10 things I love about my sister!!

I know everyone thinks they have the greatest family, but I truly think my sis is the best one in the world. Here's why...

10. She has the greatest necklace collection...and I know she'd share if I asked.

9. She likes to work out even more than me. If we could get our schedules to coordinate I'd have a great work out buddy.

8. She always has mints in her purse to share!

7. She has great decorating style. I wish I could say the same.

6. She is sooo hospitable. Their house is always the place to hang and she always has time for us if we want to just come over and chill...she usually includes food as well. (Yum!)

5. She is very reliable. Once Margaret says she's going to do something, you can always count on her to get it done. One thing she has committed to this year is picking up the kids every Thursday and hanging with them so Curt has one free night to work late, get things accomplished, or just have a free night. Curt is SUPER thankful for that!!!

4. If we ever need ANYTHING, she is there in a second to help. For those of you who don't know, when we decided to leave Houston, we didn't really have any idea of what to do. Margaret and Lonnie were recently married and had been teasing us to move to AR. When we told her we were leaving, her first reaction was "Move in with us and figure it out from there." Did I mention she was a newlywed!!! That's just my sis, always there to help, or to offer Lonnie's help when needed. I could go on and on about the things they have done for us...but that would just be mushy!!

3. She's my best friend (after Curt). If I want to hang out with anyone other than Curt, it's her and if I need to talk to someone, I call her up. She's just that great!

2. She doesn't just "watch" Cade and Keira, she teaches them. Even with Ethan, she takes the time to spend QUALITY time with the kids, playing games, reading, teaching them new things like signs for Keira and new sight words for Cade.

1. She sends me mail in LR every week so I don't get too lonely or discouraged. She even has the kids paint me pics and sends those to me!! I loved the Halloween treat box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now you all know how great Margaret is. I hope this week you all send a shout out to a special person in your life to let them know how much they mean to you.

Just another beautiful weekend

It was another great weekend for our fam. I skipped classes on Friday so I could come home early and spend a little more time with the fam. Keira got her stitches out Thursday afternoon, so I got the joy of experiencing that with her. She was so scared from her previous experience that the cries began long before any hint of pain started. It was very pitiful, but I'm glad I was able to be there for my little girl.

On Saturday we painted their pumpkins and had an impromptu fall photo shoot at a beautful event center near our house. The trees are gorgeous right now as their leave are changing colors and falling. I love FALL!!!!

Not by the "whiskers" on my chinny, chin, chin!

Well, it's official. Keira has had her first major accident. I wish there was a great story to go with it, but unfortunately it all comes down to the fact the fact that she's got her mother's graceful genes.

Yesterday Keira was at our friend Keisha's house playing for a little while so Curt could get a few things done. (A little background info, Curt had to stay home yesterday with Cade because he had a fever Thursday night. Keira was out of school for teacher in-services, so Curt had both kids all day.) Curt hadn't been gone for 5 minutes when Keira started screaming. Apparently, she had been playing at tripped over NOTHING and fell. Her chin broke her fall. Somehow, she managed to slice her chin open in the process. It's really odd because you would think it would be more bruised or have a jagged cut or have hurt the inside of her mouth, but no...it's sliced open to the bone. Luckily, we have an "in" with our pedi, so Curt called his wife who called Dr Lance and he was waiting for them when they arrived at his office a few minutes later. Curt was thinking she'd just need a little durabond like before, but Lance thought it was too deep and needed stitches. I was on my way home from LR at that point in time, but was still about 1.5 hrs away so I was no help to Curt. They numbed her up and then it took about 30 minutes for Lance to hit the moving target that was Keira's chin. The whole time Keira was screaming and Curt was about at his limit (both from Keira's screaming and from watching a tough procedure being done on his baby) and I couldn't help. I think that was the hardest part for me. I wanted to be there so badly for her, but I was just a little too late. Anyway, after a nice long nap, Keira woke up happy and ready to show off her new "whiskers." (That's what she calls them.) She's one tough cookie!!







Dr Lance to the rescue!! Thank goodness for a great doctor who happens to be a great friend as well. Lance was worried Keira would be a little apprehensive toward him after all that, but she still ran right up to him tonight to have her picture taken with our favorite Dr Lance!!!

More fall fun!

Last Sunday our small group headed to SW Missouri for fall weather fun at a corn maze/pumpkin patch/hayride. It was the perfect fall evening - cool air, afternoon sunshine, orange pumpkins, and little kid giggles. There's nothing better in this world!!

The whole crew. The kids are starting to outnumber the adults!!



Cade flew down the roller slide. He kept asking us to push him harder so he'd go even faster.




King of the (hay) mountain



These tough boys were not at all afraid of the cave. They would have gone in farther to explore if they could have!



Princess Keira on the other hand, wouldn't let Mom out of her reach!



At the top of the barn loft there was a window that overlooked the corn maze. The kids were so excited as they looked out over the field and saw all the fun activities. They couldn't decide what they wanted to do first.



I have lots more great pictures, but you get the general idea. A great time was had by all!

Happy Fall!

I think that picture says it all! We are loving this beautiful fall weather and are so glad we got to enjoy the pumpkin patch with Ethan this year.






My handsome groom! I treasure the weekends so much these days. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder!!



My angel!



Way too excited about the gourds!!



Such a handsome boy



My little lady...



and sweet little man!

Super Cade!!

I wanted to share these words from Curt with you.

Here's the background story. Curt got a phone call from Cade's teacher this morning informing him that Cade was getting an award at the school assembly today for being a super student. Of course, Curt rearranged his schedule and made sure he could make it to the assembly to video it and take pics for me and to show Cade how proud he is of him. Afterwards, he sent this email out to our friends.

"Just wanted to share a proud parent moment…. I had the chance to go to Cade's school and watch him be awarded the Super Colt award for good behavior and being a good student. He obviously did not get these traits from me :) There were about 6 out of a couple hundred kids awarded this in K-3 this month. Most of you in one way or another have helped us with Caden since he was small. Thanks for your friendship and for sharing this moment with Rachel and I.

Way to Go Cade!!!!

- Curt and Rachel "

I echo his sentiment completely and wanted to extend our gratitude not only to those who live near us and see us daily, both to all of our family and friends out there who have impacted not only his life. but ours as well.

We were a little slow starting the video, so the few seconds you missed are the principal calling Cade's name. She is just starting to talk about why he was chosen to get the award for his class.



He got to pick 2 toys from the treasure box and was awfully proud of himself. (You can tell by his strut back to his seat!)