Camping Necessities

We're packing up to go, and I made sure we had all the necessities. Pumpkin muffins (thanks for the new recipe, Holly!)

Homemade granola...

Chocolate chunk cookies...

And yes, the fixins for s'mores. And then there's everything else that we'll need for when we're not having yummy camping food...
We're going with the Gillies, and this is our first time going with family- we're so excited! Hope everyone else has a great weekend, too! War Eagle, by the way...

At least you didn't...

Let your child fall headfirst out the front door of the house (down a one-foot drop onto a concrete step) while you snapped her sister in her carseat.

It didn't keep her down for long.

But I don't think I'm going to be winning any mother-of-the-year awards on that one. So this is your ego boost- whatever you've done today, it could have been a lot worse!

Home sweet Auburn

Bringing all three of our girls for our first gameday as a family of five was a delight to our souls. Yesterday was the day that the most of my roommates would be able to meet up- Steph and Beth, we missed y'all! Here are Victoria, Lyndsay, Mikelyn, and myself.

It was a hot, long day for our girls, but all in all, they did great. It's always sad when you know your kids are not at their best with their schedule completely thrown off, and yet they're meeting people for the first time, etc., but we were grateful for how well they hung in there, all things considered.

And we had help along the way. :)

Lynds and Jeff are expecting, so we surprised them with a little Auburn shower as we knew it was going to get trickier and trickier to get everyone together as holidays approach! I made this burpcloth last week- my first to make and not without flaws. Thankfully, Lynds is sentimental about things like that...

We tried this photo several different occasions with similar results each time. Maybe we need to teach Abby Jane how to hug without cutting off air supply. One funny story: Abby Jane and I walked past a student in a particularly fabulous sundress, and I told her, "THAT is a great dress!" She immediately pointed to Abby Jane and said, "No, THAT is a great dress!"

Jake, Mat, Jeff, and Marshall in their blue.

We did not make it around to everyone we wanted to see, but we did get to see my precious Em and pat the Little Bit in her tummy, due in January...

We also made it to the Boney tailgate, where Abby Jane got to play with Quinn, Caroline, and little Bradford. Their sweet "Gammy" loved on the babies and "Sus" (Lindsey's mama) scooped Abby Jane up for her very favorite thing in the middle of a long, hot day.

She has a thing for tubas. We didn't ever get to see Aubie since we didn't get to Tiger Walk in time, but we did see the band...
We also checked out the new arena- A-mazing!
Mat and Vic are naturals with our girls! Mat helped Abby Jane with a cupcake- pretty sure he secured lifelong friendship right there.
"Abby Jane, this is where callouts will be..." Cater Hall is one of my favorite buildings- Beth's and my joint lingerie shower was held there, too!
It was such a precious, golden day. This puts it best.

Busy

While Jake has been away on a writing retreat, we've all been busy around here.

Everyone is pitching in with the chores.

On Tuesday, my friend Rebecca came over and introduced me to my monogramming machine. I had been sewing up a storm, so I have now been spending the last couple of days doing a lot of this...

with only one absolute casualty. Thankfully it was a pillowcase dress- much easier to repair!

Ladies night

On Friday, all of these ladies rolled into town for their annual shopping-in-Atlanta getaway weekend, and I got to join them for dinner that night. We were in a fabulous supper club with several of these friends during our two years of married life in Auburn.

That sweet group of families has evolved and grown in the four years since we moved, and it is delightful to get to know these "new" folks... that whole thing about easy it is to enjoy good friends' friends!

The funny part is that I haven't seen these girls since last fall, but almost everyone keeps regular blogs, so we are all completely up to date on each other's lives. Technology is such a blessing! Girls, it was SO fabulous to be with y'all!

Now, while I was out enjoying the night, Jake not only took care of all the girls easily, but I came home to a cleaned out and very organized garage. The magnitude and scope of this chaos he tackled is impossible to describe, as our garage solely functions as a storage unit for us. There is now playspace in there!

Sorry, ladies, he's not for sale!

One of our family's sweetest days ever...

Yesterday was our 1st 5K as a family of five- it was a fundraiser run on the KSU campus. Here is before...

Here is after. Can you tell the Superman who pushed the double stroller up a few hills?
We were the only strollers in the race, and we were a little disappointed that we didn't win some category of most people to simultaneously cross the finish line... not to mention the girls winning their age division.
After the run, we spread out and enjoyed bananas and a lovely morning.
Joy needed to rehydrate a bit after all that exertion.

After naps (during which we caught some great football), we headed over to the Taste of Kennesaw. It was a fabulous afternoon, and we got to try some delicious dishes from local restaurants! The gumbo Jake is sampling below was probably our favorite.

The event took place on either side of the railroad tracks that run through downtown Kennesaw, and the girls got to watch a couple of trains while we were there!

My favorite part of our time there was at the end, when we sat down in front of the museum while a band played some great music and we just enjoyed our girls.

This sticky young lady, bedecked in various festival necklaces, seemed to enjoy that part of the afternoon...

and the ice cream she had... the very best, too.

Haircuts and BBQ

Jake and Abby Jane headed up to see Mr. Donny yesterday for some daddy/daughter haircuts. Here is Mischief before...

Here she is after. Can't see much difference? That's because Daddy did a great job of relaying to Mr. Donny that we are trying to grow her hair out for a much-desired ponytail.

Haircuts in Cartersville were all the excuse we needed to meet up with Mimi and Bop Bop at one of our favorite BBQ spots!

It was so boring.

No one had any fun at all.

I really wish my father-in-law were more comfortable with my little girls.

I'm not sure if my mother-in-law loves on the girls enough.
I wish Joy liked snuggling with her daddy more.

It sure is rough having family so close by. But someone's got to do it! Thanks for a great time, y'all!!!

Score

I think that phrase may be from the 80's, but Jake totally scored today. While grilling last weekend, we discovered our old grill was about to fall apart. Today, Jake got this thing of beauty...

for a grand total of $75 from a moving sale on Craigslist! A-mazing.

As many of you know, we are still in the same rental home we jumped on last fall before the twins came, thinking at the time that we'd be out in less than three months and into a permanent home. It's sort of a long story, but we're still here for now. HOWEVER, this grill seems to me to be crying out for a lovely back deck. So far, its impact on our household has been a motivated Jake to clean out a huge portion of our garage for the newest member of our family to live in. I like it.

How we "Labor"ed

In the morning: hike up Kennesaw Mountain, first time using our hand-me-down double jogger (a.k.a. the "Aunt Betsy" stroller as Abby Jane has named it in honor of their donation to the Gross family.) Gorgeous morning!

Joy leg.

Top of the mountain snack time.
All that stroller riding can wear a girl (or two) out.
Afternoon: playtime and picnic dinner at the field!
Somehow the picnic was still a success despite me forgetting baby spoons and bowls... and thus baby dinner being fed upon plastic forks...