Boo

Remember my post just a couple of weeks ago about fitting it all in and keeping my sanity? Yea, well Halloween weekend might have been in the top 5 of craziest weekends ever. It was a very fine line. Insanity was only minutes away.

The morning started bright and early with a cold soccer game. Hard to believe the season started out with 105 degree games. I'll take a 50 degree soccer game any day over that. It was the end of the soccer season and so we squeezed in pizza at 10:30 in the morning before heading to Boo at the Zoo.

And as heartbreaking as it was, we went with store bought costumes this year for a number of reasons.
#1 Newborn baby...enough said.
#2 My appreciation for coordinating costumes is not nearly appreciated by my boys as much as it is by me. Guess I'll just have to reminisce about all the years past.
#3 Trying to convince your kid that a mad scientist is way cooler than ninjas is nearly impossible.

 

Don't you just wonder what those animals are thinking seeing my kid who, now that I'm looking at the photo, might look too much like a member of the Taliban than a ninja. Oops.

Costume and diaper changes in the parking lot are how we roll these days. I swear our swagger wagon is our home...at least on weekends. 

Campbell's costume didn't come with a mask for some reason so I busted out my VERY limited sewing skills and made him a mask. 

 

And you will notice Nolan's super serious ninja face in nearly every photo. Watch out.  

It was perfect weather. Normally it seems like my kids are drenched with sweat on Halloween in Texas with their costumes but this year, we actually sported a layer of clothing underneath!

Boo at the Zoo really was a lot of fun MINUS the part where we lost Campbell for 20 seconds. Seriously, I'm completely reconsidering making jokes about parents who put their kids on leashes now that I have an escape artist....scariest 20 seconds of your life when you're in a huge crowd and can't find your kid.

Immediately after this, we headed straight to my nieces' roller skating party. I don't have any photos of that because I needed every ounce of balance to keep myself up after not skating for over 20 years. 

The next day we headed to our church carnival which was so much fun for the kids. They loved every minute of it and I love hanging out with my Soul Sistas.

Generations of church members were there to support the carnival even the oldest and youngest.

The thing about church that I love it that every kid is your kid. You love them all, look out for them all, and even get onto them all when needed. I love that. It takes a village...

 

Next  up? Pumpkin carving. We could've and probably should've skipped the pumpkin carving but our kids can't ever say "Why didn't we ever do that?" because the Good Lord knows that we push ourselves to the point of exhaustion to make sure we're making memories. 

 

 

 And I'm glad we did because we got some pretty priceless facial expressions from the whole experience.

 

And Landry and I were excellent spectators. In the next few years, Sister is going to be getting her hands on those pumpkin guts and holding her own with her brothers. 

The most exciting news about Halloween this year was we were on TV! Good Morning Texas had a homemade Halloween contest and I sent the boys photos in from last year (remember we went store bought this year) and found out that we were finalists! I thought they were just going to show photos of the boys but we drove to Dallas in costumes and all at the crack of dawn and were interviewed on the show. 

I started scrambling making sure their costumes fit from last year. Nolan's aqua socks for his scuba diver costume were completely a scene out of Cinderella and her stepsister trying on the shoes, but we made it work. 

We didn't win but the boys were so great (WHEW, sweating that one!) and the boys LOVED that they were on TV. In fact, on the way home from church yesterday we heard Campbell talking to himself in the car and when we listened closer realized he was reenacting our GMT interview word for word. Seems like someone likes his celebrity status and 15 seconds of fame.

I can't find a clip of it online to save my life. I didn't wear a costume unless of course you count Spanx as a costume. If that's the case, then I was Super Spanx.

Next up,  Campbell's school costume parade.

Seriously, there is nothing cuter than seeing little kiddos in costumes. It just melts my heart. 

 

Don't you love how Campbell is making Nolan do all the work on the scooter. That is NOT an easy task with that kid, let me tell you. 

 

Our little princess was too little for a costume this year but did we rock out about 2-3 Halloween outfits. I already have costumes planned for this girl until she's 30. Thank you Pinterest. Now if she'll just let me boss her and carry them all out. Fat chance.

 

And FINALLY, trick-or-treat time! Gosh, remember when that's all Halloween really was? Now it's turned into the 12 days of Halloween. At least we get good use out of costumes, right?

So I couldn't talk my boys into being a mad scientist but at least the hubs was a good sport and humored me.

It was another successful Halloween on the Halloween meter.

How do I know?

Because I was exhausted. 

Til next year, folks. Better start soon now that I have three to dress!

FFF- pumpkin style

Well folks, we were LONG overdue. It's been months that I've talked about FFF (Forced Family Fun -if you're new here). We used to have them at least a couple times a month but as the boys grew older, they became less frequent. Well, I've decided that FFF must coincide with younger ages, because now that Landry's in the mix again, we seem to see a lot more of these outings.

 
Every year, our annual pumpkin patch visit is always looked forward to. It's my opportunity to wave my fall freak flag with the best of them. The past two years, my cousin's daughter's birthday party has been at the patch and I think that's what made it so fun. We could inconspicuously take photos of the boys as they played and since we were there for a couple of hours for the party, time seemed to fly by.

 
 Well this year, there wasn't a party at the pumpkin patch so we went on our own (with Grandma and Granddad in tow) now that we're outnumbered by our own children. We're calling on back-up more frequently these days until we get our zone defense fine tuned.

Sometimes, I'm still in awe that we have THREE children. Good thing we bought the swagger wagon!
 
 
We went during the evening thinking that would be the best lighting. It was good lighting but apparently everyone else got the same memo and the place looked more like the state fair than a pumpkin patch, it was crazy busy...mistake #1.
   
It made it really hard to get any pictures of the kids without 1,000 people in the background but we managed ok.

Mistake #2, I spent the last hour before we went frantically trying to make a tutu for Landry and a coordinating bow to match her shirt. And so I'm learning how high maintenance girls are compared to boys already. It ended up itching everyone like crazy and the tutu was shed within 20 minutes of being at the patch. And that stupid bow kept getting in her eyes and making her ears poke out. She does NOT have big ears contrary to what the bow illustrates.

I knew we were heading to trouble when we woke up Campbell from his almost 3 hour nap and he was a complete and total grump. Saturday naps are a blessing and a curse. They are glorious in that we get a little down time but when it comes time to wake up Campbell, we never know if we're going to be waking up the beast. This day, it was definitely his beast side. So all things considered, he was cooperative but only if we just let him be a total goofball which meant it was near impossible to get him to look at the camera.

And to add to the craziness, Landry was rooting on me every time we tried to take a picture even though I had just fed her. So the only way we could get a decent shot of the girl was when she was knocked out cold.

I've come to discover now as a family of 5 that pictures will not be perfect...they won't even be close, but those imperfections are what make us who we are. I will probably not have a photo of all three of my children looking at the camera at the exact same time for years.

 Ok, well maybe I'll just make sure to take a lot of individual pictures in the meantime.

I think that's why I love candid photography so much, it's my absolute favorite because it's so true, so genuine. My children don't always cooperate but that's ok, because no kid does. But my kids sure do know how to entertain themselves and how to have a good time. 

 And those moments truly capture who they are, not some forced family photo but just being themselves.

So while I may not have the photo that goes on the mantle this year, I can definitely say that we picked some pumpkins and made some memories.

My best friend Angi says that I always put the "perfect" pictures on my blog.  As I once heard, Van Gogh didn't paint toilets and dumpsters, so I choose to capture the best of our family because those are the memories that I cherish the most. But to show you the dozens of photos that don't make the cut because of their lack of beauty, here are a few I'll share with you because we're far from perfect.

Exhibit A: I DO have the most beautiful baby girl in the whole world, you can't convince me otherwise BUT Landry might have had an off day on a few of these pictures. Between the stupid head bow that kept Landry thinking Who turned out the lights? and poking her ears out, and her bitter beer face, we had a few that we'll probably keep out of the scrapbook...

 
And here is a smorgasbord of the best of the worst...crying faces, forced grins, head bow wardrobe malfunctions and all. 


 That's us.

Not perfect.

Just perfect for each other.

Fitting it all in

I distinctively remember a particular Saturday about 6 months ago when the thought of, How am I going to do this with three kids? popped into my head. The soccer games, the birthday parties, grocery shopping, and laundry fill up our Saturdays and weekends to the point of feeling like I need another weekend just to recoup from the weekend!

And this particular weekend was just like that. First off, Nolan's soccer game. I went sporting my soccer mom shirt (compliments of my husband) to be the loudest cheerleader for my Nolie Polie.
I absolutely love that he looks over to the sideline after making a goal and I make sure to show my biggest you-are-a-total-soccer-rock-star-and-I-am-so-proud-of-you face.



I'm pretty amazed at Campbell's ability as a three year old to sit and watch a game for an hour. As long as we bring some snacks, the boy just acts like he's watching a movie. Having his Daddy on the sidelines doesn't hurt to keep him entertained during half-time.

And as for Landry...well, she seems a little bored at the games.




Soccer game...check! Next up, a birthday party that we're already running late for. But this is one that we can't miss. It's for some close friends of ours who have been so wonderful helping us with getting the boys to and from school while I'm on maternity leave. Plus, it's was a build-a-bear party!



Nolan since the time he was a baby, has been a very tactile child. He loves soft things and discovers things by touching them. So while stuffed animals are on my list of disgustingly dirty toys, we have a ton of them because he plays with them constantly and giving away one of them would be like giving away a family member.

Let me mention that while this party was going on, I was discreetly nursing Landry out in the mall. So I missed all the fun but glad that Justin was there to document it. And might I also add that Nolan, on his own accord, picked the TCU t-shirt for his bear and appropriately named him Froggie. GO FROGS!

Campbell must have had a premonition that the Rangers were going to the World Series. He named his bear Ranger, although he calls it "Tekas Rangers".

And whoever invented Build-a-Bear is a genius. Seriously, the possibilities are endless with these outfits and accessories.

It was a blast of a party and I'm feeling really cheap that we gave away Lego crayons and a coloring sheet for our party favors now.

Birthday party...check!

Next up, a quick nap and the pumpkin patch.

That's when we realize that the pumpkin patch is just not going to happen that day. After two big events, and waking up with a newborn baby in the middle of the night, this mommy and daddy are running on fumes.

So when I look back to that Saturday 6 months ago wondering how I was going to fit it all in, I had an epiphany, I'm not! I'm going to do what I can while still being sane and then call it a day. So far, my sanity is still in tact. Ask me again though on Halloween weekend.

We keep ourselves entertained

I think I might have the funniest children ever. There are numerous times that they get me laughing so hard every day. Here are some really short clips that I was lucky enough to catch on the camera.

If there's one thing our family LOVES to do, it's dance. We break into dance at the dinner table (I know it's not the best example we're setting), in the grocery store, just about anywhere we feel the need to bust a move. So I'm happy to see my 6 week old daughter at the time can fit in perfectly with our family. Who cares if she's bobble head beat boxin', sister has some rhythm!

Both boys are extremely protective of Landry and seeing them into her just melts my heart. All those boyfriends better watch out for two older brothers and one tall daddy!

And here's my Campbelloni just loving on his sister. I just love his eyes. They help him get away with A LOT!My favorite part are those platypus lips of his puckering up for his sister.