Vacation Day 1

On Wednesday we made the long drive from the lake house to Hattiesburg.  Dad and I drove the UHaul (to bring a few leftover items from our Texas house), Mom and Ellen drove the Honda, and the Wieds took the Wiedmobile.  We actually didn't caravan with the Wieds because they were driving to Jackson to spend some time with Phillip's cousin.

We had a pretty uneventful trip to Hattiesburg.  Once we got here we picked up the twins from school and then the fun began.  It was so nice to see Mom, Dad, and Ellen get reunited with Carter and Olivia.  Though the twins don't have a good enough memory yet to recall their relationships with their extended family, they warmed up quickly.

After dinner they enjoyed storytime with Grandmommie.

Olivia got some loving from Grandmommie after bathtime.

Later that night (well after the twins had gone to bed and Mom and Dad and I had made our Wal-Mart run) the Wieds finally arrived.  Morgan and Caroline were totally out of sorts since it was well past their bedtime and they had slept during the car ride from Jackson.  Still, Liah insisted that they have a bath because they were filthy from their road trip (they made a couple of play stops at parks).  So, they took a swim in the jacuzzi tub in my bathroom.  These girls had so much fun in the tub.  They splashed bubbles all over my bathroom, but it was worth the mess.

Of note, this day was also Forrest's 34th birthday.  I had gotten all of the ingredients for a red velvet cake and Mom made it for him when we arrived in Hattiesburg.  It was yummy!

Sunday best

This beautiful dress was given to us by our friend Ann Loiselle.  Isn't it adorable?

Dun gave Carter this outfit several months ago, and this for sure was the last wear that it got.  Carter nearly snapped the buttons off.  He's getting so big!

Yardwork

Just a Saturday afternoon helping Dad with the yardwork.

Learning to crochet

I remember my grandmother trying to teach me to crochet when I was a little girl.  I'd like to say she was a bad teacher, but I think likely I was just an unwilling student because I never could get the hang of it.

Fast forward to the summer of 2011 when I got a hankering to make a baby blanket.  My mother picked up where Grandma left off and I learned to crochet.  I'm not very advanced yet.  All I can do is make blankets, but for now that's good enough for me.  My girlfriend Jennifer makes the prettiest crocheted flowers for use as hairbows.  Maybe someday I'll take my skills up a notch.

This morning Olivia got into my crochet yarn.  She made a big mess and I never could untangle the yarn, but she had so much fun playing with it that it was worth it.

Silly on Saturday morning

We were in no hurry today after we got dressed, so we just played around with the camera in the twins room. 

I feel pretty

I love dressing Olivia up.  Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to do it except on Sunday mornings.  We had time a couple Sundays ago for a quick photo shoot before we loaded up and went to church.

Creeper Carter

Yesterday Carter got promoted into the Creeper room at school.  To qualify for that room you must be a crawler and I guess perhaps a creeper too.  He started crawling the first week of June, but I think they waited to promote him until Olivia was ready since we had a strong desire to keep them together in the same class.

Six weeks later, Olivia's not crawling and Carter is long overdue for the promotion.  He really steamrolls the babies in the infant room as they aren't mobile and can't really defend themselves.  He literally crawls right over them.  So, we agreed to let him move up to the Creeper Room and leave Liv behind in the Infant Room and it's been wonderful. 

The creepers eat the same foods that the big kids eat and he has been eating "real" food like a champ.  They also have a structured nap time (11:30-1:30) in which all of the kids lie down on mats on the floor and the lights are turned out.  I told his teacher that Carter probably wouldn't stay put on the mat, but she assured me that he would learn and would indeed nap on the mat.  According to her, he has napped both days.

They also learn 4 vocabulary words in that class (5 if you count "no no"): baby, ball, dog, and cat.  So, we are supposed to work with him at home on those words.

He is just so happy in that room with the bigger kids.  The toys are much bigger and more mature and I know he was very bored in the infant room.  He has come home exhausted both days, and I'm told it's because they play hard in that room. 

I'm happy for him, but eager for Olivia to learn to crawl so that she can join her brother in the Creeper Room.