Messy Fun

The day came. Even thought I did my best to pretend like it wouldn't. I tried to convince myself if I did not acknowledge the fact that my baby was turning 6 he wouldn't. But since he had a countdown going since May 1st it was a hard fact to ignore. He was oh so excited to be 6. He talked about it for weeks.

On the morning of the big day we woke him up with balloons and his favorite breakfast.

He was a little out of it at first, but quickly got excited for his big day.

That day was his end of year program at school so we got to go with him. He was adorable the link for any interested is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6sjm9rFMhU My absolute favorite is in the first minute when they walk in singing Your a grand old flag and he belts out "should all the CLAYTONS be forgot" instead of should auld acquaintance be forgot. He sang it that way every single time. He thinks those are the real words and I don't think I will ever correct him

He was most excited to take cupcakes into his class to share. But the school has a pretty strict no sugar policy so that idea got shut down pretty fast. So instead we threw together a last minute party at our house and invited a few neighborhood friends. His current obsession is all things angry birds so I got my creative juices flowing and put together these beauties,

I think Kaden's favorite part was the photo booth with the funny props. He had me take about a million pictures of him.

For a full gallery of all the fun photos go here http://smu.gs/ZHUhQf

We played a few messy games with chocolate pudding. 

In this game they had to fish the worms out of bowl using only their mouths. 

Taycee thought it was a great game, and the little boy in the background Owen won the competition.

Here are a few of our messy kids

We also had a doughnut on a string game, Rylee on the left and Stevie on the right in the above picture won that game.

We played a few water balloon games and let the kids play in the yard.
Here was the entire party crew.

 

I think it made for a pretty good birthday. He was pretty happy about it all.

He did get a little bossy that day though. I think he really took the "it's your day" to heart. That night at dinner when I asked him to finish his veggies he said "well actually mom it's my birthday so I get to decide". I was quick to correct that idea. When he found out grandma and grandpa Clayton couldn't make it to his talent show the next day he promptly took my phone called grandpa and said "grandpa we need to have a talk" The next morning he seemed to be over it though. 

He has thoroughly enjoyed being 6. He reminds us all the time that he is 6 now. The other day Chris was trying to wrestle him down and tie up his hands. Kaden had escaped his tie job a few times and he said to him "you just don't realize how strong I am now that I am 6" later he climbed up on top of the bathroom counter and was reaching to touch the ceiling. I heard him mumble under his breath "I got to be able to do this now that I am 6!"

I do have to admit I am a little sad that he can no longer "high five for being 5" but I sure do love this 6 year old boy of mine.

Have you met...

This guy?

Because he is probably the cutest guy I know. 

He would be content throwing rocks into a waterfall for hours.

Those eyes... oh those eyes. They are the brownest, sweetest things around.

His best attempt at not smiling usually looks something like this...

Because he just finds so much joy in everything around him.

He is a handsome feller this guy is.

And those DIMPLES! They make it impossible not to smile back.

This guy is the best. The best friend, the best helper, the best brother, the best son. There is no one else quite like this guy... and he just turned 6!

If you are lucky you will get to meet this guy too.

Happy Birthday buddy.

Chris Graduation

We debated weather or not have Chris walk in May. At first when he was going to be defending his dissertation only 2 weeks later we decided he should definitely walk. As things changed and we hit so many set backs it became clear that Chris would not be defending in June. Since we wouldn't be finishing the program til August it seemed a little strange to do the formal graduation ceremony in May, but our options were walk in May, fly back and walk next year or don't walk at all. We were pretty set on the don't walk option, but after talking to a few parents we decided a PH.D. deserved a cap and gown. So 3 months prior to our actual completion date Christopher Kelly Clayton was hooded. We cheered and although it wasn't the actual end it meant the end was ever so near.

Kaden and Taycee were so proud of their daddy. After he was hooded and was walking back to his seat they both yelled "WE LOVE YOU DADDY" the whole stadium heard and there was a collective "Awe". I think that made Chris feel prouder than the actual hooding.

Can you see the head that is a foot taller than the rest?

So proud of this guy

so is his mom :)

He had so many people come to support him. We have the greatest families. 

The end is near people... we just might make it.

7 glorious years

7 years seems like a long time. I have done few things.in my life that long. I was only in High School for 3, college for 4, I have never worked the same job for more than 3. I think I did take piano lessons for 8 years but my point is that 7 years seems like a really long time for me. Yet as I look back at the last 7 years I can't believe how quickly it has gone. It has been the quickest 7 years of my life. The quickest 7 years in which SO much has happened. In the last 7 years we have

• Added 3.75 children to our family
• Moved 4 time
• Collectively had 4 different jobs
• Finished 2 degrees and all but finished graduate school (come on August)
• Driven over 100,000 miles
• Bought 2 cars
• Sold 2 cars

And many many other things. 

It has been a great 7 years, with ups and downs and lots of curves and loops. They have been the most defining years thus far in my life.

And the best part is I got to spend all 7 of those years with this guy,

So really how could they have been anything but glorious? :D

Our anniversary was May 25th. That was 5 days prior to the day I was suppose to go on bed rest. I knew that taking our annual trip to my happy place in Vegas wouldn't be smart or very practical at 33 weeks pregnant. So we booked everything a month earlier and enjoyed it just as much. How could we not enjoy 3 days if this...

With views like this...

I am not a Vegas fan. I hate the place, I feel dirty walking down the streets. Normally we don't leave the sanctuary of Tahiti Village the entire time we are down there. We made an exception this time and went to "The Mentalist", a show at Planet Hollywood. We got the tickets cheap and actually enjoyed most of the show. 

We left the kids with the Claytons in St George and they were kind enough to bring our kids down for a few hours one night to play with us in the water. It really is a great family place and we all had a really good time.

The end always comes too quickly. I really could live in a place this beautiful.

Since we were celebrating our Anniversary a month early I figured we might as well throw in Chris's birthday too. Seeing as I would be laid up in bed on his big 30th birthday. So I game him his present early and before we came home we went and saw Brian Regan at Tuachann. He never disappoints.

I could mush and gush about how much I love Chris. I could write pages about what he means to me and how I really could not do it without him, how he fixes all of my "broken" and holds me together when I want to fall apart. As we are going through a roller-coaster of change right now and the future is scary and unknown there is peace in knowing no matter where life takes us we will do it together. 7 years seems long, but he is my forever... and I couldn't be happier about that.