Happy 29th Audrey!

~I'm sure these posts would be more enjoyable to read if I spread them out and blogged like a normal person should. But as always I'm dumping 2 months worth of fun on you at once, Audrey style~

Okay, I have always liked getting older, but I have to admit, 29 kinda weirds me out. I thought 30 was going to be super cool, and I still think it is, just... 30... wow. That's a real adult and that's all I have to say about that. So I better live it up this year while I can still be young. Next year I have to start being responsible.

Anyways, I had a fabulous birthday. I started celebrating on Thursday night when Tim surprised me with concert tickets to go see the Barenaked Ladies! Woo hoo, one of my all-time favorite bands and I have always wanted to see them. I had a fabulous time and it was a great idea! And here's me tonight at our little family shindig.

Tim let's the kids pick out their own presents for me and here's what they came up with:

Lillie got me p.j. pants. They are way comfie. I'm wearing them right now in fact. They are my new "big lady" pants that are perfect for when I eat too much. (Which is every night during and after dinner)
Samuel got me the game Operation which he said he knew I would love... he was totally right. I never owned the game as a kid though I always wanted it. Bo-bamuel you have made my dreams come true and I can't wait to get our "Operation on" tomorrow after breakfast!

My mom made me this fantastic ice-cream cake. Which we enjoyed after we dined on Timothy's lovely dinner of Teryaki Chicken, Rice, and Broccoli. Thank you guys it was all delicious!
Thank you everyone for the phone calls, cards, and gifts! I had a wonderful day!

The Halloween Season 2010...

As you all know Halloween was on a Sunday this year. Nobody around here batted an eye about it so there was no pretend trick-or-treating on Saturday. Not to worry though. We went to 2 trunk-or-treats and a fall festival and Samuel's pre-school. By the time the real Halloween came I don't think my kids even realized. They had so much candy and had dressed up so many times, they most definitely got their fill.

Here's us carving/painting pumpkins:

Grant loved this and still points to his painted pumpkin and goes on and on about it when we walk outside. It's on our stoop where it will remain until the morning after Thanksgiving when the Christmas decorations roll in to town. I think I'll have to sneak it out when Grant's not looking.


All dressed up just waiting for the sugar high.
So cute!...reading books together after the ward trunk-or-treat.
Here are the kids and Samuel's fall festival. We've never gone before but I think we'll make this on a yearly tradition. Everything was FREE!

On Saturday night a bunch of our friends got together and did another trunk-or-treat so the kids could get one more chance to load up. It was pulled together speedy quick and we had it in the school parking lot so the kids could play on the playground too. They had a blast. I love last minute things like that!
Bumblebee!
Spidey!
Fairy, and Scrooge. I vow every year that I will make Tim dress up the next year. Then I put so much work into everyone else's costume that I chuck the idea. But next year babe..... I promise
Tap Dancer

Aren't dads the best?

Tim plays tickle monster with the kids almost every night when he comes home from work and the kids have a blast. (Tim does too!) This time I thought I capture the memory.

What a great pic!
I think they finally pooped him out!

Day Out with Thomas 2010

So, I think the whole Thomas thing is turning into a tradition of sorts. One that we will keep until no one is interested in going anymore. Tim and I promised ourselves that we wouldn't be those crazy parents making our kids go to these kinds of things when they're 15! But they're having a blast now so we keep going.

The weather was nicer this year but last year's stormy weather definitely made for a nicer picture!
Here's Samuel playing mini golf while we wait for Lillie.
And here's Lillie on the Rock wall. She's the one in the red shirt. There were 4 different places to climb and she tried every single one. This is her last try and she made it all the way to the top. And it was an automatic belay so there was no one "helping" her up. Tim coached her from below and we were so proud of her. She was ecstatic to make it to the top!
Here's Grant pointing to his Percy tatoo. This things stayed on for about 2 weeks. We could never scrub it off all the way. And still, a month later if you say "Grant, where's your tatoo?" He'll lift up his sleeve and point to his arm. Too cute!
Lillie and Samuel with their spoils. Samuel got a new train (Fearless Freddie) and Lillie got a train charm bracelet. I told her that the gift shop probably wouldn't have anything that she liked but she swore to me that she was going to find a train charm bracelet. And low and behold, they had one. The only girlie thing in the entire store.

Maggie

So getting an animal has been a topic discussed on and off for the last year or so. We tried Matilda the cat this summer and that lasted for about 5 seconds. So we decided to try the dog route. We waited until Uncle Jason came to visit for his vet conference in September and he helped us pick out a good fit for our family. Thanks for all your advice and time Jason! I swear, I was like a 1st time mom when we brought this girl home and I had my own personal in-house doctor! Sorry for all the dumb questions bro. but you gave me much peace of mind.

So without further ado, here she is in all of her furry glory:

The kids absolutely adore her which is good because they are why we got her in the first place.
We named her Maggie and have since had her shaved down to the naked version. She came to us with a lot of sticker burs and her hair was all matted. She we decided to start over. She looked pretty, um, gross... yeah, that's an accurate word.... when we got her back from the groomers. I don't think we realized that 11 pounds equated to such a skinny dog under all that hair! But thankfully it's growing back. She's a shih tzu that's about 1 yr old. My dog loving friend has had a couple of shih tzu's and says their super duper long hair comes in at about 2 to 3 years old. Hmmm... not really what I signed up for, but oh well. With Maggie we just take things one day at a time. She's pretty good if you can get past the chewed up toys, shoes, holes in the backyard, and barking at strangers. We have her enrolled to begin obedience school this week so wish Tim the master trainer good luck!

Audrey & Dale 2010

Dale came down to TX this year and as usual we so much fun there was just no time for picture taking! We ate at yummy restaurants, went shopping, and had fun reminiscing with Heather. Finally on our last night we remembered to take a picture:

And here's me asking if I had food in my teeth. Nice.
I had tons of fun with you Dale! Watch out Disneyworld... we're coming in 2011 and this time we're bringin' the kids!

Random Fun

Lillie made and flipped these pancakes all by herself! Now she's like "I can make dinner every night mom!" Yes Lillie, I would love that. And I'm sure you guys would love pancakes every night! Seriously though, it was pretty sweet and I was way proud.

I watch a little boy during the day and him, Samuel, and Grant have a lot of fun together. Here they are turning our couches into and indoor trampoline..

Guadalupe River

Well, it stays hot around here for awhile and we wanted to enjoy the nice weather before it got down in to the shivering 50's. We took a day trip with our friends the Easton's to Guadalupe River. This is a great place, and only about 45 minutes away. Unfortunately we decided a try a new route with our friends and we caravaned some 2 1/2 hours getting lost on little TX back roads that the GPS didn't recognize. I think there was a short period of time where we wanted to give up but it didn't last too long. I think we were just so frustrated, we concluded that we would find this place no matter what. So we ate our picnic lunch in the car instead of the river, but we finally made it there and we had a blast!

Lillie was in heaven. She floated all afternoon down tiny natural rapids, made friends with total strangers (which I have never seen her do), and practiced her underwater swimming skills. The girl is a fish and completely taught herself to swim this summer.
Samuel and his friend Aydia.
Grant and Genvieve sharing river rocks.
Good ol' Samuel boy and those goggles. He never sticks his head under the water but he is absolutely convinced that he needs these things to swim. Always be prepared right?

1st Day of School 2010

We had a blast this summer and it was the first summer in TX in my own personal history that I didn't get to tired of the heat... MIRACLE! I think after Lillie going to Kinder last year I really enjoyed all of the relaxed down time and fun hanging out. It was hard to give it up, but the kids were really excited to get back to school.

Here's Handsome Sam ready for his first day of Pre-K. Though you can't see it he has a Spiderman lunch box that we was super excited about.
And here's our gorgeous girl all ready for 1st grade. She has really enjoyed herself so far this year and has truly blossomed in 1st. She's at the top of her class in all subjects and has really lost a lot of the shyness she used to have. I love to see that newborn confidence in her!
Here are the kids with some of their friends on one of the last days of summer. That's a $10 pool and a stepladder that all 6 of them are playing in/on. Amazingly it kept them occupied all summer.