I Believe

This is a huge favorite in our home each Christmas! I don't especially like the live version, but listen to the lyrics! They are AMAZING!!!! I pray you listen and truly believe this Christmas!

Cole the Climber

Cole has been mastering a new skill lately...CLIMBING. He will get on anything in any room so you better watch him like a hawk. I have found him standing on the coffee table, dining room table, etc. but on this day I had to take pictures of his cuteness. It is irritating, don't get me wrong, to have to constantly tell him to get down, stay off that, etc. but look at this face, you can't stay mad for long!

He is so proud!

This is his latest achievement this week. He can now open the lower oven and climb right in! Shocking and not safe, but oh so cute!

Caden's Christmas Program

Caden's school program was this week and he was really excited about it! He wanted to wear his new favorite "Christmas" sweater. So Monday morning, I get home quickly from the gym and get cleaned up, get him all dressed up, get the other two dressed and ready, snap a quick picture, and bundle everyone up and get in the car. Only to find out his program is not on Monday, but on Wednesday. Oooops! At least I got a cute picture that day, because I didn't have time for one on Wednesday!

Here he is all dressed up!

Cole was not excited to go on Wednesday! He didn't understand why I would not let him rearrange all the chairs, hmmmm!

Caden getting into place. He found his Santa hat before school and begged to take it. I guess his teacher okay-ed it for the performance!

Cole began to enjoy the show once the music started.

Caden taking a break during the song to make sure we were watching!

Carter and Ben were occupied during a few songs with Carter's computer.

The craziest part of all was that Caden would not do any of the motions. He said they were too fast and he didn't like to do them. At least he sang every song! Hopefully he will participate a little more in the church program on Sunday!

The other funny tale of the day is about Carter. He and his buddy Ben were hanging out on the other side of the room with Ben's family. They had 4 adults to watch them and we had two adults to watch Cole...I thought that was fair! About mid-way through the program, we all hear a squeal and across the front of the stage, Carter and Ben go running to our side of the room! It was pretty cute and perfectly timed, right between two songs!

All in all a funny morning!

Thanksgiving 2009

I have so much to be thankful for this year, it would be a novel if I started listing it all! So instead of boring you, I will just post pics because that is what you want to see right?!?!?!

We had a great meal and a great day! My family was able to be here this year at our new home! We had plenty of room for everyone to sleep and it was such a blessing to have them all here! We also had LuAnn and her kiddos come for lunch, so that made 18 for lunch that day...it was great!

Carter wanted to get decorated for the holiday!

Cory fried the turkey again this year, and it was great! Rob was supervising!

One of my fav pics of the day! My lovely mother and grammy!

All the yummy food we got to eat!

The infamous kids table! They chowed down!

One of the adult tables: Cory, Pops, LuAnn, and her oldest daughter, Aspen

The other adult table: My Grammy, Cousin Rob, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Linda

Since Cole loves to eat just about anything, this meal was no excepting. He ate big helpings of just about every dish! He loved the sweet potato casserole and green jello salad! He even ate leftovers the next few days!

I saved the best for last! Jack was dying for a taste of the turkey! He had been smelling it all day and was praying Cory dropped a piece!

Crazy Forts

For Caden's birthday this summer Grammie and Papa got him some crazy forts. They are so great! If you have a kid that likes to build...get them! They are like tinker toys but better! I have built a few structures with the boys in the basement, but I am not quite the builder Daddy is! I suggested Caden bring them upstairs the other night so Daddy could play! They had a great making a tent then after about 10 minutes in the tent, Cole destroyed it! It was okay because it was bath time by then anyway. Just a fun night at home!

What in the World are You Up To?

I am sure everyone has noticed my lack of blogging! I really have not had much to say or taken many pictures! We are indeed busy around here doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that! But we are still here!

We do have a teenager in our home now but she will be going home soon. We are so thankful God allowed us to "parent" her for the short time we did. It was definitely eye-opening and I learned quite a lot! It is one thing to teach that age as I did for four years, but yet a whole other world to parent them! Please continue to pray for her and her family as they work on their issues, pray they would realize their need for God and that we could somehow be the Light of God for them!

The boys are doing the usual, playing, playing, and playing some more! I am not sure what exactly fills our days, but they are full! We have been able to go see family recently because of training we need from DHS. So we have been in Guymon the last several weekends in class so the boys have been with their cousins! It has been great!

Here is what you really want to see right...pictures of my crazy children :)

This one needs tons of explanation. Carter had an injury several days before so we had doctored it lots of times. He now knows where the bandaids are! So while I was cleaning downstairs I thought he was watching a cartoon...this is what he was really doing!

That's eleven (11) bandaids for those that don't want to count!

Then a couple of days ago, the boys were again doing something I was not aware of...playing in my room. They found Caden's old glasses and thought it was so funny for Carter to wear them! He only did this for a bit, it hurt his eyes he said! But I think they both look pretty cute!

Veteran's Day Assembly

Yesterday was Veteran's Day and Caden had a little school program to celebrate! It was pretty cute and they all sang well!

I wasn't in the best spot to take pictures and I had Cole to compete with but here is what I got...I am praying Mandy got some better ones for me :)

Here Caden is singing "Oklahoma"

The group singing "Grand Old Flag"

Caden watching the slide show to "God Bless America"

I am proud of Caden for just participating. He has been telling us for weeks he didn't want to do this. He was afraid of the army men that might be there! We discussed what the program was about and tried to calm his nerves and I guess it worked. He sang most of the time and didn't cry like some others...that is good right!

It was a great program! HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!

Halloween 2009

We had a fun this year, but it was a little crazy for my liking. Caden was just worn out from his busy day and had quite the attitude so we didn't stay at KidFest too long. We did enjoy the hayride and trunk or treat and got lots of candy. That is the main thing right! It was a beautiful day/night so we are thankful for the weather! We also got to go pick up our other kids and bring them so they could have some fun! In the end I think the kids would say there was fun had by all!!!

Cole was a race car driver. Caden wore that costume 4 years ago, so I just knew it would fit. It was a little snug, must have shrunk last time I washed it. But it worked! We let him walk around some, just not too much or he would take off. He tried to play a few games and even got some candy. He had a great time!

Carter was Diego, of course. Caden also was Diego 2 years ago, but they messed up the vest playing dress-up so I ordered Carter a new one off e-Bay and you would have thought I gave him the moon. He was thrilled. He has been begging to wear it all week and sings the theme song and everything! He is hysterical! He played many of the games and was so good-natured about everything. He is so much like his dad...laid back! He had fun!

Caden was a construction worker. We had a little disagreement about what tools to take, if he had to wear his hard hat etc. but in the end, he had a good time! He looked so cute in his costume and it was cheap! A gift from Gigi and Pops to play dress up in! Perfect! He even had a BRIGHT yellow t-shirt to wear under his vest! He was so tired by the end of the night he was asleep in the car before we ever got home!

Our crew before we headed out to KidFest!

Momma and the boys on the Hayride!

Daddy keeping our little race car driver entertained while the big boys played games.

Carter trying to bowl his way to some candy.

Caden and Carter trying to toss some rings onto the pegs for a prize!