Playing Catch up...

Well, we are back home from a little mini vacation to West Texas. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing lots of friends and family. It was very relaxing for us and the kids so that was nice. I never posted before we left, so I will devote this post to pre-Thanksgiving fun and excitement.

We had our last week of football and our first week of basketball. Here is a cute picture of the kids with the best coach ever after the last football game.

Then, our sweet friend Ja had her 3rd birthday (Happy Birthday Ja). Lori (her mom) decided we should just pack up and go to the Ft. Worth zoo. It was so much fun. While we were there, the lion decided to roar a couple of times. It was absolutely amazing...his roar echoed throughout the entire zoo. I think the kids had a great time...they are like brothers and sisters since we are neighbors so they were just dragging each other around the whole time. It was great.

Then, C and I had a very special field trip with my precious student Natalie. I arranged for Natalie to have a tour around the fire station and our Safety Town the week before Thanksgiving. I decided that it would be okay to sneak C along with me because, we all know that baby is obsessed.with.fire.stations. There was something that I did not realize....the firemen planned on taking Natalie on a ride in their biggest fire engine. SOOOO...C was invited along. And oh boy, he was the most excited little man in history.

Then, we toured Safety Town, and the fireman asked C if he wanted to drive a little jeep through the town. Oh my word....now that is exciting. So, needless to say, C had a VERY special day. I loved seeing every minute of it...I hope he remembers that forever.

The kids both had Thanksgiving feasts at their school before the break. I took pictures of K's class....they were adorable. They were all pilgrims or indians...C was a pilgrim and K was an indian. Here is K ready to say prayers before lunch.

My niece, Amber turned 13 this week (Happy Birthday Amber). The kids and I headed out to my sister's house to celebrate last weekend. It was a ton of fun. The kids got to play with the horses and look at alpacas. I enjoyed taking pictures of them outside. Thanks Kim for having us over! So, I think that brings us to the Thanksgiving holiday. I will post about that in the next day or two. Hopefully you all had a blessed day with friends and family...

This is my friend Bubby, Mommy.

I don't have a picture, but I needed to journal that those words came out of the princess' mouth today. K loves her brother and he loves her for that matter, but they are not ALWAYS friends. Tonight, when they were playing together outside...she said, "this is my friend Bubby, Mommy." And at that moment, my heart was happy. Another cute moment happened this morning in the car on the way to school. C sneezed and K said, "Bless you Bubby." C said, "Thank you Sugar Bear." Ha. They really do make my day lots of fun...the little things really do matter, don't they?

Lots of questions...

Doesn't he just look like he is pondering the most important things. And...no, we don't make him mop the garage....that was his own doings. My C man is really growing up. He has been asking me a lot of questions. Just today he said, "Mommy, why do we have so many foster kids....and why are we are foster family?" Hmmm...that is a complicated answer. So, I just stuck with saying Mommy and Daddy really feel like that is a gift that God is giving us...to love other children. The other day he was listening to his Bob and Larry worship CD in the car and he said, "Mommy, what is worship?" Oh my word, son...that is a big one. I thought to myself, "God help me with this one...I need to prepare my son's heart for You." So, I answered to the best of my ability. Those are the questions that my sweet 'almost five year old' is pondering in his world. Wow....amazing. K on the other hand says "worshippy doo doo" when the CD starts playing. I think we need to start praying for that little princess people.

K has been busy too. Today, when we went to Target, she said, "Where are my Dora panties?" Hmmm...well....you don't have any. "Yes, I do," she said. Ha...So, I bought the princess some Dora panties. As soon as we got home, she wanted to wear them. Please let me tell you that she has NEVER gone tee tee on the potty. But, I will go with the flow and if she is interested, we will give it a try. She is taking a nap right now with a diaper and two pair of Dora panties on. I guess she might need an extra pair for something. That girl...she is one of a kind. The girls all wore their precious new shirts to the football game last week. My friend Laura and I got our girls black shirts and had 'go (mascot)' written in blingy (if that is a word) letters. They all looked precious. K wore a special shirt though that said. "I (heart) Rocky." Because you know she is IN.LOVE.WITH.ROCKY (the monster). I don't know if you can see the words, but here is a picture of her fancy shirt.

F started saying, "scuse-ooo (excuse you)" when someone burps, coughs, sneezes, etc. It is really funny. She is almost 18 months old and still has about 7 or 8 words, so we are going to give ECI a call. She did not qualify when she was younger, but I think it is time for some intervention. Hopefully, she will get some help soon...

K Bel is doing fine. She is lying down on the bed next to me sleeping...rotten baby. She is just so sweet. Her little smile is so contagious...all of the kids just love to be with her. And...quite frankly, I do too!! J is playing in his last footbal game tonight and will start wrestling this weekend. He is not getting much of a break, but neither is Hubs. Basketball starts tomorrow. We are excited about going to basketball games...that is always fun. I did something exciting this week...drum roll...I made home made icing for my friend Lori's birthday. I think it was pretty yummy...not perfect, but a good start. Of course, it wouldn't be true without a picture!!

Say a little prayer for us...we are having our family picture taken on Sunday. I know most of you are probably just laughing...7 people in one picture...four of which are four years old and younger. It should be interesting. This year might be a blooper photo, but that is okay with me. Just having a picture with all of us together will mean the world to me!

Trick or Treat!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great time trick or treating around the neighborhood last night with our friends. S, Ja, Hu, Hal, and all of our kids trick or treated together. It was fun stuff. Here are the pictures to prove it...

Here is a funny picture from the night that we carved the pumpkin. We decided to put K Bel inside...she is our little pumpkin!! Hope you all have a great weekend...