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!

Halloween weekend

This weekend we went out to the lakehouse with some friends and fam for Halloween weekend. There was some Canton time, lots of food, and the boys played golf...but, mostly we just had a great time busting out the boots, hooded sweatshirts, hot chocolate, and the fire pit for roasting marshmallows. Our weekend consisted of 10 adults, 4 dogs, and a baby. Such a fun time!

Kinley loved playing with dogs...a little too much....there's always a first time to get covered in dog poo. Yuck!

Alex put this marshmallow on the fire and just let it sit there and let it burn to a crisp and of course had to taste it. Yuck again!

Then for Trick-or-Treating we went to Matt and Aly Booth's in Dallas with The Barstads and the Bob and Allison Booth's. I was beyond thrilled to get to spend Halloween with my sweet friends this year! We were all inspired by Jeff's amazing 30th birthday party that Kris threw him a couple weeks ago and while shopping for that we picked up some mini 20's attire for the kiddos. Last minute the adults decided not to dress up....the Rangers were on...it was an early and quick trick or treat. But, all the kids had a blast! They played, ate candy, danced, ate candy, and trick-or-treated for more candy! Ben Barstad and his entourage of 7 girls were pretty dang cute! So much fun.

Aly hosted an amazing night with such cute decor and amazing food and I could not have asked for more fun!

Kinley did pretty great trick-or-treating. I was not sure she would really get it...but, the non-stop candy was definitely enough for her to keep going up to the doors with the "big girls."

These are the "Big Girls!"

Until next Halloween!