Halloween...PART 1

Sydney and Molly got to dress up for pre-school to celebrate part 1 of their Halloween experience. Paul pulled some old costumes from the dress-up box and sent them on their way. I especially love the pink converse and princess crocs to accessorize the costumes. Again...he's awesome.

The Bumblebee and Cinderella :)

Paul takes our nephew Dre to school too, so we had to get some pictures with "Coach Dre" too! (Umm...cutest coach ever, and I love how Molly and Dre are talking to each other in this one!)

(L) Don't push the coach over Bumble! (R) Ridiculously cute!! :)

Stay tuned for more Halloween fun...

Cuteness Galore!

I think this might be my 24th post with this title. Oh well. It definitely describes what's to follow... :)

2 Little Beauties

Again...I will be talking about my husband. Since Gracie Claire and I get up so early and leave even before our 2 littler ladies get up, Paul gets them ready for school. Last year I was a bit more controlling and set out outfits for them the night before, but I've let that go because it just doesn't matter that much. Plus, I have to give Paul some credit. He doesn't do half bad. I might change some things here or there, but overall it's not bad. :) I love that he takes pictures for me when he feels so proud of himself for choosing their outfits and getting their hair done. Again I say...he's fab. :) Sydney and Molly are beyond cute, may I say! :)

Cinderella

Paul is an amazing Daddy. Period. I haven't met many like him. He has 3 little girls and one handful of a wife to put up with everyday and he does it with ease. He was born to be a Daddy to girls. (If we'd ever had a boy, he would've been just as wonderful, but there aren't many daddies out there that can be a "girl Daddy.") Anyway, he is so good at giving each of the girls individual attention. They are all Daddy's girls. We feel like it's so important to have special one-on-one time with all of them. Paul took Gracie Claire on a date last weekend that she loved. Princesses are one of our favorite things around this house, so she was so excited to go see "Cinderella" at the Bass Hall. We got her all dressed up and Paul wore a suit for their date. She loved it. More than seeing the ballet, she will always remember the time her Daddy took to spend with her. Thanks, babe, for always showing our girls how special they are to you! They couldn't have a better Daddy.

Before their big date! :)

Catching Up...

I have so much to catch up on here. Coming up...

-Molly's Birthday
-Family Pictures
-Halloween
-Cuteness
-No TV

There's probably more, but this will be a good start.

GO SEEK LOVE

Hey Friends--Go check out my friend Summer's blog! The Cox Family is on an adoption journey to bring their baby girl home from Ethiopia! It's an awesome story! She's doing some cool giveaways on her blog if you'd like to give them your support! Go check it out HERE!

Pumpkin Patch '10

It's a tradition for us to go to the amazing Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch every year. We heart it so much! We've gone since Gracie Claire was just a baby and we've never missed a year! I love making traditions! This year something awesomely ridonculous happened...our little ladies made things easy on us! Yep...you read that right! They posed for pictures, they smiled, and they were just all around fantacular! The weather rocked this year and we weren't stepping in ginormous mounds of mud to make our way through the patch. All in all...a fab year of pumpkin patching!

Ahhh...it's so refreshing to take pictures that don't leave me pulling my hair out! They LOVE posing with all of the fab Disney characters! :)

This will be the only time you shall see these lovely ladies behind bars...although there are days I wish we had one of these for Molly. :) Just kidding...no haters! If we did have one, she'd figure out how to get out of it anyway, so it'd be waste of money. ;)

This picture just makes me smile...I love them so, so much!!

See you next year! Love this place...mainly because I love this time of year! It's definitely my fave!! Happy Fall!

10/10/10

I figured since today is the 10th day of the 10th month of the 2010th year, I might go ahead and share my most awe-inspiring thoughts...

• This morning I woke up very early, although not as early as most days, and drove on 3 different highways to take my ESL Supplemental test to become ESL certified. I've always gotten a little bit of test anxiety and today was no different, but now that it's over I feel like a big weight has been lifted. All I have to do is wait for the results, which I hope you will all pray will be passing. Thanks in advance. I actually enjoyed preparing for the test. I think I took so much for granted when I was in college and now I really enjoy studying. Learning is such a gift.
• Sticking to the topic of education...I really want to see the movie "Waiting For Superman." It's a documentary about the current state of public education and how it is affecting our children. There are days that go by that I really wish I was a stay at home mommy still, but then I wonder why God weaved our path the way that he did and really try to look at the responsibility I have as a teacher. I know I'm in the classroom again for a big purpose. The kids that I come into contact with everyday are looking to me to provide them with a meaningful and powerful education. My influence on these little ones will affect them for the rest of their lives. That's a really big responsibility. I don't take it lightly...and no teacher should.

• We had our first parent/teacher conference as parents on Friday. I told Gracie Claire that we were having to talk to Mrs. Bufe about her bad behavior. :) Of course she is the perfect kindergartner ;) so there were only wonderful things to be said. Ummm...can I tell you how much she has grown in just the first six weeks of school when it comes to what she has learned?! It's crazy amazing I tell you! Her writing is awesome (meaning stories, ideas, spelling, etc.) and her reading makes me smile from ear to ear! I love hearing her read to me! The goals that Mrs. Bufe has planned for her are AWESOME! Again...learning rocks! Just a little side story that has nothing to do with her learning, but everything to do with her awesome personality. Last week was bully free week at school. Every morning, our amazing counselor read a bully buster over the announcements and kids could share their solution to the problem by filling out a card and sticking it in a box. Mrs. R would draw a few names the next day and read their answers over the intercom and those students would win a prize. Gracie Claire was pumped about answering the bully buster each day. On Friday, her name was drawn from the box. My class was in the hallway at that moment and so I got to see her run out of her classroom as she was on her way to the office to get her prize. She ran to me and hugged me as she giggled and grinned from ear to ear. She also hugged Ms. Morris and several of the kids from my class. She was beyond thrilled! My heart was so full at that exact moment. I loved getting to see her so proud. It rocked!





• If you know my Sydney you know that she loves her blankie, baby monkey, and Hank. If it were up to her, she would take them everywhere. At 3, she is also still loving her thumb. I haven't even tried to help her break the habit. No judgements. More than those things though, she L-O-V-E-S her sisters. She loves when Gracie Claire gets home from school and she loves playing with Molly all day. It's one of her greatest qualities. I know as they grow, they're going to be best sister/friends. I love that about her. I also love that she is into telling us jokes right now. One of her latest...S: Knock, Knock, Me: Who's there?, S: Underwear, Me: Underwear who?, S: You don't take a shower with underwear! Ha! Love that she tries!

Sydster with Blankie, Hank, and Baby Monkey :)

• Molly, Molly, Molly. The Mollinator is definitely her own person. I love that about her, but she's definitely in training to have stitches or broken bones or something. This kid has no fear. NONE. Her climbing abilities are frightening. Her sneakiness is brilliant, but scary. Her sense of humor is hilarious and she is a comedian at heart. She loves to sing, dance, and run. She absolutely loves her sisters and she can't wait to play with "Didney" (Sydney) everyday. She's a bit of a Daddy's girl. She loves singing the ABC song and Jesus Loves Me. Her talking is out of control and we're understanding more and more of it everyday. The below picture says a lot about our Mollinator. How I love her!

She used herself as a canvas. She looks great in green marker, don't you think?!

• Last weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday and my parent's 35th wedding anniversary. I'm so thankful for a dad who has loved my brother, sister, and I the way that he has. His example has shown us how to raise our own kids, love them, and treat them. Dad--you're awesome! I love you so much! Thank you for allowing me to be your favorite! ;) My parents celebrated 35 years on October 4th. Their marriage hasn't been perfect, but it's shown all of us how to get through even the toughest of times. Their marriage has been one that has taught us how to trust in the Lord and place Him first! Thank you Mom and Dad for loving each other and showing us what a marriage centered in Him is all about! We all HEART you!
• Today is my sister-in-law Sharon's due date. My newest niece, Isabelle, is coming soon. Will it be today? We'll see!! :) I can't wait to meet her! I love her already!
• I'm off to spend the rest of the day and tomorrow (WOOT--NO SCHOOL TOMORROW! THANK YOU CHRIS COLUMBUS...YOU ROCK!) with my fantacular fam. Love them so much! 'Til next time peeps!!

He's An Ironman

Last year Paul did the Ironman 70.3 in Austin. After that one he knew he wanted to do another and quickly signed up for the one in Branson. You can read all about our trip to Branson in the post below...this one is all about our Ironman.

Paul is seriously ridonculous when it comes to his workouts. He never misses one and if he does, he makes it up. Running, biking, swimming. Running, biking swimming. Running, biking, swimming. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. So, he was for sure ready for this race...until he saw the hills/mountains of Branson. He knew going in that the elevations there were much higher (he looked up the numbers) but when we started the drive into Branson is when he began feeling a little weak in the knees. :) It was fun for me to see him a little nervous. ;) Seriously though, this race was ranked the toughest 70.3 in the world. Crazy!

I've never gotten to see Paul start one of his triathlons, but since my parentals were with us to stay with the girls, I woke up in the middle of the night (seriously) with Paul to head to the start. Let the pictures begin...

By this point we had been up for 2.5 hrs. and he hadn't even started yet. He's smiling now...wait for the finish pic. :)



Right before the start...like my shirt?! It says "Ironmate." I have no desire to ever be an Ironwoman, so I'll stick to being an Ironmate. :)

(L) Off he goes...see you in 6 hrs.! :) (R) His groups swim start!

After he finished the swim (which I somehow missed--he ran right past me--sooo frustrating!) I headed back to where we were staying and got the girls and my mom and headed out to try to see him finish his bike ride. Again--I missed it. I almost cried. There were 1300 people on bikes flying past us. And, I missed it...which means I missed his run start. There were seriously tears in my eyes. Thankfully, the run was a loop that he ran 3 times, so we saw him twice on his run before the finish. While we were waiting, I took pictures of course!

The 3 Little Ladies cheering on their Daddy with their fab new shirts on! :)



YES! This is around mile 8 of a 13 mile run after swimming a little over a mile and biking for 56 miles. If this were me it would be someone pushing me on a gurney. :)

Go DADDY Go!!!

The Finish -- Lots of pretty scenery and an awesome fountain...the pictures don't do it justice.

On his last loop...



(L) Heading to the finish (R) Crossing the finish line...WAY TO GO BABE!

After race pictures are always my fave! He looks so happy and refreshed and then BAM!! :)

(L) Me and My Ironman :) (R) Gigi is so proud of her SIL!! :)

Sooo proud of their Daddy...I love this pic!

Wait for it...and he's down! :)

Seriously...we are so proud of the dedication and strength it took to do a race like this and finish it. Love you babe...and so proud of you!

I know...laying in the grass is nothing compared to the scene I would've caused with a Care Flight helicopter arriving to take me away. :)

Branson, MO ~ The Place To Go...

Ha! My title is so nerdy. Read it like this..."Branson Moe ~ The Place To Go!" It rhymes. :) Anyway! Our Branson trip was so much fun! It went so fast and was definitely not relaxing, but was definitely fun! The whole trip was planned because of an Ironman 70.3 that Paul had signed up to do, but we squeezed in a couple of fun things too. I'm so thankful my parents got to come along. It rocked to have help with the girls plus they are just fun to be around too.

Dad and Mom took us to see "Noah~The Musical!" I heart musical theater and was just as excited as the girls. It was SOOO good. The set was awesome...way beyond our expectations! The girls loved it! Even Molly sat still (for the most part) and really liked it.

My cousin Daniel is a freshman at a college there is Branson. It was great to be able to see him and let the girls play with him. He's such a great guy and we're really proud of him! I did feel a little old when we saw him though. I was a freshman in high school when he was born, so I rocked him as a baby. Now look at him. Ugh. 32 is knocking at my door.

On our way out of town, Mom and Dad treated all of us to Lambert's. Ummm...DELISH! The most unhealthy food you can think of, but oh so good! They throw rolls at you at this place-- among other things. I definitely want to partake of the Lambert's goodness again one day!

All in all, our Branson trip was great! The one big portion of this post missing is Paul's big race, which will be a post all it's own! Can't wait to go back to Branson again someday!