The Pumpkin Patch

Since Eric was in town, Kristen decided to take off work so we could all hang out for the day.  I was in Lewisville for my mom's meeting on Monday, so I just spent the night in Frisco instead of driving all the way home just to sleep.  Harper loves spending time at Krissy's and can't get enough of Grayson and Reese.  Plus, she loves to run after Bentley, because I don't think Bentley gets any attention usually.  We had bath and went to bed.  In the morning, Reese and Grayson were up at the crack of dawn, and they all made pancakes for breakfast.  They were all on the couch watching Disney, waking up, and Harper decided to give them all some love.  Reese suddenly got all crazy and hyper.  They are going to be a handful growing up!

We went to the pumpkin patch in Celina.  It was a beautiful day and the kids loved being outside.  Of course, we took the opportunity to take family pictures.  They didn't last long, about 10 minutes, but that was still too much for these crazies.  And getting three kids to all look at the same time?  Yeah right!

There were animals that the kids could feed with sheep, goats, and cows.  Harper fed them for a little while, and then just enjoyed rationing out the food to Grayson to feed them.  She didn't like them tickling her hand but he did!  

They all loved the pumpkin field, just running up and down the rows and grabbing as many pumpkins as they could.  They each got to pick one out to take home and they were so excited.  They would get as many pumpkins as they could carry or put in the stroller, and then we would put them all back and start over.  Reesey loved walking around and being free.  Harper kept picking random pumpkins.  And Grayson got it in his head that he wanted one without a stem so he could roll it up and down the field.  

They ran through the hay maze over 10 times.  It took Harper a little while to figure out what a maze was and how to get through it.  She loved running back and forth and even hiding in the back.  She went through with Grayson some and with Reese a lot.  She just kept telling everyone to "Fall Me Guys" (follow me, guys).  Grayson ran through it really quickly a lot, and Reese and I went through once together pretty slow.  

This day was Eric's 34th birthday.  We hadn't been able to celebrate his actual birthday with him in a few years because he works all the time in Austin.  So it was such a fabulous day to spend all day with him, without the rush of a holiday or family event.  We had a great day relaxing and talking and he got to spend a ton of time with the kids.  I think it was a nice break for all three of us.  The last thing we did was the hay ride.  The kids loved it but kept getting in trouble for standing up.  I did give them each a sucker (Eric ate Reesey's) for being so good and taking pictures for us.  We headed home for lunch and naps before Eric's birthday dinner that night.

Future Short Bus Sub employees

Happy Birthday Eric!  We had a great day!

Camping at Lake Texoma

We love to camp, especially in the fall when it's beautiful during the day and nippy at night.  We camped last year with my parents and learned all about how much easier camping is with an actual camper.  So we decided to go again this year and headed to Lake Texoma since we live up here now.  It is a huge lake with big campgrounds, a swimming area, and a cave/rock area to climb on and hike up.

We got there Friday night after work and had a quick dinner while the boys set up the camper and tents.  It was misty and turning somewhat cold, and I quickly realized I had not brought enough warm clothing for myself or Harper.  Harper and Taylor went to bed early (she was sick all weekend - turned out she had bronchitis!) and the rest of us sat around the campfire staying warm.  We talked for hours and roasted giant marshmallows.  By the time we headed to bed, it was COLD.  My dad found extra blankets for everyone but it was still a rough night.  I slept in a bed with Harper, who I discovered tosses and turns all night.  She also woke up when I got in bed and wanted to sleep hugging me, which sounds seriously cute but is also seriously not comfortable for sleeping.  Plus, our slippery sleeping bad kept falling off of us and I had to keep waking up to keep us covered.  There was also a ridiculous wind storm going on outside, I actually wondered if we would wake covered in snow from some freak blizzard.  My dad and Harper both work up around 6am and I grabbed my laptop and Taylor's headphones so Harper could watch Einstein's quietly.  However, she just kept laughing and talking to me during the show and ended up waking most people up anyways.

Getting the fire started

Tay and Piper around the campfire

It was seriously cold when we woke up, the couple next to us said that it ended up being about 39 degrees last night.  SO glad we took my parents up on their offer to sleep in the camper with them and not our tent!  Cody made everyone breakfast and we mostly hung out inside until it warmed up a little.  We played around, took a drive to see some of the lake, and found the hiking spot.  We climbed up some of the rocks and found the caves.  Harper loved being outside and hiking around.  She also loved the campfire.  She kept finding sticks and throwing them in, but she did a good job of staying far enough away.  She just kept telling all of of us it was hot and to be very careful.  We relaxed all morning at the campground and played soccer, bean bags, and ate lots of junk food.

Harper and Pop in the cave

Cody and Carleigh on the highest bluff, a little too close to the edge

Carleigh on a rock overlooking the lake

While Harper was napping that afternoon (as well as a few others), we played Jenga and listened to the A&M game on the car radio.  We all laid around and had a fabulous afternoon.  Carleigh and Cody went for a hike and found a way down the bluff to the lake.  Around dinner time, Eric showed up.  He was in Dallas for a few days to get a break from work and life in Austin.  It was so great to see him, it had been a long time!  Those boys work day in and day out on those busses.  So we sat around the campfire and talked all night while we roasted marshmallows again.  Thankfully this night was not as cold and we all slept much better!

Sunday morning, we ate a quick breakfast of campfire roasted biscuits.  We went back to visit the caves once more with Taylor and Eric this time.  And we packed up the camper.  We had a blast hanging out and it was a relaxing day.  Eric came back to Denison with us to see our new house.  We had lunch and watched the Cowboys and everyone napped.  It was the most relaxing we have done in a long time!

Grayson's Soccer Game & Carleigh's 16th Birthday

I got this picture on a Saturday afternoon telling me that Grayson had finally scored his first goal!  He was so happy.  He ran through the crowd after to give everyone high-fives and then hugged his mama. We knew we were going to be in Dallas the next weekend for Carleigh's birthday, so we decided to go down early to see Grayson's soccer game.  It was supposed to be 60 and a little misty, but it turned out to be 50, misty, windy, and miserable.  We definitely weren't dressed accordingly, so Kristen brought us some jackets and Cody grabbed his big umbrella.  We stood on the sidelines with most of the kids and tried to huddle with the warmth.

The kids were bundled up but they were still freezing.  They played a good game, Grayson even scored two goals!  But during the 2nd quarter, Brian talked to the other coach and they agreed to end the game early.  We went home and had lunch and naps, then headed to Agyle.  

 Carleigh is the baby of the family, so it's weird that she is getting so old - because it means that we are getting old!  She didn't want a huge party this year, so we just had a family dinner.  It's fun to have the whole family together, all the kids running around like crazy and all the adults talking and laughing and eating.  

Mimi and Reese looking at the dogs

Finally getting her turn to ride the wagon at Mimi and Pops

Carleigh got to pick her dinner and dessert so Kristi made her a homemade pecan pie.  

Doesn't she look so cute?  Best 16 year old ever!

Grayson picked out a card for Carleigh with a knock-knock joke on it.  He loved telling it to her.  Then, he helped her open all her presents and play with all her new stuff.  

Her new eyeshadow she has wanted for years

 

Auntie TayTay 

Playing Hop on Pop

Sisters

Taylor wanted us to pose a certain way, but it was not going to happen.  The outtakes of this photo are horrible!  I'm not quite sure what she was hoping we would do.  

Happy Birthday Carleigh!  

We love you to pieces!