BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!!

Seriously, Halloween was so fantastic!  The one thing missing was Jess, but hopefully this will be the ONLY ONE she ever misses :)

The kids had such a great time....well except one thing. 

Lucas Caden was so scared of my dad when we walked in their house.  Of course, none of us had any idea that my parents would look this silly, but how freakin hilarious.  So for a few minutes he did this...

 

But finally he conquered his fear and went ahead and took his picture with the Dracula. (FYI mom and dad are remodeling)

We made about 4 stops on our way to Mulberry.  Patty gives the kids so much candy it could last them til next Halloween!  She is just a big kid herself, so it makes sense.  A wonderful person she is. 

Look at my darling super heros at Patty's front door

Rob and Camryn about to head to Patty's door for her first ever trick or treat

Ok I know she's mine, but come on...isn't that the cutest Indian you've ever seen!!

I mean really.  She was so dang cute!

We had the best time last night.  But I have decided that next year Rob and I have to dress up, b/c Lucas Caden asked me over and over where my costume was.  I will be sure not to be Dracula, though :)



Finally Ours!

That title pertains to the house that we finally closed on Friday.  What a chaotic day.  It was like 3:30, and I just knew we were not gonna get it done b/c we were scheduled to close at 4.  So I had all but given up and then we got the call at the office that the paperwork was done and to head over.  So we got there around 4:15 and signed the papers and now we can begin the many daunting tasks ahead of us.  Oh it is so exciting! 

We have put in quite a bit of work on the yard already but it was pretty much a whole season behind so there is much still to do.  Who cares really?  It's ours!!  Rob is downstairs painting as I'm typing this blog, and Camryn is beside me opening and closing cabinet doors. 

Today was a great day!  Rob was feeding Camryn breakfast this morning and ran in the bedroom to get me b/c he saw the biggest buck deer in our backyard.  Unfortunately I ran to the wrong window and missed it, but I bet we will see more.  Awesome!!  The kids are having a blast here playing inside and outside. 

We met mom and dad for lunch today, and then they came by the house and helped us work for a few hours.  They love it here, too.  I told them we'd put them in a little kitchenette upstairs so they can move in for a while.  I'm telling you (whoever you is b/c I really don't know who would be bored enough to read this :) I have the best parents ever!!!  They are so helpful with everything, whether it be the kids, working on the house, advice, or whatever it is we need.  So anyway, after they left, we went and bought paint and now that's what Rob is working on.  Here are a few pics from the week at the new home

Way behind!

So I'm the world's worst blogger here lately.  We have been super busy with moving and trying to get everyone settled in.  The kids absolutely LOVE the new house, and Rob and I are really enjoying it, too.  We are ready to get all the way moved in, unpacked, remodeled (a little), landscaped, and get the yard all cleaned up.  It's going to be a tremendous place to live and raise the kids when we get it all done.  Not to say we aren't already loving it, but we cannot wait to put our touches on everything. 

Camryn has struggled a little bit getting to sleep the last few nights.  I don't think I'm the best mom for keeping my kids in a routine...big surprise.  She wants to nap at like 4 or 5 just for like 30 minutes, but then she's not tired til like 10!  I decided last night that she can't sleep anymore during the day after about 3, b/c she's gotta start getting to bed earlier. 

The boys are sleeping great at the new place!  They really do love it there.  Just as wild as ever...and maybe then some.  It's so quiet and peaceful at night, so that's probably why they are sleeping so soundly. 

Even our little mutt Toto seems to be enjoying the new place.  We don't have it fully fenced on  one side but he seems just as happy as ever roaming around the place.  With all that yard, he still seems to be laying up on the deck next to our bedroom most of the time. 

So, for now we will just be patient and enjoy things the way they are, which are absolutely fantastic.  And in case you all weren't sure...I love my husband and my kids more than I ever knew was possible.  It's amazing that God gives us such big hearts that are able to continue to love more and more.  You think there's no way you can have more love in your heart than you already do, and then He blesses you with something else and your heart continues to fill up!  What an amazing feeling and blessing to know that God loves us and allows us to love others unconditionally.  God is good and life is sweet :) 

I am so excited about our future in our new home! 

All Good things must come to an end...

Well, I've titled my blog the above because it is our last night to spend in our home.  I am very excited for the move, but I cannot lie...I'm going to miss this home and our neighbourhood a lot.  I have really gotten close to our neighbours across the road, Gene and Pat.  They are the best neighbours anyone could've ever asked for.  They will babysit Camryn anytime we need, and they always have juice boxes and snacks and bubbles for the boys.  They are wonderful people!  I also love that the boys can ride their bikes out in the cul-de-sac anytime they want and very seldom even have to look for cars b/c it's a quite street.  And I'm gonna miss the closeness to the athletic club (although I haven't been to the gym in WAY too long) and the closeness to Rogers Ave.  But it's time for us to move on to something a little bigger with some land.

I am very excited to get out to the new house and have some acreage and a little bit more room.  I think as the kids get bigger they are going to absolutely love the new house as will we.  It's going to be a terrific place for them to grow up.  We have been trying to get stuff moved all day today and have movers coming bright and early tomorrow.  It's quite a chore moving.  It's ridiculous what all you can accumulate in less than 2 years.  Rob and I have decided that this is the final time we will move until the kids are grown...and even then, we may still stay there. 

So hopefully my next post will be from the new house.  As for now, I'm gonna get to bed so I can be good and energized tomorrow....

Busy busy busy

So I've been very neglegtful of the blogging lately...We are extremely busy right now packing and trying to get everything prepared to move.  We have to be completely out of here by tomorrow and the movers are getting all of our big stuff loaded up on Thursday.  We will spend the night in the new house on Thursday.  What an exciting and stressful time! 

I can't even remember our weekend which probably means we just worked around the house.  So ready to be done and get back to doing fun stuff.  Sunday I know we worked around the house a lot!  We took mom and dad to lunch and then they took Camryn home for a few hours while we worked.  Then we went to get her that evening and fished for a couple hours.  I caught 3!  Oh yea, it was awesome.

Yesterday we went and picked out stuff for our floors, like new carpets and hardwoods.  I love me some D&D floors in VB.  They are with it.  Then last night I had a tennis match.  It was TOUGH!!  Mary and I played Loretta and Wendy.  They had beaten us a couple weeks ago so we were anxious to play them again.  The first set was back and forth until they won it 7-5.  Second set was so close, but we finally pulled it out 7-6.  On to the 3rd set tiebreaker.  It was so back and forth and the whole match was SO TIGHT!  Somehow Mary and I eeked out a 12-10 win in the tiebreak.  What a fun, exciting match.  It was very good tennis...shouldn't have to be a winner and loser in that kind of match. 

So today we are gonna attempt to clean the new house and get completely ready to be moved.  We are very very excited but I do not like moving!  I'm not very organized so I am going to work on that when we get into our house.  I wanna have everything put into its place by Sunday for sure.  

The boys cannot wait to get into the new house.  It's going to be a great place for our family!

What a week!!!

So it's getting down to crunch time on getting closed on the 2 houses.  We are set to close next Friday on both so if you are reading this, please send good vibes our way.  We are super excited about getting everything done, but also stressed out a bit with having to get it all done in 8 days!  Enough about that...

Last Friday we all headed out to the Alma homecoming game.  Camryn made a friend in little Harper!  The kids were really well behaved, and I think the boys loved it!  Lucas Caden has said 'Go Airedales' about everyday since then.  Cash kept saying at the game that he couldn't wait for the football men to start fighting.  He really enjoyed the tackling!  It really was a good time...After halftime we left and headed to Cracker Barrell for a late dinner.  I had pecan pancakes which were delicious!  Rob had chicken fried chicken and shared with the boys and then the boys had ice cream.  It was a fantastic evening. 

Saturday we hung out at mom and dad's and watched the Hogs.  Woohoo!!  Great win.  Sunday we didn't do much of anything really. 

Had a rough start to the week...Me and both boys were sick throwing up from Sunday night through Monday late afternoon.  It was a pretty awful day really.  The only good thing that came out of it is that they both wanted to snuggle with me all evening!  Rob and Camryn also got in some good daddy/daughter time since we couldn't really be around them.  For dinner we all had chicken noodle soup and crackers and sprite.  We all slept great and were better Tuesday morning.

I'm just throwing some pictures from the past week or so in on here.  They have nothing to do with anything I've written about...just putting them in. 

Boys at our new house out in the backyard

She can stand all on her own!  Now if she will just take a step

Daddy and Camryn

She's getting so big!

Been a while...

So I pretty much devoted an entire post to our California trip and didn't talk much about the family life because the kiddos didn't go with us.  I sure missed them bunch while we were gone though.  I think they all had a pretty good time in AR while we were gone.  We are absolutely so fortunate and blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that will care for our chilren when we are gone.
My parents are absolute angels!!  The best grandparents ever!!!

When we got home Monday we let the kids stay up a little late since we hadn't seen them much.  Plus, I had to go to the doctor b/c I had been sick all weekend.  Rob went Tuesday morning and had STREP THROAT!!  Ahhhh!!  Doc ordered him to take 2 days off work b/c he said he was 'highly contagious.' 

We took the kids to the park this week out at Ben Geren...so much fun!

It's quite a shame that she doesn't have a bow in her hair...What kind of mom am I?

Lucas Caden has learned the verse Psalm 100:1 so I'm gonna post the video of that on here.  I think he starts out kinda nervous but it's awesome! It is so touching to me to see the way God works in my children.  They are so pure and loving and honest and sweet and even though they are rough and wild sometimes, they are absolutely my little gifts from God.  

 

CALIFORNIA TRIP!!!

Well I have gotten way behind on my blogging!  I've been pretty busy the past week or 10 days, but that is NO excuse!  Haha.  So in the past week, we have (as you know) sold our home.  We have also bought a new home which we are SO excited about!! 


We also spent the past weekend in California with Jess and Russ and then came home to strep throat. Ugh!  Now it's time to start boxing stuff up in order to get moved in 2 weeks...Yikes!!


We are scheduled to close on both houses on Oct. 22.  Not only am I the buyer and seller, I'm also the real estate agent on both, so it's like a quadruple whammy!  But I think everything is taken care of at this point so we are just waiting til the day we sign the final papers.  Well, we haven't even begun packing, so that's gonna be a huge project.  Luckily, we have already moved a bunch of stuff to storage so we have cut down some of the work. 


So we left Thursday night at 8 for Cali and arrived out there around 10:45 that night.  It was supposed to be an A.M. flight but I apparently booked P.M. accidentally.  What a bozo!  But when we got there Jess and Russ took us to a 24 hour/drive thru Mexican place...very exciting!  We had already eaten but they got stuff and took it home.  Friday morning we slept in a little then headed out onto the beach.  I went for a jog and Rob walked along in the sand, but I've already blogged about that and my soreness.




Saturday brought on Venice Beach, Hollywood Park and then dinner in Carlsbad.  Venice Beach was quite interesting...unlike anything I've ever seen.  There were lots of local people selling crafts and items they had made. 

                             This is Rob standing on Venice Beach.  Beautiful to look out at the water

This is the Venice boardwalk area, quite eclectic!

Venice Beach behind us

We are smiling so big in this one because we asked a woman who did not speak much English to take our picture.  She was there with her husband and 2 boys about 4 and 5 and they were trying to get in the picture and jumping up and grabbing at the camera.  Kinda nice to know that someone else's boys are as wild as ours!

We left Venice Beach and went to Hollywood Park to watch Zenyatta run!  What a rush!!!

Rob didn't quite love his Zenyatta hat like I did....guess he didn't wanna mess his hair up.  Zenyatta was one big, beautiful horse.  She won, which makes 19 consecutive wins for her....Unbelievable!  She has never been beaten.  It was such an exciting race to watch.


Went to dinner Saturday night with Jess and Russ and Russ's friend at an Italian place.  Delicious!  Back to the apartment and watched tv and crashed.  That 2 hour time difference is a lot more than you'd think!


Sunday was wonderful, except that it was our last day there :(


We got up and showered and were heading up to Oceanside to hang out.  Then all of a sudden we laid back down and had taken a 2 hour nap!  Guess we were worn out.  So we went to Oceanside around noon and met my friend Karolyn and her hubs, Josiah, for lunch.  Had a great time with them.  After lunch we went to pick Jess up from work...

We snapped a quick pic of me at the beautiful golf club that Jess works at.

Then we headed to the mall in Escondido for a minute.  Back to the apartment to get ready and then off to La Jolla (la hoya).  What a beautiful place! 

We had a great time there, and if we go back want to spend more time there for sure.  It was so lovely.  We got there in time to see the seals that lay up on the sand where you can look right at them...so neat.  Had a very nice dinner at George's on the Cove...had an awesome view from our table!

Went back to the apartment and packed.  Got up about 5:45 Monday morning and flew out around 7:50.  What a fantastic trip!!!

Sold the house, bought a house, now in Cali!!

Happy weekend to everyone!  I am sitting on Jess and Russ's couch right now in Carlsbad, CA.  We have had a great time, already.  I love spending time with my sister.  But I am sure missing the kids.  Mom decided last week that she would keep Camryn, so here we are on a short little vacation just me and Rob.  We already knew the boys were not coming but kinda thought we'd bring baby C.  So, it's kinda nice to get away for a few days, but I am sure missing them....

So we sold our house!  We are supposed to close on the sale on Oct. 22.  And we bought a house in Fort Smith on the east side of town.  Also supposed to close the 22.  We shall see if it all gets done by then.  I am a bit nervous at this point, but I'm sure it's all gonna be fine.  So we are gonna get to packing when we get home in hopes of moving in a few weeks!  The boys are so excited!!

For some stupid reason, I decided to take a 25 minute jog yesterday along the coast, and now I am super sore!  I have not been running at all lately and man I am feeling it today.  Yesterday after that we got ready, had lunch at Norte (delish!) and then went to the outlet mall for a bit.  Then we rode the Coaster down to San Diego.  That is just so neat, riding that thing.  I'm sure if Jenn is reading this she is super jealous...even though she is in Cabo!!  

Had a blast in San Diego, walking around the Gas Lamp district and having a nice dinner at a place called Jimmy Love's.  What a cool city.  Headed back via the coaster around 8 and then Rob and I went to Coyote for a fried brownie!!  Yum!!   Jess and Russ didn't go b/c they are weak and had to come back for bed.  What a couple of wusses.

Today Rob and I are gonna drive up to LA and go to Hollywood Park to watch Zenyatta .  She is freakin unbelievable....undefeated in 18 races!  Wowza!  So it should be exciting.  Jess and Russ are working, so we will meet up with them for dinner later.  Alrighty, gotta go get ready.