Christmas Traditions.

Sunday we made cinnamon ornaments to decorate the kids' Christmas Tree with. They are fun to make and smell wonderful! It is one of my favorite Christmas Traditions! Here is the recipe I posted last year.

We are starting a new tradition this year.

The Elf on the Shelf came to the Hamilton House lastnight. I am so excited to do this with the kids. Kinnison is skeptical, but I think after a few nights of "Buddy the Elf" moving around she will find it more believable.

I love this time of year!

Giving Thanks.

I am thankful for God who has given me so much to be thankful for!

I am so very thankful for my kids. Being a stay at home mom is very hard and very stressful, but I am so thankful I have the opportunity to do it. I can't even fathom leaving them with someone else while I work. I am thankful for my husband. He is one of the hardest working people I have ever met. He is the reason I get to stay home! He is a great provider for our family and he is a terrific father to our children! I am thankful for each and every day I get to spend with my family. I am thankful for my friends. And, I am thankful for the men and women who serve our country!

Today is my dad's 53rd birthday! Happy Birthday Pappy Dog!

I am truly blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Proud.

We are so proud of all of our children! They are smart, sweet, well behaved kids! (most of the time)

We are especially proud of how fast Kinnison is learning sight words and how well she is reading now. I am posting a video of her reading words this morning. She did 50! I am going to have to make cards with the words from her favorite books because we don't have those. I bet she knows over 100!

Kimber is counting to 10 without skipping numbers now. She can say her letters and write most of them, but needs to work on recognition still. When I hold up a flashcard she rambles off about 5-10 different letter names. Kanyon is excelling in the jumperoo. He also likes to get two handfuls of Kinnison's hair and shove it in his mouth. :) He has really developed a lot of personality this week. He loves to smile and laugh. He is such a happy boy.10

Happy Birthday Kinnison!

Kinnison turned six years old today...which doesn't seem possible. We had a swim party at the Boys and Girls club yesterday. It was a Luau themed party. I worked my tail off. Lastnight Kinnison told me it was the best birthday she has ever had, which made it worth all the hard work. Everyone had a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone who came to share her special day. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and such a wonderful family.

Kinnison is reading anything and everything. She is very smart and very witty. She has a great sense of humor. She remembers EVERYTHING. She loves to sing and dance. She loves to help her brother and sister. She is a huge help to me. Kinnison's favorite color is pink. She loves Taylor Swift. She loves anything that has chocolate in it or on it. She has lost three teeth and has another one loose. She loves peace signs. She loves her dog, Tator. She is sweet, happy and compassionate. She has an amazing personality and a contagious laugh. She is just wonderful. She has brought so much joy, laughter and love into our lives. We are so blessed to be her parents! Happy Birthday sweet girl. We love you to the moon and back!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Here is a link to last years montage.

http://cryshamilton.blogspot.com/2010/11/denial.html

Here is a slideshow with pictures from her party.

Six Years Ago...

Kinnison should have been entering the world six years ago today, but she had different plans. She was due November 9th, but decided to come on November 14th. She wanted to make an entrance! She lost another tooth today! This was number three for her! This was her snaggle tooth. A couple years ago she was running around upstairs and fell and hit our footboard. It pushed the tooth up into the gums. It has been loose since then and turned a gray color, so we were very happy to see it go.

Update.

I've run out of new blog titles.

Kinnison is doing great in school. She knew 13 sight words on her report card and knows even more now. This week she started bringing a book home in her study bag. She has already mastered it. She can read most of the old school Dick & Jane stories too. We are so proud of her. I know that God has special plans for her. She is so smart and has an exceptional memory. She is also very compassionate. I think she needs to be a doctor or a nurse. But, she decided this week she wants to be an artist. That was on my list when I was growing up, so I can't blame her. I am sure she will excel at whatever she chooses! I finished her birthday montage. I'll be posting it soon.

Kimber is....Kimber. LOL She is such a joy and so much work at the same time. She is very tender hearted and very passionate about everything. Tell her "no" and it will break her heart. She can be very high maintenance, but she is such a wonderfully sweet girl it is hard to get onto her. There is no doubt in my mind that God has something very special planned for her as well. She has so much love to give and laughter to share. I am so thankful I am getting to spend more time with her. Kinnison got me all to herself for 2 years before Kimber came along. Even though I worked and went to school, all of her time was individual time. When Kimber was born I had Kinnison, work and even more hours of school. So, Kimber got the short end of the stick. She still has to share her time with Kinnison and Kanyon, but there is a lot more time now that I am staying at home. I need to enjoy every minute I have with her because she will be starting school in 2 years! Hard to believe.

Kanyon is changing every day. Yesterday when we were shopping he would puff out his cheeks real big, blow spit bubbles and then giggle. It was adorable. His favorite activity is his Jumperoo. He is on formula now. I exclusively breastfed for 3 months. At 3 months I did formula during the day, pumped before bed and then breastfed him at night. The next morning he got the pumped bottle. We did that for about 2 weeks. Then he decided he didn't want to nurse anymore. Before he didn't care what he ate or where it came from! The next two weeks he went to primarily formula and 1-2 breastmilk bottles a day. At 4 months we switched to formula only. I'm very proud of both of us. My goal was 6 months or until he got teeth and he got his first two teeth last week! I am a little sad we are done, but it was very hard to do with two other children...especially when one is in school! He is rolling all over the place. He flips from tummy to back and somehow gets his feet where is head was?

Happy Fall Ya'll!

It is absolutely beautiful here in Northwest Arkansas. This might be one of the prettiest falls we have had and I was worried we wouldn't have fall at all. We had extreme snow, extreme flooding, extreme heat and drought. We had a lot of trees die over the summer, but somehow our trees have changed to the most beautiful shades of reds, oranges and yellows. Saturday we took the train ride from Springdale to Van Buren. It was absolutely beautiful. And, we made some great memories. We took fall family pics this weekend. It was crazy and stressful, but we got some good shots. I am thankful for every photo I have with my family. I will cherish them always.

Monday was Halloween. I helped organize Kinnison's class party. It was a lot of fun. Kinnison and Kimber were witches this year. I made their costumes and I must say they were the cutest witches ever! Kanyon was a cow and he was adorable! We went to Charity's house to celebrate Meme's birthday. We had a wonderful dinner! (thanks Gammy!) After dinner the girls got to go trick-or-treating. When they were done trick-or-treating they handed out candy. I think they enjoy handing it out just as much as they like getting it.

Luke and I have both had a stomach bug. I couldn't sleep lastnight so I decided to work on Kinnison's DVD and write in their journals. I stumbled across some old videos. There are no words to describe the emotions I have about my kids growing up. It takes my breath away. I watched videos of Kinnison and Kimber when they were babies. It doesn't seem possible that they are going to be 6 and 4. They have brought so much joy into our lives. There is not a night I go to bed that I do thank God for my kids, my family. They mean everything to me. They are growing up right before my eyes. It is bittersweet. I am sad that they aren't little babies anymore, but I am so proud of the young ladies they have become. They are wonderful big sisters to Kanyon. I am trying to soak up every minute I have with him because I know in the blink of an eye he will be celebrating his 6th birthday. It makes me sad.

Love,

Kanyon Has Teeth!

Kanyon was laughing on Wednesday and I noticed he had two teeth! He is eating rice cereal better. We tried sweet potatoes yesterday and he wasn't a fan! He loves to roll over. He laughs all the time. He thinks he can sit up and stand up on his own. Grandpa tells him he is cocky. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

Sunday we took the kids on our annual trip to the Ranalli Farms Pumpkin Patch. We went later this year, so they didn't have as many pumpkins to pick from. The girls still had fun picking out pumpkins though and they had even more fun decorating them.

More Projects.

Every time I accomplish a project I find something else I want to do. And, my projects usually end up trashing the house. I don't think I will ever get caught up!

This is my new fall wreath and my new red door! I love it!

And, this is the photo canvas I made. It was super easy. I spent less than $20 on the picture and canvas. The same size canvas is $60 at Walmart! I haven't decided if I am going to put scrapbook paper on the sides or not.

Update on the kiddos:

Kinnison is OBSESSED with school. All she does when she gets home is read, write and spell. It is her favorite thing. And, she is really good at it. She has gotten really good at cutting things out as well. She told me last week she wanted to be a teacher, but after watching the pep rally she decided she wanted to be a cheerleader. She is going to be 6 in ONE month. I am not sure how that is possible. :(

Kimber is talking more and more. She is still a little comedian. She loves to moon her daddy. HA! I am not sure where she learned to do that! She told me last week she wants to be a dancer when she grows up. I hope she doesn't combine those two things! She sings the alphabet song and can write most of the letters, but says, "what's this?" after she writes it. She is drawing people now. They look like the "monsters" Kinnison used to draw.

Kanyon started sleeping in his crib in the girls' room two nights ago. He is doing great. He was sleeping in his playpen in our room. I think the crib is more comfortable and their room stays warmer than ours. He has been working on a tooth for a couple months now, but it hasn't broke thru yet. He smiles and laughs all the time...especially when he poops his pants. He thinks it is hilarious. He gets that from his dad. He is such an easy going baby.

Dress Up Storage.

So, we have been looking for a way to organize the girls' dress up clothes. We have had them in storage boxes under the bed and in the closet. Neither worked very well. We have been looking for an armoire for a while now. Luke asked around work and some lady he works with gave us this for free!

Before

After

We are thrilled with how it turned out. It is absolutely perfect!