Reunion

The last weekend in August was such a treat - a reunion of some of my oldest friends.  The four of us grew up in church together throughout our whole childhoods, and remain very close - though we are scattered around the southeast now.  There are now four wonderful husbands and nine children in the picture!  We had a wonderful couple of days, relaxing by the lake, picnicking, swimming, cooking out, catching up.  So blessed by these friendships.

Water fun

 Enjoying a new birthday present in some toasty late-August weather...

 

The small things

The small things are big in kids' lives, I suppose....Carlton and Clara have been thrilled with our new shopping arrangement.  Previously, I had been wearing Clara in our carrier and Carlton had ridden in the front of the cart when we grocery shopped.  But I recently decided to see if Carlton was ready to handle his own little shopping cart, and Clara is pretty thrilled to get to ride on her own.  Now whenever we have any errand to run, Carlton very hopefully asks if it's "Trader Joe's?"

 

 

Clara's Birthday Party

Clara's first birthday party was a sweet, "sunshine-y" time.  It was a blessing to have so many friends and family come to celebrate this milestone in our sweet girl's life.

 

The set-up:

 

 The wonderful crowd:

 

The "pin-the-smile-on-the-sunshine" game:

Some fun new things:

And the cake moment:

 Clara was obviously not too impressed with the cake, but you can see that Carlton was waiting eagerly to help out, like a good big brother :)

One Year Old

Our baby girl is no longer a baby!  She loves getting around on her own, though she's not quite walking - she's a pro with riding toys that she can push around and can really fly with their help.  She'll climb on anything and is rarely intimidated.  She adores her big brother and wants to do everything like him, so some of her favorite toys are cars, trucks, and the car ramp.  She also loves her baby doll and loves 'working' in the toy kitchen.  She is very fun-loving, giggles all the time, and loves any sort of silly game.  Carlton can make her laugh harder than anyone!  She has a handful of words she uses, and she loves to wave.  She checks in with eight teeth and still under 20 pounds (so light!  Carlton was 25 pounds by a year!)

Here's our Clara at one big year....

A rare moment

My kids are not big daytime sleepers, and they hadn't done this in many months.  The cuteness got me, and I had to capture it.

Florida

We spent the first weekend in August visiting Mark's grandmother in Pensacola, Florida.  The kids absolutely loved being at Grandma Dee's, and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed her time with great-grandkids as well :) 

It was special for me to get to see a place that holds a lot of memories for Mark, as he spent his elementary school years living in Pensacola.  And of course, we got some great time on the beach as a family.  It was Clara's first time in the surf and the sand, and she was curious and mostly content, but not entirely thrilled.