Well, there went the summer...

Oops!  Didn't mean to take 3 months off of blogging, but here we are!  Summer 2013, let's recap, shall we?

We played with the water table.

Caden giggled a lot.

These two started becoming friends.

Sometimes we crashed.

This girl started standing & took her first steps - almost 11 months old.

We visited with Aunt Whitney & her magical iPad.

Caden built sandcastles with Nana & Papoo.

Lindley took her first dip in the ocean.

Mommy was so proud.

We spent a day at Brookgreen Gardens at the beach.

Caden hated the pool & was scared to get in.

Lindley sprouted some adorable pigtails.

And brought her tooth total to 4.

We attempted to take family pictures on the beach at sunset.

We ran around with cousins.

We goofed off with daddy.

We ate Cheerios.

We were always in style.

We napped.

And napped.

And had fun coral toes.

We celebrated our 4th anniversary (back in May).

I attended & hosted baby showers for several pregnant friends.

Lindley really started walking just before her birthday.

She turned ONE!

And made a mess of cake.

Not pictured:

Wade ran 3 weeks of basketball camp.

We joined the YMCA.

Caden eventually warmed up to the pool & started jumping in off the side.

We started to potty train Caden & quickly came to the conclusion he wasn't ready.

And now it's the beginning of another school year!  Wade will be reprising his role as assistant principal & varsity basketball coach.  I think he already feels more confident in his positions this year with a little experience under his belt.  He's gearing up for pre-season basketball workouts & open gyms, as well as his Yes I Can league that starts in September.

I'm still staying home full time, but just beginning to entertain the idea of doing freelance work again, perhaps later this fall or winter.  I hope to get in a good routine of working out (thank you YMCA childcare!), and I'll be doing Bible Study Fellowship (along with the kids) once a week.  I hope to be able to help out all of my best friends who are having babies this fall, especially one who is having triplets!

So there you have it!  We're all caught up :).

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day weekend, Wade spent Friday night and Saturday helping his parents move his sister Whitney to her new place in Charleston after she graduated from speech pathology school.  I guess that was his Mother's Day present to his mom :).

Sunday morning, we went to church & it was a pretty typical day.  After the kids' naps, I got the idea that we should go to the cemetery, so we did!  It's probably the first time Wade's been back since mom's funeral.  I finally had someone to take a picture of me with the kids at the grave, since I always go on the 4th of July and Wade has been at grad school every year during that time.

My sweet kiddos :).  I wish they knew what a great grandmother they would have had.

The sunlight through the trees did not make the best lighting for pictures, but oh well.

Then that evening, we gathered in typical Johns/Steele/Tapp/Starrett style for a big dinner at Laurie's house.  Here is some of the chaos of all the cousins playing.  It was a great dinner, which all the dads prepared, AND they stayed in the kitchen eating with the kids so that the moms could have a peaceful meal in the dining room.  That was probably the best part of the whole day!

M.Ed. Degree

The first weekend of May, we had the privilege to take the whole family to Chattanooga, TN, for Wade's graduation from Covenant College with a Master's in Educational Administration.  He started the program in 2010, in our first year of marriage, and has gone to Covenant for 3 weeks in the summer each year, plus pre-campus and post-campus research, assignments, papers, etc. and a final capstone project that he finished in March.

Wade's parents came too, to help us celebrate this momentous occasion.

Our family has grown a bit over the course of the program!  It was pretty crazy to think that 5 years ago, we were at that same convention center, just dating, for his undergraduate ceremony.  So much has changed!

I could not be more proud of Wade's accomplishment and all the hard work it took to get him there.  

Lindley's first beach trip!

The kids & I were able to go to the beach a couple weeks ago for a long weekend with dad.  Wade had to stay home to work, sadly, but we had a good time!

Caden's typical breakfast... milk in a sippy cup, and a mixture of Cheerios, craisins & bran flakes :)

The first morning, we walked around for a little bit (and discovered that the pool & hot tub were closed for renovations - sad!).  Caden discovered the fountains by the clubhouse though, so that was entertaining for a while!

When the tide went out some and we thought it had warmed up a bit, we put on swimsuits & headed to the beach.  Caden carried his bucket of sand toys :).

It was pretty darn cold (and windy), so I ended up going back up to put on a shirt over my bathing suit... but the kids loved the sand and played around in it for a little over an hour, until it was lunch time.

We came in & Lindley quickly fell asleep on Bapa.  She took her nap there, while I fed Caden lunch & got him ready for his nap.  We went to Lee's Inlet Kitchen for dinner - Johns family tradition!  And as always, I got the grilled chicken & it was great :).

Caden admiring the view

On day 2, we got up and played for a while in the morning, since it was high tide & still pretty chilly.

I tried to get a picture with the kids.

We repeated the playing in the sand activities of the day before.

Lindley discovered that she had to lick sand off her thumb every time she wanted to put it in her mouth.  She was a little deterred by that, but not enough to stop her.

After their naps, I took them on a walk around Litchfield by the Sea.

And on Sunday, we packed up & drove home!

Caden seemed somewhat scared of the ocean, although we didn't even try to put our feet in since it was so cold.  I hope he'll warm up to it when we go to the beach again in June & July, and Lindley will get an actual taste of swimming, since she hasn't yet!

Easter & start of spring

Slowly the weather has started to warm up, and it could not have come soon enough for Caden.  That boy's energy has been bottled up all winter inside this house, and he is just desperate to be outside at all times now!

This was a warm day a few weeks ago.  Caden kept insisting I put "Ni-nee" in the car with him.  It was so cute, although a little frustrating because they couldn't both completely fit, so there was a lot of shifting & pushing & whining.

Love the sweetness of a big brother!

Lindley loved it!

Easter Sunday in the nursery at church

We had our traditional "big kid" Easter egg hunt at Laurie's the day before Easter.  All the 20-30-something kids participated, although our growing numbers of toddler/preschool age kids may mean it has to be a little kid Easter egg hunt before long!

Caden walked around and got some eggs from the grass.

Found some!

Hmm... what's in here?

In mid-March we went to the 3rd birthday party of a friend of Caden's (son of some friends of ours).  It was a fantastic day for an outdoor party, and we had so much fun.

Caden enjoyed the sand table.

I love his little boyish expression here :).

Spending some time on a blanket with my best girl.