August pics

Hudson doing puzzles and playing on his iPad (both things that he's pretty much incredible at) and making us laugh at dinner by making glasses with his wiki sticks. 

Face-timing with my sweet girl before bed while she was at a friends house. Oh my, how I love that she always wants to call or text me from her friends houses. I cringe at the thought of her not being so excited to talk to me. And then a few pictures of her being silly on the couch with me while we read books. I happened to catch those amazing lashes too!

And more reading....we had planned on doing this all summer, and well, summer was just too fun and we didn't read much at all. So now we are making up time and trying to finish her summer reading before school starts. Though she doesn't need the help anymore, she still loves for me to lay down with her while she reads so she can read to me. And I love to listen to that sweet voice as she fumbles through a few words but successfully finishes another book. I'm amazed at all the progress this one has made!

The kids got their Pistol Pete's friends packets in the mail today and they were pretty excited about their t-shirt, cape, and badge they got. Hudson had to put everything on and send a picture to daddy!

A quick shopping trip with Hadley to look for Hudson some birthday presents and Hadley is always sweet to appease me and take a picture. She is such a fun shopping buddy and always up for a trip to Target. In fact, I rarely leave the house that she doesn't ask to come along which I absolutely love!

We took Buck and Peyton to the pool while Gunner took a nap and both the kids loved having a buddy with them. Buck LOVED being with Hudson as you can see from his huge smile and Hadley and Peyton were just little socialites making all kinds of new friends at the pool.

Well, we failed on kid #2! Apparently, our kids love candy and don't love brushing their teeth. I'm kind-of kidding. Hadley does a great job at brushing her teeth (now) and Hudson doesn't really put up a fight either...its just not his favorite thing to do and we aren't the best at reminding him either. Anyway, he had a couple small cavities and we took him up one weekend to get them fixed. He was such a trooper and held completely still the entire time while daddy gave him a shot, drilled, and filled. He never once complained and even said it felt really cool for is teeth to be asleep. He laughed the whole way home about it and you would have never known he even had anything done. So, yes, we are two for two on kids with cavities but we are also two for two on brave, trusting kids in the chair that can get fillings done like a pro without any nitrous. I'm so impressed!

Hadley and Reese on a walk and "holding up the sunset", and afterwards building a carriage for their babies attached to Hadley's bicycle. They worked all this up themselves and it actually all stayed put together while Hadley rode her bike around pulling Reese and the baby dolls.

Hudson and his friends at Jude's birthday party and a fun picture of Hudson that made it on Instagram. Look at that awesome kick!!!

I've thought many times before that I had broken my toe after stubbing it but I now know I was wrong all those times. This time I really did it and it brought me to my knees because it hurt so bad. I couldn't even wear shoes for a couple days and it has taken forever to heal. I should have gotten a picture of the underneath side of my foot.

Hudson wanted to learn to play a little tennis while Hadley was at a friends house so he practiced hitting it off the garage. He loved it and wasn't too bad either!

We went on another jeep ride and rode past the dog food factory. Hadley and Hudson could hardly stand it and were making gagging noises half the way home. To think that we used to only live a couple miles away from that factory and had gotten so used to the smell...

Hadley was so excited for her new shirt for Spirit day. Coordinating bow and shoes made it even better! She looks so grown up!

Hadley is so American Girl crazy right now. She seems to go in and out of this phase but this sure is a good one. She is constantly watching YouTube videos on how to make American Girl crafts and tries to replicate them. In this picture she is taking a shoe box lid and turning it into an "iPad" for her dolls.  She even did her best to draw the app pictures off her own iPad. I love her imagination, how she has conversations with her dolls, and will even play pretend with me at any time.

Ending summer with friends at the pool. So much fun to have these school friends living in the same neighborhood!

School picture day...just in case we get some crazy smiles in the real pics. Just kidding...I really think they just look cute!

I think these two have been missing each other while Hudson's at school....

Hadley had a great time at Kanakuk. And she has so many memories. But to get this post card in the mail letting her know that her counselors were thinking of her completely made her day! She had the biggest smile on her face while she was reading it and then it just reminded her of how much she missed her barn friends. I especially loved being reminded of how much she was loved on for the week she was away from us.

I sure have missed these kids on my days off while they have gone back to school. But it looks like she's been just fine!!!

Football and Cheer camp

Hadley and Hudson both ended the summer with a cheer and football camp at Crossings. It was fun to have them both scheduled on a Saturday morning where Matt and I were able to hop back and forth and watch them for 3 hours. Hudson's camp wasn't the most technique driven and didn't seem to teach them a lot about football but he definitely had a fun time and loved running around with his friends. Unfortunately, he had a little too much fun wrestling on the field as well. At the end of the camp they gave out first place medals to one kid in each age group and our competetive child left in tears. We had a long talk about why he did not win the medal and that you have to be happy for your friend that did win. It was a big lesson for a 5 year old that is used to participation awards. 

Hadley LOVED her cheer camp, as always. She had plenty of friends to do it with her and though they were about the oldest in the camp they still had a lot of fun. They learned a cute cheer that they are going to perform at a halftime game coming up soon and they got to perform it for the parents that day. Hadley did great! Cheer or pom may definitely be in her future as it seems to be the thing she is most interested in at the moment!

Mama's knee surgery

Mama's poor knee just couldn't take it anymore and it was time for surgery. I think she has put it off as long as she possibly can. Like with her hip, she was really nervous to go under anesthesia but I think her pain has been so horrible that she was a little excited too. She has been hearing so many great knee replacement stories and she is hopeful to be able to walk again without pain! That being said, she still has her other knee that needs to be done but she is hoping that will hold off a while. The surgery went great. It lasted several hours and they had a lot of cleanup in her knee to do but the doctor expects everything to heal well. Papa picked up all the kids after school to go up to the hospital to see her. It was fun to see all of them love on her and pray for her. Hudson held her hand for the longest time which brought back memories to Hadley being the same age and holding her hand after her hip surgery. She was smiling, happy, and feeling pretty well. We are thankful to have that hurdle overwith and hopeful for a good recovery and rehab. The last picture is a post-op picture of her knee with the 48 staples they had to use to close up the incision. 

Holleyman's back to school party

The Holleymans had their annual back to school swim party (just a little later this year) and it was fun to swim with friends and tell them about our first two days of school. Most of these kids go to different schools so its great that they all have this other circle of friends that they can laugh and play with outside of school. We had pizza, cookie cake, and lots of swimming. So much fun!