Walker is FIVE!

How in the world did this happen?  We have a FIVE year old boy.

Wow, could he be any more handsome?!?!

This was party number one.  (Yes, he's having three!)  We decided to spare the grandparents.  His "kid" party is tomorrow at Chuck E. Cheese.  So, the "family" party was first!

Walker got lots of presents and got to spend time with all the people who love him most!

With Nanna and Bubba:

Bunny and RayRay:

Pepaw and Maggie:

And, his girlfriend, Debra:

No offense to the grandparents, but how cute is that picture!?  Walker loves him some Debra!

And, we even got a family shot!

And, of course, we had cake!

Walker says that Spider-Man is his "favorite" guy, so we had the perfect cake.

It really was a fun day and a great way to celebrate our sweet, five year old boy.  Did I mention sweet? I've gotten rsvps from parents about his party this week.  Several of them have told me how much their child likes Walker.  One mom said, "Kate says Walker is her best friend.  He's the only boy who's always nice and never mean."  And, another mom said her son was so excited to give Walker a present because "he's the nicest boy." 

We are so blessed and so proud of our precious boy!

Happy Birthday Walker!

I'm Here

In the two-plus years since Googie's been gone I've dreamt of him a handful of times.  In all but one, he was very sick.

I had a sweet dream over the weekend.  Here's how it went....

I was in a park or zoo (lots of trees and paths) with Clark, Walker and Everly.  At some point, the three of them got ahead and me and rounded a curve.  When I caught up and looked around the corner I saw Walker in Googie's arms.  Five-year old Walker in HEALTHY Googie's arms.  They were smiling and laughing.  Totally carefree and adorable.  I walked up to him and said, "you're here."  He put Walker down, hugged me and said, "I'm here."

That was it.   I don't know if I woke up or I forgot the rest, but how precious.  Yes, it was only a dream, but it felt so real.  I got to see a healthy Googie again, with my tenderhearted son, who reminds me so much of him.  It was a gift.

Sweetest. dream. ever.

Upstairs Campout

With all the craziness of the holidays and the lack of routine, we decided to try something different while the kids were out of school.

We had a little campout upstairs!  I made some cookies and hot chocolate and we watched a movie.  I think they thought it was really fun!

But, when the movie was over, Everly wanted to sleep in her own bed!  I don't blame her.  So, she and I went back downstairs and left the men up there.

They lasted until about three in the morning.  Then they came down looking for mommy and Everly.

So, it didn't last, but it was fun!

Baby Lula

Anyone who has a little girl knows one of the most exciting things about having a little girl is the dolls! I've been very excited about Everly getting into babies.

Bunny helped us out.  She bought Everly an American Girl Bitty Baby for Christmas.  Everly was very excited about it and named her Lula.  But, of course, with all the excitement of Christmas, Lula wasn't played with much....  until now!

Now, she plays with her all the time!  Dresses her, feeds her, sings to her, reads her books and puts her night night.  It is so adorable!

Don't look at Everly's hair.... quite a mess.  But, I had to share the pictures of the little mommy. (and daddy, ha!)

Happy Birthday Clark

The day before Clark's birthday we went out with Debra and Taylor and Mom and Ray.  There's a new Morton's in The Woodlands and it was delicious!  Last spring we went out to celebrate the early birthdays (me, Taylor and mom), so this celebration was for Clark, Ray and Debra!

Such a fun night with great friends!

But, the celebration wasn't over.  W&E were SO excited to have a party for Daddy.  They insisted on picking out balloons, cupcakes and cards.  It really was precious to see how happy they were to celebrate their daddy!

Such sweet loves!  

I think Clark had a great birthday.... I'm a blessed girl to call these three mine!!!

Christmas Morning/Day

After a wonderful Christmas Eve, it was time for Christmas morning!  I still can't believe I had to wake them up!

They were very excited about all their goodies!

I didn't feel great on Christmas.... at least that's my excuse for not taking many pictures!!!  Santa brought everyone presents, yet I didn't get pictures.  We had a yummy breakfast, yet I didn't get any pictures.  Bad mommy!

After playing with all our toys and packing up, we headed to the farm.  For MORE presents!

W&E loved opening all their super fun stuff.  They got tents in the shape of a castle and a ship.

They LOVE them!

My kids aren't doing their usual smiles in this pic....

But, at least we got all five grands with Nanna and Bubba!

We all really enjoyed our Christmas.  We are so blessed to be a part of such amazing families!!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve might be my favorite day of the year.  Always has been.  This year we did things a little different.  Bunny, RayRay, Frosty and Linda all came over and spent the night!  So fun. 

Also, in the afternoon, the Buchan family joined us.  They are from Scotland and were missing family, so we invited them to join us!

Walker was thrilled... he loves Daniel.

And, all the kids loved getting Frosty!

An actual shot of the Buchans and Woods!

Then we got down to business!  Opening presents!

So fun.  And, I love this picture of my sweet family in  front of the tree.

Next up, Bunny and RayRay joined the fun.

And, we have to have photo evidence of Frosty and Linda!

My silly babes.

It was almost time for the little ones to go to bed, but first...  Reindeer food and cookies for Santa!

And, this was a first... Everly slept in Walker's bed!

It was fun!  They slept great.... in fact, mommy was so anxious for Christmas morning, she had to go wake them up!  It was after 7!  Little did I know, I created a monster.  Everly has woken up at 6am everyday since!