Life Lately

We've packed in a lot of fun over the past week! Life lately has been full of making memories, slowing down just a little bit, and just enjoying each other's company. 

Adalyn was in a silly mood Wednesday after school. She knew we had a surprise for her but she didn't know what it was. 

But when it was time to get dressed, and head to our "football event" she was really mad that she was missing soccer practice. I kept telling her it would be worth it, but she was pouting big time. 

I mean, really big time. It was at this point that I really wanted to tell her what her surprise was, but I knew that I couldn't and just kept telling her to trust me. 

Much better. Smiling girls. 

We picked up Gretchen from her play practice and headed down to campus. DJ met us outside, and let Adalyn know that we did not have a football event, but that we were actually going to see Carrie Underwood in concert! 

We thought she'd be thrilled. When we took her to see Garth Brooks this summer, she told us afterwards that her next concert should be Gabby Barrett or Carrie Underwood- because they would be "quiet" When we told her the first thing she said was, "It's going to be so loud!" 

Whomp Whomp. 

Why is it that surprises never go as planned?

We got inside, found our seats, and even had headphones for the girls. We learned a big lesson by not having them at the Garth Brooks concert. 

These two knew about the concert for months and did a great job keeping it a secret! We had intended to surprise all of them, but Megan overheard us talking about it in May, and Gretchen eventually found out too. 

Our biggest country music fans. 

The concert was great. I've seen Carrie Underwood 3 times, and this was probably my favorite concert from her and definitely one of my top 3 concerts that I've been to. Gretchen had so much fun singing along. I was shocked, because crowds and loud music aren't typically her thing. Adalyn ended up having a blast too! 

I let the girls sleep late on Thursday and then got them all dropped off at school later that morning. I took the day off and it was fabulous! I voted, grabbed myself lunch, and just enjoyed having a few hours to myself. 

Thursday night, Gretchen performed in her school's play. She has been working so hard and has had a lot of late nights! She had two parts: a hobo and a dying 4 year old child. 

Her biggest goal was to make the audience cry when she died, and I definitely did! 

She even had some sweet friends come and watch her!

And had friends in the play. Since moving here she has found the sweetest group of girl friends and I couldn't be more excited for her. 

We were so proud of our performer! 

Friday I was busy cleaning the house, running errands, baking brownies, and hosting a girls night for some of our support staff wives. And this brownie tray was the only thing I took a picture of the entire night! 

I made homemade waffles Saturday night, and realized that it's been a long time since we've had a slow Saturday morning for me to cook breakfast. 

We watched my friend's kids Friday night and all day Saturday. The girls had a blast! 

I ended Saturday night with a glass of wine and a football game. 

Thankfully I remembered to paint my toenails which helped us bring home the win and become bowl eligible. 

After church on Sunday, I dropped Megan and Adalyn off with DJ and took Gretchen to the Texas Book Festival. At first she wasn't sure of the speakers/authors, and then on our way down she recognized the name of Ayana Gray. 

My uncle was Ayana's teacher in high school and had gotten Gretchen a signed book from Ayana's first published book. Her series is a trilogy, so of course we had to buy book 2 and have it autographed as well. 

It was fun meeting her and telling her who my uncle was! She said he was one of her favorite teachers and it just reminded me of how small the world can be sometimes. 

We've squeezed in a lot of fun in the past week. This weekend we have friend's coming in for the game, and we are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with friends.