OHC Turkey Feast

Ezra's preschool had their annual Thanksgiving Turkey Feast. I am so blessed to be a part of Oakhills Preschool! Ezra LOVES his school and is learning so much. Most importantly, he is learning bible verses, how to be kind and loving to others, how to play nicely, how to pray and give thanksgivings and how to be a Godly boy! I love love love it!
His preschool has a Thanksgiving feast every year. It is the cutest thing you will ever see. All the different classes either dress like Pilgrims, Indians or turkeys! They have a long rectangular table that they all sit indian style at. They all say a prayer together and then have a grand feast. It is the cutest thing. OHC is so good about parent and sibling involvement, too. Emersyn, Elynn and I were able to go up there and feast with him. I love it.
I just love this time of year.

My two little turkeys

Tried to get a good picture of them in the turkey shirts I made. Elynn wasn't having it.

Such a handsome Pilgrim 

The long table 

Waiting patiently to pray

So thankful I was able to snap a shot of him praying. So precious!

The Marshall Family

Me and the crew

Ezra done taking pictures

Marvelous the Monkey

This year, Ezra is in the Marvelous Monkey Pre-K class. The class has a "pet" that each student gets to bring home for a weekend. This past weekend, Marvie came to visit us! Marvie has a huge black duffle bag that comes with him full of build a bear dress up clothes. He also has tones of SHOES! Ezra had a great time changing his outfit each day and putting pj's on him for bed. Ezra does not have a stuff animal he is attached to, so this was neat to see him really get into it. (He has a blanket that he sleeps with, but only at night.)We had a lot of fun with Marvie.
Along with having Marvie, you are supposed to take pictures and put the pictures in the Marvelous Monkey binder to show the other students what you did with Marvie.
We took Marvie to the library, to the playground, and to Fredericksburg. Marvie also roasted marshmallows with us while Mimi and Ron came to visit. I think everyone is going to be sad to see him go, but we sure enjoyed him while he was here.

Marvie and Ezra reading at the library

Eating s'mores with mimi and ron

checking out our books at the library

playing on the playground

the girls enjoying Marvie while Ezra was at school

going for a bike ride

Marvie playing soccer

Rock N' Roll Half Marathon

Well, we DID IT! Brent and I rocked the half marathon yesterday. We have been training since August. It was Brent's first time to run a half marathon. He had never run over 3 miles, and he ROCKED 13.1! I am a proud wife!! It was so much fun doing it with him. We both finished so close to each other. I finished in 2:12 and he finished in 2:13. Our goals were to finish and do it around 2:10, so I would say we did both!
It was such a hot and humid race that the last three miles were MISREALBE! I wanted so bad to say, "That's it, I am done. I am going to walk the rest of the way." It took such mind strength to get me to run those last 2 miles! The sun was beating down on us and I was HOT. The only thing that kept me running is thinking, "it is going to take me so much longer to finish if I walk. So, I better just run and get it over with." I felt great up until mile 10.
I had some stomach problems along the run and had to stop and use the bathroom at mile 3. Brent and my friend, Lisa, kept running. So, by the time I was done, they were so far gone. I had it in my mind that I was going to catch up to them. I had no idea if that was even realistic, but that is what I focused on. I started to "book it". Around mile 6 I still hadn't seen them or caught up to them. I just prayed, "Lord, please just let me see them." Right after that, we were about to turn another corner and I caught a glimpse of Brent and noticed that Lisa was still with him!! It was such motivation. I finally caught up to them a little after mile 7. I was still feeling good at that point, even though I had just ran pretty hard to catch them. It was fun being back with them and running with Brent. Mile 9 Brent's leg really started hurting and cramping (he had some leg problems while training. His IT band.), so stopped to stretch it out and walk a little bit. Mile 10 my stomach issues started back up, but I knew if I stopped, I would NOT want to run again. So, I stuck it out. I had to run slower than I wanted, but I also wanted to finish and not hurt myself. Needless to say, we FINISHED. We even enjoyed it, maybe not the last 2-3 miles, but for the most part, it was such a great experience. Brent even said he would do it again! Now, that is big!
Hopefully we can keep up with our running and really be ready for next year! I am so proud of you Brent! Best part about the race was doing it with YOU!

Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween, we were able to stay in our neighborhood and trick or treat. We were really excited about being in the neighborhood and getting to see neighbors we knew and meeting new neighbors. It was such a great evening. Our friends, The Dillingers, met us at our house (they live in the neighborhood too) to trick or treat for a little bit with us. It was fun to have other friends to trick or treat with but still have them be neighbors. The kids loved going door to door saying, "Trick or Treat" and I had a "good" time teaching them trick or treating etiquette. After we were done with our street and a couple other houses, we headed back to our house to pass out candy. I put both girls down for bed, and they both went down without a fight, while Brent and Ezra sat outside and passed out candy. I joined them after the girls were in bed. Ezra had so much fun passing out the candy to other kids. He said that was his favorite part of the night. It was such a good, fun night. Each year, as they get a little older and understand a little bit more, it is so much more fun! I am loving the stage we are at right now. So joyful and full of many blessings. The only thing, Emersyn had an Aurora outfit that she picked out and was super excited about for a couple weeks. Then, of course, Emersyn style, she did not want to wear it at all for the actual day. So, she went as Emersyn and did a great job with it!

Oh, ya. On Saturday, we went to a Halloween party that our neighbors throw at their house every year. It was a costume required party. I was trying to think of an easy/inexpensive costume for Brent and I and one of my friends suggested to be a Hunter and a deer. Such a great idea! Brent of course had what he needed to be a hunter and I only had to get a couple things to be a deer. I wore brown leggings, a brown and white sweatshirt and antlers. Brent had a small rack of antlers in the garage that he was able to rig on a wide headband I got. It was AWESOME. At least that's the response I got from others at the party. Ezra saw my antlers and said, "mom, that is pretty awesome." As long I a score with him, that is all that counts. We had a good time at the party and enjoyed meeting new neighbors and getting to enjoy neighbors we already know.

Me as a deer

My "awesome" antlers

Ezra: spider man; Emersyn: Emersyn; Elynn: Belle

Our neighbor, Stephanie (our first house)

Our neighbors, The Greens. They live right across the street

Emersyn (crying because she couldnt get jager to sit by her), Elynn, Ezra, Grant and Ella

One more time

Liz, Ezra and Ella

Our good friends, and neighbors, Matt and Amanda

Waiting to pass out candy

Passing out candy

Waiting to pass out more candy

Fall Parade

Ezra had is fall parade at school on Friday. He got to dress up and "parade" around the chruch in his costume with his class. He had a good time. Later that day, we had his class party. They had pizza, decorated pumpkin cookies and made a pumpkin craft. He absolutely loves his class and teacher this year. He always comes home with a smile, marker and dirt on his hands and face. You know he had a good day when he comes home dirty!! He always says everyone in his class is his best friend. His teacher says that everyone plays with everyone and they don't separate off. I really like that!
Such a good year so far.

Spider Man

One of his best friends, Kate!

We brought Mrs. Campbell balloons and a Diet Coke for her Birthday

Waiting for the parade

Some of his friends in his class

Mrs. Campbell and his monkey class

Little Ms. Harper

One of my best friends, who is also a teacher, Mrs. Marshall (she was mary poppins!)

Elynn: 9 Months!!

Sweet Elynn. You are 9 months old! I am loving the stage you are at right now. I am pretty sure I love them all, but it is so fun right now. You are crawling, laughing, clapping, pulling up on things, getting into EVERYTHING, talking (you also discovered a high pitch squeal when you get excited), you love to EAT and do and be where Ezra and Emersyn are. I love that when you crawl, you stop half way to rest and clap. You also really stay right where I am (at the moment) and I love that you pull up on my leg to let me know that you want to be held. Oh, and how I LOVE to hold you!
You also have your first tooth! I am hoping that you don't start getting a lot more until a little later. You are a healthy, happy, growing girl. You weighed in at 18.5 lbs and were 27 1/4 inches (50% for height and weight).

You are so sweet and we are truly blessed to have you! Love you, sweet girl.

*and yes, I need to update my pictures of her!