Letters to Santa

Every Christmas the Rushton/Cameron family gets together to write letters to Santa. Sometimes serious, usually silly, and always fun these letters are read aloud (usually by mom) then placed into the fire where the ashes and smoke travel to Santa. Damion was able to write his own this year (he is so smart!) He asked for a Razer Scooter and Star Wars Legos 1&2. Heather wanted to write her own so we just had her read it to everyone herself. She asked for a box of bandaids with pictures of Barbie on them!! She is so adorable!! We ate pizza and watched a movie on TV. It was a blast! We wanted to go to Temple Square after to look at the lights, but because it was snowing we decided to go on Wednesday. Fingers crossed that the weather will be a bit better!


Daddy helping Connor write his letter. He asked for cars of course!


Damion reading his letter



The kids watching Mike put the letters in the fire



Shayla really enjoyed playing with Isabelle's toys



Kathy and Heather. I love this picture!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. First thing in the morning Darrel, Damion and Heather joined in the traditional Rushton family Thanksgiving football game. They had a great time! It was to cold to sit outside so I stayed home with the 2 little ones. Then afterward we all went to my parents house for dinner. It was delicious! We were joined by my sister Kari and her kids Wilson, Austin, and Kennedy, and by my sister Holly and her kids Brady, and Braxton. We brought over our Wii and actually got my parents to play it! It was hilarious! Every time my mom got a spare or a strike she would do a little shake-your-booty dance! After dinner we went to Darrel's mom's house for dessert. Jessie made an amazing pumpkin cheesecake. Normally I don't like cheesecake but ooooohhhh this is sooooo good! We played a game of Scene-It on the XBox 360. Of course Julie and Jessie kicked all our butts! I am sure Carrie would have won but her and Mike skipped out early so they could go see 4 Christmases. She said it was super funny so hopefully Darrel and I will get a chance to go see it. Here are a few pictures. I didn't get as many as I would have liked because things were kind of crazy with everyone running around. Plus Shayla was fussy and didn't want me to put her down.


I think Shayla looks like a doll in this picture

"The Boys" Wilson, Austin, Damion, Connor

Shayla loved the jello Darrel gave her

Connor with the classic olive fingers

me and the kids making trukey day crafts

Heather and Kennedy showing off their Thanksgiving Day spirit

My Connor

Connor in hospital 5/31/06 Connor at home 10/17/08

It is amazing to me how fast little kids grow. I can't believe it has only been 2 years since he was born. He is so big now and so smart! He is at that stage where every day he adds a new word to his vocabulary. He always says "thank you" and "please". It is hard to get him to say "sorry" when he hurts Damion or Heather. Sometimes I wonder if he doesn't say it because he feels justified in beating them up since they are so much bigger than he is. You know, pay back for all those times when they bully him :D

Connor loves his cars. Anything with wheels on it. He gets upset when he sees cars get wrecked on the TV. He goes "oh no, cars!" with a very concerned look on his face. He will share any of his toys - except for his cars. I have tried to explain this to Heather and Damion time and again - if it has wheels it is automatically Connor's and you need to find something else to play with. Sounds unfair but trust me - you DO NOT want to come between this boy and his cars!! Recently he expanded his love of ground vehicles to air vehicles. He is starting to get into airplanes and helicoptors which he also calls planes. When ever he hears one outside (even if he is in the house) he has to stop what he is doing and go search for it. He has got a truly unique personality. I love my Connor Bonnor!

Halloween

Ok I am really hating how fast time flies!! Again it has been a month since I last blogged!! Oh well what can you do? I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween with lots and lots of candy, candy, candy, candy! Our family had a crazy but fun Halloween. We carved pumpkins at Nana Rushton's house. Connor tried to eat the pumpkin but I guess it didn't taste as good as it looks? The kids picked out the design and some how Darrel and I ended up carving all of them! On Halloween both Damion and Heather had a school parade. Damion dressed up as an Army zombie and Heather as a kitty (thanks for the help mom it turned out great!) Connor dressed as a car mechanic and Shayla was also a kitty. Both Damion and Heather had a class party and I was able to go to both and help out with the games. (thank you mom-in-law for watching the babies!) After that we all loaded in the van and headed to Darrels work for his work party. They served us lunch (soup bowls, yum!) and afterwards the kids got to go around to all the desks and trick-or-treat. They got so much candy that they didn't mind not going around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Also at Darrels work they had a costume contest with different catagories, Darrels won for scariest! People said they voted for him because it was so realistic for him to be covered in blood!

Pudding

I asked Heather to play with Shayla while I did some work on the computer. When I went upstairs to check on them a little bit later Heather had put Shayla in her blue baby chair so that they could both sit and watch SpongeBob. She had buckled Shayla in and everything! Totally adorable!! Then Heather asked if she could have some pudding. I told her that was just fine and I went back downstairs for a few more minutes. When I came back up Shayla had this innocent look on her face, along with globs of pudding! So being the good mom that I am what do I do?...... Rush to get the camera!!! It is so cute because Heather had even put a bib on her!! Shayla looked like she wanted more so I put some on the spoon, but as I brought it to her mouth she held her hand out for it. I put it in her hand and she put it right into her mouth all by herself! She licked it for a minute and then dropped the spoon. I put more pudding on it and she did the same thing. I realized that she was sucking all the pudding off and then dropping the spoon when it was empty so I could give her more! She is such a smart cookie!!!

Time

I can not believe it has been a MONTH since I last wrote something! Alice called today and asked why I wasn't updating my blog anymore. I didn't realize it has been that long!! I wish I could say that my life was so exciting and so busy that I just didn't have the time. Unfortunatley I have done nothing exciting. Darrel has spent the last month working late hours. It takes everything in me to be mom and dad 24/7. There is no time left over to do what I want. I think it is crucial for everyone to get that time to do what they want. To be who we are instead of what we are. What I am is a mom. But that is not who I am. I need to do things like scrapbooking with the girls, date night with my husband, or even just soaking in the tub with a good book to help me remember that I have a name other than mom. So I want everyone who reads this to make sure they take some time for themselves to remind them of who they are!

For Kennedy

On the topic of sisterhood - I got a call from my sister Kari telling me how much her daughter Kennedy, who is now 6!!, enjoyed looking at the pics on my blog spot. She is the sister-of-the-heart to my daughter Heather. And now that their cousin Brooklyn is getting older (3 now) I am sure she will be right there with the girls through all of their adventures. So here's to a new generation of Girl Power!!!

sisters

There is nothing more amazing in this world than sisterhood. And for females this is a very crucial bond that can carry her through the most trying events in her life. Now this can be a bond between blood sisters or sisters of the heart. Both are equally strong. We as women need this special connection with each other to help us over come things like losing a job, break-ups, and bad hair days. I am lucky enough to have been blessed with the most beautiful and incredible sisters that are always there when I need an opinion, a shoulder, or a good kick in the pants! :)~

First Food!

Shayla got her first taste of baby cereal Monday. I think she liked it though she seemed to think it was more a toy than food. I love how she was holding onto Darrel's finger while he fed her! Too cute!!!

Heather's B-day

So my baby girl turned 5 last Wednesday. I can't believe it!! Of course she was jump up and down excited! She got lots of clothes, a few toys, 4 pairs of shoes, and a TON of craft supplies!! We had dinner at our house with her Nana, Kyle, Aunt Jessie, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Mike and baby Izzy. Nana bought her a princess castle pinada that the kids loverd decimating! We had a great time!

Look what I made!!

Looky looky what I did!! I made a blogspot! Neato! Yes I am a dork and these little accomplishments make me feel special. I am so excited!! I have a few friends with a blogspot and thinking you had to pay for it I never set one up. But now I have and now you can all come visit this site and read my laughable rantings and see pics of my adorable kids! Hope you enjoy!!