Here is this years Santa picture!

I love it!!! All three are happy to be with Santa. YAY!!! Best.picture.ever!

8th trip to see Santa!

Holy cow I can't believe it is already time to see Santa again. Every year for the past 8 years (Kate was born 12 days before Christmas) we go to see the Santa at Phipps Plaza. We than go to The Tavern at Phipps for lunch. It is such a fun tradition. This year is by far my favorite. All three were so great and they each made a wish list. Santa spent some time reading each wish list with each kid and really made sure he understood what they wanted. The funny thing is Kate always has a puppy on her wish list. Santa was very smart by telling her that it may not be the right time for a puppy and that he would have to talk to her parents first (Santa is so smart). I was only able to get one picture of the kids visit with Santa.

The Nichols family and the Gersch family joined us again this year for Santa and lunch. It is so fun to share this great tradition with good friends. Now if Will would just sit still for a picture with his friends.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. The kids were so excited all day!!! Kate dressed up as a UGA Cheerleader (thanks Aunt Niki) and Noah was a clone tropper (how much more Star Wars do I need to watch) and Mags was a ladybug (thanks cousin Anna). We have a tradition on Halloween. For the past 7 years we have our neighbors over for a feast and trick or treating. This year we had a great spread. Yummy BBQ, chicken tortilla soup, veggie tray, chips and salsa, and this very yummy graveyard treat (concoction of marshmellows, peanuts, cocoa puffs and syrup). This year we hung out with the Nichols family and the Gersch Family.

The kids went trick or treating and than came home ate some candy and watched "It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". They all had a great time. Maggie really got into the fun. She insisted on carrying her own bag and pushed her way to the door to say trick or treat. It was so cute!

Yellow Belt!!!!! YAY for Noah!!!

Noah tested for his yellow belt on Saturday. It was so fun to watch all the kids. Noah was so excited. We practiced and practiced and practiced!!! He truly loves this sport/art. I can't believe it only took him two months to go from white to yellow. Here is a video of him breaking his first wooden board. We couldn't be more proud. Way to go big kid-- stay focused!

Pumpkins, pumpkins and pumpkins!

We went to Berry Patch Farms yesterday and we had a great time. First we went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. We walked all through the pumpkin patch and it was fun seeing the kids trying to pick up all the ginormous pumpkins. Than we did some face painting, had some homemade cider (Noah and Mags loved btw) and we had homemade ice cream. Noah and the kids had some boiled peanuts (yuck) and each kid picked a pumpkin to bring home and we are going to paint them this week. Here are some snapshots of the day.

Phipps Santa!

This will be our 7th trip to see Santa (Kate went when she was 10 days old). I can't believe we have to make our appt tonight at midnight (we are shooting for early November)!!! Now I am on a clothes mission. Hard to think that it isn't even Halloween and I have to go pick out Christmas clothes. I can't quite get into it yet! This was our picture from last year!

Children's Museum and St. Joe's family picnic

We went to the Children's Museum to celebrate on of our favorite people. Our very good friends' Dottie and Todd's little boy turned three on Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!! It also happened to be my dad's birthday too! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD/GRANDAD!

We went to Imagine it! We had a great time at the museum. Here are some pictures of the kids.

St. Joseph catholic School had their annual family picnic. Kate loved seeing all her friends and we made a few new ones this year. It is such a great thing to get out and mingle with friends.

My MEME post about me!

Ha I think this is funny as most of you know all about me already. My good friend Julie tagged me on giving 6 random things about me. So here goes:

1. When I was ten I had a paper route. The boy Sean Jones (ohh a good one to look up on face book), who lived down the street in my neighborhood in Indianapolis, IN had the route and decided to give it up. I begged my parents to let me do it. I was 10 and I looked about 8. My mom and dad drove me almost everyday as the bag was too big for me to ride my bike. Thanks mom and dad for the support with my first job. Also this was my first lesson about people not paying their bills.

2. I have played tennis since I was 12. I can't wait to get back to ALTA. Once Maggie is old enough for school I am rejoining my old team. I miss them.

3. This one is a toughy---When I was 22 my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was her main caregiver for 10 months. She died when I was 23. I quit college to take care of her and I don't regret it for a minute. I used to have to hook her up every night to a food supplement machine and monitor it all night and than disconnect it every morning. I spent 6 weeks sleeping every night in the hospital (St. Joseph's Hospital) with her. My sister and I played scrabble with her everyday and she kicked our butts even if it took her 20 minutes to make a play (she was on one of the highest doses of Morphine). When we brought her home to die I administered all her IV meds. I layed in her hospital bed (in our living room) every night and pushed the pain button every 15 minutes to help give her some relief. I found a healing priest (father Rookey) to help heal her and learned that you can be healed spiritually instead of physically. We said his prayer every night. I watched her take her last breath and it has forever changed my life. I miss her terribly. Her headstone reads something that father Lopez said Liz Bryant...courageous with a sense of humor. That was her in a nutshell.

4. I took summer classes in Montana. MSU in Bozeman and I hope to return there one day. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been.

5. Noah and I went to rival High Schools and never knew each other. We met 8 years after High School. We met at a party. He asked me for my phone number and I told him it was in the book and he looked me up that night and the rest is history.

6. My sister, Elizabeth, lives in the Chicago area. We talk everyday at least once and mostly three times a day. She is my rock and I can't imagine life without her. I wish she and I lived closer.

I am now going to tag 6 people. Sorry if you have already been tagged, but that just means you are very loved.

1. Kim Brown
2. Katie Harris
3. Antoinette Nichols
4. Brandi Greene
5. Amanda
6. Staci

Donuts for Dads

Little Noah had a great time with his dad. Noah made a frame for his dad with a picture he drew in it. The teacher always asks fun questions and it is always great to see what the kids have to say.

St. Joseph's Confirmation Dinner

The Nauti-que BBQ team had our largest cook yet. We cooked 180 lbs of pulled pork and 14 chickens and Mellie's smoked beans. It was a huge success.

This is 180 lbs of pork being Marinated.

Fully loaded Lang Smoker AKA Marie Lauveau

Slow cooked for 12+ hours

Fully pulled and delicious!!!

Marinated and smoked Chicken

Mellie's smoked beans---yummy!

weekly update!

Sorry I haven't been so great at updating we have been super busy!!

Kate started Brownies last week and I am a co-leader. We get to do so many things this year. Sell Cookies is the best part!!! I am sure we will be knocking on many of your doors for orders!!! Kate has also had three spelling test so far this year and she has scored a 101 on each test. She is really doing well in school.

Noah is doing great in school too. His teacher is very impressed with his puzzle solving skills. He loves to do puzzles and is really getting into Legos. He has earned a orange strip in Karate. We are practicing on all his moves.

Maggie has been sick for the last couple of days. She has had a on and off fever and a bad head cold. I hope that she feels better soon. Her new word is puppy! I hope she isn't trying to tell me something. Her daddy has probably been secretly whispering this in her ears!

As for Noah and I we are doing pretty good. We have a super big cook this weekend for St. Joseph's Catholic Church. This is our largest cook ever. We are cooking for 280 people. I will take pictures this weekend with the smoker at its fullest capacity! We are talking 38 Boston butts! We are also doing chicken and baked beans. Click here to view the full menu.

The most amazing pictures

Amy (Professional photographer out of KY) took these amazing pictures of my kids. I can't thank her enough for capturing these wonderful images. As soon as I have her website I will post it.

Fishing with dad!!!

Noah took the kids fishing at the Willow Springs/CCR Lake. They had a great time. Kate caught a small brim and Noah caught a small bass? I really have no idea what the fish are it sounded good though! :)

Noah's first day of School

Noah started his first day of 4 year old preschool on Monday!! He LOVES it!!! He has the same teacher that Kate did. Mrs. Tanner is a wonderful teacher. She is so great with the kids. I think she will be a good fit for Noah. She has already told me that Noah is great at puzzles and that he is a smart one b/c of how fast he can put them together!!! It is always nice to hear good things from the teacher. This is going to be a great year for Noah. I really hope that she is around for Mags when she goes to school at McEachern UMC.

Karate!

We are so excited for Noah to have a sport all for himself. He has gone to three years of Kate being in ballet. So this is his turn. Little boys don't have many options before the age of 4 for a fun sport. He did have gymnastics for a little while.

This is definitely something he is loving so far. He has been practicing his blocks and his punches and kicks. He is doing pretty good. I will try to catch it on video.