Life As We Know It... January Edition

Here's what we've been doing the past month...

We said goodbye to 2016

and hello to 2017 at the Gladhills.

The kids had college day at school

and Alex had friendly lunch!

I went & saw The Book of Mormon

with Jessica.

Jerry Seinfeld with my mom & sisters

and Don Henley with Nick!

Alex entered his Cub Scout's pinewood derby. 

His car had a Minecraft theme & he named it the Zombie Zapper

It didn't win any of the races.

But it did win 2 awards!

And Addy & I went on a Girl Scout field trip

to the Armand Bayou Nature Center in Pasadena.

It was a fun but busy month!

Girl Scouts Campout

On October 22nd, Addy & I attended our Girl Scout troop's fall campout at
Camp Misty Meadows in Conroe.

Misty Meadows is the camp where the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto house their horse program. And that's exactly the reason we chose to go there, so the girls could ride horses!

The rest of our troop arrived on Friday & stayed the night but Addy & I drove up Saturday morning. We arrived a little later than I was hoping for, so as soon as we got there, we ran straight to the horse stables.

Addy's horse was a beautiful golden blonde color
who was appropriately named Goldie!

The SPURS (who are older Girl Scouts who spend their weekends at Misty Meadows working with the horses) helped our girls mount the horses.

And then led them around the arena a few times

before taking them out on a short trail ride through the pasture & the woods.

After we were done at the stables, we headed to our cabin for lunch. The girls were in groups called 'patrols' & each patrol had a different job to do. Addy's patrol was on clean up duty & so she had some free time while another patrol was cooking. 

So during that time, she worked on her Outdoor Art badge.

After lunch, it was time for a camp favorite, the campfire!

Addy helped rake the area, find kindling & set up the fire ring.

The girls roasted marshmallows

and made smores. 

Which were delicious!

After the campfire, we had more free time. Some girls were crafting, some were playing gaga ball & some were just hanging out. But since Addy had missed the hike with her patrol earlier that morning, I decided that the two of us would go on a little hike around camp & explore.

Here are some of the things we saw along the way...

A white rectangle painted on a tree 

(which I'm sure has a meaning, I just don't know what it is!)

This cute little house.

And this awesome spider web!

Not long after our hike, we ate dinner 

& then it was time for a Girl Scout Halloween party!

The first thing we did at the party was the hayride.

We got to see several deer come out of the woods

and the sun set over the barn. We went at just the right time!

Some of the other fun things the girls did were...

the photo booth

bowling

Addy couldn't see well out of the eyes of her costume, 

so when it was her turn she pulled her costume up!

the ring toss 

(where Addy won a 2 liter of sprite)

and pumpkin decorating.

We got back to the cabin around 8pm. That's the time that Addy normally starts to get tired anyway but after the long day we'd had, she was beat! 

So bedtime it was.

The next morning, Addy was done. She was not interested in doing anything & luckily we didn't have anything planned for the day 

besides breakfast, pack up & go home.

Addy's patrol was in charge of cooking breakfast. She helped make the pancakes & even ate a few.

After breakfast, we packed, loaded our cars, cleaned the cabin & took one more group picture before heading home!

Addy & I both LOVE going to our Girl Scout campouts. For the day that is... This was our first time to stay the night & it will more than likely be our only time to stay the night. Day camping is more our style! 

(But at least we gave it a shot, right!)

Life As We Know It...

Between work & school & everything else, we've been super busy these past couple of months! Here are some of the things we've been doing...

Alex had his tonsils removed!
Between September & December of last year, Alex had strep throat 5 times! So... the doctor recommended that he have his tonsils removed. He was adamant that he was NOT HAVING SURGERY, so it took a lot of discussions to get him to agree to it. But once he did, I called & scheduled it & on Friday, April 1st he had it done.

We had to be there super early, so I took Alex while Nick got Addy to school.

I got him checked in & back to pre-op we went.

Once in pre-op, we killed time by playing games 

and goofing off together.

Then it was time for the procedure. After all his worrying beforehand, Alex was calm & ready in that moment. I, on the otherhand, was a wreck! Luckily, Nick arrived shortly after I headed to the waiting room so I wasn't alone. After about an hour, the nurse came & got us & led us to

our sleeping baby boy.

He stayed in post op for about an hour & then we were able to take him home.

After the procedure, he had throat pain on & off for about a week. (But he got to miss a week of school so to him it was all worth it!!)

Addy had a lemondade stand!

All of 3rd grade had an assignment to have a lemonade stand on lemonade day. So our Girl Scouts decided to have one together.

Alex took karate lessons. 

I bought a 10 class package to try it out. He said he really liked it but after about 4 classes he was done! Glad I didn't sign him up for 6 months like they wanted me to!

I went to New Braunfels.

 My mom, my sisters & some of my nieces & I all went for a girls weekend.

The place we stayed was right on the river

and had some animals roaming around it including goats

and a rooster!

We went shopping in Gruene, ate at the Gristmill

and had bookclub while we were there.

(Don't you love our book club shirts that Brooke had made for us!)

Alex went to a birthday party at The Glazery.

While he was there he painted a cupcake trinket box.

And when he got home he painted his nose! Lol

Addy bridged to Juniors!

After 2 years as Brownies, Addy & her Girl Scout troop all bridged to Juniors!

We had a sweet little ceremony at the church where we have our meetings. We had a flag ceremony, a slide show with pictures from our activities, some of the girls recited a poem & then all the girls walked over the bridge one by one.

And we ended with our Girl Scout circle.

After the bridging ceremony, we went to one of the girl's houses for swimming & pizza!

And I kissed a girl & I liked it!

As I was leaving the school one day, I saw a small crowd of people across the street. So I walked over to see what was happening. 

The Gator Squad was there & they were in the process of catching an alligator.

And it wasn't just an alligator, but a 9 ft female alligator that was aggressive & not afraid of humans. Not a good combo for an alligator that lives across the street from 1000 kids!!

So they reeled her in, tied her snout up & before they took her to live somewhere else, I got to kiss her!

And that's our life as we know it!