Happy Birthday Haylee!!

Happy 16th birthday to our lovely niece!! Well...not until Thursday!
What a special birthday!
She decided to have a hayride and bonfire last night and Rylee and I
went along to help celebrate.
We roasted marshmellows and had smores, popped popcorn over the fire
and listened to some ghost stories. Of course, Grandpa jumping out of
the woods made the stories even better and scared all of the girls!
(Rylee was on a walk with Aunt Rachel and Jordan while the stories
were told, so they didn't get scared.) He also enjoyed manning the
drink station and talking with all of the girls when they came to get
something to drink.
He started winding down around 9:30 and was ready to leave. He told
me that he wanted to snuggle with his blankie and Melvinteen and watch
tv. He is just too sweet!

We had a great time and the weather was perfect! Thanks to Haylee for
inviting us to come!:)

Happy Halloween!

What a wonderful Halloween! We has beautiful weather and the air was just crisp enough, but not too cold. Rylee, of course, had a blast and Reese enjoyed seeing all of the kids dressed up. She actually didn't mind her costume at all!

Friday night we went to our favorite restaurant, El Jimador, and had dinner. They had a few people dressed up for Halloween, but all of the kids loved Mickey Mouse. Who wouldn't?! So, all through dinner Rylee oohed and ahhed about Mickey. He waved and smiled and was so excited. Well, he decided (with the help of Mom) that he wanted to have his picture taken with Mickey. While we were waiting he looked at me with the most serious face and said "You know Mom, that isn't the real Mickey. It's a guy dressed up in a soft suit to make the children happy!" Of course, my response was "What?!" Where does he get this stuff? He is such a character! Never a dull moment!



Like I said before, we had a great Halloween. I made Rylee's costume. He wanted to be a train conductor this year and I felt that he needed something more than the hat, bandanna and whistle. This so called "epiphany" happened Saturday morning. Yep, that's right, Saturday the 31st...Halloween! Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Heehee. So, I cut up a big box and covered it and he loved it! Although, he did watch over my shoulder, telling me what needed to be added and where things went. I think that it turned out great!



We also added a new edition to the Holmes family last Sunday. A client of mine had a litter of stray kittens and you know how I am about cats. So, we got Sammy Steven. Yes, his middle name is after my Pop! The kids just love him and he loves them, too! Lucy, our other cat, was none too happy, but she is finally starting to come around. She still growls if he gets too close, but I think that they will become good friends. And Alex, the dog, just thinks that he is fun to play with!



Well, that is all for now! Hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Feeling better!!

Hey all!
Just a little update to let everyone know that Ry is doing so much better! After a trip to his doctor and urgent care, his fever finally broke last Thursday. I must say that he is quite the charmer. While at urgent care, the nurse told him to take a deep breath in and blow out and he apologized for his bad breath! HA! Then, he told me he was hungry and I told him to just wait and we were almost finished and then it would be dinner time. The doctor then told him that she was also hungry and he looked right at the nurse and said "Nurse, the doctor and I are hungry, would you please go get us something to eat?" I thought that I would pee in my pants! That child is too funny! She did bring him some smarties for being such a great patient. So, he felt better and he and Reesie went back to Ida's on Friday. Yay! They had some good brother/sister bonding this week. Rylee has discovered that Reese will be into anything he leaves out and he doesn't like it.
Last week really was a crazy one and we are so thankful that my Mom was there to help out with the kids. We are so blessed to have both of our families close to us to help us out when we need them.



Grandma and Papa were in town this weekend and we spent Saturday night at Aunt Amy's with them. It was really great to see them and spend some time with them! We haven't seen them since August, so it was a much needed visit! I dressed the kids up in their Mizzou gear (and Reesie in her Rocky t-shirt! Gotta love that!) for homecoming and we watched some of the disastrous game. Unfortunately, their school spirit didn't help Mizzou:( But, we had a great time anyway. Here are some pictures of the family.

Papa, Reese, Rylee and Grandma

Papa, Mom, Grandma, Uncle Ricky

Reese with Grandma and Papa

Aunt Amy and Reesie

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! And a Happy Halloween this weekend!!

Life is what happens...

When you're busy making plans...right? Ok, well we have been busy, but I am posting now, right? Anyway, things around the Holmes house have been busy busy! Rylee just finshed his fall soccer season and just in time for the cold temps!

He really enjoyed the fall soccer better. I think that it's because he is starting to understand how the game works and what the point is! he had several goals this season and made some good friends. It's nice to see them not running in circles!
Reesie is growing and growing! She is 6 and a half months old. I can't believe it! She is rolling everywhere and getting up on those knees to chase after her big brother. We think that she will be crawling soon enough.
Lee has been working all the time and on top of that doing his Air Force Reserve duties. We still haven't gotten a school date yet, but we are praying it comes soon, so we can plan accordingly. He is also taking a photography class and really enjoying it and learning a lot. I know that I am biased, but he is really talented.
A couple of girls at work and I have decided to run a 5k on Thanksgiving morning and I have been training for that. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a while, so I am really excited about it. I was taking Reese with me for a while, but it has gotten too cold for her now. I think that she enjoyed her 30 minute nap!

I plan on continuing to run through the winter and eventually train for a marathon. It's on my bucket list and a big goal that would be very rewarding when I accomplish it! Let's just hope these old bones keep up! Haha!
We are praying for healthy kids throughout the winter. I know it's going to be a rough one this year. Rylee got his flu shot last week ("Mom, that flu shot was NOT cool!") and Reese is scheduled for hers in a couple weeks. She will get both and Rylee will get his H1N1 when they have more come in. Both kids have had infections and right now Rylee is fighting a terrible sinus infection and bronchitis. Poor baby has been down since Sunday with a fever and the congestion. We have kept him home all week and hoping that the rest will help! Please keep both he and Reese in your prayers. Pray that he will get better and she doesn't get it!
We hope that you all have a great day! I promise to keep this updated!

slowly...

But surely, right? Yeah, well here I am almost exactly one month later with no new posts or pictures to show for myself. What happened to the last 30 days?! So many things have happened. Rylee finished soccer up with a win (yes!), and Reese turned 2 months old. Can it be possible??? I came back to work last week and Lee has been working his little tail off. Between work, which has kept him crazy busy, helping me with the kids and trying to keep up with the grass being cut, he is exhausted. But, we are a happy little family and that's all that matters!:)

I need to upload pictures of all of the events to show and will do so this weekend. I have stories to go with all...imagine that!:)

Never a dull moment. I wouldn't have it any other way!

The beginning of the blog...

So, here we go.
I can't even tell you how long I have been wanting to start a blog to record memories of my wonderful and hilarious family, but procrastination got in the way. Hmm...for many of you that know me, this is probably not a shock, considering that it is one of my best and worst qualities wrapped into one...Ah, who am I kidding, it's my worst! I am so excited that I have finally decided to sit down and begin this journey. I believe my family to be the greatest (yeah, I am biased) there is and I thank God for not only the blessings He has given us, but also the laughter that roars through our house each day. Living in our house is somewhat normal, but always full of crazy suprises. I guess that's what you get when two class clowns get married and have 2 kids. Let me tell you, my four year old is working (already!) on his way to obtaining that honored title, too! So, I hope that I can not only record my family's memories, but also add a little bit of laughter into each one of your lives!