My love/hate relationship

Christmas and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the time of year, that it actually gets cold and all the festivities. I hate that we are so stinkin' busy and there are always 10 things I still need to do when I finally get one thing done. I never feel on top of the game and I just feel drained by the time it is all over and done with.
Since we are going to visit Keeper's family on the 19th (not Idaho this time, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas)I need to have everything done by the 18th. That's less than a week away and I am just a little stressed!
I was working on something at the computer the other night and I told the boys that they could have a "movie night". I popped popcorn, gave them a little picnic and let them pick the movie. (Is that still neglecting them when they want to do it so bad?!)
Well, I came in to check on them to make sure they were liking the movie and this is what I found. I love my boys! They are so creative! Pots?!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We decorated our house for Christmas about a week ago and the kids absolutely love it!!! It has been so much fun! I did it before Thanksgiving thinking that there would be few if any visitors last week and we ended up having a young women's party for church at our house this past Tuesday. I'm not sure what they thought but it was still fun.
Our tree is pretty small but it fit in our apartments and our last house perfectly. Now, in this house we need one a lot bigger. Last Christmas we weren't as into the decorating as much because Camy was just born, we were adjusting to that little dramatic baby, and we had Keeper's whole family coming for the holidays. I didn't even think about getting a new tree. I had too many other things to worry about.
This year we are going to visit Keeper's family for Christmas so we won't even be here. We decided to put up our "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" again and maybe we can find a sale and get a big tree next year.
Here is what happens with a 2 year old "helping" to decorate the tree.

Camy's birthday party

So this is late but we had a little party for Camy on her birthday. The cake was an adventure but it turned out pretty cute. I was pretty impressed with my "cake decorating skills". Camy was a little overwhelmed with the present opening and being attacked for the gifts but the next day when things were somewhat calm (the boys were playing by themselves) she was able to play with her gifts and she really liked the "girly" stuff she got. I can't believe my baby is one. Happy birthday princess!
We practiced blowing out candles and she was getting pretty good. (My boys are fire freaks so we light a lot of matches and candles just to blow them out a second later.) She will do it all the time now but she refused to preform on the day of. Oh well! Maybe next year.

Attacked for the presents.

The ladybug cake. I know ladybugs aren't pink and brown (Keeper made sure I knew that) but I saw this cake on line and it was pink and brown. I thought it would be easier that red and it was.

My birthday girl

I took some pictures of Camy with a cake of her own on Friday. The boys loved watching her but she didn't get all into it like I thought she would. Oh well! We all had fun! Sorry, there are a ton! This was a one time thing though so I decided to enjoy it. I will post pictures of her party and her ladybug cake tomorrow.
I loaded then backwards so it's messiest to cleanest. Oops!

Camy turns 1 on Saturday

I can't believe that my baby girl is 1. Time sure flies. It seems like just yesterday she was born, but it also seems like she has been part of our family forever. She is such a joy to have. She cuddles quite a bit now. She gives hugs and kisses all the time. Even though she is sweet, she does know how to work everyone and get what she wants. She just learned the word "Mine!" and has put it to good use. She will scream it over and over until she gets what she wants or is distracted. Parker and Carson love her a ton and are usually pretty tolerant of her. They get a little annoyed when she is taking things from them but they are also the first to jump in a knock someone down if they are picking on Camy. What else are big brothers for, right?
Here is Camy in a nut shell.
2 weeks

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

This is a picture that I took a couple of days ago and it is so Camy! I love it! I am planning to take some birthday/1 yr. pictures in a couple of days. Hopefully they turn out.

Keeper's birthday!!!

Well, as usual I am late in my blogging. Keeper turned 28 on the 3rd, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!! He is so awesome!!! The morning of his birthday I taught preschool at our house. The kids were really crazy that day but Keeper helped out by playing his guitar for them and watching Camy until he had to go to work. What a helpful, loving husband. He is always thinking of us even when it's his day. I love him so much and am so grateful that I get to spend so much time with him. Parker said, "I love taking Mia on walks with Dad. That's how he knows that I love him." Carson said, "I love singing a song on the guitar with him." Camy just loves being with him. Here is a video of Carson and Keeper that I took this morning that illustrates what Carson was talking about. I hope you have had a great week, Keep. We love you!!!

Halloween

Now that I am actually to Halloween in my posts, I guess I'll put some of those pictures on.
We had a fun Halloween this year. Between the parties and trick or treating we have been on a sugar high for a while now. The boys really liked it this year. It was fun to experience that with them. Parker wanted to be a cowboy again this year. We already had the costume so I was all for it. Carson was Diego and Camy was his Baby Jaguar. He loved putting his arm around her and telling everyone that he had to take care of Baby Jaguar. She didn't like it too much but oh well.






Before we even left our front yard Camy had a sucker in each hand. Such a little sneak!



Part of the haul. We had a whole other bowl full. Gotta love that Parker is in his underwear on the table. Nice Park!!!

Camy's face at the end of the night

Of course one sucker isn't enough! Not even two is enough!

Primary program

Parker was in the primary program at church a few weeks ago. He was one of the few kids who actually had their part memorized. He was so cute up there, our little Sunbeam, rattling off his part like it was nothing. He is exactly like Keeper, not a single issue with stage fright. He loves having all the attention on him.
He said, "Because He loves us, He has given us families so that we can love and learn from one another."
He did such an awesome job! My little boy is getting so big!

Awesome San Antonio

It's pretty common to hear people complain about the weather in San Antonio. Yes, it's usually hot and ALWAYS humid, but it's home. Luckily there is not much complaining right now. The weather has been awesome! We have visited many playground recently to enjoy the sunny, slightly cool weather. I love it and the kids love being outside. Here are a few pictures of our playground adventures.





Camy kept laying down on the sidewalk yesterday while we were at the playground. I'm not sure what she was doing but I thought it was funny.