Halloween!

Thanks to my aunt and uncle for getting some really cute pictures of the kids. I got one group picture, but it was really bad - thank you lousy camera.

We had a Star Wars theme going on;

Kyle was OBWan Kenobi.

Drew was Darth Vader.

Paige was R2D2. I am sure that she will have words with me one day about dressing her up as the robot, but it was soooo cute. At least I didn't dress her as Yoda, right?

I thought that Matt and I were particularly funny. He dressed as a caddie and I dressed as a pro golfer. He had my name pinned to his jump suit and I had a Jameson label pinned as my sponsor. Made me laugh.

Happy Turkey Day ~

LKS

Not me Monday!

I follow a blog of this really charming girl who has had a really difficult pregnancy and is due to give birth to a baby boy this week. He is likely to be very sick with a heart condition, but just as likely to be born just fine. Anyway, she has a funny thing she shares every Monday and here is my list of "not me"s.

I "did not" goof off and spend too much time on the computer at all last week, or the week before, or the week before that!

I definitely "did not" nearly pull my girl child's hair out trying to put her hair in the cutest pig tails ever!!

She did brave her mother's efforts and now look how cute she is!

We did not let our young sons watch The Last Samurai and they definitely did not try to attack the TV with swords and guns while the soldiers and Samurai were battling.
(I also did not pull this from last month just 'cause it is funny and try to pass it off as having recently happened - not at all - seriously.)

I have not been gleefully anticipating our trip to Big Daddy and Mimi's house this weekend.

I have not anxiously awaited the day when I get to leave behind my job (ie - house)to be loved and pampered by my parents (read - spoiled.)

I hope everyone who reads this does not have a fun Halloween and I also hope your children don't get loads of the really good halloween candy so that you can relieve them of said candy so they don't have to suffer.

LKS

My baby boy is 3!

OK - so he turned three in August, so what?

I am now going to show you his awesome Star Wars themed birthday cake! Made by his very own mother -

Anikan and ObiWan fight it out while R2D2 watches

Since we are all about Star Wars at our house, it was a big hit. I learned that you have to be careful in telling your friends and family of your child's likes and dislikes because inevitably all the gifts point toward that interest. :) We now have Star Wars costumes, computer game, little people with little parts and pieces, and most importantly - mulitiple light sabers, but this is OK. We definitely need more than one for the epic battles that will be taking place in the backyard.

Battle #1 - Darth Vader & Clone Trooper

We will also need more than one anytime a certain uncle T is in town because I am sure that he will need to participate in said battles.

PJ also scored at her brother's birthday party since we were out of town for her birthday. She got the cutest little fall jogging outfit and a precious and soft baby doll. Her loving aunt then thought it would be really funny to put her in the birthday bag since she was trying to climb into it anyway - and it was funny.

As you can see above, PJ has an affinity for anything soft. Soft things elicit a sweet little, " OH -ho-ho -ohhhh." You can see this face below - my bff JR captured it perfectly!

She also had a mommy made birthday cake based on a much loved bunny she got from her Gram. I'm getting the hang of this cake thing. I probably couldn't sell them, but I don't think they're too bad!

Hopefully far down the road they won't feel slighted because they didn't have store bought cakes, well except for DT's birthday last year. I figured since I had recently given birth to PJ that I got a get-out-of-making-the-cake pass. All others have been made and lovingly decorated by mom. ;o)

LKS

Little Fish

Kyle took swimming lessons in July. He had a great teacher and is swimming really well. He still needs his lifejacket in deeper water, but is totally comfortable in water where he can stand. Here he is getting ready to jump off the diving board.





As you can see, he is much more interested in eating the popsicle than smiling at me for a picture. :)



On a totally unrelated note -

I think one of the worst jobs in the world has to be the porta-potty cleaner. There is currently a cleaning truck across the street form my house cleaning out the porta-potty at the house-that-will-never-be-done. When he finishes, there is a stench that lasts for quite a while.
BLEEEHHH! YUCK!



LKS

LAKE CITY!!

We took a great trip to Lake City, CO in the end of July with our best friends the Rogers'. We had a fabulous time as we always do. The weather was WONDERFUL, especially going from 100+ degree days to 70 degree days and 40 degree nights - GLORIOUS! We fished, we four-wheeled, we played dominoes (a lot) - it was a great vacation!

We celebrated Paige's first birthday at the top of Vickers Ranch. Everyone up there sang happy birthday with us. The top of that mountain has become a special place for our family, now we have one more reason to celebrate.

I have a ton of pictures, so I will put in a slideshow, enjoy!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Way back . . .

I have a lot to post from over the last month or so. I've decided to take it a little at a time, that way it will seem like I am actually blogging a lot more - ha!

We had a visit from my aunt Melissa in the first part of July. I almost never get to see her and it was so great to get to visit and catch up. The kids and I went with her to the Arboretum and we all had a great time.

This is a great picture except for the fact that Kyle felt his stuffed horse should be in front of his face. Oh well.

The next weekend we were in Austin to FINALLY see my precious nephew. Here he is with his biggest fan, who - by the way - is wondering when he'll be old enough to have some fun. :)

Until next time . . .

LKS

And so it goes . . .

It's the story of my life. As with anything else, I have good intentions and I am foiled again and again! I forgot my camera when Kyle was a ring bearer at our friends' wedding two weeks ago - ugh! Now our camera and video camera are in Nacogdoches along with 2 1/2 months of pictures and movies that have yet to be downloaded. So I can't post more recent pics or send pics to various grand and great grand parents as promised. I also couldn't take pictures of my kids with Carrie's kids who were here yesterday to play. Hopefully we'll have the cameras back after this weekend. This is what I get for procrastinating downloading everything

In the meantime, Paige is crawling all over the place and saying a few words - Mama, Dada, Ky (le) Bye Bye and signs "all done" and "more." It is true what they say about girls - she is all about talking. Her brothers adore her as long as she stays out of their block castles which she loves to knock down. Ha! Visions of things to come I'm sure.

Kyle and Drew have had fun at swimming lessons. While Kyle is swimming like a fish, Drew isn't so sure. He is content to stay on the steps or where he can stand with his head above water. When we were in Nac this weekend they got to ride on their uncle's 4 wheeler and mower. Drew helped pick/eat tomatoes from his garden and they shot fireworks. They were DIRTY when they returned from their country adventures. The shower was a river of mud.

We had a great time with Carrie, Jackson and Ella yesterday. Drew said he was going to miss Jackson who is really the first friend his age we have had over to play (they are 4 months apart.) We finally got to meet the beautiful Ella (who is 6 months younger than Paige.) And Carrie and I picked up like we always do, except that it had been way too long since we have seen each other. We can't believe we are moms. We are both so blessed with our families - wow.

I promise I'll post pictures as soon as I possibly can. There are sure to be good ones after this weekend - well . . . I guess I'll have to borrow a camera or rely on Julie - my picture taking friend extordinaire.
Until then . . .

L