Merry Christmas!!

Hope you're having a wonderful week! Been taking a little break from bloggy world...busy with school Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, visiting Santa (took two tries to actually see him, but whatever), making cookies, wrapping gifts, sitting in front of a fire with the hubs...you get it. :)

Hope you have a very merry Christmas~ I'll be back with plenty of stuff to share in the new year!

Rockstar Heaven and Other Stuff

It's no secret that Hunter loves to play guitar. And he really loves when he gets to play with his Uncle Todd, who has lots of really cool guitars. And a cool hat too. :)

This kiddo was in heaven.

So was this one. Playing, wearing the cool hat too. He's past due for a haircut~ but he asked me to make sure he gets to keep his sideburns. ;) Apparently he's starting to have an opinion about his hair. Thankfully I love his sideburns too.

Harrison is 3 months into guitar lessons, and is doing great! He played "Jingle Bells" for us the other day, and rocked it. :) Uncle Todd taught his a couple new chords while we were visiting too.

Love this one of Mom and Reagan. Don't know why Beth was hiding behind them. Weirdo. ;)

One with my hubs...playing with photobucket a little....kinda like the old photo look.

And this is one of my favorite photos from our week in Texas. Love those two boys very much.

Hunter loves hanging out with his Uncle Jon too. They are good snugglers, and share a love for playing games on Jon's phone. :)

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.

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.

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

The lovebirds.

More lovebirds. :)

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

And the whole big family. Happiness.

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

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

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.

All of the cousins together...I think they all look like they could be brothers. (Photos taken by Leslie Hatcher)

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

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. ;)

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

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

A turkey coma hit Mike pretty hard. ;)

More Toy Story UNO....

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

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!

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?

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. ;)

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.

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?

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. ;)

(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.

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.

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. :)

Funny and Scary...and Really Fun

I love Halloween.

I probably shouldn't....you know, considering it's supposed to be an evil holiday and all.

But we just make it about fun costumes and candy, and don't take it too seriously.

From the first time I asked the boys what they wanted to be, Hud was the only who had his mind set. He wanted to be Mario. Real bad. Not too much later Hunter decided on Toadhead. Or Mushroom Dude, as I like to call it. Harrison had a harder time....he's getting older, and wanted to be something more "Halloweenie." :) Finally decided on a vampire. I know, I know...you're probably rolling your eyes and thinking I talked him into that. I absolutely did not. I wanted him to be Teen Wolf, but I guess considering he didn't grow up in the 80's like I did, he had no idea how cool that was. ;) So, vampire it was.

I have to admit it was kinda fun doing his hair and face paint (makeup?) and stuff. I wish I had recorded what was going on with this picture~ Harrison had no idea that Brian was standing there with those googly glasses on....about scared him to death. Cracked me up.

And the toadhead....oh my. We used Brian's Patriots hard hat as a base, and just covered it with felt and stuffed it with tissue paper. It was heavy on his punkin head...he kept getting off balance, then it would fall over his eyes, he would walk sideways....hilarious. :)

The boys with some of our neighbors...have I mentioned how much I love our neighbors? :)

So, SO happy my mom an sister were here this weekend...can't imagine having Halloween without them. Thankful I didn'thave to. We've had the best visit. So thankful.

Back home, LOADED down with candy. Have to say....all three of them were passing out candy to Brian, Mom, Reagan, and me, giving us the things they knew we loved. Milk Duds, Twizzlers, Peanut M&M's, and Almond Joys....delicious. :) Happy Halloween!

Party People

If there's one thing we've learned since we moved here...it's that our neighbors love a party.

We live by so many fun people....really loving that.

Last weekend our neighborhood and the one behind us had a joint HOA Fall Festival.

Bounce houses, clowns making REALLY cool balloon-things, face painting, and a petting zoo.

Does it get much better? I think not.

A vampire and a SpongeBob...is this a kid after my own heart, or what? ;)

Hud also chose a vampire (I PROMISE I had nothing to do with that choice...tried to get him to choose a pumpkin), and the clowns made him a red light saber. He was pumped. :)

Hunter and Daddy. Isn't he dreamy? ;) Hahaha....wow.
A little frightening.

Then last night we had a little block party. It was SOOOO fun. Everyone pitched in with food, games, face-painting, crafts, a scavenger hunt. Greatness. This is Harrison and Hud with our next door neighbor.

How very much this baby loves a cupcake. :)

My little Harry Potter with the ghost he made.

AND....look who's here for the weekend!!!!

I wasn't sure how I was going to handle Halloween without them....glad I didn't have to.

And there was a "little" (ha~ yeah right) baseball game last night. Can you tell we were ready?
How about them Rangers? Love them.

The Spooky House Returns...again

I know, I know...you've been waiting all month for this post, right? ;) Hahaha.

The spooky house. A family tradition. Our third year to make this house.

My favorite thing about it? That it is more of a Daddy-boys project than a family project.

Of course, I'm there. I take the photos. And help some. The control-freak in me can't help it. But it's more fun for me to sit back and watch these four in action, doing something crafty.

First, Daddy builds the house.

Then the boys decorate it. And show amazing restraint by not eating all the candy. Mostly because they know there will be plenty left for them to eat after the decorating is over. :)

And....we're done. Happy Halloween!

Elections and Field Trips

Today has been a big day for our family.

Particularly for our oldest.

Harrison was chosen (based on grades and a class vote) to run for 4th grade Student Council.

He's really excited, and we will be very busy this weekend

getting ready for him to campaign next week.

This morning he had to give his speech....something I thought my outgoing, talkative son would handle without thinking twice. I was wrong. He was a nervous wreck~ so out of character for him. I thought he was going to be sick before his turn, but thankfull he wasn't. He got up on stage and delivered his speech. We were really proud of him.

The school will vote next Friday....we'll see what happens. :)

After the speech I headed out for a field trip with this one...

....to a pumpkin farm. It's actually a Christmas Tree farm, not too far from where we live.

Very cool.

We went on a hayride....(check out the little farmer here)

...fed goats....

....and picked pumpkins.
Isn't his class cute? :)

They really are. Cute, I mean. And silly. And incredibly well-behaved.

This weekend is getting off to a great start. :)