Finger paint or Indian War Paint

Owen had his first experience working with finger paint the other night. He was very hesitant, probably because he didn't believe I was ACTUALLY going to LET him use his fingers. I'm sure he thought it was a trick. But once I showed him what to do it didn't take long for him to get covered in paint while making a masterpiece! He LOVED it, can you tell?

Halloween

For the last 3 months Owen has been asking me to give him a blue mo-hog (aka:Mohawk). I've been able to put it off by telling him he could have one for Halloween. Well....I had to make good on my promise and did so happily. He was a STAR in his blue mohog. I had 4 strangers stop us and ask to take his picture on Halloween night. There were plenty of Superman's out there, but none with cool blue hair. And it was all his idea! (Yes he was Superman last year too, but when you add a blue mohawk it suddenly becomes a whole different kind of costume!)

Ryan's dream job is to work at 7-11. That is a legit old school uniform that was given to him by the manager when in high school he made driving 20 miles to the closest 7-11"cool".

Going to protect the rowdy cowboys of the Historic Stockyards.

I found this craft online and think they turned out pretty cute. They are made out of brown paper lunch bags stuffed with news papers then divided by rubberbands. We made these as the center pieces for the Halloween party at my church. 

A Trip Back "home"! (aka: St. Louis)

Two weeks ago Ryan had to take a "continuing education" kind of course in St. Louis.  Shortly after we found out we would be moving to Ft. Worth last year we also found out that Ryan would be expected to attend this course. So we've been planning on going back to St. Louis for a visit for over a year. My personal transition to Ft. Worth was a bit rough, so this trip has been a bright spot for me to focus on for quite some time.

Our visit was AWESOME! We were able to see many of our favorite people, eat at our favorite restaurants, visit our favorite places as a family (The Botanical Garden's Kids' Area, The Zoo, The Central West End to walk among the multi-million $ homes, The Hill, parks, etc.) AND....we were there for the first 2 games of the World Series. We were not able to go in St. Louis but you could feel the electric energy in the air, and that was awesome!

My wonderful old co-workers.

Owen playing in the market at the Botanical Gardens.

 My brave boy climbing up the rope ladder to the Tree House. 

 Fall Leaf Fun!

 Fall is my favorite season and I used to do this all the time as a kid, and maybe... sometimes as an adult. Doing this is like a "release of kid joy to me"! 

 

We got to see our "little brother" Shevon and his mother Paula. They are like family to us, so to be able to see them on this trip was wonderful!

Magic House

 Look at the sincere concern on his face for this baby. He's a doctor in the making. 

Lexi, Tor, Ann, and Owen. (Notice the hands and face of another random child just under Owen's bum on the right side.)

Bath time fun with Lexi! 

Stories with Tori!

More Leaves with Lexi!

     

One of my favorite dessert places in St. Louis is called the Cupcakery. This is a boy after my own heart. 

Running off to the alter

It was such a wonderful visit with our dear friends. It felt so good to go back to St. Louis, to where things were normal, comfortable, conversations were beyond the "get to know you" kind, and it truly felt like Fall. We lived there for 5 years. For our family, it really felt like we were going home!