Logan = Football

This fall, it was all about football, all the time. Logan played in a flag football league called Upward on a team called the... oh what was the name? Oh yeah, the Eagles!!!! He really enjoyed it and we did, too. Tim was the coach and of course, Logan loved that, although he may never admit it! There were even cheerleaders! The season was fair, fun, and best of all... quick! The kids favorite part of each game was probably the snack at the end, and their favorite part of the season was probably the football cake at the end!

Samantha's Rockin' Birthday

Samantha is one of Logan and Addison's dearest friends here in Texas. She has a family friend who is a professional kids' singer and we all have his CD called "Rockin' with Rhett". He sang at her birthday party this year and the kids had a blast. The theme for the party was pirates, but since her mom wants her to be a girly girl (which she is so not!), she only let her do pink and blue bandanas. Our kids ended up liking them, probably because both Samantha (Addison's hero) and Bryce (Samantha's older brother and Logan's hero) were wearing them. Kieran liked hers so much that she found it several days later, put it on herself, and ended up looking like Aunt Jemima (sorry, no picture).

Kieran was rockin' out above, and please, don't warn me as to what I'm in for when she gets older based on the picture below! That's Rhett on the keyboard. Can anyone say "groupie"?

Logan and his Award Winning Poster

Logan's school participated in Red Ribbon Week, which is part of the national drug awareness campaign. We thought it was neat that it was created in memory of a DEA agent named Kiki Camarena and Kieran's nickname is Kiki. Each day, the kids wore something different and they had speakers giving them age-appropriate messages. There was also a contest to make a poster. We came up with a couple of ideas and Logan chose one and made the poster himself. I helped with spelling and tying the student pledges on, but otherwise it was all him and he won 1st Place! He got a ribbon and 2 prize baskets filled with goodies. He was very proud of himself, yet humble about it. He couldn't believe how many kids at school knew he won and congratulated him. He was a Rock Star for a week!

The Zoo

MeMom finally got to go to the Fort Worth Zoo with the kids. We had a great time and got to see a lot (but not everything!). MeMom and Kieran got to share a "first" when they both fed the birds from a seed stick.

We got to see a rhino closer than we ever have before!

But my personal favorite moment was when we were in the penguin house. There was one penguin that kept diving and swimming back and forth right in front of the kids and they could not stop laughing. They were laughing so hard that people around them were laughing, too. I finally remembered that my camera also does video and got this clip. I can't edit it, so just ignore the first 15 seconds and then they really get going. Logan has the "Heee Heee" laugh, Kieran's sounds like "Ha Ha Ha" and Addison's is the truly contagious one. Maybe it's just me, but I still crack up each time I watch/listen to it.

The Circus!

Also while Memom and Pop-Pop were visiting, we went to the Shriner's Circus. It was the kids first circus and it was pretty exciting. They got to do several firsts like riding a camel (wow!), holding a snake (yikes!), and the inevitable stepping in vomit (gross!).
As far as the camel riding goes, we got there early - I know! Can you believe it?! And they had elephant rides, camel rides and a couple other things like face painting going on. Both Logan and Addison wanted to ride the camel until they got up on the stand and Addison got scared. Then Logan got a little freaked out and wouldn't go by himself. So... 2 minutes and $32 later, Mommy was riding the camel with each of them individually because they wouldn't let me and my whopping 40 lb. kids ride together. Never mind that the Dad in front of us outweighed all three of us by 150%! It was pretty cool - I've never riden a camel either! - and the kids like to tell people they rode a camel at their young ages.

During the intermission, the floodgates openned again and right in front of us, was this guy and a huge yellow snake. We were second in line and Logan went right up there and got that snake and was so proud. As you can see, Addison was slightly less enthusiastic.

The kids got somewhat disappointed (note sarcasm here) when we told them they could not have some light up toys that were being peddled about the circus - all they saw were these cool toys that it seemed every other kid had, and all we saw was junk and all we heard was $15/each. When things got a little slow, I snuck them out (I'm not sure how you do that with 3 kids, but I did) and we found something for each of them under $10 and they are (amazingly) still working and still played with A LOT! Poor MeMom, Pop Pop Wags, Grandma and Pop Pop Kersh were ignored, but we hope they still had fun.

Fall Festival 2008

While Tim's parents were visiting, there was a Fall Festival here in our neighborhood. Addison got her face painted as a butterfly, Logan got a flaming football on his arm, and Kieran got a monkey on her hand.

There were also balloon animals. Logan asked for a Hawk, as in a St. Joe's Hawk, but it looked an awful lot like a penguin, so Kieran "got" a dragon, which was quietly traded for Logan's "penguin". Kieran likes penguins, anyway.

Below is a video, so click on the play button to see. Please excuse the noise! Once Kieran got in the bounce house, there was no turning back. She spent almost 30 minutes bouncing to her heart's content. We cracked up the whole time. She reminded me of our old Jack Russell dog, Moursey, who used to jump perfectly perpendicular to the floor over... and over... and over... and over...

Addison's "Curly" Hair

Addison and I have been talking about doing curly hair for a long time. I finally took the time (and patience!) to braid 12 braids in her hair so that it would be "curly". She liked the little braids so much that we left them in for 2 days.



When we undid them before church, you have never seen a more precious sight! Between how cute it looked, and how genuinely thrilled she was with the outcome, we were all ecstatic. I know, to you and me it's hair, to her, it was the whole universe!

Kieran's 1st Day of "School"

You know we are on our third child when we push them off to school before they even hit 2 years old. That being said, Kieran LOVES her two mornings a week. She has two precious teachers, Ms. Montse and Ms. Rita. They just adore the seven little ones in their class and they seem to get a kick out of them, too. As you can see, Kieran's backpack is huge! Tim's hand is holding the handle so she doesn't fall over! Kieran went right in to "class", after having spent over an hour there on "Meet the Teachers'" day. They have little dolls in there that they call babies and she can't get enough of them. She has taken to carrying a baby with her at all times - all you Grannnies/MeMoms/Grandmas should be quite happy. As for everyone else not included in that list, you would not believe the hard time these ladies gave me about Addison not having a babydoll! Well, whatever Addison lacked previously, both she and Kieran are making up for it now. There are battles for babies at our house now, thank you very much!

Happy 25th Anniversary Bob & Kathy

It was Coeli's Dad & Kathy's 25th Anniversary on October 29th this year. The Maryland Kershners and the Florida Machados posted well-wishes on here from afar, and Cheryl & John and Robbie and Bobbie put videos on my Verizon Wireless account. I haven't quite figured out how to transfer them to here... maybe someday.

video

Addison's 1st Day of School

Addison was excited to start her 4 year old preschool class, but only in theory. We still think that if given the choice, she would be home with Mom instead.
We are so blessed that she has the same teachers as Logan - Mrs. Rutz and Mrs. Sluder. They love having Addison in class, too!



Her good friend, Elizabeth, is in her class again and we are thrilled with that, too!

We took some fun pictures after school, and this is one of my favorites - I love that girl!

Our Resident Frog

We went swimming one day, only to find a frog in our pool.

Usually Addison is our fearless one, so she "frogged" him out of the pool.

We were surprised to see Logan anxious to get his turn, too! Thanks to the idea from the Pruner's (thanks, guys!), that little frog equated to hours of fun for the kids.

Logan's 1st Day of School

Logan was very excited for 1st grade. It is quite different than Kindergarden, with a lot more homework. He had to take a teddy bear on the first day and this was the coolest one we could find. Mrs. Prewit is very nice... and very young... and very pretty!

Daddy's Work Day

We got to spend a morning at Daddy's work recently. While it may sound a bit boring, his office is situated on what used to be a golf course. The grounds are beautiful and make for great exploring.

This is a really cool tree. The kids could actually go inside it (although it was a little scary)!

We found lots of this neat fruit that looked like brains. I know I should know what it is called, but I don't.

We even found some fossilized rock.

Cowkids

We went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History just before school started. It was a great interactive museum for the kids, but the highlight was when they got to dress up like cowpokes and pretend to live "on the range".

Logan was the quintessential cowboy, aside from the fact that it was a fake horse (details, details!).


Addison was whipping up some cowgrub over the open flame.
And while I would like to say that Kieran was involved at the time, this is what she looked like during cowkid time.



So, she waited until she was at home to display her inner cowgirl.

We had a great, warm, rainy day back in August. Finally, there was no thunder or lightning, so the kids got to play in the puddles for an hour. They were all ecstatic!

This was just a typical day when Mom was taking pictures (as per usual). I didn't think much of this shot until I noticed something on the computer screen and tried to wipe it off. Turns out there was nothing there, just more marker on Kieran - this time right on her belly, see?!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, she is a funny kid. This is a dry cleaning bag.

Kieran does not tolerate Addison all the time, but Addie lucked out on this particular day. Poor Addie just wants to be close to her sister - some say smothering, some say close - what's the difference when you love someone?