AU Football Season Begins!

College football season is finally here, and we're already 3-0 (by the skin of our teeth, anyway)! That's okay, a win's a win, and I am proud of our team! It's definitely been a fun season so far! So anyway, we headed to the plains Labor Day weekend (Friday night) and stopped at the lake first. Granddaddy Carl had actually been in Charleston for business, and Abby Grace flew back to Birmingham with him on the Thursday before. She was so excited and had a great time on the airplane! I think Caleb was a little confused not having his sister around and also thought at first that he was going to be going on the airplane too. So with Abby Grace in Birmingham, we headed to the lake, just the 3 of us, late that Friday night. We spent Saturday with the Johnsons and then headed to campus to tailgate. It was so great getting to see family and friends that we had not seen in a while (plus, eating tailgate food too!) Then, it was time to head to the game. We decided to take the kids and were surpised to find that there weren't many tickets for sale. We managed to get the 4 of us in with 3 tickets somehow, and the kids' excitement began! Well, Caleb was all about it; Abby Grace thought it was too loud, and it took her a little while to warm up to it. We did stay for 3 quarters and then left to watch the rest of the game at the tailgate. Then, we spent time at the lake on Sunday, and my parents came down to see the kids. Then came the, as Abby Grace would say, "it's a long trip" back to Charleston (only to head back again in less than two weeks for the Auburn/Clemson game). I told you September has been a whirlwind! Especially, since our next day back was the kids' first day of school! Pictures to come!



For some reason, I only have one picture of Abby Grace from the tailgate. I think it's because Caleb was having so much fun playing football that I ended up taking more pictures of him. He also had lots of fun with his granddaddy too, which you can tell from the pictures!

The End of Summer

Well, fall is in the air now... at least sometimes, when it's not 90 degrees outside and when the weather decides to tease us with its crisp, fall breeze! So I realized that I have not finished posting some pics from the summer; mainly because September has been a whirlwind! Anyway, most of these pictures are from August. The first two are of Caleb pretending to be a fireman. One day he was just playing, and then he came out of the playroom, running around with his fireman hat on. It's was pretty cute; I will have to admit! I managed to get him to stay still long enough for a few pics. Notice too that he just had a haircut. The next pictures are of one of our last days at the pool (sad--I am not sure if we will be swimming again or not and can't decide if that's good or bad). Abby Grace is swimming on her own, at least about 10 feet in length anyway. We are proud of her and hope that she doesn't lose her skill during the off season. Caleb has also come a long way in the water and can swim all over the place with his ring; he loves it! The next pictures are of the kids after church one Sunday, and I just decided to get the camera out to see if I could get a few fun pictures. The last picture is of the kids at the Brunson's lakehouse after Labor Day weekend. I'll post some pics from the Auburn game that weekend too. Enjoy!

Fun Pics

I just thought I would post a few pictures of the kids playing and being silly over the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Being silly on the beach with friends

Playing in our backyard

If only it really worked!

The kids are being silly and cute after bath time!

Stopped just long enough for me to take a pic--he's growing up on us!

Swimmin' at the pool--AGB has learned to swim on her own for about 10 feet!

The kids' "ride" to and from the pool (aka mommy's workout)!

They're Growing Up!

First, there's Caleb... He just keeps surprising us with his new tricks; he's at that fun age where he is learning so much and doing so many new things. First of all, I'll admit, the child is a little spoiled, but how can we help it? We still rock him to sleep, but he's just too sweet not to. Tonight, we read our 3 books like we always do, and he again said, "Say prayers, Mommy," which he has said before but this time he kept wanting to say more. I would say our prayer, and he would say, "Prayers again." So after the third time, I said, "Caleb, can you say your prayers?" and he said, "T'ank you for Abby Grace and Daddy" and then something about "Grammy and Nanny." Anyway, it was the sweetest thing, and then I said, "I love you, Caleb" and tonight he finally said, "I love you, Mommy!" So of course, I will continue to rock my sweet boy! He's about to be 21 months, but I tell you what, he is something! He is counting past 10 (I think he has learned this from playing hide and seek with AGB); he knows all of his shapes. He is beginning to sing songs as he hears them on his favorite shows, like the ABC song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Dora, and many others. He also apologizes all the time, especially to Abby Grace. She can take his toy or knock him over, and he'll say, "I'm sorry, Abby Grace." He also says it to us when we tell him no. Caleb is also really into reading books and has a few that he can read too. Anyway, he's just at a fun age where every day brings something new that he has learned or can do!

And there's Abby Grace... She's about to start 4K in the fall, which makes me realize that our little girl is growing up! She's really into any little figurines (princess, Toy Story, Polly Pocket, animals, dinosaurs, etc.--if it's little, she loves it). She also really adores all her stuffed animals and sleeps with about a 100 every night! Probably, her absolute favorite thing to do is art and somehow it manages to find its self all over our house! She's pretty creative and imaginative, I will have to admit. Yesterday, she had us making sock puppets! Her other passion is her books, and she loves her Leap Frog Tag reading pen. It is pretty cool, and if you have a preschooler, I highly recommend it. She's definitely becoming more independent too from being able to put on her seat belt to bathing herself on her own. It's also funny how she looks after her brother. For example, if she gets a lollipop, she wants Caleb to have one too. She's always very thoughtful and takes care of him. However, there are also days where she wants to trade him in for a baby sister! In fact, right now, she keeps asking for either a kitty or a baby sister (she would take a puppy too)!

Even though at times they are exhausting, we are having so much fun with our kids and thank God everyday for them!

4th Fun

We spent July 4th in Charleston and had a great weekend with Grammy and Granddaddy! These are a few pics from the weekend...

The first night, we had a terrific dinner at Hominy Grill and then played on the Battery. Abby Grace loves to climb on the cannons while Caleb can hardly sit long enough to even take a picture; he just likes to run all over the park instead!

On Saturday, we played at the pool while Brian was on call, and then met up for dinner at Red's Icehouse. After dinner, we took a walk on the Mt. Pleasant Pier.

It's difficult to get a picture of these two together, since Caleb is always on the run, so this is about as good as it gets!

I added this pic b/c it is rare for us to get a photo together of just the two of us! Some thing, or should I say some things are missing!

On Sunday, July 4th, after church, we headed to Kiawah Island for their 4th Festivities. The kids had a blast playing on the inflatables and eating cotton candy!

It was about as much fun as a little boy could handle!

Then, on Monday, we rented a boat for 4 hours and viewed all the Charleston sites by water. Plus, we anchored on a little beach for some fun in the water!

Ft. Sumter is to the left of the picture.

The Battery is just behind us.

Seeing the Battery from the water, can't beat it!

I took this pic b/c the big blue glass building in the middle is where Brian works.

Abby Grace's 4th Birthday Party, Literally!

Well, I completely forgot that I had not posted pictures from our trip to Lake Martin and Abby Grace's family birthday party. This really was her 4th birthday party to celebrate her turning 4--hopefully, she will not think that this should be a reoccurring trend (your age = the number of parties you should have)! Anyway, we did have fun celebrating with family and friends and just hanging out at the lake on Memorial Day Weekend. Somehow, I managed to get strep throat on Monday, and then Caleb got it on Tuesday, but we really did not feel that bad, so it didn't damper the week too much at all. We spent the rest of the week in Birmingham, staying at my parent's house, and we were able to catch up with family and friends. We also managed a few shopping trips and a fun day at the McWane Center with the kids as well. We really did have a great time seeing all of our family and friends! Plus, I almost forgot to mention that we were able to meet little Mallory Johnson, Karen and Tim's new baby girl! What a cutie!

Abby Grace catching catfish with her Granddaddy!

We anchored the boat at this great little spot for Caleb and Abby Grace to swim and play.

Abby Grace loved meeting and holding baby Mallory! She loved playing with big brother, Luke, even more!