Birthday Boy

This past Friday, Hammond celebrated his 2nd birthday.  I hardly have words for how precious this kid is to us.  But, here are a few I shared on Friday.

Hard to believe I've had the privilege of being this kid's mom for the past 2 years. Hammond James, you are certainly a bright light, an adventurous spirit, and you already love people so well. Happy happy birthday!

All of these words ring so true.  I've got high hopes for you, buddy.  And I could not be more thankful to be your mommy.

Pinterest Valentines Cards

I'm not even going to claim to be a Pinterest mom (see below if you don't know what I'm talking about….)

With that being said, I do love some of the creative ideas that come from the site.  Especially ones that involve holidays and/or kids!  Last Wednesday was snow day #4 (?!) for us, we were stuck inside, and daddy had to do some work from home.  So, we made homemade Valentines cards.  

I found this idea from Pinterest, went through our paint/craft supplies, and we were set. All you have to do is mold a toilet paper roll (sans the paper), dip the end into paint, and you've got a heart. :)

Hammond LOVED it.

cutie pie.  notice the heart shaped toilet paper 

roll in the bottom-ish right side of the pic

no pics from the heart shaped ones, as I was too involved guiding his hand.

but here he is when I let him have free reign with the paint brush.

the abstract card when to daddy :)

finished product

snow days

I've got no comments on the craziness that invaded Atlanta, followed by the snowfall, over the past few days.  But I do have lots of great stories and pictures!  

Hammond's first discovery of the powdery white stuff ::

trying to taste it :)

impromptu date night with his girlfriend and her parents :)

no real gear for the little man, so we did our best!

ziploc bags, covered with socks, taped on his wrist…worked like a charm,

 and his hands were sweating when we took them off!

no real sleds, either

but kayaks work pretty well!

another impromptu neighborhood party!

Once we knew everyone was safe and sound, it was a fun few days with family and friends!

happy new year!

I've been gone since November, and while I apologize, we've had a lot of life happen these past few months!  

But, I'll start your news years off with one of my favorite stories - 

Jamie and I are a part of a church in Buckhead that we love, appropriately named Buckhead Church.  From the time we committed to making this place our church home, we were well informed of their vision for members - Connect. Serve. Give. Invite.

Today's story comes from the Serve aspect.

Because of really great experiences that Jamie and I both had with our own college ministries, we decided to invest our energy and resources into the college ministry at BC.  And our lives will never be the same.

Three and a half years ago, we became adult leaders (ha! makes me feel old!) for a small group of freshman college students who would gather at our house once a week and attempt to learn more about Jesus and grow in their faith.  While we've seen some of those students come and go, there are a few who have stuck with us and we've had the privilege to watch them grow, mature, wrestle through some serious stuff, and become somewhat like our surrogate children.  Thankfully, we have at least a year left with most of them, but...

Two of those boys were Lucas + Victor, international student athletes at Georgia State.  They both came from Brazil and played tennis for four years.  Both of their stories were different, but the two became like brothers, and partly because they were so far from home we became their American parents.  

We've had the huge honor of seeing incredible life change happen in them over the years.  Victor made the decision to give his life to Jesus and got baptized (you should check out his video here!), they won countless tennis matches and even got to go to the NCAA tennis championship as doubles partners (and made it to the round of 16!), invested and changed the lives of all those that knew them, and brought such fun, hysterical laughter, and life!  

Victor and Lucas graduated from Georgia State University this past December, graciously spent the Christmas season with us, and then headed back to Brazil to begin their post-graduate lives at home with their families.  We are so excited to see what's to come for them, and yet sad to see them leave.  

Victor & Lucas, we consider you a part of our family (Hammond already misses his big brothers!), and can't wait to come visit soon!  

And here's an awesome video they put together for us just the other day!

Snapshots

October was a full month!  Here are some of our highlights (mainly of the cutest Hargather :) - 

Hammond's learned to say "cheese" for the camera

loving on our sweet neighbor-dog, Tucker

spending quality time with one of my favorites,

in one of my favorite college towns

date night selfie

yard work with daddy

the cutest little monkey I've ever seen

with his strawberry friend, Harper

neighborhood official Halloween social

playing around with daddy's wig

Halloween night with friends

We have been busy, but having a great time! And the little baby in my belly is certainly growing (maybe one day I'll actually take a photo…poor second child!).  

pumpkin...everything

Y'all know as soon as the weather gets just a little below the sweltering heat of summer, I go crazy for everything pumpkin.  Here are just a few recipes I've tried (and would totally recommend!).

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies 
- recipe by Lindsay (so, it's a much healthier version!)


Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Bread
I used the pumpkin cake bar recipe, but substituted oat flour for regular flour (and baked it longer in a loaf pan).

Pumpkin Croissants 
(if I'm honest, not my fave...not quite sweet enough for me!)

Pumpkin Cookies
These were actually made by my friend, Laura, and were amazing...good enough to share!

Yum!!!

Baby H.2

We're excited to tell you that Hammond's going to be a BIG brother!

Little brother or sister Hargather is due April 14, 2014 (or 4.14.14...lots of 4's!).  

And we won't know whether it's a boy or girl until April, so I guess we're calling this one Baby H.2?