Welcome home, Daddy

Lucky for Jake, butterfly wings were still cool when he came home, so he was welcomed home by a flurry of fluttering little girls, delighted to see their favorite man in the world!

 Just in time for some twilight playing in the leaves that had freshly blanketed our yard in his absence!

 Perfect for raking up...

 and jumping in the piles!

Happy fall, y'all.  Happier with my man home than without.

Butterflies and Dolls

Both of those have been popular in our home lately.  While Jake was gone last week for a few days, there were some throw-down butterfly dance parties.

 Blythe and Joy woke up one morning and decided they wanted to play with dolls.  Abby Jane has been very generous to share from her plethora of favorites, and the little girls are fully into it now.

 Here is Mother Teresa.

 They all even play with their dolls differently.  Blythe snuggles and nurtures.

She has an already-high voice, but somehow she's able to make it jump at least two octaves when she speaks for her baby dolls.

 Abby Jane nurses, among other things.  For what it's worth, she hasn't seen this demonstrated in our home in over a year.

 Joy read books.

Mother Teresa helping me photograph burp cloths for 418.  Something about this messy hair, PJs, and butterfly wings just melts my heart!

First class party!

We had so much fun at Abby Jane's class party.  I was an idiot and signed up to coordinate it at the beginning of the year, which was less than smart since I have never been to a class party and didn't really know what was expected, how much you are allowed to expand on/vary from that, etc. The teacher made it pretty easy by sending home a list of items she wanted at the party. I ended up being glad I DID sign up for it, since it turns out that a kindergarten teacher is coordinating the Christmas party... if there's one person you DON'T want to follow, it's one of those creative elementary school teachers!

With no further adieu, here was their cute bulletin board...

 Here's a picture of Abby Jane on drugs.

They all came in wearing "Indian princess" or "Indian chief vests" as Abby Jane calls it.  I don't think political correctness and the term "Native American" has reached Kennesaw.  Maybe they don't think "Native American princess" has quite the same ring.

 Sweet little class (my kid's on the back row) before they sang a Thanksgiving song.

 Miss Kristin was there with Maddy.

And will you look at that? Kristin and I matched- coral shirt, scarf, jeans, ballet flats.  We planned it.  Not really.

This little lady is one of Abby Jane's sweet friends at school.  When you ask who Abby Jane plays with each day, there are several consistent names that come up.  It's so fun to see them make friends independently!

We made oreo turkeys- I tried to find the SIMPLEST version of this food craft, as it turns out there are about a million variations of it!  Abby Jane chose to give her turkey a nose job.

 These milestones are so fun with my big kid!

Weekend with friends

A few weeks ago, we headed up to Blue Ridge with two other families of dear friends for a weekend away in the glorious fall. This trip was planned back in the summer, and we've been looking forward to it for some time.  It's amazing how you can get close with friends so much more quickly before you have kids.  Once you have children, it takes so much longer and more intentionality to really develop those friendships.  These friends are some of those that have become quite dear to us since our move back to Atlanta.

 Even though it was mid-November, the leaves were still breathtaking when we took a walk around the cabin.

We realized recently that Kristin, Ericka, and I have no pictures together, even though we spend lots of time together!  So officially, here are my sweet friends, Kristin and Ericka.

The place we rented was really amazing, and we had a great time using the outdoor fire pit for s'mores.

 We ALL enjoyed the s'mores...

 Our cozy place!

 View of God's beautiful creation in the morning...

We saw some good football, had great conversations, great laughs, and just enjoyed sharing life together for the weekend! Oh, and we ate like kings.

 The guys...

Love these crazy girls!

 The attempt at a group shot of the children.  Of course Joy and Dylan (next to Joy) started crying when it was picture time, but its amazing how well these six kids (all three and under) did together for 48 hours!

Before leaving town, we made a stop by Mercier, followed by a walk around downtown Blue Ridge. I was on the hunt for a cute Christmas ornament from Blue Ridge.  I've been going there since I was 6, and we don't have an ornament from there!  We stumbled upon Fezziwig's, and it was such a magical, fabulous little shop... but one of those in which you want to hold onto your kids really tightly to avoid paying for something expensive.

 I have to mention that I ran inside really quickly to see if it was worth our time, while Jake hung out by a little fountain just outside with the girls.  I came back out to say how special it was inside, only to be greeted by three wailing girls.  Apparently Abby Jane lost her balance and fell backwards onto the sidewalk.  As Jake lunged to catch her, the twins fell forward into the shallow fountain.  It's never dull when you're outnumbered!  Thankfully, it was nothing that the beautiful Christmas decorations and trains of Fezziwig's couldn't distract from.  Now if I always had a fabulous distraction like Fezziwig's when drama ensues in our household...

Lookouts

The top of our bookshelves is the favorite spot for waving goodbye, welcoming home, watching the trash truck from a safe distance, and a myriad of other purposes. 

Artist

Somewhere along the way, Abby Jane has learned her letters.  "Blythe" was Jake's writing, but do you see "MAMA" spelled backwards?  That was all on her own!

Below is her friend Carlton's birthday card.  If you look carefully, you can see all the letters of Carlton's name, artistically arranged. :)

 And here is a jellyfish, drawn all by herself- we didn't talk about how to do tentacles or anything!  Her crown was the craft she did at Carlton's party, and she wore it proudly for a long time.

 We often don't spend a long time on drawing or are very meticulous when it comes to coloring books, so it's really fun to see such marked development!  Amazing to watch your kids grow up.

Thanksgiving #1

Jake's family celebrated Thanksgiving early this year, as several of the cousins were going to be out of town this week.  Jake's favorite holiday of the year is Thanksgiving, so getting an early start was right up his alley.  This table of little girls was precious, but desperately missing our out-of-town and out-of-country boy cousins!

 With all the boys gone, Bop Bop held court with the ladies.

Here is the after-meal gathering and digesting.  It was a sweet time with all that sweet family!! We sure love them!

Football and Hiking

Bop Bop is really involved at Jake's old high school football team. His ministry with those boys is really special and a really important part of his life.  We got to go to a game a few weeks ago, and the girls were SO proud and excited to see Bop Bop down on the field!

 It's also pretty fun to see the place where my man had several years of good football!

 The next morning was a low-key, sweet time with our little family.  Those rare mornings where you aren't rushing off somewhere are so precious!

 Next up was a hike up Kennesaw Mountain, our first time doing it on the trail with the girls!  Abby Jane made it almost to the top all by herself.

It was a CHILLY but beautiful fall day, and the leaves were gorgeous.

 We just love sharing the outdoors and hiking with our girls!