Medieval Times and Christmas Prep

With the Melkers in town for Hayden, Payson and Madison's 5th birthday party we put together a fun evening at Medieval Times which the kids loved! Here they are in the castle "jail" prior to the start of the show.

The kids loved the show and especially got into cheering on the red and yellow knight. 

Good 'ole family fun! Thanks Grammy and GP for the wonderful evening!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Melker house! The kids were able to help with most all of the decorating this year which was fun for us all. Of course, with three 3 1/2 foot tall children all of their ornaments were clumped together in the same place on the tree so I had to fix it up a little bit once our little elves were in bed.

Speaking of elves, Alvy came back this year and even made his way inside the doll case one day. A bit creepy? Yeah, I think so.

All of the kids helped me stuff our Christmas cards into envelopes this year and Payson put in a lot of time helping out his momma. He found his own cozy spot under the tree and stuffed away!

The kids wrote their very first letters to Santa this year. My oh my are they growing!

Madison wrote "Santa Dear" instead of "Dear Santa." Of course she was so tickled by her misprint.

Hayden proudly displaying her list.

Payson loves to cut and craft so naturally he wanted to cut out his letter to Santa.

As a Melker tradition we have Breakfast with Santa each year and this year's Santa was the real deal! His beard, smile and chuckle aligned perfectly with my own visions of Santa. As for the kids, they thought that every Santa they saw this year was St. Nick so they were easy to convince. (I foresee quite different perspectives this time next year!) They had about a 10 minute conversation with him and he had just the right answers and responses to all of their questions and curiosities.

Santa making the rounds as the we dine.

We had a great holiday party with our neighborhood playgroup. Great fun with more to come!

Mermaid Pirate Party!

For their 5th Birthday party, Madison, Payson and Hayden chose a Mermaid and Pirate party. We had it at the same play place as last year and they had a great time!

The cake looked amazing and tasted wonderful once again. Thanks Kristen!

To the kids surprise, Cinderella appeared during their party to say Happy Birthday and to tell them that they are going to Disney World! They were so excited and it was such a fun surprise for Mom and Dad to pull off!

Time for the pirates to dig in!

The mermaid party room!

The kids loved playing with their friends and were so on the go that it was hard to get any photos of them! Here is Hayden on the rockwall with a few of her good friends.

Keith and I feeling blessed to have three healthy 5-year-olds while also being relieved that the big party was going smoothly!

Hayden, Payson and Madison in the front row with almost 40 of their friends and cousins!

Party favors!

 Goodbye Cinderella! We'll see you at Magic Kingdom soon!

 The next day the girls performed in their winter recital. Here they are sporting their Hip Hop clothes.

Nunie and Pops enjoyed the show!

And Grammy and GP stayed in town to show support for their favorite ballerinas. Thanks for coming!

NASCAR Racing and Fire Station

We took the kids with us to Texas Motor Speedway so they could watch us enjoy some serious speed and adventure. For Keith's birthday this summer I bought him a pass to experience the Ultimate NASCAR racing experience and the date had finally arrived!

Real NASCAR race cars = real speed!

First, Keith and I separately rode as passengers, taking laps around the track... at 180 MPH! It is hard to explain the feeling we experienced while going around that first turn. The car was steady but our eyeballs were shaking from the adrenaline and G-force!

Next up was Keith's turn to drive by himself with just a microphone and pit crew chief assist him along the way. He pushed the car to its maximum speed of over 150 MPH!

Keith crossing the finish line!

The kids were so proud!

And so were we! Definitely the adventure of a lifetime!

The kids visited a local fire station with their friends and playgroup and learned about fire safety.

Exploring the firetruck.

The firefighters were so kind and patient and the kids enjoyed memorable times with friends.

Thanksgiving Fun

We had such a great time in Tulsa for Thanksgiving and it was so special to watch the kids bond with their cousins, big and small!

The kids spent hours of fun playing in the leaves.

And Payson worked hard alongside GP clearing the leaves and working in the yard for several hours.

The weather was perfect and we spent a lot of time outside playing Frisbee and other games.

Payson tackling Daddy.

As tradition has it, we broke out all of the goods to roast s'mores in the chiminea!

The big kids shared all of their gaming secrets with the littles.

And the triplets were introduced to the Wii, an instant hit!

Here are the kids decorating turkey sugar cookies.

Hayden and I hanging with Mr. Marshall.

And we of course dined on the most delicious traditional Melker family Thanksgiving meal. So tasty, so perfect!

Before we headed to Tulsa the kids performed a fall show during Pumpkin Pie with Parents.

It was so cute. They are growing up!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FRIENDS!

Fall Soccer

Payson had a super and transformational soccer season this year. In the first half of the season, he had lots of fun and then halfway through he scored his first goal. That gave him the hunger to play even harder and a internal drive to score and score again. Below are some highlights from his season. Just check out that beaming smile after his goal!