November pics

A picture of Hudson and his buddies in Sunday School and a couple pictures of Hudson and Will playing in rain puddles after gymnastics. Its the little things!

Hadley and Lottie created their own "Critter Club." Hadley has been reading a book series of the same name where four friends babysit animals and also care for lost animals until they can find a home. It is such a sweet set of books. So Lottie and Hadley made a sign (I wish I had taken a picture of it) and filled a wagon with examples of animals they would watch. Basically, they said only animals under 1 year of age and only from 12pm-3pm. Needless to say, they didn't get any takers and I was pretty happy about that!

Hadley has been begging me for months to get her haircut. We just kept having things come up and finally she couldn't wait any longer. I was a little nervous because I love her super long hair but it turned out so cute. This is definitely the shortest it has been since she ever grew it out in the first place.

This was a picture that came home from school. I think its sweet that the place he likes to go is his best friend, Will's, house but I was also really impressed with his house. And every part of it had a purpose. He told me about the windows, the chimney, and the scribbles are the messes inside the boys room. I'm not so sure about that part because every time I've seen their rooms Ive been surprised at how clean they are!

Lunch with my little guy. I don't get to do this very often, unfortunately, but he just doesn't let me leave without crying. He does so great at dropoff but I think he's just tired and ready to go. It makes me so sad and just messes up his day so its easier to not go up at lunch. But he sure does love it when he gets a sonic surprise!

Our house won "yard of the month" this month. It was a surprise to be looking through our neighborhood magazine and come across our picture. Matt took great pride in it!

More pics of Bauer and his best friend (and one with Daddy too):

                                               

Just a few Thanksgiving pictures. I have tried to be more present this year and realize I don't need to lug around my big camera to all our family functions. But I did manage to get one of Hadley with her cousins and Hudson with his daddy. Somehow, I didn't get a single picture from the Adams' Thanksgiving. All the girl cousins got to spend the night with Rebecca after our Thanksgiving get together. The last picture is of breakfast the next morning. Looks like they all had a great time!

Aiden came back in not such an exciting way this year! He must have known we were really busy and did a more low-key appearance this year. He still surprised us with some hot chocolate, s'mores kit, and stickers. And a note telling the kids what he expected of them this year. I love the excitement each time Aiden arrives!

The Baker's invited us to their house to watch the OU/OSU game. Matt had gone to the game so I took the kids over for some gameday fun. It had iced all weekend long and Hadley had been out that day sledding with her daddy so about 30 minutes before it was time to leave she passed out on the chair. I let her sleep a bit before waking her up to head over there. The drive there was fine as most of the roads had cleared but tree limbs were still snapping everywhere as we were driving. We had a great time. Lots of appetizers, pizza, cookies, and screaming kids. The Haggards came over as well so it was definitely a housefull. I LOVE this picture of Will and Hudson. What is the coincidence that they would even have the same number on their jerseys?! Just a few minutes into the 3rd quarter the power went out! The kids thought it was pretty awesome. We lit lots of candles and they put on quite a dance party for us. We lasted about another hour and when the power was still off we decided to call it quits for the night. My kids were pretty bummed that everyone couldn't just come spend the night at our house...but they were also asleep before we even got halfway home!

Hudson gets his RED stripe

Testing time again. This was the first test that I took Hudson to by myself. Matt had gone to the OSU/Baylor game and he was sad to miss. Hudson did great again and I was so proud of his effort. He did mess up on one little step of his forms but corrected it quickly. All he can think about is how close he is to getting his solid yellow and he can't wait! A couple more months and hopefully he will be ready to test. The first picture is of the kids that were ready to test. The second is of the board he broke, the third is of Hudson and Jonathan (Master Lewis' son). Hudson loves Jonathan and really looks up to him. And Jonathan is really sweet to Hudson as well!

After testing we went to Upper Crust for dinner to celebrate. Reese came with us and had plans to stay the night at our house. The girls giggled all throughout dinner and had me laughing as well. Hudson was starving and finished off and entire cheese pizza by himself. Not a kids pizza...a regular size pizza. I couldn't even believe it. This kid has got to be shooting up in height soon because he is eating like crazy!

Katy's 40th

Katy is a fairly new friend to me. But even at that, she has quickly become a great friend. We have always crossed paths but with two of her boys being in the same grade as our kids we have spent much more time together. We had a playdate at Chick-fil-A with Sarah and that was the first time that we truly got to know each other. She has such a sincere heart and she is another one of those friends that I feel so thankful God placed in my life. Fast forward about 6 months and she asked me if I would be up for a trip to Tulsa to celebrate her 40th birthday. She was inviting about 20 friends to the propel conference, rented a house in Tulsa for us to all stay in, and made dinner reservations at Mahogany. It sounded great and plans started being made. 

I rode to Tulsa Friday after work with Kristin Fares. We met the other 5 girls that were already there for dinner and had a great time. Lots of laughing and fellowship. Afterwards we went back to the house, stayed up late talking, and finally went to bed for a great nights sleep. Oh, and I wish I had a picture but Katy made us the cutest party favors. They were personalized galvanized buckets with all sorts of treats: a notepad, cookies, pens, chapstick, gum, etc. We had enough food to last us a week but we sure did a great job getting through much of it!

The next morning we woke up in time for a yogurt bar Sarah had put together and some breakfast casserole. It was an early morning because the Propel conference started at 9. The conference is a womens conference headed by Christine Caine and it was wonderful. It was such an encouraging conference about bettering ourselves as women, becoming leaders, and trusting God. There were times we were laughing and times we were crying. It was a long day but super fun and I'm so glad to have gotten to go. We broke for lunch where we went to a great pizza restaurant and then finished up the conference around 5pm. We quickly went home to get ready and then a big party bus arrived to take us to Mahogany. I think we were all exhausted but the dinner was still great. We had some big plans for the night but everyone decided it would be more fun to just go home, climb in pjs, and relax for the night while hanging out with each other. We did just that! We woke up Sunday morning and had to be out by 10am. We got the house all cleaned up, said our goodbyes, and were off to OKC. It was such a fun weekend and my heart was full. I think Katy had a great birthday weekend and I was thankful to be included in it. 

Coffee Date

Each Thursday is my day with Hudson. I had this time with Hadley and I love having this time with him as well. He starts school full time next August and so I know our days together are limited. We go to gymnastics at 10:30 so we have started a tradition of going to Aspen coffee at 9:30. He sometimes gets a muffin but usually he gets his sprite in a "coffee cup" and I drink my coffee. The best part is that the girls now expect him each Thursday and they have his sprite and my coffee waiting for us when we come in the door. He loves is and flirts with the girls with his big smile. We sit at a table and talk about the day. Sometimes I check emails and he plays some games on his iPad. And sometimes we play games together. It is absolutely a time a cherish with him and we've made lots of memories in that booth. 

Pioneer Day

The second grade has been learning about the Westward Expansion and they celebrated by wearing Pioneer clothing for a party. I found this lady to make a bonnet and skirt on Etsy and I thought it turned out so cute. I especially LOVE the bonnet. Hadley thought it was so fun to wear to school. Her teacher sent me a couple pics of her presenting her project. 

New sitter

It's a new day with a new routine today. After a few years of having the same sitter, Kristin has left us. We are heartbroken about this but with her new baby coming next week we have been preparing. I have looked and looked for a new sitter but finding someone one day a week is so difficult! I was at lunch with friends and explaining our situation and my friend, Susan, said "I'd love to do it!" I laughed, assuming she wasn't serious, and we went on with lunch. The next day she emailed me and explained she was serious. Some backstory: she left Kanakuk when she got married to a guy here in Edmond. She was thrilled to move back home but has never not had a job. Just in the couple months of being married she has been "bored" in her words. On Tuesdays they have a housecleaner come so it worked out perfectly to get out of the house. 

So...today was her first day. Hudson was so excited to see her and pushed me out the door! Not really, but he was excited. They went to the zoo and I got pictures all day. And best of all, he had a blast! He loves her and we do too. I know its not long term and she is just helping us out but we will be thankful for any time we do get! 

Mama and Papa's new toy

Mama and Papa got a new toy...and RV that they have dreamed of having for some time now. They have talked and talked about it so it was an exciting day when they called to say it had come in and they had picked it up. Matt was at an OSU game so they brought it over to show the kids. Lottie was at our house playing with Hadley so they thought it was so fun to move the playdate inside the RV instead! Hudson asked if he could just live in the RV instead and he thought the bed above the drivers seat was just the coolest thing ever. We ended up driving it to Peyton's basketball game to watch her play and afterwards my parents thought it would be fun to drive all the grandkids home in it. Of course, they suckered Mama and Papa into a drive through McDonalds so they could test out eating in it. My type A personality totally came out and I was a little stressed about no seatbelts and the kids running around like maniacs. I guess I will need to get over that quickly as we hope to take many trips together! 

Lunch with Hadley

I've gotten to have lunch with Hadley a couple times this year but this day was especially needed. Hadley has had a little bit of a rough year this go around. I think it is a combination of things...she has a teacher that is not as loving and touchy as she has had the previous 3 years. Hadley loves the attention and the affection and it has been hard for her to adjust. She also has a little bit of a problem with staying quiet in class. This kiddo loves to talk. And she loves to be funny and make people laugh. And then...Hadley has a friend in class that has asked for help on a couple tests and Hadley has let her look at her paper. I really feel like the first time was because she didn't know better. But the second time she had already been talked to about it and she couldn't say no once again. It absolutely broke my heart for us to have to ground her and really punish her. She burst into tears and it was a really rough week for her. We made it through and she understands now that her teacher loves her, we love her, and everyone is responsible for their own work. I think this second semester will be better but I do know she still misses having a teacher that hugs on her every day!

I had a great time at lunch. She was all smiles and I got to see a side of her that her friends see everyday. She truly is so funny with her friends. She had them all laughing at lunch and I can tell it makes her day to do so. She loves showing me off to her friends and she would love me to eat lunch with her every single day if I could. I love her more than she could ever know!