Excuse this House

Some houses try to hide the fact

That children shelter there.

Ours boasts of it quite openly

The signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows, 

Little smudges on the doors;

I should apologize I guess

For toys strewn on the floor

But I sat down with the children

And we played and laughed and read.

And if the doorbell doesn't shine,

Their eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I'm forced to choose

The one job or the other, 

I want to be a housewife-

But first I'll be a Mother.

-Author Unknown

Traditions, Traditions

Yes, Tzeitel, I'm talking traditions. I love traditions. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of the traditions we would do every year at Christmas. Clam chowder and junk food christmas eve before opening pj's from my parents and homemade gifts from the sibs, and pictures on the stairs before going to the living room to see what santa brought. Fun, fun, fun. Well, now it's my turn to start new traditions with my family and I get giddy at the thought. One fun tradition we're starting is an early Christmas gift to get us in the holiday spirit.

Christmas pj's, book and candy. Oodles and Oodles of fun!

Dylan was so excited to put on his pj's and read his new book before bed. :)

We also went to Christmas in the Park tonight. We just did a quick drive though, but the kids LOVED it. Dylan kept saying, "Look, Momma! I see one! I see one! " at everything he saw. For the lights that waved, (ie: snowman at the entrance) he would yell "Bye snowman!"as we drove by. Very cute.  

And since I'm posting holiday pics, what's a post without a Christmas tree picture? I mean, seriously.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

one hat, two hat, pink hat, blue hat

As many of you know, I like to make hats. I like to make them even though, no one really likes to wear them. So I especially like making them for little kids who have no say in what they wear. Namely mine. I was looking through some old pictures the other day and found a really cute pic of my two favorite boys in their twinky hats I made awhile back. And then I remembered Hensley and I had taken a similar photo recently. Prepare yourself for the cuteness...

Fun fact: Both Hensley and Dylan are 10mo in these pics. Totally by chance, it wasn't planned. How bizarre. How bizarre.

Here are a few more victims.

Uncle Natty

Abey Baby

Ace Man

For those of you wondering why I can't keep up with clothes that fit Hensley in a timely fashion, the answer is simple.

This is what I'm working with.

Granted, most are hand-me-downs and just "play clothes", there's still a lotta cute that goes overlooked. We have, however, sorted through them since this pic was taken…but it's already time to do it again. This closet could be a sign of things to come…and I'm afraid. Very afraid.

I love October. The temperature drops, the pumpkins come out, the kids dress up, every store sells candy corn, it's just great.  The other day we put the kids in their costumes and had a little photo shoot in the back yard. They were so cute. It was a little warm, so Dylan kept unzipping his gorilla costume halfway down his chest…all he needed was a gold medallion to complete the look.

Yesterday we went to the Farm Patch, home of the LARGEST PUMPKIN IN TEXAS. It weighs in at 1,198lbs, very impressive. We went with our new friends Kelly, Joseph and baby Ellie. Our kids are really close in age, Dylan is 3 days older than Joseph and Hens is 2 1/2mo older than Ellie, which is great because they all play really well together. Here are a few pics of our outing.

Largest pumpkin in Texas

Joseph, Kelly & Ellie

Last week we found some really cute clothes in Hensley's closet that she'd never worn and of course, had already outgrown. But that didn't stop us from trying them on her. Sure they were snug, sure they restricted movement, but isn't she cute??

I wanna go to the zoo..

Last weekend we made a trip to Boerne to see Stu and Dev's new house and we just couldn't leave without visiting the San Antonio Zoo. Good times were had, until Dylan came down with something and gave it to Ace and Hens. Poor kids. But we managed to get some great pics before the puking began.

He was awestruck the WHOLE time. I think he was looking at bears here.

Asa took some awesome pics.

What an awkward butterfly.

That's better.

Soon to be 4…

Because everyone needs a pic with an elephants butt.

The infamous flamingo pose.

Starting to get puny.

We found him in our bed when we got home.  He reeeally wasn't feeling good. :(

Refrigerator Raider

Dylan has figured out how to open the fridge.

I walked in on this yesterday…













I asked what he was doing.

He said, "I drinkin' juice, momma."

Dylan Reads!

Dylan loves to read, but usually he likes us reading to him. So when he sat down and read to me I was shocked. And very impressed. Even if every page does sound the same. :)

The "I love momma" song

Wimberly Vacation!

Every year we go on vacation with my family (laura). We've gone to Dauphin Island the last many, but because of BP we changed plans this year and opted for Wimberly, TX instead. It was fun, as always, but this year we had a couple new additions making it even MORE fun (and noisy and chaotic) than usual. 15 people and next year will be 16. And counting? Perhaps. My money's on Anna. :)
Here are a few pics of the fun times.

Our home for a week.

Pop Pop's girl

Posing in the Blanco.

Breakfast with Hunny. No wonder they're Hunny's boys.

Deer came right up to the house every evening.

Family pic in downtown Wimberly.

Seriously loved this dress.

BFFs

Hunny and Hensley.

Fun Aunt Tootie.

Uncle Natty got whooped.

Cheese!

Sweet cousins.

The men in my life.

Pretty baby.

Dylan was sooo tired.

An intense card game.

Show me your happy faceeee!

I taught her this attack. "Stranger! Danger!"