Kaden's 8th Birthday...and some baseball!

I'm starting to believe, the older they get the faster each year goes by!!! 8, it just seems so "big" kid...almost not a kid anymore :( Kaden had an awesome birthday, it fell on a Sunday, which is the day Kohl and him play baseball. Maybe it was the crowd and all their fans, the birthday vibes, but these 2 boys played like pros! Kohl's making diving plays to second, Kohl and Kaden ran the infield with a great a snab by Kohl, throw from his knees to Kaden at first for the out! Wow, proud parents! :) Kohl went 2 for 3 and Kaden went 4 for 4! He had 2 line drive doubles, he was SO pumped! He even got the game ball (which was perfect, since Kohl got it last week and "someone" was a little upset lol). Then we met up with friends and all my family for pizza! It was a simple, yet great, birthday celebration for our Big K, and he LOVED his day!

Kaden hoping to score!

Kaden at first

Kohl getting ready to slam it!

Yes, I am very proud of my cake :) First time with fondant (from scratch!)

If that isn't a S#@t eatin' grin :) haha...this kid loves money! (and for those of you who have ever lost a bet to him, you know what I mean!!!) He put it all together, along with some gift cards and bought himself a DSi...he's in...HEAVEN!

Graduates

Today Kaden graduated or "slid" into First Grade! They have a cute little performance where they sing us some songs, we read their memory books, which are a compilation of all their work through out the year and then the big diploma ceremony! They take the kids out to the play ground and one-by-one, they announce them and they get to "slide" into first grade.

My handsome 1st Grader!!!!

Kaden waiting for his name to get called....


Kaden and Miss Long


I love my guys!


Kohl took this, good job!


.....................................................................................................................................................
Memorial weekend, Tara graduated with her Masters of Psychology. It was such a proud day for all of us to see her accomplish such a task!


Tara getting her diploma!


YAY!!!!!!

My beautiful family! We're all so proud of you Tara!!!

Easter 2009

We finally got a shot of the 5 of us...it's been since Christmas '07! Way too long.
We had a relaxing Easter and the kids had a blast egg hunting and eating lots of candy!

Birthday Boy

Our little baby is officially a toddler...sniff, sniff
Well I guess it is bitter sweet because we love the big boy he is becoming!
He is so spunky, has such great character and a little love bug and of course a daring daredevil like his brothers.
He is talking like crazy, he keeps his older brothers in line now that he can share what he is thinking lol He sings, goes pee on the potty and loves to help mommy cook in the kitchen. We just can't get over where our baby went?
We had his party at Gammie's house (Jasons moms' house). After a gloomy looking week, the day turned out warm and sunny, it was gorgeous! Good thing, according to the jumpy guy, we were a litle crazy for getting a water slide jumper this time of year...we live on the edge LOL
We were also lucky enough to have our friend, who owns a gym bus, bring it over for all the kids. They lOVED it! All that, topped with a pinata filled with candy, "custom" designed cake ;), all around ice cream from the ice cream man (compliments of Jack!) and presents....could a kid ask for a better day?

Ice-Ice Baby

Kohl had a great 5th birthday. We celebrated on his actual birthday (12/27) with the all the aunts/uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents, before our Utah trip. Then last week we had his "birthday party" with all his friends. It was a blast to see all the kids, and most all the parents!, out on ice skates! I know for some, it was a first time experience ;) The kids got a private lesson on the basics and it was amazing to watch them from the beginning, falling all over, and at the end they were totally getting it! We had a great time and are so grateful to all our friends and family that were there!

Amber- sorry Sami wasn't in the pic, I think you guys had just left :( !

>

Christmas Cheer...and all that jazz

(Just a side note: You should check out the Predator Hummer link on my sidebar. The Hummer you'll see on there, Jason spent the past month completely rebuilding it, I''m talking about from nothing but a metal frame! It's beautiful!)

We are very excited it's the Holiday Season again. I think every years as the kids get older it gets more fun for us. This year I decided to do something a little different and try and add some adventure into our routine, because we live in a much smaller place than we have the past Christmases, we couldn't get our usual big, gorgeous Noble Fur tree, so I figure lets at least make getting the tree fun, right! We went to a tree farm with Gammie (Jason's mom) and Grandpa Scott to (as Kohl and Jason were singing) "Chop it down, chop it down, chop it down...." (the Matisyahu song)
The place was a maze and of course the kids loved running around, playing hide and seek...or is it more like just get lost from mom and dad? We found our 2 fave trees and Kaden made the executive decision. The Hustead men slowly but surely sawed down the tree. It was fun and different, very sticky, poky, and hard to find trees. We'd find one we liked and then tried to go back to compare and could not find it again! lol

Hustead boys were hard at work!

Mission Completed!

Not a bad shot by Kaden

The men in my life :)

Then today I took the rug rats to go see Santa. I was NOT planning on being in the picture or even buying one, I wanted to just take my own, but Brady had a death grip on me so there I am...yay! Kaden told Santa he wants a dirt bike (haha, ya right!) and Kohl said a remote control monster truck. He has said this for the past 3 years and has owned about 5 so I have no idea where that comes from? So on with the season and much more Christmas cheer to come!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

We had a fun week of pumpkin gettin' and pumpkin carvin'. We went over to Stu Millers to pick out our pumpkins and let the kids play some games and pet the farm animals. Kohl was ripping it up on the baseball game til he tripped on the burlap rug they put on the ground, right where the kids stand! He was turning to get another ball and his foot got caught and he fell right into the basket of balls and his mouth hit the lip on the basket. Blood, tears and a free water bottle later we were ready to get some pumpkins lol.
Then after Bobby's 2nd bday party we had the Hustead-Hartman carving adventure!

Beach and Birthday Fun

This past week, my Grandparents (the boys Omar and Pop-pop), were staying out in Carlsbad right across from Tamarak Beach. We went to the beach last weekend and then had dinner to celebrate their 58th anniversary! I let Kaden play hooky from school on Thursday and took the kids out to the beach again and they swam like fish at the pool in the resort. You could not ask for more beautiful weather!
We also had a busy birthday weekend with two cute little girly birthdays (which means, I got to buy girl clothes!!) We celebrated a friends daughter's 3rd birthday in very cool Halloween fashion. There were some of the CUTEST costumes with about 15 little kids all dressed up. My favorite was the little UPS guy, he was too cute! The boys were SO excited to get to wear their costumes before Halloween! Kaden is a Knight, Kohl is the Incredible Hulk, and Brady is our handsome lil' devil. After that we were off to celebrate their cousin's big 1st birthday.

Surprise!!!!

My parent's celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this July. My sisters and family threw them a surprise anniversary party over the 4th of July weekend. We were so fortunate enough to have the generous McBride's open their home to us, even though they were at their vacation home in Belize. This is where my parent's had their wedding reception just a short 25 years ago!!!
Everything turned out amazing, they arrived at the house blind folded to all their closest friends and family. We surprised them with the opportunity to renew their vows and even blindly picked out a dress for my mom to wear. She had a bouquet and the whole 9 yards! We all ate catered dinner in the beautiful banquet room and relaxed to enjoy the company and special moments with everyone there. I know there is some very close family and friends who wish they could have been there to share this with them so here are all the pictures we have of the event!
The first slide show is more the details and setting. The second slide show is the arrival and ceremony in chronological order and the last one is the reception and rest of the evening....enjoy :)

5 years married....13 together!

Our 5th wedding anniversary is actually tomorrow, July 12th, (13 years together in September). I figured I better post this now while I have the time or the day will most likely just come and go. Tomorrow we'll be at the fields at 8am! to collect Kaden's football gear and have his first team meeting, then we'll be off to the beach for Zach's 13th birthday party. It's crazy to think that Jason met Zach back when he was only 10 weeks old and he is now 13! Life is flying by! We're going to celebrate on Sunday, my sisters are going to watch the boys for us and Jason has made reservations for somewhere (I'll find out when we get there). I'm stealing my friends anniversary blog idea and have thought of 5 reasons (5 for the years married) why I love being married to Jason!

5. There is no "his" and "her" jobs in our relationship/marriage. Together we work as a team to get whatever the given task: laundry, dishes, baths, diaper changes, taking the trash out, clean the toilets, he even makes me coffee on the weekends (even though he can't stand to drink it!)...whatever it may be. I just love that there is no line between us when it comes to raising our kids and taking care of our home.

4. I love that he is a man's man (figure of speech) He is not afraid to get dirty, when he's sick, there is no complaining, no babying needed or wanted. He knows how to change the oil in my car, tie weird kinda knots, tow a trailer like he's driving a mini coop, stick his hand down the yucky garbage disposal, pick up crazy wild animals and bugs.

3. I love how he loves me. He is so generous, thoughtful and considerate. He wants to make sure I am happy and taken care of.


2. He makes me laugh, even if I am upset (which at the time is very aggravating!) But it is a natural gift he has and it's such a great part of his character.


1. He is the BEST dad I could have ever hoped for and been given for my children. There is not a day that he doesn't put them before anything else in his life. He is their mentor, their fishing partner, driving buddy, coach, wrestling opponent, playmate, their protector and their best friend.

Special Birthday

This weekend we celebrated my Grandmother's 80th birthday! It was a great family gathering with all of her nearest and dearest friends and family, about 40+ of us! She had such a good time, we LOVE her So much!!!My grandma with my brother Zach, me, my sisters Amanda & Tara

Omar & Pop-pop with their Great Grandsons

Breakfast with Daddy

Kaden and Kohl had a very special Father's Day Breakfast at their school. They had yummy fruit and pastries on blankets in the grass. They had such a good time all together and of course showing dad all their cool games and tricks and their buddies.
We Love our Daddy!!!

Breakfast picnic with my dad

Kohl loves the tire swing (ugg, makes my sick just watching it go around!) Unfortunately, Kaden got that from me and does not enjoy going on it.

Kaden's best school buddy, Caesar