Santa's Special Message to Jonah

Our Elf "Nose" came back from the North Pole last night with a very special video message for Jonah from the "Big Guy".

Watching the expression on Jonah's face this morning as he watched Santa's video was priceless.

A Walk in the Park

Josh and I took the kids to a local park to ride bikes, walk Riley and feed the ducks. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun spending time together.

Last Game of Soccer

This weekend was Jonah’s last game of soccer for the season. They also celebrated by having a Grandparent’s Day. Barbara came up to watch Jonah play and spend the weekend with the kids. It was a lot of fun. Team Lightening won so it was the perfect way to end the season!

{Jonah scored three goals during the game}

{future Mia Hamm}

{Josh, Barbara and Jerod}

{Love this picture of Josh and Meredith}

{Victory Tunnel}

Go Rangers

It was Texas Rangers Day at School.

Jonah was less than thrilled about having his picture taken this morning.

Halloween 2010

Both kids were excited about Trick or Treating this year. Prior to leaving the house we (Jonah) prepped Meredith on what to say at each house. 

“Ring the doorbell”

“Say Trick or Treat”

“Then say Thank You”

“Got it? Good. Let’s go get candy”

Off we went down our street to the first house.  Miss Piggy walked up to the neighbor’s door. Rang the doorbell and recited each line that Jonah had taught her. Perfect.

She walked back to her big red car and sat down. We walked to the next house. She handed Jonah her bag and said “Tandy” and pointed to the door. Batman took the bag, walked up to the door, rang the doorbell and recited the same lines. He then preceded to say “I am also trick or treating for my sister. May she have some candy?” From the big red car Meredith shouted “Tank Woo!”

She did not walk up to another house that night but managed to have a bag full of candy by the time we got home.

Poor Jonah.

Jonah’s Spooky Decorations

Pictures of Jonah’s Halloween Decorating skills….

The Halloween tree was made by one of my best friend’s Mom. Isn’t is so cute??

The rising ghost (purchased at Target) was a big hit at the party. Jonah picked out the glittered skeleton and put him in front of the tombstone. Jonah also put up the spooky blinking eyes in the shrubs.

Time is of the essence

Meet Debbie.

She is our Nanny.

She is great with the kids. She is flexible. She is patient. She is everything you hope and wish for when you look for someone to take care of your children when you are not there.

We are busy. Extremely busy. Our calendar stays full. And our family does not live close. Except Josh’s brother Jerod who lives down the street. But he is in his last year of college. He is also extremely busy.

We also occasionally like to go on date nights. You know to keep the spark alive.

We needed someone that could come over at the drop of a hat. Stay overnight if needed. Pick the kids up from school if we couldn’t. She also comes over some nights when we are here just to give us an extra set of hands around the house.

She has given us back time. Time to run errands. Time to have dinner with friends. Time to attend events. Time to enjoy every moment that we are with our children. Time to be better parents because we had time for ourselves.

We are glad we found Debbie.

You know it was a good party when….

your toy room looks like this the next morning.

Our Annual Halloween Bash

If you have had an event two years in a row is it officially an “annual event”? I’m not sure but I’m going with it because I have a feeling we will be having this party for many years to come.

I love Halloween. I love the decorations, the costumes, the candy, the fact that fall is in the air and it’s the kick-off to the holiday season.

Jonah was a big help in preparing for this year’s festivities. He helped decorate the house and make the food. Meredith, well, she helped by eating lots of candy.

I had a lot of help making this year’s party a success. Our awesome nanny Debbie helped with Meredith and helped prepare the food. My best friend Vicky came over early to help me finish decorating and make some of the dishes. My SIL Amy was also here to help me entertain the older kids, decorate and make food. And of course Josh who ran errands and helped decorate in the high places that the girls couldn’t reach. Ladies - what would we do without our guys around??

The three little pigs were together again. I had a house full of super heroes,  football players, witches, pirates, knights and storybook characters. They played the Mummy Wrap race (a huge hit), Strawed for Spiders, Tonged for Apples and even decorated their own pumpkins.

I think the party was a huge success. I really appreciated all the help from the parents too!

Fall Parade and Festival

We went to the Fall Parade and Festival at J and M’s school tonight. Jonah was the Dark Knight and Meredith was one of the “Three Little Pigs” with her friends Claire and River. As you can tell from the pictures below there was one little piggy that did not want to have her picture taken!

So many adorable costumes in the parade and lots of fun games for the kids. Meredith really enjoyed the Petting Zoo. I will have to keep that in mind as an idea for her 2nd birthday. Yes, I usually start planning their parties around six months prior to the big day. I guess that’s the Project Manager in me coming out!