{Mustang Island. Prt. 1}

How we were able to see Rod & be able to stay in this very large & gorgeous beach home to come. 

But for now, pictures & lala land for me. 

Momma out!

night 1....a reading nook. 

    morning 1: a sunrise, golden light, pancakes, card games, dominoes & going as slowly as possible. 

{collecting treats}

Maddox went up to complete strangers at sundown telling them to smell his feet. Thanks to older brother, Britt, who taught him the charming rhyme "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat." Nice. It made for a few good laughs. Presley decided to hate trick or treating until she had a small collection of chocolates donated by sweet neighborhood children in her bag...then she hitched a ride in the double jogger & started to eat through her stash...then she was A-OK with the holiday. Tre thought it was a race to see who could get through all the streets in TB the fastest. Britton was lugging his filled to the top brown bag with one good arm refusing to let anyone take that bag of sweets from him in order to assist him. The boy meant business. Trick or treating is serious stuff you know. Last year Rod was gone for halloween, I was 3 weeks shy of having a baby & it was 1 billion degrees outside. This year it was a comfortable 77 degrees, I was NOT pre go...i know shocking! & My saintly mom was here to help do head counts. In fact all my neighbors were counting off my kids through the night too! How sweet is that?! We are a very blessed family! Not only did we have great company with Omah & neighbors, but also while knocking doors asking for treats or in Madd's case...for people to smell his feet...we also had an offer given to us by our good friends/neighbors the G. family that would allow the children, my mother & myself to visit Rod for a long weekend. I am anxious to go through the pictures from the past few days. Our hearts are full! 

{Friday night}

Trunk or treat is always a good time. The best part of this particular year was that Rod was able to come home for the weekend, which we had not anticipated. He arrived home 10 minutes before we had to head over to the church. He did not even change out of his scrubs after work because he was so eager to get back to the kids after a week away. We couldn't keep our hands off each other, & the kids were squeezing their way between us to join every hug. Presley was Presley, grumpy, which lead to a whole lot of laughter. Im so glad my friends can laugh along with me as my daughter grows through the threes. Its better to laugh than cry at these things I think.  The boys went through the car line more than three times. Cooper loved being perched on his Dad's shoulders. We arrived home after dark & the kids sorted through their loaded bags. So glad Rod was able to join us this weekend. 

I love seeing all our babies surrounding their Dad.

photo bombed by Keith

Maddox & his buddy, B.

Tre & his buddies N & J from the neighborhood/scouts/church/school

oh boy...now the fits. 

my friends are cute. Don't you think?!

Presley & her little friend, sweet C. 
& Cooper with his birthday twin (born 40 mins apart) baby J. 

Britton & cutie pie M.

wheres Waldo?

{the reveal}

We broke out the costumes for the first time this spooking season. This year we have a Waldo, a miner, a doctor, a clown & a little charlie brown. The kids love the Annual halloween party at the neighbor's house. This year they played games, took pictures on this really high tech photo booth, & watched movies all while eating lots & lots of great food. Presley & our little neighbor miss C played together nicely. & Britt palled around with his class/neighborhood friends L & E. Tre stuck with the older kids & had a blast. Maddox found J's playroom & was in there having a great time in his cardboard fort. Poor Cooper is just not himself & was asking to go to bed most of the night so Rod took him home & put him down while I spent time with the girlfriends & let the kids play some more. The children crashed hard when we got home. Exhausted & happy.

  

ps: my clown who I thought for sure would love some face paint...was NOT having it. No way, no how! We will have to try again this weekend! more halloween events are headed this way! 

{Funnel cake}

Just like last year (seen here) we headed over to our Elementary School's fall festival. Its such a neat fundraiser & so fun for all the kids in the area. This year Rod was able to come along. He was a good sport & helped take shoes on & off a gazillion times & shake silly string cans. I always enjoy it. Its madness keeping tabs on all the children, but I love seeing neighbors & friends & watching the kids be adventuress with rides & rock walls. Rod worked so hard to get us here for residency so the kids could go to school in this state, city & this very district. Its sort-a amazing. My dear friend & neighbor, Kerri puts this whole festival together. I really do not know how she does it! But I am sure she needed a good long rest this weekend! Presley tried out the rides this year & she ate it up!  I loved seeing her keeping up with the big brothers this time around. We finished up the evening with funnel cakes. The kids loved it all. 

After the festival I told Rod we needed to hurry home & get these kids of ours to bed ASAP. I don't think he got the ASAP part because he wanted to go get something real fast. What he did not know is that I had planned a date night for us & our sitters fabulous sitters were coming in an hour. I wanted to make it a surprise, but alas I had to  tell him so he would get us home.  We had a low key night out together, nothing fancy or big. Just what we needed in preparation for the long weeks ahead. We sure will miss that guy. I'm pretty sure I am done crying, oh wait...whats this...no I'm not. 

{fire cracker}

The terrible twos have nothing on the 3s. When Tre was 3 he cried & cried, became Mr. sensitive.  When Britton was 3 he became destructive, breaking everything. When Maddox was 3...well not much changed because he was just an unhappy chap to begin with. he did however become fond of finding permanent markers and drawing on white furniture frequently. Presley is a combination of all these; destructive, emotional, & unhappy. Heaven help us, she is a firecracker. She has more spice in her than sugar & more sass then she knows what to do with.  She keeps things interesting. But you know, I can see little hints of that sweet little baby now and gain. I know we will get through the tantrums & screaming fits & the diva-tude, just as we did with the others. i can tell she will be such a smart smart smart girl. Just the other day we were getting ready for bedtime stories. I picked up a pinkalicous has a sleepover book (no surprise there) & Presley suddenly demands her princess dress and her pink sleeping bag. I started to say no, but then I remembered that lately Presley has been showing me lots of neat things if given the chance. and so I put her in her dress & gave her the sleeping bag. she put the sleeping bag under her arm and posed there. I waited, thinking okay, now its bedtime. but she started to laugh and flipped open the book that was in my hands to the first page and wouldn't you know it....there was pinkalicous in her princess dress with her sleeping bag under her arm. Now i realize...most moms wouldn't get all excited about this, but heres the thing... Presley cannot talk. She signs and finds ways to communicate with us. So this little glimpse into her sweet little mind just about brought me to tears. I squeezed her tight and told her she was so smart & looked just like the girl in the book. She looked so proud to share this little thought of hers with me. & for that brief moment...we were on the same page.