Update....WARNING!!! LOTS 'O PHOTOS AHEAD!

Here we are!  Let's just say that October is our busy season around here.  Ryan & I celebrated our 9th anniversary (passing each other in the night between all our travels),  we had a family reunion, the kids turned 2 and we still have Razorback games and Halloween to squeeze into the month.  Needless to say, October pushes our family to the limits....but its great!

I can say that this year because with the kids birthday behind us, we actually made it through with no illnesses, no prescription drugs taken by minors and no broken bones!  God is good and decided to spare us with a "celebration" like last years!  Let's just hope his graciousness falls on us this Halloween as well!

So to catch you up through words and photos... Ryan's been traveling for work, I headed out of town with some girls for a Joyce Meyer conference in St. Louis (Ryan had the kids overnight for the 1st time and did great!) and then the next weekend we headed to S. Arkansas for a family reunion.  It was so great to see some of my family that I haven't seen in over 10 years.  We headed to Lake DeGrey for the reunion and it was so good to be back at the lake.  Growing up every summer at the lake,  you really start to miss it and realize how beautiful it is once you return.  I LOVED every minute watching my kids play at the waters edge and throw rocks into the water for hours on end.  I could still do this myself!  Following in their mother's water-loving footsteps, my kids had to jump in til finally they were full out swimming in the thang!  (I love that this was just two weeks ago, it was 85 an now I am sitting here watching the weather and a low tonight of 37!)

The kids enjoyed the playground pre-lunch and pre-realizing their was an entire lake behind the resort!

Keaton discovering the lake for the 1st time...


Ok, lose the pants already....

Lovin the form of the two handed throw!

Can you see the sag of the diaper starting to progress?

My cousin Janelle's boys...so cute!  (MISS YOU JANELLE!!!)

Of course little Miss had to go for the big rocks!
Yes, she can throw harder and further than her brother for now!
Oh yeah...there's that sag!
Oh yeah...that's gonna make it even better!
Holy Cow!  Do you think we reached maximum capacity or what?
Finally we just ripped it all off and went for it.  (I have the cutest pic of their little naked hineys for family viewing.  Gotta protect the fam from those pervs out there!)

"Cold Coke" (as E calls it) always works as a bribe, except he still didn't want the pant on.
Obviously it wasn't working for her either!
Think this girl wanted to leave?  I am so glad to know that my kids love the lake and you have to tear them away...oh just wait baby girl til momma shows you how to paint rocks!
So that was some pics from the lake.

This past weekend we celebrated the kids birthday.  They actually turned two on Sunday but we decided to have their party on Saturday so we could have a day to recover!  I will save the sappy, nostaglic post for later this week after we go to the Dr. for their two year checkup.  Don't worry, I will be sure to post all their 5%tile stats for you guys. (Maybe after all the cake, icecream and pizza we (I mean they) will have packed on some pounds!)  Until then, we are still trying to recover from the fact that we have two 2yr olds!  

Here is their awesome cake!  

And here is E's finger print that we somehow spotted right before the party.  Oh yes, the kids can climb up on the island now, as well as any table in the house, their changing table, pretty much any piece of furniture that looks climbable.

Oh evil is this look?  She ended up at one time with four plates people had left behind with icing on them and was going to town!  No she didn't puke and yes she actually went to sleep well that night!

She loves her Cheryl!
How beautiful is our goddaughter Cayden!  
Such a little sneak!
I have a feeling this man was a major contributor to helping E gather her stash!
Of course KG got a lifetime supply of cars.  This is a Shake-N-Go car and if you have boys, you HAVE to get one of these.  You just shake them and they go (duh!).  They are so cool and every little boy (and adult male) at the party was wanting one before the night was over!
Payton, weren't we just at your 1st bday?  Where is time going?  
A rare picture of me and E...gripping her Playdoh.  Oh, btw, playdoh is her new...and I don't say this lightly...OBSESSION!!!   The girl LOVES her playdoh.  She has woken up every morning since her party and has said, "Hi Momma...play playdoh!"
Me and my babies.  How are you two already?  Oh my word, could they be any cuter?  I am so in love with them I almost can't stand it sometimes!
The kids finally got their plasma cars and can stop stealing the Shewmaker's!  If your kids don't have these, they need these too!  This would make a GREAT x-mas present.  I think they are for ages 3 or 4 and up but my kids have mastered them and fly down the street like pros!
"Get out of the way mom and let me ride!"


KG's buddy Max helped him go faster uphill.  This is by far one of my kids favorite babysitters!  Maybe b/c he and his brother Jack always give them "cold coke" in their sippy cups!

Papa was pretty excited to watch the kids try out their new rides!
There they go.  Not the best pic but hey, they were flying and I could only run so fast.  (Nice tree btw Allison!)
Back inside and back to the playdoh.  Atleast her addiction only cost us $.72 a can!
KG forwent the cars for a moment and checked out sissy's Little People castle...And then he crashed his airplane into it!  Boys will be boys!
Emma came!
Seriously....YOU HAVE A PROBLEM...if you see us on A&E's next episode of Intervention, don't be surprised!
Carolyn came too!
E with her "favorite"!  (When you ask her whose her favorite she always yells "Cameron"!...this is the beautiful Cameron!)

Harry stole a moment with the playdoh while E wasn't looking!
And KG loved his talking Mickey Mouse card.  In fact, he was just playing with it as I type, while he was trying to work the system and not have to go to bed!
Anyone who wanted were invited to stay and eat pizza and watch the Hog game.  Let's just say Allea got her fair share of dropped pizza!
And then I came back into the kitchen later to find KG drinking out of a big kid cup!   Way to go boodie!  He then dumped it out on the floor but for a moment, he was drinking like a big boy!

Birthday morning....and we are appropriately cutting those two year molars.  I have a feeling they are going to take the full year to come in!
E not wanting her picture taken in her cute new dress.  (They sang Happy Birthday to them at church and even had "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" printed on their name tags!)
Birthday day we went to church and came home to all take naps.  Of course we wake up to a mess (poop post to come at a later date but remember this and hang on to your diapers for that story(ies)!)  That afternoon we joined our small group and headed out to some friends property for our annual bonfire.  It was the perfect night and made for some great pictures.  Of course, blogger distorts my pics still and I can't figure out why but you should be able to tell from these that we got some great shots!  (If anyone has a helpful hint of has a suggestion of a better blogging services for pics, please leave a comment below.  I am searching for a good blog for the biz as well!)

Back to throwing rocks in the little pond.  Here is KG with some of his best buds, Jake & Harry!

Such the little lady huh?  I don't think she is going to be a baby doll lover!

How cute are they all looking for the perfect rock to throw?
Now here's our doll lover!  Emma had to have two so they could be twins like K & E.  Isn't that just precious?
I have no idea what she is doing?
KG tried to go "hiking" with the big kids!
And we worked on those big kids cups again!

I LOVE her hair in a ponytail!  And man does it look blonde in this pic or what?

My sweet precious bubba!  This one might be a framer for us!
How cute are my boys?

I love the look on E's face in this one!

And her face here!  

All in all it was a great weekend and has been a great October so far!  Mother's Day Out is going GREAT and the kids actually get excited about going to school now.  In fact, E peepee'd in the potty 4 times last Thursday while she was at school!  She also said her 1st pray tonight, repeating everything we said, while Bubba sat in anticipation to shout "AMEN"!   I am leading an amazing bible study that is blowing my mind and I can't wait to blog more about that in the near future.  We still have Halloween to look forward to and I actually get to go on a date tomorrow night!  Yes, George...with Ryan!  Let's see if I can keep up better from here...since posting this many pics at one time is nuts and takes up pretty much your entire evening.  As I wrap this up to the sound of my beloved snoring, I just have to say how blessed I am.  God is so good!  How did I get so lucky?  I LOVE OCTOBER!!!