A Zoo Day and New Friends

Last Friday, Mandy and I made good on our long-standing intentions to meet in person.  Nashville is fairly close to halfway between us, so we decided to meet up there for a fun day out with our kiddos.  Jeremy was able to come with me, but unfortunately it was him and all the ladies, since Mandy's husband had to work.  (I don't think Jeremy minded at all!)

Mandy already recapped the day, so I'll just share a few of my favorite pictures from our adventures.

Four little monkeys all in a row...

 

Love, love this picture of B!

Addison practiced silly faces for me while we waited outside the reptile house

I love that all the kids are looking back in this picture.  Mandy looks a bit like the Pied Piper, don't you think?

Our one quick attempt at a group shot...thanks, Jeremy!

It really was a fun day.  Mandy and her girls are every bit as sweet as they seem.  Addison & Mackenzie have talked about A & B all week, and I loved Mandy's report that her girls are repeating the "Bye, y'all!" that I taught them at lunch.  : )

It's such a surreal feeling, meeting a blog friend for the first time.  Their faces are so familiar (as were ours, I'm sure) and we know so many of one another's stories already.  All that makes it easy to skip over the initial getting-to-know-yous and just dive right in.  I can't wait to do it again!

State of Affairs, December Edition

Outings
There were lots and lots of Christmas-related events this month, of course.  We began with our now-annual trip to the local John Deere store to visit Santa and take a sleigh ride.  The girls were still a little apprehensive this year, but ended up having a precious little visit with Santa.  

Other holiday outings included the Christmas parade, the MDO Christmas program, the church Christmas program (both of which the girls participated in), Jeremy's work dinner (complete with Santa, again), a shopping and family evening out at Bridge Street, and various family gatherings.

Aside from all those things, Jeremy and I:  had our annual shopping date, attended my work Christmas party, attended a surprise birthday dinner for a friend (Happy 30th, Mandy!), hosted a Progressive dinner for the youth from church, saw a movie on Christmas night, and made all manner of small shopping trips throughout the month.

It was quite the whirlwind month, but somehow, I felt much less pressure this year.  I don't feel like we overdid it leading up to Christmas, and there weren't too many obligations keeping us busy.  I officially declare December a success!

Books read: 3
The List--Siobhan Vivian is one of the hot YA authors right now, at least from my observances.  This was my first book of hers, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  I am reminded for the ten millionth time how thankful I am that I will never have to go to high school again (and how I dread those years for my children...even if they are good years, they are just SO dramatic.)

Alabama Moon--I saw this book in a local bookstore while we were in Mobile in October.  I didn't have any money with me at the time, so I waited and found it at the college library.  Written by an Alabama native, it's the story of a boy raised in the woods, completely removed from civilization (think Doomsday Preppers to the extreme)...which is all fine and good until his father dies, leaving him all alone.  Alabama Moon is a unique adventure story that is great for just about anyone (young teenagers and up).

Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover--Technically, I've been reading on this one awhile and I expect to return to it many times in the future.  Nearly everyone has heard of Dave Ramsey, and with good reason.  I am looking forward to getting started with some of these principles in the new year!

Movies watched: 3
Pitch Perfect--(This is available on DVD now, but it's still relatively new, so I'm including it on my list.)  My sister and I watched this on Christmas Eve, while I buzzed around preparing gifts for the next morning.  It is such a fun movie!  If you like music, Glee, or anything along those lines, definitely see this one.

This is 40--Jeremy, Laura, and I saw this in the theater on Christmas night.  It's a Judd Apatow movie, so true to his style, there is quite a bit of language.  We laughed a lot though.  I enjoy Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd in pretty much anything.

Parental Guidance--Jeremy and I saw this on Saturday night when we got the chance to go on an all-too-rare date.  We both liked this movie very much, and Bette Midler was fantastic.  It's a great movie to watch with family.

Crafts/Projects
I think part of the reason I didn't feel so overwhelmed with Christmas this year is that I laid off a lot of the craft projects I usually spend so much time on.  There were several things I meant to do--tote bags, bookmarks, photo books--but it just didn't happen, and it was totally fine.  I got Christmas cards sent, so I call it a win.

Also, Mama got a new camera for Christmas (well, technically, I got it the day after Christmas), so look out for the onslaught of pictures to come!  I am totally using full AUTO right now, and I haven't even had a chance to play around in the outside light, but I already love it.

Here are a couple of pictures from Jeremy's grandparents this weekend:

And with that, I complete the entire year of these state of affairs posts.  Can you believe it?  I don't know for sure that I will continue to do it next year, but I think I might.  I like having the chance to look back on the month, to find a few things to remember.

2012 was good to us; I look forward to seeing what 2013 holds.  Happy New Year!

Gratuitous Kid Pictures {Fancy Dress Style!}

Last weekend, Addison & Mackenzie attended their first wedding AND got to be flower girls!  I was a little nervous, mainly because the wedding was in South Alabama, which meant a weekend of pretty substantial travel for us.  I was afraid the girls might be so tired from the long trip that they might not be on their best behavior.  Plus, this would be only their second time to stay in  hotel, which could mean less sleep than usual.

Love, love, LOVED our historic hotel!

To my surprise, the entire weekend was better than I dared to imagine.  We packed in the car early Friday morning and had a very uneventful trip down to Mobile.  It was about six hours and we only stopped for breakfast and gas, and Addison & Mackenzie even took a pretty good nap.  A success!

After a quick rest, sandwich, and change of clothes, we turned around and headed thirty minutes north to the rehearsal.  A & M complied well, but quickly grew tired of all the standing around and waiting the rehearsal itself involved.  I assured them that the next day would be better--they would only have to run through the process once and it would be finished!  At some point, the girls started holding hands as they walked down the aisle, which of course, was completely adorable.  I asked if someone told them to do that or they did it on their own and they told me they just wanted to hold hands.  Melt my heart!

With the groom on the morning of his wedding

We were able to spend some time exploring downtown Mobile on Saturday morning, along with Auntie LJ, who came over from Baton Rouge for the wedding.  (We crammed six of us in one hotel room--me, Jeremy, Addison, Mackenzie, Laura Jo, and my mom--and it worked beautifully.  It was actually pretty fun!)

Addison was terrified to stand on the wall

They seriously spent nearly an hour in the hotel lobby, watching Mickey Mouse on an iPhone.  Ha!

I'll just let the pictures speak for the rest of the day.  I pretty much put my camera up once the wedding started and didn't even take a single picture at the reception, but everything was absolutely beautiful and we all had a blast.

Hands on the hips!

 

A little blurry, but I still love it.

After a delicious brunch with the bride, groom, and some other North AL friends on Sunday morning, we took a few last pictures with Auntie LJ and started the trip home.

I love this moment!

Again, the trip was fantastic, with only one stop this time and some pretty great naps for the girls.  Jeremy drove the entire way (thanks again, honey!!) and I was able to get cozy in the small third row and read most of Looking for Alaska. It was probably our smoothest car trip yet.  Wedding weekend success!

Saturday Snapshot: {Team} Colors

Here in the South, we have been waiting for this day for approximately eight months.  The trash talk is flying and all across the region, team colors are making their fall debut.  It's college football time, friends!

Jeremy and I are traveling to Atlanta to watch his team today, and though I can't bring myself to cheer very loudly in support of the enemy, it's impossible not to relish the excitement in the air.  And yes, this does make the second game I have attended with him in 2012 (we went to the Chick-Fil-A bowl in January)...meaning it is most definitely my turn next!

Just this morning, I finished the skirt part of the girls' football outfits for this year.  I still have to do the shirts to match, but I can't wait to see my little fans in their team colors.

And because it's not ALL about football, I've been working on another project for our favorite little man.  It was my first attempt at doing small letters to fit a whole name on a shirt, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  I love the way the stripes stand out against the blue shirt:

I'm linking up with Marcia and Mandy for Saturday Snapshots today.  Be sure to check out the other posts and watch for more themes on Saturdays during the month of September!

March Photo a Day: Week 2

Day 8:  Window

Day 9:  Red

Day 10:  Loud  (That's my BFF's husband and children...part of our big, loud Sunday dinners!)

Day 11:  Someone I talked to  (My youth at church...  I talk; they may or may not listen.)

Day 12:  Fork  (with which I ate my first piece of the first bread I ever made from scratch.  More on this later, because hello, I MADE BREAD.  What is the world coming to?!)

Day 13:  A Sign

Day 14:  Clouds  (Not too many out that day, but I love this picture.)