Happy 12th Birthday Allie!

Today is a special day... it's not just the day that all kids and the Hershey family wait for with great anticipation each year... it is the day that our family celebrates the birth of our first child. Our baby girl.  

12 years ago I woke in the middle of the night to a feeling that I had never felt but one that I knew all at the same time.  A few seconds later my water broke, and I knew that I would be meeting my sweet baby that very day.  There was a feeling of anticipation and excitment that I felt in that moment that compares to nothing else on earth.  That day could very well be called the best day of my life.  It is the day that I became the mommy that I had always dreamed of.  It is the day that I conquered the mountain of bringing a baby into the world for the first time, and I have never felt anything that compares to that.  I loved it.  Really!  I did!  And I have loved being Allie's mommy - and since then the mommy of Jack and Cooper - for each and every day of the 4,380 days since October 31, 1996.  Not every one of those days has been easy - not by far - but truly, every single one of them have been a blessing.

Today, I celebrate Allie.  My little girl that is turning into a woman.  The little one that I have always worked to teach lessons to that has taught me so very much.  Allie, you are beautiful.  I am proud of you.  I love you.  You are the one that opened up my heart to the kind of love that only a mother can feel for her babies, and for that reason - among many - you are so special. 

Happy Birthday Cat!  I'll Love You Forever!

Jack's Jack-O-Lantern

Tonight Allie & I ran some errands.  When we got home I was surprised to see that while we were gone Corey & Jack had carved a pumpkin.  (thus the lack of pictures of the process :) )  Jack has been waiting patiently for a couple of weeks to make his pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern, and finally - tonight was his night!  I must say, "Billy-O" is a cute little pumpkin-head.  Corey gets daddy-points for squeezing this one in during our very hectic week.  xoxoxo

 Corey & Jack with "Billy-O" 

A Bloggy Day

I have had a very bloggy day... I've posted 4 new entries today, 

so don't forget to scroll down if you want to see all that is new.

A Week In The Life

I had the photos of my A Week In The Life project taken last week before I had to leave town, but I didn't have time to get them posted.  Although this is a ton of pictures, it is still such a small glimpse into all that we do... there are some things that I just forgot to photograph, some things that are too mundane to photograph (Yall know what laundry looks like, right?), and some things that you just don't want to see.  :)  

For what it's worth...

here is a week in the life of our family.

On this day, the boys spent hours outside playing in the water... making water balloons, digging in the muddy flower beds, burying their feet, and making tunnels and holes in the mud.  If you're going to live in Texas, you might as well make the most of hot October days.

~ running in the backyard ~

~ cleaning up after a muddy day ~

~ bedtime~

saying "I love you" with their hands

~ baseball game~

Corey coaching his boy

~ batter up ~

~ she is her mother's daughter ~

~ typical moment in my day ~

putting my makeup on while I wait for my drink at Sonic

At some point, almost every day, we hear guitar music.  

Corey & Jack both take lessons, and I love hearing them practice.  

We have even all started singing along to a few songs most evenings.

(photo by Allie) 

Allie spends much of her free time in her room playing with her camera.  She just discovered that this is the outcome if she puts her hand over the flash as she takes a picture...  

She is so creative!

~ putting puzzles together ~

~ pumpkin patch day ~

(see this post for more pictures of the kids at the patch)

~ morning coffee ~

Many mornings, Corey & I sit outside and drink coffee. 

We've had some cool mornings lately, and those are our favorite.  

(By the way, I love this cup!)

~ our home school ~

I love this about homeschooling... when it is pretty outside, we like to do school work on the table in the backyard...

...and sometimes we do school on the couch.

~ lunch break ~ 

~recess ~

(Yes, that is Cooper's favorite outfit.)

~ snack time ~

On this morning, it was too cool and wonderful to be inside.  

The boys bundled up and played outside until it warmed up then we did school.

(I love this picture of my boys!)

~ Allie & Milly ~

~ roses from my man ~

~ football game ~

Claire was hanging out with our family on this day.

~ kissin' cousins ~

~ Claire Bear lovin' on MiMi ~

~ snacking at the ballgame ~

~ base camp ~

(complete with camera bag & Sonic drinks)

~ Cooper & Claire playing with babies ~

~ playing games on Daddy's computer ~

~ cute shoes & a camera strap... that's my girl ~

(next 2 photos by Allie)

~ in my backyard ~

~ my puppy ~

~ the way we find Jack more nights than not ~

and while Jack is sleeping on the floor...

Number 9

This is what my niece, Claire, wore to Jack's flag-football game on October 11th... 

What a happy announcement and a fun way to share the news 

that she is going to be a big sister!

I had to keep my mouth shut for awhile, but now my sister has posted the news on her blog... so I can share too!  I have another niece or nephew on the way!  This will be the 9th grandbaby on my side of the family.  Those of you that read Emily's blog have known for a few days that she is pregnant, but I wanted to post the news on my blog too.  I am so excited for Emily & Allan!  

Em & Allan - there are so many adventures in store for all of you, and I can't wait to see you turn into a family of 4.  I love you!  

Clara Ann

While we were in Colorado, Corey & I got to meet our newest great-niece, Clara Ann, and she is beautiful!  Her mommy, Sarah, (Gabe's sister) was so brave to travel with a little-bitty only 3 weeks after she was born!  Clara's presence was a blessing to everyone in our family, and she defiantly brought joy to all that saw her.  I joked with Sarah that instead of a great-aunt, I would like to be called an extraordinary-aunt... I guess that that makes Miss Clara my extraordinary-niece.  Hopefully I can take many more pictures of her next week when I see her in Texas.

Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

Well, we are back to Texas.  There are so many things that I could write about today, but I think that I will just share a few photos instead.  

Of course, my camera made the trip to Colorado with us.  I didn't take many pictures while we were there, but here are a few that I took on the way... I had never been on such a small plane, and I had certainly not flown over the mountains, in a storm, in an 18 passenger plane... until last Tuesday.  It was an experience.  We'll put it that way.  :)  I was very thankful for the buddy passes, and I would do it again... I just wouldn't eat a big lunch right before I boarded the plane next time.

This is one that Corey took out his window while we were flying from Denver to Telluride.

We thought that our little plane's reflection was really cool!

~ the beautiful Rocky Mountains ~

I've always loved them, but I had never seen them from above like this.  

Now I love them even more.

~ frost on the airplane window ~

(hard to imagine from HOT Texas)

I had to take a picture of this... Yes, the pilots were right there in from of us.

This was the view out of the front window as we were were landing in Telluride.  

~ getting ready to land ~

(Notice that our plane's shadow was not much bigger than the tennis court. :) )