merry christmas

Lots of catching up to do on this little ol' blog.

But for now...

wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.

superheroes {halloween}

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The superheroes came, the superheroes saved the day, and the superheroes ate a lot of candy.  

That's how it went down.

We started out the evening with a quick visit to see Great Annie.

Tanner Superman led the way...

Once inside, the boys filled their buckets with yummy candy and Tanner tried to eat every piece he was given.  He didn't quite understand the "fill your basket up and eat it later" deal.

After a quick visit we headed over to my sister's house to trick-or-treat with the cousins.

It was pretty chilly out and Tanner still wasn't really understanding how it all worked.  He would get a piece of candy and throw a fit if we wouldn't let him sit down and eat it.  After a few houses we put him in the wagon and he was perfectly content sucking on his lollipop while the rest of the gang continued without him.

Hunter was a little afraid of one boy that was by us and decided he was done after a few blocks.

Trick-or-treating was very short lived this year...

and that was ok by me :)

It was still such a fun night with family.

I think Hunter enjoyed the whole "Spiderman thing" quite a bit...

The next night he prayed,

"Dear  Lord, thanks for my mom and dad and Tanner.  And thank you for Spiderman.  And thank you that I am Spiderman.  And that I am a superhero.  And that I saved the day...  In your praisewee {how he says precious} name. Amen."

ha ha ha.

And that, folks, was our Halloween 2011.

kansas & beaver creek

October is always a pretty crazy month for us.  

It seems like it is one of the fastest months of the year, always packed with lots of celebrations and a FULL calendar.

This October has proven to be no different.

But it has been full of good things.  

At the beginning of the month, I went for a quick trip to Kansas to see these beautiful faces...

My rock star husband let me fly all.by.myself.  No kids.  A few days to love on my friends and their sweet little ones without being distracted by my own munchkins.

I was also able to go to the much anticipated Berean Country Fair and snag some Christmas gifts and support the Johnsons.

And my college roommate, Mandy, drove 3 hours from Kansas City so we could spend a little time together and I could meet sweet Adele.

It's always good to catch up with my Kansas friends.  Lots of time goes by between our visits and yet it seems like we are always able to pick up right where we left off.

I loved playing with Mr. Levi...or should I say Mr. Personality?  We became fast friends.  He is such a little cutie-pie.  I loved reading books to him over and over so that his mom and dad could keep it up long after I was gone.  How could I resist this face??

And Jess let me cuddle and love on sweet Griffin a lot... to cure any baby fevers I may or may not be having.

He was so precious.  

But most of all, I loved seeing Jess in her new role as momma to two sweet boys.

  

Our friendship has been built through many, many years, many miles, through many joys, and deep sorrows.  Thankful for the short but sweet time we were able to have together.

It was a great few days.

Never long enough though.  

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I was home for just a few days and then Michael and I left for a night away to celebrate our 7 year anniversary.  

We decided to splurge and stay in Beaver Creek at an amazing hotel.

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived and they upgraded us to an executive suite for no charge!

Suite?  Sweet!  We will take it!  

It was so relaxing and we loved every minute.  Michael has been working long hours and has been very busy (a blessing but also exhausting) so we were thankful to get away and truly rest...even for just a little while.

The fall colors were still beautiful and the temperature was perfect.

7 years.  

Amazing how it seems like such a short time in many ways but how much life has been lived and how many things have changed.

Thankful for Michael.  

So very thankful.  

For all the good, bad, happy, sad, trying, wonderful, amazing moments.

four {hunter}

Well, it happened.

Our little buddy turned 4 yesterday.

Our celebrations wound up being pretty low key.  Our sweet boy didn't seem to mind a bit though.

We started the day with streamers, balloons, and a few presents.

I had a feeling he would want to wear one of his gifts and I was right...

The Spiderman shirt was from Mandy & Tim and he LOVED it!! Thanks, guys!!

When I asked him what he wanted to do for the day he said, "probably a little school and play cars!!"

I laughed and said, "what else?"

"That's all, mom.  That's it. OK?"

Well all righty then.

He did have a few other fun things throughout the day.

Like a visit from Aunt Kendy and Sawyer...complete with balloons, a birthday doughnut, and lots of play time with his cousin.

Nana took him out to lunch for his very favorite...McDonald's.  She even let him pick out a toy at the store. The toy he picked was a Spiderman helicopter, is anyone really surprised?

After lunch he managed to squeeze in a little nap.  This 4 year old still needs one of those every.single.day.

When he woke up he was greeted by our sweet neighbors who brought him a spiderman 4wheeler (EEKS! The excitement!) and a visit from Granny. I'm not real sure why I spaced pictures :(

We had planned on taking Hunter out for dinner but in true Hunter fashion he said he would rather just stay at home, eat, and then play...so we baked a pizza and called it good.  Then we finished off the night with cake.

Vanilla with vanilla frosting...as requested.

He was a happy birthday boy.

But he was a little disappointed when he realized he hadn't gotten a camera.  The one and only thing he really asked for.

And then we remembered that there was one more present hiding behind the pillow in the living room.  He was sooooo excited to open it.  He started taking pictures right away.  Close ups of everything.

Quite the little photographer.

Here they are... HunterCam style.

4 years.  Just like that.

Can't believe it. And can't imagine life without him.

We love you SOOOOOO much, Hunter.  What a precious blessing you are.

hunter {almost 4}

Today while we were driving Hunter piped up out of nowhere and said, "Hey, mom...when I get to heaven I am going to ask God if I can touch the stars or if they will poke a hole in my finger."

Confused, I asked him what he meant and he continued to explain...

"Well, you see, stars are really really pointy.  They are sharp.  So before I touch one I think I should ask God if its OK."

I was thinking all kinds of things and wondered if I should explain that stars aren't really pointy but that people just draw them like that because...hmmmm...why do they draw them that way?

Then Hunter continued...

"You don't have to be afraid of them 'cause I will touch it first.  I'm big.  I'm almost 4.  I'll protect you." 

Gulp.

Almost 4.

Can't believe our little buddy will be 4 years old this month.  

He told me 5 came after 4 and that after 5 was....well, he couldn't remember but it was a really big number.  When I told him it was 6 he said, "Oh ya, I knew that.  Silly me.  But 4 is almost as big as 6.  4 really is a great big number too."

sigh.

So here are a few pictures of my almost 4 year old...

while he is still 3.

Just because.

Hunter really has the best disposition.  He is sweet, thoughtful, polite, happy, plays independently, is creative, and says the.cutest.things.ever.

Let's face it...the kid isn't perfect...

but I couldn't ask for a better munchkin.

I love our days together and the time is going far too quickly.

last day of summer

Today marks the last official day of summer.

An early evening trip to the park seemed fitting.

My, oh my, how these two have changed in just a few summer months...

Hoping the warm weather isn't ready to leave for good but looking forward to the change of seasons.

Welcome, Fall.