The Best Time of Year

The anticipation of what is to come is almost too much right now! The arrival of Nana, Papa, Uncle Chris, Aunt Cortney, and Ben is marked on our calendar; there are Christmas trees in the lots already; carolers sang on the street corner this weekend; Aly had her first spend-the-night at Big D's; school is out for a week and the ending was marked by a big feast at school with the girls dressed as a pilgrim and an Indian; the basketball team is 7-0...what are we to do with all this excitement?!? Count our blessings and be thankful!!

Indian Princess "Sunflower" and "Sister Caroline"

Enjoying a little mild weather...

Aly's Backyard 'Project'

Caroline rides her bike!

Good night

Chad and the team left for a tournament in Nashville yesterday, so the kids and I packed up and joined them today. They have been talking about the hotel to anyone who would stand still to listen for the last few days that they've known about it. We got to stop in Sewanee, TN to enjoy lunch with my dear friend, Cortney, and then got to the hotel just in time to say 'good-bye' to Chad (and jump on the hotel beds for a few minutes.) We survived the game with just one chocolate-milk-spill, one 'potty' accident, and a win for the Hawks! I hear deep breaths coming from three different kids as I type, and I know that the hard day was well-worth it when I see these faces:

(well, not literally SEE this face--this is the way that Jack sleeps!)

A Day in the Week...

Gobble, gobble. And gobble.

*****

This was not posed. This is honestly how we found Caroline entertaining Jack!

*****

Nana couldn't resist ordering the girls the nightgown the catalog called "Clara's Nightdress." The squeals that I heard from their room when they ran in after bath tonight and saw these on their beds were priceless.

The Boys are Back!

By the end of February, I hate basketball season. That may be a little strong, but I'm definitely sick of it. But it's funny how God seems to give me a short memory because here, on November 6th, I am so excited that the season is finally here! After months of conditioning and practicing, we are all so excited to just see these boys play.

We had a tournament with games both Friday and Saturday night; though I hired a babysitter for both games, I surprised the girls and took them to the game Friday night. With a start time an hour past bedtime, you can imagine how exhausted they both were at the end of the game when I tried to take this picture:

They were so excited, though, to surprise Chad at the first game of the season...and it was definitely worth it. The Hawks pulled off a 106-47 victory. Our personal victory was the fact that these two girls sat, colored, and drew for the entire game! My, how things have changed in just a few short years!

We also won the game tonight; not a bad way to start off the season! My prayer is that we can continue to feel as fresh and excited in February as we feel this weekend. Go Hawks!

Charlie Jack

What is not to love about this sweet face? I could eat this little boy up... I am in LOVE!



Learning to play...