Mowing

Last night before it got too dark, Cory got a jumpstart on the mowing. The older boys of course had to help him! It was too precious! Everyone got bundled up and Carter helped drive the big mower and Caden followed! Too funny!

Cole on the other hand did not get to go and was quite ticked about it!

Tire Swing

When Mom and Dad came last weekend they brought the tire swing from their old back yard! The kids were thrilled! They haven't been able to use it since my parents moved into their new home and now we have the perfect backyard for it! Caden and Carter loved it but I think Cole is absolutely obsessed with it now! This is his most favorite thing to do outside now!!!

Dining Room and Master Bedroom

We finally got the dining room in order so here we go...

Ignore the chairmat on the floor...who puts carpet in the dining room with three small children??? Cole has to have his high chair on the chair mat so we don't have too big of a mess :)

Our Master Bedroom is kind of empty, but I wanted to show off my new bedding...got a great deal on it at Wal-Mart. I love the bright colors!

That is about it for the tour...we have to finish up the rooms in the basement as we go along. Once we finish up the office/craft room I will try to post pics. Don't hold your breath folks, it might be a while :)

Work Day - More Like Work Weekend :)

We were quite busy this weekend working and getting things done around here! We finished unpacking the Master Bedroom (pic to come), put up the drapery rod in the dining room and hung the drapes (pics to come), put pics on the walls in those rooms, moved the trampoline, fixed the fence and gate so the dog can't roam the streets, child proofed the kitchen, put our old bed downstairs and put the bed we got from Cory's sister in our room, put a twin bed together that was donated to us for our foster daughter, and move the trundle she was sleeping back to the boys' room, put my mirror on my dresser in our bedroom, and put fall decor out...WOW that is a lot of stuff! THANKS MOM AND DAD for all your help!

Caden was a huge help of course :) Here is he helping Pops fix something on their bunkbeds so that we could put the trundle in correctly. For those of you extra observant folks - Caden is wearing my old basketball jersey from grade school - GO WHITTIER CARDINALS :)

Back Yard Pics

Thought I had posted these but had not so here they are.

I didn't have to unpack boxes or hang pictures on the wall for these pics. Here is the new back yard...lots of room for the boys.

We did move the trampoline this weekend and all the patio furniture is set up. Dad and Cory have plans and ideas for a tree house of some sort and then we want to get a swing set also.

This is the deck off the kitchen, we put the trampoline and a tire swing out here to the right of the picture.

Looking out the back door off the kitchen to the north/northwest

The view of the house from the very NW corner of the yard

The trampoline is in the upper corner and there is a tire swing in the middle of this picture now.

The view of the other side of the house. The patio doors upstairs go into the living room and the ones downstairs go into the basement living area which is a playroom now.

There is a lot to mow now, but Cory loves that kind of thing and we have three boys that can take over one day soon! It is a fun place for the boys to run and explore. Cole got out there this weekend and loved it...more pics of that to come :)

Pumpkin Patch

While in Houston, we hit a pumpkin patch. It was perfect weather Saturday and we even met up with some good friends while we were there! Great fun had by all!!!

Trying to get all 5 of us is always so hard! Carter really just doesn't like to cooperate!

Cole was having a blast walking around all the pumpkins!

Caden kept posing at every set of pumpkins. "Mom, come take my picture over here!"

Since Caden did it, I somewhat conned Carter into doing it also!

Another group shot...not sure why Cory was so far away :)

We *heart* Our Friends

We got to several old friends while in Houston...but we missed a few of you (you know who you are!)

Thanks to Crista for planning the lunch and to all who came! We had a blast chatting like old times! Thank goodness for Facebook and blogs so we can all keep up with each other in between visits. Our home is open for any of you that want to make the trek up north!!!

We love and miss all of you!!!

Traveling in Style

Last week on Fall Break we packed up the Reid RV and headed south to Houston. A huge THANKS to Mom and Dad Reid for letting us borrow the big rig :) It is the easiest way to travel!!! The boys could watch movies at their leisure, use the restroom when needed and I could make dinner all without stopping! Not sure it was all legal, but it was fun!

We loaded and left Wednesday at lunch and made it there late that night. We stopped a couple of times for Cory to stretch his legs but that is it! I made dinner while driving down I-35...fun stuff let me tell you! If you check Facebook you heard about our "meals on wheels" program!

Here are a few pics of the trip...

Caden and Carter immediately wanted to watch a movie in their bunk bed.

Cole was strapped in most of the time...he did pretty well!

Cory was the man! He drove the big monster the whole time!!!

Caden was "grounded" from movies on the way home and had to be creative in how to entertain himself...he spent quite a bit of time reading and coloring on the way home.

Don't worry this is not while driving! I was packing up some of our dirty clothes and moving some things around so we could load up to head home and Cole loved the drawers!