365Project.2015 | Week 31

Lest things become too dusty around here, I'm going to update a week at a time (even though I've missed three ...) I generally blog on Sunday afternoons, but we spent two Sundays traveling and then this weekend I was prepping for the "official" start of our homeschool year, so I lost my window. However, the big push this weekend has given me a bit of a breather, so here I am. :)

Day 207. Our church had a "short" day with the second service immediately following a potluck, so we got to explore Daddy's new trail in the evening. He and Peter used the John Deere back in the woods on Saturday and were able to blaze quite a nice trail.

 It's amazing how much less overwhelming all of the brush piles, etc. are when there's a trail.

 Sometimes the smallest things speak the loudest in the midst of chaos. ♥

And then sometimes you have to learn the hard way that tall grass can hide deep puddles ... thankfully the damage was no worse than wet sneakers and jeans. :)

Day 208. The last week of July was crazy busy with VBS at Nanny & Poppy's church in the morning and VBS at our church in the evenings! As crazy as it was, the kids had so much fun spending the mornings with Nanny, and Mommy and Abby enjoyed some quieter play times. :)

Day 209. And then the siblings come home and Mommy got distracted ... again. Yep. Abby knows how to take good advantage of Mommy being distracted. ;)

Day 210. It's official. :) Happy birthday, Abby-girl! We love you, Sweet Pea!!

 It's hard to believe how much you've grown in the last year! ♥

On her one-year birthday, our Abby-girl ...

• crawls everywhere, climbs stairs, pulls up on anything, and walks when she has something to hold on to.
• loves to open and close doors and drawers. 
• eats anything we give her .. until she's full. The she "ejects" additional food with her tongue. :)
• still wakes up around 11:30 pm each night ... and more often when she's teething.
• has eight teeth, with very swollen gums seeming to indicate that molars are on their way. 
• loves to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear and will make growly noises for the bear. 
• still seems to be making more "sounds" than "words" ... but they're very word-like sounds ... ma-ma, da-da, ba-ba, and na-na being the most common. 
• is starting to learn the signs for "more" and "please."
• claps her hands when she gets excited ... Daddy's arrival being one of the most celebrated events of any given day. ♥
• weighs 19.0 lbs.
• loves animals ... Toby, horses, cows, birds, squirrels ... anything of that nature completely captures her attention. 
• adopted her official favorite buddy just a couple days after her birthday ... and Hannah was privileged to be the giver. ♥  

One of Hannah's VBS prizes was a grey stuffed lemur, and she decided to bring it with her on vacation.Well, we all realized pretty quickly that Abby thought "Killie" (short for "Kilimanjaro") was the best. buddy. ever. Abby's definitely blessed with a pretty awesome big sister, because Killie now officially belongs to Abby. ♥ And Killie goes everywhere that Abby goes. :)

We love you, Abby-girl!

Day 211. For our evening VBS, Mommy was helping with the toddler class. Duplos provided the lesson illustrations each night. :) I honestly had a lot of fun putting these together each afternoon ... and the kids enjoyed being able to help, too. :)

Day 212. As Peter's request, I came to the last day of morning VBS so that I could "hear them sing" and it was well-worth the drive! :) What a delight to hear the walls echoing with kids singing such enthusiastic praise! ♥ (The decorations and the organization were also some of the best I've seen ... and I've participated in/organized a lot of VBS's over the years.) :) Thanks so much to each one involved in Camp Kilimanjaro! You all did a great job!

Day 213. In the midst of vacation prep, Peter and Daddy had fun putting together a model kit Peter received as a VBS prize. :)

And that brings us to August and new territory ... 

Stay tuned. :)

365Project.2015 | Week 27

Welcome back! :) Join us for a week filled with fun and adventures ... 

Day 179. Abby-girl loves drawers ... and discovering a brand new roll of toilet paper in the drawer is even more exciting! ;)

Day 180. Happy 11 months, little one!!

At 11 months, Abby ...

• is crawling everywhere
• is pulling up 
• has a fascination with drawers, doors, and handles
• weighs 18.8 lbs
• still does not consistently sleep through the night
• loves Toby 
• is making lots of sounds ... "na-na-na," "ma-ma-ma," "ba-ba-ba," "da-da-da"
• prefers to hold books rather than read them
• loves paper ... particularly when she gets a chance to chew it ;)
• is generally happy and cheerful with us, but quite reserved with new people
• eats pretty much anything we give her

  We love you, Abby-girl! ♥

Day 181. Tuesday ended up being an unexpectedly fun day! Nanny's babysitting for Mommy's haircut turned into an all day adventure,

Including dinner with Poppy as well and watching of the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It's great what you can find on YouTube! :)

Day 182. Hannah, Peter, and Matthew all participated in Soccer Camp this week. Even with persistent rain, they had a great time! :)

 Day 183. Mommy and Abby enjoyed somewhat quieter mornings with the big kids otherwise occupied. ;)

 And we have learned that Abby loves steering wheel carts! :) (But really, what child doesn't???)

 Day 184. The last day of soccer camp was quite the adventure, including pie in the face for the coach ...

 And their final scrimmage ...

 

 

One of the greatest blessings of soccer camp was meeting new friends! Hannah and Bayleigh connected at camp, and Bayleigh was able to come over to play for the afternoon.

 Her family then joined us for dinner that evening.

Sometimes you meet people for the first time, and it feels more like you've met old friends that you just haven't caught up with in a while.

 Truly that is a blessing.

Day 185. Happy Independence Day! We celebrated with a family day at the zoo, prefaced by a picnic at this beautiful overlook. :)

 

 

 

And no, Mommy and Daddy did not climb the stairs. We parked at the top. ;) The kids made their own "fun" by running down and then back up again. :)

 

 It was a beautiful day for the zoo! The kids all loved this bed of daisies planted by the entrance ...

And we had to take a picture of the flamingos for our pastor ... :)

 ♥

 The baby elephant is only seven weeks old!! So cute!

The zoo had some really nice animal demonstrations throughout the day, including trained falcons in the bird exhibit.

Awww, sleepy girl. ♥

 The penguins were very active and lots of fun to watch!

 :)

 Abby-girl thoroughly approved of her first taste of cotton candy. ;)

And here be the ring-leaders of our own zoo ... ;) So thankful for a really special day, a gift from dear friends in SC. ♥

After an easy-peasy pizza dinner, the kids and Chris enjoyed some time shooting with the air rifle. It would appear that Mommy will need to learn how to cook rabbit before too long. ;)

 

And that be our week. It was a fun one for sure.
We're looking forward to more adventures,
including lots of family time in this upcoming week. :)