advent calendar

Dear Gram and Gramps,

Thank you for my advent calendar. As you can see, I'm really enjoying it this year.

Love,

Keegan

Car Talk

All Logan does in the car is talk. I mean, seriously. It doesn't matter how far we're going or how long we're in the car...he still talks from start to finish. From the time we get in the car till the time we get out. Here are some of the "conversations" I remember from today. I use the term "conversations" loosely because I'm trying to concentrate on driving, Gavin is off in his own little world, and Keegan is sucking on his pacifier. So basically it's just Logan talking out loud to himself.

CONVERSATION #1: First God was born, then Santa was born, and then the dinosaurs, and then us. Don't forget that, Gavin. That's the order it goes in. Right, mom? First God, then Santa, then the dinosaurs, then the people. That's the way it is. First God, then Santa, then............

CONVERSATION #2: Boys rule. Girls drool. Except mom. She's in with boys, I guess. 'Cause that's all we have in this family. And mom says we're not allowed to have any more kids.

CONVERSATION #3: Mom, how old do you have to be to drink beer? 'Cause when I was little, I think Daddy gave me a sip of beer. And that's SO BAD! Daddy broke the rule of beer! And I really, really don't want him to go to jail!!!!!!!!! Then we wouldn't have any stuff cause he wouldn't be able to work and so we would be poor children. (silence) Oh, and plus I would miss him.

CONVERSATION #4: Mom!!!!!!! STOP!!!! You're going too fast! Cause the speed limit says 70 and you're going a little bit more than 70, but a little bit less than 80! Mom!!!!!!!!! STOP!!!!!!!!!!! You're breaking the rule of the speed limit. Cause that signs says that you are supposed to go 70. Mom! Go faster! Cause now you're going a little bit less than 70, but a little bit more than 60! Mom!!!!!! STOP right there!!!!!!! You're going exactly right. You're going EXACTLY 70! That's exactly right! Oh no! Mom! You're.............

a medium butt

ME: (said to Jay...and I didn't know the kids were listening) Do these jeans make my butt look big?

JAY: No, actually it looks teeny (I've trained him well!)

GAVIN: Let ME see!

I turn around, reluctantly.

GAVIN: It looks medium.

time flies

My precious little ones through the years...

2006

2007

2008

Even in November, I still REALLY miss summer vacation!

You would too if you had this much fun!

Checking their heights for some big kid rides at Universal.

Wolverine

Keegan's first donut on National Donut Day!

Nana's house

Go Noles!

Water balloon fights!

Halloween 2009

This year we tried something new and went to a neighborhood other than our own to Trick-or-Treat with some friends. Alex, Stephanie, their two boys, and the Allison family loaded up onto the back of Alex's 4-wheeler (turned into a hay ride for Halloween!) and traveled their neighborhood in style. Let me just tell you, this neighborhood really knows how to do Halloween! One house gave out burgers, hot dogs, chips, and drinks (instead of candy) and another house hosted a mini-block party complete with one of those huge, rented bounce house/slides. I'm hoping to get some pictures from Alex to post in the near future. I simply couldn't handle the three kids, all that candy, a camera, and my dislocated elbow in a sling!

Ye Olde Renaissance Faire

Gilchrist Elementary goes all-out for their annual Ye Olde Renaissance Faire. What a blast!!!

Logan's teacher (he was playing shy!)

You can't have a good time at the fair without at least one good tackle.

Spiderman

Trunk-or-Treat

Because hosting the greatest Pumpkin Patch in the Big Bend area isn't enough, Faith Presbyterian Church (which is incidentally the church my mom and dad have been going to) also does an annual Trunk-or-Treat. We usually use this as an opportunity to go safely from car to car earlier (rather than from house to house with cranky children that are up past their bedtimes). However, this year they held their Trunk-or-Treat on October 30th and with the kids being a little bit older, we were successfully able to do BOTH. I won't even mention the amount of candy that entered my house over these past few days, but I will say that it somehow "disappeared" to Jay's work. We are cavity-free and I intend to keep it that way.

Hot Dogs with Kaleb and Shannon

Gimmie candy!

Shy boy (really I just posted this picture because I think we look strikingly similar here. There's no denying this one!)

2 skeletons, Batman, and Darth Vader

Mama and some scary dudes

self-confidence

First day of tennis lessons. After an initial obligatory shy period, Logan comes out of his shell and confidently states, "Man! I'm SO good at tennis!" each time he successfully hits the ball (which is pretty much every time he tries). This, in front of his coach, the other moms, and 4 peers. The boy does not lack self-confidence. That's for sure.

Adventures at The Doak

So, this is what happens when my parents take the kids for the night. While the kids were doing this, we were doing this....

After a gorgeous wedding for some dear friends, we headed over to Doak Campbell Stadium for the reception.

The afternoon started out normal enough as we celebrated the union of Kelly and Joe. We were also enjoying some much-needed relaxation and alone time together, all the while knowing the kids were in safe hands until the following morning.

We caught up with some old friends...

...and were the last ones to leave.

But there's just something about that open bar that gets me every time!

The night was young...

...we thought we were too...

...and that goal post was just calling my name!

It didn't hurt much at the time. In fact, I even danced and contemplated singing karaoke. But the night eventually culminated in a 4am trip to the ER. We left at 7:30am...exhausted and hungover...and picked up our three well-rested, energetic little boys on the way home.

And Gavin took this picture of me so I could show you without having to wait for Jay to come home.

The moral of the story is: I'm not 20 anymore, nor am I a gymnast, nor should I participate in future open bar wedding events!

So...$100, 3 sets of x-rays, and several weeks later, I can finally type well enough again to post this for you all to see. I was lucky -- dislocated my elbow (which is a quite a difficult feat, according to the doctor) and it popped right back into place. LOTS of pain, but lots of good meds to go along with it. Maybe, just maybe, I learned my lesson this time.