CHRISTMAS 2009

I wanted to give a really quick recap of Christmas for our family this year. My favorite story involves Porter and Dave. Porter spent a few days of the season trying his best to be eligible for the "naughty list." Of course don't we all sometimes deserve to be on the "naughty list?" :) Anyway, on one of these days Dave told Porter that he better stop or he would have to call Santa. Porter who did not even pause to think ran over got a pencil and a piece of paper and sat down at the table. He proceeded to recite as he wrote on his paper, "Dear Santa, my dad is being so mean! Can you please call him and tell him to be nice............"

Tracking Santa on Christmas Eve

Porter spent a great deal of time under the tree just like this

We took this picture for my Grandparents who gave us these matching shirts. Everyone including extended family on the Porter side received one. They say Forever Together. I love them.Surprise!!!!!!! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the Wii........... I think they like it!!!!

I love this picture of Porter with his new bike - his helmet is a little tight :)

Kaden and his new bike

Colton and his new bike

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!!!

So these are the things that I've had to confiscate from Porter just today. I just had to chuckle at the vast variety....

hammer (yikes), nerf gun (does anyone remember my eye being almost shot out), aloe vera ???, and chips (of course)

wonder what the rest of the day will bring??

If Kaden Was An Alligator

In the summer time I have my kids do journals. I give them topics and they write about it. I found this in Kadens journal and it made me laugh. I gave them the topic "If you were an alligator......" Here is the translation.

If I Were An Alligator

"If I were an alligator and if you got to close I would jump out of the water and get you and it won't be pretty and who nows (knows) what will happen but I'll probly (probably) eat you so watch out I'm an alligator and this is all true."

I love boys!!!!!!!

Ok - how cute is this? :)
****For the record so no one thinks we are bad parents...

Colton was only holding this gun for the picture******

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 Recap....

We have never hosted a Thanksgiving dinner before and let me say it is a little bit stressful. I will forever appreciate the work that goes into preparing for the big day. Our day started out with my obsession that EVERYTHING MUST BE CLEAN!!!!

I had to pull out my inner Drill Sargent......

mixed with a little bit of my inner Mary Poppins......

Dave and the kids were a huge help and everything got done!!! YAY!!!

We had our friends the Barringtons come over along with Dave's cousin and her husband. We had a pretty good spread of yummy food. I was highly impressed with the way things turned out except for this little number...............

What the #@*&!! is this you say....... Well ... It is a fried turkey. Yep fried as in FRIED!!!! Those of you who know my husband and his cooking of meat know that he has a phobia of serving it undercooked. He is afraid that we will all end up with some sort of food related bacterial infection if he does not thoroughly cook it.

I was thinking we would cut it open and all we would hear is "poof" and all that would be left inside this little number would be bones. Luckily I was wrong and there was some meat left - VERY WELL DONE!!!

Thank heavens we had another baked turkey to serve along side this beauty.

This is Patrick. Porters new found best buddy. In fact, Porter was ready to pack his bags and move into the Barrington house because Patrick offered him these things...

1. $100 a day allowance

2. No rules

3. Pepsi on your cereal is allowed

4. Play outside all day

and on it goes.....

But I'm pretty sure that these little sweeties would not appreciate a new brother hyped up on Pepsi.

This is Amelia

This is Rachel
I sure love these boys of mine.

I have been very blessed to be their mother.

I am so thankful for them and my cute husband.

Oh Porter..... the new and upcoming photographer...... I went to upload my pictures and found some wonderful works of art........... Here is one of my favorite photos

Strategically placed???

__________________________________

Then we have the photos that I took of him at his request. I did not pose him. This is all Porter. :)

Hmmmmm.......................

I took this one just because they are cute. I came downstairs to find this adorable sight. I had to throw it in here.

Remembering The True Meaning Of Christmas

As my kids get older I am finding it more and more important to impress upon them the true meaning of Christmas. This year I decided to order this picture of Christ and put it by the tree as a constant reminder of why we really celebrate Christmas. Of course I want Christmas to be full of fun and magic but I also want them to feel the importance of remembering our Savior. I would love to hear any ideas or traditions you have in your families that help to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

So here is the finished Christmas Tree! I had a hard time getting a good picture but you can get the general idea. I love waking up and turning on the lights - it makes my day!!!!

A Quiet Place

Today I walked in the kitchen to hear some crazy noises coming from the cupboard. I opened it up to find Porter quietly playing his Leapster game system. I asked him what he was doing in the cupboard to which he replied, "I need some peace and quiet."

If only I could squish myself in there!

Time for a little Christmas Cheer

There is nothing that brings more instant joy than looking at a lighted Christmas Tree. I don't know what it is but it just makes me happy. So we decided that we would bring on the happiness a little early this year. Only 43 days until Christmas!

I think Dave was happy he did not have to put the entire tree up all by himself. He had some very happy helpers.
Porter very carefully placed each ornament side by side in one big clump. He kept saying, "This is the bestest Christmas Tree ever!"

We ran out of hooks for our new ornaments so a picture of the finished product will be coming soon!!!! I love Christmas!!!

Colton

I really went back and forth as to if I should publish this post. I am not a big fan of bragging and I was worried that this may sound a little braggish. But I've decided that we are really proud of Colton and some of the choices that he has made and most of the people who read my blog love Colton too and would be proud of him right along side of us.

We received a letter in the mail with an invitation for Colton to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C.

The first paragraph in the letter addressed to us said, "I am thrilled to inform you that, based on his academic achievements and leadership potential, your son, Colton, has been nominated to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference to be held in the spring 2010 in Washington, D.C. Colton was nominated by his teacher, Mrs. Lakeisha Valentine, who recognized him as one of a select group of students with the scholastic merit, maturity and strength of character to represent Ft. Rucker Elementary School at this unique leadership program for exceptional students. On behalf of the members of the United States Congress who serve our Honorary Congressional Board of Advisors, I congratulate you on Colton's achievements. You must be very proud."

We are so proud of Colton and this recognition he has received for all of his hard work. We've always been proud of Colton and the way that he tries so hard to do what is right not only in his school work but with friends. He is always looking out for the under dog and to be honest it is that attribute that I am most proud of him for.

We let Colton read the letter addressed to him and his face was beaming. I tried to catch a little bit of it in pictures but it is impossible to capture a moment like that in a picture. He was almost in tears because he could not believe that this was for him. Every kid could use a letter like this to boost their self esteem.

We are so proud of you Colton

Annual Chili Cook Off

Today was the annual Fort Rucker Chili Cook off. They had all the aircraft parked on the field so the boys were able to climb inside all of the helicopters which made them soooooo happy. I love watching their eyes light up with excitement and it is kind of fun to watch Dave's light up as well.

Proudly standing in front of the ApachePorter was so funny - he jumped right into the helicopter and looked at the man supervising

and said, "How do I get this thing started?"
Gotta check out the guns
Taking a back seat in the Black Hawk
Probably the best part of the day for Porter was getting his very own red balloon.

I was thinking today of how much I love being with my cute family. Dave and I love being around our kids and are so grateful that they still love to do things as a family too. I hope that never changes.

Halloween

Sadly this was about the only picture that I got of the boys this Halloween. We took this picture on the way to the Trunk or Treat Friday night. I love this picture because I intended on taking a picture of Porter who fell asleep BEFORE all the fun and I was lucky enough to capture a little phantom in the back. YIKES!!!! He looks pretty scary in this picture. When we got to the Trunk or Treat my cameras batteries were dead. So this ended our Halloween pictures. :( Oh well.... The boys had so much fun.

Colton is twelve this year and our family rule is no trick or treating after you are twelve. I thought he would be upset this year but he wasn't. He spent his time helping the young men at a booth for the kids and he loved it. He is such a great kid.

Carving Pumpkins

I LOVE FALL!!!!! We had lots of fun with the boys carving their pumpkins this year. Porter was not quite sure if he really wanted to gut his pumpkin by himself but when he saw his brothers going crazy he decided he could not miss out.
After the pumpkins were finished we lit them up and left one on the table and put two on top of our TV Armoire. We had carmel apples and sugar cookies and watched a scarry movie together. A kid freindly scarry movie of course. (One that you might watch Sherry:>)

After the movie was over we moved the pumpkins to the porch and started the big clean up. It was so much fun!!!! Happy Halloween to you all!!!!!

Porter Turns Four

My baby boy is four years old!!! I can't believe that I don't really have a "baby" anymore. He is growing up so fast and changing so much.

I remember after having Porter I was amazed at how much I loved him. A mother has a never ending heart when it comes to her children. I loved Colton sooooo much when he was born and then Kaden surprised me when I figured out that a mother could love another baby just as much as her first born and then Porter came and I was overcome with that same love.

Porter has been described by one of my friends as "the spice of life" and that is almost a perfect description of him. He is almost always happy and he loves people. A little story about him just to embarrass him later.......

While Dave was deployed we had an amazing Bishop. Bishop Adams would have me come in to his office twice a month and ask me how we were doing and if we needed any help. Porter was about 5 months old at this particular visit. As soon as we walked in he reached out for Bishop Adams and because he was an awesome Bishop he took him and held him in his lap. I sat down and we started to talk about things and Porter turned around and gave him the biggest open mouth slobbery kiss you have ever seen. We both started laughing but I was horrified when Porter would NOT STOP!!!! Poor Bishop Adams was being attacked by Porters kisses and I am certain he did not quite know what to do. I finally had to just take him away. I am pretty sure our meetings went from twice a month to once a month after that. :) (just kidding)

Porter keeps us on our toes and he really is such a joy to have around. He is always dancing and singing and just happy.

We love you so much Porter!!!!!!

This is Aldin Porter he is my Grandfather - Porter is named Porter Aldin after him.

3 Years Old
4 Years Old

All Porter wanted this year was "party balloons, party games, cake and ice cream, and to go to Chuck E Cheese's." So that is what we did. We had a fabulous day!!! It was so much fun to see his big brothers dote on him all day and treat him like a King. Anything he wanted he got because ..... it was his birthday. That does not happen very regularly in our house. :)
Pure happiness
Kaden having fun

I love this picture. Colton was playing basketball and then Chuck E Cheese HIMSELF came up and started playing with him. Colton just looked over at him and kept playing like there was not a huge, giant mouse standing there with him. It made me laugh.

We had a fun day celebrating Porter and we love him to pieces!