Cuteness

Overheard today:

L:  (looking at a quarter)  I love bald eagles.  Ellenie, I have something important to tell you.  This is a bald eagle.  Bald eagles are the birds of the country.  They are special and they are United States birds.

E:  I am allergic to Bald Eagles.

Cute picture of the day:

New Home Tour

Welcome to our new home!

Come on in!
 We'll be right with you...

We're still getting spiffy for our company...

Here is the front porch...

Isn't the view gorgeous?

Here is the bathroom ...

and family portrait.

Well, that's it.  Front porch and bathroom.  That's all you need right?

Thanks for visiting!  Come back soon!

Precious newness

So when the day came to move,

we were sent off in style...

I wish it had been that easy, fast, and fun...but it wasn't too bad either.

We are mostly out of boxes now and starting to make precious, new memories in our new home.

Several years ago before a move, someone told me that "moving makes a family grow closer together."

At the time, I was barely hopeful.

Now, I am a full believer.

During these first few months, when we don't know anyone but our realtor,

we have to depend on eachother for everything...laughter, listening, love, and lots more.

Of course, we still feel lonely and feel sad when we think of the people and places we miss.

But it really, really helps to have eachother.

 

And these two, well, these two have gotten super close through this move.

Two peas in a pod.

Thick as thieves.



They shared a room at the apartment and now can hardly nap apart.

They share a room at our house and LOVE it.

Each night, each and EVERY night, Ellenie asks, "May we talk?"

"Yes, you may talk but only for a few minutes"  we answer.

Then Lillianna says, "Ok, but then you have to come tell us when we have to be quiet."

Then we come in somewhere between 3 and 7 times before they finally get quiet and fall asleep.

 

Precious new memories I tell you.  Just precious.

Season of Change

So as I make my way through boxes and boxes, I am also trying to make my way through pictures...

 These are some from one of last days at the apartment before the big move.

They are also from one of the last true summer days...

 those days in September when the colors of fall begin to show up but the cool wind hasn't.

 When you can still run around with bare feet but

can begin to smell Fall in the air.

When you can look all around and see change happening.

Change can be wonderful and beautiful.

Change can also be hard.

It can happens so fast you don't even realize it...

or so slow it feels painful.

We've had a lot of changes in our life recently.

Some really good, some really hard.

I'm trying to embrace this change like I would embrace a new season...

a new season of life.

Princess gowns, fancy dolls, and grasshoppers = 1.5 hours of fun

Blondes do have more fun

Exhibit A:

One eats her cheese toast (made with real cheese, not the shiny plastic kind requested on left) and strawberries first and debates on whether she even wants the doughnut...

and the Other eats her creme filled doughnut first and has to be bribed, bargained, and begged with to eat anything else.

That pretty much sums up the eating habits of these two.

Guess who is who?

Not surprised?  Me neither.

Jump back in time

I bet if you counted up all the hours I spent on this trampoline growing up,

I spent atleast a year and a half of my life on here.

It was our neighbors but since their children were grown, they kept the trampoline for me and my sisters.

Oh the hours of jumping, running, flipping, talking, laughing on that thing.

Oh the injuries too.  On my first attempt of a back tuck back around the age of 12, I sank my front teeth right into my knee.  That hurt so bad.

Our friends loved this trampoline too.  It was always the first thing they wanted to do at our house.

The best part about this trampoline was it was ground level.  It wasn't raised at all...you could run right over the top.  It had a great big pit dug underneath it and it always seemed bouncier than other trampolines.

My Mom suggested that we take the girls over there to jump...

I had forgotten all about it and really couldn't believe it was still there.

I really can't believe they got to jump on it.

It's just so crazy to be re-living pieces of my childhood through them.

Thanks to our recent close quarters...

these two are thick as thieves.

End of summer

L:  I thought the apartment complex pool might be a little bigger.

E:  Me too.  The fountain is a nice touch though.

Moving and Missing

We're almost there!  We've almost made it!

We have been living in temporary housing for the last 6 weeks which has been cozy and fun.

We have not had internet access but I've managed to sneek out to a Wi-Fi spot

 about once a week to keep my sanity.

We are headed back to Mississippi this weekend to begin the move that will last all next week.

The girls don't really understand the whole plan yet but finally feeling settled is on the horizon for us.

This weekend, we are hoping to hug necks and enjoy some of our favorite places

 in Columbus one more time.

These pictures were taken at our last visit to our favorite restaurant, Proffit's Porch.

I love the dipping sauce, Brad loves the turkey sandwich, the girls love to play in the sand, and we all love to watch the hummingbirds that love to come there too.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder for sure.

I already miss many things about Columbus and I'm still missing many things about Decatur.

My heart is full of cherished memories and friendships though and I am thankful for that.

Fantastic Fair

First week in our new town, Union City, we were welcomed with these..

and this...

and even all these...

oh, and these too...

All for us?!

No way Jose!

All for the County Fair of course!  Which just happened to be the first week we were here.

Which just happened to make the girls like this place a little more.

All (blue) smiles here!

One night at the county fair was just what we needed as a welcoming party.