocery store.  So, the next issue for this ill-equipped house wife is this means more cooking.  Up to this point, I have been able to manage on pretty much 100% crock pot cooking- about 3 meals a week and then leftovers.  Needless to say, the leftovers are dwindling so now I need to cook 4-5 times a week.  So this week, we made pizza- well we topped pizza really.  I bought the pizza dough and sauce, and Katherine and I got to work.  Keeping her from eating all the olives and peppers was the biggest challenge- but it was fun.  We both enjoyed it, it was an activity and resulted in getting us all fed- mission accomplished.  Pizza will be added to the weekly rotation.  Here are some pictures of my little chef in the making:

I don't know why I don't have any pictures of Abigail.  She was there too- eating puffs and blueberries and also learning lessons on contentedness with her mama.