Oktober Fest

Last Friday we took the boys to Oktoberfest in downtown McKinney.

They took a ride on the train.


Got some temporary tattoos that ended up costing $17 (for two).
WHAT! Guess I should have checked the price first.
Coop got a giraffe and Jackson got dolphins. They LOVED them.
I thought about not ever washing their arms so we could get our moneys worth.


Watched some people dressed up in German outfits on Parade.
Colin drank some local beer and enjoyed it.
We all ate some yummy food.


Cooper and Jackson had a barrel race.
Cooper was incredible.
At one point, he got a little off track,
and I swear he just picked up the barrel and lined it back up.


They were very excited to win a mardi gras necklace for a prize.


Met up with the Wilsons.
Had ice cream.
What a fun night!

Recently ...

Have plenty to blog about, but can't seem to make the time to do it. Lately I'd rather be napping! We're moving everything to storage today. Whew. On Wednesday we move into our apartment. And January, we will be in our new house.

I'm 14 weeks pregnant, and starting to feel better.

Charlie has FINALLY started walking. He'd been taking steps for what seems like forever ago, but at 15 months, he is officially walking. WOO HOO! Lots of people always talk about how it's more trouble once babies start walking, but I think they are full of it. I can put him down at the store, or doctor's office, wherever and he isn't crawling around on the floor.



Jackson scored his first goal at his first soccer game. He was really proud. He is having fun, but in hindsight, I think we should have probably just waited to start him. I don't mind the time - we have practice on Tuesday evenings, and a game on most Saturdays. It's just that they don't have a clue. He has a good time, but I think he would have just as much fun playing at the park.
It's rather frustrating to watch them all run around wihtout having a clue what is happening. When we were trying to decide whether to sign him up, I was very aware of the "pressure" to have your child signed up in athletics, music lessons, gymnastics, dance, boy scouts, etc. All of them are good things - I just want to remember that Jackson is four. He has plenty of time to do any or all of those things. And I don't want to just be driving (and soon- the other three) from one thing to another all week long. That time will come soon enough!




More to come soon on Oktoberfest and Messy birthday parties : )

Changes

We've sold our house. Well, actually I'm getting ahead of myself. We are under contract. Closing date in October 3rd. Very soon. Haven't packed a thing. Trying to organize moving, storage, apartment, etc...

We are building a house in Allen, about 10-15 minutes from this house. It's a 5 bedroom, and has more room for our (rapidly) growing family. Two of the boys will share a larger room, and the other two will each have their own. There is a guest room downstairs, and that's one of the best parts. So glad our family and friends will have plenty of room to stay with us. Second best thing about the new house... A BIG pantry. Can't even explain how exciting that is. This is the house for the long-haul. Well, that is what we are hoping for anyway. Looking forward to planting trees, painting walls, and making it home.

Feeling very excited, and slightly overwhelmed with living in an apartment for 4 months. But a least there won't be any yard work or much cleaning to do!

Also a little sad. I love our home. All three boys have been born since we moved in, and there are so many memories. I not very sentimental over stuff - I don't like much "clutter" and tend to throw LOTS away, or donate it. But I am feeling very sentimental about this house. Every time I look outside and see all the trees and blooming flowers, it makes me feel proud of all the work we (okay, Colin) did. And the flooring we put down, and doorknobs & light fixtures we changed out. All the walls we painted, and re-painted. Memories of our family and friends visiting. My dad being here, and hanging up the pot rack with Colin. And putting in shelves in the laundry room. It's scary leaving behind those moments, and I am afraid I will start to forget them all when I don't see the daily reminders of them.

But, I'm looking forward to making memories in our new home. Being a little closer to Dallas so Colin's commute will be a bit shorter. A little closer to the Catholic School where we are thinking of sending the boys. And we should be moving in mid January, and have some time to settle before baby #4 arrives in March.

Speaking of Baby #4, we went to the perinatal specialist this morning, and baby looks great. He (or she) was all curled up in a ball so they couldn't take a guess of the sex (it was really early to tell anyway). Also, the best news was that the cyst is less than half of the size it was! I think it was measuring over 7 cm before - now it's down to 3 cm! Praise God! It may just go away without any problems. Here's hoping for a healthy baby.

Friendly Frogs

September 6th was Jackson's first day of 4yr old preschool.
He is going Tues/Thurs 9:15- 2:15, and loving every second of it.

He is in the Friendly Frogs class, and is soaking up so much!
Wish I spent more time working with him at home...
but I would hate for him to be bored in school if he already knew everything.
I'm great at rationalizing.

Caught Some Muck

Over labor day, we took the boys fishing at Towne Lake.

Skipped breakfast at home and picked up donuts. WHOA, were the boys excited. And it was really chilly and windy that morning.
Had to scavenge for warmer weather clothing.

Would like to report that no one got caught in the eye with a hook.

Also, we didn't catch anything at the first oplace we tried.
Actually, Jack would disagree.
"We caught 'muck' sometimes, and sometimes nothing."

"Jackson, what's muck?"
"It like wet mud, Mommy."


Tried another spot.
Not a single bite.
Had a great time though.
We just need to find a better fishing hole nearby.

Charlie isn't pictured because he was too busy crawling around in duck poop.

ABCs and 123s

Jackson started his P.A.L.S program at Lawson this week. He has a new speech therapist this year, and we were all a little sad to hear that he wouldn't have the same therapist and aid as last year (because they were wonderful!). But, he loves his new teacher! He will have the same schedule as last year:

Monday/Wednesday: PALS 8:45-10:45
Tuesday/Thursday: St. Gabriel's Preschool 9:15 - 2:15

After this morning in Target (with all three, of course) I'm ready to send him 40 hours a week : ) Kidding of course, I love having him home, but it's definitely time for school to start. He's bored (because it is so hot here that we can't go anywhere) and just needs some structure.

He had meet the Teacher for Preschool today, and will start going on Tuesday of next week. Cooper is pretty interested in going, but we have decided to wait until next year. He would end of having three years of preschool before Kindergarten if we sent him now, so what's the rush? They will only be babies for so long.