A Blessed Weekend

On Tuesday at school, Jackson's class was talking about how families love fall. He came home with his first homemade bird feeder and some beautiful art work. I do believe that families LOVE fall. Especially ones that live in Houston and have suffered through a long, HOT summer. This past weekend was one full of fall family fun. :)

I decided on Friday that Jacks was going to be a cowboy for Halloween this year. After all, he is a Texan (born here, folks.) On Friday night, we just kind of chilled and took Jacks to Cavender's to get some cowboy attire. My favorite part of that trip was the salesman (a true cowboy) trying to convince Kyle that many dads like to get the same shirts as their little ones so they can match.

Sorry, partner. Kyle Silvio is a lot of things. But he is NOT a cowboy. :)

After the Cavender's extravaganza, we headed to Jimmy John's for sandwiches and headed home. Anyone else ALWAYS forget to tell them to leave off the sprouts? And accidentally order wheat bread and remember how yuck theirs is? But the Beach Club is such a phenomenal sandwich that it's still great despite the odds (sprouts and yucky wheat) stacked up against it. Ha, literally.

Next up on the weekend agenda was Saturday! I had the privilege of going with a group of friends from our class to serve lunch and carve pumpkins at MD Anderson's Ronald McDonald House. Such an amazing place and a neat opportunity. The girls mostly served lunch, and the guys handled the pumpkin carving. We met some wonderful families and enjoyed spoiling them for a few hours.

Saturday night we got together with the Cochrans and Joneses for Fall-inspired fun: a yummy "fall" dinner complete with pumpkin dip, taco soup & gourmet apples, football (LSU was off this week, but we got to watch MSU (Brad & Amanda) & Baylor/UT (Nick & Jaime.) We didn't realize until the very end that we could catch the Baylor/UT game but tuned in just in time to see the Bears "Sic 'Em." Geaux Bears! We intended to carve pumpkins that night but ended up being lazy and full after all that yummy food. And carving pumpkins would've meant having to step away from the pumpkin dip. No thank you.

There's nothing significant about this pic I took on our way to the Cochrans. Other than the fact that Jacks is delectably cute in it. He was half-way dressed in his cowboy attire.

Love.that.smile.

Gourmet apple making...Jacks was a pretty big fan of dipping things (especially marshmallows) in the chocolate.

Brody and Latham getting in on the topping action. They were just eating the toppings straight from the dish. Not a bad idea.

Spoons!

I realize Jacks looks slightly disturbed here. But it's kind of funny & the only pic we took together this whole weekend!

The boys were running all around the house saying, "MONSTERS!!!" and giggling up a storm.

"Hiding" from monsters! (Baby Archer was trying to see what was going on. Bless his heart. Archer Jones, you'll be running after those boys in no time!)

Sunday morning was church and then a very quick trip home to rest before heading back up to CFBC to get all set up for the Fall Festival. We had such a fun time setting up the booth and running it with our friends from class. The Fall Fest was a HUGE success, and Jacks had a great time! He was such a cute cowboy! No...I didn't take any cutesy pictures. I'm SO over trying to make a toddler boy pose for pictures! You gotta catch him in action because that's where he LIVES. Love it.

Here's our little cowboy hanging out near our booth before Fall Fest. He even stands like a cowboy! Check out how authentic he is. My faves are his belt buckle and boots! And of course the hat.

Wranglers!

Jacks and Lath picking out their loot. Jacks really got the hang of it this year!

Jacks and Brody listening to the praise band. They loved it!

Flashback...Halloween 1983...OK I lied. Kyle WAS a cowboy once. ;) Wasn't he a cutie?

Jacks helped Kyle attach candy to the clothespins for a little while at our booth. It was a "fishing" booth where the kids "fished" for candy. He was such a good helper! Of course there were a few perks to being so close to a huge stash of candy. Even I got in "trouble" a time or two for getting caught eating candy while a poor kid was on the other side waiting for a "fish" to "bite."

Kyle took off Monday, so we had a nice LONG weekend. After sleeping in, we headed straight for the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, TX. We had a wonderful time touring the Creamery and of course sampling a few yummy flavors of Blue Bell (my first time to try Snickerdoodle...yum) and at the end of our tour getting to pick a flavor to have a whole cup of! Yum. You are not allowed to take pictures on the actual tour, but we snapped some outside and in the Country Store (where we ate our ice cream.)

I know you're wondering what flavors we got. ;)

Kyle got Cookies N Cream.

I got Pumpkin Spiced Pecan. (YUM--It actually came out in stores the day we were there and will only be on sale during November. I'm on the hunt for it in our local grocery stores. If you see it--let me know! It's amazing.)

Jackson got Krazy Cookie Dough.

YUMMMM.

We left the creamery and headed home for naps. Later in the afternoon, we ran some errands and ended up stopping in for dinner at Goodson's Cafe. We sat at a table in the back near the fish tank, so it almost counted as a date for Kyle and me. There was a little chair pulled up right beneath the fish tank where Jackson sat and watched the fish until our food came.

What a fun weekend. It was a lovely mix of serving, playing, resting, and being productive.

We feel blessed!