Girl's Trip

The lack of posts this week has been due to some rampant sickness at our house. A bad stomach bug on top of colds has kept us all a little out of the loop. But, it all started AFTER, thankfully, our really fun girls trip that we went on this weekend. We have gone on family girl's trip all throughout my life with my mom, aunt jan, momma gay, and amy. We have not done one in several years due to college, weddings, and such but, it was so fun to get to do one this year. The most fun thing about weddings and growing family is that there are more girls to go each time! brooke got to come, the new katie grant, and kinley! (we really missed olivia though) So, on friday night all 8 of us packed into aunt jan's tahoe and drove south of austin for a one night girls trip. the car was crowded but fun and we wouldn't have it any other way. amy, katie and brooke named themselves the "back seat club" which I in the middle seat with Kinley could not be a part of.

We got to the hotel late and kinley was wired when we got there and didnt got to bed until late but, she was so much fun and slept all night long.

Saturday morning we went over to my mom and aunt jan's cousin Susan's house. She has a beautiful home in Austin and 2 gorgeous kiddos Sadie, 4. and Zach, 1. It was so nice seeing Susan. It has been a while and it was great to get to spend some time with her and her kids and looking at old pics of them when they were kids.

Susan had the coolest sunroom/playroom for her kids and kinley was pretty much in heaven from the start. she did NOT want to stop playing to take a picture, which Sadie and Zach were fantastic at!

After Susan's we went to the Round Rock Outlet Malls for a five hour shopping spree. No pics from this but, lots of Christmas shopping done for everyone. Then it was back in the car for the ride home. It was a long but fun 24 hours. Kinley did fantastic in the whole time. She didn't even fall asleep in the car until the last 10 minutes of the ride home. Sweet sleepy baby!

We can't wait for more Girl's Trip's in the future!

A Fall Neighborhood Dinner

Saturday night we had a neighborhood dinner at the Bartel's. We are so fortunate to have great friends and couples our age that live on our street. We all talk alot and spend time separately but, the last time we actually planned a dinner to all sit down together was last November at our house. We definitely need to do it more often. Leslie and Eric planned such a fun night for us. She went all out in her fall decor and hosting skills and cooked some delicious chili for dinner.

She also gave Kinley a goodie bag full of fun new toys for her to play with while we were at their house. We also brought down Kinley's old walker for Annabelle Grace.

Kinley crawled into Annabelle Grace's swing and all by herself and thought it was so cool. She looked hilarious because she was way too big for it. She also discovered their doggie door and was a bit confused by it.

The boys, especially Landon, loved playing with the kid toys and then we all played a game of Disney Scene It, which is my new fav. So fun!

Matt was out of town, so for a momentary pic I was Rachel's date :-) (and of course I had to wear my new scarf!)

All in all, it was a great night and I hope we do it again soon!

My Best Friends' Scarf (Crocheting 101)

If you have seen Lullaby Lubbock lately...then you have no doubt seen these amazing cowl-neck-circle-scarves that Kristen has been crocheting. She has more orders than she knows what to do with...and when I made my order...she just decided to come over and teach me to crochet it myself instead. So, we had an impromptu crocheting session with Kris last night. Ashley, Mendy & Lauryn were over too and did not know that they had a late night of crocheting ahead of them...but, they loved it! We all learned on some great thick yarn that Kris brought over. We each did line after line of a circle scarf.

In the end, I ended up with a fabulous scarf made with love by all my friends! So much fun.

Kris, I am totally addicted to crocheting now and am ready to be put to work in your shop. Thanks for teaching us!

tree hugging and scarecrow visits

The posts this month have been on the slow side for me. That is because November has been pretty slow and steady at our house and it is just the way we wanted it. The past few months have been so busy and we are really enjoying just the everyday-ness of our life this month. It's still pretty scheduled. Kinley goes to school 2 days a week and those days I work. Ben goes to work every day and school at night Monday through Thursday. I try to fill my nights he is away with lots of activities....Bible Study Mondays, D-group Tuesdays, Gossip Girl Wednesdays.....seems like those three don't go together...haha. Thursdays are usually pretty chill and then the weekend is here. It is a whirlwind sometimes...but, nothing way too exciting or out of the ordinary. I know that will all change once Thanksiving comes. So, for the past couple weeks, I have enjoyed taking it easy.

There are a few things that Kinley and I do everyday that she absolutely loves. The weather has been fantastic and we have been taking full advantage. Lots of playing outside, walks, trips to the park, etc. We look at the flowers and plants in the front yard.

She is very into hugging trees lately. This is all on her own. I do not ask her to hug a tree. She just loves it. She goes from one tree to another just hugging them. They must be the perfect size around. Who knows.

We also live close to the airport so we look at the airplanes everyday...and try to take in the incredible sunsets that God gives us.

But, Kinley's favorite outside activity..one we MUST do everyday is visit the scarecrow on our front porch and 2 scarecrows on our street. One is at Lauryn's house and one is at Leslie and Annabelle Grace's house. Today I finally brought my camera to capture how excited Kinley is when she sees the scarecrows everyday. She waves at them and always says "Buh bye" when we walk away. But, wouldn't you know it...we get to Lauryn's house and the scarecrow is gone...Christmas trees are there instead. How she is always so on top of things I will never know. But, I loved it...it made me excited for Christmas and I know now that Kinley will want to visit her Christmas trees everyday next.

Then at Leslie's house, we did see the scarecrow and had an impromptu photo-session with sweet baby Annabelle Grace. She is 364 days younger than Kinley. Almost the same birthday...but, missed it by a day. She is the sweetest, happiest baby. We just needed them to get on the same page about a photoshoot today!

Kinley did finally sit still enough because Leslie bribed her with the candy jar.

So, until it gets too cold for us....we will be spending lots of time outside....probably visiting everyone's front porch decorations.

Kinley's Nap Mat

Kinley has been at preschool now for about 2 months. The first couple weeks were a little rough and the separation anxiety was at a high....but, after those first couple weeks she has started to LOVE school. She loves her teachers and friends and all the cool activities and special days they always have....like spirit days where all the kids wear their preschool shirt, color of the month days, fireman visit day, pumpkin patch day, pumpkin waffle day, I could go on and on! It is such a blessing to know that Kinley loves it and is being so well taken care of and learning so much!

They take naps at school from 12 - 2 and until this past week she has had her own crib. They told me Tuesday that they were moving all kiddos to the floor and to get a nap mat..until then, they would put her crib mattress on the floor. So far, it has been successful! I don't know how they do it.

When I was looking for a nap mat...I could not believe how expensive they are! So, I decided to make one for Kinley. I used this fantastic tutorial but changed a few things....I added an actual pillow instead of fiberfill and used nylon belt webbing instead of elastic and fabric for the strap. The best part is I can take all the foam out and the pillow and wash the whole thing so easy! I bought everything at Hobby Lobby and I think I probably saved $20-$25 by making it myself!

I hope Kinley takes lots of long and restful naps on this!