In the Big Inning....

This past Sunday, Tom and I committed ourselves to the Godly rearing of Margaret Gray in our church's Parent Commitment Service.

This service took place after church in our small chapel.

Random thoughts:
Sometimes it is very overwhelming thinking about raising a girl in our world today.
We know that we won't be able to do it without the Lord's guidance.
We don't take this responsibility lightly.
Also, it's amazing to think that the Lord's love for Margaret is far beyond what we can imagine.

Here Tom is, reassuring my mother that she'd make it in time.
(Unfortunately, I told her the wrong directions... she called in a panic... fortunately, our pastor was running late, too)

Sweet cousins, Ella and Thomas

Thanks for making the day trip, MiMi and Papa!

The whole crew

As Tom said in the service, we are blessed to have had parents who raised us in a Godly home... who sought God's guidance in raising us... such good role models for us.

We are so thankful for our family and their influence in Margaret's life.

Happy Dedication Day, Miss Margaret Gray!



So when I asked everyone if they were free October 3rd for Margaret's service, everyone forgot that we had tickets to the last Rangers baseball game that afternoon.

So instead of having lunch over at our house, we headed to the Ballpark.

Surviving without a nap

At one point I looked over at PatPat playing Pat A Cake with Margaret....

Not 2 minutes later, Margaret was asleep in her grandmother's arms.

And woke up with some crazy bed-head!

She was a trooper!

After the game, we stopped for some family time in the lawn while we waited for traffic to clear out.

Henry didn't make it 3 mins before he fell asleep in the car.

It was a very special day for our dear Margaret Gray.

Pumpkin Time!

We went to the Arboretum with Liz and her boys.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out we were going to the Great Pumpkin Festival- so cool to see all the different kinds of pumpkins!

Since it was a Monday, Alice came with us too.

It was quite the feat, but I didn't loose anyone... for too long.

"Henry, hug your sister and say cheese." Well, he obeyed, just not the way I wanted.

Attempt #2 at a sibling pic. Fail.

Attempt #3. Pass... barely.

I also consider it a success that everyone was fed.

It was a beautiful way to enjoy this gorgeous weather we're having and we hope to go back soon- Henry's got pumpkin fever.

Weekend up "North"

A couple of weekends ago, we traveled up north to McKinney.

Some friends from college were getting married on a Friday night, so we took the opportunity to stay with the Delaneys... and have them babysit our kiddos :) Thanks Liz and Colin!!!!!

Jackson wanted to show us his lunch box and Cooper wanted to show us his Halloween Costume :)

Charlie showed us some excellent sleeping skills.

Margaret thought this Rody was amazing.

The Delaneys even fed our kids for us! Henry had fun playing with Cooper and Jackson, even though he did have a little trouble realizing that all their awesome trains and trucks didn't belong to him.

Ready to go!

Tom with the groom, Jay, and best friend from college, Barker... Ryan Barker.

Me and Casey
When she married Barker, she kinda ruined our deal we had with him back in college... he was supposed to live with us and be our pool boy... I guess he got a better deal.

Tom doing the chicken dance from a far.

He was very serious about it.

Happy Wedding, Jay and Repsie!



The next day we went out to the Barkers (cause they live REALLY far away from us) and got to hang out with some of the guys from college and Miss Audrey.

Audrey had fun playing with Kraemer... Ryan Kraemer-actually, we were all excited to spend some time with him... it had been too long. Who knows what MG is doing.

This is what happens when I let one of Tom's fraternity brothers watch after my kids.

Josh assured me that Margaret was in good hands.

It was such a nice day to spend outside.

It was like a weekend vacation, even though we were only an hour away from our house.

We really enjoyed being with our old friends.

Sweets for the Last Louis

Last month, we (the sisters and sister-in-laws) threw a bridal shower for the soon-to-be Louis Lady #7, Leigh.
We knew she loves dessert, so we decided to have a dessert shower.

And we knew she loves to cook, so we sent this coordinating recipe card with the invitation for the guests to return to Leigh.
(Krysta Thomas designed these cards. She is wonderful! If she doesn't have what you're looking for, you can tell her what you want, and she'll do a custom design for you. Very good quality!...

Oh, and if you want to do a similar shower in the summer, you have to use these invitation/recipe cards... I kinda became obsessed with them.)

Me, Leigh, Mary Pat, and Kate
Leigh with PatPat and her mom

As part of our hostess gift, we got Leigh this Recipe Nest... I found it at a local store and thought it was cool. I need one- my recipes are a mess!

Tom was working that day, so Miss MG got to hang out with the ladies.

We also got Leigh this engraved cake server set.

For the party favors, we printed out recipes for some of the desserts we served.

Margaret loved checking out Leigh's gifts... I made sure she didn't break any of the bows, though.

And here is the beautiful bride, sporting the apron that PatPat made.

We are so excited about this upcoming weekend as we add Leigh to our family!!!

Random Sweet Pics

I'm not sure what happened to my camera here, but it sure did capture a sweet moment.

: )