A pretty great weekend...

You know a weekend is going to be good when you turn over on Saturday morning and the first thing you see is this...  My husband is a nut. On Friday night when he came to tuck me in, he was wearing this Smart Start cereal box on his head just for kicks. I got quite a laugh out that. But the Friday night laughing didn't even compare to the laughing that happened when I opened my eyes at 7am and saw him STILL wearing the box on his head. When asked why he slept the entire night with the box on his head, he just said, "Because I knew it would make you laugh!" He was right!
The first item on our Saturday agenda was to head out to the airport for "Ellapalooza". Our friends, David and Amy, have just adopted a precious daughter from Africa. After being with her for two weeks in Africa, they returned home on Saturday. There were probably about 75 friends and family members gathered to see them come through the doors with their precious Ella.  These cute girls even made shirts to celebrate the occasion!
  We didn't get a picture of David, Amy and Ella together, but here's one of Amy and her girl! Amy has waited 10 long years to become a Mommy, and now she finally is! What a wonderful blessing!
  The next item on our agenda was to see our new niece and our sweet nephew.

After we left the airport, we caught up with Mom and Brock at Barnes & Noble. We snuck up on them in the kids area where Nana was reading to Brock. We hid behind a column and started meowing like kitty cats. Brock was looking around. Then we jumped out and surprised him. He was pretty excited to see Aunt Hotsie and Uncle Doug! He read for a little while on the floor, but then it was time to get a little more comfy and sit with Uncle Doug. He knows Uncle Doug is always good for a story. The great thing about Doug is that while he follows the pictures in a book, he makes up his own version of the story. So Brock never knows what he's gonna get!
  When we left Barnes & Noble, we headed back to Brock's house where we caught up with our sweet girl, Chloe. We enjoyed a great dinner with the fam, and then I got to do "the routine" with Chloe...changing the diaper, practicing my swaddle and then feeding her. Such a great way to end the day with this sweet face looking up at me!
 

The End of an Era

For those of you who grew up or live in A-town, this is a building that is probably familiar to you. This is, or shall I say WAS, Braum's Ice Cream store. They have been in business for at least 30 years. Some of my first memories of living in A-town are of this place.
Mallie, remember the old timer who had his own table there right by the door? He wore a bolo and a cowboy hat, and I guess he came to Braum's EVERY NIGHT because when he died, there was a wreath on the table in remembrance of him. Once, I dropped my ice cream cone on the floor, and he bought me a new one.
  This was the place that we always came to after church and school events...or just on no particular Tuesday when ice cream was all that could make the day better. (This might explain the reason for my other blog!) Anyway, all this to say that this Braum's holds alot of memories for me, and probably for most of you other A-towners as well. But don't despair, if you drive down the street about two blocks, you'll find the NEW Braum's! It's large and fancy...but it's just not the good 'ol Braum's we've known for 30 years.
I know some of you are saying, "Thank goodness! That old Braum's was disgusting!" Well, it wasn't disgusting when I was a 4 year-old! And I secretly didn't think it was ever disgusting...despite the fact that sometimes it was a little disgusting!
One more thing...you know how you could always walk into Braum's and see somebody you knew? Well when we went in the NEW Braum's the other night, we saw not one familiar soul in the whole place. Sad, sad. Like I said, the end of an era.
At least they haven't messed with Luby's. That would probably wreck my life and all the memories I hold dear.

A tribute to our first love...

With all the excitement of Chloe's birth, I can't let it be overlooked that this little fellow has been our family's first love for almost FOUR years now! Brock is so precious! Tonight I asked him, "Brockie, what do you think of Baby Sister?" He said, "Well, she is kind and she is polite!" He kills me! That statement just about split his mommy's c-section incision open because of the laughter! And that's just one of the million hilarious, but very SMART things he says on a daily basis. Brock, your Aunt Hotsie and Uncle Doug love you so much!!!

 

Chloe=PRECIOUS

I'm not sure that there are many things in this world that beat or even measure up to the wonderful feeling of holding a new baby in your arms. My heart has been bursting with excitement and happiness ever since Monday when I first laid eyes on beautiful Chloe.  I'm so amazed that in just a very few hours, this sweet little wonder has already brought so much joy into our family.
  She's a precious, beautiful bundle of love...
  and she's MY NIECE!!! How did I ever get so lucky?
  I'll never know...but I sure am thankful!!

I'm an Aunt...again!

Welcome Chloe Claire! We love you!!!

 

 

Two more "Chloe" posts below...

Beautiful Chloe

 

 

 

 

Introducing Chloe Claire

Miss Chloe Claire Holton was born on November 10th. She weighs 7 pounds on the nose and is some inches...but I don't know how many! She took a long time to get here, and after a few "scares", was finally delivered by C-section around 6pm. She is absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way according to her Aunt Hotsie! Her Mommy, Daddy, big brother Brock, and the rest of our family are THRILLED about the arrival of this precious gift from God!

Oh baby!

What a wonderfully exciting week it has been in the world of babies! Two sets of sweet friends have both met their sweet little ones for the first time. This is David and Amy who are currently in Africa with their new baby daughter, Ella. They have waited for this week to come for a VERY LONG TIME, and it's finally here! Thank you, God, for this precious baby girl who will fill their home with even more joy, laughter and love.
 
I am also so happy for Todd and Kristin Lewis who welcomed their twin boys, Sam and Miles, into the world this past Sunday. This is such an exciting time for them and their daughter Laney! Congratulations friends!!! I'm also very exciting for the arrival of my baby niece who should be here any day...maybe even any minute! We can't wait for you to get here, little girl!

Happy Halloween!!

We had a wonderful time on Halloween night! We went to my sister's house in the early evening. I cooked dinner for the fam and then it was time to get in our costumes! I dressed as our family's cat, Risky.  Brock LOVES Risky so I thought this would be the perfect costume to take him trick-or-treating in! It was a hit for sure...so much so that he thought he needed to be Risky later in the evening. Brock dressed as Superman! He has been "trying out" the costume for about a week now. He was so excited to finally wear it "for real"! Earlier this week, he told Nana that he'd like to go outside and try flying. When it didn't work, he told her he probably just needed to be a little bit taller! Love him!!!  
Allie and Nana were matching pumpkins in their orange tops and black pants. Allie also doubled as a pregant lady...ya know, since she's days (maybe even just hours or minutes) from delivering baby girl! Ron went as Daddy and Uncle Charlie went as Uncle Charlie. And then there was Doug...If you know him, you know he loves Halloween and actually any other occasion that is a reason to get into a costume! He went this year as one of his favorite characters, Space Ghost. I thought that noone would know who that even was. But the second we stepped out of the house, all sorts of neighbors were yelling, "Hey Space Ghost...cool costume!" Who knew?   Trick-or-treating was GREAT! It has been a long time since I'd done that. Made me think of you, Mallie! Their street goes ALL OUT for Halloween with some pretty amazing decorations and scenery! At one house, an 8 foot tall monster came running out of the garage with a hack saw. Of course, I screamed bloody murder and Brock started screaming too. The "monster's" wife said, "Honey, you're not supposed to scare the little ones. I heard him say, "Oops" under his mask and then he turned and walked back into the garage! Yikes! We had so much fun and look forward to doing this again next year with Baby Girl in the mix too!

"Risky" and The Pregnant Lady

 

"Risky" and "Space Ghost"

 

Space Ghost showing off for the neighbors

 

Superman decided he needed to be Risky later in the evening. I'm pretty sure he meowed instead of talked for about an hour! Such a funny kid!

 

Checking out the loot with Mommy and Uncle Doug

 

Sweet family

 

Brock with his buddy Zane, the organic banana!

 

Nana and Uncle Charlie comforting Superman after the 8 foot tall monster came flying out of someone's garage! Poor baby!

 

First Fest

Our church had its annual Fall Fest last week, but this year it was bigger than ever! We went, along with the Oakleys and the Fletchers, and had a great time. We participated in the 5K Pumpkin Run first and then walked around the carnival. That part will be more fun in a few years when the babies are bigger. But it was still a great time!

 

 

 

 

Mystery Dinner

This fall, we began teaching Sunday School in the 10th grade department at church. We are really enjoying it so far, and have had a great time getting to know the kids. Jack and Jess teach in the same department, so it's been great getting to do this with them.  
A couple of weeks ago, all of the teachers in the department hosted a mystery dinner for the kids. They were told to dress fancy on the top and casual on the bottom. Some of the kids participated in the dress up. Of course, Doug participated! He wore a tux on top, and his favorite soccer shorts on bottom, along with shin-guards, socks and fancy tux shoes! Such a nut!  
The meal was six courses, and they were given a menu that had silly names in place of the actual items. For instance...Bugs Bunny treats were carrots, Colonel's Choice was fried chicken tenders, a guillotine was a knife, a hay pincher was a fork, Sweetie was brownies, etc. 
So they might order a hay pincher, a sweetie and a guillotine not knowing what they were gonna get. It was quite hilarious. By the end they had actually eaten a full meal, but one course could have consisted of a toothpick, a mint and a napkin...silly for sure, but fun!