October is Over

October is over....but man it was fun! The nice weather finall set in and we spent most afternoons and evenings out front. Our neighborhood is awesome and Thad has had so much fun playing with his friends on our street. He goes out at 3pm when the older kids get home from school and I don't see him until 7pm -- Well, except when Wes wakes up from his nap and wimpers at the window to go out and play with the big kids. But he loves it outside too and all the kids are so sweet to include everyone, and Wes just follows them around like a little puppy. It is awesome.

I cannot get enough of those teeth! 

Can you tell how much he loves it outside!?

I sent this picture to my dad and brothers to document my first time ever mowing an entire lawn-

 I know the yard still needs work...but you know what? I was pretty proud of myself -- My brothers and dad? Not so sure. ;-)

Conference weekend:

 It was a little productive, very relaxing (Brian and I even got to listen to most of the talks because our boys were so good) and we got to have orange julius with toast for breakfast.

It was a good weekend!

Goofing around:

Thad explaining something to dad. I love that this kid thinks he knows everything. It's endearing.

I don't know why Wes doesn't have pants on, but he loves anything about his big brother, so of course he must wear his shoes.

These glasses that picked out of the treasure box at school sure made the rounds!

I can't resist a praying Wes-

 Cutest ever.

  

More TV watching:

I'm sorry, I just love how Wes copies him. 

BBF -- Best Brothers Forever

Halloween Spirit:

It cooled down enough one day in mid-October so that these boys could wear their long sleeved Hween shirts. I love when they get excited about the little things!

You've been "Booed!"

 We made sugar cookies to "Boo" our neighbors. 

Thad was so excited to ring the doorbell and run --  It was a major success!

Snippets of September

September FLEW by at our house...as I'm sure it did with many others. It was a good month of adjusting and settling in to our new home in Texas. Summer definitely doesn't end with August around these parts, so we had fun (and are still) dragging summer out as long as we can!

Brian started school.

We will have a few more of these babies over the next couple years!

And this is Thad showing off his backpack so that I could show it to his east coast "house school" friends that LOVE super heroes more than anything!

We spent Labor Day checking out the neighborhood kiddie pool.

Remember that baseball stuff Thad gave Dad for his bday? 

Dad is the best teacher around and they had a blast (even though it was scorching hot)!

The boys love this trick (adapted from Uncle Merit) -- Cutest "burritos" around!

I couldn't get them to look at each other for a picture, but isn't there just so much brotherly love in those eyes!? 

Best buds!

Speaking of best buds....

These boys probably watch a little too much TV, but they are certainly super cute while doing it!

Can you tell Wes wants to be just like big brother? 

Cutest.

They love having a yard to play in!

I love those silly faces!

We had a nice swim day when it was snowy in the mountains and cold in Utah. I think I can handle that!

Thad kept asking to make a fort, so one Monday I told him we would do it on Friday. Each day he would clarify how many sleeps were left until the big day and, sure enough, the night finally arrived!

Dad was the master mind behind it all and we enjoyed a night watching the show "Epic."

As you can see, even Wes enjoyed it!! I'm sure there will be lots of forts over the years.

This is a fun game Thad and I made up:

Not the domino match up part, but parking the cars everywhere.

We have played it several times since and we love it because it looks so different every time!

So, we finally got a mini van (the beauty in the middle)!

We bought it over the summer and Brian even made a trip to Boise because Birtley helped us to get a smokin' deal on it.

Needless to say, we fit in perfectly in the suburbs of Round Rock and this is a common site when we meet for play dates with friends in the ward.

These boys and their dad:

There is always something hilarious going on when these three are together!

This is just one example -- Dad and Wes knocking on Thad's head...silly boys!

And then, there is Wes -- Please enjoy all these snippets of this funny, awesome, crazy 20 month old-

This boy goes CRAZY over "Baby Signing Time" and brought them over to make sure I knew he wanted to watch!

And then after he brought the movies over, he tripped on the rug and caught himself with his nose and upper lip. It was a sad day with blood and crying and me not sure what to do. :(
I don't know what I will do when these boys need stitches or casts --  I'm sure the Lord will help me out when that happens, because I will be a crazy mess otherwise!

Thad's First Soccer Game

We have entered the world of sports and....we love it! Well, I shouldn't get ahead of myself, we have had one game of I'm sure hundreds that we will attend over the years, but I have to say we really enjoyed it! It was so fun to see Thad in a "competitive" situation and cheer him on. We signed him up through the YMCA and he will have eight games with just a twenty minute practice before each game every Saturday. The kids actually did pretty well considering most of them had ZERO experience, and the extreme heat.

He was all smiles before the game and I couldn't get enough of him in his soccer gear!

Our boy getting in on the action!

 The girl in the pink socks is our "franchise" player and made 80% of our goals...yahoo! That means a lot of  Ws for the Wolves over the next 7 weeks!

The game could have been a little more enjoyable if this wasn't happening...

I shouldn't complain too much because it was H.O.T. and the boy just wanted to play soccer.

He probably cried 90% of the time. Still love him.

Luckily toward the end of the game Thad dribbled the ball halfway down the field and kicked that ball right in! He was PUMPED and it gave him some extra energy to finish out the game for the kids on his team that wouldn't play or made their way to the shade 100 yards away.

Brian and I were so happy he scored as he had mentioned his desire to do so almost every time we talked about soccer. Over the summer he saw Kache and Caden both score and, of course, he wants to be just like those awesome cousins of his!

The game came to an end and I think just about everyone was ready... 

Especially this boy... 

We don't know what the score was, but the Wolves (Thad's team) definitely won, and even though the kids could care less, we felt proud that our little man was on the winning team. :)

Oh Thad, how fun it was to cheer our little hearts out for you!

We will always be cheering for you whether it's on or off the field.

Yay for another step into the "big kid" phase!