Lots of Turkeys!

Turkeys in the fryer, turkeys in our house!!  Thanksgiving was so fun!  We celebrated on Saturday and had all our family over!! Doug was so excited to fry turkeys and they turned out awesome!! The kids had a blast with all their cousins!!   

Funny the most exciting part of the day for them was a trip out to the street to see the very scary ice cream truck.

We are so thankful for our family and our friends!! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!!

Soccer Season is Over

Last Saturday was our last soccer game...in the rain...and we had our end of season party.  I am SO sad that I won't get to watch Matt play soccer on Saturdays.  He is so good and it was always the highlight of my week.  He asked Dad when the next game was and Doug told him the season was over.  The look on his face was priceless.  It went from smiling to so sad that I thought he might cry. But then Doug and I couldn't help but laugh because it was so cute and that made him laugh too. 

We had such fun as always with this group of awesome kids and super cool parents.  Thank you all for making it a wonderful season and thank you to Dad and Coach Joel for coaching! 

I thought these pictures were too cute...

And the boys were so proud to get their trophies!   I enjoyed the cupcakes!!

Trick or Treat?

Hmmm...sometimes I feel tricked by all my family members but mostly they are a treat!  We had a fun Halloween weekend.  It all started with the kid's Halloween parties at school.  All the kids were adorable.  I had "fun" running back and forth from both parties.  Here are the cupcakes I made for Matt's party which I thought turned out pretty cute...

When I walked into Marlie's class her and Ashdin were dancing like fools while they sang Monster Mash.  It was hilarious.  Her class wore Halloween PJs which makes it easier than kids being in their costumes all day. They loved eating their Halloween cupcakes too. 

Matt was allowed to wear his costume but it was so bulky that I thought it might be best not to wear it all day.  So the night before we scrambled and actually did great with a baseball player costume.  He looked adorable and his friends did too.  Hopefully Hannah will hand us down her costume for Marlie.  It was cute!

After our parties we met a few friends at the park.  It was a beautiful day and I figured they could run for awhile since they were on a sugar high!  Papa and Nona Lisa came to visit and surprised the kids at the park.  Marlie practically jumped out of the swing to run to Papa. 

Saturday morning we were all excited about going to Matt's soccer game.  We played a great team and the game was amazing.  The kids all played so hard (but I think we won...who's keeping tabs...well me).  Matt scored a few goals but he had to really work for them.  Again...a very proud Mom.  Melissa and I were yelling on the sidelines like it was the final match in the World Cup.  I am embarrassed that I yell "go get'em" at a 5 year old soccer game. 

After a nice long lunch at Tin Roof with our tribe and the Wellmann's we headed home for a quick nap.  Then it was off to our neighborhood Fall Festival.  The kids had a blast and we got to see lots of friends.  Afterwards the kids decorated small pumpkins with Mr. Potato Head pieces.  Matt's was a pirate and Marlie's a princess of course.  I thought that checked the list on pumpkin decorating but Doug was still up for pumpkin carving.  So after church on Sunday they carved pumpkins.  The kids reluctantly helped clean them out and Dad and Papa did the carving.  Marlie was very specific that she wanted heart eyes, an oval nose and 3 teeth.  Matt just wanted a mean pumpkin. 

After another quick nap it was time to get ready for Halloween!  Matt wanted to be blue bat man this year so of course Marlie wanted to be bat girl.  I tried so hard to convince her to be a princess of some sort but she didn't want anything to do with that.  They were cute...Marlie's costume turned out cuter than expected and she loved it!  She made this funny mad face, flexing her muscles in every picture.  My little girl!!

It was off to the Hidrobo's 2nd annual Halloween party. They do such a great job with scary and fun snacks and treats. It was awesome and the parents had fun too. Luca plays on our soccer team this year so they invited the whole team which meant we got to hang out with our neighbors and all our soccer friends too. It was a blast. I love this pic of Avery and Marlie...

And here's the rest of the neighbors.  I couldn't get everyone in of course... 

Then it was time to trick-or-treat!  As I suspected the kids RAN from house to house.  Luckily Marlie could keep up a little better this year but not completely.  We had a huge group of kiddos with us...the LaBorde's, the Wellmann's, the Patton's, the Giffhorn's and the Anthony's.  So each house got slammed with about 15 kids all at once! Here's Cole, Marlie, Caden, Matt (sort of) and Avery. 

 And here you can see Ryan, James, Austin and Braden. 

And I saved the best for last...Doug and Larry have been talking for years about wearing Doug's old track uniforms on Halloween.  Well since Baylor beat UT, Doug couldn't resist.  It was only slightly embarrassing and mostly hysterical.  I'm surprised Joel, Melissa and Gayle got in the picture with Doug! 

I love seeing these kids dressed up and the excitement in their eyes as they walk up to each door.  This is always such a fun holiday in our hood!  Thanks to our awesome friends!! So glad Papa, Nona Lisa and Nene could participate in this crazy night with us. 

Pumpkin Patch Take II

So we decided to hit our usual pumpkin patch for some pictures this morning.  This patch usually has the best pumpkins, but I guess it's true that the pumpkins were not so good this year because we struggled to find that perfect pumpkin! 

We managed a few good shots and the kiddos picked out a few to take home.  We're hoping we have enough energy to carve some this year.  Seems that we are always up to something! 

Matt's First Love Letter, Marlie's First Boyfriend...Mom & Dad's 1,000th Grey Hair From Kids

So Matt got shy all of a sudden the other day when he was pulling out his school work from his bag.  He said, "Mom someone sneaked this in my backpack."  I think it was his first love note and included a phone number too!!

Maybe it's supposed to say "Matt is my friend" or "Matt is funny"...not really sure but I thought it was so cute.  I emailed Hannah's Mom and Iva & Alena's Mom hoping it was one of their girls (the arranged marriage idea doesn't seem so ridiculous anymore).  Seems that Alena sort of admitted she did it but apparently she was shy discussing the topic too!  For all I know it's from a boy, but either way it's adorable. 

My friend Traci (Hannah and Hayden's Mom) stopped me at school the other morning to tell me that Hayden had told her that Marlie asked him to be his boyfriend.  So that night at dinner I asked Marlie if she asked Hayden to be her boyfriend and she just smiled and shook her head yes...and had that look on her face like of course, why wouldn't I?  I asked her what he said and she said "he said sure and then he was very happy".  I have no idea where in the world she got the idea to ask him to be her boyfriend.  I will try to pretend it's cute now because fast forward a few years and I'll take the key and lock her up!!!  I know kids today grow up fast, but they're in PreK-3!!! I guess next year I'll have to teach her how to play hard to get!

Nene's 60th Surprise Birthday Party

Our Nene (as the kids call her) will be 60 this year.  We had a surprise party a few weeks early.  It was a cupcake coffee/tea party at Sugarbaby's Cupcake Boutique in town.  We started the morning with pedis at the spa.  Marlie too of course and we all loved it...I think Marlie did the most.  The girls in the spa think she's adorable and she sits there like she's been there millions of times.  This time she got flowers on her toes and they were adorable.  I couldn't say no.  I know...ridiculous.  I'm still mad at myself for ever taking her, but secretly I love how much she enjoys it. 

The girls had lunch and then Marlie and I had to dash off to get ready for the party. As you know with all events it can be a little crazy.  We picked up flowers and balloons and were hurrying to get in the car.  Well the vase with roses tipped over in my car and there was a puddle of water in the driver's seat.  We were late already and I was so frustrated.  That's when my saving grace reminded me that "Nene will still love the flowers if there's no water in them" followed by "Mom, it's only water it will dry".  Yes common sense from my 3 year old angel.  So I calmly found the napkins stashed in all places of my car and dried my seat off best as I could.  Then I found a bag that I used to sit on, so my bum wasn't soaking wet!  All was good!! 

My angel was the perfect little hostess during the party.  My Mom's friends from the neighborhood came as well as some family.  My aunt flew in for the occasion and we all had so much fun.  The place is adorable and the cupcakes were good!  But I mostly loved seeing my Mom (Nene) so happy and Marlie having so much fun playing the hostess role. 

I got a few pics....was a bit frustrated because this place is super cute and and I didn't seem to capture it that well.  That's why I stick to counting beans for a real job!

My Mom's friends are adorable and most importantly...hilarious!  They laughed so hard and I loved hearing their funny stories.  She is lucky to have such sweet ladies in her life!  

Nene was pleasantly surprised and we all had a really great time.  Happy 60th Nene!  Let's do this again at 70!! 

Marlie's First Field Trip

I was so excited last Friday to go with Marlie on her first field trip!!  We headed out to Old MacDonald's Farm and although we had been there several times before this was different.  This time we had all our new friends along and their awesome teachers and moms!  The weather was beautiful.  God couldn't have blessed us with a better day.  Here's Marlie and Ashdin...I love these 2 together.  They are not afraid of anything and have so much fun.

And they loved the bunnies!  I love how Marlie is sharing her food with Lauren to feed them.  The bunnies were not interested so Lauren decided to pick one up!  She is adorable. 

I love this picture.  We were waiting (forever) for the train.  Honestly every time I ride this train I'm singing "I think I can" all the way around.  Somehow it always makes the circle but I'm not sure how.

 Finally on the train!  These 3 piled right in and never looked back for their Mom's! 

Last but not least the kids got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.  Marlie and Lauren were VERY proud of the ones they picked.  Marlie specifically ordered me to take a picture of just the pumpkin without her in it.  Pic turned out kinda cute!

Along with watching them at all their activities, these are the days I live for!