Pumpkin Carving Fun

We had Jodi, Bri, Rob, Baus and Lexi over for some pumpkin carving Wednesday night, we had a great dinner and great time together.



Blake working hard.






Jodi and I



Bri working on her pumpkin.


Rob and Jodi


Lexi loved the "gooey" yuckiness of the pumpkins!!


Baus

(1) Jodi, Rob, and Bri's pumpkins (2) Baus and Lexi's pumpkin (3) Our pumpkin

When I moved to Texas almost 9 years ago, I spent the first few years wondering if I would ever meet true friends here.  I've been blessed enough to say that I did find them.  There are only a few that have withstood the tests of family, time, jobs etc...

To my firecracker. If you were a firecracker you would be bright and colorful and beautiful, but you would also have an exact plan of how you wanted to be shot into the sky, you know, like what time it would be, how the design would be planned, what colors you want to go off when :) You are adventerous and cautious and brave. You take the responsibility of being both Mom and Dad and you do it well. You manage responsibility and fun with a fine tooth comb, riding your motorcycle (Yikes!). I love how you take time out of your busy schedule to spend one on one time with Blake, you dont' know how sweet that is to me. I love calling you after a terrible shift at work and knowing you can completely get what I'm saying. I know I can vent any frustration to you and you will give me an honest but delicate answer and advice. You are one of those people that no one can forget, I remember meeting you, the first day of nursing school and knowing somewhere deep down we would always be friends. You know how to ask the tough questions and how to always make me laugh (air guitar to "Cheap Seats" is forever in my memories!)  A perfect day would be lots of takeout, me, you and a Gilmore Girls marathon :) I'm so lucky to have you .

To my strong and steady.  I was talking to Nick the other day trying to figure out how long we've been friends.  I remember meeting you at church years and years ago at a time when I really needed a friend, and you were that friend for me.  Ours is a friendship of stamina and grace.  We brought our little girls into the world so closely together and their friendship makes me so incredibly happy.  I love talking about reality TV and our favorite books and going to see movies together.  You are the friend I've reached out to when I didn't think I could physically say the words I was feeling. You are the best listener I know.  I love how I can just see you thinking about what you want to say and how best to say it.  We've spent holidays and birthdays and such sweet time together. I'm so lucky to have you.

 

To my wildflower.  A wildflower because you are beautiful and delicate, but can withstand storms that you never knew you could.  Looking back I think it would be easy to assume you would crumble with some of the struggles life has brought you and your family, but look, here you are, still strong and still standing.  You are my instant go to for Mommy advice.  You have listenened to me whine and whine and I always feel better after our long phone conversations.  We both know what it's like to miss our family and wish we could have our parents phsysically closer, but I thank God I have you close by to rely on and look to.  You are the one I would call if I was having a freak out at two in the morning.  I know you wouldn't mind!  You help me feel good about myself and about other people in general, what a gift that is!  You are creative and generous.  I'm so lucky to have you.

Sea World, San Antonio

We had a quick trip to San Antonio this last weekend.  Boy, vacations sure are different with kids!!  It was a little hairy at some points, but we all had fun and I'm so glad we went. 

Friday night we went to the River Walk.  We took a ride on the boat tour.

Our highlight was SeaWorld.  

Blake and Nick fed the dolphins

We watched Shamu!!

....and got a big ole' splash....

Blake's favorite animal was the walrus

here are some other just random pics from our day..

having a time out at seaworld...classic

jumping on the bed with daddy..so fun!!

My Crazy Blakey

I've started the coutdown to Blake turning 2.  I can't believe it's just a few short weeks away.  I think in my head I already have seen her as a two year old, I don't know why, just have. 

Blake's personality has grown so much the last few months, she's dramatic and animated,  she's talking in sentences (that you can understand!!) and really showing us who she is, I love it. She is our crazy, fun girl. 

Of course this doesn't come without the temper tantrums, metdowns and plenty of time outs, but the joys of this age (MOST often) outweigh any other terrible two issues :)

An example of her craziness is her dancing.  She loves when I put on music and dance with her (Nick took pictures of me dancing, for dignity reasons, they will not be posted!)  She puts her hand up in the air and twirls, bends over and is a raving dance machine when fun music is on!

Another favorite activity is walking to the creek behind our house to throw rocks and sticks in the water.  We've never stayed so long that she is sad to go, I think that would be close to imposisble.  We give her mounds and mounds of rocks and she loves every minute of throwing them in the water.  Here is a blurry but realistic action shot of her at the creek.

This  picture was from this morning.  

This last picture is a preview of her fall costume, she'll be wearing it to preschool tomorrow, Oh how I wish I could be the one to drop her off!!  

Pancakes and Pumpkins

Last weekend we had "Pancakes and Pumpkins"

First, we went to our favorite breakfast place. Blake ate a whole pancake, egg, and bacon all by herself.





Nick ate all that all by himself too!


Then, we went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin patch. It was a little chilly, and a little muddy, but we still had a great time!
Daddy and Blake in the pumpkins.






They had so many cartoon characters, and Blake thought they all deserved a kiss!



Blake loved the big blow up slide. We've taken her to the bounce house a few times so she's a pro at climbing up the wall and sliding down. She'd go up so fast, then just sit and wait for a kid to come next to her so she could chat with (and hopefully) slide down with them.

 


With her new friend

Not pictured is the hayride, boy was this kid excited about the hayride.  It was a little scary with the mud, we could've easily gotten stuck, but we made it!

We came home, got warm and all took a LONG nap before church and small group.  It was the best day I can remember having in a long time.  

Charleigh Ann

6lbs-15oz 19 1/4" long, born yesterday to proud Mommy and Daddy (Stephanie and Bryan)

We've got so many girls in our family, I don't know if any of us would know what to do with a boy!

Go to my friend Jodi's Blog (http://jodiandbri.blogspot.com/) and check out Blake's trip to the pumpkin patch!

I took some birthday invitation pictures last week.  You'll have to wait until you get your invite to see my favorite, but here are the runners up.