Happy December

Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season!

Thanksgiving Week

I love when Reed has off from school so we can spend time together- staying up late and having a good time as a family. Reed hasn't gotten to spend the night much with my parents because of school, so he jumped at the chance this week. He and Hudson stayed with them Monday night and I went and picked them up yesterday. Last night we let them stay up as long as they wanted and they made it until after 11:00!! Brian and I were in bed watching TV and came in on this scene-

And this...


And the TV blaring. It's funny how kids can sleep anywhere!
And just to add to the Thanksgiving spirit, here is a beautiful tree right in our front circle. I love the bright color- it's such a blessing to live in the country and enjoy the many parts of God's masterpiece!


Here's wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving filled with blessings of family and togetherness!

Thanksgiving Program

We went to Reed's program tonight. It was so cute! Of course, he does have the best music teacher (Mrs. Duty), so how could it not be great? We were a few rows back, so bear with my next picture... Reed is on the back row right in the middle.

After the program...


DadDad made a funny noise to get Reed to smile and evidently it got to me too... :)


Here is Reed and his sweet little friend Rebekah. If I could arrange a marriage at this point, I would. She is an absolute doll - such a cute little girl not to mention very polite and sweet. LOVE her. :)


Only two weeks until Thanksgiving, people... Where has the year gone?

Halloween

Presenting the brothers, Mario and Luigi.

My most favorite costumes EVER.
The end.

Field Trip

Reed's first grade field trip was to Mainstay Farm this year. Here is his class in the giant chair.

I think his favorite part was the hay barn. There was lots of running and jumping...


They roasted marshmallows (it was a little warm and the smoke was blowing towards him- that's why he looks so jazzed.) :)


They went on a hayride and got to play a little on the playground. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and go home. It was a fun field trip, but I would have liked to have a lot more time there. We just may have to fit in a trip again this fall. :)

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday afternoon.  My friend Becky met us there to take some pictures of the boys.  She did an great job!  I only picked a few to post and these are VERY pared down, but they're some of my favorites.  

Sweet Hudson hugging a pumpkin

My cutie pies in their Halloween shirts that I made for them

My big boy

Look how big my baby is!!

Lovin' on their Mimi

Snocones!!!

We had a great time and came away with some great pictures.  Thank you Becky!!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

• Brian's quick healing.  He is by no means doing back flips, but he is doing great and getting around amazingly well.  
• friends and family that have offered so much to us during all of Brian's back pain and his surgery.  We have been blessed by many of you.
• My husband and two boys.
• the cooler weather.  I'm loving it!!

Update on Brian

Brian's surgery went great!  They started surgery a little before 10:00, Brian woke up from anesthesia quickly and we headed home at 1:30.  Brian sat at the dinner table with us on Thursday evening and it was awesome (it was the first time that he had been able to sit at the table in 2 months!!)  Each day he spent a few minutes walking to help loosen up the soreness in his back. He went back to work on Monday and has just been doing great!  He still has 5 weeks of restricted activity (not to pick up more than 20 pounds, etc.), but he's SO much better now, restricted activity is NOTHING!!!   Thank you to all who have offered childcare, food and help for us in so many ways.  We appreciate the notes, e-mails, texts and prayers - we are so blessed to be surrounded by so many caring people - we love you all!

Camping

Reed and I went on our church class's camping trip this weekend (and sadly I did not get ONE picture the whole time!!).  Originally the four of us were planning to go, but with Brian's back the way it is, there was no way.  I didn't want to take both boys myself, so Hudson stayed with Gammy.  I was very excited to do something with Reed, just the two of us.  We packed up and headed out Friday night and after a couple of stops to get last minute items and dinner, we finally made it.  Our tent was set up (with minimal help from me and LOTS of help from others) and we were ready to camp.  Friday night was spent talking and visiting with friends.  Reed did a lot of walking around and exploring and came back to tell me that his ankles were hurting.  He wanted to go back to the tent, so we snuggled in with Tootsie Rolls and lots of good conversation.  It was my most favorite part of the whole weekend... except for the weather.  It was so HOT in the tent.  I unzipped the door flap so some air would come through the screen, but i didn't want to unzip it all the way because of mosquitos, spiders and other various bugs and possible intruders.  We spent the next couple of hours in great conversation, but a very warm tent. :)

I woke up at 10 til 6 and had to go to the bathroom... so after the trek to the restroom in the dark early morning, I tried to go back to sleep, but just couldn't.  I got up, got dressed and went over to help with breakfast.  After breakfast was made and cleaned up, the first raindrops slowly began to fall.  A sprinkle quickly turned into a 4-5 hour downpour. The stuff in our tent was only slightly damp and Reed really wanted to stay, so we headed into town to a large pavilion where we could all sit together.  The rain stopped and the kids headed out to the playground next to the pavilion.  We spent the rest of the day there with great food and conversation.  Back at the campsite, Reed and I went to bed on slightly damp bedding (just around the edges). :)  I woke up at 10:30 to Reed's moaning and groaning.  I felt of his forehead and he was feverish and covered with a light layer of sweat.  I had a couple of the people help me throw my stuff in the back of the car and we headed back home.  After a stop at the pharmacy for some Tylenol, we got home and Reed seemed to be much better after an all-night stay on the couch.  All in all, we had a great time and it really has made me want to start taking the boys camping... but maybe in a camper next time. :)  I used to pride myself on being tough, but I guess I've gone soft and evidently this girl needs a camping trailer... and I'm okay with that.

We're still hangin' in there...

It's been a while since any posts as to what we've been up to, so here's the news from the last couple of weeks.
Since Brian's back has been so bad, he's spent a lot of time on the floor. While Reed is at school, Hudson has been hanging out with his daddy...

So much so that after a few days they became twins and ended up in the same position while watching TV (I promise this was not a set up)...


I got out to mow the yard on Saturday- I guess Brian thought it was funny because he hobbled out to take a picture.


I got a haircut...


And Buzz Lightyear decided to that he had more fun than he could stand.


That's about it for around here...
We do have an appointment for Brian on Wednesday afternoon with a neurosurgeon and we'll hopefully be able to get in by the end of the week for a cortisone shot. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and offers to help us out with things we need done around the house, offers to bring meals- we feel loved and appreciate you all!!

An Update on Brian

Many of you know that Brian has been having some issues with his lower back and leg for the last few weeks.  He has been to 2 chiropractors, a massage therapist, his regular doctor and a sports medicine doctor... all with no relief.  He had an MRI done last week and one of his customers (who happens to be a back surgeon) took a look at the films and saw that Brian has a herniated disk in his lower back.  

The positive part of all of this is that we're SO glad to finally have a answer!  Brian does want to go to a couple of more doctors to get options as far as treatment plans. Surgery may be the best route, but we want to be well informed as to all of our options.

Sadly enough, his pain is getting worse almost daily and he has resorted to spending most of his time on the floor because he can't sit in a chair very long. He is taking more medication that I have ever seen him take - I usually can't even get him to take ibuprofen, but he took Hydrocodone this early this morning because the Darvocet he was prescribed wasn't making much of a dent.   All this to say, please keep him in your prayers as he is trying to make the best informed decision as to what to do, but is getting very frustrated.  Not only is the pain beginning to wear on him something fierce, but he is so tired of laying around and not being able to get around very well at all.    

He has a very good attitude about the whole situation and continues to stay positive.  He such a blessing to me as a husband.  

Any prayers on his behalf would be much appreciated!

Boys will be boys...

You may have seen Brian's post here about the digging of our pond. After if rained on Thursday, there was quite a bit of water in the "hole". Brian took the boys out to play in it on Thursday night, and I stayed at the super quiet house (and read a book uninterrupted for 30 minutes!). They are needing to dig deeper, so this morning they pumped some of the water out, but there was still enough for the boys to play in. I'm sorry there are so many pictures, but the progression from clean to dirty was just too funny. It all started like this...

Halfway through, Reed decided he needed a little warrior paint...














Here's his "scary warrior face".


And this little one here... well, that's just his face. :)


I'm lovin' my dirty muddy little boys!

Thankful Thursday

With school back in full swing and a schedule in place, it's time to start back on my Thankful Thursdays. This week I am thankful for:

- the rain.
- healthy kids.
- my crockpot. (haha- spellcheck changed it to crackpot!)
- my gym buddy Cami. (Eight months of going 4 times a week??? I never would've made it this long with out ya!! Love ya!)
- kettle corn. Just sayin'.

What are you thankful for today?

1st Grade Bible Presentation

Reed was presented his bible at church this morning. He was a little nervous about going up front by himself, but he did a great job.

First day of school

Here we are with our first grader (!) before we left the house. Hudson wanted to be in the pictures too... :)

Doesn't reed look so happy?


He was not excited about going to school - he had such a fun summer, that he was pretty upset he had to go sit back in a classroom. Once we got to the school, his attitude seem to change. He saw all the kids and I think memories of last year came flooding back and he got excited again.
While he was at school, I went to the gym, to the store to buy groceries and made him his first day of school treat.


A friend of mine made very similar cupcakes a couples of years ago for her kiddos, and I needed something quick and easy... So I stole your idea Alisha!!! :) Before I knew it, it was time to go pick him up. 

He had a great day and loves his teacher. I think we're in for a great first grade year!