Pumpkin Picking Time

 Never ever in my life have I been to a real pumpkin patch to pick out my own pumpkin.

 The kind where you have get to ride a tracker to the field.

Pick out your your pumpkin.

In less than 5 seconds, Tanner had his pumpkin.  

Anthony took the longest..

No, Brooke doesn't count.  Find a real pumpkin!

This was the coolest pumpkin I've seen...let's take it!!

And then catch a ride back...if you're lucky.  Us, not so very lucky.

Unless you're Brooke...then you can catch a ride anywhere.

We had time left over...so Tanner enjoyed the corn maze, playing on the playground, looking at the livestock, and just being crazy alongside Mason. 

Brooke, on the other hand, just was making cute faces.

And since I couldn't decide which was the cutest, here's a bunch of them!

And wouldn't you know it, she was trying to eat dirty ole pumpkin vine.  She'll eat ANYTHING!

We made it a family affair -- cousins, grandparents, practically the whole gang!

Baby Scarlett's first pumpkin outting -- and she slept right through it.  How dare she!!

Mason picked out a pumpkin with bumps all over. 

And I've never seen a women more indecisive than myself.  My mom couldn't make up her mind...so she ended up with four...and it would have been more if it wasn't for the fact you had to carry them around.

Our final pumpkins "arrangement".  I love the variety!!  The big old orange was it Tanners -- shiny with dirt around the edges.  The antique orange cinderella pumpkin is mine, and honestly, the prettiest pumpkin I've ever seen.  Anthony's is just different -- who's ever seen a silver pumpkin?  And Brooke's lil white pumpkin is just too cute!!

But I still prefer this little pumpkin the most!!

New Girl in Town

There's a new addition in our home. 

My sister Katelynn moved in with us last spring in Dallas.  Kinda crazy timing considering I was about to pop at any moment, and shortly thereafter, decided we were selling our home, and up and moved to KC. 

But she's been a great addition to our family.  When we went to Dallas earlier this month and Katelynn stayed behind, Tanner's first comment to her was "I love-missed ya.  I MISSED you because I LOVE you!"

And we get to hang out a lot.  It's been a huge adjustment no longer working for Deloitte and having oversimulated brain activity and adult interaction, but then moving to a new city where I hardly know anyone.  My family has become my best friends and I seriusly can't imagine my life...let alone one day...without them.

But it's been a bit of rollercoaster...to say the least.  But that's another story for another day.  Just ask Anthony what it's been like with not one, but two preggo ladies in the house.  And now, not one, but two babies!!    

Step aside Brooke, there's a new girl in town.  Welcoming, Baby Scarlett Caliah Knickerbocker!!

If Brooke could talk, I'm pretty sure she'd be saying, "Hey, give me some of that hair!"  Baby Scarlett has the softest, thickest, silkiest hair I've ever seen.  Brooke actually has more hair than Tanner, but that doesn't say a whole lot either.

Tanner likes to refer to Scarlett as his sister too.  Once I overheard him telling the neighbors he has 2 babies.  Later the kids saw both of us -- sitting outside holding the wee little ones -- and asked if he had two moms.  Can't have any of those rumors starting up!


We're not sure how long it'll last, but for now, we enjoy having these two around.  We'll take all we can get!

Hello Big D!

We visited Dallas for a quick weekend getaway.   I didn't think much would change in the few months I've been gone.  But the kiddos, my how they had grown...in just a blink of the eye.  

We had a weekend jammed back with activities. Tanner, I'm pretty sure, had the most fun.  Oh how we missed Uncle Kenneth. Seriously.  Love him!!

About a month ago, some friends were over, and one of them looked like "Uncle" Scott.  Tanner got SO excited, and came and told me, "Mom, my uncles are coming over!  When is Uncle Kenneth and Uncle Austin going to be here??"  I didn't have the heart to tell him...

When we first got to Dallas, he had to wait a few days too.  I had to keep reminding him, Kenneth will be here tomorrow.  And then when he woke up, the first words out of his mouth were, "Is tomorrow today?  Is he going to be here??"

Roadtrip
I drove down with the kiddos, and then Anthony met us in Dallas after his Dental Conference was over in Phoenix.  On the way down, it was just me and the kiddos vs the road.   When it comes to roadtrips, I'm not against bribery - we stopped and enjoy Tanner's favorite ice cream along the way -- Blue Birthday Bash!

And as a result, Tanner didn't fall asleep in the car until 11 pm at night!  On the way back, Anthony was with me and drove, and of course they were perfect angels.  They both slept more than they were awake...and we basked in all the quietness.

 The next morning, I was exhausted.  We were the only ones there...and I desperately needed a shower.  When I came back, this is what Tanner was doing.  The kid was hilarious.

Cassidy's Birthday Celebration

We also got to celebrate Cassidy's 11th Birthday!  We just love this girl around here.  When Tanner got the invite in the mail, he was ecstatic and carried it around with him wherever he went.  I'm pretty sure he told complete strangers how he was going to Cassidy's birthday party.  

Cassidy had her birthday party at a roller skating rink.  When Tanner first heard, he wasn't real keen on the idea of roller skating.  Instead, he had this brilliant idea, "I'll just take my scooter and ride it around!"  

Pretty much the entire time of wheels he spent screaming at the top of his lungs.  

Luckily, Brooke couldn't have been happier, just chillin' in her own set of wheels, staring at the lights and passersby and exchanging smiles.  She can get a smile out of anyone.

 Cassidy is just the sweetest, loving girl.  She makes everyone feel like they are her best friend.  I just love watching her grow up.  Tanner was having a hard time not sitting right next to her, at even though I'm sure there's 20 other girls Cassidy wanted to sit next to, she offered him a spot right next to her.  Now I know why Tanner is just so obsessive over her too :)

Unlike her cousin, Madison was lovin every bit of roller skating.  

Cousin Madison

We also went to Ft Worth to visit cousin Madison, Aunt Kristie, and Grandma.  Aunt Kristie was 38+ plus weeks pregnant and had been on bed rest -- so Grandma was staying with her to help out.  Unfortunately, we were just a few days shy of baby Kadynn's big arrival.

These two use to spend a lot of time together when I worked part-time, thanks to Aunt Kristie who took such could care of them.  Now when we get together, they take full advantage and play 110% of the time when we're all together.

Which left lots of time for Grandma to hold lil Miss Brooke.  Aren't these two so cute???   We've missed her so much!  Tanner was so confused how we were staying at her house but she wasn't there.  But luckily, we still got to see her...but it's never enough :)

I think Madison got a little practice taking care of babies with Brooke.  She's going to make such a great big sister.

Friends

Tanner loved being reunited with all his Dallas friends.  He even asked if he could have his 5 birthday party in Dallas so his friends could all come.  Aside from his cousins, we really haven't met any new BFFs for Tanner to play with...so we need to keep trying.

Here's Tanner and Brynlee...who've grown up doing pretty much everything together.  Playdates, Church, Preschool, etc.  That's what happens when you're moms are BFFs too.

Except Brooke was getting a lot of attention too.  Everyone wanted a chance to play with her and she was eating it up, laughing and giggling right on command.

One afternoon I visited a friend from work, Talita, who just had baby Avery.

I tried to hold her like a newborn cause she's so little, but she didn't like that one bit.  She's as strong as can be and wanted to look at all the action.  Brooke, on the other hand, just wanted her hair!

I couldn't wait to see her again ...but really, Tanner just couldn't wait to go to his friends house.  The whole time he kept asking, "Is it time to go to Johnner's house?"


There were other friends we visited too...just didn't snap any pictures.  Darn it.  And next visit, I'm going to have to stay twice as long so I can visit twice as much.  I only got to see a few close friends and there's still people I didn't get to see.  And I felt like we were running from place to place to place when I would be the happiest person visiting one friend or family member for the entire weekend and have them all to myself.

Family 
And of course, we spent tons of time with family.  It wasn't planned -- but it ended up that all of Anthony's siblings were in town.

On Friday night, I got to meet up and have dinner with Brendan and his girlfriend Rachel.  They're the busy people I know, balancing work and school, but still took time to drive 1+ hour plus to meet up for dinner.  I had a good time talking to Brendan, mostly chatting about his upcoming internship with Deloitte.  And the kids.  They always get tons of attention from him.  I'm blaming him on the reason neither my kids went to bed before 10 pm on Friday night.

Brooke loved being the center of attention.

But hands down, Brooke's favorite person on the trip was Grandpa!  She's a bit of a mommy's girl [huge understatement] and usually can't leave my arms.  But when it came to Grandpa holding her, she was always all smiles!

We played several intense games of Tap, Tap, Oink.  The best family game ever!!

Random silliness.

And we even got to see Casey, Crystal, and Eliana in town for dental school visits.  Keeping our fingers crossed he'll get into Baylor, just like Anthony!

There's just so much to love about Anthony's wonderful family.  Each of them have played just an integral part in Tanner's life...and I hope we'll always be super close to them at heart.

Tanner had so much fun...he wasn't ready to leave.  Tanner was telling Grandpa, "We never moved to Kansas.  We live here now!"  Sometimes, it felt like we never left.  And being in town, just reminded me of all the amazing friends and family we are blessed to know.

Field Trip to Fire Station

For Tanner, visiting the local fire station has been a dream come true.  Lucky for him, his preschool got to visit this past week.

I wish I could accurately capture Tanner's fire fighter addition.  The truth is...it's just not possible.  Just for fun, Tanner watches this educational fire safety video from the local library.  Just for fun, we pretend various Lego mini-figures are on fire as the firefighters race to the rescue...like a million times a day.  Tanner has read pretty much every book with fire fighters.

Oddly, Tanner was just in a state of awe as we toured the facility, saw were they ate, cooked, and slept, walked through a real fire truck, rang the bell of the firetruck, and eyed the special tools.

Tanner has long since memorized the Call 9-1-1 and "Stop, drop, and Roll!" parts of fire safety.  When I asked him if he learned anything, he said that "If there's ever a fire fighter trying to help you, you should run to him fast and give him a hug and not to be scared by all the equipment they wear."

He also said "They have really big scissors [referring to the jaws of life steal cutters used for car crashes]!"

He was so busy staring in awe that I don't think he said a single word the entire time.  When I asked him what his favorite part was, his sole reply, "Mom, all of it was my FAVORITE!"  Of course!

Brooke was such a trooper.  It was nap time but she was the best behaved lil girl...except when she was trying to grab my camera.