Halloween 2013

Halloween is always so much fun! I love the excitement of the girls getting all dressed up and going trick or treating. It always feels rushed getting ready, and the girls are always so excited they drive me nuts! But, when it's finally time to trick or treat, they finally settle down and get into things. We had almost 2 full days of rain, so we were lucky that it stopped just in time for wonderful trick or treating weather! The Hrobars joined us again this year, and I swear every time we went to a door, everyone probably thought I was a crazy lady with 6 kids! The kids were all very polite and nice, which was good. We had some houses with some pretty scary decoration, but luckily none of the kids got scared this year. I think they finally realize that it's all fake stuff.

As usual, we got way too much candy and didn't give away too much, but it was a fun night!

I even joined the fun this year and put on my 80's gear to match my tiny 80's rock star. I found Adilyn's old costume, and it was just too fun not to reuse for Brooke :)

Jasmine, Belle, and an 80's Rocker

A grumpy 80's Rocker :)

Two little princesses

Rock out!

A pink-haired mom and her punk daughter

The whole crew!

Me and my girlies

Running! (Like the candy was going anywhere!)

On the move!

"Trick or Treat!!!!"

A police officer stopped and let us take our picture - all the kids are in their "poses"

Brooke finally wanted to trick or treat when we got home, so she played with Cory.

A Navasota Weekend

We always love spending time out at Dana's parent's land in Navasota. Fun in the dirt, shooting, riding their "cars", and exploring! They are burying pipe out on the land, so that provided some fun for the kids - playing in the dirt and on (and in) the pipes.

Boosterthon!

Adilyn's school always does the Boosterthon for a fundraiser. It's a fun run style fundraiser where people donate money per lap they run. It's always a fun event for the kids and the families that come watch. The kids really get into running and doing their laps. Adilyn did very well, and called all the grandparents to ask for support. She even tried to memorize her little speech :) Brooke and Kacy had fun cheering Addy on, and they loved looking at some of the kids' crazy hair.

Trunk or Treat!

We had a Trunk or Treat activity with the MOMS Club, and we had never done one before. It was a lot of fun! It was at a local park, and everyone decorated their trunks in different themes. Since we had 3 little princesses, of course, our trunk was filled with princess garb. Of course, I didn't have to buy anything, since princess stuff pretty much covers our entire house. There were about 15 families there, so it was quick, but just enough candy! It was a great way to get our Halloween holiday started. It was also a fabulous way to get the kids out in their costumes another time!

Pumpkin Cuties

This was the first year since Adilyn was two that we haven't made it to a good pumpkin patch! Usually we go to Dewberry Farm or the other pumpkin patch by our old house, sometime we even did both. This year between t-ball on the weekends and bad weather, we never made it to one :( BUT, October would not be complete unless we got some pumpkin pictures somewhere! So, we went up to the little church's pumpkin patch to snag a few quite pics. I missed going to one of the farms, but it's not the end of the world. There is still a lot of holiday fun to be had!

Some more T-ball/Blast Ball pictures

We are about halfway through the softball season, and things are going well. Luckily, both Nammie and Pops made it down to see a couple games on the weekends. Adilyn has gotten much better! She is trying a lot harder, working on hitting hard, and she is having fun. She even got two outs at home last weekend! Mom said she "ran the girl down" to get the out. Whatever happens, I am glad that she is having a good time and making new friends. Kacy is a beast! She can throw and hit very well. She has even got a few hits off of pitches when the coach lets them practice that at the end of practices. Brooke is ready to play, too! I can't keep her off the fields. Here are some more pictures...

Adilyn loves Pops!

Chasing the ball down!

Dusting off her friend's pants - always the little helper.

Nice form!

A sweaty cutie

Pops and his sweet Kacy

Always sassy!

Awww, my little 1st baseman...taking after her mama!

Check out the hustle

"I just wanna play!!!!"

Determined :)

Back To Work...At Home?

I got a call a couple weeks ago that I got the job that I interviewed for way back in June. The job was for a high school English teacher at an online public school. I officially started on Monday, but I really have no idea what I am getting myself into! I have almost 200 students. I am teaching 9th and 10th grade English, both of which are a literary analysis/grammar/composition class. There are one hour live lessons that I have to give each week, some faculty meetings, and lots of grading. I hope it works out because it would be great to teach again, and have the flexibility to be home with my sweet girlies! The hardest thing for me right now is that I have no idea what I really will be doing when I take over these classes. How much will I really need to be available each day? Will I be able to do most of my grading and responding to emails in the evenings? The other hard part is getting back in the mindset to actually have more responsibilities past taking care of the girls and the household. But, for now, I am excited about the opportunity, and I hope it works out.

Brooke at 18 Months

Our little one is 18 months old! It's hard to believe our lives without her. She completes our little family. I have loved staying home with her and having the extra time with her.
Some things that I want to remember about Brooke right this minute...

1. She loves to copy her sisters, and she is pretty darn good at it! She pretty much attempts to do everything they do. Although she may be a little slower or not quite perfect, she gives it her all. Her newest trick to try to copy is jumping. I have to get a video of her doing it. She does this one little hop thing and brings one foot off the ground, and I am positive that she actually thinks she is jumping off the ground. The other thing that she does really well is playing t-ball. This girls can throw with almost perfect form, and she can hit a ball off the tee. Pretty impressive!
2. She loves to say (or I should say, yell) "NO!" She says it in the cutest voice, but honestly, it doesn't make it any less annoying. Me: "Brooke, you ready for naptime?" Brooke: "Noooooo!" or Me: "Brooke, sit down." Brooke: "Noooooo!" or Me: "Brooke, it's time to get out of the car." Brooke: "Nooooo!" You get the point...
3. Other skills mastered...going up and down the stairs, playing with Barbies, climbing in and out of her car seat, putting everyone else's shoes on, making messes (especially while I am trying to clean), and being able to reach things on the table or countertops.
4. She is sneaky! I never had problems with the other girls writing on the walls or getting in to too much trouble with markers. I remember having to put them away for a little while her or there, but Brooke is a marker maniac! Well, I should say she is a writing utensil of any kind maniac. She has completely covered herself in marker from head to toe at least 10 times. She always does it when I am in the shower or cooking. One may think that I would have learned after the first few times, but apparently not. She has colored on the floor, the walls, the couches, etc. The best was a time that I caught her coloring on the walls in the entry wall. I cleaned it all up, and I thought that was it. About 20 minutes later Cory went to the bathroom, and yelled, "What in the hell happened in here????" I thought the girls had made a mess. I was wrong. It was one girl. One tiny girl, armed with a black dry erase marker. She literally got every single surface of that entire room! The scale, the cabinets, the fan, the countertop, the bathtub, my shoe, a toy bus that was in there. She covered everything, literally! Thank goodness for Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser!
5. She loves to be tickled, and when you tickle her she says, "TickaTickaTicka!"
6. Her tight, tiny arm hugs are the best! She hugs me so super tight when I get her out of her crib in the morning or after nap.
7. Although she doesn't like being away from me, she is quite the adventurer. She will just wander away at parks or in stores without a care in the world.
8. She gets nervous around people she hasn't seen in a while, but she warms up super fast. After Pops was here for about an hour, she was all over him!
9. She definitely will tell you how she feels! She is done being in her seat at dinner, she lets you know. She wants something to drink, you will know it. Right now, it may just be her screaming, but she absolutely tells you when she is not happy.
10. She is a rough and tumble little lady. She loves tackling the girls and jumping on them without warning. If Cory is playing rough with them, she just jumps right in to get a "Brookie Sandwich". :)
She literally brings so much joy and happiness to everyone in the family. The girls love when she does something funny, and she loves making them laugh. She is a fantastic little distracter when the big girls are grumpy with each other. I can't wait to see how their relationships change as she becomes more interactive with them. I have already caught her and Kacy playing Barbies a few times together. Adilyn keeps trying to play school with her, but she doesn't quite have the attention span for that. :)
I love her smile, her crazy hair, her giggle, and the sweet way that she sings and dances when the big girls aren't even around. We love you, Brookie!!!