October Recap

Lots going on in the last week, so sorry for the long post with too many pics. Click this first picture to see the whole album. (If it will work- something has been wrong with the site recently.)

Checking out the Budweiser Clydesdale horses with Daddy. Preston was annoyed that the horses were there. He told Clint, "The howses awe in the way of the twucks!" Playing in the leaves.

Natalie's 7th birthday party- with Cousin Noah. Since her birthday is on Halloween, we like to wear our costumes.

Dragon on the run! Watch out for dog poo!!
Pinata time- only one person was smacked with the pole. Poor Julia! Luckily it wasn't my kid that hit her. And she recovered with some candy.Mmmmmmm...Dragons like candy.

Cousin pic- the best you can get with small ones wound up on sugar.

Time to carve the pumpkin! Checking out the goo inside.

"YOU clean this out, Mommy!" Silly me- I thought he would want to help with the gross part, but he did NOT. What are boys for if they don't want to get messy?? I swear this was the only time he has NOT made a mess.

"Helping" with carving. Do not try to do this by yourself with a two year old. I did, and will not attempt it again. Nobody lost a finger, but it was not an easy task. Especially when his attention span lasts about 2 minutes and it took 20+ to carve.

Finished product- GHOSTIES!

Uncle Ewic came to visit this weekend and P LOVED him! Not just because he gave him cupcakes, either. Clint and Eric got to go to the Chiefs/Bills game on Sunday, thus the Chiefs gear for P.

Time to trick-or-treat with the fam!

Seriously, Mom? Enough with the pictures already. Can we go get candy now??!

Witch down the street- you'll see this on the video.

Mmmmm...more candy. Mom was no fun and only let me have 2 pieces.

Can't wait till next Halloween!

A Halloween day montage for you- a bit long, but parts make me giggle.

"YOU do it!"

"Big boy boy bed."

"BOO-WOAW!"

"Twick ow tweat."

"Wopen fo me...mmmmmmmmmm"

St. Louis

Just returned from a little vacation to St. Louis. When I was little, we used to meet the Salzmanns there-- with our parents, of course. So we have decided to bring the tradition back with our kids! Marcus,Tanya, Natalie, and Julia met us there, as well as Karen, Erik, Karsen, and Jack.

Unfortunately, we left a little late Friday morning. SOMEone decided to take off his diaper and stomp/smash poo everywhere in his crib. And I mean everywhere. I ALMOST took a picture of it, but decided against it. I know only a few people read this blog, and I didn't want to lose my faithful audience by posting something so gross and disturbing, but definitely funny. Now every night before bed Preston says,"No poop on Blankie. No poop on Boo Boo. No poop on bed" and so on and so on. So HOPEfully that was the first and last time he gets artistic with his feces.

Finally on the road-after cleaning Blankie and Boo Boo. Yippee!

(Click on this first picture to see the whole album)We stayed at the same Holidome we used to stay at when we were little. PERFECT for this sort of get-together. Indoor and outdoor pools, games for kids, and tables right outside of our rooms for when kids go to bed and we want to enjoy some beverages.

Karsen and Jack- too cute!!

Daredevil Julia ridin' her hog.


Is Jack gorgeous or what? Preston calls him Special Jack because we have a friend Jack (Nelson) here that we see all the time. So this is Special Jack.

Weeeeeee!
Went on an adventure to go up the Arch. I think time moves slower sometimes- especially when you have small kids and have to wait almost 2 hours to get to the top. BUT they all loved it.

Clint had to teach the kids how to be geeks...I mean how to get crushed pennies while we waited. Sigh.

Waiting in line with Uncle Rico.

What a view from the top! No fear for this kid- he probably would have dangled his feet out the windows if they would open.

That's the moon in the lower right-hand corner. Pretty cool! Dinner at 9pm? Why not?

Saturday night we went to my friend Andrea's house for some excellent ribs and wings. They were kind enough to take on our clan, and everyone had a great time.

Marcus and Tanya

With Andrea

With Karen- my BFF Dinner madness- Karen's face cracks me up in this one. The kids actually did VERY well and nobody broke anything! Well, Preston broke a plastic fork, but they didn't make me pay for it.

Little Abi- isn't she just the cutest?!
This was the last picture I took there- these two old dudes were playing pinball for hours. A glimpse into the future perhaps? I can see Marcus, Clint, and Erik all taking turns while sipping their delicious Holiday Inn coffee...

And some video of it all...

Can't wait to do it again!!!!

Georgia On My Mind

We returned today from a trip to Georgia to see Preston's Mimi and Papa. He had a wonderful time - so much fun, in fact, that he is now sick with a fever of 101. Too much excitement, me thinks.

Here are some highlights from the trip. Click this first pic to see it all...

Waiting to get on his first plane. "JUMBO JET! RIDE CONCORDE!" He ended up waiting until the next day, though, because our flight got canceled. BOO! Let's go, people!

Goldfish and a DVD player made for smooth flying.

"Helping" Mimi water her flowers - this was so fun that we did it again the next day!
The dudes - Preston, Will, and Kevin. Headed to Aunt Sara's house and then out for Pizza.

Cuties Marjorie and Natalie. Preston loved ALL of his cousins, but he is still talking about Natalie and how he misses her.

Photo shoot- Papa with all of the grandchildren.

The Pruitts, Senior Hookers, us, and the Hutchins family. It was quite difficult to get a good picture, mainly because Preston was crying.

We tried to cheer him up by pointing out the helicopter that flew overhead as we were getting pictures taken. I think this picture is pretty funny...

Tree huggin.

Playing at an AWESOME park in Suwanee. I wish we had one like it here!

And little Marjorie - is this the best picture of the week? I think so!

Video highlights. 9 minutes long because I am too lazy/tired to edit anything - this is all of the footage I shot while we were there. Get some popcorn and enjoy!

We enjoyed our time with the family - especially Saturday night when we had our photo shoot. We devoured some BBQ and were able to relax and catch up with everyone. A big thanks to Mimi and Papa for hosting and putting up with us all week!

Happy Birthday, America & June Recap

Happy 234th Birthday, America!

June recap- We spent lots of time at the pool, went pee on the potty for the first time-and continue to do it almost every night before bath time, spent time with Rising Star kids, had a surprise party for Papa Rod, spent time with Kosi and went to the splash park each week, went to Deanna Rose Farmstead again, played in a tent, and went to the Zoo for the first time. Phew! Gotta love summer!!

Click the picture below to see the whole month.

PS--Dinner last night= FAIL. Deceptively Delicious? I think not. These beet chicken nuggets were GROSS. Live and learn.

Zoooooooooooooo

A beautiful day to go to the Kansas City Zoo! We went with The Nelson crew, and I'll admit that it wasn't an easy trip. You would think that a 2 child:1 adult ratio would be ok, but it was tough. Still a fun day, though!

BTW, if you don't have kids and are thinking about having them, going to people watch at the zoo could be GREAT birth control. Lots of kid wrangling, NOs, sweating, swearing under your breath, and frantic parents chasing after their children. (And you would have seen that just watching US today!)

Click this first pic to see it all.Sea Lion

Just Jack

Pondering Preston

Mini Mallory

Cutie Kate

Probably my favorite pic of the day...Me holding Kate while entertaining Preston...Jack eating his snack, and Erin feeding Mallory. Ahhhhh-so relaxing!

Elephants!

Teamwork makes the dream work!

Preston telling Kate it's ok...don't cry

Busted

Did you know that elephants eat peanuts AND oatmeal?? I didn't. But if Preston says it, then it must be true. He IS pretty smart.