It's a BIG leaf!

Brooke found this gigantic leaf at the park, and the crazy thing was that we couldn't even find the tree that it could have possibly come from. There weren't any other leaves around that were that big, and none in the trees around. It was really weird, but super cool! She loved it and kept it in her room until it got too flaky.

Volleyball Buds

Adilyn and her friend, Jessa have been playing at the same club this season. They are on different teams, but they had the same picture day, so we had to snap a quick picture of them in their uniforms. It's always nice to have familiar faces around!

An Arkansas Thanksgiving and Diamond hunting

Unfortunately, we couldn't take the whole week to camp this Thanksgiving, but we did get away for half the week! We decided to go up to Arkansas, so we drove up and stayed at a state park for two nights, and then we went to the Crater of Diamonds for another night. The first state park was really nice and there were some great places to hike and climb rocks. The fall leaves still had some pretty good color to them. More than we usually get in Texas anyway! We had an awesome leftover Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving night in our cozy little camper. We cooked all our favorites at home earlier in the week, and then we brought the leftovers. It was the easiest Thanksgiving meal, ever! The weather wasn't great for some of the time, but we spent those rainy days in the camper playing games and watching movies.
Crater of Diamonds was pretty fun! We brought our own shovels and buckets, and I was pretty amazed at how huge the area was. We felt very determined to find something cool, and we dug with a passion for about 45 minutes. After that, we realized that the ground was really hard, and it was really messy. We still kept trying for a pretty long while until one by one the kids gave up. We did find some stones that we thought might be something, but unfortunately they were just quartz. The thrill of the hunt was fun, even though we didn't find anything too cool.

The tale of the trapped hamster

I am not sure how we ended up at the pet store, but we did. We were looking at all the cute little fuzzy animals that we will never own, and we saw this guy. He was running all over the cage, clearly distressed, and chewing on the little hamster wheel. We were watching him for a few minutes, and then we realized that he had a buddy that was trapped under the wheel. He was trying to rescue him. It was so adorable, and we went and got a worker who freed the little trapped fella. The reunion was just as sweet as you could have ever hoped for. They ran around the cage together as happy as could be! Who knew that we were going to make that special moment happen for those two little furry rodents?

The dedicated French Horn player

Most of the times parents know best. Not always, but let's be honest - we pretty much know what we are talking about. When Adilyn told us that she wanted to do band in 6th grade, we told her that she wouldn't like it. We told her that it's hard to learn new things, and that she we didn't think she would want to put the effort into it. She begged and pleaded for us to let her try it. We reluctantly gave in. So...here we are in November and this is what she looks like while she "practices" her French Horn. Her favorite thing to do while she is "practicing" is to make her horn make noises like an angry baby elephant or a hive of angry bees. The only funny thing about it, is that she has to carry that huge thing back and forth on the bus everyday! Maybe she learned her lesson, and next time she will listen to us. What am I saying, of course she didn't!

Jumping fun with cousins

Ashley was in town with her kids, so we got together with them and Holly's kids for a day of fun at Urban Air. Adilyn took over watching over Clay, the littlest cousin. Brooke, Kacy, and Callie had a lot of fun taking turns jousting and knocking each other into the pit. The boys just ran around and around and around forever. It was a great way for everyone to get some energy out during Thanksgiving break, and it's always fun to see them all together!

Their favorite lunch date!

The girls always love when Nammie comes to visit them at lunch time. She brings them whatever fast food that they request, and she is never late! She has been having lunch with them for years, and it never gets old. This year she was able to be there for the "feast" day for Brooke. The 1st graders all made little turkey hats, and they looked so cute and festival.

The forever flower picker

Even though all the girls have liked to picked flowers, Brooke has been the master flower picker! Any time the girl sees a flower, she's gotta grab it. She made this cool little flower arrangement with a pine cone during one of Kacy's swim practices. :)

Swim Buddies!

Swim is a hard sport to really make friends because you just don't have that much time to build relationships, but swim meets are the time to do that! Here are a few of Kacy's best swim friends snuggling with her to keep warm in between races at the meet this weekend.

Give me a cute face...

My dad needed some pictures of the girls for something, and I asked them to give me a cute face. This is what I got from both of them...I did finally get a normal cute one, but they were cracking me up with dumb ones.

Mom Life

Sometimes you just find yourself in some weird photo shoots as a mom...

Help a Sister Out

The little girls get off the bus about 10 minutes before Adilyn's bus drops her off, and every now and then they will walk to meet her. This day, I guess Kacy decided to help her with her gigantic French Horn, and Adilyn decided to carry Brooke. It was a pretty cute little moment!