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.

a sleepover & a visit to the pumpkin patch

Looks like the boys spent some serious play time with Nana and Papa while we were at the Darling/Martin Wedding!

Now Papa has THREE boys that know how to tie him to the chair and hold him captive. He doesn't have a chance of escape now!!!