{week 42}

It's fall, y'all! We headed into Week 42 with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch with some friends. Nothing says fall like hot apple cider, photo ops with tractors, hay rides & choosing just the right pumpkin. Or two. Or four. The week was surprisingly calm and aside from a moustached stranger showing up for dinner one night, we just ambled through the week. Kalea had her 4 year old well child check on Wednesday. She grew 4 inches & gained 5 pounds in the past year - apparently twice as much as average! After three shots & a finger prick she was worn out, got a fever & had to stay home from school the next day. She never does well with the day after vaccinations & this time around was no different, but she recovered after 24 hours and is now taunting her sister with her upcoming well child check shots! We celebrated her wellness with homemade apple tart & caramel sauce. It tasted like fall to me & both recipes were ridiculously easy. You should try them. Really!

At the end of the week we headed down to see Gran in Macon & spent Saturday with her at The Rock Ranch, a 1,500 acre ranch located about an hour south of Atlanta. They host special events throughout the year & we enjoyed lots of their fall activities including hay rides, bounce houses, pumpkin chucking & fishing during their Family Fall Days. It was such a fun time that we'll definitely go back next year or before, during their Christmas celebrations! We ended the day with Cade's family birthday dinner. He was spoiled with Mickey Mouse cupcakes & great toys from his cousins, aunts & uncles.

Fall sure does keep us busy but we love it!

{week 41}

The week was a good one with the end of fall break (allowing time for most of the germs from week 40 to run their course), Michael travelling a few days for work, hand-in-hand neighborhood walks, donuts with dad at the elementary school, sky writing & remembering our house in Salt Lake six years ago waiting for the 1st Lumpkin Pumpkin to make an appearance!

{week 40}

It feels like a Monday to me. Today is the first day back from fall break for our schools &, while the break was nice, it certainly feels weird to already be mid-week! I guess Friday is just going to come sooner than I expect, which will be a pleasant surprise!

Last week I made up for week 39's lack of photos...

Cade seems to be the only one who regularly stays still enough to photograph lately, so this week is heavy on the the little one. The beginning of the week we excitingly took off Cassidy's training wheels & Michael gave her a first lesson...then she promptly got a flat tire & so now I need to go get a new tube. It was a good start though. We celebrated Cassidy being chosen to attend the first principal's character breakfast of the school year - each month one or two students are chosen from each class - for her excellence in friendship. We're so proud of our sweet kindergartener!

Cade & I had several outings while sisters were in school to the park, he "helped" me back the car out of the garage, the thrill of the century, and he got to ride in Kalea's car seat one day on the way through preschool carpool. Currently he's still happily rear-facing but that day he had it in his head that he had to be in sister's seat...and a non-screaming, harnessed child is safer than one trying to take his harness off, so he won. For that day anyhow. Thursday started fall break & we had a couple playdates & Cade helped Michael coach Kilometer Kids one night. We even had a wedding between bride Princess Ariel, played by Cassidy, and Prince Eric, the goofy groom, played by Kalea. She always gets cast as the prince. Poor second child.

Over the weekend germs invaded the house &, much to my dismay, four out of five were down for the count by Sunday morning. It ended up being a relaxing weekend, full of a little too much movie & TV time but everyone seems to be on the mend now.

{week 39}

The week got away from me and, although it wasn't well documented photographically, we had a great week: Michael finished up his camping trip, Cassidy had Kilometer Kids, we attended Science & Math night at Cassidy's elementary school, Michael & I finally hung some better frames in the living room, Cassidy was chosen to attend the first "Character Breakfast" of the school year (a breakfast with the principal) and went on her very first field trip. Then on Saturday, we hosted a house full of 3 & 4 year olds for Kalea's Jake & the Neverland Pirates party, climbed some trees & watched the Georgia game with our good friends.

{week 38}

She never tires of getting tickled. It's been like that since she was little & I love it.

Aside from the crazy giggles we kept ourselves occupied this week with: a visit to see Sidney (cousin who is now attending KSU), texting pictures to Daddy while he was on a business trip, good Target scores & the beginning of Christmas shopping (this was pure accident, I'm usually NOT organized enough to begin early at all!!!), more texts to Daddy while he camped in North Georgia over the weekend, sister-brother bonding on the slides, giggling girl, Cassidy showing off her reading skills, Cade INSISTING on wearing a barrette one afternoon just like his sisters, movie night on the floor while Daddy camped, the realization that Cade just might be growing out of the crib & picture day at preschool with NEW BOOTS!

{week 37}

Despite the temperatures reaching the 90s this week, the air is beginning to feel a little like fall. Mornings at the bus stop require a sweater & we've been able to open the windows at night. And all the stores have begun advertising pumpkin flavored yumminess. So.hard.to.resist. 

This week was pretty low key. We've been outside a lot with the nice weather - and discovering a lot of really cool spider webs & different kinds of spiders. Cade is quickly closing in on 2 years old & has begun to assert his independence & share his opinions. Lovely, right? Especially when I phrase it that way. Cassidy earned an "Outstanding" certificate for her classroom behavior chart mid-week, a really big deal. She started back up with Kilometer Kids on Tuesdays & Thursdays where Michael volunteered to be a coach this session. Kalea started Little Stars, the U4 soccer team, on Saturday morning. Both girls are doing really well and seem to be a little more comfortable with their respective programs/practices this year. 

We snuck a {maybe last} swim in on Friday night & had the pool to ourselves for a hour or so. All three kids have come so far swimming this summer. Cassidy is swimming on her own in both the shallow & the deep end. She is still really tentative in the deep end but will at least jump off the side or the board & swim to the ladder. Kalea has no interest in swimming without her puddle jumper, but in the last couple weeks finally started jumping, assisted, off the side of the pool. Other than that she'll just putter around the whole pool playing & swimming. Cade is pretty fearless - with the puddle jumper on all.the.time. He'll jump off the side or the board, go underwater briefly, climb in the pool on his own (sliding on his belly) & loves being spun around or laying on his back to kick. We're really lucky to have access to such a great pool in our neighborhood.

Saturday Michael & I went out for a birthday lunch w/o kids, thanks to a friend who stayed with the kids for a couple hours. Then Saturday night we loaded up the strollers & cooler to head to a showing of Brave at the outdoor movie night at Swift Cantrell Park. We ate a picnic dinner, heard a story teller, got to see some neat camping supplies & meet Princess Merida before the movie started. And of course there were glow sticks to end the family night out. 

{week 36}

Week 36. We started out the week with a lazy morning on Gran's porch watching one of the biggest spiders ever sit on her web. On the other side of the screen, of course. After some good family time, food, swimming & cousins we headed home to spend Labor Day at our house doing not much other than playing - Michael is teaching Cassidy to play checkers - and enjoying the end of summer weather.

Later in the week we had dentist visits - Cade's first cleaning. The hygienist said he was the calmest, most agreeable one year old she'd ever worked with! He & I spent lunch at Cassidy's school as a treat one day and I started getting some new photos arranged in our barely decorated living room. We'll see how long it takes to go from the butcher paper layout to actual frames...with pictures!!!

{week 35}

I cooked a lot this week. I mean, I cook a lot every week, but this week I photographed it. And by photographed, I mean grabbed my phone with a greasy hand to take a picture. It was pretty yummy stuff. Warm pasta salad with summer squash, eggs in hash brown nests for make ahead breakfasts and stir-fry (that one I totally made up, so there's no link to a recipe). In addition, I ate one of the best peaches I've ever had. Good gracious. It tasted like summer.

We also "camped" in the backyard on Sunday afternoon, complete with bathing suits, bubbles, lawn chairs and koozies. The rest of the week was a blur of school, chocolate smeared all over our faces, dance moves, camouflage hats with flash lights in them, upside-down playground madness, a Fancy Nancy dinner all dressed up by our two fabulous daughters, a Lumpkin family reunion and gearing up for the first Georgia game of the year - complete with a new rhinestone enhanced baseball cap for Mommy. Priorities, you know?

We're settled in to the school year schedule. Up early and to bed early, which suits me just fine. Cassidy is still l-o-v-i-n-g kindergarten, Kalea comes home with a handful of crazy three year old stories every day and Cade seems to enjoy the peace & quiet that comes when his big sisters are at school. I'm enjoying the time with just my little guy & scheming up projects, recipes, birthday parties and other crazy things to occupy my time while Michael is looking forward to football season &, well, football season. What a great way to end August.

{week 34}

Week 34 started at church where the I had the chance to sing with a quintet that I've sang with a few times in the past year. It's a non-stressful, fun way to participate in the service that fits with our schedule. Then we had a lazy afternoon followed by birthday dinner with friends and some delicious cupcakes. I love cupcakes. 

We got busy as the work & school week started, since Cassidy was back to school already & Kalea got to meet her teachers, see her classroom and have a special morning out with Mommy. She started 3K mid-week & although not that keen on getting up in the morning, otherwise loves it. We had a special "first day of school" dinner of homemade macaroni & cheese topped with goldfish. (Get it? School of fish. Ok, maybe it was just amusing to me.) It's a little unconventional, but I highly suggest it. The kids were super excited. Cade decided to make the transition to the booster seat since adding one more milestone sounded like a good idea to him. No more highchairs!!! 

The weekend kicked off with the Pigs & Peaches festival here in Kennesaw. We're so lucky to live in a place that does so many family friendly festivals and events. We went with a group of friends and, between all of us, I think we had a thousand kids, forty-sixty strollers or wagons, multiple glow sticks and SO much fun. The girls each took a turn riding the big pink pig...if I ever figure out how to upload to YouTube again, I'll post them here! Saturday was perfect hiking weather so we went to Red Top Mountain, about 30 minutes north of our house, to picnic, play & walk a little bit. We ended the weekend at Henry's in Acworth, the kids got beads, saw a train while we ate & had an overall fantastic weekend!

{week 33}

Boy this week was well documented!! I did notice that four of twenty-eight are of the girls sleeping. I think maybe I just wanted to document them when they were peaceful. And quiet. And sweet looking. And also quiet. Did I mention quiet? LOL! We definitely have a household of talkers. Cade has joined the ranks lately and just babbles constantly with a splattering of real words and a bunch of unintelligible stuff. Michael commented the other day that Kalea may have a future in news reporting or as a town crier with the constant stream of things happening (and imaginary things she adds to the mix). He may be on to something.

We made it through the first full week of elementary school this week. Everyone was tired by the end of the week (hence all the napping pictures) but Cassidy's doing really well. She even came home with her clip on PURPLE yesterday!  The little ones & I filled up the week with playdates - a friend or two over at our house and a super fun messy MOPS playdate at a friend's house. That one inspired us to have some shaving cream fun at home later in the week and then - GASP - let them paint on the garage wall on Saturday!!! You should have seen the joy and surprise in their eyes when I gave the green light to move from the big piece of butcher paper to the wall while they finger/feet/body/hair/belly painted. 

I've had a hard time lately finding the balance between parenting and letting go to let Thing 1, 2 and 3 experience things on their own. And making sure to enjoy it with them. I'd like to blame the electronics (I admit that the iPhone is a semi-permanent attachment) or "things to do" but truthfully I may just need to LET GO. (Sometimes, let's be real.) Let them make a mess. (Let them clean it up.) Let them play together and disagree, then work together to find some resolution. (Is this real? Does that really happen? Or are your kids like mine & things just escalate until there's an all out battle. Complete with battle scars?) Let them decide what the schedule is sometimes and don't force my agenda. I know all of that sounds well and good and I'll try. Remember my word of the year, SPACE? Well, as the school year begins, I'm revisiting. 

Michael spoiled me on Friday, while the Cassidy was at school & Cade/Kalea were at Mom's Morning Out by taking me to the Le Creuset shop at the new outlets near our house. We picked three items to start a set of nice cookware. I'm so excited. SO excited. I also snuck in a birthday pedicure - opting for fall color because our weather here has been unseasonably cool recently. I don't mind so much, but I would like to get a little use out of the pool this month before it closes for the season! 

We spent Saturday morning exploring the Dekalb Farmers Market getting yummy veggies and fruit, then splurging on some delicious cheese, bread, hummus and tabbouleh for an at home date night.  Then we headed to my old stomping grounds, Apres Diem, for lunch. Quite a different experience from a decade ago when I worked there, but fun none the less. What a yummy birthday weekend! 

{week 32}

What a week!!! Thanks to our friend Julie for loaning me her real camera (since I left mine in Macon!!!) for Cassidy's first week of kindergarten. But, of course, I snapped plenty of iPhone pictures too! We started the week lazily with a pajama day crafting & watching movies in anticipation of the long week ahead. And also, my girls love anything bead/glue/glitter/mess related, so it was a win. Tuesday was the practice bus ride, meet & greet and then the big girl & I had a mommy-daughter date shopping for a first day of school outfit, a couple books - we got "The Kissing Hand" & "Llama, Llama Misses Mama" among other {tearjerkers}, and went out for lunch. Wednesday was the first day of school. Cassidy had a wonderful day and was all smiles getting on & off of the bus. The early morning totally wore everyone in the family out though. Cade took a monster nap in the afternoon and Kalea was asleep in her bed by 6:30 that night!!! 

So, we're adjusting. I'm making bigger pots of coffee in the morning, bedtime is earlier and, thankfully, easier for the most part. Kalea and Cade are getting to spend some quality sibling time together. (And I laugh, because JUST as I typed this, they started fighting. Yep, quality.) It hasn't been without a couple bumps in the road. Cassidy, on the surface, is doing amazingly well with such a big transition. However she's had her moments of complete meltdowns that seem completely unrelated - I'm sure due to being over tired and not quite used to everything. We're back to packing lunches, meal planning (that yummy salmon is this recipe. one pot, super easy, 25 minutes from start to finish) and seeing the sun peak over the trees in the morning. And blessed through all of it. 

{week 31}

The theme of this week seemed to be "lots of family time"! We started the week with the end of our staycation. On Sunday we went to the movies for the first time as a family. None of the kids had ever been to see a movie at the theater so it was super exciting. We saw Monsters University and they all loved it - even Cade stayed through {nearly} the whole thing. Then, on Monday, Michael took the day off & we went to Six Flags Whitewater. It's a huge - nearly 70 acre - water park that is just down the road about 20 minutes from our house. Although Michael had visited a long time ago, I'd never been there & neither had the kids. It.was.a.hit!!! There are tons of things to do for all ages. Cade & Kalea were most content in the sprinklers & toddler splash pads while Cassidy braved some of the bigger kid slides with Daddy. I'm sure it's something we'll do again {many, many, many, gouge-my-eyes-out-because-I'll-get-tired-of-it times} as the kids get older & they can be more safely independent. We picnicked for lunch & spent the majority of the day there. We ended the day with a trip out to dinner for seafood, since this was, after all, a replacement for our beach vacation. Delicious. Cade found a phone (I think it's honestly the first non-cell phone that he's ever encountered. How's that for a generational difference) & called Ming in Taiwan. Well, we pretended that at least! A fun and tiring day for all of us!

The rest of the week was pretty low key. Cassidy had her last Kilometer Kids practices, we went on a field trip to Publix {& got lots of samples} with MOPS friends (just like last year!!!), went back to school shopping for new shoes {of course both of the girls ended up with the crazy light up ones before I even knew what was happening. it's some sort of conspiracy.}. Cade was beside himself with the sheer number of SHOES in the store. It is, you know, one of his favorite words. "Shoes, mama!! Shoes!!!! Mama!!! Shoooooooooooooes!!!!!" Oh my gosh. He kills me with cuteness.

The three year old food battles are in full effect. Although only documented occasionally, it's thrice daily battle with Miss Kalea Lynn. She is just so SLOW. I was lamenting her slowness the other night when it took more than an hour for her to eat: 1/2 a veggie burger & a baked potato the size of a golf ball. I kid you not.  She kills me. (And also with cuteness. Just not in the moments I'm repeating, "Put your food in your mouth, chew and swallow. Sixty-ninety-forty-gazillion times.) My only consolation is that it's got to be a phase, right? One that every three year old goes through. Cassidy did. And we're destined to repeat in exactly two years with Cade. Oh man.

The week ended with an early start for The Run for Wounded Heroes here in Kennesaw. It was the culmination of Cassidy's summer training with Kilometer Kids and she did a fantastic job on her one mile race, not coming to a complete stop at all and only once or twice slowing to a quick walk. We are so very proud of her!!! Michael did the 5K portion of the race after the mile with Cassidy...and we're so proud of him too! We ended the day with fireworks that had been rescheduled from the 4th of July. What a week! 

{week 30}

Heading into week 30 we were glad to have everyone finally healthy. The kids attended Cooking Camp at the preschool which gave me a couple days to get things done at home & enjoy a little silence.

Cassidy continued practicing with Kilometer Kids for her upcoming 1 mile race. They had a practice 1 mile race this week & she did really well. And loved all the prizes after the race too! She also had her Kindergarten placement evaluation this week & did really well. She's a little nervous about a new school but we're all looking forward to school starting soon. I braved the "Back to School" crowds at Target one day with Cade while the girls were at camp. It's insane. Only 18 or so more years to go!!! 

The weather was really nice & the kids got to play in the backyard pool and water table a couple days. On Friday we went to the zoo with a bug group of MOPS moms & friends. I think there were something like 19 kids between all of us but group parenting worked out & we didn't lose anyone! It was our first visit since their splash pad opened. All three kids had a blast. It's much smaller than the one at Centennial Olympic Park where we went a few weeks ago which seemed better for Kalea & Cade, especially. 

The end of the week was really nice since Michael got off work early on Friday to start a little "staycation" going out to eat a new burger place in Kennesaw (Yes, burger place. The kids & I got quinoa burgers. They were super yummy. We're still vegetarian!) and going to a special event at The Southern Museum of of Civil War & Locomotive History. Cade was in heaven seeing all the choo-choos!!! A photog from the Marietta Journal captured a cute picture. We're couldn't find it published in any print papers, but you can see it online here.

{week 29}

We headed into week 29 with one sick kid and not far into the week the second and third one joined the club. And somehow everyone had a completely different ailment: Cade had croup & finally got his very own at home nebulizer, Cassidy had some allergic reaction on Monday afternoon where her eye swelled up & looked like she'd been punched and Kalea woke up Tuesday some sort of virus with a fever of up to 103° & stomach pain for the whole week. No fun at all.

Before the onslaught of illness, Michael & I got to go see Phish here in Atlanta thanks to our niece who came to babysit. We had fun & are looking forward the next four years when she's a student at KSU & available more often to have, what Cassidy calls "playdates with Sidney!"

VBS at our church was this week but since Kalea was sick, Cassidy was the only one to participate for the week. Luckily a sweet teenage member of our congregation lives less than five minutes from us & was willing to take her back and forth every day. 

The quote of the week came from Kalea, who was sitting watching me cook one afternoon. Somehow the subject of what the girls wanted to be when they grew up came up. Her response, "When I grow up I'm going to be a banana. I can't think of anything else to be."

{week 28}

We braved another week of rain, rain, rain by planning a Noah's Ark playdate for some MOPs friends, eating some yummy & pretty veggies from the local Farmer's Market & stealing an hour or two of sunshine at the pool mid-week. Our kitchen finally got completed with an online yard sale gem - a sideboard that matches perfectly for only $130! We're thrilled to have some extra storage for the unending kitchen gadgets I seem to accumulate. Later on Cassidy & a friend continued their "training" for the upcoming Run for Wounded Warriers 1-mile race...by being chased from one spot to another by yours truly. We ended the week in an unexpected trip to the ER with Cade for another bout of croup. Fortunately this time was a short stay and after a clear chest x-ray & a breathing treatment we were sent home to follow up with the pediatrician. Poor sweet boy!!

{week 27}

Happy 4th of July!!!

We eased back into normalcy after being away most of the month with holiday celebrations & enjoyed having Michael home for a day mid-week. Although it's been raining cats & dogs here most of the week, we did get outside for a few minutes of sunshine one morning and got to do sparklers on Thursday evening. The girls & I made a red, white & blue milkshake & a red, white & blue pound cake (strawberries, vanilla ice-cream/yogurt & blueberries). We had a lazy Saturday where Cade, practiced monster kisses with Daddy and Cassidy practiced reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to Michael & Kalea. We ended with week with our first rousing family game of Twister. We're glad so glad to be home!

{week 26}

We headed back to Georgia accompanied by Grandma Betty. It was a long drive, but the kids did really well and Michael had lunch, a drink & blue iced cupcakes waiting when we arrived home around lunchtime. We spent the next couple days at the pool, crafting with Grandma, dressing for any weather that might arise (yep, it was the first day of summer. they were wearing mittens, scarves & hats) and getting in some good cereal stealing, snuggle time. After dropping Grandma off at the airport, the kids & I hit up the fountains at Centennial Olympic Park where the kids had a complete blast and then went home to pack & attend a Kilometer Kids practice. The week ended sadly, as our beloved Poppy took a turn for the worse in the hospital and passed on Wednesday. We were blessed to have made it to Macon in time to be with him and Gran during his last moments, as well as spending the rest of the week with family. He was celebrated in an amazing, standing room only service showing just how many lives he touched with his humility, humor, faith and love. There is no doubt will miss him. 

{week 25}

Father's Day was a little sad without our Daddy, but we got to spend the day with Grandpa Doug for the first time in years. The week that followed was straight out of the "how to have the best summer ever" book: playgrounds, pools, strawberry picking, cousins, sisters, farmers market, cupcakes, friends, wine & four leaf clovers. Win, all around!

{week 24}

Pennsylvania!!!!! After a long overnight drive the prior Thursday, we were happy to be in PA with lots of family. Michael stayed through Sunday, then headed back home while the kids & I invaded the luckiest place on earth I (see also the dozens of four leaf clovers found while we visited) for the next two weeks. Cade had his first John Deere ride, then I hijacked the lawnmover and mowed in peace while other people watched my hooligans. We picnicked with cousins & kids of cousins, ran into Great-Grandpa & Uncle David at the grocery store, visited Hershey's Chocolate World to make our own chocolate bars and swam & swam & swam. 

{week 23}

The first full week of June was pretty low key, as I packed & prepared for our upcoming trip to PA. The kids started getting into the swing of summer with a couple trips to the pool, Cassidy enjoyed her running club, Kilometer Kids where she's "training" for an end of the summer race with a group from the Atlanta Track Club at Swift Cantrell Park behind our neighborhood, we revisited our "almost naked popsicle eating" tradition for our messy kids & I got a much needed fondue & cocktails girls-night-out at the Melting Pot.