Phew!

What a weekend! We are really gearing up for Halloween!

I welcomed Monday with open arms after our busy weekend.  Blaine had the day off today, so we both took the boys to school and then went out and ran some much needed errands together with just Cash.  Rewind 4 years ago, and this is how I felt today....just me, Blaine and one little boy.  We dont get to do that much, so it was a lot of fun.  We spent the rest of today just hanging around the house and carving our first pumpkins ever! Owen bailed when Blaine started cutting into the pumpkins because he was tired of holding his nose and repeating how disgusting it smelled.

The fun started Friday morning where Blaine was asked to speak to the 3 and 4 year old classes at the boys school about fire safety and firemen.  Cash and I hung around to watch.

Friday night when we went to The Salt Lick with some friends where Cash enjoyed his first BBQ experience.
I think he approved.

Saturday Blaine was heading to work and the boys and I ran out for some coffee, milk and bagels before heading off to our cousin Miles' 3rd birthday party.

They had so much fun and we were there waaaay past Cash's nap time, so we rushed home, put Cash down for a nap that was not quite long enough for my liking, packed everything up to stay the night at my parents for Eli's Sunday morning run and headed over to my friends house for dinner where 13 little boys ran wild around outside until it was dark and we headed to my parents house to go to bed.

Cash never sleeps well in new places and this was his first time to sleep there in almost a year (because of renovating), so Saturday night sleep was a bust for me.  But I still managed to wake up at the crack of dawn and head downtown with Eli for his "race" where he was giddy with excitement!

After a really special morning with Eli, we headed back to my parents house and helped my mom organize their house and finish unpacking boxes.  Around 3 we started packing up and got geared up to put on our costumes to head to the Zeta house for some Alumnae Trick or Treating at the house.

We headed inside and the first thing the boys saw were giant cupcakes in the dinning room, so we headed in there first for a little snack before heading upstairs.

 They were a little shy at first by all the pretty girls, but once they saw the candy, they warmed up.  This better be the only time they are going into a sorority girls' bedroom!

 Once Eli told me he was done getting candy because his pumpkin was too heavy from so much candy, we headed back downstairs and Eli and Owen got their faces painted for the first time.
Eli chose a skeleton and Owen chose Superman.  I dont really get the skeleton thing but Eli is a little obsessed with them these days, and I am hoping this phase passes quickly.

The boys had their Costume Caper at school on Wednesday where all the kids came dressed in costume to school for a little performance by all the classes in the chapel.
All the kids filed in and each class sang a song up on stage after each child said what they were dressed up as.  Last year, they both stood on stage, looking shell-shocked in silence when it was their turn to say what they were.  This year, Owen proudly said "army" when it was his turn and Eli in almost a whisper said "Grey Arf Trooper."

We have quite the collection of costumes, so they have been switching back and forth what costumes they will wear on what day.
Owen really wanted to be a puppy and didnt believe me that it was 3 sizes too small for him until he put it on.

 We even tried it on Cash and he was just about busting at the seams.

So he settled for switching between Star Wars and an Army guy.

Who know who will dress up like what tomorrow!!!

My Running Date

This was my running date on Sunday, cutest running partner ever!

I started back up with Gilbert's Gazelles running group a couple of months ago.  It is a wonderful outlet for me where I feel like I am being challenged, it is fun, and I get to do something I really love and get to work on getting better at it!

Gilbert puts on a 10 mile/5k/kids k run every year that helps raise money to build clean water systems in Burundi, Africa.  

Eli has been asking to do another "race" for some time, so when this one was coming up, I told him I would sign him up.

We spent the night at my parents house Saturday night so that Eli and I could wake up early and head out before Owen and Cash woke up because Blaine was at work.  At 5 a.m. I felt a poke and Eli whispering in my ear "Mom, I am ready for my race."  I pulled him in bed and made him go back to sleep until 6.

  It was such a wonderful morning for me because I don't get to spend a ton of time with Eli and Owen one on one. So this morning so, so special that I got to spend it with just Eli.

We headed out the door just before 7, went to Starbucks, I got coffee and Eli had milk and a scone and we headed downtown with the morning storm just passing behind us, and we watched the lightning in the distance which led to a lot of questions about what happens when you get struck by lightning.  The conversations with a 4 year old are never dull.

We walked up to the start/finish line on the 1st street bridge and met up with one of my running friends children to sit with them while their mom ran the 5k and we stood and cheered everyone on.

He kept asking me when he got to race, he was so, so excited and giddy.  I recruited my cousin Brian to bring his son Eitan to the race and Eli's buddy Will so we met up with them around 8:30. 

Melanie, Will's mom ran so we all waited to cheer her on.  Rex in particular was waiting for her and as soon as she ran past us, so did he yelling "mommy!!!!!"

It was finally time for Eli's race so we all lined up at the start line.  The boys were very adamant about not wanting Melanie and I to run with them so we kept our distance behind them.  

When the gun sounded, they were off!!!!

 Watching Eli be so fearless and excited about this run was amazing.  He made me so, so proud.  It was like I was watching him turn into this little kid right in front of my eyes.  

He is such a cerebral person, really thinks about things.  It is not always easy to reason with him.  He is stubborn and going with the flow is just about the opposite of Eli.  Sometimes it takes him a while to warm up to new things, new people, surroundings, and he never likes being in the spotlight. But he was totally in his element.  Not nervous one bit, he was gung-ho and excited and confident.

I have seen this come out of him more and more lately and it makes me so proud.

At the finish line they gave out pumpkins and the kids were able to trick or treat at all the booths.

It was such a fun and special morning that I got to spend with my big boy and share something we both love. I just love him!

The Mess is Worth the Smiles!

The boys decided it was a good day to make cookies today....so off we went to HEB at 8:30 am....

I did not particularly care to make a huge mess of my kitchen today, but it was totally worth the smiles I got from all three boys and Eli's comment of "Mom, you are the best mom ever!"  He is not typically the lovey dovey type, so coming from him, it melted my heart!

So we got to making the cookie dough....

 Never knew how exciting a mixer could be!

 We had to let the dough sit in the fridge for a few hours before we rolled it out, so we took a baking break at Phil's Ice House with some friends.

And then got back to rolling and cookie cutting and making a huge, floury mess!  Thankfully Rachel came over today and was able to help wrangle my herd (that is how I feel sometimes!).  You can kinda see her belly bump in the side of this next picture.  Owen has decided the baby's name is Baby Sausage, while Eli thinks Fifi is a great name for a girl.  So we currently refer to the baby as Baby Sausage for now.

 YUM!!!!!!