We took Lu to go see Santa for the first time today. Willowbend has a pretty neat set up with “snow” and polar videos. However, the snow is before pictures, so we were trying to clean up Lucy’s velvet dress before she saw him. It stuck like glue! I thought she would be completely speckeled. Luckily I realized that if you blew on it, it came off better. The big kids and I probably looked pretty silly blowing all over her, but heck it worked. 😊

Yep. That didn’t go very well. Wasn’t surprised though. Lucy did talk about going to see him all day. But when we actually got there, “Mommy!” was the word. Nothing a little cookie, crazy siblings, and ice cream couldn’t fix though.

What a fabulous Thanksgiving Day we had today. So much to be thankful for! We watched the Macy’s parade, as always, this morning while we cooked. Lu was up most of the night, so she actually took a wonderful nap before our feast.Our table was more empty than usual this year. The Heaths had company in town, Nana was sick, and Brie is coming for Christmas instead.We still had a lovely dinner. The kids played afterwards, we watched an incredible Cowboys win, and played cards as a family. Nate and Alex enjoyed playing chess with Grandpa too.  Grandpa won again. 😉Brie had her feast at Uncle Eric’s and Aunt Niki’s. She helped with a lot of the baking too. (Rolls are one of her favorites!)After the fun died down, it was time for dessert. Natalie made her traditional apple pie, Wii made chocolate lava brownies, Nate made pumpkin chiffon pie, and Alex made turkey cupcakes. Yum!When it was time to head home, the boys found that Grandma’s pumpkins were covered in huge snails. They didn’t want to leave after that!Eventually, we had to pry them away, and assure them that the snails would all be safe until they came back next time. 😜 What. Great day!

Well, I guess she’s official now. Turning 18 months makes you old enough to go to  nursery without Mom and Dad. Today was Lucy’s first “Official” day.She went straight for the babies.She fed the babies enough for me to sneak out and see what she would do.It didn’t take her long to figure out that I had left. Probably only 20 seconds. 😢 But the Stewarts assured me that they could handle it. After about 20 minutes of crying, (not even screaming like she has done in the past, I might add😊) she stoppped crying, went on a walk to see the paintings in the hallway, then went back to nursery with Brother Stewart to read books and have snack without an issue. She LOVES cheesy popcorn!I was so glad to go pick her up from class and see her happy and reading a book. Of course she had to run to me and start fake sobbing. The Stewarts just laughed and told her that was silly. She immediately stopped and was fine. I think she is going to make it. ☺️

Yes, SOMEONE in the Hardy Household likes to cook. I guess it isn’t hard to tell who. They even like to cook their jammies in the fireplace. 😂☺️

Fridays can sometimes get crazy! Today we had story time first. Lucy had a late night last night, so she was super tired. Before we even made it home from the library, she crashed!Lcukily I was able to let her sleep a little bit, because then we had Park Day. The kids absolutely love being let loose to run without a care in the world.  (For the most part. 😏)Lu lived climbing the play sets with Luke and Ava.It made her feel like such a big girl!She still loves her blankies though. I love holding on to the littleness for as long as I can.She thinks the higher you swing her the better it is!Such determination!“Look out! I’m a stomping monster!”Such Sass! 😂The boys are so anti pictures now. It makes me sad. They did have a great time tromping through the creek though. So glad they were only a little bit wet. 

We have been trying some trial classes for Lucy to get her involved in something just for her. With so many older siblings, “Lu Time” is often overshadowed. Today, Lucy had a trial gymnastics class. She LOVED it! She got right to work. I was so very impressed at how well she listened to her coach, Coach Jasmine, and could already do so many of the skills. Lucy especially loved the trampolines. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but it is kind of hard while chasing a toddler. 😄 I really think she is going to take off in gymnastics just like Natalie.We didn’t have any little bitty leos, so when we arrived at class and saw this Mermaid one, it was a hit! (Disney knew the right place to market! 😂)

Lucy took a trial tots dance class today. It was really fun, and I have to say the instructor was FABULOUS! She was so animated and well spoken. She knew just how to pull the kids in. I was very, very impressed! And I think Lucy was too. 😊She loved all the singing and music……and especially loved dancing up the wedge.This girl loves to be a big girl!😍

Lucy is really getting into our homeschool routine. Her favorite thing to do,right when she wakes up, is to go wake up the boys.That usually entails taking over their bed, whacking them on the heads yelling, “Get up boys!”, and then claiming their books and flashlights. She LOVES her brothers so much! At breakfast, she has to be part of what is going on. Someone knows exactly who has the best breakfast. Khaliyah won’t beg from anyone else, but she knows that Lucy loves her. (Now if we could just get Lucy to quit giving in. Khaliyah is going to be so fat when Brie comes home for Christmas! We’re going to get in trouble!)When the boys and I start our lessons, it is always best to get Lucy distracted, otherwise it becomes a power struggle. She LOVES to color!If we can get her going in her own book, she’ll stay put for quite a while. 

Life with a dog is quite an adventure. Especially this one! 😜