pumpkins galore

I guess it's really no shock to anyone that I take way too many pictures. It's a weakness, but maybe I'll get a job with the paparazzi and it will all pay off. Anyways, here are a few million photos from our pumpkin carving party last night...

Jamie's design...

Nathan's...

Rhonald's

Jim's...

and Kim's...

We decided to make a fun contest out of the designs and Jim took home the big win...

But Emma's was the best by far!

Audrie's new bunny hat...

Jamie finding an excuse to use power tools...

Cole and Audrie always seem to have something deep to discuss...

Ben is so cute that even Audrie wants to pinch those cheeks...

Emma was a pro at cleaning out the pumpkin goo!

Donna and the babies.

Rhonald free hand drawing his sweet spider design...

Audrie and her boys. (Nathan 7 months, Audrie 9 months, Cole 10 months, Ben 5 months)

Thanks, Becca, for being our judge!

Jamie hiding his tears that he didn't win...

It was a fun night. I ate way too much. But I guess that's part of all the fun! Thanks, everyone, for making the night a blast!

tears and tailgates

I cried a few tears this weekend and it wasn't over the Hogs loss to Ole Miss. Saturday night was the first time I've been away from Audrie ALL night! (It was really only 24 hours but a huge deal to me!). Jamie's mom kept Audrie Saturday so Jamie and I could to the Razorback game. I was willing to skip this late night game because we were having trouble getting a babysitter for all day, but we finally decided it would be a good "trial run" for me to be away from Audrie for one night. (I am going with Kim in a couple weeks to San Antonio to shoot a wedding and will be gone for three days.) But despite a few crying spells and missing my baby girl, I survived and Jamie and I had such a wonderful day of tailgating and football fun!

We hung out with Brandon and Erin, Jim and Emily and a bunch of new tailgating friends for several hours on Saturday. We had such a blast all afternoon and the game wasn't actually as cold as I had planned for. Jamie and his cousin, Brandon (and some tasty chili!)... Jim and Emily (and Ben... in the photo book).

Emily and I trying not to miss our babies too much...

Jamie made a new friend with the Jolly Green Giant (aka Jack) and his wife, Erin.

The weather was beautiful, the people were tons of fun and the food was delicious. And it was nice in between the moments of missing Audrie- to get to enjoy some time with my stud muffin husband.
Only one more home game left of the season! Better enjoy it while we can!

girl on the move

I got Audrie a drum this week... a little more practice and she'll be ready to play Rock Band with the boys! Then she had to pull herself up on it, because that really is her favorite thing to do... stand up!She still entertains herself by chasing the kitty around the house all day. (I think Audrie chases the cat and Donna chases Audrie...!) But she crawls so fast now that it's hard to keep up with her.
She is pulling up on everything in the house.

It's quite a work out!
She's so proud of herself!
She likes to "read" my magazines.

Here she is looking around because she knows she's not supposed to be up there!

And she's getting more brave at walking (with only holding one hand).

I love these leggings she has on. They're called Baby Legs and my sister got me hooked on them. Audrie has several adorable pair and they work great- keeping her little legs warm, cover her knees for crawling, and we don't have to take them off to change her diapers. They're great!

We're afraid our Christmas tree may be in trouble this year...

"cinderella dressed in yellow..."

Twice a week I have outside duty at school for 30 minutes and sometimes it's the only fresh air I get all week. I love it. And the best thing is that I get to jump rope! Which takes me straight back to elementary, when every single day at recess I would jump rope with my friends. I love that even SO (ha) many years later kids are still playing the same games and even have the same crazy ryhmes they chant... today I found out that my boyfriend's name starts with "K"...

Here is your tax money hard at work...

For a moment I can pretend I'm 12 years old again...

more retreat pics

I have a few more photos from the retreat this weekend. (Kim has alot of amazing photos of all us girls on her camera so I can't wait to see them!) But I did snap a few, too. So this is the 2nd annual get-together for the girl's in my family. My mom reserved a cabin at the Rockin' Z Resort near Harrison and we stayed Saturday and Sunday together. It really was fun to relax with no tv, no internet, limited phone service and just us girls talking and hanging out.

The house we stayed in was so cute all tucked away in the woods. It had a fireplace that we sat by and played board games and talked and drank cider and hot cocoa (and let my niece Kara entertain us with her crazy imagination!).

The setting was just so gorgeous! There was a beautiful pond right outside our door, too.
Audrie loved being in all the outdoorsy nature.
She really enjoyed playing with her cousins. And it was actually cute to see all three of them playing together (well, they let Audrie chew on whatever they were playing with... which was so sweet of them to "include" her!). We all had to model our hats together!
Audrie even found a cute little kitty to love on.
All the girls went horseback riding. Audrie was too small to go (which I didn't hate too much).

So she and I went for a nice long walk instead since the weather and scenery was so wonderful. I had Audrie in the sling and she fell asleep. (I put my camera on a fence post, hit the self timer and walked towards the camera... I thought it turned out to be a pretty decent shot if I say so myself.)
Anyways, it was an awesome weekend with my family. Audrie and I were worn out when we got home. She was glad to be home again...! She missed her daddy.
I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat. I think we should have it in Hawaii so we can visit my sister Carolyn next year...! :)