Washing the cars

It has been so long since I cleaned my car without taking it to the carwash. I remember helping my mom do it in our driveway when I was younger and wanted to show the kids that too. They had so much fun helping me. We did daddy's car too... a little surprise for his birthday.

Ella's grown up dinner party

Last week, Ella decided to wanted to throw a "grown up" dinner party....she had heard me planning for a dinner party we were having with our friends. She wanted to do everything like the grown ups.

She started by setting a fancy dinner table....she had me help her find the "perfect last touch" (exactly her words)...the flower in the middle. It was funny to see all the details she put into it. I thought the table was a pretty clever idea...her baby doll crib flipped over.



These are all her guests...including me. We are drinking wine and having  "good conversations without the kids"...again her words exactly...I felt a little guilty about that one. We discussed funny things our kids were doing, the latest movies, our crazy husbands, oh and, the Chilean miners that had been rescued the day before (they had talked about it at school). Very grown up!



Then it was time for the dinner. We had a yummy soup she had been "making all day".

What a good hostess, Ella!! It was a great party!

Fall Festivities

My parents' birthdays are at the beginning of October so we use them to kick off the fall/holiday season. This year was a lot of fun!

It started with a little pumpkin painting and jack-o-lantern carving.

Ella took this very serious and got quite detailed with her pumpkin

Luke had fun too but ending up getting more paint on himself than the pumpkin... as expected!

Then we had a great hayride.

Papa drove us out to the back fields where the kids got to play hide and seek.

We ended the night with a bonfire where we roasted hot dogs and....




told SCARY ghost stories!!!

What a great time!

My little shopper

Everyday it is becoming more apparent to me just how big Ella is getting. She will be 5 yrs. old in just a few short months. Five. Hard to believe. Here is an example of one of those "slap in the face" moments.
Ella and I went grocery shopping by ourselves the other day with out Luke so I said she could push her own cart. It was really fun watching her and she was so proud. She studied all the items and decided how many she needed of each--I only had to put back a few extras...M&Ms, cookies, you know the irresistible kid stuff that's located perfectly at their little heights. She did a really nice job...sorry to anyone out there who might have gotten ran over or bumped into during our first run.

Luke at his friend's birthday party

So, a couple of weeks ago, Luke got his first birthday party invitation from one of the boys in his class. Now he has gotten invitations to parties for his cousins but this was a little different because it was one of his friends...made him seem like a big boy. Ella thought it was so funny.

Here he is at the party waiting for some cake. I thought it was so cute and was amazed that a bunch of 1-2 year olds sat that still waiting for cake. That is his buddy Landon sitting next to him. 

A late post...our Labor Day visitors

This past Labor Day, Alvie and Gail came up for a visit. All though it was a quick trip, we had fun and the kids as always loved seeing them.  Gail sent me some really good pics they had taken and I wanted to share them.

This is Ella at the park with her pet snake Casey. Mims, Ella and I picked it up at a Halloween store that morning. There is a really funny story behind this snake that includes Lyle jumping like a little girl! Oh, if only I had pictures to share!

A nice family picture of us at the park. It was a gorgeous weekend.

Ella relaxing with her Mims. Those are precious moments.

We hated to see you go but we had a great time. Come again soon! We love you guys!

Mowing the yard and peaches

For some reason, ever time I mow the yard the kids sit on the front steps and eat peaches. They did it a couple of times and then it was like it was a tradition and they had to do it. Luckily, I seemed to always have peaches. They were so funny sitting there I had to share:)