An Evening Downtown

 We had great weather today and decided it was the perfect night to head downtown and see the circle.  

This was the first time we've gone in years.  Ryker thought it was so cool!

The boys headed up to the observation deck and Riella and I hung out down on the steps.

The view from up top.

Ryker said it was cool but kinda creepy up top. 

Robert said it was hot and claustrophobic.  lol

She's getting too big! :-(

Group shot!

 

Carriages were parked all along the circle.  The driver was very nice and let us pet the horse.  They all loved it.

Walking to dinner.

Kids eat free at Scotty's Brewhouse on Sundays so we thought we'd try there.  It was super close and it was so yummy.  They were all so nice to the kids and we had a great time.  Kids eat free on Tuesdays too so I'm sure we'll be going back again soon. :-) 

This is Riella's favorite new face to make.  She does it when she's doing something rotten and gets caught.  It's hilarious...which is exactly what she's going for.  Ha!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We started the holiday bright and early cooking and cleaning and prepping for the Brown's to come over.  Everyone arrived around 11:00 and we ate at noon.

So incredibly thankful for this family of mine.  I'm blessed indeed.

So, when Michelle got here we laughed over how much we matched.  Then, when Cara walked in in the same outfit, we just about died.  Too funny!

Mamas and our babies. :-)

Trying to get a pic of this whole crew is getting harder and harder.  Riella was ready for nap and Jaxson was more interested in eating Nathan's face than anything else.  

We cleaned things up here and had a bit of down time before we heading over to my parents for dinner with them, Dave and Kate, Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Karen and Jo.  

Kate and I with the babies.

Love this sister of mine!

Grandma reading to Hudson

Goofing around with the boys.

She rather enjoyed her cookie.  Ha!

Harvest for the Hungry Dinner

Tonight was the Harvest for the Hungry dinner benefiting the Hancock County Food Pantry.  This was our first year attending and what a blessing it was.  We've supported the food pantry in other ways for years but never attended the dinner and took part in the silent auction.  

Anne Ryder, a former local new anchor, was our speaker. She did a phenomenal job speaking about her experience in Calcutta and interviewing Mother Theresa.  It was a nice adult night out too.  :-)

Movie Night

I met up with Em, Jenn, and her sister Megan for the midnight viewing of Mockingjay Part 1.  We've all read the books and love seeing the newest movie when it comes out.

Em and I

Jenn and I were super cute tonight.  ;-)

We loved the movie and had a blast!

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day means a lot to this family.  We have a proud heritage of heroes in our family and celebrating and honoring them is a privilege.  We let each of the kids wear Daddy's cover this morning for a little photo opp.

Cam posted the USMC flag too.  Making his Daddy proud.

Robert had the day off and was able to attend the Veteran's Day program at the elementary and then we met him at Applebee's for a free lunch after Camden got out of preschool.

I spent the evening with some dear friends celebrating Anna and I's birthdays.

We ate at Milano Inn downtown and loved it.  We shut the place down which was pretty amusing for a group of 30something moms.  So thankful for these friends and the fun times we have.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday.  It was quite the day....to say the least.  I spent the morning volunteering at school.  I spent a lot of time in the workroom prepping a project for the kids.  There was a fire alarm at one point which meant we all shuffled outside in the very chilly and windy weather to stand around and wait for the all clear to go back in.  After I got warmed back up, I spent some time working one on one with a few kids.  Since Ryker had an eye appointment scheduled for this afternoon I brought him home with me for lunch and then we drove over to Community East to see the eye doctor.

Playing around with glasses while we waited to be called back.

The appointment went well at first.  Until they told him they were going to have dilate his eyes.  And, he freaked.  Robert freaks out about having anything go anywhere near his eyes.  Apparently he has inherited this fear and was a hot mess.  It took me and two techs holding him down to get the drops in his eyes.  We had to wait 20 minutes for the drops to take effect. This is what happened...

He woke up fairly easily thankfully for the second exam and did fine through it but fell back asleep in the chair before the tech had even left the room.

We waited for the doctor and after several attempts to wake him (including splashing cold water on his face) he finally woke up.  The doc said he is slightly far sighted and recommended reading glasses to see if they would help with some of his reading difficulties.

He got to wear these shades home since his eyes were still dilated.  He was much happier after it was all done and over with.

Sporting his new specs while working on homework.

After the ordeal at the eye doctor, it was time for a dinner out with my man.  My parents came to watch the kids.  We headed out the driveway...and Robert backed right into my mom's car.  Yep, scraped it all up.  Super fun times.  After shedding a few tears, we were on our way again.  We were able to shake it off a bit after we got to the restaurant.  We ate at Chuy's in Hamilton Town Centre.  It was Robert's first time and we both really enjoyed it.

I'm so thankful that even though this wasn't a perfect day all my people are healthy and happy and I'm beyond blessed to go through this crazy life with my best friend by my side.

Wrestling Matches

Tonight was the final night of the SHEL wrestling league.  They did matches tonight which was tons of fun.

Our little wrestler ready to go.

Ryker had to wrestle our neighbor both matches, which was the one kid he didn't want to face.  He said he felt bad wrestling him.  And, it showed.  He didn't score at all in his first match but lost with grace and dignity. There were older kids who were crying when they lost.  Robert and I made sure to point out to Ryker how proud we were of how behaved even when losing.  

His second match went a bit better.  He started off way behind, but fought back and scored a few points in the end.  He has plenty of room for improvement, but we are just so happy to have found a sport he likes so well and that he enjoys doing win or lose.  

My cousin's son, Carter was in the league too.  They had fun hanging out a couple times a week and had a lot of fun during the matches tonight even if they were on opposite teams. :-)

One Year Well Check

Today was Riella's one year well check.  She did great and the doctor said she was perfect.

She weighed in at 21 lbs. 5 oz. and was 29.75" long.  73rd percentile for both

We ran to Sam's Club after to stock up on party food.  These two were loving on each other in the parking lot.  They make me smile.  :-)

Happy 1st Birthday, Riella Joan!

She was not impressed with the birthday song...at all.  Of course, it could be my singing and who can really blame her on that?!?

She did, however, did the donut!

We were playing up in her room after breakfast and I was organizing some clothes.  I looked over and she was crashed out on the floor.  I blame a sugar coma from the donut.

while she napped, I worked on more party prep for this weekend.

We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  She got on the saddle while they cheered for her and everything.  She was a bit unsure at first but pretty soon she was feeling pretty cool up there!

I still can't believe this precious girl is one year old.  She is the perfect addition to our family and we all love her so very much!

Happy Birthday, Riella Joan!