All Blacks: September in Snapshots

So I don't like doing "monthly" updates, however, the days zoom by at warp speed and before I know it, another month has passed. I'd love to not have a zillion pictures on each post but until that day, here is a qua billion snapshots from September....ENJOY!!

Here is my favorite wall in our house. I just LOVE it. It turned out exactly how I imagined it. These are some of my favorite pics of the girls.....oh, how I love these two little miracles!!

We had to take the girls to their new (well, she actually was their Dr. right after they were born, but then we moved) Dr. to get a check-up and a few FUN shots. Yay. It's so interesting...Gabbie LOVES going to the doctor. She actually asks to go every day. It's crazy. Jocelyn, however, starts screaming when we walk into the building. She won't even stand on the scale to get weighed without completely flipping out. It's fun times. Very happy the daddy was able to come with us....

This is a pic BEFORE the nurse came in to give them their shots....obviously....

They both checked out great and actually weighed the exact same and were the exact same height. Crazy. I always think one of them is bigger or taller than the other but they never are.... They are currently weighing in at 30 lbs and at the moment I can't remember their height....surprise...

What do we do EVERY SINGLE AFTERNOON??

Right after their nap they go get their babies and their strollers and we proceed to take "our babies" on a walk down the middle of our street while we dodge oncoming vehicles. Nice. Oh, how I miss sidewalks....

Getting our babies ready....

Gabbie was "speed-walking" her baby on this particular day...leaving Jocie and me in the dust :)

After our daily "taking the babies for a walk" walk, they head to the back yard to swing and swing and swing.....

Then on to the slide....for some reason they like to go down the slide "backers".....

Oh, wait....I think I am going to go down on my booty.....

Nah....backers is better....

Then on to the sandbox.....

So, there you have it...our daily afternoon activities....

Our fabulous friends, the Crooms, came into town and we were able to visit with them for a few hours one morning. It was so fun having all the kiddos play together for the first time ever and it was so great to catch up with Chip and Shelley. Hanging out with y'all made us miss you even more! So great to see you guys!

Me and Shelley

Shane finally took a day to work in our yard. It needed some major improvements. The girls decided they wanted to help daddy so he could get the job done MUCH faster :)

Their favorite part was getting to hammer all by themselves :)

The carport was the former TRASH HOLE. I am so glad the daddy cleaned it up. It looks so much better....

Our back yard somewhat slopes so when it rains, the water pours right towards the carport and house. Shane put up a bunch of landscaping timbers (with the girls help, of course) to try to stop the rivers from flowing into the carport area. He wants to put some sod down in the spring in the back yard....we shall see :)

He also made this cute little patio for our cedar swing and rockers that my dad made us several years ago. Great idea, Shane!

He got a TON of pine straw to distribute in the very bare areas of the yard....

Cute little azalea bed...another fabulous idea...

Someone gave us this porch sign for a wedding gift many moons ago. I can't believe we've been married that long!

Front yard....He made a little walk-way....since the grass never grew their anyways....

This was a small flower bed that we build several years ago...Shane is in the process of turning into a much larger bed. I like it. I think it will look super cute once it actually has something other than dirt in it :)

One of my favorite things about our house is the big oak trees we have in our yard, specifically this enormous one in our front yard. I love going out and swinging on the swing hanging from it....especially in this fabulous weather we have been having lately....

I do believe that Shane will be playing intramural football until he is at least 80. He loves it and in his words he "can still hang with those young guys" :)

Sisterly Love....at least occasionally :)

Say "cheeeeeeese"....

I love this picture.....

One of Shane's three jobs right now is working with the South Alabama football team as their player-development coach. He loves it. The girls LOVE going to the Jaguar football games. Love it. Here they are at the first game of the season. My mom came over to help me with the girls (thank you is an understatment :) Their favorite part is the band. Daddy is SOOO excited that they are becoming football fans :) The only drawback to this whole "taking two 2-year-olds to a big football game" thingy is that I spend a majority of my time there in the bathroom. Nice. I literally took them to the bathroom 12 times in 2 quarters. SOOOOO fun :)

Jocelyn pretty much just sits in one spot and takes everything in....the fans, the players, the music, the band...everything. Gabbie, on the other hand, roams. She walks up and down and back and forth along the bleachers. She will not sit still for more than a minute. Oh, how different those two are!

Watching the balls get shot up into the stands by the cheerleaders after a USA touchdown....pure amazement....

The girls started taking piano lessons this month. haha. They are each other's teacher :)

The girl's started going to Mom's Day Out (aka "school") on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-1pm. I would be lying if I said that I had not been counting down the days until school began. Mama needed a few hours of quiet sanity. Bad. They go to this great little Christian preschool that some good friends of mine introduced me to last year. Yes, I signed them up last NOVEMBER for them to begin this September. Let's just say I had an inkling that a few hours of school a week was going to be a great thing for them and for me :)

Here they are on their way to their first day of school. They were super excited (as was I). Jocelyn had a rough first few days there....lets just say she had alot of "passion" that she "showed" all the other kids in her class. haha. For some reason she was super aggressive with her classmates and spent most of her time the first several days in time-out. I'm glad to report that she has gotten alot better the past few weeks. Gabbie absolutely LOVES going to school. The teacher told me the other day she is the class "mom".....she takes care of everyone and all the toys, etc. That's so her. She is very mothering. And Jocelyn is very passionate, for sure. She is just having to learn how to channel her passion in good ways :)

First day of school....

Walking in with their lunch boxes Aunt Julia gave them. They love their "lunch purses" :)

For some reason my camera was acting up and I didn't get a clear picture...frustrating!

Checking out everything....

Second day of school...so cute!

Occassionally I take them to the mall to ride the horsies....

Look at this face!

Sweetness....

ALL the babies eating breakfast....

One of my fabulous friends, Annie, celebrated her birthday at the beach for a weekend with a bunch of friends,. I had to work on Saturday, but Shane and I were able to go to Gulf Shores for Friday night and Saturday morning (thank you again Brynn and Kristina for watching the girls!). We had a blast! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you, Annie!

The birthday girl!

The celebration crew at dinner on Friday night....fun times!

After an unusually late night out....

the girls get up and have their morning coffee to be able to survive.....

They guys wake up and start playing spades?? they're weird....

The biggest bunny-ears I've ever seen on a T.V.......

Celebration crew...the morning after.... haha

We all stayed at one of our friend's beach house....

It's so awesome b/c you walk out the back door and see this......

I was so sad we had to leave Saturday morning....it was such a beautiful day. BUT, I was extremely thankful we got to get away for atleast one night :)

I atleast got to let my feet feel the sand and water before we left.....

I seem to have lots of playdates these days with friends that have kids the girls can play with. It makes the days so much more enjoyable :)

Here the girls are with their friends Becca and Ruby.....

Our hearts and prayers have been with Becca, Ruby and their mommy and daddy (Shay and Kevin). A few weeks ago, Shay gave birth to their third daughter, Ginna, who was unexpectedly stillborn. Please pray for our friends as they continue to grieve their loss and as they put their hope in our God who is good, loving, and in control of all things. Pray He will comfort them like no one else can....

Sweet pic....

One of my good friends, Lindsay, came down from Tennessee to stay a few days with us. The girls loved having Lindsay "live" in their playroom. Lindsay and I took the girls to another USA football game. They sported their jaguar t-shirts...which they were SO proud of... :)

Lindsay and Jocie

Gabbie roaming the bleachers... :)

Jocelyn loves cheering and clapping with the cheerleaders and dancing when the band is performing....it's so cute!

Suckers.....a mama's best friend....

One afternoon I was in the sunroom playing with the girls. A friend called my phone and since the girls were playing so well, I decided to answer it. I walked out of the sunroom and into the living room to talk to her for a few minutes. After a bit I realize that the girls were completely quiet. NEVER a good sign. I walk to the sunroom and as I walk passed the laundry room door I hear laughter coming from inside the laundry room. I open the door and to my horror, see both my children "swimming" on the laundry floor....bubbles and liquid COVERING the entire laundry room....I had put this bottle of laundry detergent on the floor next to the washer a few days before. Obviously they had walked into the laundry room, seen the bottle, took the top off, poured the ENTIRE bottle into the floor and then proceeded to go swimming in it. I was so flustered I didn't think to take a picture of them swimming among the bubbles....however I did take of pic of the massive amount of towels it took to BEGIN to soak up the wet mess. It's funny to me now. Definitely NOT at the time :)

Some of our great friends, Colleen and Jason (former students here at USA when we were with Campus Outreach), invited us over to their house for dinner. They live WAY out in the country outside of Mobile. They got married last December and built this log cabin THEMSELVES. It is SO pretty. It's hilarious because Colleen is from Canada and used to make fun of "southern boys" when she first came down to southern Alabama to play volleyball at USA. The fact that she is married to one of the countriest boys I've ever met and they live in stix makes me laugh So hard!

The girls LOVED being out in the country. They got to see all sorts of animals along our ride out to their house as well as when we got there. One of their favorite was this real life deer! They wouldn't get too close b/c they were afraid it would get them :)

They loved driving their "paw-paw tractor". My dad (PawPaw) has a tractor and they think every tractor they see is actually called a paw-paw tractor....too funny!