The coolest parade

When we go to Thanksgiving in Austin, we usually go to the 'Blue Santa Parade' downtown. It is so much fun--just because they have REAL floats! The kids get to give a gift for kids that won't be getting much for Christmas, so it's a great learning experience with giving, too. Love it! Here are just a few fun pics:

Mr. Potato Head:

Horton:Tall princess:Care bear with Jodee and her only girl cousin:Dylan and 2 of his cousins:

What fun! We saw some pretty neat floats, had some fun with all of our cousins (Dustin had to stay home with Mimi and Pawpaw--he was sick!), and then went to eat pizza!!! Check out how BIG this pizza is:

So much fun! Heading back to Austin this weekend...looking forward to it!

Dear Santa,

Jodee's letter to Santa was in the Edmond newspaper this past week. I love the fact that they left it the way it was written--SO cute!

In case it is too hard to read, I typed it below. She has such a sweet heart!

Dear Santa,

This year I have been VERY Good. This year I wold like a uneven Bar, and a new bike, and a real Bunny. And a Bunny is something That I realy realy want. I want a I pods. I Love Christmas.

from,

Jodee

Take this!

When we went to get pictures with Santa, we were all there, waiting in line, and I snapped this picture of Rudy sticking his tongue out at Abby (my aunt's dog). Thought it was way too funny not to share!

Santa 09

We got the kids' picture with Santa tonight at the mall...ALL of our 'kids'!!! They had dog/cat night tonight, and my aunt talked me into it! It was SO funny walking through the mall with our dogs, and my aunt with her dog--we got some funny comments and looks! Mostly nice....some not so nice. I couldn't quit laughing!

The kids loved seeing Santa and telling him their one 'want' for Christmas. Thankfully, it was all things I had heard over the past month or so. Santa will do a good job this year!

Here's the pic...couldn't have done any better!

Technology. BLAH!

Well, it may be a while before I post a 'real' post with pictures and all. Our computer is broken! We will be taking it in to hopefully pull everything off of the hard drive (fingers are crossed!).

Well, while I'm on here, might as well say a few things. We got back from Austin yesterday, had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Josh's family! I am so blessed to have such loving in-laws! Had a blast going shopping Friday morning. Whew...some people are CRAZY! We had a great time and got some good deals. Our drive home was fun. Dylan had a stomach problem a few hours into the drive, but seemed fine after we stopped on the side of the road for his stomach to rid itself of any food he may have eaten. At least we made it OUT of the car! Then, we stopped for dinner, and thinking he was feeling better, and might want some sprite, gave him a huge cup of sprite, which he promptly drank ALL of, and then we stopped at least 4 times for potty breaks during the next 2 hours! It was funny--he kept saying "I accidentally drank to much.....aaaaaahhhhhhh......" Poor guy! At least he's a boy. And can potty anywhere!

Well, as I'm home on Mondays, I decorated the inside of the house. Yippee! I love decorating for Christmas. The kids will love it when they come home from school. Then Josh and the kids will do the lights on the house this afternoon. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

OC Eagles, Go! Go!

I love OC homecoming!! I don't usually get to go, I'm usually at a gymnastics meet. Somehow, this year, I didn't have to make the drive out to Clinton, OK to judge!! I was happy to get to spend the day with my precious family. We actually started the festivities Friday night at the pep rally. Boy, being in that gym brings back memories!! I loved cheering for OC basketball. I made some great friends through cheerleading! After the pep rally, they had sparklers and s'mores. The kids loved it!
The next day was homecoming. Josh got to go to a Kappa breakfast. He enjoyed seeing old Spring Sing videos and meeting up with some good friends from a long time ago. We then went to the parade. Let me just say, more candy? Really? We don't need more candy!! But, it was great fun for the kids! Then, the moon bounces, horse back rides, free lunch, who could ask for more?Here are my OC eagles......O, C, and the infamous "Talon":I love these next pics of the kids on the obstacle course. They were going SO fast!We went to the girls and boys basketball games (won both! woohoo!) but, by the middle of the 2nd half of the boys game, this is Dylan lying on the bleachers. Thankfully we were at the top not bothering anyone around us!

Go OC!

Halloween 09

This first pic show the results of our Halloween.....TONS of candy!! They got SO much!Some of the fun things we did, like carved pumpkins (sorry for the bad quality of this pic):Dustin did his completely on his own, fiery eyes and all, Jodee's is a girl with hair and a bow, and Dylan's is a spider, done by Dad:We always go visit one of Josh's former co-workers--who goes ALL out on decorating, scaring, feeding, etc. It's so much fun!! This picture is just a peek of the extensive decorating he does....can you see the body parts in the real popcorn machine? This is in his front yard, with a million other things to look at!!

Here are my kiddos dressed up.....#1, a ninja:#2 Demi Lovato ( a singer for those of you non-Disney channel people)#3 Iron Man. And, yes, for you observant blog readers, he was dressed as Hulk on Halloween night up above...but his plan was for Iron Man. He just changed his mind the night of trick-or-treating.And, I have to end this post with one of the cutest dogs I've ever seen, just after a bath. Check out those ears and that beard!!!!

Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch

We were able to visit our local pumpkin patch on fall break this year--thanks to a good friend of Dustin's. Thanks, Ben!!!
We enjoyed ALL of it!
Like, playing games: The hayride:

Playing in the haybales:

Finding our way through the muddy cornfield maze:

And picking our pumpkins:

Happy Fall!

P.S. I didn't put all of the pics on here, but they also thoroughly enjoyed the animals. A little too much, maybe. Jodee is still begging me for a rabbit. That's where she spent her free time at the farm--in the rabbit's cage!

Turner Falls, OK

For fall break this year, we had to come up with some different plans than we had originally thought, but I think we did well!! Thursday was the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch (that will be another post), and Friday we went to Turner Falls, OK, with my mom and one of my sisters. It was so fun! I had been feeling a little sick all week, and Jodee had a respiratory virus, so we weren't all feeling well, but Jodee was over her fever, and I thought I was, too. Well, I wasn't! Unfortunately I had to sit out during one of the hikes that the family went on while I was trying to let the medicine make my fever go away!!! Yuck! I got to enjoy SO much of the trip, though, so it was definitely worth it!

The first thing we came to after driving over flowing water---SCARY---and eating lunch in the COLD, was the castle: Lots of stairs to climb...we are all feeling it today! It's very neat--the sign said it was built in the 30's by a doctor as his summer home. The kids loved exploring it! Even found the bathroom. Lovely!
Of course, a pic by the waterfalls....the first time we ever took a picture exactly like this was a little over 12 years ago:

My mom and sister, Hayley:

The kiddos: (it was windy--see Dylan's hair??)

The next part of our trip consisted of climbing/hiking/freaking out about the edge of the cliff, and having fun! The arrow points to the cave we went to first:This is the view from that cave: That was a scary one. I would have been fine with just adults--but when my kids are up there too, that changes a lot!! But, we did it, and had a great time. Well, Dylan would tell you different, but he made it!


This is the next cave...much safer in my book!

Peeking out from the cave: One more beautiful view:Towards the end of our trip, we took the kids over to another swimming hole, aka The Blue Hole. It was cool, they usually have 2 slides and a diving board in the summertime. Dylan had been carrying around a Bakugon toy from McDonald's in his pocket all day, and was playing with it, dropped it and it rolled right into the Blue Hole!!! I thought he would have a meltdown--but he held it together nicely! All this right after I had just told my mom how much he loved that toy! What a good kid.Here is his sweet daddy that climbed down to look for his toy. Never found it. At least he tried!

It was a wonderful getaway! My fever finally went away in time for the Blue Hole adventure, and then we ate at a neat place in Paul's Valley called, "The Happy Days Diner". It was yummy! Glad we got to spend the day with my momma and sister.

Happy Fall Break, everyone!

Toy Story 1 and 2--3D!

My dad took my family and my sister and brother to see the 3D versions of Toy Story 1 and 2 this past week....it was SO much fun!!! Thanks, Dad!!!
These pics were taken in a dark theater....fyi: Fun with the glasses on:

And, yes, of course, Julie (the doll) came with us!!

So fun. Great movies! Can't wait for the third one!

7

Our little girl is 7!!! Jodee's birthday was yesterday...I can't believe how fast she's growing up! We celebrated with family on Friday night, and ventured down to Dallas on Saturday to the infamous American Girl store at the Galleria. WOW. That's all I have to say! What a store! Where were these when I was little?

Here's the birthday girl and her cake:An early bday present from her big bro...he had another party to go to that night, so he sweetly let her open his early! I didnt' even ask him to take a picture, and he did this: What a good kid!At the Galleria skating rink with her 'birthday girl' sash on....she only wore it for this pic because it was too big on her! And, unfortunately we didn't get to skate this time--maybe next time!Her favorite food for lunch:And, we made it!!! This store is HUGE!

Notice--Dustin wasn't in the picture--he got to go to an OU football game with his grandpa!! Lucky boy! He had fun--and I'm sure he was glad to NOT go to the Americal Girl store! We allowed Jodee to pick one friend to take with her--she is the extra kiddo in the picture below:Jodee and her beloved Julie doll:We were in this store for hours...literally! By the end, we were waiting on Julie getting her ears pierced, and this is what Dylan looked like:Daddy to the rescue: This is what they were looking at: the doll hair salon! What in the world?

The happy girl with her doll...she was SO excited! She has been talking about this since last December. It's been a long time coming! Here are the kids when we were on our way home...sweet girls and their dolls, and a happy boy (happy to be done at the store!!!haha). Jodee is such a sweet girl. She had a great 7th birthday! Thanks to all of our family for the wonderful gifts--she loves them all! And, Mimi, she spent ALL of the money--not hard to do in that store! It was fun.