Happy Helloween!

We did our annual Holland/Fischer Helloween night tonight.

Different venue, same kids.

 Love them all.

The Fischer kids were the Wild Kratts.

(If your kids have not watched that show, they are missing out.) 

(Emma Grace's wig was just a hot mess. Literally. I tried to help a sista' out by flat ironing it. Not a good idea. Bless my little heart.......) 

The Holland Kids went as Ariel, Popeye, and a Special Ops:

Great weather, great friends, and great kids.

Who could ask for more?

(Except maybe a wig that works and some high heels that don't give you blisters. Right, Leah Kate?)

 And this one?

He was awesomesauce.

He waited until we got home and as soon as his feet hit our floor, he lost his you know what, but you know what? Homeslice went out and socialized and trick or treated and had a blast for the first time on  Halloween ever! And that was a huge win. 

HUGE!

So, to sum up.

Tonight was awesome.

Hope yours was too.

Enjoy scarfing down your kids candy and telling them the dogs ate it.

Weekend Fun

We finally felt good enough about Owen's health and got the okay from the doctors to leave the UNC area, so we booked it to the mountains for a quick trip with friends.

And I forgot my camera.

I know. I'm so awesome, you don't even know what to do.

So here are two cell phone pics to share........

Neither of which was taken by myself.

So basically,

thanks Joel for bringing your phone and texting me two pics.

Love these girls and their sweet smiles:

Love this dog and this man who keeps pretending to hate her while starting to like her maybe just a little bit.

Here's to hoping that Owen's stoma continues to look awesome so we can take more weekend sojourns. And also because, you know, we like it when he feels good.

Maybe on our next trip I'll remember my camera.

Maybe not.

You just never know with me.

I like to keep you guessing.

Run, Forrest, Run......

Saturday was our first (of what I hope to be annual) participation in the Triangle Autism Society walk. It was great.  I was so proud of my family. And my friends. Seriously. I have the best, most loyal friends in the world. We are so blessed.

And we wanted to thank everyone by having them over for a big carb loading dinner on Friday night before the race. But yeah.....that didn't happen. Because we suck. So instead of carb loading, we sugar loaded as a thanks. Todd and I actually worked together on a project and only fought a couple of hundred times over how things should go because we rock like that. And we're both stubborn as a donkey's rear end so projects together mean strife. Can I get an amen? No? You work beautifully with your spouse all the time? Well, ain't you something? Bless your little heart.

Anywho - healthy treats are overrated so our thanks were full of chocolate and sugar. Because everyone knows that after a good run, you really just want sugar and beer, not the bananas and bagels they set out at the tables......I mean, seriously. (However, it is not a good idea to forget that you're drinking a beer and accidentally get in the car with it after a half marathon like I may or may not have done once.... Right, Danelle?)

And just look at that number there. Would you just look at it?! Our goal was $1,000. 

Oh my word. You don't even know how happy we were with that number.

THANKS TO YOU!!!!!! 

And our Saturday started bright and early and I think this pic sums it all up:

The reason for the run.

He was fussy. And confused. And he didn't like the change in our routine. But he also sensed our excitement and knew it had to do with him so he was all, "okay, I'll smile and wave because you want me to but my eyes are going to show you how I really feel about all this......" lol.

This one needed coffee. Or he could have been perturbed with me at the moment. It's really hard to decipher so let's just go with the "he needed coffee" theory.....

And these two were ready to roll out.

Once we got there?

Life is always better with Leah Kate!

And here's our team. Our crew. Our rockin' awesome friends and family. Our peeps. The ones we choose to do life with. The ones who make life more enjoyable. The yin to our yang.

And here's an action shot that cracks me up. Look at the legs. We are like the exact same stride. Love it. Bring it, girl. I hope one day we can enjoy long runs together. This was more of a sprint to the nearest port-a-potty.....

So, to sum up, we did it.

We embraced and celebrated something that was hard to accept just six months ago.

And I'm not even gonna lie,
that felt pretty dang good.

"Lucy, you got some splainin' to do...."

A little over a year ago,

we I brought Lucy, also known as "Cray Cray" into our lives.

And even though I'm pretty sure Owen and I are still the only ones who truly love her in this family, I watched him this morning as he intermittently cried and then cuddled up with her, and I thought, well he's the reason we I did this.

And we I think it was worth it.

So Happy One Year, Mona Lucille.

Thank you for all your "drive by lickings" and for constantly jumping up on our guests. Thank you for eating our hot tub cover and pulling limbs out of our trees in the backyard. Privacy is overrated, right? Thank you for chewing our patio furniture and hogging Kaia's dog bed all the time so the geriatric dog has to lay on the floor. Thank you for CONSTANTLY barking at the dogs who live behind us EVERY TIME YOU SEE THEM. Thank you for the time you literally jumped up on the kitchen counter and ate the hamburgers I made for dinner. Dude. I get it. They had to taste better than dog food and you deserve the best. Thank you for some of the fun marital fights you provided and for teaching me and Todd that we react to your shenanigans very differently. They make me laugh during stressful periods and they make him (and most other normal people) want to shoot your face off or rip your heart out. I'm actually quite shocked you lived to see your one year anniversary in the Fischer Fam.

But seriously....

Thanks for being an awesome running partner and a loyal dog to the kids.

Here's to hoping you make it to through your second year in our home.
You may want to tone down your craziness a little bit. I heard talk of shotguns the other night..... There's only so much I can do to protect you. Help a girl out. (And please try not to lick the inside of Todd's mouth again. That may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Just saying.....)