Mom's Birthday

My mom's birthday was last weekend (the 8th). Rene' and her gang were in town. We always have a good time when they are around. Jeff always says her wished they lived closer. Since I am so far behind on blogging, I am just going to share some pictures. (and the kids are in the other room and might stop me at any moment)

Ann Bennett and Macie playing in SueSue's back yard. The family at SueSue's party.Mom, Bryant and Randy
Macie using her fingers to eat everyones salad. She eats so well when she eats off of other peoples plates. Ignore my lovely look!

Rene' and Carey

Over due soccer update

I am over due for several updates. We had family in town and a busy weekend. Hopefully, I will find some time to get those updates soon. But, I still need to update on Carson's last soccer game. It was November 1st. It was a very cold 8 AM game the morning after Halloween. But, Carson almost scored a goal. I so wish it had gone in for his sake. He did enjoy the season, but he does not have any confidence. It did not help that he was playing with kids who were turning 6. It was an under 6 league so he was one of the youngest. Even though he had fun, I think we are going to skip the Spring and play t-ball.

Carson getting his medal at the end of the game.

Macie and Carson enjoying the donuts to celebrate the season.

Carson on the field. He is on the left side with the blue jacket under his shirt. He has his hands in his pockets!

David and Cole with Shahla and Carter. The boys were freezing when they were not playing.

Sorry the pictures are in reverse order. Blogger keeps loading them that way and I need to go fold laundry!

How long does this last?

This stage of toddlerhood is about to drive me crazy! Macie wants to do everything by herself, but she needs a little help. If you help her she cries because she wants to do it alone. But, when she tries to do it alone, she cries because she is frustrated at not being able to do it! I once heard someone say that God made 2 year olds so cute so they would live to see three! Macie might not be 2 yet, but I can relate. She is currently "talking" to Mimi (Mitzi) on the calculator that came in a kids meal.

Voting done

Thanks to my great friend and neighbor, I have voted. The kids and I tried on Friday, but the line was too long. So, I had to go today even if it took me forever. Thankfully, it is a beautiful day here. The kids played on the play ground while I waited in line with a few neighbors. I did not have any kind of clock with me, so I have no idea how long it took me. Maybe about an hour.

I hope you are all planning to vote. I really just don't get people who don't make the effort. I could get on my soap box, but instead I will go get a few things done while Macie is sleeping!

Halloween Fun

We had a great time Halloween this year. Thursday night we had pumpkin pancakes and carved our pumpkins. I am saving you all the pictures of the carving, but here is the result. When Carson was almost 2, we started the tradition of a pre trick or treating party in our cul-de-sac. It has become something we always look forward to when Fall arrives. Not only are our neighbors there, but they bring entire families. This year was again a lot of fun. I know some people have issues with celebrating Halloween, but for our family it has become a chance to develop our community. I know my kids will have great memories as they grow up of time with their neighbors. And I will have plenty of pictures to remind them!


This isn't a great picture of Carson and Macie, but you can kind of see their costumes. This was before Carson put on pants to stay warm. My neighbor Leslie actually had a pair of orange sweat pants that worked great with his costume. They even fit Carson perfectly. The only problem was they were actually girls velour pants. He did ask why they had a bow, but he got over it. It will make a nice story when he is a little older and embarrasses easily.Macie made a new friend at the party! You can see her cure pig tales in this picture too.
One of our other neighbors Sue arranged for the fire department to bring the truck out. Unfortunately, they got a call and had to pack up and leave quickly. But, I did get a picture of Carson on the front before they left. (Notice how well the pants match!)We were very happy that Sue Sue and Randy could be with us again this year!Another tradition at the party is a parade with all the kids. They just march around the cul-de-sac, but they love it. I am sure in a few years they will think it is stupid, but for now we really enjoy watching them. Thankfully we still have lots of little kids!

Just a few more pictures...

Carson walking on side walk all alone. He was the only one who followed the "Don't walk down the middle of the street" rule. I told him he could come walk with me, but he kept going back to the side walk. Usually Jeff would take the kids door to door and I would stay home and give out candy, but Carson wanted me to take them this year.

Carson, Eli and Carter still eating pizza

Macie and Addison figured out the trick or treating thing quickly.

We hope you had some fun family and community time too

First Annual Shopping Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. Some of you may recall that last year on my birthday, I told Jeff that this year I wanted to start a tradition of getting all the Christmas shopping done on my birthday. Some how after we got married, I got the job of shopping for all gifts for everyone in our lives. I end up stressing out trying to get it all done. Since I know he hates shopping, the only way I could get him to agree is to link it to my birthday.

Yesterday, Carson had his Halloween party at school and Macie was not in school. We decided Jeff would take today off to go shopping. (I actually ended up taking Macie to the doctor yesterday too. She has croup and a sinus infection.) We had to cut our trip a little short because Connor is sick. Mitzi was keeping the kids after school and we did not want them around Connor. But, we were able to get almost all of Jeff's family gifts ready. I can now wrap them and be ready to take them with us at Thanksgiving. We also got all the birthday gifts for my family that fall between now and Christmas. I still have to get the rest of my family and the kids and Jeff. But, we made a giant dent in it. (And Jeff has now been napping for about an hour!)Hopefully, I can enjoy looking for the rest of the things. And, hopefully Carson will have a list before the stores gets too crazy.

My birthday was nice. The day started with Cole and Connor singing Happy Birthday before school.

After dinner we had a cookie cake. This was my request, but it is the first year Jeff did not actually make me a cake.

Of course the kids enjoyed the cookie too.

I don't know what Macie is thinking here, but it is a look we see more often than we would like!

I need to post party pictures, but Macie is now awake!

My computer has been taken hostage

..by my 4 year old. Last week, I let Carson play a couple games on the Mickey Mouse and Super Why sites. Then this weekend, I FINALLY set up the Easy Link system he got for Christmas. I know it has been 10 months since Christmas, but we were a little busy at the beginning of the year. And, my computer died and we got a lap top. It is done now and the child is obsessed. He wants to play on the computer all day. Thankfully, I set a time limit when I set up the easy link. Maybe one day I will get my computer back and have time for a real update. We have a good bit going on the rest of the week so I should have something to share.