Hawkeye, the Elf

There he is - perched on our kitchen window...  he won't be there tomorrow morning!

We have started "the Elf on the Shelf" story in the Taylor household!  Hawkeye, the Elf has been with us for 2 days now and Kayson has talked to him a little, but Hawkeye doesn't seem to have an impact on helping the naughtiness!  haah.  :)  But that's ok...  I think it's fun and I think Kayson is really starting to believe in Santa and the Elves.  Which, is way cool, in my opinion.

And Ryan and I did NOT choose the name - Kayson did.  He started with options of "Daddy", "Kayson"...  and then threw out "Hawkeye".  :)

Thanksgiving Break continued & Christmas in St. Joe

To continue our Thanksgiving holiday...  we headed down to Creston Friday afternoon (after the awful showing of our lovely Iowa football team).  Papa and Grandma got Kayson some great little games to play Friday night...  he's at that age where we can play silly games and also some board games and teach him winning/losing.  That'll be a challenge I'm sure!  ha.  But these games were great - and he had a blast!

Saturday we headed out early to see Aunt Maagie and extended family in St. Joe, MO...  always a nice time to see them and spend time with them.  Christmas came a little early for all of us... and Kayson & Tate loved it!  K got some clothes, a grocery cart (loves it!) and some puzzles and board games.  Thanks to Aunt Maagie, Susan & Ashlei and Jimmy & Diana!  Great gifts!!

We got back late to Creston...  all of us very tired.  We decided to stick around the rest of the night instead of driving home...  The little boys played and finally hit the sack around 9ish...  This morning we got up and headed back to our house early...  we wanted to have a little time at home today - gotta get caught back up on laundry of course!  And Kayson really sat down and played with his new toys, so that was super nice.   Tonight we are going to see Disney on Ice with Mike & JeanAnn.  I'm sure hoping Mickey Mouse shows his face a lot!  :)  

As always, we had a nice long holiday weekend...  makes me sad that we have a full week of work ahead of us!

"Don't Spill the Beans" was a hit!  Look at that face!!

"Candy Land" and "Chutes & Ladders"

and the grocery cart - too funny!

Blog Catchup

So the other day, I included some pictures to catch up on the blog... now I will include more pictures and some writing!  ha.  I feel like I just haven't had much time to sit down and write about what we've been up to.  

So...  first - Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family!  We had a very nice holiday, thus far... and more to come for us too!  Wednesday evening we headed to Clarion...  played hard and then played some more Thursday with my sisters and their families.  A great meal was prepared by my Mom and Dad...  yum, and we vegged a little and then the big kids played a round of Phase 10.  That's always a good card game to play...  such the luck of the draw type game.  We all have a little different competitive spirit in us!  Lots of laughs were had! 

We then headed back to DSM Thursday evening when it was bedtime for Kayson...  and then this morning (Friday), I did the laundry to get caught up and have been watching football...  last Iowa FB game.  We are hoping for a win of course.  

This afternoon we'll head to Creston... then to St. Joe, MO tomorrow morning.  I'll give details on that later!

Here are a few pictures from our time at the farm.  

Lil' Ryan, Kayson & Max (Ashley's boyfriend) playing dominoes!

Lindsay & Kayson - being silly!

Cocoa & Kayson

And Kayson has his own Christmas Tree in his room! 

We've had some challenges with Kayson lately...  I personally think he's just plain tired.  However, he sleeps great and takes pretty good naps still.  But he has just been whiny, talking back more than normal... and crabby.  When I'm that way - I'm tired!  haha.  :)  I couldn't imagine taking his nap away from him.  Oh lord!  

Anyway, Papa Dick is doing better...  as of today, he's still in the hospital, which is ok.  We need him to be as strong as possible before he goes home.  

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday...  God bless you all.

Picture CatchUp

Our internet is up and running!  Whoohoo!  

Here are some recent pictures of Mr. Kayson...  how handsome is he!??!

He loves the Christmas tree as much as I do!

Concentrating to get an ornament on!

Trying on his new snow-pants and snow-boots!

The famous footed PJs are back!!  Love them!

Oh that face...  my sweetie.

Real Quick

First - our internet has been down for 5 days... REALLY!!?  GRR!  Of course the times when it's down like this, I have a huge list of photography stuff to do.  So, we made a trip into Ryan's work tonight so I could get some things done... and they are done.  Thank goodness. 

Second - Great Papa Dick is doing amazingly better...  he came out of sedation yesterday afternoon (Saturday), and was breathing on his own... and attempting to talk...  It was amazing.  It gives me chills just thinking about it.  I think he still has a ways to go, but all of these signs are great and just such an improvement.  Keep the prayers coming though!

Just wanted to give an update on Grandpa... and hope for a smooth, short, GREAT week.  I'm looking forward to the short work week especially!  I hope to be back online SOON!

Prayers for Great-Papa Dick

Over the past week or so, Ryan's Grandpa (Great-Papa Dick to Kayson) has been in the Creston hospital...  with some breathing problems.  This morning he stopped breathing briefly at the Creston Hospital... so therefore, he was life-flighted to Methodist Hospital here in Des Moines.  The best place for him. 

All of the immediate family was at the hospital tonight...  with each other and supporting Grandma Janis.  Papa Dick is currently in ICU and is sedated to help him get some much needed rest...  then tomorrow will be a new day - in hopes to have the breathing tubes removed and he will begin breathing on his own.  We need lots and lots of prayers for him and the rest of the Taylor family.  This man is a very special man.

Tate & Kayson

We got to spend pretty much all day with Tate today...  While the big boys (Blair, Ryan, Mike & even Uncle Scott) went to Iowa City for the last home football game, the girls and little boys played and hung out...  

This is my very handsome and happy nephew!

Love you Tater Bean!

Words of Advice

Don’t take life for granted. Not to count on tomorrow, when your world can change in a heartbeat today.

Do not live with regrets. Do not forget to say "I'm sorry" and "I love you", because you can never be certain when you might lose that opportunity.

Love with wild abandon. Laugh. Hug those close to you. You might not be able to tomorrow.

And hug your kids. Tell them you love them. And while you're at it, hug your spouse, too.


This is all something I need to do - every day. 

Catching Up

It's been over a week since I've blogged...  that's somewhat unlike me!  We've been busy...  most evenings after Kayson is asleep, I'm either messing with more photography stuff, or doing laundry or quite possibly just wanting to sit for a bit. 

Things have been good...  Kayson's doing great - such a big boy.  I think we can officially say he is potty trained!  (Besides bedtime - still diaper for that).  We are going on 4 weeks of big boy underware and he's done wonderfully amazing - only 1 accident in that entire time!   He even has been going #2 on the potty for about a week and a half too!!  WHOOHOO!  AND last week he wore his underware for naps!  OH MY GOODNESS - he's growing up!  He apparently had a fit when Ms. Jeanie (teacher) tried putting his Pull-Up on him for nap last week (by our request)...  so she said she wasn't going to fight him and he woke up dry!  And he continues to be dry after naps at daycare and at home too!  We are so proud of him!!

Last Thursday afternoon I took off work early - I had some appointments, then prepped myself for a full day of shopping with friends on Friday!  Nikki and Nicky (we have a lot of Nicky's in our lives) headed over to Williamsburg Outlet mall...  it was a great weather day and a great day to do some damage!  We had such a great time... and have decided it's only best to do this twice a year, right?!?!  ;)  We'll see how our wallets do with that... but it sounds like a wonderful idea to me!  Such fun!

Saturday Ryan and his Dad headed over to Iowa City for a great, nail-biter football game!  K, myself and JeanAnn hung out all day at home...  did an errand and then really sat around.  I haven't done that for what seems like a long time... and it makes me SUPER tired!  ha.  Martina and Tate made a quick visit as well...  That Tate is such a doll - and wild man!  He's at such a fun age!

And Sunday we headed to Clarion to see my family...  a busy day, but great to be home.  I needed that.  We planned our "Hardy Grandkid" pictures...  and they were a success.  I may be bias, but I have BEAUTIFUL nieces and nephew (and son)!  They are such great kids - they don't complain about this at all - they have fun together and it's just a great thing...  it truly brings tears to my eyes knowing how much they love each other and are my family.  We are so blessed.

Tate sat for about 30 seconds - long enough for Kayson to assist him with his bottle!

My beautiful family