And another thing (or two)

When I posted the last blog entry I mentally went through the list of things we had done since the one before it. I couldn't for the life of me think of what we were doing two Sundays ago, so I chalked it up to it being a boring day, unworthy of photography or comments of any kind. Or it could just be that I didn't put the photos in a place where I could find them to post. It might be that we left after church, traveled nearly two hours to my aunt's house in McDonough, spent all afternoon, and then traveled nearly two hours home. Clearly it would be easy to forget doing that, since packing up four kids for an afternoon away from home (that involves extra clothes, swimming, and a Pack-N-Play for Elizabeth's nap)is so simple and routine.

Anyway, I did take pictures and since this blog is for me and my memory of how our life went down, here they are. My cousin Adam (who was married the weekend before)was to leave the next Wednesday to begin his Air Force assignment in England, and my Aunt Angela and Uncle John had a going away party for him.

Since I didn't bother taking my camera to the wedding, I figured I could get at least one of Adam and Jessica.

My cousin Brooke and her husband Ben, who are expecting their first child in February.

A couple of gossips.

I mean a couple of lovely ladies, who just happen to be my mom and Aunt Polly.

Pa Pa and Uncle Clarence, brother to Pa Pa and husband to Aunt Polly.

Yes! Another picture of one of the kids in a pool!

My brother Jonathan and niece Jordan.

Cousins (and sisters)on a tube, Gracyn, Bailey, Cody, and Abi.

Amelia and Uncle Jon.


Jonathan had to be sore the next day after tossing kids for half an hour.



Okay, I've yet to figure out how Jordan was able to make the water levitate in a straight line from the cup to her swimmy suit. Jonathan and Lisa, watch her closely....

She dumped water on head for at least 15 minutes straight. I love two year olds!

Boing


Here's my cousin Ashley's husband Michael with their sweet baby Caroline.

Here she is!

Lisa and another sweet baby, my niece Reagan.



Safety goggles are important when sitting outside by the pool. There are all kinds of potential optical hazards, such as water droplets from cannonballs, or flying air molecules.

My cousin Gary.

Aunt Angela

Peek a boo! This week Elizabeth is saying boo, but it comes out "bo." Very cute.

And now for the pictures we've all been waiting for....Elizabeth learns to walk! She's not proficient yet, but is starting to take steps. Last Saturday she stood up by herself for the first time, and will now take 2-5 steps between us or to an object. She's good at standing up from a squatting position, then stands with her arms out like she's surfing. I got her all dressed up for the photo shoot. I took these last night right before bedtime.



I'm doing it!

Yep, dressed in her finest attire, complete with a cute hair bow. Some imagination required.





She gets very excited about walking and laughs all the way from point A to B.



I wanted to get more pictures of her actually walking, but she kept throwing herself at me at me and I couldn't sufficiently catch her and hold the camera at the same time.







While Elizabeth practiced walking the rest of the crew had a jam session. Avery was a little dissapointed that he had to play the "stupid guitar" instead of the drums. He likes the word stupid. He mostly gets that objects can be stupid, people cannot. We try to limit the word altogether...even though hearing him say it makes me laugh. Around the corner, back turned, of course.

This face of his makes me laugh too.

I guess getting laughed at by your audience is too much for a rock star to handle.

And now for one more picture, which effectively sums up why I don't let the kids run around outside and in the woods without adult supervision. I took this yesterday afternoon, while Amelia and I were doing school and the others were napping.

I saw him (her?) wandering around just off the porch, looking a bit like he was thinking about giving the golf cart a spin. Or a taste. He ran into the woods when I opened the front door, then stopped about 100 feet from the porch, turned, and stared at me for several seconds. I hissed and made a shooing gesture and he ran off, but circled back around near the house, then went away, most likely to the visit the dumpster behind the Dining Hall. (You gotta hiss, you can't yell when it's naptime.)

James informs me that archery season for bears opens in 11 days. Look out, Gentle Ben, your days may be numbered! James has threatened to have one taxidermied and positioned standing on its hind legs to put just inside the front door of the house. I say we place a menu board between it's front paws and stand it by the Dining Hall entrance. Or better yet, stand it somewhere near the house as a warning to the live bears that may want to visit our porch. Then the kids could play outside without worries.