Road Trip!

My peeps and I are headed to Colorado soon and I had to look back on one of the first trips we took as a family to Colorado. Jackson was ALMOST one and we rented a house in Breckenridge and just had the best time as a family.

I look back at these pictures and I think of all that yet to come for our family. The love, the loss and the love...all with the ever faithful presence of God by our side. 

Even though we have been to Colorado numerous times since this first trip, I am looking forward to this particular trip with my boys because it is just the four of us. We are driving (13 hours, EEK!), and I feel like our kids are at the age where we can all enjoy eachother and explore and laugh and love and just have the best time.

Here is to many more vacations and many more Colorado trips as a family of four!

It's been awhile.

I may get the award for worst blogger ever. But..I'm Back! That has to count for something. :)

Life has been....busy...crazy...hectic. But that is no excuse for not blogging about this blessed and wonderful life we have going on here at the Stone house.

We recently hosted Renzi's immediate family at our lake house for "Camp Bastone." (Badanes and Stone equals Bastone...get it?") The California Stones and the D.C. Badanes all came to Grand Lake last weekend for the adventure. Renzi's mom was also able to be there and it was the first time she had all of her grandsons in the same place at the same time. Pure magic. And Chaos. And hilarity. And lovlieness! Here are some pics of our time together:

Walker, TJ, Asher and Miller all vying for the same toy. Per usual.

Uncle Dave (or Uncle Diddy) and T.J. playing a game, or eating...not sure, but they sure are cute!

My boys and I being silly while everyone else cooked dinner. Think I lucked out on my spot. :)

The boys all went fishing multiple times and the very first time Walker went he caught a fish! Here is his catch. He sure is keeping his eye on it, eh???

Jackson's reading has really taken off and he insisted on reading to Walker before his naps and before bedtime. Talk about melting a momma's heart!!!!

We went on a family walk one day and stopped in to the Monkey Island Fire Department. The firemen were so kind to let these boys climb all over the trucks and try on all of their stuff. TJ slept through it but we assured him afterwards he didn't miss too much. :)

 Walker and Jake look like Chipendales here.

I snapped this pic one evening from our deck. Such sweet patience from a sweet daddy. :) Ours.

Jackson loves his Uncle Grant!

My boys swagged out in their "Camp Bastone" shirts I had made. Not sure why my kids think they are gangstsers.

Golf Cart ride one morning! I felt like the golf carts were sometimes like clown cars...how many people can we fit on a golf cart???

These sweet boys swam and swam and swam. So fun to see them all become more and more confident in the water.

And don't think the littles had all of the fun. Us moms got in all of the action too! :)

Such fun memories and such wonderful time spent with family. Can't wait to do it again soon!

Slacker.

I have really failed on blogging over the last month and a half.

The End.

:) More to come!

Spring break 2014

Spring break 2014 was the bomb! Each year, as the boys get older, we just keep having more and more fun! The only thing missing was my sweet hubby...he was in Chicago and NYC for the first part of the week for work and then in Vegas the last part of the week for his annual guys trip. He had fun but we sure missed him!

This little wanted to do his hair like Jackson's.












My bestie Addie and I loaded up our kids on Tuesday and drove to Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. Crazy? Brave? All of the above?











We stayed in one hotel room but at Great Wolf the rooms are so big and so fun! These kiddos could not wait to go swimming!











I was really impressed with the place. Lots of things to do and lots of choices on restaurants! They even had healthy options which totally surprised me.











They had story time the night we stayed there....these sweet boys just loved the characters that read the books!











We only stayed at Great Wolf one night because, let's be honest, no one needs more than one day there. :) the boys and I loaded up and headed to the lake for the rest of the week and weekend.











We had so much fun playing outside, fishing, swinging, playing basketball, exploring and just being together.

Walker loves the view.











I mean....seriously??? These boys are just too cute.











Loved spending great quality time with my little loves!

The Terrible Two's

Full on temper tantrum at Target today.


The 2's have begun.....

Walker Stone is 2!

My little love muffin is 2!



I love this little rascal to pieces. He keeps me on my toes, but he makes me feel so loved every moment of every day.

He is strong. He is stubborn. He is beautiful. He is LOUD! He loves his big brother. He loves Jesus. He loves to pray. Sometimes we have to say the prayer five or six times during dinner. So cute. He loves to put on Jackson's shoes and run around the house and say, "I JJ! I JJ!"


He loves pizza. And Pirate Booty. And Apples. He loves his Daddy. He loves to say, "Tank you!" He loves our dog. And he loves Pirate Booty.



He loves to sing, "Happy Birthday!" and will sing it all day long. He loves to tell me, "More Milt peese momma." even when he doesn't need anymore. He loves his school and his teachers. He loves to "Cowor." and only with markers. If you give him crayons, he throws them across the room. (Lovely.)

He loves "Choo Choo Twains!" and "Toy Story, (TT as he calls it.)." He loves playing, "OU SIDE NOW MOMMA!" and when it snows he say, "Oh No! SNOW!"


He loves his beloved Woody doll from Toy Story. He takes him everywhere and even holds him like a baby and pats his back. He puts Woody to bed everynight next to his crib and tucks him in with a blanket and says, "Night Night. I WUV YOU!"



He loves suckers. And Cookie Cake. And wrestling with anyone who will wrestle with him. He loves to "shoot the hoop!" And he loves Gymboree.


He is my little daredevil and I wonder most days how we haven't ended up in the ER yet. He will jump off of any surface, but MOST of the time he actually lands on his feet.


I can't get enough of him. He always is running up to me and hugging me and saying, "I WUV YOU Momma!" Melts my  heart every single time.



I can't imagine my life without him and I am so thankful every day that we decided to have another baby. He truly makes my life complete. (as do these other cuties in this pic).


I pray that I can be the best mommy for him always. I want to teach him patience, perseverance, how to work hard, how his faith in God will always bring him to where he needs to be. I want to teach him to love with all of his heart and to never give up on his dreams.

I want to teach him respect, how to treat a lady, and that no matter what you will always have your family.



I want to teach him to always smile and find the good in others. That the answers to all you need are in the Bible. That when you are down, you sometimes have to fight your way back, but you will always come back.

I want him to feel and know always how much I love him. How much I will always love him. How I will always be here for him no matter what.

I always tell Jackson this and I want to make sure Walker knows this as well, "You will never get in trouble for telling the truth."


Happy 2nd Birthday Walker Seth Stone. You light me up in ways I never knew possible. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. I am forever grateful and forever yours!
Love,
Mommy

A surprise visitor. In my bed.

I woke up this morning to this little love next to me in my bed. Assuming that Renzi brought him in early this morning I relished in the snuggles. This kiddo has maybe slept in our bed 2 times ever. He just likes his bed and is kind of a thrasher when he sleeps so it's best no one is in bed with him or you may get an elbow in your eye.


Turns out....Renzi did not bring him to our bed. Walker climbed out of his crib, opened his door, walked to our room, climbed in our bed, got himself under the covers and went to sleep. All while I snoozed away not suspecting a thing.

Pretty sure our days in the crib are numbered with this one. Big boy bed...here we come!