Happy Birthday Little Man!

He's 3. I can't believe he's 3. Little Man has been such a spit fire from the day he was born. He is full of energy and loads of fun. Kayman has his own wild imagination and loves to make people laugh. I love spending so much time with him while the girls are at school. He cuddles with me, plays games with me, watches movies with me, lets me read to him, sings and dances to Michael Jackson with me, does beads with me, exercises with me...he is my little buddy!

We had a small birthday party for him at our house tonight with our family and Andy's parents. He loved his cake and blowing out the candles!
And eating the chocolate off the candles, that's not a joint.
Andy and I were more practical this year. After strolling through Costco and realizing that we have EVERY toy there, in one version or another, I decided that Kayman probably has enough toys. We got him some shoes, socks, Toy Story underwear and pullups, and a few Toy Story action figures. I know it sounds boring, but I am trying to get him excited to potty train. He is finally interested, so I hope that not getting Woody or Buzz wet will be motivation enough for him! We'll see.
The girls are such wonderful big sisters. They went through their stuff and came up with meaningful gifts for their brother. They drew him pictures, found toys they knew he would like, an old wallet (since Kayman is 3 he will now be getting allowance, I'll post about that and how it works in our home later), some M&M's and Syd even gave him some of her money! They wrote cards for him and wrapped the gifts all by themselves. Kayman loved their gifts and played with the stuff they dug out of the toy box for him as though he had never seen any of it before. Such sweet girls to go to so much effort to make sure he had a fun birthday!
He loved his gift from Nana and Papa! Cars and a track that makes loud noises. What more could a boy want? He also got a Cowboys jersey from them! Kayman is a Dallas Cowboys fan by default...his dad has been a fan since he was a kid.

A little more about my boy:

Kayman had a rough start when he was born. He was hooked up to oxygen machines and IV's for the first 24 hours until he was able to function on his own. Then he cried and cried until he was 9 months old. He was very frustrated all the time. Thankfully, he is now a very content little boy. He's intense, but happy. He is independent and will continue on one activity for hours at a time. He is very smart and learning very quickly. He picks up a ton from the girls, some good and some bad.

Kayman loves to play with trains and cars, throw bouncy balls, put together puzzles, shoot his cap gun, watch Mickey Mouse, and his new favorite thing to do at night is choose which sisters room he is going to sleep in. He has had a lot of nightmares in the night, so he doesn't like to sleep in his own room anymore. It's great because the girls love to comfort him if he wakes up and I don't have to get up anymore! It's good for everyone. The girls always have something to bribe him with to get him to choose them.

Kayman is such a sweet child and I love him dearly! I am so grateful for him and all the laughter he brings into our home! Love you buddy!

Jealous

Syd has the most amazing hair. I have always wanted thick hair, so I am glad she got it and I get to play with hers. She loves to take care of it and some day wants to donate it to Locks of Love. I just had to post this picture of how beautiful it looked today for church. This picture does not do it justice at all, it was gorgeous! Lucky girl!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving. What a great Holiday! I have spent a lot of time thinking today of all the blessings I have to be thankful for. Usually Thanksgiving just sort of passes me by without much thought, but this year was different.

I have been so blessed. I know I have much more (temporally) than a lot of people in the world have, and I am SO grateful for all the Lord has given me. I know the things I have been given are to enable me to serve others. I understand God's love for all of His children is the same. He wants all of us to return to live with Him again some day. I have been blessed to have Him in my life as my guiding light. I have the scriptures, my family, my friends, and most importantly, the Holy Spirit with me guiding me all the way home. I feel it, and I am grateful for that blessing.

My husband and children are the light of my life. They are so wonderful, and they love me despite my many faults. They accept me for who I am, even at my worst. I hope to be as good to them as they are to me. I try to be what they deserve, which is the best.

I am very grateful to all you family and friends out there who have supported me through so much. You know who you are. Thank you for standing by me and helping me when I need it.

Please know that if you are reading this, if I have given you the address to this blog, you have been an influence for good in my life. Thank you. I love you.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

...but the fire is so delightful - oh wait, we don't have a fireplace. Dang! I so wish we did on these cold snowy days!

Can you believe what we woke up to? I measured 11 1/2 inches at our house. This is one of the times it's good Dallas (the dog) is nearly the size of a horse...we don't have to shovel the yard for him to get around. His legs are roughly, oh, I dunno, 11 1/2 inches I'd say. Maybe 12. I haven't measured. Anywho, look how beautiful this snow is!!! And that sky. I'm telling you, the sky out here has been magnificently beautiful every day!

The kids got their snow suits on and headed out first thing in the morning. They pulled out the sled and dragged each other across the yard on it. They brought in mounds of snow to eat (which I ended up cleaning up after most of it melted) before dad came to the rescue and made them actual snow cones! With snow cone syrup and everything. A lot of it.
Kayman needed and bath after he was done, and so did the kitchen, and everyone enjoyed the first big storm of the season! The next one is to come tomorrow. Here we go, welcome to winter.

Co-op

I have been participating in a food co-op for close to a year now called Bountiful Baskets. I get 6 varieties of fruit and 6 varieties of vegetables, and each variety has a large portion. I end up with roughly $35-$40 worth of produce for only $16.50! I love it Not only for the fact that I save tons of money on produce because I get it a wholesale prices, but also because I always have healthy snacks on hand for the kids!

You're probably wondering if we really eat all this food in a week. Well, not always, but I am usually able to get through most of it. What we don't get through can either be preserved somehow or lasts a while, like potatoes. (I actually have 2 bags of russet potatoes and a bag of sweet potatoes as of now, but they last a long time so it's okay if we don't eat them the week of. I have dehydrated bananas and made countless batches of delicious banana bread since we get these every time and the kids are sick of them.)

This is the delicious acorn squash that Jess and I just love! She and I are the only ones who will eat it. It's a good thing that lasts a while too because we have a few. I love that my kids will eat all vegetables and fruits, and they are just as excited to get the basket full of produce as I am. It's a surprise every week (or every other week) because we never know what we are going to get.

Beauty

We have had the most beautiful sunsets lately! We have the best view from our front door and nearly every night we see something similar to this.

I am so grateful for the beauty God has blessed us with on this earth. It's too dark to see in this picture, but at the base of this mountain, right across the street from our house, is a field that usually has horses and/or cows grazing. It is breathtakingly beautiful! We love it here!

Photo Shoot

My friend did a project she called "Celebration of Real Beauty" and wanted photos of women and children for her video she made. She set up a photo shoot and about 50 women showed up! It was amazing! The photographer I was assigned to had some equipment trouble, so we had to reschedule. I took my mom, sister, and daughters to the reschedules shoot. This is what we got!

This last picture actually made it on Good Things Utah when the creator of the project went on to tell about it!

I am so pleased with the pictures! This is just a small sample of them, we got about 80 shots. The very best part of the whole process is that the photographer has become one of my very best friends! She and I just clicked right away and have become very close since then. It's amazing how the Lord sends you the right people just when you need them!