Happy Birthday Jackson!

It is hard to believe that Jackson is 6! We celebrated his birthday with some friends in PA the week before. We went to a riding ring and the kids got to take turns on "Cinnabon". Jackson had a blast and it was great to catch up with our old friends.
On the big day, Jackson was expecting a birthday package and didn't even want to leave the house. Luckily, he wasn't disappointed. Around 5pm the UPS man delivered some new Lone Ranger DVD's and real Cowboy Boots! He has been wearing them ever since and there are scuff marks all over the house.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Great News!

Just a quick post to let you know that Casey passed the TX bar! Thank you all for your prayers and support. This is a huge burden lifted. We are so proud of him.

When the Saints go Marching in....

Here are some pictures from an All Saint's Day party we attended. Francis wanted to be St. Francis of Assisi, Nicholas was going to wear the lion costume since it was already made and there are no shortage of Biblical lion references, and Jackson wasn't sure who he wanted to be. In the end he donned scrubs and a white lab coat and went as St. Luke the Physician. They got to trick or treat at the Rectory, make crafts and play games. The best part was looking at everybody's costume. It was a great way to make the stories of the saints come alive for the kids and for us. All you holy men and women pray for us!

Who's that Lion?

Guess who.... One of the advantages to having three boys all born in the same season is that we get a lot of mileage out of our Halloween costumes.

Trick or Treat!

Here are some shots from the big night! The kids got dressed up so many times this year they got to wear lots of different costumes, but officially Nicholas was a lion (like his brothers before him), Francis was Buzz Lightyear and Jackson was the Lone Ranger. They had fun trick or treating in spite of the rain and got tons of candy.

Halloween Parade

With Casey working 14 hour days,the kids and I are on our own for dinner and bedtime. Thankfully, I have befriended the wife of one of his co-workers who happens to live right down the street and is in the same boat. On wed night we decided to take all the kids (my 3 and her 1) to the local Halloween parade. The kids had fun and we even got to see the Redskins band play! It was a beautiful night and it gave the kids another opportunity to wear their costumes.

We needed to leave before the end but it was hard to get out through the crowd. We ended up walking along the parade route, with the parade, looking for a path through the crowd. Francis was wearing his light up Buzz Lightyear costume and people actually thought he was part of the parade. After a while he started to think he was part of the parade and went along the crowd slapping everyone five while they cheered for him. Jackson on the other hand was happy to get out of there....

Here are a few shots of the boys with our friend, her daughter and her very pregnant belly!

A week of firsts!

On Monday, October 19th Casey had his first day at work and Nicholas said his first word. There had been some "mama" and "dada" before that, but it just seemed like babbling. This time he really said something. He had just finished his lunch and was sitting in his highchair and said "all done"!Then on Wednesday he took his first steps! Since then he has been walking more and more and can easily walk unassisted in between pieces of furniture. Crawling and cruising are still his primary means of transportation, but not for long I suspect. I am going to try to capture some footage of him, but by the time I do and figure out how to post it, he will probably be running by then.

As for Casey, he is enjoying work and anxiously awaiting the results of the bar. The days are long (really, really long...) but we know he is lucky to be working, so it is hard to complain.

Here are some pictures of the boys at the pumpkin patch. Nicholas is less then his cheerful self, as you can see. Learning to walk and getting two new teeth (one top, one bottom) have taken their toll!