Cousins and 4-Wheelin'

This is Elizabeth, the kids' second cousin. Nora was THRILLED to have a little girl to play with. Buddy thought he would have fun until we got to Uncle Steve and Aunt Susan's house and he learned that "Boys aren't allowed to play"! Poor little guy! At least Uncle Mike was there to play football with him.

They all loved the 4 wheelers! They would have ridden all day if we'd let them. I probably could have, too!

Home Sweet Home

It's so nice to be back home! It's nice to get away, but I always enjoy coming back. As you can see below we were fortunate to visit Arkansas while the trees were still covered in their beautiful Autumn colors. Usually by this time the trees are nekkid. I don't like nekkid trees... it seems so desolate and cold when the trees have lost all their leaves. It was pretty cold up there, though. It's gonna be 80 down here today! But, sadly, it won't last. I suppose it's good to have a few months of cold, dreary weather to help us remember how lovely the spring and summer is down here. I'm already looking forward to days at the beach with the kids!

While I would love to hang out at the house all day, that is impossible. I have a doctors appointment and I have to go to the bank and the store and the other store. But at least we're home! :)

Autumn

The leaves weren't finished falling in Arkansas so I was able to get a few pictures of the kids with the gorgeous Autumn colors. These were taken in front of Taco Bueno... mmmm!

Happy Thanksgiving

We'll be leaving very early tomorrow morning (to avoid the storms) and won't be back until Sunday... so I'm sending my Happy Thanksgiving wishes now!

And for some Thanks Giving reading, I recommend this and this. Enjoy your families and food tomorrow (especially the cornbread dressing). Remember to give thanks to the One whose mercy allows our very existence. And, Keri, enjoy your extra special soon-to-be bundle of joy! I can't tell you how happy I am for you and Hallie and Dave (even though he thinks I'm imaginary :P).

Thanksgiving

These are from our first Thanksgiving celebration of the year. The kids had fun playing together. I think poor Pixie was a bit nervous, but she's a good dog and did well with all of them.

Park (cont)

It's too bad I had a migraine all day yesterday and got behind on all I had to do before we leave town on Thursday... today is another GREAT day for the park. But I have a bunch of cornbread to make, cookies to make, a van to clean out (and get an oil change) and a few errands to run so I can finish cleaning, packing and cooking tomorrow.

But I'd really rather be doing this:

A Beautiful Weekend

It was a warm, sunny weekend which means we got plenty of outdoor play! On Saturday we all went to Nana and Pawpaw's house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Pawpaw took Nora and Buddy out on the kayak-- which they LOVE! Then we went to Lake Jackson to see their festival lights parade with  the Marshes. The kids love playing with Jude-- Nora asked to see him the other day and this seemed like the perfect time! They really enjoyed the parade, which means they'll love the parades at Disney World!

Then, on Sunday evening, we dropped Cory off at Nana and Pawpaw's house while Michael and I took the kids to the park and then to McDonalds. We had a lot of fun!! I have a few more pictures to post, but my computer is running really slow right now... I'll finish them up tomorrow.

We Have a Roof!

And a driveway, and siding on the back!

Nora's room:

Living room:

Looking into the kitchen from the living room:

Master bedroom:

The back of the house: 

Part of the backyard:

Family Photos

We decided to take the family to get some professional pictures taken. I scheduled it at 5:40 thinking it wasn't too early after work or too close to bedtime. And we promised them pizza for supper afterwards if they would be good for the pictures. They did NOT get pizza. It was the worst photo shoot ever. At one point all 3 kids were screaming and/or crying at the same time. The room was hot, which made Cory scream and the older 2 just didn't want to sit still and smile. At all. I'm surprised we got any cute ones at all! Here's one that was OK:

But do you see their faces? Nora looks like she's about to pinch someone and Buddy looks like he's about to run and cry! We're taking some family pictures with Michael's family next week so I think we'll try to get some newborn pictures of Cory, again. I'd like to get some without a screaming, mad face before he gets too big! Hopefully this time he'll do better!

More of the Boys

Nora has been less than photogenic lately, so I only have new pictures of the boys. I've been surprised by how much Buddy wants to love on Cory as opposed to Nora. She's not that interested in him right now. Maybe that'll change once Cory starts doing something other than just sleeping and eating!

Cory has been doing better at night. For the last 3 nights he's pretty much eaten and gone back to sleep without fussing at me. While I'd like more than 2.5 hours of sleep at a time, it's nice not to be up from 2am-4am while the poor baby fusses at me. And besides, he'll be a year old before we know it... it's nice to wake up to a sweet, snuggling baby every few hours!

Our House

A couple of weeks ago it was just a lot:

Then last week there was a foundation!

And now there's framing!

Nora keeps asking when we can paint the red stripe in her room. Soon, Nora Pants, very soon!!

Frogs, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

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