A New Beginning

First day of preschool was on Tuesday, and Abby Jane's level of excitement was on par with birthday or Christmas. She was up until 10 pm the night before, just talking and laughing to herself. She could hardly sit still enough to eat a semblance of a breakfast. FINALLY it was time to take a few pictures and go!

Hugs goodbye to little sisters...

This picture totally encapsulates Abby Jane on her first day of school- it was so, so precious to see my big girl 1000% ready to start school! (Note to self: nix the pink hairbows when we wear this dress next time!)

Walking her in with the preschool bag. There were a lot of little people taking identical pictures toting their own blue bags that morning!

My fabulous husband had planned all along to come be a part of that first day, which I didn't expect, and definitely thought was quite the above-and-beyond daddy moment. Abby Jane didn't actually bother to tell us goodbye, but we called her back to the door to say bye. Daddy stole a kiss before letting her get back to important preschool business.

When Jake was putting Joy in the car after walking out of the preschool, she scrambled out of her seat and went straight for Abby Jane's, saying, "Abba seat, Abba seat!" She was grinning from ear to ear at getting to sit in Abba seat. There was obviously no love lost there! Look at these happy girls with their mama all to themselves. It was amazing having one hand for each child I was responsible for! I am so looking forward to extra time with just these little people while my big kid is away having the time of her life.

My dear friend Kristin has her little girl in Abby Jane's class as well, so we shared our first morning as mothers of preschoolers together!

Abby Jane gave a glowing report after both Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and she had the most precious comment yesterday afternoon. We were talking about all the things she had done that day, and she said, "Miss Rose talks like she smiles a lot." I thought WHAT a compliment! Both of her teachers are just PRECIOUS women that make ME feel fabulous after chatting with, and I love that after just two mornings with those ladies loving on and teaching her, Abby Jane hit the nail on the head so well.

New goal: talk like I smile a lot.

More Cousin time

Last Saturday morning, Jake took the family to Waffle House to use up some "free waffle" coupons we received from the Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth. Blythe ate everyone under the table, including Jake. The girl ate and ate and ate. She is always just plain a breakfast girl, but Saturday was one for the books. At one point, Jake was cutting up more waffle for her, and she started waving her hands in the air and giggling out of excitement!

It was my first time in a Waffle House since a time or two in college, and it was a much more enjoyable experience than I expected. Especially the coffee and grits!

We went straight from there up to Jake's parents' home, where Bop Bop was watching Cade and Luke while Betsy and Paul were having a garage sale with Sandy's help. Of course, the all-time favorite activity at Mimi and Bop Bop's is playing with, throwing, and eating ice. I like this action shot of Jake trying to evade the ice Cade is launching from his cup, while holding a whiffle ball bat.

I've started just going ahead and taking off the babies' clothes before ice playing. They love getting to run nik-nik!

There's a place in downtown Cartersville called Ross's diner, and it's a big family tradition for the Gross family to go there for breakfast or lunch. Jake and his dad ate there every Saturday growing up. It's also about 25 yards from the train tracks through the middle of town, so for those kids who like trains (not Joy), it's about the best seat you could ever eat lunch from. Here's Jane sharing an after-lunch lollypop with a seemingly blown away Blythe.
The following cousin series just melted our hearts. We sure are going to just savor every last minute with this sweet family in these next few weeks before they open this new chapter of their lives in New Zealand!

Squeezing it in...

There was so much I wanted to squeeze in before preschool started, and it was tough to make it all happen! One of those things was a day trip to Chattanooga to visit my big sis and her kids. It was such a great, simple day. I think our culture is so tempted to always program and schedule and "go and do" with our kids... but on Friday, these six little cousins had such a sweet summer day, just playing in my sister's back yard. They played on the swing set, made a fort in the tree house...

jumped on the trampoline...

and this unlikely pair spent a long long time together in the sandbox.

Ian is probably the busiest of all the cousins, but he and my quiet little Blythe sat by each other for a good long while, engrossed in the sand. See Blythe trying to bury her little feet like Ian?

Then there's Maggie, who hangs in tough with all the older kids and alternated between having toys stolen by the twins and getting knocked over with hugs.

The highlight of the trip for me was that everyone took good naps/rest times, and Jodi and I had the opportunity to sit and talk for a wonderful long time. I so respect and am refreshed by my big sis, and it was such a treat to get that time with her!

Meet and Greet Day

Last Thursday was meet and greet day for Abby Jane's preschool. Tomorrow is her big first day! Here she is with her sweet teacher, Mrs. Robin.

We are all super-excited for tomorrow, but I have to admit that I'm a little more sentimental than I expected about giving up having five days a week to pick and choose what we want to do all together every single day! But this grinning young lady below is more than ready for preschool and all that it entails, and I'm sure I'll get over it about 30 seconds after she tells me all about how fabulous her first day is tomorrow!

We spent the rest of the morning at the Jones' home, and the kids all had a great time!

Here is a rare sighting of Blythe demonstrating her big muscles.
Then out came the sprinkler...
and even more grins...
Pure summer bliss.
We sure love these sweet friends!

The New Girls

Last week, beautiful Clara Kathryn was born rather rapidly to my dear friend Katie! Jake and I visited them at the hospital to get our hands on that sweet lump of sugar and deliver her going-home dress! One of the most fun parts of that night was skyping in one of our other dearest friends since childhood, Whitney, to Jake's iPad before we walked into the hospital room... so we could all meet and celebrate together! In my remembering of iPad, dress, etc., I forgot our camera, so this is from when my girls met Clara a few days later... and it's not even of her sweet face, since I was helping protect that baby head with the hand not holding the camera! Oh well, better pics to come in the future, I'm sure. Janie thought she was BIG stuff with Clara!

The same day that my girls got to meet Clara, Brett and Lauren Dooley came over for dinner. They're on staff overseas with a college ministry, so it was a unique opportunity to get some hang-out time with them! Here's three-year-old Harrison (here at the "kids table" with Abby Jane)...
and 5-week-old Blythe Hayward! When they announced her name, I told Jake, "They must like us! They wouldn't name their daughter Blythe if they didn't like us!" Needless to say, Jake made fun of me a little on being so personally proud of the Dooleys' choice of name. She is beautiful and precious, and it was a delight to meet her in person!

We were so honored to get to spend an evening with such an amazing family as the Dooleys, and we will be keeping them in our prayers as they wrap up their last weeks in the States!

Good things to share

1. Video of my girls on a diving board. A few notes on that video: 1) despite what it sounds like, Blythe is laughing, not crying, as she is going in; 2) the words I'm searching for as I say, "I think... I think..." are that "I am not in control of this situation!"

2. My sis-in-law Susan passed along the link to this AWESOME ministry that has such a simple way to bless the lives of little girls in Africa. I can think of several of you who I know will be specifically impacted!

3. White Chocolate Smores Gooey Cake Bars- my friend Holly emailed me this recipe. Mine are pictured below (recipe text follows), and you can click here for a photo tutorial! Jake says these are one of the best desserts I've ever made. They were a hit when we fixed them for some friends the other night!

1 box yellow cake mix

1 large egg

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

4 1/2 full graham crackers

10 ounce bag white chocolate chips

2 cups mini marshmallows

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line an 8×8 inch baking pan with tin foil that’s been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure foil goes all the way up and over the edges for this one. It will be a full pan

2. Place cake mix, egg, and butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix with hands until a nice dough forms. similar to a cookie dough. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer with graham crackers, white chips then marshmallows. Top with remaining half of dough pressing evenly. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over top then bake for 28-33 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown on top. Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes then take a plastic knife and run along edges to loosen marshmallow (this will make your life easier when pulling foil out of pan to remove bars Let cool completely then remove bars from pan with foil edges. Cut off all edges if desired, about 1/2 inch each side. I save the edges to snack on too. Cut bars into squares and serve. They are delicious room temperature or chilled.

12 to 16 servings

The Car

I'm a car person and I also have a great appreciation for a well-cleaned car. I came by it honestly as my dad was and my uncle is a car person. My dad taught me how to wash the car and detail the inside, and I remember spending Saturday afternoons washing my beloved Jeep Wrangler in the driveway, scrubbing the tires and hubcaps, and spraying Armorall on the interior. One time in high school, I went to NAPA Autoparts and bought replacement wipers and headlights. On my way out, the salesman asked if I would need help installing them, and I told him that no, thank you, I would be just fine. And I absolutely was.

If you looked in my car before last week or any time in the last year or so, there would no indication that I even know how to clean a car, much less that I value organization in any way, shape, or form. My car was filled with countless toys, mismatched shoes, a few receipts, and a lot of other miscellaneous items. The floor badly needed vacuuming. It overwhelmed me.

That is, until Jake, unbeknownst to me, emptied my car one night last week before he took it in to get serviced. Then he used a Groupon to get it thoroughly detailed. AHHHHH do you see that there are only two items other than carseats??? A diaper bag and Abby Jane's back pack. Every time I have gotten into my car since then, I feel an almost spa-like zen in the lack of chaos.

I now remember that I am a car person and I love my car enough to take better care of its interior, and I pledge to be more responsible. I now have a rule I am keeping with Nazi-like seriousness that we will bring NO TOYS to the car. There already toys in my "bag of fun" that I keep in the front seat to throw back to fussy children. We need no more.

When Jake brought the car home, he said it was now up to me as to how I choose to "re-populate" it. I plan to re-populate with responsibility and exclusivity.

By the way, I have the best husband in the world.