Spring weekend...

We've started trying to play more games instead of popping in a movie or watching TV after the kids go to bed. So far, it's been Trivial Pursuit, Gin Rummy, and Friday night's selection, Auburnopoly. And so far, I'm 0-3. And perhaps a little bitter about it- I mean, how can you buy property to build on when every roll gets you sent to jail ("home" in Auburnopoly) or paying a parking fine or something else nonproductive. Meanwhile Jake's building an empire. Punk.

Moving on, I know everyone enjoyed that gorgeous weather last weekend! We spent Saturday morning at Kennesaw Mtn. We had a great walk up, and Abby Jane went the furthest she's gone before explaining that she's "getting a hard time walking" and wanted to get in the other stroller. Here's a little break at the top...

On the way down, we told her she couldn't get in the stroller until we got to the yellow sign (about a quarter mile down). The speck a long way down the road is our child who was a little too quick to obey- Jake and I ended up running with the twins to keep up. But we appreciated the gusto too much to tell her to stop!

At the bottom of the mountain, we met up with the Jones family for playtime and a picnic! We sure, sure enjoy this family. Mark had just met up with some friends for a morning workout of "buddy carries" up and down the mountain twice! Way to make us feel lazy, Mark... :)

Andy and Abby Jane got in some great running around. Unstructured playtime out in a field is one of my favorite things- I think it makes kids get creative, take initiative, and interact more.
The little girls try so hard to keep up...
Nathaniel was content taking care of all the toys the bigger kids abandoned on the blankets.

Spring is in the air!

Simple

Remembering my Daddy, who went to be with the Lord today 13 years ago. This version of his favorite verse came home with Abby Jane from Bible study a while back, and it stays on our fridge.

This day always is a reminder of so many things, but the take-home for you and for me is what the most important message was that my dad wanted to teach us those last days.

Simply put, it was that relationships are THE most important thing in life. First with the Lord, then with others.

Grateful for the great man I got to call Dad, who served a great God and loved us and others deeply.

Like a Fish..

Today was Abby Jane's first swim lessons! We are so excited to be taking classes for the next three months with Andy. Every time she talks about her lessons, she says, "And my friend Andy will be there, too!" Despite all the bravado and excitement, I was totally prepared for her to have last minute jitters. But as soon as we got there, the two of them were splashing around, so eager to start the class.

When it was time to get in with the teacher, look who was first to jump in.

Sweet Andy wasn't too sure at first, but he warmed up after a little bit. Abby Jane was just grinning- she looks like she's telling that kid next to her, "Isn't this the greatest?"

She did everything- some floating with help, blowing bubbles, kicking on the side, kicking with the kickboard, jumping and going underwater- I couldn't have been more proud... and honestly surprised at the total lack of intimidation.

Here was the peanut gallery of younger siblings who were absolute champs and just sat quietly and watched the whole class!

I did not tell her to smile for this picture. I just caught the look- "THIS IS SO FUN!!!"
Andy in action...
Big jump to end on!

Seaside

Last weekend was the longest I have been away since our family grew from three to five! Jake and his parents took care of my little ladies so I could go join a few sweet friends for a great weekend.

On Friday afternoon, I drove down to Auburn and joined Holly, Scarlotte, and Casey for the remainder of our travel to Destin. Holly and Scarlotte are dear friends from our post-college, newlywed years in Auburn, and Casey is a new friend (to me!) whose family moved to Auburn in the time since we have been gone.

We were going down for the Seaside 1/2 marathon, so it didn't bother us that the weather looked like this (looked fabulously surf-able- not typical for the Gulf)...

as beach time was not our main objective!

Between the four of us, we represented nine children, so just being with other moms on our own was such an amazing treat! We had lots delightful adult conversation without being interrupted, went out to eat without cutting anyone's food for them or wiping down high chairs, got in a little shopping, and had some plain downtime in Scarlotte's family's lovely condo when the weather did not permit being outdoors! One great surprise on Saturday was that my precious friend Whitney was in Destin at a retreat and we got to see each other for a few minutes! What a blessing!

Did I mention that we had some delicious meals? And that breakfast is my favorite meal to go out for? Saturday morning at Another Broken Egg...

Holly and Scarlotte at breakfast. Because this is my blog, I don't have to post the pic of Casey and I at breakfast- she looks great, I don't do morning pics well. :)

Before going out for our pre- race meal at Graffiti, during which that torrential crazy band of weather came through...

Race day dawned cloudy, windy, and 50. Here we are before the race!

I have to tell the story of my time, because it was a little crazy. On my daily runs, I consistently run 12 min miles. This post-twins pace is the slowest I have ever been. But when I try to do speedwork or pick it up, old knee injuries flare. I'd rather run slowly than not run at all. Running is my free therapy!

For the 1/2 I ran in November, I ran approx 10 min miles and finished at 2:13. To show how my times have varied in my life: I ran several 1/2's that were around 1:50 in high school and college. With my current daily pace, a long run consistently takes me over 2:30 to finish! I thought I'd aim for that 10 min pace I had in November for this race, as it was mostly flat, with just a few good hills. If it didn't happen, I wouldn't be crushed.

I started out well, and noticed my times were just under 10 minutes. Then at the 1/2-way point, my time was 1:02. I thought, "Oh my goodness, I could just shave off 2 min and hit 2 hours!"

I know, the math on that was wrong, but that didn't dawn on me until a few minutes later of calculations.

The second half was the most I've pushed myself in a really long time. Every mile was under 9 minutes (remember, this is NOT normal for me!!), and I hit an 8 min mile, and one or two 8:10's somewhere in there. I finished at 2:01:18 (so close to 2 hours!), and it was such an awesome feeling of being absolutely completely expended at the end. It felt great. Granted, I was still over 10 minutes slower than I used to run the same distance in slightly younger days, but it is 10 years and three kids later, so I'm ok with that! :)

Here's the after shot. It was all three of the other girls' first 1/2 ever, so it was an absolutely amazing accomplishment for them. Scarlotte has been running for a while, but Holly ran her first mile last May, and the longest race Casey had done before Sunday was a 5K! Awesome. Looking at the four of us in this pic, I realize that we encompass four basically different running backgrounds, and everyone was able to complete the race well. If you have never run, don't think you could, don't think you want to bother with long runs, etc., be inspired by my friends to give these a shot. The "after" is so worth allllll your effort!

The ocean we left was much calmer than the one that greeted us.

I arrived home late Sunday night to a tidied home full of happy, sleeping children and this drawing courtesy of Jake and all three girls, according to him.

As much as I enjoyed our time away, I was so glad to be home with my babies and my wonderful man. They had gone to Cartersville to get to be somewhere fun during all that nasty weather, so everyone in the Gross household had a great weekend! I have to brag and say that when Jake decided to spend the night up there and was packing the girls up, he did it perfectly, right down to Abby Jane having a dress, tights, and a bow to wear to help Mimi at the welcoming desk at church on Sunday! I sure am thankful for my beyond- wonderful man, who makes such a confident, capable, fabulous dad.

16 months

The last month has been so sweet for my Sugar Blythe. In just the last week, she has started walking about 90% of the time. She has suddenly reached that stage where she is mimicking words and sounds and has several down pat. Her new words this month are imperfect, but understandable: thank you, bye bye, Abba (Abby), ball, baba (puppy), and animal sounds for cow, dog, lion, bird, monkey, chicken, and cat. She has words for lots of things- it's just wonderful to hear her speaking- but those her only accurate ones. She also is now pointing out body parts and at pictures in books when asked to identify objects- yea! She also love kicking and throwing balls. We just love this picture because you can see how she just works those eyes and eyebrows. It is precious.

Walking girl!Joy continues to just be an absolute mess. The girl is everywhere- her walk/run/amble is so fast and so fearless. She has already started this season's continually scraped knee now that it's too warm for pants and her speed often dictates face-plants. She likes everything (except animals up close) and reaches for strangers to hold her. Which is funny because she once cried when my big brother just said hi to her. She is loud, energetic, passionate, and wears her heart on her sleeve. That is usually priceless, and sometimes really noisy.

This video warms my heart to no end, and I caught Joy's big laugh on the tail end of it, if you can make it out over Blythe's toy. This was before Blythe was predominantly walking.

Joy loves keeping up with her big sis. Her proportions and hair at this age is identical to Abby Jane, and I frequently get flashbacks when I see Joy from the back, especially if she's in Abby Jane's old clothes.

SUCH a ham.
Jake said I should post this next video of the girls playing with an outgoing diaper box just because it's a good slice of life. It's not particularly profound, but just an after gymnastics, after Costco, after lunch playtime!

It dawned on me the other day that this 16 months stage is the age in which most people start talking about having another baby. Those people probably don't have twins and a three year old, but nevertheless, this is that age that is just SWEET and FUN and gets easier daily as they're getting more independent. You just plain want to eat them up.

The cards that keep on giving...

Every morning, we choose two Christmas cards and pray for those friends or family that day. I don't think Abby Jane will really like when we run out of Christmas cards- getting to pick out new cards each morning is extremely vital to the beginning of her day.

Thanks to all you sweet people, I think we may be into April before that happens. In the meantime, know that if we received a card from you, you have been or will be prayed for by the Gross family!

Granny

Jake's Granny went to be with the Lord last night. I could not attempt to adequately describe such an amazing woman in a single blog entry. Simply put, however, she was the most beautiful, elegant and loving of ladies who made everyone around her feel particularly special and loved. She was an amazing athlete her entire life, and she cut a mean rug at our wedding. The best dancer there by far.

Here she is as a deb at the Piedmont Driving Club in 1944...

She's on the far right by Sandy at our wedding...

Employing her magic touch on Abby Jane. A stroke several years ago robbed us all of her words, but she could still communicate delight and love for us all. Abby Jane never sat still for anyone at this age, but she was content right there with Granny for quite a while.
Meeting Blythe and Joy...

She was game for holding two wiggly babies at the end of their 1st bday party...

This was just a few weeks ago at a baby shower for Jake's cousin Emily.

Granny was an immense blessing to our family and has left a beautiful legacy. She raised four children, including my wonderful, godly mother-in-law, who in turn raised my amazing husband... I am so grateful to that precious woman, and as Jake put it, we know she's doing the foxtrot in heaven! What a celebration it is when a believer goes to be with the Lord.