TO THE STARS AND BACK: October 2009

Blogging Again

I have posted several new posts tonight, so be sure to look back.

Alex turns 15

Happy Birthday to my baby boy Alex Nelson Proctor!

I cannot believe that he is really 15. It is okay that he is already taller than me, but I don't want him to grow older so fast, hairer legs and all. His birthday was on a busy Saturday. It started with the traditional breakfast in bed, then 3 football games, a mid-year piano recital and dodgeball game (a favorite not to be missed), a trip to WalMart for the monthly free Lego item (again, another favorite NOT to be missed), a trip to Game Stop because Alex wanted to spend ALL of his money on an XBOX 360 (much to my dismay), a brief lunch, an end of the year football party/picnic, a trip to the haunted corn maze and traditional corn maze with from good friends from the team, and then a treat afterwards at McDonalds. Wow, what a day, we celebrated everywhere we went and had the whole team sing happy birthday with a huge cake! It was a fun day, even though busy.

Here are 15 great things I love about Alex:

1. He is a great big brother, sensitive to Sadie and Keaton, and kind . . .usually.

2. He loves my lasagna and minestrone soup.

3. His favorite color is RED.

4. He is fun to talk to on a deeper level as he is getting older.

5. He has a very funny, clever sense of humor.

6. He can reason very well, and keeps me on my toes.

6. He is not afraid to say "I Love You Mom", and mean it!

7. He has a great smile, and will be getting his braces off in 3 weeks!

8. He makes good decisions.

9. He is a good student and is taking difficult classes this year.

10. He plays Waterfall by Jon Schmidt like nobody's business

11. He manages a tight schedule with school, piano, sports, and church.

12. He said "I love seminary". . . wow is that our kid?

13. He is very talented artistically.

14. He loves hugs and has taught us the different kinds of hugs.

15. He is extremely handsome and still lets me do his hair each morning.

Flag Football

Flag football season was a great one! Both boys had great and winning teams this year. The games were early in the a.m. so with frost on our toes' and noses we bundled up.

Both also had girls on their teams who, according to their parents, talked a lot about my darling boys . . . hum . . . are we getting to that age now? My only hope is that our boys stay handsome and kind to everyone, or else I'll give 'em a lick'in!

Cheap Team Photos

Grandpa and his horses

We went to Tremonton for the Anderson reunion recently. While there the kids were very excited to be riding Grandpa's horses for the first time, I know I am ashamed to admit that. After Grandpa saddled them all, with Ridge's help, they eagerly got on the horses and rode them around the pasture. Our big cousin Chase grabbed Sadie off of the fence and took her for her first ride. Reminded me of Tyler and Sadie on the surf board. She has been amazingly brave this year. All of the kids rode and had a great time, not really wanting to share their horse. We even had to ride again the next day.

However, when Keaton got onto Chase's horse, the horse was spooked and took Keaton for a gallup and a scare back to the fence. Keaton was screaming, so I don't think that helped matters, probably scared the horse even more. So, what did I do? I talked to him for a minute through his tears and fears, and MADE him get back on another horse. He was fine after that, and then Grandpa put the horses into the round corral and with a lead rope walked them around with the kids. This was a super experience for them. They also got to shoot the real guns and pistol of Grandpa's up at the gravel pit. My ears and Keaton's are still ringing. I love that the kids are interested in learning about my life and what I did growing up in this little town in the country. They get bright eyed when Grandpa tells stories and wonder if any of it is truth. The kids decided that they would all sleep together at Grandma's, invited Ridge too, and they had a sleepover. I hope they don't forget all of these good memories, and hope that there are MANY more to come. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the good time, horse rides, laughter, stories, good food, shooting, and everything else. We love you very very much!

Pruning isn't for wimps.

We decided to take advantage of the great weather to do some cleaning in the front yard. We trimmed down all of the trees and made a huge mess. So the kids decided to take the mess and make a 'tree hut'. It looked like the creature from the swamp if you asked me. It became a neighborhood project, and the kids left it there for a long time. I was pretty impressed at their engineering skills as it endured rain and frost and wind during the following week.

Alex hiding in the tree hut. Alex: "If I can't see them, they can't find me!".

The messy yard and the neighbors building the hut with the kids.

Sadie's Birthday Photos

Sadie's Birthday party. This was so much fun having a pseudo-slumber party. All guests wore their pj's brought a pillow and made homemade pizzas, played the traditional slumber party games, truth or dare, spin the bottle, and made night masks. They had races on the lawn and pillow fights, oh, and can't for get dancing. This was definately the best party ever and man can those girls scream! Keaton had helped me by being the party organizer when the girls got here. What a blast!