Pancakes with Santa

Our church puts on an annual "Breakfast with Santa" event each December.   R&R thought it was so funny that they were wearing their pajamas up to the church building!

The pancake ("panpake") bar did not disappoint......gummy bears, M&Ms, chocolate syrup, whip cream, and all kinds of goodies.   

We were so excited that sweet friends Aiden and Adeline were able to join us again this year!

The kids checking out the fireplace!

R&R were not so sure about sitting on Santa's lap again.  There were several families in line in front of us, so they were able to see the routine.  Rhys noticed right away that there was a basket of candy canes that Santa was handing out after each visit and picture.  This was enough to keep her interest.

Aiden and Adeline took their pictures right before us, so before they got off Santa's lap, R&R joined in for a group picture.

Rhys was a little nervous, but did it.  She was so proud of herself.  Rhett asked Santa for a bear.  Yes, a live bear.  And Rhys asked for a baby.

Had a fun time with all of our church family and friends!  Thank you Northside Church of Christ for loving our kids so well and giving us fun memories!

The Poor Neglected Blog...

So yeah, maybe I have been neglecting this blog.  Five months without a post.  Oops.

 I love writing/blogging.  I love documenting life, especially with pictures, and I really love recording memories that may soon be forgotten.

I have no good excuse as to why this blog has been stagnant.

Am I too busy?  Lazy?  Just distracted?  I'm not sure.

Today I decided that I wanted to start again.  So, helloooooooo.....  Is anyone still out there?

Of course, I make no promises.  It is only THE busiest time of the year.  Our calendars are full of parties and play dates, cookie exchanges and Santa visits.  My laundry has formed mountains in the hallway, I can see paint splattered on the kitchen blinds (thanks to a crazy finger-painting Rhett last week), and the tubs of Christmas stuff?  Yes, they are still stacked all over the living room, with random items from them strewn around the house.  I do have two eager helpers, ya know!

Not to toot my own horn over here, but we did put up our tree BEFORE Thanksgiving this year.  It might not have anything on it yet, but hey, the tree is up.  I'm not sure the kids even know that we have more to do on the tree.  They think it is beautiful as is!  We will hopefully finish the decorating this week, but if you do happen to see us in the next few days (or weeks), please don't ask the kids if they decorated the tree yet.  We will blow up social media when that tree is finished.

It's good to be back.  If you keep reading, I promise to keep writing.

More updates coming soon.  In the meantime, a few recent pictures of R&R.

Blessings,
Misty

Fiesta Farm Pumpkin Patch

Want to have some serious fun with your kids?  Go to Fiesta Farm!  My mom, sister, and niece were in town and we decided to take the kids out to enjoy the nice weather we were having.  We wanted to go to a pumpkin patch that had other activities for the kids to do.  This was just perfect.  This was actually our 2nd time to go, and I think it was just as much fun the second time around.

We started out by feeding the rabbits some carrot shreds.  Rhett wanted to make sure that all 25 rabbits each got a piece of "snack."

Even our shy Rhys loved feeding the animals.

The environment at the farm is so very relaxed and casual.  There are animals just walking around.  You never know when a goat or peacock might wander up!

Ana checking out a goat!

Rhys and Rhett especially loved feeding the goats.

Some of you know that my mom, "Sugar," LOVES donkeys.  She could not resist feeding all of her food to this little guy.  Rhett was helping her by picking up all the little pieces of food that were knocked down on the ground.  

Fiesta Farm also has pony rides for the kids.  The first time we went, neither of the twins were interested in riding.  Rhett was super excited to give it a try this time.

While Rhett was riding, Rhys was giving herself a pep talk with Sugar.

And then, to everyone's surprise, Rhys decided to ride!  And she loved it!

Even sweet Ana took a ride on the pony.

Our attempt at a picture of all the cousins together!

Besides the animals to feed and ride, there are also several different play areas for the kids.  R&R really liked climbing all over these tires.

And there are nice places to just walk around and explore.

Look at this precious little Ana with her Sugar.

So much fun spending the day with her!

Tim was pretty much a baby hog the whole day.  Who can blame him?

During our visit, one of the girls that works on the farm came up and handed Caydee a baby goat.  She told us he was 6 days old!

Rhett couldn't wait for his turn to hold the goat!

Rhys couldn't be bothered with a baby goat.....She was busy playing in the large sandbox they have!

We visited the farm in October, so they also had a pumpkin patch.  We took a hayride through the pumpkin patch, which was a lot of fun.  

They also had several places for fall photos to be taken.  Would you believe this is the only picture I took with a pumpkin in it!  (Let me mention that our main goal was to get pictures of the kids in the pumpkins together.  OOPS)

I especially love the way the staff treats the guests like they are part of the family.  They were continually walking around telling the kids stuff about the animals, giving them more food to use, or asking if we needed anything.  Guests are allowed to just wander around at their own pace.  We will definitely be going back to the farm again!  

One funny memory about the trip that I want to remember is that Tim was really into taking selfies with all of the animals.  I'm not sure why it was so funny to me, but it was!

Here he is posing with a little goat.

And the selfies I stole from his phone.  

A fun day!  Can't wait to go back again!

July 4th Fun

Our sweet friends, the Hasslers, invited us over for the 4th of July.  Of course we had to stop on the way there to get some fireworks.  "For the kids," Tim said.  

Daddy and Rhys went to pick out the goodies...

And I got to hang out with this handsome guy in the car!

Taryn outdid herself and spoiled us with so many delicious appetizers and dishes and we all ate too much.  The kids had tons of fun, too.  Here is our very own patriotic band! (And yes, the Hasslers also have boy/girl twins!)

It actually started to rain but that didn't stop the fireworks!

 Rhys and Adeline with sparklers

It was right after this picture that our little Rhysie burned her finger on the sparkler.  Tim had told the kids many times not to touch the "fire" and they did so well.  As soon as her sparkler burned out, she grabbed the top part of it.  We never thought to tell the kids that it would still be hot!  OUCH!  After some screaming, ibuprofen, and a band-aid, she was ready to join the fun again.  Well, she was ready to join the fun from a distance!

Love this picture that Taryn took.  Kids standing under an umbrella enjoying the celebration.

These boys were loving it!

Rhett with his arm around his buddy, Aiden.

Here are some fun memories...

THREE YEARS AGO!

and TWO YEARS AGO!

Happy 4th, Y'all!