Trick or Treat

We had fun with our friends Ashley and Zac on Halloween. Thanks for letting us join you.

 

Here is my big banana and the cutest little monkey ever.

 

Typical McNeil family picture  

That hair!

 

My little astro guy 

 

And the one who threw a huge fit before trick or treating because he changed his mind about his costume. He still looks really cute even if he did refuse to wear the helmet and boots. 

 

And the cutest little ballerina with monster/alligator boots 

 

Homemade costume=doesn't last long 

 

Who is that lady with the gorgeous blonde hair creeping on the kids? 

 

Something was creepy 

 

It took a few seconds to brave this house...it was much darker in real life 

This house was awesome. And the lady was "SUPER nice". 

Pumpkin carving

 

Every time I would ask Madeline to come look at the "goo" she would run stand by that cabinet.

Fall Camping: Lost Maples State Park

This year we went to Lost Maples State Park for our fall camping trip. It was a pretty long drive for us (3 hours) but it was a really pretty drive. It is very hilly down there. There are big beautiful trees. In mid-late October, the maple leaves begin to change and it is even more beautiful. I was sad that we missed that.

You do not want you tent to look like this during a thunderstorm.

This was above poor Madeline. During the night, Caren noticed that water was pouring in on her, Zadie, and Madeline. We ended up moving to sleep in the cars. 

This girl didn't seem to mind. 

Anderson found something really cool. 

The kids stayed pretty busy playing dominoes. 

"Can I have a drink of that?" 

There may have been a tantrum or two. 

This place offered these cool explorer backpacks to rent for the kids. It had binoculars, a compass, a sketch pad, a journal, crayons, a pen, a track finder, and pamphlets to identify plants, animals, insects, and other stuff. It was a really cool idea but I think they are intended for older kids. 

Luc and Maizie had me take pictures of things they were exploring. 

Brian tasted a Texas persimmon. 

The kids did too. I bet early Texans had some stained teeth. 

This baby thought she was big. 

Maizie got injured. Luc helped her walk all the way back to the campsite. These two are too much. 

We always have major post camping meltdowns. Everyone, including Mama and Daddy, are exhausted. On this day, the kids were fast asleep by 6:30. I think Brian and I were in bed by 8:30. Whew... 

Here is our typical camping trip: we get there, set up the tent, go on a hike, have dinner, put the kids to bed, hang out with friends, go to sleep, have breakfast, go for a hike, pack up, then drive home. We all decided that we are ready for weekend long camping trips from now on. There is way too much work involved to only stay one night.

Although, this trip was pretty crazy with a broken tent, storm, and really far drive, I do recommend this park. It was really pretty. The park ranger was really sweet and helpful too. He actually came around to all the campsites late that night to let everyone know that a storm was coming.

Communication disorders stuff

I want to take a step aside from my normal family posts to write about work stuff for a quick second. I have been working hard writing a speech blog for parents, caregivers, teachers, whoever wants to learn more about speech and language development and ideas for helping your child at home. Anyway, if you are interested, please check it out www.capitalareaspeech.wordpress.com. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions or topics of interest you'd like to hear about.

I have also been posting good articles, websites, info about group meetings around Austin, etc on our facebook page and on twitter. So, if you want lots of credible information on speech and language development & disorders, swallowing, autism, down syndrome, aphasia, traumatic brain injury, and more, please click on those links and follow me there.

I hope I can pass on some good information!

And a HUGE THANK YOU to those of you who are interested! It means so much that you are supporting me but more importantly the children in your lives. Maybe the information doesn't apply to you directly but you may read something that may help someone you know.

Evan's 6 month pictures...I just found this drafted blog post

haha this is 3 years too late

 

Evan is growing growing.

Warning: LOTS of pictures of Madeline here

Madeline's 12 month pictures at home...

To my Family, I think you can click on the picture to save it to your computer.

 

These are going to get funny. She HATED the bracelet and bow. After she realized she could only remove the bow and not the bracelet, she decided she would rip her dress off. This photo shoot ended in a nap. 

 

Day 2 of trying to take pictures. The sun interfered a bit. Madeline was much happier.

 

Peek a boo 

 

 

Oh my gosh, I want to keep her this age.. 

 

I hate that this one is super out of focus. It would have been a favorite. 

 

Can you see those beautiful blue eyes?