Two and Twenty-eight.

Our little "Jig" is 2!! He was none the wiser, and could've played with the first toy he unwrapped all night long :) Here are some pics of our little man:

 He was not that into the Mama-made apron...

For my birthday, we spent the afternoon at the North Georgia Folk Festival. There were some great (and a few not-so-great) musicians, and we had a lovely day with friends and cool weather.

               There was a very talented face painter.

 I didn't move from this chair most of the day (huge belly) :)

Four

The little doll is four!!! We went on a short family getaway to Blue Ridge, Georgia, and had fun swimming, getting apples to make apple butter, and riding on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway (a hit for our train-loving girl!). Here are some pics of the requested birthday dress Mama made for her, and of our trip to "North Georgia":

Made from an old pillowcase (http://gingercake.typepad.com/gingercake/2010/05/pillowcase-nightgowns-free-tutorial.html).

Little man was quite upset I pulled him from his Daddy in order to document I was acutally on this trip! :)

Handsome hubband and I.

All (five) of us.

The ladies have been working...

When we returned home from our Christmas vacation in CA, we found that our chickens had finally started producing! Lulu, Gretel, and Lady Jane Grey are now earning their (delicious!) keep :)

Pro-choice?

Can you answer the question in this movie?

Removing wallpaper is torture (and other tidbits).

Please, please don't ever put up wallpaper on drywall with extra-strength glue. Removing it is miserable. Curses on the contractors who did this!

Anyways.

The rest of this post is titled: Happiness is... :)

Happiness is your first sleeping bag.

Happiness is getting pumpkins.

Happiness is sitting together by the cozy fire.

Happiness is dressing up with your best friend.

And getting your face painted.

Happiness is hiking up to see a pretty waterfall.

Happiness is riding the giraffe.

And the train. Praise God for this smiling, healthy face!

What we've been doing...

Lots of canning the past few months. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, plums!

This is Watson Mill Bridge in Comer--shallow water with some small swimming holes and natural little water slides :)

                                           Jonathan's mom and some sisters came for a visit:

The little doll spent a day in CA with her sweet cousin:

We drove to Oregon to go camping near Crater Lake and saw a beautiful waterfall:

Can't leave out the county fair! The "kids" all had a blast ;)

              The grandmas hopped right on the carousel (along with Uncle Christian):

The little doll is 3!!



Camping

Last month we went camping in Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina with some dear friends. We had fun during the day...The little ones had colds and were up most of the night unable to breathe through their noses, and it ended up being in the upper 30's--really cold. So the second night we stayed with our friends parents in their beautiful lodge-like home 5 miles away. We hiked up the Blue Ridge and saw some beautiful mountains...I forget how much I miss mountains here in GA until I see one...it's sad when your 2 year old points to a tall building and says "Mommy! A mountain!"...ahem....anyways, she did a great job hiking and wants to go again! Here are the visuals:

                                                               Handsome hubband

                                                                        Buddies

This progression of pictures is funny. Trying to get 8 people looking at the camera (smiling is an extra bonus!) at once is quite a challenge. I have new respect for my mom-in-law having wrangle everyone together for the yearly family photo (16 ppl and counting).

                                                                   Sunbonnet Sue