The Hughes Family: April

April was another busy month for our family....

Kyndall isn't allowed to go to sleepovers (sorry not sorry) but we let her attend the girls only lock-in at our church with her GA's group and she was SO excited about it!

Matthew and I didn't really know what to do with ourselves. With no family close by I honestly can't remember the last time we've had a night to ourselves! We ended up just going out to eat dinner which wasn't all that exciting, but it was nice to have some time for just the two of us. Some of her leaders posted these pictures and I was told that Kyndall was one of the very last ones to fall asleep, well after midnight! Not surprising since she is a night owl. That 7:00 a.m. pick up time the next morning proved to be rough for her! Ha!

Kyndall has taken up a love for plants here lately which isn't a surprise since she loves ALL living things. Every time we go to the store she begs me to let her buy another succulent to add to her back porch collection. Each day after school she goes out and checks on them, waters them and brings them in if the weather is going to get bad. I've even overheard her talking to the plants. I'm pretty impressed with her dedication to them!

I was pretty proud of this cute watering can I made her with my new vinyl machine

Spring portrait day arrived and I couldn't believe how grown up she looked when these came home. Looking way more like a teenager than a second grader and my Mama heart doesn't like it!

First grade vs. Second grade

Kindergarten vs. Second grade makes me even more sad! She has changed so much in just two years.

We love a lazy, rainy Saturday with no plans. They don't come around often but when they do we all take advantage, even the dogs.

Kyndall drew this portrait of her Nonie while they were FaceTiming. It may not look exactly like her but I was quite impressed with the details, especially the teeth.

Each night before tucking Kyndall into bed we have a little family devotional time. On this particular night Huckabee apparently needed to listen in as well because he climbed in Matthew's lap and sat there the entire time.

I went on a walk around the neighborhood one evening after dinner for a little "me" time and I returned home to find the sweetest surprise from Kyndall. Her random acts of kindness are one of the things I love most about her.

We live in a small town so when a new restaurant opens up we get pretty excited about trying it out! I think we've eaten at MOD Pizza a dozen times since this picture was taken! Their milkshakes are good but their "no name cake" is the best!!

Somehow Cam always knows when there's food on the stove. He may not be able to actually see that rotisserie chicken but he knows it's there and he will continue to dance around like a little ballerina until you give him a piece of it.

Many years ago when we lived in Charleston I was a part of a wonderful Moms group and I made some sweet friends whom I still keep in touch with. One of them is Dawn and although she now lives in Tennessee we still stay in touch through social media. She and Kyndall share a love for crafting and she very generously sent Kyndall this huge box of crafting supplies and she was THRILLED about it! Since then, Kyndall and Dawn have FaceTimed together and Dawn has taught her how to use some of the supplies she sent. I just love technology!

My friend and neighbor Mandy started a neighborhood breakfast/prayer group at her house and I have really enjoyed spending time with these ladies every other Thursday while Kyndall is at school.

I look forward to our Friday lunches SO much! I love spending this time with her and hope she'll always want me to do this.

I also love seeing what she's up to during the day so I'm once again thankful for technology and for her teacher taking time to post pictures on the class Facebook page for parents to see.

Our church recently completed the long awaited construction of our new sanctuary and multi-purpose recreational building and one of the perks is that there's a full gym available with membership. So, I signed up and have faithfully been going five days a week which is HUGE for me since I've never consistently worked out in my entire life. Most days I try to fit it in before I pick Kyndall up from school, but other times that's just not possible so she tags along and waits for me and then I reward her patience with some play time on the awesome new playground....

And then I leave the gym and head straight to dinner at MOD Pizza and enjoy another "no name cake". I like to call it balance! Ha!

We love supporting our friends and on this night Kyndall was able to cheer on both Ashlyn and Katie since they're on the same soccer team.

The weekend before Easter was supposed to be a crazy busy one for our family. We had three community Easter events we wanted to attend but due to rain all three of them were canceled. Another rainy Saturday with no plans?? No problem--Let's make cupcakes!

Every now and then the students are rewarded with a non-uniform day in which they can wear a school spirit shirt and jeans. The Thursday before Easter was one of those days.

When she got home from school her Easter goodies were waiting for her. Traveling for Easter means the Easter bunny has to visit you a few days early but she never seems to mind!

How cute are these cookies??

Friday morning it was wheels up as we said goodbye to Dallas and flew home to Florida/Georgia for Easter weekend.

We even found the Easter bunny in the airport!

When it's a holiday weekend and the rental car company at the airport is fresh out of "family style vehicles"....You take what you can get. Needless to say I was not happy about this especially considering we had a reservation that they gave away! They tried to tell us this was an upgrade but somehow I just don't agree. Nevertheless, it was ours for the weekend and eventually I was able to laugh about it and it definitely made for a lasting memory!

Just as we were getting close to Matthew's parents' house we spotted the most vibrant complete rainbow and it's almost like God was saying "welcome home, Hughes!"

Nonie always has treats awaiting her arrival, especially on holidays

And just because you're 36 and 38 doesn't mean you don't also love Easter treats! These were waiting on our nightstand in the room where we stay.

Saturday morning we drove to Tallahassee to meet up with my side of the family for an Easter event at my parents' church.

Just missing my Dad who hadn't arrived yet

The eggs were supposed to be dropped from this hot air balloon but unfortunately due to the wind they weren't able to use it.

It was still a lot of fun and Kyndall got to ride a pony named Cinderella which was obviously the highlight of the day for her.

She also won the cake walk which made this junk food loving girl extra happy!

After the event we went to the local elementary school to cheer Wyatt on in his t-ball game. This is the same elementary school that I attended the very first year it was open in 1989. I was proud to show Kyndall the mural of Tallahassee that I helped paint 30-ish years ago which still hangs outside the school. I was in charge of painting the hot air balloons.

There's my name

Wyatt played a great game and it was so much fun getting to see him in action.

We went to lunch after the game and sweet Easton nearly fell asleep at the table

Matthew's parents surprised Kyndall with this amazing doll house while we were there. All of the little tiny detailed pieces were handed down from a friend who so generously wanted Kyndall to be the lucky recipient. She could and would spend hours playing with this thing if she was able to!

It's a tradition that at Easter Nonie hides a bunch of plastic eggs throughout her house and Kyndall has to find them over the course of the weekend. Some are filled with candy and others are filled with cash! She's been doing this since she was old enough to walk and she looks forward to it every year.

We saw the movie Breakthrough while we were in town

Each year we rotate whose church we will attend for Easter Sunday service and this year it was our turn to attend with Matthew's parents.

The church had a photographer taking everyone's family photos and I love how ours turned out!

Kyndall and Abbie don't get to see each other often but they had the sweetest reunion as soon as they spotted each other at church.

I absolutely love traditions and Easter might just be my favorite one of all. I simply cannot imagine spending this special holiday anywhere but in Two Egg, Florida with my family which is growing more and more with each passing year.

No more babies for us, but doesn't he look good holding one??

Love is...packing less clothes in my suitcase in order to make room for the the Egg-Mazing egg decorating machine because the kiddos love it so much.

My cousins and I have been decorating Easter eggs together at Grandma's house since we were toddlers and things have now come full circle as we watch our own kids do the same. Priceless memories being made and special traditions being passed down make my heart so happy.

It's serious business when the egg hiding begins. All the kiddos are banished to the back of the house. Blinds are closed, doors are shut and they are forbidden from peeking!

And then....the stampede!

Putting Grandma's golf cart to the test

Grandma with her grands and great grands...We are 36 (me) all the way down to 8 months. What a crew!

My people

Kyndall with Matthew's parents

My beautiful, amazing, resilient sister and my precious, sweet nephews!

Kirkland/Hughes/Thomas clan

Sister, sister

Cousins! Wyatt, Easton and Kyndall

Easton and his tongue! Ha!

Four generations

Four generations of crazy?

Love my nephew!!

It was a very quick, very FULL two days back home and this one crashed on the way back to the airport Monday morning in the back seat of that hideous green car!

The following week was a hectic one and I smiled when I found another random act of kindness from my sweet girl.

Class pictures came home! This has been Kyndall's best year yet and it's all thanks to that amazing lady on the right. If we could just keep her as Kyndall's teacher forever, life would be good!

If you know Kyndall very well then you know she has an aversion to all meat. She hasn't eaten it since she was a toddler and is completely repulsed by the thought of it. Once again a new restaurant opened up in our town and we had to check it out. Cane's is a chicken place and they literally have four items on their menu--Chicken fingers, fries, toast and cole slaw. I was absolutely shocked when Kyndall said she wanted to try their chicken fingers. In fact, I didn't even order anything for myself because I assumed she'd take one bite of her kids meal, spit it out and then I'd just eat it.

Even more shocking than her willingness to try the chicken was the fact that she actually loved it! I had to take a picture just so everyone would believe me because this was truly a big deal. Since this day she has requested Cane's at least once a week so I'm hoping this means we've finally turned a corner!

One evening we took a stroll to the neighborhood pond and Kyndall was elated to find this teeny tiny baby turtle right in the middle of the sidewalk. Again, if you know her at all then you know her love for critters runs deep so this absolutely made her day.

She was even talking to him at one point....

She played with him for about an hour before we had to head back home. She deiced it would be best to take him right back to the exact spot where we found him so that he could reunite with his little turtle family. Much to our surprise when we returned to the spot there was a second baby turtle sitting there waiting for him!

Turtle twins!

Friday April 26th was Muffins with Moms at school. I'm the PTO Vice President so often I don't get to truly enjoy these events with Kyndall since I'm usually running around like crazy making sure everything is going smoothly. But on this day I made sure we arrived early so that she and I could have a few minutes together before I got pulled in a bazillion directions.

Early arrival = first choice of seats and no lines!

April 26th was also mine and Matthew's 11th wedding anniversary.

11 years

5 cities

4 states

6 homes

2 life saving surgeries

1 beautiful little miracle girl

Countless tears but endless joys. Sickness and health, good and bad, rich and poor. It all adds up to one amazing adventure and I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm so glad that I said yes to that blind date because I cannot imagine my life without James Matthew Hughes in it. He is everything I ever prayed for in a husband and father and my prayer now is that someday Kyndall will find a man just like him.

In so many ways this feels just like yesterday and in other ways it feels like a lifetime ago!

We celebrated that night with dinner at a "fancier-than-usual" restaurant

Kyndall's friend Bree and her mom came over for a play date/babysitting job while we were gone to dinner.

Pretty anniversary roses from Matthew

You know you're officially OLD when you get kitchen gadgets as anniversary gifts and you actually get excited about it! I've been wanting an air fryer forever so happy anniversary to us!

These girls spend all day in class together then they come straight home, hop on their ipads and Facetime each other as if they've been apart for weeks. They often coordinate outfits for the next day and this was one of those days. White top with rainbow hairbow was their outfit of choice. Thanks to their sweet art teacher for sending me this cute photo of the three amigos.

Kyndall had her GA's coronation at church on a Sunday evening. This was her first year to participate in GA's and she enjoyed it very much and plans to continue it next year as well. GA's stands for Girls in Action and it is a missions discipleship organization for girls in grades 1st through 6th. Through GA's, girls learn about, pray for, give to and do missions work.

Much like Girl Scouts, each year the girls earn patches for completing various "journeys" and add them to their sash which they are presented during the end of year coronation ceremony.