more pictures

Okay, apparently you can only post 5 pictures at once! I learn something new every day!

Here's 5 more I just had to put on here from our great trip!

Scanlan Family Road Trip!

We were very adventurous and headed down to Houston for Thanksgiving to visit my dad, Ellen, and aunt claire and Katie. I was worried that this would be our first and last attempt at a road trip! But, everything went really well! The way down was a breeze! We got up at 6 and just woke the kids up and threw them in the car! We drove as fast as we could without stopping until we made it almost to Houston! I packed tons of snacks which kept my boys very happy. Jack figured out that I was sitting behind him (next to Collin) and would just put his little snack cup up in the air for me to refill about every 10 minutes!!

The boys loved, loved, loved Houston! My dad and Ellen have a great backyard and the boys loved to run free. They played in the sandbox and pushed lots of wagons around. The toys Ellen got for them were a huge hit as well! They were big boys and ate their meals at a table. We only ran into some screaming about sleeping in the playpens, but they adjusted quickly!

Caroline also was a trooper and slept all the way down and back and slept great in Houston! She loved her swing which was so nicely provided by Ellen's sister Corrie!

Ellen cooked fabulous meals, as always, and we drank great wine! The girls played entertained the boys as well, so Sean and I felt like we were on a mini-vacation.

They asked us to come back at Easter so I'm thinking we didn't wear them out too much!

We really all had such a wonderful time and I"m so glad we went! Thank you Owen family!

Bear with me, but here are lots of pictures of our great time!

Here's a little synopsis of the pictures , hopefully in order

** Collin and Katie in the sandbox

** Claire and Collin in the backyard

** Grandpa Gary and Jack on the riding mower (Collin had no part of that!)

* everybody on a walk

** Claire and Katie and Jack and Collin

** Jack in the wagon

** Collin in his pajamas

** Caroline in her pretty dress

** mom and her 3 kiddos

** Grandparents and grandkids

And, as an added bonus, my mom comes on Tuesday which always makes me so happy! So nice to have company and we have lots of things on our to-do list! I love the holidays!

Cute pictures

Really nothing of note, just a few cute pictures of my kids! Jack's is priceless and so him! I hope all his teachers love his zest for life as much as we do!

We were down, but not out..

Well, Monday was quite a day for our little family as we all got a stomach bug. When I heard Sean get sick, I began fervently praying that we would not get sick at the same time, but God had other plans. Taking care of 3 kids while sick is no easy task. Luckily these things only last 24 hours. Caroline is the only one who escaped it. At one point, she was happily playing on her play mat, while Sean and I lay on the floor next to her with no energy to even move! (Boys were sleeping)
We are slowly returning to normal. It's amazing how behind I get just having less energy for a couple of days!
It seems that we will be hit with all the viruses this winter as my pediatrician informed me. I did such a good job keeping them healthy last winter that now they have to get everything at least once! Oh joy! I told her that I may not survive until March... Snotty noses and coughs have now just become a way of life around here... We'll make it though!

Two months old!

Miss Caroline is 2 months old as of Saturday! I am loving watching her grow! And grow she is! She is close to 12 pounds and quite the chunker! She has many rolls on her thighs!

She has started smiling, mostly at her mama, and still loves being on the go! We like our Tuesdays and Thursdays which are our girl days! We go run errands and take naps together...

She loves, loves, loves her bath! She would stay in there forever. She just stares at herself in the mirror while she's bathing! Typical girl...

She was sleeping really well, but then she got a double ear infection and thrush, so has pretty much been miserable for a little while! We are on antibiotics now, so hopefully things will return to normal soon!

She has a very sweet disposition and loves to be held up high and walk around with her Daddy when he gets home!

Here are a few pictures .. one with her friend Carter (who is two days younger), one in her Longhorn onesie and some in her swing (which she loves). She's got big puppy dog eyes and the cutest nose!

Oh, and she has already survived a couple of "run-ins" with her brothers who sometimes get a little too friendly!! Collin tried to push on her face to get up from the floor (mommy stopped him and informed him that his sister is not furniture)... and Jack keeps trying to pull her hands and feet off.. not sure why??

Halloween.. finally!

This is how long it takes me to get to things... Here are some Halloween pics

Actually, they are several days before Halloween. The boys refused to wear their lion costumes, so they were Appalachian state football players, courtesy of uncle Kyle!

On this day, Haley (she's 14 and helps me a couple days a week.. the boys think she hung the moon!).. and I tortured them as evidenced by the photos! We put the costumes on and tried to bribe them with cookies, but pretty much failed miserably! At least I have some very funny photos.. Oh how we torture our kids! Maybe they'll wear these next year...

thank you, thank you!

Thank you to Miss Caroline who has slept through the night for the last 3 nights! I am still in shock and feel like it's a fluke! (the boys didn't do this until they were about 9 months old!). Last night she went 9p - 6a.! Amazing!
We told her she gets a pretty car when she turns 16 for being so nice to her very tired mom and dad!

Fun at the park

We tried a new park last weekend and here are a couple of shots of the boys. Jack loves the steering wheel and Collin is, of course, in a tunnel!! He loves little spaces! They really had fun. Collin was very sad when we left. We think he felt like he didn't quite conquer the whole park yet, so we promised him we'd go back. Afterwards we went to Rudy's and had some yummy bbq! I love eating out with the boys since I don't have to clean up afterwards! Sorry Rudy's!!

We are trying to make ourselves go out as a family at least once a weekend. We know there are about a million things to get done at home, but they can wait. The boys need outings and it's nice to go all as a family. We've really got it down pretty well. People give us funny looks sometimes and wonder why the crazy people ventured out in public, but we just smile and keep going! Thanks to the Vroonlands for giving us the great Land's End bag to bring when we have the whole crew. I could fit all the kids in it if I wanted to! It's awesome!

There's also a picture of Miss Caroline in one of her Halloween outfits... ( she had 3, of course).

More on Halloween to come (very funny pictures)....