Acker Country Living: Mary Turned ONE! ...over a month ago...

Not surprisingly, we have had a LOT going on these days! I haven't even been teaching this semester, and I have had such a hard time finding a minute to post a few pics and a couple stories on here. So here are a couple stories and a LOT of pics.

We'll start with our youngest: Mary turned ONE back on April 5th! A few days later she started walking. She went from no steps at all to like 10 all in one go. And on that same day she began walking, she gained a good bit of extra sass in her pants. She thinks she's grown and tells me about it often! Both the walking and the sass have increased over the past few weeks; we will hopefully be seeing a decline in the latter here shortly... ;)

John has been able to go turkey hunting (read: turkey calling for 5 minutes followed by an hour of mud playing) with Pete a couple times since that season opened, which has been a dream come true for him. He LOVES getting up at 4:30am to go sit outside with his daddy. This last time they went, Pete referred to the turkeys they were looking for as "big ole turkeys," and that has since become John's favorite adjective. Last night's storm had some "big ole thunder!" and on our walk yesterday, we saw some "big ole trucks!" He's also adding syllables to all the words he can, making him a true southern boy. John's as cute as they come.

I'm convinced Susannah is ready for kindergarten, and she's only going to preschool this fall. She is SO smart and wants to learn SO much, and she is out of luck with a mommy who just doesn't do elementary school. She is pretty much self-taught in writing the alphabet, can do kindergarten math, knows how to rhyme, and so much more. She's also beginning to show empathy, which is what I've been told is more important than any book knowledge. I wish I could claim any one of those things as something I've taught her, but alas, the girl is just a dream child who learns faster than I aim to teach. I hope she's not so bored in school that she starts dealing drugs to fill time.

OUR HOUSE IS UP! We are so excited about the progress over the past several weeks. It's been one brushfire after another (none of which I deal with -- I just hear about them at the end of the day), but our general contractor is amazing and puts them out without anyone dying in the process. (Peter K. Acker is our general contractor, for those who don't know that. He's not for hire though; this is most likely his first and last house.) Now that the structure is up, Pete and I both can hardly contain our excitement to get our family in it! It's going to be beautiful and perfect for us; we only have 5 months of work left (aka foreverrrrrrr).

Back when John's leg was still broken. The day they broke ground! John was ready to go to work!

The basement.

Putting up that frame.

Signing the frame! Even Mary "wrote" her name.

I took a few minutes to write some verses on our door frames. This one is on the entrance to the master bedroom, as it's been my marriage verse since we got hitched!

This is on the frame for our sliding glass door, which is right by the dining room.

This is on one of the kids' room's posts. Praying this for me each time I enter their rooms and their lives, so that this is true of them as they go out into the world.

Lookin like a real house!

That porch makes all the difference. LOVE IT SO MUCH.

The doors and windows and deck are all in now, too, but I don't have pics of that. I'm in love with this place already, and there's not even siding or a roof on it yet. Can't wait to start our life here!

Here are some more pics and videos from the past month and a half:

Not the best picture, but for the past several weeks, I've been babysitting a little girl 3 days a week. MOMMING HARD over here, y'all.

The best family pic we could get on Easter Sunday. I colored that whole wall behind us, btw.

Love these little Easter chickies.

Chillin like a villian

I don't care what other people say: you absolutely take as many pics of your third as you do of your first.

3 happy faces at the same time is hard to catch!

We went to dinner with some friends one night, and our buddy Kyle asked if he and Sus could sit at a table by themselves. Good thing he didn't pay, or this would be her first date!

Texting Doc McStuffins and Elsa.

We're serious about our Highlights magazines!

Left these kids alone outside for 5 minutes...

Mixing up the plaster for some handprints! A super fun craft Uncle Steve sent the kids!

Susannah said, "Look at my fancy decorations, Mommy!" Yikes...

Back in April, I was able to go to the beach with 7 of my best friends here for 4 days. These looks tell you everything you need to know about their feelings when I told them they weren't coming.

For four glorious days, we were young and free once again. (And then quite ready to get back to our children!)

The very next weekend, Pete and 9 of his buddies went camping for 4 days! Their trip may have looked completely different than ours, but 4 days in the woods for my man is just as refreshing as 4 days in a beach cottage is for me! (They were doing senior pic poses.)