We Have a 7-Year Old

Wow - doesn't 7-years old just seem so old? For some reason, it hit me harder this year that Preston is growing up so fast and just keeps inching his way to double digits! He has grown up so much this past year - he is such a loving, fun, outgoing and talented young man. We are so proud of him and had so much fun celebrating his 7th birthday! Thank you, Preston, for all the joy you have brought to our lives. You are loved so fully, unconditionally and without end.

So this was the year that we weren't going to have a "big party" for Preston, and we didn't... but we ended up somehow spreading the birthday festivities out for several days with several different celebrations? Hmmmm.... well, let the parties begin!

First, since Preston was three years old we have gone to the last Friday home game for the Frisco Roughriders. It always falls right around his birthday and is a blast with friends and fireworks! This year we were joined by the Sutherland and Thomas families - these two families are such great friends, they really are like family to us. Preston has grown up with all of these kids - thank you all so much for sharing your lives with us and being a huge part of ours!

So, a few days before the game I e-mailed to have Preston's name put on the jumbo-tron for the birthday announcements and they actually asked if Preston would want to be the Jr. Announcer for the evening? Well, heck yea! At first, he was nervous when I told him that he was going to be announcing a player in front of everyone... but he got over it and did a great job! And he had to introduce a very long name, I can't even remember what it was! But the game was actually televised that night, so we were able to record it and show him the next morning that he was on TV! He was so proud - hopefully a memory that he will cherish!







Okay, so another HIGHLIGHT of the night... Preston got to meet his very favorite player - Steve Murphy. Preston has really gotten into the Roughriders this year and he has been dying to meet Steve Murphy. So we tracked him down before the game and he got his autograph and a picture! Can you tell how star-struck he was... he talked about it for days! Thanks Roughriders for making this night extra special!



Here are some pics of the kids enjoying the game...

So these next pictures are of Preston's actual birthday! He and Erick woke up way too early! Erick and I affectionately say to eachother (they woke up at the butt-crack of dawn)... sorry, so politically in-correct! Ha! But Preston was so excited to go fishing on his birthday! And I think Erick was just as excited... seriously, Erick enjoys all of Preston's hobbies just as much as he does - it's great! These are memories to last a lifetime.... so here's Preston heading out to go fishing! They fished for like four hours and even ran into Preston's "BFF" at the fishing pond! So he got to fish with his buddy, Aiden, on his birthday! How great is that?!?

When they got home, Erick made him a special pancake breakfast and then it was present time!

Instead of the traditional wrapping, this year we sent Preston on a treasure hunt around the house for his presents! While they were fishing, I spent all morning drawing a map of our house and hiding all of his treasures. I had spent all Summer collecting tons of cars from the "Cars" movie, so I had lots of little things to hide - and, okay, one big thing....

First he had to find his treasure map... it was in "mom's favorite room" - the scrapbook room! Hee hee!

Then the hunt began - there were presents in the pantry, refrigerator, dryer, and even in the shower! It was a hoot!

And here's the big one... a Nintendo Wii - the whole family is enjoying this gift! "It's the gift that keeps on giving!" Movie line alert - who can name it?

Later that day, I took Preston to Wal-Mart to buy his first Wii game - a fishing game no doubt! Then we all went out to dinner at one of Preston's favorite restaurants - Macaroni Grill. But of course, our artist can draw on the tables there! So funny story - Preston told me the other day, "When I date girls, I am going to take them to Macaroni Grill." Okay, not ready for that! But that's nice that he'll take them somewhere other than Taco Bueno (his other favorite eatery)!

And the festivities ended the following weekend as we invited three of Preston's good friends from school over - Aiden, Trent and Mason. Can I tell you what a good group of boys we had at our house! I mean, they were just so good together - like four peas in a pod. And nothing but kindness out of all of them! Thank you boys for celebrating with us - we had a blast!

They enjoyed a water gun and water balloon fight outside - they were drenched!

And you guessed it - Erick was right in the middle of it all - like I said, he enjoys these things just as much as the kids!

Then we came in and enjoyed pizza, birthday cake and presents! These boys sitting around the table cracking each other up was quite the hilarious spectacle! Oh, the joy of boys - you moms know what I mean! Everything is funny - then add some bodily function humor and well, it's down right hysterical!

Then the boys headed upstairs. Preston enjoyed showing them his new game, they made this massive Star Wars scene with all the Star Wars toys and watched a movie in the media room! Two of the boys left in the LATE hours of the night (but they weren't tired you know, for the record!) Ha! And then we enjoyed having Mason spend the night. The loved sleeping in their sleeping bags in Preston's room.

Happy Birthday, Smoochie Boy! I'm sure you're already counting the days until you are 8 years old.... slow down big man! Love you more!

11 Months with Evan... What a Blessing

Couldn't you just smooch all over that face! I know I do!

Our little man is growing up way too fast! But it's hard to remember our life without this little bundle of joy, energy and personality! And I certainly wouldn't want to imagine it! Can you believe that we thought we were done having kids?!? So glad that God put it in our hearts to have another. Evan has been such a blessing to our whole family - "he completes us"!



This little guy LOVES to dance! Seriously, it is the cutest! Anytime and anywhere he hears music he starts dancing - bopping his head up and down, shaking his arms around and just dancing! He cries when the music stops! His favorite toys are the ones that make music. He'll set one off and then start dancing and laughing and running around.... so proud of himself! And he always looks to make sure you're watching and dancing along. Show off! Above are a couple pictures of him getting his groove on! Shake your groove thing, Evan!




It's not hard to make Evan laugh - he is quite the ham. He loves being tickled, being chased and LOVES to play peek-a-boo or "Where's Evan?" He loves pulling stuff over his face for you to say "boo!" He is a busy man - if he is awake, he is moving and exploring... and oh yes, we are indeed walking - well, almost running now! I know it's old news to most - but on September 6th Evan did indeed figure out a faster way to get from place to place! And he hasn't looked back since!

In fact, funny little fact... Preston started walking right after his first birthday party - as soon as guests left he started walking around. And then Evan started walking after Preston's 7th birthday party - Preston had some friends over for the night, and Evan started walking around! I guess all those boys were motivation to get moving! Apparently Preston's parties inspire walking!

Here are some shots of him in action!





Oh, and that little yellow sign that he is holding is his favorite. It's a "duck crossing" sign from our wooden train table. If he is in the playroom, he is carrying and chewing on that sign!

So, have I said lately how much Evan loves his brother? He is so in love with Preston. And Preston spends every waking hour playing with Evan, worrying about Evan, talking to Evan... what a joy it is to see them together!



Another one of Evan's favorite things to do is copy you. He loves copying sounds that you make and silly things you do! And of course, he is learning very quickly how to do the things that "big brother" does.... oh, to be like big brother!

He has actually starting "playing cars" with Preston and finds the purpose of toys pretty quickly. Isn't that fun to see them figure things out?!? You can just see the wheels turning.



"Almost there....."



One of his favorite times - bedtime with "bubba". He loves walking around in his room and going in and out of his bathroom while he gets ready... here he is helping Preston brush his teeth!



I know there's so much more to say about this little guy, but for now I'll just leave you with a few more pictures! Love to All!





Didn't even budge when I came in to get this picture... he loves using his bumper as a pillow.



What a face!

Broken Bow, Oklahoma

A couple of weeks before school started we drove up to Beavers Bend State Park in Broken Bow, Oklahoma and rented an adorable cabin with the Sutherlands. It was so fantastic - it was camping for us city folk! hee hee! It had a wrap around porch literally around the entire cabin - there was a hot tub outside on the deck, a grill, air hockey, and two huge trees growing through the porch decking; it was such a relaxing setting - if we were at the cabin, we were on that porch!



This picture below is the drive up to the park - if you haven't been; this is such a beautiful state park. We actually went there about three years ago and were excited to get back! The trees are unbelievable; and there's really lots to do in the area (if you like to be outside)!



Honestly, we had no real agenda while we were there. We mostly wanted to relax and hang out with good friends. I think the kids' favorite part of the trip was playing in the fabulous "front yard" at the cabin.... what a view! They played dinosaurs, hunted for rocks and pine cones and there was even a friendly little beagle that would visit us! Our kids are entertainers, so they loved putting on "shows" for us.



Below are my boys with their God Mother - Susan. This was the night we decided to roast marshmallows! There was actually a fire pit with benches in the front yard - a great spot for marshmallow roasting!



Here's Preston with his first marshmallow of the night... the kids were so excited!



Oh, and here's Erick trying to start the fire... I felt like we were on "Survivor" doing a fire challenge! It was not an easy feat, and we had a lighter! But Erick won the challege and we had fire!



One night after the kids went to bed we decided to play a game of Poker. Luckily we had the Poker expert, Todd, there to teach us! Seriously! We were all in need of some serious schooling! Well, look who ended up winning the pot in a last ditch "all in" hand!



Inside the park there is this great swimming hole area with paddle boats. It's a ton of fun; here we are getting a work-out on the paddle boats! Both of my boys love being outside and were in heaven every moment of the trip.



Here is Evan loving the paddle boat ride!



And I love this sweet picture of Erick and Evan enjoying the swimming hole and Evan especially enjoyed the snow cone Daddy is holding! This swimming hole was so awesome... the water was so refreshing and chilling! Preston could have stayed there all day!



Okay, below is a random picture, but I thought it was so hilarious. On our way into the park there was this accounting company on the side of the road... literally, his name is "Joe Bob Smith, CPA"... ha.... You Might Be A Redneck! Okay, I'm from the South, so I think it's okay for me to poke fun at my kind! I know, what a shocker, right? I've lived in Texas just about my whole life - a true Texan! Crazy - you'd think I'd have an accent or something, right?



Here are the older kids "posing" for their picture... have we trained these kids well, or what?!? When your mommy loves to take pictures and loves to scrapbook, you get used to having a camera in your face! These pictures are so special to me because these kiddos are so close and will be friends for a lifetime. They really are family and I know one day they will get a kick out of these pictures.



And here's the whole gang... had to get a group shot even though there wasn't a soul around to take it! The ice chest was used as a handy tripod!



Truly a rare occasion... me and Susan in front of the camera! Thank you, Susan, for being the most wonderful friend and "Aunt Susan" in the whole world! Love you, Shirley!



Our little punk rocker, Evan! Can I just tell you and brag a little bit about what a good baby Evan is! He is such a trooper and so easy! The trip was about 2 1/2 hours each way and he didn't make a peep both ways! And while we were there, he slept so good and was so content to just "be" and hang out. Since he wasn't quite walking, we couldn't really put him down on the ground to crawl (ouch!), so he hung out on the porch in his highchair and spent lots of time in our arms and in the Baby Bjorn! He could not have made the trip easier, love you Schmoopie!



So this was my favorite view off the highway..... WHAT A VIEW! Can you believe this is Oklahoma?!?



And we remembered a beautiful photo spot from our last time there; a gorgeous winding river with rocks and a waterfall. So pretty.




And last, but certainly not least.... we had to go FISHING! Oh, yes, we have quite the fisherman in Preston and this was a MUST! Here the kids are excited to find the perfect fishing spot!



My two fishermen getting ready to cast out!



Here is Evan very fascinated with the fishing pole! Erick literally had him strapped on the front of him while he fished.... Evan loved it; even if we didn't catch a thing!



Here's a sweet picture of Uncle Erick helping Skylar cast out...



So, if you need an idea for a relaxing, beautiful long weekend definitely get to Broken Bow, Oklahoma! We will be back!