Kenyon Creativity & A Little Middleton Madness

I've decided to start sharing some of my sons creative ideas to give you all a giggle and me a release. This boy is too much!

Today I walk out of my room to find Kenyon sitting on a large dry erase board at the top of the stairs (where you see Kaden asleep - I'll save that story for another day).

As I walk towards him I see him smiling so big as he goes sliding down. He picks up the board which is taller than him (as if it's a snowboard) and with a BIG smile on his face says "mom, can I please not be in trouble since you have never said I can't do this and because it is REALLY FUN!" To that I replied "sure., but if you do it again you will be in big trouble" after all - that was a great reason not to be in trouble right? Plus, it was a very creative idea don't you think?

And here are a few pictures to make you smile or just to help you think we are OUT OF CONTROL!

Notice the extra ropes tied all over our playset... only a few near death experiences with those so far!
And here Kaden is jumping to dad after his lesson on walking the fence - a skill Kenyon posessed at about 2 years of age. You can see Kenyon is about to push his pansy brother who is nervous to jump to dad... "come on Kaden, you are 17 months old - it's time to be a big boy and jump". Which he did with no help from brother... yeah for me and my two adreneline junkies huh? And if you count dad I guess I have 3.

Oh and quickly on a more positive note - Kenyon (4 years) can now read 3 letter words... see he's not that dumb!

My AWESOME New York Story

It all started when my wonderful sister and her hubby offered to treat me to an all expense paid trip to New York, my hubby said he could handle me being gone and encouraged me to go and my in-laws offered to help watch my kids while I was away. Thank you to all of you!

Day 1 - My flight was awesome... no matter what happened it didn't matter because I had no kids with me. I arrived to my sisters beautiful home in one piece and was ready to party!

Day 2 - DJ and I went on a little date to go see his super cute toy store and spend some time together. I didn't realize the toy store was named after him, that we would be playing in it forever and that he would need me to go in the toy house with him to complete the experience! It was super fun though. We then walked down the downtown strip and got a bagel followed by a trip to dunkin donuts (which is disgusting but all New Yorkers LOVE) where there was actually a BIG line. DJ was so sweet to me on our date and had super good manners which made me feel super proud of my sweet and friendly nephew!

Then we got home and took a few cute pictures before we headed to the city to meet daddy at work. Here is Gavin who is getting so big and looking SO CUTE!

And here is DJ who turned into such a big boy and cracked me up non stop the whole time I was there! I loved this picture because a.) he looks super cute & b.) it reminded me so much of Kenyon who I hope to be one of DJ's best buddies when they are bigger.

Here we are getting me a taste of why no mother belongs in New York with little kiddos. It is such a hassle to go anywhere - especially the city where Daryn happens to work.

Below Gavin is giving me the full experience of trying to meet Daddy for dinner. He is not impressed by the city at all and although boys love trains - hour subway rides are not included.

And this picture just cracks me up because they look like they belong there - even though they DO NOT!!!

Here they are in front of Daryn's work (with the 2 American flags on it)...

And here is a picture of my purse being scanned so I could go inside and see his desk... wow! Daryn seems so important huh? Then about 5 minutes after this I took a picture of Daryn and Stacey and a security guy started freaking out and telling me no pictures are allowed in this building... oops!

And since Kyle didn't get to join me in person I thought I should include a picture of him and I at the Statue of Liberty (kind of).
After that Daryn gave me the quick tour of lower Manhattan (the New York stock exchange, 9.11 site and much more) then they took me to a wonderful dinner and then we took 2 very tired boys home where they could go to bed which is just what they all needed - except for me who was still on CA time and got to watch instant Netflix on the big tv (don't know how they do it but it was truly magical) and I finished season 4 of Lost!

Day 3 - After I slept in late we got ready and took DJ to preschool. He is the cutest school boy ever and was so proud to show me every detail of his morning routine.

And here is his AWESOME teacher who is guiding them on the hay ride!

That night I got to babysit for my hottie sister and her cute hubby who showed up with flowers to whisk her away for a fancy dinner on the Hudson river.

Gavin was such a good boy and after a big dinner (of yams and banana's) he went to bed with NO FUSSING (praise the Lord!) and DJ and I had big plans to make a balloon solar system, practice writing his name and watch a fun movie!

Day 4 - After Daryn went out to breakfast with Gavin and brought home super yummy donuts for Stacey and I we were off to see the sights. She showed me where she lived when she first moved there, where her church was and all kinds of things I have heard her talk about. Below is just a cute building I LOVED.

Here is their church...

And here I am paying for 12 hours of parking so Stacey and I could head to the city with no kids in tow. SO EXCITING!!!!

She treated me to Phantom which I LOVED! The only part I didn't like is that you can't sing along. :( After Phantom we headed to a super fancy dinner which ended with a delicious chocolate souffle - YUMMY! Then we headed for a tour of the city by a super cute boy on a bike. I saw Rockefeller center, Time Square, Trump Tower, went in The Empire State Building and much more. We were glad the stores were closed as we browsed by tons of super cute stores and picked out our favorite pieces in each window. I had such a great time!

Day 5 - We hung out and relaxed at home. DJ played with his famous Geo Tracks that he is amazing at building. I watched a great movie (The boy in the striped pajamas).

Daryn even hung out with me but I couldn't ask what he was doing because it was illegal for me to know about his report since Kyle and I might base our investments on what I hear.

Then that day we headed to Harbor Park (DJ and Stacey's special park) to try and get a family picture - which didn't work out that well. But I did get a few shots I really liked! This one of DJ is probably my favorite picture from our 2 hours of snapping shots!

And to end I just have a few words to Stacey and Daryn...

To my beautiful sister Stacey, how could I thank you enough - I had so much fun hanging out with you and your boys! It was such a needed break from life and I felt so spoiled by every detail of the trip you had obviously thought out just for me (chocolate cakes, perfect restaurants, fun days, lay around days and so much more!). You are such an awesome sister, host and friend and although I LOVED the trip I must say it makes me want you home all the more so I can come lounge at your house anytime I want (and we don't have to get Daryn to pay for it). Thank you again... I love you, your boots and every minute of my trip (well, except that one night).

And lastly I want to say THANK YOU to Daryn (who I am assuming Stacey will make look at this). I know this was all Stacey's idea but I know if it weren't for your love for my sister (and kind of for me too), your hard working/great money making skills this trip would only have been a dream. I seriously had so much fun and I even enjoyed hanging out with you/making fun of you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I can't wait until we live closer and it's a little more even... you and Kyle vs. Stacey and I. Oh the laughs!

I LOVE YOU MILLERS!

And I miss you already... thank you again!

Happy 30th Birthday Kyle!

Well my sweet hubby turned 30 the first weekend of October! He is such an awesome person and I so wanted to make sure he felt that on his special day. I tried to think of something he would love (which means it had to be cheap and has to include close friends). And I must say that I am so proud of myself for finally pulling off a surprise for him after 15 years of knowing him and never managing to do it before (and I have tried so many times). The big surprise was a trip to my family's cabin at Lake Shasta with a few of our closest friends and none of our kids (among the 14 kids we 4 couples represent we managed to get away with only 2 of them and since none of them belonged to Kyle he could care less!). We had such a great weekend with them and it was the perfect way to spend his last few days of youth!

Here are the party people!

Carolyn, myself and Jeanna -our first day on the boat.

Crazy Carolyn was the first to get in the COLD water... she is so fun!

Here is Carolyn and her hubby David - we worked really hard on him trying to look nice in pictures... something very hard for him to do. ALthough he is super nice for some reason his facial expressions don't always show that.

David on the slalom ski.

Jeanna got up on the wakeboard (every second counts)

and her poor feet payed a huge price for her victory!

Although after her hubby Brian got stuck in the boot for what seemed to be an hour I think maybe they are just babies and we need to get them some custom boots for next time. I do have pictures of Brian that look pretty cool out there but this one has to be my favorite.

Kyle, Bri-guy and David after finally getting Brian out of the wakeboard!

The Robertson gang.

Sweet little Jovie LOVED looking at the water and didn't seem to realize leaning

over the edge of a boat going fast is not the best idea!

Jovie, Stephenie and Travis.

They weren't with us on the first day out and unfortunately the 2nd day there was much colder.

Old men soaking their sore muscles after an exhausting day on the boat.

I enjoyed cooking for everyone and hopefully they enjoyed the food.

Game night! So fun! Kyle you can see is aging quickly as he yawned his way through the game.

Little Isaiah and Ky-guy!

You can't get the boys together without a little cards.

And here is their failed attempt at making me a yummy madori sour BLENDED!

Maybe next time right?

You couldn't bring this cute little baby and skip a photo session.

Isaiah is Brian and Jeanna's 5th baby

(2nd one they have been blessed with through adoption)

Travis really appreciated the cabin having the NFL ticket and although he wasn't cheering for the Cowboys we still let him watch the game. I guess he is used to a bigger TV because he stood 2 feet from it the whole game.

Thanks guys for an awesome weekend!

I hope this becomes an annual event for sure!
And since we got home the day before Kyle's real birthday I had to have a little party that day too. Kenyon picked a Transformers theme and since Kyle was transforming into an old man i thought it was perfect!

Thank you to my good friend Glory for helping with the desserts - so cute and so good!
Here is Kyle's grand entrance.
Do you like how nicely I dressed up the kids for the event?

Just a few of the people who agree that Kyle is so worth a celebration!

You can't have a party with our friends and not provide 2 bounce houses to keep the kiddos (around 30 of them) entertained (and outside).

I think Kyle's favorite part (well not really) was that I had put up pictures of him throughout his life to embarrass him and give our friends some great things to tease him about from here on out! Notice the one of him dressed like a cheerleader!

Happy Birthday Kyle -

I love you and hope you enjoyed your parties!