big orange faces!

We carved pumpkins!!!!!!

Actually Gary carved pumpkins.  I let him have that privilege each year!

"Oooeyyy Gooeeeyyy seeds and stuff."

Hayden loved cleaning the pumpkin!

I'm thrilled that the weather was so good we were able to carve them outside this year!

They both turned out great.

Thanks daddy! 

trick or treat!

Our town had Trick or Treat last night.

We joined our buddies on 5th street and trick or treated like we did last year!

We had such a fun time.  Erin and I passed out candy at her house while the daddy's took the kiddos up and down the super busy street.  After trick or treat we watched the Ohio state football game.  

I sure do love my Mummy and my Zombie soccer player!

soccer soccer soccer

Tonight was the last soccer practice of the season.  Hayden has two games this weekend.  One on Saturday and one on Sunday and then he is done!  I can't believe how fast the season has gone by.  It's been so fun to see their team play and get better every single game.  

she's as tall as Layla

Gary and I were trying to watch football, but these two girls decided to block our view.  Lily is so big!  I can't get over how big she is.  She's the sweetest puppy ever and sincerely loved by our whole family!

what are you doing dad?

Ummm, that would be ironing.  

Something only your dad does.

  Momma doesn't like to iron and if I have to I'd prefer to take my clothes to the dry cleaners.  Good thing I wear workout clothes, dresses and jeans almost every day!

Gary and I laughed so hard over the fact that the children haven't seen us iron in ages!

all the pretty colors

This will be my third 'fall' in Ohio.  It never gets old.  I'm always in awe of the changing colors. 

This is a view looking out our back door.  I just love the yellow tree.

This is our little farm house and garage.  The trees are almost bare.  The walnuts and leaves are filling our yard to the max!

[can you see Lily the dog?]

This set of small trees is right outside my kitchen window.  I just love the bright red hues!

I was driving down the street (without the kids) and stopped to take these pictures.  They are blurry because I didn't want anyone to think I'd lost my mind stopping in the middle of the road!

I just love this orange tree!

This is one of our ginormous trees.  Our yard is blessed with many many tall tall trees.  They are pretty, but I get really tired of all the leaves on the patio.  Good gracious they pile up!

Fall in Ohio is amazing and so far the temperatures aren't too chilly!

need a meal idea?

This is what we ate last week.  

I love having my meals planned out because it helps with the evening rush!

Monday

Salmon cakes with baked red potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Tuesday 

Slow cooker pinto beans and cornbread.

Wednesday 

Cream cheese and jalapeno stuffed chicken cutlet, beans and corn/zucchini saute.

{For the stuffed chicken I mixed half a block of cream cheese with shredded cheddar and chopped pickled jalapenos.  I smeared it onto the chicken cutlet and secured it with toothpicks.  I baked it on 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.}

Thursday 

Sloppy Joe pasta casserole.

{I obviously changed this up a bit.  I added black beans and subbed pasta for the crescent rolls.}

Friday night ... last night we ate out!

I had a crab cake with mashed red potatoes and broccoli

I love looking back through my old posts to see what we ate.  It gives me great ideas of things I may have forgotten about!

Volunteer Barista!

Today was my first volunteer shift at the brand spankin' new Marietta Welfare League coffee shop!  I'm so happy to be part of such a wonderful organization that has been giving back to Washington county since 1926!  

The shop has been closed for a year while the hospital is getting a face-lift.  Thankfully, we have a nice new coffee/gift shop, and it is so cute!  I am a foodie, so working with coffee drinks, food and gifts is fun for me.  My volunteer shift flies by so fast and I feel good knowing most of the proceeds are going back into the community! 

Biggest Baylor fans

We are loving supporting the Bears even though we are here in Ohio.  Gary has always been a Baylor fan, of course I'm a fan cause of him and so on and so forth.  It's a fun team to support win or lose and we have been fans through it all.

I can't wait to go back to Waco someday and see the new stadium.  I'm sure the campus is very very different from when Gary and I lived there.  Hayden says he's gonna be a Bear someday!  I hope so!

Football weekends are so fun with friends and family. Sic'em!

La La Layla

I think this is her serious face.  Gosh her eyes are gorgeous.  She's one pretty little chica! 

 I hope I can be as cool as her someday.

A few weeks ago Layla and I were swinging together and we broke the swing dad created.  Thankfully he fixed it again and she's back to swinging and decided to do a little stand up swinging.  She gets a wild streak every once in awhile, but she's a pretty conservative girl. 

It's safe to say Layla loves 4th grade.  They are switching classes and she has 4 different teachers.  It's a bit different than third grade and she's learning to be more independent.  Last year she was elected to be a peer mediator.  She gets to go to recess with younger kids and listen to their problems and she helps solve drama that may arise on the playground.  She's loving it so far!

She got a fresh haircut and loved her spa time.  She loved having her hair washed and styled.  I just can't believe she is getting to be such a grown up little lady.  People fail to mention when you have babies that they grown up. Gahhhhhh!

I love this last picture of my girl.  It reminds me of when she was a baby.  She's such a sweet girl and I am so proud of her.  She has at least an hour or more of homework each afternoon and she is taking it all in stride.  She doesn't complain one bit.  As I mentioned earlier, she's pretty neat and I'd love to be like her someday!

he's a sweet little itchy man

Hayden's face was swollen after soccer on Sunday.  His eyes were red and he was worn out from a fun soccer game.  Why was his face swollen?  Because of the grass.  He is so allergic to grass.  It's so sad for a boy who loves being outside, but we are managing it quite nicely. 

I decided to get him gear to wear while he plays soccer and he is pretty much totally covered from neck to toe.  Hopefully this will work for keeping the grass off his legs and arms.  He was so mad at first, but he kinda digs the fun new getup now!

Gary and I are really proud of our little guy.  He's doing great in first grade.  He's loving writing.  He's learning to read and really mastering learning his sight words.  As you can see he has a style of his own.  He's learning so much on the soccer field and getting much better at playing his favorite sport.  He is the sweetest boy and I love his sweet heart.  He's very loving and thoughtful.  I'm so happy he's my little man! 

I have to be honest with you.  My favorite thing about my house here in Ohio is the yard.  I'm just not loving the older homes here.  I was so in love with my 6 year old 'new build' in Texas.  I'm dealing with the old and making it our home.  

Gary and I have made the outside an outdoor living area.  We enjoy being outside all the time!

The puppies love being outside too.  Daisy has her own chair and she makes herself quite comfy every day.  She loves being outside in the fall air.  Look at the tree in the background!  The leaves are starting to change colors.

Lily is a stinker and loves to gather and destroy sticks.  When she isn't barking at and chasing squirrels she is running and chewing up whatever sticks she finds on the ground.  We have giant walnut trees and they are losing nuts, leaves and branches.  Lily is a great helper when it comes to picking up sticks!

I have to toot my own horn here....  

I'm loving my ferns and will be so sad to see them die when winter arrives.  I have four nice sized ferns that I've babied all summer long.  They are thriving and I couldn't be more excited.  I've never been able to grow a fern, but I have now!!  Woo Hooo! 

I don't think I can keep them alive in the house all winter, not to mention they are ginormous and would take up tons of room in the house.

I see signs of winter every day and I am not ready for the cold to hit.  We are loving each and every moment we can be outside playing!