More of GraceAnn and Jonathan

What can I say? They are just too cute for words!

Gracie and Jon-Jon had such a great time playing together during our week in Virginia. They were inseparable and kept each other busy. Juliann and I both wondered what we would do with them once I took the children back home to NC. Jon-Jon misses his GraceAnn very much. . . and I miss how occupied that GraceAnn kept my Jon-Jon!

Aaron's Castle Project with Daddy

My first tooth:

Pool Fun

Martin

Martin jumping:
Lauren:
Just relaxin'Some fun shots of Emily:
Aaron getting out of the pool: Jonathan in the pool with Mamaw:

Back together again. . .

The Ingraldi Family

Whenever we travel back to Virginia, we always make it a point to spend time with our special friends, the Ingraldi family. We have known the Ingraldi family since our days when Rich was pastor of Yorkminster Baptist Church in Yorktown, Virginia. It didn't take long for us to discover that we had much in common and they have remained good friends of ours for many years now. Marsha is who I call when I need to vent or just hear an encouraging word on pretty much any topic, but especially homeschooling. . . as she has been a homeschooling mom for 12 years. I am thankful that God has given us these dear friends and I only wish that we could spend more time with each other. Once or twice a year, just doesn't seem like enough!
We talked.
Caroline and Colleen spent the day passing the baby back and forth . . . and Caroline did admit to being a baby hog! Caroline is holding Rosalie here:

Colleen :

The children played.

Emily:

Aaron:

We ate.

Sam:

We talked.
We ate again.

We ate some more. . .

Sam, Caleb, Jonathan, Emily:
Mr. Tony holding Rosalie:

Rosalie . . . very interested in Mr. Tony's beard! Jonathan played until he could no longer hold his eyes open . . . he crawled up next to me with baby and night-night and went to sleep!

We treasure the time that we are able to spend with Marsha, Tony, and their children. We admire the way that they are raising their children and have learned so much from them as we are in our own journey of raising our children. We appreciate them for always opening their home to us and treating us like family.
We love you, Ingraldi family!

Jonathan and GraceAnn. . . the best of friends

Jonathan and GraceAnn love to be together:Swinging. . .


Playing in the water. . .

It didn't really matter what they did, but just that they were together!

GraceAnn loving on Rosalie

Kiss her right here on her head, Gracie:

But, I want to kiss her here:

Rosalie was rather enjoying the special attention from GraceAnn, and wanted to give Gracie some attention back!

Sweet cousin hugs!

I'm really full. . .

Can I get back in the pool? I'm really full. . . see?

An Aaron funny

A few days ago, Aaron was sitting at the table eating a snack. It is a typical scene in our house for everyone to be finished with their food except Aaron. So, I was cleaning up around him while he finished.

As I was cleaning, Aaron said, "Mommy, after I finish this last bite, I am going to get up from the table without asking . . . is that okay?"

(I was trying hard not to laugh at this point) I just calmly said, "I think that will be okay".

Aaron finished his last bite, and ran off to find Martin. I overheard Aaron exclaim to Martin, "Mommy, said I could get up without asking!!"

Hand Me Downs

Clothing 4 children can be a very expensive line item in the budget. I am not much of a shopper, really, but whenever I do happen to be out and about, I am always amazed at the cost of children's clothing.

I am thankful to say that we've been abundantly blessed in the clothing department. I got enough clothing from baby showers to clothe Martin for the first year of his life, and my mom(who does love to shop) bought clothes for him as well.

Here's a shot of Aaron with one of the shirts my mom has bought over the years:

We've also gotten clothing from Rich's mom and dad over the years that has helped us tremendously! Here is a picture of Jonathan in an outfit that Rich's mom and dad bought for Martin when Martin turned 3!!! It's made it's way through 3 boys!

We've also been blessed through hand me downs. My sister's dear friend Carol, has been giving me hand-me-downs from her son, since Martin was 2 years old. The clothes that she has given me are in wonderful shape. Jeans, shirts, belts, shoes, dress clothes. . . in the best condition! Here is a picture of Martin in some shorts and a shirt that Carol passed along to us!

(excuse the expression, Martin wasn't particularly in a mood to have his picture taken! LOL)

I've hardly had to buy the first thing for any of my boys because of my mom, Carol, and Rich's parents.

You'd think that after having 3 boys, that I'd be in big trouble with having to now clothe a baby girl. My sister has 3 girls, so I am now enjoying dressing my baby girl in the abundance of clothing that my sister saved for me in the case that I would EVER have a girl! Here is a picture of Rosalie wearing one of the MANY gorgeous dresses that Juliann handed down to us!

I have a huge closet FULL of hand me downs for Rosalie, from my sister . . . and what makes it so sweet . . . is that her 3 sweet cousins wore them too!