sneak peek...

This morning we went down to Grapevine Station. The boys especially liked watching the engineers move the trains, on the tracks and on the turn style, to prepare them for The North Pole Express. It was a rare treat as we've heard there usually isn't that much activity so early on a Saturday morning. We were really there to meet up with a photographer, who I hope managed to capture what will be out Christmas card photo for this year with our mostly distracted and wiggly children. In the meantime, here are a few that I took while we were there.



















FYI it was 70 degrees, overcast and very windy.

7th birthday dinner

Since we had two parties and a grill-out the night before, Sammy got to choose where we went out for dinner on his actual birthday. His main request was that he wanted to go to a place where they would sing to him. We drove by a Joe's Crab Shack on our way to another restaurant, and the kids noticed that they had an outdoor playground. There was plenty of room to eat outside next to the playground, pretty lights and no wait - our dinner location was chosen.

Here is the birthday boy while the waiters were singing:


And wearing the cowboy hat and taking the horse-on-a-stick (what are those called?!) to do his birthday lap around the restaurant (which he wouldn't do, btw, but his younger brother *happily* filled him for him. When did 7 become too cool to run around a restaurant shouting, "Yeehaw!" ???@!)


Freddie, excitedly taking the horse from our waitress.


The boys' favorite part (aside from the playground) was the beaker and shark that came in the special drinks they ordered called "Shark Nibbles." The beaker was inside a plastic shark floating in their cup and filled with grenadine, which was suppose to be blood. The kids poured it into their blue drink so it looked like blood in the ocean after a shark attack. Charming. They played with filling the beakers the rest of the night.


Happy Birthday, my sweet seven-year-old Sammy! There's nobody in the world like you and we love you to bits and pieces!

Happy 7th Birthday, Sammy!

Super seven-year-old
Originally uploaded by sweetietooth

We had Sammy's Mario kid party at our apartment's clubhouse party room and movie theater. Jacob set up the Wii in the theater and the kids played various Mario games, then watched some of the Super Mario Super Show. We had cake and ice cream in the party room and then went on a scavenger hunt because King Koopa hid Sammy's presents!

To see more pictures of the Mario party check out the Sammy's 7th Birthday set

Here are just a few...
the party room at our apartment complex, decked out in Mario


The character cupcakes and one-up (ish) cake balls I made:


I ordered a giant Mario so the kids could all take pictures with him. The kids loved it.

Mario is now residing in the big boys' room :)

We also celebrated with family (Grandma, Papa, Nana, Ba, Aunt Dominique and family, Cousin Andy and family) and friends in our apartment complex with a backyard grill out out by the pool and basketball court later that day. It was a really great time, and wonderful to have so much family present (11 family members, not including our little family of five!). Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate Sammy's birthday with us!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun and warm Texas Halloween.

First, I took all of the kids Trunk or Treating at the Grapevine First Baptist Church. It was huge! The trunks were decorated in either Halloween or fun themes, the kids' favorite was the Mario car. I thought the Mad Scientist and the Cereal Killer trunks were pretty funny. Here we are at the Mario trunk:

Notice Jack's abandoned Toad hat, and Jack wandering off in a Zombie-like fashion. ;)

The sun was setting right on the trunk when we trick or treated there so it didn't make for the best pictures. But you get the point. Really cute.


Trunk or Treating had a great turn out. Loved seeing all the kids in costume. And quite unlike women who intensely dislike wearing the same thing as each other, my kids were elated when they saw other Marios and Luigis. They were instant friends and had to go say hi. It was very cute, if not a little tricky keeping track of my own children at all times since there would randomly run across the parking lot to greet other Marios.

Without the Toad hat Jack looks a little like a 70s porn star. I should have borrowed one of the kids' mustaches and put in on Jack. lol Here he is wandering off again.


Quick Trunk or Treating photo op!


We concluded the Trunk or Treating with a little hay ride around the square. It was very fun!

Jack was forced to wear Toad hat for one picture - for documentation - sadly you can't see his cute bare chest because I'm restraining him. Oh, and in case anyone was worried about a baby recovering from a week of stomach flu-followed by strep throat don't worry! It was like 80 degrees.

We ran home so I could put Jack to bed and the kids went around to a few apartment buildings with our neighbor friends. The boy, Jeremiah, is in Sammy's class.


Then we went trick or treating. I thought this might be a good way to test drive the neighborhoods and see where we want to live. Make sure they give out good candy, you know?


Please excuse my poor iPhone night time photography!


Most of the houses, much like the trucks, were decorated really well. I love holiday exuberance! Happy Halloween, y'all!