Father Daughter Dinner and Dance

You might remember that last year Olivia and John attended a Father/ Daughter dance at our church around Valentines Day. Olivia was so disappointed when the church did not offer this again, so we decided to plan one ourselves and invite some close friends. The following are pictures of this fun night!

All ready to dance. Doesn't she look so old! What happened to my cute baby?! 

She looks like a mini- teenager!

New dress, purse, and shoes for the occasion. 

First, all the Fathers and Daughters met for dinner at a favorite local Mexican Restaurant. 

After dinner, the girls came back to our friends' (The Campbells!) house for a fun night of dancing. 

Punch, cupcakes and lollipops were served. 

Toby Mac, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", and "Twist and Shout" were played!

Fun was had by all. 

Sweet friends! 

Christmas Eve Fun

On Christmas Eve  we met our dear old friends, the Vandergriffs, and took the kids bowling. We were looking for a family friendly activity that was indoors, because Christmas Eve was cold and rainy. 

We chose the first bowling alley in Raleigh, near NC State. The price was right so we thought we would give it a try. Well, we quickly realized why the prices were low... it opened over 50 years and basically has never changed!!! Original pins, hardwood lanes, and blow - up bumpers for the kids. But, it was so fun! And, the kids had a blast! 

Ethan about to Strike!

Isaac waiting on his chance! Everyone wanted the orange ball because it was only 6 pounds.

The girls are trying to figure out how to keep score. That's right folks - there was no machine keeping score! Just an old fashioned score bad, and not one of us really knew what we were doing.

Two pretty ladies.

The math wiz takes over the score card.

All 7 of the kiddos!! So thankful they are all getting to grow up together. And, so incredibly blessed to have their parents as our close friends!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I hope your Christmas was Merry and Bright... ours was! 

Here are a couple of high lights from Christmas at home. We celebrated a couple of days early at home, so that we could go out of town to celebrate with my extended family.

My Christmas chalkboard. It took hours - that's why it received it's own photo and caption!

Santa left everything set up so nice!

Olivia's favorite- the new American girl doll Caroline.

Ethan's favorite is actually pictured above... a new gear bike. He was also really happy about Lego Batman 2!

Loot from their stockings!

Isaac's favorite- City Lego Space Shuttle Set.

Christmas at home was fun and peaceful. We played at home or a couple of hours and ate our favorite local donuts! Then we packed up and made our way over to the Hoots, for round 2 of Christmas!

Star Student!

 We are so proud of Olivia for winning the monthly elementary award for character. She was awarded the Star Student award for displaying Kindness to her classmates and teacher. She is pictures below with other star students and the school's principal.

It also happened to be "Pajama Day" at school!

Ethan Runs His First 5K!!

 Thanksgiving was a fun day for the Hoots' family! We kicked off the day with a 5K! John and Ethan ran in the Gobbler's Run in Downtown Wake Forest. John is training for a half marathon and Ethan wanted to train with him, so they both signed up for the 5K.

It was a cold morning, but all the Hoots and Hardestys came out to watch!

Before the race.

Getting excited! You should have seen all the crazy people that dressed up like turkeys, pilgrims, Indians, etc for the race. And, yes John is wearing tights under his shorts!

At the starting line!

See him coming???

About to finish.

John is right behind him. Ethan had a burst of energy right at the end!

Exhausted, but so happy to have run the race!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Celebration

 The twins have been loving Kindergarten this year. One of the their favorite things has been the Thanksgiving performance that the entire Kindergarten class performed. Isaac was the star of the show... at least the musical performance. Each class was responsible for a song or poem the performed. Isaac was the loudest and most understandable of all 100+ students. I can not even tell you how many people commented on his stellar performance. The pictures aren't great because of where we were sitting, but I wanted something on here to record their entry into the world of performing arts!!

The story of Thanksgiving. You can't see the twins in this picture.... they are the little orange heads seated right in front of the stage.

 

The twins class. Olivia is on the second row and you can't see her face, just her pumpkin head. But, Isaac is on the front row on the very left.

 

Here is a very brief video of the class singing their song. It does not really show the volume and enthusiasm that Isaac performed with, but it is still cute! 

Happy Halloween!

Well, Halloween of 2012 was a fun and cold night of trick - or - treating and  going to a local Fall Festival for rides, cotton candy, and games. This is the first year I have let the kids dress up without matching. They chose their own costumes this year and helped me make some of the parts of each one.

Frankenstein.

Olivia the Pig.

Mad Scientist.

A little pumpkin action from the night before. They all loved getting their hands dirty!