Pumpkin Patch 2013

Crystal Garcia--all the way from Oregon!--worked her magic once again.  Might I add this photo session took 5 minutes :)  Love her heart and love her work....Happy Pumpkin Season!

Squire Creek Fall Festival

You will have to excuse me.  Nowadays, John Cole has his own agenda and loves going around on his "own."  Of course, Preston is all over the place like he has been since the day he was born.  So, when we attend events like Squire Creek Fall Festival I really don't have an extra hand to lug the big camera with.  But I did want to document this super fun night.  I had one of those moments where I looked around at all of the families and children having a great time in the beautiful weather with the gorgeous setting and thought to myself, "what a wonderful world. " I could NOT get some of my pictures to download but I had a great one one John Cole in the jumpy.  He was in there probably an hour total.  The big kids did NOT phase him one bit either...he just grinned bigger.  And Preston really loved the basketball toss.  Santa may have to look into a goal of some sort.  So grateful to for this gorgeous Fall weather...I've had my windows open all day.  And, of course, it is now my favorite time of year :  YOGA PANTS TIME :)  Happy Monday!

Friday at the Revel

Sooooo, I have a special spot in my dining room that I have my heart set on "matching" pics of the boys taken at the same location in the same white Feltman.  Preston's pic at Cowen in Shreveport was taken when he was 18 months old.  I have been trying about that long to line up weather/wellness/schedules to have John Cole's done and Friday it FINALLY worked out. In addition to THAT, I had scheduled a pumpkin patch session for both of them for Friday morning at 8:20. So, I decided since I would be have to drop P off late and rush from Shreve to get him at 3:00 that he would just skip school Friday. GASP!  I'm such a rule breaker.  His teacher was cool with it.  He's doing GREAT in school...

Skipping school might not be the best trend to start...but we all had a fun.  Now it was HOT!  I repeat, it was HOT!  But we made the most of it and enjoyed ourselves.  So glad we got to spend this fun day together.....

Girls Birthday Trip

Taking advantage of this rainy afternoon to catch up on some blogging!  Had a whirlwind trip to New Orleans Tuesday/Wednesday with Mom and Kendal.  We never do this.  Never.  And I will not tell a story --even though boys were at their normal daytime away from home places--I texted teachers and babysitters a MILLION times while we were gone.....

We stopped to see Gran's new digs at HealthSouth on our way down.  Please continue to pray for her as she is terribly weak.  We may have to entertain the nursing home soon.  Hopefully the decision will be clear.

And we had a little TINY problem at check-in as our Monteleone reservations were for MONDAY night instead of TUESDAY...oopsie!  But we got everything squared away...and got a room. YAY!  WE shopped for literally an hour before it was time for dinner.  The hotel gave us free drink coupons for all of the trouble (SCORE!) so we visited the historic Carousel Bar before heading to Commander's Palace.  The night was so fun. Our meals were delicious.  We even hit up the piano bar at Pat O's before calling it a night. (NOT A NORMAL TUESDAY :)

Wednesday morning we all had a little workout then were showering/getting dressed for breakfast when I noticed a big bruise on Mom's left arm.  I honestly thought it was where she had gotten her flu shot or something.  She looked at it, said she hadn't had a flu shot and couldn't remember bumping her arm with enough force to leave that kind of a bruise.  She was feeling of it and there was a walnut shaped mass underneath her skin.  And we were all certain it was NOT there the night before because she wore a sleeveless dress.  Gran has blood clots.  So Mom thought it could be a blood clot.  Look, I know just enough to be scary so we HAD to go find out.  We took a cab to Oschner's ER.  We were seen immediately and after some examinations and tests they think it's not a blood clot. YAY!  A couple of things still cause us a little concern as of late...so say a prayer but I think everything is fine.

So....considering we had had ZERO breakfast after working out and didn't get out of ER until almost one we were STARVING for lunch.  My Dad went to dental school with the owner of Bon Ton cafe on Magazine so we tried it out.  My steak was so yummy!  (Yes, steak.  I'm eating Paleo.  That's another post!)  More shopping then we headed home.

Can't believe Mom is 60 and I'm 35. We are so blessed.  Let's do it again soon girls!

Sports Weekend in Dallas

There is a first time for everything.  I went to Dallas this weekend and attended THREE sporting events and a fair and only visited one retail establishment just to pick up something I had previously ordered.  You know what?  I had the BEST time with my boys.  I guess I am officially a boy mom :)

Jeff took off work Friday and stayed home to watch John Cole so I could go to Apple Day (see previous post) then I checked Preston out around 10:15 and we headed to Dallas.  I had to go pick up some fabric and curtain rods in Addison, but after that we headed to the Tech team hotel and checked in.  We hung out with Nana and Pop for a little while before Preston went to the Medieval Times for Landon and Kennedy's birthday party while we met up with KK and Kevin at the Rangers game.  John Cole did great at his first Major League game!  Of course, being in the suite REALLY helps but all in all he was  PRINCE. THANKS CTB!  And the Rangers won the game....

We were at the gate when the State Fair of Texas opened Saturday morning.  (See many previous posts about me being on a schedule...lol) I wanted the boys to get to do as MUCH as they could before the game started/rains came.  I was super impressed with how clean this place was.  And there was so much to do we only scratched the surface.  But I think the boys got a good sampling. We met up with our fam and did a few things together before the Tech game...which was delayed.....then we all got in the gate and...,

THE BOTTOM FELL OUT!  Thunderstorms and lightning.  Bad.  So we all (As in all of the people at the game) waited in the concourse for well over an hour for the game to start.  Jeff and Preston had all access passes and got to go down onto the field for kickoff--pretty cool.  And the game started and we were all settling in.....then they said the game is suspended AGAIN!  So we waited longer.  Then they started up again.  Then it was HALFTIME!  Then they finally got to play...but TECH lost unfortunately.  It's HARD to be a Louisiana Tech fan...but I will ever loyal be...

I like to do it ALL so we were happy to grab some desserts at the fair and catch the light/fireworks show to top off our night.  Then we went to the hotel with some tired boys(and girl!)

Sunday morning when I pulled the curtains back I could not BELIEVE how gorgeous it was outside.  Like picture perfect.  So even though we hadn't planned on it, Jeff had all the suite tickets for the 2:00 Rangers game (last of the season!!) so we decided to go.  We hit up the Dallas World Aquarium right across the street from our hotel and it was so neat.  Then we headed off to Arlington for lunch in the suite and a great game. And the Rangers WON so they play a game tonight to see if they get the wildcard...fingers crossed!

SO grateful for this family time and making memories with my boys.  Now, off to the laundry pile....:)

Apple Day at CES

I don't have a ton of great pictures because I was BUSY at "Apple Day" Friday, but I thought these were cute and kind of gave and idea of what this super fun day at Kindergarten was all about.    There are three K classes at Choudrant that broke up into 9 groups of 6 or so.  They were with kids from all of the classes and they rotated through 3 "stations" in each classroom.  They tasted apples, dipped apples in different toppings, weighed their apples, drank apple juice and of course did apple themed crafts.  I helped with the "Ten Apples on Top" craft based on the Dr. Seuss book and had time to read the book to each group.  I forgot to get a picture of that--cause I was too busy trying to supervise the paint dots--but it was super cute.  Loved getting to see Preston interact with the kids in his class and help his sweet teacher out.  Happy Fall Y'all!

Fall Routine

Just wrapping up a quiet weekend at home.  We have definitely gotten into a Fall routine around here and I for one LOVE it!  Early mornings--esp on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Mommy goes to give people medicine--but those lead to early bedtimes :)

Preston is doing GREAT in Kindergarten!!!  He brought snack for the first time last week and I thought his trail mix turned out pretty cute...and tasty :)  He is learning to read and learning simple math concepts daily--so fun to see him be excited about school.  And somehow his learning has inspired his artistic side.  He is asking to color and paint a LOT lately--so of course little brother wants to join in too!

Preston went to his Nana and Pop for most of the weekend so Jeff and I enjoyed spending yesterday with just John Cole.  He is pictured here with one of our neighbors Rhodes K.  Sweet friends!  John Cole is really growing up--22 months today!--and is just the best child.  He is taking an antibiotic for some gunk in his chest but hopefully will be 100% soon.

This last pic is Preston with Donkey from "Shrek" the musical that his Nana and Pop took him to see last night.  So happy that he loves musical theater as much as his Mommy!

Hope you have a great week and are settling into your Fall routine!

PS--Please keep praying for Gran. She is still in the rehab portion of the hospital and is terribly weak.