birthday weekend for my guy

we got a chance to go to oklahoma to begin birthday celebrations a little early.  lance's parents watched the kiddos so that we could soak in a game day in stillwater.  here is lance at his first "the walk," a tradition that began after he graduated.

me with my guy in orange country and loving it

the team running out on the field.  look at this amazing stadium... it is unreal

it was pretty stinkin' cold so there was a lot of snuggling up close.

ALOT

we ordered a pizza from hideaway (the best ever) and ate it on the drive home

on monday, the kids threw balloons at him (totally missed pics of this... maybe because they did it as he was coming out of the shower)  and i made him my version of pf chang's great wall of chocolate

he wanted to dive into it

the kids assured him that he should would share

we sliced it up and added some raspberry sauce

after dessert, we thought we should eat dinner. haha!

so we went to pappadeauxs

and got the seafood fondue.  melt in your mouth delicious!!

I LOVE YOU LANCER!!!  hope it was a very happy bday!!

pumpkin decorating??

the school had a pumpkin decorating contest and they were giving prizes for the most creative and the best character pumpkin.  i think it is safe to say that you will have no problems deciding which direction each of the kids took...

caleb went mummy.  he spray painted the pumpkin.  covered it in crate paper and sprayed it again.  add some huge eyes and DONE!  MUMMY!

allie went for hello kitty perfection.  she did everything herself accept tie the bow and make the hat.  she painted, cut, glued.... everything.  it turned out soo cute!

and sweet riley got in on the action too!

happy halloween!

getting bigger!!

caleb is showing signs of outward growth in more than just his legs!!

 that's right folks... he lost his first tooth! and isn't it incredible that he had on a spiderman suit when it happened? totally him!

so after we reveled in the space for a few days...

it was time to throw a "lost the first one" party.  i whipped up some quick cupcakes with a little tooth on each

and we talked about Colossians 1:10-12.   i like to remind my kiddos that growing physically is awesome, but "growing in the knowledge of the LORD" is even better!

so now, let the tooth fairy begin to visit this little guy too.  ;)

PUMPKINS!!

while grammie was here we took a little trip to the "pumpkin patch." it was a pretty humorous moment when we pulled up and our kids looked perplexed.  we started hearing comments like, "uhhh, can we go to the one with the tractors?" and "wait, where is the barn?"  

bahaha... welcome to big city living.

i took this pic so that you could see the traffic just a pumpkin's throw away and the parking lot surrounding us.  

but the kids still managed to have fun darting from one pumpkin to the next

smile... as the cars speed by.  ;)

later that evening the kids ate some grammie snacks on the front porch with the prized pumpkin.  isn't it perfect?  you almost hate to carve that guy!

AND... just days later i was informed that if you want a more authentic pumpkin patch experience you have to drive for it.  so four moms and 15 kids loaded up and headed for pumpkin bliss....

it was better.  WAY better.

they had bounce houses

inflatables

a hay maze

hay rides

and even hay stacks

here is a pick of ALL 15 kids.  crazy huh?  three families with four and one family with three

what a fun memory and a sweet time with new friends!!

and check out this kid!  he found a house made of pumpkins and was happy to be there most of the time.

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!!!

almost a month???

you'd think i was dead or at least sick!  

i don't know where the last 24 days have gone!  sheesh!

let's play a little catch up in pictures (in no particular order):

i've had LOTS of opportunities to bake for twochicks

 we took the kids climbing at REI for no charge

scored free tickets to a baseball game

attended a wedding of a dear, sweet PC staffer

took a cake pop class with my sweet friend kara

 and had a fun visit from grammie

that gets me back up to date with the exception of the pumpkin patch and that will have to be its own post!