September in a Nutshell

I just looked up the origin for the idiom, "in a nutshell" and found out that in old times, some scholars would try to reduce the size of literary works down to a small form, some resulting in parchments small enough to roll up and place inside nutshells. Why nutshells instead of, oh I don't know, oysters or leather satchels? I can't say; but, after reading about it, I've decided that I might have picked the wrong title because this post most definitely will not fit inside a nutshell, unless it were possibly a coconut shell, which technically is not a nut but rather a fruit from the 'dried drupe' family (thank you google). But then, as usual, I digress.

So, to clear things up, I will just say that I have taken all of my favorite and memorable parts of September and smooshed them all together, pictures and all, into one fantastically non-nutshell sized post. 

Our month started out with a fantastic, wonderful, fun and relaxing trip to the beach for, get this, JUST ME AND DAN!  I know, it's crazy right? We haven't taken a trip together since Logan was a little baby, but with the help of my good friend Diana in Atlanta, (thanks so much for watching the kids!!) we were able to get away. We had some good friends who got married down in Destin and Dan and I went to support them and help out with their wedding. I did the photography and he manned the music. It was so nice. We had one full day together that we spent at a pretty little spot called Rosemary Beach. We sat with our feet in the ocean, walked around and took pictures, ate at a fun little tapas bar and even ran into some good friends to chat with. It was such a good weekend.

The only downside was that we had to leave the wedding a little early and drive through the night to pick up our kids at three or four in the morning, (did I mention that I love you Dia?) then race home so Dan could make his flight. He had a week long business trip to Berlin, poor, tired man, but we made it, and he had a fantastic time!

Here are a few beach pictures...

After Dan got home, Ellie had her birthday! She is now officially four and loving every second of being a "big girl!"  What can I say about Ellie? Hmm, well, let's do her favorites.

1. Color: pink
2. Food: cupcakes
3. TV Show: Super Why
4. Activity: Daddy's i patch (ipad)
5. Song: Soarin' Flyin'
6. Animal: Pink Teddy
7. Nickname: Ellie Belly, Baby Ho Ho, Baby Bop
8. What does she want to be for Halloween? Princess Presto 

Ellie is full of smiles and energy. She pretends to be shy sometimes, but really she loves people and she loves talking. She is so calm at home when her brothers are away to school, but she is busy and will make impressive messes! Ellie knows she's the baby girl in this family. Still, she is always sharing and loves to make others happy! She says sweet little prayers, and plays with her babies and princesses all day. She loves the alphabet and is already spelling a few small words. (Thanks to Super Why!) To Ellie, Super Why=Happiness. She is obsessed and talks about the show, sings the songs, and imagines all things Super Why, all day long!  I love you big girl!

Oh, and she loves getting the mail!

For her birthday we had a few friends over for a cupcake playdate. It was a lot of fun!

Cake with the family after dinner.

Abuela and Abuelo were there "technically"...hee hee. Sorry.

Dan was the smarty who thought of taking the picture with them. I wish I would have thought of that earlier when she Skyped with G and G Braithwaite too!

A new school outfit I thought Daddy would love.

Right after her birthday, Ellie got vey sick. She threw-up six times and lost over two pounds! I think it was food poisoning from some Spagetti-o's cause she was the only one who ate them and the only one to get sick. It was awful.

Sick, but still smiling!

 The week after Ellie's birthday, my kids ran in their school's Boosterthon fundraiser. My camera battery was dying, so I only got a few! (lucky you!)

I spy with my little eye....blue eyes!

Thumbs up!

Owen made all thirty-five laps!

Cute...

Love his glasses! Linc wanted to wear them while he ran.

Little Michael Jordan! He made all thirty-five as well.

Logan's really serious about his race..

The only other picture I got of him before my camera died.

All boys made it to the end!

Logan's latest architectural accomplishment.

Ellie's first "official" day of pre-school. She had the open house the week before and went with her little friend because I had to be at the Boosterthon, but this was her first day to stay all by herself!

 Preschool buddies.

Alright Mom, you can leave now!

 My twin brothers came to visit last week and we had a lot of fun together! Here's our pizza night. I'm not sure why Ellie put on Daddy's shirt, but it was funny so we let her wear it.

My big boy nephew C. He liked to lick his pizza. :)

Loved this one!

With two extra families in the house, sleeping arrangements were a bit cozy!

Nate and Charlotte's cute family

C

Watching the trains at the botanical gardens.

Ellie had so much fun with her cousins!

:)

Joe and Liz's cute family!

My cute little brothers....awww, aren't they adorable?!

 We have two new additions to our family! Logan is now the proud owner of two rodents...he called them gerbils, but, they look just like rodents to me!  I'm not sure he's solid on their names yet, but so far they are: beige-Scardy Cat, black-Hyper/Shadow

 Those pink eyes, I don't know!

Last Sunday the kids were bored so they decided to make paper boats.

It didn't end well. The paper flaked into little pieces and it took me fifteen minutes to drain the tub without letting all the pieces go down the drain.

The boys loved it though! )Logan is anti-shirt these days, we're working on it. :)

And finally....

Just a random picture of me...nothing too exciting.

Although, when I put these two together, we really do look alike!

That is all for today! Now that I'm caught up, I want to post more. I need to convince myself to post even when I don't have pictures cause Heaven knows I have plenty of things to yap on about! :) Till next time.