Thanksgiving & Some Early Christmas

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Kenney's family at Nana & Papa's house. I have to say, I think it was one of the smallest Thanksgiving groups I can remember in the Keys' home. I think there were only about 50 people there. I know that doesn't seem small to most, but trust me it was small! There were not as many 'out of towners' as usual. However, we just loved being able to spend time with family and especially our Daddy since he didn't have school! We were also able to begin some Christmas activities that were a lot of fun. As always, we have so much to be grateful for, and we are so blessed to have such great family and friends.

The trampoline was a favorite, just like every other time we go to Nana & Papa's.  One morning Kyler saw some of the neighbor's grand kids jumping, and Kenney told him that some friends were outside jumping.  Kyler got really excited, walked out the door, and said, "Hey friends, it's me, Kyler!"  It was so cute!!  He is definitely his father's child.  I never would have done that as a kid.  Actually, I still would not do that!

If you have ever been to the Keys' Thanksgiving, you know that this is such a small collection of desserts, but it was still an amazing dinner!

On Friday, there were Christmas festivites downtown.  Santa came riding a firetruck, there was hot chocolate, prizes, a hay ride through the park to see Christmas lights, and Christmas music.

Kyler riding on the hay ride with his cousin Avery.  Before we got on this ride, Kyler jumped onto a different trailer all by himself and waved to me saying bye.  He was going to ride through the park with a bunch of strangers and had no hesitation to do so!

Damon on the hay ride.  He of course refused to look at the camera.

The Tossey's (Kenney's sister's family) came in from South Carolina for the holiday.  Kyler played really well with Jax, and Damon did pretty well, but he is not as nice as Kyler!

Some more of the group.  Thanks to Tamra and Marilyn, we sang carols all through the park.

It was pretty cold outside and the hot chocolate was perfect!  Damon even drank it while it was still warm.  He hates anything that is warmer than room temperature!

The best family picture we have to date!

He had to blow on that hot chocolate for a long time!

Aunt Kacy cuddled Radley to keep him warm.

Radley was trying to figure out what all these crazy people were doing around him.

On Saturday, Nana got her Christmas tree and decorations out in order for us to have a little Christmas before we all parted ways.

The boys had fun helping Nana, and I was glad she got it out because we are not getting Christmas stuff out this year.  I know I may seem like a Scrooge, but I do not want to fight the boys with the decorations when we are not even going to be home for Christmas.

He really liked this Santa.

Kyler decorated this part of the tree.  He really saturated his part with a LOT of ornaments!

Before we went on the hay ride and stuff, Nana got the boys some gloves and other warm things.  Kyler continued to go back to that drawer and wore a variety of hats and gloves the rest of the time we were there!

Radley opened his very first present.

Like most babies, he liked the paper and box the best.

Kyler showing us the Avengers.

Snowed In

So a huge winter storm blew in, brought some snow with it, and caused church to get canceled. I told Kyler to look out the window when he woke up, and he got so excited. He wanted to go play outside immediately!  After getting all of us ready, we ventured outside in the cold.  The boys LOVED the snow.  I was really surprised because it was cold, and they don't have very good gloves, especially for snow.  The snow wasn't wet enough to make snowballs, but that didn't stop the boys from throwing the snow at one another and me!!  Kyler had so much fun.  Damon liked it for a little while, but he once again refused to put on a real coat, so he got wet and cold.  Imagine that?!?  I am so excited to have a yard!!  Have I mentioned that before?!?

He was so excited!

See that cute little smirk on his face?  He had fun too!

We can't go outside without at least 2 balls.

If you look close, you can see the snow he is throwing in the air.

1,2,3 throw the snow!

Then the throwing snow AT each other begins.

And Damon is no longer having fun, but Kyler is not ready to stop yet!

This picture explains perfectly why I tried to get Damon into a 'real' coat.  However, Damon does not see my logic!

We got a good couple inches.

This is Kyler trying and trying to build a snowman.  He is convinced Daddy can build one.  I don't know if our Daddy is quite that good, but I'm glad Kyler thinks he is!

Kyler wanted to make sure I got a picture of the icicles.

This is what Radley and Daddy were doing while we played in the snow.

Look who is starting to sit up all by himself!!  He doesn't last very long right now, but he is getting better.  He is much better than the other two boys at this age.  I think it's because he has a much  more solid base!!

This little guy at least found a warm hat!

The boys decided to head back outside with Daddy after Damon's nap.  They wanted to make a snowman, and this is what they came up with at first.

I wasn't lying when I said that the snow was really dry.  Even Daddy had some problems.

And this is what it looked like when Damon was left unattended for no more than 30 seconds.  Really, 30 seconds tops!

However, Daddy was successful in getting Damon's coat on before he went outside!

This is what we call the Iceman!  Kenney said there was no way he could make a snowman with snow, but Kyler wanted one really bad.  So Daddy was nice and made one out of ice.  We tried to add eyes and a nose, but we didn't have much,in the way of coal.  So we attempted to use Legos, but those didn't work, so we went with what we know best in our house, superheros!!

We knew Damon was being far too quiet!

This is one of Damon's attempts to climb the fridge. It is not his best, but it gives you an idea of what I am dealing with everyday!

Feeling Loved & Some Cold Weather

I had such an amazing birthday this year. I was not expecting anything but an ordinary day with a few extra phone calls. However, I was pleasantly surprised by so many people.  Kenney went with me to the gym in the morning which is such a huge help and then let me take a shower when we got home.  It might not seem like a big deal, but getting the kids in and out of the gym is no small task and taking a shower right when I get home without leaving 3 kids unattended is a small miracle in my life these days!  When all of us were ready for the day, Kenney left to go study and the boys and I went to a friend's house to play.  My friends took me out for some awesome frozen yogurt at a place called Red Mango (it's really good, you should try it).  One of them even insisted that we take the boys to her house later so that Kenney and I could go out!  I got phone calls and text messages all day long from so many people, most of whom I had no idea knew it was my birthday.  Kenney then let me go shopping all by myself (another miracle).  I even had $10 from Kohl's that I got in the mail to spend!  On my way home from the store, Kenney said that his parents called and said that they were in town and would watch the boys while we went out to dinner.  Two people randomly volunteering to watch our kids so we could go on a date, another miracle!!  So we went out to dinner at a Mexican place and ate with ZERO interruptions.  It was fantastic!!  After the boys went to bed, Kenney went to get a Redbox movie and brought home some of my favorite ice cream (Blue Bell chocolate chip; you should try it too!)  I had such a good day!  I didn't realized I was so loved, so thank you to everyone who made my day feel so special.

Flowers my dad and stepmom sent me (she is always good about this stuff)

We also got a new dishwasher the day before my birthday.  We had been washing all of our dishes by hand for over two months!

Today, all of a sudden, winter decided to show up!  The boys found some sidewalk chalk and wanteded to use it.  I told them to open the door and find out how cold it was outside and then decide if they still waned to go out.  Of course they said yes!  So I thought why not teach them with natural consequences that you don't draw with sidewalk chalk when it is 25 degrees outside?  So not only was it cold, but it was windy and sleeting.  It took me 10 minutes just to convince Damon to put on a jacket, so I didn't think it would last very long.  I was actually right this time; they only lasted about 5 minutes!  Thank goodness.  I was freezing too. 

Damon didn't like the wind or sleet

Kyler didn't either!

He also decided to draw on the wet sidewalk, so his chalk didn't last too long either.

Kenney thought this video was pretty funny.  He was not surprised that the boys wanted to go outside!

Never a Dull Moment

Everyday holds a new adventure in our house. My boys constantly keep me on my toes and to be honest, entertained.  I am in constant awe at the amount of energy they have and I lack.  They never stop, and I always feel like I can't keep going.  I am also amazed that I can love these three, crazy, active, messy, needy boys so much!!

This is how we have been eating dinner lately.  Don't we have the cutest centerpiece?  Radley likes to be part of the action too. 

These boys do love each other, and I love it when they are sweet to one another.

Kyler and Damon have been really good about trying to help Radley when he gets upset.  The bring him toys and talk to him, if they are in the mood. 

I just love this little face!!

I'm not sure if you can see it, but there is toothpaste floating around in this water.  I have been trying to hide the toothpaste from the boys because they make a huge mess with it and try to eat it (Damon).  They can reach everywhere in the bathroom so I put it inside of a cup, on a towel rack that is hung really high in the shower.  So what do they do?  They throw a toy at the cup, knock it down, get the toothpaste and empty it in the bathtub?  Nice, huh?  So where do I put the toothpaste now?

Like brother, like brother!  Damon 'thinks' he can do everything Kyler does, and he tries to do it too!  Damon thinks that he is ready to be potty trained, but I don't think he is yet.  He constantly takes his diapers off (no matter what is inside), sits on the potty when Kyler does, and wants to wear underwear.  However, I am not ready to tackle that mountain yet.  He did just turn 2, 3 months ago.

Damon likes to try our shoes on, and he looks so funny because the shoes are as long as his legs!

Also, Damon doesn't like help to get dressed, and this day in particular he had his shirt on backwards and his shorts inside out and backwards!  Sometimes his is too independent, and it frustrates us both!