California here we come

We are leaving in the morning to go on our family vacation. We are so excited to be able to spend a whole week together without interruptions! This is much needed after Football and Baseball Seasons. We just told the boys last week and they are so excited! We can't wait to see their facial expressions and reactions to everything at Disney Land, etc. Camden is really excited about eating breakfast with Mickey and Goofy! We will fly into LA tomorrow. We are going to California. Lance has always wanted to take me there. He thinks I will love it because of the weather. We took Connor to Disney World in Florida when he was two. So we thought it would be fun to go to Disney Land this time. Connor has been begging to go back ever since. So this will be so fun to take Cam for the first time and Connor this time being a little older. We will go to DisneyLand for two days, Leggo Land, The San Diego Zoo one day, Universal Studios, The beach for a day or two, etc. Lance has it all planned out. The great thing about this trip is we have Sky miles saved up which is the bulk of the expense. So it is worth saving those sky miles if you are ever wondering. I will come back and post pictures and I am sure I will have funny and fun stories to share with you. There is never a dull moment with our boys. I love them!

Coaster Just Finished His First Week Of Golf Camp

He really enjoyed Golf Camp. We will probably let him take one lesson a week in July. This is Coaster and his friend. They played baseball together and then the Golf Camp.

Connor's Award's Day at school

This has been a busy week! First we had the talent show, everything in between and today awards day. We are so proud of Connor, he got straight A's for all year which was the Honor Roll award. Then he got 2 others that had to do with Reading. He was the only one picked out of his first grade music class for the music award. Mom, I thought you would like to see this.

Before the Show...

Talent Show

We are so proud of Connor for being in the talent show. Especially as shy as he can be with these kinds of things. Really his teacher couldn't believe he wanted to do it. He had been practicing with holding the microphone at home and moving around. When he got up there the mic was on the stand so that kind of threw him off from what he had been practicing. You will be able to hear that they got off beat toward the mid to end which never happened the whole time they had been practicing. They must have been nervous even though they said they were not! Connor remembered all of his words and I thought that was great! When he got back in the classroom the other classmates asked him for his autograph. So he gave it to them. So funny! I will post Camden's later. He had to sing the same song for me. It is cute!

Picky Eaters

We are making progress and I can tell you that there have been days and moments through the past 7 years where I have shed tears over this issue. I am talking about my boys taste's buds. As a mom, I want to make sure I am getting them to eat the nutrition that they need. Sometimes, it is just out of your control. Connor is 7 years old and he finally ate a whole little tomato. He didn't like it and was scared to death, but he chewed it up and swallowed it without gagging. Now Camden being three thought I was literally torturing him. He was crying uncontrollably at the thought that he was next in line for me to spoon feed him this tomato. I only made him lick it. I am hopeful that by the time he is 7 he will acomplish what Connor did this night. They are both picky eaters in different ways. I have just put those certain veggies on their plates consistantly in hopes that one day they will like some of them at least. When Connor turned 5 years old he began to eat the carrots that I would put on his plate week after week since he was a baby. I was so excited and realized that with some kids it just takes time. They will begin to like some after a while and then there is some that they won't. Connor will eat lima beans, butter beans, purple hull peas, any kind of beans ( really), spinage leaves, carrots, green beans, and lots of other things he used to wouldn't have. So I feel good about what he eats now, it has just been a slow process. So don't give up!

Okay, now the funny thing to me was that it took a while for Connor to chew up and swallow the little, itty, bitty, tomato, but they decided to eat a few leaves of my spinage from my salad, plain without anything on it for the very first time with ease. They do not like spinage cooked or in anything, just plain. My children confuse me when it comes to food. I have learned so much about children and eating though. Connor has been growing in his eating habits (eating more of a variety). I can name about 5 new things that he will eat now that he wouldn't have 2 years ago. That makes me happy! He is still a picky eater, but you know, that is him. His daddy is a picky eater, what did I expect? So moms, if you are feeling bad about not being able to get your little ones to eat more of a variety of things, stop! It is not your fault, it is hard. No one wants the best for your child more than you except the Lord. If you feel like others may think you aren't doing more than you're doing, they will have children one day and they will realize really quick that many things don't always turn out like you plan. right??? We all have our time coming to tackle these issues. Hang in there, Just keep loving your baby and doing what you feel the right thing to do is in that area.

One thing that I feel in my heart, is I believe some kids are naturally pickier eaters because of food allergies. Not for all cases, but I know with Connor having nut and shellfish allergies, it has been a blessing for him to be picky at times. It has probably saved him from trying certain foods that could have been bad for him.

My boys love the V8Fusion (the fruit and veggie juice). Connor is loving those nutrapal bars. So if you need any creative ways to get a picky eater to eat, check those two things out.

School is almost out for summer....

Well, this is our last week of school here. Tomorrow Connor has his little talent show which I will record and post asap. So be sure to tune back in for that! I can't believe he is doing that! He would have never have done that at the beginning of the year. He is my child who has to warm up to people and a situation. So I am anxious to see how tomorrow goes. It will be fun!

Thursday is my last day to run errands without having my boys tag along. You know how that can be. Camden goes to prek3 on tuesdays and thursdays and is with me the rest of the time. So thursday is the last day since it is time for summer vacation.

I have our whole next month planned out pretty much. Connor just finished baseball. He will go to his first golf camp next week. It is for 4 days and an hour 1/2 in the mornings. Then we are going on vacation from June 1st - June 7th. I will journal about our vacation in a few days. After we return from vacation the boys will be doing a 2 week power house swimming lessons. It will be everyday for 30 minutes for two weeks. They have been loving swimming lessons so we felt like this would be good to do for two weeks in June. We thought it would strengthen their swimming as well. Our friends Cathy and Mary Brantley are coming for two days too. Then the last weekend in June, I believe Crystal, Noah, and Eli are coming to visit. So that will be fun for us all. I will have to update you later on July and August. I am feeling good about having things planned for the next month. I mean,my boys have to have things to do. They are boys and that means rowdy!

Just a few snapshots taken in the past two weeks

This is Connor & Camden all in one! Seriously, it is like they each have his two different looks. Funny how that works out

Connor

Camden singing ...

Today Camden stayed home from school because he was running fever. I gave him motrin and you will be able to see that he is feeling quite fine in the video. This is a song that I made up for him to sing to me when he was two. I know you are probably laughing, but he and I use to walk and hold hands and it made me sing this. He made up the last line which is my favorite and makes me melt. You should have heard it when he was two and really singing like he meant it. So I asked him to sing it for me for Mother's Day Week. Ha! He is so much fun!

Our Boys!

Hey Friends & Family! I am going to try this again and really try to keep this updated for you. This really is such a wonderful way to let our family and friends know what is going on in our family. Especially since we live away from so many of you. I am inspired by my friends Jamie and Rachel. They are so great at this!

Well, we are getting close to the end of the school year. I am getting ready to plan our summer days. For me with two boys and just small children at that , I have to have activities planned at least a little. They are boys and need to be able to burn off that energy. I know we will go to the pool a bunch. It is in our neighborhood and it is so fun. They are already asking to go. Lets see what else, Connor tried out for the talent show at school and made it. It was all his idea and he asked two friends to do it with him. He is going to be singing "Big House" and his two friends will be doing the motions, etc. Can you believe how brave they are for first graders? Connor usually doesn't like everyone looking at him all at one time. So we were suprised that he was so excited and wanted to do it. That means he is really comfortable at his school and that he likes singing. That is what I am getting from it.

Camden is loving swimming lessons so far! He is so precious and loves to pray. He always prays in the car on the way to swimming lessons asking God to help him not be afraid. Well, we got out of the car the other day at swimming lessons. He stopped me before we walked in the door and told me he forgot to pray. So he started walking back to the car. I stopped him and said we can pray right here. So he backed up to the little brick wall that was there and asked me to sit with him and started praying that God would help him not be scared. He then jumped up and ran in all excited! He is always doing that. I love that he loves talking to Jesus. It is funny because we never have to wonder what happened at school or what he is thinking, we always hear it in his prayers at night. So cute!

Connor & Camden's photo shoot with aunt Emily (Boom Boom).

You can see that Connor has a missing tooth! Love having that memory