Merry Christmas Eve!

This morning we walked out to Beau's car and found a boom- one of AL's Christmas requests; needless to say he was thrilled!



So naturally they all climbed inside. Please note the current temperature is 31 degrees- and Beau is in short sleeves.
Merry Christmas everyone!

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Happy Holidays- part 1

Our holidays, since Al was born, always start with the Winter Lights walk at Tilles Park on the weekend before thanksgiving. This year Albert was thrilled to tell Santa everything he wants for Christmas- a pusher, a digger, a drill, etc. Hope, on the other hand, was not so fond of the strange man in a big red suit.


The kids and I left for Texas on Monday and got a full visit with almost every Marak/Whitley family member on our 6 day stay.
Here we are at the airport eating dinner- nothing like a picnic on that pristine floor!


Our first stop- Lake House fun with Nana and Papa.





And Nana got Hopie her first cowgirl hat!


Look how dry the lake is!! Pray for rain!


Then it was back to Nonni and Pops house. It's amazing what a table just their size will do for getting two crazy kids to sit still!


Yes, it's that signature smile again...


And Shelly brought her babies over for dinner. Koen and Al played so so well together. Here they have made plasticware and plates into a masterpiece.


And when we returned home I thought it best to kick Christmas off with a gingerbread house!



This holiday season I feel much less stressed- I am hoping this continues proving the holidays can be enjoyable again!!

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Signature smile-- check.
She is a pistol these days with her "neeoooo" to everything to her obsession with the above rain boots, she is starting to give Al a run for his money when it comes to stubborn.
At this time she also LOVEs her grandma and prefers to be with her over anyone, yes even me; which I must admit kind of breaks my heart. None the less she is a joy and I love every minute of her blossoming linguistic capabilities and personality that comes with it.

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Happy Halloween

This year was the first annual Railway Loft trick-or-treating! We went from floor to floor with Winnie and Rush and the kids raked in tons of pre-Halloween candy.
Fairy Princess


Buzz Lightyear


And tonight we went to Auntie Ruths house to do some more traditional trick-or-treating, neighborhood style. I wish I had a recording of Hopie's response to this event- she jabbered on and on to each home owner and carefully selected only reces cups from every candy dish, then ended with a stif arm twirly hand wave as she RAN to the next house. She was so upset it was over :(. Al, on the other hand, was done after about 4 houses so Beau happily took him back to "survey" the loot.
Other October events included the first annual naked pumpkin carving. Viewer discretion advised...






Looking forward to the holiday season!!

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So much to say

Two weekends ago we got the chance to take a trip to Iowa again with the whole family (minus Beau :( ). This was definitely Alberts heaven and though we don't have pictures of it, I will always remember our first ride on a tractor combine on the first weekend of harvesting season. Mark took Al and me for a ride through the corn fields and detailed all the glory of how this unbelievably HUGE machine works... Awesome.
We also got to experience the Fall Festival and annual pumpkin growing contest- this was serious business.



And this was Hopie's favorite... Car show girl in training


The cousins also did some reading with uncle Jason


And since Beau was unable to join us, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch on Saturday- which is a blast until it's time to go which induces an explosion of resistance!






So strong...








I am now on a two week hiatus between jobs- pure bliss- so we took a 2 day trip to KC to see Allie, Tanner and Dylan. The boys get along so well, though Allie and I decided we need a girls trip to be able to actually have a conversation! (4 kids under 4 is not conducive to such)


Love that belly...


A little fast food treat for the gang... Finally sitting quietly.


And yesterday I painted my entire house!! So happy it only took one day. I'm off to lunch with Abby... Life of luxury!

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Love this family

What a week we have had! Looking at these pictures males me so happy bc I see that even though I work many hours a week, I still get to experience so so much with my babies. I am also fully aware of what an awesome family I married in to and live next door to- yes, the Murphys are practically one of us, minus the carnivore.
Hopie impresses me all the time because I imagine her as a tiny baby and the next thing I know she is stacking blocks all on her own like it's old hat.


Wonderful Aunt Ruth got a monarch caterpillar and taught Al all about it's transformation into a butterfly, so we are now watching and waiting for the butterfly to emerge from this chrysalis.. So cool!


I asked Albert to get dressed one morning and this is what he did- such a jokester.


One morning at the park with the Murphy fam the kids were playing on the cannons. Hope is really excited, check out that grin. I mean Rush is quite a charmer, all the more reason to be happy riding a cannon.





On Friday Beau and I took the kids to Forest Park for the annual ballon glow--best STL event. I absolutely love this night.


Saturday we started the day off at the zoo, where Al showed off his scorpion climbing skills and Cary let all the butterflies out of the butterfly house.


After naps Al thought it would be a good idea to build a fort...


... And make the baby a cozy bed in his 'gi-antic' dump truck.


And today, we spent 8 FULL hours with our Reinberg cousins. Flash-forward to Halloween, only Hopie will be wearing a much more adorable costume- motocross is not really her thing.





We look forward to many more of these moments in two weeks when we all take a trip to Iowa!

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It's only 9:30...

... and we have already be in full play mode for 3 hours.






And a cute one from last week...


I am so tired already. I did do yet another toy disposal this morning as well- about once a week I pitch a couple of toys. The clutter makes me crazy and anxious as well I find it so therapeutic to get rid of things!

What should we do the rest of the day??
Farmers Market, run, grocery store, possibly the bounce house?
Beau and I are going with some friends to the Clayton art festival tonight which I am very much looking forward to. And on Sunday aunt Ruth is going to show Al her Monarch caterpillar that will make a chrysalis soon, exciting! They have been talking about doing this for weeks.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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