So not a baby girl anymore

Gwen wanted an old fashioned Birthday party complete with limbo, 3 legged race and musical chairs.........oh and her rendition of a cake walk. Lots of prep but not too much stress. She had the girls from her class and her smile in this pic made it all worth it!

unbelievable

That this fur ball takes up residence in MY home. The things you say you will NEVER do......
I actually took it upon my self to adopt this fellow for the purpose of killing a gopher in my backyard. Little did I know little kittens cannot become indoor/outdoor cats over night....something about coyotes and living on the island. So he's hanging out inside more than I had expected and he's actually kinda fun. I find I'm attracted to beings I must chase to get their attention.

At Claire's Thanksgiving feast she showed me their thankful wall. This was her spot. I was a proud Mama!

Girl Scout Investature

Gwen had her first ceremony for Girl Scouts. They said the Girl Scout Promise which lasted a total of about 10secs! It was the best ceremony of my life. Then we had cake that they made. The wearing of the vest was quite an ordeal , as you can imagine, but she decided she would live with it and I compromised by letting her wear her favorite outfit under it. Have you ever seen such a hip girl scout?

November

Kirby went on a mission trip to Mexico. He helped repair spring box wells for a community. The trip was with Living Water International ( very cool organization).
He was welcomed home with a banner, balloons and a cake. We felt like he had been gone a month! One night while folding clothes, Claire ran in a snatched one of Kirby's tees. I then found her in her room crying in it. " I smell Daddy!"

That's Right, that's GRASS you see my children sitting on! We are now the proud owners of a backyard which is sticker free!

These are just cool pics I happened upon. Gwen could win a world record in hullahooping and I had to take the one of Race and Claire cuz they were just plain precious.

costumes

This is one of the times I am so grateful for living in a small community. We have an annual Truck or Treat at the school and then an annual party with our friends where all the kids where glow sticks around their necks and we bombard a couple of streets with about 30 trick or treaters at a time.



Claire would have won a costume contest but there was none. She was the hit of her school, since the girl who always acts like a dog, got to actually look like one for a day! Gwen was the only Hannah Montana believe it or not and Race started out a football player but wouldn't wear the costume because it itched. So we made him a baseball player and he still had no idea why we were putting face paint on him. The only person who really appreciated my Kirby costume was Gwen. I thought it was pretty good. We ended the day scrubbing Paint off Claire for an hour and some very tired parents. This morning I have had 3 cups of coffee and am enjoying lounging around while the kids play outside and ask for candy every 3 minutes.

what we've been doing lately

Pumpkin Carving was always something my Mom did with us, so I did the honors of cleaning the guts, but Kirb did the art work.
A week ago the girls were in a beach wedding. Here's Kirby, Race and I, pics of the girls to come.


October always brings in the fog so here's a cool shot of how it looks every morning here on the island.

pumpkin patch kids

Did the pumpkin patch today. Even got my girls to put on semi-fall clothes. Which was a chore! We chose a giganter and even got carted out, kids and all!
( notice Gwen's jeans: she has been wearing these since she was 2!)

Gwen wants a Poll

Gwen is not sure her Hanna Montanna wig looks good. We haven't found a way to slick it down ( if anyone has any hints please tell) She wants to know if she should wear it with her costume or not. Mostly she wants her Mimi's opinion but she wanted me to go ahead and post it. She also doesn't think the bangs look Hannaish, but I did buy the Hanna Montanna Wig, so............. I don't know.
" please comment!", says Gwen

Race is Two

No more babies in the Reed house. Race turned two this weekend and he was so fun to spoil! The girls treated him like a prince , Kirby put a car together for him and I sang Happy Birthday to him at least a hundred times. Here he is on his special day.
Race is so fun and such a little man. He loves his blanket, his spiderman couch and to watch Blue Clues and eat goldfish. Oh and his Spiderman light up shoes ! Everyone who is around him knows he loves to say, "I go Fast!"
Wow, how appropriate.

Better Mariah?

This picture was for you girl. Blonde enough for ya now?

My little sister has a bump!

Last weeknd was my sister's baby shower. It was beautiful. Her sister-in-law hosted it at a gorgeous house in Buda, TX. Tons of wild flowers set amongst green grass and stone water fountains speckling the landscape. My girls had a blast running around and we enjoyed seeing old friends, eating yummy cookies under delicate shade coverings with my Mom and sisters and giggling while Whitney opnened presents and Meggie tried to be grownup sitting beside her recording the gifts. Whitney is the prettiest pregnant lady I have ever seen! She is doing great and we can't wait to meet our new nephew/niece. ( Yeah, of course she is not finding out, she is my sister!)

Also I am upset there are no pics of my Mom here. Somehow she always manages this. Mom, people want to see your pretty face!

Fall

We started Fall off right with a trip to Austin and a pile of leaves in Grandma and Pop's yard. Way too much fun!

Fighter Man

otherwise known as Spider Man. Race is very fond of his new shoes.

A Room to call her Own

When I could stand the fighting no more I resorted to giving up our beloved playroom for Peace in the house. So here is Claire's new room which was makeshifted in one evening thanks to our friends who loaned us a day bed ( aka a crib w/o one rail) and a rug. She loves it. She loves that it is right by the kitchen which means she is always really close to me. All she requested was a Hot Pink bed spread which I thankfully found at Ross for $20! After about a day of her having this room I kept realizing my kitchen utinsils were missing along with many bowls and silver ware, the last straw was the coffee pot. When taking a closer look I found many of these items tucked in Claire's drawers and under her bed. Upon asking her why, she announced "Well Mom this is not just a room, this is my home and you need to get me some of this Real stuff of my own!" So I have I have compromised by allowing her to store some of my stuff in her room but the coffee pot had to get back to it's rightful position.

A Dog...........................kinda

Well I finally gave in to my parents request to take their dog home to live with us. I still have no idea how this happen. I am weirdly okay with it and have been shocked by my instant bond with this dog. Capri is a 7 yr old lab mix. The kids have been in love with her for years and if you know my Claire you know how much this means to her. I have oddly already learned lessons about myself through caring for Capri and in some way feel like having her is like having a piece of my Mom with me all the time. To make a long story short, 2 days after bringing Capri home with us and almost killing her on a 3mi walk we found out she has heart worms. So because the treatment is extensive and very hard on the dog my Mom has taken her back until she is well.
Evacuating with 3 kids and a big ol' dog is not easy let me tell you. However Capri gave me a sense of peace the entire trip with her nose pressed against my shoulder. I actually miss her.

Better Late than Never

Went back to school about a week and a half ago.



The pic of me is kinda deceiving because this is me at 5:30am now that they have returned to school. I know you thought I was spending my mornings leisurely with Race. We still get good morning time together, it's just playing cars or taking a walk instead. No worries, I do love this time and if I have ever told you I'm praying for you this is where you can picture me doing it.
School is good so far. Gwen is in a Module which is 1st and 2nd together, so I"m still trying to wrap my head around that. We love her teacher ( she is one of my good friends) and love love love the school. Claire is enjoying pre-school, I think. She is happy when I come get her but still reminds me every morning ( she only goes 3x at week) she would rather be with me. It is a long day for a girl who would rather be under her bed playing puppy dog. But I'm praying I did the right thing to prepare her for kindergarten.
Gotta go, 35 1st and 2nd graders are counting on me to set up their lunch room!

July in a Flash

Summer is Gone
Homework is back
Here's my Favs from July before I hit the sack


This is Breckenridge. Totally beautiful in the summer!

Denver was everything I wanted it to be: Clean, very urban, and the kids loved it too!

Littleton was picturesque
This is the town our friends live in. I felt like I was in a movie the whole time I was there. Their house is set in the foothills and there is beautiful hills, mountains and green everywhere! Here is Gwen on the Alpine slide, which was her highlight of the week. And Race on his first pony ride, which he was ecstatic about. He kept saying " I go Neigh, I go Neigh" in a very excited voice.
The grown ups got a night on the town on Sunday. We went to John Mellencamp at Red Rock Amphitheatre. This the most beautiful venue to see a concert in the world. Also Velvet took me up here on Saturday to run the steps with her. Yeah, killed my legs and I didn't even run most of it! Velvet is total stud and totally blows me away with her physical fitness and mothering skills. Thanks Scott and Velvet for having us out it was completely wonderful. ... more pics to come