He's not zero anymore!

Yes, Sam has turned one! Which in Kevin's mind means that he is not zero anymore... which is important since he has been zero a long time now! :) I am not sure that Sam really understood that it was his birthday... but he enjoyed every minute of the fun! :)

Birthday morning brought his first present... a remote control car from grandma & Duane.

Trying to figure out how to get the present open...

Having fun driving his new car around the house

Sam's first car trip facing forward! He loved looking out the window on the way to IHOP for his birthday breakfast!

A big plate of pancakes with strawberry syrup... what could be better than this?

Sharing his pancake with Mommy

Since Sam's birthday was on a Wednesday, we took the afternoon off to spend with him before going to church for our evening activities. It was a beautiful day (80+ degrees), which was a huge improvement in comparison to all the rain and flooding a year ago when we were trying to get to the hospital! :) We had a great afternoon at the park!

Fun on the swings

Kevin on the slide

Kevin climbing on the jungle gym...
And as usual, Sam isn't far behind!
After all the fun at the park, we had worked up an appetite, which truly never seems to be a problem with Sam! :) So, we met up with Uncle Brad, Aunt Belinda, & cousins Jacob and Jonathan for dinner and a quick cupcake. In case you were wondering... all the boys LOVED the cupcakes, especially SAM!

I am not sure if it was a great first birthday for him, but as his momma, I loved every minute of it! I am thankful that we were able to have such an amazing day full of fun, love, laughter, and making memories! What a true blessing from above... just like my precious little boys!

What does it take?

One might think that pictures of my boys are easy to take... and I do get some good pictures from time to time... but here is what we go through first...

Sam crawling away & nearly falling off the couch.

Kevin trying to get Sam to sit in place & smile for the picture

Kevin holding Sam down --nice choke hold, huh?

Finally... a few pictures that are nearly perfect... well, except the peanut butter on Kevin's face and the marshmallow in Sam's mouth (used as a bribe to get him to stay put)

January Road Trip to Nebraska

Since we didn't get the opportunity to go to Nebraska for Christmas because of Sam's surgery craziness, we decided to make the trip for Kevin's 4th Birthday & do a belated Christmas celebration!

I couldn't wait to get my hands (and lips) on my cute new little niece Alaina... she was born in November and I have been dying to meet her in person. Needless to say, she was even more beautiful in person... see?

And we were in desperate need to get some family time... after being away six months....

Ethyn's smile that can light up a room

Sam giving aunt Tonya some lovin'

And then, of course, ANOTHER birthday party for Kevin!

In a storm trooper outfit (& mask)... what else would you expect from MY son?

The biggest bummer (other than having to say "goodbye" which is always the worst part) is that we ran into bad weather on the way back home. After spending 12+ hours in the car, more than an hour of it at a standstill, we stopped in Carthage, MO and got a hotel room for the night. We finally made it home the next day to find we had no electricity... which thankfully only lasted 3 days! Brian took some pictures of our house & his truck with the ice.

Lazy or Busy

Okay, so either we have been too lazy or too busy to keep up with the blog for the last 7 weeks or so. Crazy how the time slips away!
So much has happened... Kevin turned 4, we made a trip to NE and met our new niece, had the flu, had ear infections, traveled to Waldron & then back to NE for funerals, made a trip to the dentist, had GIC at church, watched Kevin "sing" at the women's luncheon, and as usual volunteered for more stuff to keep us busy! :)
Among all this I have tried to keep our house clean (yea right), keep my children fed & clothed (not a problem for Sam -- he has LOTS of clothes!) and more importantly... keep my mind!
I promise to update everyone soon! So much to tell and the boys are getting SO big!!

Kevin's 4th Birthday!

We celebrated Kevin's birthday a week early in Arkansas since we had plans to be in Nebraska on his actual birthday. He wanted a Chuck E Cheese Star Wars Party... which is of course exactly what he got. I personally dislike Chuck E Cheese... it is loud and wild and crazy.... so of course, I am already planning a quieter party for next year.... we shall see who wins there! :)

The Coffmans, Spence boys & of course our cousins joined us for the big fun! We wouldn't know what to do without them! And Hannah found a friend there... I am sure the girl gets tired of all the boys! :) Kevin told me on the way that Hannah was his "girl"... we would love nothing more than to have the Coffmans as in-laws, but he may have some pretty heavy competition! :)

We had a great time & Kevin still talks about it months later!

The YUMMY cake from Rick's

Kevin waiting for all his friends!

Layton & Kevin with Chuck E Cheese

Hayden & Mr. Al in the horse race

Kevin riding on the merry-go-round

Pizza Time!

Kevin's new teepee from the Spence family! He LOVES it and spent several days sleeping in it!