Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanksgiving, Part Two

Today was part two of our Thanksgiving.
We spent the day with my side of the family.
More turkey and all the yummo fixins...food heaven.
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Hunter loves to lay down and drive his trains, cars, anything with wheels. :)

Harrison and Papa enjoying a pre-Thanksgiving dinner sucker. 'Cause that's what they needed.

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The girls (we're so outnumbered.) :)

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The lovebirds.
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More lovebirds. :)

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And some more lovebirds. There's all kinds of love here. ;)

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And the whole big family. Happiness.

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Thinking about making this my new profile pic of Facebook. What do you think? ;) Haha.

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Happy Thanksgiving!
Tomorrow the Christmas season officially begins for this girl. Even though our house is already decorated. I'm a step ahead, people. :)

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving, Part One

We are having a GREAT time with family and friends this week.
Today we spent the day with Brian's family.
I wore my skinny jeans in an effort to remind myself to pace myself today. Didn't work so well. Way too much good food. And we get to do it again tomorrow with my side of the family. :) Yummo.
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All of the cousins together...I think they all look like they could be brothers. (Photos taken by Leslie Hatcher)

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Nothing like a good card game with family on Thanksgiving. We played (and played and played) Toy Story 3 UNO. It rocked. :)

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And what would be a visit to Nana's house without some Wii time? Gotta love the Wii. :) Hunter has been playing so much lately that he smoked his older cousins in severalgames. Made me giggle. ;)

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I love this photo of Nana and Erik. So sweet.

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Ummm...time to eat? ;) Bring it on.

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A turkey coma hit Mike pretty hard. ;)

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More Toy Story UNO....

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And by some miracle, we got a family picture where everyone looks good and happy at the same time. Love it.

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Here's hoping your Thanksgiving was happy (and maybe included it's own miracle) too. Tomorrow, more fun with my side of the family, more delicious food, and I'll be wearing more comfortable pants. ;) Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Stream of Consciousness

Because I haven't done a stream of consciousness post in awhile. And there are so many thoughts in my head, so why not?
I can't believe how fast November is flying by. Almost the middle of the month already. Thanksgiving is two weeks from today...which makes my heart so very happy because that means that in less than two weeks we will be in Texas, celebrating all we are thankful for with family, seeing friends we haven't seen since summer, eating more turkey and stuffing (my favorite!) than people should ever be allowed to eat, and just relaxing and soaking up every bit of being back home again. Because even though this place is starting to feel like home in some ways, truth is...I'm a Texas girl. Through and through. Despite the fact that this peach state is growing on me. And I love the fall colors here. The trees are the most vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange I've ever seen. And speaking of orange....
Have I ever mentioned how much I love pumpkins?
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I have? Hmm...must have forgotten. :)

Today was parent-teacher conference day at the boys' school. Thankfully they were uneventful. Both boys are doing great academically, socially....huge blessings. And because of the conferences, today and tomorrow are half days. Which I love. Today I treated the boys to McDonald's for lunch. Which is a restaurant I had banned. Too many disturbing reports on the food quality, and I just can't stand the thought of that food digesting (or not) in their tummies. But I gave in today, with the understanding that it would be a VERY long time before that happens again. And as a reward (hard for me to think of it that way, but they certainly do) for their awesome teacher reports. They understand my issue, and were just happy to get to go, and THRILLED that it happened to fall while MegaMind toys were in their Happy Meals.

Yesterday Hunter and I met some new friends for lunch and to play. We have SO much fun with them. So fun. Jenny and I just click, have similar interests (including a love for leopard print and decorating, especially at Christmas) and our boys are the same ages. Hers are 3 and 4, and Hunter falls right in the middle. And they play well, and are always so excited to see each other. I'm loving it. And no, that wasn't a McDonald's reference. ;)

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Halloween weekend was Hud's last football game of the season. :( We're all a little sad about it. Loved his team, the coach, the parents of all the players...and most of all loved watching him figure this sport out and develop a love for it. He's begging to play tackle football instead of touch next year. *gulp* We're going to have to see about that...thankful we have a whole year to decide. So happy that Reagan and Mimi got to see one of his games.

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Have I ever mentioned that there are some OLD (like, Civil War old) cemetaries near our neighborhood? One of the really cool things about living in the South, I suppose. I love to walk up there and read the headstones...is that weird? Sounds creepy, probably, but I find it fascinating read the names, how long the people lived, how many family members are buried together. Always blown away by how many babies there are. Breaks my heart....I get lost in thinking about the parents and how devastated they must have been, and start imagining their story in my head. Is that weird? Probably. ;) Once when my parents were here my Dad found a headstone belonging to a Confederate soldier. Amazing, huh?

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And now I've got to get back to scrapbooking, getting the boys' stuff ready for school tomorrow, making a grocery list, clipping coupons, getting the kiddos to bed, etc. And tonight is my favorite tv night too...priorities, people. ;)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

(Over) Achievers

I'm a proud mama.
Can't help it.
I've posted many times over this past year about the mom guilt that comes along with plucking your happy, well-adjusted kiddos out of their happy comfort zone and planting them in a new place. Even when it's in the name of Jesus, it still kinda stinks.
After this past Friday, I have to admit I feel a little better.
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On Friday Hudson was given the "Student of the Month" award for his class. His sweet teacher talked about why she chose him, mentioning his generous heart and sweet spirit as a couple of the reasons during Praise and Worship.

I mean, look at that face. Does it get any sweeter? I think not. :) It is so, SO good to see him adjusting so well at school.

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And on Friday Harrison and his sweet friend, Blakely, were announced as the 4th grade Student Council Representatives during Praise and Worship too. We were so excited when we found out Harrison had won this week...he worked hard campaigning, gave a speech, etc, made posters to hang all over the school. Both of the boys are SO much more outgoing than I ever was as a kid, and it does my heart good to watch them dive in head first into their new school, making friends, rockin their grades....making an impression.
Like I said...proud mama. :)