Brandan Turns 17!

 Amazing young man!

Lot's of great gifts!

The gang!

That's Taylor (she's Keyto's age), Me, Tucker, The Birthday Boy, Keyton, and Makenzie (Keyto's girlfriend).

We are blessed to have an amazing family and friends!

Hugs, K

It's been a long time...

It's been so long since I've posted, I forgot how to get the text first! Since I've already typed a bunch of info. and can't get it to copy and paste, we will enjoy the pics first today!

A SENIOR!
I can't believe it!

First year of High school and so far so good!

New York Mets backpack this year!
No soccer team from Mexico!
I have really missed posting here, but the last year has just been really crazy. I'm hoping my new position at Tuck's elementary school will give me a little more time in the evenings to do more. I also feel a renewed sense of energy will Fall blowing in. Spring and Summer are forever my favorite time of the year, but I will say that Fall brings a feeling of nesting and home.

I am feeling a stronger desire to bake, craft and be at home.
We had an incredibly busy but fun Summer. I have lots and lots of pictures to share, but only limited time. So I am going to start with current and slip in the summer pictures here and there!
It's a big school year in our house this year. A Senior, a Freshman and a 4th Grader make the year full of activites, emotional highs and lows, and lots of changes! I am going to do my very best to post all this for family and friends on a more regular basis than last year.
Sooo, onto the first day of school. It was also my second week of school so Tuck and I left the house around 7:00 which means I wasn't here to take pictures of Keyton and Brandan as I have done for the last 12 years! Luckily, they humored me and took pictures of each other! I am so grateful they understand how much they mean to me and how important these moments are. I missed seeing them off, but seeing how it is B's senior year, it is probably good I wasn't there to get emotional!
Hopefully, before the end of the day I can get Brandan's Birthday pictures posted and then this week some summer fun, baseball, and B's big cruise!
It's good to be back!
Hugs,
K

Let's go fly a kite...

Tuck got to fly a kite here at home the other day.

It has been so windy here this season, so he was able to fly it right in the front yard.

He did a great job. It only got caught in the trees a couple of time. :)

Look at that smile!

That's pretty darn high in the sky...

Hope your having lots of fun this summer too!

Hugs, K

My Keyto

We celebrated Keyton's 14th Birthday yesterday!

He had an amazing weekend with my Mom being here and his birthday yesterday!

What an amazing son I have!

It is very rainy here today. We have a big week this week with Keyto's birthday starting it off.

Tonight is Brandan's baseball banquet with the first round of playoffs to start in Bryan on Thursday and Saturday and ending the week with Prom on Saturday night!

Gotta go get busy

Hugs, K

Keyton's 1st Track Meet

Keyton has had two track meets so far.

The first was at our home track and the 2nd was just North of us.

He placed 6th in the 2nd meet in the 1600 out of 26 runners!!

I am so proud of him! He has turned out to be quite the runner.

I hope to get some better pictures before the end of the season.

Way to go Keyto!

Well, we are half way through Spring Break. I am off tomorrow thank goodness!!

Keyto has been sick today, hopefully he will feel well enough tomorrow to join Tuck and I when we meet Trista and her crew at Main Event for some Laser Tag, Glow in the Dark Miniature Golf and some lunch!

I would give anything for a spring break for myself. I have a huge urge with all the spring weather to do some crafting and some gardening! The flowers are calling my name...

Have a wonderful Thursday, I know I plan to :))

Hugs, K

Tucker is 9!!

It's hard to believe my "baby" is 9 years old today!

He is such an amazing soul.

I am a very blessed Momma!

He had his party last Saturday night and invited 6 friends over to spend the night, eat hot dogs, smores, cake, run around the backyard and go see the new movie RANGO.

From all the laughs and smiles I think the boys had a great time.

I'm not sure how Stanford became Tuck's favorite college, but it is.

He would love to go there someday.

He wanted his cake to be Stanford and luckily we have a very talented bakery just north of us.

I decorated the house in Stanford colors (looked a little like Christmas around here).

His surprise gift was this Stanford Soccer t-shirt.

One of his requested gifts was a new baseball bat.

All of his good buddies outside by the fire.
I think this was before Brent realized he hadn't taken the top off of the chimenea
and that is what all the smoke is about!


All lined up in the living room, supposedly ready to go to sleep,
but that actually didn't happen for about 3 more hours!

All 9 of us at the movies!!

And this is how big brothers "escape" little brothers and their friends!!

A great 9th birthday!

Keyto had his 2nd track meet yesterday where he ran a mile in 6:01 minutes and place 5th in a race with 25 runners!

I have pics of the first track meet where he ran the 800 that I'll post next.

Tomorrow B will be playing in their final tournament before district play begins.

Today he pitched a FULL game against a 5A team which they won 2-1.

He was the game winning run (due to an awesome hit by his good buddy).

Have an amazing weekend!

I am off tomorrow and looking forward to a nice weekend with my boys!

Hugs, K

B plays at The Ballpark in Arlington!

What an amazing experience for the Red Oak Hawks!

Tuesday night we played Keller High School on the Texas Rangers field.

Brandan is on the bottom row, fourth on the left. The three boys beside him are coaches kids.

You can left click on all the pictures for a better view.

This first picture was taken by Steve Patterson of Moving Pictures, isn't it great??

Before the game, lots of pictures were taken and the boys got to bat in the

Ranger's cages down below.

Walking in from warming up before the game.

Does he look all grown up or what?

He rarely smiles while on the baseball field, but we know he is loving it!

This is where I teared up...

My son, on a professional field with his hand over his heart for the National Anthem.

The pride I felt was un-describable .

Time to play ball. Taking his position in center field.
There were FOUR Umpires for the game.

At bat...


On first base...


He had some amazing plays.
That boy is fast!!
The field is really huge, I mean when you go to a game you know it is big,
but when your kids are on it, it looks really big!




This one is my most favorite of all. He was called in to pitch in the 7th inning for the 3rd out.
He got it too.
I think he looks like Kevin Costner in For The Love Of The Game.
You can tell he is completely FOCUSED, shutting out everything.


I love this one too!


The end...we ended up losing 5-2 but boy the experience out weighed the loss.

They play a tournament in Waco this weekend and I am sooo glad I have Saturday off!

It is supposed to be 80 degrees!

Tuck has started his baseball practices and has two of his closest buddies on his team, and got a brand new pair of blue baseball cleats so he is ready to go.
Keyto has his first track meet this next week, so we are looking foward to his track season.

I'll try to update more often now that the activities are picking up and will have pics to share.

Hugs, K

It's that time...

Yep, it's baseball season!!

Tonight was Tucker's first practice and Brandan's 2nd scrimmage.

It was a successful night all around, even with injuries!

Tucker hit off the machine, stopped many grounders hit at him and even caught a fly ball or two.

Brandan pitched 3 innings with 7 strikes and no runs!

Now, if we can just get a pulled thigh muscle healed we will be good to go!

My Keyto has his first track meet March 3rd. It's been a long time since we have been to a track meet. I think it was Brandan's 7th grade year?? I hope it's as exciting as Cross Country was.

I am lovin this warm weather...

Hugs, K

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Yep, I'll be flying out tomorrow morning to California!

I am going to CHA with The Crafty Scrapper owner, Carolyn,

to buy all the fun new products for 2011.

I am a lucky lucky girl!

Only thing is I'll be leaving that crazy threesome at home...with their Dad!

Oh my, to be a fly on the wall for the next 6 days! ;))

I sure am gonna miss them, but I am going to learn and experience so much while I'm there.

Just want to say a huge THANK YOU to Carolyn for taking me with her.

Hugs to all and hopefully I can post a few pics while I'm gone.

K

Word for 2011

L I V E

This year I am going to live my life.

I am going to enjoy each day and each moment.

I am not going to be fearful or worry about what tomorrow brings.

I know that I have grown and changed so much in the last 3 years,

but I have also worried ALOT about EVERYTHING.

It seems as though, in the last 3 months, everything in our life is settling down.

You know that saying "everything happens for a reason"?

Well, I feel like I am finally knowing the reasons for things that have happened in the last 4-5 years. Turns out, those reasons are very good!

As my oldest says..."it's all good"!

Have a beautiful day tomorrow!

Hugs, K

(the picture is of Sierra Blanca that I took Christmas when we visited my Dad, it's so beautiful)

Happy New Year

I hope you had a wonderful New Year Celebration! I am looking foward to 2011! It is the beginning of an amazing New Year AND New Decade for our family. Last year was pretty rough, but I believe with all my heart that this new year will be wonderful. I have learned so much in the last 3 1/2 years since we moved. I have really had to be brave, try new things, and have FAITH that all would be okay.

I put up a new blinkie on my blog for The Brave Girls Soul Restoration. I haven't signed up yet, but I really think it is something that I am ready for. My job at the scrapbook store has given me a little more confidence in myself and my artistic abilities. My friends at the store are all so supportive and open that I feel so very blessed that I have been given the opportunity to work there. It is the next best thing to owning my own business (not a scrapbook store) and hopefully a stepping stone to that dream. The owner is very business savvy, yet very creative! It is a joy to go to work everyday and see what new event or idea will keep us busy and on our toes! (wink)

I did get my Etsy store started which was a goal from 2010. My little word for 2010 was "Aspire". I wanted to aspire to get some of my goals and dreams started that I have had for the past few years. The year before was "Bliss". We had been in a new town for a year and I needed to find bliss in my life. That was the year that I accepted where we were and settled into our new life. I am excited about my word this year which is.......I'll keep it for tomorrow! I'll also share my goals for this year later this week.
Hugs, K