Trey is 3

I look back on the short life that Trey has lived and am amazed that he is already three years old. He was only 7 months old when we packed up and left the great state of Texas to come and have an adventure here in Maryland. 

Trey has more Energy than any kid I know! He honestly has more energy in his little pinky than I do in my whole body, and that is the truth!

Earlier in the day we went and picked out a Christmas Tree and then that night celebrated with some friends, with pizza and cake and ice cream. Some of his favorite things.

I am always trying to capture on camera Trey's smile and love for life. More often than not this cute boy has a big big smile on his face. One of Trey's "trade marks" I would say is his face with an almost perminate smile!

I was very fun to have some friends to celebrate with! Thanks Christensen's, we really enjoyed your company! (Later that night I went and visited Karen in the hospital who had just had a beautiful baby girl. Now it will be easy for me to always remember baby Emily's birthday!)

That face!

Trey was very excited to have a Thomas the Train Cake. Although the cake did not turn out just like I wanted it made my day when Trey woke up that afternoon and said "Momma, its so pretty, its so pretty Momma! It made the night absolutely perfect!

We made Aunt Toot's famous sheet cake for him and it was a big hit! It's a cake I always looked forward to when we would have a gathering with my great aunt. 

Trey was very excited about the Thomas blanket that Mema made! She is the Queen at these blankets and pillows.

The 3 Things about Trey:
1. He is very complimentary, he is great for the most part about saying Thank you, and often after a fun day out will say something like "That was really really great". He cracks me up with those kind of things at just 2 years old even.
2. The smile on his face is contagious! I love having such a face around all the time. I mentioned his energy (which can no doubt wear me out) and with that energy is mixed in alot of ornery-ness, giggles and fun! Trey also is quite the class clown. From the time he was very small he has had it in his blood to want to make people laugh!
3. Trey will still sit and cuddle with me every night at bed time. I cherish this. It's the only time I EVER get him to sit still (he has no choice) and he really is a cuddle bug. He still lays on my shoulder every nap time and night time. He still does the classic, brushing my hair out of the way to have just the perfect place to put his head. He has been doing this since I can remember and I never never want to forget it. Also I say that "break" with this little guy is that he is afraid of everything, surprisingly. This in some ways is "helpful" because its not very often that he goes too far away!
Love Love Love you Trey! Thanks for bringing so much light and happiness to our family!

Mom and Shanna

My Mom and Shanna along with Olivia came to visit for a week. Here are a few pics of various things we did. It was low-key but a very nice visit! Funny that is was a "low key" visit because they were here right smack dab in the middle of Hurricane Sandy, was obviously was devastating to so many. We did not get hit by much of the storm, but were advised to stay in.  It was crazy to be a part of a storm that shut down so many parts of New York and so many other places!

Addy got her new glasses. second pair in just 6 months. Hopefully these will last a little longer. They are so so cute on her! They fit her great, with size and personality.

We made sugar cookies as part of the Halloween dinner. All the kids love to do things in the kitchen with me, and believe it or not (most of the time) I love to have them helping. I want them to have good memories of being in the kitchen with me, since it seems I am in there most of my life...

I LOVED having a baby in the house! It seems that its been so long.

She is a doll!

Stacee who was Shanna's physical Therapist in Lubbock now lives in Maryland and came for dinner one night it visit with us and Shanna. She is a great person and Shanna was on the moon that she got to spend some quality time with her. She always tells us that Shanna was one of her biggest "success". She worked very very hard to get Shanna where she is today.

We made a trip out to the inner harbor. I always talk about how its so nice that we don't get much wind here like west Texas, but this day was windier than all get out!

My Mom took us all out for pizza, which was great to get out! We didn't get out much since the weather was so bad! 

First photo of the kids with there newest cousin Olivia! They all loved her.

Halloween and School Parade

We got to enjoy Halloween with Mom and Shanna and Baby Olivia here for a visit. In the morning we went up to the school to see the girls in the parade. It really is just a walk around the school that the kids make, but it fun to see them with their class-mates.

Olivia quite enjoyed the parade!

Dorothy

Mermaid

That night we went out trick-or-treating, and came back with a bucket full, literally! Shanna and I and the kids went out while Mom stayed home passing out candy.

All the kids that came by were mesmerized by the "glowing teeth" Mom had. A huge hit!

He loved walking up to peoples houses and was very well trained with the "trick-or-treat" AND thank you!

Baby Olivia came along as well.

It's part of the whole routine now to dump all the candy on the ground and take out any "poison" (nut) candy. Halloween seemed to go on and on this year, with Halloween night of course being the last hurrah!

Pre- Halloween Activities

This was a Halloween party we went to with the Kraffts. It was alot of fun. Tons of cars were decorated and even had fun activities along the way.

These pics are before the Church Halloween party.

Addy was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. This is actually a costume that my friends  mother-in-law made.  Addy loved it and was trilled, that 2 other girls in her class had the same costume (except store bought and not nearly as cute).

Brynlee was a mer-maid and was trilled with her costume as well, she looks so grown up with that high bun in her hair!

Super Hero to the rescue! Mema (of course made the costume) and Ethan had the idea to print off the "T" from the computer. I laminated it and it lasted for each event we had. Trey LOVED that he was a Super Hero!

Back drop from the Church party.

I made a Halloween dinner while Mom was here and it was lots of fun. Mummy dogs, Bone bread sticks,  and butternut quash soup, which was my favorite. I loved the sour cream spider web, it turned out better than I could have planned.

Carving pumpkins.

I Can't Get Enough of PA & Applesauce

Trey and I made a quick trip to Browns Orchard (my favorite one in Pennsylvania) to pick up some apples and get my fix of course.

There is a great small play ground on the property, which allows me to eat my very favorite sandwiches while kids play. (I'm getting very frustrated trying to put these photos in order , and its not working so unfortunately they are all out of order. Oh well)

I wish I could capture the beauty of this place, but these pictures just don't do it justice, it is seriously a beautiful place.

These paninis are seriously so so delicious. I didn't want to forget just how much I love these sandwiches.

Trey said to a boy who ran up to the playground while we were playing: Boy- "are you a baby or a boy" Trey-"I'm a cow... MOOOOWW" it was hilarious. 

When we go to this orchard I usually just get the seconds apples. They are so much cheaper and still oh so good. 

I had so much fun with him that day! I was a nice peaceful day just the two of us.

The next day I bottled applesauce all-by-my-self! I was very proud of this.

I did have a little help from the girls when they got home from school.

I was amazed that I was able to pull this off. I bottled over 20 quarts. It was a long day, but surprisingly I enjoyed it. I know that when we have start digging into these during the middle of winter, I will love it even more.