Kentucky

So we had a blast in Kentucky. Jessi drove from West Virginia while I made our trek from the Lou to meet Julianne in Louisville. It was super fun to be all together and to just feel free to be girls without any husbands around. Let's just say that the mommies survived on caffeine, Cheetos, and champagne. The perfect trio....at different times of the day, of course. There was no documentation of the three of us, so our kids are going to have to do the representing.

Karsten. Maren. Hudson. Bennett. Katelyn. Lucy. Huntleigh.
3 Halvorsons + 2 Cooks + 2 Hagers = a very fun handful


Check out those curls on Bennett's head. Just too sweet. I'm so glad that Huntleigh had the chance to hang out with Bennett again. This was the last time they were together.


Little buns. I look forward to sharing this with them when they're older and "wiser." What I look most forward to is that these kids are going to be friends throughout their lives because their dads all committed to being in one another's lives, despite distance, time, and differences.


Karsten and Huntleigh working on the USA puzzle together. They were a good little team. I remember when Karsten did this puzzle by himself as a 2-year old. He is the puzzle master.


The three jumping supermen. It was a whirlwind weekend, but super rewarding. Love you Jessi and Julianne!

and we're off.....

About to go and embark upon a little adventure. Josh headed over to China earlier this week and the girls and I are taking off to Kentucky to see some good college friends for a girls' weekend, plus our seven kiddos. Here's my 3 favorite babes, right before we put Josh on an airplane. Now he's eating Peking Duck in one of our favorite cities in the world. We love you, jdh. You are my favorite and my best.

excellent form!

Lu's hair is a bit long enough now to where I can stretch it into these sweet pig tails. I seriously cannot resist the pig tails. She is such a scrumptious little munchkin with them on her head! We've really gotten into coloring, as of late, and check out her handle on that crayon...nice form, Lucy!

pizza girl

I had to document this moment, because Huntleigh is finishing up a piece of pizza topped with onions, red peppers, mushrooms and basil. She made this pizza the other night at our good friend Audrey's house and wasn't able to taste any before bedtime, so Audrey sent a few pieces over to our house and Huntleigh chose one and proceeded to consume the whole thing. She did say to me after she ate a mushroom, "Mommy, that exhausts me!," but she did it on her own volition. Sometimes I never know what I'm gonna get with this child, but, man, do I love her.



silly girl

r&r at RR

I don't know what it is, but since the Hunts has been in school, life has sped up. Perhaps it has always moved this quickly and I never noticed, but somehow school has exaggerated the pace. Anyway, we spent Labor Day weekend out at Raccoon Ranch and I realized that we haven't been up there since we lived out there when we were beginning the playroom construction. (Crazy!) It was a great weekend of hunting, relaxing, yummy food and friends. Our good friends Tim and Andrea came to spend the time with us. Excellent times. And our drive back to "civilization" was only half an hour. Although, for all the stuff it requires to bring two little kiddos up there, I could have used a bit of a longer drive to return to our house. I'm glad we went though. Change of scenery is always a good thing.

rude awakenings

I just had to capture this one after her nap the other day. I love this hair picture in contrast to her hair in the previous post. Just love this girl.

first day of 3K

I'm just a bit late with this picture, but I had to make sure I posted it before I moved on to other happenings in our life. This was Huntleigh's first official day of school, complete with lunch box and everything. I guess I was holding her backpack, but this is just the memory I wanted to capture. She was a bit spaced out from being ready to go so early in the morning, but super excited and full of wonder. I was somewhat ambitious with the lunch-packing: 2 pieces of turkey, bag of goldfish, box of raisins, granola bar, juice box, fruit snacks....she ate a bite of turkey and the fruit snacks. Who wouldn't have?!

firsts

My first child has officially begun her life as a student. Now, I am pretty confident that 3K is not all that academically rigorous, but it's still school. And for an almost 4 year-old, it's an excellent time for learning and exploring. Josh and I really wanted Huntleigh to go to Central Christian School because we perceived their philosophy of education to be most in alignment with ours. We also are strong supporters of living within our community and we love that it is just about a mile from our house!

Here is Hunts speaking with Mrs. Heinemann, her most awesome teacher! We've heard that (for parents) it will not be unnatural to go through "Mrs. Heinemann withdrawals" after our year of 3K. She is an amazing lady!


We took Huntleigh out to Cafe Manhattan later on that evening to celebrate her first day of school. Here she is really getting into her celebratory chocolate milkshake...


...and even sharing some with Poppa. Impressive.


I think it is worth mentioning that the little child made it her first day to voluntarily put a tomato in her mouth, chew it up and swallow it. Notice my mom's hand covering her mouth in shock. Super impressive. Kudos to Lucy.


Love that smile. This child is a laughter factory.


Hunts and Poppa, beginning the learning process of tying shoes. Good thing we have a few years to work on that one....