Concerts, Recitals, and Friends

 This time of year is always fun with the different concerts at school, parties with friends, and one of my favorites (not so much for the kids) is the Christmas piano recital. We adore Ms. Summer and Ms. Miriam and are always thankful for Mimi and Pawpaw being there to cheer their grands on. 

Reese also had her winter orchestra concert. She’s been playing the violin this year and has really done a great job learning a new instrument. 

Brooks had a weekend in December where he celebrated a few friend’s birthdays at Top Golf and D-Bat.  He ended up having baseball practice on a Sunday afternoon and then came to the boxing event with us for Community Care Day at church. I love that our church encourages all the kids to jump in and help.  Reese wasn’t able to come because she was celebrating her sweet friend, Brynley’s, birthday.

Straight from baseball to boxing night🎁

S

Reese was celebrating too🎉

Reese also had the sweetest Christmas party at Abbey’s house where the girls wore matching pjs.  I am so thankful for these sweet girls and the friendships they’re building. 

Lastly, Brooks had his LAST Christmas party in elementary school. It breaks my heart that after this year we will be closing the door to ESE. He also won the owl award for owning integrity, working as a team, and learning empathy the last week of school before break. So proud of this sweet boy!

Thanksgiving in Monroe🦃

 So, I am laughing at myself at this moment because I am starting to make the font a little bit bigger as I type.  Let’s be honest…to be almost 45 and to not have glasses is something I’m thrilled with. However, the squinting is in full force as reading glasses are in my near future. 

We drove to Monroe the weekend before Thanksgiving and stayed until Wednesday. This has become a regular trip for us around this time of year, and I love it.  Our time with our LA family is always so much fun. Larry made gumbo one night, Poppy and Amie watched the kids one night so Matt and I could go to dinner with Emily, Jack, Brent, and Gina. (THANK YOU!😘) And Tuesday night, before we left on Wednesday, we had our traditional Thanksgiving meal. The kids got to go Christmas shopping with Ami while we were there too.  It was a trip full of great memories. 

This is sweet Dash, Poppy and Ami’s new dog. 

Dinner at Cotton

The Dog Whisperer

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Fall Favorites

 I’m doing my best to catch up on all the fun we had this fall. Sarah, Mandy, and I took the kids to a pumpkin patch in Fayetteville over Fall Break. There was actually quite a bit to do, especially for older kids. We all had fun!

Never too old to roll in ALLL the corn. 

The Hite’s Annual Halloween party for the kiddos

This was Brooks’ last Halloween party at ESE. Unfortunately, in middle school, there will be no parties. 😔 So, you better believe I took ALL the pictures. 

Halloween night, the Martinez’s came to our neighborhood so that Abbey could trick-or-treat with all of us, and we were so glad they joined.  Reese, Shep, and Cora were S’mores. 🥰 Brooks was a character from Fort Nite. 🤷🏻‍♀️  I cannot describe how much I love our neighborhood and how many people decorate for Halloween.  It really is the BEST!

Even Rocky went trick-or-treating👻

Mommin’ on Halloween

Mimi always coming through with the holiday treats🎃❤️

Brooks also played flag football again this year through Upward, and of course their team was the Chiefs.🏈  Matt and Chris Johnson coached, Jude was on our team again, and they were so fun to watch. 

We also had a few fall baseball tournaments. The boys had “party animal” jerseys for the weekend of the Halloween tournament and almost came home with a ring. 

Matt and I took Reese out on a date night one Saturday when Brooks had a birthday party. She’s at such a fun age right now, with her witty personality. The green face is BEFORE we went out. 😉

I Love Her So.

We celebrated sweet Paige’s birthday at El Pueblitos! Travis did a great job pulling of the surprise 🎂🎁🎉

Brooks also had his THANKFUL luncheon at school.  Again, last year at this incredible elementary school…Matt and I are going to EVERYTHING we can. 🦃