Let's Do This Thang

Game Face

Don't mess around with a soccer player. They mean business. Especially 5 year old soccer players.

Right of Passage

My title is kind of tongue and cheek. While it was a trip down memory lane, and was special to me personally...I get that getting a Barbie Doll isn't that significant in the grand scheme of things. In fact, I don't even know how I feel about Barbie in general for my daughters...yet. BUT I LOVED them as a child. I had about 17 Barbies, the Barbie Dream House, the car, the swimming pool, etc. I was a Barbie fanatic to say the least. I played with them WAY past when it was acceptable...like 7th grade-ish. Sooo, one day I came home from school and saw that my Mom had sold every lick of Barbie paraphernalia that I owned. I couldn't believe it. Let's just say that it was a sad day at the Stanley house. So fast forward 15 years...I'm pregnant with my first daughter, and dreaming in pink. I immediately thought of my old Barbies, and Cabbage Patch Dolls that I wanted to pass down to her. Only problem...I no longer had Barbies. So what else could I do...I hopped on Ebay to hunt a few down. I found 3 of my old Barbies and won them easily. Apparently early to mid 80's Barbies are NOT the latest rage. This Barbie up above "Jewel Secrets Barbie" was one of my favorites. I finally decided to give it to Gracen a few months ago. I was so excited to share this special doll with her. She was sweet and listened to my stories, but I could tell that she wasn't nearly as pumped as I was. It gave me some good perspective...it's just a doll Mom.

Play Date

I LOVE play dates with Kendall...for obvious reasons-like, she's my best friend and I enjoy her company, and our kids love each other...but there is another reason. It always turns into a spontaneous photo shoot. Her camera is always close by and she seems to always capture the sweetest moments with my kids. I end up with a fun filled day AND the most precious pictures of my babies. What more could you ask for from a play date?

Delegation

A Rainy Fall

It's really sad I know...but I was REALLY proud of the girl I made.

Apparently Play-Doh is serious business

Sneaking a few bites-gross. I wondered for a moment if she had Pica.


It was so rainy this Fall...so we had to break out the Play-Doh, among other things on a pretty regular basis around here.

Carving Mr. Pumpkin

We had fun carving our pumpkin. We roasted the seeds afterwards...and they weren't very good. I'll need to hunt down a better recipe before next Halloween. On a side note, Aiden was in his underwear...so most of the pictures I couldn't put on my blog. :)

Glitter Pumpkins

My friend Danielle gave me this idea for Glitter Pumpkins. She does this every Fall with her kids as their little Fall tradition. And a bonus...you get to decorate with these adorable things. The kids had a lot of fun with this...so I think we're going to keep it in the craft rotation.

Smiley Magee

Evan really gets into her baths. She hears the water running in the bathroom and makes a jet line to get into the tub...even if it's not for her.

Evan is ridiculously happy. She's so sweet natured and just a blessing to our family. I still can't believe it sometimes. Here's my point. Have that 4th kid. If you're thinking about having a 4th...DO IT! Seriously...it's awesome. I've talked to many moms and the running theme is 4th babies are laid back, joyful, and loving. So just go for it. You don't ever hear people regret having that last kid...but you do hear people say that they regret not having more kids...just sayin'.

I Love You. You Love Me...

I am not kidding when I say that my daughter loves the big purple dinosaur. As you can see we have bunny ears for our tv...so our selection is limited. But wow...it doesn't even matter, because Barney has Evan's heart. The minute she hears the theme song she crawls over, pulls herself up, and begins dancing...completely taken with the incredibly cheesy songs. I'm glad I had my camera close by to capture it.

New Addition

Okay, so I'm going back in time as I update my blog. So these pictures are old. But my cousin Nason and his wife Hayley had their baby at the end of October. His name is Gunnar...and he is precious!! Nason is much more like a brother to me than a cousin...so Gunnar is a special little guy...I'm calling him my nephew instead of 2nd cousin or whatever...that just seems so formal...and wrong. You can keep up with their blog and see much more up to date photos by clicking on "The Hengst Family" on the left of my blog. They are coming over tomorrow night and I can't wait to get my hands on that baby.

It's So Hard to Say Good-Bye

Gracen Mrs. Sarah and Grier


Ugh. I hate writing this in January, and we said good-bye in October...it still makes me sad. We had a lot of change in October...one being a move. That move led to a REALLY long drive to dance class. So we had to say good-bye. And what you don't see in this picture is a very sad Mommy taking the picture...with tears rolling down her cheeks. Sarah, and I went to high school together and she was one of my brother's best friends. She is an AMAZING dance teacher. She has been teaching Gracen since she was 2 1/2, and then Grier started with her in August. I had visions my girls as teenagers taking dance with Sarah. We had such a wonderful experience at Dance Emotions, and it killed me to leave that studio. And just as I anticipated...the day Gracen started at her new studio, she fell apart sobbing that she wanted Mrs. Sarah. My heart broke. Us Magee girls are not big fans of change. She has slowly come around though...and that makes it a little easier each time.

Family Pictures **There are bunches**

Aiden 5 1/2

My favorite

Grier- 2 1/2

Gracen 4 1/2

I warned you that there were a lot....sorry. Now, would have been a good time to know how to do one of those collage thingies...oh well. My friend Abby, a photographer in the Austin area took pictures of our family in early September. You can tell they're older because Aiden still has a buzz cut...and on a side note, I will NEVER do that again. Anways, these turned out really good. Abby's SUPER talented. The kids did great for the most part, and we were glad to get family pictures....our first ever professional pictures! It was way over due.