my girls

This was my attempt at getting ready for a Christmas card. I think these pictures turned out cute, but I suppose I should stop lying to myself. I will not be sending out a card this year, unless it's a "Spring is here!" card. Don't hold your breath for that one, either. I'm just not consistent with cards and things like that. And I will forgive myself for not being perfect. And I will not compare myself to all those of you moms who were so on top of it and got the card out at the beginning of December. So enjoy this array of my children. Sometimes they're just too much. Just super yummy-cute. Scrumptrulescent.

the browns

These are our friends the Browns. They have not made our blog since they got married two Novembers ago, but they are some good friends of ours! Sara was actually the friend who tipped off this website about my playroom. Major kudos to her. It was great to see you guys and your sweet Ada. Maybe next time we can meet on a day when there's not a torrential downpour in the middle of November.

little escape to Florida

We spent a few brief days in Florida right before Thanksgiving with our friends Tim and Andrea for someone's 30th birthday. Fun times. I didn't realize how much I needed this little break from reality. I also did not realize how much I would love (& hate) Twilight once I began reading it. We had a blast and here are my favorite pics from the trip:

Tim and Andrea


the four on our sunset cruise for the birthday boy


our special celebration dinner


in-shore fishing, thanks to Josh, and here I am with our (camera greedy) guide and my first tunny fish!


Tim's tunny


here we are with our double: two groupers. I won. (Not that I'm competitive....)


Nin's Holy Mackerel!!!!


beach boys


sunset over the gulf


The four, tanned (well.....except for you-know-who) and happy. Thanks for an excellent trip, you guys. We so enjoyed our time.

the pioneer woman!

Have you heard of The Pioneer Woman? If you haven't looked at her blog yet, you must start. She's amazing. She looks like super woman from observing her blog. My friend, Alyssa and I had the opportunity to hear her speak in mid-November and then we met her after standing in line for two hours to get our books signed! I've never been to a book signing before, but I so enjoyed Pioneer Woman because she was far from pretentious, she claimed to not be an expert on many things, and she was sincerely joyful even after having signed books for more than two hours. I like her a lot because she's real. It's almost as though Pioneer Woman is her alter ego.

Here's the PW's older son, Bryce, who came around signing books as we waited for his momma. Too stinking cute.


Alyssa, with Marlboro Man, the PW's hubby. That's how she refers to him.


Meeting the PW. After all the waiting, it was short and sweet. But I did really like her.

ducky times

Once again, we've entered another duck season and since it took me so long to post these pictures, we are actually close to exiting the season, as well. I love the first picture of Josh because he's looking at his (camo-covered) phone on his way out to the blind. Nice touch, there, Hager.

Kate, so anxiously and patiently waiting for a directive from Josh. What a good dog she is.


Sunset over the water. Here's to another great duck season.

shaggy

This child and her hair. It is always in her eyes and she just deals with it. Sometimes she does this little swooping motion with her hands to move it out of her way, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Fly-away fine baby hair. She only tolerates pig tails maybe ever other day. Oh, what to do?!

ilovermont

The day after we packed up Scott's moving truck, he picked me up bright and early at 6 a.m. and we spent the day driving our way northeast. We found simple joys in checking out the goods at rest stops, we talked about our childhood, we laughed about our parents' idiosyncrasies, we played the alphabet game (and I won...but I'm not competitive), we researched states as we drove through them (we're not nerds, we're just addicted to information), we got slaphappy and laughed our way straight through several miles, we ate plenty of fast food and we got in to Albany, New York at 11:30 p.m. I don't even remember the last time I spent 16 1/2 straight hours on the road. Scott proceeded to drive up to his apartment in Vermont and I spent the night in Albany which gave me the opportunity to drive around some old stomping grounds the next morning. When I was 14, my family moved from Saint Louis to a small little town outside of Albany where we lived for 7 years. I finished high school there and then went on to college, but have very fond memories of our home and our life there. It was very surreal to drive around our small town and drive past our old house and to breathe that fresh upstate air and soak up old memories. I can't wait to bring Josh and our kiddos to this place that has really become so foundational to who I am today.

This was the end of the road where we lived, one of my most favorite and peaceful places in NY.


I continued on in the truck to Stowe, Vermont, a beautiful drive from Albany, and enjoyed the time alone to soak up more of the northeast and the quiet. Stowe is a quaint little ski village where Scott found a great job and a sweet homey apartment and it's pretty darn near to Ben & Jerry's factory, which I stopped by while I was there. Scott and I were able to spend some time in the evenings in Burlington and we ate some excellent food at some awesome restaurants. Burlington is a small city burgeoning with culture and beauty. It's also where Phish got their start.

Scott at American Flatbread, an awesome pizza joint


The sunset over Lake Champlain.


It's pretty wild that in the same year, in the span of just four months, really, I moved two of my favorite people, my friend Shannon and my brother Scott, to two opposite ends of the United States. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to do both and to have closure that way, but there is a sadness that comes with closing those chapters, as well. I love my brother so much and miss his being able to just stop by and hang out. But Vermont holds a lot of exciting new adventures for him and I'm glad for this opportunity for him. We love you, Scott.

goodbyes.

My brother moved to Vermont in early November. We spent our last weekend together in Saint Louis as a family at Blueberry Hill and then helping load up the truck to get him ready to move away. It was both a sweet and sad time, but I'm glad we were all together as a family for the weekend.

My parents, Scott and his girlfriend Jaime, me and Josh at Blueberry Hill

I really like this picture of me and Josh.


Josh and Huntleigh picking up the moving truck bright and early the next morning.


Hunts helped Papa with packing....or just distracted him by playing tag.


Lucy helped by staying in her carseat most of the time to watch Toy Story 2.


Sweet goodbyes. We love Uncle Scott.

the big 4.

So, even though this was nearly 2 months ago and Christmas is just a few days away, I am not giving up on this blog and I am documenting these events for the sake of my children and our family. We had a blast celebrating Huntleigh's birthday and even though at the very last minute ALL plans had to be rearranged, we pulled through and had a fun party. I got an incredible deal on a petting zoo which included a pony and the kids loved it. The pony was a hit. The Chinese chicken, not so much. He was probably the least petted. But he's a chicken, so bok, bok. Also, many thanks to our friends, the Reeves, for photographing our event. It was nice to be camera-free!

Lucy could not get enough of the balloons.


Nin and Lucy


Our sweet friends Corey and his son Drew, who just moved to Indianapolis.


Hunts loving the pony!


Zach with Hunts and the biggest bunny I have ever seen.


Manna with the Chinese chicken.


My mother-in-law Debbie with Lu.


Kudos to little Hampton for being the youngest kiddo to ride the pony!


My cute hubby with his good friend and business coach, Jim. I love this picture.


Abby with Hunts at the craft table, also a great hit!


Happy Birthday, sweet four year old. We love you.

December

Hello. I'm here. This is just a post to say that I do belong to the land of the living. In November I bounced from Vermont to Florida to Chicago and I gave up on attempting a blog post. I've taken more than 500 pictures, but I will spare you. I promise to give you a little glimpse into our November, if you care to know. I'm also confessing to having fallen into the Twilight Saga. Soon, soon, I will emerge. In the meantime, here's a picture of the four of us on Thanksgiving. Seriously, what does it take to get just one good picture where everyone is looking and smiling and doing something normal all at the same time? It's called Photoshop, I assume. I love this picture because of what it represents of each one of us: Huntleigh's enthusiasm, Lucy's cheekiness, my, well whatever it is I do, and Josh's stability.