Gift of lights and Snow Town

Joshua wanted to do the run the gift of lights for his Birthday.  It was a 3K.  He kept telling me he was going to win.  I was trying to explain to him it wasn't a race to win, but one to enjoy the lights.  He agreed but said he wanted to win anyway.  He ended up in 5th.  ha ha Michael couldn't keep up with him. I think he'll have to try a 5K with me next time. 

It was cold outside and the kids loved it!   They were so excited.

Jenny and Rylan joined us.  It was so nice of them to come out in the cold with us.

 

There were wonderful light displays.  It was a fun run.

After the race we got to play at snow town.

There was as tubing hill and lots of snow to play win.  We have to make out snow in Texas most of the time to enjoy it.  I think my boys could have played all night in the snow.

 

The run was at the Texas Motor speedway.  My boys loved looking at the race track.  Joshua had a wonderful time for his Birthday celebration. 

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Joshua is 7 years old now.  The time just flies by.  He is an amazing boy!  He is doing wonderful in school.  He listens to me, and does what he is told.  (most of the time)  He loves any and all sports.  He loves science.  He is curious about how things work and where things come from.  He also loves math.  When walking home from school Dallin and Joshua will be quizzing each other on math problems.   We are blessed to have him in our lives.  We love you Joshua!!!

He opened up a few gifts.  We are suppose to do a run on Saturday for his Birthday, so hopefully that will work out.  A storm is moving in so the race may not happen. 

He requested a Texas Longhorn cake or Dallas Cowboys cake.  I figured I could do a star better then a Longhorn, so Cowboys it is.  It broke Michael's heart that it was no BYU or Broncos, or for me the 49ers but I guess we are raising an independent child.  :)  This cake does not compare to my sister in laws who are super talented at decorating, and they make beautiful cakes, but it will do.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The boys went camping on Friday, so Leah and I painted toe nails.  Evan hung out with us too.

Leah loves "spa" day.  :)

We had Thanksgiving at David West's house.  We had a wonderful dinner.  Michael got to hang out with a cousin he hasn't seen very much.  My kids had a blast with all of the toys.  They love hanging with their cousins.

I didn't take any pictures of dinner.   It was delicious. 

It was nice not to have to cook all day and just enjoy visiting with everyone.  I just made the mash potatoes and cheesecake.  :)  It is fun to have my boys study Thanksgiving in school and now really understand why we have the big feast.  :)  We are so blessed and love the Thanksgiving holiday to remember all of our blessings!

Cooling off and more awards

Joshua received the Super Achiever award for his class.  He also got a perfect report card again.  :)

Dallin was awarded the music award.  He also had a perfect report card.  I am so proud of my boys.  :)

We watched Rylan on Saturday while Jenny went for a run.  Evan is known for trying to eat other babies.  He gets so excited when other babies are around.  Rylan sruvived.  :)  Evan was pretty nice.
 

Dallin had Thanksgiving in his class.  He had a great time.  He is really enjoying school.  He made the cute hat and ate turkey and pumpkin pie.

It cooled off around here so now the leaves are changing colors.  It is beautiful!  It also my favorite time of year!  Leah, Evan, and I met friends at the park and I took a few pictures of the fun.I didn't capture the beauty of the trees, but the kids are cute.  :)

They were loving the swings. 

We are excited for Thanksgiving next week.  I love Thanksgiving!

House Update

Our house got a little face lift.  We got a new fence, painted the house, and new gutters.  My neighbor caming running over when she saw we were fixing it up, and asked if we were moving.  ha ha  She told me she prays every day that we won't move.  It is nice to be loved.  :) 

This boy has been giving us some grief.  He hasn't slept well at night for like 2 months.  He had a tooth come in, cold, ear infection, and another tooth come in.  It has been brutal.  The antibiotics really hurt his belly.  He hated them.  He would glue his mouth shut and spit anything out that I tried to put in.  It was awful.  It made his sleeping worse.  I decided to try probiotics to help his belly and he did so much better after that.  We are still working on sleeping better at night but I will at least get a few hours in before, he wakes up crying.  After starting the probiotics he wanted to eat food!  I have never had a baby who didn't want to eat up to this point, but finally at 7 almost 8 months he decides to eat.  With the added food he has some gas issues still even after the probiotics but I'm working on blancing it all out and hoping to get him back to sleeping through the night soon.

Depsite being awake a lot at night, he is so happy during the day.  It doesn't matter how hard his night was he is happy during hte day.  It helps a lot that he is happy.  It has been hard for me to get things done due to being so tired, but somehow we are making it.

I posted this picture on facebook a while back.  I love it!  My kids are adorable!   Joshua and Dallin are loving school.  Joshua is working on his Science Fair project and busy earning personal pan pizzas with AR points.  Dallin is reading well and loves drawing.  The boys play soccer all the time.  I will tell the boys no balls in the house and they will start to kick a pillow around.   Leah is a good helper and enjoys going for runs with me.  Leah loves to sing.  She also loves to "do" my hair.  I love that Leah and Evan enjoy running with me in the stroller, so I don't have to get up earlier to run.

End of Soccer Season

We ended the season with a GOAL!!!!  Dallin worked so hard and finally got his goal.  I loved his coaches reaction to his goal!  He ran up and gave Dallin a hug afterward.  Oh wait, not a hug, Dallin told me he just lifted him in the air.  ;) 

He almost scored here.  The ball stopped right at the goal post.  Coach Bubba visibly disappointed.  ha ha

 Joshua had no fear playing with kids much bigger them him.  I am so proud of my boys!

Joshua did so well, he almost scored so many times.  The boys improved so much over the season.  They got a trophy as well.  They are excited for the Spring season!

Happy Halloween!

Yoda and Princess Leia

Our pumpkins this year.  Michael made the Batman, I did the vampire, and the Cruz clan did the C.

My little Jedi clan.

They all look great and a had a great time at the Trunk or Treat.  Joshua ended up giving away all of his candy.  ha ha  I guess the bigger kids kept asking for pieces and he obliged.  Sweet Kid! No worries though Leah got enough for everyone.  :)