Whew, what a weekend!

Daddy and Isaac enjoying the hayride.

This picture makes me laugh!

Only big smiles from this guy!

The best family pic we could get with the pumpkins.

Luke holding on so tight during the hayride and Isaac loving on us both.

The three big kids sitting on the pig...just after this we tried to put Luke on the pig and in the process Isaac and Kacy slid off the side.

I captured this smile while he was admiring the ducks.

The not so safe, but oh so fun rope swing...he LOVED it!

Luke's favorite activity, the huge slide...he made Carl do it twice!

Isaac and Kacy, sweet friends.

Sir Topham Hatt at the birthday party.

Our Dutch soccer player hitting the pinata.

Look at Isaac and Daddy at the top of the dirt mound!

The guests of honor...Gumby, Cameron, and Leah.

This weekend was a busy one, full of fun times and great memories! It sure left me exhausted though...whew! We started the weekend with a great dinner at Oma and Opa's house on Friday night. It was a nice evening of family time. Saturday morning we headed out to Dewberry Farms, a wonderful pumpkin patch to let the kids run and play with some sweet friends, the Hendersons. Isaac and Luke love Adilyn and Kacy, so it was sure to be a fun time! Luke was not sure about the hayride or the pumpkin patch area...I can't figure out why he won't let me take his picture with the pumpkins. Isaac on the other hand was all smiles, he and the girls enjoyed the hayride and smiled and posed great for pictures. After the pumpkins we spent our time watching the pig races, admiring the ducks in the duck pond and the farm animals in the barn, as well as swinging on the super fun rope swings (Isaac's favorite!), sliding down the huge slide (Luke's favorite!), and just playing in the hay. We had so much fun with the girls and are thankful for such great friends!

After the pumpkin patch we raced home to get some naps, well apparently Carl and I were the only ones interested in napping. Luke slept about half an hour and Isaac, well, he never naps, so it was just the usual rest time (play time) for him.

Next on the schedule was a birthday party for one of Isaac's good friends from school. It was a costume party, so the boys had to get dressed up! Isaac's firefighter costume was a little too hot, so he went as a Dutch soccer player. Luke dressed at Sir Topham Hatt, although in shorts rather than pants. They both looked great and were so excited for the party. We couldn't get Isaac out of the bounce house the enitre time and Luke was happy just running around the yard and driveway. It was great to visit with friends we don't see often and make some new friends as well. Birthday parties are a bit crazy, but so fun...I love seeing the kids all having so much fun!

Every Sunday is busy around here these days, but today was extra busy. We started the day at church with a great sermon and good fellowship with friends. The boys had fun in Sunday school and made some cute puppets. Their lesson today was based on the verse, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14. They learned this verse last week as well, so Isaac and I have been discussing it all week. He suprised everyone with his memorization of the verse including the Psalm 139:14. The boy loves to learn, he is a sponge...and he truly enjoys learning about God and studying His Word.

After church we rushed home to change and pack some lunch, then off we went to the park for a family picnic. We got together with Carl's family to celebrate three birthdays; Cameron, Leah, and Gumby. We all ate lunch togther, then the kids got to run around and play...on the playground as well as the huge dirt mound. As you could guess, Isaac loved the dirt mound and was determined to get to the top. Luke enjoyed the freedom and was running everywhere, he wore us out chasing him. It was a wonderful afternoon with family, celebrating three great people!

We came home for naps after the park, but unfortunately Luke fell asleep on the way home, for about 5 minutes and decided that was enough sleeping for him. We were supposed to head out to small group this evening, but with Luke's lack of nap I decided it was best to keep the boys home and get them in bed early. So that's just what I did. I am bummed to have missed the time of fellowship and digging into God's Word, but thankful for the extra rest for the boys.

Whew, I'm tired again now after just writing about the weekend. But thankful for the time with family and friends and the sweet memories we made as a family.

Sugar and Spice and all things nice...that's what little girls are made of.

We have a lot to learn, we don't know much about Sugar and Spice, but I know we will learn quickly and will have so much fun in the process!

We told the boys this morning that they were going to have a new baby brother or sister and Isaac was so excited! We told him that we were going to the doctor today to find out if he was getting a sister or brother, and that he could come with us. He thought this was great! Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long, so we could all get in and see our little one. The ultrasound tech looked immediately to find the gender, and our little one cooperated, there is no doubt this is a little girl! I love seeing the baby on the ultrasound, it makes it so exciting and I feel even more connected afterwards. She is an active one...she was moving the entire time! And she is on her head, maybe she's practicing her gymnastics skills already. Heehee! Isaac was able to see her head/face, hands, and feet; and even hear her heartbeat. He was so excited and of course filled with a million questions. This was such a sweet time for all of us, a memory I will never forget!

All afternoon Isaac's been talking about his little sister, he cannot wait! He has talked about taking care of her, playing with her, and of course he is so curious about how she got in my tummy and what she's doing in there.

We are all over the moon about this sweet little miracle, and are counting down the weeks until we can hold her in our arms.

Book Parade

Isaac the Fireman!

Sitting outside his classroom with some of his friends.

The fireman with his special book.

Isaac had a book parade at school this afternoon. He got to bring his favorite book and he had to dress up as one of the characters. Obviously, he was a fireman, his book was, "When I Grow Up I Want to be a Fireman." The kids all dressed up and then they paraded around the school for all the parents/grandparents to see. It was such a cute experience, the kids all looked adorable and all did great with the mass amount of people staring at them. I could tell Isaac was a little nervous, but he smiled so big once he saw us! He thoroughly enjoyed wearing his Fireman costume, and told me on the way home that one day he will drive a big firetruck and fight real fires. The kids were allowed to bring their parents and one grand, so Emmy got to come with us, and she enjoyed it, too. Isaac loved that she was there to see him parade.

Pumpkin Patch

Happy Fall Friends!

He thought the pumpkins were balls, he kept trying to roll them around. :-)

I captured a sweet smile!

Deer!!! Loving the petting zoo!

Today was a special day for me and Luke. We went to a pumpkin patch for some fall fun with some friends from church. It was the most perfect day for this outing, the weather was gorgeous! Luke was a little hesitant at first, he didn't know what all these big orange balls were for (also known as pumpkins). He wasn't really into posing for pictures, but I was lucky enough to get a few good ones. We tried to get a group shot of all the kids (7 total), but Luke was not having it. Bummer. One thing that Luke did truly enjoy was the petting zoo. My boy LOVES animals! His face lights up when he sees them and he points while talking about them, and he gets so excited! We let the kids run and play for a while, then we had a picnic lunch. It was a great morning and one that I won't soon forget. I'm thankful for the sweet friends that were there with us and for this beautiful day!

Washington DC Trip

The soldier at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just before the Changing of the Guard.

Us...by the Washington Monument

The Capitol

Me in front of the White House...notice the police handcuffing the guy in the background...read below to hear what happened!

The Lincoln Memorial

Abe!

Carl and I spent the last few days in Washington DC, just the two of us, for a work trip/getaway. Carl had to go up there for work, and our parents made it possible for me to join him on this trip. We had not spent a night away from Luke in his entire 17 months, so I was definitely nervous about how he and I would do without each other. Thankfully, he did AMAZINGLY! I did well, too! ;-) Isaac and Luke both waved and said bye to us as we left, so that made it easy to get in the truck and go. They were both well taken care of, and of course, a little spoiled by their incredible grandparents while we were away. I am so proud of what a big boy Isaac was, he made sure everything went as it should and helped out by sharing everything he knew...which in his mind of course he knows everything. Luke was happy and just had lots of fun without us! Did I mention how thankful I am for both sets of grandparents and their willingness to help out and let us getaway?

We arrived in DC at about 8:00 Saturday evening, so we checked in to the hotel and then quickly headed out to find dinner. We found a local hotspot right around the corner and had a yummy dinner, while sitting at the bar because we were too hungry to wait for a table. Sunday morning we slept in a little and then got ready quickly to head out to some sightseeing. We started at the Arlington National Cemetery, which was so impressive and humbling. We got there just in time to see "The Changing of the Guard" at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...this was also very impressive! We left there, grabbed a taxi and headed to the White House. This was my first trip to DC, but not Carl's, so he was my personal tour guide, although we did see some things he had never seen or at least not in the last 15 years. He knew just where to go from the White House, so we walked along to all the sights. We saw the Washington Monument, then the Capitol, and then we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the American History Museum. Yes, I know, it's quite amazing that he got me into TWO museums...those that know me well know that unfortunately I do not have a good appreication for museums. These museums were enjoyable though and quite interesting! Once we finished up there we decided to head back towards the hotel. We swung by the front side of the White House to snap some pictures on our way back. As Carl was taking a picture of me I heard a loud bang, like something falling...I looked back to see a man on the ground with three police officers around him and he was being cuffed! What in the world!?! The next thing we knew there were officers everywhere!!! It was incredible to see the security around there! They quickly forced everyone to cross the street, and we ended up next to the friends of the guy being questioned. According to them, he asked them to take a picture of him pretending to climb the fence...they showed us the pictures. Well, there is no playing around there...they are serious...as they should be! We stuck around for a few minutes, but then decided were too tired to stick around, I feel bad for that guy, he learned that lesson the hard way. After some rest in the hotel we decided we needed to head out to the Lincoln Memorial because we didn't know if we would have time the next day. So we put our shoes back on and headed out on our tired legs. We tried to make it before dark, but we just missed the sunset. It was still a beautiful sight, though! We left there and grabbed dinner just outside the hotel, a great pizza place followed by some delicious ice cream!

Carl had to work on Monday, so I took it easy around the hotel...it was a much needed time to relax! Once he finished working we did some more walking around and then had wonderful dinner at Old Ebbit Grill. The restaurant was just around the corner from the White House, it had a great atmosphere and the food was fabulous!

This morning we had to catch an early shuttle to the airport, and then caught a flight home. It was a wonderful trip, we made some great memories, and really enjoyed having some time to be just us. We made it home by about 2:30 and I have to say I was so excited to see my boys! I needed the break, I needed that time away, but I missed my boys so much and was so ready to hug and kiss them!

A Day Out With Thomas!

THOMAS!!!

Luke was as happy as Isaac, I'm not sure why he's making that face.

So excited to see a real Thomas the Train!

My monkey climbing the rockwall!

On the train ready to ride!

Luke was exhausted by this point and scared of the train whistle.

The Conductor punching our tickets.

And he couldn't fight it any more, the nice ride and daddy's arms holding him, he had to give in to the sleep.

Sir Topham Hatt!

Bye Thomas!

As I have mentioned a few times, our boys LOVE Thomas the Train! So today we took the boys to go spend a day with him, and we completely surprised them. We had to drive 3.5 hours to Burnet to see him, so the whole way they had no idea where we were going. We gave a few hints, but Isaac never in a million years could have guessed that we were going to see and take a ride on Thomas! The faces of both of the boys were undescribable when they caught their first glimpse of him. It was such a special moment to see them SO excited! Luke just pointed and yelled with a big smile! Isaac could not get the huge grin off of his face, he couldn't believe his eyes. We had about an hour to walk around and explore before our train ride, so we did just that. Luke enjoyed running free and seeing all of the Thomas paraphenelia around the place, he was constantly pointing at something and squealing with delight! Isaac attempted to climb a huge rockwall! He kept asking to do it, but we weren't sure if he was ready for that, we decided to let him try, and he did a great job! He had absolutely no fear!

Finally, it was time for our ride! Everything went so smoothly, we only waited a few minutes before boarding the train. Unfortunately, the train blew quite a whistle as it was coming in from the trip before ours, and Luke was terrified by it. He held on so tight to me until we were safely on the train. They played fun Thomas music on the train while we waited to leave. Then a worker explained to us that Thomas was training the diesel, Gator, so Gator would pull us out and then Thomas would bring us in. Isaac was very interested in that information, he had to know all about the Diesel train. Once the train was moving along Luke relaxed and fell asleep in Daddy's arms. Isaac went back and forth from our laps to Emmy and Gumby's...he loved every minute of the ride!

On the way home I asked Isaac what his favorite part was, he responded, "Seeing Sir Topham Hatt!" He then asked why James wasn't there, and why Thomas didn't take us to the Steam Works to see Kevin and Victor.

I'm so glad we took this day to go on this adventure and make these special memories with our boys. We are so thankful that Emmy and Gumby came along to enjoy the day with us!

Saturday - Park Day

Ready to go!

Oooh, cold!

BYE!!!

Last Saturday we took the boys to the park for some playground fun as well as splashpad fun. It was the perfect day for it, the weather was just beautiful, and we were the only ones there! The boys enjoyed climbing all over the playground, going down the slides, swinging, and spinning on the merrygoround. Once they worked up a little sweat we headed over to the splashpad. Luke had never played in one, so we weren't sure if he would like it. His first splash shocked him and he wasn't sure if he liked it, but he kept going back in, and after a few minutes he was all over the place. Isaac has played there a few times, so he was all about it and loved every minute. It was so fun to see the boys enjoying that time together!