I have a confession to make... I was sort of dreading the boys having a week off of school for Thanksgiving. I envisioned non-stop fighting and whining, and the house getting trashed. But it actually turned out to be a pretty nice week of fun for the whole family. It really helped that John only had to work Monday and Tuesday. I survived those days with outings for lunch where the boys could get a lot of their energy out on a playground. Then on Wednesday, we went to check out the Dallas Arboretum...
It was beautiful, of course, and there were lots of fun things for the kids to do. It was the last day of their fall exhibit - a Cinderella theme with awesome pumpkin displays. I hope this makes up for the fact that we never made it to a pumpkin patch for Halloween this year :)
There was also a big castle to play in...
As part of their regular exhibits, they have a little Pioneer town for kids to explore. They loved it!
It was a great day, and there were only a few flower casualties (not bad for 3 kids on the loose!)...
Thanksgiving Day was spent at my parents' house. It was just our little family and Granny & Pops for dinner, but the boys made sure to keep us all on our toes. They were thrilled when their cousins arrived a little later. Apparently, us old folks are boring. They had a ball playing together and I was too stuffed from our feast to take any pictures.
The next day, John took the boys hiking at McGee Creek State Park in Oklahoma. Our boys LOVE the outdoors, so they were in heaven...
John said they hiked at least 4 miles that day...they came home good and tired!
While the boys were away, Sadie and I were busy decking the halls for Christmas - hooray!
The next day, our elf on the shelf, Kringle, arrived back at our house to report on the kids' behavior to Santa. He brought a letter and a little treat/toy for each of the kids, and a yummy breakfast from the North Pole...
The kids love to see where Kringle is perched each morning after he returns from the North Pole each night...
And mom and dad love to remind the kids that Kringle is watching whenever they start to fight or whine...it's like magic! Now it's back to our regular routine, but the countdown to Christmas is on!
Our Halloween fun began a couple weeks early at a church party (for adults only). John and I were stumped on what to be and we didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I hit up the thrift store and came up with this...
Yep, pretty homely. We were a polygamist couple, complete with a fake pregnant belly and infant in tow (I have to give a shout out to my sis-in-law, Mandy, for the idea)! Not bad for $2 at the thrift store, especially after we won a $30 Amazon gift card in the costume contest...woohoo!
The following week was Mo's preschool party. To say he was excited would be an understatement...
Matt Mo - a "minion" from Despicable Me (we LOVE that movie!)
Sadie obviously didn't have a clue what was going on, but she LOVES to dress up so she was excited too...
The moms/dads and little siblings were invited for the pinata at the end of the party...so much fun!
Matt Mo gave it a good couple shots, but no luck. Sadie was absolutely obsessed with the thing. She kept squirming out of my arms to get a closer look...
I even helped her take a swing at it after all the preschoolers had their turn. None of them could bust it open, so the moms/dads took a few turns and finally had success!
That same night was Trunk or Treat at our church. Matt Mo got another coat of yellow face paint and Ben and Sadie joined in on the Despicable Me theme...
This was our inspiration:
I'm not sure anyone could tell who Sadie was supposed to be unless she was with the boys. Oh well, she still looked darn cute...
The boys actually won a prize for their costumes at the Trunk or Treat...more candy, just what we need! Hope everyone else had a fun and safe Halloween too!
Wonder where she learned this from? Must be a little girl with 2 big brothers. It's so funny to see what your kids get fascinated with. This girl loves underwear - either strung up on her arms like a hand bag or on her head like a hat.
She also has a new found love of coloring...
I love the way she sprawls out on the floor - I just think it's the cutest thing. She LOVES to get in the craft cabinet while she's at it...
Not so cute, but it keeps her happy while I'm on the computer (most likely pinning away on Pinterest...haha!).
Sadie's other favorite things:
Trying on all my jewelry and accessories while I get ready each morning.
After some cooler weather last week, she has a new obsession with her winter hat and pink cheetah jacket - if she sees them, she MUST put them on (even if it's 85 degrees like today).
Shoes, shoes, and more shoes (she is her mother's daughter).
Rocking her baby doll and pushing her in the stroller - pretty much the cutest thing ever.
Shaking her little booty to good tunes.
Swinging and going on the slides at the park - she laughs the whole time!
Seeing her daddy off to work each morning - they are so cute with each other, it melts my heart.
Her binky obsession is still going strong. She doesn't always have one in her mouth, but she likes to carry them around and she has to sleep with one in each hand (and one in her mouth).
She's much more emotional than the boys were at her age, but she's also super loving and cuddly. Just don't make her angry or you're in for quite the diva fit!
In short, she's the princess around here and she knows it...
Just look at that face...I want to go kiss her cheeks off right now!
After one of the hottest summers in Texas ever, we are so glad Fall is here! Not only do we get relief from the nasty heat, but the boys get to go back to school and start a new soccer season too. Ben went into 1st grade this year...
The first couple days were great, but then he decided that "1st grade is longer than kindergarten" (even though it's not) and he didn't want to go back. It was breaking my heart because he was crying and said that he would miss me too much (never thought I'd hear him say that!). We said a little prayer that he could be happy at school and he was happy to report back after school that it worked. Luckily, we haven't had any more problems with that and he's back to loving school again...phew!
Matt Mo started Pre-K a week later...
He's going to the same school as last year so it was easy breezy the first day - he knew the drill and got right to work on some puzzles while waiting for the other kids to arrive. Gotta love his cheesy picture-taking grin!
Shortly after school started, soccer season began. Ben is with his same team from the last couple seasons and Matt Mo finally got to join his first team. After sitting on the sidelines watching Ben for 2 years, he is so excited to play! I had to snap some pics before his first practice...
Having both of them playing is a little crazy with 2 different practices each week and 2 games every Saturday. I guess it's only going to get worse as they get older and have even more things going on (plus Sadie too) so we'd better just get used to it. Seeing them progress and have so much fun is definitely worth it though!
I'm almost a month late, but we did indeed celebrate Ben's 6th birthday in July. He's slightly obsessed with Legos lately, so it was no surprise when he chose that for the theme. We thought it would be the perfect time for our first visit to the new Lego Land in Grapevine...
There were rides, lots of Legos to build with, and some pretty amazing creations for us to check out...
Dallas Skyline
The one and only Dirk
And Mo's favorite, Buzz Lightyear
The boys loved the giant jungle gym/obstacle course too. They were too fast to get a picture except for this one I managed to snap right as the birthday boy came down for about the 100th time...
He was so happy to have this Lego man shirt to wear that he got as a birthday present from the Hopewells - thanks again!
Even Sadie enjoyed herself in the smaller toddler-friendly "Duplo" area...
Overall, it was a fun time. We made the mistake of going on the weekend though - very crowded and crazy. We didn't even get to go on the Harry Potter ride or see the little Lego movie because it was so crazy and Sadie was getting overwhelmed - kind of a bummer when you pay so much money! Ben was happy though and I guess that's all that really matters.
At home, the Lego theme continued with his presents...
I love the look of excitement on his face...makes me so happy. Even though it was late, we couldn't resist his pleading to start working on it right away. We let him build the police cars and then finished the police station the next day after church...
He was so proud of the finished product (with just a little bit of help from his dad)...
He also picked out a Lego airplane with some money he got from his Granny and Opa. He put it together ALL by himself!
He also got some presents from Granny and Pops before they left on vacation - the Lego police helicopter that goes with the police station and an awesome quilt my mom made (that was a surprise even I didn't know about). Sadly, I didn't have my camera so I'll have to post those pictures after I get them from my sister...hint hint!)
I had very specific instructions from Ben for his birthday cake...I gave it my best attempt (which as you can see was not all that great and somewhat lop-sided. Oh well, he liked it all the same!)...
I can't believe my little boy is 6 already! He has changed and grown up so much this past year. I can tell he's going to be a fine young man (and probably an engineer if his Lego fascination keeps up...haha). We're only a week away from starting 1st grade and I'm just so proud of how smart, talented, and kind he is (well, most of the time). Of course, there are also times he can frustrate me to no end - he loves to bug and push buttons and he can get pretty crazy and wild (typical boy). But overall, he's just a good kid with an inquisitive mind and endless energy. We're so glad he's part of our family.
