The day after Halloween Kyndall's school had their annual book character dress up day and parade. Kyndall dressed up like the mouse from "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie".
Grammy was still here and it was fun having her tag along for the parade
Even the teachers and administrators dressed the part. Here's Kyndall's principal Mrs. Rader dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. The kids went nuts over her dog!
We loved having Grammy with us for a few days!
The weather got a lot cooler so that meant it was time to break out the cute fall clothes. For some reason she just looked so much older in this outfit!
We took Grammy to see a movie in our fancy new dinner theater
On Sunday morning she went with us to church
We had lunch with Kyndall at school not just once but twice while she was here
We hated to see her go but I'm thankful that she made time to come visit us. We love having company, especially when it's family that we don't get to see very much. I just wish it could happen more often!
November 5th was election day!
That night was Crosby Elementary's "spirit night" at Kyndall's very favorite restaurant, Cane's. The PTO hosted this event and Cane's donated a portion of the earnings right back to our school.
Another night at sewing class. She looks forward to Thursday evenings all week long.
While Grammy was here she bought Kyndall several new things including these cute pajamas
And this dress
We've been bringing Adara to church with us for several months now and on more than one occasion she mentioned wanting a Bible. She's never had one so Kyndall and I chose the perfect one for her and we surprised her with it. Adara's face was priceless as she received it and I loved seeing how excited she got over having her own copy of God's word.
National Diabetes Day allowed for the students to sport their blue rather than their usual uniforms so Kyndall went all out...
Crosby had their first ever career day and it's no surprise that our animal loving girl wanted to dress up as a veterinarian.
I dusted off my scrubs as well to talk to her class about my own career and tell them all the reasons I love being a dental hygienist...and maybe some of the reasons I don't! Ha!
Best friends--Dr. Hughes and Officer Frias
I caught this sweet sight of Kyndall and one of her friends walking down the hall together. She has SO many friends at school and I truly believe it's because she treats everyone with compassion and kindness regardless of their skin color, their popularity status, their gender or even their behavior. She finds the good in everyone.
It's only appropriate that "Dr. Hughes" rescued a one-legged half dead cricket on the way out of school that day. She cares about all of God's creatures and cannot stand the thought of one of them being hurt. She knew this cricket was probably going to die but she said "I want to put him in the grass so that at least he doesn't get trampled and stepped on."
Kyndall's school recognized Veterans by putting up a Veterans Wall and we honored Granddaddy by adding him to it....
Just hanging out at gymnastics....
Before a Christmas tree, Christmas lights, Christmas music, cookies, decorations, gifts, stockings or an elf show up at the Hughes house, THIS happens first....always. We look forward to filling our shoebox each year as a special way to get into the true spirit of Chistmas. We've been participating with Operation Christmas Child since Kyndall was a toddler and I love watching her genuine excitement as she shops for the gifts and then meticulously packs her box for a little girl her same age who lives far, far away. It's a great reminder to be thankful for all we have been given, which is so much more than we deserve!
Cam will be 13 year old this month and he is such a little old man. He's not happy and cannot relax until everyone is home and together. He is so smart that he knows when one of us isn't there and the family isn't complete. On this day he was waiting for Matthew to return home from running some errands but he also does this each evening starting about 6:00 when the sun starts to set and he knows Matthew should be getting home from work soon. He knows our routines so well and is such a good little watch dog. It's hard for me to believe he's about to be 13. It seems like just yesterday when Matthew and I were dating and I decided I wanted a dog. I picked him out of a litter in Cape Coral Florida near Fort Myers where Matthew was living at the time. He has been my constant companion ever since and he is the best dog I could ever ask for! He's been with me through 6 moves in 4 different states, he welcomed Huckabee when we decided we wanted a second dog and has been his best bud ever since, he patiently adjusted as we added a new human baby to the family and he loves her more than she knows, he has laid by my side many days as I suffered through severe sickness and was unable to even get out of bed and he has cheered me up on dark days when nobody else could. This little dog has brought me more joy than I ever could have imagined.
First Baptist kids choir had their end of year performance and Kyndall did a great job! Here she is with her friends Adara and Katie who are in choir with her...
Kyndall is on the back row, far left. Originally she was on the front row but at the last minute the teacher moved her because she said her bow was too big and was blocking the view of the other kids. Ha!
I cannot even draw a stick man but then my 9 year old comes home from art lessons with THIS....
This one will definitely be framed!
We had our annual family photos taken and I love the way they turned out!
Flashback to our engagement photos 12 years ago where I had the same legitimate fear that he was going to DROP me when the photographer casually said "ummm...ok now just jump on his back". Look...I trust him to be faithful. I trust him to provide for our family. I trust him with our finances. I trust him in sickness and health and all that other important stuff. I even trust him with the grocery list every now and then and sometimes I trust him to fix Kyndall's hair. But the buck stops here. I will NEVERRRR trust him not to drop me flat on my tail and I will (apparently) ALWAYS have the same look of sheer terror on my face when told to "just jump on his back!" Sorry, babe!
A silly one, just for fun!
The Great Wolf Lodge bracelet that she absolutely refuses to take off. For reference, we were at Great Wolf Lodge in early August!!
Such a goober!
Excited that pictures are finally over!
We decided that in order to accommodate Kyndall's ever growing craft needs, we would hire a contractor to build out our existing, unused attic space above our garage and make it into a craft oom for her. Here's what it looks like right now....
It will be done just in time for Christmas and this is going to be her main gift this year. She'll have plenty of space to set up all of her crafting supplies plus a table for her sewing machine.
Speaking of sewing, on her 5th sewing lesson she made an apron! She chose the two fabrics herself and her teacher, Mrs. Dian helped her with the pattern.
She even used her sewing machine to embroider her name and some heart detailed stitching on the apron.
There was a "decade challenge" going around on social media so I decided to participate. Life has aged us a lot in the last ten years but I wouldn't change any of the things we've experienced in those years even if I could.
Kyndall's GA's group at church had a sleepover lock-in on a Friday night and one of their service projects was to deliver all of the shoe boxes that our church collected for Operation Christmas Child to another local church where they would be shipped out and distributed all over the world.
Dropping off First Baptist Forney's shoeboxes at First Baptst Terrell
I have a rule that we don't put up any Christmas decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving but this year Thanksgiving was really late so I agreed to go ahead a week early. Plus, getting a real tree is so much work that we might as well enjoy it as long as possible!
Kyndall looks forward to setting up her tree each year
School was out the entire week of Thanksgiving but we weren't leaving town until the day before the holiday so I allowed Kyndall to have a little sleepover with her best friend Ryann.
Is it even a sleepover if you don't eat pizza for dinner??
Of course I let them eat raw cookie dough--I'm a fun Mom!
The many faces of Xbox video games
The next day we went to see the new Frozen 2 movie but not before raiding our candy box in the pantry and sneaking all kinds of goodies into my purse! I know I'm not the only Mom who does this!
The excitement of the new movie made me remember just how much Kyndall LOVED the first one which came out back in 2013 when she was just 3 years old. She couldn't get enough of Elsa and even made us call her by that name for a few months! She was so captivated by the magic of that movie and although back then I thought my head would explode if I had to hear her sing the theme song one more time, now I miss those times. Gone are the days of her princess obsession but I will always remember how much she wanted to be Queen Elsa.
The movie theater had this cute photo booth set up for pictures
After we dropped Ryann back off we made a stop by the Galleria mall in downtown Dallas. It is so pretty at Christmas!
Window shopping only!
She decided she wants a Tesla because of the "fairy wing" doors. Keep dreaming, kid!
Before we know it this will actually be happening!
Checking out the new iphone 11 at the Apple store. Still dreaming.
Kyndall and Ryann have been sweet friends since kindergarten and Ryann's mom made this comparison picture of the two of them. Although they both look much older, they are both still two of the sweetest girls I know and I hope they will stay friends forever!
There are exactly two places you never want to find yourself on Thanksgiving day. One is the grocery store and the other is the airport. And yet, there we were. Actually, it wasn't as bad as we had expected and we had an on time flight back home to Tallahassee without much chaos at all.
Our little tree huger and her sea turtle were happy to see that DFW airport is plastic straw free. This girl is all about saving the planet and doing all she can to help the environment. I know she's going to do big things for the greater good someday!
First on the agenda at Nonie and Poppie's house was teaching them the art of cup stacking, which is one of her new hobbies. They had this whole big unit lesson on it in PE at school and she's been all about it every since, even making me buy her these $20 "pro series" cups that are specifically meant for cup stacking competitions. To my surprise she's actually really good at it.
Nonie is always so sweet to have a craft or project that the two of them can work on together and this time it was these cute snowmen.
I didn't take many pictures on Thanksgiving day but I did get this one of a few of the cousins sitting at the kids table enjoying their Thanksgiving lunch. This is the same kids table that me and my cousins sat at for many years during family gatherings and I love that our children are now using it and making memories of their own.
Matthew's Mom wanted a picture of us for her Christmas card so we had a little mini photo session next to the old smoke house in Grandma's yard.
Same spot, a few years apart.
On November 28th (Thanksgiving day) my sweet Cam turned 13 years old. Unfortunately we weren't home to celebrate him but he sure is a loved little dog and I pray that we have many years left with him. He's been my constant companion over the last 13 years and I've lived with him longer than I've even lived with Matthew. He's so smart and so loyal. He tolerates Matthew and Kyndall but he truly loves me. Where I go, he is sure to follow. When I'm not feeling well he senses it and truly seems to worry about me. When Matthew isn't home he's on in constant guard dog mode, protecting me and the house from even the slightest noises. I love him so much and I'm so glad that we're still celebrating all these years later!
His very first birthday in 2007
I'm not a black Friday shopper and never have been but we did venture out that afternoon to some of the shops in downtown Thomasville just to browse. There are so many neat little stores filled with all kinds of unique things so it's fun to just window shop every now and then.
You never know what you'll come across in some of the antique shops!
Carrying on the tradition of helping Nonie decorate her tree. She's been doing this since she was a tiny little thing and she looks forward to it each year.
We saw "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" movie, based on the life of Mr. Rogers and we all loved it.
The three of us ended up looking like twins on Saturday
They took me out for an early birthday celebration and they let me pick the restaurant so I chose Chuy's mexican restaurant in Tallahassee. Tacos, chips and salsa are my favorite food and if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life that's what it would be!
We usually celebrate with my parents but they were out of town and Mrs Jody couldn't bare the thought of nobody else being there to celebrate my birthday so she invited her neighbors and a few friends over which was sweet.
Kyndall spent a long time decorating and she kept the dining room off limits to me all day, forbidding me from peeking at what she was doing so naturally she made me close my eyes as she guided me in for the big reveal.
I turn into the most awkward person ever when you put a cake in front of me and people start singing. Ugh.
When your name is so long that nobody quite knows how to make it flow with the tune of the happy birthday song!
Knocking on the door of 37!
We had a very early flight out of Tallahassee Sunday morning so we woke up at 4:30 am which made for some sleepy travelers.
November was a great month, topped off by lots of good family time at Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe we'll soon be celebrating Christmas and the beginning of a brand new year!
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