Weekend Update x2

I filled you in on the shower I helped out with last weekend but forgot to fill you in on the fun activities while Mimi and Pap-pa were here.

*SATURDAY*
While I was at the shower the group (Mimi, Pap-pa, Andrew and Hads) went to Tally's.  Then, Pap-pa worked on replacing our threshold in our entry way.
In the midst he made a trip to a very cool woodworking shop and found a must-have tool.  Hadley loved it because with this tool came a big box and cool stuff for her Lalas.

Mimi and Pap-pa also brought peaches to make Great Grandma Williams' peach cobbler.
She's a great helper in the kitchen.

 Delicious!!

*SUNDAY*
After heading to church and grabbing some lunch, Mimi and Pap-pa headed back home and Andrew spent most of the day packing for his Air Force rotation.
Looking snazzy!

Then we got our last Polar Ice of the season. *sniff, sniff*

Hadley had been requesting to wear this dress for weeks, so I finally gave in.

Now to this past weekend...
*FRIDAY*
I tried to sport my Arkansas pride in preparation for their game Saturday. WPS!

Then, the Hads and I met some friends at The Vintage Market.  Lots of fun stuff and I made lots of notes. =)  Hadley walked away with a blueberry oatmeal set she couldn't stop playing with.

*SATURDAY*
I got up while it was still cool and mowed the grass and did some pulling and spraying of weeds.  We still have all the brush from the storms (in July) in our front yard waiting to be picked up and I'm pretty sure something hissed at me when I went by.  I'll be glad when it's gone and Andrew's back.

After yard work I was ready to get out, so Hads and I ran a bunch of pointless errands.  Literally just went places and walked around, ha.

When we got home Hadley's clogs had arrived.  I got these for her last fall as well (in a 9) and was so sad when they didn't fit again this year.  I ordered a size 11 for this year!!!!  She's getting way too big!

*SUNDAY*
I (unbeknownst to me) was able to get myself and Hadley ready for early service.  I was so glad I did because when it came time for class I didn't have to search frantically for a seat.
Why would I have to look frantically?
Well, we had the blessing of having Lee Strobel come to Park for class and he had some AMAZING things to share.  SO BLESSED to have been able to attend this class.  PS- The auditorium, chapel and family life center were ALL full!!!
After church our class actually hosted a lunch with him where he did a Q&A for all of us.  Again, so VERY blessed and so sad Andrew missed it. =(

A little tid bit on this shin dig.  Last fall our class was using one of Lee's books and one of our class leaders, David, starting emailing him.  Throughout these emails, David was able to get him to not only do Sunday morning bible class this week, as well as the lunch, but also speak at the ORU Mabee Auditorium for anyone in Tulsa who wanted to come.
Thank you Brookmans for getting this together.

Nichole, David and Lee

Sadly, I didn't get a picture with him, infact didn't even think of it till I was on my way home, blah!!  I did, however, get a chance to talk to him.

Here's some that I did manage to get.
Sallie and I totally matched. AWESOME!

Breaking Bread with friends...

That evening we spent with friends, just hanging out.  I had some grown-up time and Hadley got to play in the water/mud.  A perfect end to our weekend!

Thanks for checkin' in!!

Our First Week...

This has been Hadley's first week of school and our first week with Andrew being in Texas.

*FAREWELLS*

Monday, we slept in a had brunch at 918 Coffee before Andrew had to head out.

Hads had milk and a chocolate chip muffin, Andrew had coffee and a smoothie and I had oatmeal and a Chai Tea.

My 2 cuties!!!

Loving Hadley's milk mustache.

 Andrew procrastinated as long as possible, but the inevitable happened and he headed to San Antonio.

Yes, yes I did take a picture of him driving away. *sniff*

***

Andrew and I were joking about him leaving this time.  Shortly (like 2 weeks) after we moved to Tulsa, Andrew had to leave for his Commissioned Officers training.  I was completely new to Tulsa, he was going to be gone for 6 weeks and literally everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong while he was gone: 1- I had to call the fire department because Hadley got locked in her bedroom and I couldn't figure out how to unlock these old house door knobs (They taught me, it was easy, I was totally embarrassed), 2- Our dish washer flooded the kitchen and 3- Our house somehow got listed on Craig's List and people kept showing up and looking in the windows.

Throughout the time I did great and totally held myself together.

This time...

 He's only gone 4 weeks, plus we get to see him for a couple days in the middle.  I'm not sure if its the hormones or the fact that Hadley's now 4 and full of attitude and not 13 months old, when our days consisted of "find your nose," but I feel like a hot mess!  

Note: Andrew's first deployment will most likely rock my face off!

***

Hadley and I filled the rest of our day with an EPIC Wal-Mart run, dinner and an early bedtime.

DAY #1

Hadley's first day was GREAT!!  She woke up extremely excited to go to school and came home with the same excitement.

That night we had some friends over for dinner.  Andrew and my friend Airika's husband are both gone for rotations this month so we had a dinner date, to keep each other company and let the kids play and run off what energy they had left from their first day of school.

I made a recipe I found on pinterest, it was super easy and tasted really good too!

Seriously... so easy!!

Put all this in the crockpot on low for 5 hours.

20 oz. Frozen Cheese Tortellini 

2 cans Italian Style Diced Tomatoes

2 cans Chicken Broth

1 bag Fresh Spinach

1 lb cooked Italian Sausage

8 oz. Cream Cheese cubed

ENJOY!

DAY #2

She is LOVING school this year.  She woke up at 7:30, came in my room and said, "Come on Mom.  Hurry and get up, so we can go to school!"

This is Hadley's first year to do Wednesday school.  I think it will be a really good transition for her since we're planning to start her in Kindergarten next year and she'll be going 5 full days.

While she was at school, I went to a playdate, without a child. (I'm not going to lie it was kinda nice.)

We had lunch and then did a little shopping, since the playdate was in the mall's play area.

Before I knew it, it was time to go get the Hads.

When I picked her up she was all smiles!

I managed to get her bathed, us both fed and ready for church and I'm so glad I did.  Hadley loved her class and I'm really excited about the new series we're doing, the first night was awesome.

It's great, you should come too!!!

DAY #3

She woke up, yet again, eager to go to school and I can't help but smile at the fact that she enjoys it so much.

While she was at school I got to go to the gym and even did a little yoga at home.  (I'm definitely finding new things to occupy my time.)

When I picked her up today one of her sweet friends, Emmy, gave her a birthday present she had been holding on to since she missed her party back in May.  (Hadley loves that this holiday keeps on going.)

Lalaloopsy Game, Stickers and Activity Book (+ some Emerson exclusive art work)

*PROJECT*

I've been seeing so many people posting and getting ready for fall and Halloween.  My fall Pottery Barn catalog has already come in with all of its adorable fall/Halloween decor ideas and I just had to do something.

I decided to work on a project that went south shortly after I finished it the first time.

A couple years ago I made this wreath the night before a Halloween playgroup I was hosting, for some added decor.

 

The next day it looked like this. The styrofoam "Boo" didn't stand a chance.

A sign from Gordmans, some ribbon from Hobby Lobby and it looks much better.  =)

Yes, that is orange hair coming from the witches hat.

Tomorrow, Hadley and I will yet again find ways to keep ourselves busy while our countdown to see Andrew continues.
9 days till our visit and SEA WORLD!!

Thanks for checkin' in!!

Girls Weekend {Heber Springs}

After enjoying a couple days with my sweet girl I was off again for a girls weekend.  I have some friends from college that try to get together every year (for the last 2 years, ha).

Some people may think I had to suffer through 4 years of college because I went to a strict private school, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I met some of my best friends there and definitely my best soul warriors!

Last year we went to the beach and this year we had a weekend at Ashley's family lake house.

When we arrived Friday, Ashley had made us all dinner: Chicken & Veggie Soup and Homemade Chocolate Pie (her grandma's recipe).

Delicious!!! 

Kellye had to leave early Saturday morning for Fayetteville to watch Kentucky get beat by Arkansas (she's a Kentucky fan).  Wooo PIG!  We did miss you the rest of the weekend though, Kellye.  ;)

Working hard on breakfast Saturday morning.

The Breafast Spread:

Cheese Grits (Pioneer Woman), Extra Thick Bacon and Pumpkin Pancakes with all the toppings.

After breakfast we went to the Heber Wal-Mart where we picked up more food (of course) and pumpkins to decorate, which we never did, ha.

Dinner time was a group effort.

Laura working hard on the banana chocolate chip cake with cream cheese icing, that she was making for dessert.  Thanks, Laura it was scrumptious. 

Before sitting down we ended up having a serious photo shoot.

Don't my friends look like fun?!

Love these girls!

Heather, Laura, Claire, Jenni, Ashley, Brittany, Me

"Just as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." -Proverbs 27:17 (NLT)

With dinner we had the most spiritually uplifting communion. No, we didn't drink the juice or take the bread but this was truly fellowship.  Nothing I could say could even begin to explain how BLESSED I am to have these girls in my life!!!

Of course we followed that up with Katy Perry: Part of Me in the theater room.  We may have also had a dance party afterwards. =)  How could you not...

The back row was excited for the movie.

Sunday, I got up and made breakfast.  After putting it in the oven I went on the back porch to enjoy some of this.

God is good!

After breakfast we said our goodbyes, although hesitant, and went our separate ways. Until next year ladies!!

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival.” -C.S. Lewis

Thanks for checkin' in!!

Weekend Update {Keepin' Busy}

I have a lot of pictures so I'll try to make the talk short.  =)

FRIDAY

That morning we met our playgroup at Bounce U for a date.  Hadley could seriously bounce ALL day if I would let her.  We all had a blast!

After our playdate we met for lunch at Panera and then Hadley and I went for a treat.  

We got our nails done! 

This was Hadley's first time and she was AWESOME!  This child moves 90 to nothin' all day long but if you're going to paint her fingers/toes or do her hair she would sit for hours.

We also had a friend send us a picture of her broom standing on end because of the way the planets are aligned or something, so we tried it.

TA*DA

Friday night we had dinner at the Owen's house and the 2 Hadleys had a blast playing together.

I feel I should add that Hadley had an accident shortly after arriving, hints the "no pants" look.

**Friday was so much fun.  Hadley and I had some awesome mommy/daughter time.  As much as I want another baby I have to say God has given me such a great opportunity to have these quality moments with my sweet girl and I love them all.**

SATURDAY

We started the day with a baby shower for sweet baby Layla.  The mommy-to-be's sister hosted the shower in her beautiful home.  After the shower we got a tour and I fell in LOVE with these trees in her little girl's room.  I want them!!

After leaving the shower we went to the Disney Store for a scavenger hunt.  They had these signs with different characters and words on them around the store.  You had to find the sign, match it to the character on your paper, then write the word seen on the sign on the line beside the character.  Once you finished you got a prize (puzzle and hat).

We got home and were just lazy the rest of the day.

I wrote Hadley's name and let her practice.

(Incase you were wondering, mine's on top and hers is on the bottom.)

Saturday's Dinner:

Grilled chicken smothered in onions, peppers & pepper-jack cheese and topped w/ fresh avocado with sides of roasted asparagus and salad

While we cleaned up the table I let Hadley play with my phone and she took all these fun pictures of the balloonimals she made. 

(A nice surprise.)

After we cleaned up we had a game night!  

Princess Yahtzee anyone?! 

**Saturday was such a busy day but playing our game at the end of the night really made me think about what an AMAZING gift God has given me in my sweet little girl, amazing husband and cuddly dog.**

SUNDAY

We actually got up for early service today, HOORAY!  After class we headed out for lunch with the group at Taco Bueno.  

The kiddos got to sit at their own table!  How big are they?!

Tonight we had our community groups for church at the Clendenen's.  

The kids, of course, had a blast playing together.

**I really feel like God has blessed us with Park Plaza.  We have such a great church family and it makes me sad to think we won't be here once Andrew starts residency. =(**

Thanks for checkin' in!!