Happy 6th Birthday Riley Shaw Huber!

It is amazing how fast the years go past! My sweet little dark-eyed baby boy is now a full-fledged 6 year old boy! I love so much about this little fellow - his staunch determination, his love of animals, his gentle heart, his wild humor, his enthusiasm for all things outdoors, his love and sports, and that he will still snuggle up with me on the couch. Riley you are so loved and all that you are make you one special guy!

Riley asked for a Jayhawk theme this year - here's the brownie cupcakes for his school celebration with his classmates and the cake for his home celebration with the family.

Getting ready to open presents. Riley was sweet and allowed little brother to help open a few. Can you feel the excitement?

The big present -  a new bike! Just as cool as dads = )

Gage got a new helmet - the top looks like a shark - this view shows the killer teeth!

Mom had to get in on the helmet fun - I need one like this = )

Me and the birthday boy enjoying some giggles

Say cheeeeeeeeeese!

Make a wish!

(Gage captured this shot by the way - good timing little buddy!)

So, what are two ornery boys to do with new bike helmets?

Play "bull crash" is apparently the right answer. These silly boys had a ball for almost 30 minutes straight rushing into each other and crashing their protected skulls. Silly boys!

We rounded out the weekend with a trip the movie theatre to watch The Lorax which was awesome! I'm not typically a is Seuss fan, but that show was great and had a super message. The boys really enjoyed it, too = ) All in all, it was a great weekend and celebration of one super fabulous big boy!

Fly-by February!

Wowzers. So February came and went in what literally felt was the blink of an eye! I am a little sad as I know we had a ton of fun and I don't have the words or pictures to document most of it becaus we apparently too busy to even take pictures! Anyhow, to prove we were present and accounted for here are a few of the pics we managed to snap = )

Gage had a "crazy hair day" at his school. We called this his "jayhawk hair" -  a little blue and little red - he LOVED it and wants to wear it this way every day now =)

Riley has been quite the animal lover and helper this month. Here he is snugglig up to Katie-girl.

Chillin' with the kitties. They love to snuggle this boy  = )

For Christmas we decorated the boys headboards with multi-colored lights. They also work as great nightlights so we have left them in place. I wish I had a fancy camera with an awesome lens to capture just how fabulous the glow of these lights are and how angelic the boys look while quietly sleeping under them. Unfortunately, this is the best my camera would do without the flash - does not do it justice or even look close to reality = (

Another try with the flash on this time. Still no justice, but the boys are cute nonetheless!

We got our first snow of the season at the end of February - and it wasn't much more than an inch - but the boys were stoked and had a ball goofing around in it!

Mmmmm, the delish chocolate wine and sweet red rose I got from the hubby for Valentines.

Loved the gifts and love that guy!

Fun visit from my sis. We were ping pong queens!

The silly beer drinking glasses came out during Tracy's visit. Interesting to say the least!

The Harley

So, after years of sacrificing more fun "guy" stuff than any of us could count, Corey finally got something for just him. A Harley. And, not just any Harley, his beloved Harley Street Bob. He is one happy fella to say the least - check out that smile! He's also the coolest dad ever if you ask his kiddos = )

Here it is in all it's black cherry metallic glory! 

 Peace.

 Future Harley rider? I see ape hangers in his future!

 Pretend cruising

 Riley cheesing it up!

Oh what fun ...

Wow, so December came and went in the blink of an eye! I love this time of year with all of its crazy schedules and gatherings with family and friends. Once again we were very fortunate to get to spend time with those near and dear to our hearts. And, the boys were very spoiled again by those exact same people - and loved every minute of it!

Our little family photo taken in front our Christmas tree.

Doesn't our dog, Katie, just look thrilled to be a part of this?

Ha! She is such a sweet girl = )

After our own little family celebration at our house, we headed out to the farm for the Huber gathering. It is always great to get together with everyone - the boys especially love getting to hang out with their cool older cousins. Here Gage is super stoked about his Dr Dreadful's Zombie Lab experiment station his super awesome aunt and uncle gave him! The first creation of our mad scientist? Zombie barf!

Me about to sample said Zombie Barf. Not sure if this was the best idea ever!

Even after my less then stellar reaction, Uncle Jamie is a good sport and agrees to give it a shot, too!

Good grief! So, after taking at least 6-7 photos with Grandma Lawrenz 

- with multiple cameras going -

this is the only one that we are all looking at the same one.

Nice one, Corey = )~

From there, we headed on over for the Soukup event. More family, more food, and more fun!

Riley cheeses it up with Papa Soukup while Gage slides in with Aunt Tracy.

Tracy and I in our new hats from Grandma. Love the hats and love those ladies!

Soukup Family photo -  a little easier with only one camera going = )

Corey with the favorite gift of the night - an iPad from my sister.

She is seriously the most generous person I know!

Happy Grandma Soukup gettin' a little snuggle from Gage.

You can't tell it from this picture, but this boy LOVES all his new pants!

From here, my folks gave Corey and I a super awesome Christmas present -

they kept the boys for the whole week of their Christmas vacation!

Although it was eerily quiet at our house and I missed the boys like crazy,

I thoroughly enjoyed having a clean house and getting plenty of sleep = )

On our way home, Riley decided he didn't need any BK King hat,

his McD's Happy Meal box was just as cool!

Silly boy = )

As for Gage, upon arriving back in Lawrence, he was super excited to open up this present he had already forgotten about. Doesn't he just make the cutest little worker man ever?!

Here's Riley and Corey's big construction project -  a K'Nex Roller Coaster.

They spent a full day connect all 576 pieces, then fully enjoyed

watching the fruits of their labor zoom around the track.

Good times!

Well, this doesn't even come close to sum up all of the fun and excitement we had, but it is a record of some of the highlights. Thank you Lord for blessing us with this time together and safe travels.

Thankful ...

Our Thanksgiving holiday was absolutely wonderful. We had a great trip out to Colorado to celebrate with the family at my sister, Tracy's house. The weather, the kids, the food - we couldn't have asked for better from any of it. So thankful when things come together so nicely = ) Below are some photos of other things we found to be thankful for this holiday ....

Here we are thankful for fun "King" and "Queen" hats at BK!

Thankful to gather 3 generations together.

Thankful for silly family photos and woodcarved moose slingshots from Aunt Tracy!

Still thankful for the slingshots and a big yard for target practice!

Thankful for my sister and for awesome hula hoops made by http://hoopmamas.net/

Thankful for spare PVC pipe to make "Transformer Arms" for Gage = )

Here Corey is thankful for this delicious snack plate!

Thankful that our Grandma was able to make the trip to Colorado and for Tracy hosting this houseful of crazy people = )

Gage was very thankful for turkey. Here he is "eating like a mogwai!" That's a reference to the movie Gremlins - if you have never seen this movie I feel a little sad for you. Go watch it and be thankful = )

Thankful to spend time with my dad and that he is now retired and much less stressed!

Riley loves his Aunt Tracy and shows his thankfulness with a big ol' bear hug!

The boys are very thankful for Tracy's iPad ... and so were the rest of us ... it allowed us quite a bit of quiet time while the boys concentrated on their games = )

Thankful for the man cave - beers for the big boys -
and power tools for the little guys!

Oh, and more slingshot action, too - those things really were a hit! = )

Thankful Dale has a sense of humor about a slingshot being aimed at his head ...

Riley should be thankful Dale is only kidding about putting him in the turkey fryer ... Gage was ready to defend big brother = )

It appears Gage was thankful for sleep at this point ... the blankie over his head cracks me up!

Corey having a good time and just being thankful in general.

Hope you all had a great holiday and much to be thankful for as well!