Summer days and Elliotts' arrival

Our favorite cousins on the Asian continent came to visit this summer. Ashley rejoined her posse of girly cousins like she had never been away.

 The five year olds in their matching beautiful dresses straight from China, where the Elliotts had just spent some time on their way home from Manila. (For those of you on FB, you may have seen this same outfit last week for Halloween.)

 Just a regular Saturday morning with world's best daddy and his favorite fans.

  Just a regular summer morning with three best, silly friends.

Summertime Tea Party!

June 2013

Mimi gave Abby Jane a Ballerina's Cookbook for her birthday, and we decided we needed to throw a party so we could use some of the fun recipes. The girls picked out several favorites, we invited three of our favorite ladies, and the party prep began.

The girls and I had so much fun making everything together on a slow-paced summer day!

Finally, the much anticipated party day was here!

Our guests of honor were Mimi, Grammy, and my precious BSF leader from last year, Ginny. The woman is so dear to my heart, and I loved my moms getting to spend a morning with her!

Ginny had made little bouquets for all the guests- the girls felt so special to have their very own flowers to carry around!

It was early afternoon and the girls had nearly polished off the whole buffet when us adults finally peeled ourselves away from lovely conversation and a beautiful morning to be outside.

We sure love these grandmas!

This would be the grandmas doing the hustle, which the girls had just been taught at library storytime earlier in the week.  We love these crazy ladies!

A houseful of girls is such a blessing- my heart is full.

Little Fish

June 2013

The girls didn't miss a beat getting back into the swing of swimming this summer, even though our busy spring did not include swim lessons. On our second trip to a pool, Joy asked if she could please swim without her floatie. Turns out she could. Within a few weeks, she was diving down to get sticks in four feet of water, completely keeping up with the big kids in the pool.

This was towards the beginning of the summer and the first time Jake got to see her new-found, floatie-less freedom. Showing anything to Daddy makes it a million times even more exciting.

Abby Jane and her buddy Maddy.

This year Abby Jane really enjoyed the underwater world.

Blythe is very happy and confident with her "safety seal" floatie on. She says when she's five she'll swim without floaties. I think she's just determined to be her own person.

Precious baby Denver and his daddy. These pictures were the next up for me to write on, and today of all days, there was a bit of a scare at this family's pool. Everybody is fine, home, snuggled in bed, but it was a solid reminder to a) be so thankful for our kids, b) remember how fast things can happen, and c) that God protects our kids all the time and answers our prayers!

My favorite flying lady!

Father's Day

June 2013

Several weeks before Father's Day, Abby Jane told me she thought it would be fun to decorate Daddy's car for Father's Day. I thought it was brilliant. We had schemed with one of his coworkers to establish where his car might be and what time might be good when he had no chance of passing anywhere near his car on the Friday orientation before Father's Day. Posters were made, balloons ready to go.

Then there was a massive storm that wiped out power on campus and there was an unprecedented cancelling of an orientation. Several hundred people arrange their summer schedules to attend their or their child's orientation, so handling the cancellation of such a big event was quite the undertaking. Doing it without power on campus from which to work led Jake to WiFi hop throughout the day.

We ended up finding his car at a McDonald's parking lot. I thought he was for sure humoring us to let us pull off our little secret mission. We had the most fun sneaking behind cars, decorating as fast as we could with little hands assisting, laughing a lot, nervously checking to see if he was coming out, getting encouragement from passers-by.

It turns out he had his back to us and was 1000% surprised when he came out a few hours later! He came home with balloons attached, and the girls thought it was the best thing ever.
We went to the lake for the first time that weekend, soaking in sweet time with our hero.

This guy used to enjoy alone time here and there. These days, he wakes up early, engages before his eyes are open, goes to work, comes home to shrieks, requests for tricks, people already hiding calling out to be found, jumped on for wrestling, and he goes non-stop til they're in bed.

As the only guy in a house of girls, it would be easy for him to pass off big conversations to me, but Jake never backs down from opportunities to help the girls navigate life and situations. He does not water down vocabulary or concepts for what you might try to explain to three's and a five year old. He pushes them and snuggles them, he expects big things and he appreciates learning from mistakes. He tells them we're a hiking family that does not whine while we hike.That's when he throws in "when the going get's tough, the tough get going." Another trademark phrase amongst our family is "if you want to play tough, you've got to be tough." He does not treat them like teacups- we have three girls too many to raise prissy ones- but he does show what a gentleman acts like and expects them learn ladylike behavior. His jokes have gotten exponentially cheesier with each year. They think he is hilarious. He pushes them 15 feet high on swings, teaches them about football, tells all the stories they want to hear, throws them in the pool, admires beautiful drawings and fancy ballet spins, praises each for their outward beauty while emphasizing the beauty of their hearts. Their is no opinion they value more than his. Most of all, his love of Jesus and love of worshiping Jesus is contagious, and the girls are learning what it's like to be in a household where glorifying the Lord is central. We are all Jake Gross' biggest fans.

"Mama, we're doing a double!"

June 2013

That's what I heard while I was fixing breakfast one morning. All three girls accompany each other to the restroom all the time. They would rather be about to die from their need of the facilities but all stay together, waiting their turns instead of spreading out to use another bathroom. They chat it up in the bathroom. I guess this particular week, they got a little more creative.

Chattanooga Visit

June 2013

In the beginning of the summer, we visited my sister Jodi before her older two were out of school, and we spent our time downtown taking in the children's museum! The following three pics are key because this one exhibit on the Civil War that began our museum experience kicked off the girls' fascination with the Civil War that is still going strong three months later.

Cousin love from view of downtown from the top of the museum!

THANK YOU, Aunt Jo, for SUCH a fun first children's museum experience- the girls loved it. If you go to Chattanooga with little people, make the museum a stop.

We followed up the museum with a picnic and sledding on the hills by the river! SO fun. It was amazing no one Jack 'n Jill-ed down it.

 We loved our sisters/cousin/moms/aunts day!

More summer fun at home- odds and ends

June 2013

We have the world's best neighbors. One night we had Joe and Glo over for dinner, and as the girls were showing their favorite lovies to them, Joe said he could draw pictures for the girls of their little animals. The next morning, the girls looked outside to see these beautiful chalk drawings waiting for them! Just one example of over and above kindness to our family...

The translation of this note Abby Jane gave me is, "Do you know that you smell like a rose"... she's a keeper!

This is what Joy means if she asks for a cucumber sandwich.

Jake put up a rope swing on our big grandaddy oak tree. The branch is as big around as I am, is high up enough for the rider to get even with the eve of the house, and can withstand men jumping off ladders in order to get extra height on their ride. Not that we've tried that last part or anything.

God gave me a home with a humongous hydrangea bush snuggled up to the back patio. Hydrangeas speak to my soul and are my very, very most favorite flower. It was quite kind of God to work that out for me!

Me: "Blythe, how did you get marker on you?" Blythe: "Joy did it!"

"Getting ready for our run, Mama!"

Reading up on the Civil War, a slight historical fixation the girls have, largely brought on by living close to so many Civil War monuments as well as a trip to Chattanooga where they saw a relevant exhibit at the children's museum.

Next up, pics from Chattanooga!