Sam's 10!

Wow!  Another child reaches the "double digit" milestone birthday!  The time goes so fast.   Here is our 10 year old with his "donut cake", as he does not like real cake... 

And our family tradition of presents outside the door...

 One of his presents was not officially outside his door...he had to go to the guest room closet to find it and it was just what he had asked for!!

I don't know which "boy" was more excited about the present...

Sam had been wanting Bop It Smash and that is the gift he received from his brothers and sisters...

 And here they all are at 8:30 this morning...we sang to Sam and ate his donut cake before his daddy headed off to work.

Happy 10th birthday Sam!!  We are so very proud of you.  You are a fun loving, funny, smart, encouraging young man and our home is blessed by YOU!  It was fun celebrating the Big 1-0 with you today!  Love you so much!   Mom

This Little Light

Jesus shines in you sweet Daniel!

Nature Walk

Today I went on a "Nature Walk" with my three youngest kids.  It was inspired by Lizzy and Abby.  They brought a notebook and crayons to draw and record their findings as we walked around the trails in our neighborhood...  

It was a "cool and crisp" day here today, perfect for Daniel to try out his new monster hat (Drew picked it out for him!  :))

Love this last photo.

My Birthday

November is filled with birthdays in our home.  On Monday I started off the first of 4 that we will celebrate this month.  Brent was scheduled to work a 14 hour shift, so he asked a pharmacist to cover a couple of hours for him in the morning to celebrate with us.  So sweet.  We had a cookie cake, I opened some presents and they all sang to me (and as Sam just reminded me...I sang to myself:))...

Later in day, the kids said "Mom, we can't just stay home...let's go do something for your birthday!"

I decided that sounded fun and adventurous, so the kids and I decide to go to Target (starbucks giftcard to spend!), Old Navy (looking for a headband for pictures the next day) and end at On the Border for dinner  (another gift card!).  I called my friend Summer and she met us for the dinner part at On the Border.

Here is the kids with their drinks from Starbucks at Target...

I actually did not have one, but it was so fun to treat them!

And then some blurry pictures from my phone at On the Border...

Daniel was cracking us up, constantly having a chip or a french fry in his mouth!  :-)

It was a great day.  My kids were the perfect dates!  Thank you Summer for joining our "crazy" group for dinner!!  

Silly Abby

Abby was being really silly when I tucked her in bed last night. She was having a conversation with herself, but making Lizzy and I laugh...A LOT. 

Abby: "I am weirder than...a watermelon!"

Lizzy and I giggle...and say "What?"

Abby replies: "I am weirder than...BROCCOLI!"

More laughs from us...

So she says: "I am weirder than...(long pause followed by a look of disbelief)...Drew! (said as if she cannot believe it!)

Oh did Lizzy and I laugh and laugh. Then when I told the boys they laughed and laughed too. She IS funny! ;-)  And she makes all of us laugh.  A Lot.  You just do not expect some of the goofiness from this sweet face...

16th Anniversary

On Friday November 2, we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.  A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that our friend, King Harrell, was meeting us to take pictures at the Arboretum.  While we were there, he took some pictures of just Brent and I...  

I don't know what he was saying to me...but the boys are sure it was "corny"...:-)

Then we got a little goofy...

"It's our anniversary! I'm SOOOO excited!"  :-)

And a little goofy-"er"...

I certainly am glad that I did not do THIS 16 years ago...:-)

Happy Anniversary Brent!  I am thankful to go through this life with you by my side! But NO I do not want to go live with you in an RV...at the bottom of a hill...next to a creek...with all our children's.  :-)  (I think he was saying something like that as King snapped the bottom 'proposal'  picture.)

Happy Halloween

This year we had Boba Fett...

Thor...

Padme...

Silvermist...

And Obi-One Kenobi...

\

We collected about 520 pieces of candy and everybody had a good time.  Drew stayed home and handed out candy.  Lizzy and Abby ran with excitement from house to house.  Sam was my buddy who stayed with us (I think?!) for the cotton candy...

and the snow cones...

I know right?!?  This was not at a "fall festival" or anything, just at individual houses in our neighborhood.  There was a cotton candy machine at one house and a dear, sweet lady making cotton candy for all the neighborhood kids.  We waited in line for awhile for this special treat.  :)  And there was a house that had a set up for making snow cones for all the kids.  Every flavor you can think of...even pumpkin pie!


Happy Halloween!

Where's the Pillow?

All you have to do, to get Daniel to look like this...

Is ask...Where's your pillow?  

Where is that pillow?

Daniel, where's your pillow?

He loves his pillow and right now, even the mention of it brings belly laughter.

We love it.  We love him.

He also REALLY loves his Buzz Light Year shoes...  

The noise of velcro makes him belly laugh too.  He thinks its hysterical when they light up as well.  In the past, he has especially liked this when we are driving in the dark.  And he also seems to enjoy taking them off and having us put them on again.  And again.  And again.  And again.  :)