catching up...our Thanksgiving trip


Well yes it has been a while!  Lots to catch up on...so we'll start with our trip to Dallas for Thanksgiving.  Of course my parents are there, and we love going down there for Thanksgiving...the shopping, eating, staying up late playing games, eating more, and shopping even more!  We had a blast and well probably gained a few pounds for the winter ha :)

Since we just hang around in our pj's most of the time while playing games and eating...I refrained from picture taking.  But here's a few pics of the kiddos playing at their new playground in the subdivision...it's quite nice and they had a blast!  From the time they woke up every morning, all they wanted to do was go to that playground.

riding the bouncy frog

 

Trying to teach them "in and out"



Papa trying to make us dizzy

Having fun on the teeter tottter (I've never seen one with a spring)

 

Papa giving Hudson tips on climbing



Addie sliding head first

Fun times! 

 

We had more fun in later in the week.  Grapevine, TX has a North Pole Express (similar to the Polar Express in Branson), so we of course had to try it out while we were there.  It was pretty fun; however, I will go back at night if we do it again.  The kids enjoyed it and it was worth the money I suppose, but we'll have to try out the Branson version one of these days.  Here are a few pics from our adventure...

We have our tickets...

  ...and we're ready to go

 ready for the train ride...our tickets are punched...

and we got to see Santa...he gave us a bell:)



Halloween and Baby Panther Miss Pageant

 

HALLOWEEN

So yeah I'm a little behind...well it seems I stay that way these days. Life just gets too busy doesn't it?!?! I wanted to start with Halloween and share some pics from the kids at Indian Springs Trunk or Treat (which I highly recommend if you did not go this year). I really wanted the kids to go as super heros since Hudson was for sure going as one...but Addie's preschool class just had to learn about the body close to Halloween, ya know skeletons and all! So...you guessed it, she was a skeleton! But I have to say she was a cute one, and did not complain about not having a mask or anything like that. I would have never imagined that she would actually want to be a skeleton but hey it's not the first time she has totally thrown me for a loop! She is my random child! Here they are, my Captain America and Miss Skeleton...

 

Connor, Addie, Hudson before the Trunk or Treat

Ready to go in the church parking lot...we met up with Tinkerbell!

These cousins LOVE each other...only 3 months apart they will have lots of fun together :)

Going around to the different vehicle trunks to get their treats...



 There were some creative people at this thing!

Best friends...

We had to keep them focused on going around to the cars/trucks first before we played on the jump houses, etc...which is what they were most interested in of course!

 

Later in the evening we ran into a monkey and a banana...two more cousins whom we adore, Truett and Griffin.  Aren't they adorable!!!

Griffin the banana :)

Truett the monkey (tired monkey)...

We love the Smith's!

 

 

BABY PANTHER MISS PAGEANT

 

Last year I put Addie in this pageant just to see if she would like it, how she would react, etc.  She did ok of course just didn't have a clue what was going on!  Well here she was this time last year

They all received a rose and trophy for participating...so that made her day! 

Overall she had a good time and did NOT cry! 

 

This year on the other hand was a different story!  I asked her if she wanted to do it again (knowing she probably has no recollection of last year's pageant).  She says she wants to get dressed up and walk on stage, etc.  So...why not!  I entered her kind of last minute like I do most things, and she was pumped up about it!!!  I thought oh yeah, this girl will surely win this thing.  There were only 4 contestants in her age group.  Well here are a few pics before it started (she was quite excited, althought anxious).

Before we left the house...being goofy with Hud

Love this sweet picture.  Pretty in pink!

Isn't this just precious...brotherly/sisterly love.  Hudson was so proud of his sissy!

She's becoming quite the daddy's girl...finally :)

Being silly behind the stage before it starts

Practicing her spin...she does that funny thing with her lip/teeth when she's nervous/embarassed lol.

Not so sure about being out on the stage, she got a little nervous.

Practicing her wave

Another nervous thing she does...covers mouth with hand.  But this is just too sweet, Hudson is walking her on stage.

She made it through...and so did Mommy.  Yes I got to be in the pageant.  That's why there are no pics of her during the pageant.  My camera was sitting on the side of the stage because she started bawling and would not let me leave her side.  She was scared to death for some reason.  So we solved the problem by me walking with her and the senior girl ha!  I wish I would have known I was going to be in a pageant as well...the memories we will forever have right!!! 

 

I apologize for the lengthiness of the post! 



 

 

 

 



Dirt Bikes & my Diva!

There's just so much I want to say or write, to remember years down the road.  It's quite overwhelming actually, but something is better than nothing right? 

I'll begin with my little man Hudson, Mr. Dirt Bike Dude.

This was his old dirt bike...the smaller one with training wheels.  He's a pro now...more pics to come of the newer, cooler ones ha! 

 

Hudson came along pretty quickly after we were married.  In fact, I was big preggo on our 1st anniversary.  What an amazing little man he is turning into.  He tends to be a litte follower and this gets him in trouble at times, but we are really working on how to choose the right people to follow.  He has thrown us for a loop this past weekend with his fabulous manners he has picked up at school.  His amazing teacher Ms. Almeda at Sheperd's Fold has started the warm fuzzy jar in her class.  They earn warm fuzzies for things like good manners and listening.  Well Hudson is catching onto this and I am just loving it.  He came home from school Friday and I told him to do something...his reply was automatically "Yes ma'am," and he did it!  WOW!  You talk about blowing me away.  He is really wanting that pajama party at school when that jar gets full.  I hope it's making the same impact on the other kiddos.  I am blessed to know my kids are in such a great atmosphere each day!

 

So I'm sure most of you moms are thinking "you're really ok with your baby boy riding a dangerous dirt bike?!?!  What's wrong with you?"  Trust me I haven't always been ok with it!  It totally freaked me out at first, and I tried and tried to talk him into liking something else, but the kid LOVES IT!!!  He got real into it after he started riding without training wheels.  Justin tried to get him to go race with him at actual MX races and Hud just wasn't quite ready for that.  So at this point we are getting really good riding in the back yard on our make shift track.  It's quite nice if you ask me :)  If there's one thing this boy is good and passionte about, it is a bike.  He started riding his bicycle without training wheels right after his 4th birthday and loves to show off any chance he can.  I have to admit it melts my heart to see how happy he is riding it...plus he always has his head to toe gear on while riding, so praying he will not have any major accidents. 

 

Hudson's in 4 year old pre-k at Jolly Time this year and attends the Sheperd's Fold program as well at FUMC (which is such an amazing place to have your kiddos)!  He has a sweet new friend this year, Miss Emma Hays who he absolutely adores.  I'm telling you from day one, he has just been crazy about this girl.  I teach with Emma's mom but since Emma had attended a different preschool before this year, they had not met.  She has been great for Hudson because "Emma never gets in trouble.  She always does the right thing."  A few weeks ago Hudson came home telling us "I'm gonna go pic Emma up and buy her a dirt bike!"  We about died laughing...so sweet I tell ya.  He's dead serious too...he really wants to get her one, I'm guessing for her birthday.  Addie says we need to get her brother Sam one as well...man this could get super expensive!  I love the giving hearts though :)

I have lots more to say about this first angel of mine but I'll save for another post.  Now on to my little Diva!

Holy cow this is such an old picture, but I absolutely love it!  This is so her...

 

Addie...oh how you have kept us on our toes these last few years.  This is my WILD CHILD!!!  She is a typical girl...moody!!!  My mother tells me all the time "Staci, she is you made over!"  Oh I just don't even believe that I acted like this child of mine.  She will go from laughing to crying or vise versa within seconds literally.  We have discoverd at this point in her life, reverse psychology works like a charm.  Yes I know developmentally we do want her to move out of this stage soon but for now hey, it works!  I can't imagine life without this sweet thing.  She was not planned by her daddy and I, but God sure knew what He was doing.  Life would not be complete without our "Addie-tude." 

 

While she is quite the sassy britches with painting fingernails, wearing pretty dresses and having a big bow in her hair at all times, she can fit right in with the boys as well!  She loves to get her dirt bike attire on and with daddy and bubba (for approximately 5 minutes at a time).  She can also get pretty stinkin dirty playing in the dirt; it doesn't bother her a bit!  We call her the "queen of randomness."  If you have spent any time with Addie at all, you know she always has something in her hand.  It will not be the same thing for very long, but she will be attached to whatever that random thing is at the time.  This DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!  I have tried and tried to get her to just get stuck on one thing ya know like a normal kid...a blankie or stuffed animal.  Oh no...we will have a rock or an acorn (today), or a bead, maybe even a tag off of a shirt we just bought.  I'm not real sure if this is a sign of something, but I'm hoping she's just random :)  That's just Addie! We may get frustrated but we know that it's just her and tomorrow it's guaranteed to be something new. 

 

Addie absolutely loves and adores her teacher Ms. Caroline at Sheperd's Fold!  Ms. Caroline sings a lot evidently and Addie LOVES to sing!  She will sing anything literally.  If I tell her she's about to get a spaking, she will make it into a song.  I'm guessing she gets this from her Gigi and Aunt Sesame (just like the curly hair), because Mommy can't sing!  However, she thinks I can and asks me to every single night.  This is our usual layout of songs each night:  the water song (I've got a River of Life), Old McDonald, Mary Had a Little Lamb.  I treasure these times, knowing one day she will not want me to sing with her before bed.  I am guilty of trying to rush through times like these knowing I need to get laundry done, clothes laid out, lunches packed, etc. But I have really tried to just chill out and enjoy it. 

These are things that matter in life...spending quality time with our kids, lettng them know we care and they are loved more than anything!  So many kids don't have that love every night...and that my friends, breaks my heart to pieces.  Being the 1st grade teacher that I am...I see a lot of unloved, attention-starved kiddos who just need 5 minutes a night of undevoted time and attention. 

Life's too short and precious...remember what matters and keep things in the right perspective (like my daddy told me just tonight!). 



    



 

So I am totally new to this blogging stuff.  I have been inspired and it seems to be a little easier to manage then paper/pencil journaling.  We shall see!  I've never been good at that either ha!  I'm sad that I haven't started sooner actually because now I feel that I've missed out on a lot of memory capturing, but never too late to start I suppose.
For the introduction...(this picture is actually a year old sorry lol)  I'll do better next time, I'm new at this!

I am 29 years old (holy cow I had to think hard about that before I wrote it) and am totally feeling older by the day!  I've been married...hmm thinking hard about that one too...6 years I believe!  Hey, a lot has happened since then :)  Mary Grace Kinder introduced us at Howard Perrin Elementary during my internship there.  I played hard to get at first but it clearly worked out for the best :)  We have two amazing children, Hudson (5) and Addie (3 1/2) and boy do they keep us on our toes!  We had not technically planned to get pregnat with either one of these angels but God had other plans.  We have always felt so blessed to have been given 2 precious gifts from God himself!  They both attend Sheperd's Fold at 1st Methodist Church downtown Benton and love love love their wonderful teachers!  Hudson also goes to the 4 year old Jolly Time Pre-K program and loves it as well.  I can't believe he will go to KINDERGARTEN next year!!!  Where has time gone?!?!