Let the games begin!

So the baseball season has begun!  It seems like we always have a new mit that needs to be worked in for the season.  This year we had three!  Jadon didn't play baseball last year and he grew so much that he needed a new mit.  Jaxon lost his mit, again, so he is paying for his new mit.  Kyson also outgrew his mitt so we had to get him a new one.  Luckily, we have about 3 weeks before games begin so we will have time to work them in.  I love the baseball season.  I love watching the boys play catch in the backyard.  I love the sounds of baseball!  This year I have volunteered to help at the snack bar.  Kierra, and Jadon when he has time, will also be working there.  Jaxon will be umping games.  Needless to say, we will be at the ballpark ALL the time.  Let's play ball!

Happy Birthday Jake!

When we were done eating, Jake asked us if he could have a McFlurry.  We told him to go ask the employees if he could have a free one since it's his birthday.  We were totally kidding around with him but he said Ok, and went and asked for one.  How could they tell a kid no?  He scored!

 Ok, so I know Jake's birthday was a month ago (to the day, in fact) but my computer was out of commission so I wasn't able to blog about it.
Jake had his golden birthday on 2-10-13.  He decided a long time ago that he wanted to go swimming.  His actual birthday was on Sunday so we planned on going the day before.  Unfortunately, I got really sick and we weren't able to go until the day after.  The kids had a great time swimming but I forgot to bring my camera so there are no pictures.  After swimming, we went to McDonald's for dinner.  We had a great time, like always, going out to dinner.  The Saturday after his birthday, we were able to go out to dinner with my family to celebrate Grandma Shingleton's birthday.  The kids love going to Golden Coral.  They love buffets, especially when they can get all the cotton candy they want.
Jake is a great kid.  He's super smart and loves to learn about new things.  He is always full of information that he loves to share with us.  He loves video games.  He loves it when it's Friday and he can play video games.  I wish he wasn't so addicted to them but we haven't been able to find something else that he loves as much.  He's generally a happy kid and gets along great with Kyson.  I'm glad that he is a part of our family and I hope he had a great birthday!  I love you Jake!

Jake and Grandma celebrating their birthday together

My handsome little 10 year old

Excited new scout

Kyson has been so excited to go to scouts.  He turned 8 at the end of November and since our ward doesn't do scouts in December, he didn't get to start going until January.  He was very excited to go his first time.  He was even more excited the next week when it was pack meeting where he would be introduced as the new scout.  I love new scouts!  They are so excited about learning new things.

Sad Goodbye

I was released today from serving in the Primary presidency.  It has been a lot harder than I ever thought it would be.  I have truly loved this calling and was not ready for it to come to an end.  I love serving with those sweet little kids and will miss them.  I know that all good things have to come to an end, I just wish the end wasn't now.  I am nervous about the future because I was comfortable where I was and change is scary.  I know that change is part of life and I will just have to have faith that the Lord will put me where he knows I will be able to serve and grow.

Best Chritmas Present

I think my favorite Christmas present this year was something that we gave to all the boys.  We gave them an indoor basketball shooting game.  It has two hoops that are side by side so you can compete against each other to see who can shoot the most baskets.  Dale and Jadon put it together two days after Christmas.  It was waaaaaaaay bigger than it looked in the store.  The first day, it was set up in the great room and the kids and their dad played all day.  I could barely get by it to get to the pantry or garage.  The next day, I took all our Christmas stuff down and put the basketball hoops in the front room.  This is something I never thought I would do.  Have something like that in my front room.  It's been great!  Someone is almost always playing with it.  Kierra even uses it.  The kids are always playing together.  Dale has the record for the most shots and Jadon keeps trying to beat him.  Someone is always practicing shooting.  It's the last thing I hear before they go to school and the first thing I hear when they come home.  The plan is to rearrange the basement to make it fit downstairs but until that happens I will enjoy watching my family have fun together.

Hookie Bobbin'

Jadon and Katie (yes, that's really her under the orange mask)

 We did some hookie bobbin' on Christmas but I forgot to take my camera with me.  We got some great snow last night so we spent a few more hours again today.  Unfortunately, Jaxon,Jake and Kyson didn't want to come out today so I didn't get any pictures of them.  They did have a great time on Christmas though.  The kids have so much fun going around the block on the sled behind the van.  I got to go a few times and it really is fun.  We picked a few neighbor kids today and gave them rides too.  We had a great time!

Kierra waiting to go

What a cute picture

She figured out that it was a lot easier to hold on when she was on her knees

Jadon has bad knees so he had a hard time doing it that way

Jadon after one of his wipe outs

This was Jadon's face when Daddy said we could go hookie bobbin'



Christmas Eve

Jaxon's favorite thing is to get the ice cream

We had a very fun filled Christmas Eve this year.  We stuck with our tradition of going out to dinner and to a movie.  We decided to go to chuck-a-rama this year.  The kids really love buffets because they can eat immediately and they can pick whatever they want and get their own food.

Kyson loved the orange slushie drinks

Jadon's favorite is the salad.  He says he likes salad without lettuce.

Jake had quite the spread.  Everytime somebody went and got something that looked good to him, he went and got it too.

Kierra and Katie sharing some dessert

All the kids in their tye die shirts.  This was our Christmas craft this year

 After dinner, we went to the dollar store to pick out candy for our movie.  Everyone was really full so nobody felt like getting anything.  We went to see "Rise of the Guardians".  Everyone really liked it.

 When we got home, our driveway was covered in snow so all the kids went out with Daddy to shovel.  It was so much fun to have a snowstorm on Christmas Eve.

 All the kids were excited to open the traditional "jammie" christmas eve presents. 

The kids in their new jammies!

I love the excitement of Christmas Eve.  We had such a good day together.  It was so fun to see the excitement all the kids had during the day.  It's cute to listen to them talking to each other after we put them to bed.  Today we can definately say that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!