Hailey riding her bike

Hailey has wanted to ride her bike for such a long time. There was never anywhere to practice so we've put it off for awhile. Daddy has been taking her out here and there for a little while to work on it and then today they were out there for a couple hours working REALLY hard!! She was such a trooper. She does not give up!! Her and Daddy were so cute out there. He was yelling like a drill Sargent (in a good way). They were bantering back and forth about peddling hard and fast. She would fall and get right back up on that bike. She really made us proud. Her little legs have to work extra hard. She always has to work harder at physical things. Daddy really got his exercise today!!!

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Hailey singing karaoke

Hailey singing karaoke!  So cute!

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Lindsey singing karaoke

Lindsey singing karaoke. Santa did good! They love their karaoke machine!!

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The girls singing karaoke

The girls singing karaoke together!

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Spelling Bee

Lindsey was in her first spelling bee this week.  We studied quite a bit for it.  They did 5th grade- 9th grade words.  There were twelve kids ranging from ages 8-13  and only 3 of them were girls. They picked numbers to see who would go first.   Lindsey got lucky number 1!  She was so nervous.  I've never seen her that nervous.  I have to admit, every time it was her turn, my heart was pumping pretty fast!

Here she is spelling her first word.

She came in 6th out of 12 and she received the award for "best poise."  I was so proud of her. She ended up getting out on the word "adjudicate" which she never spelled wrong when we practiced.  I think it was just a case of the nerves.  She's ready to do it again next year!!

Monster Trucks

The Monster Truck Show came to the Ike Hamilton Center here in Monroe this past weekend.  Bob and Chuck (our neighbor) took Johnny and Michael.  They really had a good time.

They had four-wheelers and dirt bikes...

...and lots of Monster Trucks!

They even had BMX bikes.

Duck Hunting

Bob has really enjoyed hunting since we've been in Louisiana.  His friend, Dan has taken him deer hunting and duck hunting.  Here he is with his first ducks.  (Does that make sense?)  I made duck stew and it was really good.  It had duck, smoked sausage, tomatoes and white beans!!  

White Elephant

Once a month our CHA group has a Mom's Night Out.  Usually we just get together at someone's house or a church, everyone brings something to eat and drink and we have wonderful fellowship and some KID FREE time together.  At this month's MNO we had a "white elephant" gift exchange where you bring in some small gift and everyone picks a number, gets a gift and then you can steal from other people.  Anyway, when I saw someone open up their gift and it was a white elephant, I knew I had to have it for...who else...Hailey!

Here she is with her new white elephant all dressed with her elephant shirt, gray sweat outfit, elephant hat and elephant backpack.  She wants to go back to the Little Rock Zoo and this is what she wants to wear.  We better go soon if she wants to wear that because it's going to get too hot for all those clothes!  The elephant has a lid that comes off.  She told me that she is going to put treats in it for HER elephant when she gets one!!

Miscellaneous pictures from January

Here is Johnny building one of his lego sets he got for Christmas.

Indian Jones

Here's Hailey on one of the really cold days playing with the dogs.

We had Niru and Prashant over for pizza and games.

Watching Bob's Big Break in 3D (From Monsters Vs. Aliens)

We finally got the woodburner checked out by a professional.  Here is our first fire. (I know, kind of boring)

It really heats up the place!

Lindsey's 2nd Doe

Lindsey got her second doe this afternoon.  Needless to say...she was so excited.  She called me and she was talking so fast I couldn't understand her (plus the reception was bad).

And yes...that's deer blood on her cheeks.  I guess it's tradition.  I just call it gross!!

She wanted a picture of her putting the deer tag on.