Jack's first Pacer Game

Sunday night against the Boston Celtics...we had a lot of fun!

Jack LOVED the giant slushies (not as much as Uncle John)!

Grammy and Poppy came to the game with us as well!

Favorite Pix of the night!  Jack yelling at the Pacers.

Jack had to keep Daddy up to speed on the game:)

Something was funny...not sure what, but they sure thought it was funny!

All Jack talked about was Boomer!  He was excited about seeing Boomer, until he came up our aisle.  We were only 13 rows off the ground, and Boomer came up our aisle.  Jack wanted nothing to do with him up close!

We enjoyed the time with our family!  Jack did great, and we will be back for another game!

John and Ashlee (his girlfriend)

Jack Cheesen it!

What a great family adventure!  Can't wait to go back!

Girls Gone Wild...Teenage Girls!

I had visitors last weekend!  My sister (Sarah), niece (Alexis) and her three friends Karly, Rachel and Ligxy.  They came as a thank you to Alexis.  She was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari-syndrome this year, and it has been a trying road for her!  She had to undergo surgery a few weeks ago and her friends were there for her through it all!  My sister won a limo ride at my adoption auction and she decided to plan a trip for Alexis' friends in Indy.  They are from Gaylord, MI.

They arrived around 8:30pm Friday night and we headed to the movies and saw The Boy in the Striped Pajamas...good movie!

Saturday morning we took the girls to the mall and tied up some loose ends for their surprise evening!  We met the girls at P.F. Chang's for lunch, and then took them to my house to get ready.  The limo picked us up at 4:30pm.

The limo that took us around for the evening!

The first stop was at Scholar's Inn, a fantastic restaurant downtown on Mass Ave.

Did I mention the fantastic desserts they have?  Don't you wish you were there?!?

From the left Alexis, Ligxy, Rachel and Karly.  The girls had a bouquet of gerber daisies waiting on them at Scholar's Inn with a Thank you note from Alexis.

The next stop was at Silver in the City.  It is also on Mass Ave.  We picked out a silver ring for the girls earlier in the day, and they got to stop in and try them on and pick a size that fit them.  They all left with matching rings, that were super cute!

The next stop was a carriage ride around downtown.  The carriage had instruction to drop them off at Southbend Chocolate Company on the circle.  

The girls had chocolate covered strawberries and hot chocolates waiting for them at Southbend Chocolate Company...yummy!

The circle looks so beautiful downtown around Christmas!

The limo ride was fun, and it took us around downtown till our last stop...keep reading to find out where we ended up!

The last stop was at the Murat Theatre.  We saw The Lion King Play.  If you haven't been yet, you HAVE to check it out!  It was an awesome show to see, and I would highly recommend checking it out!  The costumes are worth it!  

Ligxy just couldn't resist kissing the young simba!

The end of our day consisted of the girls and I going to Cheeseburger in Paradise for appetizers.  We went there around midnight.  They had a live band, and I dared the girls to dance, and they did it!  I WISH I had my camera for that part!  They were so cute!

After CIP, we went to Meijer and played a little shopping game.  The girls broke up into teams of 2.  I gave each of them a list and some cash.  They had to collect the items and pay for them.  The first team to get back won a prize.  This was on the fly, so I bought some pez dispensers for them all.  The winners got snowman pez, and the others won Joker pez.

It was a blast of a day!  I can't believe it went so quickly!  I hope the girls will be back soon!

Girls Night Out!

Jack and the Christmas Tree

Jack called the lights candles, and all he could say is "mommy, they hot."  Whenever something is hot he blows on it.  He acts like his drinks are coffee and he blows on them all the time.  Grammy drinks coffee, and he wants coffee like her.  I can't tell you the last time I had a coffee, good job Grammy!

Then Jack thought he could hide under the tree, but that didn't go so well!

I told Jack he should chill by the tree, and this is what he did:

Then I had to tickle him for being so silly!

What a cute boy!

Madagascar...Jack loved it!

You've Got to Move it, Move it!

Jack loved the movie last weekend, and he LOVES to watch the U tube video to the song!  He tries to pull it up on our computers all day long!  He is crazy, but we have a lot of fun dancing to it.

He takes after his daddy...he has some smooth moves:)

Need I same more...hehe!

Christmas Tree

Um...our Christmas tree shopping didn't go as planned!  Jack didn't feel well and John didn't, so we had to hit up Lowe's instead of the tree farm!  The tree we bought fit in the Vue with the back seat partially down, so I didn't like the Griswald's!  Stayed tuned for the finished tree:)

Joy

Thanksgiving meal is over...jack's thoughts on the day!

You can not make me eat anything else if I stuff two pacifiers in my mouth!!!

What?!?  You really think I want more food?

I luv you, here are my kisses for all the good food today:)

Grammy's here, so that means I'm getting spoiled!

We had 12 people at our house for Thanksgiving Dinner, and we cooked dinner for another family and took it to them!  We had a LARGE list of food, it is the Hughes way of doing things!

We had....

Turkey

Dressing

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Sweet Potato Casserole

Green Bean Casserole 

Corn Cake

Cole Slaw

Cranberry Salad

Deviled Eggs

Rolls

Um...that was just dinner!  Our dessert list included:

Pumpkin Pie

Robert Redford Dessert (aka Better than sex dessert...blushing:)

Carrot Cake

Pumpkin Spice Roll

Peanut Butter Fudge

Wow, I'm still full!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone...gotta get ready to shop :)-

Joy

Great Day...Just Chillin with Jack!

Since Turkey Day is this week, our childcare is a little thrown off and I got to spend the day with Jack!  I really don't get anything accomplished when Jack is at home, so I figured we should do something fun.  Jack loves to go to the Mall...I know what your thinking, Joy likes to go to the mall and Jack gets taken hostage to the mall...but your wrong.

If you ask Jack if he wants to go to the mall he says "Yes, I shop!"  He's brilliant!  We then talk about what we are going to do at the mall.  It usually involves get nummy bites (food) and riding a toy at the mall.  We find change at the house, Jack puts it in his pocket and he puts it in the ride.  He calls it "his monies."  Today he decide the train was a good option, and the little roller coaster.

He is going to love riding the roller coasters with his poppa.  He loved the roller coaster!  Look out daddy, I'm going to give you a run for your money!

Before the rides, we went to Paradise Cafe and had lunch.  He was hysterical at lunch.  He ate some of his vegetable soup, some of my roasted tomato soup, fruit, a cookie and then he asked for some of my caesar salad.  He totally ate it and loved it!  He asked for seconds and thirds...who knew?!?s

Since we had such a busy day, he had a late nap, and then we went to Meijer at 9pm.  He got to ride in the cartoon cart, and he stayed occupied for the whole hour.  It is soooooo worth a dollar to get the cart!  I love getting a random day to spend with Jack!  Luv ya baby!

Joy

Black Friday

Let the countdown begin!  I am already making my attack plan for Friday...beginning at 12:00am!!!  I am heading with the girls in the family down to Edinburgh Outlet Mall at midnight to begin Black Friday shopping!  Then we are going to pull an all nighter and shop till we literally drop on Friday!  Um...did I mention that we have having a meal at my grandma's near Muncie at 4pm on Friday?  Well, I should be able to make it on time and alive...RIGHT?

I'm getting excited for the shopping season!  We are trying to be responsible this year (especially) and make a list and spending limit for those we need to buy for!  The sales on Friday should help me accomplish that goal! (RIGHT?!?)

Dreaming about the deals already!

Baby Names...

One of the hardest things is picking a name for your child!  It takes too much thought!  You want it to be the perfect name.  It's hard to find names that don't remind you of someone, or you have a friend with a kiddo that has that name, or your family doesn't like it, etc!  We would love to hear suggestions...let's hear them...please:)  Remember it's going to be a girl!

Pondering Names....

Jake came home for dinner tonight and...

Jake works a crappy schedule, but he came home for dinner tonight!  I made Mexican Lasagna for the first time and it was REALLY good!   I also made rice crispy treats....YUMMY!  Jack Attack was so excited that his daddy came home from dinner and played with him.  Check out the pics below:

Then it came time for Jake  to head back to work, and Jackson freaked out and started crying and saying "I come," I go to work!"  It was the cutest (and sad) thing ever.  He didn't want his daddy to back to work!

He stood at the front window saying "I work with daddy," and balling his eyes out!

What a night :)

P.S...I love my husband!

Just another thought:)  Jake and I have been married for 6 1/2 years.  We have had our fair share of struggles, but I love him and I'm glad he's my husband:)

Luv ya Honey! (he also has some kickin skillz on the dance floor)

Adoption Update!

Well, we are at a stand still until we raise the funds (in full)!  We have to have $30,000 sitting in an account before we can officially be accepted into the program!  What to do...we have a couple options, including raising the funds, but we are anxious to begin.

The frustrating part with our agency is that we can't officially be accepted until the funds are sitting in an account, and then we have to start the wait.  Other agencies allow you to begin the process, and work on raising the funds while your moving along.  You can't apply for grants and such until you have your homestudy completed, and we are finishing the last of it now.  We have to start applying once our home study is finished.  

We will keep truckin.  If we can start the process in a few weeks officially, and it takes about 9-12 months to get a kiddo home, our little girl could be born any day!!! It's a crazy thought, and exciting to think about!

Food For Thought...

Adoption Fundraiser...SUCCESS!

The fundraiser went FANTASTICALLY!  It was a blast!  I'm not sure how much we raised...yet, but I know we came out way on top!  There are so many people who we need to thank, and appreciate!  I will post more soon, but here is a sneak peak from last night!

Cutest shoes of the night...I'm partial, because they were on my feet:)

Have a Good Day,

Joy