Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip down to the Dallas Arboretum to take pictures in the pumpkin patch. My friend Colette and I were the only ones who could make the trip that day, so we chased the kids around & got a few shots worthy of posting.

Here is what I saw most of the time from Evan. He just wanted to run through the pumpkins and pick up the ones that were small enough.
Trying to get a 2 yr old to smile results in many different things... the fake, 'look how funny I can be' face...

The cheesy, 'please let me down so I can run' face...The 'OK, you told me just one more' face...
And if you are lucky... you get an almost normal smile! :)

Now, trying to get 3 kids to smile, at the same time, and look in the same direction... pretty impossible for 2 Moms who's kids are tired of hearing us talk to them. :)

Thankfully, it was a beautiful day & the kids were totally tired when we got home. :) Next year this same crew will have 3 girls and 2 boys... kinda crazy to think about!

Plano Balloon Festival

In mid-Sept, we headed down to Plano for their annual hot-air balloon festival. It was quite warm, but we were in the shade & it was quite a hike from our car to the park where it was held. The kiddos enjoyed playing and running around & we were able to see the balloon glow. So, here are a few shots of the evening.

Janina entertained the kids for a while. We were very appreciative!
Evan gave us his surprised but happy face... he is the king of making faces. :)

Page rested a moment... he and Ben spent most of the time getting food and drinks for us.

A great shot of the balloon glow. The kids loved the mushroom & the lady bug.
Our little family. Evan making another face & me trying to keep him from putting his hands over his face. :) It was a fun outing.

The Great Clean-out

I will make this short, and not bore you with pictures... but Sept turned into a clean-out frenzy at our house. It started when we wanted to put Evan in his new room. Well, we had to find somewhere for all the stuff in the guest room to go. So, we had to start cleaning out other areas of the house to accommodate the stuff. After that, we worked on getting Molly's room cleaned out (it had become the staging area for all the stuff we did not know what to do with) and from there, we moved to our room, the living room, kitchen, office, garage & even the attic. It was quite the task & pretty much consumed our lives for about 3 weeks or so. However, I am happy to report that all is where it should be & I have been able to be more the housekeeper than I have ever been. It is quite a relief. We are still working on a couple of last projects around the house- cleaning out the garage again after we emptied Lisa's house & we are sprucing up our bedroom to make it a little more like a place of rest. But, those are minor compared to what we got done. So we feel much better now & nesting is not really on my agenda any more. :)

Short weekend away

As of June 11th of this year, Page and I have been married for 5 years. It has been a wonderful journey of ups and downs, but we would have it no other way. :) To celebrate, we originally wanted to take a fun trip & let my parents take care of Evan... we did get to it- on Labor day weekend. So, a little late- but better late than never, right. We did not do anything glamorous- we dropped Evan off at my parent's house & drove into Louisiana to a town called Nachtitoches. I went to college in Nacogdoches, TX, and they are a rival of sorts, so it made for an interesting trip... among many other things.

On Saturday, we got to town, checked into our hotel & headed to the historic downtown area. There is some great shopping there & there are a few historical things to see as well. We were there on a day when there were 2 events that seemed to completely clashed in my mind... a motorcycle rally & a Zydeco music festival. Let's suffice it to say that the combo made for interesting people watching... which is what we did the most of. :)
On Sunday, we did not really want to do a plantation tour (even though that is most of what tourists do there in the summer), so we decided to be adventurous and head out of town to take in the sights of the Alligator Ranch!! It was interesting, for sure!

We stayed around after touring the whole place for the alligator feeding 'show' that was supposed to be the best part of the park. Well, just what you see in this picture is what happened. There was a scripted story being played over the loud speaker & pretty much the 'show' was that this boat came out into the middle of the little pond, the guys did the feeding, and the boat went back to shore. So, not really a show. It made for lots of laughs though for Page and I. :)

Here is the best shot we could get of ourselves with gators in the background.

We love wooden cutouts that make great photo-ops!! There were about 15 of these around the park- we each picked our favorite. :) I think Page chose most wisely.

All gators dress like farmers, right!?

After the ranch experience, we headed back to Grapeland and got to hang out with my family for the evening. It was a great weekend & much needed time away. :)

Lake Fun

At the end of August, we had the opportunity to go to the lake with some friends. We had a great time... the weather was hot, but it was actually not too bad with the breeze. Theer were jet skis to ride & a pavillion where we ate lunch. We all enjoyed catching up & putting our feet in the water.

Here are Page and Evan- both with real smiles! They both had a great time in the water.
Evan LOVES his watermelon... so we just let him have it.

The other love Evan has is throwing rocks in the water... well, there were plenty of rocks to spare & lots of water... so he had a great time.

Summer playtime!

It has been so hot lately that outdoor outings have been few and far between. So, we take advantage when we can. This summer we have had a few random moments in play, as well as some very fun playdates. So, I think the pictures don't require a whole lot of explaining...

Watering the yard...
Evan wearing his version of a bag 'dress' after I wore a dress out with Page one night.

One week, we were able to meet with my college friends Kelli & Whitney in Richardson. We had such a great time!! Evan and Irelyn are exactly 1 week apart, so it was fun to let them play for the first time. :)

Playdough...

Poolside... Mekele also enjoyed this part of the day...

This is what happens when one 2 yr old gets a toy that the other 2 yr old wants...

Another day we spent time at Celebration park in Allen with Colette, Lila & Wyatt. The kids liked the splash pad, but really enjoyed the playground more. It was harder on us Moms to keep up with them, but we were glad they enjoyed themselves so much!

"Look, Mommy, wood chips!"

Checking out what the other kids are doing...

Taking turns on the bouncy see-saw...

We did lots of fun random stuff this summer, but it was great to keep things simple also. :) Looking forward to a busy fall, so some downtime was nice.

Some summer highlights...

We have had quite the summer. From my eariler posts, you can see some of the heavier parts that we have dealt with. However, even with all of that, we have had a fun summer. It has been great to focus on some positive things and get to spend lots of time with loved ones. :)

In mid-july, we had the opportunity to go to the zoo with some friends. It was Evan's first trip to the zoo & he loved it!! We got there early, but it was still super-hot. I was glad to have Page there to push the stroller & keep up with Evan. :) One of the big hits with our little group were the giant tortoises. They were very big & the kids thought it was really funny when they moved. They also all loved the Children's zoo, which was a great place to see lots of variety of animals.

Here is Evan with his friend Wyatt- they watched as the turtles got some new water.

At the Children's zoo, they had an area where you could go in and feed/get close to some birds. Evan thought it was great that a couple of the birds liked being on Page's head or tried to get into our bags. He was able to pet a couple of birds, and did great with the 1-finger petting rule. :)

The other hit was petting the goats. They all did great... Evan really wanted to have a conversation with this particular goat. :)


Toward the end of July, Page had a buisiness trip to Boston, so Evan and I took a few days to go see my parents. It was great to go, relax, spend time outside, and have no schedule of our own. We went to VBS a couple of nights (both of my parents were working it for their church) and Evan loved the stories and playing with the other kids his age. During the days, we played in the water, Dad tried to help Evan fish (even though Evan just scared all the fish away), and we did ots of playing inside.

Here is Evan playing in the worm box. He liked watching the worms, but did not want to hold them.

Here are my Dad and Evan enjoying the kiddy-pool. :)

One of our biggest projects this summer has been moving Evan to his new room so that we can prepare the way for Molly. Evan has now moved to the guest room in the house, and is having a blast playing and sleeping in his 'big-boy room'. We have made some more changes since these pictures were taken, so I will get a complete update when we finish the few final touches, but the room turned out great. Now, we have been able to focus on cleaning out the rest of the house... quite the task!

Evan got a new bed, so new bedding was needed. He LOVES cars, so this was the perfect bedding set. Page painted the bed and dresser & he did a great job.

Evan wanted to be part of the picture-taking. :)

The big-boy shelf that Page built a few months ago...

And, the perfect place to sit and read. I can't believe my little guy is already almost 2 1/2! He is definitely turning into a little boy. :)

In August, we decided to make a cupcake run with Katie and Lauren. Last year we went to Sprinkles with friends & had a great time. But, it is a long drive down there! We heard of a place in Frisco called Dimples, so thought we would give it a try. Personally, I liked Sprinkles better, but it was still a fun trip. Here is a pic of our tasty treats.

Lauren & Katie enjoying their treats.

A rare picture of Evan and me- after we had cleaned him up, thankfully.

Getting some rest!!!

Evan's new bed has come with new challenges, mainly keeping him in it during naptime, when he wants to play with his toys instead of sleep. Thankfully, it only took a couple of weeks to get him in a routine. :)

This is what I found one day when I thought he had been sleeping for a long time...
Page and Evan both sleep much better than I do these days, being 7 months preggo. This is the evidence on a rare occasion when Evan ended up in our bed because he was having nightmares. :) It could be that I could not sleep because there was no more room for me!!

Decided to skip to now...

I cannot seem to keep up with posts, so I will go back as I can and update what I have missed. It has been a pretty crazy couple of months, especially in the last 3 weeks or so- so that is where I start.

First of all, for anyone who has not heard, I am pregnant! :) We are expecting our second child, a girl, in early November. We are elated, to say the least & Evan will pat my ever-growing belly & say, 'Baby come out & I hold it." He is so cute in those moments. He is adorable in other moments as well, but has hit the age 2 full-on. He is testing every limit, every bit of patience & is all boy in playtime. So, that is quite a challenge, especially while pregnant... but he is still the most wonderful boy ever. (Of course I am a little biased.)

Just over 3 weeks ago, we added a brother-in-law to the family. Page's sister, Lauren, married Travis. It was a beautiful ceremony & they had a wonderful trip on their honeymoon. We are excited to have Travis in the family & he has been a great help to all of us in the last couple of weeks.

One week ago, last Wednesday, we were saddened to see Page's Mom go to be with Jesus. She has been fighting leukemia for basically the whole of 2010 & it was time for her to stop fighting. We have been through the ringer of emotion over the last week, and I am sure it will continue until we see her again. She is one of the most wonderful women I have had the blessing of knowing, and I would not choose anyone else to be my mother-in love. We miss her dearly & that will not stop, but knowing that she is resting the arms of Christ, with no pain and no more suffering, helps us to know that God is sovereign and He knows what is best for her as well as all of us. I love her so much & still can't quite wrap my brain around all that has happened in the last 2 weeks, but I know that she would tell me to be faithful to what God is showing us. She is one of the most consistent examples of trust and faith in Christ I have ever seen. When it got to the point where there were no more medical options, she simply said- 'I am ready.' I pray that if I am ever faced with something similar that I will have the courage to step forward into eternity the way we watched her do. She has left quite the legacy & I pray that God will allow me to pass that on to our kids in her absence.

Praise God.

OK, Ok, ok... January!!

I am getting back to the blog. We have been crazy busy for the last couple of months and I am happy to be back to the blogging world. January was a fun month. We had Page's 30th birthday, a fun trip to the arboretum in Dallas, a funny story about a locked door, good times with new and old friends, Evan's new obsession with Mario on the Wii & a stomach virus which led to random face rashes connected to fruit. So, all in all a pretty good month, with a few glitches along the way.


Apparently I will have to post pictures at a later date, because it is not working at the moment. So, let's start the stories... Page turned 30!! He is so old!! We had a great time celebrating this year. He had 2 parties, one for family and church friends & the other for work friends. At the fam party, we went to dinner and came back to our house for dessert & games. The guys played a poker tourament, where everyone was schooled by Nathan's 12 year old son, Christopher. He took home all of the winnings and a new love for the game.


Our playgroup took a trip down to the Dallas Arboretum on a random beautiful day. It was so much fun watching all of the kids play in the pioneer town & run around chasing each other. I know that they were just as ready for some sunshine as we were.


One morning, I was gathering the trash to go out, since it was trash day and we had waited until the last minute. I told Evan I would be right back & headed to the garage to get the recycling and the diapers to put into the larger pickup containers. When I got everything out to the alley, so it could be taken away, I went back to the house- only I could not open the door. Evan had pushed the button on the door handle that locked the knob! That particular lock is easily undone if you just turn the knob slightly, so I was doing my best to instruct my not-yet-two year old son how to turn the knob and open the door for Mommy. He really did try to help. I even asked him to get his stool from the bathroom, clarifying that it was the one we used to wash hands. He left and after a minute, came back, with something that did not sound like the stool. Shortly thereafter, he became bored and went to the living room to play. I had turned the tv on, because Evan has a new-found love for Mario Brothers on the Wii. I was planning to play with him after the trash was out. So... I am still in the garage- no keys, no phone, only an arsenal of tools that I don't really know how to use. I tried screwdrivers, taking the doorknob off, which is difficult on an exterior door, and even went around to try and reach the lock on the patio door through our cat door. All the while, Evan is perfectly content to watch 'news' on tv & wait for me to get back inside on my own. I even walked to the neighbor's house behind ours to see if I could use her phone to call Lisa or Page. She, of course, was not home. So, after what seemed like an eternity- I think it was about 20 minutes- I decided that we really need a new door knob on that door anyway & breaking it was cheaper than breaking a window. So, out came Page's mini-sledge. It did the trick. I broke the knob into 3 pieces & pushed my way through the door. When I got inside, Evan was still on the couch & he had brought the trash can instead of the stool- good effort though. So, Page got to do a small house project much sooner than expected. :)

This month I was able to spend some time with college friends over a couple of different weekends. During the first, some of them came to visit at our house & Evan was able to meet Jackson- Bethany's son & they were both able to play and also see Mekele- Whitney's son. They seemed to have a great time. I can't wait for them to play again soon. The second time we were able to hang out was to celebrate Hannah's 30th birthday!! We had a great time in Tyler with a wine tasting party and a fun video created by Chelsey and Chrissy. We had an amazing time of sharing what God was doing in each of our lives and were able to lift each other up in our struggles. I still am amazed that God has allowed the closeness in our friendships to stay as strong as it has. He is great!!

Evan has a new love/obsession for Mario Bros on the Wii. It really does not have to be that- any of the games will do, but he LOVES Mario and talks about him daily. :) It is hilarious to see him 'play' with us while we are enjoying some down time. A nice change of pace at times.

Evan got the first of 2 stomach viruses this month. This time, I was the lucky one to share it with him. It really was not too bad, he only had a couple rounds of vomit & then a few days of no eating. However, after this we had to really watch what we gave him to eat, because most fruits gave him a horrible reaction on his face. He had varying degrees of rash, welts & redness. It was a little crazy, but was gone after a couple of weeks.

So, I think that is about it for the month. Again, pictures will be added to this at some point. Some of them are really fun.

My new hobby!

While we were in Lubbock for Christmas, my grandmother taught me how to make knit hats. When I got home, I couldn't wait to make a few for Evan and Page. A friend of mine has a booth rented at the McKinney Trade Days & has said that I can sell hats there if I would like. So, I have been working hard to make enough hats to sell for the Trade days coming up this weekend. I have really enjoyed doing this & hope that others will like what I have come up with. I will post some pictures soon. I think they have turned out very cute. :)

Christmas

For Christmas, we drove to Lubbock to spend time with family. We were able to see many family members & catch up. There were several people who were stuck at home because of the snow and were not able to make it for the celebration. We missed seeing them, but were glad that they were home safe. In Lubbock we got over 4 inches of snow, which made for a fun week. Since Evan loves the snow so much, he wanted to eat and play in it all the time. This was our first venture outdoors. It is my Grandparent's backyard.

Me and Scotty watching the fun from the sidelines.

Page knows how to spell, but not turn the letters the right way! Ha! :)

Evan and Nana enjoying the cold!

Evan and me!! A rare mother-son shot, since I am usually behind the camera.

BaBa and Evan played with the dominoes. They made lots of patterns that came falling down.

Evan looking studly on Christmas Eve.

Casey & Amanda... and baby girl who is coming in April!! Yay!Page and I on Christmas Eve, enjoying family and fun.
My Grandmother, Ma, looking beautiful.
Page and Casey got hold of Ma's hats & this was the result. Crazy guys!
Casey wearing our Grandfather's old-school hat. Classic!
Evan on Christmas morning. He loved opening and playing with all of his gifts. :)

For breakfast on Christmas morning, Casey & Evan were twins eating their cereal.

Another good time of eating snow & playing with cousins.