Happy Thanksgiving From the Houstons!

As in previous years, we enjoyed Thanksgiving Day with Zack's family in Charlotte and entertained my side of the family on Saturday at our house.  Zack made a delicious turkey and deep fried a duck for the first time!  We ate yummy food all weekend!  Maddox even helped me cook breakfast on Friday morning!  We also got to see a movie ("Trolls Band Together") and the boys enjoyed a lot of outside time!  On Sunday while they were playing tackle football in the front yard, Z knocked out a wiggly baby tooth, which still hasn't been found... he literally LOST his tooth!  Thank goodness the tooth fairy still visits even if a tooth is not under his pillow!  Let the countdown to Christmas Break begin! 

Fun with Friends

Over the last couple weeks, I have had three opportunities to spend time with friends!  It is rare to have uninterrupted time with the ladies in these pictures as we are all busy working, caring for family members and surviving the busy-ness of life right now.... but I enjoyed every moment with them!  Two weekends ago, a group of us went up to the Banner Elk area for a night away in a cabin.  We ate delicious food, made cookies and played games.  I even got to see the neighborhood where my great-grandparents used to live..... I have many fond memories from this mountain town!  The following weekend I got to see Lysa TerKeurst.  Her bible study was incredible and the worship music was just what my heart needed during this really hard season of life.  Finally, I was able to grab dinner with my old office crew which has turned into a sisterhood over the years.  We get together monthly for dinner and their friendship and our conversations are always needed at just the right moment!  Thank you God for the blessing of these friendships!

Zander and Maddox are also blessed to have some amazing friends.  They enjoy playing with the other "staff kids" before and after school (there are approximately 50 of them in all).  Also, I watched as Zander went around to visit all of his church friends at our annual Thanksgiving luncheon.  He is making friendships I pray will last his lifetime.  I'm so thankful for the friends the boys have at school and at church!

Around home, we have set up for Christmas, enjoyed some downtime between sports seasons, helped with chores around the house and bonded over painting rocks and running at the track!  I love the time I get to spend with these boys!

I got to help with a school-wide event on Tuesday.  I loved seeing my three favorite students as they moved through my rotation! It is such a blessing we get to be at the same school every day and see each other in the hallways!  I am having a hard time knowing that Z won't be with me next year... prayers appreciated!

Kennedy Kids' Birthdays!

 The last few years we have enjoyed the Veteran's Day weekend which offers an extra day off of school to celebrate Emerson and Eli's birthdays at the zoo!  I have loved this annual tradition and its so fun to see how these four cousins have grown over the years!  Three of the four kids were interested in being Zoo Trekker's this year by completing a zoo awareness book and earning a Zoo Trekker pin!  We made it a full day and got to see many animals who were enjoying the cooler temperatures!  We went on Emmy's actual birthday so it was fun to celebrate with her as she turned 7!

Also, I'll allow this post to serve as a catch up post from our previous week as well!  We got our school pictures back.   I love that our photographer lets us get a picture with our personal children and best friends!  Its hard to believe that we won't be taking this picture next year as Mia and Zander will be off at middle school.... trying not to think about that yet!

Last weekend, we had Zander's last tournament of the season.  With games at 8:00 a.m. both mornings and a 5:00 p.m. game on Saturday evening, we will out of town most of the weekend.  Since the game were only an hour away, we opted to stay in our own beds which meant we got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise as we left our home by 6:00 a.m. each morning.  Thank goodness for daylight savings time as that gave us an extra of sleep Saturday night.  On Saturday, we spent the time between the two games at the local "Speedpark".  We got the boys an unlimited wristband which meant they could ride go karts, play putt putt, slide down a huge slide and jump on a trampoline as many times as possible before we headed back to the soccer field.  It was a great family day!

We grabbed our frozen yogurt treat to mark what would have been Burke's 14th birthday.  He always loved a puppy sample from Zack's Treats!  Many tears continue to be shed over the absence of our pup.  We miss him so much! It was fun to remember him with a sweet treat on his birthday!

We also were able to celebrate really great report cards!  Zander got all As and Maddox got all 3s and 4s which is incredible!  We always love a good pizza night to celebrate their academic accomplishments!

End of October Recap

 Zander got his first BRIGHT award of the year for helping a teacher with her recycling one morning.

Maddox was worn out from all the birthday party fun that he fell asleep one night while he was reading a book.  I literally checked in on him about two minutes before this picture was taken and he was still reading! He partied hard to welcome #8.

Last night as a 7 year old!

Birthday fun!  Maddox got to have breakfast in bed, presents before school, Chick-fil-a lunch brought to school by daddy and donuts for his classmates at lunch and his soccer team that evening!  I think he enjoyed every bit of turning 8!

Zander worked on this 300 piece puzzle and finished it within two days of starting it.

Career Day at School.... a stay at home mom, professional cheerleader, professional soccer player and doctor were at school last Friday!

Field Trip Fun! These two girls are little teachers in Maddox's class and try to keep him straight! haha  Mrs. Morgan sent me this picture as they headed out on the school bus!

Finished a 500 piece puzzle this past weekend... mommy helped and it was fun for the three of us to work on this project while daddy had inventory at work!

Daddy came home and quickly helped carve a pumpkin so our 19 year streak could continue!

Maddox finished his soccer season!  He loved every minute of it! He scored many goals, did an awesome job as goalie and has the hustle on the field to be in every play!  I love to watch him do his thing!  Zander has two more weeks of his season left.

From soccer to church, Maddox was holding the American flag at AWANA (still in his soccer uniform).

Mommy worked from home on Tuesday this week due to a workday.  The kids enjoyed playing inside and outside while mommy knocked out tasks on the computer!

Halloween Fun! We had four families join us for dinner and trick or treating in our neighborhood.

Zander and his teacher working on fun things after end of quarter testing.  I love getting pictures from their teachers! It is a huge perk of working at the same school they are attending!

Matching some of my favorite people at work....

Dinner with friends... on a school night.... no wonder I'm worn out... but it was so much fun!

Went to the Martinsville Xfinity Race with our family last Saturday.  Since Zack had inventory, we let Zander invite his best friend, Jonathan, to join us for the day.  We all had a blast!

School Pictures...

5th Grade (age 10)

2nd Grade (age 8)