Lunchtime in the Formal Dining Room

Someday we'll actually have furniture, right?!

Kids are registered!

Got the kids all registered for school today! They start Monday, August 5th... so much for summer! It's ok though, they are both really excited about starting a new school and anxious to go.

The school is absolutely beautiful inside. The staff I interacted with were really kind and helpful. The school has great reviews from our real estate agent, families in our ward, and strangers who start up conversations every where we go. We're praying the kids have good teachers and make lots of kind friends.

Now, we play for 3 more weeks... then, it's onto 2nd grade and Kindergarten!

Supervision

Georgie takes her job as supervisor very seriously. Each time John is outside working on the yard she's there wanting to "help". Tonight as John was out there at 9pm mowing & edging the lawn she was appropriately dressed to help... wearing my boots! She is such a silly girl!!

BabyLand General Hospital

I needed an adventure today. I needed to get out of the house and do SOMETHING! The kids have been at each other and I'm getting a little claustrophobic so I called Lisa, asked if her girls wanted to come and if we could swap them for Jacob (he had no interest in going), and we headed out of town!

 

During the drive to Cleveland we were under a "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" which really made me nervous, but it just sprinkled our entire drive (thankfully!)

Once we got there... the girls were in heaven!

BabyLand General Hospital... Birth place of the Cabbage Patch doll. 

As we witnessed the birth of a brand new doll via c-section (cabbage section) I really wished another adult had been there with me to laugh with. The girls thought is was wonderful that a new baby had been born, I was dying laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. 

We had a great day though. Loryn even declared it the best day ever!

On our way home we had to stop for a little treat. Everyone needs a treat, right!?!

The Weather Here

Apparently we're having an unusual summer here in Georgia. It's rained almost every day since we arrived. Today I got this message on my phone.

Not at all what I like to see.

But at least there's no tornado warning, right?! We're all a little anxious for our first one of those.

The Berry Patch

We were invited to go to the Berry Patch this morning and pick blueberries. The kids were excited for something to do outside of the house. They were also excited about picking blueberries since they remember when we went in Santa Barbara and they loved it.

The berries weren't quite ready for us though, too much rain and not enough sunshine has made for a late crop and tart berries. Alice still ate her weight in berries fresh off the bush and we brought home some for fun, but we'll have to go back another day for the motherload.

It was nice to be outside though. It was nice getting to know Heidi and her two kids: Mateo & Tea. Heidi and I are serving together in the nursery at church. Her kids are a little older than ours but they were still great with my littles and they all had a good time together.

Everyday so far...

Everyday since we've been here... it's rained. Sometimes all day, sometimes just quick afternoon storms, but rain every day. It *almost* makes me forget we're clear across the country in Georgia and not at Papa & Grandma's house in Washington.

With the rain comes lots of thunder and lightening. The kids are kinda getting use to it. Sometimes.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151741872230351&l=8213041785343396276

Swimming

Lisa & the kids came over to swim today. While I was getting a good workout in the pool with kids climbing all over me and having handstand competitions, Alice fell asleep on Aunt Lisa's lap. Hopefully this means she's getting more comfortable with her!

Sunday, Funday?

John got to work on one of the dressers we bought yesterday at IKEA for the playroom. Putting together IKEA furniture is lots of fun... right?!

IKEA Adventures

You want to know what's crazy... IKEA. On a Saturday. With 8 kids. During a big sale. On "Kids Eat Free
 weekend. Nuts-o, Craze-o.

But we did it today and we really wasn't that bad. The kids were reigned in by Uncle Ben, he made everything fun, while Lisa and John & I looked for the things we needed. We ended up getting two 6-drawer dressers for storage in the playroom (hopefully it's enough) along with some other little things we needed for the house.

Mid-way through our IKEA adventure we stopped for dinner in their cafe. Finding a table was a task, keeping that table was an even bigger task -- as kids had to go potty people would try to steal their table, it was crazy!!

After dinner we finished up our shopping downstairs and then got a treat before heading home. It was a crazy, but really fun day with the cousins!

Sisters

Somedays these two fight like cats & dogs... and other days, they're best friends. Today their song was, "We're best friends and we're sisters" over & over & over again. It made my heart happy.

Two Weeks in Atlanta

We've been here two weeks. We've: loved playing with cousins, had two sleepovers, almost finished unpacking, been exposed to head lice (thankfully no one got it), gotten callings at church (Sunday school sub and nursery assistant), started writing our talks for sacrament meeting (7/14 & 7/21), done a million+ loads of laundry, met our neighbors, missed having Daddy home, been reunited with old friends, had more rain than we ever saw in Southern California, seen lightening bugs, and met new friends. It's all going really well but my heart still aches for home.

Problem's

I'd say we've got 3 problems here: lack of storage, lack of organization, and FAR TOO many toys/games!! #wheretoevenbegin #timeforagaragesaleagain #mommasoverwhelmed