Quin's Elmo Birthday Party!

My boy LOVES Elmo. He has a little Elmo that sleeps with him every night. Throughout the day, he'll hand me the remote and say, "Watch Elmo"...which is funny because I can probably count on one hand the times we've actually watched Elmo on TV. Anyways, when it came time to plan his 2nd birthday party, we HAD to have an Elmo party! Here was his invitation!

We had a "breakfast and jammie's" party, and we kept it simple, sweet and small. We had tons of donuts, donut holes, chocolate milk and coffee for the mommas and daddy's and for Quin when he snuck a few drinks out of a cup he found. The kids made fruit loop necklaces and had a "Color Me Elmo" station set up to color pictures of Elmo!

Quin had a blast! He has been talking about his friends coming to "Elmo Birthday" for several days now. He loved every bit of it. His 2nd birthday party was much more successful than Braidy's was. Today's was meltdown free and full of smiles! YAY!

Quin was decked out in his new Elmo PJ's that daddy bought for him, some new Elmo slippers he got, and even an Elmo hat! Several Elmo toys found their way into our home, and I have never seen a more excited little boy. I just hope the Elmo love stays around for a while!

We are so grateful and thankful for our friends and family who came to celebrate 2 precious years of life for our sweet Quin.  Thank you for making today so special. One more day until he officially turns 2! Here are some pictures of our fun morning celebrating our sweet littlest man!

Halloween 2012

Have you ever seen a cuter bunch of BOYS in your life? Yea, me neither! We had a very scary "Smash Hulk", a handsome Texas Ranger, the cutest monkey ever, a big, brave Fireman, a sweet little duck, and a precious little Nemo!  John stopped by for some pictures, and he looked so grown up and SO handsome! Braidy has been talking about his "Smash Hulk" costume for MONTHS now, so he and daddy had a blast getting ready. I loved watching Ryan get him ready, he might have had more fun that Braidy! He was so excited - they went shopping the night before for all of the GREEN stuff and the green shirt. Daddy also cut the Hulk's pants...pretty cool costume! Braidy's year was made!

We loaded up the rest of the boys and started our annual trek through the neighborhood to trick or treat! Smash Hulk and Fireman Crockett led the way from house to house. The littles would eventually catch up, though they got curbside service in the wagon....we didn't have ALL night after all! We had a great time and were so glad that Ty and Tabor joined us! They got a TON of candy and were worn out by the time we were done. Successful night of Trick or Treating!!!

And just for fun...

Trunk or Treat!

The Sunday before Halloween, the Touchstone's invited us to their church's Trunk or Treat! We were so excited to get to dress up one extra time, and go have some fun with some of our favorite friends! We ate some frito pie (YUM) and we were off! They had a little train the boys all rode, and tons of blow up bouncy things! There were several cars with candy in the trunks....the daddy's were sure to "help" the boys pick out the best kind of candy, of course! I am pretty sure Braidy grabbed an adult sized handful when no one was watching. Quin and Tabor loved the bouncy house. They jumped and jumped and jumped. When it was time to get out to give the other kids a turn, we COULD NOT get them out! We told Danielle to get in there and grab them, but considering she was giving birth to a small child the very next day, we decided that might not be the easiest or best choice. But, being the critical thinker that she is, she got out her Gerber Yogurt Bites (why do all kids LOVE these things!?) and we bribed them to come out. Yep, I showed the bag to Tabor, and out he crawled...same for Quin. So we succeeded. The whole time, Braidy and John were going from blow up thing to blow up thing, never tiring of climbing through the obstacle courses. They had a ball.  We had the best time celebrating one last day of Tabor's Only Childness!!! 

 

Pumpkin' Carvin' Time

One of our most favorite "Family Days" of the year is PUMPKIN CARVING time! The boys love it and the daddy loves it too! I love it, but my pumpkin ALWAYS falls apart, so maybe it's a little frustrating to me. Anywho, this year the boys each picked out a design and we went to town carving. Momma helped Quin with his "EEK!" design, but after we were done, the E, E, K and ! all fell off, so we were left with a giant hole. Awesome work mom! Dad was much better and their's turned out much better! The next morning the 2 little boys wanted to make a Potato Head Pumpkin....now THAT I am good at! Stab a few holes in the pumpkin and pop some body parts into it. WaLa! The rotting pumpkins are still sitting on our front porch if you'd like to take a gander at our works of art!

The boys do love the slimy seeds, and using sharp objects too! I am not sure how many times I had to pry the metal pokey thing or the sharp saw out of Quin's hands...but we all escaped without any injuries. I love making fun memories with our Boys. I hope they ask mom and dad to help them carve pumpkins for the next 20 years.

Volunteer of the Year!

My husband is a stud. I'm convinced he does, indeed, have super powers. He can be involved in every organization under the sun, be a successful banker, he knows 98% of Lubbock's population, and still be a wonderful husband and super daddy! He is just awesome, fun, has such a great work ethic and I could not be more proud to be his wife. Yesterday, I got to attend the "Cornucopia Luncheon" to honor the winners of this award! Ryan won the "Young Adult Volunteer of the Year" award for the City of Lubbock. He is involved in SO many organizations throughout the city, and his hard work and many hours were recognized! He is very deserving of this award, and I am so proud of him and his hard work.  Congrats Honey, So proud of you!