Week of Fun

Beginning a week ago today, we started our Halloween festivities. Hollyn decided that she wanted to have a little party for some of her friends one afternoon. It was hysterical listening to her plan it and she was THRILLED with the smallest details of the party. She invited Sophie, Lorelei, Everett (not in pic) and Ava over. I loved hearing her say over and over, "They are going to think this is the BEST PARTY EVER!" She insisted on me telling their moms to have them wear their costumes. Some friends didn't have theirs ready, so they settled on costumes from Hollyn's dress up clothes. Hollyn was all decked out in her $30 costume and then took it off and decided to dress like up as Lorelei. The picture below cracks me up, not sure what some of the girls are. We did have a lot of fun. Hollyn only has one minor meltdown during the party because things didn't go her way. That is a success! I wish I would have gotten a picture of Everett. I did text his mama afterwards and say, "Praise the Lord I am having a boy. And double praise that I wasn't blessed with four girls to raise!" They were all sweet, but Everett was just so laid back and quiet. :)

After the party I got a call from one of my best friends. Carly's 11 month old baby had gone into the hospital to have a procedure and was not waking up. It was a heartbreaking phone call that I will never forget.  After a week of miracles, Sadie is on the mend and hopefully will be released from the hospital in a few days. Hundreds of people were praying for her and God faithfully answered those prayers. A few "best friends" and I went to Dallas to visit with Carly on Saturday. Scott was awesome and took Hollyn to her first ever (THREE HOUR) skating party while I was gone. He even had taken her skating the week before as a practice before the party. She was nervous about skating at the party, so they had a daddy-daughter date night. She had a BLAST both times, and Scott had a very sore back! What a wonderful dad he is to his little girl!

 I got back in town on Saturday night just in time to head to the Howards Halloween Party. Hollyn threw a GIGANTIC fit because she didn't want to wear the $30 Strawberry Shortcake costume. So we decided to go with a Baylor Cheerleader. Well that didn't work out. We settled on dirty play clothes that she picked up off the floor. Oh, well. She ended up having a BLAST. She went in the Haunted House and even went on the Haunted Hayride. It was hysterical because the four-wheeler broke down and they were stuck out in the pitch dark far from the house. I am very glad that Scott went went her. Some of the kids were truly afraid, but this little toot was WIRED. She kept telling us, "This is THE BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!" She was so wired that she did not go to sleep until 12:00 AM!!!! I found out the next day the squirt literally plotted against us. She told me she went wanted to do all the spooky things and ate lots of candy and drank milk so she could stay up all night. Why in the world do I have a sleepless wonder??!!

Sunday evening we had Mandy's Annual Halloween party! (I think 7th annual?) It was at her beautiful new house and the kids had a BLAST! Hollyn actually wore her entire costume for 1.5 minutes so I could get this cute picture of Everett, Hollyn, Lorelei and Ava. I love watching these kids grow and change from year to year. They all have the sweetest personalities and get along so well!

On Halloween night we decided to go trick-or-treating. We picked up our friend Amarion, from Big Brothers Big Sisters. I bought him this costume- not sure what a 9 year old boy likes- but it seemed to be a hit with him. He and Hollyn were so sweet walking up to doors and taking turns ringing the bell. They both had excellent manners and made me very proud!

Hollyn would NOT wear the wig on Halloween but her sweet little curls looked precious hanging out of her hat, even if it wasn't very strawberry- like. We get so many compliments about her golden locks, I just wanted this picture in case we don't have them much longer!

This is not a great picture but I had to document what little brother was for Halloween! His first official costume was a pumpkin face! We are truly on the countdown now. I am 32 weeks and counting... We had such a great week of festivities and then ended the week with Hollyn having a viral infection of some sort. This was the first time she had a fever or real sickness since May of 2011! It made us take two days to sit and lay around, which ended up being a much needed rest for the both of us! Happy Halloween!!