Only 8 years till over the hill

That's a big stack of candles!

This is the frame the girls painted for Shawn. I loved how it turned out. I did rub-on letters and glued buttons on.

These pictures are from last night.

We rode a Hutto Hippo....how many people can say they road on a hippo for their birthday?

All of you that know Shawn know that he was estatic to oblige me in getting on the hippo for a picture. It gave me a good laugh! What a good sport too!

Shawn turned 32 years old today. He's not a "huge" birthday person like me, but we still made him feel special. Unfortunately as the day wore on, he felt worse and worse...thankfully not about his old age. His allergies have gotten bad again and he's miserable. It was good that we celebrated by going out to eat alone last night. Then today, the girls and I had a big birthday lunch for him. We made his favorite; hamburgers and caso. He didn't want a traditional cake for his birthday this year (I know sacrilegious); he did pick a good runner up though....sopapilla cheesecake....so yummy! Happy Birthday Shawn--allergies and all!

Halloween Take 2

Okay, so tonight's' schedule was to head out to one of the members' farm for a Scarecrow/Pumpkin/Fallish type party. It was for families with kids in 5th grade and under. We were suppose to dress like scarecrows and we were going to be doing some arts and crafts and a hay ride and just some good ol' simple fun and fellowship. We had a wonderful time and the weather could not have been better! It was a relaxing evening and so peaceful at their farm. Me and the only other adult who wasn't a stick in the mud!

Seriously, could she get any cuter....okay maybe if she was Rachel Starr! :)(another blog/Tyler friend's little girl!)

Halloween Take 1

I titled the post that, because there will be a take 2 and a take 3! Last night our library hosted a Halloween Party for kids so we thought we'd go. Elle couldn't decide what to wear for Halloween, so now she gets to wear all the things she wanted to. I thought they looked ADORABLE if I do say so myself!

Ava was suppose to be Elmo, but she had a nervous breakdown when we put the costume on her. I'm glad she did because this was WAY cuter!

Daddy and Ava sharing some candy.

Our neighbor's little girl....she makes me want another baby! She is SO CUTE!!!

The same neighbors' other daughter...Elle and Ava love to play with them!

Ava's not too sure of scary man behind us....Elle is really getting into the whole scary Halloween thing! Takes after her momma!

Camping...but not quite

We planned for Thursday afternoon, to head camping at McKinney Falls one last time before it go too cold. We packed up the car with lots of stuff, headed to the store on the way out for last little essentials, drove through Austin traffic which took us over an hour and finally arrived at the state park, just in time to set up our tent, and get a fire going before the sun went behind the trees. Except for one thing. Someone, who will remain nameless didn't call to see if there was a burn ban going on. Well, as our wonderful luck goes, there WAS a burn ban, which meant that everything we brought couldn't be cooked, because it needed fire. And also, it was suppose to be a really chilly night so we would have frozen without a fire. After thinking many unkind things, we hoped back in the car, and headed to our "camp fire dinner." What a disappointment but I've learned a lesson......always call the state park before you leave to check and see if there's a burn ban!

Here we are at McAlister's State Park, enjoying our hotdogs over a fire.

Here's Ava enjoying her roasted marshmallows. Elle enjoyed hers too.

The next day for lunch, Shawn had a cookout with the real hotdogs, in the garage.

Every little girl's dream

Elle and I were invited to a tea party birthday Sunday out at the park. Elle was so excited to get to dress up and be all frilly. All of the little girls looked so sweet and it was fun to watch it all.

MASH Murder Mystery

The Scene: The study of Jerry Oilman's mansion and he's been murdered!

Lucille Ball won a prize for best costume...she was a dead ringer!

Rita and Jimi

The whole gang

Just the men
and then the women
The film goddesses:

Marilyn, Rita, Ginger, Grace and Audrey


All I can say is wow! This was a wonderful night filled with lots of laughter and lots of fun. Although it was a LOT of work, it was so worth it!
All of the celebrities included: Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams), Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Groucho Marx, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Elvis, Patsy Cline, Bruce Lee, Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth, Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelley.

Our Little Family

We love hand-me-downs!

A few weeks ago a friend from church asked if Elle needed a bike. We had kind of dismissed the idea since the last time she had one she refused to do anything with it. But we figured we'd give it a try again. It was a Disney Princess bike! with training wheels! and a pink helmet! and elbow and knee pads that are princessy! Surely she would want it if it had all that stuff on it! And it turns out she's ready. She absolutely LOVES LOVES LOVES to ride her bike up and down the sidewalk. She says "I feel so wonderful riding my new bike!" It's really sweet and I'm so glad that she's finally into bikes and what makes this all wonderful is that we didn't pay a penny for it!!! YEAH!

Rainy Day Activity

When I was in Preschool or Kindergarten, I remember our class getting our bodies traced on butcher paper. Then we got to color clothes on us and draw our faces and hair and all that and I loved it! I wonder if my parents still have that drawing rolled up somewhere??? Anyway, I decided to do that with the girls the other day. They were SO excited! They both thought it was the neatest thing in the world. Although there little bodies looked like aliens, it was still cute. Elle had a great time coloring clothes on herself and drawing her face. Ava scribbled but it was funny because she scribbled around her head with a brown crayon and it truly resembled her hair in the morning! Now the pictures are taped to their bedroom doors and they are so proud of them!

Close up of the hair