Happy Fall

Working Together

I couldn't help but share the teamwork I saw in my children today. Of course, I had the setting all wrong so bear with my pictures. It is little things like this that make my day....

I come into their room to hear them grunting and struggling.


"Don't worry Sam, I am strong" Riley says.

Riley jumps over to show Sam how it is done.

When that didn't work, she tried example number two. Notice Sam scratching his head :)

"Now it is your turn Sam!"

He couldn't seem to get that last step so Riley is giving him, yet another example. I am not really sure what the rabbit is doing and how Sam is supposed to mimic...

"This may not have been such a good idea mom"

He did eventually make it up to the top. (of couse that means I have a whole new problem on my hands because Sam can now climb up the ladder :) I enjoyed watching them struggle, fail, retry, and succeed, together, this morning. Riley exhibited so much love and patience for Sam. Way to be a team you two. I love you!

Mud

Riley (and Sam) both love to play in the dirt.

All in a row

"Thanks mom for letting me play in the mud!"

After I finally cleaned out our flower beds a few months ago the kids have taken them over! They love playing with the dirt. Riley was even more excited when she woke up one morning after some rain to find... Mud! I had to drag her back inside to take her bath. She was having so much fun. I have such fond memories of me and my sisters playing in the mud. I remember Hannah and I were making mud pies and Leah wanted to help. As the older, bossy sisters that we are, we told her to just go get more mud. She got on her bike, with training wheels, and rode off. She got stuck in one of the pot holes in our dirt driveway. She began to whine so we went to help. As we neared she tried to pedal harder to get out of the hole. That is when a steady stream of mud was shot from her back tire into our faces. We all squealed with delight at this accidental wonder. I think we each took turns splashing the others with mud for the next hour.
I am sure it was heck to clean up for my mom, but boy do I appreciate her letting us make some of those memories...Thanks mom.

Wife's Night Out

I was so excited that I was finally able to plan a Wife's Night Out! I have been wanting to plan some time for all the Married ladies to get together and it has been more of a challenge than I thought. Therefore, I was super excited to get dessert from the Butcher Shop here in town (strawberry cream pie is my favorite!) and head over to the theater for "Life As We Know It" I enjoyed the movie. It was much more serious than I thought and I cried a time or two. I laughed at some of the situations in the movie only because they were all too real. All in all, I really had a great time and was so happy we had such a great turn out. I am already planning and looking forward to our next Wife's Night Out!

A House Divided

"A House Divided" Was the slogan on our shirts and that we were.
I was so excited about attending the Baylor vs. Tech football game with my family.

I thought it was neat that they got a police escort through the state fair.

There she is!!!

After the game we all went out to eat. Obviously we had been out in the hot sun all day and were a we bit tired.

Well, either way, we won! (However, Tech did officially win) I enjoyed watching the football game despite the heat. I had forgotten how much I love watching the game since Ryne and I do not have a football team at our school. I enjoyed getting to finally watch Leah march as well as spend some time with my family. Thanks Mom for putting together all the details so that we could spend some time together.

Family Movie Night

I was so excited when I saw that Cars would be showing downtown. Riley (and now Sam) LOVES the movie Cars. (It was the first Disney movie that we owned. Ryne bought it for me when we were dating :)
Anyways, we had such a good time.

They had a kids DJ playing music. It was so fun to watch all the kids dance around.

This is them in the middle of their mad dancing skills! Haha

The Carlton Family joined us for some family movie fun!

This picture cracks me up! Ryne was trying to make funny faces in all of my pictures. However, I didn't realize until I looked at the pictures at home that they were all making the same face. Cracks me up!

I will most certainly be watching out for more movie nights. (and I will get there a little earlier) They had free popcorn and other give aways. It is so nice to be able to do more things with the kids as they get older.

Walk for PKD

A couple of weekends ago we had the opportunity to help out with a walk to raise money for research of PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease)

Riley helped us fill the bags of popcorn.

Sam ate what we dropped on the ground!

Anyone who knows Sam, knows how much he loves doggies. He was so amazed by these big guys.

Riley got her face painted. (a purple flower, her favorite color)
And Sam wouldn't sit still so he had a nice orange smudge!

This is me and of my favorite teachers ever: Dr. Stephens!

It was an honor and so much fun to attend and help in a small way at the Walk for PKD. I have to admit, I only volunteered because of how much I love and respect Dr. Stephens. This is something very dear to her heart, so it is to mine. PKD is actually one of the most common, life threatening genetic diseases, affecting more people than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia- combined, yet few have ever heard of it. She is very familiar with the disease seeing that it runs thick through her husbands family. Dialysis and transplantation are the only treatment options for someone who has PKD because there is no cure.
I found so much of this information slightly overwhelming. The walk raised a good chunk of money and I consider the day to be quite the success. The kids really enjoyed the Ckik-fil-A cow and the other activities. (especially the popcorn) You can even check out a video from the day. Watch closely: Riley and Sam (and my legs) are at the end!