Once again Kai got crazy with the stickers. This time she had her cousin, Nixan to help. They covered Brock's mom in alphabet stickers... She let them do it.

Brock's sister Brittany & her husband, Martin, got away for a night while we watched their kids. We had fun doing Christmas crafts; the kids made a mini gingerbread village, cards for their parents & candy necklaces/bracelets.

Bailey is so good with the babies... too good in fact. Any time any one needs any help, it's... "BAILEY" (screaming)!

Our Christmas routine went off without a hitch this year. As always, we started on Christmas Eve at my Nanny & Papa's. There are several little ones now, so it's fun to sit back & watch them interact with one another.

Next, we were on to Brock's parents' house for dinner & presents for the kids. We're at 10 girls, 5 boys & 1 baby girl on the way...
It's CRAZY!!

Bright & early (7:30am), Christmas started at my mom's. My brother, Trey, wore a very snazzy Christmas outfit.... white turtleneck, white slacks & his "vintage" thrift store Christmas blazer.

Our last stop... Christmas on the farm. My grandparents have a farm near canyon lake with chickens, roosters, lamas & Boer goats. It's like our own personal petting zoo. Kai was in hog heaven if you can imagine.

Once again, we had a great time & the kids loved being reunited with their cousins.
Thank you to all of our family for the good times & great memories.
We love you!!

Ward Christmas Social

I convinced Brock to go to the Christmas Social again this year. Top left are our friends Leah & Neil Bartlett. Leah (who is expecting their 3rd in just a couple weeks) begged me not to post this picture, but deep down she knew I would. Below the Bartletts are the Ericksons. Tiffany is our YW President & Loren is a Parker graduate. Below Kai & I are our dear friends Tyler & Lani Taumoli. They've been married for 8 years... can you believe it? Tyler also goes to Parker with Brock. We just love 'em!!

This year Kai is very aware of Christmas. She talks about it all the time; she calls everything (Christmas trees, snowmen, Santa) "my Christmas". We were quite surprised when we tried to get a picture with Santa... She kicked & screamed the entire time. I think she was the ONLY one that did that. It gave everyone a good laugh!

Old & New

I came across these two pictures of Kade & realized I hadn't posted them yet. I think they are hilarious! Kai loves stickers, & she LOVES to stick them on Kade. The second picture is of aftermath of our trip to Hobby Lobby. Occasionally, I will let Kai get stickers (if they're on sale) & while I was shopping she began sticking the stickers to Kade's head. The funny thing is he not only lets her do it, but he leaves them there. He's such a good sport!!

We finally got our Christmas stuff out of storage & put up our Christmas tree. The kids had so much fun helping us set up the tree & adding ornaments. The real fun is keeping Kade from pulling all the ornaments off the tree & watching Kai give the ornaments kisses.

Kai loves her little brother & like I've said before, Kade thinks she's amazing. My friend, Mindy, nicknamed Kade, "Kader Potater" & I call him my big boy. Kai has put the two together & now calls Kade, "Kader Boy". She's a silly girl!Kai climbs into Kade's crib now & plays when no one's paying attention. I went into their room the other day to check on the destruction that had taken place & found Kai's Barbies pleading for their lives.
Don't ask me!.....

We've started playing movies on the portable DVD player for Kai & she loves it. She thinks she's such a big girl. If Kade tries to watch over her shoulder, she gives him a little push & says, "no, Kade, my movie".

I feel like I take too many bath tub pictures, but it's such a great opportunity for photos... they can't run away!

Kade took a wrong step yesterday. A drawer from an organizer was sitting on the floor (where it shouldn't have been), Kade took a step back & found himself stuck in the drawer. He was so mad that he couldn't get out, but it was too funny not to take pictures.

Long Time No Blog

Time has just been flying by. It never seems like I have any spare time anymore. I really hope it's just because we've officially started the "holiday season"....

Just a little weird!?

She's at it again. Kai is obsessed with her animals.

We had some friends over one night for dinner. The kids were playing in their room quietly... but they were being too quiet! I went in to check on them & found that Kai had painted the walls & Kade with Eucerin. Kade doesn't mind; he loves his sister & thinks anything she does is cool.

Brock: "Tara, Get the camera!"

Then he tried to act like 1) he doesn't know I'm taking a picture & 2) he is falling asleep too. HA!!

Kade's got love-handles!

After eating a delicious Thanksgiving dinner & cleaning up our mess, Bre, Lisa & I handed the kids off to the husbands & began our crafting. Every time the guys called us for help with the kids we told them to leave us alone... "We're crafting". It was so much fun to have other people to craft with!

This is the "Stratton Daze". All the cousins have this undiscovered disorder. If the TV is on, they're glued to it & not even screaming their names will distract them.

The older Kade gets, the more I realize he's all boy. He's rough & rowdy! While we were in San Antonio for Thanksgiving, Kade wrestled with his grandaddy & still found a way to cheese for the camera.

Halloween

This year the kids got lots of treats in the mail. Brock's mom sent us... I mean the kids some delicious Halloween goodies & my mom sent a Halloween care package with glow sticks, markers, stickers, headbands & more for the kids. (My mom's known for going a little overboard!) Dora taught Kai to say Trick OR Treat, but she didn't get to use it in the "real world" thanks to Kade. During our trip to South Carolina, Kade got an ear infection so we decided to skip Trick OR Treating this year.

We did get a chance to go to a Halloween party that Brock's friend Jason & his wife Jenny threw. We were quite impressed with some of the costumes that were there. Brock & I were Trailer Trash (I know it's played out), Kai was Little Red Riding Hood & Kade was a St. Bernard (fitting). Brock's not real big on dressing up, but I gave him no choice & we had so much fun!!

These pictures of Kade don't do him any justice. (They are snapshots from our video camera.) He was absolutely adorable & I didn't take any pictures & I left the tags on... What was I thinking?????
Kade wasn't too thrilled when we put our wigs on him... HA!

'Til We Meet Again

Brock's Grandaddy, Lt. Col. LeRoy "Pete" Caulder, passed away October 22nd & we were fortunate enough to be in South Carolina for his funeral. We will miss Grandaddy tons, but I am so thankful for the time that we had with him!

Kade Michael Walking/Kailynn Nancy Sick

Kai & Kade are both sick. We went to the dr today; they both have colds & Kai has the start of an ear infection. Poor, sweet, sick babies!