2010 - the rest of the year

August was a big month for Caden. He turned ELEVEN!! and got a go-cart for his birthday! He passed his first belt test in karate - the Yellow Stripe. Caden also had his first day of 5th grade and is attending public school for the first time this year.

In September, Carson and Corban played Fall Ball. Carson was on the Thunder. Corban played for the Bulls.
At four years old, Corban lives and breathes baseball. He is either playing baseball on the Wii, having imaginary baseball games with himself, or playing baseball with his brothers. He loved being able to play t-ball for the first time this year.
Joey brought home two donkeys in September also. We ended up keeping one to guard the sheep that he soon bought.
Here are the pigs that came to the farm at the beginning of October. The boys will be showing these in the Stock Show in January.
Caden earned his Yellow Belt.

The end of October brought lots of excitement. On opening weekend of deer hunting, on the same day, Caden and Carson both got their first deer. Caden's was a red deer, and Carson's was a white tail spike. They both got their deer on their first shot. Joey was one proud Daddy that day.
And the next day was Halloween. Here are the boys in their costumes.

Here are the blackbelly sheep that were added to the farm this fall. We are expecting lambs soon!

December brought us Caden's first trip to the ER. All because of a cousin and a hammer.

And a final shot of our family with our sweet dog Esau, who died earlier this month.
Now, I can begin 2011 without feeling like I am too far behind!!

Ruby at the Park

The boys and I took Ruby to the park today for the first time since she was a puppy. She played in the playhouse,went down the slide,
played in the tunnels,watched Caden swing,
knocked Caden off the swing,
and had a great day!

Perfection

I was reminded tonight of how blessed I am. Life is at one of those perfect moments. I wanted to freeze time tonight, but since I can't do that, the next best thing is to blog about it.

My birthday was yesterday. It was a busy day with church, going out for lunch, Trunk-or-Treat at the church, and trick-or-treating and hanging with friends in our old neighborhood last night. It was a wonderful birthday.

Then tonight, Joey and the boys put together a little family only surprise party for me out on the back deck. The boys each got me a gift and made a card, Joey grilled Carson's deer that he shot this weekend, they sang to me (both Happy Birthday and the Celebrate song which is our own little family tradition), and they topped it off with a surprise Cinnabon birthday cake. I feel so loved by all the men in my life.

I have to share the words from Caden's card so I will never forget them.

to: Mom

Mom, you are the greatest mom in the world. You care for me when I'm sick. You really are the most amazing mom in the world. If you weren't here for 2 weeks, by the time you came back we would all be gnawing on a closed canned food. Mom, I love YOU! and YOU! could! not! get! better!

LOVE: Caden

Summer part 2

The boys loved jumping on the hay bales at Grandma's this summer.

Lots of muddy fun.  Corban and Carson created a mud hole under the trampoline.  When they aren't in there, the dogs jump in.

Joey and I went on a our first cruise to celebrate of 13th anniversary. 

And this was Joey's favorite thing on our trip.  Chocolate Melting Cake.  He had it for dessert every night.  Notice that there are two.  They're both his!

Fourth of July

This year we celebrated the Fourth at home. Instead of fighting the crowds to watch the fireworks over Lake Granbury, we sat in our driveway with some good friends and watched the firworks as they exploded over the city.First we had our own little show. Here are the boys with some sparklers. They were trying the write their names with the light. Carson got a C. Caden got C A and half a D.



And then there were glow sticks. The kids enjoyed playing with these more than watching the fireworks.

Summer

Corban, aka Superman, feeding a baby calf at Grandma's. I love this shirt on him, but can't get him to wear it anymore. Every time he has it on, people talk to him, and he doesn't like it!
Tabby and White Socks have joined our family. They are going to be outside cats when they get a little older. Hopefully they will keep the snakes and rodents away. And see what the boys are doing? Playing on the DS has been a favorite pastime this summer.

Caden went to Pre-Teen Camp this year and loved it! As soon as he got home he was asking me to sign him up for next year. Joey and our intern, Kyle, went with him.

Peeping Titan

Another addition to our family. Can you see him peeking out of the box?

County Fair 2010

Every year for as long as I can remember...probably every year of my life, my family has gone to the Freestone County Fair. It also falls the same week as my grandmother's birthday, so not only do we have the parade, fair, rodeo and carnival, we also have a birthday party. Here are some memories from this year.

The weekend we were supposed to go to my mom's was when Carson was in the hospital. Here he is hanging out with his friend Casey in his hospital bed. Casey and his dad brought Carson a blanket with his baseball team on it! You can see it on his bed in the picture. He is SO PROUD of that blanket! After leaving the hospital, we made it to my mom's just in time for the parade.
Here are a few scenes from the carnival. Caden and Carson were finally old enough this year to ride all of the "big rides".

Corban and I spent most of our time on the Tilt-a-Whirl!! The man operating that ride loved his job. Every time you speed past him, he is pointing and tilting, trying to show everyone what to do to get the best spin.

Here is my attempt at abstract carnival art. I took these pictures as we were spinning out of control!!

And here is my Nanny at 93 years old!