Happy Halloween!

Ally is such a girlie girl

And Ryan is all boy!

Together they are a great team!

I hope you all have a safe, fun evening.

Vader, Uncle Frank and a big ol' mess

Last night we went to Honey and GP's for an early Halloween fun night. They were kind enough to let us invade their house with our crazy pumpkin carving mess. Thank you!!! Ryan had really great expectations after finding this Vader Pumpkin pattern online. I tried really hard and after 2 hours of carving, it was clear it was not going to work! Sorry buddy, momma tried but next year we can just paint the pattern:-)

Kacey taught me the fast and easy way to gut a pumpkin-still pretty gross!

Ryan was trying his best not to touch anything!

And drumroll please....Uncle Frank! He is the inspiration for the face:-) Uncle Josh sometimes goes by his pseudonym Uncle Frank so the kids named our pumpkin after him.

And Kacey carved Ally's name in hers. So to recap: I carved the pumpkin that got thrown away and Josh and Kacey carved the two that we took home. Thanks again guys!

A Sssscary Ssssurprise

When Mark got home from Lubbock on Sunday night he noticed that there was something on our porch. He flipped on the light and saw that there was a snake curled up waiting to strike. Mark and Ryan are both fascinated with snakes so he had to open the door to see what kind of snake he was dealing with. After a closer look, he noticed that it was A DIAMOND HEAD RATTLESNAKE. Thank you Lord for allowing Mark to have car trouble (another story) and arrive home 30 minutes before we did. I cannot imagine seeing that evil snake curled up on our porch ready to strike!!!! I have no idea where he came from and I hope we never ever see his brothers or sisters. UUGG I really don't like snakes. Fortunately, our neighbors saw Mark run like he was being chased off the porch and immediately came out ready to wrangle the unwanted visitor. I'll just say that a hoe was involved and you guys can make your own conclusion as to what happened to Sally the Snake. The Moral of this story is to turn on your porch light before heading outside in the evening. Oh and death by rattlesnake is now among the list of my silly fears.

The End

Pretty Pretty Pumpkins

We went to the Lubbock Pumpkin Patch with the cousins and everybody got to choose their very own special pumpkin.

Here's my favorite two pumpkins in the whole world. Sweet punkin.

And scary punkin. :-~

Ryan loved running around and seeing all the pumpkins. At first he wanted a $40 one, but we settled for this $5 version. We also tried a group shot. Wyatt wins the prize here for the best consistent smile!

These two were not looking at the camera no matter what but I had to show off their precious outfits. So cute!

I guess we have to actually carve one this year. Stay tuned for what I can guess will be an AMAZING jack-o-lantern.

Lubbock 2009

This weekend we drove to the LBK. I love going to Lubbock and visiting my sweet Nana, stopping by Texas Tech campus, tailgating, the football game, cooler weather, and fun times with my family. This year Ally and I were fortunate to ride up with the Warrens and these two cuties had a blast in the car. Apparently all you need is a watch and a pair of sunglasses for hours of entertainment.

After lunch they were out. Lila and Ally both had their puppy and blanket the whole way.

Nana has some great toys at her house. Ally especially loved the piano, matador, and mini trampoline. Thank you Nana for hosting us this weekend!

Around 9:30 my little man made it. It is so different this year having to factor in Friday school. I have to remind myself constantly that Ryan can't leave town until 3:30. He rode up with Honey and GP and Mark followed soon after. Nana was very happy to see her oldest great-grandchild.

The next day was Game day and my crazy brother-in-laws put on a great pre-game tailgate. Mark and the boys played a mean game of red-neck golf and Ryan and III were fascinated by the smoker. (click on this pic to see the pig they cooked...)

The Will Rogers statue is wrapped in Red every game day and the kids thought it was way cool.

Some future RAIDERS! I remember taking pictures like this growing up and I cannot believe that now I have children taking the same shot. Amazing.

We have a few running jokes of comments made during TTU games. Mom has the famous,"Do something Spectacular Tech!" and Dad's, "We were there!" and I think a new phrase can be added to this list. "For 33 years I have been cheering on the Raiders, I love' em!"-he he. (I realize that probaby doesn't sound funny to anyone other than my sista Caryn.)

A little pretend football on campus

Twins

These two are very funny when they're together. Constant smiles.

If only Tech had won it would have been the perfect weekend. Thanks again Nana, we love you very much and we can't wait to see you again soon.

She's Crafty

I really love this time of year. It's starting to get cooler, I can bust out my Uggs, and my coffee each morning tastes even better. I also enjoy decorating our house for fall and my children really love looking at, or completely destroying all of the decorations! This year for our annual craft night Lauren came up with a great idea. I am a sucker for some glitter. Cute and simple and let's face it kids in costumes are just precious!

I copied my crafty sista Kacey with these pillar candles. I think Merry Christmas would also be really cute!

Moon Pie Owls for a Fall party. Hopefully mine will turn out just this cute!

A simple place setting. Ryan likes spiders and a spider ring on a fork will bring some smiles at dinner time.

Here's the craft for Ryan's party a Styrofoam spider...oohhh...aahhh!

I can copy a great idea like noone else! Have a great weekend.

I Heart Sweatpants

After much anticipation I have finally been able to bust out my tracksuits. I love wearing these and have them in many colors. I wish I didn't love them like I do but they make a girl happy! I know that they are basically PJ's but, on a chilly morning running errands this is my outfit of choice. Today I found that we have a mini track suit lover living in our house. Ahh Ally girl, you are rockin' this look!

Please don't turn me into the fashion police:-). Happy Fall!

Silliness

I'll let this picture speak for itself...

She's a mess. But I couldn't love her more.

Ally loves her brother SO much. Most evenings she follows him around trying to mimic everything he does. On this particular night Ryan had two little followers!

It is awesome to watch Ryan with his cousin Lila. He adores her and is always making sure she's OK and happy. Complete. Sweetness.

Ally also loves her cousin and I know she likes being in charge:-).

This little face melts Aunt Gigi's heart!

Isn't she a cute lil' punkin?

A Typical Tuesday Night

Tuesday nights have lovingly become Chick-fil-a nights at our house for a couple of reasons. One, can you really ever have too much Chick-fil-a? Two, Kids eat free. And three, it is SO easy for this momma! Now that everyone is well, (I haven't mentioned that Ryan also had the swine flu. YUCK! ) I can post about Ryan loosing his 7th tooth. That's right he now has an even more precious smile. This photo shoot became more of a game that I like to call, 'Catch Ryan if you can'. We seem to play it a lot these days.

Perfect

Some big boy teeth

And my little comedian, while she ate her dinner. Ally girl, you crack me up!

Thank you Chick-fil-a for making life a little easier on Tuesdays. :-)

What to do?

So here's my dilemma.
Every year after my children's birthdays or Christmas or any other gifting holiday, I always get a little sick to my stomach. My children have SO MUCH STUFF!!! I really struggle with the amount of excess going on in my home in the way of toys. The time is takes to pick up the stuff and organize the stuff day after day is exhausting. I am constantly giving away things and I already have an annual garage sell but still the stuff is starting to take over. Now before you go ahead an lay down some judgement just know that Mark and I are committed to teaching our children how blessed we are, that some families are in need, and that we have been called as Christians to help the poor and give to the needy. My children have very generous hearts and love to give to those children in need (Compassion, Angel tree children, Operation Christmas, etc...). But, asking them to share their stuff at playgroup is an entirely different story;-) This is my quest: to let them know that it's just stuff, to not get so attached to it, and to share, share, share.

FYI as I wrote that last sentence I became painfully aware how attached to my iPhone I am. Not a perfect example!

Just this week while Ryan was at school, I filled up three black trash bags full of toys. The sad thing is, when he returned home from school he didn't seem to miss anything. Outta sight, outta mind. Now don't get me wrong there are certain toys (i.e. anything Lego or Star Wars) that would have been noticed if missing but most of the "stuff" just takes up space. I go through phases of shoving everything in a closet and then actually organizing the madness. Right now I am in a 'get rid of everything' phase. I have been known to be a bit compulsive in this phase. In fact, the more hectic my life gets the more organized I become at home...I know weird huh?! Does anyone else struggle with this?
Bottom line is that I know that the stuff in itself is not bad. That receiving gifts is not a bad thing. I love a good gift! Do I suggest no gifts at their birthday parties? Our kids party is their gift from us so we're down at least one! Do I collect books instead of gifts and give them to the children's shelter? Limit the number of Christmas gifts to 1? What is the answer? I just really want to show my children in a tangible way that we have enough stuff. And I am at a loss.