Fall, Football, Friends & FUN!!

We love the fall season!! The start of a new school year, the promise of cooler weather to come, the excitement of the holidays just right around the corner. Our fall has been busy & most of all, fun! We have gone to see the Nederland Bulldogs play football (who, by the way, are District Champs & having their fun in the playoffs as we speak!), we have been to cheer on the Lamar Cardinals, we have had fun with friends, & of course we have gotten in the true fall spirit by painting & carving pumpkins!

Here are some pics of our fall fun...

Football fun...










Painting our pumpkins...

Carving our pumpkins...

Celebrating Grace!

Each 6 weeks Grace's school recognizes 2 kids from every classroom that have shown outstanding character. The award is called "Character Counts". Grace received it for the first 6 weeks this year! We are so very proud of her!

The kids chosen get to have a special Chick-fil-A breakfast in the cafeteria with the principal & the Chick-fil-A cow! They also receive a free treat from Chick-fil-A, a pencil & a certificate.

Here is our Character Counts gal...

Soccer Mom

Well, I am officially a Soccer Mom now! Luke started U5 soccer this fall. He has only had 2 practices...which he only participated in 1 of them. He wasn't too thrilled this past Monday at soccer practice. They had several age groups together & I think that kind of freaked him out. Hopefully they will split them up in the coming weeks so that it's not overwhelming. This is his first attempt at team sports & I hope it is a good one. I am looking forward to seeing him practice & play games. Opening day will be September 10! There will be more pics & hopefully videos of our little soccer star to come!!

Summer Review ~ August Edition

If I am honest, August has been the quickest month so far this summer. By that I mean that it feels like it JUST started & now we are more than half way through. It is flying by!!

We began the month counting down the days until Grace turned 7! Once again, I will make the typical mom statement...I can't believe my baby girl is 7! Seriously, I can't! Grace, on the other hand, was super excited!! We celebrated her big day with family & a few of her friends at a party at Build a Bear Workshop followed with cake, presents & a tour of the FOX4 news studio where they got to try their hand at reporting the weather & news. The party was fun & she was excited to celebrate at one of her favorite stores in the whole entire mall.

After Grace's party our family went to lunch together at Fuddrucker's...or so Darren thought! We actually had our families & several friends waiting for us to help surprise him for his 40th birthday! I was so excited & nervous. I was just hoping to pull it all off. His birthday is 2 days after Grace's, so it was the perfect time to help him celebrate such a big year. I am proud to say we did it!!!! We pulled off the surprise & got him!!! Yay!! It was fun to see all of his 40th birthday gag gifts. He was a good sport! I have given him much grief over the last few weeks, reminding him that while he is now in his 40's that I am still in my early 30's!!

We also tried to cram a few more fun things in the last week of summer vacation. Grace wasn't excited about the summer ending so we made the most of it. She really enjoyed sleeping late, lounging in her pj's & playing all day! We had some fun the weekend before school started & played with some water balloons in the front yard. This brought lot's of squeals & giggles from both kiddos.

Even though school has begun & we are trying to get into the groove of things for this new year, we will still be doing fun things on the weekends. Summer isn't technically over...yet!!!

Opening her gifts from us on her real birthday!

Love my Gracie girl!!

Swimming with Nana & Papa when they came for Grace's birthday!

Hey Mom, watch this!

Get ready Grace...


Air born!!


What a splash!!


Luke's turn...


Up, up & away!!


He made a big splash, too!!


Darren's 40th surprise party...

Surprise!!!

Now THAT is a meal!


HUGE bite!!!



Grace blew out all 40 candles before his wish was done!! :) Love the smoke!!



Opening one of the best gag gifts...from his sister, Teresa!


It's hard for an old man to get up after sitting so long! ;)

Our water balloon fun...