Layton & His Hats

Layton loves to wear stuff on his head. It doesn't even have to be a cap--he'll wear whatever! Last night he wore two different hats in about a 20 minute period. The white one is one that my grandfather gave him--he is wearing it "gangsta" style on his scooter. The second one is one that my grandparents brought Kade back from a cruise when he was little--it has been passed down. The second pic is kind of obscene, too! Layton is trying to potty train and it is just hilarious to see him climb up on the commode and go tee-tee. He's going to be 5, though, before he is potty trained--he doesn't care one bit about it!

Elvis Is Back! - Video

Watch the Elvis video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dn7CzhVpcs

Kade's elementary school has an Academic Pep Rally to celebrate the previous six week's accomplishments. The principal and school secretary put on a themed skit at each pep rally. On Tuesday, Feb. 24th the theme of the pep rally was "You Can Be A Star." They had an American Idol type contest. Kade, a.k.a. Elvis Presley, and another little girl from 1st grade were asked to be in the skit (she dressed as Taylor Swift). They were the good singers and the principal and secretary posed as the bad singers (even though in real life they both have absolutely beautiful voices). Kade was a riot--I laughed until I cried. Kade also received awards for Perfect Attendance for the six weeks and making the "A" honor roll.

This Elvis thing just keeps turning up this year. Who knows we might have an Elvis impersonator in our future!!??

The White Hair Pa-Paw's B-Day

This past Friday (2/20) we celebrated my grandfather's 81st birthday. We had chicken and cake--yummy! Layton sat in Pa-Paw's lap when we sang Happy Birthday. He thought we were singing to him--he was grinning from ear to ear and looking around at all of us--it was too cute! For Pa-Paw's gift we each got him a card and filled it with scratch-off Texas Lottery tickets. He can't see that well, so he had Kade and I scratch all of his cards for him. Kade had never played the lotto, so he had a blast and caught on to all the games quickly. I would try to read the instructions & he would let me know quickly to "JUST SCRATCH." He claimed he already knew how to play. I think we only won Pa-Paw $4, out of about $25 in tickets.

The boys call my grandfather "The White Hair Pa-Paw." I think you can figure out why!

Valentine's Day with Friends

This year we spent Valentine's Day with friends, Jody and Chancey Yates, in Ft. Worth at their home. It would have been two years this summer that we have seen them, so we were really glad to get the chance to hang out and catch up. We enjoyed an afternoon of visiting and letting the kids play, then the adults headed to Cowtown to catch a bite to eat and listen to Doug Moreland at the White Elephant Saloon. The kids stayed with a babysitter--they had a blast with HIM. Kade was amazed that a boy could babysit. We had a great time and are already looking forward to spending another weekend with them soon. The pictures are of the boys, Lakon, Jaxon and Kade, showing their muscles and then Layton with Gazey. The two little ones were the funniest. They had it out a few times in the beginning, but quickly warmed up to each other and were kissing and hugging bye when we left on Sunday.

Kade's School Valentine Party

Kade had his Valentine party at school on Friday, February 13. He of course received many Valentine cards and had a great time opening all of them. All of his classmates loved his Elvis card, too!

Rain, Finally!

It finally rained here on Monday and Tuesday of last week (Feb 9 & 10). We received about .8 here at our house, which was more than most of the area, so we felt extremely blessed. Our wheat was beginning to look terrible and Clint has had to move approximately 60 head of cattle off in the past few weeks, so you can imagine how happy we were to have rain. This picture is of the wheat field below our house. I haven't seen standing water in forever, or so it seems.

Kade Lost His First Tooth

Kade lost his very first tooth on Tuesday, February 10. It had been loose for several days, but he would not let anyone pull it. Finally, Tuesday morning (after it had turned black from being so loose) he asked if I would pull it. I yanked several times and nothing happened. You can only imagine the screaming and yelling going on in our house that morning. After my failed attempts I took him to the school nurse and had her pull it. She had to go at it twice, in order to pull it out. It had a very very long root system, which was the problem. The tooth right beside it was loose, too, but he wouldn't let her pull it. As of today, it is still in there. I guess he will let it turn black before it comes out, too! He actually didn't think the experience was that bad, after it was all said and done. I sent him a little box of candy and a sweet card to school that day, plus the Tooth Fairy brought him $5. He was so worried she wouldn't "buy" the tooth, because it was black!

PIPs - Players In Progress

Kade is participating for the first year in PIPs. It is a wonderful basketball program that teaches basic skills and helps tremendously with eye-hand coordination. The students practice through October-November one day a week on a routine. The routine is set to music and the students have certain spots they go to and perform a skill. They know when to move by listening for a whistle. The kids perform during half-time of the Varsity basketball games. They will have six performances this year, so not too many. Plus, Kade is so lucky, because his coach is his mother! This is my third year to coach PIPs and I really enjoy it. Coming up with the routine is the hardest part. I try to be very creative each year, but my brain doesn't tick too fast these days! The age range for PIPs is from Kindergarten to 6th grade, so we have children of all levels on the floor--it is so fun to watch how the students grow each year, in regards to their b-ball abilities. I have 27 kids this year, which is an average number. Eleven of the 27 are new to PIPs, so our performances are very low-key.

Super Bowl "Aliens vs. Monsters" 3-D Glasses

Skye was able to pick the boys up some 3-D glasses so that they could experience the DreamWorks movie preview of Monsters vs. Aliens at the end of the 2nd quarter of the Super Bowl. Kade was just mesmerized and Layton kept saying, "I can't see....I can't see..." They even convinced their daddy to wear a pair and Ace, too!