Joey's SURPRISE Party !!!

Since my beloved husband was turning 35 this year, I knew I had to do something really special to embarass him. So, I enlisted the help of a couple of his friends to help me plan a golf outing! Well- one for the planning (Robert), and one for the kidnapping! I had his most ornery friend (Chris) come kidnap him on that Saturday morning, and Joey had no earthly idea where he would be taken. That was FUN. I had 6 of his friends meet him at the golf course for 18 holes, and of course some trash talk! (One of them drove all the way from LONGVIEW... Thanks Jeremy!) From what I hear, none of them played very well... but they had a great time anyway.

Then, the guys brought him to Texas Roadhouse (one of his favorite restaurants) where all of his family and some more friends were waiting to surprise him!!! His face was priceless! Who doesn't love a surprise party?? His cake was also pretty special. Last month when we were at the Main Street Halloween Festival in Grapevine, we sampled some cupcakes from Patty Cakes Bakery. Joey absolutely loved the Maple Pecan cupcake, which is odd since he is not a cake person. So, of course that was the only cake that would be suitable for such a special occasion. And he loved it !!

It was so wonderful to visit with our family and fantastic friends! Joey had such a great time!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate that amazing man who I am blessed to call "husband".

Annual November Birthday Dinner

Since almost everyone's birthday falls in November in this family, we always choose a night to go out to dinner to celebrate them all at once! (Lana's birthday is the 6th, Avery's is the 17th, Joey's is the 18th, and mine is the 24th.) We take turns choosing the restaurant, and this year it was Lana's choice to go to The Cheesecake Factory.

The food was absolutely wonderful, but let's face it- that was not the reason we were there. We were there for the cheesecake, people. And it was delicious.



Reilly & Avery were excited to choose their slices!

The servers sang to Lana & I while sweet Joey was changing Avery's diaper!

Joey loved the Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake

Reilly is a big fan of the Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake!

And here's what was left of my Pumpkin Cheesecake! YUM!

Wanda's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple was outstanding, as was Lana's Tiramisu Cheesecake! (And YES, we did sample them ALL !!!)

Thanks Billy & Wanda... what an amazing dinner that was! I wonder where Joey will choose next year when it's his turn !!??

And what better way to end the night than with a little quality time with Nana & Granddad ...

Reilly's School Carnival

We were really excited for Reilly's first school carnival! He just loves all those games, and especially all those tiny prizes he gets to win! (... and later, leave all over the house for Mommy to trip over.)

Reilly saw lots of his friends, and we got to put some faces with the names we hear all the time! He was super proud of the Spin Art he created, and also the Cherry Dr. Pepper he won in the "coke walk". He looked so awesome with some blue spray painted hair too!

I was really excited to take the kids on their very first hay ride, and Avery just couldn't stop talking about that tractor! The bounce houses were the very best part, I'd have to say. What kid can resist one of those after all?? We could have stayed there all day, and almost did!!

Halloween on Main Street

This year we decided to attend the Halloween on Main Street Festival in Grapevine. It was super crowded, but the weather was just chilly enough to make it really fun! We got the kids all dressed up in their costumes, Reilly chose to be Iron Man and Avery was a ladybug fairy. Our first stop at the Festival was a photo op of course, with a bunch of pumpkins. Then, the kids bounced in a bounce house, rode the mini train, and Reilly got to try his hand at Laser Tag! Uncle Mike and Aunt Honey always come with us for Halloween, and it was really sweet of them to come hang out! We played some games, did some crazy dancing, ate some delicious Kettle Corn, and cupcakes from Patty Cakes! (AMAZING, by the way.)
We didn't waste time waiting in those crazy candy lines, Reilly and Avery don't have time for such nonsense. They would much rather see what mischief they could get into!

After the festival, we headed to "Huck-a-Donald's" (McDonald's) for our first McRib of the season, and let the kiddos play on the playground. (Which they would rather do than just about anything- every day of the week.)

Mountasia

Reilly had been asking to go to Mountasia for a while, and since he made it through an entire week at school without even so much as a warning from his teacher... we figured that he definitely earned it !!

Reilly's favorite thing was definitely the go-carts! He and Joey drove them twice, and weren't afraid of a little competition. They had absolutely no mercy on those other drivers! Avery and I loved cheering them on.

Next was a little miniature golf, and Reilly got his very first hole in one !!! It was an incredible shot! Avery didn't have much patience for boring golf rules, and would much rather just throw the ball and then chase it!

Sadly, our golfing was cut short by some rain, so we headed inside to play some arcade games. Among the favorites were the driving and shooting games, and Skee-Ball.

When Reilly cashed in all of his tickets, he made sure to get some Silly Bands just for Avery. So sweet!

We had such fun together, and can't wait to go back!

Reilly's 1st School Dance

Reilly had his first school dance just before Halloween, it was a "Monster Mash" !!! There were great games and prizes, but strangely- there was not much dancing. Don't get me wrong, our Reilly Bear did show off some of his rad moves when the Michael Jackson music played... but he was pretty much the only one. I must admit that I just love that about him.

Don't know why, but he loved these creepy spider rings.

Playing games & winning prizes

Like this awesome necklace that blinks!

Tattoos are pretty cool.

Friends

He worked hard to win these vampire teeth.

He had a blast!!!

A Day At The Zoo

Back in October, we decided to take the kids to the zoo! We picked the perfect day, the weather was great. (I abhor the zoo in the heat of the summer, so I was so happy it wasn't still blistering outside.) It was Avery's very first trip, and she was wowed! My favorites have always been the giraffes and flamingos, and Reilly loves the tigers. Avery didn't have a clear favorite, but seemed to enjoy the monkeys. Go figure. ;) The highlight for the kiddos was definitely riding the little train! Great family day followed by delicious Blizzards from Dairy Queen = Fantastic!

Cutie