The Hughes Family: Hello, 2018!

We jumped head first into 2018 with lots more fun, keeping our schedules completely packed as usual!

I kept my Christmas cards on display longer than I should have, but I couldn't bring myself to take all of those beautiful smiling faces down just because Christmas was over.

Kyndall discovered a love for Connect 4, which was one of my childhood favorites as well

Despite what you might think about Texas, we experience some pretty frigid temperatures during the winter months. On this particularly cold day, Kyndall and her friend Ashlyn discovered that the neighborhood pond had frozen solid!

We still had a few days left of Christmas break before school started back, so we tried to pack in as much fun as possible in the time we had left.

Fun on the crazy cart....

I took the girls to see the movie Wonder and we all loved it!

Looking way too grown up before church

Girl Scout season arrived and you know what that means....

Huckabee put himself in jail

Kyndall had some extra Christmas money left from her Great Grandma and she had been wanting this toy for a very long time. She didn't get it for Christmas like she had hoped, but when I saw it on clearance a few days after the holidays were over I took the liberty of using her money to buy it for her. I had it waiting as a surprise when she arrived home from school.

She has made such progress in reading this year and we love to sit and listen to her read aloud....

Ashlyn's 7th birthday party

I had quite a long list of home improvement projects for Matthew and slowly but surely he got them all done. I'm thankful that he's handy and knows how to accommodate all of my requests!

New light fixture in the formal dining room...

Curtains on our VERY high living room windows....

Measuring, leveling and hanging my new wall decor...

Kyndall started taking a new art class at the beginning of the year and this was her first piece. Ever since her art teacher unexpectedly passed away last summer we've been searching for a new private art teacher and we are so happy to have found Mrs. Cindy. Kyndall takes lessons from her every Monday for an hour and a half and she loves it!

Shenanigans while shopping....

Once again the Texas winter surprised us with the possibility of some snow in the forecast. Kyndall got her hopes up and thought that by morning she would surely wake up to a winter wonderland.

But instead, this was the extent of the great snow of 2018! Ha!

As I was cleaning out Kyndall's backpack one day I looked through her work and found this. I couldn't help but laugh at the way she documented her experience getting a flu shot! What a little drama queen she is!

"I get a flu shot every year. It is horrible! It makes me crazy! Stop, I didn't do anything! But I got ten dollars after!"

And here is the very traumatic, detailed drawing that went along with it. I can only imagine what her teacher thought when she saw this!

We found a new favorite restaurant in Forney called The Burger Shop and we also discovered they sell Blue Bell ice cream!

Another family game night

This is definitely the most disgusting game ever made--Too much drool!!

Continuing their tradition of Saturday morning Daddy/Daughter breakfast date

He's been doing this with her since she was just a toddler

We finally made it to see The Greatest Showman and we LOVED it! We ended up seeing it three times in the theater!

We came straight home and ordered the soundtrack and the DVD

Kyndall ended up needing one of her primary teeth extracted because it was preventing one of her permanent molars from fully erupting. Once it was removed she also had to be fitted for a space maintainer so that the permanent tooth didn't invade the space where the primary tooth had been. So, we had several visits with the pediatric dentist and also the orthodontist. The dental hygienist in me was totally nerding out as I looked at this panoramic x-ray of her mouth. So many teeth in that tiny little head!

You truly haven't lived until you've seen your typically reserved, shy kid essentially high on nitrous oxide! Oh my word it was the most entertaining thing I've seen in a very long time! The same kid who nearly had an anxiety attack before we went in was giving the doctor and assistant random high fives mid-procedure! It definitely brought the crazy side out of her!

Just watch those legs flailing all over the place!

She got bonus cash from the tooth fairy for this one!

This was her way of begging for ice cream after the extraction, since she wasn't able to talk with the gauze in her mouth. Clever!

An ice cream with a giant frog on top makes everything better

We wanted to do something creative for my Mom's birthday this year so when I heard about this "paint your pet" night at Painting with a Twist I automatically new I wanted Kyndall to paint my mom's dog, Albert. When I called they were very hesitant to let me sign Kyndall up because of her age and kept emphasizing how detailed and "intense" these sessions can be. I told them she wasn't a typical 7 year old and assured them she'd be fine to sit and paint for the entire 3 hours. I think they were quite surprised to see just how well she did!

I submitted a photo of Albert and an artist sketched it out and then Kyndall painted all the details herself

She was the only kid in the class and I think her painting is just as good as the adults' paintings!

We had to keep the gift a secret for several more weeks until my Mom's birthday came around but as we expected, she LOVED it and even had it professionally framed and it't now hanging above the piano in my parents' living room.

I love meeting with my Heart 2 Home group from church every month. These ladies mean so much to me and I'm thankful for the ways they've ministered to me over this past year.

Ryann's 7th birthday

We celebrated Matthew and Kevin's birthdays in early February by having the McDermott family over for dinner and birthday cake

Nonie and Poppie flew in a few days later to be here for Matthew's actual birthday on February 8th. We took a trip to the store At Home and Kyndall was fascinated by these huge pinwheels.

More birthday celebrations with the family. Happy 37th, Matthew!

Each year Kyndall's school participates in the Adventure Dash Fun Run in which she raises money for her school to be able to buy new playground equipment, school supplies, technology resources, etc. This year for every bracket of money she raised, she received a certain color rubber bracelet. Thanks to some very generous friends and family, Kyndall earned ALL of the bracelets possible within just a few days! Even after she earned all of the bands they continued to give her duplicates since she was still bringing in money. Rather than keeping the duplictes for herself she sought out kids each day who didn't have even one band and she gave them her extras. She was burdened by the thought of her friends not being able to share in her joy so she looked beyond herself and thought of others. My heart literally felt like it was going to burst each day as she jumped into the car and excitedly told me who she gave her extra band to and how they reacted to her kindness. Truly, it is more blessed to give than to receive and she has learned that lesson very well through this.

Thanking her generous donors who supported her above and beyond what she had hoped!

Finally, it was race day!

Getting a quick pep talk from Nonie during the race

Holding the hand of her friend Sophia who was crying after being knocked down

Early Valentine's Day gift exchange with Nonie and Poppie

We took Nonie and Poppie to see The Greatest Showman...It was our THIRD time!

Playing "football" in the house

We get to see this gorgeous Texas sunrise every morning as we're leaving our neighborhood heading for school

We decided to implement a chore chart for Kynall since she's now old enough to take some responsibility around the house. Each week if she completes her chores (without whining or fussing) she gets $5. So far it's working out pretty well because not only is she helping to lighten my load, but it's also teaching her the value of a hard earned dollar!

Chili's hosted a Daddy/Daughter date night and Kyndall enjoyed having dinner with her friends Bree and Bailee, along with their daddies

A sweet, sweet Valentine surprise in the mail from our friends Mrs. Lisa who lives in Memphis

Remember all those generous Fun Run donors that supported Kyndall financially? Well she wrote every single one of them a handwritten thank you card. It took a few days because there were about 30 of them but with each note completed she got a gummy bear. Call it bribery if you want, but it worked! I am very old fashioned when it comes to this kind of stuff. If someone does something nice for you, they deserve a personalized note letting them know you appreciate it. I am a stickler for this and I'm working hard to instill it into our daughter.

Valentine's Day arrived! I received pretty flowers from Matthew...

Each day during the month of February Matthew and I took turns writing things we loved about Kyndall onto these paper hearts and sticking them to her door at night after she was asleep. Each morning she couldn't wait to get up and see what was written. Our goal was to build her up and let her know how proud we are of her. In a generation that is consumed with looks and outward beauty and material possessions, it's easy for a child to find their worth (or lack of) in worldly things. We always want her to know that she is fearfully and wonderfully made and that we love her for exactly who she is.

Seems like yesterday....

I spent my Valentine's Day morning down at Baylor having a follow up appointment with my liver doctor regarding my hospitalization back in December. All was well and I received a good report.

I then dashed back to Forney to take lunch to my sweet little Valentine who requested a pizza

I stayed and helped with the class Valentine party. Each child was to decorate a box and bring it in. Naturally, Kyndall wanted hers to be Marshall from Paw Patrol.

My job was to dip the goodies onto the plates in order to keep little germy fingers out of the food

We gave Mrs. Tarrant a bucket of goodies

Kyndall and Dylan, who she says is her "boyfriend". (Excuse me....what?!) I think it's comical that the tallest girl in the class would have a "crush" on the tiniest boy. Boyfriend or not, he definitely is a cutie!

Sorting out her loot after school

Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday so we went to church and Kyndall was surprised to see that her friend Bree had on a matching shirt

Kyndall had been up in her craft room working for several days on a special Valentine's Day gift for me and Matthew. She was SO excited to give it to us.

I was pretty amazed when we opened it. She made us a "wishing machine", just like the one in her favorite movie The Greatest Showman. We loved it and she was so proud!

G-Daddy sent her this pink camo jacket

My parents sent us cold hard cash as a Valentine's Day treat and we always love that!

Matthew gave me my favorite perfume

Gift cards from Grammy and G-Daddy and Aunt Kelly

The next morning Kyndall spiked a very high fever and we found ourselves at the pediatrician's office.

They tested her for flu which thankfully came back negative but they did send her home with some medications and a nebulizer for breathing treatments twice a day.

Took her to McDonald's for some breakfast while we waited on our prescriptions to be ready and as I was standing in line I looked over to see this pitiful sight. She was knocked out asleep.

Poor girl couldn't even sit up to eat her pancakes

Our sweet friends Mrs. Joy and Bree dropped off a get well goodie bag on our porch and that brought a smile to her face.

Somehow, by the grace of God I avoided catching whatever it was she had, despite cleaning up puke, snot, slobber and other bodily fluids for several days.

Shopping for new boots with Daddy. She used some of her chore money to buy this new puppy purse at the mall.

Looking so grown up after church

I have a thing for graphic t-shits and my friend Julie sent these to me and Kyndall

Practice hair for the upcoming Daddy/Daughter dance!

Reading to Daddy

Haircut day for the boys

I was on the Daddy/Daughter dance committee which meant I got to help with the decorations and set up. One of my jobs was to come up with creative centerpieces that fit the masquerade theme.

Trying out the photo booth while setting up the night before the dance

Dance day!! Manicure and pedicure to start the morning.

Bailee and her Dad came over for pictures too and then the four of them went to dinner before the dance.

You can only be serious for so long before your true self comes out...

I wasn't allowed at the dance until clean up time, but Matthew sent me these

Ryann, Kyndall and Bailee

Making masks for the masquerade

Miranda, Kyndall and Ashlyn

Kyndall and Aubree

Matthew came across one of our very old cell phones while doing some cleaning and Kyndall was completely intrigued by the fact that it wasn't touch screen, didn't have internet access, no apps and no way to reverse the camera to take a selfie! Ha! It completely blew her mind that just seven years ago, this was the type of phone that we had! Honestly, it kind of blew my mind too....We are so dependent on our phones now days for everything it was weird to remember back to when they were strictly just phones!