flip flop little tree branch

i love the names avery gives to things..

we have called our home in asheville the "tree house" since we moved in and loved the feeling of looking out of our windows and seeing trees... (hence the fact that we still have no blinds in the upstairs windows)

so last april when we found a little camper (key word-little) up at lake james, it only made sense that she would want to call it "little tree branch".. we decided on flip flop.. and she calls it "flip flop little tree branch cabin" (gotta love names that are simple, right?)

here are some really sweet memories from our summer!

sooo, about catching up

wow. i am so behind on blogging... but i better get on with it. or else christmas will be here!

we had the best time in charleston (yes, that was this summer i think) :)
some sweet friends let us stay in their home while they were on vacation, and we gladly loaded up and drove there for the week!
it was so fun!!

avery called it "friend share beach house" (because, of course.. they did share it)
we jumped waves in the ocean, floated in the neighborhood pool, ate yummy seafood, and had a blast!

charleston

some generous friends let us stay in their home near Charleston this past week, and we had the best time!!!!
our kids discovered they actually DO like the ocean (despite screaming at the site of waves on all prior beach trips)
(more pics to come soon)

reasons i love asheville

my little one looks like a hippie already.


1 out of 3 people here have a boat strapped to the roof of their car, and jackson is on his way.. with his "paaa-poo" shown here


my random garden is actually not totally random in asheville... it's "cool"


you can nurse your baby wherever you want to... and you don't have to be discreet about it like this little cutie :)

show me that smile

if you say that phrase to jackson, this is the face you get. how cute is that?

my little nurturer

this is no uncommon scene... these animals are constantly being dressed, undressed, diapered, potty-trained, rewarded for going potty, swung in the outdoor hammock swing, fed in jackson's high chair, or, most commonly.. put to sleep. :)

i love coming upstairs to find these 5 snuggling in our bed... i wondered... really?? would all five of you REALLY sleep all piled up like that? well, who knows. but avery sure thinks it sounds fun.

to name them left to right:
katie-roo (the kangaroo),
baby (the little baby),
bridgeeeette (the rabbit),
emily or meeela or something, her name changes daily
lulu, the lamb who goes everywhere (remember LULU, grayson???!)

little rock & camp nana-pop

We recently traveled to Little Rock for an AMAZING 10 year reunion for Fellowship Associates, a church-planting program.. They loved on us well, and we had a great time!! We are so thankful for all the cheerleaders we have in Little Rock!! It was also a super-fun treat to spend some time with 2 of the other couples that we went through the program with in 2007-08.

Nana & Pop (Johnathan's parents) kept Avery for the weekend (they offered to keep Jackson too, but his asthma was all worked up, so he went with us). Avery loved:
Reading books
Reading more books
Coloring pictures
Listening to the rain (it was the weekend of the crazy flooding in TN!)
Baking Brownies with Nana
Sleeping on her "Princess Pallet" in Nana's room
Dancing
And.. having all the grand-parent love!!

She had THE best time.. And i am still hearing stories..
Here are some pics of our fun weekend!! (the black & white one is our fun friends who went through the residency with us in Little Rock, and have planted Redeemer Fellowship in Kansas City... (http://www.reachkansascity.org/) Katie & I were pregnant the year we were in Little Rock. The last time I saw Quinn, he was 4 months old.. He and Jackson had the best time in LR over the weekend!
(note the matchbox car city that Johnathan pulled down from his parents' attic.. Jackson LOVED it!)

you know you live in asheville when...

your 2 year old begs you to see his farm animals in the downward-dog yoga pose (referred to as "down dog" @ the Tree House)

lamp inspection

so i can't believe i am actually posting 2 posts in one day.. but this was too funny.

i wonder if these animals have just never seen a lamp before, or if they are hanging out like high schoolers in a parking lot on a friday night? jackson was very particular that they all face into the circle. :) i love this funny dude.

TRASH TRUCK!

monday (otherwise known as "monkey monday" here).. is trash day..

and most mondays, usually during breakfast, we hear the trash truck barrelling down our street.. it is required that, if you are the first to hear it, you must say, at the top of your lungs, "TRASH TRUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!"... the rest of the family drops everything (today, i was in the middle of french braiding avery's pigtails.. you can see we have one in, one out) to rush to the couch, and peer out the window to watch the truck pick up our big green trashcan & rush onto the next house..

and i am not sure why my kids love it so much, but if we miss it... well, let's just say there are some frowns involved.

it is quite an event.. and i love that our kids get so much joy from it..

:) (but i will say, that resuming breakfast afterwards is always a bit anticlimactic)

bling

this child loves shoes.
i mean, really. she changes shoes/outfits so many times a day that we have a new rule: only 2 outfit changes a day.
she changes when she goes outside to play,
when we go to the store
when we come in from playing
if scout licks her pant-leg
if my hands are wet when i am buttoning up the back of a dress
if she thinks my hands were wet when i was buttoning up the back of her dress....

the child spends more time getting clothes out & cleaning them up than she does playing!

today i took the kids to target so i could find some croc-like shoes for jackson, and avery took the opportunity to try on probably 20 pairs of shoes. no joke.
hello kitty, disney princess, dora, brown with pink flowers, pink glitter mary janes.. you name it, she tried it on.

but these... were classic. she exclaimed..
MOMMY!!!! LOOK!! these have diamonds on them!!!!!!!!!!!!

what's your name?

it's amazing that with all the chattering that avery & i do.. that i have (gasp!) forgotten that my little 2 year old dude is working up some words of his own. recently, he learned his own name (or at least, his nick-name.. jack-jack)
up until then, if asked, "what's your name...?" he would respond, "avray".. (yes, arkansas accent).. and then with a smirk, "sissy!".. but now, he points to his chest, and proudly says, "jack-jack"!



some other words he loves:
sawsaur (dinosaur)
(and if asked, "what's a dinosaur say?".. the answer is loud, with claws.. "RARRRRR!"
GREEN! (for all colors.. but mostly, for green.. interestingly enough, this was avery's favorite color at that age!)
(mama asks..."where's lambie?". his answer, with a certain nod of the head: (wash)
(because, honestly, with the amount of love that little lambie gets, i take every opportunity i can get to toss it in the wash)
his favorite word, though, is.. still.. BOAT. (just like his daddy)

:0 well, now, aren't you all impressed?
a video and a new blog, all in 48 hours??

i did it!

yes, we finally have a blog. that's it for now. just feeling accomplished getting this far. :)