July 2014

Wyoming trip 2014

Got to see my Uncle Time, cousins Cody and Brandi, and Brandi's kids for the first time in a long time.

Me and my favorite lady in the world, Grandma Mary!

Hiking at West Tensleep with Audrey, Ethan and Aunt Devon.

They swam in West Tensleep Lake.  There was still snow on the mountain if that tells you how cold it was!

Campsite.  Devon and I rock.

Campfire + Bodey = this

Family!

Badlands between Worland & Tensleep fossil hunting.

Aunt Tina and baby Cedric.

Cousins!

Gma Mary and Gpa Forrest

Successful swim team season!

Fishing/camping at Milford Lake

June 2014

Bodey finally lost his 1st tooth!  Almost 7 years old!

KS 70.3.  I was happy it was over.  :)

VBS crazy hair

1st drive-in movie!

A day in the life.

Bodey - cutest catcher ever!

The boys of summer.  Cooper, Bodey, Booker, Kade

Swim team relay

Ready for their very first triathlon!

Bodey, Booker, Brooke, Avery

Booker swim

Bodey swim

Booker bike

Bodey bike

Booker run

Bodey run

Booker finish

Bodey finish

May 2014

Dusty and the boys planted these trees while I was in PR.

Booker and his buddy, Reece, on 2nd grade field trip to the KC Zoo.

Baseball season!  Both boys were coach/machine pitch.

Demo derby!

April 2014

We were spoiled enough to take a girls trip to Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.  It was exactly what we needed.  7 girls, sunshine and beaches galore.  Oh and scooters, those were fun too!

The Last Year - March 2014

Since I basically fell off the end of the earth for the last year, I will do brief picture updates of the last year.  This is March 2014:

Trying out the 4-wheelers at the new house.  Room to ride!

Booker's 8th birthday - cake batter pancakes!

Booker's bday bonfire with Reece.

A Real Struggle

I have a problem.  I am trying to fill a void for my children that they don't even know they have.  I know I was spoiled growing up, and so are my boys, don't get me wrong.  But I had something they don't.  And it really bothers me.  I had family galore.  We were always doing something with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Like all the time.  We all lived within a 30 mile radius of each other.  My grandparents were very active.  They would take us to the mountain to ride 4-wheelers, snowmobile, cross country ski, ride horses, hike, arrowhead hunt, climb in caves.  They played board games and cards with us.  They had a slot machine in the basement and croquet in their yard.  They took us on many vacations all over the place.  They had an indoor pool and hot tub.  They had Super Mario Bros 2!  I get it.  I had things a lot of people don't.  But, I experienced all of that with my mom & dad, sisters, grandma & grandpa and cousins.  But I feel like that has been lost.  My oldest sister's kids are all in their 20s and in Wyoming.  My middle sister's kids are closer in age to mine (15 and 11), but they live in Arizona.  And let's be real.  It's expensive to travel and it takes a lot of time and coordination.  So, we don't that often.  And it really makes me sad.  The kicker is that my kids aren't sad.  They don't know any different.  This is their childhood, and they are happy and content.  I had my childhood.  And I need to remember they are completely separate and different from each other, and that is ok.  Oh, and I just have to say it.  I have the BEST grandparents out there, even though I don't get to see them nearly enough either.

Heart of Gold

Hello?!?!  I do still exist! I have all these plans to catch my blog up for the last 9 months, but haven't had time to sit and do that yet. But tonight I realized I'm forgetting so much that I don't want to forget. I want to freeze my kids right where they are, but since I can't, I need to be blogging.

Bodey is a natural born giver. It's in him and it makes him who he is. A local boy has brain cancer and there have been fundraisers for him. Bodey decided he wanted to give him all of his money. His heart is better than mine. I struggle and I'm not even sure we handled it correctly or not. But here's what we decided. Bodey had quite a little savings going on that took him a while to save. We want him to know the value of money and realize it doesn't grow on trees and you have to earn it. So, we put a biblical twist on it and let him give away 10%. Right or wrong in the parenting area, it doesn't matter. That kid was beaming when he took his own money to the bank to deposit in the account set up for that little boy. And this mama had tears in her eyes watching this act of kindness.

So the boys can take quarters to school to buy candy canes for friends. I had to force Booker to participate (with his own $). Today Bodey took 9 quarters and spent them. Thursday he is taking 30 quarters (his own $) to buy every kid in his class one plus 12 teachers!  How can they be so different?!?!?

I have had to learn you can't stop a giving heart. It comes naturally to him and I don't want to change him. Life will change and mold him when he's older, but for now, I've got to let him give. And maybe even learn a little something from my 7-yr old.