Fall Weekend

This past weekend was gorgeous, unlike the previous weekend, so we had a good time playing outside. I took the boys on Saturday to a nearby nursery and took their picture in the pumpkin patch. We also were able to go on a short hayride, which the boys thought was pretty neat. Later that afternoon we went to our neighborhood fall carnival and we all got to help make hand press apple cider and pick out more pumpkins. The Broncos played on Monday this week, so Greg tore himself away from his weekly Sunday couch/TV vigil and we all went to the Children's Museum on Sunday. Overall, a good weekend. Greg and I leave for Las Vegas on Thursday and Nana and Grandad are coming to tomorrow night to stay with the boys for the weekend.


Ryan at the Children's Museum giving us a puppet show.

Luke helping to wash my car. He picked up his sponge, looked at me and said, "Mama, take my picture" and then proceeded to stick his tongue out of the side of his mouth.

Helping to wash the car on Sunday.

At the neighborhood fall carnival - they weren't really impressed with the tepee.

Helping to make cider - which was by far the best apple cider I've ever had.


Lastly, another picture of the boys in the pumpkin patch. I hadn't realized that they were sitting with the sun in their eyes, so it didn't turn out too well.

Another Week is Gone

We've been busy this week doing our normal stuff. The boys seem to still really enjoy school and I am glad that they are now able to go 5 days a week - they seem to really be benefiting from it. Last Saturday, Greg and went to the TCU v. Air Force game. It was 19 degrees at kick off and we froze, but we were true fans and stayed the whole game. The boys got to spend the evening with Aunt Jenny and Baby Thomas and they had a good time with them. Thank you Jenny for coming over. Not a whole lot else has been going on. The weather is gorgeous this weekend (unlike last weekend), so I hope I can get the boys outside - we have a neighborhood fall carnival tomorrow and maybe I can even convince Greg to go on another bike ride.


Ryan loves to wear his Woody jamies with his new cowboy hat.

Normal bedtime routine - running around in circles while I try to get them dressed.

The boys talking to Jacob and Olivia tonight on the computer. It was mainly the 3 boys trying to talk over each other.

New sweaters/jackets. Nana and Grandad got these last year and they were too big then, but they now can wear these instead of their normal little hoodies - these are super cute. Also, the top picture is of the boys in their shirts from Nana and Grandad - I love taking pictures of them in new clothes.

Lastly, here is me and Greg freezing our bottoms off at the game last Saturday. It was one of the only pictures where the picture isn't clouded over with our breath.

Have a good weekend!

The Plane Ride

The boys had a great time on their first airplane (or as they say, erplane). Luke sat with me on the way to Texas and Ryan sat with me on the way back. The flight was smooth and short and uneventful - which is the perfect way to fly.

Going through security.

They really liked checking out what was on the TV.

Their first plane.

Luke on the plane. Notice that Ernie and Baby Tiger are safely buckled in with him.

Ryan got to go into the cockpit on our way off the plane and say hi to the pilot.

Grandad picking us up from the airport.

Ryan crashed 10 minutes after taking off on the way home He slept the whole way including through the bumpy landing. He was upset when he woke up and realized he had missed the juice.

Before we left on Monday we had lunch at the Big Texan in Amarillo (Greg's request). Part of the appeal of the place is that the boys get free cowboy hats, which took a little while for them to warm up to - but once they did, they wore them around the airport.


Lastly, a picture of my grandmother (G-Nanny) with me and the boys. She recently had a pace maker put in, but she is looking great.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

We had a wonderful weekend in Lubbock for Jacob's 5th birthday. We took the boys on their first plane ride, but I'll post pictures of that in a few days. I forgot to put the battery back in my camera, so I had to take pictures with my cell phone. These pictures are from my mom's camera. Jake's birthday party was at Jumpin Jungle (like the Bounce House) and all of the kids had a blast bouncing all over the place and then Conny and the kids came over for dinner Sunday night. It is great to see how they are all 4 so excited to see one another and they have the best time running around and playing games.

Jacob loves any Eric Carle book, so I made his cake from the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.



We got to Lubbock Saturday night and I made the cake that night and finished it up Sunday morning before the party. The boys had a good time watching me and sticking their fingers into the empty icing bowl when I they thought I wasn't looking.

The birthday boy.

Jacob and Olivia

I also made the cookies as party favors. If you've read the book you know that the premise is that they caterpillar eats his way through many foods and then becomes a butterfly at the end. I made fruit shaped cookies with a caterpillar hole in it to go along with the cake.


I have too many plane pictures to post now, so I'll add those later this week.

One Week at a Time

We had a busy week last week with Greg out of town. It was my first week to have them on my own and work full time since we left Texas. It worked out ok, but I was tired by Friday. We had a good and relaxing weekend to recover. We went on a short hike on Saturday and I took the boys to the movie to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on Sunday while Greg stayed home and watched football. I also got my house clean, for the most part, and put fall decorations out. Above,the boys like to help me with laundry.

The boys have really enjoyed looking at the blog in notebook form that Linda made for my birthday. They like to look at "Baby Luke" and "Baby Ryan" and ask a million questions on what is going on. Luke's favorite part is finding the pictures of the cakes and cookies that I've made and Ryan likes to look at himself.

Ryan carrying Davis back inside after he got outside.


2 Videos: The first one is the boys singing one of their favorite songs to sing with Greg, White and Nerdy. Greg is a geeky Weird Al fan, and this is one of his songs - Ryan especially loves to sing it and Luke likes to strike a gansta pose. Second video is of the boys looking at the blog notebook. Ryan has to ask what is going on in every picture.




Lastly, a picture for Luke - Ernie riding Davis.


Happy Birthday to my sister. Ryan sang her the sweetest version of Happy Birthday tonight, but I failed to record it.

A Great Day

I had a great birthday weekend with my boys. The four of us went out to breakfast Saturday morning - which is one of my favorite things to do (I love breakfast although I rarely eat it). After that we headed to a corn maze at the nearby botanical garden. It was really hard and we had to cheat our way through towards the end. It took a little over an hour and the boys were getting tired and wanted to be carried-so we had to do what was necessary to survive. They had a lot of fun, but it was a little long. While the boys were napping I went shopping and got a new purse and super cute PJs for the boys (see below). That night Greg took me to dinner while Uncle Jonny and Aunt Jenny babysat. This morning we went on a bike ride along the river. Overall it was a perfect weekend. Greg and the boys got me tickets to the TCU v. Air Force game and tickets to see U2 in Las Vegas (plus they all 3 made me a cake). My parents got me a new winter coat and my mother in law printed out my entire blog so I will have it always. Thank you so much to everyone.

At the corn maze.


Greg's helpers.

New PJs. They love them. I had gone shopping to search for Superman PJs with a cape attached, but I found these instead. In case you're not up on your Disney Pixar characters - Luke is Buzz Lightyear and Ryan is Woody from Toy Story (one of their favorite movies).

As I was heading upstairs today I glanced in the playroom and found them like this.

Lastly, 2 videos: one of the boys at the corn maze and the other of Luke icing my birthday cake.

Opening Day Football 2009

My least favorite time of year has begun - football season, specifically Denver Bronco football season. I think Greg has low expectations this year for a good season, but that won't stop him from taking each loss personally. However, I do like taking the annual opening day picture of Greg and his boys. I even convinced Greg to go to Target on Saturday night to get the boys new Bronco shirts because they had outgrown their old ones.

Pictures from the previous years:





Unrelated picture - the boys helping me make cookies tonight.