Costume sneak peek

We love Halloween! The moment we start getting the catalogs in the mail for costumes, the boys start deciding. They change their minds a few times but once they decide I order. So what if it is a little early, we get excited around here! =) Their costumes came in last week and they are hilarious, scary, and so cute!  Here is a tiny peek of what the boys are gonna be this year. The full reveal will have to wait! ;)

Now I just have to keep them from trying to wear them everyday(the downfall of ordering so early)! They are beyond excited!!

My new nephew

Today was a great day!! My 5th nephew was born!! If you have followed my blog or my sil Hillary's, you know that he is a huge answer to our family's prayers. 
Hillary went in for a scheduled c-section this morning and it went perfectly---praise GOD!! She is doing great and so happy her little man is here and healthy. We all are!

 Here is my newest nephew....

Griffin Burkett Mueller

7 lb 6 oz 20in

PRECIOUS!!!

My brother in law and their oldest son peeking in at the nursery

Isn't he so adorable?!?!

Happy and proud parents

Biggest brother Graham beaming with pride

Ahhh...at last!

I am one proud Aunt!

What I'm loving Wednesday

Time again for ...

I am loving that today my 5th nephew will be coming into the world. My sis-in-law Hillary will be having her her c-section this morning! I cannot wait to meet the newest Mueller!!!  Please say a quick prayer for his safe arrival and Hillary's quick healing. I will post pictures soon.

I am loving that my Daddy's knee replacement surgery is behind him. He had a rough first week but seems to be improving little by little. Although he still has some hard work ahead of him, I think he will end up being so glad he finally had the surgery.

I am loving these ladies. We got to spend time together at a birthday party and even though our conversations got interrupted a lot with having to chase kiddos, I am so glad glad we got to visit. We laughed because between the four of us, there are 12 kids--6 girls, 6 boys. They range from 8 years to 1 month old.  Wild right?

Melissa, Me, Jenni(and precious baby Logan) and Laci

I am loving that I got signed up to take photos for our church's Out and About Day. I am far, far, far from professional but I do love to take pictures. It is going to be so much fun to help document all the great ways the members of our church are "out and about" helping in the community.

Lastly, I am loving that my boys and I saw the movie "Dolphin Tale". It was fabulous!!! It had a great message and I love that it is based on a true story. At the end where they had actual footage from the real events, I cried. It was  truly inspirational. Go see it! You will be glad you did!!

 Link up with Jaime and share what you are loving this Wednesday!

County Fair

We spent Saturday morning at the Comal County Fair. It is always a little hot and a little dusty but lots of fun!
The boys loved every minute! They rode some rides, played some games, saw the animals, ate good food and checked out the tractors.

Carter loved the rides. Colton was a trooper and rode this one with him.

The big boys rode this hang glider ride. (not sure who the random girl is in between them) They liked it but Colton definitely didn't want to do it again. =)

Our view from the Ferris wheel

The boys on Opi's pretty, old red tractor.

Carter with his bubble gun souvenir...thanks Omi.

It is always a fun event but I am glad it only comes once a year. ;)

Little Cowboys

Dad update: He is home. He is dealing with lots of pain but is glad to be out of the hospital. Let the hard work and therapy begin! =)

This week is our County Fair so in honor of that, the boys got to dress up in their cowboy gear for school. They have plenty of this gear but since they never wear it to school, it was fun for them to get "dressed up."

Here are my handsome Kindergarten and 3rd grade cowboys...

Here is my handsome little preschool cowboy...

I have to add a little story about Carter from this morning(for my own memory). I first put a super cute, long sleeve, plaid, snap shirt on him for today. He didn't like it!! I assume because he hasn't worn long sleeves in months. Anyway, as I snapped the sleeves, he started saying "It hurps(hurts) me." Then as I buttoned the front of the shirt, he started to cry. He was very sad and since it "hurp" him, I found him this short sleeve shirt to wear instead. Silly boy!

BuBbLeS

*Update on my dad: He is doing okay. After some blood pressure issues and allergic reactions to meds have gone away, he is doing much better. He has been therapy twice a day. He is in a lot of pain but is working through it. He has been getting great care, expecially a fabulous nurse that never leaves his side....my mom! =)  There is a small chance he will go home tomorrow. If not, Friday will be the day.

I love all the quality time Carter and I have been having since school got started. It is so fun to follow him around and just play! These pictures were from a fun morning we spent in the backyard. He loves bubbles so I had to take some pictures of him blowing some!

After he was done blowing bubbles, he spent time sliding and swinging!! So of course I got some pictures of that too!! 

He is such a CUTE subject!!

A new knee =)

Just wanted to let you all know that my Dad officially has a new knee and is doing well. His surgery was later than planned(instead of 2, they started at 6:15pm) but it went really well. Poor guy has had a long day. When I left the hospital about 11:30pm, he was still pretty groggy and having some pain but that is to be expected. His anesthesia was wearing off so he was pretty itchy. He even said "I think there are fleas in this bed." =) He was resting off and on though. Therapy will come in the morning to get him moving and that is when the real work begins. But he is super motivated so I know he will do great!! Thank you soooo much for your prayers.  It really does mean so much!!

Prayer request

I come to you asking for you to pray for my Dad! He will be having knee replacement surgery this afternoon.  This is an absolute necessity at this point, but we can't help but be filled with worry. Especially, since he has a heart condition as well. He passed his stress test so I keep reminding my parents and myself that the doctors would never do the surgery if they were worried about his heart. He will be in the hospital for at least three days and then heads home. He will have to do lots of therapy but should be back at work in less than three weeks. Please pray for wisdom and steady hands for the  dr who is performing the surgery-- Dr. Phelps(who happens to have graduated with Cody and I and helped when Colton broke his arm). Also, please pray for a quick and smooth recovery for my dad. Thank you so much!! I know that the power of prayer is unmatched!!

Everyone is eating solids

;) Yay!! The nasty stomach bug that invaded our house seems to have moved on. By some tiny miracle, I never got it. No more liquid diets around here. Everyone is back to normal!!! =)
Our weekend has been pretty low key and that works for us. We spent Friday evening just hanging out. Then on Saturday, my mom and I did make a quick trip to the outlet mall  so I could get my boys a few fall shirts and my mom could do a little shopping. Then my Dad, Cody and the boys met up with us and we headed to Cabela's-my hubby's favorite store. The boys love to roam around there and check out all of the animals, the aquarium and the the shooting range game they have.(I didn't have my camera so, I have no pictures) Today, we went to church and then got a few things at the grocery store. This evening we are having dinner with my parents and my brother's family. Fish fry---yum!
Well, I will leave you with a cute lazy Saturday picture...

I spoke too soon

Well, Carter was better yesterday when I posted but Cooper got off the bus saying his stomach hurt. He was okay off and on and then wanted to go dove hunting with Cody. They went but were back really quick. Cooper had sat in a chair and never moved and never even picked up his BB gun to shoot any doves. If you know Cooper, than you know he had to feel bad to miss that excitement. Anyway, they were home a few minutes and Cooper then was throwing up and spending lots of time on the potty(you know what that means). Poor guy. Then about an hour later Cody started with both problems. He threw up all night long. Today was okay. Cooper was much better and Cody was improving but then Colton got off the bus with a stomachache. Sure enough he has been throwing up all evening. To top it off, Carter started having major diarrhea and threw up again tonight. Seriously?! I think it is a minor miracle that I have avoided it so far, especially since I am the one cleaning up after everybody.
I snapped these pictures about 7:00pm this evening. Both Colton and Cody were sacked out...poor guys!

This next one shows only part of the pile of laundry that I will be attempting to catch up on. I am so busy doing the sheets, pillow cases and blankets, that I can't make a dent in the actual clothes. =) Oh well.

 I am crossing my fingers this bug promptly leaves our house before I can get it. I am sure hoping all my boys feel 100% soon. Nothing worse than having your babies or hubby sick!

Today is a much better day

Yesterday, we needed all of this to get through our day.

My poor baby started to get sick on Sunday. He threw up at lunch and then spent the day pretty mellow and not himself, then he took a really long nap. That evening he had a bad diaper and so I was thinking a stomach bug or strep. ( Since sometimes strep will show up with a few stomach issues.) He woke up yesterday morning with a low grade temp and threw up everywhere. So my instinct was strep. After giving him a good bath and making a call to the Dr, we had a mid morning appointment. We left the Dr's office with a prescription for strep and an ear infection. She also thought that the stomach issues were not from strep but from a stomach bug. Apparently both things were going around.(building preschool immunities maybe?) My poor baby!! I spent the afternoon changing lots of diapers, washing sheets, Lysoling and cuddling my baby every chance I got. He spent his afternoon, being changed, cuddled, moaning occasionally and watching " Monkey--George" (Curious George)--his favorite show at the moment.
But today is a new day. He is feeling much better and although he still wants to watch "monkey George", he is almost back to himself. I have gotten a lot of these sweet grins so far today!!

Much Better!!!!

Remembering September 11th

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since our country was attacked! That is a day that I will never forget! I was teaching third grade and another teacher came to my classroom door. She waved me into the hallway and whispered to me what was going on. With shock and tears in my eyes, I went back to my 22 innocent and oblivious students. Our principal wanted us to check our email but say nothing to our students. We were to go about the day as if nothing had happened. There were a few parents that chose to get their kids out of school early but for the most part the day went like all was normal. However, it was anything but normal. For days, I watched in shock and disbelief as the news stations covered the tragedy. I cried over all of the personal stories of loss and heroism that were shared. I will always remember that day!! The song that Alan Jackson wrote shortly after that horrible day, "Where were you when the world stopped turning?", was so fitting and relateable to so many. As one of the lines in the song says--I actually was "teaching a class full of innocent children." 

Three years later, on a trip to New York city, I visited Ground Zero. It was a truly humbling experience. I took these pictures...

This was along the fence that closed in ground zero.

This was a building nearby where the towers once stood.

This next picture  is "The Sphere " that once stood in the open area between the two towers. After being recovered from the rubble, it was relocated to Battery Park. An eternal flame burns next to it as a memorial to the victims of 9/11... 

Since firefighters in the NYFD were some of the many heroes that fateful day, we wanted to take our picture with some firemen from the department on our visit. 

Here is my Mama and me--in front of the foggy New York skyline. The skyline that was missing the Twin Towers.

I have been watching the history channel the last week or so. It is still a shocking event to revisit. I still cry when I watch a lot of the personal stories or hear recordings left behind. Still can't imagine what those directly affected have gone through.
At church this morning, our pastor preached an amazing sermon. It was so fitting-- it was about HOPE.
The message was essentially this: "What breath is to the physical body, hope is to the human spririt!"
I am sure glad our country never gives up hope!