The Mancinis go to Mississippi

Our good friends, the Whitfields, moved back to Mississippi this year. I was SO sad. I was happy for them because it was a great opportunity for their family but super sad for us. This was a couple that I imagined being a part of our core...the couple who would know what was really going on with us and doing life with us. Their boys are close in age to Luke and Maddie, they are a super fun family to hang out with, and they love Jesus. Come on!

So, when they invited us to spend the weekend at their new house, we jumped at the chance. We loaded up the Jam Van and drove out to Mississippi. They live outside of Jackson...in the county. Eric has built a treehouse in the backyard and horses come up to their back fence every morning. It's so heavenly.

While we were there the kids spent lots of time playing in the backyard, we went to a museum, they gave us the "The Help" driving tour :),  and had a bonfire in their backyard with s'mores. Our kids played so well together and I was so sad to leave.

 Graham, Luke and Ethan checking out the T-Rex at the museum. 

Luke running away from the T-Rex while it eats his friend Ethan.

 Graham and Maddie getting in on the T-Rex action.

A Mississippi swamp. We were a little bummed that we didn't see an alligator.

 Cooking s'mores at the bonfire with Mr. Eric. So fun!

Halloween 2013

This year taking pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes was...well...it didn't go well.

 Luke was trying to give me a Spiderman action shot and Maddie wanted to make faces.

This is seriously the best pic of the night. Ugh! Next year I will insist they stand still for at least one minute!

NPM Family Day - The Zoo

North Point Ministries hosts a family day each year and the staff from all of the five churches come together and spend a day having fun with our families. Just as I look forward to attending this birthday party each year, I love the NPM Family Day. My kids have so much fun running around with the other staff kiddos and I love hanging out with my co-workers. How cool is that?!?!

This year it was Zoo Atlanta and the wonderful Joy Cannis took this super cute pics of my little peeps.

 

My kiddos with the Cannis boys.

Swim Lessons

This summer and fall Luke and Maddie took swim lessons. Luke really enjoyed his time at swim lessons. I think he spent more time talking to the other boys in his swim group then he did swimming.

As for Maddie... Well, she didn't enjoy it as much as Luke.

She hated going under the water and refused to get her face wet. 

If her instructor wasn't floating Maddie around the pool on her back, 

 then she was clinging to this rail. 

Then one smart instructor gave her "homework" and asked her to practice putting her face in the water when she was in the bathtub. So, with her goggles on...

 Maddie practiced during bath time.

Swim lessons came to an end and Maddie never really put her face in the water, but she continues to practice in the bathtub and has gotten braver and braver. It will be interesting to see what happens at the pool this year.

Bert's Pumpkin Farm

We once again decided to head up north to check out Bert's Pumpkin Farm... It's what you do when it's fall and you live in the ATL. Even if it's in the 70's :)

 The three of them go out to find the perfect pumpkins to carve.

 Maddie is pretty proud of this pumpkin.

 This one is a tad to big for Lukie to lift. 

 Dan's photo collage.

We went a little too early in the season (or it was still a little too warm) so the leaves really hadn't started to change yet. I do love how pretty it is in the Georgia mountains once the leaves change and I'll admit I was a little bummed. But really, spending time with the family in the country and experiencing the creativity of God is always time well spent in my book!

Silly Faces

and a camera are a great way to pass the time when you're waiting in a very long line for a jumpy house.

Seeing is...

Well, seeing is just a good thing.

During Luke's pre-Kindergarten check-up with the doc, he didn't do well on his eye examine. They were going to do the examine again before we left the office but we all forgot in the rush of wrapping up and checking. Oops!

It wasn't until the start of this school year that I remembered the issues with his eye examine. So, I decided to go ahead and take him to the eye doctor and have his eyes checked.

And sure enough, Luke needed to wear glasses. Which really wasn't all that surprising considering both Dan and I wear them.

The sales lady asked if I wanted to purchase the one-year insurance plan for his glasses and at first I said no. Then she reminded me that I was purchasing glasses for a little boy. Humm...just pay $25 to replace his glasses IF anything bad happened to his glasses? Well, okay. Just in case...

Wise, wise decision. We are now on our third pair in 7 months. Oh, my! Gotta love those boys!

First Day of School - 2012

Luke the 1st Grader

Maddie the pre-K'er

Summer Fun

Every year my co-worker has a swim birthday party for her twin daughters that are in the same grade as Maddie (they are a year older but in the same grade). I absolutely love this party and look forward to it each year. Most of the kids have been in preschool together since they were babies and they love seeing each other and playing in the pool. Plus, the people I work with are like family and it's so fun to hang out with them outside of the office.

Here are some photos that the fabulous Joy Cannis took of our family at the party...

 My two handsome dudes!

 Love the blue water and his blue eyes!

 Little imp!

 He owns my heart. 

She was serious about hitting that pinata!

I just love these pictures and I love Joy Cannis. She is a hoot! If you don't know her, you should!!

Family Vaca 2012 - Enjoying the Waves

Some people take a sand tool and attack the waves...

Other people, like to dance and relax in the waves...

Two different people, two different ways to the enjoy the beach...both fabulous!

Family Vaca 2012 - Boogie Boarding

This was the year of the boogie board. We borrowed two boards from our friends last year and Luke wanted nothing to do with them. Boo! Since the waves were so fabulous this year, Dan got a boogie board to ride the waves and Luke was hooked. 

Of course, sometimes you need your dad to tow you back in when you get to deep and the waves are over your head! Thanks for the ride, Dad!

The BIG surprise was when this little one decided to join in... 

Maddie really hasn't enjoyed the ocean and being in the water. She hates getting her face wet and it's hard to enjoy the water when you can't go out very far without a wave knocking you over. However, Tropical Storm Debby left a nice sandbar that ran down a good stretch of the beach. This allowed Maddie to get comfortable with going out further and getting use to the sand under her feet...all without the waves. Woo-hoo! She loves to do everything her brother does and her experience with the sandbar gave her the confidence to give boogie boarding a whirl.

Such a cutie-pa-tootie! It was so fun to watch both of the Mancini children enjoying the waves this year. Thank you Tropical Storm Debby for making that possible ;)

Family Vaca 2012 - To the beach!

On Tuesday morning, we were finally able to pack everyone up and head to the beach. Woo-hoo! 

For my birthday, I asked for some beach gear and a cart to make hulling it around super easy. I love creating environments and having a fabulous environment when sitting on the beach is a MUST!  

There were still some pesky storm clouds swirling around the beach. I'm including the picture of Maddie not because it's a great pic of her but it does show the clouds that would roll in. It would look like it was going to storm but it would sprinkle for two minutes and then move on out. Phew!

A red flag of warning was still waving on the beach which meant the current was still very strong. The waves would coming crashing into the beach...

and you would get knocked down... 

which then had you scrambling to get back up on your feet. 

Or, the ocean would have the audacity to get your face wet. 

Maddie thought this was seriously uncool!

Since it was a bit of a workout to be in the water, there was a lot of playing in the sand!

It was a fun day and I'm SO glad we had at least one sunny day with Dan's parents at the beach.