Trip to Branson, MO

JD had a week off from school in November (to work on his thesis) so we took advantage of part of the week to take a family trip. We went to Branson, MO since we knew it would be all decked out for Christmas and boy was it ever!! We all had a fabulous time! We went to an Old Christmas Time at the theme park, Silver Dollar City, we took a Ride the Ducks tour of Branson, we went to the Worlds Largest Toy Museum, and went on the Sheppard of the Hills Trail of Lights. The kids loved staying in a hotel for a couple of nights too!! Below is a link to all of the pictures (the above one is from Silver Dollar City) if you didn't catch them in an email or on Facebook. You do not have to be a Facebook user to view this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128113&id=500423169&l=80fc0c9099

Veteran's Day Parade 11/11/09

Kudos to the city of Leavenworth for doing up Veterans Day with a first class parade. We really enjoyed the first Veterans Day parade that we've ever been to and found it deeply moving!

Less than 2 years apart and double trouble!!

Who would have thought these 2 would bond during diaper changes...but they do! They love to hold hands and giggle at each other while I'm changing their diapers. This is my first experience having 2 in diapers and quite frankly it's not fun!! At least these 2 baby boys make it worth my time! :)

Guess who lost their first 2 teeth?!

That would be our little princess GRACE!! :) Grace has been ever so patiently waiting to have a lose tooth. This entire school year she has pretended to have a lose tooth, shown me excitedly, and been so disappointed and sad when I've told her that her tooth is not lose. Needless to say she was beyond thrilled when she lost her first tooth. He first tooth fell out at school on Monday, November 9. She got to go to the nurse to get a tooth box, she got a certificate, and she is now on her teacher's tooth chart. Then 3 days later, on Thursday, November 12 she lost her second tooth. Of course she was thrilled to get 2 visits from the Tooth Fairy in 1 week! :)

Do you think JR LOVES Lightning McQueen and Disney's "Cars" or what?!-HA!

Fort Leavenworth's Haunted Tour

It is RARE that JD and I get to go out by ourselves. Luckily we've found a babysitter down the street from us. It's still a bit nerve racking to leave all 3 kids with our sitter since sometimes it's overwhelming for us, and we're the parents. On our first date, leaving the 3 kids with a sitter for the first time here in Kansas, JD and I went on a Haunted Tour of Fort Leavenworth. We live on a very beautiful, old historic post, but it's also known for being haunted as well. I've never been on a ghost tour and those who know me know this is right up my alley. We definitely found the haunted tour fascinating and very interesting. We also learned a lot about fort Leavenworth. It was definitely spooky too!!

Grace's Cheerleading Season

Grace did cheerleading for the months of September and October. B/c my life is crazy with the 3 kids, I've decided to put a "1 activity at a time" limit on each child. Grace's dance class in Alabama last year was pretty rigid and not near as recreational as we wanted. B/c of this, Grace wanted to take a break from dance and do cheerleading this Fall instead. I agreed, not realizing how time consuming it would be! She had cheerleading 3 times/week! She had practices on Mondays and Wednesdays after school and football games to cheer at on Saturday mornings! It was crazy enough just dragging the toddler and baby along......not sure what I'm going to do when the boys are old enough for sports! At least they will be able to function more independently when they are older.........so I won't have to worry about timing baby's breastfeedings between the chaos of extra-curricular activities and trying to chase after a 2 year old all while trying to watch Grace cheer-ha,ha! These pictures of Grace in her uniform made me realize how much older she is looking these days.