A holiday giveaway!

My super talented friend Kristi is doing a giveaway! She's got some really cute stuff for holiday cards and blog designs. Click on the button and enter to win!!

Pumpkin patches

Every year we head out to a local pumpkin patch. And ever year, I'm on a mission to get an adorable picture of two sisters. Both smiling. Both looking at the camera. The camera that is in their mom's hands. And both sitting still until their mom gets the perfect picture. And every year I am reminded that they are TODDLERS!!!

This year, we hit three pumpkin patches in four days. Yep, you read that right!

Brad was on a long road trip (which the totally whooped up on!!), so we headed to the metroplex for some cousin time. I won't talk about the trip up there, because I want to remember the fun we had, and not the vomit I had to clean out of Morgan's car seat on I-35. The rest of the trip was wonderful and FUN!!

Our first stop was Halls Pumpkin Farm in Colleyville. We went with my parents and my sister's family. It was a super fun place for the kids to run around. We rode on a "hay ride", got to feed donkeys and cows, pedal tractors and there were lots of photo ops. Lots of photo ops unless you don't charge your camera battery:)

Morgan's new smile is killing me! I think it hilarious and she does it every time you ask her to smile.

Morgan learned a new word...donkey! And, it's as hilarious as her smile when she says it:) I can't help but think how Morgan and this donkey resemble each other. Can you see it?? Look how brave Mallory is!!! She only wanted to do it once, and didn't even try feeding the cow. Can't blame her, they stuck their tongue out and literally wrapped it around the bread and slimed you to death...ga-ross!!!!

A decent shot of the sisters. They were so much more into running around and chasing after Tate.

Up next, the Silo Christmas Tree Farm! Brad got home super late (or early) Sunday, so we let him have some down time while we had fun with our neighbors. We get our Christmas tree from this place every year and have been wanting to get to the pumpkin patch for a while. It was a blast and we stayed over 2 hours!

Mallory and Morgan with our neighbors: Brian, Katie, Bailey and Claire

The hay pile was a huge hit!

Morgan didn't really care for the activities. She mainly wanted to be held the whole time. I did manage to get my little pumpkin on a big pumpkin! She is sitting on the biggest pumpkin I've ever seen!!

Buddies, Bailey and Mallory. They are only 2 months apart and have a lot of fun together!

Mallory got to be a big girl and ride the hay ride all by herself! Brian and Katie are twins and are 10 years old. They love the little ones, so Claire and Mallory hopped on and rode with them. Mallory almost chickened out when I said I wasn't going, but then couldn't back out because the tractor started up and off she went!

And, last but not least, our local pumpkin "patch" at a Methodist Church field. Our playgroup (well, all 4 of us) met there this morning. I could barely get the girls to sit still for one picture. I finally said, "Okay, y'all have had fun, now in 5 minutes, Mommy gets to take your picture!"

This pretty much sums up what Morgan thought of sitting still to take a picture...not happening!!

I did get an adorable picture of Mallory! I'm not sure where she has learned this new pose, but it is hilarious! She literally poses like this all the time now. I'll take it!!

So, I guess I'll stick to front door photo ops without any distractions for that card worthy picture...and with a fully charged camera battery!!

Need a new dress?

For your little girl? Go to Jelby's and enter to win this fall dress:

Hurry, the giveaway ends Friday, October 16th!!!!

California trip

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I braved a 3 1/2 hour airplane ride and headed out to California. My dad's family lives in the bay area. We went out to celebrate my grandfather's 85th birthday and my uncle's 55th. The trip was fast and furious, but a lot of fun!

I was most nervous about the plane ride. Well, actually, I was hoping I wouldn't replay my most embarrassing "California" moment. Luckily, I wasn't pregnant this time and my parents were on the same flight! The flight would not have gone as well if they hadn't been (between potty breaks and boredom, they were a lifesaver!).

This was Mallory's second time to fly on an airplane. We went out two years ago when I was pregnant with Morgan (so, technically it's Morgan's second time too!). The girls did fantastic on the plane! Morgan took a nap and both of them were somewhat entertained with the stuff I brought with us. There were a couple of times I thought all you know what was going to break loose...the DVD player ran out of battery after one video and Mallory freaked out about having to leave her seatbelt on until we landed. But, other than that, it went really, really well!

In the airport about to get our boarding passes. Morgan looks less than thrilled!

Dinner Friday night at...Friday's!

By the time bedtime came, it got a little crazy! The time change + no naps = spazzy girls! While I was running around getting beds ready, this little turkey got into the suitcase. I had no idea she was wearing ALL of Mallory's pull-ups on her legs. It looked like she was running around with Cinderella leg warmers on!


After a VERY early wake-up of 4:45 am (6:45 Texas time, so not too bad actually), we headed to Santa Rosa. My Uncle Mike's girlfriend, Ellen, was throwing him a surprise party. We loaded up and drove the 2 hours there.

A cool front and rain came through Saturday morning and the weather was so great! As we drove into Santa Rosa, the temperature dropped to 70ish degrees! Plus, we got this scenery on the drive in. So beautiful...even if I don't drink wine! Vineyards just lined each side of the highway.

Uncle Mike showing Morgan how to shake a tambourine!

Aunt Barbara, Cousin Amy, Paul and my mom

Ellen has two grandkids that provided some much needed entertainment for my two!

Cousin Butch with the girls

This was at dinner, around 8, which is a lot later than we normally eat. The girls were troopers and instead of being grumpy and throwing fits, they responded with silliness! All weekend they were hilarious! I know this is out of focus, but I thought Morgan's face was so funny! She was having a blast with my dad!

And, the drama queen! She put on quite the show at dinner, too!

Sunday morning we were up at 5:45, not too bad! My grandpa (and everyone on my dad's side of the family) is a HUGE UC Berkeley fan. We dressed the girls in blue and gold for the birthday party. My grandpa loved it!

Not crazy about the midriff, but she can strike a great cheerleader pose!

The birthday boy thanking everyone for being there.

Party guests. Aunt Barbara, grandpa's girlfriend, Pauline, grandpa's friend, Grandpa, Great Uncle John and his wife, Marty.

More party guests. Mom, Corry, Amy, Paul, Becca, Kyle and Sean.

The girls were Grandpa's helpers. They handed him the gifts and made sure he got those candles blown out!

Probably the highlight of the trip for Morgan, Aunt Barbara's new dog, Oski. It might look like she is scared to death here, but this is what she does to show affection for dogs and babies!

Before we headed to the airport on Monday. The girls loved going to "great grandpa's house". The other residents loved them too!

Happy, happy birthday Grandpa! We're so glad we got to celebrate with you!