8 months

My baby girl turned 8 months last week.  She is growing so fast.  She is eating her baby food really well.  This helps me to see the light at the end of the tunnel with buying formula!  Although that too makes me sad as well, to see how quickly they grow.  She continues to be a very big momma's girl although she has started to like Dad a little more!  Kate and the boys can always make her smile, she thinks everything they do is funny.  She brings so much joy to our family.

She has 4 teeth and as you can tell by all the drool we are expecting more anyday now!

Black Friday

I have to admit this is my 2nd favorite holiday of the year after Christmas!  I have two friends that have become my Black Friday Friends and we are a team to be reckoned with!  We have done this I believe 5 yrs now so we felt this year it was appropriate to take it to the next level.  Therefore matching shirts and scarves were in line! 

The front of the shirts say BFF but we didn't get a good shot of that!  We got lots of compliments on the attire and the scarves were great for finding each other in the crowd- the pink was easy to spot!  Here we are making our game plan for the next stop!
















We always have good stories following our shopping adventures.  One year we saw the police tazer a person at Toys R Us and then haul them off!  This year a lady was hit by a car when we were inside Target.  So when we walked out we were greeted with 5 cop cars, an ambulance and a fire truck.

I have no update on how the lady is doing- praying she was not seriously injured.  The sad part is rumor was it was an unlicensed 15 yr old driver.  We had a great night of shopping although my night was cut short.  Lesson learned- never go 14 hrs without eating and then drink large coffee and a Diet Dr Pepper.  Combination of sugar/caffiene and empty stomach almost made me pass out.  I tried to keep going but couldn't get to feeling better so my friends brought me home around 4:00 this morning.  They continued on until 9am.  Overall the trip was a success,  many great gifts including a couple for me!

What to do??

I have so many projects that need to be finished/started that I don't even know where to begin.  I spent my afternoon with a great friend making Black Friday shopping shirts (pics to come later!)  Now tonight I have a little bit of everything I am working on.  The joys of multitasking!!

So now I had better get off the computer and get to working on these projects!



Program

Today was the Kindergarten program at school.  They all dress like pilgrims and indians and sing several songs about Thanksgiving.  It is so cute to watch this age. 

And the rest of the day I had "Gratitude Attitude" stuck in my head!  The other day I told Jackson that I didn't appreciate his attitude to which he replied "You mean my gratitude attitude?!"  Umm yeah- not thinking he understood the meaning of the song:)

Monday

Hayden's thanksgiving feast

Bedtime stories with my girls. Kate is such a sweet big sister

Although Peyton was easily distracted
















and a really long day and night without my hubby.  He left for work at 7am and stopped in from 8:30 to 9:00pm  and left again for another 3 hours or so.  We all miss him when he's gone in the evening, especially Luke.  (Luke really doesn't follow the rules when Jerry's gone!)

And teacher gifts for school tomorrow (mini pumpkin spice muffins- not a dozen eggs:)

And I have another project that has to be done by Black Friday that is calling my name now!  It involves hot pink and zebra print fleece- more pics to come soon!

Button Ring Party

I first met Julie almost two years ago through my stepmom.  She went to the Abilene craft show each year and Tanya and my sisters would always buy the most beautiful button rings from her.  I was so jealous!  I needed some of those rings.  Come to find out Julie actually lives 6 minutes from my house!  I have hosted a couple parties and have bought several out things from her on the side.  She is amazing.  She brings thousands of buttons and beads and you pick out your favorites (which is no easy task!) and then she will create a beautiful one of a kind piece from it in less than 5 minutes.  Today I hosted another button ring party and had so much fun.  I spent 4 hours looking through buttons and talking with some girlfriends.  It doesn't get better than that!

Kate much preferred the snack counter

I had such a hard time deciding what I wanted, but I ended up choosing two rings and two necklaces.  I am super excited about the necklaces- I have never done a necklace only the rings. 

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

My favorite time of year is here.  I have been preparing my lists and starting to make my Christmas projects (and why don't I start in July???)  I have even started listening to Christmas music.  Today we had our first family Christmas fun.  We went to Independence Square to watch the lighting (oh wait- we didn't last that long due to extreme wind conditions!) However we did get to take sleigh rides and visit Santa.  There was even a surprise visit by Slugger from the KC Royals.  We had a great time and I am even more ready for Christmas now.

Counters

Kate has discovered that by using the barstools she can now get on the counters and reach anything she wants.  I have found her numerous times in positions like these and almost always she has found something to eat! 

Date night

So last Friday was supposed to be date night for Jerry and I.  We haven't been in out in way too long without kids and we have a gift card for Red Lobster from last Christmas we have yet to use.  So we had this planned for a month and our wonderful sitter Hannah was going to watch the kids.  Well lo and behold Peyton ended up with a burst ear drum on Friday so we were stuck at home.  I was bummed.  I mean really bummed.

Jerry suggested that I take the boys out on a date on Saturday night to go use our gift card.  And because I was really wanting some shrimp I thought this was a great idea.  I am sorry to say I didn't get any pics, but we did have a great time. 

We got in the car and Hayden jumps over the seat and opens my door from the inside and says "Dad told me I was supposed to open the door for you!"  Gotta love it! Then we get to the restaurant and were waiting to be seated.  The hostess called "Wood party of 7"  Jackson looks and me in all seriousness and says "Is their last name 'Party of 7' or just 'Party'?"  I was laughing so hard (as were the couples sitting near us) I think he thought it would be pretty cool to have a last name like Party!

We had a great dinner and the boys behaved themselves very well.  As we were leaving Hayden says "Man we were there a long time"  I said " well that's what you do when you are on a date."  He replied, "Yeah it's a lot different than eating at McDonalds!"  Following dinner, we went to Toys R Us to look around for Christmas ideas. 

I had a great time out with my two favorite little men.  I hope to continue to have date nights with my sons as they get older.  What better way to teach them how to treat a girl on a date than to teach them yourself!

Our week

This cutie cut her top two teeth

Lots of pumpkin carving

We all enjoyed some Just Dance 3 on the wii

Jack has become very picky on his hair (I feel like I am fighting a teenage girl!)  He decided this week he liked the spiked mohawk look and he started stealing my hair products!

Peyton started enjoying the finer things in life this week like sweet potatoes

Kate has been caught numerous times sneaking into the candy stash in the top cabinet

We enjoyed a lot of sunshine today

Luke got a real good brushing and this has not happened in a long time!  Kate thought the hairballs flying were hilarious!