Keyton turns 6!

On January 12th, 2012, our little Keyton turned 6 years old. However, this is probably the last year I will be allowed to call him "little Keyton". He is getting so big and I truly can't believe ANOTHER year has gone by. Keyton had a fabulous year of being 5, but was so excited to turn 6. He thought that the day he turned 6 he was going to get to go to 1st grade, and was disappointed when he found out he had to finish out Kindergarten. Some of his highlights over the last year have been: our experience in Oklahoma, going to Seaworld, winning "the farthest hit" on his tee ball team, taking swim lessons and doing great in them, of course starting Kindergarten, getting to ride the bus to school, getting a new 4 wheeler for Christmas, reading with mom and dad the first 3 Harry Potter books, and playing a ton with friends. Keyton is all around a super star. He does very well in school and pretty much taught himself how to read a while ago, he does so good with anything athletic and loves it all, he is also a computer and video game genius, and as much as he would be embarrassed if I tell, he is a really good break dancer (but he will only show me). Anyway, he decided this year he wanted to have a Batman birthday party and we had lots of family and friends here to celebrate with us. It was a very fun night!

The Birthday Boy!

The Birthday Guests!

The Party Decorations!

After Keyton turned 6 I asked him a few questions. Here they are with his answers:

If you could have picked your own name, what would it be? CONNER

What animal would you be? A PENGUIN SO I COULD SWIM REALLY GOOD

Which is your favorite cartoon character? SPONGEBOB

If you could cook for me, what would it be? CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH VANILLA FROSTING

Do you dance crazy when on one is looking? YES

Tell me the five best things about you. FUN, SPORTS, GOOD @ BOWLING, GOOD BROTHER, LOVE MY FAMILY

What does the word "success" mean to you? DO IT GOOD

Would you rather be: an NBA ball player, the mayor, a famous explorer, or a movie star? Why? FAMOUS EXPLORER SO I CAN GO TO ATTACKTICA (ANTARCTICA)

What are the qualities that make a good friend? LIKE TO PLAY WITH ME, NICE, TAKE TURNS CHOOSING

What is your favorite toy to play with? ARMY GUYS AND SUPERHERO GUYS

What do you think of my driving? GOOD (WITH HIS THUMBS UP)

What is the most enjoyable thing our family has done together in the last 3 years? GO TO DISNEYLAND

If you were going to have a weird unusual pet what would it be? LEMUR

How do you describe me to your friends? COOL

What would you do if you were invisible for a day? GO TO SCHOOL AND TRY TO SCARE PEOPLE

What is your favorite candy bar? KIT KAT

What is your favorite food? WHITE MAC & CHEESE (ALFREDO) OR CHEESE PIZZA FROM PIER 49.

What is your favorite color? RED, BLACK, GOLD, SILVER, WHITE, AND PINK

What do you want to be when you grow up? CREATE RIDES FOR AMUSEMENT PARKS

January

January is already gone and it seemed to fly by. This has been a CRAZY winter. We have hardly had any snow and honestly, it's kinda depressing. I do like the winter months if there is snow, but just the cold plus mud is not very fun. January is an insane month for our family. We have 5 birthdays to celebrate in the first 2 weeks so we run around and get to see family alot, which we love! Also, our sweet Keyton has one of those birthdays and this year he turned 6. He is getting so big. I will do a separate birthday post for him. Other than that, here is what happened in our January.

We have only had a couple decent snowstorms,

so we have taken advantage of each one of them.

Trevor helped the boys build this amazing snowman

late one night.

Seth is getting so big! He is still my shy mama's boy

which I enjoy most of the time. He thinks potty training

is for the birds and may be 7 before he decides to try it (GRRRR)

But I just can't resist those eyes! Can't you see what I mean???

His favorite things to say right now are:

I can't like you

I can't like my bed

I can't like my dinner

(are you getting the idea?)

and still his ultimate favorite: NOOOOO!

He loves horses and always wants to go to grandpa's to ride.

They love that he is a little cowboy!

We finally got to meet our sweet little niece who

was 6 weeks preemie. And she is such a doll. I couldn't

put her down. I love that cuddly newborn phase!

And doing what are kids do the very best and at least

3 times a day: drinking hot chocolate. I should buy stock in Nesquick

because I'm sure they are making a killing off of our household!

But with those 2 faces how could you say no????

New Year, New Goals

Now that the madness of Christmas is gone, and our pockets our empty, it's time to start thinking about "resolutions". I use that term loosely because honestly, I kinda cringe every time I hear it. We have to resolve to do all these things we know we are never going to accomplish. Top on my list (just like every other year and has yet to be resolved) losing some weight. The pounds seem to creep on, but why don't they ever creep back off? But that is another word i cringe at "DIET" just saying it makes me hungry! So let's say instead of dieting, I'm trying to be more cautious of what I eat and trying to work out. Another goal I have this year is to be better about my blog. I'm horrible at journal keeping and keeping up with scrap booking, so maybe if I can just throw a few pictures on here throughout the year and write about them I won't feel so guilty about failing at those other two things. Those are the only resolutions I will share on here, because they are the only ones that will be noticeable if I accomplish them (I'm hoping it will be motivation if others are watching to see if I actually do these things) The rest of my goals for this year are on a more personal level.
I can't believe how fast 2011 went by. It was truly the year that was "the best of times and the worst of times" I was terrified to move my family to Oklahoma for 5 months, but it ended up being so fun! We made some lifelong friends and some amazing lifelong memories. Keyton wants to move back there. It taught us that we don't need a big nice house and a gazillion toys (or even an oven) to keep us happy. We can have fun anywhere! It also taught me personally that I can actually survive without my family (i.e. sisters, parents, sister-in-laws, and best friends). Which I honestly didn't think I could do. I am stronger than I thought. There were definitely days that I struggled, but I did it! Now I just treasure living close to them that much more. So, coming home for us was very bittersweet. One of my fondest memories of 2011 was taking the kids to Seaworld in San Antonio. Seeing their precious faces the entire day was such a joy for me. I love to watch them discovering new things. And of course I can't forget our trip to Cancun. It was so fun to get to spend a week with Trevor without our kids. We had forgotten what that felt like. We got to do some amazing things and had so much fun with the group of friends that we went with. I will NEVER forget the color of the water, the view from my balcony, swimming with a dolphin, and of course Trevor nosediving into the pool! Good times. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings us!

New Family Pictures

I've been wanting to get family pictures done all summer, but it was just always too crazy and busy. So then I said as soon as we got home from Mexico, we were going to get them done. Then we would be all tan and looking good! But then Trevor had a little accident in Mexico and had scabs and scars all down his face. So we have been waiting for that to heal up and for it to not be quite so pink. Finally they are done, and I don't have to worry about that for another year! Yeah!

Towboy hat and boots on

This is how we have found Seth sleeping a couple of nights in a row. In his "boots on" (that is what he calls his snow boots) and of course his towboy hat! I softly take them off and then first thing in the morning he asks, "where my boots on?" He loves this get up and wears if EVERYWHERE. I hid the snow boots the other day to see if he would forget about them and what did he go for? The complete opposite of snow boots, FLIP FLOPS. I don't know which is worse???? This boy cracks me up?

New Addiction

I have spent many hours sitting in front of the computer lately doing something I swore I never would. (don't worry it's nothing too naughty) I have discovered the amazing world of digital scrapbooking. I love scrapbooking and always said I would never do it digitally because I love doing all the hands on stuff. Not to mention the fun scrapbook days with sisters and friends that I love to host. However, now that I am about 2 years behind in my scapbook because it is such an ordeal to get out all the stuff, try to make the pages with my boys crawling on top of me wanting to stamp, and working 6 hours and only completing 3 pages, I have come to the conclusion... somethings got to give. So I started looking into digital scarpbooking and I love it! It still takes time, but it is a lot faster than doing it by hand. I just hope they print and look as cute as I'm imagining them. Anyone out there have any opinion? So I wanted to share a couple projects I have worked on this week:

Other than that, we are doing great! Keyton is loving school and is also doing swimming lessons right now. He is getting so big, it is so fun and so sad all at the same time. Sometimes he says the most grown up things, and it makes me laugh. Quick story: the other day driving him and his friend to swimming they were having this deep conversation about a mom whose husband died in Iraq and now she has to work to take care of her 5 kids (something I'm sure Payson heard from his mom) and Keyton said, "wow, that has got to be difficult" It made me smile to hear these little boys talking so grown up.

Seth is getting so smart and so sassy! He is a very stubborn child and I blame his father completely for that (he couldn't possibly have gotten it from me). He likes to yell even if it is just in everyday conversation. Plus he likes to say naughty things like, "I said NO" and "Don't tell me ever again". Usually those two phrases are followed by him slamming the door. Is it bad that I just laugh????? He is OBSESSED with his cowboy hat and snow boots. He has to wear them EVERYWHERE, and Trevor and I have caught him several nights sleeping in them. Silly Seth.

Now we are looking forward to Halloween and trying to plan our costumes. It should be a good time.

I copied this from a blog I love (positivelysplendid.com) and thought she worded my feelings today so much better than I could myself. I just switched it around to suit my little Keyton

He came into our lives on January 12, 2006

At precisely 11:49 p.m., I became the mother of a bouncing baby boy.

At precisely 8:25 a.m. this morning, that same boy embarked on his first step of many in spreading his wings to ultimately leave our little nest:

He's starting kindergarten.

Where has the time gone?

It's been devoted to the bleary-eyed days I thought would never end just after we brought him home, rocking and nursing and watching around the clock.

It's been given to the days of coaxing and encouraging him through those early milestones - rolling, crawling, walking - and meticulously documenting every single one.

To the days we never got out of our pajamas, building blanket forts in the living room and reading his same favorite books over and over and over again.

To the days when his accomplishments made me immensely proud - amazed, even - and to the ones when his antics made me want to abandon ship the moment Daddy got home from work.

To the days, even just last night, when he asked me to snuggle with him at bedtime, and he reached out his hand to tickle my back while we both closed our eyes.

I never used to understand the mothers who went into mourning over seemingly small events like a first day of kindergarten. I am not an overly sentimental person. Truly. But motherhood - oh how it changes things.

For five sweet years, he has been all mine.

And now slowly, surely - in incremental steps that would be imperceptible to all but a mother's heart - I'll begin the bittersweet process of letting him test the foundation I've been diligently laying for him since that January night when he was first placed in my arms.

I love you Keyton and look forward to seeing you step off that bus today!