Here's a little scrapbook I made of the professional pictures Curt and I had taken on our anniversary. There are a lot more, but these are a few of our favorites. These past 10 years have FLOWN by, can't wait to see what the next 10 will hold!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Polar Express

The whole 1st grade at Caden's school took The Polar Express last week for their final field trip of this year. I was fortunate enough to be able to joing them. The kids had an AMAZING time. It was a freezing cold morning, but the sun was shining and the kids didn't mind the 45 minutes we spent waiting outside for the train to be ready. (The parents...well, we were cold!) It was about an hour train ride and we got hot chocolate and sang Christmas carols on the train. It was a GREAT day!

Caden's best buddy Canan


Our conductor, who looked the part perfectly.


Me and my boy. If you look closely, Cade looks a little like a jack-o-lantern. He's lost another tooth, the top one this time. When combined with his bottom side one he lost last month, he makes a perfect jack-o-lantern. Too bad it's Christmas not Halloween!!!


Caden's whole class

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....Parade

Cade started Cub Scouts this year and is loving it so far. Curt is the Den Leader for Cade's den, which is pretty hilarious. Curt is the perfect guy to wrangle nine 6 year olds for an hour and half once a week...in all of his abundant free time. I think my husband deserves a HUGE gold medal.

So, this morning was our local Christmas parade and Cade's pack got the pleasure of marching in it...in 30 degree weather...for approx 1.5 miles...and his wonderful Den Leader Daddy was at home puking up his toenails. What a great morning!! No, seriously, it really was a great morning. We rolled with the punches, laughed all morning and generally had a fantastic time (except for Curt, his morning wasn't so fantastic. Luckily, the bug passed by afternoon and he's much better now.)

Here are a few pics of our morning.


She enjoyed the parade thoroughly, but every 10 floats or so, Keira would look at me and say "Are they starting again, Mom?" I guess once you've seen one nativity scene, you've seen them all.


Hey everyone!!!

Thanksgiving

Just a glimpse of what is to come in the next post...

Amazing

Amazing. That's all I have to say. Absolutely amazing.

For quite some time now I have been following Andrew Peterson. Somehow, and I don't really know how, I heard his music and LOVED it. I can't really describe it, kinda mellow, kinda folksy - but totally amazing. Anyway, a few weeks ago Curt called to tell me he was looking at the Andrew Peterson website and he was going to be in LR doing a concert on Nov. 23. "Great...but I have a test in Med Chem at 8 am on Tuesday." I studied hard last week, but still...didn't think I should go. You all know me, school comes first. Well, today...school didn't come first. I went to the concert and now I'm a little buzzed from it. (In a good way!)

Here's the line-up for all you fans out there. *crickets* I know most of you haven't heard his music, but I recommend giving it a listen. You might be moved to tears like I was at the concert and am on a regular basis while driving to his tunes. (You all know I have ALOT of time to listen to tunes in the car!)

Canaan bound
Carried along
Alaska or Bust (the story to this song is AWESOME)
Let there be light

After these songs he let his band play a few of their own songs. His piano man, Ben played two songs and his guitarist, Andy Gullahorn also played two. Andy played one about how to write the perfect country song that had the whole audience laughing out loud. I'd love to get his album, I think I'd really enjoy it. But that's for another day. Then Andrew came back and played a few more.

Moments of truth (I didn't know this one, so that may not be the title)
Many roads (Ditto for the name. Never heard it but it brought tears to my eyes. Totally moving.)
Loose change
wedding song for Adam (a song he wrote for a college friends wedding)
Family man
Lay me down (totally ROCKED!!!)

Encore: (I'd never heard any of these before, so titles are a guess. loved them all)
Queen of Iowa
new song from his next album - ??? name
I believe

The only regret I have about the concert is that Curt couldn't be there to enjoy it with me. It just wasn't the same without him. Hopefully, next time AP is in the vicinity, Curt will be able to enjoy it with me.

It was a good night. Now, Med Chem is calling my name. Gotta buckle down and STUDY!!!

Halloween '09

Here's a few pics for you to enjoy! Wish you could have been here to trick or treat with us.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

CampQuest

We had a wonderful weekend at the 4th annual B CoC CampQuest. It was a little chilly at night (high 40s, low 50s) and sunny and beautiful during the say on Friday and Saturday. We had lots of blankets to keep us warm in our tent, so we didn't mind the cold evening too much.

Curt spoke at the campfire devo and gave a wonderful lesson on "spiritual bancruptcy," using Red Bull and a diet Coke/mentos rocket to accentuate his point like only Curt can do!!

Cade found a "swing" out of a vine near our campsite and that may have been the highlight of his weekend. He made it "his" spot to get away and just hang...no pun intended. Hahaha!



Saturday we participated in a family scavenger hunt and later carved an amazing pumpkin named "Scaredy Bat."





The final pumpkin (I forgot to take a pic that day...so here it is a week - and a little mold - later)


After that it was just family hang out time, something we know how to do well. Our best buds were there and the kids all had a great time riding bike, scooters, and playing at the park.






What a great way to spend the weekend!!! Nothing like a lot of family time and NO STUDYING!

Favorite Keira sayings...

This is primarily for me to remember some especially funny moments from the mouth of my sweetest babe. Hopefully, you'll find them amusing too.

1. She calls sneezes "bless yous." We were camping this weekend and she had lots of sneezes in the morning. I hadn't realized that she really thought they were called bless yous until the said "ugh, why do I have so many bless yous this morning?!"

2. Praying a few night ago with Curt, "And God, why did you make my Daddy's head with no hair on it?"

3. She was playing at the Scott's house down the street and Curt and I ran down there to hang out a few minutes after she had gotten there. As were were running that way, she turned to Keisha and said "There's Uncle Curt...he runs like a girl...he's so weird!!" Yep, at 4 years old she's already trying to pass her Daddy off as same crazy uncle!

4. Playing hide and seek: "5,4,3,2,1...here or not, here I come."


She's sweet, and quirky, and oh so lovable. Just can't get enough of that girl.
I'm not sure if it just a part of being a 4 year old or her personality, but she has been SOOOO loving lately. She constantly out of no where will come over and give me a hug and kiss and say "I love you Mom." ALL THE TIME! She hugs and kisses the phone at night when we get to talk and she make a point of being complimentary to others. "Mom, I love that shirt". "Mom, you look pretty today." "Oh I love the shirt you bought me, it's so cute" "Caden, you are such a good colorer. Great job!" I love seeing this trait come out in her. She's just so irresistably cute!

Camp'n in the rain

Not the ideal way to camp, but we had the best camp'n shanty town ever. I wish I would have taken a picture of all of us hanging out under the canopies while it was raining but, I was too busy trying to stay dry to think of it. Oh well...just envision all of us (about 7 families - all will kids younger than Caden and Keira) hanging out under 2 20x10 and 1 10x10 canopies. (all estimates are in woman terms, not to be confused with REAL camping sizes.) We managed to get all set up Friday night and even go for a short hike Saturday morning before the slight drizzle became and all out rain. Here are a few pics of our fun.

Curt had his department picnic on Friday afternoon, so they went there before they headed to the campground. One of Curt's co-workers did an AMAZING job on the face painting. The kids were so excited about their cool new faces and couldn't wait to show me when I got to the campsite.



Uncle Lonnie teaching Cade all about fire safety.



It obviously sunk in...


Just a few of the little ones playing on Saturday morning (pre-rain)


Love this guy! I'm so sad he's almost too big for me to hold anymore *sniff, sniff*





You're never too big to teeter totter, right Lance and Shad!

Better late than never...

I know, I know...Labor Day was a few weeks ago, but hey, I knew you'd still want to see these super cute pics of the kids at Tanyard Creek. We went with the Lamps to hike and enjoy a BEAUTIFUL morning outdoors. The kids were very adventurous and braved the odorous water (love natural sulfur deposits ;) to see the beautiful waterfall. Here are a few pics of our day.

Super Strong Man


Beautiful!



Who's that cool dude?








LOVE this pic of Curt and Keira. Sooo sweet!








Isn't this beautiful. There was a house that overlooked this with HUGE windows looking down at the waterfall. Now that would be a gorgeous backyard!


As the official keeper of the camera, I opted to keep my feet dry and look at the falls from a safe distance. This is me with the adventurous duo AFTER they climbed the falls.

I'm back!!

I know it's been a while. but school has been a little...intense. I'm taking a much needed study break to blog about Keira's birthday to make me feel a little closer to the family.

Keira celebrated her big #4 at Chuck E Cheese a few weeks ago. It was a GREAT way to celebrate her birthday. She had a lot of friends from church, school, and the neighborhood at her party. She wanted a Tinkerbell/Princess party (she couldn't make up her mind so we just ran them together).







What happy party-goers!!


After Keira's party, Keira and I had some Mommy-Daughter time at the spa to get pedicures. Keira picked some pretty purple polish and I chose hot pink with a cute butterfly bling. We had a great time and I foresee many more "girl time" trips to the spa. I love having a daughter!!!

Cade's First Day of School

Open House






Cade and Ms. E


Before his first day on Wednesday


Cade had his open house on Monday night where he got to meet his teacher, Ms. E, for the first time and find out what kids are in his class this year. He was excited to see some of his friends from last year, but sad because most of his close friends are in other classes this year. Guess that just means he has a chance to make new best friends!

Wednesday was his first day and he was really excited. So far he says first grade has been a breeze. When I asked him what he learned at school today, he told me "We haven't learned anything new yet. I already know everything we've talked about." Not a surprise, but I know things will get a little more challenging and interesting for him as the year goes on.

He is seeming more grown up each day and is taking on new responsibilities at home. We have reinstated his allowance (we stopped doing it for a while mainly because we forgot. Oops!) and he has new responsibilities at home, which he seems to think is both no big deal and pretty cool. He's always been so willing to do anything we ask him to do, and now he gets a little money for it (that's what he thinks is so cool :)

Cade still loves to read, is into bakugans, star wars and power rangers, and LOVES to be outside. It seems like he's always on his bike or scooter, trying to find a buddy to play with on our street.

I love my big first grader so much, and everyday I find something else to love about him. He is so kind and MAJORLY loving. He loves to get back scratches and is happy to return the favor. He still loves playing with my hair and snuggling in my shoulder and isn't afraid to crawl up in my lap or give me kisses and tell me "I just love you so much!" I know the day is coming when he won't be so free with his love and affection, so right now I am trying to soak up all of it I can and try to remember these moments!

Keira's first day of school

Keira had her first day of school last Thursday, which coincided with my first day of school as well. As you can guess, that meant that I wasn't there to enjoy it...AGAIN! At least my wonderful husband stepped in and took care of everything.
Cute outfit...check.
Hair combed...check.
Pics for the scrapbook...check, check and check!

She's at the scame school she was at last year and was pretty excited about her first day. This year, her classroom is in a different building than last year, so she thinks she's moved up to the "big kid" area! She already knew her teacher and her teacher knows her, so I think they'll have a GREAT year.

Getting ready for the big day!



LOVE YOU ALL!!! (This is one of her new favorite things to do...she'll flash me the "I love you" sign at random moments through out the day, just to let me know she's thinking of me. Such a sweet girl!)



Her new teacher - Mrs F.



Cade was there to cheer her on for her first day since he doesn't start until Wednesday (those pics will be up in a later post)