Six Halls

Champions Park Swim Team

2011-11-13T07:57:00.002-06:00

After having moved into the Champions Park neighborhood, we knew a number of families that have been on swim team. So Aubrey decided to try it this year. She has spent plenty of time in pools but has only had about 2 months worth of swim lessons (one month when she was a little over two and one month the previous summer.) I would like to say that these pictures were a true reflection of the season but that would not be true. There were plenty of tears before we got to this point. She did great the first three weeks of practice when there was a one-to-one ratio of teenage helpers to swimmers but when it was down to just three coaches and 20 kids, Aubrey wasn't sure swimming across the entire length of the pool was something she could do. Thank goodness for time trails -- the first meet of the season that is just our team and each swimmer getting their "best" times. It was a great chance for novice swimmers to get an idea of what the real thing was going to be like. After missing her heat and false starting on another heat, Aubrey made it ALL the way across the pool in 1 minute 20 seconds. But each week there were less tears and improved swim times. One nice thing was that each child at the 6 and under age groups got a ribbon as soon as they got out of the pool so she felt like she had 'won.' Although there were some rough moments, Mike and I encourage her through the whole thing. She does not have to do swim team again but if our children make a commitment and start something, they have to finish it.

The whole family was there almost every Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. to cheer her on. With the super early start time, we normally just ate breakfast there. Another nice thing was that the 6 and under age group raced in the top 50 heats so we didn't have to be there all day but there was still plenty of waiting around to do.

The kids met some great new friends and got very creative with their activities as they waited to swim. The girls with one of their new friends, Emily Howell.

Aubrey really loves Ashley Wigginton. She lives on our street, is on the swim team, helped with some of the coaching at the beginning of the season and has started doing some babysitting for us. She is very, very sweet to Aubrey.Our friend, Mrs. Davis, was in charge of the ready bench and she had it very well organized. Here are all the kids lining up and filing into their places to wait to swim their event.
Aubrey waiting on deck.
Swimmers take your marks, ready...GO! Aubrey swam three events -- free style relay, free style and backstroke.
Hanging on the platform, getting ready for backstroke.
It turned out to be a great season. At divisionals, Aubrey swam freestyle in 33 seconds! She says she wants to swim again next year but with her sister, Emery. We really enjoyed getting to know many wonderful families in the neighborhood.

GO CHAMPIONS PARK STARS!

Summer Birthdays

2011-11-02T11:05:00.001-05:00

Every few months we get together to celebrate the Chenoweth/Hall birthdays. This family birthday celebration included all May, June and July birthdays. That was Aunt Diana, John, Morgan, Lily and Emery.

Guess how old I am going to be?

Scott and Cindy graciously hosted the event so the kids could enjoy some swimming before dinner, cake and presents. It is nice to have the older kids around to help with swimming so Mommy and Daddy don't have to get in the pool :-) Thanks Maddie!
The birthday people get to request the type of dessert they want so we had cookie cake and homemade yellow cake with homemade chocolate icing.Lighting ALL the candles.Singing "Happy Birthday" to all of the birthday people. Opening presents. Yes, they are in their pajamas...we are all family, right?!?! Girl cousins smiling for the camera while Carter is trying on pink/orange Crocs that the girls got from Aunt Mary.
Aubrey giving her sister some early birthday love.

Junior Olympix 2011

2011-10-20T10:27:00.011-05:00

While both girls were still in recreational gymnastics, they wanted to participate in Junior Olympics. Come to find out, it wasn't the performance part that they cared about, it was the t-shirt and trophy at the end. Aubrey and Mike were at a swim meet so they had to meet us there.

Bannon's always does such a nice job of decorating for their special events.

They even got their names on the wall. Hanging with the family before it started.
Here are the trophies and t-shirts they could wait to get.We LOVE all the coaches at Bannon's but Coach Jennifer is extra special because she has taught each of the girls at some point.
Lily and Emery posing with their proud big sister and little brother.

Graduation

2011-10-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

This was a BIG, exciting day for us. Aubrey was graduating from preschool. Before the ceremony, the preschool 3's and graduates sang a few songs for their parents.

The graduate marching in...
...walking across the stage...

...receiving her diploma...
...and posing for a picture with her two teachers.

After the ceremony, the PTO put on a little reception for the kids to enjoy some donuts and kolaches while they said "good-bye" to their friends. MIMI and PawPaw came to watch the preschool graduation before they left for Austin to watch our nephew graduate from college. The VERY proud parents of a soon-to-be kindergartener. After the reception, the kids had a choice to go back to class or leave for the day. Mike and I decided to take Aubrey out for a special day by herself. We went to lunch at the restaurant of her choice--sushi. Then she and I went to kindergarten orientation at Yeager while Daddy went to pick the other kids up from their last day of school.

Congratulations Aubrey Mae!

School's out for Summer

2011-10-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

This is the morning of...

the last day of school for the summer

the last day Toddler 2's, Preschool 3's and Pre-K

the last day of 4 years at Foundry Faith Academy for Aubrey.

Aubrey tends to take on the emotions of Mommy. So the look on her face is the joy, excitement, nervousness, sense of pride and sadness that I was feeling that morning.Every year we have had amazing teachers at Foundry. It is always hard to say 'good-bye' at the end of the year but we look forward to seeing them again in the halls next year.

Carter with Ms. Gwen and Ms. Diana

Emery with Mrs. GuerreroLily with Ms. Leanne and Ms. Kathy
Aubrey with Mrs. Day and Ms. Mory

Splash Day

2011-10-14T09:25:00.001-05:00

As the end of the year was approaching, the teachers assigned days for kids with summer birthdays to bring treats to school to celebrate.

This was Lily and Emery's special day. They chose to bring 'fancy' brownies (i.e. brownies in cupcake holders with icing and pink sprinkles :-) Start the morning off with a group hug and a quick pic!
One of the last events of the school year that the PTO puts on is Splash Days. This is an afternoon for the Preschool kiddos filled with any way possible to get wet and messy. It was the first year we had a water slide and it was a HUGE hit.

Aubrey painting herself with baby shampoo.

Aubrey attempting to get wet.
That was definitely my favorite part of the day!

Lily making bubbles.

Lily cleaning the toys?!?!

Emery doin' a little painting also.

The day ended with everyone enjoying popsicle. Each girl had a blast in her own way!

Mother's Day

2011-10-10T09:13:00.000-05:00

MOTHER'S DAY...a day to celebrate...being a mom of four beautiful, healthy, loving children...my mother who has been through so much in her 60 years of life and continues to be there for me each and every day...my mother-in-law who is extremely generous and giving...my mom friends who listen to me and encourage me to be the best mom I can be.

The Saturday of Mother's Day weekend, the girls and I went to a mother/daughter luncheon and fashion show at church. We made paper dolls, ate a delicious lunch and watched a fun, silly fashion show put on by the drama team. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon with my girls.

That Sunday after church we met MIMI and PawPaw at the club to continue celebrating Mother's Day.

MIMI and Lily or "Mini-MIMI" as we like to call her

Mom's Munch

2011-10-05T08:28:00.002-05:00

The Preschool classes get to invite the moms up to school for a special Mother's Day celebration. Aubrey's was right after drop off so we enjoyed a breakfast treat together. Her teachers helped her make me this beautiful flower pot.
While all the moms and kids were together, we took the opportunity to surprise Ms. Day with a baby bag full of goodies for her new baby boy that was to arrive in two weeks. Ms. Day was very appreciative of all of her adorable gifts. Aubrey's Pre-K class with Ms. Day and Ms. Mory
That afternoon, right before pick-up, I went back to school to celebrate Mother's Day with my twin girls. The girls are not in the same class so I had to do a little running back and forth. I was thankful that their classrooms are connected by a bathroom :-)

Lily presented me with this beautiful corsage when I entered the room.
We enjoyed some fruit, cheese/crackers and a cookie...two times!
Emery was very patiently waiting for me to come to her class. One of my good friends/co-workers has a son in Emery's class, so she helped be the 'mommy' while I was with Lily.

Both girls gave me a gift that contained a precious picture frame that they made. Of course, it had a picture of them in it!
By the end, I decided it would be easier to have them together in one room. They enjoyed it also. I love these times of not only getting to celebrate being a mom to these amazing children but getting to spend time with them in a different element. I am so proud to be their mom!

Easter Sunday

2011-10-03T12:15:00.001-05:00

The kids got up very excited to hunt the eggs we had dyed that the Easter bunny had hidden in the backyard. (side note: it was an extremely humid morning and all the dye on the eggs was dripping off into the kids hands but that didn't stop most of them :-)

Carter was either not completely awake or not sure about the possibilities of what he was going to find hidden in the yard.

There is always some kind of friendly competition going on in the Hall house...this one was a race to see who could get the most eggs the quickest.

The girls decided to take a break from their hunting to show their little brother that it is fun and easy to collect eggs.
And then he realized he didn't want to miss out on any of the fun!
Dressed and ready for church.
We love getting to enjoy Easter brunch at Champions with the Chenoweth family.
He is Risen. Alleluia!
Love, The Hall Family

First Fish

2011-10-03T06:47:00.009-05:00

Our friend, Heger, had his 4th birthday party at Swanny's. It is a restaurant with great food but it also has LOTS of wonderful things to do...fishing, golf, a playground, karoake. I am embarrassed to admit that it is less than 5 minutes from our house and this was the first time in the 10 years we have lived in Houston that we have been to Swanny's. Needless to say, we all loved it and will be back!

The birthday boy 'rescued' a crawfish from the boil. Mike baiting the line so the kids could do some fishing.
Lily caught the very first fish in the Hall family. We were very surprised and very proud of her. Lily isn't normally the adventurous one (she is more shy and reserved when it comes to trying new things) so this was an exciting moment.
Carter barely stopped to eat he was having so much fun fishing.
Carter's first fish...can you see it?
There it is!

We are not sure which is more comical...Carter catching his first fish with a little pink/purple fishing pole or the size of the fish. Either way, all that matters is he was very proud of himself and that little fish!
Although fishing was the highlight of the party, there was plenty of other fun stuff to do including swinging...
...golfing......and hanging out listening to people sing karaoke.

Emery, Lily, Sydnie, Sally and M.K.

Dying Eggs

2011-10-01T08:05:00.001-05:00

Just a few pictures to capture the annual tradition of dying Easter eggs. This was Carter's first time to be a part of it. Aubrey definitely did her best to be 'in charge' of the situation. (She is more and more like her mom each day :-)

Everyone chose an egg...

...wrote their name on it...

...patiently waited for their turn...

...took a moment to smile for the camera......watched very carefully...
...as they dyed the eggs.

Good Friday Family Service

2011-09-30T07:48:00.000-05:00

The kids and I went to our annual Good Friday family service. It starts at 5:00 so Mike wasn't able to meet us. Gabby (8th grade) and Mackenzie (7th grade) are two girls who are very helpful for me whenever we have events/activities at church. They love the kids and are very good with them. We started in the sanctuary with some praise time and then a brief drama presentation of the Easter story. The kids don't get to be in the santuary too often so when they do, it is very impactful.
How does a panda fit in with the Easter theme???

It doesn't...since this was a community event we were doing some advertising for VBS. The theme this year was PandaMania.
Then we headed outside for an egg hunt and to play with the bunnies and chicks.

Gotta show Momma what I collected!

Easter Tea Party

2011-08-31T14:21:00.002-05:00

Sweet coach Ellen promised the girls another tea party based on if they all got one of the hardest skills they need to know for Level 3...the front mill! They did it so they were able to enjoy an Easter tea party with cookie decorating, nail painting and egg exchanging.

Aubrey with her teammate and friend, Annie
Ellen is also Emery's coach so she graciously included her in the party. She was thrilled to be hanging with the big girls.
It isn't a tea party without painting fingernails!

Gettin' ready to pass out her eggs. By the look of that hair, she practiced really hard that day :-)

Carter wasn't invited to the party so he watched through the window and made plenty of attempts to be silly to get the girl's attention.

the (Level 2, almost Level 3) girls

Preschool 3's Field Trip

2011-08-30T13:04:00.002-05:00

Foundry Preschool 3's does their field trip to Bear Creek Park the week before Easter so they can have the kids do an Easter Egg Hunt. It was a beautiful spring day for the event.

First we played on the playground.

Emery with her favorite buddy in her class, Fisher.

What is down there?

Listening to the teacher's instructions for the egg hunt.

Collecting eggs.
We got all of our eggs.I really enjoyed getting to spend some special time with my twins.
The best part of the day is digging through the eggs to find out what they got and eating as much of the candy as possible right before lunch.
Lily's class
Emery's classAll four kids got to enjoy an Easter activity at school!

Palm Sunday

2011-07-25T12:48:00.000-05:00

The preschool children get to sing in church twice a year...the first Sunday in December and Palm Sunday. It is so precious to watch and listen to them sing. They are all three dressed alike so it should make it easier to find them in these pictures :-)

Pre-K Ocean Parade

2011-07-07T07:02:00.002-05:00

The Pre-K kids had an at-home project to make a creature from the ocean. We chose to make a jellyfish. Thanks to a few suggestions from friends and the internet, this is what we came up with for Aubrey's ocean animal...using a blueberry container, bubble wrap, permanent marker and googly eyes. Each kid displayed their creation by walking in a parade at the end of school one day.Our sweet friend, Barrett and his octopus. I was so impressed with all the creativity from the kids and parents :-)
All of the younger classes sat in the hallway to watch the parade. Carter saw me taking pictures so I ended up sitting with him. He definitely was not feeling his best that day!

Jackson's Birthday Party

2011-07-06T07:45:00.003-05:00

Carter was invited to help his school/church friend, Jackson, celebrate turning...

TWO!

This was our first time at The Little Gym and we LOVED it! We both really enjoyed getting some mommy/son time and participating in all the wonderful things the place had to offer...
walking on the balance beam...

...sitting on the balance beam......hanging on the bar...
...playing with the balls...
...bouncing...
...popping bubbles...

...and making music.This was the perfect party for this crew of 2 year olds.
The birthday boy (and his momma) opening presents.
After all the playtime, we headed to the party room for...
...cupcakes!
Carter got to sit next to his favorite little buddy while they ate their delicious cupcakes off the dinosaur placemat that Jackson's mom personally made for each kiddo.

A Weekend Up North...Dallas

2011-07-05T06:10:00.018-05:00

The next day was Uncle Drew's birthday so we helped him celebrate. Aunt Kim and Uncle Drew have this amazing park close to their new home in Richardson. After we checked out the house, we spent the afternoon playing and enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

Chillin' with the family

Chillin' turned to cheesy but we were having fun!That evening we met Kim's family for dinner at this delicious Greek restuarant.
Carter made sure he got in on singing 'Happy Birthday' and blowing out that candle.Emery coloring.
Nana lovin' on Aubrey.
Lily messin' with Uncle Drew.
Thank you Uncle Drew for letting all these kids help you celebrate your 31st birthday. We love you!
Sunday morning we went to Uncle Drew's new church. He is in charge of anything that involves kids (from newborns to high schoolers) at a second location of Highland Park UMC called Munger Place. It is amazing to see what God is doing at this church right in the heart of Dallas.

A Weekend Up North...Plano

2011-06-05T14:18:00.011-05:00

Mike took off work on a Friday and Monday at the end of March and we headed up north to visit family for the weekend. Our first stop was to see Mema and Papa at the farm in Plano. Ashley, Anna and Graham met us there so we could enjoy lunch together.

Then Papa saddled up a couple of horses so everyone could take a ride.

I even got on a horse and took a ride. I think this was my first time riding a horse!?!?! It took me a minute to get the hang of it but then I was riding off into the pasture! At the farm when the kids aren't riding horses, they are playing with the dogs...
...finding footballs (and a 10-gallon bucket of golf balls)...
...going for walks...
...and making music.
On our way out of town at the end of the weekend, we stopped by to say "Good-bye" to Mema.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

2011-05-15T14:42:00.011-05:00

One of the benefits of Mike working on the Rodeo Express committee for the Houston Rodeo is that we have free passes. We took the kids on the last Saturday of the rodeo (it was also the last Saturday of Spring Break!) We also had the opportunity to see where Daddy spends a couple shifts a week during the month of March by parking in 'his' lot and riding the bus. We got there around 11:00 so we decided to have lunch first.and We enjoyed some bbq and nachos. Not a super healthy lunch but very delicious!
Then we headed inside to "Kid Kountry" where they have all kinds of adorable baby animals and fun things to learn about.
These piglets were only a day or two old.

Carter wanted to make sure he got the closest view possible of those precious pigs.
Checking out bunnies of all different shapes, sizes and colors.

Look at the chick about to hatch out of its egg!Then we ventured outside to ride some rides. Emery chose to do the obstacle course first.Lily and Carter were not at all interested in the rides so Emery went on this one with Aubrey.
We cannot go to the fair without getting a funnel cake...and some fried oreos. YUMMY!Then we went to the rodeo. Our goal was to watch the rodeo and then maybe listen to a few songs until we realized that it was finals night. This meant that after they competed all the events, they went back and competed the top five from each event again. So....we didn't hear any of the music but......they didn't seem to mind because this is the picture we got of them after 8 hours of rodeo fun. By their smiles, I think a good time was had by all!

Spring Break

2011-05-06T14:11:00.008-05:00

A week of...crafting...meeting our second cousin, Maggie...spending time with MIMI...playing with our cousins...going to the park...picnic lunches...playing school...lovin' on baby Will...playing with the Roemler's.

A FULL and FABULOUS WEEK!

Baby Will

2011-04-28T11:36:00.001-05:00

The day my grandpa was celebrating his 94th birthday was the day that William Kurt Roemler was born. I waited anxiously and patiently all day on Friday, March 11th until Mike got home so we could go to the hospital and meet this precious baby. This was a bittersweet moment for me, knowing that this would be one of the few times I would get to love and cuddle on him before his family headed to Atlanta in 6 weeks. He is a perfectly beautiful little boy.

The Momma, Sarah, only a few hours after giving birth. I love you, my dear friend, and am so happy for you with this newest addition to your family. We all definitely prayed and waited for him!

Rodeo Day

2011-04-25T11:28:00.003-05:00

The kids had Rodeo Day at school. The girls put on a show at school for the parents. They sang a variety of songs involving Texas, boots, cows, chickens and eggs. They also played a few different instruments along with the songs. I decided to video tape the performance instead of taking my camera this time but here is a picture of them in their 'get-up' before going to school. I had a blast watching each of their personalities come out in their performance. I was a very proud momma.

Nana's 60th Birthday

2011-04-22T09:03:00.019-05:00

We had Nana's big 60th birthday celebration at our house the weekend before her actual day. She really wanted to just spend time with her grandchildren (and maybe with her kids too :-) so the easiest way for us to do that was to spend the weekend at home. We definitely wanted to make this sweet lady feel special on her big day but we also wanted it to be relaxing and fun. Nana has done a lot of living over the past 60 years. She has an incredible testimony and has been able to help a number of people that have gone through the same things. Most importantly she has been a wonderful mother and grandmother to all of us!

The Birthday Girl

Uncle Drew, Aunt Kim and Nana drove in on Thursday night so we were able to spend Friday morning relaxing. We took advantage of some really beautiful Houston weather by taking a walk and playing outside.

Believe it or not, this picture was not staged. Carter likes to be "snuggled" so he walks around with a blanket until Aubrey helps wrap him up in it. Somehow the bible and kiss ended up being a part of the process this time. There are no words...Then we all got cleaned up and had a little cuddle time.
Again, I have no words...
Enjoying queso and fish tacos at Berry Hill.
Uncle Drew was so sweet and brave to take all 4 kids to go pick up the cake and then back to the house for rest time so the girls could go enjoy a spa afternoon. We each had our toes done and were able to enjoy a few hours of quiet, adult time.MIMI met us at the spa to wish Nana a 'Happy Birthday.'We came home to Carter napping and the girls working puzzles. Good Job Uncle Drew!
My niece, Julia, was running a high fever earlier in the week so my sister-in-law stayed back in Frisco with her while my brother brought the other two nieces with him. They arrived around dinner time. We put all 5 girls together for a slumber party. Aunt Kim read to them before we shut the door and listened to another 30 minutes of giggling. I think each dad had to make one trip upstairs to tell them to settle down but that isn't too bad for 5 girls in a room who don't get to see each other that often :-)

The next morning started bright and early with breakfast...

...hugs...

...and Aubrey's 8:00 soccer game.

Aubrey loved having her cousins, Aunt, Uncles and Nana there supporting her.

After the game, we went to Collins park to let everyone play.

Then off to lunch at Los Cucos.

Singing 'Happy Birthday' to Nana in the birthday hat. Everyone had lots of fun trying on the hat.

An afternoon of play time for the kids and rest time for the adults.

That evening we celebrated with cake.

Nana and her grandkids (We missed you Julia!)Who wants cake?The next morning Kevin, Bella and Abbey had to go home.
But Uncle Drew stayed another day to help make MORE shrinky dinks with the girls. Story time
Happy Birthday Nana! We enjoyed celebrating your birthday with you. We love you very much!

Spring Soccer Season

2011-04-09T09:38:00.011-05:00

WOW, what a different soccer season we have had from the fall. Maybe it is the child, maybe it is the child's age, maybe it is the coach, maybe it is the team...there are a lot of different factors this time but it has been an amazing season...no tears, no negotiating to get on the field and lots of fun!

Her team chose to be the lions (orange lions?)

The coach has this bench that the kids sat on when they were not in the game.Coach Carson giving the team a pep talk before the game. He is so good with the kids. His goal is that they all of fun and learn a few soccer skills at the same time.He is always very positive and encouraging

Aubrey spent a lot of time on the field. She always hustles and tries her best

She has scored a number of goals throughout the season. Her siblings have been at all the games showing their support......or eating snacks and kicking soccer balls... ...or getting shoulder rides.

Grandpa and Judy come to Houston

2011-04-01T15:02:00.009-05:00

Grandpa and Judy came from St. Louis to visit us for a couple of days before they headed to Dallas and then to Destin, their home away from home.

They didn't come without bringing Valentine's gifts for all of the kids and Aubrey's birthday presents.The next day we went to the Woodlands Mall and rode the carousel. Carter and Lily did not want to get on those horses. Emery was a little unsure about riding the horse. Aubrey had a blast! Then we took the kids to run around in the play area before eating lunch (and Mommy doing a little shopping :-)This guy had an audience for his remote control helicopter demonstration (the helicopter is hard to see but it is over on the far left of the picture.) Carter was completely fascinated by it. Aubrey has a special place in her Grandpa's heart. The next morning we went to breakfast and then to Aubrey's soccer game. She scored 3 goals in that game. The kids love spending time with Grandpa and Judy!

Gymnastics Tea Party

2011-03-30T13:48:00.007-05:00

Aubrey's new gymnastics coach, Coach Ellen, is really sweet and creative. She makes being at the gym 4 hours a week exciting for the girls. She is very positive and encouraging. In February, she had the girls earning 'jewels' for getting certain skills and exhibiting certain behavior. After a specific number of jewels were earned, they got to have a tea party. This precious table was set up in the party room at Bannon's. They enjoyed tea (Hawaiian Punch) and cupcakes.

These adorable hair clips were made by Audrey's mom. Audrey is one of Aubrey's teammates.Level 2 Team at their tea party. Cheers!!! Coach Ellen had a lot of treats for the girls. She put glitter in their hair... ...she painted their fingernails......she had coach Michelle give them tattoos. Then each girl passed out the Valentine's they brought for each other. What a sweet and fun group of girls. Aubrey has made some great friends on her team. Coach Ellen went out of her way to make this very special for the girls.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-03-17T06:43:00.001-05:00

A small goodie for each of my Valentine's.

Happy Valentine's Day!

WE LOVE YOU!

Mike's 36th Birthday

2011-03-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

Confessions of a Wife--I had a church meeting on Mike's actual birthday so we celebrated the night before with his favorite, Tres Leches,

a homemade card from the kids and a few gifts.
Probably not the most exciting birthday for him but we wanted him to know how special he is to us and how much we love him!

Aubrey's 5th Birthday

2011-03-15T12:10:00.000-05:00

Aubrey chose brownies to bring to school for her birthday treat. But we couldn't make just plain 'ol brownies so we added some chocolate icing and sprinkles. Yummy!!

5 YEARS OLD

This beautiful little girl makes her father and me very proud. She is smart, pretty, happy, polite, loving, friendly, outgoing, full of energy, a good student, a talented gymnastic, a hard worker, a skilled soccer player and a wonderful daughter and big sister. One thing I can say about her is that she tries her best at everything she does and she is fortunate to do most things well. When I try to explain to my girls how much I love them, I end up telling them that the love I have for them they will only understand once they are a mother. It is almost impossible to put into words the love we feel for our children.
Lily was excited that it was Aubrey's birthday. She is definitely a morning person.Emery is not as much of a morning person.
She was so excited to open presents that we didn't even wait for Carter to wake up.
A beautiful James Avery necklace from Nana.

She really wanted a pair of slippers. Traditional Birthday Breakfast
We made more brownies with more icing and sprinkles to take to the....
...park where we met our...
...running group.

Aubrey chose Willie's for lunch.

Date Night with Daddy
We are starting a new tradition...a special night out alone with Daddy to the restaurant of their choice. Aubrey chose Chuck E. Cheese!?!?! Alone time with any of our kids is rare which makes it very special. They had a wonderful time together.

Tea Party

2011-03-14T10:08:00.018-05:00

We had a tea party at The Bake Shoppe for Aubrey's 5th birthday party. This was a 'girls only' party so Daddy and Carter stayed at home. But we wanted to include them in a couple of pictures before we left.

We got to the restaurant a little early so we had to wait while they finished setting up the table... This beautiful table was decorated by Melissa (in the black hat), the owner of The Bake Shoppe. Each plate at the table was different and just as adorable as this one. The 'first course' was tea and cookies. Aubrey picked the shape of the cookies (hearts), the color of the icing (pink) and the color of the sprinkles (blue). They had a blast trying on some of the fun hats that were laying on the table for decoration.

Melissa made this "Mad Hatter" outfit for her daughter's birthday and she let Aubrey try it on. MIMI is such a wonderful help to have at birthday parties. She is great at making my job as the hostess really easy. Aubrey and Ellery, one of her gymnastics teammates.Madi and Izzy M.K. Sally and Meyer

SydnieA table of little young ladies

Kinley

Lily sipping her tea.

For the 'second course', the girls could choose anything they wanted for lunch. Most of them picked macaroni and cheese. After lunch, each girl was given their initial and they decorated it with torn pieces of scrapbook paper.
Melissa painted and glittered each letter that the girls received as party favors. They turned out really cute. The 'final course' was dessert. Aubrey picked chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and pink/blue sprinkles. The moms also enjoyed lunch and these delicious petifores for dessert.

Singing Happy Birthday!

The girls all gathered around so Aubrey could open her presents...
Some of the momsAubrey's friends
The Hall girls
This was an incredible easy party (just pay the bill :-) and the girls had a really good time. The Bake Shoppe has delicious food and fabulous desserts...since Daddy and Carter missed the party we had to take one of the homemade ding-dongs home to them.

Sarah's Baby Shower

2011-03-12T07:00:00.002-06:00

My dearest friend, Sarah, is having her 3rd baby. Baby Will will join his two big twin sisters, Izzy and Madi, sometime in March. I used the idea of a "spa" shower from the one my friends threw for me when I was having Carter. We had a small spread of food, beverages and RJ Goodes' cupcakes.

Everyone brought a gift card to one of Sarah's favorite kid's stores instead of gifts. Since she already has the basic baby stuff, now she can go do some shopping for boy things. We all enjoyed a girl's night out getting pedicures and manicures. It was a super easy, relaxing and fun way to shower our friend, Sarah, before her baby comes.I hosted the shower with another of Sarah's closest friends, Allie. Sarah says we are a lot alike which turned out to be true and it made it very easy to host a shower with her. Some of the guests getting their pedicures...
...while socializing...
...and enjoying a glass of wine.

All of the friends
We had a wonderful time this evening but after the party I found out that Sarah and her family are moving to Atlanta as soon as she is released from her doctor after the baby is born. This news was expected but wasn't without lots of tears. We are all going to miss the Roemler family.

2011 Rose Bowl

2011-03-11T13:12:00.000-06:00

Mike had the once in a lifetime opportunity to go to California with his dad and brother to watch TCU play in the Rose Bowl. It was an incredible experience and I am glad he was able to enjoy it with some of the biggest football/TCU fans I know. So on New Year's Day the rest of us got ready to cheer on the Frogs from our own house (We were supposed to watch the game with some fellow TCU fans but they had the stomach bug going around their family.) We are EXTREMELY proud to be TCU fans right now!

Meanwhile in California, here are the guys in front of the Rose Bowl stadium.

I was very impressed with the pictures Mike took while they were there. He captured all of the important details which makes it very easy to blog about :-)
One of the locations where floats for the Rose Bowl parade were being put together.Just some of the millions of beautiful roses used for all the floats.
This picture was for my dad...the Anheuser Bush float.
Right before the big game. Inside the stadium

The division of the purple and red (TCU vs. Wisconsin). The Game
The record breaking attendance...94,118.
This was an awesome game. I can only imagine what it was like in that stadium because in our living room their was a lot of screaming, nail-biting, hiding under pillows and cheering! TCU pulled off a 21-19 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. Mike captured some of the on field celebration.
The College Game Day Crew

Congratulations to the 2010-2011 TCU football team!

New Years Eve Slumber PARTY

2011-03-09T06:12:00.001-06:00

This year while Mike was in California for New Years, the kids and I decided to stay in on New Years Eve and have a SLUMBER PARTY! We blew up the air mattress, found plenty of blankets and pillows and made ourselves all comfy on the living room floor.

We rented a bunch of movies because we couldn't decide which one we wanted to watch. The variety turned out to be a good thing because "Nanny McPhee" ended up being the only movie that wasn't 'too scary' for each kid to watch. They don't like to watch anything with 'bad guys' in it, which makes the choices very limited :-)
A slumber party isn't complete without popcorn to eat!
Carter enjoyed part of the movie with us but slept in his bed that night. As for the rest of us, we had a wonderful time and were ALL asleep by 9:00.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy Birthday Carter!!!

2011-03-08T12:37:00.001-06:00

Carter Michael Hall

December 30, 2008

Newborn

1 year old2 years old
After having 3 daughters, there is just something about a son. It is a feeling that I can't put into words. This man melts my heart with his huge smile, his precious facial expressions, his big hugs, his sweet litttle voice and his super wet kisses. Only one year ago I was worried about his walking and now I can't get him to stop moving or to be quiet. I guess with three sisters he has to say everything very loudly and many times if he wants to be heard. He is DEFINITELY, without a doubt, a Mama's boy...and I mean that in so many good and not so good ways :-) I am so proud to be his mother.
His sisters were trying to be very patient while he opened his presents. They did offer him a little help once in awhile.
I took way to many pictures of him opening his presents but in each one his personality really shows so I couldn't pick just one...
With as busy as he is, he will always make time to take a break for a good book. Thanks Nana for the funny pigeon and dinosaur books!
Traditional Birthday Breakfast -- Chocolate Chip Pancakes
The running group met at our house that day because of the weather.
We celebrated his day with another family favorite -- cookie cake.More singing and blowing out candles.
It was also our friend/neighbor Kinley's 6th birthday on the same day. They invited us and a few other friends over that afternoon to celebrate with more cookie cake and opening presents.

Merry Christmas

2011-03-05T13:46:00.004-06:00

Santa and his reindeer came and enjoyed their goodies. He left a note along with... ...a doctor's outfit for Aubrey...
...tractors, trucks and trains for Carter...

....baby accessories for Lily...

...and an art set for Emery.Christmas day was super relaxing for our family. It took us most of the morning to open stockings, eat breakfast and open the rest of our presents. Believe it or not, the kids were very patient about waiting while we took turns opening one gift at a time.
It was another year filled with baby dolls for the Hall girls. In their opinion they could ever have enough babies.Even Carter wanted to play with a baby! Awkward picture...but I was modeling my new apron. I never thought I would be an 'apron person' but after having trouble getting bacon grease out of shirts, I now believe in them.
After all the gifts were opened, we finally got cleaned up to start working on our 2nd Annual Christmas Day Shrimp Boil. (It has officially become a tradition because it is really easy and very delicious.) Emery playing with the 'big dolls' that Nana got each girl along with an adorable wardrobe for each doll.
First Christmas as husband and wife.
It was unusually cold for Houston that day (perfect Christmas weather to people that grew up in St. Louis :-) so Aubrey bundled up to go out and help with the boil.
The guys and Aubrey cooking dinner.
Merry Christmas Y'all!

Christmas Eve

2011-02-24T12:45:00.005-06:00

This might not be the 'best' picture from Christmas Eve before we went to the 2:00 family service but it is the most real. The true emotions of the Hall kids at that moment...

So happy to have Nana here celebrating Christmas with us!Cooper thinks he is one of the kids...might not be but he is definitely a good at posing for pictures.
Cookies and eggnog for Santa. The reindeer food (in the bowl) was supposed to be sprinkled on the front lawn but it was raining so we opted to have Santa take it to the reindeer and feed them. All of the kids signed their name on the note (the scribble line says "Carter" and the twins only wrote their first initial.)

Lovin' Uncle Drew and Aunt Kim

2011-02-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

Uncle Drew and Aunt Kim came to Houston for almost a week during their Christmas vacation and the Hall children loved every minute it!!!!! They brought their dog, Cooper, along with them. The two big dogs were very sweet to each other but mostly stayed in their own territory.
That is Lily behind the blanket :-)

Not only did they entertain my children most of the time, they also baked the most delicious gingersnaps (gluten-free) and caramel popcorn.They gave Aubrey shrinky-dinks for Christmas. Everyone was excited to make them, including the adults.

Carefully watching them 'shrink.'
the finished products

Lots of playing and eating...

2011-02-21T14:30:00.012-06:00

This was a special day for our running group friends...it was Christmas vacation so all the school aged kids were able to join us and it was Meyer Jane Davis' 7th birthday. The mommies of all those precious faces above - - Stacie, Kari, Tootie, Anne, Kristen and Me.
So while each mommy went running, the kids played and...

...posed for pictures...
...colored...
...hung around... ...rode the horsey......loved on baby Brynn...
...and gave the birthday girl hugs.
Meyer chose Lupe Tortilla for her birthday lunch.
Not only is their food so yummy but they have a great play area for the kids. The Hall children really enjoyed playing in the sandbox...
Doin' some climbin'.the kid's table

the mom's table
Mr. Buff (Meyer's daddy) came to enjoy lunch with us...actually he helped feed, hold and watch all the kids...and we really appreciated it!

Time with Friends

2011-02-20T13:50:00.007-06:00

While our friends, the Junods, were in town from Doha, we were able to meet them and some of our other friends one Sunday after church for lunch and some play time at this beautiful park. Sadly, this group of friends that I met through Wendi don't get to see each other too often because we are all in different places in the world, the state or our lives right now. But it is so nice when we are able to get together.

The guys seem to be having a very serious discussion?!?!

The kids discovered a dog, a squirrel, a worm???
This park had so many fun, new things for the kids to explore. Too bad it isn't a little closer to our house...

Emery playing on the see-saw with Brooks and Barrett Junod. They were having a blast!
Another one of Mike's childhood favorites (besides coloring) is swinging.

After all the playing, the kids took a minute to pose for me to take a few more pictures...
Lily helping take care of precious Georgia Junod.

Chenoweth/Hall Christmas

2011-02-17T08:35:00.000-06:00

We went to MIMI and PawPaw's house for our traditional early Christmas celebration with the other Halls and the Chenoweths.My girls just love the attention from older girls and I appreciate that they like to give it to them. Morgan (our niece) is holding Lily and Courtney (John's girlfriend) is holding Aubrey. MIMI with six of her grandchildren.
Our first attempt to take a family picture didn't go so well but I love how Mike is laughing and Carter is crying...they kinda look the same!

MIMI and PawPaw set up the train and snow village on the kitchen table so that it...
...was easy for the kids to watch. Emery is "showing" Anna the train :-)
This was amazing entertainment. Carter stood their and watched for 10 minutes at a time!
One of the traditions of the night is to light the Advent wreath while reading about the meaning of each candle. The reading and candle lighting parts have been passed down from the adults to the older kids and then to the younger kids as they get old enough to handle lighting a candle or are able to read.

Aubrey lighting the first candle.
Emery lighting the third candle.
For some reason I did not get a picture of Lily lighting her candle but here she is watching the others being lit.
Next, we always sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.

PawPaw held Carter for this and he got a kick out of listening to Carter belt out the words. It is one of his favorite songs and you can actually understand most of what he is saying.
Then we eat dinner which MIMI has catered so none of us have to cook since we have the task of shopping and wrapping at this time of the year. Thanks MIMI!

the adult table
the kids table Finally it is time to open presents. This is what a tree looks like that has presents for 24 people under it. WOW!

Opening presents time gets a little crazy!?!?!?! so this is the only picture I got but I know Mike was good about videoing the event.

The Hall family's final attempt to take a picture that evening. Better!?!?

One Friday...

2011-02-16T16:00:00.000-06:00

Mike had a personal day to use before the end of the year so he took the day off work for us to enjoy together. Normally when he takes off we are going somewhere or have something to do so this was an extra special day of just relaxing and enjoying our time with Daddy. One of Mike's favorite things to do is color...Who knew?

Lily is tearing up a biscuit into little pieces for Carter to eat...so helpful!
One of the kids got this headband from school and Aubrey decided to try it on.
Carter's absolute FAVORITE thing is milk. He would drink it all day if we let him. See how happy he is with that cup in his hand!

We had to have a few things done on my car so we took the whole family to the car dealership. They happened to have this real race car there and they let us test it out.
Aubrey was the only kid that wanted a try. She thought it was really cool that you had to climb in the window to get in it.
Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Galleria. We "let" Daddy enjoy a Chic-Fil-A lunch with us and then looked the Christmas tree and watched the ice skaters. Everyone was even patient enough for me to do a very little shopping.

Gymnastics Banquet

2011-02-16T06:10:00.007-06:00

Aubrey and I got to go together to her gymastics banquet while Daddy had the other kids at the gym for Emery's gymnastics class. The banquet was at Augusta Pines Golf Club. It was for the Compulsory team members (Levels 2-6).

They had a buffet dinner which was very kid friendly with chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and lettuce with ranch. The girls loved it!
Some of Aubrey's friends on her team -- Ellery, Madeline and Teya.

They called each girl up individual, read some personal information about each one (their favorite event, favorite moment at the gym...) and gave them a trophy. That little trophy is very special to Aubrey.
All the Level 2 Team girls that were in attendance that night with their trophies.

They gave out individual awards also. Aubrey received the 95% award which is special recognition for gymnasts achieving 95% or better of their starting value score. (She scored a 9.6 on bars at a meet and 9.6 on floor at another meet.)
She also received the Most Valuable Award which is given to an individual who achieves the highest all-around average, with 50% meet participation.
The girl standing next to Aubrey received the Most Valuable award also for Level 3 Team. Notice the height difference!
Aubrey with her friend and teammate, Allie.

Samantha and Aubrey are teammates and friends also.
Mackenzie is a sweet and precious Level 5 girl that has befriended Aubrey. She is so wonderful to her and I love that Aubrey has this relationship for the mentoring and friendship.The Level Two Team

It was a wonderful evening and a lot of fun to see the girls all dressed up versus in a leotard with their hair in a ponytail at the gym.

Class Christmas PARTIES

2011-02-14T17:17:00.009-06:00

This was the day of the Christmas concerts and parties for the preschool classes. The MDO kids have their own celebration but the parents aren't invited. The Pre-K concert/parties were first thing in the morning. They sang a number of adorable Christmas songs and listened to a Christmas story. Ms. Barb is a fabulous music/chapel teacher.

MIMI was able to come watch the concert. Aubrey really appreciated having her there.Since Aubrey's party was in the morning, they had kolaches, doughnuts, fruit and orange juice.
Aubrey's Christmas crafts.
Aubrey with her two favorite teachers, Ms. Day and Ms. Mory.I love getting to spend some one-on-one time with my kids (it doesn't happen very often.)Emery and Lily's concert was in the afternoon, right before pick-up.
They sang the same songs as the older kids but it was a very different performance :-)
I don't know if this was planned but both girls sat on the front row on the end in their class. It made it very easy for me to take pictures and to video. Thanks for making it convenient for me girls!
MIMI wasn't sure if she was going to be able to make it back for the second show but she did and the girls were very surprised and happy to see her.
Emery had cookies, grapes and juice at her class party.
Since Emery and Lily's parties were at the same time, I had to run back and forth between the classrooms so I only got half the quality time with each girl. I guess they are used to sharing their time (along with everything else) because neither one of them seemed to mind.
Lily had the same delicious treats at her party.Lily with Ms. Kathy.
Lily with Ms. Leanne. Love her!
Mommy and Lily time!

Finally I just brought Emery to Lily's classroom and we enjoyed the rest of the party together.

Birthday Treat

2011-02-06T16:30:00.003-06:00

Carter brought these individual bags of puppy chow to school for his birthday treat. He thought it was really funny to do anything but look at the camera when I was trying to take a picture of him holding his treat.

Carter's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-02-05T10:00:00.004-06:00

We had Carter's second birthday party a few weeks before his actual birthday at Clay's Restaurant (on Clay Road in Katy). Clay's is known for its great burgers and "farmlike" atmosphere with a large field for kids to run and play in along with a variety of animals to pet and feed. Since Carter's birthday is only 5 days after Christmas, I have found it is easier on us and everyone else invited to celebrate his big day early. He is happy with whatever we do!

The day of the party was Clay's annual Snowday which I thought was going to be a wonderful thing. Snow = entertainment turned out to be Snow = a lot of people, a big mess and a few kids getting pelted with ice balls. The kids didn't seem to mind any of that and the parents made it through it. As a matter of fact, a few of the kids were sliding in the mud by the end of the party. Thanks to our friends for being so flexible :-)

The Balloon BouquetThe Table Decorations

The Hall FamilyThe Horak Family

The Meloy FamilyThe Michaelis Family
MIMI and PawPawThe Paschall Family

The Roemler FamilyThe Scalises', Farrs and Heurings

The Waggoner Family

The Derr Family

The Goat Food

Feeding the goats.

MIMI hanging out with the girls and watching the animals.

The Cupcakes from RJ Goode's. Delicious!!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little boy!

Carter watched that candle very carefully as we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him.

He loves blowing out candles.

Along with it being snowday, Santa was also at the restaurant so people were able to get their pictures taken with him if they hadn't already. He was giving out candy canes to all the kids. Carter definitely enjoyed his!

The Favors -- a combination of the Hall's favorite songs ending with the TCU fightsong, of course! Carter helped pass out the favors to his guests.We came home and opened presents later that day. Carter was very excited about getting some new trucks... ...and a lawnmower that he can push around instead of a pink shopping cart.
It was another fun, successful birthday bash!

JWUMC Walk Thru Bethlehem

2011-02-04T13:30:00.000-06:00

Two years ago MIMI took Aubrey to the Walk Thru Bethlehem that is put on at her church for the entire community one weekend in December. Last year Mike and I took the kids ourselves. This year we decided to try to make it a tradition that we will ALL go together to experience this memorable event. MIMI and the kids anxiously waiting for the doors to open.
As you enter the kids are each given a bag and a map. The map allows them to collect stamps at each station as they 'walk thru Bethlehem' and the bag is for all the goodies they get at each station. The Cheese Station -- They give out pieces of cheese and goldfish. It was such a big hit that we went to this station at least twice! YUM!!!

The Candle Station -- the woman is showing the girls how to hold the wax in your hands to warm it up so they can shape it into a candle.
The Market

The Mosaic Station -- They put pieces of tissue paper on crosses with the adhesive already on it.
The Game Station -- They watched some of the bigger kids play a game of Dreidel.
"Look Mom, a goat."
Being that we were at MIMI's church, she knew many of the wonderful volunteers. The kings were passing out 'gifts' (a.k.a. gold coins) for the kids to take to Baby Jesus.
Giving their gifts to Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus.

It was close to bedtime for "Baby" Jesus so he was pretty sleepy :-)

Continuing on the Walk Thru Bethlehem, to see...
...a camel...

...and to ride on a donkey.

The last stop is to receive a prize for having your map filled out and to have a snack. It takes a lot of work to put this event together and I am very impressed with the details they try to include for authenticity. It is a wonderful teaching experience for people of all ages to learn about what the world was like when our Savior entered it.

Topsy Turvy Christmas

2011-01-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Every year our church does a family Christmas event in the beginning of December. This year the theme was Topsy Turvy based on the fact that when Jesus came to earth it turned the whole world upside down. Being a member of the children's ministry staff, I was in on the planning for this event which was super fun because everything was very untraditional, bright and creative. The evening started out in the santuary with singing, a skit and some games.
The penguin and panda (this year's VBS character) made an appearance. Mackenzie and Gabby were so great helping us out the whole night with the girls.

Stacie and Brigitte are two of my co-workers. Stacie is in charge of first thru fourth grade children and Brigitte works with the fifth and sixth graders.
After the opening, we walked around as a family to different locations in the church were a variety of activities were set up.
The story of the candy cane accompanied this craft.
Each girl worked very carefully stringing red and white beads onto a red pipe cleaner. They finished off the ornament with a loop and a white bow.
Christmas Tree snack - a.k.a. icing smeared onto an ice cream cone with a bunch of candy stuck to it.Fun to make...
delicious and...

...messy to eat.
The service project consisted of...
...making a card...
...to stuff in a stocking......along with lots of other toys and treats to give to children at a local trailer park and children in an orphanage in Mexico.

There was a petting zoo with a camel...

...donkey...
...and goats.
They had snow made for the night.

(You will never guess how much that little bit of snow cost. But that is the price we pay to see snow in Houston :-)

The kids LOVED it!
The adults did too!

Makin' snowballs
Throwin' snowballsSanta even stopped by. What a wonderful evening to be together as a family, spend time with other families from church, and be filled with a little of the Christmas spirit.

Coloring and Curious George

2011-01-27T07:41:00.010-06:00

This particular Saturday afternoon we had two birthday parties to attend that were only an hour apart. The whole family started out at Adalyn's 2nd birthday party at her house.

Her party was a 'coloring' theme.
There were all different things to color including this cardboard castle which Carter thought was a lot of fun to play in.
The daddy's couldn't pass up an opportunity to do some coloring. They said they were just showing the kids what to do :-)
Emery LOVES coloring so this party was perfect for her.
Lily isn't as much into coloring so she had a blast bouncin' in the bounce house.
While Aubrey showed off some of her tricks.
Then I took Lily and Emery to Kyle's first birthday party at his house.
His party was a 'Curious George' theme.
Love the classic party hats!

Kyle's party favors were moon dough. There was a reason his mommy apologized to me when she gave them to us.

We loved getting to celebrate this special day with two of our favorite friends!

Children's Church Rehearsal

2011-01-26T14:07:00.007-06:00

Every Sunday the girls go to 1 hour of Sunday school and 1 hour of children's church. In children's church, they learn a wide variety of songs and twice a year they get to perform a couple of those songs for the "big church." I took pictures of the rehearsal since we are not supposed to take them during the service. Children's church takes place in the chior room so that is where we met before they walked into the santuary to practice. Jordan and Lydia are two of Aubrey's friends in her class.
The whole group of 3, 4 and 5 year olds ready to sing.

'Tis Christmas

(sung to: "Away in a Manger")

'Tis Christmas! 'Tis Christmas!

The Christmas bells ring.

The birthday of Jesus

Our Savior and King.

'Tis Christmas! 'Tis Christmas!

The Christmas star shine.

The birthday of Jesus

A glad, happy time!

All of the kids were ringing bells during this song.
These were the props used for the next song. The first row (3 year olds) held mangers. The second row (4 year olds) held angels. The third row (kindergarteners) held stars.

Jesus Came

(sung to: "Deep and Wide")

Jesus came, Jesus came, Had a manger for His tiny bed

Angels sang, Angels sang, Told the shepherds Baby Jesus came

Star above, Star above, Told the wise men Baby Jesus came

Parents Night Out

2011-01-24T13:42:00.005-06:00

The church offered a FREE night out for staff members and because I am now working as the nursery director of the church, Mike and I were able to take advantage of this wonderful offer. Mike and I went and had a relaxing, delicious dinner and then did some "santa" shopping. The kids had a blast...they got to wear their pj's to church, eat Chic-Fil-A, play with the older kids (6th thru 8th grade leadership team), play reindeer games, watch movies, make peppermint play dough, eat treats and have a gingerbread house contest...

They divided into teams to make their houses. Since there are so many of them :-) our kids were their own team. With the help of Elizabeth, a very responsible 7th grader, they made the only gingerbread house that was still standing by the end of the night.
I am in awe of the lengths our church goes to to make things special for everyone. I am very grateful for the effort people put into things to make them fun and worthwhile.

What are they thinking?

2011-01-12T14:09:00.002-06:00

"What are they thinking?" is a question that most parents have asked themselves at one time or another whether it is in a good or not so good situation. One of my favorite things about being a mom is trying to "figure" out what goes on in the minds of these little children. This just happens to be a moment I was able to catch on camera. Lily was very seriously sorting and organizing the bugs from the bug catcher.

Her sisters were sitting and observing the hard work.
But with faces like these does it really matter what they are thinking?

Helping Decorate???

2011-01-04T13:57:00.003-06:00

Is 4 kids helping decorate for Christmas really a help?

Maybe not but they are being so sweet to each other......and having so much fun.
Clearly, I am not that much of a help either! :-)

Thanksgiving

2011-01-03T14:57:00.001-06:00

We stayed in Houston this year for Thanksgiving. Uncle David, Aunt Ashley, Anna and Graham came in town. They were staying at MIMI's house for the week but they came over to our house one night for dinner. While the guys were out grilling burgers, the kids followed them and decided to have fun playing in the back of Mike's truck. I am not sure why my three girls decided to put their pj's on before dinner and bath?!?!Gotta have one serious picture and one silly picture!

The boys on their own doing random things...
... Another cousins in the tub picture. Not sure this is appropriate to post but look how much fun they are having!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Aubrey is thankful for her family and football.Lily is thankful for Emery.
Emery is thankful for mommy and daddy.

Carter didn't tell us what he is thankful for this year but I'm sure he will let us know next year.
I am thankful for each person in this family and how their individuality makes our family so special. I love each of them more than I will ever be able to express.
A cousin's picture that the boys were not happy about.

So we took a picture of the girls...
...and the boys separately. So much happier!
MIMI with her sons and grandchildren. We jokingly like to call these "blood pictures."

The Kids Table
The Kids at the Kids Table

Build-A-Bear Party

2011-01-02T13:55:00.009-06:00

Our sweet friend, Shelby, had her 4th birthday party at Build-A-Bear the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.Since it is such a busy time of year for this store, they asked that we got there early to be sure we were in before the crowds arrived.
Most of the kids waited very patiently...
...except these two precious little boys.
They opened the store and everyone walked in in a straight line.
First, they had all the kids sit in a circle and do some activities while they passed out name tags.
The Birthday Girl The moms watching. Anne is holding Carter because he was not interested in sitting in the circle.
After they chose their "bear", they colored while waiting for each kid to have their animal stuffed.
Carter decided coloring would be fun!
Each kid continued to wait...

...and wait...
...and wait...
...until it was their turn.
Carter thought attempting to climb in the bins with the animals would be more fun than picking one out to be stuffed. I am sad to say that he went home without a bear that day :-(
After their bears were stuffed, they gave them a "bath".

Finally, they picked out an outfit to put on their bear. They also got a balloon with a delicious cupcake attached to it.

Happy kids with their new animal friends!

Life Group Family Picnic

2010-12-20T20:10:00.007-06:00

Our Life Group met at Jerry Mathison Park again this fall one Saturday afternoon. It is a simple and fun way for us to get together as families. There is plenty for the kids to play with and the planning for it is super easy.This tire swing was a huge hit with the 3 year old crowd.
Climbing into a car?

Driving that same car?
Some of the guys - Mike, Lucas and Shamus
Everyone brought their own chairs and blankets and hung out while the kids played...
...and Darin grilled dinner i.e. hot dogs.There were plenty of salads, dips, chips and desserts also.
Charlie did a fabulous job of serving the lemonade.
The Hall family eating dinner + our little friend Case.

3 of the Hall kids got caught with their hands in the cookie container :-) Multiple cookies were consumed during this picnic by Lily, Emery and Carter!

Klein U4 Soccer

2010-12-18T15:21:00.015-06:00

We wanted Lily to try playing soccer this fall but she was only willing to play if Emery did it with her. So we signed them both up to play on an under 4 years old team for Klein Soccer Club. They practiced on Wednesday evenings and played games on Saturdays at Meyer Park. Their team consisted of 8 boys and 2 girls -- themselves. For practice they had to wear their shinguards and cleats. In the 90 degree heat, the shinguards were very itchy and uncomfortable according to these two little three year old girls. We made every practice a family event...if Daddy didn't get home in time, he would meet us at the park.
It took everyone's help to get the uniforms on, the hair fixed and the cleats, shinguards and socks on.

We thought is was neat that the jerserys they were given were #1 and #2. It made it easy to decide who was going to be which number...#1 goes to the first born twin... ...#2 to the second born twin.
The two "Sharks" getting ready to play in a game.
In all honesty, there wasn't a lot of smiling going on between the two of them. The first few games they cried at the thought of going on the field. The rest of the games they were more inclined to play because the coach started bringing mini popsicles that they got each time they got off the field.
But they didn't mind posin' for the camera.
It helped if Daddy went out on the field with them as long as the other team didn't mind us breaking the "rules." One more way to explain how our season went would be to say that we are supposed to have two games going at once with three players in each game. By the end of the season we played one game at a time and were lucky to get three players willing to play. With that said, we did have a couple powerhouse players and probably won most of our games if we actually kept score!

Lily running after the ball.Emery running after the ball.

The coaches were very sweet about letting everyone have a turn with throw ins and kick offs. It was their best opportunity to touch the ball :-)
Emery ended up being pretty aggressive out there. She even scored a couple of goals.
Most of the time Lily and Emery played separately so we could keep everything even but this one time they were on the field together.
They both appreciated all the support from their family...we were definitely the loudest family there!Takin' a little break.

Carter and Aubrey found a good use for the ball when they weren't playing with it.

These were the two that actually enjoyed soccer the most. Aubrey has asked to play in the spring and Carter shouts "soccer game" every time we pass the soccer fields.

This boy just loved being outside with a whole bunch of space to run around and play...
...or to take a nap in!

Lily and Emery had a great season and would both say they enjoyed soccer but I don't think they will play again anytime soon. You never know if you don't try!

GOOD Morning!

2010-12-14T07:01:00.002-06:00

A Typical Morning in the Hall House

comfy, cozy pjs + a variety of breakfast choices + wild, crazy hair = lots of sibling love + time for posing for fun, silly pictures

HaPpY hALLoWeEn!

2010-12-12T15:51:00.012-06:00

Since Halloween was on Sunday the kids went to church dressed in their "Halloween" best.

That afternoon they got dressed in their costumes. The girls were princesses according to their hair color and Carter was the frog that got kissed by a princess.
Belle
Cinderella

Ariel Frog Prince
Carter did not want to wear his hat which was okay because it was too small anyway. He has a head just like his Daddy!We took the kids to Foundry's Fall Festival. This is a great community outreach for the church with lots of fun things for the kids to do.

The multiple bounce houses were a huge hit and kinda crowded so we didn't get to go in any of them.We took a train ride around the parking lot of the church. Trains are one of Carter's favorite things right now. Lily was petrified for some unknown reason and clung to Mike just like that the whole ride.
The girls each got a tattoo.

Then we stopped to enjoy some of the candy they got from the variety of games they played. We also took a water break since it was a record breaking warm afternoon.
After the festival we stopped at MIMI and PawPaw's to show them the kids costumes. MIMI ordered pizza for dinner and we put a dent in their candy bowl before any of the trick-or-treaters got there. Then we went to see Morgan, Maddie and Aunt Cindy.
Lily givin' Morgan some love.

Our friends and neighbors, the Farrs, let us join them on their hayride through the neighborhood. It was a very fun way to go trick-or-treating. Mr. Farr had a Halloween mix playing and flashing lights on the back of the trailor.

The trailor full of trick-or-treaters.The dads did a wonderful job of helping load and unload the kids at each stop. We would ride down the street, hop out and do some trick-or-treating and then climb back in the trailor to head down another street.

The kids had a blast as you can see by their faces...One of the neighbors had an actual haunted house. The little kids went through it after Maddie warned the people inside that they were coming and to not make it too scary for them...whatever!

The kids doing some trick-or-treating with Mrs. Farr standing by to make sure everyone was taking the appropriate amount of candy and using their manners :-) We made it to Aunt Mary's house to end our evening. Lily wanted nothing to do with taking a picture. Mike and I decided that one of the best parts of Halloween is putting the kids to bed and checking out all the goods. Four kids can bring home A LOT of candy!

hAppY HaLLoWeEn!

One Fall Saturday Afternoon...

2010-12-12T13:58:00.010-06:00

...the whole family went outside to do some work in the yard. Carter helped sweep the pine needles
while the girls collected worms.
Then we carved our pumpkin for Halloween. We decided to just tackle one pumpkin instead of one for each of them.Three out of the four were eager to dig in and scoop out as many seeds as they could. Lily was very content just watching the whole process.
Pumpkin guts
Messy hands
The seedsI got the privilege this year of drawing and cutting out the face.
The finished project which was made with a lot of love and team work!

Student of the Month

2010-12-04T05:42:00.005-06:00

I guess all the time at home "playing" gymnastics and looking up to her big sister worked on Emery because she got Student of the Month for her skills and behavior in class. She LOVES gymnastics -- she actually cries on the days Aubrey has practice and she doesn't. We are very proud of her! Along with this certificate that comes in the mail, she got her name on the bulletin board and got to pick something out of the treasure box.
All of the recreational classes were allowed to wear their Halloween costumes to class. I was not convinced she was actually going to be able to do gymnastics with a mermaid costume on but she insisted on trying it.

They had the gym decorated for the season.
They paraded around the gym to show off their adorable costumes. Coach Jennifer even dressed up!

Circus Parade

2010-12-03T14:54:00.008-06:00

The same day as the Walk-a-thon, the Preschool 3's had their Circus Parade. They dressed up as cute, little clowns and walked up and down the hallway. All of the other classes came out and sat down to watch. Aubrey is waiting for the parade with some of her friends in her class. The Pre-K class got to wear their pajamas this day.

Emery walking in the parade with her class. The halls were also lined with parents taking lots of pictures.
I am not sure what was up with sticking out the tongue for pictures that day.
Lily had just been woken up from a nap to participate in the parade.
She was a very sad, little clown at first.
But by the time she walked back down the hallway, she was much more in a happy clown mood!

Walk-a-Thon

2010-11-29T13:53:00.009-06:00

The Walk-a-Thon is Foundry Faith Academy's annual fundraiser. The kids collect pledges and then spend a morning walking, jumping, and dancing, along with a little silly skipping and frog hopping. All the funds raised will be utilized throughout the school year and a portion will go towards a charitable cause.

Every class participates in this event but the little ones aren't sure how they feel about being in the big gym doing all sorts of silly things. Carter held tight to Ms. Diana's hand.And his facial expression did not change much the whole time.
Surprisingly, Emery was a little shy this day.I did manage to get this "smile" out of her.
She didn't do too much hopping and skipping...just SLOW walking.
Lily had a blast at the Walk-a-thon. Being silly is exactly what she likes to do.
Doin' a little hopping with her friends.

I had a meeting to go to so I missed watching Aubrey :-(

Light the Night

2010-11-26T13:17:00.008-06:00

We participated in Light the Night on the 3rd Annual Jay Walkers team. The walk is held in The Woodlands Market place to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Unfortunately, Mike's stepbrother, Jay, lost his battle with cancer over 2 years ago. We brought 2 jogging strollers to be sure that everyone had a seat in case they couldn't actually walk the whole 2 miles.
Before the walk, we met up at the Jay Walkers tent with all of our family and friends. They provided plenty of food and drinks for us to get enough energy to complete the walk :-)

This year our friends, the Davis' and...
...the Heuring's participated in the walk with us. We really appreciated their support.

Maddie and EmeryMeyer and Carter

M.K., Aubrey and SallyLily Kate

Everyone is given these light up balloons to carry during the walk so we can "Light the Night" with our support for people who are battling or who have lost their fight with cancer.

Jeans and Jewels Gala

2010-11-24T14:49:00.009-06:00

Our friends, the Davis', invited us and the Scalises to join them at their table for the Jeans and Jewels Gala. It was held at the The Woodlands Waterway Marriott benefiting NAM (Northwest Assistance Ministries.) Mike and I were thrilled about the opportunity to dress up and have a "date night." Thank you Aubrey for taking this picture of Mommy and Daddy! The Guys -- Mike, Joe and Buff
The Girls -- Anne, Stacie and MeAfter enjoying a delicious dinner, there was a live auction. Many painted horses like these were up for sale. We were entertained by Mark Chestnut. We all got out on the dance floor and did some two-steppin'.

Sydnie and Grace's Birthday Party

2010-11-22T08:00:00.008-06:00

Since the Scalise sisters have birthdays 11 days apart, they had a joint birthday party this year. And because Halloween is right in the middle of their birthdays, they had a costume party.

The Hall girls went as princesses according to their hair color -- Aubrey i.e. 'Belle', Lily i.e. 'Cinderella' and Emery i.e. 'Ariel'. Carter and Daddy stayed home to watch football and/or take a nap.

We got there at the same time as some of the Heurings and Davis' (Meyer and Sally were at their soccer games.)
Sydnie turned 5 and Grace turned 2.
Grace fell off of their playset about a week before the party and broke her elbow. She had to have screws put in it but that didn't stop her from continuing to play, climb and have a fabulous time at her party.
The Scalise family dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland. Joe and Stacie's costumes were so amazing some people didn't recognize them. They even scared a few of the kids to tears.
Activities at the party included pumpkin decorating...
...bobbing for apples... (Smart girl figured out it was a lot easier to pick the apple up by the stem!)
... eyeball-on-a-spoon races...
...and swinging.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-21T09:00:00.005-06:00

This has been a super busy fall for us so unfortunately we weren't able to spend a day enjoying all that the big pumpkin patches have to offer. Instead, we did the next best thing...stop in at a local church that had a "pumpkin patch" right after taking family pictures and before heading to a birthday party. We were able get some great pictures and the perfect pumpkin for carving!Lily giving the scarecrow some love.
Carter was DETERMINED to pick out the biggest pumpkin he could find. I wish we could have recorded the grunting noises he made when he tried to pick them up.

He was finding all kinds of treasures in that little pumpkin patch.

Playing at the Park

2010-11-20T16:10:00.008-06:00

We spend LOTS of time at various parks around our area. We are either meeting our running group friends or playing while Aubrey is at gymnastics 2 hours twice a week. This particular day we had gone to get our flu shots and decided to enjoy the rest of the beautiful afternoon at Meyer Park.

First we went to feed the ducks but these ducks must be really well fed because they weren't very interested in eating our bread or they had a hard time getting to the bread when Carter was only throwing it about an inch in front of him :-)

Then the nutria started appearing...nutria are water rats with two huge front teeth...they are not too cute and definitely not the kids's favorite as you can see by Emery's face.

Poor Lily had fallen while taking a walk at Nana's the weekend before but she was still willing to pose for pictures. According to her, this is when she had a "broken head."This is where Aubrey sat the entire time we were down by the water. Although she likes the ducks and turtles we see in the water, she is extremely afraid of the nutria.
So we went to feed the birds with the rest of our bread. This not only pleased all the kids but the birds were happy too!
The rest of the time they enjoyed playing on the various playground equipment. These are simple but wonderful moments that I cherish having with my children.

TCU - Go Frogs!

2010-11-08T18:47:00.010-06:00

It is rare that the cousins get to spend the night with each other so they were very excited when they woke up altogether. They didn't waste anytime putting on the dress-up clothes and playing around in the backyard. It was such a beautiful morning that they ate breakfast outside.

Abbey (3), Aubrey, Julia (20 months), Bella (5), Emery

I was chasing Carter around the house to get his picture and this is finally how he posed for me.
All the girl cousins dress in their TCU attire, ready for a fun-filled day!
We met my mom, brother and sister-in-law in Fort Worth to go to the game together. Nana made a delicious picnic lunch for us that we ate in a shaded area right in front of the Fort Worth Zoo. The kids loved taking turns sitting in this tree. We were able to get the oldest ones up there altogether but... ...the little ones didn't like it as much.
The Whole Family
(minus Aunt Lori, who was on a girl's weekend and Mike, who was taking the picture)
After our lunch, our friends, the Castillos, let us park our cars at their house because live within walking distance of Amon Carter Stadium. They also came along with us to enjoy the pre-game festivities.

TCU hosts Frog Alley before every home game. The 'kid zone' has face painting...
Hattie Castillo
... hair wrapping, button-making, balloon animals, bounce houses and many other fun kid-friendly activities.
Before the game, the kids, along with their parents, are allowed to run the field when the players run out. They gave us these jerseys while we waited to be let down on the field.Wow, you have to run fast! But its a lot of fun!

Enjoying the game from the sunny end zone.

Really enjoying the game from the shaded reserved seating.
The halftime show featured the "dancers" from schools all over the area. The entire field was full of girls doing a cute choreographed routine. It was a huge hit with the Hall and Seelman girls!
Aubrey and Bella enjoying a snack while watching the halftime show.

After the Frog win we went back to Nana's house for dinner and bedtime. The kids (and adults) were worn out after an exciting, activity-packed day. It was a fabulous weekend with all of our family.