See the Moon!

Sara Beth's eyes have been on the sky for the last week or so. She is constantly looking for the moon or asking about the moon, whether it is day or night. Here are some pictures of her moon-gazing at the park today.  Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas 2011

     Our Christmas started with attending the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at our church. My parents and Adam's parents joined us there. We thought Sara Beth was going to do great since she was very attentive during the opening songs. I guess she was amazed by all the people singing together. When Bro. Billy called all the children down to the altar for a story, Adam took her up front. A few minutes later I heard, "See Mommy! See Mommy!" And soon after that I spot Adam and SB making their way back to our seat. From that point on she talked. . . a lot. "Man" (pointing to Bro. Billy) "Hi there!" (chatting it up with the folks behind us) "Nana" "Nonni" "Opa" "Papaw" "Baby Jesus. See it." I could keep going, but I think you get the picture, right? Still, it was a sweet time! We had dinner at home, made cookies for Santa, scattered the magic reindeer food in the yard, and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" together.
     Sadly, soon after church, Adam's mom was rushed to the hospital and ended up having to have emergency surgery. It was all very sudden, but thankfully she is recovering now. She has a few days in the hospital ahead of her, and then several months of recovery at home. I hate that she had to spend Christmas (which is also her birthday) in the hospital, but I'm so grateful that the doctors took such good care of her. We can't wait to have a belated Christmas celebration with her when she's is feeling better!
     After an early morning visit to the hospital to check on his parents, Adam came home and started a new Christmas tradition. He made Christmas tree pancakes that were so adorable! He loved making them as much as we loved eating them! After breakfast, we opened gifts and then headed over to my parents' house for another celebration. We exchanged presents with my mom and dad, my brother, and two of my nieces. Then we ate a delicious lunch, prepared by my mom. Yum!
     Later that afternoon, we made a hospital visit to wish Nonni and Opa a Merry Christmas. SB took a few minutes to get used to seeing her Nonni sick and in bed, but soon she was drawing pictures for her on her new magnadoodle. I certainly hope that we can have a do-over Christmas for them soon. They deserve it!

Christmas Eve and all dressed up

Master chef at work

Aren't they cute!

"Hello!"

The first of many hours of kitchen pretend play

Vroom, vroom! Watch out! Lots of power, but no brakes.

December Highlights

     Since I'm never going to get around to doing a proper blog post about anything that's been going on, and I just keep getting further behind on my updates, I've decided to simply do a quick update about December. So, here it goes. . .

1. Christmas card photo shoot with the self-timer

Here's the keeper!

But really, it was more like this the whole time. :)

2. A visit to Bass Pro to see Santa

Amazed

 

 

SB with her cousins, Shelby and Maddy. She wasn't a big fan of Santa's lap.

3. Picking out our Christmas tree

This was SB's choice. She kept saying, "Pretty!"

Melt my heart!

Miss independent in search of the perfect tree

Ta-da! Christmas Tree 2011

4. Gymbo in Jammies Night at Gymboree

Cutie pie with a dirty face

Bubbles!

Under the parachute!

Thanksgiving at Five Hart Ranch

     This year for Thanksgiving, we spent a few days visiting Adam's extended family in Rosanky, TX. I always enjoy visiting them over at the Five Hart Ranch! They are precious people with kind hearts. There are always tons of people to see and little children everywhere you look. They were right in the middle of the wildfires that were blazing near Bastrop, TX a few months ago. Adam's Uncle Tim's house was completely destroyed. His cousin Sarah's place was spared, although their land was badly scorched. Thankfully, no one in the family was injured and Adam's grandparents' place went untouched. Driving through the burned areas was unreal though! Black. . . as far as you could see. The Thanksgiving meal was the best one I've had in a long time! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Adam took these close ups for a little craft project I'm going to do for SB, but they make a pretty good collage too.

She's really into tractors right now, so she was very excited!

Charlie thought it was pretty cool too!

A little sidewalk chalk graffiti

Uncle Travis sharing his musical talent 

The neighbor's cows were friendly.

Sara Beth even fed them some grass.

Sweetness!

5 minutes later on the gator ride

She could have done this for hours

Family

Here are a few snapshots of our family from around Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for my family!

My mom and dad (Nana and Papaw) at one of Adam's races.

Thanksgving with four generations of Hart men: Charlie, Travis, Adam, Mr. David (Adam's dad), and Troy Hart (Adam's Grandpa)

The three of us taking a gator ride on Thanksgiving Day

Rewind to Halloween

     Yep! You guessed it. I'm really behind on my posts. I need to catch up for my own benefit (I like to look back on these later) so I'll be writing a lot of new posts soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

     Halloween was a fun time for our family this year. We visited the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin. We definitely waited too long, since there weren't many choices left when we got there. Nevertheless, we got a great one! Sara Beth helped Adam clean it out and then Adam carved the face of our jack-o-lantern. I hate that I didn't get a picture of the finished product. We roasted the seeds too. That was the best part for me, of course! They were yummy!

     The weekend of Halloween was a whirlwind of activities. Saturday we celebrated Eli Spikes' 4th birthday with a Mickey Mouse party at his house. Sara Beth's favorite part was the gigantic bounce house with a very tall slide built in. She could've done that for hours! Next, we headed over to Carie and Travis' house to celebrate our nephew Charlie's 1st birthday. It was a sweet time with family and a perfect day for a party.

     That evening, we drove out to the country to join the Montessori Trunk or Treat event. Our friends, the Reneaus, invited us. We played, went trick-or-treating around the LONG line of cars, and even camped out that night. The next morning we indulged in a wonderful breakfast at the cabin. The Montessori crowd was so welcoming to us! After breakfast, we made the short drive to Lake Bistineau State Park so Adam and Justin could get in some mountain biking time. Our plan was for Diana and me to take the kids hiking, but I was starting to feel terrible so we just hung out in the parking lot instead. SB and Tristen rode bikes and played with toys while I tried to keep my breakfast down. Come to find out, whatever stomach bug I had was passed around at the birthday parties. Just about everyone I know got sick over the next few days. It was horrible!

     By the time Monday night (Halloween) came around, I was feeling better, but Adam was out of commission. I ended up taking Sara Beth trick-or-treating with my mom and my nieces out in the Twelve Oaks subdivision while he stayed in bed. We didn't stay long, but I think SB had fun. She was an adorable little ladybug!

Must. . . be. . . crafty!

     Since I've been back at work, I haven't done much sewing, or anything crafty really. I've pinned all kinds of lovely things and fun ideas on Pinterest, but haven't actually made any of them. So, tonight, I had to change all of that. I had to use some creativity and have a little fun with my sewing machine. When Sara Beth wakes up in the morning, she'll be the proud owner of four pairs of leg warmers and a cute little Christmas t-shirt. Ah! That's better. I feel a little more like myself now.

$5 for 4 pairs of knee socks at Big Lots + about 20 minutes of sewing = cute leg warmers for SB

$3 T-shirt from Hobby Lobby + a few fabric scraps from my stash =A very cute Christmas shirt for SB

Red River Reveling

     Fall has finally arrived in Shreveport! The weather is cooler, the pumpkins are on display, and the Red River Revel is hopping. Usually, I look forward to the Revel food (which is amazing and fried and delicious), but this year I was excited about the children's area. We met up with Sara Beth's friends, Tristen and Owen (and their sweet mommies), one afternoon to have some fun. Here are some pictures from this year's Revel fun.

Lazy Sunday

     It is our tradition to visit with family on Sunday afternoons after church. We alternate weekends with my parents and Adam's parents. There is always good food and good company invloved! It's on days like these lazy Sundays that we realize how truly blessed we are to have such a supportive family so close by. Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon on the lake with Nonni, Opa, Uncle Travis, Aunt Kiki, and Charlie. Here are a few shots from our lazy Sunday.

Adam. . . a.k.a. Super Dad!

     Let's review for a minute. My husband quit his job to be a stay-at-home daddy to Sara Beth this year. He's amazing at it! Really! She is learning so much from him. I'm amazed! Not only is he a great daddy, he also whips up yummy deliciousness like this loaf of homemade bread, while I'm at work. Are you jealous? Well, you should be! He's the best!

Best Friends

     Last week, Adam did a little babysitting. Tristen and Sara Beth had a blast together! This is such a fun time in their lives!

Birthday Celebrations

     I'll be the first to admit that I've been terrible about keeping up with the blog and updating facebook since I've started working again. Honestly, I just can't find the time. So, here's my attempt to get caught up. The next few days should bring some new posts about the last couple of months at the Hart home.
     Last month, we celebrated birthdays for some of our really special friends. First, we made the long trip down south to Hammond, LA for Sullivan Tabb's 2nd birthday. His parents, Michael and Kristin, just built a new house on some great property, so this trip was a good excuse to see their new casa too!  The tractor party was fun, the jambalaya was delicious, and the weather was perfect. But the best part was just getting a chance to spend time with good friends. I wish we could do that more often!

Tactor ride!

Sully and his mommy blowing out the candles

Who knew an ice chest full of ice could be so much fun?

     Later in the month, we drove over to Marshall, TX to celebrate the birthdays of ALL 5 of the Stringer kids. Our long-time friends, Michael and Laurie Stringer, have 5 precious kids. Little Michael and Hope were turning 7. Titus was turning 5. Faith and Grace were turning 1. Each kid had their own decorated table and their own homemade cake in whatever theme they requested. It was so much fun! Kudos to them for raising 5 children! I can barely handle one!

According to SB, the watermelon was the best part of the party!

Water slide fun

Cool girl!

The Stringer family