Time to party!

Happy Halloween! We've had a full weekend of Halloween parties at school and with friends. Carlisle and Jackson dressed up as Jessie and Woody from "Toy Story" while Evie was again Alice from "Alice in Wonderland." The kids are in wonderful, wonderful schools with excellent teachers and friends, so we're happy as can be (and so are they!).

Now, what to do with ALL the candy?!

Rally on the Ravine

This weekend was Rally on the Ravine in Arkadelphia. Kendal was on the steering committee that hosted the festival - it was amazing! On Friday night, there were at least a thousand people on Main Street trick-or-treating, eating, bouncing on bounce houses, etc. It was a great event and the kids loved it!

On Saturday, we tailgated with the kids before the big Henderson State vs. OBU game. Kendal led the community games (he's a fantastic emcee!) then we were free to hang out with the kids. It was a beautiful fall day, the kids played with their friends, we had great barbeque - can't ask for more!

Way to go, Rally on the Ravine team!!!!

River with River

Late last week, we had an impromptu invite from the Chaney family to take a boat ride down the Ouachita River. We jumped at the chance, loaded the kids into the boat and went for a great fall river ride. The Chaney's son, River, is one of their best buddies so they had a great time.

This marked the very first boat ride for all of our kids - and it went remarkably well! Jackson even helped "drive" the boat while Carlisle held on for dear life in the back (and Evie was a little swallowed by her life jacket). Once we got to the rock beach the kids all got knee-deep in the freezing river water and had a blast!

We are so lucky to have such great friends to share the simple moments with! We also think River may be moving in on Carlisle... Don't tell Will :)

Cooking with Daddy

The joy of icing

Thanks to Shannon

Before I forget, I want to thank my fab sister in law, Shannon, for all her help during the party. While I wildly snapped pictures, she took care of all the kids food and snacks and also helped clean Evie after the cake eating.

Shannon, Patrick and Michael have had a very rough month with the loss of Patrick's mom, Miss Linda, and we were just so happy that they made it up for the day for Evie's birthday. What a wonderful family we have!

Evie in One-Derland

Happy birthday, Evie Claire! We celebrated with an Alice in Wonderland-themed party on DeGray's Lower Lake. It was a beautiful fall day and we had such a great time celebrating with friends and family.

My mom and I scoured the internet for weeks for decorations - Mad Hatters hat and Queen of Hearts crown, oversized playing cards, Tweedledee and Tweedledum hats (which, against my better judgement, I did not make the twins wear), tea party props and a tunnel to take the kids "down the rabbit hole." My mom even found the perfect Alice dress!

My favorite part of the party, of course, was the cake eating! Evie loved her cake, as you can see. She first looked at it curiously ("curiouser and curiouser...") then dug right in! I've never seen a child quite so happy! The twins stole some icing from the big cake (it was so cute!) and everyone snacked on my mom's delicacies.

We love you, sweet Evie Claire!!! I am so proud of the gentle girl that you are, your sweet spirit, your constant smile, your thrill in walking, your curiosity about the world around you, the way you mimic words and sounds and just the perfect person you are. Love, love to you Evie!

Pumpkin Day 2010

Today, the whole family headed out to my favorite Arkadelphia event - Manchester Pumpkin Day! Bounce houses, festival games, a hayride, pumpkin pickin' and country cookin' - it's always a perfect family event.

We saw tons of friends from the kids' school and our church, so they had a ball. My parents are in town for Evie's birthday party, so they got to join us. Good times!