Halloween!

Halloween weekend was alot of fun this year! These are some pictures from the last few weeks...

We've been to the pumpkin patch a few times this year and last week I took the kids back again to take some pictures and let them run around.... Teag's lips were really blue that day and it was cold which wasn't helping!

Her favorite shoes right now are her rain boots! She wears them everywhere...

These two crack me up- never a dull moment! They say the funniest things to each other and are always laughing at each other (or fighting, ha)

This is usually how the photos of all three of them go... I finally get Bode to look at me (and smile) and then the kiddie train drives by and blows the whistle!

Bode's face here makes me laugh- like,"really mom? more pictures?"

Halloween night we headed out to the harvest carnival at church, and then Trent and I took them trick or treating. Gavin had decided what he wanted to be a few months ago- a tow truck... We worked on it for a few days the week before Halloween and it turned out really cute! He was so happy!

Here's my little butterfly princess!

Bode was a dinosaur for about 10 minutes and then he was over it. I'm glad his outfit was only $7, ha... Gavin wanted him to be a car so he could 'tow him' but we couldn't quite figure out how that would work. He kept telling me that it would be his first 'big job'....

Bode is sitting up pretty much on his own now, and almost crawling! He wasn't too crazy about this outfit though- sorry buddy!

Here's how trick or treating looked- Bode sleeping, Teag cold and tired (but still wanting candy), and Gav so excited for people to answer the door that he was peeking in the window... We would laugh so hard when there were other kids around because as soon as he got his candy, he would turn to leave, forgetting how long the back end of his truck was- and take out any kids around him and anything sitting on people's porches!

I love our front yard in the fall. We have a maple tree that drops beautiful red, yellow and orange leaves. Its not so fun to rake them all and get rid of them, but the kids love love to play out there right now!

I love this gummy grin, I could just eat his little chin! He's in full on teething mode but still no teeth yet. But watch out when you hold him, he'll try to bite into anything he can get in his mouth!

Happy Fall!

The end of summer...

The end of summer came a went without me posting any more of our pictures. We had so much fun and stayed so busy (especially in august) that I couldn't post anything about fall until I'm caught up! The kids and I were up at Trents' parent's house quite a bit this summer, and for most of the month of august. The beginning of August was cousin Emmett's 3rd birthday and we had a huge 'John Deer' bash! All the kids had hats, bandanas and everything John Deer- it was amazing! Once the kids all had their gear on, we had to take some pictures of them down by the river...

Here are all the cousins (minus Bode) Teagan, Emmett, Garrett & Gavin

Of course it worked out to do this in the middle of the afternoon when it was 100 degrees, but the kids didn't seem to mind!

These guys love eachother so much! Garrett and Gavin were born 2 days apart and share a really special bond. We got to spend alot of time with cousins this summer and it was great!

Its so fun watching the kids explore and just enjoy the 'country life' while we're up there. So many memories are made down by the river!

The next day was party time- Emmett's 3rd birthday! Gav loves a good party and was right there to help Emmett with the candles.

Pizza and cupcakes!

Teag was really in to the pinata. She would swing the bat as hard as she could but would hit it with a tiny 'tap' that barely moved the thing. Actually no one was able to break it open with the plastic bat and Uncle Shaughn ended up ripping it open and shaking out the candy, ha.

Sack races, yah! This was actually really funny to watch. I think Gav actually won- propelled by the force of his crazy hair.. Teag got tired about 3 jumps in and decided to sit down...

The highlight of the party was the John Deer train! A really good friend of the family had built these cars for his grandkids to use when they visit, and brought it down for the kids (and adults) to use for the party. Each car had its own cushion, flag and bike horn and the kids spent atleast an hour or two in them!

After the party excitement and long ride on the 'train' Teag was worn out. The ride put her to sleep (or the fumes from the exhaust- it was a little strong..) even with Gav layin on the horn behind her.

and here's the Bode-ster... He slept through most of the party but he wasn't immune to the photo-op torture. We tried a bunch of really silly shots before we got this one... (he's barely 5 months old here. There's a hand behind him somewhere holding him up!)

Here's our best shot of the kids with Nana and Pacaw...

Here's the kids with my mom. She was able to visit us for two weeks in August and enjoyed the country life with us for a bit too!

More to come about our end of summer!

Water babies

Last month the kids had a chance to take swimming lessons up at Nana and Pacaw's house for the first time. It was alot of work to get everyone ready and out the door everyday to head to the pool, but it was totally worth it! Gav and Teag were both signed up in their own classes, one at 10 and one at 10:30. The other challenge was keeping them entertained/out of the pool while they waited for their turn.

The water was pretty cold that early in the day and it was hard to convince them that they needed to get all the way in. Gav's teacher had a nice trick- she'd have them start class by going down the slide! They were so excited, that I think they forgot that going down the slide meant they'd be in the cold water. It seemed to work pretty well!

Gav seemed to learn pretty quickly and by the end of the week he was pretty excited to show off his new skills. Teag is still a little young I think for the whole 'class' setting. She was the youngest one in her group and didn't really like the idea of doing what everyone else was doing. (no surpise there! ha) I was just happy that she was getting in the water at all and trusting her teacher to help her float and kick without me right next to her. She liked to wander away from the class and play with the water noodles, or come see me for a goldfish cracker before she went running off again. Her favorite skill to show off is how she learned to 'blow bubbles' with her face in the water.

I love this little ruffle bum!

With the water being so cold, it was only a matter of minutes before Teag would run out of the water shaking with blue lips. I kept a pair of warm dry clothes near by and we'd just change her and let her play by the pool if she didn't want to get back in. This left lots of time to be silly with her cousins who were taking lessons too!

Bode tagged along everyday too and enjoyed all the action. He hung out, napped in his carseat and got alot of love from all the pool mommies!

On a side note, I took Teag to the cardiologist last month because she'd been having alot of blue spells and acting really tired. Everything checked out ok and her sats were in the low 80s, so Dr. T thought that it may be the heat bothering her and making her so tired... We did have a pretty hot August here and she was definitely more active this summer than last so we're hoping thats all it is. I feel so blessed that she's needed such little intervention since her Glenn surgery almost two years ago, and if this is her summertime 'normal', I'll take it!

Summer fun!

So I'm not doing very well at getting 'back to blogging', ha... We're staying busy spending time at Nana and Pacaw's house this week up north. I'm away from my normal computer and all those summer pics I wanted to share, so I thought I'd post a few quick pics from the last couple of days. My mom is out visiting from St. Louis and brought my brother's camera back out again for me to borrow for awhile. Having a nice camera makes such a difference, and I'm having so much fun learning how to use it! I'm so jealous of all of you who have one of these to play around with everyday!

The kids are taking swimming lessons this week for the first time with their cousins and its been really fun. Teag and Gav are in their own classes and are doing so well!

Bode is so sweet and getting so big so fast. He deserves a post all his own (hopefully soon)! He has the best dimples and cutest smile, and his laugh is so funny. He's enjoying watching all of the action and craziness here at nana's, and loving all of the attention from grandma/nana/auntie!

Here he is watching the big kids swim. He can have a whole conversation with you using just his eyebrows. His big belly and chunky legs are out of control, ha!

We took the kids and cousins up to Winthrop yesterday for icecream and pictures. Main street is all these old western looking buildings with cute shops, wooden walkways and great views of the river. So fun!