Dancing Queen

If Kendall hears even the tiniest bit of music, she's gettin' her groove on.

Just a glimpse...it's so much better in person.

She certainly knows how to make her momma and daddy smile!

Baths

When I was a little girl,

I used to be afraid

of taking a bath.

I thought,

when the water went out the drain,

that I would go with it!

Glub, Glub!

When Kara and I were little, we had this set of Sesame Street books that had the above poem in it. Mom loved to recite the poem whenever she would give baths. While mom was never physically able to give Kendall a bath, she would come sit in the bathroom while I was bathing her. I would always have Mom "sing the bath song" to Kendall when I got her out of the tub.



Kendall LOVES bath time. The minute the word "bath" comes out of our mouth, Kendall says "Ba" and heads straight to the bathroom door. She will often climb over into the tub with all her clothes on if she beats us to the room! She doesn't have to have a lot of toys to occupy her, usually a cup, washcloth, and the sand pail will do. She will stay in the tub as long as we will let her-usually until her water is cold! She just LOVES it!

We've kept the tradition of the bathtub poem. Evan even sings it, but he likes to change the words. He says, "When I was a little boy, I was NEVER afraid of taking a bath!" I just laugh!

I look forward to the day that Kendall can sing it with us! :)

Gettin' Crafty!

Last week I decided I would take on a craft project. Kendall is a lot better about keeping hats on her head than bows in her hair, so I decided I would make some bow and flower pins to help accessorize Miss Priss! I made two bows with some ribbon/embellishments that I already had, then bought three flowers at Hobby Lobby. I ended up taking the flowers completely apart, reworking them, and using some old jewelry and beads that belonged to my mom. (I tried to take pictures of the other flowers, but the lighting was bad and it's hard to see how they turned out.)

I didn't even think to use alligator clips until it was too late, but I definitely think that would hold the weight of the flowers a little better than the pins I used. I also looked desperately for a black knit hat, but couldn't find one, so I decided to buy a white one and some black dye and do it myself. For some reason, when I took the hat out of the dryer, it is now deformed. Bummer. Kendall has a BEAUTIFUL dress coat that the black hat with bows/flowers would look so precious together!

Fun project, but it was actually more work than I thought it would be. Helps me understand why the cute hats on Etsy are $15+!!!

Why the Bathroom Door Stays Closed

Sorry if this picture is a little "TMI" for you readers, but I thought it was too funny not to share. Saturday night, I was in the kitchen cutting up some vegetables and visiting with Scott and suddenly realized it was way too quiet. Evan, who was supposed to have his eye on Kendall, was sitting on the couch watching TV, while Kendall was in the bathroom exploring...
Can you tell she was so proud of herself? We had a hard time not laughing, especially since it was our fault for not shutting the bathroom door completely! Oh, the joys!

Weekend, plus a little more

This weekend, my cousin Scott came to visit. Scott is a casting agent for a company in NYC and was here doing some work with Actor's Theatre. Scott and I grew up in the same town and spent a lot of time together, so I was thrilled that his company agreed to fly him in a day early so he could hang out with us!

We didn't do much of anything...mainly hung out and caught up on life. We opted to stay in for dinner and then go out for dessert. This was our first visit to the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen, and let me just say that it was HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will take that over Cheesecake Factory or Cold Stone ANY day.

Scott had to go watch one of his clients in a play while he was here, so he got Sunday matinee tickets so Evan and I could go with him. Although the play was a little rough in places, we were glad for an afternoon to do something out of the ordinary.



Kendall always loves it when we have visitors, so Scott was no exception. Scott is great with little ones, so I wasn't surprised when Kendall took up with him quickly.

We love you, Scott! Hope you get to come back and visit soon!

Today we (Evan) finally got around to putting together one of Kendall's Christmas presents from my dad. Do you think she likes it?!?!?!?

Her legs aren't quite long enough to reach the pedals, but it won't be long! She's had fun doing the "Fred Flintstone" with it around the house today. I'm sure we will have lots of fun with it once the weather is nicer and Kendall can ride it outside.

Goodbye, Mullet!!!

I've been in debate for a while about what to do about Kendall's hair. She's one of "those" babies with really fine hair that grew a lot faster in the back than in the front. I think I asked a million people in Arkansas if it was time for Kendall's first haircut! Honestly, it wasn't my attachment to her "baby hair" because she's got some STRANGE hair growth patterns (more below) and I can't wait for it to grow in better, I was just a little afraid she would look more like a baby (since it's so short in the front) instead of a big girl! (I know, that sounds crazy because most parents don't want their kids to grow up. I'm more of the "keep her innocent, but let her mature" kind of person, if that makes any sense.)


The more I looked at Kendall's hair in the last few weeks, the more I realized how uneven it was in the back and decided a "shape up" might do her some good! So...I had an appointment to get my hair thinned out today and Amber happily agreed for me to bring Kendall along!

Kendall did really well; she didn't cry at all and I don't think she even noticed the scissors. She just kept trying to turn around in my lap to see what was going on around her.

After the haircuts, Evan treated me to some good, Heine Brothers' Coffee. YUMMY!!! Especially on a day that was 6 degrees when I left for school and only got up to 12 degrees as the high!! All I know is that there should be SNOW with these temperatures!!!! I have to laugh and say that the sign on the cash register said, "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy." How hilarious is that?!?!?!

I don't have a before picture of the back of her hair, but I promise, the hair was right at her shoulders. I think it looks so much better!

Oh, and see Kendall's swirly thing going on? Amber's first comment was "this will be fun" and when I asked what she meant, she replied with, "Never EVER let Kendall wear her hair short!!" :) Good. I wanted ponytails, sponge rollers, and big bows anyway. (Speaking of bows, she still takes them out the minute I put them in. What's up with that? I had them in her hair the minute she had enough for one!!!) :)

I had to throw in a couple of other cute Kendall pictures while I had the chance. Kendall and Evan have had a little bit of a stomach bug this week. Kendall's (thankfully) didn't last very long, but it was enough for us to keep her home from church on Sunday. I went in the kitchen for a minute and came back to the living room, where I found her like this:

Then tonight, while we were finishing up our dinner, I caught this:

How precious is THAT?!?!?!?

Happy Friday tomorrow!!! Stay warm!

Bathroom Remodel

I cleaned the bathroom today, so I thought I'd take some pictures and finally show the remodel project! I really wanted Evan to post about this, because he told me about this hilarious post he wrote out in his mind on his way home (in the wee hours of the morning) while working on the project. Anyway...maybe he'll get on here and write later about his experience.

Before...

During...

We have some other "in the process" pictures, but I'm guessing those are on the desktop. One is with Evan standing beside a mound of tile! Seriously, there was a HUGE mess! Evan had a lot of help from our friend, Garron, and we were so grateful.

After:

Evan painted this canvas over the towel bar. I love it. I couldn't decide what I wanted to hang in that spot, so one Friday night I found a blank piece of frame-able canvas in our storage stuff and asked Evan to do some painting for me. I like the way it turned out. I'm trying to get him to paint something for our living room, but he says he doesn't like to paint for me because I put too many restrictions on him. He says he wants to be "free." (ha ha ha!)

There you have it...the finished bathroom. Although you can't tell in the pictures, the wall color (that was supposed to be a creamy white) looks very yellow. We don't love the color, but we aren't going to change it anytime soon. It works. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and I know Evan is proud to say he remodeled a bathroom!

Friends

**Edit**This has nothing to do with this post, but I had no intention of staying up this late tonight. My thought was to watch the first half of the Razorback game, then go to bed. I got sucked in, and I'm glad I stayed up! Woo Pig! Way to beat TEXAS!


I have great friends. I can't even begin to explain. You know that cheesy poem/email that goes around about "friends for reasons, friends for seasons" or whatever it says? Well, I can fully relate to that poem. God has placed special people in my life all along the way for different reasons, and I can't thank Him enough for what these people mean to me!

While we were in Arkansas, I had the opportunity to spend time with many of my close friends. What a privilege! Some of the visits I mentioned in previous posts but I do have a couple of visits that I want to make note of, more for myself than anything else.

Ask my dad who I spent the most time with growing up and without batting an eye, his answer would be "Blaine." Blaine and I have been friends since I was in first grade and she was in Kindergarten. Our mom's got to know each other first, figured out all these strange family name coincidences, and became instant friends. Blaine and I would literally spend WEEKS at each other's house in the summer. A couple of nights at her house, then a couple of nights at mine. Can you believe our parents let us do that?!?! We played Barbies, rented movies, swam...probably most of my childhood memories involve her in some way. Blaine moved while we were in junior high, but our parents remained friends and we stayed in touch, more frequently at times than others, through the years.

I was so excited to go over to Blaine's house while we were in Fayetteville for a quick visit. Mrs. Judy, Blaine's mom was there, and I was glad to see her, too. For some reason, after the loss of my mother, there is something very comforting about seeing people who have been part of your entire life. Blaine has an adorable daughter, Gillian, and a little boy on the way. I'm so proud of
Blaine and so thankful for her friendship. Thank you for letting me come over for a bit!

Jayna is another friend that has come back in my life at the right time! Jayna moved to Stuttgart when we were in third grade, and I think our bond started from sharing a birthday. When we were in 8th grade, we even had a big boy/girl party together to celebrate. (Remember that??!?!?) :) As we got older, Jayna and I ran in different circles, but somehow remained close friends. When my mom got sick, she somehow got back in touch with me and has been such an encouragement. She and I were able to meet up for a quick lunch at Panera while we were home. It was short, but it was so good to see my sweet friend! Jayna is pregnant with baby #1, so I can't wait until we go back and I can meet the little guy!

I also want to mention my sweet friend Heather who drove all the way from Little Rock to Fayetteville to hang out with Kendall and me for the day. (We SOOO missed you, Mandi!) Hands down, Heather is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I know. She spoils us!

(I also want to make note that as I put together this slide show, I noticed that I am wearing a t-shirt and scarf in almost every single shot! HA! I love 'em, what can I say?!?!? In my defense it was the easiest thing to pack on a two week trip! I do wear other things besides
solid t-shirts and jeans. Not often, but I do!) :)

Good friends are a gift. I really hope that I am half a friend that these folks are to me! I love you all so much!

New Year's Eve/New Year's Day

What do you get when you put three Hesters with Evan? Wild and crazy. Now, add all the wives and children to that equation and Allyce and Henry (9 adults, 10 kids). As my kids at school would say, "it was off the hook!" :)



We had a great time with all the H's and were excited to ring in the new year at Brent and Kerri's house with some of our favorite people. We ate way too much pizza, enjoyed a chocolate fountain, played Wii, and had a Spades tournament. Evan and I spent many weekends hanging out with all the H's (and Scottie, Allyce, and Henry), and are always so happy when we have the opportunity to get together again with them.



(For those who read this blog and don't know Brian and Brent, they are twins. They are two of Evan's closest friends. Sometimes I wonder if they were supposed to be triplets and Evan was separated from them at birth because Evan acts just like them. It's quite comical. Brian and Brent have another brother, Bart, who you will see in some of the pictures. We didn't hang out with Bart and Ashley as much as we did with Brian/Brent and wives, but apparently Bart is just as rowdy as those two!)

Bart and Ashley recently adopted a little boy, Nik, from Russia. He is PRECIOUS!!! Kendra kept us up to date on the adoption process, and it was so neat to meet the little boy we'd been praying about for so long! I enjoyed hearing Bart share their experiences of adopting and watching Nik interact with the others. He is a doll!

Kendra-the card shark! :) Kendra and I were the last to play in the Spades tournament. All I have to say is that Brent and Brian are ruthless!!! Don't ever play Spades with them and expect to win, because they CHEAT!!! They took pictures of their cards and text them to each other!!! Kendra and I actually held our own for a while and talked smack right back to them, but they ended up beating us in the end. I don't know if I would play with those two as partners again!!!

Brent was pouting because nobody would take his picture. So we did. And above is what we got.

This picture is so funny to me. Kendra looks like a giant because Brian is on his knees. (Don't be mad at me for putting it on here. I thought it was so funny.) :) Oh, and yes, all the little girls were dressed up in princess costumes the entire night. So cute!

Thanks for messing up our picture, Brian! Way to go, nerd! :)

Kendall was awesome all night. She thought she was as big as the rest of the kids. At one point, I went back to the bedrooms to check on her, and she and Asher were jumping on Reese's bed. (Talk about give mom a heart-attack!) Asher told me he was just teaching her how to dance. :) They were actually dancing their little hearts out, so I made Evan look. When he came in, his quote was, "That is an insurance claim waiting to happen!" We finally put Kendall down in Brent and Kerri's room. I really didn't think she would go to sleep, being that it was out.of.control noisy in their house. I went to check on her, and the door to Brent and Kerri's bedroom was wide open with Kendall sacked out! I couldn't believe it!

We LOVE you guys! Thanks for a fun, fun, fun night!!!

New Year's Day was spent with our old Connection Group (we missed you, Gary and Kellye!) at Brandon and Miranda's house. We had the traditional New Year's Day lunch of black-eyed peas and enjoyed great company. The boys laid around and watched football while the big girls (Rachel, Miranda, and I) enjoyed visiting and watching all the little girls (Julie, Mya, Alyson, and Kendall) play together. Mya, Alyson, and Kendall were all born in the same year (January, May, October of 2007) and their mommies have a very special bond, which I hope will carry through to the girls.

Kendall was especially fond of the stairs. Julie was a big helper, making sure Kendall was safe when she was going up and down! Julie is a great BIG sister!!!

Evan is really proud of his muscles, huh?

Who looks pregnant in this picture??!?!?! We are so excited that Brandon and Miranda are adding one more to their family in March. They are incredible parents to Julie and Alyson (seriously, Miranda is one of my parenting mentors!) and I know this baby BOY will be loved so much as well!

What a great way to spend two days, with incredible friends! Thanks, everyone, for letting us hang out with you! We love you all!