school lunch....

....with a friend on a beautiful fall day!!

and i tell you what ~ with awesome friends like these you can conquer anything!!!

....like keeping your shoes tied!!

too cute :)

and of course, we have to take a silly pic....

just another fun-filled day in the first grade!!

i am thankful....

....for these two beauties!

yesterday they were my *subjects* in a mini photo shoot at the botanical gardens....i honestly have a new found respect for child photographers!! though i am sure hope that brother would have been a different child if i weren't behind the camera....wear . me . out!

of course, the fact that i took over 400 pics probably had nothing to do with it .... haha! there were three outfits total....i was striving for a perfect decent christmas card pic....and i am still sorting, editing & laughing my way through all the pics....the out takes are HILARIOUS!! i will be posting throughout the week...

i did want to post these pics.....i just love there precious outfits! with two of my favorite verses....

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

i tried explaining to my dear *patient* husband that the reason i take so many pics (thank goodness for digital!!) is that i am not that great so i need LOTS of chances to get a good pic.....or this year i will settle for decent....brother's faces were unbelievable!!.....and yes, they were bribed with candy they whole time :)

time to celebrate...

...so when the birthday boy finally made his way home tuesday night from basketball practice we were able to *celebrate* his day!

....knowing his practice schedule this week we had already gone out for his *birthday dinner* on sunday....steak of course!....so now all that was left was cake ~ the kids favorite part!

we thought 32 candles might be a bit excessive...so we counted by tens instead!....always math related when it comes to these guys ~ ugh, being married to a human calculator is tough sometimes :) though i couldn't ask for a better hubby and daddy to my kiddos!

happy birthday again babe....i love you!!

thank you....

....thank you dear brother for serving our country today and everyday!

(scanned pic from the night of his deployment around 7 years ago)

happy, happy day....

....to another chunky monkey!!

happy birthday to my amazing husband and happy day of birthing to brenda :)

man, brett & i were some *healthy* babies!!

trick or treat...

....smell my feet!!

halloween night was a blast!! dinner with great friends and then lots of trick-or-treating :)

and obviously by this point in the wild, crazy, busy week i was delirious! i brought my camera along to snap pics but left the battery on the charger at home....UGH!! honestly, i think i was worn out by this point....luckily my sweet friend let me borrow an old point & shoot....thank goodness for friends to save the day :) so needless to say, i wasn't quite used to the camera and the pics aren't my typical but hey...i was just glad to have any pics!

such an adorable group of kids!! but trying to get a good group shot is a bit of a challenge :)

sweet girls!!

remember the twin brothers i was talking about in this post.....well here they are!!
so . stinkin . cute .

all the boys :)

i am looking so forward to these guys growing up together....they are exactly the same age, june birthdays and all!!

and we even ran into some other piggies!! i just had to snap a pic :) one of the piglets is a student of brett's too!

big man's little legs finally gave out!!

back at the house.....

thanks again reid family for having us!!

A&O halloween bash....

....was quite the fun, kid filled night!!!

we decided saturday evening that we would try a new costume....supporting the blazer's win!!....plus when you have to dress up 4-5 times in 4 days it is nice for a change of pace :)

Alpha & Omega is the name of our Community Group (or sunday school class for those of us that can't get used to the new lingo!!) at church....about twice a year we attempt to really get everyone together, children and all.....and that is ALOT of kids!!...plus at any given moment there is AT LEAST 3 women pregnant ~ right now i can count 5!!

needless to say, it makes for a fun & chaotic time!! the home we were at was beautiful & had an awesome backyard...good times!

i had to include a pic of this family.....they are a GREAT family and their costumes did not disappoint!!....introducing the Veggie Tales...

it was a wonderful night....even with a little rough housing by the boys!!....i do have to admit that i am kinda glad the christmas party will be adults only :)



fall festivals...

in the midst of this crazy week we also managed to squeeze in two fall festivals....boy, can we overstimulate ourselves have fun or what?!?!

first fall festival was at one of the local churches...this is an AWESOME fall festival!!....they have real "fair-like" rides which the kids love....

this beautiful 80's punk rocker is one of sissy's new friends....and we are so glad they moved here!! and brother is pretty excited too seeing as she has twin brothers his exact same age!!

oh how we love these reid girls too!!....we are so blessed to have this family in our lives!

these boys know how to have fun!!

sis waited in line forever to climb this wall....she did great!! 

do you think it was a bit humid and sticky!?!?.....brother's hair was dripping, and this was way before it started raining!!

time for face painting!!

yeah, i am still working on getting all that paint out of that white dress!!.....needless to say when the rain came down so did her face ~ all over her dress!...oh well, at least she got two years out of it :)

boys will be boys!!

sis getting in on the golf action!

oh these two monsters are just too stinkin' cute!!!

one more ride before the rains....such a great night!!

next up, saturday's fall festival at big man's school!

we LOVE mrs. sandy!!

lots of fun carnival games....

 

 

gotta love a cake walk...so glad that big man won me himself a strawberry edgar's cupcake!!....now THAT was my birthday cake :)

how cute are these boys?!?!

each year the classes decorate pumpkins in a little *friendly* competition....wow, these are GREAT this year!