Catching up, once again

I don't mean to be so horrible at keeping up with my blog. This busy time of year, it's hard for me to keep up, but things are finally slowing down, so here I am. I've actually been debating lately if I should continue doing this blog ... still thinking. Need to keep marinating on that one.

Until I decide for sure, he's a quick catch-up of the last month, using photos. It'll be easier for me to summarize with pictures, rather than write and write and write.

Since the last time I posted, a bunch of fun things have happened. They are:

School started! Here is our big 2nd grader on his first day. Amazing!

Karen's birthday! We spent a wonderful day out at her & Malcolm's ranch, eating ourselves silly and relaxing from our crazy work schedules. (Her busy time of year is the same as mine.) It's always fun hanging out with the Young family - we can't wait to go out there again.

Malcolm's feast for the day. It was delicious, as always.

LOTS of twin time! We were lucky enough to spend oodles of hours with this beautiful girl ...

... and this handsome devil. I can never get enough of those two. Ever.

Z's birthday! Our little dude turned 8, and asked me to make cupcakes to take to school.

Him opening a gift before school. Yes, this was taken at approximately 6:30am.

And yes, Uncle Ken came over that early, to be there when Z opened his gift. Of all his gifts, he chose Ken's to be the one he opened before school, because "Uncle Ken always gives THE BEST GIFTS!". Obviously, he thought so again this year. He jumped on Ken to give him a hug when he saw that Ken got him the one thing he wanted most.

My Mom, sister, the bday boy, and my Dad.

Mr. 8-yr old, in the hoodie my sister got him.

The at-home cake.

The party cake.

Hosted a Super Mario themed bowling birthday party for him and 11 of his friends. It was a blast!

We tried a new restaurant with Karen & Malcolm, and this is what I ate. It was damn near the best meal I've ever had in my life. Yes, it was really that good.

Found out our old man might be in the beginning stages of kidney failure. :( We will know for sure sometime in October when we take him back to get blood drawn again.

Finally got some rain! It went on for two days straight, and soaked everything to the bone. Needless to say, I absolutely loved every second of it, and wish it had lasted longer.

I made an amazing pie. This isn't an amazing picture, but trust me - the pie was incredible. Fudge pie with graham cracker crust & Cool Whip topping - how could that be bad? (Thank you again, Amy, for the recipe!)

Joined a fantasy football league for this first time ever. The league consists of me, Aaron, my parents, my sister, and Ken. My Mom chose her team name - The Bone Crushers - and this is the team photo she chose. We laughed for about two days after seeing this, because she's not generally your Grim Death Skull type.

My Dad's team - The Alley Catz. Again, made us laugh for a few days, simply because of the "z" on the end of "cats". He's so gangsta, yo. My parents are simply awesome.

We took Z to a fabulous play at a fabulous playhouse owned by his first-grade teacher! Very family-friendly, and very, very funny. Z loved it.

The witch in the play.

Z's teacher last year ... aka, Rapunzel.

Prince Charming - Z's favorite character in the play. Figures.

Witnessed the twins getting baptized. It was so special. This was my favorite family shot I took that day. I love how the older boys are praying, and Dad is nuzzling with his baby girl. Precious!

Three of the sweetest goofballs you'll ever know.

We started up soccer again! Fall season has begun and we're pretty stoked. This was Z waiting for me and Aaron to finish changing before his first practice last Wednesday evening. Mr. Cool Guy, playing his DS, with his soccer ball.

Random, awesome shot of just how alike they still are.

Beckham Junior, hard at work during practice.

Huddle at the end of practice.

Go Comets!

Whew! That's been the last four weeks, aside from my still daunting workload. All in all, no complaints, and I'm especially glad to be nearing the end of the heap of work from August. Oh, I also joined a group of women on a photo blog, in case you're interested in taking a look. It's called Envisage 365, and you can scroll down to the bottom of the page & click on my name to see my posts so far. It's pretty interesting, and seems like it's going to be a fun project for the next year.

Off now to hang out with my boys, since it's Friday night, and Aaron has the rare treat of being off from work tonight. We'll probably spend it at HEB getting groceries, like lame-o's, but at least we'll all be together. Until next time ... peace & pastries to all. Or, as my friend recently said, "love, peace, & chicken grease." I may have to amend my "peace & pastries" to that, permanently. I'm diggin' it ...