Tackle Abby Jane

Well, the tackling happened before I started recording, but click here for a video I took earlier today of the girls just playing around...

Graduation

We have now completed one tadpole, two minnows, and one seals class. We're done with lessons for this year and ready for summer! Here she is getting acclimated to the water with Miss Katie.

I love how intense Andy looks blowing his bubbles while Someone Else is obviously just looking like she's up to no good!
The proud graduates!

St Simons 2011

Seven adults, nine children (eight and under), and a week in St. Simons, GA! I have condensed down over 300 pictures for this blog, so be impressed with my conciseness with that in mind!

After having to delay our arrival by a day due to a stomach bug, we did the whole plan-to-leave-at-5 a.m. but actually got out at 5:45... this was unposed mid-morning on the way down there.

In case you didn't know, don't be deceived by this picture. Traveling with 19 month olds and a 3 yr old is VERY BUSY and involved! We were very glad to arrive!

Jake brought this mack-daddy wagon to haul our beach stuff and kids to and from our fabulous house down to the pool or sand. It was a huge hit!

Jake's and my great love of all things ocean has not exactly taken root in our kids. All three were not big fans of playing in the water, though the little girls especially loved playing in the sand.

Most of our crew in the pool- lacking my big sis and two of her three kiddos...

Uncle Chris and Uncle Jake digging a baby pool. The big kids were so sweet with the little ones all week long. Blythe and Joy kept dumping out the water that the older kids brought to fill up the pool... and the older kids just laughed. I'm so grateful for how well the children get along.

The house we stayed in was PERFECT for our needs... three bedrooms on the bottom floor, living space on middle floor with huge deck off the back where the kids were banished, I mean, invited to eat. The top floor had a bunk room where Grammy slept with the oldest five (which included Abby Jane, who was ushered down to her mom and dad's room in the middle of the night a few nights of the week). But the rest of the upper floor was a covered deck area where the kids could all safely run wild... and not disturb any babies sleeping on the bottom floor! Hence, a great deal of family peace. Here is a birthday celebration for Jodi, Susan, Scott, and Ashley, who were all born on May 29!Abby Jane and Ashley, three months apart and thick as thieves, having breakfast one morning with Grrrr, Ashley's bear.

There are some moments that I especially see the uniqueness of the whole twin thing. Seeing those two little chubby baby bodies running around together in the sand was definitely one of those precious "twinny" moments!I love this. Even though Abby Jane was not exactly a beachy girl on this trip, I can remember hours upon hours upon hours of the first 18 months of her life that she spent in the California sand, so I am more than confident that she will find that part of herself again in years to come.

The three mamas and 7 of the 9 kids- the other two were out in the water with the dads.
Grammy on the pier with all nine of her "babies".

The siblings... we were so proud no one ended up in the water with so many little people running free on that pier while the six of us were taking this!We followed the pier with playing on the playground by the water and ended up with ice cream from St Simons Sweets. Don't feel too bad for the Blythe and Joy being the only ones without cones. They ate half of mine.

Their Aunt Betsy and Uncle Paul gave these super-cool suits for Christmas, and it was awesome to have to cover that much less skin in sunscreen! Not to mention they looked like little surfer girls!

Susan talked to me several months ago about splitting up the work to make shirts for all of the kids with their number in the birth order hand-appliqued on the back. It was a fabulous idea for a precious photo!

Number 9, a.k.a. Maggie, got a little squirmy after a minute, and I like this one even better. Mischievous little bookend...

Getting ready to go out our last day...

Our sweet friends, the Kelley's, are temporarily living in St Simons, and we got to see them a few times. Unfortunately, my eldest was having some three-yr-old attitude issues at inopportune times, and our destination playdates were not as idyllic as you might think. We did have some moments of sweet enjoyment of beach/pool together with their two girls and sweet Shelley in the midst of dealing with the drama that comes with kiddos. I was thankful for those snippets- we sure miss that family! Here is Anna Beth and Abby Jane.
Our last evening there, it dawned on me to offer Abby Jane the goggles I've had for her for months. They were a huge hit, and she couldn't ask us enough to watch her go under water! Brilliant mom here should have pulled those out in the beginning of the week. At least we still have the rest of the summer!
Jake had to fly back early in order for Friday's orientation at KSU. Friday at the beach was a pretty trying day with my ladies- the twins were exceptionally clingy and Abby Jane was as mentioned above. I asked that Jake would pray that I would get to go watch the sunrise on Saturday before our drive home- it would be so therapeutic to get that quiet time soaking in God's creation before a potentially crazy day of alone in the car with the girls. God was so good and gave me a more than glorious glimpse of what a mighty and beautiful God He is!
Then he let the girls behave beautifully on the ride home... even to the point of this lasting for over an hour!!!
I read this passage that last day, and it's one of my favorites... "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? ...To whom will you compare God?...He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them like a tent to live in... Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." - from Isaiah 40

***By the time I posted this blog, my sister's entire family had gotten that crazy stomach bug, as well as both of the Kelley girls! It had a THREE day contagion period! Oh well- what would family vacation be if you didn't have a few crazy things happen along the way. The Gross family promised to be at least a week out from any viruses before future family trips! :)

Setting the Scene

I was about to blitz into telling y'all about our week at the beach, but there were several factors leading up to that week that made it sweeter. So in an effort to not forget the weeks leading up to our big family beach vacation, here goes.

1. In mid-April, we found out within about 10 days that my brother's family is moving at the end of June to Manila, Philippines, in an incredible career move, and they will be there for 3ish years. We also found out that Jake's sister's family is moving at the end of the summer back to New Zealand, where my brother-in-law Paul is from. They have been Stateside for about six years, and a great job opportunity became available to them that would allow them to return to Paul's beautiful country.

2. At the beginning of May, I launched 418 Stitches, and in the two weeks before we left town, I either sewed or embellished 13 articles of clothing, including a few shirts we used for a photo op at the beach. I was so thrilled for such a strong start, but it made for a busy few weeks before heading out of town!

3. Jake's busy season of work is the summer, as he is the Director of Orientation at KSU. The first summer orientation was the day before we were due to depart for the beach, which made for a busy work week for Jake that ended up paying off big dividends in a great opening orientation day.

4. Jake turned in his proposal for his dissertation on Saturday, so he was able to NOT DO ANY SCHOOLWORK while on vacation- the first time he could not possibly do anything for school even if he wanted to in over a year. However, it did add more to his week before departure!

5. Prior to our vacation, our family had a stomach virus. Our departure for the trip was delayed by a day as we wanted to have the 24 hours under our belts before possibly exposing any family members. The pediatric nurse assured me that after 24 hours, we could be confident in not being contagious.

Well, this bug was a little more virulent than that, as it ended up hitching a ride with us to St. Simons...

But we didn't know that when we delightedly left the pressures of the prior week behind and headed to St Simons for our last big family extravaganza before the Elliotts go to Manila!

One afternoon last week

First braids!

In response to playing our "Don't laugh" game...
Not in response to "Don't laugh" game. Just grumpy.

On our afternoon walk...
They are fascinated by this sewer. Every time.

New Items!

418 Stitches is now offering shirts, shorts, and diaper covers, so go click on the button on the right to check it out!

Oh my, oh my!

I hope your Memorial Day was great. Our weekend was full! Jake was working on his proposal for his dissertation all weekend, but he was able to take breaks to join us for social gatherings of sorts every evening.

We had the Rutherford and Titus families over for dinner Saturday night. This picture of Matt and Vic is poor quality, but I had to document exactly what a cute, stylish pregnant lady Victoria is!

We polished off our professional pool moochers badge and got to join friends several times over the weekend.

This is where the "oh my, oh my" comes in.

It seems there won't be many pictures of my children at the pool this summer, unless I have helpers. It turns out the babies, and especially Joy, are kamikazes in the water. One friend put it best that Joy has no threshold for fear (unless it's an elephant or "digger"). She would somersault off the side of the pool, and come up smiling. The babies aren't quite big enough for the puddle jumpers to do all the work, but the jumpers do make for extra handles to pull them up out of the water! Abby Jane's swim lessons also paid off big dividends (in between a few epic three year old moments). I was so excited to see how confident she was and how much she has progressed!
The reason these pics are all at the baby pool is because all three were unstoppable on the side of the big pool, wanting to jump in over and over. It was exhausting, hilarious, and fun at the same time.
Our little street had a block party on Sunday evening, and it was a sweet time of neighbors coming together and getting to know each other better. Abby Jane just ate up the attention of her older neighbor friends.We discovered this jewel of a lady who moved in more recently. She is every bit the delight she appears, and she has a big heart for Jesus! I can't wait to spend more time with Miss Emma.

The "big kids" all put on bathing suits and played in a sprinkler. I LOVE this portrait of the extremely unique combination of very different kids on our street!

On Monday evening, several families from church gathered to grill out at the pool- here's a few of the crew.
Here's Janie and her little friend Adrienne taking a break after dinner before more swimming. They looked so grown up.

Welcome, summer!