We started out welcoming 2020 with friends. For New Year's Eve we had our friends the Houghs over for dinner. The kids-our 4 and their 3-played and played then watched a movie. We put all 7 kids to bed and then the adults visited and celebrated NYE. The kids were up bright and early the next morning and got in plenty of play time before their parents came to pick them up.
It was the perfect NYE for the kids and adults!
Clayton's always excited to have Ruby sleep over.
If you didn't start your New Year with seven kids blowing these party blowers all night on NYE and before 7am on NY's Day, is it even really a party?!
After their friends left we loaded up a picnic and drove up to Monte Sano. We had a picnic lunch and did a 2 mile hike. It was a nice, beautiful, sunny day.
Clayton was a trooper but eventually had to be on John's shoulders to complete the hike.
On the way home from hiking we stopped by Target, and Clayton was SO TIRED that he grabbed this fleece blanket and laid on the floor! Sweet boy.
School started back in January and Dawson has had some really cool science experiments to do in his lesson on sound waves. Here he is completing one of them.
First homeschool day back from Christmas break!
Nora Kate wanted a picture in this outfit she was so excited to wear back to school. A bright pink dress with hearts, and her matching heart earrings!
I try to pull out toys for Clayton that he doesn't always get to play with to keep him entertained when I'm super focused on school with the big three. We hadn't had the ballpit out in months, so I pulled it out and he was thrilled...like it was a brand new toy! (he loves his skeleton pjs)
We took the kids to a hockey game...we love cheering on the Huntsville Havoc. I really thought I took a couple more pictures there, but this is what I can find. NK was clearly enjoying the entertainment.
The morning after the hockey game we got up bring and early and drove to Nashville for a little day trip. It was pouring buckets of rain, so we had a lot of fun inside at Opry Mills Mall...
the lego store was a huge hit...
We had lunch at the Rainforest Café...another huge hit!
Inside the Rainforest Cafe
Then I took Nora Kate and Clayton to see Spies in Disguise movie...
while John took Dawson and Carter to the Tennessee v. Vandy bball game (obviously at Vanderbilt).
They met up with their friends Steven and Henry there to watch the game.
After our movie and shopping we picked the boys up from the game, went to Cool Springs and then got on the road back to Huntsville...
our "on the road home selfie"
Dawson and Carter got matching "riding" Polaris shirts for Christmas and have been wearing them A LOT
Baking cookies with batman while the bigs were at school
Clayton looked like such a big kid at the library reading his batman book.
We went to explore a new (to us) trail in Athens one Sunday afternoon. Fun and pretty!
One of Clayton's fav things to do while the bigs are doing schoolwork is PLAYDOH!
Clayton wears this batman mask A LOT!
Vest Day
Clayton loves to "play with" the hermit crabs!
Clayton LOVES eggs...like LOVES eggs!
He thought he was being so funny to share eggs with his doggy hah!
One rainy day, we did waterbeads in a crate on the patio...always fun!
Dawson basketball team won their first game! We went to (a fav!) Village Pizza to celebrate!
Just livin' their VEST life!
Always making us laugh...a banjo playing astronaut came down from the playroom while I was making dinner one evening.
And this....thumbs down!
All four kids (Clayton not pictured he was on the exam table) came down with the flu...and this is why there aren't as many pictures from January as normal months...because we stayed home and didn't do anything for days. The kids felt rotten and were more than willing to rest. Thankfully they all recovered...
and were excited for our first outing in days...a walk around the neighborhood lake (below)
Can't believe it's February already!
