16!!!!

I truly had to choke back some tears.  Kollin turned 16 years old!  That's a big one.  BIG.  I am so happy and thankful I was able to be able to celebrate his sixteenth birthday with him.  We had plans to have a surprise party for him but everything kept creeping into the schedule that weekend and it wasn't going to work out.  Instead, Kollin took a group of his friends to BreakoutComo (and broke out!) and we ate at Hooters for lunch.  His birthday morning started out with a family breakfast and gifts and balloons, and his birthday ended pumpkin carving with his girlfriend!

The Monday following his birthday was Columbus Day so he had to wait until the week after to get his drivers license, which he passed with a 94%!  That score is superb compared to whatever my score must have been after completely failing the parallel parking portion by driving up on the curb.  Congrats, brother! 

Happy, happiest sixteenth birthday.  And most importantly, I love you.  I am very proud of you.  Every day I am.  You matter so much to me.  You continually give us something to talk about and look forward to! 

School Kids

It's already that time of the year - for all the first day photos to be posted and shared! 

Kaden - 7th grade

His first real year of junior high.  Although he had a locker and switched classes last year, he is officially in junior high and is playing junior high sports this year!

Kylie - 5th grade

Her teacher is Ms. Allen.  One of her very best friends moved to a different school district this year but she luckily gets to share the same classroom with another best friend. 

Kollin - Sophomore Year

It's getting closer - this graduating thing!  Class rings this year and prom next year...it's all going to happen so quickly! 

Farrah - Not Quite Yet

She is still in the infant/toddler room at her daycare/preschool and is the oldest in the group.  She takes Lambie with her each day and has cried every single morning at drop-off since it picked back up this fall.  She has two new teachers this year and loves them both!

Family Update Summer 2015

I was going through my drafts and came across this update from early June 2014.  I can see why it didn't get finished, since a week and a half later, Little Miss Farrah arrived and kept me pretty busy! 


So, we traded in our Equinox for a Chevy Traverse and we love it!  We wanted more room (since we're adding a child to our family) and our Equinox was needing a lot of work done to it, so it was the perfect time.  Keane and I found a Traverse on AutoTrader in Germantown, Illinois, and set out to check it out one Saturday morning.  We stopped at one dealership in the Saint Louis area on our way there, but the deal we had found still seemed worth the drive.  And it was.  It was such a great car-buying experience, seriously. 


Keane test drove the vehicle, I signed a lot of papers, we had lunch at a local family-owned diner while trying a locally-brewed soda, Ski, and drove home in our new Traverse. 


My brother graduated from the 8th grade and will be entering into the big world of high school next year.  I am always so proud of him.  He is handsome and kind and smart and funny and the best brother ever.


Two weekends ago, Keane and I went to our friends Keith and Jessie's wedding and last weekend with the kids we attended James and Alycia's wedding.  Also, last Sunday, we took the kids to a Cardinals game.  It was the perfect weather for a game, overcast and in the low 70's.  We had bleacher seats above the opposing team's bull pen, which were excellent seats.  The kids got free tall Cardinals sports socks, Kylie got a popsicle and a hotdog, Kaden got popcorn, and we all enjoyed some delicious stadium nachos.  Plus, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 3-1 and Peralta hit a homerun in the first inning!  We also recreated an old photo of the kids in the stands.


We have been spending our free time fishing, mowing, cleaning up around the house, plucking the new blooms off the strawberry plants we planted this year, and as of last night, the kids' baseball/softball games have begun. 

Lately

Well, I have failed at blogging lately.  If I do a question and photo of the kids this week and every week to the end of the year, I will have satisfied 50% of my goal: 26/52.  I think I'll try! 


I skipped over my lovely husband's birthday.  It was the first birthday I was able to celebrate it as my husband's birthday, and I enjoyed it so very much.  It was youth season for deer hunting, and he took the kids hunting quite a bit.  I know he really enjoyed doing that.  For his birthday, we made homemade pizza (his choice) and I made him an apple pie (which he really wished it would have been peach).  For his birthday we gave him a year subscription to Dollar Shave Club, a new electric drill, and some what-I-call-fancy beer.  It was a happy birthday, indeed.

My mom, Kylie, and I attended my cousin, Kara's, wedding that weekend.  It had been quite cold, and her wedding was outdoors, but the sun came out in perfect timing and it turned out to be such a beautiful ceremony.  We then enjoyed the reception with delicious food and sweet family time.  Congratulations to Kara and Donald; your love for one another really shows!

I haven't posted about my nephew's 3rd birthday, either.  I took a lot of fun photos on my brother's camera, and once I get those from him, I will be sure to post them.  I couldn't talk Keane into making the trip with me, since it was his last chance to bow hunt and get some things done before basketball season and gun season started up.  It's always so good to see my growing nephew.  He is so talkative, creative, and fun to be around.  We ended up playing cards until a late hour, talking about old stories.  When we woke up the next morning, we had breakfast my brother-in-law bought for us, and we prepared for the duck hunting birthday party.  Some of McCoy's cousins and family members joined for the party, and he loved opening all of his presents.


The very first present he opened was a toy BBQ grill, which included a pair of tongs.  He proceeded to use those tongs to remove every single piece of tissue paper from every present thereafter.  It was really cute.  He got a lot of nice gifts.  I got him a semi truck to haul hot wheels, and a toy dinosaur.

It's hard to believe he is three-years-old already.  He is such a joy to our family, and I'm so glad to be his aunt!

I also haven't posted about Kollin's 14th Birthday.  I got him some awesome black playing cards, an MU stocking cap, and lots of goodies.  Mom and Dad got him some electronic items (chargers, etc.) and a glow-in-the-dark football.  Kimberly got him a couple new shirts.  Mom and Dad took him and two of his friends to see some fights, and me and the kids joined him and my parents for breakfast-for-supper, his favorite.  I love that boy with my whole heart.

Last weekend was opening weekend of gun season.  Keane and Kaden went hunting four times, and Kylie and I joined once.  It was so cold...frigid temperatures in the single digits!  It's way too early in the year for that kind of weather, if you ask me.  Unfortunately, none of us four got a deer.

We are winter-proofing everything, including making room in the garage for the vehicles, and filling the dog houses with straw (I swear it's like Christmas morning to them when they get straw)!  Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is 36 days away!  Oh how I love the holidays.  I am ready to put our Christmas tree up, but I won't even mention it to Keane until the day after Thanksgiving!

Now I'll leave you with some phone-finds...