Ok...Really Going to start Blogging Again!

Summer is almost over and I haven't blogged once!...I'm ashamed! Life is out of control busy, but in a good way. We are about to take our big summer vacation to the beach & I know that I will have a ton of pictures to share so figured I better get back in the habit. Instead of back tracking through the holidays I'm going to start fresh. Although I do want to share photos of Kaden's awesome safari birthday back in February, our new pool and some of our most recent summer fun. So here is hoping I will stick with it. I just love the idea of my kiddos having a memoir to look back on and a place to share our fun & sometimes crazy life moments.

Charleston Thanksgiving

We spent this past Thanksgiving in one of our favorite cities, Charleston SC. It was a great week of doing our favorite things...exploring the city, museums, shopping, eating, room service, swimming & did I mention Eating!!! Our Thanksgiving feast was spent just the four of us in a beautiful courtyard in downtown Charleston off King Street. Decorations were already up for Christmas so I got in a few good photos by the Tree in our Lobby. We even had a visit w/ Santa and went through the Festival of Lights at James Island.

Falcons Game

I just couldn't resist sharing these pics from our family outing to a Atlanta Falcons game this past Fall. The kids outnumbered us but we all had a great time. There were a couple of temper tantrums and it was a pretty long day but looking back it is definitly a tradition I want to start. We went to the pregame Falcons Landing where the kids got to participate in a lot of fun stuff and came home w/ a lot of swag :) Kaden met all the cheerleaders & Kendall was terrified of the "Dirty Bird!"

Halloween 2010

More from my effort to get caught up on my blog...Halloween! Kaden dressed as a Star Wars character, which by the way is his new obsession...or should I say was! He literally becomes so involved in something and you think this is going to last. He needs to know every fact, watch every movie, read the books, play the games and get every toy made & then all the sudden he moves on. He still loves Star Wars but lately has showed an interest in anything Legos & Tron (I don't even know what that is, but they have a whole section of it at Toysrus)!
Kendall "Bee" was the cutest Dalmation puppy ever! I had ordered her a tutu off Etsy website (love Etsy!) and the lady cancelled the order on me the week before I needed it. So luckily I found a local girl who makes Tutu's and she surpassed my expectations and made an even cuter one!
Kaden also attended his first dance & participated in his first school parade. The theme was book characters so we dressed both kids up as Dr. Seuss characters Thing One & Thing Two. They had a blast and never left the dance floor.

Kaden's Fall 2010 Activities

Kaden kept us busy last Fall with both his fourth season of soccer and his first season of flag football. We had fun with friends on the sidelines and enjoyed watching our little man play ball. Kendall of course loved running around with all her little girlfriends and joining the boys on water breaks. Keith helped coach the football team, The Mean Machines, and had a great time doing so. He plans on coaching again this Fall as well as Baseball this Spring. Kaden has another season of soccer coming up this Spring as well as his first season of city Baseball...we will be spending a lot of time at the Ballpark.

Ready for a Vacation

Here is another group of pictures that I just couldn't help but share from our Fall Break getaway. Kaden had a couple of days off school in October so of course I just had to make the most of it. With Keith out of town for a couple of days I decided to tour a museum right here in Cartersville, the Booth Museum. I'm almost embarrased to say that I had never been before in the couple of years that it has been open and now I can't wait to go back...its amazing. The art, the sculptures, the history and the best part almost the whole bottom floor is a hands on interactive exhibit for children...the kids must of been in there for an hour exploring. I took my niece and nephew Kylee & Ethan on our day out in Cartersville too.
When Keith was finished with his work out of town he met us up in Chattanooga and took two days off work back at home to explore the city with us. We went to a farmer's market, climbed rock walls, visited a pumpkin patch, went on a hayride (where I lost my brand new sunglasses!), went to the incredible Children's Museum, took in some great scenery, and even rode the Incline Railway.
With all the recent snow and snow days off school Kaden did not have his scheduled February Winter Break off school where we had planned on taking a trip to our beloved Charleston, SC. So now I'm itching to get out of town and explore w/ the kiddos again.

Proud Parenting Moment

Ok so I know I wasn't going to post anything else until I finally got caught up. I also don't have any pictures to share (what good is a posting from me w/out a picture of my two adorable babies)! But I just have to share this story & brag on my amazing son for a moment. First let me say if you are just starting to read my blog don't think...'oh my goodness she is one of "those" Mom's that thinks her children are perfect'...oh no! I will share the good, the bad and the very ugly!...so check back :)
So with that said let me move on to the good, the amazing, the boy who makes me proud to be a Mom every day of my life.
I went on a field trip yesterday morning w/ Kaden's class to the Tellus Museum. For you non-Cartersvillians that is a wonderful science museum right here in our backyard. Anyways, the trip was going well. Kaden's class was split up into boys and girls. The boys went w/ another class that was on the field trip, which happened to include the apple of Kaden's eye, little Reese. We learned all about insects & spiders & had a lot of hands on activities. Then the trip took a turn into the very kid friendly gift shop filled w/ all kinds of goodies. They stopped the group and explained that they could look & even touch just please put it back if you didn't buy it. Buy it! All the kiddos were asking their teacher..."We can buy something?" Well if you have the money she replied. Ok...they are 5 & 6 they don't have a wallet in thr back pocket and I was only 1 of 4 chaperones so most of them did not have a parent/grandparent w/ them. I told Kaden to quietly pick something out and I would come back and get it for him. His friend Jonathan was standing by and overheard and when I turned and seen his little face it was so sad. He said "Can you buy me something Kaden's Mom?"...Well of course I can when you say it like that. Next thing I knew I had an audience of little boys. As Kaden looked around he pulled me down and said "Mommy, I don't want anything but can you buy my friends something; they don't have any parents to get them anything."
This hit home for me in such a big way! I was so proud of him to recognize the wants of others & not put his wants/desires first.
I bought each of the kids a small token to bring home from their field trip and of course quietly let Kaden & Jonathan pick out a little something extra. As I gave each of them there little brown bag when they were boarding the bus and seen their smiles and even received a few hugs I seen Kaden looking at me w/ a big smile...was he also proud of me??
It was a good day.