Halloween Night 2008

The Neighborhood Gang: Batman (aka Nate), Spiderman (aka Jonah), "Alive Dead Woman" (aka Brooke), Clone Trooper (aka Hayden), and Spiderman (aka Carson)

So after multiple parties dressed up with our Thanksgiving theme, I allowed the boys to wear whatever costume from the closet that they wanted to trick-or-treat in. They both opted for Spiderman. We see a lot of him in our house. :)

The women (my neighbor Emily, her mom and sister, and myself and baby Creed) stayed behind to hand out candy while the men took all of the trick-or-treaters around the neighborhood. Fun times!

Gotta test the candy!

This picture cracks me up. As the night progressed, we were desparate to get rid of our candy, so we told the kids to get rid of it. They would chase the trick-or-treaters down the street with our bowls of candy. So cute!

Halloween Parties 2008

We enjoyed a few Halloween parties this year. We had a blast! Carson went as a pilgrim, Jonah as an Indian, and Creed as a turkey. Rusty warned me that this is the last year that I get to tell them what they are dressing up as...too bad.

We attended a Family Halloween Party at our friends the Cooks. Rusty went as a Hillbilly and I as a Cowgirl. Fun times!

Here is our playgroup party. I love looking at this picture every year. There is always someone crying, someone being goofy, etc. This year there is someone flirting (see Avery pulling Jonah's hair?). Cute.

Creed's costume is homemade, if you can't tell. It all started with a chic sleeper that Rusty and I converted into a turkey. Oh the looks he got! Poor kid...

Creed - 2 Months

Creed - 2 Month Photo Op

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is already two months old! Pretty soon he will be rolling over, sitting up, sleeping through the night (hopefully)...where does the time go? He is such a joy and has been such a blessing to our family. We LOVE seeing him smile - there's nothing like it. The boys want to see him first thing when I pick them up from preschool. They both have different tricks that they do to get him to smile, it's so sweet to watch.

I find myself coveting every moment with him - mostly because I know that he's my last baby. I hold him A LOT, I spoil him too. It's great! Everyone says he looks like Carson, and he does, but I'm here to tell you he's got Jonah's big eyes. They both get them from their Aunt T.

Today is a prayer for patience:

Lord:

Help me to enjoy every moment with Creed. Help me to not focus so much on what the next step will be in his development, but to enjoy the one that he's currently in. Help me to be patient with C & J when the want to hold him while he's crying, so that they learn to soothe their brother also. They are such good little helpers and I'm so blessed to have them! We love you Lord.

Amen

Creed with Jonah

Creed snuggled up with Carson

Momma's Little Pumpkin

Fair Day 2008

FAIR DAY!!!!

Mimi and T offered to take the boys to the FUN State Fair of Texas again this year. Because Creed is so young (and let's face it, the fair is not the cleanest place in town) I decided not to go this year. :( I'm so thankful that I have such an AWESOME Mom and Sister. I love that the boys get to go to the fair each year (DON'T mess with tradition) and thanks to my wonderful support system, they didn't have to miss this year!

All Strapped in and Ready to GO!

Mimi and the boys taking their annual picture at the fountain.

Mimi helping Jonah see the cool guy that rides a motorcylce ride around in big caged in circles. This is how Jonah explained it to me. And he kept saying "the lady had to be careful with the chairs". Apparently this is something you had to be there to appreciate.

HOWDY FOLKS!

Carson with the puppet. Jonah was invited to sit also, but he REALLY didn't care for the puppet.

Two of our favorite people...thanks Mimi and T!

Jonah's ?: "Mom I want to ride the big ferris wheel."

Ginger's response: "No sweetie - it's way too expensive."

Jonah's Second Attempt: "Mimi I want to ride the big ferris wheel."

Mimi's response: "OK honey, whatever you want."

$24 later, all 4 took a ride on the ferris wheel. What can I say, I guess that's what Mimis are for!

Carson hitching a ride from T.

The petting zoo...the boys LOVE this part of the fair!

Dinosaurs!

Mimi came for a visit while Dad was out of town (what a blessing she is to us). We had a blast with her. The highlight of the visit was a trip to the Dinosaur exhibit at the Heard Museum. It was awesome! Carson (who's usually VERY timid around animals) was not phased by the robotic dinosaurs. Jonah on the other hand preferred to be carried every time we would get close to one that moved (they also made life like sounds...very cool!).

Robber's Cave 2008

The McClendons (Can someone show me how to rotate a picture once it's attached???)


We hooked up with the Clossers and headed to Oklahoma for some campin' fun! OK, we really weren't "roughing it" (we had cabins with fresh linens and hot showers), but we did enjoy the scenery outside! It was beautiful, perfect weather. The campers next to us said they've been trying to reserve the spot years in the past but couldn't get one - so they reserve a year in advance now! We need to get on board for next year - we definitely want to go again. The boys had a blast. And as for Avery, well, she's the daughter I never had. Hope to make her a McClendon one day! She would LOVE her in-laws...great idea, don't you think Stace? And that would be one heck of a wedding reception! OK, sorry, getting ahead of myself here...



Back to camping. We had a blast watching movies on the way down (5 kids in the rear with me driving and Stacey riding shotgun...FUN!). We tried to get Jack, Carson and Jonah to sleep together in a tent in the living room, but that didn't work (Jonah was WAY too feisty). Anyway, we hiked a 3 mile trail Saturday, cooked smores over a campfire at night, made homemade "hillbilly fishing poles" with which Carson and Jack each caught 2 fish! So, as you can tell, we had a BLAST! And little Creed was such a trooper. He had a tough time sleeping the first night (I think he got up like 7 times), but did much better the second night. He spent the majority of the weekend in the baby carrier, close to Mommy.
CLOSSERS+MCCLENDONS+CAMPING=FUN!








Mom, Carson and Creed on our hike.



The future Mrs. and Mr. McClendon



Fun cave entrance...






Rusty, Ginger and Creed



Can we please make a silly picture Mom?

Closser and McClendon kids (minus Creed).

Rusty Returning

We anxiously await the arrival of Dad. He has been gone for 10 long days, we can't wait for him to arrive. He should be here Sunday sometime (returning from Malaysia).

Today is a prayer for safety:

Dear Lord:

Please protect Rusty as he travels home today and tomorrow. Protect him on his 20+ hours in the air so that he may reach us safely. Thank You for watching over us (we know You were there!) while he's been gone. We couldn't do it alone, Lord. You provided us with laughter and tears, trials and tribulations, all the while teaching us to become a stronger family in order to effectively praise Your name. Thank You for revealing to me that I CAN DO IT and I can't be perfect at every aspect of motherhood...and that's OK! We love you Lord...

Amen

Rusty's trip to Asia

Hello everyone!! As I write this post, I am in Hong Kong enjoying the scenery and culture that is very much different than what I am used to. I have traveled to Seoul, Korea and Hong Kong thus far and am on my way to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia tomorrow. This place is amazing!! I have attached a couple of photos below of my journey.