Home Base is Under Attack!

Since October is always a wild and crazy month for us, we decided to make it a little wilder and a lot crazier! We took this bunch to Hot Springs last night to play laser tag and celebrate Nathan's upcoming birthday. 

Chad and Tina Collins reinforced the adult team that beat the kids' team two times in a row.  We mixed it up on the 3rd round. Chad and I had most of our boys; Jeff, Tina, and the rest of our boys teamed up with another family. I won't brag about which team won. ;)  I will say that the most important stat of the night was that Jeff and I shot each other an equal amount of times.  (And we have the printouts to prove it!)

Afterward, we has some gigantic pizzas at  Rod's Pizza Cellar.  I don't think anything has changed since the last time I was there 20 years ago!

Afterward, we came home to open presents and have dessert.  How is it that we've had a boy for almost 10 years and never had any Rockem Sockem Robots?

Like last year, Nathan wanted to have a Birthday/Halloween party.  This year's eyeball-themed dessert:  white chocolate covered Oreos.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

So far, the Razorbacks are 1-3 in September, and the Adams family is 0-4. As much as we try to avoid it, at least one person in our house has been on antibiotics every day since the end of August!! It was pneumonia for Jeff, bronchitis for Nate and me, and Ashley has been fighting a sinus infection. Ash and I stayed home last weekend to rest and recover. We also made these cute, burlap door hangers. Come on October! I'm looking forward to cooler weather and a healthier household.

Meltdown on Markham

We had such a great time tailgating yesterday! It was almost a shame that we had to go into the stadium to see such a total meltdown by our Hogs.  So instead of mentioning anything about the game dubbed "Shock in Little Rock" on espn.com, how about I just share some cute pictures of the kids? Okay! 

The Collins boys joined our usual crew (minus Evan)

The belle of the ball

Carter devouring some ribs!

Will spent an hour putting this together only to have it domolished and the pieces used as light sabers.

Huddle before the Dads vs. Kids football game

The dads lost the first game or two.



Later, Thomas joined the boys for some Shirts vs. Skins action.  The dads brought in the Krebs girls as reinforcements.



Tats and Piercings

We stayed in Fayetteville an extra day and enjoyed our long weekend.  On Sunday, the boys went to the movies while the girls went shopping.  Ashley randomly decided on Saturday that she was ready to get her ears pierced, so that was our first stop in the mall.

Ashley and Jennifer

Carefully making her selection

Initially, she was going to go with pink, but the girl doing the piercing talked her out of it.  Since it's football season, she chose white so it wouldn't clash with her Razorback attire.  Speaking of the "girl" doing the piercing, her name was Eva, and she was the Manager on Duty.  When she casually mentioned that her mom just turned 37 (!!!), Jennifer and I just about died! Only later did I notice this sign:  

NOTICE: If you were born after today's date in 1994, your parent or legal guardian must provide photo ID...

Considering that we graduated from high school in 1994 and that we could be this girl's mother, I'd say we are officially OLD!  But back to Ashley...she did a great job.  Even though it hurt, she did not shed a tear!  What a brave girl!

Sporting the new studs and a Hog tattoo leftover from the game.  Tats and piercings...I hope this is not foreshadowing her future! ; )

Random cute picture in the mall

Goodbye, August! Hello, September!

The last two weeks around here have pretty much been a blur. Trying to get back into the school routine started out pretty smoothly. But by Friday of the first week, we were all worn out!  The second week was also kind of crazy.  Since Hurricane Isaac was initially predicted to hit the Florida panhandle, Amanda and the kids evacuated here for a few days.  It was great to get an unexpected visit with them, but I think we ended up getting more of the storm here than they did in Pensacola!

Luckily, the rain moved out of Arkansas just in time for the first game of the year!  The weather was surprisingly tolerable as we tailgated on Saturday in the shade.  Unfortunately, the way our tickets worked out, Jeff was in the outdoor seats on the east side of the stadium with 3/4 of the kids.  They survived the heat of the first half with lots of lemonade and snow cones!

First Day of School

Both kids were fed, dressed, photographed, and dropped off, and I still made it to work by 7:58...that would be a win in my book!  Good luck to all in this new school year!

My first grader and fourth grader

Carter, Mrs. McBride, Nathan, and Luke

Last Days of Summer

There are just a few more days of summer vacation, and we've tried to make the most of them!  After "Meet the Teacher" at school last night, we traded Ashley for 5 extra boys.  Hmmm...I don't think that was quite a fair trade, but I bet the decibel level was about the same at both houses.  Those girls can make some noise! 

Ashley has been ready to start back to school for a few weeks, and now Nate is also super excited.  He found out that he got the teacher he wanted and that 2 of his 3 best friends are in the same class!  We're praying for that poor teacher already.  She's gonna need it with these guys! ; )

Downtown Saturday

 Will and Evan came down for a sleepover this weekend.  My basic strategy when taking care of a lot of children is to try to wear them out!  Last night, they went swimming for nearly 3 hours, so bedtime was a breeze and 3/4 of them slept in past 8:00 this morning.

We spent most of the afternoon downtown enjoying the still-hot-but-bearable weather.  We started by walking to the Clinton Library and crossing the new bridge.



After that, we cooled off at the Nature Center and then took a short ride on the trolley.  The trolley was standing-room only and sounded a little more fun than it actually was.  We finished our day with lunch at the Flying Fish and, of course, a trip to Peabody Park.

The kids had to stop and pick this guy's nose.  I have no explanation...it's just something they do!

Slip-N-Slide!

Under Attack!!!

Mom and Dad had to go to a funeral on Saturday morning, so Jeff, Renee, and I decided to take the kids to Hot Springs.  Well...Renee got sick, Jeff took her home, and I was left to entertain these five crazy people!  We started with a round of indoor putt putt at T-Rex Jurassic Golf, and then we decided to try out the laser tag place next door.  In spite of being located behind the lobby of a run-down, old motel, it was very fun.  I joined another family (a dad and two kids) and took on our five kids.  They were a united front trying to take me down! 

Mom, Dad, and Jeff joined me in Hot Springs later that day, and then we all went to Lake DeGray.  Babe and Kelly got a new boat and RV that we all wanted to try out.