I love Fall!

I love Fall! There are so many awesome things about fall. For one I love that the weather cools off and it is perfect playing outside weather. Our family loves being outside and on adventures. So we love fall! Especially October. Here are some of the things we have done so far.

Boys camping out in the backyard on Friday nights. The boys look forward to Friday night because we have been letting them sleep in a tent in our yard. They love camping!



With Fall brings school field trips. I got to go with Sierra & her class to the Dallas Arboredium. It was so fun. They had lots of things for the kids to see and do. They all had so much fun that they were actually tired and ready for the bus when the day was over. I also got to go with Savanah on a field trip, but Bryan had my camera in NO at the game so I didn't get an pictures. It was killing me to be without my camera. Will post some of his Saints pictures later.


We also went with our best friends to a Pumpkin Patch. It was so much fun! There was so many fun things to do & it was free, even better. This is Sierra's best friend!


Savanah with her friend!



At the Pumpkin Patch they had a hayride. The boys with their good friend.

The Pumpkin Patch also had this fun train. Only Brayden & Savanah got to ride before the Texas Fall Thunder Storm hit.

Turkey Legs! Gotta have a Turkey Leg when you are out at the Carnival.


They had lots of wooden cutouts, which those that know me know how much I love them. This one was too funny. I think Bryan makes a good Dufensmirth. What do you think? I think we found his Halloween Costume.

They also had this awesome hay maze. The boys spent hours in there. They LOVED it!

What a cutie!



And then the pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins. As well as the jump houses, which the girls loved.

They had lots of wagons to collect your pumpkins that you wanted to take home. So Bryce decides to collect friends.



Fun in the Hay! Talk about itchy.

We went with our best friends and had tons of fun.


Sierra's friend had a Halloween Birthday party and invited all the kids.

Brayden dressed up as Ash. If you know Pokemon you will know who he is. Boys his age are obsessed with Pokemon.


Bryce loves, and I do mean LOVES, Lego's so he wanted to be a Lego Man. This is my creation of a Lego Man costume. He loves it so that was all that mattered to me.

The girls went as dancers. What made their costumes so special was that these were mine when I was 6. I was in Dance all growing up and my mom kept some of my dance costumes. She gave them to me recently and the girls wanted to wear some of them. Can you believe these are 30 years old. I loved seeing them in my old dance stuff. What beautiful little girls!


And Football. You can't have Fall without some good ole football. Brayden is playing tackle football this year. AND loving it. He practices 3 times a week (2 hr. practices each) and has a game every saturday. It has taken over our life but he is having so much fun and we love watching him play. He is a tightend and wants to be like Jeremy Shockey one day. (Saints player for those of you that don't know who he is.)


We also went to our school Fall Festival and had lots of fun. They have this great festival every year and the kids love going to it.

And if you live in Texas you can't miss the TEXAS STATE FAIR! We took the kids out of school one day and went to the fair. They have lots of things for kids to do. We went to an awesome Bird Show, a Dog Show, petting zoo, rode some rides & lots more. After 7 fun hours we gave out and headed home.

What a great Fall we have had so far. Can you believe we did all this in October, and Halloween isn't even here yet. I hope you have a great Fall & enjoy it as much as our family has.

Back to School!

Back to School was pretty exciting, and sad, at our house. The kids were all super excited about going back to school. (Bryce was excited and way nervous, he doesn't do change very well).

Here is Brayden with his new teacher Mrs. Mize, on meet the teacher night. He was really excited about having her as a teacher since he thinks she is really cute and really nice. (She really is. Mommy was super excited because she is a really sweet teacher, but suppose to be the best second grade teacher to get the kids ready for 3rd.)


Here is Bryce putting his stuff in his new desk. He was really nervous, I even had to drag him into school and into his classroom. But once school started he warmed up and was ready to go.


Bryce on his 1st day of 3rd grade! The BIG year where they learn multiplecation :( He has a really great teacher that is trying hard to make sure he is understanding what she is teaching. I really appreciate all her hard work, already, in helping Bryce succeed.



Brayden all ready for his 1st day.



Sierra on her 1st day of school. I can't believe my baby is starting school. She is so excited to go to school. And what makes it even more exciting - her best friend (our neighbor) Audrey is also in her class. So, she wasn't as nervous as mommy with her first day of school.

Her she is on her first day already busy at work.

Savanah was ready for school to start back, all summer long. She LOVES school and would go everyday if we let her. Seriously, the girl LOVES school. She does workbooks all the time. The rest of the kids love playing and Savanah loves learning.



Here she is all ready for class to start. All summer long she told us that she was getting Mrs. Ahlstedt for 1st grade. Mrs. Ahlstedt was Brayden's 1st grade teacher. Thank heaven's she actually has her as a teacher this year.

All my babies on their first day of school 2010. Can you believe I have a K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. I bet their aren't too many people that can say that. I am excited to see how much they learn and grow this year. I can't believe how big my babies are getting. Where does time go?


It was really hard for everyone to be in school. I really thought 5 years ago when I had so many small babies that I would look forward to this day. Boy was I wrong. I am having fun, though, volunteering at the school. I go and help in the library each week when the kids have their library time. They love it that I am in school with them. I also volunteer for Sierra's class some when they go to art. The art teacher needed some help with the kinder's.

Summer 2010

Yes, Yes I am WAY behind. So today I thought I would catch you up on our busy but fun summer. So here are some random pictures:

We got to kill 2 snakes in our neighborhood this summer. Yeah, mommy was really excited about that one. We live close to a pond that runs through our subdivision. Very beautiful, fun to walk to and feed the duck, but NOT fun that we have now seen 2 snakes. One by the water and one right in front of our house.


We did lots of swimming. Had to survive the Texas summer somehow. We even played football in the pool. Talk about fun stuff!


More swimming! This happened on most days since ALL of our summer was 100 or more. The kids got out of school June 4th and it was 100 or more every stinkin day of our summer vacation. Thank heaven for pools, although the last few weeks the water was even toooo hot to get in.


In July Brayden started football. The first week they practiced they didn't wear their pads or tackle each other, just the dummy. But after that, it was kill time. Can you believe that 7 yr. old football in Texas is the real deal. And these coaches mean business. They scream at these little boys, and expect them to play like professional football players. Never imagined what we were getting ourselves into. Practice started in July and Football doesn't end until the week before Thanksgiving. Brayden practices 3 days a week for 2 hr practices (before games started it was 4 day practices), and then has a game on Saturday which ends up taking about 3 hrs. of our day. Yeah!

Texas has lots of great parks. So we explored lots of different parks!

We went to Grami & Big Daddy's and played on their really fun water slide. This is definately a hit with all the grandkids.

And we got to play with my sweet little niece! The girls and I loved spending time with her. She is so cute and smiley all the time. Takes after her daddy, smiley!

We got a membership to the Dallas Zoo and went a few times. It was alot of fun. They have renovated the zoo and it is really cool!




Fishing! We went fishing ever chance we got. The kids love to fish. This is in Utah at Solitude. So beautiful! I love this picture where you can see their reflection in the water.

We got to go hiking and climb in the mountains at our awesome Family Reunion in Utah! We had a blast. The weather was amazing, and the scenery beautiful and the company perfect.



Sierra girl had a birthday. My baby turned 5 (and started kindergarden :( )

Bryce earned his Bear 6 months early. I am so proud of him!



We got to take our children to see the Temple. Priceless!

Here is another picture that I loved from our reunion.



We found another cool zoo. Frank Buck Zoo. The kids loved it because you got to feed a giraffe. Look at his long black tongue. Their tongue's are like 3 feet long, seriously.



We had a very busy, but very fun summer. Thought life would slow down when they were back in school, but boy was I wrong. We are enjoying our new stage of life with everyone in school & sports. Will post about that soon. (Hopefully!)

Blessings!

Lately I have been thinking alot about my BLESSINGS! I am truly blessed and so thankful for all that the Lord has blessed me with. Life gets so crazy sometimes that I am too busy to see my blessings, unless I stop and think about them. I have really trying to do that each day and when I do I find that life is so much more enjoyable.


One of my wonderful blessing is my amazing husband! He is such a wonderful husband and truly amazing father. The kids and I are so blessed to have him. One of the reasons I fell in love with him and am still so in love with him is because of his humor. He is so stinkin funny! I love that he loves to be happy and thinks life should be fun. Each day he keeps our family laughing and I am greatful to him for that. I also love going on adventures with him because he has me in tears laughing. He ALWAYS does something so crazy yet so funny! NO, this isn't what you are thinking. He has shorts, shoes & socks on. He just took his shirt off and made sure you couldn't see his shorts. This was outside at a bed and breakfast we were staying at for our anniversary. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Just had to share this picture because this is what Bryan does all the time. GOT TO LOVE HIM! I do!

Another one of my blessing is my sweet young man Bryce. This has to be one of the bed kids in the world. And I am truly blessed that he is mine. One week I was having an extremely crazy week and was feeling kind of overwhelmed and tired. On one of these days when my alarm went off I dreaded getting up because I knew once I got up I would be running until who knows when. But I forced myself anyways. I was suprised to find Bryce up. I am usually the first one up. He was up writing in his journal about how much he loved Bryan and I. The Lord knew I needed that. That afternoon when I was working with Savanah on her homework Bryce and Brayden were off working on a craft. They called me to my room for a surprise. They had made me a poster and hung it over my bed. It read: I LOVE MOM SO MUCH! He is such a sweatheart and is always doing sweet things like this. He is such a thoughtful, kindhearted little man. Definately a blessing!

Big Red! I love this little man so much. His smile lights up every room he enters. Not only does his smile warm my heart so does all the hugs and kisses this little man gives. The Lord knew I needed someone to give me lots of hugs and kisses. He is also so much like his dad, and I love that. He loves to make people laugh and is always being funny. He loves hanging out with his mom and dad - especially dad because they both Love football so much! WHO DAT!

My beautiful Savanah! She is such a Leader and on some days she is the best helper in the world. She loves to help others and can be so thoughtful sometimes. I love when she wakes up and just wants to help and please everyone all day. She amazes me at how smart she is. She loves to read and I am amazed at how well she reads. I love sitting back watching her with others. She is such a girl! Teachers at school call her MS. Diva and it definately fits her.

Sweet little Sierra! Sierra is my sweet little shadow. She loves and needs her mommy so much, which I love. I love that she loves being with me and don't know what I am going to do when she starts kindergarden. She loves playing barbies with mommy, jumping on the trampoline with mommy and just sitting in mommy's lap giving loves. Her little giggle causes me to laugh also.

I am so thankful for the 5 beautiful blessing that Lord has blessed me with! I have so many more, but I get to spend each day with these special blessings!

Advice - ANYONE?

I would love some advice! If you have experienced this, no someone who has I would love some advice.
What do you do with a child that HATES clothes, shoes, panties, socks. EVERYDAY Savanah looses her mind, and I do mean loose her mind over some article of clothing. I have tried everything, but to no prevail. She hates bluejeans & goes nuts if she puts them on. So, I stopped buying bluejeans and put hers away. So, I started buying leggings way to big because she likes them better. She doesn't like shirts that fit - so I buy shirts to big. She hates socks - so I don't make her wear socks anymore, but don't get by her at the end of the day because her feet stink. She hates panties - so I buy them toooo big. She hates shoes - so thereagain I buy them to big. She hates most dresses but she has to wear one to church. SO, EVERYDAY starts with alot of screaming, crying, pulling on our clothes, wallering on the floor (you get the picture). Not fun! And somedays puts me in a really bad mood. Sundays are the worse! We have spanked her, grounded her, made her stay in the guest room for a long time with nothing to do. Such fun! I really don't know what her problem is. Once she gets over it - she never says another word about the clothes the rest of the day. Several weeks ago she put on some clothes and started in with her fit because the pants hurt (it was on a Friday). Once I got her to school she was okay. Then on Saturday morning she woke up and put on the same clothes. I told her she needed to take them off & put them in the dirty cloths because she had already worn them. Her response was she liked them & wanted to wear them again. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So, she wore them all day Saturday too. Then Sunday after church, what did she put on? The same clothes. This time I made her take them off. REALLY - clothes that hurt when we put them on & cause us to loose our mind we can wear 3 days in a row. So Bryan decided that it is just habit now and not really a problem since we have tried really hard to avoid this problem with buying too big things. What are your thoughts?
Wish I had a picture to show you of the fits we throw in the morning. They sure do start the day out great!

Lots of Parties, Fun in the Snow, & Very Tired!

We have had such a busy February that I am so tired & in desperate need of some R & R. The sad thing is - the month isn't over yet. Between 5 parties - yes, 5 parties and lots of snow I am one tired mommy.

Every year at this time we are extremely busy with 3 of the kids having birthdays. But this year got even crazier!

Bryce turned 9 this year! I can't believe my little boy is getting so big. He is really into Lego's so ofcourse we had to have a Lego party. He invited all his friends from school & had a blast. He got LOTS of Lego's to build.

Savanah turned 6 and invited all the girls from her class. Their are 10 girls in her kindergarten class & they ALL came. Brayden loved every minute of it with all the little girls chasing him. I think he thought it was his party too - NO just girl crazy! Savanah is really into Barbies so we had a Barbie Party. Since we needed to have it on a Friday night we did a Barbie Pajama Party. All the girls wore their PJ's & danced & had lots of fun. I don't think I have ever seen her so happy!

My man Brayden had a "Saints" party - ofcourse! He is really into football, but especially Saints football with his dad. Even before we knew they were going to the Superbowl he had planned to have a Saints Birthday Party. Worked out great for me since they were going to be in the Superbowl the next week I was able to get party supplies right here in Dallas TX for the Saints. Having 10 girls was easier than having 10 boys. Boys are SOOOOO rowdy! But Brayden had a blast!

Then we had a Superbowl Party! On Friday was Savanah's party, Saturday was Bryce's party & then Sunday the Superbowl party! 3 Parties in one weekend alot of fun but very tiring. We had a blast cheering on the Saints! WHO DAT!

It was pretty intense, at times, watching the game. But it was all worth it! Our neighbors were looking out their windows, I guess to scared to come outside, because we were so excited that we won that were all outside screaming & Bryan was running down the street screaming. It was all so exciting! We had fun watching the Saints in our Saints room!

After all that fun - we had 3 days of playing in the snow. I have never seen such cool snow in Texas. We had 8 in. in our yard. I have played in snow before, but not snow that would roll up in balls the way this did. We had sooooo much fun! Here is Savanah & our neighbor building a snow man.

Such Beautiful snow!



Bryan & the kids building lots of snow men! The first day we build the big snow man & then it kept snowing so we had to build several more!

Then we finished out our 2 weeks of craziness with a baby shower for my sister in law Mandy. And it was just in time because baby Adalynne was born this morning. I can't wait to see her!

Then Valentines! Could we fit in anymore parties & celebrations this month? I sure hope not! For Valentines I got Bryan tickets to go see the Mavericks play. So, on Wednesday we went to watch the Mavericks beat the Suns! It was alot of fun! BUT now I need some serious R & R. Calgone take me away!!!!

That's what we have been up to this month! Hope ya'll have had a great month :)

Fun in New Mexico

For Thanksgiving, this year, we didn't something different. Usually we get together with Family & have Turkey & the fixin's. But this year we decided to go to Angel Fire, New Mexico to my aunt & uncle's cabin. They have an awesome cabin, in the mountains. We had just a blast! We will definately go back to visit often.

Here is thier cabin!



We drove over to Red River, New Mexico, about 30 min. away to go sledding. We had so much fun. We were planning on going sledding 1 day & skiing another day, but since we all had so much fun we ended up sledding 2 days & decided to wait to teach the kids to ski until Sierra is a little bigger.
Since we had 3 sleds the girls all raced each other! Sierra won - I guess being the smallest her sled went faster!


Then the boys raced! Brayden won that race!



My kids LOVED the snow! We have never really lived anywhere, while we have children, were it snows much. They couldn't get enough of it. At home they hate wearing alot of cloths, but they all buddled up & stayed out as long as mommy could handle it.



The first thing Sierra did when we got to the snow was make a snow Angel. All she could talk about before we left for New Mexico was that she wanted to go to the Snowy Mountains & make a snow Angel. I guess she heard that on Dora?? And she did! As soon as she got out of the car she headed for the snow & laid down to make her Snow Angel!

The day before we left it warmed up to 55 degrees(which I guess felt warm to them since the low each day was about 10 degrees with a high of about 25 to 30), so the kids shed their coats & went out & built a fort out of fallen trees. They had so much fun they didn't want to get in the car the next day to go home. That is one thing they miss about TN is being outdoors exploring all the time. So, they were definately in their element out in nature in New Mexico.

My uncle took us to a cave, close to their house, where legend goes Billy the Kid & his gang use to hide out. It was fun exploring the cave & thinking that Billy the Kid use to hide out their!

One day while we were their we went hiking in the mountain that their cabin sits on. It was so much fun exploring. The girls gave out early & I took them back to the cabin while Bryan & the boys climbed to the top. They found deer tracks & deer poop & thought that was awesome.



While we were their we rode 4-wheelers all day everyday. We had such a blast riding 4-wheelers & exploring the mountain roads. It was so beautiful their & definately made us miss the mountains in TN! They had 2 4-wheelers and since the kids are so small we were able to fit all the girls on 1 and all the boys on 1. I just had to remind Bryan a few times to be careful with my boys on his. It was hard to tame the daredevil in him, but he handled it pretty well.

Bryan with the boys!

We are so thankful to my aunt & uncle who let us come stay in their cabin for Thanksgiving! We had such an amazing time together. Nothing like just exploring & spending time together as a family with out all the other distractions of life (like a phone). Our cellphones didn't work their so we just spent all day everyday together enjoy all that nature had to offer in New Mexico.

I know this way past Thanksgiving, but wanted to share our week with you! I hope ya'll all had an awesome Thanksgiving & were able to spend quality time together. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, that I love so much & our 4 beautiful children!