Bella turned 5

Our sweet Bella turned 5 last month! And, celebrate we did! We had cupcakes at school, cupcakes at church, and a family birthday party at home. My sister and her hubs came down too! It was a special day celebrating a special gal. She wanted a Strawberry Shortcake theme this year. Remember the pink dinosaurs last year? Cute!

She got a scooter from Aunt Alli and Uncle Brad.

And a horse from Neena and Granddad.

She was a tad bit excited about that one!

She got a bicycle from Grammy and PawPaw.

I'm probably lecturing on the importance of the helmet or something like that - Uncle Brad was bored too.

Here's when she saw the dollhouse we bought her!

We then went outside to give the bike a try!

I LOVE that my sister is so much closer now!

Happy birthday sweet gal! We sure love you.

Busy at work...or play

These kiddos are happy outdoors! So because North Carolina weather is amazing in the fall, we spend alot of time there (as you can tell from my recent posts). Aunt Alli, my sister, came to visit a few weeks ago and brought some great goodies with her! One of the goodies was huge chalk and 3D glasses - we're still not quite sure how those worked. But Bella wore then, nonetheless.

Check out the stroller in the background too. We went for a mini walk around the neighborhood. It was glorious, y'all!

Playing in the leaves

Are you singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year" with me? Wait, no? It's fall y'all! That means it is the most wonderful time of the year. Or maybe to my tree-huggin' self it is.

You see, I grew up in New Mexico - which could also be named "land devoid of trees or greenish anything". At least in my part of Eastern New Mexico. Now, don't get me wrong. You simply cannot beat a New Mexico sunset! Or the beauty of the desert. But, we did not have many trees. We had one tree in the backyard and I remember my dad raking all 15 leaves up in a pile (ok, it was more than that). Then, my sister and I would run and jump in them! I love that I could do that with my kids now. But, here in North Carolina we have about 15,000 leaves to rake up and play in. (Poor Mike usually has to do them all.) We have fun in them until they get mulched!

Enjoy fall, y'all! And go play in some leaves!

"Ready, set, go!"

Is there anything more freeing than this picture!

We don't believe in the entitlement mentality for out kiddos. Hence, we all chip in and work around here.

I had to get in on the soccer fun! This little gal is good!

Happy fall y'all!