playin' in the pumpkin patch...

today my mom and i ventured to the dallas arboretum with o & j to let them play in the pumpkin patch. i just love this time of year- the weather, football, pumpkin patches popin' up all over, fall decorations, the flavors(apple cider, pumpkin spice, etc.). really i love everything about fall and the pumpkin patch at the dallas arboretum is no exception. in fact, it might be one of my favorite aspects of this season. i look forward to this day every year and i always have great expectations that i am going to get the "perfect, priceless" picture. you know where both children are looking in the camera, smiling, their clothes are not wadded up, only pumpkins and fall decor in the background, and there is not a random stranger in the background making a really stupid expression looking directly into the camera. well, i didn't quite get the "perfect" picture (i'll try again next year!), but i did manage to capture my kids enjoying the beautiful weather and playin' in the pumpkin patch having a really great time...

it was a great day! so glad that nana (my mom) was able to share it with us. happy fall everyone!!

answering your fried butter questions...

well, i loved it!! i agree with oprah that it should be called "fried biscuits" but still really yummy!! basically it was a little ball of butter in the center of a biscuit, then rolled in flour and fried. there were several flavor choices- original, grape(jelly), cherry(jelly), and garlic(butter sauce). garlic was tempting- i love, love garlic, but i opted for 2 original and 2 with grape. i liked the grape better. it gave it just a little bit of sweetness, but the original was good too. so, in my opinion worth the hype and the wait in line. jack thought it was pretty tasty too!!

i wonder what they will fry next year?? i will probably try it! :)

spiderman to soccer...

that was about how our saturday went. it was so fun!! olivia and i started off the morning by going to ryan's superhero birthday bash...
it was complete with lots of superhero activities (silly string, facepainting, balloon creations), a real spiderman, and cupcakes of course!! :)

o was more into "flower power" than super powers, but we still had a great time celebrating our precious friend ryan!!

then it was off to watch abby play soccer...

isn't she the prettiest soccer player ever??

she was FINALLY playing a game after all the rain we have been having. it was so fun to cheer her on and even hang out a little while she was takin' a break.
while abby was running all over the field and kicking the soccer ball, jack and kk were having fun playing on the bleachers.

they have a sweet relationship that i just love to watch!

in my opinion it was a perfect fall saturday. beautiful weather, celebrating with friends, some soccer action, and doing it all while being together as a little family. :)

our state fair trip...

was lots of fun, as always. we did miss having b and pop with us and we did get really wet!! that didn't stop us from...

eating some famous fletcher's corny dogs...
riding some super fun rides...
introducing the kids to the "fun house" which turned out to be a little bit boring...
waiting in line for and trying the much talked about fried butter...
working on the "little hands farm"...
feeding and petting the animals...
and snapping one family pic before the rain started...

in and out...

i only wish i was going to write all about the yummy "in and out burger" that i have still yet to try, but this post is all about jack. today he had tubes put IN and his HUGE adenoids taken OUT!!

our day started very early this morning. we left our house at 6:00 a.m. and arrived at the surgery center about 6:30. after reading over several pages of paperwork, initialing and signing EVERYTHING, it was time!! we went back and waited to meet the anesthesiologist and talk with our doctor. we did have to wait a while, but jack was happy and had no clue what was about to happen. our sweet nurse knew just what to do to keep jack entertained while we waited- elmo dvd and a toy computer.

watchin' elmo & clueless

after all the waiting it was time to get things started. the nurse brought jack some "goofy juice." he was a champ and drank it all up. according to our nurse, most kids do not like it and spit it out. jack just gobbled it right up. within minutes he was relaxed and for lack of a better word, "drunk." which is exactly what was supposed to happen.

"drunk" & ready for surgery

once the juice took affect it was time for him to go to back for surgery. his nurse carried him away, i said a quiet little prayer, and then mark and i were moved to another room to do some more waiting. FINALLY, the doctor came in and told us that the surgery had gone well and she successfully cleaned out his ears, put in tubes, and cleaned out his goopy nose and removed his LARGE adenoids. we were glad it went well, but then we had to wait some more. time just seems to crawl when you are waiting hold your child and just see him with your own eyes!! jack was not very pleased when he woke up and it took some time for his little body to readjust, but with lots of love from mommy and daddy we finally got clearance to go home!!

when we arrived home he was HUNGRY!! he had not had anything but a popsicle since the dinner the night before. so we fed him so lunch and then he was ready for another long nap. after his nap he was much more himself- happy, hungry, and wanting to play!! so we did just that and we even got a bath to wash off all the sticky band-aid junk.

after some food, a bath, and playing- his smile is peeking through!

but honestly, this is what jack looked like most of the day!

after the long day jack was ready for bed a little earlier than usual, so he is now sound asleep. all is well and we are expecting a low-key, pretty normal day tomorrow.

tonight i know i will sleep well, but i will not close my eyes before thanking god for keeping jack safe today, giving wisdom and compassion to our doctors and nurses, the incredible support system that we have in our family, and the countless prayers that were said by my faithful friends. i am so blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude.

a crafty kind of day...

today we had a couple of "crafty" projects going on at our house. mark and his team were putting the final touches on a HUGE piece of artwork they are going to hang in their new conference room. it is basically all their clients logos (which they designed) cut into strips and then woven together...

our garage turned into an "art studio."
a close up shot... it is really neat. can't wait to see it on the wall.

olivia and i worked on a few pieces of her halloween costume. she is going to be a purple and turquoise butterfly. today we glittered her shoes she will wear and started making her antennas. it was so fun. and we got to use lots of glitter!!!

our supplies

o loving all the purple paint and glitter!!

i will show pics of the artwork hung on the wall and the complete halloween costume soon!! it was a great to express our creativity and get our hands dirty!

tu-tu tuesdays are back...

this semester olivia (well, i guess i) decided to give ballet another try. she loves it!!! she looks adorable in her black leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet shoes (no tu-tu, but that's a minor detail).

kk is also taking ballet with her, so that makes it even more fun for o.
there they go... up to class!! i love how they are holding hands.


sorry for the poor quality of pics, just had my iPhone.