Highlands in September

One word: gorgeous.

the first thing we did Saturday morning was take a walk down to Mirror Lake to feed the ducks!
it was a tad longer of a walk that we expected, but the little girls made it down there walking! remember that one word: gorgeous! apparently the ducks had already been fed, but the fish were happy to eat our bread...and rocks!a little attempt at a family photo...

after lunch downtown with nana, we came back for naps and a game of find the fake candles on the porch while Ginger hid on the sofa.

once everyone was up, we headed over to Nana's Fairy Garden, where the girls found tons of acorns that they promptly buried in a hole to grow an oak tree. and then played musical chairs with gramma.and then begged to play my fair lady, otherwise known as london bridge is falling down!
Addie found a ginormous snail!
And Anne Perry and Audrey Kate found some bug they were determine must get off the bench by both yelling at & swatting it!

Ginger joined us and appeared to be on a serious mission!
and we actually got a fabulous picture of all 3 girls with gramma! love this one!
the girls loved helping gramma or papa al grind coffee. 

and this was taken the first night we were in Highlands. daddy's baseball cap, a baby doll, and a plastic snake! love our silly girls!
on sunday, we met some of my cousins for coffee; and then headed over to the Nature Center where the girls had a blast jumping from the steps. and we may or may not have gotten a christmas card worthy family of 5 picture here! but i'm sure not telling!
We walked to the other side of the pond trying to find the snapping turtles.


and explore a little.
but what we found was simply gorgeous. bees and butterflies hard at work, completely oblivious of us.
and i fell in love with my 200mm lens yet again. {sigh} we saw lots of fish, but because we didnt have any bread, the snapping turtles were scarce. one did swim over to us though! there were tons of lily pad flowers this summer, but not so many in september. they were still gorgeous though.
and that about sums it up: gorgeous!

Yesterday

I'm not sure how to even describe yesterday.

An excellent episode of A Day In the Life of Us. Stellar ratings I might add.

It started off with Audrey Kate sticking a cheerio in her nose. Way, way, way up in her nose. It wasn't coming out. And I just threw out all of our bulb syringes, because, let's face it, they're pretty yucky!

So what'd we do? Sucked it out with a turkey baster, naturally.

Then we converted the little girls cribs into Toddler Beds. This house has had a crib in it for almost the past 5 years.

The crib slats and changing table were put in the rearranged attic. Done. All before 8am!

After breakfast, we decided to go outside and paint fingernails and toenails.

But the little girls kept playing with the front door. Click. I heard it and I knew something wasn't right. Audrey Kate was inside and the door wouldn't budge. They had flipped a switch in our very old door to make it completely inaccessible from the outside without a key. She started to panic. I begged her to open the door. It wasn't happening.

We've had gorgeous weather here recently, and we've taken full advantage of wide open windows and no AC. I knew we had a window that was unlocked, but I couldnt get the screen off. I grabbed a handshovel from the "garage" and pried the screen off, pushed the window up, and crawled in.

Did i mention i was still in my pajamas?

Before I could gather everyone, including Finn, Anne Perry shut Audrey Kate's fingers in the door. Hard. 

Despite my determination that they would watch tv until lunch and all take a nap, it only got better.

I stuck my finger in poop while changing Anne Perry. She'd already had 2 accidents. Audrey Kate had an accident on the sofa. Pooped in her panties. And another one on the bathroom floor, where she slipped and fell hard all in it. We went to all pull ups. No panties. And I tried hard to put them in a bubble for their own protection!

Right before lunch, we did a little school. Addie did math and the little girls played a few busy bag games (yes, post to come!). It took every ounce of patience i had left!

But while everyone napped, I heard Fuzz in the kitchen doing the going-to-throw-up gag. I let it go for a minute, but by the time i got in there, it was seeping underneath the cabinets. And it looked like about 3 cats had thrown up instead of one.

And we ended our 5 star episode with Paul taking Addie to soccer, where he's basically coaching the team, while I stayed home with the little girls. We had a fun bath time, extra stories, and lots of snuggles.

But I'm really not complaining. I get to do these days with my girls: the fun ones, the mundane ones, and the hard ones. And I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful this works for our family. 

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16

Gulf Shores

we headed back to the gulf shores area mid-August to visit Papa Ray and Mama Pat like we did last year. the girls were SO excited to see them along with pat's daughter, michelle, and her son tyler and play on the beach with everyone. uncle judson, aunt anna, and tucker weren't able to come, but we hope to see them soon!

the weather was mostly gorgeous, and we enjoyed every minute we had on the beach! the little girls continued our tradition of playing in a baby pool...on the beach. whatever works, right? the little girls were still a little hesitant, but had fun in the water anyway!

addie totally broke the mold. this kid got brave and we couldn't keep her out of the water! she jumped waves over and over and over again!
and then an airplane or helicopter would fly over...

then there was the sand. i buried the little girls while addie was playing in the water... ...and then papa ray buried them all!

love this pictures of papa ray, mama pat and the girls!
hi y'all! thanks for great time at the beach!

see y'all later!

Wamsted Crazy Beach Week: Making Pizza with Daddy

each night at the beach, a family takes dinner. jay/millie and paul/i (let's be realistic here: Paul and Millie) usually team up to prep dinner for all 25+ people!

this year, we had a little extra help! they were SO serious about pressing out that pizza dough!  everyone working together. but this has to be my favorite picture with Audre Kate looking up at Paul. no telling what she was "saying" but it was clearly important! we had a delicious meal of homemade pizza and salad with brownies and ice cream for dessert.

yumminess!

the "Little" Girls First Day

pretty soon the word little isn't going to apply to these little girls!
they are going to MMO one day a week and started Wednesday. There were literally no tears...from anyone! I think they might have been a little nervous...or confused.

it completely amazes me how much they've grown up even over the past 3 months!

toddlers into little girls.
with personalities (and opinions) abounding...addie was all about taking pictures with them... ...right up until she was done! :) and this just amazes me! such big girls! there was some sweet posing and sweet smiles and then it quickly turned silly when i told Audrey Kate to stand up and apparently she thought i meant for her to put her hands up! the picture i didn't get (because i was laughing so hard!) was when i told her to put her hands down...and she reached down and touched the ground. ;0) just a little bit literal maybe?and not to be outdone, the silly face emerged and left us all laughing!  
happy 1st day of MMO little girls! we love you!

Addie's First Day of K4

Our big girl started K4 this past week. She's doing 3 days at school and 2 days at home. We're doing math and reading and having so much fun here!

She went to school for a one hour Meet and Greet on Wednesday, and then we were out of town Friday. So Monday was her first full day!

I'll be honest with you, i saw tears. big crocodile tears. and they weren't from me! we've developed a bit of anxiety over anything...and everything. last night: tornadoes, gingerbread men, the little boy who wasnt nice to her at the ymca, being sick, that her throat hurts and she's coughing, and gymnastics.

um...can we say avoidance strategies.

Addie was super excited and at the same time my-tummy-hurts nervous.

My mom and I, a bit last minute, pulled together a first day of school dress for each of the girls.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out! I'm pretty sure my mom's amazing. Just saying.

Audrey Kate was more than willing to lean close to addie and have her picture made. love this picture of them!
anne perry, on the other hand, not so much. 

but i love this. love that he loves her so much. love that she loves him so much.
and when i picked her up, happy as could be. all smiles. so i know tomorrow will be another good day. it's the little girls very first day at MMO. they have the most amazing teachers, addie's 2 year old teachers, and they'll be just fine!

now...if i can only get people to stop asking me what are you going to do with yourself? umm...let me get out my list, and i'll get back to you! ;0)