Basketball Pics

Max's middle school team had a photographer take pics. Loved seeing these!! He's worked so hard this season and has had tremendous growth. It's a blast watching him play!

February Little Things

The morning skies without rain have been brilliant. I think I really see them differently as they don't happen when it's cloudy and rainy. I loved the sky so much one morning, I wanted to capture it for memory. 

At family dinner one night, Mike looked over at Abby to see both of her front teeth sticking forward rather than down. They had both been loose for awhile and sure enough they were ready to come out at the same time! We've loved having her toothless these last few weeks!

 Mike's sister introduced us to the pineapple corer while we were in Utah visiting. Ordering one has been life changing.

Rob was in town for a short 24 hours - so fun to visit with him! He and Mike have been friends since elementary school, and Rob has visited us in almost every place we've lived (including South Korea!).

 We call this "Bob Ross" style painting. We watched one of his episodes on Netflix and then the kids had a blast creating their own versions on canvas.

Lots of elementary school activities happening. The older two girls made valentines boxes, Abby made cards for the kiddos in her class. Tayler's grade had an awesome play production - each class had a min-play, complete with costumes and everything. It was darling! Tayler was a swan in "The Ugly Duckling." Of course, her play was starting at the exact time that I needed to drop Max off at his school. Mike was traveling, and no matter how I worked it, I knew I'd be a few minutes late, and probably in the very back of the cafeteria. I said a little prayer that I'd at least get to see her. As I was driving Max to school, I started to stress that I might not even get a spot in the cafeteria (we've learned these school events are well attended - which is great, but stressful if you can't get there early!). At that very moment, I received a message from a sweet friend who said "got here early, saved you a seat on the 5th row!" And while it sounds like a such a small thing, it was a reminder to me that the Lord is in the details of our lives and knows our hearts. So grateful for her, and that I was able to pop in (a few minutes late) and still able to be there for Tayler.

Every month or so, I get to go volunteer in Abby's classroom with another parent where we spend an hour or so sharing a theme through a book, and then stations of science/math/games/art. I've forgotten to take pictures, but captured this one as they were celebrating Presidents Day. It's been so fun to be there!

 A day of sun and warmth meant bubbles on the driveway!

 We've spent oodles of time at basketball games or driving to/from practices. Max actually had a small window in February where he overlapped being on three different teams - one for the feeder High School, one for the Middle School, and one for church. While it was crazy for a couple of weeks, he really stepped up and managed his time well. We're super grateful he had the experience of being part of each team. His feeder team made it into the tournament and held themselves really well (their season had only one loss). His middle school team rocked an almost undefeated season as well. And his church bball team won the stake championship! They were all so different, and all offered unique learning opportunities for Max. He's fun to watch!

We kept our heart attack tradition - everyone writes a kind heart to everyone else in the family! We've also made our monthly focus centered around the book, 7 Habits for Highly Effective People. February was teaching and practicing the principle "be proactive" and each kiddo wins the award for the week. Sundays are the short teaching moment, sometimes with role playing, sometimes in conversation, sometimes the "short" is the main part about it. Then everyone does nominations for the winner (who gets construction paper sign on their door for the week). It's felt really doable, practical and simple.

 During the first week of crazy with the new puppy, Abby took to creating her own after school snacks. I thought it was hilarious that she made a "snack" of bread with chocolate chips!

 Mike and I had the opportunity to attend the JA (Junior Achievers) annual banquet for his company. It was a black tie event and so fun to spend the evening doing something we never typically do!

We've celebrated a few 'firsts' with Max in February as well. We attended his high school orientation night (bah!). It was so awesome and I couldn't help but smile pretty much the whole time. We are so excited for him and this new chapter that'll be beginning for him! Then, he and I spent a couple hours one night pouring through the high school class options (SO MANY OPTIONS!) and while it felt a bit overwhelming, we called a few families who've been through the process and they were so helpful! Fun stuff. AND, Max was able to go to his first church dance! He wasn't jumping at the opportunity, but thankfully a group of his peers welcomed him in by picking him up and all going together. He had a blast.

And things in February that happened without photos:

*We've been painting all of the kids rooms and helping them create an intentional space. It's been a fun process.

*Mike had some whirlwind travel from the first of the year through February which took him to China, Mexico (twice), England and Amsterdam. Gratefully, he's stayed healthy, and I need to do another post of the few photos he captured (between the hotels, meeting rooms and airports!). Amsterdam is officially on our list of places to go visit together!!

*Mike and I enjoyed some lunch dates between his traveling schedule while the kiddos are at school. Different seasons of life bring opportunities for us to find those times to intentionally connect.
*We coordinated a family service activity with a few other families and went to an assisted living center. Whoever wanted to played music, and we visited the residents in the memory care facility. Definitely something we want to keep doing on a regular basis!

Georgia Beginnings

For the first time since moving into our new home, I find myself sitting down and seeing glimpses of how we've been turning this house into a home the last 9 or so days. We are so grateful for the opportunity we have to create a life for our family here. Transitioning a house into a home can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it also has moments and rhythms that have become a bit familiar to us.

These past nine days our intention has centered on: logistics, exploration, traditions and connections.

Logistics - I set a personal goal to unbox our house as quickly as possible. The quicker I could complete the "macro" portion the quicker we could start creating systems and routines that work as far as the ins and outs of everyday life. This was the first time we've moved without a toddler, and we found the unpacking process to go much quicker (ha!). We still have a ways to go with the order, but it will happen as it needs to. Alexis was a champ with helping me unpack the entire kitchen and offered loads of ideas for where things could go. The kids took full ownership over the pantry unpacking. And this time, we had the kids unpack the majority of their rooms themselves. Overall, while some kids definitely enjoyed unpacking more than others (some found it to be painstakingly boring), working with them and setting small goals and continual check-ins suited much better than sounding like a broken record. And they had the satisfaction of taking their space from a pile of boxes into something that felt much more familiar.

Exploration - we've tried to balance in moments of exploring and learning more about where we live. Whether it's taking a different route home from the store or planning an outing somewhere, the exploring helps imprint both familiarity and memories in the mind.

Traditions - slowing down enough to keep up on the small and simple traditions is huge for keeping us all centered on what matters most and not be so overwhelmed with the "to do" list. They are extremely simple, but foundational for the rhythm of our family culture. Family dinner, a few moments to share what we are grateful for, a few minutes discussing scriptures, praying together, our weekly dinner out/movie at home and ice cream - all of these small traditions have held the space of familiar within all of the change. The tradition of Mike blessing our home invited the sweetest feeling of peace.

Connections - this one is definitely a learned skill for me that I'm trying to always get better at, but proactively reaching out and setting up times to connect with others is something we've done this past week. And while my brain tried to convince me to cancel and get back to the "to do" list, it turns out those times connecting with others has been the exact thing to fuel the soul. I've been trying to get better at intentionally connecting with the kids (and not just working on projects all of the time - an easy way to buffer all of the chaos). So when I set up the slip n slide waterslide (it's not actually called that, but that's what I remember calling them as a kid!), rather than jumping back into the house to get more done, I stayed with them, and of course they convinced me to just start sliding with them (which turned out to be so fun!). Or when they really want to play a card game, or show me their latest magic trick, or listen to them read something they love, or to tell me that they miss Florida, or that they don't know how things are going to work out - those are the moments all of this is really about. And slowing enough to listen, love and hold space for them is the exact kind of connecting we want to create. 

The photos over this time have been a bit random and sporadic - some moments completely missed for sure, but these catch glimpses of Georgia life we've been starting together. 

 Abigail loved the hotel room. She kept commenting on how close everything was - like she could hardly walk and would already be at the bathroom. She found it so convenient. After our second night in the house, I asked how she slept and she said how much she really loved it. She then said "mom, can we stay at this hotel another night?!" I chuckled and told her this was our home and we'd stay here a long time. She laughed and said, "mom you're so funny! This is just a bigger hotel! Our house is in Florida!" It took her a few more days before she settled into the idea that this really is "home." Love how those minds work!

 A fun outdoor piano we found at a park near our hotel.

 A cool "ninja warrior" park we found.

 Checking out the Chattahoochee!

 Visiting dad at work!

 Hiking Kennesaw Mountain!

 Trees. Loved this one!

 Enjoying a bbq with some amazingly kind co-workers.

 The girls checking out a park and loving the tire swing.

 The pantry "before" photo.

 The empty house and boxes!

 The moving truck!

 Max on his last day of basketball camp - he found out about camp the night before it started, and while I wanted to hold off on juggling driving him, we are so grateful we had him do it! He had a great experience, learned A TON, and on the last day actually won the Coaches Award - the Coaches honored him by sharing how he really stuck out to them with how hard he worked, how he took action on anything they suggested and how he asked questions to better himself - and then applied whatever he learned. So so cool.

 More unpacking.

 Creative time together (we had no internet for the first few days)!

 The mound of boxes!

 This awesome tree was in full bloom the day we moved in, and I found it so welcoming. It has the biggest bees on it we've ever seen and I look forward to soaking in it's beauty again and again!