Stephanie Proule is a very Good Thing

   So you're probably (definitely) thinking, "Whoa Nicole, this blog is amazing and the layout is so cool i can barely even stand it!" I know. thats because my cousin Steph is good at everything she does and she also hated that i was using the default layout. She is the best kind of person. Also she is the only person who honestly told me my blog sucked...so thanks all you "friends".

   Now because i have a blog, that gives me full permission to complain about things and i've done a pretty decent job of not doing any of that...until now. Why? Because i have a paper and a presentation due in a week and i haven't started on either. Imagining myself sitting and working at a wooden Starbucks table next to creepy hipster strangers doesn't appeal to me at all. Okay, that's all i wanted to say about that.

   Tonight i babysat the Abbott kids again and they are the best! I love them so much! Tonight was another game of pirates followed by playing house. I learned that i really love pretending to be a pirate and that i don't love having to take a nap because Mamma Eden told me to. I taught Caleb how to make different things with his beads-you know the whole spider web trick. He's really great at it now and when i came over tonight he made up his own shapes-so now i can make my bead necklace look like a twistee treat and a tie.

   So basically what you should get out of this post is that i love my cousin, i love the Abbott's and if you want to hang out with me this week-i'll be at Starbucks.

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday.

   Blog question: If someone spends the day with me and blogs about it, is it okay for me to just copy and paste their post onto my blog and put the whole thing in quotes? Or is that against blogging rules. I just feel like i shouldn't have to write it out when it's already been written. Moving on...

   Monday: Halloween day! I'm a child and on halloween everyone finds out. There is nothing i love more then getting all dressed up as something ridiculously wonderful and getting candy for it...yes, i still go trick-or-treating. Every year i try to take my costume one step further, but i feel like they've all been pretty even. This year me and Allegra were statues-NOT ghosts. I don't know why everyone thought that. I would have spent way less time on a ghost costume. We spent a great deal of time perfecting statue poses only to see people open their doors and say "How spooky!" It was a lot of fun though. Im really glad i have a sister who's always right there with me.

   Tuesday: We switched doctors and no one had been to the new doctor yet. Aaron was supposed to go and check this place out, but he had to work. So Dad called me and asked if i would go. I'm not sick. I went anyway. On the way over i tried to think of every possible thing that was wrong with me. I settled on the sore throat i had (that i was already on medicine for.) The thing i really hate about the doctor is that no matter what i go in for, i always feel way worse coming out. Every time they ask me a health question i feel like there could be a chance i have that issue. "No, i don't feel dizzy...well i might-maybe a little. Sometimes i feel dizzy-oh shoot i think im dizzy." "Nope, no terminal illnesses...wait, does this look like skin cancer to you?" "When you say 'head aches'..." So that was tuesday.

   Wednesday: Disney Day. It was a super good time, a real average day at Walt Disney World. We ate some food, saw some shows, and rode some rides. (this is the part where i just want to paste in Michelle's post...you would all like it a lot more.) I still have the small world song stuck in my head so thats a bummer-that ride freaks me out. I had a great time with all my favorite people and i learned that dreams really do come true! All you have to do is believe!

Mom's Speech.

   So today was Mom's long awaited graduation speech. She went back to school for her MBA at Webster University and graduated last June. They asked her to give a speech at the big graduation for over 1,000 people. So we've heard her speech a lot. She did a really great job and everyone loved it, but the part they were most crazed about was the fact that she has seven kids. Mom often compares herself to snow white and this speech was no exception. As soon as he said "Snow White looks after seven little people-so do I." The crowd couldn't control there shock. The thing about this speech is that she portrays us so well and makes us sound like a perfect group of respectable young adults. We figured as long as no one knew we were her kids then we'd be golden. But as soon as she finished Nathaniel yells out "That's my Momma!" and it was all down hill from there. Everyone there tried their best to not look like they were staring at us but it was pretty darn obvious. We were video taped on two occasions.  We put Mom right to shame. Hudson kept trying to start the clap before everyone else did, but this usually meant him cutting people off while they were talking which was bad. At one point he even lost his gum, but don't worry he found it...on the back of my dress. Nathaniel decided to wear a zipper tie which supplied us all with great entertainment as always. Evan FatBoothed everyone in our row and Jordan and Allegra recruited the lady in front of us to cheer for Mom when they called her name. Mom is a real champion for raising all of us the way she did. And for loving us even when the only contribution we could make on her big day was getting up early and putting on the clothes she laid out for us the night before. She's amazing and i love her and I'm so proud of her!

This was the best picture we got of all of us...it's so Kauffman.

Being a Kauffman

My cousin Stephanie told me she would like to read more blog posts about my family. So here is a little glimpse into the Kauffman family. I am going to warn you in advance that you're going to read things you cannot unread and see things you cannot un-see. If you've ever been over for dinner then you know exactly what i mean. Just before writing this i discovered a severe amount of blood in my sink (my nice clean sink). This probably means that Hudson had a nosebleed in my bathroom (my nice clean bathroom). Most people would be bothered by that-im not, or going to see if he needs help-im not. Im sure whoever gave him this nosebleed had proper motives. See, Hudson likes to do this thing where he hides in your room, sometimes for extended periods of time, waiting for you to come in so he can jump out and scare you. Last week he was in my closet. he scared me so bad i jumped up and accidentally kneed him in the face. So when people get hurt around here no one is really alarmed.

That Time Courtney Cooke Came to Visit/My Longest Post

   The always wonderful Courtney Cooke came to Orlando this past weekend for a wedding and stayed with us. She is a splendid human being and if i could be with her all the time i would-she's great! On Thursday i picked up Michelle and we drove to New Smyrna Beach to meet up with Courtney and her traveling buddy Bethany (who is also the best!). We had a beach dance party, played some soccer (kind of),  and found a dead crab. It was a classic beach day. On the way home me and Mitch stopped for some Frozen Gold and payed in all change-that's what they get for only taking cash! We had some really great car conversation and car karaoke, followed by 45 minutes of traffic on I-4. Worth it.

   After the extended drive home we were off to a much needed bible study at the Graham's. I'm glad Michelle got to come with us-i always love taking her around with me so she can see my life. She is so much like her mom-feeding me snacks while i drive, not letting me stay up too late,  making sure i eat breakfast. I love it!

Lizzie Reads My Blog Now

Hey Friends, my life has been crazy exciting! Every moment is a sheer thrill! So much adventure that i haven't been able to blog about any of it! This picture pretty much sums up the last month...

I Have Two Blog Followers

This past saturday we went to Wet 'n Wild for Nathaniel's birthday. "We" meaning my family and about five of Nathaniel's strangest friends. I had the sheer joy of driving them there. Conversation covered a variety of topics-we discussed which of his friends could chug water the fastest (it was the asian kid), why Tommy knew all the words to "Baby", farting, a girl named "Yasmin", football, more farting (for some reason it's funny every time.) and dating. I thought the dating topic was particularly interesting because these kids are in middle school. I never dated in middle school, or