Oldest Best Friend Weekend '12

At the end of August, my three oldest best friends came in town with their families for about 36 hours of goodness. I've known Betsy and Katie since I was four, and Whit rolled in town when we were 10. These are those friends who know me better than I know myself, and no statement requires a backstory or explanation because they already know the entirety of who I am. I have discovered that not being known really makes me sad- as in if someone misinterprets or doesn't understand or fully grasp the significance of something I say or do or experience because they don't know me well enough, it really makes me sad. And it's all these girls' faults, because I know what it is for a girlfriend to truly know you.  I would say we'll be friends til we're old ladies with gray hair, but my hair stylist tells me I'm already 50% there if it weren't for her genius with that which is artificial. So let's just say these girls will be buddies of mine for the long haul.

Here are our two sets of twins.

 Meet Jackson, world's happiest baby and the newest addition to our collection.

 World's happiest baby with beautiful mama.

 Carlton needed a little time to himself. All the other two-year-olds are girls.

 One of the said other two-year-olds, Isabella, big sis to World's Happiest Baby.

 Isabella also goes by "Boo", and Bella Boo and Blythey Boo had a sweet little connection! (Blythe's extra junk in her trunk was a tutu. In case you wondered.)

 Impromptu hand holding...

Four 30-year-olds, three 4-year-olds, four 2-year-olds, one 1-year-old (who also took her first steps that weekend!!!!), and one 4-month-old!

The Boos having dinner. Their mamas spent many, MANY an hour by the pool. I slightly blame my skin cancer tendencies on my laying out as often and with as little sunscreen as Bella's mama, who has an entirely different skin type than me. But that's another story for another time. We had some good times in the sun, I'll tell you that. :)

Beyond thankful for these friends, and so refreshed and blessed by even a short time with these amazing women!!

Simple Perspective

My girls know that my dad, their Grandaddy Elliott, is in heaven. Their understanding is obviously gauged for their age. For instance, Abby Jane asks every now and then something like, "Why did Grandaddy Elliott die? Why couldn't the doctors make him better?" The twins simply know he died, he's not here anymore, he's in heaven with Jesus. When they verbalize that, though, something about it is just refreshing and perspective giving. Every so often, Blythe will ask about it. Sweet Blythe's voice, for those of you who haven't heard it in person, is a couple of octaves higher than most of her peers. She also can't say her "r's" very clearly yet, so with that in mind, listen to her sweet simple question/statement she typically says.

Blythe: "Mama, is yo [your] daddy in heaven?"
Me: "Yes he is. He's with Jesus."
Blythe: "Oh. My daddy is at wook [work]."

I love that. I love her understanding of the concept that my daddy exists and he IS someplace, he's just not here. Just like her daddy exists and is someplace, even when he's not right with her. I love that simple understanding of heaven as a real place, just like Daddy's work is a real place. It's such an honor as a parent to get to watch the progression of a spiritual life, beginning with sweet little two year olds  speak of heaven as comfortably and casually as if it's a place down the street.

First day of school

Abby Jane was SO excited for this day to come! I was a little sad- I have LOVED having her around over the summer, so it was going to be a big adjustment to have her gone. But she was excited enough for all of us!

 Daddy came to help see us off!

Once she hit that hallway, there was no looking back... or waiting up for shorter little sister legs trying to keep up behind her. My mom commented that even her hair is in motion here- the girl was tunnel-visioned for her new class!

 Quick kiss for Daddy...

 then she was off and engaged without a single glance back!

 Blythe and Joy had a little scone date with Mama and Daddy before Jake had to get into the office.

 Before we knew it, it was time to pick Abby Jane back up! Here is her little tree with all her new classmates' names on it- first craft of the year- and the snack bucket to bring back the next school day! As usual, swinging during recess was her favorite part of the day, but she also already was talking about various new friends she enjoyed. It's official- school has begun!

What we really did in August

August was a HUGE push month for Jake as he is in the final stages of writing his dissertation and will be defending later in the fall. (YEAAA!!) Jake spent, and is still spending, a LOT of long days and late nights doing this...

So I spent a LOT of time making fun things like this little number that Pinterest inspired me to do with scraps from my fabric bin. It was also a HUGE month for 418, due to a lovely number of orders and some gracious gifts. I stopped sewing for 418 at night back in the spring in an effort to set better boundaries, but when Jake disappeared to go write in August, I hit the sewing projects!

 Mid-month, we took a break from writing and sewing and life. We dropped the ladies off with Mimi and Bop Bop and had the Best. Date. Ever. Just us, out on this quiet little lake near us that we hadn't explored yet.

 It was peaceful and beautiful, and we paddled til the sun went behind the trees. THEN we went to see a 9:00 showing (who has done that since college?) of the new Bourne movie, which we loved.

The next day, the girls actually stayed with the grandparents all day while we started the day with a breakfast date, then Jake went to work, I consignment shopped and was in general immensely productive. Late afternoon, I picked Jake up and we had another SUPER fun, super funny paddleboard date on another lake area we hadn't been to. We played reaaaallly hard that time and did stupid stuff like handstands. You know that disgusting burp that happens when you cough a ton after swallowing a lot of water? At one point I was laughing so hard in the water that THAT happened.

One of my favorite things about being married to Jake is that we have the same taste in what makes a good time. That 24 hour period was a GOOD time with this guy who I think hung the moon.

Accessorizing

We had some fun with a cicada shell the other day. Blythe started it and became the owner/wearer of the shell after everyone else had their turn... until Joy smashed it on the living room floor the next morning. But it was a good time til then!

Meet and Greet Festivities

Preschool meet and greet day started with a family breakfast with Mimi and Bop Bop, then it was on to meet our new teacher! We waited for our turn...

Then Mrs. Tricia brought us in and wowed Abby Jane with a fabulous book of pictures telling us all about her and her family. The highlight was a picture of her daughter, who's getting married this fall, trying on a wedding dress. Four-year-old translation: Mrs. Tricia has a princess in her family.

Blythe and Joy had no hesitation busying themselves in the kitchen and bringing us various treats while Abby Jane and I were talking with her teachers.

 Excited girl and her sweet new teachers, Mrs. Tricia and Mrs. Becky!

 We went straight from the school to the pool for a quick swim with Ericka and Grant.

 Miss Ericka had cupcakes for the kiddos to celebrate Abby Jane's fun morning, conveniently left over from Grant's big boy party the night before (the one where they celebrated him moving into his new big boy room in preparation for his baby sister's arrival in November!)

Don't believe Blythe's face here- the twins were equally jubilant over their fun morning and yummy cupcakes!

Bananas and flaxseed

Poor some flaxseed in a bowl, pass out bananas, and take it outside if you can. Refer to flaxseed as sprinkles if you like. Be prepared to end up going through a whole bunch of bananas if your little monkeys are really in the mood. This was a six-banana morning.

 Some people might prefer to eat bananas and flaxseed with wings and sunglasses.