Howdy from Texas!

We had a blast in Texas visiting family!  Despite delays at the airport both there and back, the boys did great traveling.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Brayden and his cousin Hayden bonded over some video game fun :)

No visit is complete without a fishing trip!  This one was especially awesome - they actually caught fish!

Brayden and Daddy

Brayden and Pops

Brayden and Aunt Melody

We spent lots of time in the pool - Texas is hot and humid in the summer!

Brayden on the awesome water shooter raft that ReRe bought for them!

Corbin and our sweet nephew Hudson

I could just eat him up!

Caleb loved being behind the wheel - and squirting anyone in his path!

Brayden loved making Hudson smile - so sweet!  

Now if he could only be that sweet to his brother...

Pops and all her boys!

My adorable cowboy!

Can't wait to visit again!  We love our Texas family!

My Little Evangelist

I don't have any pictures to post to go along with this story, so you'll have to use your imagination!

Picture my sweet almost-5-year-old, getting ready for school this morning.  He walks out of his room in his jeans, shirt, button up over shirt (he's into layers these days), hat....and his backpack.  Except, he doesn't bring a backpack to school (due to the quaintness of his schoolhouse, there's no room!)

I say to him, "Brayden, why do you have your backpack on?" and he replies, "Because I have something I want to share with my friends today.  I have my Jesus bible.  I want to read it to my friends and teach them about Jesus."  "Wow, that's a great idea Brayden!"  I say, not really wanting to make too big a deal out of it, for fear that he may change his mind!  

Brayden's wonderful teacher is a Christian, so I knew she would be more than open to Brayden's ideas, and she was absolutely wonderful about it.  She let him bring his bible storybook to class and said he could read it during their independent reading time.  

I thought about him all morning, wondering what he would say to his classmates as he turned the pages of his "Jesus bible," and hoping we had done a good enough job teaching him so far.

His teacher said it was so great.  He sat on the carpet with 2 of his best friends and told them the story of David and Goliath, as well as the story of the crucifixion.  Oh to be a fly on the wall during that!  

I love that Brayden is starting to gain his own understanding of Jesus, and beginning a relationship with Him that will hopefully last forever.  And who knows, maybe he planted a seed for little Matthew and Cameron :)

October Recap - Better Late Than Never!

The thought of trying to catch up from my lack of postings since September is very daunting!  In fact, it's pretty much the reason I haven't blogged in so long.  So...for now, I've decided to just do a few quick recaps of the major events between now and then.  I may go back at some point and elaborate, but for now, at least I can move forward!

October:

October was a busy month!  It started with a dual celebration.  October 9th was not only my birthday, but Gilbert High's 10 year HS reunion!  A few lucky student council members (myself included) spent the past 6 months planning and preparing for this event.  10 years ago, this being included in our student council job description, sounded so fun.  10 years later, we weren't so sure about the "fun" part!  In the end, it turned out great and I think everyone had a wonderful time (I know we did!)  It was so fun to reconnect with great friends!   Thank you Gilbert High for throwing a great birthday bash!

My hot date, and the most awesome reunion DJ! 

 Kate, Jacqui and I

Some of the STUCO members (Kate, Erin, Jacqui, me and Christin)

Jessica and me (we go way back to elementary school!)

Katie, Kate, me + Kate's name tag (don't ask!), Andrea and Tabby

The following week, we left for a 5 day cruise to Mexico with Corbin's family.  That trip definitely deserves it's own post, so you'll have to wait to hear all about that fun!

Halloween:

The boys had a great Halloween this year.  They both loved walking running around the neighborhood in their adorable costumes and getting lots of candy.  Corbin was working, so Mimi came with us and we had a blast!

Brayden the self-proclaimed "Army Man" 

Caleb the Monkey (complete with a banana in his pocket!)

 "Whoa...what's this?!?"

 Brayden and a neighborhood friend Aiden

Mommy and her Monkey

That just about wraps up October!  Stay tuned for November's recap!

Testing Testing...

Can anyone hear me??  I recently updated my blog to only allow invited readers to read....but I'm not sure if I did it correctly!  If you are reading this, will you leave me a quick little comment so I know I'm not blog-challenged?  Thanks...and I promise I will get back in the business of blogging really soon! :)

Going Private...For real this time!

So we had a speaker from the Chandler Police come to our MOPS group today. He did a presentation on keeping you and your family safe when it comes to the internet. He gave us just enough info to make me aware, but not so much that it totally freaked me out! He mentioned how easy it is to get someone's personal info online, and how important it is to be careful of what you put on your facebook, blog, etc. It made me realize that I have pictures and posts about where Brayden goes to school, what Corbin does for a living...basically enough info for a crazy stalker to be able to find us if they really wanted.

Having said that, if you'd like to keep reading about our King fam adventures, please leave me a comment with your email letting me know!  Don't be shy...I love blog stalkers :)

No More Growing Up!

Corbin and I have an ongoing joke with Brayden that he can't grow up any more. I tell him he has to stay my little boy so he can fit in my lap. Corbin threatens to strap books to his head so he can't get any taller. Brayden laughs, protests that he will indeed continue to grow, and then sweetly says that we can come visit him when he's an adult...living in the jungle and studying _______ (insert favorite animal of the week).

I have no doubt that he will be doing something amazing when he grows up. Hopefully, it will be near his family, or maybe we'll just move to the jungle :)

Until that day, we are busy with Brayden's 2nd year of preschool. He is officially in "Pre-K", otherwise known as the year you prepare for kindergarten, otherwise known as my baby boy starts kindergarten next year! Where did the past 4 1/2 years go?

To say that we love Miracle of Minds preschool would be a complete understatement. We adore everything about the school, from the loving, positive environment, to the teachers, to the adorable little schoolhouses. What an amazing start to Brayden's school experience.

At the beginning of this year, Brayden:

- can write his name and all the letters of the alphabet

- can count to 40 (starts to get a little iffy after that!)

- loves to color and paint, but is sometimes a perfectionist about

staying in the lines!

- says the sounds of every letter and is attempting to sound out words

- can tell you the name and facts for any dinosaur or snake

- explains words such as nocturnal, venomous, awkward, carnivore, camoflauge, creative, and molting

- begins sentences with "Clearly", "As you know", "I was thinking...", and "Speaking of..."

- makes up words and then says "That's how you say ____ in Spanish!"

- loves to wrestle with Daddy

- has started calling us "Mom" and "Dad" (I don't like this at all!)

- has a love/dislike relationship with his little brother

- has endless energy

- has an equal amount of love and sweetness

Here are a few pictures from his first day, last year (just to prove that he's not growing!) and this year.

Notice his head measures right above the handle...

And now clears the lock! Nope, no growing there!

Apparently when you're in Pre-K, you're too cool to smile for a picture

There's a smile from the handsome dude!

Showing off his snake tattoo

Brayden and his sweet teacher, Mrs. Wostl...

just pretend he doesn't have a horrible face in this one!

Stories from the Crib

One of Brayden's favorite things to do is greet his brother after a nap. He usually hops into the crib to goof around with him, until I come get them both out (or rescue Caleb, however you want to look at it!). Today I heard some talking coming from the room, so before I intervened, I opened the door a crack....and this is what I saw:

I just love moments like these!