Happy Thanksgiving!

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, the kids got haircuts. 

I would just like to point out that Walker is still not a fan of haircuts. He was silent and cranky the whole time. He wouldn't engage with anyone. :-/ Such a little stinker. He is not our social butterfly. If he knows and trusts you, he'll talk your ear off. If he doesn't, he won't. Simple as that. It's frustrating, but I know he'll grow out of it. At some point. ;) Right?

Lainey's "I'm Thankful For:" list

Walker's "I'm Thankful For:" list 

A sweet little owl came to stay with us on Thanksgiving Day. I haven't seen him since he took off  around sunset but I'm pretty sure that having 13 people at our house didn't help matters at all.

He looks tiny! Even tinier in person than in the pictures. I was slightly afraid he was going to swoop down and tackle my head or something. (That door in the picture is the door to our backyard...we access it quite often.)

Lainey made some cute place cards. Walker did, too, but I forgot to get a picture of the ones that he did. He made them for the Kids' Table. ;)

We busted out the china and the crystal glasses. We are SO fancy! :) 

Lainey and Ella. Best of friends.

cousins :)

I think Lainey and Walker are the only ones who got the "silly face" memo. Clearly the others are over it. Ha!

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This is hard to read, but Lainey has some creative writing ability! :) This was an assignment for school. Her only problem lies in the fact that her stories get pretty detailed (read: LONG) and she loses the momentum/enthusiasm needed to finish the story. This particular story is, in fact, unfinished (she did finish it for school, but I forgot to take a picture). 

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was one of my most favorite to date. I'm not sure why. It was very relaxed, filled with good conversations, and, of course, we stuffed ourselves silly. We had a wonderful time together, and I hope you all did too. Now...onto December! ;)

Week 46

It's Thanksgiving week. I'm thankful. For my husband, for my kids, for my family. I love you all. Simply put. And I'm grateful for each day that we have together. Even the long ones... ;) (I'm talking to you, kids.)

Lainey // You love your brother. You try to cheer him up when he's sad, and you help my by engaging him in games and entertaining him (when he's in the mood). You really are remarkable. You are a special, creative, joyful child...and I'm grateful for you.

Walker // You think way more than any five-year-old child should. You somehow have the gift of forethought; you actually think through your actions before acting on them. It's quite strange...but believe me, I'm thankful. I think you will be the one keeping your sister in line when y'all are teenagers. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

This afternoon, y'all played "Santa." You both dug into your stash of random birthday party favors and Chuck E. Cheese prizes in order to give "gifts" to one another. Y'all wrapped them and everything! (Well, Lainey wrapped hers for Walker and I helped Walker wrap the ones for Lainey.) 

Lainey Looks Old

Why does she look so old in this picture? I think it's the hairstyle. :-/ (This picture was taken last month at the American Girl Fashion Show.)

Walker's Marigold

I have to document this success story. We've kept this bad boy alive since Mother's Day! Walker brought it home from preschool as a gift for me for Mother's Day...it began its life as a seed in a tiny little plastic cup. But look! It's giant! :) 

And it even has real flowers! :) So proud of this little guy for surviving. Especially in our house. I'm not all that great at keeping plants alive. :-/

So, we had this rat...

This is a weird post. Mostly it highlights how weird I am. We had this rat (see below) hanging around our house for about 48 hours. I basically stalked it; I didn't want him/her to get inside the house (you can see how close it was to actually getting in our house). I also was concerned. It was so visibly sick. :( It barely moved all day (just back and forth between our house and the neighbor's house) and I honestly felt so sad for it. So I basically took it upon myself to make sure his final hours were calm and peaceful. :) (As a data point...I do NOT like rats. But I also do not like seeing animals suffer, either. I know...even a rat.)

I even made the kids take a picture with it. (See...he/she is lingering in the back left corner.) Lainey talked to it like she was talking to a baby...and Walker just kept asking me, "When's it going to get dead? Will it be there after it gets dead? Why is it there?" (This example right here highlights the difference between these two kids.) Anyway, after a full 48 hours, I found it in our flowerbed...dead. Finally he/she passed. I'm glad he/she felt safe enough to die in our flowerbed. 

Week 45

Lainey // You still love to be read to. And I love that. I'm happy to read to you as long as you'll let me. :)

Walker // You are convinced that dryer sheets serve only one purpose. They're "for keepin' rats away." Even if you see them lying around our house (you've only seen them at the lease, where we stuffed them in random places to keep the rats and mice away from the trailer's interior). Once, when one was lying on the floor of your room, you said, "Mommy. Aren't those for keepin' rats away?" I answered, "Yes, at the lease." You then asked, "Then what's it doin' in my room?" Ha! I'm pretty sure he thought that rats were trying to get in his room. We might need some basic laundry lessons over here. :)

Adrenaline Convention / Competition

Lainey had her first competition/convention of the season! She had a great time, but it's exhausting! Mentally and physically...for both of us! We're really looking forward to having the entire week off next week for Thanksgiving Break! :) 

cute smiles, all around

Lainey's big sister made her a "sock monkey unicorn" and Lainey LOVES it. Our studio dancers refer to themselves as "unicorns" (kind of a long story) and Lainey's big sister's favorite animal is a monkey so...here's a sock monkey unicorn. :) 

This is just a funny picture. Lainey doesn't have a single bobby pin or rubber band in her hair...yet her hair is staying in place. Ha!

Morgan and Lainey with one of the instructors, Matt Luck

with friends

Just doing a little dancing on the instructors' stage with her sock monkey unicorn.

Looking back, I'm pretty confident that she was pretending to be Clara from The Nutcracker. Lainey is Clara, the sock monkey unicorn is the nutcracker.

As a complete and total surprise, Lainey received a scholarship. She was one of the few kids (in her age group, 8-10) who were called onstage during the closing ceremonies to receive scholarships. We won't be paying for her tuition next year for this particular convention. And that is awesome! 

So excited about her scholarship.

Lauren (left) got to perform onstage during the closing ceremonies. Morgan also got a scholarship that covers next year's tuition AND she received an invitation to be part of the "Adrenaline Dance Crew" (a big honor). These three girls were SO happy!

Unfortunately, I missed the entire scholarship presentation! I had left Lainey in the care of Morgan's Aunt Marisa and went to Walker's last baseball game. I'm grateful for good friends who send me pictures of what I'm missing!

I'm excited for this sweet girl. I'm always proud of her, because she consistently works so hard, but she was so excited to get recognized for her hard work and I can't help but share in her happiness. :)

Who knows what they were doing here. :)

Both Morgan and Lainey love stuffed animals. They probably will love them for years to come. :)

Uncle Matt AND Aunt Whitney get MARRIED!

Last weekend was quite special for our family! We had the best time celebrating the marriage of Matt and Whitney. While I didn't do a great job of documenting the events of the weekend (I let the professional photographer do that), I did manage to snap a few photos. :)

The drive to San Antonio included a sleeping Walker.

It also included some serious volleyball. I can't tell you how many times I had to reach around my seat and retrieve the ball from the floor of the back seat. :-/ I might have been a little annoyed.

Lainey learned some magic tricks from my parents' good friend, Tim. 

These two dogs are not real. But they look real. They are gifts from Emmy and they "breathe" (with the help of a giant battery). 

just hanging out in Uncle Matt's gigantic suite

On Friday, while Lainey and I attended the bridal luncheon, Ben and Walker went sightseeing!

Walker at Ripley's Believe it or Not! Odditorium ;)

nervous giggles at the rehearsal

Everyone was listening to Pastor Pete very intently.

The rehearsal dinner was at the Alamo! Not inside the Alamo, but off to the side, in one of the open areas. It was beautiful!

before all the guests arrived at the rehearsal dinner

Lainey with one of her most favorite people - the bride!

Walker is sitting down in the middle of the walkway. He's playing with a giant screw and a tent stake.   I am pretty sure he was ready to go back to the hotel at this point.

These are cakes! Cakes! That look like cacti! 

my Mama Ann (my mom's stepmom), Lainey, and me :)

fun on the San Antonio River Walk the next day

Lainey, just after getting her hair curled

the flower girl, all ready to go

I about died when I saw this picture. SO stinking cute!

just before walking down the aisle

After the ceremony! Walker walked my mom (his Emmy) down the aisle! :) Walker was on one side of Emmy, and Ben was on the other. It was adorable!

Pretty sure Walker was done with all the picture taking by this point!

Aunt Whitney and Uncle Matt

LOVE this picture!

My amazing cousins and their spouses - I LOVED seeing you ALL! 

I'm pretty sure that Lainey is trying to do a back walkover in the middle of the dance floor.

Walker and Lainey reconnected with their "distant" cousins Nate and Luke. (Walker is next to Nate in this picture...Luke is older, but he's not in this picture.) Nate and Luke are the children of my mom's cousin Pam and her husband Mark...they live in Dallas. 

Lainey, having fun with a little girl named Nancy

first dance :)

Walker and Ben watching Whitney and Matt

One of the best things about weddings is getting the opportunity to see old friends. This couple has known me since I was about two years old; they are the parents of my best friend from when I was little. It was a true pleasure to see and reconnect with them. I'm so thankful that they made the trip to see Matt get married!

Aunt Whitney's sister, Shelby, is so amazing and Lainey loves her. I think they are now best friends.

This is basically what Lainey looked like for the majority of the night. She danced her little heart out! She had so much fun!

She befriended a girl named Lauren. Lauren is a friend of Whitney's from college!

They had a lot of fun dancing together! (Please keep in mind that she didn't want to dance with her mom or dad at ALL. We were "chopped liver" in her opinion!)

End of the night. :) Lookin' a bit rough.

Yet she continues to dance. (Notice her precious slippers in the background...so cute! They were a gift from Whitney!)

On the bus, on the way back to the hotel...I'd say that Lainey was pretty much fried at this point. It was about 12:30 a.m.! 

Aaaaannndd....DONE.

We stopped at Buc-ee's on the way to San Antonio and on the way home from San Antonio. It's awesome. Definitely worth stopping next time you are near one. It's pretty amazing!

We got lots of souvenirs from Buc-ee's! Like a volleyball, a football, a soccer ball, a stuffed animal, a backpack keychain, candy, Beaver nuggets...lots of pretty important things. :) 

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It was an incredibly memorable weekend. We loved every minute of it! Congratulations to Aunt Whitney and Uncle Matt. We can't wait to see you when you get back to town!