Camping Trip!

We bought the Hrobars old pop-up camper when they got a new one, so we decided to go out for a weekend camping together. It was the week of Thanksgiving, and we decided pretty late, so there were not many places available. We decided on Goliad State Park. None of us had ever gone there, but we figured that we would give it a shot. We got the "premium" spots, but they were far from premium. It was really like a parking lot :( It was a little weird, but we ended up having a great time! There was an open field right next to our sites, and the kids really got into playing catch and exploring over there. We had a lot of fun together, as always! Hudson and Brooke played for about an hour one morning with chairs. Brooke kept moving hers, and Hudson would follow. They made a "base" which they called, "Mase Base" because Mason discovered it. We found coal from a fire pit and used it as sidewalk chalk. One time the kids went on an "adventure" together. We looked over and noticed that Kacy was frozen in place, for a really long time. As we walked over there, we heard her crying. Turns out she was terrified of grasshoppers. Every step she took they would jump around and freak her out. Oh, my little city girls :) The kids watched a movie together in the evenings in their jammies, the guys cooked a big meaty breakfast like they love, and we had relaxing time with wonderful weather. Can't wait for many more camping trips together.

Thanksgiving 2013

We took forever to decide exactly what we were going to do for Thanksgiving this year! The girls had the whole week off, but I had to work on Monday and Tuesday. Cory was going to hunt, then he was going to go to the Frio with Ryan and work on the land. Anyway, long story short, I decided to go to Fort Worth with the girls for the weekend and Cory went to the Frio with Ryan. We were going to meet back up in Houston for Thanksgiving, then go camping with the Hrobars at Goliad State Park. Because of all that drama, we decided at the last minute to join the Hrobars and their families for Thanksgiving. The kids loved it because they just played all day. The weather was good enough for them to run around outside while Cory fried up a turkey. I stayed at home until after Brooke's nap, and then headed over. Shane's sister had a little sewing craft for the kids, and they were all doing that when I got there. It was a nice change of pace from our typical Thanksgiving, and we are lucky to have such good friends to spend special times with. We love our "second" family :)

Feasts!

I always love going to the girls "feasts" at their schools. It's so cute to see them all dressed up in their little
"Indian" gear. Cory, Brooke, and I all got to go to Kacy's feast. She was the line leader when they all came in her room, but then she got weird. She came over to me and grabbed my legs like she was scared of something. It was so strange because she is usually so outgoing and fine with stuff like that. Anyway, the weirdness continued, and eventually she was in tears because she didn't want to wear her Indian vest or sit with her class. So odd! Anyway, her teacher, Ms. Karen is amazing, so she set her up on another table. Then, all was fine. They ate their food and then made little fruit turkeys. Her name for their Indian week was "Bright Sky", and I think that fits her just perfectly! Kacy also made a "thankful book" for everything she was thankful for. She choose - family, friends, God, Jesus, glitter, and flowers. Love her sweet spirit!
Adilyn's feast was at lunch time at her school, and they didn't dress up this year. Kacy, Brooke and I went up to eat with her. They had a traditional cafeteria Thanksgiving meal. A blob of "stuffing", mashed potatoes, some turkey, and the roll. The girls didn't eat much but the roll and cake, but I don't blame them :)

End of T-Ball

I loved the girls t-ball seasons! It was so much fun to watch them both play, enjoy it, and get better as the season went on. Adilyn really improved so much! She actually hit the ball from a pitch 5 times, she played the pitcher position most of the time, and got a couple really good outs. Compared to those first few weeks, I was so impressed with how well she ended up doing! I am just glad that she didn't cry every game or complain about having to go to practices. Her team didn't win a single game, but they all had fun. They were a great group of girls with great personalities. They might not have been the most skilled, but they were a lot of fun! Unfortunately, she says doesn't want to play next season. I'm not sure if she will change her mind or not, but I think she could be really good. Oh well, we will wait and see what she thinks when  next season rolls around! Kacy did really well, too! By the last game, she was ripping those balls down the 3rd base line. I think she will play t-ball next season. She seemed to really like it, and she was pretty dang good. No matter what, she was always ready for the ball in the field. The other girls would be off in la-la land, and Kacy would be "softball ready" and focused. :)

My Brooke - 19 months

Brooke is such a little spunky gal! She is at such an amazing age, and I keep forgetting to put her little updates in so I can remember what she is like. First of all, she is talking all the time now. One of Adilyn and Kacy's favorite things to do these days is to say, "Brooke say...." Then she says her version of the word and they laugh hysterically and say, "Awww, Brookie, that's so cute!" Brooke's favorite words: apple juice, no, Mama, Barbie (yes, my 19 month old knows and loves all things Barbie), bookie, and Wowee (both dogs). When she is finished with her food she always says, "Done, mama, mommy, mama, done." It's very elaborate. She can tell me if she wants a waffle or pancakes for breakfast or milk or apple juice to drink. I just always think this period of time where they truly understand 99% of what you are saying is so amazing. They may not be able to communicate everything they want to you, but they can surely understand almost everything you tell them to do.
She is still a crazy wall artist. I am pretty sure that she has written on the walls at least 20 times. You would think that I would get rid of all the marker, pens, etc that she could reach. Well, I have, but somehow the little stinker still finds any and every writing utensil that falls on the ground or gets left out and she just goes to town.
Thank goodness, she finally got the sleeping thing down! She is a pretty good sleeper, although now, she seems to be fighting her naps for some reason. I put her down in her crib, and she usually cries for a while. Sometimes she gets really mad and then for some reason she tries to take her clothes off. Sometimes she is successful, and then she just falls asleep with no shirt or no pants on. It's pretty funny to see her all "naked on top" asleep in her crib.
She is still very brave, and she definitely lives by the mantra, "anything my sisters can do, I can do better"! No matter what they are doing, she is always right there with them doing her own style of whatever they are doing. She loves jumping on beds and climbing on things, little adventurer!
She is also starting to have her own sibling rivalry. Everything that Kacy has, she tries to steal. Everything that Adilyn is doing, she wants to ruin. She pulls handfuls of hair out of both of their heads, and she loves messing up their games. She screams when she doesn't get what she wants. Really loud screams... :)
She has also gotten very nervous in big crowds and very clingy to me. Anytime someone talks to her, she snuggles in super close to me or Cory. I haven't tried to take her to the YMCA in a while, but I can bet that she would go nuts if I did!
Other random thoughts about my sweet little youngest cutie -
*Her hair is ridiculous! It's always in her face, and it's usually caked in yogurt or some other sticky goo. I usually put it up out of her face, but it ends up in her face at some point.
*She doesn't always want to be in my lap, but she definitely doesn't want either of her sisters to be in my lap either!
*Her shoes never stay on her feet. I swear I can put them on when I stop the car, then by the time I walk around to get her out of the car, they are off!
*She loves pushing around the little doll stroller that we have had since Adilyn was her age. She will put anything in it and drive it around (including Kacy).
*One of her talents is stacking things on top of other things. She loves to play around in the pantry, and her favorite thing is stacking up the cans.
*She loves all the girls little, tiny animals. She gets so proud of herself when she balances it somewhere fun.
I love being her mom! She brightens my day, every day.