Ppl For Freedm

 "Ppl for freedm Jake, Joy, Blythe, Emily, Abby Jane! X [sign for End It Movement]"

 Many of you have heard by now of the End It Movement that our church has launched, but if not, check out the link and watch a video on what it's about. On April 9, there was a Shine a Light on Slavery Day, and we took a note from the page of this amazing little girl named Vivienne by having a lemonade stand as we stood up for freedom.

 It was their first lemonade stand, and a fantastic experience.

We had been in the neighborhood less than two weeks, but our precious neighbors showed up in force and we were out of several pitchers of lemonade in an hour and a half!

It's a sweet thing to let the girls learn about wanting to help the people who are "not free to be free", as we say it to them, as well as have a little block party with the neighbors while we were at it. Check out the End It Movement!

Spring '13 Cabin trip

 The first weekend of April was our 4th annual spring trip to the cabin with Mimi and Bop Bop! Aunt Boo and Uncle Wayne, now locals up there, were gracious to let us move back our trip, which was originally scheduled on moving weekend two weeks prior. This turned out for the best, though, because moving weekend was miserably cold and rainy, but this weekend was sunny and beautiful!!

Somebody walked out the door to go to the cabin in a tutu and nobody noticed til we got out of the car in Blue Ridge! Who brings a tutu to the mountains?? That would be Blythe.

 Mimi and Bop Bop arrived in style, as always, bringing the Gator with them!

"Marshing marshmallows" a.k.a. roasting s'mores is a vital tradition for the girls at the cabin!

 The ability to run free and play so independently is one of our favorite things up there.

We found our friends Peter and Polly again. Polly let us feed her all the grass and weeds we could get our hands on.

 Not pictured is where Polly got tired of grass and did a little nibbling on Mimi's hair and shirt sleeve! It was pretty hilarious.

 Jake took Abby Jane out to the pasture to work on riding a bike minus training wheels. It was so sweet to watch this momentous first lesson unfold in such a special place. Look at the focus on that face, looking straight ahead at the fence like her daddy told her.

She had several good runs down the pasture and did a really great job, but for the sake of honesty, she hasn't wanted to try again to really get it down since then. A Daddy/ Janie bike lesson is on the docket to happen soon.

Three lucky ladies with two precious grandparents!

 Shenanigans on Grandaddy Elliott's chair!

 Bop Bop had a birthday while we were up there and many willing candle-blowing helpers!

Creek-playing is of course one of the most important things to do when you're at the cabin, and that freezing cold water didn't slow them down!

I would like to say she was contemplating the majesty of God's creation, the importance of making family time a priority, how thankful she is for her family, the gift of salvation... but I'm pretty confident she's admiring her pink and purple toes. I'm thankful for those precious baby toes, that messy curly head, and the silly little girl who wears a tutu to play in a creek!

 Unpictured is some lovely visiting time we had with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Boo. We had lunch with them one day and got to swing by their home on our way out. They are such precious family to us, and we always leave their presence feeling refreshed, thankful, loved, and so glad that such special people are related to us. A side note to anyone vising Blue Ridge anytime soon: there's a olive oil and vinegar tasting room downtown now that was absolutely fascinating. It's like wine tasting for olive oils- I ha ndo idea how much flavor could be packed in a bottle. This is a must-see, must- experience spot.

Going out of town right after moving was a little nuts, but it was really the first time we had slowed down in months, between school, birthdays, the flu, packing for the move, moving, etc., it was really great to be physically separated from the to-do list and given the opportunity to rest our bodies and souls and soak in family and the Lord for a weekend!

Tour and Dodge Ball-erina

Right after Easter was the Teddy Bear tour of the school where she will begin kindergarten this fall. There she is on our front step, holding Uni the unicorn she chose to bring as her stuffed animal buddy for the tour (how cute is that??). There is the school over her left shoulder. Sooo fun, right?

 She loved every bit of the tour and was so focused on going where we were being led and seeing everything that she totally had no regard for me- no hand holding, no sticking close to Mom, not much paying attention to a couple of kids she actually does know who were there... I had to weave through parents to catch up with her. I'm so thankful for her excitement, and we're so thankful to have a great school to send her to!

One thing the girls love about the new place is a really soft living room floor! It's perfect for wrestling Daddy.

 It's also perfect for a new sport in our home called "Dodge Ball-erina." Dodge Ball-erina is a sport Jake invented in which little ballerinas run and leap across the living room floor, and Daddy tries to peg them with the soft football when they run by. It's extremely popular in our home.

 One morning Blythe was barely awake when Jake was heading out the door to work, and she said in her falsetto little voice, "Daddy, can we play Dodge Ball-erina real quick?" Who can refuse to peg a little girl as sweet as that? After a couple of run-by's and peggings, she was satisfied and Daddy was allowed to go. All in a dad's day of work.

Risen

Fabulous Easter weekend was our first full weekend in the new home. We kicked it off with our church's Good Friday service, which is a pretty ridiculously amazing night. Our parents joined us this year, and if you live in the Atlanta area and haven't been, I would so recommend marking this on your calendar for next year. It's just a beyond-words evening that is a really special way to start Easter weekend.

We decided to sort of beat the system this year and do Easter morning traditions on Saturday to ease the hurry of Sunday morning. So here we are making resurrections buns (found this link to explain it, but I originally got the idea from my friend Holly, one of those amazingly creative moms who seems to know most things- it's important to have a Holly in your life!) Here is Blythe being Blythe- leotard and tutu over PJs. Every year, Jake gives me a hard time about Jesus being the marshmallow in this little metaphor, and every year it's worth the grief for the fun these are to make while you walk through the resurrection story with your little people.
 

 

 I'm a fan of using opportunities like this to make something necessary ( like bathing suits and new flip flops) seem more fun and exciting. Though in years past, the concept of bathing suits and flip flops don't seem as far removed as they did from this 40-something degree morning!

 Easter morning, freezing the girls out with the sister pic...

 Our church combined services and met at the same outdoor amphitheater as we did for the Good Friday night. It was a fantastic morning, and really fun to share with my mom (who now goes to the same church we do) and the kiddos, who sat with us. Here they are with some dear buddies!

 Then it was up to Jake's parents' home for Easter dinner, along with my mama!

 Lucky girls with these amazing grands!

 Off to the races after naptime!

 We hid a few "big kid" eggs that required some ingenuity.

 Sweet bruiser, bless her soul!!!

 I love this picture- everything matches from their sweater to their step to their arm, to their hair flying. So sweet!

Later on in the week, Abby Jane asked if she could have an Easter egg. I said she and the twins could all have two. After a while we noticed that we hadn't seen Blythe in several minutes. I walk into the kitchen, and she's sitting in a pile of opened Easter eggs! SNEAKY little girl- she just about polished off  entire collective basket of candy! Don't be fooled by her sugar sweet innocent face- this girl's got tricks up her sleeve!

Bop Bop being Bop Bop. We sure love him!

So grateful for such a precious weekend of celebrating the most important holiday of the year, and so grateful for the grace of the Lord!!!

First week

Our first week in the house was the week before Easter, and it was friekishly cold. We had snow flurries off and on for a few days and wind chills in the teens and 20s. Having not seen a bit of snow all winter, we were all pretty excited for what we got!

 Somehow snow by the paddle board rack was funny to me.

We also had visitors come by to see the new place! Linds and Nate stopped by one morning, and the girls promptly led her to was has been dubbed the "pillow pocket"- the corner of their room filled with pillows and just right for reading or playing with babies or cramming in five kids to listen to Miss Lindsey read!

 We wasted no time getting to know the neighbors, and I trotted my babies out in 30 degree weather to deliver Easter cookies to the surrounding houses and a few doors down. This turned out to be well worth the freezing temps because we have the most lovely neighbors! The first two weeks or so of living in this house was like a parade of Southern Living's guide to housewarming gifts- people were SOO kind and gracious, and folks who live on the far end of our street were even sending along little happy's to welcome us with. It was staggering and humbling, and made us just abundantly thankful for God's abundant provision in giving us such a fabulous place to call home.

 My cute girl trying to catch snowflakes the day we went cookie delivering.

 This picture is noteworthy as a before and after shot. The next day, catastrophe hit.

It finally warmed up a bit outside, so we went for a walk to the park down the street.  Our sidewalks have a lot of what we call "character", and Miss Abby Jane caught an edge and slammed face first into the sidewalk. She hit her face so hard that her hands, elbows, and knees came out spotless. I still can't understand how she didn't break her nose or chip a tooth, but she was in seriously bad shape as we walked the half mile home with two out of three screaming at the top of their lungs, only one of whom legitimately. Joy One little sister didn't mind that her big sis was gushing blood and was only disappointed in not making it to the park. So it was a long walk back for one really hurting little girl.

 That night we fired up the new fireplace for our first family s'mores.

 Look at my sweet baby girl, just a couple of hours later. The child was swollen,and bruised for days. It was the saddest thing. I think a few tiny scars might stick around, but likely I'll be the only one who sees them.

 Life went on- here's my angel face coloring.

 We ate on our back patio for the first time, loving our new patio space!

 We met Wally the Squirrel- see him on the fence post? He gathers nuts and eats them while he watches us through our many windows. Sometimes he watches me cook dinner in the kitchen, then when we move into the dining room, he hops down a few posts and watches dinner. If we're in the living room, he often hops on patio furniture to watch through the windows. If we're eating, he gets a nut and eats. Almost every breakfast and dinner, he joins us through the windows. According to the girls, he goes with Lolly, the girl squirrel (one morning it was clear to Jake and I that indeed Wally is a boy and Lolly is a girl), and they have a friend named Molly with half a tail. They all are curious, though Wally is the most inquisitive of all.

Abby Jane has hit a new phase of immense coloring productivity. I remember my niece Katie going into this stage, and it's so fun to have a girl of an age that she loves coloring as much as she does! We are LOVING their new playroom as well- the extra space and natural light are my favorite parts. We'll do a photo tour of the house after I finish getting the blog all caught up!