Carter's Small Party In Guymon

The Reid side of the family didn't get to make it to the party last weekend so we just had a small impromptu one in Guymon while we were there for class this weekend. Carter loved it!

He got a Little People Race track from the Ronne's! LOVED IT!~

Also a really neat crane from Grammie and Papa! Another huge hit!!!
Blowing out the candles again, I think he really enjoys this!

Gotta love that cheesy grin with an icing covered mouth!

Christmas Blessings from the Reids

I think I say this every year, but where do I begin with all the amazing things God has done for us and through us this year! 2009 has by far been the best and we are so thankful that God chose this unbelievable path for our family! A great verse to summarize our year is Deuteronomy 28:2 “All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God.” If you don’t follow the blog or either of us on Facebook, here is the brief summary of our blessings.

The two main events of our year were our big move in late September and our decision to become foster parents. We now have a much bigger house which at first seems crazy, but of course fits right into God’s big plan for us to be foster parents. We were asked to do an immediate placement for a child in September and now we will finish the process to be “official” foster parents after the first of the year! We are so excited to see what children and families God will allow us to minister to in the coming year!

Cole Jackson turned 1 on August 29^th. He is by far the happiest little boy around. Everyone will tell you that he always has a smile on his face! He is really laid back, like his Daddy, and eats a TON!!! He is so easy to have around! He is such a joy to our lives as he grows and interacts more and more each day with the older boys! Cole loves to play with the older boys and thinks he is really their size and can do what they do!

Carter Andrew is about to celebrate his 3rd birthday the day after Christmas. Carter has done lots of growing up this year! He talks much more now, but is developing more and more of his Daddy's quiet, introverted, personality. Sometimes while there are lots of other kids at the house playing, you will find Carter alone is his room, playing with his toys. He is adjusting to Caden doing to school every day and growing into his big brother role with Cole. We still haven't mastered the potty, but he assures me that he will when he is 3! Cater is becoming more and more like his Daddy every day! He is quiet, a little ornery and sneaky, but very caring!

Caden Montgomery is now 5, also on August 29^th. He didn’t mind sharing his party with Cole this year, because he also got to have a friend party all to himself. Caden is at Westwood Early Childhood Center this year and is doing extremely well. He is very bright, reading lots of sight words and writing his letters well. We had to work a little on following instructions and ways to behave during down time at school, but he is having a great year so far. Caden was able to play soccer this fall, with Cory as his coach, and loved it! We might have an athlete on our hands! He definitely acts a lot like his Momma, but on most days that is a good thing! He is such a big boy and great help around here!

Cory is doing some great things at SPC Office Products and in our community this year. He has come up with some great ideas to try and beat the economy and has led our family on quite the journey this year with God’s guidance. Cory led us to “adopt” a family this year and help them in so many ways! It has been such a blessing to watch those relationships form. He was instrumental in several mission projects to help this family and others! God is using him in awesome ways, and I am so thankful for Cory’s obedience! He still teaches our Sunday School class but this year has added the bus ministry at church! He drives a church van and picks up our “adopted” family and their extended family (around 20 people) each week for church. He also does this for the AWANA program on Wednesdays. Caden told him a few weeks ago, we just need to buy a van of our own so we don’t have to borrow the church’s van each week! I think Caden might be on to something!

I still keep busy taking care of the boys as well as other kids at times! I am so blessed to get to be at home and raise our little men! They keep me on my toes and there is never a dull moment around here. I was asked once by a friend this year, “what do you do Kara?” I was not really sure how to answer that, what don’t we do? We always have some sort of activity going on, be it Mom Connection, AWANA, volunteering in Caden’s class at school, or just helping out friends! We are so blessed by God this year! It has been amazing. I haven’t had much time to blog, but I will do better in the coming year, so check it out www.sahm22boys.blogspot.com

We pray you take time to remember the best gift this Christmas, Jesus Christ. Also take time to share Him with others; it will change your life!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

*Our Christmas Card picture was taken this year by Katie Karn, she did a great job, go check her out!

Family

My parents and Grammy were able to come last weekend for Carter's party and for Caden's program. It is great to have them here and the boys love it! We were missing you Jana!!!

Mom found a really cool 4 Generations picture frame so we tried to get a good pic for it...
Cory wanted us all to squeeze in so he set the timer and here is the best one!
I love my family!

Caden's Christmas Program

Caden was involved in Children's Choir at the church this semester and participated in the annual Christmas Musical! It was so precious and he did really well!

Here is the whole crew! They put Caden on the end up a few rows to keep him out of trouble (just kidding!)
He refused to do the choreography at his school program so we had a little chat and he did most of it for this musical! I was pleased!
He caught me taking his picture...lots of times!
He is actually watching his teachers down front and doing the motions! WOW!!!
Towards the end he got a little bored and a little tired, as you can see. He unzipped his sweater, the first time he has ever done this...of course it was the only time he didn't have on his plain red t-shirt but one with a print...oh well!
There was also a lot of head scratching and yawning! He was too cute!
They all did a great job, one of the better musicals I think. Next year maybe Caden will bite the bullet and want a part!

Carter's 3rd Birthday

Carter's birthday is not until the 26th of the month, but I want to try and separate it from Christmas if I can. So we had his party this weekend and he had a great time! We missed a couple of his friends that weren't able to make it, but all in all a fun time! We opened presents, had cake and ice cream, then went down to the basement to play and bounce. Some friends of ours have this little bounce house and it fit perfectly in the basement. It was great!

Here is Carter and his friend Abbey. She was the only girl at the party, poor thing, but Carter wanted her there!

Carter and another buddy Ben...Carter loves to hug Ben lots for some reason!

Caden was thrilled to help Carter open his presents!

The birthday boy listening to all of us sing "Happy Birthday"!

I think he spit out the candles instead of just blowing them out!

He told me later, "Mom it was an awesome party, thanks!" What a sweetie!

Here is Carter bouncing in the bounce house.

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!