Fancy Hair

The girls and I were looking at Pinterest the other day, and we found some fancy hairstyles. These were the ones they wanted to try out. Of course, Brooke had to get in on the action, but she couldn't sit still for anything more than a clip! We will work on her endurance :)

T-ball and Gymnastics

We let the girls choose 2 activities this fall, and Adilyn chose t-ball and gymnastics. I was surprised that she chose t-ball because when we did BlastBall when she was 4, she did not like it very much. Gymnastics didn't surprise me because she told me that she wanted to do it last year. I really didn't want to send her to a fancy gym because it is pretty expensive, and I didn't think that she would like it too much. Because of that, we decided to put her in the gymnastics at the YMCA. I don't think it's very well organized, and I don't think she is learning too much there. She seems to like it though, and I guess that is what really matters. If she can finally learn how to do a stupid cartwheel by the end of it, then I am happy! We started out with t-ball, and we tried to get her to practice a little at home. She did not seem very interested at all. We got her new cleats, a new bat, glove, and a bag. Still, not very interested. When we found out that we were with our friends, Peyton and Eastyn, she showed a little more excitement, but still I was not convinced. BlastBall was full of tears and whining. I did not want her to be "that" kid out there whining and complaining. I was so worried that the coach would have to be coaxing her to get out there. Of course, I would love for her to be the best player out there, and I would love for her to be a natural at it - but the most important thing is for her to enjoy playing and try her best. The first practice went okay. It was very apparent that the coach did not know what in the heck he was doing. There were a bunch of dads out there trying to help, but it was very disorganized and slow moving. Adilyn did practice hitting, but she wasn't hitting very hard. She did throw and catch, it wasn't perfect, but I was happy with everything. I didn't have to bribe her to stay out on the field, and when practice was over she wanted to stay and play catch with me. I would say that it was a success! We quickly realized that the coach has no clue about how to run practice or how to place people on the field or even the basic rules. Cory offered to pitch to the kids, and so he has quickly become the assistant coach. We had two games on Saturday, and the first one was embarrassing! The second one went a little better. Adilyn seems to be enjoying herself, and she has only made a few comments about not wanting to play. When she is out there with the other girls, she seems to be having fun. Her swing has gotten better, and she is trying her best right now. I hope the positive attitude continues through the season! She was really excited about getting her "ladybug" socks and playing in the park after the game. 

I love having Adilyn participate in activities, and I love to see how her character is being strengthened by working with her teammates and pushing herself to get better. Even though she may not practice as hard as I would like her to, or she may not be as aggressive as I would like, I am glad that she is participating. I also hope that we find her "thing" that she loves. I don't think that it will be t-ball, but you never know! She did say after her first game, "Mommy, I am pretty sure that volleyball is going to be my sport!" We will see about that!

Blast Ball and Dance

Kacy chose to do Blast Ball and ballet/tap class at the YMCA. She is just following in Adilyn's footsteps for sure! She had to sit through Adilyn's dance practice every week last spring, and she was so ready to do it all herself. Ms. Brenda is her teacher, and she follows along with her very well! She seems to really love dancing. We will see how she feels about continuing at the end of the semester.

I remember when she was 2 and Addy was playing Blast Ball. She loved to run out on the field, go after the ball, and pretend to hit. Now, she is the same age Adilyn was, and she is doing it all for real! She has a great swing, and she is trying really hard to throw hard. She wants to practice all the time, and she really is showing some improvement. Her coach is great! He is fabulous with the girls, and he is teaching them a lot about how to do things properly. She has 3 other little girls on her team, and they are all pretty good! Her favorite little friend is Claire. Their game was chaotic, as to be expected, but she did great. She hopped on the field every time she was supposed to. She surprised me with how aggressive she was. That girl knocked down the other girls on her team a few times to get the ball! She ran after every single ball, and she was paying attention really well. Her swing was a little low, so she kept knocking over the tee, but when she got a hold of it, it was a hard hit! I love her little go-getter attitude, and I am glad to see that she is being more aggressive in Blast Ball than she was with soccer!

MOMS Club

I usually try to avoid large groups of women in social situations. What I mean by that is that I am not a big fan of being in clubs or joining things. I like having a few close friends, but I am just not very big on being "social" in groups. Dana convinced me to join the playgroup that she has been in back at the beginning of the summer, and I am really glad she did! I love that you can go to any events that you want to, but you are not forced to do stuff that is not convenient or interesting to you. I decided to lead the "Little Bookworms" meetings which are held once a month, and I have had a great time finding books and coming up with activities to do with the kids! Today, they had a new member meeting, and it was really nice to be a part of the group. I don't expect to be best friends with everyone in the group, but it is nice to get out of the house and spend some time talking to adults while the kids can interact with each other!

An Exercising Playdate with Just the Littles

It took me a while to figure out how to get into the groove of Adilyn and Kacy being back in school, but we finally have figured things out. I love spending time with just Brooke. It is so easy to just have one kid. She has become my errand buddy, my cleaning buddy, and my tv watching buddy! That sounds like we have no fun at all, but we do. There is some play time, some tickling time, and some dancing. It's not all work!
Kacy stays late on Wednesdays, so I try to do things with friends on those days since I don't have to rush to get her at noon. The other day, Sonja and I decided to get together with the girls and go for a run. We decided that since we only had 2 kiddos, we could use one double jogging stroller as we ran and we could just switch off pushing. They were so funny when we put them in there! Neither one of them made a sound the whole time we were running. Sonja and I could actually have a conversation without a million little kid questions. It was fun to have just the "littles" alone for once! It is so cute to see them together, and I can't wait to see them grow up and learn to play together. Right now they kind of follow each other around, watch each other, and attempt to share toys. I know one day we will look at them, and they will just be having a great time together!

Port Aransas Weekend

We had been looking forward to going to Port Aransas for Chad and Kristen's wedding for a while now. I was excited to get to have another mini beach vacation before the end of the summer, and we had a very nice comfortable condo to stay in. A making of a perfect weekend...except, Mother Nature did not provide the weather needed for this perfect weekend. Friday was rainy off and on. We finally decided to just go out to the beach for a little bit while it stopped raining. We got out there, and about 30 minutes into our playing, it just poured! It rained so hard that the raindrops were almost painful. The girls thought it was hilarious, and they got underneath our big beach blanket and they were happy as they could be. I think they even made a sand castle under there while they waited for the storm to pass. After the rain stopped, it got a little chilly, and the girls were done. Luckily, the rehearsal was out at the beach that evening, and the sun had come out. Adilyn, Kacy, and Callie played in the sand and the water, got super dirty, and had a blast! Saturday was not rainy, but it was cloudy and overcast and a little cool and ridiculously windy. Cory was golfing with Chad, so we hung around the condo in the morning and watched some extra tv. We finally went out to the beach with Tommie and Mike and played for a little bit. Brooke was scared of the crazy wind. Adilyn was cold. Kacy and Mike were the only ones who had fun in the waves. We gave up after about an hour, and we just went back to the room. The girls played with their Barbies in a warm bathtub for at least an hour, and they were perfectly happy! I was pretty bummed out about the lack of beach fun, but it is what it is! The wedding was Saturday night, and the girls made some new friends and had a great time. Before we left, we went to a souvenir shop that had a shark as the entrance way. The girls thought it was hilarious that we walked in a shark's mouth, through his belly, and out his bootie! I love going different places with them even when things don't work out exactly as you plan. All time spent together is time well spent, and memories made!

Another Henderson Wedding

Chad and Kristen got married in Port Aransas last weekend! They got married, but it was a bit of a mess, unfortunately. The wedding was supposed to be on the beach, but it was unfortunately crazy windy on Saturday. They couldn't set up a tent, so they had to find an alternate location. About 4 hours before the wedding, they decided on their location. There was a courtyard by a hotel that was available and perfect! We all get over to the wedding, and they officiant is not there. We are waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally, 45 minutes late she shows up. Evidently, there was some issue with the ferry. It was actually okay because a couple other people were stuck in the ferry traffic, too. But, come on, lady...you live in this area, you know the issues that could come up, you should have been there on time! Although Chad and Kristen didn't get the beach wedding that they imagined they would, it was just beautiful. All the kids had fun running around in the grassy area, the food was fabulous, and everyone had a great time. I am happy to have Kristen as part of our family, and I am so happy for the both of them to start their married lives together!

Brooke Can Talk!

Just as I suspected would happen, Brooke just started talking one day. Now, I don't mean that she is just chit-chatting away, but she can repeat a lot of words that we say, and she can say a lot of words on her own. Her favorites are "Ow!", "Kacy", "Addy", "Thank you", "bye-bye", "Hello", "ball". I just love when they start talking and their personalities start to show even more than they already do! She is still proving to be our little explorer and daredevil. We shall see if that continues!
The cutest thing she says is "nummies". Anytime there is something that she wants to eat, usually it's something sweet, she will yell, "Nummy" until we give it to her. I am guessing that she got it from us saying, "yummy", but whatever it means, it sure is adorable!

A New Little (Itty Bitty) Nephew

Ashley was not due until November. She was having a fantastic pregnancy. Gerad and her were planning on coming down for Chad's wedding. Unfortunately, all that changed after she went to her 30 week ultrasound. They found some complications that could be potentially serious for her and the baby. She was still feeling pretty positive, but then her water broke at about 31 weeks or so. Of course, she went to the hospital and they admitted her. The doctors were hoping to keep the little one in until at least 32 weeks, but he had a different idea! Little Colt Jackson came into the world by c-section and only weighed 4 pounds. It was such a stressful time waiting to hear what was happening, but luckily everyone was healthy! He is still in the NICU, but he is doing well. I can't imagine how much emotional Ashley and Gerad went through for those couple weeks, and I know that they will be so happy when he is safe at home with them!
Welcome to the world, Little Man! We love you already :)

Back in the Working World...Kind of

I am officially employed by the YMCA. Dana helped me get a job doing a Healthy Living Class with her. She does the nutrition part of it, and I do the exercise portion. It's a one hour class that last for 4 weeks. We had our first class in September, and it was really fun to feel like I was "teaching" again. I taught the group about the principles of exercise and how to create their own fitness programs. It was nice to have something to prepare for again, and something to keep me busy (but not too busy). The best part about it the - the Y discounts! Thanks, Dana! :)

Mommy Blog Overload

As we all know, the Internet has changed almost every aspect of our lives these days. I love a lot of it: being able to find the answer to almost any question in a matter of seconds, keeping in touch with people that would normally never be in my life (even if it is virtually), and keeping all my pictures and videos safe from my computer crashing :) Although there are many amazing things about the old World Wide Web, I think the Internet and the accessibility of information, television shows, and the wealth of information can also bring some negative changes to our culture. I am so tired of seeing people use iPads, phones, or other devices to "babysit" their children. Don't get me wrong, I let my kids watch tv and play games on my phone. What I do not agree with is going out to eat with your family, and giving each child of the family their own device to watch a show on throughout the entire time. It also drives me crazy when parents give their kids a phone when they are acting nuts in public. That's a perfect way to reward that kid who is screaming in the grocery store. Again, I know there is a time and a place for it. What I worry about it the fact that we are not teaching our children to be patient, to "suffer" through things that are not exactly exciting, or to spend time together as a family. How is this going to affect our society in the bigger picture? Who knows, but it does make me worry a little.
Now on to the blog aspect of the Internet world...
I began my blog to take place of baby books, journals, and to use as basic memory keeping for myself and my family. I am not here to change the world, to make that one "viral" post, or to brag about how much fun I have with my kids doing crafts and homemade gifts. All of a sudden, I feel like every mom is out there blogging for money (more power to them, we could all use the extra cash). There are all the different "types" of moms, the crunchy cloth diapering earth mama (who can make you feel like you are ruining the environment with your disposable diapers and baby food jars), the Christian mama (who can make you feel like because your kids are going to public school you could never teach them how to be a real Christian), the crafty, creative mama (who must have three nannies or ten arms of their own to utlitize all those amazing teachable moments complete with a homemade season appropriate wreath all while taking pictures of each step), the "scary" mama (who can make you laugh when she tells it like it is, but then you realize it's a little over the top). And then, there are all the posts that are meant to encourage all moms for just "doing the best they can." It's all a little overwhelming. It's great that people can use blogs and the Internet to connect with other people that are like them, but to me, it kinda seems like everyone is a trying to be a money-making blogger these days...
and now I step down off my high horse, and continue with my own little blog that only my besties and my family read :) Love you guys!

Kacy's 1st Day of PreK-4

Kacy started preschool today, and she was so excited! I love how relaxed she is about life in general. She just jumped right out of the car and into school without even a look back! She was bothered by having to wear a name tag. She said, "Why do I have to wear a name tag? I know my name." She had a great day, and had lots of stories of all the things that happened. She was singing lots of new songs, and her favorite little saying was, "When your little hands find something to do, do it with all your might." I don't think she understood what it meant, but it was cute. I love that she is learning "church" things at school! I can't believe she is going to be in Kindergarten next year.

Frio River Labor Day Weekend

We had a great time at the Frio over Labor Day. All the cabins were taken, of course, but Ryan's dad let us stay in the beautiful "barndominium" :) We spent our days being lazy on the deck, swimming in the river, and riding around in the mule. Brooke absolutely loved riding in the mule. I took her by herself the first time, and I had her in my lap. She quickly decided that she wanted to sit on her own, like a big girl. All the girls love riding around like country girls! They are always amazed by the stars at night and seeing all the animals running around. 

Adilyn and Cory, having a "gun show" by showing their muscles!

Brooke kept trying to carry a super full bucket of water, and she kept getting mad about it.

The girls found a friend to play with, and they played "mermaids" forever.