Happy OCTOBER 1st!

Haven't seen you guys since last month! ;) Bryce got a kick out of this when I wrote it on the kitchen chalkboard and on his bedroom closet doors! It tickled him so much that he called his Dad at work and told him, 'I miss you Dad. I haven't seen you since last month!'.

Just a few fall things today... A side table in the playroom. This is my most favorite tree of all time!


A table in the family room, which we'll be using more now since it hosts the fireplace and the nights are getting chilly in the Midwest! Yes, fall is now upon us! Hooray!

Just a little something to spruce up the top of the breakfast room hutch.

Looking into the kitchen from the breakfast room. One of my fav things is the easiest, most simple thing~ I put out my cookie cutters for each particular holiday somewhere in the kitchen!

Murphy's Law Folks!

While Jason and Bryce were playing outside the other weekend, the soccer ball hit Bryce's thumb and we thought he jammed it. We iced it, and he was good the next day. Then Jason went TDY (a trip for the Air Force). After soccer practice one night last week Bryce was taking his sock off and said it really hurt his thumb. I had a 'Mommy feeling' something wasn't right that night. Of course, he tells me this after Caroline is sound asleep! So, the next day I made a same day appointment and the doctor had a Peds person and herself peek at it, she ordered xrays, they read the xrays, and then had a peds specialist make a fiberglass splint, held on with a bandage (and Caroline made it clear to all within ear shot that she DID NOT want to be at the doctor's office for this long! On a side note, I bet that was good birth control for any teens that happened down those halls!)

...my baby has what the doctor called a 'Thumb Spike' aka a very bad sprain. He goes back in 2-3 weeks to have it reevaluated and she said it might even require PT. Ouch! And, Murphy's Law of it all... Daddy was gone for all of this and will likely be away when it's time to go back for the rest of the appointments! XO

Would you like a complimentary makeover?!?

Hmm, a future makeup artist in our midst? Miss Priss snuck off with one of my powders and a brush before we went to the 'Glow' the other day. She was checking herself out in the mirror. What a hoot! Then she came out of her 'oooh, look at me' trance and realized I was snapping some pics...

" Hey wait a quick minute....stay still....I just want to powder your nose for you....Geez Louise....Come back here....Put the camera down so I can get to your face....C'mon Mom...." XO

Go.....Thunderbirds!

Air Shows Are Awesome!

This past weekend the Thunderbirds (the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron) came to Scott AFB. I am an "Air Force Brat" (in the civilian world this translates to someone who grew up in an Air Force family!) and have LOVED going to Air Shows for as long as I can remember. There is something about it. It really gets your blood pumping and makes you so proud of our military...all branches! This year the lead Thunderbird solo is Maj Samantha Weeks. She is only 32 and I am in awe of what she does. Girl power, right?!?

One heading up ... The noise is deafening but at the same time amazing!

Caroline loves, loves, loves airplanes! We live close to the base and we see many of them pass over our neighborhood daily. She always stops and points to the sky or to the ceiling if we're inside when she hears one. She is already a good little 'Air Force Brat' and has a love for it, just like her big brother!!! ;)

Wow, wow, wow! If you EVER get the chance to see this elite team of the 'best of the best' AF fighter pilots you have to go!

Caroline just kept saying 'Whoa' with every pass by. There are no better words to describe what these pilots can do!

After watching the show we took the kids in a C-17 Globemaster. The load master (someone in Jason's career field) let Miss Priss sit on a crew bunk. Messy, messy. Someone didn't make their bed that day!

Maybe we don't have the next Thunderbird female pilot on our hands. She did NOT like this one bit!
Bryce however, was intrigued!

He especially thought it was neat to get to see the type of plane his Daddy has flown in those very same seats in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq each time he's been. He did not realize just how not comfy those seats were and how BIG the planes are inside! As I watched my kids~ so innocent and young, sitting in those seats, I couldn't help but think of all the men and women who are in each branch of the service and do take these flights in and out of harms way for our continued freedom. What a humbling experience that never, never gets old. XO

The Forest Park Balloon Glow!

Every year that we've been stationed here (or when we've been on vacay from Germany back to this area) we've made a point to go to the 'balloon glow' in St Louis' Forest Park. It draws a pretty big crowd so you have to get there EARLY to A: get a decent parking spot and not have to hike 5 miles, and B: to stake out a good lawn area! I think this was the 1st year we've been there early!

Caroline was in awe of the big bunny balloon! From a distance when she 1st caught a glimpse of it she started pointing and saying 'uhhh, uhhh, uhhh' and her new fav... 'WOAH'! (yes, a little Joey Lawrence impersonator in our midst!)

Trying to come up with things to do to pass the time, we gave her our cell phone. She was carrying on a convo with herself!

The famous 'talk to the back of my head' trick!

La, la, la, la...I can't hear you!

"Geeze Louise...Are you kidding me? Oh no she didn't..." and so on and so on with her expressions!

Picking weedy flowers to play with...

Fun free stuff!

We took a food break and look what we found... ;)

More trying to pass the time, with a very active 'pre toddler' on our hands!

Weeeeeee!

We caved, what can I say? So much for the 'free' things to entertain them. Yes, we got suckered into buying a ridiculously expensive balloon thingy! But, she had fun beating Bryce with it!!!

Aw, he sure does love his baby sis. And what a GREAT big bro he is to her!

Here they go! The Energizer bunny balloon is always the 1st to go up each year.

See all the balloons behind my trio?

I did not get a photo when all of the balloons were lit. I thought I did, but I didn't. Oh well. Next year! XO

Mall Fun!

Can the kiddos and hubby ALL have fun at a mall? Really? Is it possible? Yep~ at the St Louis Mills Mall it is! There is SO MUCH for them to do there!

Miss Priss taking a spin at the wheel.

"I want up, I want up. How do I get up there with you, Bryce?"

"Oh, this way."

And look what that fabulous big brother did for her each time she went up to him? He took Caroline on a 'slide ride'! Weeeeee!

Jason watched the kiddos (and kudos to him for snapping some pics, too!) while I ran into the Carters store to get some fall and winter pjs. Aw, thanks honey! XO

I found some Lisa!

The search is over for my white pumpkins! I saw some on Lisa's blog a few weeks ago and have been dying for them to get to stores/farms near us! They did... Yippee!

This is a little fall display in our breakfast room. When it gets a bit chillier we need to get a new fall family photo. I can't wait, we're long overdue! XO

Lord Help Me!

Is this what I have to look forward to when she turns 16?!?

Look Mom, watch me stand up while I drive!!! ;)