::spooky spaghetti::

this weekend was lily's school's annual fall fundraiser.

lily and finn have been talking about "spooky spaghetti" for weeks and weeks.  they were so excited leading up to the carnival that the day was almost unbearably long for them.

it was an awesome evening of fun, games, food, community and friends.

::halloween preview::

i think i'll chalk it up to being in a big city, but we've never had so many fall party options.  from lily's school, to our gym, to the zoo and museums and friends, we have options galore over the next few weeks.  

the kids and i decided to kick it off this weekend with a fall party at the YMCA.  it was so much fun to see how excited they were to get dressed up and it was great to see lots of our neighbors celebrating. it may not feel like autumn around here, but this sure got us in the halloween mood!

he kept saying, "i'm fierce! i'm ferocious!"

they had tons of fun things for the kids to do -- including a camel ride.  unfortunately, my kids wouldn't touch the camel with a 10 foot pole.  but he was fun to watch! 

on the way home, lily wouldn't stop picking up all the litter and filling her halloween basket with it.  my sensitive one.  

happy autumn!!

::this is how she gets to school every day::

i am so thankful that lily loves school this much.  

we have definitely had some bumps along the way (ie. fear of getting lost after lunch, being worried that she will get in trouble in violin because the boy she stands next to talks to her the whole time, anxiety about her teacher not being with her in P.E.) but overall, lily is loving school.  so much so that she told me last friday afternoon, "mama, i like school more than the weekends."  my heart simultaneously broke a little and rejoiced.  but truly, we could not be more thankful for her sweet school and her amazing teacher.

this video is the worst video ever, but she was just too cute this morning.  

thankfully, the sprint stops when she gets to every street corner and she dutifully waits for us.  :)

he's amazing, right??

::my love::

ryan and i ran in a race yesterday.

and it was hot.  and the heat is my nemesis when it comes to running.  (ie. chicago marathon)

the race was in a really cool area near houston and it was awesome to go for a long run just the two of us.  but, i was a wimp and didn't really have much gusto when we got around to mile 8 or so.

but, my sweet husband, who loves me so much, was just happy to run by my side and encourage me.  i kept telling him to go ahead without me, but he was content to be by my side.  and i love him so much for that.

it certainly wasn't our fastest run, but it was a lot of fun and it was our first texas style race.  (i truly do believe that everything is bigger in texas!)  and it was the first race t-shirt i've ever received with an armadillo on it.  pretty awesome if you ask me.

and on a totally different note, check out this little bandit...

i turned my back for one minute and walked around the kitchen corner to find him with three cookies in his hands and one in his mouth.  he knew he was into mischief because he immediately shoved all three cookies into his mouth and put the lid on the container by the time i got my camera (and then promptly started gagging on said cookies in his mouth).  oh i love this boy...