a few weeks ago i got a call late in the evening from one of my best friends from grosse pointe: allison. we don't get a chance to talk much and for sure don't see each other enough. it's been 2 YEARS since i've seen her. we've both had babies since then and haven't met one other's little boy. so she calls and asks "can you get away for the next few days?" without much hesitation i say yes! she then preceded to contact 2 of the other women that we're in our small group when josh and i were in grosse point 5 years ago.
so with a few hours notice i was packing up the kids to head out to meet up with her at a farmhouse in lake odessa, which is just 20 minutes south from my parents in ionia. what turned into a long shot of getting 4 moms and their kids all together in one setting, actually came to be. we had 13 kids ranging from 7 years to 6 months. sounds crazy, but it was surprisingly easy and FUN!
the moms: jen, allison, kelly and myself
these women are amazing! we had the best time catching up after 2 years, meeting each others kids, 4 new ones since our last get together and feel refreshed as a mom after our time together.
it's funny how 7 years ago God placed allison in my life at a work dinner for josh just before we moved to GP. she was the easiest person to talk to and had such a heart for God and living it outright. at the time we met, she was pregnant with her first {emily}. when we moved to GP later that summer we started hanging out weekly watching ALIAS and then LOST at her house. we didn't have kids so it was an easy thing for us to come to their house, snuggle the newbie baby and fellowship with one another. we got hooked into the "work" church {the church that seemed like all the guys from josh's office went to} but hadn't found a small group to join just yet. after about 6 months of hanging out with allison's family they asked us to join their small group...an answer to prayer.
it was a diverse group of people, but somehow they were all intertwine from high school connections in GP to coworkers from josh's office...we were for sure the outsiders. at the time i didn't realize how strong our friendships were. we were only in GP for 2 years before moving to stevensville. leaving our group of friends was hard, we had found solid believers who loved living their life out for God. it's amazing to see how God had placed these women in my life for such a short amount of time and yet i feel so close and connected to them even when years pass us by.
the gants: jen, emerson, ben & ainsley
jen and i worked at a summer day camp when she was pregnant with emerson the year before we left. such a fun way to get to know one another. her husband jason is handyman like josh, both were remodeling homes while we were there and i even lived with jen and jason for a week in between my school year ending and moving to the west side of the state. josh's job had started before i was done with school and i wasn't a fan of living alone for a week in a house just off of 8 mile {it was the good side of 8 mile, but none the less not a fan of being a lone at night} so i moved in with jen and jason for week.
the smiths: allison, emily, peter, josh {yep, they had a josh too! i think they liked us:)} and colin
allison joked after having emily that they of course needed a josh, and well they did! allison had the chance to spend one extra night together at the farmhouse due to michigan weather. the day we were suppose leave a winter weather came through and made it unlikely for me to head west into the storm without some difficulty. the other girls headed back east and didn't even see a trace of snow, gotta love the lake effect! but it was perfect, to have one more night just the 2 of us.
the smith's: kelly, rachel, josh, luke & lydia
kelly's husband played a huge role in my teaching career the 2nd year we were in GP. the first year we were there i taught at an inner city charter school. i can honestly say out of the 6 years i taught, that was by far the WORST! scott, her husband was working at a christian school in detriot and put in a good word for me and resume and with God's planning, I was teaching the following year in the same christian school as a preschool teacher. when we left kelly had just had josh and rachel was just a toddler, it was so fun to see them as kids now and meet her other little ones. kelly and i talked a lot about homeschooling, she's a former teacher and is now homeschooling her 2 oldest ones.
all 13 kids!
can't get all 13 to look, but we could get all 13 to sit for at least 15 sec. for me to snap a few photos. loved watching them all play together. it was fun to see the kids introduce themselves and get to know one another over the few days we spent together. you'd think we'd done weekly playdates with how well they all got along, listened and simply loved hanging out with one another.
game time
many trips outside with the new puppy
the older kids took the little ones tracking hunting for all kinds of animals
the farmhouse sits in the middle of nowhere! it's an old farmhouse that josh's former boss owns, he's added onto it and turned it into a retreat place for any family who needs it.
elle and lydia hanging out
ben making some playdough cookies for us
we quickly realized the next time we plan this spur of the moment trip we're at least stopping at a meijer before we get there to get some snacks for the moms! we planned well for the kids, but forgot about ourselves...why does that always seem to happen. next time, chocolate & wine!
anything will can be turned into a toy
lydia and colin keeping themselves busy amongst the older ones running around
elle and jen...love this!
sweet colin, so close to walking during the week and now a few weeks later is taking his first steps on his own!!! way to go at 10.5 months
walking to the train tracks to leave pennies to be smashed! have to be creative when you're out in the middle of nowhere.
the bunk room!
a huge room devoted to kids, lined with 4 double bunk beds and extra mattress to jump on...a kids dream come true.
beckett babysitting ainsley...rocking her to sleep.
music program before bedtime
the girls being crafty
this girl cracks me up, she'd always have a silly smile on her face when you pulled the camera out.
baby ainsley
the girls {minus ainsley}
beckett seemed to find just the right time when all 4 moms were either talking or busy making dinner to quietly ,amongst the other 12 children, slide the kitchen chair over to the fridge, climb up and get some water {without a cup} leaving a puddle of water on the floor. resourceful? i'd say yes! little stinker...but we were all laughing at how clever and quiet he was about it with all of us in the same room.
what an amazing a few days with old friends. we've decided to make a yearly thing and hopefully next time we can plan to have some of the other women from the group join us too. i'm so thankful for who God has placed in my life in the past and present, and look forward to the other people that are to come that will leave lasting impressions in my life and my children's life.
