Thanksgiving

We headed to Mom's on the day before Thanksgiving, and you just can't be there long before someone is reading someone a book!

 Mom and I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon. This race was both of ours first half- mine was in '98, and hers was in '99, so it's a great family tradition! Here's the pre-dawn before shot.

Here's the world's-cutest-spectators shot, there courtesy of world's-best-dad who gets them out the door, fed, and downtown in time to cheer their mama on!

 Here's my "HEEEEEEEYYYY, BABIES!!!!!" face.

 My favorite fans other than the good-looking one taking the picture.

 Blythe really loved Thanksgiving. The girls' favorite things on their plate were Grammy's amazing cranberry salad, the marshmallows on Aunt Nancy's recipe for sweet potatoes, and the rolls. Such a balanced palate they have... but since Thanksgiving is their daddy's favorite holiday of the year, I decided to make it easy and let them eat a lot of what they were loving.

 It was a sweet, simple time as a family, and we were also giving thanks for the family who was overseas and out of town! Love our family- also note that Ken and Sandy join us- so thankful that my in-laws are truly a part of my own family. The same is true for my mom in theirs- we've been having both sets of grandparents at both Thanksgivings for years now, and it's such a blessing to have parents who all get along and love each other. We don't take it for granted!

 The girls playing doctor on Bop Bop.

 When you go do a couple of Black Friday errands with your husband while your kids are with Grammy, you may come home to the nativity scene being acted out.

 Sometimes Mary becomes an angel midway through and the angel becomes a shepherd and Lincoln logs and orange construction paper becomes fire to warm up by while Grammy plays "Away in the manger" on her guitar.

 Thanksgiving was so mild this year that we also enjoyed going out on Mom's paddleboard. I took the girls out on a couple of rides, and Jake got in a paddle before we left, too.  I thought it was cool that leaves were literally falling while I was taking this shot. Cold weather for holidays is nice, but if it's going to be warm, might as well hit the water!!

Going to work with Daddy

On Thanksgiving week, we took advantage of Janie being out of school for her to go spend a morning at work with her daddy! She was so excited. They had a big, big day. They went to the big library and checked out a book on China, drove around in Daddy's office golf cart, had hot chocolate, did some big art projects, Abby got some special time coloring with everyone's favorite Ms Judy, and ate lunch at KSU's state of the art dining facility. What kind of lunch does a girl pick out on this kind of special day? She had a waffle with sugary strawberries and whipped cream. Just perfect for that kind of day.

I asked her that night if she got to meet a lot of fun people at Daddy's work. She said yes, and commented that so many people knew her name already! It's hard to see in this picture, but the dress she picked out to wear that day has her name in big letters. Jake said all kinds of folks he didn't even know were calling out, "HI, Abby Jane!" So, so fun. I remember going to work with my daddy when I was a little girl for a very similar treats-and-fun-filled day with a man who was a little larger than life at that age to me, so it was really special to me to see Abby Jane have a wonderful day with her own larger-than-life hero.

Thanksgiving Class Party '12

Abby Jane has THE sweetest class in school, and it was so fun to put more faces to names! You can't beat a bunch of Pilgrims and Indians, either!

 She came home and immediately started playing dress up with her own life-size dolls...

Playdate with the Grandparents

I'm so thankful that we can go over to my grandparents to play for a morning. It was one year ago this Thanksgiving that my grandaddy had a massive heart attack. He's worked extremely diligently this year with the expert help of Granny Joan to be in amazing shape this fall... planning to be around for many playdates to come. :)

Joan provided delicious muffins that the girls did a disappearing act on in about 5 minutes. 

 I have memories from early, early childhood of Grandaddy always having mechanical animals that did things like sing Christmas songs, etc. Here is an example of such a delight- a puppy dog that rolls and laughs. Blythe and Abby LOVED it. Joy sternly and suspiciously observed it from my lap.

 Then it was time for Grandaddy's famous airplane throwing from his deck (that he built himself).

 Love this laughing picture! There's always lots of laughing when Grandaddy is around!

 Grandaddy (the former pilot) showing the girls how to really fly a plane.

 We surely love them and loved having a morning to play with them!!!

New little friends

Two of my best friends had their first little girls within less than two weeks of the twins' birthday party. We were impressed to finish the party with no one's water breaking!

Meet Halle Katherine!

 She belongs to my sweet Auburn roommate and precious friend, Lyndsay.

 This is Annalee Pryce!

 She belongs to my dear friend Ericka, who the Lord gracious brought into my life upon our move back to Atlanta.

Someone asked me lately if my children are into role play these days. Yes, yes, they are. They announce daily that they're pregnant, having a baby, going to the hospital, or caring for their newborn, thanks to these friends of mine, their new little babies, and my many other pregnant friends! Classic.

Passion

In September, we felt that the Lord was leading our family to become a part of what He is doing at Passion City Church. We are so thankful for the years we had at Noonday, and we have been so blessed to maintain our sweet friendships with folks we love there even after we have made our transition into this new season. We have also already been so blessed by our time at PCC and are really excited about what is happening in and through our new church as well!

One of our big pulls to Passion is the amazing impact that church has had on the freedom movement and the fight against human slavery. This display went up shortly after we began attending PCC, and it is an amazing reminder of freedom fighters throughout the history of our nation who have stood up against human slavery and trafficking. I love this wall and see different amazing things in it every time I pass it. 

Most folks have heard about it by now, but Passion 2013 is just around the corner, and it's not too late to sign up to attend or volunteer!

Creatives

The girls have really gotten into drawing and coloring in the last couple of months. It's fascinating to see how differently each one of them approaches coloring and how distinct each of their styles are, even when they're so young.

Does anyone else's heart rate immediately go up when you see Joy poised with two handfuls of wet paint?? The possibilities here are endless.

 This has nothing to do with art but everything to do with what happens when we're not rushing out the door and I want to see if our snow bibs still fit. That was before the heat wave of late, however.

Abby Jane drew this. Joy is on the far left with a pigtail. Blythe is in the middle with big curly hair. Abby Jane is on the right with a bigger pigtail than Joy. I love how Blythe's curls are bigger than her head is here! I think Abby was depicting Blythe's classic bedhead.