Our Family Making Memories!

Last night we opened our presents together. (We have Dale's company party tonight and then leave for Texas tomorrow, so the kids lucked out!) We all had a great time! It is well worth all the time and energy we put in when we get to see their excitement over what they get....well Braden's anyway! Kaylee is so nonshalant with everything that she almost gets embarrassed when she opens; therefore, she shows very little emotion. Now Braden on the other hand, is VERY animated with his emotion...good or bad! Dale has had many talks with him already this year about controlling his actions when he opens a present and it is not exactly what he wants, so this year he is going WAY overboard with excitement with EVERY gift! He had to come give each of us a hug with EVERY present he opened!

This is one of her favs....can't you just feel the emotion!!
(and go figure...a $4 trash can!)

Oh we have a smile on the CUTE sign a friend made for me!

And look @ this reaction!! But this is the item Dale and I (and my sis and cousin) waited for 5 hours @ Wal-Mart on Black Friday for so we LOVED his reaction!!

And the famous guitar...but look at the look on Kaylee's face...all she said was "really mom?" And their big present together (Band Hero)...I LOVE that the camera got both of their expressions perfectly! She was excited about this one!

We always love watching the kids open their gifts from us, but also watching their reactions when we open the gifts they bought us. Kaylee got both of us a cute ornament and Braden got Daddy a Superman coffee mug...oh and thanks to Daddy he got me a zebra umbrella too! Dale really surprised me this year! He has always hated my love of shoes and purses and has always refused to buy them for me and this year he bought me BOTH!! I got a pair of black boots and the Coach purse I have been wanting since my birthday! Oh and he gets to pick out his own (because I wasn't going to dare pick it out) new golf bag and a pair of sunglasses!

We had a great time together and look forward to leaving tomorrow for Texas and celebrating this Christmas season with my family.

Christmas Has Begun!!

We started our Christmas this year celebrating with the Heisler side of the family on Sunday. This year we did things a lil different. The adults did not exchange gifts. We just had the kids play Dirty Santa. They enjoyed this alot! It was fun to watch them "fight" for the things they wanted, and was really funny to see what they each fought for!

Kids getting ready for their game!

After everyone left we enjoyed exchanging gifts with Dale's mom. Here are the kids with their gifts from Nana. Kaylee got a zebra and hot pink purse and Braden got a toy farm set....along with other things, but those are their favs! We had a great time with Dale's side of the family! And the kids always enjoy giving Nana her present and her birthday presents too!!

Some Christmas Fun @ School!

This was a very busy week at school! We had our Christmas program on Tuesday and then parties today! They did a great job on the program. Braden had a GREAT time and Kaylee made do! She HATES being in front of people, but toughed it out. She actually was asked to have a speaking part and turned it down!! Braden on the other hand had to express EVERY action with LOTS of emotion! Unfortunately I had to use my small camera and did not get great pics and was not able to capture any of his animated moments....oh well!

See him in the middle in the red sweater

See her in the middle in the silver headband....
Can't you see the excitement!!

They were both all smiles when it was over!

Kaylee at her Christmas party @ school....sporting her new shirt I made her!

Braden at his class party

As you can tell, I put a new picture at the top of the page. I have not yet figured out how to make it smaller, so if anyone knows please share!! Over Thanksgiving break my sister took LOTS of pics of all 4 of our children for her new business she is starting up. At the end of the day I decided to have her shoot a few of all 4 of us for our Christmas card. She ended up with quite a few good ones, but this was my favorite so it is the winner!! I used this one along with a pic of the kids with Mickey and Minnie in DisneyWorld. They turned out very cute!!

Happy Birthday Braden!!

It is hard to believe it has been 7 years since our "unplanned blessing" joined this world! I will never forget the night we found out we were having another child. Kaylee was only 14 months old! I could not even look at the test for the result! I immediately started crying and had to call my sister. She thought someone had died!! Now, 7 years later we are so blessed and although having 2 children less than 2 years apart has been challenging at times, it has all been well worth it!
Braden is very much our lil boy. He is SO full of energy and personality, although not always good. I wish I could follow him around with a tape recorder at all times. He is definitely a kid that says the darndest things!! Braden very much has a strong personality! If he does not like what you say or do he has his signature grunt! Although it drives us crazy, it is still a part of him. He is also very head strong....wonder where he gets that! Braden is also very sweet and affectionate. He will say to me..."Come here Momma" and then give me a kiss or a hug for no reason at all. And right now his "move" is tapping his cheek for a kiss and when you give it to him he will turn his head so you kiss his lips instead!
Braden is a very bright student. He is reading so much lately! It is amazing that my baby does not need me to read for him anymore. He loves school and everything about it!
We are having his party next weekend with 2 of his friends, so today we are celebrating his day a little low key. He had a friend spend the night last night and today we are hanging out here and then later we are meeting up with some friends and taking the kids to see Planet 51. Then tonight he has requested steak for supper!
Well, I will post more about the rest of his bday later....right now we are going to enjoy our 7 year old boy!

Picnics are the BEST!!

Today after school the kids wanted to have a picnic. So Braden got the snacks together and Kaylee made Kool-Aid. They stayed out there for over an hour!! I would have LOVED to have been a fly on the trampoline and been able to listen to their conversation, but every time I went out there they would only talk to me. These are the times I absolutely LOVE!! Making memories!!!

Oh and Braden does not wear a tie to school on a normal basis, but today was kids dress as teachers @ school! Kaylee stripped her clothes as soon as the walked in the door!!

Nerd Day @ School!

Today was Nerd Day @ School for Basketball Homecoming. We had fun at our house dressing up for this! As you can tell, Braden got his inspiration from Steve Erkel!! We had a little harder time with finding girl nerdy things, but all turned out well!! I don't have any pictures of myself, but I dressed up also!! It was a great time had by all!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Just like many other kids, there is no telling what will come out our kid's mouths!! The other day while I was fixing Braden's hair before school he told me "Mom, I love you more than gum!!" Then one day on the way to school Braden was having one of his many deep conversations about the alphabet and Kaylee joined in with, "Mommy, was the alphabet invented when you were a kid?" Just now as I am typing this Kaylee says "I am going to make a journal about my life so when I am old I don't forget it!" Don't you just LOVE their minds sometimes!!

Pumpkin Patch

Another tradition we have created with our kids is going to the pumpkin patch at a local church and taking pics and picking out "our pumpkin" for carving. This year we decided to let the kids wear their costumes (a first for us). They had a great time, as usual, and I took WAY too many pics to post all of them on here so here are a few of my favs!

Our Doctor and OSU Spirit Rider

Our beautiful princess without her hat!

Riding Bullet!!

One of my favorite pics!!

Pull! Pull! Pull!

Buying the best pumpkin there!

Trick or Treating

As usual we spent Halloween evening Trick-or-Treating with friends here in town. Dale had a tough decision to make that day, but decide to go to the OSU-TX game that evening! We are so blessed to have such great friends, the 5 of us adults loaded up all the kids and off we went!!

The Line-Up!!
Kaylee the Doctor, Braden the OSU Spirit Rider, Kaitlyn the Bee, Baylee the Ladybug, Kyle as Indiana Jones and Wyatt as Elvis!

Her Speech Teacher (yes she really is old enough to be her teacher!!)

Did someone drop something??

Pumpkin' Carvin'

Every year since Dale and I got married, we have carved (or decorated) a pumpkin. The year of Kaylee's first Halloween, we went to the pumpkin patch and took pictures and picked out our family prize pumpkin. We have continued this tradition every year so far. (I have pumpkin patch pics to post later!) As soon as the kids were big enough to sit up Dale has sat them on the table and carved the pumpkin. They each get to pick how they want their eye and then one gets to pick the nose and one picks the mouth. This year I was not sure if I was going to allow them to sit on the new table, but they would not have it any other way!!

This was the ONLY time she stuck her hand in there!

Kaylee's eye was a moon shape (Braden's is a triangle)

The finished product. They don't get too fancy but they sure do have fun!!

All our lil pumpkins!

Lost Tooth!!

Today after school Braden lost a VERY loose tooth!! It has been hanging on for a few days, but today while at a friends house playing it finally came out! We will see what the tooth fairy leaves him tonight!!

Trick or Treating @ School

Every year our school takes the Pre-K-2nd grade trick-or-treating to a few local businesses. Here are a few pics of Braden and some of our friend's children. This year Braden is an OSU Spirit Rider. For those of you who are not OSU fans, every time the team makes a touchdown a Spirit Rider rides the famous Bullet out on the field for a great celebration!

Our Spirit Rider....minus Bullet for the moment!

Kyle as Clint Eastwood

It's Elvis!! (Wyatt)

Kenna the sweet angel

Friday was Spirit Day at school! Also, Kaylee went to the lil Cheerleader Clinic this week and cheered at morning opening Friday and then again at half-time of the Homecoming game.

Braden showing his school spirit.....you can't tell very well in the pic, but he was all decked out w/ red, white and blue hair!
Kaylee cheering at morning opening

Kaylee and her friend Sydnie at the game. Her and Sydnie have been friends since they were born!

Our Cheerleader!!

Crazy Sock Day

Today was crazy sock day at school for Homecoming week! Braden really got into "designing" himself some really crazy ones!! Kaylee is like her Momma and she LOVES socks, so she had LOTS to choose from, but opted for the ones that matched a new outfit! Although I did not get any pics of mine, I will have to say they were pretty cute! The Pre-K teacher and I shared 2 pair of knee socks. We each had a black/white zebra and a pink/white zebra one!!

Braden...Flag Football

Braden is playing his 2nd year of Flag Football!! He is having a really good time and says he is so good because he went to football camp this summer!! Here are a few pics from the first 2 games. The lighting was terrible at the second game, but hopefully you can enjoy them anyway.

Our mean player!

Braden with his friend Kyle

Braden is the one snapping the ball. He is snapping it to Kyle, who is handing it off to their friend Wyatt

Braden's debut as QB!!!

His handoff!!!