Yea! It's October! We are so glad it is officially fall. Our neighbor gave us a caterpillar because her parsley plant was full of them. We put it in a jar and fed it parsley and other leaves for about two weeks then it made a chrysilis in the jar. It was in it's cocoon for two weeks then while we were camping it came out! We took it outside and let it go. It was really cool to watch God's creation.

Isn't my family precious - look at the hilarious faces. Mallory is like "who are these people?" James is totally bored. Kinley sees a pretty bird and Josh is stressed smiling because he just tried to get three drunk midgets to smile at the exact time the red light stopped flashing. I applaud his effort!

I had another cleaning job this month so Josh took these while I was gone. The same day he also took all three to Sam's to get our monthly bulk items. He is a pro!

Be still my beating heart!

This is Mallory looking in the mirror. She thinks she is pretty cute. She flirts like this every time she she's herself. We have two mirrors and they are by far her favorite toy right now. She is beginning to bat at hanging toys and she coos and gurgles all the time.

Last week we took our annual Beaver's Bend camping trip. This year my parents, Josh's parents and all our siblings, nieces and nephews went. It was a party. We had 15 people in one campsite spread through 3 tents.

James and Tristan idolize uncle Jason and his freakish fire and wood carving skills. Obviously Jason had told them how close they could get and they are eagerly awaiting a piece of bacon. Don't you love their spelunker lights. They couldn't bare to take them off even in the daytime. Jason made them a fort to play in. He carved them boats to race in the river, swords, knives and daggers and coached them in the ways of building, starting and maintaining a good campfire. They were in heaven.

The campground had a fun playground.

We are noticing a lot of similarities between Jada and Kinley. It is uncanny how similar their body shape, attitude, and language are. It makes us miss little Jada. We did hear that she is still with the same family she went to when she left us and that she looks happy and healthy. Kinley has been testing us on first time obedience which is delightful. She has also begun bargaining about spankings. If she has to get two or more she will ask for one. When we are talking to her about making good choices she will make random comments to distract us like "your eyes are crooked". While we were camping she did not want to take a nap and after two hours of spanking her and putting her back down we finally tied the tent shut and after she took off every shred of clothing including her diaper she fell asleep with her bottom in the air. She had to try every avenue until she would accept defeat.

On a side note, James had his 5 year well child visit. The doctor said he is a very smart, healthy boy and he is the size of a 7 year old! He had to get his immunization boosters and he didn't even cry. He took it like a champ and the nurse was so impressed. She said five year olds are the worst because they are dramatic wimps but not James he was cool as a cucumber. He is loving school and he has already gotten a girl to fall in love with him. This happened at the last school too...I'm thinking we are in trouble! Her name is Karson and she has already given him a love note. She drew an elephant on an envelope and put dried weed flowers in it and gave it to him. He was like"uh, cool, thanks" and forgot about it. Last week they had playground drama. When I picked James up and asked how his day was he said "well we had some trouble today". Then he proceeded to explain how he wouldn't play what Karson wanted him to, so she said she wasn't his friend anymore. Since she wasn't his friend then he said he wasn't going to be anyone's friend. Apparently they all cried and yelled and Karson was sitting under a tree and wouldn't talk to him. It was heavy. But the wonderful, patient teachers helped them work it out. Whew...and we're only getting started!

She makes the funniest faces.

Mallory enjoyed camping so much that she began sleeping through the night while we were there. All three nights she slept from 10:30 until at least 7. She is quiet grunty in her sleep though. I'm really glad I don't have to share a room with her.

And this, well let's just say there will never be another Morris camping trip without it! It makes coffee exactly like at home just a few minutes slower and without an auto start. It is much better than the old percolator we used to set on the fire and it took and hour to get two cups of nasty coffee. I want to give the genius at Coleman that came up with it at BIG kiss!

Bop cooking a huge breakfast over an open fire. Other than the coffee, pancakes, and heating water to do dishes we keep the use of the Coleman stove to a minimum. The Eagle Scouts we roll with prefer to do it survivor style.

We had every couple plan a breakfast and a dinner. We had chili, cornbread, and peach cobbler; foil dinners with Italian sausage, veggies, breadstick, and brownies; fish fry, hush puppies, cole slaw, baked beans, and dutch oven turtle cake. For breakfast pancakes, sausage and bacon; breakfast burritos; eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast. Josh and I worked it out pretty good - we brought sandwich stuff and got out of cooking for the group. We got there a day early and had hot dogs for dinner and packaged oatmeal for breakfast. We took the easy way out but we are going to blame it on the three month old!

We found a nice spot by the river and the big boys rerouted a part of it to race wood carved boats in. We went canoeing which was beautiful and relaxing. We did a very little hike and let the kids throw rocks in the water. The grandparents took the grand kids on a train ride. We love this tradition and are excited to continue it. We will have so many great memories.

Not much has been going on around here. We are just busy bodies sustaining life. James was playing today and put Mr. Potato Head on Tex and said "Tex is trying to scare Gecko so he put on his potato mask". I thought is was hilarious looking. James is starting to read. Teaching him to read is my goal before he starts kindergarten next fall. He is doing really well so far and we are having fun with it. He sounded out the word sand and he made the "a" sound a little long and ended up saying sand as if he were British and he laughed at himself so hard he teared up. He was amazed that things can be said different ways.

I got another cleaning job this month and was gone all weekend. This was a pick up game of roll the bouncy ball. So sweet.

We finally caught her smile on camera! She is just beautiful and her smile lights up her whole face. She is very social at this point and loved to "make eyes" at us.

James and Kinley are starting to interact with Mallory a little more. They really like that she acknowledges them with a smile.

James and Kinley's first day of school. Of course we couldn't get them both to be serious and smile normal at the same time. They really like their new school.

We are settling into a school year routine that I think we are all going to like. We go to the Y on Monday and Thursday mornings then BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) on Tuesday mornings, school on Wednesdays and a playdate or errands on Fridays. During our time at home we do learning time where I work with them on reading, science, colors, math readiness, etc. We also do a Bible time where we pray, read and memorize scripture. Then of course we include lots of playing and a nice amount of cartoon's and movies! We are excited because this year all 5 of us are attending BSF. Josh goes on Monday nights and the kids get to go with me on Tuesdays. They have an amazing kids program where 5 and under go in the mornings with mom and 6 and up go in the evenings with dad so hopefully we will stick with it for a long time and really reap the benefits.

We are getting excited to go to Beaver's Bend for our annual camping trip in two weeks. I am still having trouble with terrible flashbacks from last year. I am ready to make some new memories to replace all the bad ones!

I'm sorry I haven't posted! We had 6 events outside of Tulsa in the last three weeks! It has been a marathon but we are all in one piece and got to have a lot of fun.

At the beginning of August we had a "wipeout" party because it is one of James and Kinley's favorite things to play in the back yard. We invited 10 friends over and bought 10 cans of bath foam and covered anything that would stand still with it. They had a great time and we mom's enjoyed watching them wipeout.

One day when I was packing for one of our trips I came in the living room after being in the kids room for about thirty minutes and found this "fort". James had gotten every pillow and gun we have and made a completely non functional pile. When it was time to take it down he cried for an hour. Oh how difficult it is to be five!

Miss Mallory is growing like a weed. She is seven weeks now and below are some of the outfits she is finally fitting in. She's only been able to wear onesis because she's been so thin. We think she weighs about 11lbs right now! She is getting close to sleeping through the night and is a pretty good napper so far. She has been a great baby.

I finally captured her new trick! She does smile bigger but it is so hard to catch on camera.

One weekend we went to my 10 year high school reunion which was really fun and the Rush Springs watermelon festival. The kids love the rides at the festival and we all love the carnival junk food!

James and Kinley got to spend a week at Gigi and Bop's with me then a week at Grandad and Nana's and had a great time on their "vacation". However we are all having some adjusting to home pains. It's hard to live with the fact that time with grandparents is like suckers - really good but only to be enjoyed sometimes - we can't have them everyday. We are excited for September to get back into a "normal" routine. Josh and I are both going to attend Bible Study Fellowship and study Isaiah. The kids will be going to a new preschool on Wednesdays. I am sad because the school James has gone to the last three years said that he had to come three days a week this year or not at all and we are not willing to send him three days because we really want him to be home building a strong foundation to get ready for kindergarten next year. It was a tough decision to change schools but when I asked James if he wanted to go to his old school three days a week or a new school one day he said the new school because he wants to spend more time with me, Kinley, and Mallory! AWWWW isn't that sweet?!

Happy Birthday James! He turned 5 last Wednesday!

This is James at 10 months wasn't he adorable!

This is James at 5 still completely adorable

James invited Ezra and Joshua to Bouncy Barn for his birthday. They had a great time wearing themselves out then they came to our house for cake and presents.

On his actual birthday we had beef stroganoff and dirt pudding (his favorites). He wanted the dirt pudding in something fun so I surprised him with putting it in a dog bowl and giving them bones to eat it with.

Who needs bones?

This is what he asked for from Josh and I - he loved how big the box was.

This is his Army face to go with his Black Hawk Army helicopter that is so big that action figures can fit into (that was his one desire).

James spending quality time with Mallory - borrowing her car seat

Kinley spending quality time with Mallory - she kept kissing her head and making sweet noises.

Mallory looking out the window

We are having a good week. Josh is mostly recovered from surgery. I am feeling better and better emotionally and physically. The kids are being amazingly good, fun and helpful. Mallory is adjusting well and doing everything the way she is supposed to. We are blessed beyond belief!

Mallory is three weeks old! Time is flying even faster than it did with the first two. I have to say I'm glad at this point. I am enjoying her cuteness but other than that the newborn stage is not my favorite. I like more sleep, predictability and freedom than a nursing newborn allows. However, things are going great. She is sleeping well, eating well and not too fussy. We went to the doctor on the 27th and she weighed 7lb 1 oz which is a gain of 17oz in 16 days! She has been a little gassy this week but hopefully it won't get worse and she'll adjust soon.

She likes bath time and so do James and Kinley. They think they are so big when the get to help and they are very good at it.

My friend Chandra made these onsies and flowers for our babies - isn't it adorable!

Kinley found these ponies in a toy drawer and had the best time playing with them. She was imagining they were mother and baby and the mother put the baby to bed just like we put Kinley to bed and she said "see you tomorrow". She also kept making the baby say "feed me" and the mommy would say "not until Thursday"?? She is a really good pretend player - I think she learned it fr0m James. She seems to be adjusting well to being a big sister. I'm going to give it some time before I say that for sure though. When my mom was here helping she was wanting to be bossy and get on to my mom so she said "Gigi Grace Morris" in a serious voice. So cute that she loaned her middle and last name out so that she could get on to Gigi properly.

This is James in his manly dress ups after I talked him out of the tutu, high heels, and fairy wand. He also is doing well with another sister. He loves to help with the baby and is understanding of me being busy with her a lot. He is such a great big brother. When she holds his finger he says she is like a bear who caught a fish. He also says his legs are 80 Mallory fingers long. The other day we were driving and he was saying he wants to be an army soldier when he grows up and on his day off he will be a hunter and when I am ready to go to the grocery store I can call him and he will kill me something so I won't have to buy meat.

We had an outside play morning last week and they made a wipeout obstacle in honor of their favorite TV show "wipeout". James called it the foamy slide of death. (Gigi we are going to need some more of that bath foam!)

I have been doing really well concerning post partum depression. The first 10 days were really tough but I saw my counselor a couple of times and worked really hard on controlling my thoughts and inputting a lot of truth. It helped and I think I can say that I am in the clear as far as having to take medicine which is a HUGE answer to prayer. God is so sweet to me to spoil me in this way. I still have a little emotional downturn every afternoon but when it gets bad I turn on praise music, do chores, and thank and praise God for everything that I can think of and before I know it things get better. Josh had his vasectomy this morning (the 29th). We sent to kids to my parents for the weekend so he could recover and I could have a little break too. It is really nice to have just Mallory. We plan to watch a lot of movies! Josh is doing fine today but said the surgery definitely wasn't fun. We are excited to enter a new season in our lives that doesn't include pregnancy and post baby issues. We absolutely can't wait to make it to October! Cooler weather, baby sleeping through the night, all surgical and deliver trauma will be healed and life will be what we like to think of as normal (until something else comes up)! Oh yeah and James turns 5 on the 4th!!!