Oh Christmas Bee....I mean Tree

Don't let these cute little smiles fool you. Choosing a Christmas tree can be dangerous. 

So this year we went to Lowes to pick us up this years Christmas tree.  I know, how festive to go to a home improvement center to pick up a Christmas tree, but we didn't really have any other real options and I'm cheap like that so Lowes is where we ended up.  OK on with my story...  So we were outside the garden center where they had a VERY small selection of trees to choose from.  Spencer and I started looking through what they had while trying to keep a handle on the kids.  While I was handling the crew Spencer came across our perfect tree (pictured above).  How excited we were to find something we liked with out major drama, or so we thought.  After taking this lovely picture of the kids in front of our chosen tree we proceeded to take it inside to have the bottom trimmed and tied up to get ready for transport.  As we came around the corner we were immediately swarmed by bees!!!  Now my kids don't do bugs in general, and when there is a large amount of bugs... oh holy chaos.  Some froze in the middle of the swarm, and others ran for cover.  Needless to say none of us got stung, but trauma was definitely experienced.

 We made it inside and got our prized tree packaged up and ready for transport.

The kids wanted to have a hand in all things tree so they helped Spencer get it from the top of the car and bring it into the house.   The decorating process began and Tyson was WAY excited to "help".  His technique of "hanging" the balls on the tree consisted of a wind up pitch with a line drive arrival straight into the tree.  There was some "adjusting" needed after all was said and done.

As we approach the end of this year we are thankful for all the many blessings in our lives.  We are thankful for our children and the happiness they bring to our lives.  We are blessed to have the gospel to guide and direct us.  We are also grateful for our many friends and great family that supports and helps us daily.  We would like to wish everyone a Merry CHRISTmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Love, The Hatch's

Just a few changes

BEFORE

                       

DURING                                                                                        AFTER

Emily's change was on her birthday.  Not only did she turn 9 but she asked if she could get her ears pierced.  She promised that she would take good care of them so Spencer and I decided that she could.  She LOVES being able to wear earrings.  Now to just keep her from wanting the really big dangle ones.

WHY????

LOOK I"M A LITTLE BOY NOT A BABY!

ALL SHOWERED AND HAIR DONE

Tyson's recent change was him finally getting a hair cut.  I kept putting off because he had the cutest curls of any of my kids, but it was time to cut it because I was getting tired of people calling him a girl.  He could be wearing a shirt and tie and he still got the girl comments.  So now we no longer have a baby.  It seems the hair cut has cut away all the baby, and a toddler has emerged.  Oh they grow up way to fast. 

Just some more cakes

 Star Wars Party.  This was a fun one to do.  It took me out of my comfort zone, but I like how it turned out.

 This was for Brandon's end of the season football party.  The Be Tough was on the t-shirts all the parents wore.

This was for Emily's end of the season soccer party.  I wanted to try something I had never done before so this is what I came up with.  Emily helped me design it.   I know what I would do different the next time, but all in all this was a fun one. 

When we play.... we play hard

This Fall we were busy, busy, busy with sports.  And when I say busy I mean busy.   We were either at a game or a practice 5 days a week.  This was the first year we had three of the kids in sports.  Did I mention we were busy??

GO BLUE COLTS!



This year was Brandon's second year playing flag football.  Brandon LOVES playing football and I think he would play it year round if he could.  This year he played on both offence and defensive lines.  There were even a couple of games where he was able to try his hand at quarterback.  Brandon had a hand full of sacks and some defence saving flag pulls.  Spencer was also able to help out as the offensive coach.  This was Spencer's first time ever doing this, and he did a great job. 

In this picture Brandon is #45.

GO LONGHORNS!

This year was Emily's  4th year playing soccer.  She played in the U10 league and it was her first year where they actually have refs and keep score.  I would have to say this was the best year of soccer so far.  It was an exciting season and they just had a great team.  Emily had a hand full of goals and a good number of assists as well.  He team made it to the semi-finals only to unfortunately loose in over time.  Maybe next year.

GO WILDCATS!

This was Aubrey's 1st year playing soccer.  It's been a little while since we were back in the "swarm of bee's phase" with soccer.  I call it this because everyone swarms around the ball trying to kick it like a bunch of bees.  The team had a tough season as everyone was a first time player but one, and we weren't the most aggressive of groups.  It's a learning process though.  By the end of the season I think they we starting to get they hang of it.  Maybe next year it will be even better, although Aubrey keeps saying she wants to be a cheerleader so we shall see.  Aubrey was able to score 2 or 3 goals and made a lot of good kicks. 

Like I said it was a fun Fall season of sports.  Yes we were busy, but it wouldn't have been as fun if I couldn't watch all my kids in their games.  What's next?  BASKETBALL starting at the end of next month.  Here we go again!