Kohl's Cup 2010

Last weekend, Kaden was lucky enough to play on the winning U6 team at the Kohl's Cup in Hyrum, UT. He was also lucky to be playing on that team with his best friend and cousin, Kasen. They played 5 games that day and the weather refused to cooperate so we were all bundled up and trying to keep warm. Thank goodness that the games were only 2 12-minute periods with a 5-minute half-time. Although the day was long and cold, it was worth it and the boys had a lot of fun and Kaden was so excited to get the first place medal at the end of the day. Thanks Uncle Kasey for putting together a winning team! Leo (the RSL mascot) even showed up to tell the kids good luck and sign their soccer balls and jerseys! Way to go All Stars!

A Ducky Day

Lately, we've been having frequent visits from some furry friends. I can't remember them ever being in our yard as much as they have been this year. The boys love it when the ducks come to visit and are always trying to feed them bread. Sometimes the ducks are interested, sometimes they're not. Mostly, they just love to sit on the wet grass and if the boys bother them too much, they waddle over to the next quiet yard. Surprisingly, the cats don't even go crazy when the ducks are in the yard, they just sit in the window sill and watch them for a while.

A New Interest

Ray, Kaden, and Jackson went up to Washington last month to be with family since Aunt Katie returned from her mission. I can't believe that Ray drove all that way with both boys but apparently, they both had a great time. The highlight of the trip was fishing on the lake behind grandma and grandpa Balls' house. Kaden is really into fishing so I guess we'll be buying some fishing poles and heading to the public fishing pond near our house...or else just send him with Uncle Kasey. I'm sure Uncle Kasey would love an excuse to head out fishing with the boys...not that he really needs one!

Sweet Baby Evan Turns 1!

Our last (but certainly not least) baby boy turned 1 this month, on May 15th. As is our usual custom, we didn't do a big birthday party, we just celebrated quietly at home as a family. We made red velvet cake and cupcakes with buttercream frosting and everyone loved it. I think the pictures say it all.

Our dear sweet baby Evan...this year has flown by and you are such a joy to our family. We can already tell that you love your older brothers SO much and they love you and always are quick to help us take care of you. I love your sweet smile, your chubby cheeks and legs, and the silly noises you make all the time. Most of all, I love snuggling with you on my shoulder before nap times and bedtime. Although I was almost positive you were going to be a girl, I wouldn't trade you for all the girls in the world and thank you for completing our family...I know how blessed we are every time I look in your big blue eyes and see you reach for me. We love you!

I think someone's excited for his birthday!

Mom's attempt at a homemade birthday cake.

"What's this?"

"Hmmmmmmm...."


"Pretty tasty!"



What would a birthday be without the ceremonial smashing of the birthday cake into the hair?



I think this pictures sums up the day! We love you sweet Evy boy!

Kaden's Birthday - Part II

Kaden wanted to have his birthday party this year at Bouncin Off the Walls and we invited as many of his friends as we could think of. My goal for the birthday party was to not have it at my house and not have to do much so this place was great. The kids got to run wild in the bounce houses and the giant slide for an hour and a half and then they had pizza, cake, we did presents, and everyone went home and best of all...I didn't have to clean up any mess! Enjoy the pictures of our sweet Kaden's 6th birthday.

Kaden sitting on the "birthday chair" before opening his presents...lots and lots of Legos!

Star Wars birthday cake...again! I think this will be the theme for quite a few years.

The big blow out!

Sweet baby Evan just hanging out while all the kids played.

Daddy and Jackson...even mom and dad got to play and go down the giant slide.

The birthday boy

Jackson had a blast at Kaden's birthday party

I can't believe our sweet Kaden is 6 years old already! We couldn't have asked for a sweeter boy and a better big brother for Jackson and Evan. Jackson always wants to be like his big brother and is already into the Star Wars thing so I'm sure it won't be long before Evan is following in their footsteps. We love you so much Kaden and are so glad you are in our family. You are kind, loving, fun, and a good example for your little brothers. You are such a good student and love to go to school and learn new things. You are such a good helper and you LOVE to play the Wii and X-box. McDonald's is your favorite place to eat followed closely by Little Ceasars. I hope that daddy and I are always able to show you and help you feel how much we love you and I hope you will be patient with us as we are always learning how to be better parents and give you the freedom to make choices and also the freedom to make mistakes. You'll never, ever know how much we love you until you have kids of your own but I just want to tell you again....we love you so much, more than you'll ever know! Happy birthday sweet boy.

Kaden's Birthday - Part I

This is the first of two posts related to Kaden's 6th birthday. It was his year to have a big party and since his birthday was on a Wednesday, he got to have his birthday from Wednesday through Saturday. Wednesday started with his favorite breakfast of waffles and we made these to take to his class to celebrate his birthday:

Later that night, we let Kaden choose dinner and we had a small bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes (the best place ever!). Kaden opened his presents and got mucho games and stuff for the Wii so it was a successful birthday. Go to the next post to see Part II of the big 6th birthday! You'll notice the green St. Patrick's Day t-shirt that he wore to school which will be a part of every birthday since he's a St. Paddy's Day baby. The green shirt might have kept him from getting pinched but it sure didn't keep him from getting his 6 birthday spanks!

Time Flies

So much has happened in so little time...the days just seem to keep flying by. This year has started out great and our little family is making some big strides.

This was the big birthday month. Jackson turned 3 and I turned 32. Yes, I'm not ashamed and I'll admit my age...it is what it is and I certainly don't feel 32 but I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone else. Ray and I decided that we'd let our boys have a BIG birthday party with all their friends every other year so Jackson just had a quiet birthday at home this year with family and Kaden will get a BIG birthday party and then Jackson will get a BIG party next year and Kaden will have a quiet birthday with family, etc. I think Evan and Jackson will have their BIG parties in the same years so I have 3 months in between trying to plan for both of them. Jackson's still young enough that I don't think he really cares who's there...just that it's his birthday, he gets presents, and has a cake. Here's some pictures of his 3rd birthday:

The decorations...


The cake...

Blowing out the candles!

Jackson followed in the footsteps of his older brother and finally decided that he wanted to be a "big boy" and we are happy to say that he is now fully potty-trained, at least during the daytime and it is absolutely wonder only having 1 child in diapers. I now know why everyone says that the best day of their life is when their last child is potty-trained...I can't wait for Evan to be potty-trained and no more diapers! Getting there took a lot of this...

Kaden had Red Ribbon Week at school where they talk about drugs and learn all the harmful things that drugs can do to their bodies. They got to dress up differently each day of the week such as wear your favorite sock, wear school colors, etc. and his favorite day was the crazy hair-do day! Of course, we had to have red and black because those are the Star Wars colors and as usual, little brother wanted in on the fun too. Once the colors were in Jackson's hair...all he wanted to do the rest of the day was get them out. Go figure!

Although it seems like it's been very busy, I can't think of much else to write about. Kaden is still loving school and will be the big "6" in a couple of weeks, Jackson is 3 and did I already mention he's potty-trained (yeah, we're pretty excited about it if you can't tell), and Evan is almost 10 months. He's not crawling yet...maybe because he's almost 23 lbs. and is usually in the 90-95th percentile for height so I think it's going to be a while before he can build up those arm muscles enough to heave his heavy body off the ground. I know that I should enjoy his relative immobility because once he's moving...I'm going to be running around like crazy!

I just thought this picture was funny...sometimes you just catch those funny moments

This month is the second parent/teacher conference at Kaden's school. I am so proud of our sweet Kaden. He got the highest grades possible for the second time with "Excellent" ratings for all of his behavior skills. Mrs. McGarry always has the best things to say about him and I'm so glad that he loves school and loves learning and I hope he continues to do so for the rest of his life. We're so proud of you Kaden and are so glad you're our sweet little boy and such an amazing example to your little brothers!

We were driving to Aunt Pam and Uncle Reed's house for dinner this evening and when I turned around to check on the boys...this is what I saw. Ray and I both thought this picture of Kaden was hilarious...he looks way to mature for an almost 6-year-old!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I always love reading people's blogs when they post the funny things their kids say and I always tell myself that I need to do that down the road I can remember the funny things my kids say. Well, I'm finally doing it.

Today at lunch, Kaden told me that one of the kids in his class has a stepmom and a stepdad. He asked me what a stepmom was. So, as bluntly and as gently as I could, I explained to him that if I died and daddy got married to someone else then that woman would be his stepmom or if daddy died and I got married to someone else then that man would be his stepdad. I also assured him that neither daddy or I plan to die or remarry anyone else. His response was something to the effect of, "My kids are going to have a stepmom." I said, "Really, you want your kids to have a stepmom? I don't think I want my kids to have a stepmom, why do you?" He replied, "Because I like both Mary and Lacey."

Mary and Lacey are a couple of his female classmates at school. Talk about quick reasoning skills! My initial reaction was shock, laughter, and now I'm wondering if I should be worried more than anything!

Finally!

Ok...so I know I lied on my last post but better late than never, right? It's been a whirlwind from Thankgiving through New Year's to say the least. Settle down and get comfortable because this is going to be a long post!

Thanksgiving - We had a very small and quiet Thanksgiving at our house this year. My mom came down so it was just her and our little family. Dinner was delicious (thanks mom!) and over the course of the week, I ate the entire apple pie pretty much by myself and it was delicious. We also got our tree, inside Christmas decorations and outside lights up and I have to admit, our house was very cozy and ready for Christmas. After Thanksgiving, it was back to work for a few weeks.

December - One of the highlights for me was to go to warm and sunny Orlando for training. My training was held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center and it was beautiful...I've made it a goal that we are going to take our kids there someday and it's not too far from Disneyland. Besides the long daytime trainings, I had a great time just going back to my room and relaxing and sleeping through the night without the baby monitor next to my bed. Although I did miss my kids, it was nice to have some time to read and just relax. Both Ray and I thought that December would be a relatively "quiet" month at work (as it usually is) it was unusually and ridiculously BUSY clear through December 31st. With Ray's company trying to transition itself to Adobe and don't even ask me why I was so busy at work...it was hectic right up until our holiday vacations started on December 23rd. All I can say is thank goodness for online shopping and free shipping!

But, we were both able to take a lot of time off, basically from Christmas Eve through January 4th (minus about 4 hours I had to go into the office to meet a 12/31 filing deadline). Ray's company completely shuts down between Christmas and New Year's and I had vacation time that I had to use by 12/31 or I would have ended up losing it. So, we were forced into an 11-day vacation...and it was great! We didn't do much except spend a lot of time together and Ray and I took the kids to daycare for 1 day and did our annual "Kami & Ray" day together.

We went to the ward Christmas party and both Kaden and Jackson were so excited for Santa, Jackson said he was going to kiss Santa. But, when Santa finally came, Jackson wouldn't go anywhere near him so Kaden was the only one that sat on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted. Judging by the second picture, I think even Kaden was a little freaked out by Santa or maybe Santa had really bad breath!

Being able to be home with the boys on Christmas Eve and just spend a lazy day together was great. My mom and dad came down to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us so we had a nice dinner together, watched a movie about Jesus' birth, and then let the boys open one Christmas present. They were so excited for Christmas and I think Ray and I were just as excited, maybe more. We got them off to bed as early as we could but made sure to leave the cookies and milk for Santa. Once the boys were in bed, Santa was busy doing his thing and kept thinking that he heard the boys sneaking out of their rooms, but they were fast asleep. Christmas morning, Evan woke up at his usual 6 a.m. but Kaden and Jackson were still asleep but around 7, they came out. Kaden came out first and then went into Jackson's room saying, "Jackson, wake up, it's Christmas morning!" Then they hurried downstairs and I can't even describe their excitement. After taking it all in, Kaden went over and said, "Mom, Santa ate the cookies, they're gone!" To say the least, we had a great day and the kids were excited all day and we stayed in our PJs all day and played and ate and relaxed...it was WONDERFUL. Our family present from Santa was a Wii with Lego Star Wars for Kaden, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Guitar Hero World Tour with 2 guitars, the drums, and the microphone.

I don't have any pictures of Christmas to share, it was all that I could do to get it on the camcorder. Some of the other highlights of our Christmas / New Year's holiday were:

1. The day Ray and I spent together, going to the new Oquirrh Hills Temple and then doing popcorn and a movie at the house WITHOUT kids!

2. Playing Wii until we were exhausted and rocking out with my sister's family on New Year's night.

3. Eating delicious food at P.F. Chang's on New Year's day.

4. Going to dinner and the 3-D version of Avatar with friends and NO kids (are you sensing and theme here?)

5. Spending each day with my family and not having to worry about work, school, homework, getting ready for Christmas, having breakfast together, playing Wii together, and staying in our pajamas all day at least 3 times during the break.

6. Taking Kaden to pick out toys for the Christmas room at the stake house and helping him to start to understand that Christmas is about giving, not just about getting.

Although I don't have any great holiday pictures, I do have some that I wanted to share since I haven't posted for so long. I hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday and someday, I vow to send a Christmas card but it's extremely difficult to get 3 boys together, looking good, and smiling at the same time but we loved receiving everyone else's cards and we are so thankful for our friends and family and all that they do for our family.

Our sweet Kaden (1/5/10)

Our sassy Jackson ("Jacksie" - 1/5/10)

Sweet baby Evan ("Evee" - 1/5/10)

Mom and Evan (1/5/10)

Our Sweet Boys (see any resemblance? - 1/5/10)

Jackson thought he was pretty neat sitting in Evan's bouncy toy (12/23/09)

Evan during his favorite time of the day - tub time! (11/26/09)

Stay Tuned....

I just had to get the Thanksgiving theme off my blog! I'm so far behind...I have committed to update for December so please come back and visit the site this week...I promise it will be updated!