Happy 11th Birthday

Dear Weston,
You are 11 years old.  Can I just say STOP getting bigger?  You have definitely hit that age of being more and more independent.  You now will stay home and babysit your brother and sister.  Which has been a big help to me as I was training for my half marathon.  It was fun even having you join me in running your first 5K.  As you spend less and less time with me I need to find more activities like this to keep you engaged with me.  I still say you should run a half marathon when you turn 13.  13 miles for 13 years.  Ha we will see.

Jacob and playstation continue to be your world.  You have created some pretty amazing things on minecraft its fun to see you create things in your real world into your fantasy worlds. 

You love to listen to music and sing and have a pretty good voice.  I often will hear you singing away while showering or playing video games. 

School continues to be pretty easy for you other then math.  Its been a lot of fun to have you back in my neighborhood.  Only one more year and you will no longer be in the shelter of me and our school.  I love seeing you each day as you go to the class next store or when you come in to have me tie your shoes.  :P 

Utah utes and football are still your favorite sports to watch and participate in.  You still play soccer but I fear you have lost your love for it.  Especially this year being put on a team with none of the kids you love. 

As you get to be more and more a "preteen" I miss my little boy more and more but you are going into a pretty cool kid too.  You are also so very handsome, just ask yourself that and you will agree.

Happy Birthday Wes!

Double digits

Weston,
How in the world are you 10 Years old?  I swear I just had you and now your are a decade old!  You continue to drive me crazy with your arguing and make me laugh at your sense of humor. 
4th grade has been an awesome year for you.  Mrs. Johnson has apparently taken my place as your favorite teacher, to not hurt my feelings you tell me I am your favorite all time teacher and she is your favorite 4th grade teacher.  But I know you really think she is the best!  Which makes me happy that you are enjoying her class, though you tell me you still hate school.

Your favorites in life haven't changed much.  You continue to love playing video games with your friend Jacob and making youtube videos as epic kid gamer. 

I appreciate that you help me with Taylyn when I need it.  She continues to think you are the worlds greatest brother though Cason is starting to give you some competition.  I love how gentle and caring you are toward her!  You really do have a big heart.  I am missing your snuggles more and more. 

Kaydence continues to be your best friend though you have a lot of friends at school.  You are well liked and love to be the class clown.  Luckily you are starting to learn when it is appropriate and when its time to settle down thank goodness.

Anxiety about new things continues to give you grief.  Often once you try the new thing you are usually fine its the anticipation of the unknown.  Which I fully understand.  Some days I fear you are much too much like me.

Here is to an awesome 10th birthday and can't wait to see the things you can do in the next 10 years.

Loves:
football
pizza
video games
jacob
minecraft
cod
your sister
four wheeling

Dislikes:
veggies
mostly anything not pizza
going to bed
going outside

Happy Birthday Weston

Dear Weston,
Happy Birthday Weston!  9 years old, wow!  This is a fun year for me.  When I moved to the school I am at now you were almost 3.  You kept telling me I am going to be in your class momma.  Well here you are turning 9 years old and you are in my class!  When you said that so many years ago it seemed so far away, and yet some how the time has come and you are in my class.  You are a third graders!  One of the many things I love about you going to the school I teach at is that I get to spend so much time with you.  I get to see you right until school starts and right when school ends.  I often get to see you in the hall or in the lunch room.  Well this year I get to see you all day long!  I loved you were so excited for the first days of school because I was going to be your teacher.  Now I know the novelty of it wore of with in a few weeks for you.  But I love seeing you learn and grow.  It broke my heart to see you struggle at times but it was nice to know it was generally on things all the other kids were as well.

 You are such a sassy boy!  You can wipe out a comeback or smart alec comment as good as any adult.  Yet though this drives me crazy on the regular it also generally has me laughing.  Stubborn is a good word to still describe your disposition.  When you get something in your head there is no changing your thinking or you will stick with it just to drive me crazy!  But you are also so loving.  You would move the moon and the stars if your baby sister asked you too.  You pick at Cason and tease him like no other yet when he is struggling you are the first one to help him out.

Your friends love your personality and though you generally think its your way or no way you are a pretty darn good friend.  I love seeing how well liked you are by others and how nice you are to everyone.

I hope you have a great last year in the single digits.  Next year is the big 1-0!  I love you so much!
Love,

Mom

Like:
Pizza
Football
Utah Utes!!!!
Call of Duty, Minecraft, and roadblox video games
Starting to like FNAF toys and game (the roadblox version)
Snuggling with anyone who will let you
You are a big help to your sister
Love to watch minecraft videos on the i-pad

Weston's Minecraft Birthday Party

 For Weston's 8th Birthday he wanted to have a Minecraft birthday party.  It was pretty fun planning his party.  My mom and I made his cake.  It turned out pretty amazing.  We found some on pinterest and then made our version of them. We couldn't decide on just one and since we had so much cake and figurines we made TWO cakes.  Look how great they looked and they tasted so good. 

 

 Cake 1

Cake 2

Weston helped me make creeper and spider balloons for decorations.

For favors Weston picked Minecraft parody songs and we made CD's for everyone they also got TNT twizzlers.

 The two cutest attendees of the party.  I just love Taylyn and Quincy they are bound to be best friends.

One of the games we played was Don't Eat Steve which is the Minecraft version of Don't Eat Pete

 

 

 

 Weston also wanted to play pin the pickax on Steve.  I drew Steve and he colored it.  Weston was very hands on with this party this year.

 After playing games the kids opened presents.

Time for cake and singing Happy Birthday!

 

 

For lunch the kids ate pizza, Weston's all time favorite.

As you can see someone really enjoyed her creeper cupcake.  She was a green mess.

8 is Great!

Dear Weston,
Happy 8th Birthday Weston!  Wow 8 years old.  You seem so old and grown up at times and yet me sweet little boy at other times.  I love that at 8 you still would rather cuddle next to me then sit alone or sleep alone.  I love that you are so big that you can do so much independently.  We are so alike that at times it scares me.  Most of our conflicts come because I think we are one in the same.  You amaze me every day with all you do.  Though you stuggle with your eyesight you are very smart and preform well on most academic situations.  You generally only need to be taught once how to do something and you have it.  You definately have a subborn streak (I will blame your father for this), once you have something in your mind there is no way to change it or get you to move on.  I love your current obsession with mindcraft.  Reading all about it in books, watching youtube videos or playing minecraft is your favorite activity.  Weston, you are the sweetest brother to Taylyn.  Such a protector of her and always watching out for her.  I wish you could be as sweet to Cason as you are to Taylyn.  Cason and you are like oil and vinegar some days and others you are best friends.  I guess this is the nature of brothers.  Pizza is your all time favorite food.  Whenever I ask you what you want to for dinner, without fail I hear, "pizza".  For some reason you love to scream like a girl which has resulted in a very hoarse sounding voice for the last 6 months.  You love animals and are such a caretaker.  You just want to love on Daisy even when she just wants to runaway.  I love you so much Weston and I hope your 8th birthday is as great as you are.
Love, Mom

Dear Weston



Dearest Weston,
Today you turned 7.  You are getting far too big for me.  It makes my heart ache to just think that just 7 short years ago you were placed in my arms and now.....  Now you are a big 7 year old.  You have such a mind of your own at times.  You can be so independent but yet at other times you love to be my little boy and snuggle in my arms. I have watched you blossom from a shy little toddler to such an outgoing, silly, argumentative, smart boy.  Weston, you have so many friends at school.  I love walking down the halls at school and not only being known as Mrs. Hemphill but as "Weston's mom".  You are doing so well in school and it just thrills me because with your eyesight school could be such a struggle.  But you are an AWESOME reader and speller.  I am surprised daily at how smart you are.  I love watching you play with Cason.  Though you two can fight you really love him and would stand up to anyone for him.  Watching you with Taylyn melts my heart.  You love her so much and are so sweet with her.  You really are an amazing brother.  I hope you had a wonderful birthday because you are a wonderful son.  I love you so much.
Love,
Mom
1.  Right no you love Utah Utes and despise anything blue as its BYU ews colors.
2.  You are obsessed with football you are dad's little buddy whenever it is on.
3.  Pizza is still your favorite food.  You could have it with any meal of the day.
4.  You are so sweet and gentle with Taylyn and you love it when you can get her to do things.
5.  Zombies and army are still your favorite things to play.
6.  You are very good little reader.

First Day of First Grade

Weston started his first day of first grade in Mrs. Taylor's class.  Because I have to be in my class for the first day of school to meet all my new kiddos I can never take Weston.  That means Daddy has first day duty and Jon does a pretty awesome job.  Here is a picture of him outside his class bulletin board.  Don't let the lack of smile fool you he was excited.

 

Daddy even did a good job at going in and getting a picture of him at his desk.  I didn't even tell him to do this.  His teacher was sweet enough to move his buddy, Nathan up to sit next to him.  Most of his kindergarten and soccer friends are in different classes.  Luckily he has made a lot of new friends.

 

 

He was most excited to have lunch at school and have more recesses. 

Weston is doing great with his reading and spelling so far!  Let's hope he has a successful first grade year.

When he grows up he wants to be a.....

Weston's Kindergarten Graduation

 On Friday, June 7th, my first baby boy graduation from elementary school.  I still can't believe that my first born is old enough to even be in kindergarten, let alone graduating from kindergarten.  He did such an amazing job. 

Here is his invitation that his teacher sent out

Weston's class came walking in with their cute little red graduation hats on and it made me tear up.  I didn't get a ton of pictures because I was recording the whole program.  Weston had his arms folded when he walked in and he kept them folded the whole program unless he was using them for actions in his songs.  It was so cute because he was looking for us and I had saved us seats in the from row.  But once he spotted us he wouldn't look at us and gave us that I am super shy and I am not looking at you look it was too cute! 

 The program was so cute they sang the cutest songs and had the cutest actions.  Weston did AWESOME on his speaking part.  He said, "In October we learned the value of friendship and the importance of taking turns."

These pictures were from when he was singing Skinnymarkadoo and he would point to me to say I love you!  Totally made me tear up.

 

 

 

 Here is my little cheese ball on stage!  I just love that kid. 

 After graduation we went back to class to get their kindergarten dvd that a mom made, have refreshments, and get his portfolio.  I also had my class write graduation cards to the kids as Weston's class was our kindergarten buddies.  A little girl came up to his teacher and had tears in her eyes.  Then his teacher started crying.  Which then led me to be full on crying (damn hormones).   This is Weston with his teacher.  Weston's teacher has been so amazing.  Between Weston being my first child in school and his eyesight concerns I have been a bit of a helicopter mom.  (The kind that totally normally bugs me :)) But she has been so understanding with me and she has been great with Weston.  In fact when he was watching his dvd for the 10th time after school, Weston started to tear up and said, "I am going to miss Mrs. Garner!  She is the nicest teacher and I love her."  Awe!  He even asked me to draw her a map to our house so she could come and visit. 

My two sweet boys.  Aren't they adorable!

 Here is Weston's adorable diploma. 

At the beginning of kindergarten Weston could:

Write all upper and lowercase letters

write most of his numbers to 10 the right direction

knew all the sounds the letters made

could sound out a few words

 

At the end of kindergarten Weston can:

read books, like I can pull any book off the shelf and he can read it

spell words

sound out words to spell words

read all his sight words

add and subtract

write paragraphs

write books

and much more. He has learned so much!  Good job buddy on growing and learning so much!!!!  Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you.

 

 

Watch Out Here Come the Zombies!!!!!

I am finally getting around to posting about Weston's awesome 6th birthday party if I do say so myself.  This is what the invitation looked like that I mailed/e-mailed out.  I created them on my handy dandy scrapbook program.  Don't you just love the grey chevron?

Weston really wanted a gun party.  I started brainstorming ideas.  I though western at first and he wanted no part of that party.  Then I though why not a zombie killing party.  Weston loved the idea.  So I went with it.  With his party being in October I was able to find great things for his party.  And let's face it don't we all love the ideas on pinterest.  I decided to not make the cake this year.  I love making the cupcakes and cakes but mine just never turn out tasting the best.  They look adorable but that is about it.  So I thought make things easy get a cake from the world's greatest bakery.  So that I called Dick's up and said I need a zombie cake.  I then went wild with the zombie theme for food.  We made mummy hot dogs for the kids.  Zombie guts (pasta salad), zombie virus, (sherbet and soda), pudding with dirt (cookie crumbs) and worms, and then chips and salsa. 

Our yummy mummy hot dogs.

The yummy Dick's cake.



Dayton trying to eat my jello zombie brain.  (Don't you just love who real it looks?)



The table set up.  I am in love with how it all pulled together.

Weston and Cason were so cute they helped me put the dirt on the pudding and the worms.  My little helpers.

For the kids gifts Jon made marshmallow guns for the kids to shoot.  Here is their ammo.

Another close up of the BRAINS

I had the kids go outside and shoot at paper zombies I had printed and hung from the ceiling of the garage. 

Weston shooting his "gun"

All the boys after their target practice. While the boys were practicing. Jon and our good friend Kenton went upstairs to turn into ZOMBIES. This is them coming out our front door.

Kenton came out first and he had the walk and moan down PERFECT



Here comes Jon.  Bella wasn't too sure about this!

Jon and Kenton eating BRAINS
Oh my gosh I wish I could upload the video.  This kids were hilarious when the guys came out they all started screaming.  Weston was scared at first until I was like its just Dad and Kenton.  Then all the kids had a blast.  The guys were the PERFECT ZOMBIES. 

Cason saying to Parker.  Don't worry I can fix it.

After the zombie shooting we went inside to eat cake.  Weston was embarrassed having all the attention on him as evident by the picture.  His I am super shy face was on.

We then went outside to open gifts.  All our friends were extremely generous with the presents they bought. 

 

Look at the look of PURE Joy!

While we were waiting for all the kids to come we played a few rounds of hot brain instead of hot potato with a little brain I got at the dollar store.

The zombie killers posing with our zombie poster.

We also played pin the zombie on the zombies. 

I think the party was a complete success!  Weston said it was the best party he has had.  And his favorite part was shooting his dad and Kenton.