Best Surprise Ever

Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but not by much. On the morning before we were leaving Oklahoma, up drove a white SUV holding 3 people I recognized and have been missing oh-so-much. My mom and sister had driven down from IL bringing my sweet nephew Blaine, who is now 5 months old. I haven't seen him since we was one WEEK old! We explored Beaver's Bend a little more the next day then took off for Dallas. We had a fun-filled week of playing, changing diapers, surviving some wicked colds and went to a small pumpkin patch together. Not many people can say that their mom and sister are also their best friends but I can, even though we live 12 driving-hours apart. Thanks for the visit...can't wait until Christmas!!!!

Garrett looks surprised here too!

My baby boy and me

Krista and her own baby boy

Meeting Lucy...he likes her but not her tongue. :)

 Cousin time on the big red chair!

We loved our time inside and outside the cabin.

Going on a "treasure hunt" with Grandma and Daddy

No, this is not just a picture of fallen leaves. Do you see the black thing hidden in the leaves right in the middle of the picture? Yeah, that's a TARANTULA! It was just walking up the road and wandered into the woods. Eek!

Garrett learned how to play Uno. With his toes, apparently.

We went on a picnic lunch down by the river and attempted to feed bread crumbs to the fish. But there were no fish to be found. :( Oh well.

Back in Dallas! We played at the McDonalds playland for quite awhile.

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Decorating pumpkin cookies with Grandma. He didn't like the hard candy decorations but he sure loved the frosting.

Garrett LOVES his cousin Blaine. He was always reaching over to say "Hi Blaine. Hi!" or giving him hugs and kisses. Our boy loves babies.

Blaine loved Elmo! He was licking him all week. Ha!

Grandma is so talented, she can rock Blaine to sleep while playing the Wii with Garrett.

Rub-a-dub-dub, three cousins in a tub. 

 Nolan loves to be pushed in the swing.

Uncle Russ taught Blaine how to do Hook'Em Horns while cheering on the Longhorns.

Oklahoma!

We were blessed to be able to spend the weekend in beautiful Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma with Jason, Corrie and Kaylie. The weather chose to be as uncooperative as possible the first day we were there but we still managed to get out and do some fishing, geocaching, and exploring. There's a sweet playground in the backyard of the cabin as well, which kept the kiddos occupied quite a bit. We had such a blast being out in nature and slowing down from everyday life with our cousins and friends. Thanks for sharing your special place with us, Macmurphies!

Settling in at the cabin...

 Fishing fun!! We didn't catch a single thing and only really saw one fish, but we had a great time trying. And Nolan enjoyed running back and forth and staring down at the water below.

 Sadly, this is the only picture I took while we were geocaching. I neglected the camera for much of our weekend because we were so enjoying just being together and away from the busy-ness of home. Garrett would gladly have been our fearless leader during our "treasure hunts" but we opted to let the guys with the gps go first. Maybe next time, buddy, maybe next time.

And on our second-to-last morning there, I got a surprise visit...more on that in the next blog post. (Which may not be written/posted for a few days. It's HARD finding time to do this with such busy busy boys in the house!! Boys' bedtime = blogging/reading/resting/tv time in our house.)

Picnic

The boys and I had a picnic the other day. In our living room. It was too hot outside to brave the sun and bugs, so we spread out "Daddy's Army Blanket" (as Garrett calls it) on the living room floor and enjoyed our picnic lunch together. I hardly ever get pictures of the boys and me, since I'm usually the one taking the pictures, but I decided to set the timer on the camera and attempt to get a couple good shots of me and my boys. They turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. :) I love these boys...more each day.

Oh, Nolan...

I feel like I say that phrase--or some other variation--about a million times a day. He's so BUSY right now! Whether he's emptying out the pots and pans or unraveling the toilet paper again, he just doesn't stay still. I love this age, I really do, but it's exhausting. It's a good thing his big brother loves to run and be crazy as much as he does! Even though they wear me out, I wouldn't change them for the world...they are such a blessing in my life.

Yes, he climbed up onto the truck all by himself and was clapping/dancing on top of it. He's got some mad balancing skills!

He found the foil. I put it away four times before he finally was too quick for me and got it all off the roll. He's persistent!!

Haircuts!

BEFORE

AFTER

PS: I know that I didn't have a "before" shot of Garrett but it was getting pretty shaggy again. Both my boys look so big now!!

Garrett the Photographer

Garrett loves to take pictures. Of the tv. The computer. Us. So here are a few of his latest and greatest photos, complete with his very own titles.

"Starfall--Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

"Thinking Daddy"

"Me"

"Moey Drinking Milk"

"Mommy and Moey"