Happy Halloween!

This year we had a little cowgirl and a gorilla on our hands! We have more candy than we will ever need, but Bella had so much trick or treating at the zoo and then around the neighborhood!

Soccer!

Bella is starting soccer this fall for the first time. This is the first organized activity we've signed her up to do. I knew she would have a blast running some energy off and getting quality time with her daddy! She has 7 sessions that last 30 minutes. She doesn't have any games or anything, but this is just to get kids used to kicking a ball and having fun!

I don't know who was happier about tonight Bella or Brandon?

Trick or Treating with Gigi

Friday Gigi had us over to do some fun Halloween activities. The girls were dressed up in the cute costumes and they were soo excited! Bella was giggling so much she could hardly say trick or treat when we knocked on the door! Sophie was dressed up as the cutest little leopard and Bella was a cowgirl. They each had a pumpkin bucket to "play" trick or treat and got to knock on the door several times until their buckets were full! Benjamin really enjoyed his pumpkin light and the mum mums!


Gigi taught the girls to make her famous chocolate suckers! I did this as long as I can remember for every occasion as a child!

The girls also got to make a sticker sheet and paint pumpkins! Bella thought this was just like a real pumpkin patch!

Boo Fest

The kids and I attended our Health Clubs boo fest they hosted this year. There was a popcorn vender, cotton candy, games, a bounce house, and a costume contest. It was loads of fun and Bella had a blast playing the games and picking out prizes!

It took her three times to build up the courage to get in the bounce house with the other kids, but once she was in she rocked it!

She really enjoyed the cotton candy as you can see! I thought it was a bit ironic that a health club was handing out free cotton candy! Oh well, once a year right!

With Fall come Pumpkin Patches!

We've had our fill of pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and hay rides this week! I've loved it as this is my favorite time of year, and Bella's too I think! Every day she asks me to go to a pumpkin patch! If we see a large pile of pumpkins at the grocery store she gets so excited and exclaims, "PUMPKIN PATCH!" She can spot them miles away!

Friday night we went to the KC pumpkin patch in Gardner, KS. Benjamin was in heaven digging in all the corn with the tractors and trying to sneak a few pieces here and there for a taste!


Bella enjoyed her first bites of a funnel cake. I had to convince her that the last half was yucky and we needed to throw it away. She was stuffing it down like she had been starving or something. I didn't want to relive my childhood memory of getting sick off of homemade funnel cakes!

Then, on Saturday we met Gigi, Papa, and a bunch of our friends from Blue Springs at Sibley Orchard for a bonfire and hayride through the orchards. Bella couldn't wait to eat the pumpkin cookies she helped to make! We enjoyed the hayride until we ran out of gas half way through in the middle of the orchard when it was dark outside! You would think they might check that before that haul 30 of us out there! Everyone hung in there great though after playing musical chairs.









Bella loves her Papa. Whatever he does she thinks is the thing to do! So, of course chewing on the straw was a big hit and she continued to search for the biggest piece of straw she could find to chew on!

Today, we met Aunt Val, Sophie, and Porter at the Liberty Pumpkin Patch. I think this one was my favorite. It was really big, had the best pumpkins, best snacks, a petting zoo, and had the nicest stuff to play on. We stayed for 4 hours!

11 month mark!

The countdown is on for Benjamin's 1st birthday already! He may be small in size but he has a big personality! He sits up by himself after crawling, he pulls himself up to his knees to reach fun things like Bella's paint tray! He loves his bottle so I'm a little nervous about the weaning process with him. He would rather drink a bottle all day than care about table food. He loves sitting in the big bathtub with Bella instead of his baby bath. He swims around the tub like it's his personal pool! He loves Bella's vacuum, my vacuum, the swiffer, and his golf club. He really likes all the toys as long as he feels like he gets to do what Bella is doing. He is taking 2 naps for the most part and sleeping through the night still as long as he's not teething! He has five teeth now! He has three on bottom and his two top teeth have come in! Benjamin is all boy with his love for animals, cars, trains, and wrestling! When he's finished eating a snack in his bumbo seat with the tray he just leans over so he falls on his side and then starts crawling with the bumbo still attached to him! He waved hi for the first time this month and he started saying mama mama! Of course that makes me really happy!

Our weekend in Oklahoma

Bella and I recently had a girls trip to Norman, OK this weekend to visit our good friends, the Kennedys. Brandon was golfing with friends in TX, and Benjamin got to stay with Gigi and Papa. That helped the road trip and our stay to go a little smoother! :)

We did lots of birthday prep for Selah's 3rd birthday. Ashley did an amazing job creating this beautiful tea party fit for a princess! We had such a blast catching up, being crazy with the kids, and party planning!

Saturday we ran errands and did a little shopping on Campus Corner. Unfortunately a few of the best shops were closed due to the big OU and UT game in Dallas. It was almost like a ghost town!


Bella had a blast on their swingset that was just like Gigi and Papas, their playhouse, and trampoline!


Let the party begin! Ashley handmade the birthday pennant, the cupcake toppers, and the invites. All soo adorable! She's soo talented! I helped decorate and put together the cupcake toppers and made the cupcakes. She found the cupcake teacups in Portland. You just pour the batter in and bake them right in the little cups! So cute right?

This amazing teapot cake was a gift from one of their friends! Isn't it amazing!?
Twirling in her new tutu!

The ceiling was a last minute idea that came into play around midnight Saturday night! Doesn't it just top the party off perfectly! haha

Selah, the birthday girl! We tried to have them sleep together in Selah's bed, but Bella wanted her own bed. We compromised and put the pack and play in Selah's room and Selah talked Bella to sleep the first night. I don't think Selah slept until 11pm! The next day we took Bella out of her room!

Bella was ready for cake ever since we picked it up after church from the bakery! She could hardly wait!

The cupcakes I made! Yum!

The girls all got their nails painted...


and make up done! Bella was soo excited about this!

Her serious model face after makeup! She was puckering those lips so well!

I absolutely love having a girl! This was all right down my alley! We had so much fun together and I'm so blessed to have Ashley as my best friend and it's even more fun that we both have girls that were born 3 months apart just like we were!