Creed's Fabulous Fall

This past fall the stars all aligned and somehow both Cam and I

had a day off from training and it enabled me

to go with Creed and his class on its field trip

to pumpkin patch. And Cam to hang with Callan at home.

There were these huge slides they slid down on with carpets,

a tracor pull through a kid friendly haunted forest,

various play structures shaped like pirate ships,

trains, cars, rocket ships etc.

and huge plastic pipes that the kids could

climb in and roll each other down the hill.

Oh... and I think they had some pumpkins there too.

I love when I can get one on one time with my boys!

  

When we were down by the Potomoc one afternoon Creed found this
massive leaves and said "Mom, this leaf looks like a lions head" and thus
his school leaf project was born.

There was another fun season of soccer season played. My boys sure try hard bless their hearts.

GOAL!!
Creed is such a great team member cheering for his friends.

Creeds day at goalie. There sure wasn't a lot of action coming his way.

Don't you just love this kid!!

The Halloween Mom failed...

This is the first year since I have been a mother that I didn't take the kid/kids into a photo studio

to get their pictures taken in their costumes.

Although it may not seem like it I am a little disappointed in

myself. But on the other hand I also feel a little liberated by it too.

There was just TOO much going on this fall for me to pull

that one off. I didn't think the boys would care at all

because what little boys love getting their picture taken.

And to be fair every time we attempt photo shoots

it is like a scene from "boys gone wild".

Unfortunately I have the knack for always doing the exact

opposite of what I "think" my kids want.

It was mentioned or maybe  excessively whined to me

 (its been so long who can really remember)

multiple times that pictures at the studio is what they wanted.

Oh well, once again I given my kids good fodder for

their therapy sessions as adults. The year mom didn't get professional

Halloween photos taken.  Can you sense the horror in the Shrinks office?

Hopefully my at home shots will help heal their wounds a little.

IRON MAN, CAD BANE, and BOBA FETT!
Another Star War year for the big boys.  I wonder if they will ever stray from those characters?

Mack's costume really disturbed some of the young girls at our church trunk of treat.
It kind of made me laugh a little, yep, I said it.
Sometimes I just gotta allow my boys to be boys. And what better night then Halloween!

This costume was such an ordeal to come by, I hope this boy will remember while in therapy
 how much work his Dad and I went through to obtain this costume.

This boy had Iron Man picked out months before the big day. What a fun night
to share with a toddler.

Luckily for Callan he found his  "Super Hero squad" at church.
Isn't it cute how many 3 year olds wanted to be super heros.

We invited some new but lifelong friends we have met since living here to our church party.
I think the boys had a great time!

This years Pumpkins

My little "PUNKINS" with their PUMPKINS!

One...two...THREEEEE!

This Kid gone and done it...

The unthinkable

He turned 3!

I am pretty sure I will have a hard time

 forgiving him for growing up so quickly.

Oh man, he just brings me joy!

The boy loved his "Kackin Merika" cake

We are so happy cousin Maddie was there and excited about the festivities
 since big brothers were clearly too busy having fun chasing with thier cousin Jax. :)

And now because he is three, this sight with a pacifier is no longer what we see at night. 
And believe it or not I am a little sad about that too.
Boy I am such a sap these days!

First Day of School 2011

Lets all play a little game and pretend

that I am not almost 6 months behind in my

blogging...

DEAL?

First day of school in Virginia was very exciting for the boys.

It meant it was the first time they got

to FINALLY ride a bus to school.

I was a little apprehensive about it at first,

I never rode a bus in all my years of school.

So, the only stories I have heard are bad ones.

Especially the ones I have heard from Cam.

However, I have truly grown to love the convenience of it.

And so far there have been no problems.

This school year  is especially nice because they are both attending

the same school, in the same town.

That means no more long commutes

for school pickups and dropoffs.

Mack and Creed have great teachers

and are doing really well and have had no

problems adjusting to their new school.

It almost makes the fact that they will be moving again

next year a little more tolerable.

I honestly can not remember why they were both sporting serious sour puss faces, it was 5 months ago. But, remeber the deal? No judging!
I am pretty sure it was planned and maybe something along the lines of being sad summer was over?
Sure! That sounds good, lets go with that.

See? Happy faces all is well. The usual excitement prevails.

Creed heading off into the big scary world of riding a school bus. 
Of course posing for a picture was way too uncool for Mack to do.

Big City Perk

Cam's family (well most of them anyways) are

HUGE football fans.

So the fact that the Washington Redskins

were in the middle of their training camp while

Cam's parents were in town provided an exciting opportunity for us.

We went and spent one morning watching the pros throw

the ol' pig skin around.

Enjoying a little refreshment...Have a mentioned that the Krispy Kreme is right by our house? It proves to be a problem

Cam took a million pictures of the players...but lets be honest all we really care about the ones of my kids!

SEE...to die for cute!

Too bad the Redskins weren't a team we actually cared about. 
Oh well, still fun!



Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Back in August...

(yes, I said August, I am slightly behind, deal with it. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Shirley came to visit us in DC.

As usual it was great to see them and

better yet it forced us to become tourists and get out there and see

some of the many sights.

Grandpa Shirley was able to use his connections and get

us a last minute tour of the White House, And guided tours

of the Capitol Building and The National Cathedral. 

(glad we were able to see them before all the earthquake damage)

Each of them thrilled me and the kids immensely. 

I truly LOVE living here.

Outside the front door of the White House

First time on the Metro for my little men

Nations Capitol

The amazing ceiling in the rotunda of the Capitol

Taking a foot soak and break in the botanical gardens

Washington Monument

Inside The National Cathedral. This place was surprisingly large and the architectural details were astounding

Behind the gate is the tomb where Helen Keller is buried...who knew?

The highlight of this tour (for my guys) was going outside and trying to find the Darth Vader gargoyle.
Do you see it? 
Its the one on the right, the rounded part is the top of his helmet.
We actually couldn't ever see it while we were there.
It is very small and far away. It wasn't until we took the picture with the zoom that we were able to find it.

Isn't this amazing. It is one of many in the cathedral.

Mackguire was in charge of the camera that day so I really didn't get a lot of control over the pictures
that were taken. However, I thought this one he took turned out pretty darn cool. It is George Washington by
the way. in case you were wondering.