In the Belly

You'll have to excuse Reese in this video... she's on toddler crack or something.  If you can focus despite the two little wiggle worms, they have an announcement to make...

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Yes... it's true.  I have a baby in my belly.  That's the reason for my blogging slump.  I've been pretty sick and extremely TIRED.  Hopefully all that will come to an end pretty soon.  Baby # 3 will be arriving at the beginning of July!  It's a good thing we have months to prepare... after watching this video, I wonder how we can handle another one!

Abundantly Blessed

Abundantly Blessed... that's how I feel right now.  That's how I felt on Thanksgiving and that's the feeling I want to hold on to all year long.  We've had our share of hard times... and its so easy to get bogged down by the "don't haves" and "didn't go as planneds" that I sometimes forget how abundantly blessed we truly are.  This year I want to be blissfully grateful... the way Reese and Tucker were when we spent Thanksgiving morning on the playground...

Man I love these boys!!!!

 And when we spent the day after Thanksgiving at the petting zoo...

Can you believe Reese??  I'm not sure what happened to this girl... she ran right up and couldn't wait to feed the horses.  There's hope for her after all.

We spent Thanksgiving in Houston this year.  The weather was beautiful so the kids got to do some fun outdoor stuff with all the cousins... we all enjoyed time on the playground and feeding the animals.  Another thing that we're abundantly blessed with... lots of family and lots of love... 

We were all amazed that we could get everyone on that staircase... and there weren't even any crying babies this time. 

Reese Taylor Tims

Tonight at dinner Reese said, "Yummy, Mom.  Thank you Angela."  She had us rolling.  She's learned all of our full names and has moved on to the extended family.  How crazy smart is this girl??

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Wait till you hear her say "Dabid Alex Doyoyoyyoyle".  Grandpa's real name is David Alan Doyle... and she thinks it's hilarious. Especially the Doyoyoyoyle part.  Funny girl.

Three Days of Halloween

Halloween should always fall on a weekend.  It just seems unfair to the holiday when it doesn't.  This year, we took full advantage and celebrated 3 days of Halloween.  They got more use out of their costumes this year than they did out of some of their baby clothes. 

Friday night we went to the Fall Festival in Brock.  They had food, games, prizes, bounce houses and all kinds of other fundraisers.  The kids are way into bounce houses right now so that's pretty much what they wanted to do all night. 

Saturday night, we went to Trunk-or-Treat at our church.  Everyone decorated their "trunks" and really got into it this year.  One family even brought a pony and some other animals and had a petting zoo.  What people will do to win a gift card.

This crazy clown was giving away beanie babies instead of candy.  Jackpot.

It didn't take long for them to really get into this whole I say "trick-or-treat" and you give me candy thing.  It was a mad house, but we managed to play some games after trunk-or-treating.

They had so much fun and of course Mom and Dad were totally pooped after chasing them around all night.  It was a good kind of pooped though.  Totally worth it to see them having so much fun.

Sunday night we had dinner with Andrea and her family, followed by some good ol' fashioned trick-or-treating.  It's hard to believe that 15 years ago, we were running around together collecting candy in our pillowcases.  And now we're taking our kids...

Can you say Arranged Marriage?  Reese says Campbell is her boyfriend.  Chris was really excited to see his daughter kissing a boy at such a young age. 

How cute are they?  They held hands for much of the night.  I know what you're thinking, but Andrea and I had nothing to do with this. 

 Nolan and Campbell were so cute... a scuba diver and a fish.  So creative. Campbell did a great "Fish Face."

 I really didn't know how the kids would do.  Reese especially... you know how shy she can be.  As soon as they saw the candy, they were good to go.  They even went through a "haunted house"... who'd have thought? 

It was a fun-filled weekend and for once, none of the activities fell into the "forced family fun" category. 

Pumpkin Picasos

This year I decided to let the kids paint pumpkins instead of carving one.  Okay, call us lazy, but Chris and I just weren't excited about all that work.  This way the kids got their own pumpkins and paintbrushes.  They were more than excited and I didn't have to mess with pumpkin guts.

It looks like Reese is going to be a lefty.  You know Chris was wishing Tucker would be the one to bat left, but no such luck.   Okay, so I'm totally neurotic, but I'm already worried about teaching her to tie her shoes and having to buy left-handed scissors. 

Luckily I only have one child that likes everything messy, so we managed to finish this project without ruining any clothes.  Success. 

Grease Lightnin'

You know I'm a sucker for coordinating outfits... as evidenced by the Easter, Bluebonnet and Pumpkin Patch posts.  Halloween is no different. I know there will come a day when Reese wants to be a princess and Tucker wants to be Spiderman, so I'm making them coordinate their costumes as long as I can. This year's theme was Grease Lightnin'...

Grammy made Reese's poodle skirt. So. Stinkin'. Cute.  Reese absolutely loves to twirl around in it.  Thanks Grammy!  Everyone just went on and on about how adorable she looked. I'm pretty sure she would have been wearing a Walmart costume without her Grammy. 

Tucker sort of got the short end of the costume stick this year.  He didn't care though... jeans, a tattoo, and a Mohawk (because he hair just wouldn't slick back) and he was happy.  Somehow we lost his sunglasses and his comb at Grandma's house right before picture time. But he still looks pretty cool.   

Tucker said he'd coordinate with his sister one more time if he could get a pair of Chucks. Deal.   

Stay tuned for more fun pics... we had 3 days of Halloween this year! 

Thomas and Friends

Grammy and Grandpa gave the kids a ride on Thomas the Train for their birthday.  This weekend we met the whole family in Rusk, TX to play and ride on Thomas.  The kids were so excited... a slumber party in a hotel on Friday night and then a whole day of fun including a train ride on Saturday. 

They all got little engineer caps to wear... blue for the boys and of course, pink for the girls.  Too cute!

The kids had a blast on the train... dancing and clapping and being together.

In addition to the train ride, they had a day full of other fun stuff.  They played with trains...

They colored and legoed it up...

They pet horses, rabbits, donkeys, etc. at the petting zoo.  Well, some just looked instead of petting.  Hmm... wonder who I'm talking about??

They enjoyed music and story time with Hobo Joe.  

And they had fun just spending time with their cousins Kaylie, Andrew and Emmy.  Surprisingly, we didn't have too many meltdowns. You never know what you'll get when you take 5 toddlers out for 6 hours of fun. 

Thanks for such a fun birthday present... what a treat! The kids were totally spoiled... snow cones, hats, whistles, and a super fun-filled day!   Reese and Tucker had a blast and were asleep before we left the parking lot.  

Thanks again. We love you Grammy and Grandpa!