Thursday, April 30, 2015

Reading Restaurant

 
Each year the first graders at Crossings do a "Reading Restaurant" for the parents. I have always heard so much about it but didn't know exactly what to expect. It is now one of my favorite things we have done yet!
 
About a week before it was scheduled we got a reservation card for our spot at the restaurant. They asked to only have two people from each family come so Matt and I put our names on the card and returned it back to the school. When we arrived Thursday morning we waited in the hallway until our scheduled time of 9:30. This sign was out front which I knew Hadley had drawn by the handwriting:
 

The door opened and our little chef/server greeted us at the door. She said, "Holloman, party of two, right this way" and took us to our table. On the table was a placemat she had drawn and some flowers for decoration. She presented us with a "menu" of options and we were each able to order two. The menu options were different types of books they had written throughout the year such as Poem, Science, Virtues, Non-fiction, etc.




After picking our 4 menu items, she retrieved the appropriate books and came back to the table to read them to us. It was one of my favorite, sweetest moments to hear her precious voice reading us the books she had written. We were so proud of her and excited that at the end we got to take the remaining books home to finish reading them.

 


After our reservation was over Matt went back to work and I volunteered to watch the kids on the playground while the next group of kids went. Hadley LOVES for me to play with her on the playground so I will take it while I can! Such a fun morning and I'm so excited I will be able to do it again in a few more years...



April Pictures

Thankful for many more outdoor pictures this month as the weather is warming up a bit and can go out often. Hadley had a couple of friends over to dye Easter eggs and Hudson joined in. All of Hadley's friends are just as sweet as can be with Hudson. 



On one of our trips to the donut shop the kids begged me to let them go inside, pick out a donut, and pay for it all by themselves. I was a little hesitant because of their usual indecisiveness but I knew it would be great for their confidence and independence. You can see their little legs under the sign. Hadley helped with the money and even said Hudson spoke really well when telling the lady which one he wanted. They had such happy faces when they came out of the store!



Baby Jake turns 1! What a fast year it has been. Jake is such a sweet, easy baby and it has been fun to watch him grow this past year. He is never lacking for attention being the youngest of all the grandbabies! We had a great time celebrating this little guy and he seemed to love all of his party...except eating his birthday cake. We rarely see this kiddo cry but he sure did work up some tears when his cake was set down in front of him! Happy Birthday, Jake...We love you!!!



Hudson rarely wants pizza but on the way home from Karate he was asking for a cheese pizza while we waited to pick up Hadley from dance. We got him his pizza and he finished off half of it before we were even home! Afterwards we went on a quick walk and I snapped a picture of our shadows while holding hands. Sure do love my Mama's boy!



A sweet picture of "Mama Hadley" reading to Lennox and Hudson. This girl is all about babies!!! She is such a sweetheart and big help.

I volunteered on the Geranium committee at school for our annual Geranium fundraiser sale. After a full 8 hours of unloading and organized geraniums this is what the gym looked like. My back was sore for a couple days!


Icing a cake for Daddy's birthday. Not sure how many finger and spatula licks occurred during the icing!

Hudson has had some crazy allergies this season and we aren't completely sure what is causing it. But this particular morning was the very worst. You can see how puffy and red his eyes were and he was just miserable. We decided to miss the soccer game and spent most of the day inside. The next picture is from a few days later where he is making big improvements but is still pretty puffy. Thankfully, with some allergy meds he healed up after a couple weeks and we haven't had a lot of trouble since.



Here are a few pictures of Hadley being silly with friends and even by herself. The first picture is of Hadley and her friend, Reese, at a hibachi restaurant. The last picture is of Hadley and Kate after trying to dress as much like twins as they possibly could!





Hadley inherited her love for stuffed animals from me and has quite the collection. She could not care less about barbies and my little ponys but you put a cute stuffed animal in front of her and she would pay all the money in her piggy bank to have it. She has been asking to go to build-a-bear for a while now so she was pretty excited to get a gift card in her Easter basket.  One day while Matt and Hudson were playing we had a little mommy/daughter date to pick out a new stuffed animal. It took quite a while to make the decision but the bunny won. We had fun picking out clothes and buying accessories for her. After we got home Hadley and Hudson gathered all their true Build-A-Bears and watched a movie on the bed with them. Just by the picture it is obvious they have too many!



Hadley and Hudson told me they were going to play on the driveway. When I went to the door to check on them I found them sitting in their chairs, taking care of their babies, and having some sort of conversation. I wanted so badly to hear what they were saying but I knew I couldn't open the door without them hearing me. Instead I just took a few pictures of they being so sweet and playing together.




We have been so blessed by Hadley's incredible immune system. If she gets a cold she is over it the next day, she never has a cough or runny nose, and she only missed one day of school this year for a 12 hour stomach bug! We can all pass stuff around the house and even after drinking after one of us, she still doesn't come down with anything. So I thought it was strange that she had a persistent cough for a couple weeks but is was only at night and due to the fact that we were at the softball fields almost every night we attributed it to allergies. She complained about her stomach hurting one day as well and we decided to take her to the doctor. Low and behold, the Dr listened to her lungs and immediately said, "she has pneumonia and it sounds pretty bad to me." She had not run a fever, played in a softball game the day before, and showed no other signs of being sick. So I was pretty thrown off guard and felt horrible for letting the cough last a couple weeks. We did a chest x-ray and it showed the pneumonia to only be in her left lung and only at the bottom so they sent us home with instructions to rest and a whole lot of antibiotics. Its definitely not easy to get this little girl to rest but we managed to keep her on the couch at least for a day and she quickly responded to the antibiotic. So glad she is back to her healthy self!


Hudson went to a camo birthday party for a school friend and halfway through the party I had to leave to get Hadley ready for her daddy/daughter dance. Hudson stayed with his friend Will and they brought him to me later that night. He had so much fun playing at the party, going out to eat, and getting ice cream with friends. I loved getting all these pictures throughout the night!





This little girl is growing up so fast before my eyes. I rarely get glimpses of her being little anymore. She has real conversations with me and we have such a wonderful relationship together. I love her more than she will EVER know!!!


Saturday, April 25, 2015

Daddy Daughter Dance

Hadley and her daddy attended their 3rd Daddy/Daughter dance on Saturday. This is one of their favorite nights together and I think it is as equally for me to see them getting a night together. Hadley was diagnosed with pneumonia the day before and though she seemed to feel ok we were hesitant to let her go. However, we decided to get her ready and Matt would just try and keep her a "little" calm throughout the night.  I love the way Hadley looks up to her daddy and I love the way he looks at her. He has such a special love for his little girl. It is always fun to get Hadley all dressed up, her hair fixed, and pictures taken for the fun night. I really loved the dress she picked out to wear this year and she just looked so beautiful and grown up!
 










Once daddy was ready he joined in for some pictures. I think she is starting to look so much like her daddy!









After I was done with my marathon of pictures I drove followed them to Charlotte's house for a couple more. These three girls were ready for a fun night!



Matt said Hadley had so much fun stealing the microphone from the DJ, playing with friends, dancing, and watching the big girls dance. She came home with some face paint and a balloon animal and was ready for bed! It was a big night after being diagnosed with pneumonia the day before. Time for this little one to rest!