Jumping In

We're jumping in with both feet here in North Alabama: family time, church visiting, meeting new friends and old friends, and lake time. Oh, and R is going to work too.

I wish I knew what Auntie H was saying.

We have been to two Decorations; celebrated the Squirm's third Adoption Day; and celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. 

Sweet cousins.

We went to a bakery with okay cupcakes - they made Squirms pretty happy but were classified as too sweet for all the adults. Squirms chose trains over dolls for her Adoption Day gift so she and the Great have been busy playing trains, or "choo-choos" for the past week. I confess that I spent several minutes on the doll aisle after Squirms had already gone back to the train aisle. 

The kids went exploring.

There was lots of swimming at the lake last Sunday afternoon. The water wasn't exactly warm, but the kids still loved it.

This week we marked nine years of marriage. R took me to a lovely restaurant downtown which served fried green tomatoes, and the best salmon I think I've ever had. He also got me a month of classes that I've been wanting - at a place called Pure Barre. My first class was today (thanks to Grandpa and Auntie L watching the angels) and I'm also now wondering if he took out a new life insurance policy on me. Just kidding. It was tough. But I'm going to try and go again tomorrow. If I am able to walk....or sit up, let's focus on being able to sit up first.

I also went to a mom's Bible Study this week, invited by my dear friend from college. It was nice to go to a group study, and even better to see ABP! We are looking forward to hanging out with her family often.

This girl.

What is a tomatillo?

The kids and I explored a new grocery store last week, Sprouts. It was bright, clean, and Squirms had fun picking out what fruit we bought. I was also impressed with their meat prices, and that a bakery worker came to find us in the meat section to see if the adorable kids wanted a cookie (she kindly spelled the word when asking me). I'm looking forward to returning soon with a little bit larger list, and perhaps after bedtime so I can focus a bit easier. The drawback was buggy size, Squirms had to walk because there was only room for one child to ride and things got a little crazy when both kids began pulling nectarines off the stand.

We tried this recipe from their website.

Sprouts: slow-cooker-tomatillo-lime-chicken

I used tomatillo salsa instead of actual tomatillos....because I discovered that I don't actually know what those are or what they look like. Thankfully, we ran across the tomatillo salsa while looking for something else on our list. I have since googled "tomatillo" and now think I could at least recognize them. Just please don't ask me to pronounce this word yet - at least until I ask R.

We had this dish with rice the first night, and then several nights later made tacos with our leftovers. Two different meals from one recipe (and preparation effort) made me feel like a wife rock star.

This boy makes his Mama laugh. And attracts ladies wanting to feed him cookies.

Two Days in a Row!

Our last two weeks in Central Florida were a whirlwind. We didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to before we moved; but we were blessed by quite a few visitors, including the family that first welcomed us - as Auburn grads and Christians - almost nine years ago. Almost nine years. Yes, I suppose it would have been difficult to fit reminiscing and packing into just two weeks. I mainly chose packing, because I don't really like goodbyes. Or tears. Or saying nice things to people in person.

The Squirms and "Her Boys".

Watching Frozen (at the request of the boys).

Now. I did cry, openly, on Squirm's last day at her preschool. Her school, director, teacher, and other staff are what I miss most about Central Florida. They loved our children as their own.

Last Day of Preschool for Squirms.

Best teacher ever. Ever.

We took several family photos before driving to Alabama. We've had loyal Tanner (who thinks he is human) since we moved into our house. For some reason, Shelby Ann didn't seem to want to be in the family photo.

The best one?

So many of our friends came to help load the container! And our parents and C&RPIII came to help paint, finish packing, load, and clean! I discovered my dad could be a professional painter; and my mother-in-law had our house cleaner than when we moved in (and definitely cleaner than when we lived there!).

First house together. Where we brought our sweet babies home.

Easter Pictures

hot pink nail polish AND throw up.

Two unrelated events that caused me to Give Up on today. My morning goal became: just download pictures from the past month. I realized I'm quite behind on posting adorable pictures of our beautiful children, so here are a couple from Easter.

Our first time dying eggs as a Family. 

This is our best photo of the two of them together. Matching smocked Sailboat outfits courtesy of Mamé.

So Tall! Or, as she likes to say "growing big and strong".

The Great had a fun time throwing the egg around the yard, without discovering that it was filled with candy.

Corner of Central Florida in North Alabama

Several months ago, last Fall actually, at bi-monthly ME Time (mom Bible study group) meeting, our wise study leader said (and I'm paraphrasing here) God may not be answering a prayer request, but each moment spent praying is time spent with God. And, God wants us to spend time with Him. So. Keep praying, even if it feels in vain. A struggle in prayer is quality time with your Lord. And time with your Lord is better than any answer to a request you may bring Him.

And wow, was she right. I had given up on a specific prayer request, not certain that I should even be asking for it to be granted. But last Fall I began asking again, and trying to spend longer time quiet and still.

And I fell in love with Squirm's preschool. And I so enjoyed talking to my violin teacher after class. And I reminded myself of how lovely the sea breeze felt. And I had a long coffee date with a dear friend I don't get to spend much time with. And R and I talked about how large lots can be just south of where we lived, and that the kids would have so much more room to run outside there. I was given a contentedness that I had not known in the 8 1/2 years we had lived in central Florida. And I know the Source, the Reason, was not that my circumstances had changed.

So in April when R was offered a job in northern Alabama, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Oh, okay, we're going to move. God did give us an answer, He has allowed us to be closer to family and provided what so far seems like a great career opportunity for R. But He also showed me the answer wasn't important compared to time with Him.




We've been in our new city less than a week but I'm happy to report that I love it. We've been brought pound cake by two different people; on our first walk in the neighborhood Monday morning a person in a car waved at me first; R has an office with a window with a nice view; and we've been visited so far by both sets of our parents, 1 first cousin, 2 second cousins, 1 friend from R's childhood, 1 college roommate, 1 sister, and 1 grandparent. Also Squirms keeps telling me how tall the trees are here.

I have no idea where our camera is, so I have no pictures to share.
Excuse me while I go eat another slice of pound cake.