BFF's

Is isn't often that I get to hang out with Helena and Michelle especially as a group. This year Michelle came up to Dallas from Beaumont so celebrate her birthday. We were able to do a little Black Friday shopping - of course we didn't get to shop together near as much as I had hoped since I have small children to shop for and Helena and Michelle do not. Here we are in our matching Black Friday shirts:

We also met up for lunch at Cafe Brazil in Richardson. Here we are with Braelyn:

Michelle really likes that picture because it reminds her of when her daughter, Tara, used to tag along with us when we were in college. 

To close out the weekend of celebrating, we saw Blue October in concert at House of Blues in Dallas. Blue October isn't really my choice in music (I didn't know any of their songs), but it was more important that we all got to spend time with each other. 

I look forward to our next adventure!

Aunt Crystal

My kids are so blessed to have an aunt who loves them dearly! Luckily, she lives close enough that the kids get to see her many times throughout the year. Aunt Crystal is fun because she like to act like one of the kids, too. :)

She's also the only person I know who can trick the kids into doing work without them whining about it. Proof:

This picture is the aftermath of asking the kids to pick up all the acorns out of the yard. Each kid had a 5 gallon bucket, and Aunt Crystal told the kids whoever had the most weight in their bucket would get to choose where to go out for dessert later that night. Donny won. He had over 14 pounds, and Braelyn had just over 12. The trick was to pick up one acorn at a time. Braelyn grabbed larger handfuls and ended up with too many leaves in her bucket.

Here are a couple other pictures from their visit. I have no idea what the story is behind them, but they're cute nonetheless:

During this visit, the kids were also tricked into raking leaves and using the mulcher to suck them up off the ground. They LOVED it.

Thank you, Aunt Crystal, for loving my babies!

Veterans Day

Our Whitt 3rd graders always put on the best Veterans Day music program! This year, Braelyn participated in that program (I think I'm in denial that she's in 3rd grade...).

Braelyn played the part of Betsy Ross alongside her friend, Ellie, who played Abigail Adams. These two could be mistaken as twins:

Aren't they precious?!

Here's an action shot while they were performing:

Also, each year I try to capture a picture of Braelyn with our talented music teacher, Shannon Souddress. This year was especially difficult for me since it made me realize that I'll only get to take this picture one more year. (Braelyn, when you become a mom you'll realize just how fast the years fly by. I like the saying, "The days are a slow, but the years are fast.")

Aren't they beautiful? Thank you, Shannon, for allowing my big girl to share the spotlight with so many other talented students. She loves it!