Oldies

Yesterday my college friend Susie came to visit! She also knows 2 of my friends here so we all got together. 4 adults and 10 kids under 7 years old! The gang was mostly girls too. It's crazy how so many of friends have girls!!! We had a blast laughing at our kids and talking about our struggles as moms too. What a blessing it is for me to have such good friends I can share life with. I especially love keeping up with my college friends who know me so well. Thanks Susie for making the drive and making the effort to come visit!!!

First on our agenda was to drive Susie and her 3 kiddos around campus. She had not been back to the gloryland :) in many years. U of A is changing constantly and getting more beautiful than ever!! It's already one of the prettiest campuses ever (of course I'm biased, but lots of outsiders say this too) and it just keeps getting better. So we loaded up all 6 kids in my van! HILARIOUS!!!



After driving around for a bit, we found a parking spot and got out so we could take some pics at DENNY CHIMES on the quad. While I was sweating bullets, the children loved running around and playing for awhile.









Then we came back to our house and met more friends. The girls played dress up, read books, and more.


Noah and Samuel got out some pirate stuff and Samuel also tried to watch over everyone else. Sometimes he really thinks he is the daddy! Ha! We attempted a kids group picture with the 10 children (ranging in age from 5 months to 7 years). We knew it would be impossible and it really was entertaining! At the end we had one 18 month old screaming on the floor, and a 20 month old and 2 year old on the couch screaming. All the momma's were laughing hysterically at the scene:)...




And since we are gluttons for punishment, we decided to trek out to 15th Street Diner per Susie's request for lunch (all 14 of us). It was a hot spot for us in college so she really wanted to eat there. Anyway, the kids did really well surprisingly but when I got home at 2 pm...I quickly got the girls down for a nap, put on a show for Samuel and collapsed myself on the couch for awhile!!

Babies

I get asked ALL.THE.TIME if we are done having children. It's probably the most common comment/question that I get along with "WOW, you have your hands full!" To the second comment, I usually nod in agreement but exclaim that I love it (most days)! To the first question, I usually answer "I don't know." Some days I am without a shadow of a doubt DONE and happy with our family of 5. Other days I just really don't know. I always said I wanted 4 kids so it's hard to close that door (and we are not even guaranteed that we would be able to have another one anyway). However, I DO have my hands full and I'm not sure I want them any fuller:). Ha! All that to say, I am happy for now with my 3 and to also love on other people who have new babies.

Or take lots of pictures of them!!!

Here are a few recent pics from photo sessions I've done of babies...

This momma REALLY does have her hands full with triplets!!!

Then there was this sweet 8 week old who was pretty fussy for our shoot but we still managed to get some really good ones. She was precious in the brown flower hat!

Vintage

This was my dress when I was about 4 or 5 made by my mama. I don't remember wearing it at all but it sure does look so cute on my oldest daughter. She loves wearing it knowing it was mine!

Atlanta Adventures

We had a fun filled few days with my parents to say the least. A quick recap and then of course pictures to follow...

• the kids washed the golf cart
• samuel searched for lizards and turtles everyday
• my dad ran over a copperhead snake on his long driveway with the golfcart
• lots of 4 wheeler and golf cart rides were enjoyed by all!!!
• jeff almost stepped on a copperhead or water moccasin in a creek we found 4 wheeling...this was not a fun moment for me to say the least
• we took samuel and ek to see Toy Story 3 (first movie ever for ellie kate)
• samuel built a house out of cardboard boxes in my parents basement...it was very creative with a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and storage room
• ellie kate got some sort of food poisoning or virus and threw up 3 times one day (it's never a good trip unless one of our kids gets sick-ha)
• samuel helped my dad cut the grass
• kids loved picking apples, pears, cucumbers, and tomatoes from around the property
  
• spontaneous trip to south of Atlanta to see 2 of my besties from college! we had to make a list of topics we wanted to make sure we talked about since our time was limited:)
  
• we had some fun meals out (sans kids thanks to free childcare) with friends in the area as well

fun pear pic

sick ellie kate

the "cage" for the baby lizard

it's a pretty darn cute lizard actually

beautiful scenery....but it is where Jeff had a near snake bite/attack

a 4 wheeler self portrait

trails

with girlfriends susie and julia
can you EVEN tell that jules is due with baby #3 tomorrow...it's seriously unfair that she look that beautiful!!!

looking at the headless copperhead my dad ran over

cardboard box house built by samuel

before heading to see Toy Story 3

golf cart wash

Down on the Farm

We are visiting family this week in Georgia and it's been so fun. We haven't been since Christmas (far too long!!). Thursday, we got to spend some time with Jeff's grandparents and aunt/uncle/cousins (I didn't get any pics of them though - sad). They live on a mini-farm complete with a donkey, sheep, a llama, dogs, cats, a barn, a pool, a pasture, blueberries, blackberries, a big porch, and more! It's like a mini resort really. The kids had a blast visiting all the animals and swimming in the pool. We also enjoyed time sitting on the porch and visiting and then enjoying a yummy meal from Nonnie (Jeff's grandmother). I did most these pictures with a vintage effect on them just for fun!






































Stay tuned because I'll have a lot more pictures and memories of our time at my parents after I have time to sort through all the pics!