turkey in disguise

ian had a class assignment to "disguise" his turkey...i gave him a few examples...but then he came up with batman...and he went to work! this was the finished product!

i love this creativity he has!!

logan is 8!

well, he's 8...i didn't think it was too different...but i am starting to see previews of the "tween" age that is coming. i'm hearing a lot of "yeah man", and "dude"...and "sweet"...he gets around his friends, and the 'cool' factor kicks in. i'm seeing growth and maturity...and still praying for this little man as he is developing into his own! right now, he loves cheeseburgers with ketchup and mayo only...loves pizza...he's super into sports, and he learns a lot about other teams from his playstation 2 football game. his top 3 football teams are the cowboys, the texans, and the longhorns. he's beginning to shift away from the imagination world of "guys" (which makes me so sad)...and he'd rather watch a good football game than a disney movie. he takes the trash out and empties the dishwasher...tears up his shoes and jeans like a pro...but he still loves a hug from his mom and dad before bedtime. love this kid!

this year, he opted for a football party (since he plays football with the neighborhood boys every day possible). he had about 13 boys (yikes!!) and 2 girls...we got to have cousin audrey for the weekend, so that was special for them to get to spend time together...they sit and laugh and talk, and read together...its a sweet bond. he's not a huge cake fan, so he decided he'd rather have chocolate chip cookie sandwiches (2 cookies with icing between)...that's definitely my kid!

its that time of year...

well, we're back to that time of year...family pictures. coming from a family of photographers...its impossible to skip this part of the year...its a tradition! mom was in town...and we used a family friend's home to attempt the family shoot!

don't we look happy? doesn't this look easy? don't be fooled. it's still a beating...every time!

i keep thinking it will get easier each year...and it does in some ways, and does NOT in others! now the boys are old enough to understand, and they obey and pose and all that...but now, i'm battling against the "fake" smile!

hmm...i wonder where they get that from?

but despite the struggles (we were also fighting off swarms of mosquitos), we managed to get a few good shots...way to push through it for your mom, boys!

halloweenies!!

our first stop was a nearby church's fall festival...

...but on halloween, we had a big party called "halloweenies"!! we served hot dogs and had a bounce house and snow cone machine...we passed out flyers on our street to invite all of our neighbors! it was sooo fun! we had about 75-100 people come through....and got the numbers of a few new neighbors! we are hoping to throw block parties regularly, and this was the perfect way to kick it off!!

outside time...

we are breaking out the long sleeves and loving it! i love this time of year...so cool, but i'm not freezing yet! the boys had "jersey" day at school...so by the time they were home, they were in the football playing mood. logan is usually the one who loves to play football (as you can tell by his football is duct taped to keep it together)...but this time, ian was excited too...andy was home, and we had a fun outside afternoon!!

pumpkin patch

made a quick visit to the pumpkin patch! it was fun with friends...and the kids actually were pretty entertained for awhile, just looking at all the different pumpkins...

logan,kylie,tysen,ian,taylor

tysen and taylor - our cutie little pumpkins!

logan loved this crazy one!

welcome little vandy....

graham david vanderveer is our newest little cousin! he's the sweetest little thing!! the whole family went to visit over the weekend...and then tysen and mommy stayed for a whole week to help out! oh, it was sooo fun to snuggle with that little munchkin! and tysen loved playing with max every day!!

tysen asked to hold him every day! he adored little gra!!

logan held him and just talked really sweet and quiet to him...then he kinda chuckled and said, "his hair looks like a highschooler"....LOL!!!

love this bunch of boys!!!

when i told tysen we were going to visit max in denton...he said "can i go to cuin's house?"...he misses his buddy cuin! we got to visit, and they played like old times...

one last hug before heading back home!!

1st and 2nd grade!

we're in a new town, and the boys have a new school! they loved their first week! we are just under a mile away, so we've enjoyed walking to school each morning! :)

he knows what he wants!

he asked specifically for his three monkeys....usually i find them on the floor later, but i guess tonight he knew exactly what he wanted!! :)

the fam's in town!!

i loved having my family in town visiting!!! the mcclures came first...then the spooners...then mom and sam...then the kazees came in as the mcclures headed out...and we got to have a big family lunch together....and of course...mom made us take a family photo!!

whew!

we've had a lot of visitors come in the past few weeks. we've really enjoyed having friends and family see where we are and get to be a part of our lives here...

joey, kyle and max came...the boys were sooo happy to have max here! and i think he loved getting to see 'the boys' new home! here's ian and max snuggling for a movie...

kelly karr and kelley butler ford are friends from highschool! it was a blast having a girls night out and remembering our dorky highschool days!!

cousins katie and haley got to come spend several days with us too! one night we had dinner with some friends at church, and katie and logan both caught their first fish! we love summer visits!!!