American Girl Trip to Dallas

On Saturday morning...me, my mom, Hailey and her best friend, Megan, headed to Dallas to the American Girl store. We left at 8:00 and stopped in LR to eat breakfast at Krispy Kreme. Then, it was on the road again. With a short stop for lunch at McDonald's, we made it to Dallas by about 2:30. We got checked into our not so great hotel and changed clothes. Then, it was straight to American Girl. It was so exciting seeing the sign and walking up to the store. Once you walked in, it was so incredible and overwhelming! Dolls were everywhere! There were display cases with dolls under glass in different outfits or with furniture that you could buy. The clothes for the dolls would be found under the glass case in little boxes with tissue wrap just like a fancy boutique. It was two story with an escalator up to the second level where you found a little more merchandise and the bistro. Hailey found her "just like me" doll. She got an outfit that matched her doll. We took the tags off in the store so she could wear it out and match "Lily" her new doll. She also bought her new doll another outfit. We got the doll's ears pierced, her hair done at the salon, a box of earrings and a hairbrush. Megan got her doll several outfits and some super cute pink boots. We all had a good time...a once in a lifetime experience.

A few quick pics before going down and to the store.
Two excited girls! Wait, make that 4!

The girls with their goods.

Lily ready for her new "do".

Ears pierced, too...and she didn't even cry! What a brave girl!

Her stylist wetting her hair.

Hailey got to pick the hairstyle she wanted for Lily. She chose two braids....that took about 45 minutes for the girl to complete....and $20.00 later....

Almost finished!!

The new mommy watching closely!

Ta da!!!

What a pretty little girl!

Megan, Lizzy, Hailey, & Lily

Exhausted and hungry after 2 hours of shopping....just in the American Girl store!

They cheered with their dolls, danced with their dolls and gave them lots of kisses! What fun!

Right when we were taking this picture, the girls looked over the ledge and noticed a limo picking up some people from the American Girl store. They were wowed!

After shopping, we were all starving! Hailey picked Mexican food for dinner so we headed to On The Border. The girls took in their dolls and played with them the whole time. We had a good dinner and I told the waiter it was Hailey's bday. He brought out a brownie dessert and I started singing Happy Birthday and momma and Megan joined in. Hailey covered her ears and her face turned red as she glanced around to see if anyone was looking. She shhhst us so we got louder and louder and louder ....just to embarass her. It was soooo funny.

This is not our best picture, but had to post one of us, too!

Lizzy and Lily

Chucky, I mean Lily...haha!! Only the grown-ups will get this one! HeHe

After the birthday serenade!

Once we got back to the hotel, the girls wanted to go swimming. So, we headed down to the pool. Momma and I sat and watched while they swam for awhile. They got a bit cold and got out to dry off when I noticed something....their hair was GREEN!!!! Agggh!!!! I mean neon green, shrek green! We got them back to the room and had them take a shower right away. Then they had snacks, played with their dolls and we all piled up in the bed watching funny pet videos on my laptop! Then we got tucked in, watched a little Hannah Montana before hitting the sack!

The next morning, we headed to breakfast. The only thing we could find was Denny's. Hailey wanted to wear her outfit again and have her hair braided like Lily's. And of course, we had to tell them it was her birthday again! We sang much quieter this time so as not to embarass her too bad! We got on the interstate about 10:30 for the long drive back. We stopped in Texarkana at Carino's for lunch and made it back to Conway about 4:30.

After we got home and unloaded, Hailey picked Cracker Barrel for her birthday dinner....I swear this has been the longest drawn out birthday ever. I think we have been celebrating for a week now! We went to eat and, again, I just had to tell the waiter that it was her birthday. Well, this time, he came with about 6 other wait staff, asked her name and age and then said to the restaurant ..."Can I have your attention please? It is Hailey's 9th birthday today, could you help us out?" and then we all proceeded to sing her Happy Birthday. She just smiled with the reddest face ever....my face even got red this time! But it was funny! Happy Birthday, Hailey and hope you had a great time! We love you so much!

Happy Birthday Brian

On Wednesday, we celebrated Brian's birthday when he got home from work. We presented him with our gifts.... The kids got him some small attachments for his shop vac that he wanted. He was super excited and opened them right away. I got him a watch because his broke recently. He also got a Lowe's gift card from my parents which he will LOVE to go use as soon as possible. After that, we headed to Fuji to eat. The food was great! We had them sing to Brian and I got video of it...see it below. The funniest thing was when the cook started tossing the food at us to catch it in our mouths. Of course it was broccoli. First, it was Brian's turn. After several tries, he finally caught it. Next was Hailey's turn. She tried several times and almost made it. Then, I caught mine on the first try. When he went to Hayden, he is shaking his head and saying, "I don't want to do it." The guy tosses him a piece and his face turns a little red and he says louder while shaking his head, "I don't want to do it." Did the cook stop? Of course not! He starts tossing broccoli continuously at Hayden as he is shaking his head no, and saying louder "I don't want to do it", as if they guy can't here him. The broccoli is bouncing off his head and Brian and I are laughing hysterically. It was soooo funny. After eating and getting home, I had made birthday brownies. We lit a candle and sang Happy Birthday. Brian said it was his best birthday ever! We love you!

Birthday Brownies
At the restaurant.

The handsome birthday guy.

Yay presents!

Hailey's photography skills.

Brian and the kids.

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you.....

100th Day of Kindergarten!

Hayden had his 100th day of kindergarten and was supposed to put 100 items on him some way. We got the idea from Kristen to use pennies, so I taped 10 rows of 10 pennies to a sweatshirt. He LOVED it. In fact, when he got home, I asked if he wanted me to take them off and he wanted them to stay on because he "liked them". They had big festivities at school all day related to the 100th day. Congratulations, Hayden, on making it 100 days!!!!

Hailey's Birthday Party

On Sunday, we let Hailey have a few friends over for her "birthday party". This year, I let her choose between a party or going to Dallas to the American Girl store. Guess what she picked? So, she was upset about not getting to have a party, so I told her she could invite a few friends over on Sunday afternoon for cupcakes and ice cream to celebrate her birthday. She had a High School Musical 3 birthday "party" and got some really nice things. She got lots of money to spend on her trip from all her friends, a gift certificate to American Girl, a bag of money from Mimi & PopPop which she was SOOOO excited to see, and the cutest little sleeping bag for her doll that actually matches her bedroom. Natalie and her mom made it and it is precious! They played outside and on the wii. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us! We love you, Hailey and are so proud of you. You are a special little girl who is growing up so fast. I thank God everyday for blessing us with you!

Whoa! A bag FULL of money!

Sleeping bag rolled up...too too cute!

Make a wish!

Best buds!!!

Bunk Beds!!

OK, Sunday, we were getting ready to leave for church and Hailey comes into our bathroom where we are getting ready and says, "You have to look outside". We look out and see Frosty inside one of the kennels and Muddy up on top. It looked like bunk beds. It was hilarious! The pictures are kind of fuzzy because I'm looking through a window/screen. Thought it was too cute and had to share.

Frosty inside and Muddy up on top.

Hannah's Cheer Competition

On Saturday afternoon, after Hailey's basketball game, we headed to Greenbrier to watch Hannah perform with her cheer squad. She, of course, was the cutest one and did a super job. We are so proud of her! Good job, Hannah!

Cute Cousins

Basketball Game

Here are some short clips of our little superstar! Her team won their second game on Saturday and she made 4 baskets! She did a great job and we are so proud of her. They are all really learning alot and all get along so well! I fixed the duplicate from last night, so it is below.

Friday night's, Jump Rope Performance

On Friday night, Hailey's jump rope team performed at the local high school basketball game. Hayden went to have a sleepover at his cousin, Jeremy's house, so it was just Brian, Hailey and I. They are improving with each performance. I took a few quick video clips of her. After her performance, we sat and watched most of the boys basketball game. We all three had a good time and enjoyed spending that alone time with Hailey because we don't get to do that much....and I know Hayden had much more fun with Jeremy than at the BB game. She has several more performances coming up, so I will try to get more clips throughout the year.

Finally Caught Up

I finally got everything off of my camera. But, i put it all in order of date, so you may have to scroll down some past some posts you may have already read to see them all. I'll try to keep up better....been busy.

Oh here is a list of Hailey's activities for anyone who wants to try to make one....

Jump Rope:
So far........... Fri. Jan 23rd 6:30pm
Mon Feb 10th 6:30pm

Basketball:
Sat Jan 24 11:00am
Sat Jan 31 10:00am
Fri Feb 6 6:00pm
Sat Feb 14 10:00am
Sat Feb 21 9:00am
Sat Feb 28 12:00am

Muddy

Hayden painting Shiloh's old dog house for Muddy.
The finishing touches!

We got some funny video clips of Muddy last night. Brian and him play this game where he puts on some old work gloves (b/c Muddy's teeth are too sharp) and they wrestle. Brian gets Muddy on his back and "wollers" him around. Muddy gets to growling and barking and it is so funny. When he gets up, he takes off running at Brian for more. It is cute. Muddy will even go get the glove now and carry it like he wants to play that game. Check out the video below.

This video is pretty funny, too. Hailey was blowing bubbles and Muddy just started popping them. If you listen closely, you can even hear his mouth chomping them. It was hilarious, watch the bubble popping pooch below:

What A Week!

The past week has been such a blur. For those of you that do not know, my dad went into the ER last Saturday night (against his wishes). He had a horrible chest pain while picking up blocks off the floor and barely crawled to the couch. He was white as a ghost and winded. He thought he would pass out. Momma couldn't get him to go to the ER until later that evening. Good thing we did, he had a pulmonary embolism, aka a blood clot to the lung. It's was actually called a saddle in which he had clots going all the way across his chest and one HUGE one in the artery branching off to the lungs. It was life threatening and pretty scary. He was admitted to CCU to start blood thinners. They did find another one behind his knee after doing a leg ultrasound. He was discharged from the hospital late Tuesday night. He now has to go to the hospital for blood thinning shots in his stomach at 6:00 a.m and 5:00 p.m. for 5 days (until Sunday). He was very lucky and we thank God everyday for his healing. Please continue to lift him up in your prayers for continued healing and peace after such a traumatic event. Thanks so much.

Hailey's Jump Rope Performance at UCA

Natalie, Hailey, Megan, and Riley

Hailey had a jump rope performance at UCA Saturday. She does alot more in this routine this year than she did last year. She did a great job. We are looking forward to watching her, as they have two more scheduled in the next couple of weeks. I will post a video of her after one of the next performances.

The Sick House

Well, nobody better come around here for awhile. Hailey woke up with a sore throat on Wednesday. By Thursday (New Years) it was full blown strep. Of course, nothing was open to try to take her to be seen. Poor thing had to wait until Friday to get to the doctor. It was confirmed strep. The next day (Saturday) my brother, Scott, had to go to the ER because he has been sick for a couple of weeks....strep! Last night, Brian and I took the kids to go see Marley and me. While we were there, my throat kept getting more and more sore. It had been getting a bit sore the past few days but would go away. I thought it was drainage or maybe in my head (ya know when someone has a sore throat you automatically start thinking yours hurts too). Well in the middle of the night last night/this morning actually, I woke up MISERABLE!!!! I couldm't sleep my throat hurt so bad. I finally found (via internet) an after hours type clinic here and was able to be seen and get some antibiotics for, yep, STREP!!! I felt so bad and guilty though that I didn't find that place for Hailey so she didn't have to suffer so long. She is feeling much better. I have pretty much been in bed all day except for going to the dr. Brian has been so good to wait on my and fix me food that I can eat. Hopefully he and Hayden won't get it next!