Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving FUN

The ministry at Community Church was a big chunk of our lives, and the friendships we've made with many of the families still continues to remain strong (even after our departure).  We've made an effort to get together each month since the summer.  We had a Friendsgiving Meal last Sunday at the Duck Shack.  It was a blessing getting together.  The event actually piggy-backed Sunday night Thanksinging at Greenwood Park church which made it extra special.  We've been going to Greenwood Park the last couple of Sundays and feel very at home there.  It has and always will hold a special place in my heart.  I started in the cradle roll program there and was a member through my college years. I taught in the preschool program there for eight years.  It's home, and I think Matt and I will probably stick around there for a while. 

Karson's pals, Tucker and Tanner - always a 3-pack!

 Cannot BELIEVE it's already Thanksgiving.  This month, like all the other fall months, has just SPED on by.  Something about this time of the year feels extra quick - maybe it's the time change?  maybe it's having three kids in basketball at the same time?  Who knows!?!  We had our traditional meal at my mom's house.  Afterwards was flag football, volleyball with a water hose net (right) and a game of Family Feud.

Getting some snuggles in with Buggy and Mae Kathryn at Pap and Nana's!

 Christmas is right around the corner and to get in the holiday spirit, the kids decorated some gingerbread homes.  We had an inaugural event at SKyPAC called Gingerbread Homes for the Arts, which was a community fundraiser for our education department.  We had lots of kits left over from the event, so I brought some home for the kids.  They were excited to each have their own house to decorate.  Each year I usually buy just one house for us all to decorate. 

 More Christmas spirit - taking some pictures in Santa's sled with Mae Kathryn.  Nana wanted a picture with her four grandkids.  Laura brought her dad's sled out to the house, and we got some cute shots of them.

 

I've already done some decorating around the house and got a big chunk of shopping done today.  Whew!  That always feels good.  I think we'll put up the tree tomorrow! 

Friends 4 Life

 It's hard being a middle school girl (can I get an amen?) or at least it was when I started at Bowling Green Junior High back in the day.  I was taken down quite a few notches on the "cool" barometer.  I am incredibly thankful that my daughter has made some pretty amazing friend choices.  She's met some new friends and hung on to some of her dearest old friends. It's a blessing knowing your child is surrounded by a peer group that you love and approve of.  I wanted to do a quick blog about all of her fantastic friends.  The picture above is from the SWMS Volleyball Banquet last Monday night.  This team of 7th graders is at the top of her list of friends.  A wonderful group indeed!

Her friend Annie invited some girls over for an early morning breakfast at her house last Friday.  SO sweet!

Karson has lots of 8th grade friends as well.  Her friend Amelia (in the blue shorts and top) is one of her favorite people in the world.  They met in 5th grade at 212 Academy and became instant friends. 

Amelia and Karson are so much alike, it's a little scary. She celebrated her 14th birthday on Friday night, but Karson didn't stay for the sleepover because...

She had a basketball invitational on Saturday.  These four friends continue to play basketball together.  I love Karson's friends!  They are the best! They make middle school a little easier on the social-front!

Rec League (last year- if only sweet Kayla was in the picture. She is actually in the background of the picture with her mama.)

Time to FALL Back

It's already that time of the year, yep, that time where the clocks are turned back an hour, everyone is on allergy medicine, throats are sore and the weather is changing - it's FALL Y'ALL!  We had our annual pumpkin painting party at Shannon's house to kick off Halloween.  Karson and I decided to do M&M's this year.  We started a few days early so we could give our pumpkins layers of paint.  That's the hardest thing about pumpkin painting is waiting for the paint to dry.

 We like carving pumpkins with the kids too and have learned not to share pumpkins anymore.  Everyone gets their own.  Miles and Karson opted for traditional jack'o'latern looks and Isaac chose to do Clarence.  We ended up with five pumpkins on the porch this year.  Thankfully, there's a nice little shack up the road that sells pumpkins.  It's neat (like a playhouse) and you leave money in an envelope and write down your purchases.  The pumpkins were perfect too.

Of course we have pumpkins on our porch, but we are NEVER home on Halloween. 

Miles decided to be a ninja this year.

Matt and I went as American Gladiators to our annual adult-version Halloween party at the Evans's.  It's scary putting on leotards when we're nearing the age of 40?!?  I painted some 2-liter bottles and attached them to PVC pipe and borrowed the costumes from Matt's cousin.  Add some red tights, a wig and bandanna and viola a cheap costume =)!

We had some snuggle time with our niece/cousin Mae Kathryn on Halloween.  Cutest.pumpkin.ever!

 

The Halloween crew.  I found Isaac a gorilla mask at Kroger on clearance the week of Halloween.  We're putting less and less effort into our costuming as the years roll by.

Miles won the award in our family for most candy collected.  He hit it hard this year and covered a lot of ground.  His pumpkin bucket was overflowing!

Plano Fall Festival Goers.  Tis the season for parent/teacher conferences, fall festivals, book fairs and endless amounts of fundraising.  Whew!

A sweet note that Miles had in his Student-Led Conference folder:

 

Isaac's class got to come to SKyPAC to see the Lightning Thief.  It was treat having him (and the 5th grade group) there to see our school day matinee! 

 

A little go cart riding at Meme's!

Crazy HAIR day!

A Teenager in the HOUSE

Raising a child is full of surprises! I read all the parenting books, went to the baby fairs,  I'd been around some babies, how hard could it be?  Matt and I were so lost. It's impossible to be prepared for waking up all hours of the night especially if you're a nursing mother.  There are wonderful moments.  There are scary moments. There are not feeling like yourself moments. There are I can't stand my spouse moments (y'all know it's true on BOTH ends).  And everything in-between.  All the gear your child requires - strollers, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, bottles, changes of clothes, car seats, more diapers, pacifiers, swings, playmats, the list is endless and bank accounts are drained.  I wouldn't trade anything for my three kids.  We've got a small and cozy house (that we can afford).  We have vehicles that work and get our kids everywhere we need to go.  Our kids are healthy and happy and smart.  They are surrounded by family and friends who love them dearly.  We have everything we need!  Bring on the teenage years...

Today 13 years ago, I could have never imagined that this tiny 6 lb. baby girl would be the most stunning, grounded, devoted, intelligent, hard working young woman that she has become.  I catch myself looking at her and thinking...where did all that time go?  It was a blink!  She should be yanking barrettes out of her hair (still as tender headed as ever today and always has her hair pulled back).  She should be screaming at the top of her lungs in the bathtub with a foam visor and goggles with Matt trying to wash her hair (again hair issues - smh). She should be in the middle of my kitchen floor drinking my Mocha Blast from Baskin Robbins (her favorite frothy drink has become a Mocha Frappe from Starbucks). She should be potty trained by now (j/k but she was almost 3 1/2 when she stubbornly relented).  She should be sounding out all of her primer words (is currently reading Stephen King books and just started the series The 5th Wave).  She should be listening to Coldplay's Clocks (on repeat) on our computer pounding away on the keyboard and "pretending" to work (now is on Instagram, texting and watching Good Mythical Morning). She should be wearing a colored wrist band and looking for her matching opponent in youth league basketball (playing a power forward for 7th SWMS).  I should be spending Gymbucks on clothes (spent $200 on Junior's clothes at Kohl's and didn't get half as much). This list could go on and on.  Our child will only become a teenager once, and today is that day for Matt and I.  We have a teenage daughter and LOVE her to pieces!

Last Year Single Digits

 

This is the last year I will have a child in single digits, sniff, sniff!  At work yesterday, one of my co-workers brought her daughter in with her new grandbaby.  As I was chatting with her daughter, she was asking me about tricks/tips for her teething little baby girl.  I drew a complete blank.  I told her it's been so long since I had a baby but that Orajel was a lifesaver.  She asked if her little girl was too young for it (because the doctors said she was).  Again, a complete blank.  How is it that that time moves this quickly.  I used to "pretend" I knew everything about raising babies and could give advice at the drop of a hat.  Today, I feel so far removed from that as my baby turns NINE today.  Instead of teething, he is losing all of those baby teeth.  Instead of fussing about being in pain, he can tell me, and I can take care of it with an ice pack or quick dose of Motrin.  The baby days are long gone and life is full speed ahead.  It makes me sad and glad at the same time. 

Miles couldn't be any sweeter if he tried.  He is a conformist (but not in a bad way - more in a compliant and easy to be around "let's play whatever" kind of way) and totally loves being with his friends.  He's fun loving and uncomplicated-typical 3rd child criteria.  He thinks his brother is coolest and follows his lead, sometimes to his detriment. 

Whatever Miles is into at any given moment lasts quite a while - a creature of habit - currently, he's obsessed with wrestling.  For a while it was golf and before that basketball.  Dominoes resurface here and there.  He uses all the dominoes, wooden blocks and Jenga pieces he can scrounge up.

He likes working out with Matt in the garage - lifting weights and jumping rope.

His current favorite breakfast is a honeybun and sausage biscuit. However, it didn't take much convincing to get him to go to Waffle House this morning to celebrate.  He absolutely loves their toast and mixed fruit jelly.  No one can make toast like Waffle House.

Our boys love their Uncle Seth!

The whole crew at Waffle House!  We love our little Miles's!

 

He is going to have a birthday party tomorrow with family and friends at the Regal 12 to see the new Goosebumps movie.  It's a birthday filled weekend of fun for our precious Miles!

UPDATE (Oct. 18)
We had a wonderful time at Regal Cinemas celebrating Miles's 9th Birthday. We had quite a crew, and Sunday afternoon is the perfect time to see a movie (especially on a chilly fall day).

Come if you dare, you're in for a scare!

I hadn't planned to stay for the movie since our party package included one ticket for the birthday boy and one ticket for a parent.  I figured I would just head over to Kroger and pick up the birthday cake while the kids and Matt were at the movie.  I had made the party reservations before Fall Break, and at the time I was booking, the movie was going to be 2-D at 2 p.m.  I was a bit surprised that Regal already had their movie times.  Usually they aren't posted until the week of the release.  However, the lady I spoke with had all the movie times so I decided to go ahead and plan a party around it.  After Fall Break, the theater called to confirm my numbers and proceeded to tell me that the movie was a 3-D movie.  Not only do our kids not really like 3-D, I knew that would make my party more expensive.  AND, I knew I couldn't watch the movie - 3-D movies + my eyes + motion = not good.  I told the lady that I understood they had made a mistake but that I had planned my number (and party time) based on the information I was given.  Regal was super sweet about it and gave me some additional free passes to offset the cost.  It really wasn't the cost so much (3-D movies are about $3+ more expensive), more the fact that they told me one thing and then it changed.  Either way, it worked out, and the kids had a blast!

 

Regal 12 has a nice party room above their arcade and set everything up for us.  Miles is a chocolate cake FAN!  

 

 We came, we watched, we ate cake, we opened presents and we celebrated MILES DEATON!  It was the perfect day!