Home...

This weekend, I got to go home. (I know, I know... home is where my husband is. But you know... home home.) Since I'm the only sister who doesn't live in the same town, it's really hard to be away but nice when I visit because everyone's already in one place. =) And, since a picture's worth a thousand words, I present you with approximately 34 zillion words (don't worry... in picture form... I'll try to minimize the captions.)

A trip to the mall of Georgia included destroying the Disney store and a blurry ride around the carousel. (Leslie was less than impressed, Emily rode sedately on her steed, and Baby Steven shouted "Hose! Hose!" the entire time, while never catching on that his "hose" was not going faster despite the kicks from his chubby legs.

Oh... and I got to meet this little guy. Can I just say that I am completely and totally in LOVE with his adorable squishy face and sweet smile and ridiculous amount of hair. I asked, and I'm his favorite auntie, in case you were wondering. 

And then there's the fat man of many faces... I think here his sister was tickling him and he was throwing french fries while shouting "Fies! Lah-ley! Fies!" 

Did anyone else watch the Psych party on Friday night? We watched the first part and went home (because we're wimps) but our dears Rory and Claire hosted a lovely viewing party, complete with waffles, bacon and sausage. (The pineapples were there in spirit.)

More of the fat man... He got LOTS of kisses from Auntie Ashley because, well, his fat face just needs to be kissed quite frequently. (I'm annoying you now, right? He grew weary also.)

My darling brothers-in-law are so handsome, especially Jake.

And Leslie is officially the most adorable 2-year-old ever. She is like a doll come to life (Ashee! I luh you! I luh you!") and despite the fact that she attempted to rip every hair out of my head (as evidenced in the above picture) she is my sweet baby! 

The obligatory sister/mama photo shoot... complete with sassy candids from Apes and Ames. So confident, those two.

We had breakfast on Friday morning at Midway Meal House (soooo fattening! soooo good!) and Emily and Steven were, as usual, so very camera shy. 

Some random shots... baby Steven WEEPING after being sung Happy Birthday to, Landon's ridiculously fat cheeks, Mom's homemade chicken noodle soup (yum!), the BELOW empty gas tank on Friday night (with no! gas! stations! open! God forbid anyone in Cumming should have a fuel crisis between the hours of 11-2!) and Emily strutting on her way to church. That's the view I saw of her most of the day, since she is a 24-year-old in a 4-year-old body and does not care much about what I say by way of commands. 

Although most of time she is a real peach. (To which she replies, "No Auntie Ashley, I'm just a pineapple." Such a clever child.)

I went with Amy to get her new iPad mini... hooray for FaceTime! (I'm sure it's just me she's excited to FaceTime, too =)

Love this guy!

As usual, the trip was far too short and leaving was hard (even though coming back to Jonathan was easy =). As usual, my maternal skills were tested ("Baby Steven... please don't tackle your sister." "Leslie... get that mascara out of your mouth!" (no joke) "Emily, please don't run away while I am trying to make you pretty for church." As usual, I went shopping (and got some great deals!) As usual, my mom spoiled me (clothes! food! dessert!) and I stayed up way too late with Dad watching Dick van Dyke and Andy Griffith. And there was lots of sister-chatting, niece-and-nephew-kissing, brother-in-law-mocking (of me, mostly) and just a generally jolly time. 

So, back home it is... and my house seems very quiet without dogs barking INCESSANTLY, children screaming over pieces of train sets and a whole bunch of people talking at once. I do like it both ways. =)


Ash