11.01.2012

Halloween 2012

Well, y’all know how much fun I have with this costume thing, right?  I just love it.  BUT I have a feeling this may be my last year to “convince” the kids that my costume ideas are the best!  In fact, I think I almost lost that battle this year.  One of my monkeys wasn’t so sure on my ideas and was adamant on being a clown.  His mind was made up.  Luckily, I came up with three other costumes that went with a clown and it actually made for a very cute group theme.  Thanks for that Jagger!

So the circus we would be.  Eh, not a far stretch.

HUGE thanks to my mom for making the costumes!  An idea/design only pays off if you have someone to execute it and she did it awesome!  And actually, she made Jagger’s clown costume 36 years ago for my brother, Travis.  Check this out…

photo (4)

And now introducing….IMG_2536Jaggy the Clown!

 

IMG_2537
Love this!

And next up the SENSATIONAL elephant trainer…

IMG_2545Sloanie!

IMG_2595
Pretty girl!

IMG_2633
Every elephant trainer needs an elephant!

IMG_2638
ONLY for her

And HERE is our own little circus monkey…

IMG_2577Madden Jax!

IMG_2567So sweet Smile

And finally, no circus would be complete without a Ringmaster!  Meet…

IMG_2587The AMAZING Rocco!

IMG_2591Greatness!

And all together…

IMG_2619It is the GREATEST show on Earth!  At least, I think so!

IMG_2623-001
Love these faces!

Every year we have a party with lots of kids.  I wish I would have thought to take a big group picture every year.  Maybe we will start it next year!  But here are some party guests I did snap pics of…

IMG_2639Caleb the pirate!

IMG_2641Kate the princess puppy!

IMG_2642Gavin the jailbird! (Hopefully this isn’t a picture of things to come Winking smile)

IMG_2645Cassie as Minnie Mouse!

IMG_2652The Cole Family

IMG_2653Jamie, Rylee and Francis

IMG_2657Brinkley as Jesse

So that’s another Halloween behind us and a great one for the memory books.  Our fourth Halloween. Wow.  That is crazy.  Here’s a look at our Halloween past…

IMG_1302Wizard of Oz, 2011

IMG_9961
Rockband – Guns N’ Rattles, 2010

group
The 4 Little Lambes, 2009

Which is your favorite?

post signature

9.14.2012

Two Firsts…

On Labor Day (which was the last day before school started), Nick and I took the kids to their first movie.  No, we didn’t see Disney’s Brave or any other Blockbuster film.  We saw The Ooglieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure. 

Oh my.  The things we do for our littles. Winking smile

In all seriousness, it really was a fun movie for them.  An interactive movie experience…they could stand up, sing and dance at the appropriate times.  And being that there was only one other lady with two kids in the whole theater, I joined in a couple of times too!  They even handed out little butterfly glow sticks to each of the kids when we bought the tickets. 

 

IMG_2216

Popcorn and drinks all around! (J,S,R,M)

 

IMG_2219

This picture cracked me up!

 

IMG_2226Trying to figure out why their glow sticks weren’t glowing anymore!

And then it was home for supper, baths and bed because after all, it’s a school night!

IMG_2259All ready for their first day!  (R,M,J,S)

Of course, I joined in with all you other Pinterest junkies and borrowed some back to school picture ideas.  Sidenote:  These answers may change on any given day, but these were their actual answers on September 13, 2012. 

IMG_2254

IMG_2231

IMG_2248

IMG_2242

 

Dear Lord,

It is my prayer that You will…
Bless these little hands as they paint, color, share and pick up toys…
Guide these little feet while they walk in a single file line and run on the playground…
Help these little eyes to see the good in others and the beauty in Your creation…
Lead these little mouths as they sing songs, eat a healthy lunch, and speak kind words…
Direct these little minds to learn new things, follow directions and do the right thing…
Open their hearts to make new friends and learn more about You and Your Word…
 
And please watch over and protect Your little children that You graciously blessed us with.  Thank You for loving us.

Amen.

Happy School Year to all of you!

post signature

8.31.2012

Dog Days Are Over :(

Crazy how fast this summer went by!  I can’t believe the kids will be starting their second year of school on Tuesday (okay, it’s really mother’s day out, but still).  This summer has been sprinkled with lots of changes for our household…

First, the kids learned how to swim!  They had 2 weeks of group lessons and 1 week of private lessons.  They are doing awesome!  I still put their puddle jumpers on them if I (or Nick) am not swimming with them.  So I guess I’m not quite 100% comfortable yet. 

And then, we conquered potty training!  And get this…it wasn’t HARD!?!  I guess that is what happens when you wait until they are almost 3.5 years old.  HA!  Hey, whatever works.  My sanity was worth more than the cost of diapers for a year Winking smile

Lastly, as you may have seen in my last post, the kids transitioned to big kid beds.  They are doing wonderfully.  I have to say, I was a bit nervous.  But they go down amazing…just like they did in cribs!  But for about the first week, we did have some early morning creepers…mainly Sloan.  We just had a talk about staying in our beds and so far it has worked.  But I also think the newness has worn off a bit, and they are starting to sleep a little later again.  They take a 2-3 hour nap each day and then go to bed around 8:30 sleeping until 7 or 7:30.  You better believe I thank God very often for my precious little sleepers! 

I know I haven’t been the best blogger this summer (or ever really) but I thought I would share some pics from our summer. 

Kicked it off with a week of Vacation Bible School…

IMG_1174The first day of VBS (S,R,J,M)

Swim lessons…

IMG_1389

IMG_1391Madden & Jagger with their instructor, Ms. Lara

We went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for the very first time!

IMG_1679On the way out…all those tokens and tickets and only a four baby boxes of nerds to show for it Winking smile

And because that picture really doesn’t show their excitement of the place, here’s a short video…

We also had our own little photo shoot this summer.  I wanted to take pictures of Jagger with a skateboard for his big boy room, but when I got him dressed for his shots, the other three wanted to be a part as well.

Here are some of my favorites of Jagger…

IMG_1759_small

IMG_1772

IMG_1786SO Jagger!!!

Madden wanted pictures with a beach ball…

IMG_1801Love that smile!

Roc wanted a picture with my Brother’s dog, Hank…

IMG_1824In Rocco’s words, “Hank’s a sweet dog.”

Sloan wanted her rain boots and an umbrella (and she sort of dressed herself)…

IMG_1842Cute, but let me tell ya, girl turned on the sass for these shots…

IMG_1847uh huh.

IMG_1857
Sassa-FRASS!

Oh…this is one of the cutest things they started this summer.  I ask, “how much do you love me?” and I always get…

IMG_1778Jagger – “thiiiiiiiss much.”

IMG_1804Madden – “thiiiiiiiiiss much.”

IMG_1854Rocco – “thiiiiiiss much.”

IMG_1849
Except for Sloan – “this much.” (with a high pitch voice and her best attempt of an evil laugh…little turd!)

What next?  Ummm…just the Gerwer quads coming to stay the night!!  These Texas cuties (along with their fabulous mom and dad, Rob and Casey) were just driving home from Destin and stayed with us to break up the long drive. 

photo (2)SO much fun!
(Trey, Brady, Reid, Rocco, Jagger, Sloan, Cameron, and Madden)

pine mtn 175Two divas!
Sloan and Cameron shared that instant girlie connection – loved it!!!

And I even got some quad mom lovin’, because Jac and Sandra (and their hubbies) came to hang out with us too!

photo (3)
LOVE these girls!
(Jac, Casey, me and Sandra)

Next up…circus!  Nick and I took the kids to the circus when it came to town a few weeks ago. 

IMG_1903
Family breakfast at IHOP…another first!

IMG_1920
Me and my dogs

IMG_1917The elephant show – my favorite part!

Along with our Lambe family vacation and surprising the kids with new rooms, these were several of the highlights from our summer.  But our dog days…how did we spend those?  We did some…

IMG_1900
early morning play-dohing…

IMG_1940
fondue eating…

IMG_2028
impromptu sack racing…

IMG_2066
rock climbing…

IMG_2065
swinging…

IMG_2082
ship sailing…

IMG_2075
babysitting…

IMG_2069
a little relaxing…

IMG_2185coloring…

IMG_2197castle playing…

IMG_2111
TV watching…

IMG_1458
and some mess making!

As much fun as we had this summer, I’m ready for school!  The kids have so much fun and the structure is good for them too, especially after this crazy week with Hurricane Isaac. 

Our last hurricane was four years ago when the kids were just beans in my belly(actually we didn’t even know about two of them yet.)  Thank the Lord we faired very well…didn’t even lose power, but I know many others can’t say the same.  Our prayers are with those families. 

IMG_2203Isaac from our front porch

IMG_2211Good Riddance Isaac!

Hope y’all have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend!

post signature

counter