Fall 2014

Fall 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Pumpkin carving

I missed the pumpkin carving this year, but David did a great job of documenting it!  The girls are at such a fun age - able to fully participate and be a bit helpful!  


Getting ready to carve her pumpkin!



They had a blast creating their pumpkins and getting dirty.  Pulling the seeds is always the best part!



They are super excited about Halloween - we've got festivals, trick-or-treating and a birthday party to celebrate - it'll be a fun-filled day for sure!



The girls couldn't wait to get the candles in the pumpkins and for the spookiness to begin!  They did a great job carving didn't they?

CE's pumpkin is on the top and C's is on the bottom 

Halloween 2014

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

First Birthday's and Syrup Sopping....

Our sweet friend, Parker, turned one a few weeks ago and we couldn't wait to celebrate!  Parker's parents are dear friends of ours and have recently moved to Auburn where Geoff is now the rector of Holy Trinity.  To say we miss them is an understatement!  We couldn't wait to get to Auburn to see their new house and celebrate sweet Parker.

 P getting ready for her first bite of birthday cake!

The girls don't believe in boundaries and if there is a party, by gosh, they are ALL in.  Had you not known it was Parker's birthday you might have thought it was the girls - ha!  They were in most every picture and right there to celebrate with P and help her eat her cake - aren't they so helpful?!

 The Cain ladies were right there to help her!

Parker has grown in leaps and bounds - we just can't get over it!  It was so much fun to be in the company of so many that we love!  Happy Birthday sweet P - we sure love you!

 They even got in on the yummy cake - which Caroline 
had been eye-balling since we walked in the door!

 P blowing a sweet kiss 

 Sweet thing!

 CE loves P

 Such a good friend - helping P walk

 Love this sweet girl

Happy birthday P!

Just a few miles down the road was the Loachapoka Syrup Sopping - so we had to stop by! We missed the prime festival time, but it was still neat to walk around and see all the booths and people. We heard from a friend they had face painting, so of course we had to do that.  The girls had a blast for the hour or so that we were there and maybe next time we can go earlier and get in on more of the fun.  





Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Grandpal's Day

Catherine Ellis celebrated Grandpal's Day with Pop Pop last Friday.  She was SO excited about Pop coming to school to see her and meet her friends and teacher.  She actually got out of bed before we began begging her to get up like we do most every other morning.

Pop has retired and is back home for good these days and boy is it nice to have him around! Catherine Ellis loves nothing better than showing off her Pop!  They had a big time and I think Pop had just as much fun as Catherine Ellis did.

We are super proud of Pop too for taking pictures of their special time together - tech savvy Pop!

Thank you for loving us so well, Pop!

 She's beaming!

 Her favorite thing to do with Pop!

Enjoying their time together

Monday, October 27, 2014

6...and counting

As soon as I type that we're six weeks out, I'm sure I'll jinx us, but just like everything else in life -we'll eventually get where we need to be, it's just probably not going to be on our timeline:)  So, the house is coming along.  We've been moved back about three weeks, but big picture that's okay. We're very ready to have a home to call ours, so we're a bit frustrated, but we understand this is all part of the process of waiting on lots of folks to come together and make your home livable.

We have the hardwoods down - they'll be finished once everything is installed, but I thought they looked so pretty natural too!  They are covered in trim and trash now, but the weekend they installed them gave us a great glimpse of what was is come!



The house has been painted twice now - it will receive one more final coat before we move in.  The color has turned out really nice!


The front of the house - bit of a shadow, but a better picture with the paint on the wood!

We've been going for a farmhouse type look - the trim is all craftsman and unique - the doors are five panel and we can't wait to see it all come together with paint and hardware.

 Doors (single)

 Trim around windows - hard to see in this one, but it's so pretty


 Door trim

The brick masons have started and just about completed their outside work.  They move to the inside sometime this week we hope.

 Front porch coming along

 Back patio steps to kitchen and master bedroom

We've had the opportunity to use our creative side and bring some unique character to the house. While it will be new, we want it to have an older look and one way we've done that is through reclaimed wood.  There is a warehouse here that specializes in reclaimed wood and it's a hidden treasure.  I happened upon it on social media one day and the rest is history.

We are incorporating the reclaimed wood on our kitchen island, built-in kitchen bench (will run alongside our farm house table) and our drop-zone/mud-area next to the laundry room.  We've visualized the look, talked with the carpenter and from here we just wait for it to come together - aka "living on the wild side" for a planner like me.  

Our mantle is also reclaimed wood that was found at the bottom of Mobile bay.  It had been living there for almost 100 years.  

 Elmore Pine - this wood will be used on the kitchen island and eat-in bench area. It's from General Elmore's House in Elmore County.

 Painted pine - this will be used in the drop-zone/mud area next to the laundry room

Mobile Bay Swamp Log - mantle in the downstairs den

Below is a glimpse of our built-in's - they are coming along - can't wait to see them all complete!

Eat-in bench area for kitchen (the lids open for storage!) 

 Drop-zone/Mud Area (bench, shelves)

 Close up of the built-in bookshelves in the den

 They are the perfect fit for that space!  I know we'll love having the storage!

And last, but not least, they are beginning to lay the tile. 

 Laundry room tile

Master shower tile


Master bath floor tile

The house has come a long way since the last pictures you saw - so that's good right?  This week should be a big week as the cabinets will finally be installed - for the love.  We understand once they are in everyone gets busy as little bees.  Let's hope so.  December will be here before we know it!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Little girl with a curl.....

Caroline finally had her very first haircut this past weekend - she's almost three and a half and hasn't needed one until now.  It takes the Cain ladies a while to grow their hair, but eventually it shows up! They are both bound to have plenty with as much hair as both David and I have.

Caroline was very curious at first and watched while Catherine Ellis got her hair did.  Catherine Ellis has had her hair professionally cut three times now and is a pro - she told Caroline she'd go first and show her how to act.  As you'll see in the pictures, Caroline didn't pay much attention and acted like her usual wild self!

 Taking it all in .....

Thank goodness the salon was mostly empty - in two hours time we about tore the place down. Caroline managed to get color on her hands and legs that we had to scrub off, picked up every hairdryer and comb she could get her hands on and carried almost every magazine from the waiting area back to our chairs in case we wanted to look at something.  Never a dull moment with this one!

 Being silly while waiting on Cat to finish

Caroline's turn finally came and I'm not sure who was happier to have her in the chair, me or Miss Brittney!  She was so excited and not the least bit afraid, thanks to her great big sister who paved the way.

 Before her hair cut - her fro' had gotten quite large - it needed some TLC

Next up was shampoo time and she had a blast - she wiggled and giggled and put on a show for Miss Brittney.  She's never, ever still - not even when she sleeps, y'all!

 Loving the warm water

 Getting all suds-upped!

She would stop every few minutes and say "take my picture mommy!"  Hopefully one day they will appreciate how they have been trained to love photos - it's the only way I know how to document the whirlwind of the Cain ladies.  Caroline is usually fickle about photos, but she wasn't this particular day.

 Her suds do....

Rinse time came and she wasn't so sure - she's like her Mama and wears her expressions on her face. She's a comedian, this one.  

 Being a nut....

She loved her towel crown.  Very special!  Isn't that the most regal smile?


Next up we bribed her with sprite (a real treat!) and candy to be still - I'll let you figure out below if she was still.  Miss Brittney is super talented to be able to give a haircut to a wild wee.  And thank goodness it's curly - it's harder to mess up!

 Admiring herself....

She laughed, cut up, covered her face, turned her head, jumped up and down and still somehow managed to get a great haircut.  She loved every single minute!  And her fro' wasn't nearly as tall and her curls looked much better with that first haircut!

 Loving every minute....

It's amazing how long her hair was wet - way past her shoulders.  But it was all very thin, fine and dead.  It needed to go.

Long hair when it's wet and straight.... 

She kept herself busy by making faces in the mirror.  Catherine Ellis and I spent the entire time laughing so hard at her.  Caroline LOVES to entertain.


Here's a little video of her first haircut and how "still" she was being:


And there she is saying she's so pretty:



The end result - a shorter fro' for Caroline and a cute big girl hair cut for Catherine Ellis!