September Family Update!

You know I have a lot going on when I don't post much on this blog!  I LOVE blogging about our family life and especially love sharing it with friends and family.  So many family members do not live close enough to us so this is our primary way of sharing our life with them.  The first few weeks of this month about did me in!!  I began a new job at a new school and while it has been great, it was a lot to take in the first few weeks.  Lots of training planning, and organizing took place but now that it has passed, I feel confident about the rest of the school year...and I'm only part-time, geez!  I'm extra thankful to be at my new school because it's where I'll do my internship for graduate school in the Spring.  It will be SO helpful to get to know all the lovely staff I'll be working with throughout the 16 week internship. 

Okay, family update NOW:

Two silly siblings :) CAUTION: things are not always as they appear on camera.  These two like to fight, wrestle, argue, and scream at one another.  It's just more fun to watch THIS video over and over.

Grace and Jimmy are the best of golfing buddies now.  Jimmy knows he can get away with golfing more now that he takes a little human with him.  Very sneaky babe, very sneaky.

PLEASE ignore my annoying/loud cheering and laughing.  That's my baby girl saving a goal!!

Fun and Friends

Fun play date at a playground the first week of school...we were celebrating Wade and his great first week of kindergarten!

Playing in the Cloer's backyard with some grown up little girls!

Grace and Blake..two peas in a pod with their cookies :)  Kaitlyn (Blake's mom) and I have become good friends recently.  Kaitlyn is married to one of Jimmy's classmates, Sean, and they will be here for a fellowship next year.  Here's to hoping for even longer after that!

Violet James came to visit...Grace wants to know when we will have another baby...haha.

Wesley was enthralled with this little lady, "I hold, I hold!!" was all he kept saying.

Henry, Grace, and Wesley

Henry and Wesley are about a month or so a part.  Can't believe they are toddlers!!  

These two <3 br="" nbsp="">

 Jimmy's (early) 30th Surprise Party

I (with the help of many!) was able to pull off a surprise party for Jimmy's 30th birthday!  More pictures to come in a week or so.

NC Zoo

Grace, Wesley, and Blake are ready for the zoo!

They had a blast together!

Grace's First Soccer Team

Red team!

First soccer practice game...tutus and goalies, yes!

Maddie and Grace are a month apart...short genes and tall genes...this picture cracks me up!

2015 Apple Festival

This is our fourth year going to the Bethabera Apple Festival!  SO much fun!

Lindsay had a bridal shower and photo shoots to go to so Timmy spent the day with us.

2015 Winston-Salem Air Show

Wesley climbed up into this Navy pilot's lap and completely took the guy off guard...it was adorable!

Grace had lots of questions for this Navy lady and then asked if she could have a picture with her.  Precious!

Wesley

This little boy will be 2 in a month!

This is what little brothers do at soccer practice for their older sister...right, Jordan??

I've been super slack going through the Little Learners curriculum with Wesley.  He forgives me, though :)  We did the alphabet pages for J, K, and L.  He was most excited about "J" is for juice.  Juice is a treasure in our house because I don't let them have it much.  Happy boy!

NCSA Conference/Weekend Getaway at the Grove Park Inn

Jimmy and I were SO excited about our weekend getaway!!  The North Carolina Society of Anesthesiologists meets every year around this time.  I had never been to the Grove Park Inn and who can pass up a discounted rate??  While it was still hard for this cheap-wad to fathom spending a certain amount of money on a room, I was thankful to get away with Jimmy and some friends.  We had a complete and utter BLAST!!  Thank you to my mom for coming up and watching the kiddos for the weekend.  

The view was amazing...just beautiful.

Myself, Sarah (Jimmy's co-chief and my good girlfriend), and Kaitlyn (also good girlfriend!)

While the boys (below-including Wes who is not pictured) played in a golf tournament, the ladies went out on the town.  We shopped, ate A LOT, and shopped some more.  

The boys!

I found this place, Well Bred Bakery, on trip advisor as the #1 bakery in Asheville.  Anytime I visit a town I like to find a yummy bakery...this place was amazing!

Look at these treats people...I may or may not have spent twice my lunch price on desserts.

It's so refreshing to get away with your husband...I highly encourage it!!

We had to make a pitt stop by Tupelo Honey Cafe on the way out of town...8 of us piled into the restaurant and literally have NEVER had better breakfast in my life.  I don't even like grits but I ordered the shrimp and grits because the grits were made with goat cheese...I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was.

It's Fall, Y'all!!

My girlfriend, Adrienne, stores all of her holiday decorations together including thematic books and toys.  Each holiday, she takes everything out and puts it on display for her kids to see in the morning.  It's like the Fall Fairy came...Grace and Wesley woke up and thought they had a bunch of new things!  Genius, Adrienne.

Edible Pumpkin play-doh: Don't be too impressed.  While I did make it, I left it in a bag on the counter and forgot to pull it out only to find it had grown mold.  YUCK.  The directions did say it would only last a few days.  The consistency was pretty sticky and I kept having to add flour after already adding a small box of corn starch.  Will find a different recipe next time!

Moon dough: Shout out to my friend, Diana, for this idea.  She had some at her house and graciously sent some home with us (after watching my kids for several hours because of work).  We had to make more and Grace is especially obsessed with it.

Fall sensory bin: Most of these items are left over from last year!   There are so many things you can add to a rice sensory bin.

Grace's letter "A" from pre-school.  So proud of that neat tracing ;)  We have spent lots of time practicing our handwriting.

More crafts from Grace's pre-school class.  This makes me feel better about not doing that many with them, haha.

That was a lot of work up there with all those pictures and typing, so I'm all done!  I will ask you to continue to pray for Jimmy as he gets closer to the end of residency.  It has been a long road, but we are so proud of him and know that he works so hard for our family.  It can be difficult to appreciate how hard he works when he's post-call and I need some HELP with these crazy kids...but we are making it work.  I can't believe my handsome man will be 30 in less than two weeks!