Since I haven't blogged since Christmas, I'll just do an entire January post (because I won't catch up otherwise!). We are loving life and have had some fun times with friends and family this month. I haven't been great about getting pictures of all of it, but try to remember!
Our church is doing a save the date (dating your spouse) challenge where if you go on at least 3 dates a month for all of 2016, then you will be entered for a free 7 night cruise! James and I have been thankful for the challenge to spend dedicated time without the kids each month. Our three for January were...
Movie night at the Look Theater to see Joy (my choice, obviously)...
It was weird, but pretty good.
Take out and game night after the kids went to bed one night...
And PF Changs with friends last weekend. We originally wanted to karaoke, but couldn't find a good place, so we just met the Weemses and Hummels in Allen for dinner. We had just as much fun and a night full of laughs!
I was also able to have a few girls nights with some sweet friends this month. First with 2 of my kappa girls, Lisa and Trish (no pictures - insert sad emoji) and then with my two SLP friends, Mollie and Christina...
Can't wait to meet Christina's third BOY! And Lisa's third addition, too! Love my friends and their sweet babies:)
And speaking of wonderful friends and their babies, Charlotte and I went to my friend, Emily's baby shower last weekend. I set up Emily and her husband, Matt, so I can't help but feel a special connection to her little ones;). Her shower was at her friend, Carroll's house in Highland Park and as we were leaving, Charlotte said, "This house must have cost a hundred dollars!!!" Try a million little one:) She loved playing with Carroll's daughter and Emily and Matt's niece during the shower. Of course I have no pictures, but I know there are some out there somewhere, because someone was taking lots of pictures that morning.
Last night our whole family got together with our dear friends the Satterfields and Thomases. We have missed seeing them every week at church and love getting everyone together. There are 8 kids between us, so it's no wonder we didn't get any pictures!
Then tonight, we went to dinner with the whole family for this kid's birthday...
He's 14 (FOURTEEN!). Man, that flew by. Again, no pictures because restaurants with 15 people (and 3 of my kids to rally) are too stressful for pictures, so I stole that one from his lunch date with my mom. He's such a smart, kind, handsome kid. Thankful to be his aunt!
Hunter is playing basketball again this season. His team was 0-6 before this morning when they had their first win of the season! Hunter had his best game yet. I was so proud of how aggressive he was that I nearly started crying. He told me before the game, "I'm gonna go to the ball today." And boy did he. He fought for it (to the ground!) twice, and I know this is completely against his nature, which just makes me so proud of all of his effort. After the game, his parents and grandparents showered him with praise...so much that I saw a little quiver of the chin and watering of the eyes. I love my sensitive boy!
Mom is in town this week, so she and I went to eat lunch up at the school with Hunter yesterday...
And we were able to go with Charlotte on Tuesday...
I've only been with each of them twice this year, so it's a special treat for them for sure.
Char finally learned to tie her shoe last weekend and was so proud!
We had tried several times, but it wasn't working. So, when my friend, Kim, shared a video that helped her daughter learn super quick, I jumped on teaching Charlotte with it. It worked like a charm, and she learned in just 2 tries! She was thrilled....and I'm sure her teacher is, too!!
Char has a love-hate relationship with both of her brothers, and one day last week I guess she had just had enough...
So. hysterical. y'all.
Today, we went to the American Girl store to hang out with Charlotte's BFF, Amelia and her mom. The girls were so excited to see each other (even though they had just seen each other last night at dinner:))...
Look at Caroline's afro.
Charlotte and I made an appointment to have Caroline's hair done, because it was so crazy (see above).
Look at the difference!
Charlotte loves it so much, she even brought her to Zack's birthday dinner tonight.
And finally, our crazy little Grey has been up to many shenanigans this month...
I was making dinner one night and looked over to see this...
Why not make a pallet on the fireplace! Must be comfy, right?
One of his favorite things is to lay on this slanket and ask to be pulled around the house, giggling all the way!
Grey had his last night in his toddler bed last weekend...
Such a sad day for me! I can't believe he'll be 3 in 3 days. My baby's not a baby anymore:(
He now has Hunter's bed, and Hunter is on the air mattress until we buy his new one. We're in the process of painting bedrooms and switching Hunter and Char's rooms (because for some reason we originally gave Hunter the room with the big closet and Char the small one...and clearly, the girl needs the bigger closet). I'll post some pictures of all the rooms once the transition is complete. If I can remember to take them!
I need to make picture taking my new year's resolution. I'm not gonna lie, some of the pics in this post were stolen off facebook because other people are better about remembering than I am. Who would've thought I would stop being the mommy paparazzi already??
What a great month we've had! Can't wait for February:)
