balloon festival

we grabbed another group coupon and took the sisco family to the plano Balloon festival.  we were joined by our fellow adventuring family, the catings

the weather was perfect and bubble blowing filled in time gaps.

isn't that so breathtaking? love IT!

the kids really did enjoy themselves!

thank goodness the catings had binoculars for this turkey.

half of my handsome boys

sweet ashley

funnel cake and glowing balloons

isn't that beautiful?

fyi: we did have a good time, but pictures can be so deceiving.  this was also one of the most frustrating evening i've had with my family in a long time.  i totally lost my cool and left with a bad attitude (just keeping it real).  we all have our days. i asked forgiveness from all involved and the LORD.  thankfully, their have been some really sweet moments that followed my yuck, but ugh... raising kids is rough.  

it is not for the faint of heart! press on my parent friends, press on!

little man

i just couldn't leave these out.

ahh, love this kid!

margin for goofing off

so as our kiddos get older, things get busier.  which doesn't seem possible, but it's true.  mornings are more rushed with school.  the calendar is filled with more things to do.  homework needs to be done.  and before you know it the day is over and we haven't laughed together.  we haven't cut up and been silly. and truth be told, our kids are still LITTLE.... and there should be time for such things.

yesterday we went straight from school to sonic and hit up happy hour (thanks mcgee family).  everyone ordered whatever they wanted.  

then it was off to target... for nothing more than to check out the toy aisle. we talked about it before hand... it was just a looking trip.  and look we did....at everything.  we had so much fun talking about all the cool stuff that was there.  

we didn't buy a thing, just had fun being together.  everyone left with HUGE smiles.  i was grateful for silly random fun. and i plan to leave more margin in our schedule for such moments!!

rodeo

i've almost got my blog caught up to current time, but last month we did have a fun outing to the mesquite rodeo.  we scooped up a killer deal on groupons and got to take the whole family. we were joined by our friends the catings, but in true form... didn't get any pictures with them!

pretty sure i look prego in the following pic. promise i'm not... just awkward.  ;)

yeehaw!!

quick trip south

just before school started i had a chance to take the kids to simonton for a visit.  we got school supplies, some new clothes, the boys got haircuts.... but mostly we did this...

played ALOT of dress up

got some new goggles that they lived in - in and out of the pool

swam every day at least once... sometimes twice.

if griffin was sleeping, i got to have an iced coffee and watch from the side

and, of course, several trips in the gator with pawpaw.

it was fast and furious, but we enjoyed every minute!!

going to the chapel... gonna need butter

two chicks cake tricks got to do another wedding last month and it was super fun!

first came buying mounds of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour.

the bride wanted a dessert bar so on the menu was mini cheese cakes, fruit pizzas, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.

then i made 12 batches of cookie dough... oh, yes, 12!!

next step... bake em up!

on to the cheese cakes...

and i even had a little helper!

kara made 325 cupcakes and we loaded them in the back of her car and then said a prayer!

there's my partner in crime... we took a quick break for dinner.

fruit pizza bar

scrumptious cookies

cupcake bar

love the pop of color with the teal

espresso brownies courtesy of kara

strawberry cheesecakes / carmel chocolate chip cheesecakes

chocolate raspberry brownies

it was really fun to be a part of such a beautiful day. 

congratulations to hannah and caleb!

filling in august's holes

i'm about to post all the things that i didn't get to last month!

here are three random things that i wanted to note, but didn't fit into its own post...

 one saturday morning the kids all picked an old t-shirt from my closet and made "super capes!" kept them in protector mode all day!  ;)  ahhh, love these children... love their relationships!!! may they always fight FOR one another!

lance and i have been wanting to post a family motto but wasn't sure what it should be.  while at family camp and studying James these words jumped off the pages as the perfect list of qualities that our family wants to strive for. this is james 3:17 and it hangs just inside the front door.

 a last, but certainly not least... sweet G got a haircut.  lance buzzed his wispy hair!  he's looking like a big boy now!