Our Village

They're home!

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I couldn't agree more.

Bill and Espy just got home from their trip to Arizona, and it's been fantastic to have them physically in our home.  When you add in all the experiences and stories that they've been sharing with us, it's been one big ball of emotion around here (at least for the wife
and mother of the house).

I applaud those of you who are both dad and mom for much longer than eleven days.  The only reason why Bill and Espy came home to a sane (not completely exhausted) woman and somewhat tidy home is because of the awesome support system we have.  It's beyond amazing.  All of these things were an encouragement to me (and to Isabella and Evangeline) while they were away,
and this list isn't exhaustive:
texts
grass-cutting(s)
phone calls
gifts
messages
meals
movie nights
snacks
carpooling
conversations
coffee!
playdates
pre/post-bedtime visits
prayers

Thank you so much to all of you who were a helping hand, ear, hug, etc. just when we needed it.  Thank you for sacrificing your own time to spend time helping us or being with us.  Bill and I appreciate it more than you know.  I'm thankful and ridiculously blessed by the example of your friendship.  Our hope is that we can be same kind of friends to you -
and for you to call us on it if we're not.  Not a joke.  We love you!
(Special shout out to my parents who were readily available whenever we needed a meal,
a playdate, a ride - or when Mommy needed a time out.)

presents from our Espy

family dinner

 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13

...and Parenthood Continues To Squeeze My Soul

my own personal version of Parenthood

Tuesdays provide many opportunities to develop patience - for both me and the husband.  We both go to bed the night before with good intentions of great things when morning comes, but we know in our minds that these particular days are extremely busy - and we sometimes find ourselves jumping crazily

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to the beach Saturday morning, and it was perfect - not too hot, not too cold, and not crowded at all.  The girls had lots of fun burying each other in the sand

and splashing around in the water.

 

This one's always ready to smile for the camera.

 

Evangeline enjoyed running into the ocean and eating sand

over and over and over again.

 

 

We had Lolo, Lola and NeNe over that evening.  Bill used my uncle's marinade for our steaks (SO good).  Espy helped me shuck our corn.  We usually shuck, foil-wrap, and throw them on the grill - one of our summer favorites.  We had a simple salad, and Mom and Dad brought the rolls.  Everything was amazing.

Then, the girls had a fashion show.  Of course.  Don't you have fashion shows after cooking out?

(Fashion Show!  Fashion Show!  Fashion Show at Lunch! 

What show is that from?  Bill and I love it!)

The day before, NeNe took Espy and Gianna shopping.  Not only did she get them a ton of outfits, but she had lots of stuff for the littles, too (Thank you, NeNe!).  They tried to convince Evangeline to participate with them, but she wasn't enthused.  It was imperative to try every single outfit on for all to see.  These are only a fraction of the pictures that were taken.  Please notice and enjoy the deterioration of our hopscotch runway.

The next day we had Daniel, Lindsey, and sweet Miss Abigail over after church.  Enjoying getting to know this family!  We missed having Nathan, Christen and their girls - but we understand not wanting to share germs (thank you!).

On Monday, we headed to our friends' going-away party at one of the local parks.  It's amazing to see how one family can touch so many different lives.  That's all I'll say about that since they haven't moved - yet.

It was a great weekend, and a sweet introduction to this time of year.  The girls and I are excited about filling our memory-makers with some fun summertime adventures.

If You Ever Wonder

Girls,

Just in case you ever wonder how much your daddy loves you,

please listen to this (click on April 22, 2012).

Love you forever,

Mom

Sunday Funday

I had a great time with these cuties the other day.

It's been so beautiful - I'm thinking spring might be here to stay?  We're hoping so!

After church, I tried out a new recipe - SO good!

As Espy was eating,

Surgery Highly Doubtful...

...my favorite words of the day!

I'm so excited that this girl

 had a fantastic eye doctor's appointment this morning.  Thanks to those of you who were praying for us.  Her chances of having the same surgery that Espy had when she was five years old are getting

Thankful (9)

Thankful for the eight o'clock hour -

Photo Source

especially tonight!

My Name Doesn't Fit Me, and That's OK

via Pinterest

Lots of sassy going on around here lately.
So much so that my throat hurts.
Also enough that my husband jumped out of bed the other day because

1.) he didn't want me to throw the fury at him, and

The First Day

Dear Espy,

You started second grade today!  You're blowing my mind with how fast you're growing up.  Don't get me wrong - we butt heads often and that's probably because we're a lot alike, but I'm still proud of the person you're becoming.  Thanks for taking care of Gianna today - you're a fantastic big sister!

 

Dear Gianna,

Little Talk

my parents and our girls

I almost forgot about some of these!

ESPY
Last Wednesday, I was nervous so I told God about it.

I felt better.
  

ESPY

Daddy Daughter Days

Living lntentionally: The Babies

Christmas 2010

Bill and I have four girls.

Four.

Girls.

That means much of our lives is a dance between

breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.

Anataomy of a Photo

We Heart Summer

Summertime is here - yay!

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I saw this a few weeks ago (Awesome blog - lots of great ideas!).
I L-O-V-E lists, but it made me tired thinking about cutting all those strips of paper.

Alternative Consequences

So when our girls need some good discipline, besides
(or in addition to!) giving them a good ol' spanking - we like to use consequences. Using consequences is especially entertaining because the little ones don't quite know how to pronounce the word so that adds to our "meanest parents in the world" fun.

Let's say that after dinner, you're going to have a
fun-filled game night with your girls.
Let's say your two oldest decide they want to play
Cat in the Hat (great game by the way!)
with their daddy.
Cool!
We'll spend an awesome hour together full of good times
and make great memories.
Let's say your oldest decides she doesn't want to play Cat in the Hat anymore. She'd rather play

White Out

Text I received from The Husband last night while I was out:

Your daughter got into the white out.

Awesome.

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Conversationalist

Gianna loves to talk
and ask questions -
lots of them.

I got this all in the span of a few minutes:
how do you spell cinderella
how do you spell cindy
how do you spell regan
what's regan's middle name
how do you spell cody
how do you spell daddy
no, daddy's name
how do you spell mommy
what's regan's last name
that's a funny name
can i call her that
what's cody's last name
what's cody's middle name
what's their dog's name
what's his middle name
what's his last name
do they have a girl with glasses in their family
what's her name
what's her middle name
that's a funny name
what's cody's middle name
that's a funny name
where's Lola
i want to talk to Lola
are you done yet
can you draw me a heart
do you want to play this with me
why do you have to fold laundry
where's isabella
what's another word for fall
(whistling)
what's another word for monkey
what's another word for gorilla
do you want to color with me
(singing):
here comes the bride crayon here comes the bride crayon

Photo by:D Sharon Pruitt

Caught in the Act

Gianna just caught her mom and dad kissing.
She giggled and ran away.
I saw you!!!!
Hopefully she thought it was funny,
and it didn't traumatize her for life.

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Boys Versus Girls

And so it begins...

I found a sign reading:

BOYS KEEP OUT
hanging on the girls' bunk beds the other day.
I've also heard them chanting:
Girls rule, and boys don't!
Gianna even came up with this winner:
Girls pee in the toilet, and boys poop their pants.

Nice.


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Bike Rider

Espy learned how to ride her bike the other day.
I told The Husband to just let her go.
He was hesitant.
The oldest is a sensitive soul -
I could understand his being cautious.
She got it - first try. It was so amazing and exhilarating watching her.
Who knew how proud a mom could get over
her daughter riding a bike?
Cheesy, I know.
I think I might have been more excited than she was.
I love my girls!

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