Time with Friends

This past weekend I was super excited to have Mandy come visit us for the day while she was "in town" (Atlanta) for work!  The day consisted of doing things that the boys that I live with don't like to do!  There was a lot of Pinterest/crafting talk...some actual crafting, a trip to Teejsters...aka TJ Maxx...and then dinner!  I told her it felt so weird to have someone from Va Beach here in Georgia at our new house...like I kept wondering where I was...or why she was in GA!  (I'm a little cuckoo!)

This afternoon, we had MK over to play and do a little fall craft with us...

And then, since Thomas was sleeping during the last pictures, I took a few pictures of him once he woke up:

(Yes, he's seriously this cute!)

Milestones

So, Thomas has some big news!  About a month ago he started using his walker around the house, and then about a week ago he started being able to really steer it, as seen here:

Well, at the same time, he has taken a few steps here and there...I think he first started taking a single step right at 9 months old...but then last week, he took 6 steps all at once!  He's on the move...we managed to capture a teeny bit of walking on a video a couple days ago:  

So...yea...he's getting into the whole walking thing pretty early!  He is really living up to all the hype about him being "active in the womb"...it's translating to daily life for sure!  

Big news for big brother Jacob is that he is already reading!  He of course can't read everything, but he read two stories this week in little learning to read type books!  He also wrote me a letter this week when he was playing "work".  He told me that he wasn't going to be home at 3:45 today and asked how Thomas was doing....and he spelled "going" wrong...other than that, he spelled that whole note right!  Our little sponge is certainly soaking up all that we've been doing over these past 2 months! 

Richmond Trip

It seems that, as seems to be our trend, my posts are getting further and further spaced out...but it's not for lack of things to post about, it's really AGAIN, a lack of pictures to make it interesting!!

Last week we went up to Richmond for a few days to take care of a little more stuff of my Dad's.  We ended up having a great trip, I really think we got a lot accomplished and maybe have a bit more of a gameplan for what lies ahead, and ABOVE ALL, God was SOOO gracious in allowing us to have a happy time with the family that He has given us, and reminders of His concern and care for me and where I am right now were everywhere.  I can not stop praising Him for what He has done and is continuing to do...particularly in this last trip to Va!

Jeff and Mom went and picked out, test drove, and then BOUGHT a new car over our stay, so that was pretty exciting for Mom (and Jeff, since he loves a good car!)!  Friday was spent cleaning out Dad's storage unit where we had put everything from his apartment...there were some good finds in there!  He was a man of few stores; he made ALL purchases at Sam's or Cosco, meaning 1.)  he had a bunch of really nice stuff and 2.) he had at least 2 of everything! HA!!  I have always thought it was funny that Dad gave us an extra big Hunter air purifier when Jacob was little because, "it was a 2 pack".  I mean, really?  A 2 pack air purifier? I guess Sam's sells it.  One of those really good finds, but shockingly, not a Sam's purchase, was this turtle flower pot:

Caitlin and Dad used to enjoy making the turtle face (which I managed to capture in this picture)...based on this exact flower pot!  What an inspirational piece!

On Saturday we decided to do something purely fun and went to Maymont (park in Richmond) to wander and check out the flora and fauna!  Highlights folllow:

So there you go!  A few updated pictures of the small folks (and the bigger ones too).  We did stop in and stay with Lisa and Lyn on Wednesday night on our way up, and I think that someone took pictures of the three kiddies, but I could be making that up.  If that really did happen, then I will probably have some pictures of that sometime!

Vineyard Mountain Hike

We set out this morning to do a different trail in town, but after beginning it and "running" into (it's a PUN people!!) a line of trail runners partaking in a morning race, we u-turned it and headed back to the car to try a different trail!  We ended up hiking a trail that put us on the opposite side of the dam from the Cooper's Furnace trail we had hiked before.  Here are some shots:

 View of Allatoona Dam from the opposite side

 Backpack man! and sleepy Thomas

 What a poor sweet baby!

 Can you spot the whitetail baby deer?  Probably not (although he is in there!), because God created them to blend in with their surroundings!!

 View across the Etowah River, featuring Senor Blue Heron

 Close up of the amazing laughing Heron!

 Pretty picture by Jeff

 Did you even know that there was such a thing as an albino bee??  Well, they exist in Cartersville!

 Baby Tom enjoys gnawing on his baby carrot

 Boys out by the river

 By the river

 Jacob being silly and little Tippy trying to stand up and walk around

 Hunting for rocks, mud and bugs to eat, all of which he tried.

 I probably don't even need to caption this because obviously, this is PURE SWEETNESS!!

 Cute little goober bear...probably planning his next hop to a mud puddle!

 Thomas tries to play with Jacob's fuzzy head

 Romping all over the place!

 Checking out what the big brother's doing...with the help of Old Hunchback (me)

Week in Review

This past week has been a good/busy one!  We played with friends, had dinner with friends, had dinner just me and Jeff (where we got to be on PBS!  WHOOP WHOOP!), went to Bible study,  doctor's appointments, runs/bike rides at the park, Atlanta, and today we finished off the week with a picnic lunch by the river!  On tomorrow's agenda:  hike Pine Mountain!

Jacob started off the past week with a true play date (there was a handwritten invitation from MK).  It was a dress up type morning...here are Wordgirl and Buzz Lightyear enjoying their "tea party", aka Krispy Kremes and fruit punch!

Oh yes, we also had a little school here and there!  Here is a picture of our little activity this morning.  I actually came up with this idea on my own!  Jacob and I figured out all the things in his playroom, figured out their shapes from a bird's eye view (it was entertaining to carry Jacob around to be a "bird" and check out his toys!), cut them out, and then arrange them on a "map" of his room.

And then the only other event I have pictures of is our picnic this afternoon out by the river.

Hopefully we'll have more pictures tomorrow after our hike!