Our Christmas Angel!

She is truly heaven sent! As sweet as can be!!!

These are from one of many photoshoots she has endured... Thanks to my good friend Kristen and her amazing camera skills!

It's a Girl!

Christmas came early and we're thrilled to introduce Riley Nicole McGinnis!
Born December 3rd weighing 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 inches long.
She is an absolute joy and Big Sister Madison and Big Brother Cooper couldn't be more proud!!!

She looks like Maddie did as a baby and so far has been pretty mellow and a great sleeper & eater! We are so excited to have her before the holidays and to be able to celebrate her 1st Christmas in just a few weeks!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/saddypie/WelcomeBabyRiley#

Autumn in Texas!

There really aren't definite seasons in Texas, but that doesn't stop anyone from enjoying all that Fall has to offer! We always enjoy St. Peters Pumpkin Patch which is just down to street from our house- it's a great way to get in the holiday spirit!!!!
And then there's always the Texas favorite-Dewberry Farms! This year Maddie and I were lucky enough to go twice... Once with her class and once with the whole family! We didn't last long with the fieldtrip as a crazy rain storm came out of nowhere and we were forced to hunker down in the mess hall- good times:-) Fun was still had by all!

And we went a week later with some other families and had a cookout/campfire and did the night time Dewberry thing- lots of fun! Here are some pics:


If you still want more... Here's the link!

http://picasaweb.google.com/saddypie/October?feat=directlink

Halloween 2009

Meet Super Mario Brothers... Mario, Luigi and Princesses Peach & Rosetta!

As always we had way too much fun dressing up for Halloween! The kids are really into the Wii and love the Mario Brother games, so it seemed fitting to dress as them:-) We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa McGinnis visiting so we had helpers to pass out candy while we made the rounds... And just like last year Cooper ended up with about twice as much candy as everyone else... How you ask??? Well, he would charm the neighbors and continue to fill his bag. Some cutting him off and others quite entertained!

Here's the whole group- and yes Duncan and I were the only 2 adults to dress up... We laughed at how it looked like they were all our kids, even with a bun in the oven! Octomom eat your heart out!!!


And here are some other pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's visit!

Madison's 5th Birthday -Tea Party!

Happy Birthday Princess Madison!

It's hard to believe it has really been five years!!!

Maddie really wanted to feel like a princess for her big day, so what better way than with a princess tea party! She invited all her girlfriends -of course Cooper and BFF Kyle were in attendance, dressed as knights- and they all celebrated like royalty. Some came in their formal finest and others got dressed up with our princess gear... Then they headed to the crown and wand station where they each decorated their own accessories... They finished up at the makeup station, where some of the older sisters were nice enough to help out! Once they were dressed to the nines they had some down time and watched part of the movie Enchanted.

After that, it was Tea Time!!! They munched on tea sandwiches, fruit, carrots & pretzels and drank raspberry lemonade from their china tea cups... Even the webkins joined in with their very own mini cups! Maddie said her doggie "Sarah" was especially thirsty drinking up lots of tea:-) After tea, they frosted their own cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to the sweet girl! Once dining was finished it was present time and before we knew it the princess tea party was over.

She had a great time, saying her favorite part was- of course- the cupcakes!

Click here for more birthday fun!

http://picasaweb.google.com/saddypie/MadisonSBirthday?feat=directlink

Cooper's 3rd Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday big man!

We celebrated all weekend long, starting on Friday with a visit to his favorite play spot Rocket City and then had Duncan's best friend Hansel come to visit, which was a huge treat for all of us! On Saturday we went to the golf store where Coop got to pick out his first golf club, had his favorite Subway meatball sandwich for lunch and headed to the Cinco Ranch Golf Course with the boys for his first round of golf!!! Too cute:-) On the actual birthday, we spent the day playing Wii, playing at the park and getting ready for the Big Surf Party which started at 5pm. He had a great time with all his little friends! They splashed, ate hot dogs, hit the pinata, ate cake and opened presents- he had a great time!!!!

Click here for more Birthday fun!

http://picasaweb.google.com/saddypie/CooperSBirthday?feat=directlink

Arizona Trip 2009

We spent two awesome weeks in Arizona with friends and family!!! It was so much fun and great to see everyone... The kids got to see their cousins and it was nice to sit back and watch them all play together!! Here are some of the many pictures we took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/saddypie/ArizonaTrip?feat=directlink

In Tucson, Duncan was able to play lots of golf which is really what vacation is all about for him! And I got the chance to see some old friends and get lots of much needed retail therapy:-) We got to AZ in time for my friend Barbara's baby shower which was absolutely beautiful!!! And that same morning our friends Christine & Joey welcomed their 3rd child into the world, so it was great to celebrate with them! I was able to visit with some old work friends and even see our old pal Cheryl! Tucson was a blast!!!

And Phoenix highlights included playing the slot machine, watching movies and swimming at Grandma & Grumpy McGinnis's house... Going with Grandma Sheilah to Jump and Shout while Duncan and Grandpa Spike played golf... Having a McGinnis photoshoot and celebrating all the kiddos birthdays... And visiting with the Godfreys and having some good o' BBQ... Too much fun! We even got an adult night out with Graham & Kristin which was a nice and unexpected treat!

D & I also got the opportunity to get away for the night to Vegas, where we had a wonderful time visiting old friends Erin and Tanya and gambling all our money away:-) It was worth every penny! The kiddos spent some time with Grandma and Grumpy and had lots of fun at the Fire Truck museum! We finished off the trip on Miss Alexa's birthday!!!

All in all it was a great trip! We were all very glad to be home though after the 16 hour drive... The kids did well which made it so much nicer:-) Thanks to all our friends and family for helping make it such a terrific time!

We're just a bunch of kids... Really!

Last weekend we attended the annual Mustang Anniversary Party and as always, had a hilarious time getting dressed up! This year's theme was "Saturday Night Live" so we decided to go as Mary Katherine Gallagher and MacGruber... Really the pictures say it all!

The next day we took the kiddos to their first circus! It was quite a show and fun was had by all... The big surprise was that the cotton candy was almost as expensive as the tickets to get in! Fortunately we got a super groovy hat to go with it which made it all worth it:-)

The Potty Party.... And the Children's Museum!

We've had a fun couple of days!!! Although it's hotter than heck outside, we got to celebrate Cooper's potty training success with a fun filled time inside at Rocket City! He loved the skee-ball as always and Madison loved the driving games.... Even cruising on a motorcycle!

And today, I took the kiddos with some friends to the Houston Children's Museum. They just remodeled it and it's fantastic!!! They have some of the original stuff that they still really enjoyed, and have opened an entire new area called Kidopolis. It's a super cool little city where the kids can play, work jobs and make paychecks! Maddie loved the grocery store, shopping from a list and using kidopolis money to pay for it... Cooper loved the restaurant and was thrilled to deliver pizza to our table! Pretty cute!!! They both did art in the art studio, worked in the vet clinic and played in the obstacle course. It was super crowded, but fun was had by all!

So this is what a blog is...

Technology.... A wonderful thing but a little overwhelming! We figured that if everyone can figure it out than so can we!!! So here you go...

We are excited to be expanding our happy family of four to a wild and crazy family of 5! Little bit is expected to arrive on the scene in late 2009, hopefully not too close to Xmas but we'll see-we just hope for a healthy, happy little bundle! We are not going to find out the sex (sorry to all you annoyed friends of ours that really want to know) but are truly excited for the surprise! Madison and Cooper are thrilled to become older siblings and are always asking to kiss my belly and give the baby zerberts.... Pretty darn cute!

Summer is cruising along and we're having a good time! The kids both did VBS last week and really enjoyed it- I taught which was fun, but not quite as easy as when I did it last summer a.k.a. not prego:-) Maddie did another VBS this week which she really enjoyed and it gave me some time to kick it with Coop. He and I went swimming last night and he is really getting the hang of it! Doing his "big arms and legs" and trying to pop his head up. It's pretty exciting to think about having two kids that are waterproof!!!

That's it for now... Just excited to be joining the world o' blogging!