Kaeden is 11!

I can't believe that my little boy is 11 years old today! The time has flown by. Kaeden has been such a joy in my life. He is such a good boy. I do feel sad that he getting too big to snuggle. He has started the phase where he needs to be cool - he no longer runs up to me when I show up at his school.

Kaeden wanted to share glazed donuts with his 5th grade class today. He has outgrown cupcakes. His birthday dinner is Homemade Martha Stewart Macaroni and Cheese, Spicy Buffalo Wings and Edamame with a Pistachio Cake. He will have a cousin sleep over too. (We only do a friends birthday party every other year.)

Here are 11 things I love about Kaeden.

1. He makes me laugh! He is one funny kid!
2. He is so kind and loving to Blake.
3. He is very loyal. He has liked the same girl since Kindergarten.
4. He tries very hard to choose the right.
5. He is very sensitive to the underdogs and tries to be their friends.
6. He has very good thoughts and is willing to share them during FHE and Scripture study.
7. He loves to read!
8. He loves BYU football!
9. He is very grateful and thanks me for doing things for him.
10.He offers to be my taste tester as I make dinner or try a new recipe.
11.He likes to watch Downton Abbey and Duck Dynasty with me.
We sure are blessed to have Kaeden in our lives. We waited for him for 6 years and boy was he worth the wait. I love you Kaeden!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Blogging

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I want to journal our life but I am not sure I want our life on the world wide web for all to see. I love reading blogs and I learn so much for them but I am not sure I want the whole world to know how imperfect my life is. I like to come across as a strong person and I don't like to people see me when I am struggling - I feel like it makes me look weak. It has been a year and a half since I posted, so I decided to do an update. Zach is 18. He graduated from High School and he is waiting for his mission call. During the Christmas season, he worked at the Dollar Tree. He hated it but stayed with it. I am proud of him staying with it and doing a hard thing. He especially didn't like the bad music the listened to before the store opened over the store intercom. He spoke to his manager about listening to his own music with his ear buds. The manager was fine with it, so that made things better for him. Zach works for me as a respite worker, taking care of Blake in the morning. He bathes Blake, administers Blake's meds(there are 6 meds in the morning), makes Blake's lunch and gets him on the bus. This is a huge help to me so I can get to work by 6:30 am, then I get home by 1:00 pm and I am able to have a little time to myself before I have to do my carpool. Kassi will be 17 at the end of February. She is a Junior. She made the cheerleading team, which was quite amazing since she has only taken a couple dancing classes during her life. She loved cheerleading but didn't care for the politics that went along with it. Anthony and I pulled her out of cheerleading the beginning of November because we didn't want to subject our daughter to such a lack of morals. Kassi just started her CNA at Salt Lake Community College. She just started her clinicals at Copper Ridge Rest Home. She is really enjoying it. She wants to be a Pediatric NICU nurse and work with newborns. Kaeden will be 11 next week. He played tackle football this past fall and loved it! His dream is to play for BYU football and I an cool with that. Kaeden also played for Junior Jazz and learned to play basketball. He liked basketball but his first love is football. Kaeden is in fifth grade. He does well in school, he is especially good at math and reading. Kaeden just completed his Weebelos and will get his Arrow of Light at the end of the month. Blake is 9. He is in 4th grade and goes to Kauri Sue Hamilton School. He has made such progress this last year. He is now saying his ABC,can count to 3 and can count backwards from 20. That is quite an accomplishment for a non-verbal child. He also likes to type. He typed on his Dad's phone "Lion King." He is a good speller. Blake's school gave him an IPAD at Christmas time. Blake loves it! Blake is very mechanically minded. He can work the satellite remote, the TV and the DVR. He even can remove the DVR and put upstairs in our bedroom, plugs and everything much to his Dad's dislike. Anthony put the DVR back downstairs in the playroom, so Blake took scissors and cut the TV cord. That didn't make us too happy. Anthony is working at Coventry as a Server Support Specialist. I still work part-time at Discover as a Report Analyst. Life is busy, busy, busy.