State Fair of Texas!

Two weekends ago, we bribed my mom (Nonnie) and my sister (Aunt Julie--or as Lily says, "Guwee") into making a trip to the state fair with our crazy crew. Despite all of us being from Texas and/or having Texas roots, my mom was the only one in our fair group who had previously attended, so we were all very excited to see what the fuss is about.....welllllll, let me tell you, it was quite the event! 

They say everything is bigger in Texas....and the State Fair of Texas is for sure one of those things. We could not have covered even half of the fairgrounds if we had tried, but we did see a good little portion of it!

When we arrived, the weather was SO perfect. And Hayes obviously was not into the photos...

After a quick trip to the cotton candy stand however, we had a much happier child! Have I mentioned before that I'm not above bribing when at large public events? Because that is definitely true!

After walking around and getting extremely overwhelmed by the variety of rides/games, we decided to do what we always do when stressed....eat.

I always hear about Fletcher's Corny Dogs so that happened and they were, of course, delicious! (And gone in about 2 minutes!)

We rode A LOT of rides for the first few hours (and spent A LOT of money buying tickets for those things, too.)

I got Lily (who was sooooo ready for a nap) on the Dumbo ride with me and although it definitely does not look like it here, she LOVED it and laughed almost the whole time. 

Hayes was our thrill seeker and rode the BIG ferris wheel as well as the log flume (twice). He was the cutest little thing to watch!

I'd give 500 tickets for those smiles! (I kind of did, too...)

Parker was decidedly more reserved, but he still had fun, especially after Bryan took him on a  trip to all the games. (He won a stuffed animal and was super proud.)

Fair life with three kids...

We ate some more food (including funnel cake, caramel apples, a "Sponge Bob" popsicle (why), fried oreos, and a whole lot of diet coke) and then we headed to the new children's petting barn which was HUGE and so cool. 

If Lily Mae could really talk, I bet she would say this was her favorite part. That girl loves her some animals (kind of unfortunate since her mother is very anti-pet). 

I wish I'd gotten more photos in this section, because we got feed ALL sorts of animals--a zebra (that was my favorite), an ostrich, a llama, and all the other usual farm animals. 

I love family photos but the whole little-kids-who-need-food-and-naps thing kind of ruins it a lot of the time. ;)

We got a few selfies with Big Tex....

And headed home to comfy couches, football, and order-in pizza. Thank the Lord for Dominos. 

Lily Mae Turns TWO!

Our precious baby girl turned a whole two-years-old on September 29th and right now seems the perfect opportunity to share! We had a fun, family-filled weekend with all of our girlfriend's favorite things, namely---food, family, toys, chocolate, and Chick-fil-a! 

On Friday night, (her birthday eve) we met Aunt Abby who was in town for work (super lucky timing) along with Grammie and Bee (Bryan's parents) for dinner at Uncle Julio's (which was de-licious). 

You know who's also de-licious? This baby girl right here.

It was a fun evening complete with queso, tamales, AND a chocolate piñata! I think it's safe to say we were all hating ourselves as we waddled out of the restaurant. ;)

We got home and I finished up my party prep--mostly decorating cupcakes, hanging a birthday banner, setting out gifts, and admiring my very own DIY piñata--Y'ALL I am so proud of this thing! Unfortunately it seems the only crafts I like to make are the kind that get thrown away immediately or destroyed by 4-year-olds but hey it is what it is, right?

On Saturday morning we woke up to find that our Lily Mae had turned two overnight! How dare she! We got her one of those kiddy plastic roller coasters which she was so excited over she was practically shaking but of course I have no photographed evidence of this cuteness. 

We had breakfast and hung around the house for a bit (mostly because it was pouring down rain) and then Bryan and Bee took the boys to a friend's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese (it was a HIT and I was thankful for a bit of quiet and alone time with my girl!) 

My Mom and my Aunt Cindy met me, Judy, and Lily at Chick-fil-a where Lily was, of course, and much to her delight, the center of attention.

Then we went home, put the birthday girl down for a nap and began our party prep for her "Two Sweet" birthday dinner.

(As you can see, Chuck-E-Cheese was obviously very exhausting for the boys...BAHAHA.) I LOVE YOU, BRYAN. YOU'RE STILL SO HANDSOME EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE SECRET NAP PHOTOS TAKEN OF YOU.

I win at taking the same photograph from 75 different angles. ;)

Lilybug LOVES her grandmas!

We had a taco bar for dinner and then cupcakes and an ice cream sundae bar for dessert. I TRIED to keep things simple, but of course, I am kind of horrible at that. 

Everything turned out perfectly with the help of the grandma's and aunt in the kitchen! I wish I could keep them here with me every day--then this mom thing would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it? 

The piñata's minutes were numbered so it of course had to be the centerpiece of the table.

My cupcake frosting kind of sunk/melted but they still looked pretty cute!

Naps, football, and the anxious anticipation of tacos.

Our precious Lily Mae!

After dinner we opened presents. Lily is really starting to understand how fun toys are (although I'm not sure if that's good or bad) so she had a lot of fun with her new stash of girl stuff. Pink is about to throw up in my house guys, and I am HERE for it.

Multi-tasking like a boss.

I wrangled her into her first PRINCESS COSTUME (I was way more excited than she was, can you tell?) and then she took a ride in her new baby doll stroller.

Then, the time had come...the time to kill the piñata. Parker seemed overly excited. Probably letting out some repressed anger towards me since he watched me work on it all week. (I'm only kind of kidding?)

The little princess taking her goodies. (And Hayes the candy hoarder.)

It was such a fun day. We cleaned up (alright, the grandmas and aunt cleaned up), put our baby two-year-old to bed, and then fell into our own beds completely exhausted. 

Bryan and I are unbelievably thankful for the gift that is Lillian Mae Roberts. God sure did know what He was doing when He made her. She is hilarious, smart, beautiful, curious, caring, brave, adventurous, compassionate, mischievous (in the cutest ways), and the absolute perfect addition to our family. I cannot wait to see how God uses these little gifts I already see in her as she grows up. What a blessing it is to have children and to be able to celebrate them growing older! We love you, Lilybug!

Park Points

Parker had the day off from school today so we packed lunch (quite the assortment of snacks, I must say) and headed to a new (to us) park in Allen. What a treat we were in for! 

"Green Park" also earned "Coolest Park EVER" from Parker which is saying something. It was built to look like a fire station and a police station and all three kids were in heaven--plus the weather was perfect. We even got to wear JACKETS! (Can you tell I'm over that 100 degree heat?) 

The park shared a green space with one of the fire stations and after an emergency trip to use their restroom (with Hayes bouncing out of the slide yelling, "I HAVE TO POOP!"), they happily granted our request to tour all of the fire engines in the super-sized garage.

This is Fireman Mark, and he was very kind. I hope is okay with being the star of today's blog post.

The Lilybug was as usual all into keeping up with her brothers which I think Fireman Mark got a kick out of. 

He was also kind enough to show Parker EVERY nook and cranny of each fire truck, including a description of all the tools and their uses. (We saw "the jaws of life" and it freaked me out to see it in person!) This was the most excited I've ever seen Parker for a tour of anything. It was super cute. (And earned me major Mom Points, I believe.)

Lily and her new BFF, Fireman Mark.

We are so thankful for the firefighters who keep us safe and for some really pretty parks where we live. And for this amazing weather! 

If you have read this and feel that I'm trying to be that perfect, show-off mom, I just need to bring this back to reality right now and tell you that after we got in the car (and post-tantrum) Hayes proceeded to tell me, "Mommy, I don't like to look at your face!"....so there's that. Age four is so far no different than age three in the emotional department. (Although I'm getting much better at not taking it personally!)

Afterwards we went Parker's parent-teacher conference (with a very GREAT report, go Parker!) and then came home to watch Monster's University. Parker had two helpings of dinner and I really do believe we are entering "big boy eating phase" where I'm not able to keep up with the amount of food he consumes! He also had a PB&J before bed. 

What else? I caught up on Poldark tonight and what can I say other than....it's SO GOOD. I am getting repetitive but I can not tell you how much I love it.

I am in bed and as Hayes would say, I am "POOPED". Good night!

Phone Dump, Beautiful Sunday, and The Week Ahead

Just wanted to pop in and share a few random photos from last week because I like things good and random. My future self will thank me, I am sure.

BUT FIRST: (And only because I just finished an episode...) It's needs to be said....this season of Poldark is SO DARN GOOD!! Please watch it. You will not regret it!

Back to photos....

Sweet moment gazing at the Christmas village at Costco before they lost their minds and had to be dragged out of the store. I only wish I were kidding!

All this rainy weather called for one of my favorite EASY soups. Meatball vegetable, anyone? (This is the beginning stage of cooking...don't you worry.)

On Friday night we headed to downtown McKinney to eat dinner at Harvest which is the CUTEST/coolest/hip-est restaurant ever. It's also delicious.

The whole vibe is so cool. They have burlap curtains and porch swings and rocking chairs and fancy comfort food.

Me and the boy who refuses photos with his mother. And my hat. If I had a dime for every time someone asked me if I was from Kansas City in the last two weeks, I'd have about a dollar. (I'm not from Kansas City, FYI.)

All my Texan blood led me to order the pork enchiladas. 

Little days with my little two. They are the best.

And so very messy!

This phone dump also made me remember the 500 big events that I haven't yet blogged (including Haysie's 4th birthday which we celebrated on Monday!) but I will get to it. Hopefully!

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 I also wanted to use this post to share something new....maybe? I usually do my meal planning and weekly calendar planning on Sundays (let's be honest though, I'm horrible at scheduling our weeks), so I thought I would share here as well--yes? Okay!

Here are our meals for the week:

Sunday: Chilli/ Frito Pies (Always enjoyed while watching football....and tonight while watching Tech's very own Pat Maholmes kill it.)

Monday: Beefy Mac, steamed broccoli, rolls

Tuesday: Chicken casserole, sautéed green beans and onions, rolls

Wednesday: Chicken Tacos/Mexican Pile Up

Thursday: Spaghetti, garlic bread

Friday: Pizza Night (We have Parker's fall carnival for his school this night. Should be fun!)

Saturday: Eat out at Spring Creek BBQ (We have our church's Trunk or Treat AND our neighborhood's Trunk or Treat so I'm sure there will be plenty of candy to be had as well....)

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Activities for the Week:

-Autumn At The Arboretum (I'm so excited for this and Bryan is so not.)

OR

-Lola's Pumpkin Patch

-Check out a new park!

-Fall Carnival at Parker's school

-Trunk or Treat at Church

-Trunk or Treat for Neighborhood

-Make neighbors a "Boo Bag" (This has been going around our neighborhood like wildfire! I love it. Trying to think of some none-junk treats to put in ours....)

-Carve/paint pumpkins (jury's still out on which method we will use....I vote paint because pumpkin guts are gross.)

It's looking pretty busy/exhausting but I'm super excited because like any basic white girl, this is my favorite time of year. ;)

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In other news, me, Parker, and Lily Mae took a wonderful walk tonight and enjoyed the nicest weather and a gorgeous sunset. Me and Parker got to talk about his sweet little life (his new best friend is also named Parker and he like comic books) and Lily learned how to say "beautiful" after I kept saying how beautiful everything was. We really do live in such a pretty neighborhood and part of Texas and I am so thankful to have so much to look at. We made it all the way to the park to swing (which is faaaar from our house) via a scooter and a car wagon before heading back. I have no photos of this but thought it was worth sharing.

We also spent the morning at church and listened to a really great sermon on how we "should" read the bible and I can't stop thinking about it--it's the last of a really great series our preacher has done (I say "our" like we are members, which we are actually not, but we need to be! We'll get on that at some point...) and I just think it's worded so well and is so applicable to all the fighting within the church today---here is the link if you want to hear!