Halloween!!!

This year we had a blue butterfly, a pirate, and a skunk (aka little stinker) and as always we had a lot of fun and came home with way too much candy!!

Pumpkin Pizza for dinner! Charlotte is ready!!

My beautiful blue butterfly!

My pirate doing his best mean face and looking oh so cute doing it!

This was the only one I got of all three of them. Ha! She was having NONE of sitting still.

Plenty happy as long as mommy's holding her.

This little stinker is busy busy busy all the time.

You can see big sister Allison in the same costume at this flashback post. I added the flower to make it a little more girly this year.

First stop: Nana Pam's! A yearly tradition.

They know they can expect not only candy but presents from Nana Pam!

She was going crazy grabbing the packages and getting all excited. She didn't know what to think but she knew she liked it.

Big brother letting her have a little taste of his ring pop. Mmmm!

Fall Leaves!!!

Okay so I haven't blogged in forever. Life has been...well...busy. But I just had to share these pics of the kids playing in the leaves that finally fell from the trees this week. They were super excited when they saw all of them and immediately started tossing them up in the air. I just love that they are still young enough to truly appreciate and enjoy the little things in life!

Charlotte thought it was hilarious when she was watching the leaves rain down on Alli and TJ, but she wasn't too sure about it when they starting dropping handfuls on her. I had to tell them to back off a little because they were getting a little carried away.

First Steps!!!

 

Please watch this adorable video of some of Charlotte's first steps, but you must ignore the hideous laugh at the end- I don't know who that is :)

TJ's 6th Birthday

So it was only about 2 mos ago, but here are pics from TJ's birthday celebration. This blog thing is becoming a little hard to keep up with, but I'm gonna try my best not to let it go. Especially since it's not like I'm scrap booking or doing a very good job of keeping up with the baby books (yes, books- Alli and TJ's are still not finished!)

He opted for a small celebration and one big gift (an ipod touch) instead of a big party with lots of small gifts from friends. So, Dave and Buster's with best buds Grant and Jake it was! Worked out great for everybody- WAY easier on me and he had a blast. Not to mention I don't have to figure out where to squeeze a bunch more toys in their room!

He can NEVER have to many cars- they get a lot of play!! Thanks for more Grant and Jake!

Can't believe how big all these kids are getting. And that's Daddy being a big kid himself in the background!

We really have loved having these 2 boys to grow up with. They all love each other so much - it's really sweet!

Root beer in the bottle- so fun!!!

A glimpse into the future?

His favorite- licking the candle!!

Monkey Girl!!!

What is Charlotte up to these days you ask.... Well, ever since Charlotte was itty bitty, I have said she was like a little monkey the way she clings onto me and just rides around. Well at 8 mos old, she is continuing the monkey like qualities, but has moved on to climbing...

Climbing out of her high chair and laughing at me as I tell her to sit down. One might wonder why I don't just strap her in. Well I do most of the time, but it doesn't help. She can still very easily wiggle out and stand up. It just slows her down a tiny bit, but not much.

Climbing to see the fish which she loves. I snapped this pic VERY quickly before pulling her down. We also watched and stood closely one day as she climbed onto the other arm of that rocking chair and then proceeded to hoist herself completely up onto the arm of that leather chair. She is CRAZY!!!

Visiting the fish again. Big sister Alli used to do this all the time too. I'll have to look back in the archives for a very similar pic of her. 

My adorable little monkey waiting to be rescued from her cage.

Back to School!!!

Can't believe summer is already over and it's time for the kids to head back to school. It's even harder to believe that I have a first and second grader! How is that possible?

 Allison has been super excited about going back to school for a few weeks. TJ not so much, but he warmed up to the idea after Howdy Night (meet the teacher). And it helps that they both got the teacher they were hoping for!

The first day went off without a hitch and they were even ready about 20 minutes early- I'm guessing we'll all start moving a little slower though as the newness of the school routine wears off. But, hopefully Daddy's checklist of things to do to get ready in the morning will help keep them on track!

She woke up with the alarm at 6:20am excited and chatty, but those sleepy eyes weren't fully awake. It took about 4 attempts to get a pic with them open! 

My morning boy a little more awake but not near as excited or chatty.

Ready to walk out the door. TJ wanted to show off his scissors. He got a purple pair in his pre-ordered supply pack and he was having none of that (and the stores only had purple and pink) so Daddy painted them camo for him. Very fitting! Alli is starting the year out with a few less teeth than she had last year.



My sweet girl! She loves her fancy first day dress from Justice. She had been begging me to go shopping there all summer- thankfully we hit it during the 40% off everything sale!

That's my TJ! He can be a handful sometimes, but I love this kid!

 

At the school and ready to start a new year at Helotes Elementary! Bulldogs Rock!

 

 

 

Our July 4th!

We had a fun family July 4th- nothing too crazy- just the five of us hanging out at home, daddy barbecued, red and blue fruit kabobs for dessert, and then went to watch the Fiesta Texas fireworks from the adjacent mall parking lot (along with a ton of other people). All the street lights keeping the parking lot all lit up took away from the experience a little, but the weather was great and the fireworks were impressive!

Then we found out that Helotes was having a celebration the Saturday after July 4th so we went to that too. It was your classic small town July 4th event- free popcorn and hot dogs, bounce houses for the kids, washer pits, canons on display complete with men in Revolutionary war attire all while the town band played patriotic songs. It was a little like taking a step back in time, and I loved it! The evening ended with fireworks that were a little too close and the canons firing a few times in the middle of it all. Pretty exciting, but a little scary. Thankfully Charlotte was fine as long as she had her head buried in my chest with my hand over her ear- she was actually surprisingly relaxed.

And now for the pics...

The kids and their fruit kabobs. Allison ate almost the whole plate by herself!

Playing in the backyard while Daddy barbecued. Won't be too long before she'll be ready for a Gator ride!

After the first fireworks show waiting for traffic to let up so we could get out of the parking lot!

Waiting for her 2nd fireworks experience at the Helotes Fireworks Spectacular on Saturday night.

I think she was enjoying watching everything going on around her.

Allison playing washers

TJ's turn at washers!

Pedernales Falls Day Trip!!!

A few weeks back we took a trip out to Pedernales Falls for a day of hiking and swimming in the river. Dwaine proposed to me at Pedernales Falls (actually it was on private property just outside the park past a barbed wire fence, but that's another story), so it has always been a special place for us. We hadn't been in many years and wanted to take the kids to share it with them too... 

First we hiked down to the falls to explore and enjoy the views!

A nice lady offered to take a family photo of all of us. Yay!

Off for a little more hiking!!

Alli modeling for me

Now for swimming!! The cool water felt great after all that hiking and we found the perfect shady spot by the river to hang out under when we needed to get out of the sun!

Charlotte enjoying her chair rock!! It was perfect for her and she loved it!

Swimming with Daddy!

A video of our fun!!!