Fawn is SIX.

It has been a huge year for our big boy...started Kindergarten, learned to read, learned to ride a bike without training wheels, learned to catch and hit a live baseball, learned to swim the length of the pool, learned to tie his shoes, really started hunting with dad, learned to dribble and shoot a basketball. He truly is learning something new constantly and it is a blessing to be on this journey with him.

He is still a sensitive, caring child -- moms comment to me all the time that their children tell them he is the nicest boy in the class. That warms my soul and I pray his kindness never leaves him. But, he's also full of life and oh so wild. In my completely biased opinion, I find it to be the most charming personality combination. He is just a dear, dear child, who is constantly maturing and surprising us.

He's an outdoors-man for sure. He loves the farm and the woods....and camo, hunting, and weapons! He is educating his classmates on the ins and outs of farm living; his published "how to" writing piece was How to Bush Hog by Hughston. This boy is truly wild at heart and though I never pictured raising such a country bumpkin I absolutely love this about him.

His knowledge of Bible stories and theology is pretty remarkable, and to see his faith grow while at the same time being so childlike and pure is encouraging to me as his mother. He prayed to ask Jesus to live in his heart this year, which I had the privilege of witnessing. While I know the years will show where his heart is and we are no where close to the finish line on providing a foundation of faith for his life, I believe he truly understands even at his young age.

He's had a rough year with his migraines -- definitely the most difficult so far. It's been tough to watch him suffer, but I know that God works ALL things to his glory. He asks tough questions now, such as "why does God send me headaches?" And we talk about the fallen world and how God is using this experience for some reason in his life -- and for some reason in mine as his mother. It has certainly taught all of us more empathy -- and it has made me so thankful for the great medical professionals in our lives. I know that all children -- all people -- have their mountains they have to overcome. This is Fawn's and he is handling it beautifully.

He's huge! Tall and lanky, skinny as a bean pole. He barely fits in my lap, though still loves to cuddle up. He will sneak into my bed to sleep on any opportunity Buck is out of town. And, he has his first loose tooth! And the news of the loose tooth seems like the perfect place to end this synopsis of Fawn's sixth year. Really saying goodbye to the past but welcoming a whole new world of wonder with a big kid!

Happy Birthday Baby!

We started the day with cinnamon rolls and presents! He opened a Lego Chima book and watch from Small Fry and a bat from Daddy. Then it was off to school! Small Fry and I took brownies with orange deer picks in them to his class during lunch time. At lunch his friends convinced him to go to Davenport's for dinner -- we had said he could choose the restaurant. And, horror of horrors, had never taken the boys to Davenport's. Needless to say, the boys LOVED the pizza and the video games and we will be going back soon.

After dinner we had one more present for him...the Night Vision goggles he just had to have. They were a huge hit and he was a happy six year old.

I have to get a picture with my birthday boy every year.

A kiss from the birthday boy.

And a kiss to the birthday boy.

Happy Birthday sweet angel.

The morning after...officially SIX!

Happy (Hunting) Birthday!

In my head, I had kind of decided that we were going to "go somewhere" for Fawn's sixth birthday (Chuck-E-Cheese, bowling, movies...you get the drift). Last year we did a Transformers party at home. It was so much fun, and so Fawn...but it was a lot of work and very stressful to have so many people in our home. Plus with a January birthday I feel like we are so testing our weather luck. But, Fawn really wanted a hunting party at home. So, of course, that's what we did! I did try to dial it back a bit, and when the weather looked excellent for the actual day, I decided we were doing EVERYTHING in the garage, basement and outside. And, that really took the pressure off. Plus, hunting is popular (I guess the Duck Dynasty effect). So getting the goods was pretty easy (thank you Oriental Trading for all sorts of hunting decorations/paper products/favors and Publix for a duck hunting birthday cake). Whoop whoop. I think everyone that lives with me would agree that I was much more laid back this year about birthdays than I was last year, which was good for everyone!

We invited the boys in Fawn's kindergarten class plus three Covenant friends. It was a sweet, but pretty wild group. I was glad we asked the mamas to stay and kept the party to an hour and a half. As an aside, it's always easy when you live in a house of wild, crazy, loud boys to assume your boys are out of control and you have lost any ability to control them. Just get around another group of boys and your perspective will be set straight. My sweet boys, I am so proud of the boys you are growing up to be. You exhibit great amounts of respect and self control. You know how to have fun and live life, but you also are learning and exhibiting very admirable behavior traits that I know will serve you well in life.

We asked everyone to show up in camo; I had grabbed all of our extra camo from the farm in case boys showed up without it but was shocked when everyone showed up in their own! And we offered camo face paint upon arrival. My boys were all decked out.

Love these sweet brothers. And my heart swells when I see them love each other. Probably how God feels when he sees us loving on our brothers and sisters in Christ. Wow.

We started the party with a craft kids could do as they arrived...making nametags out of slices of wood on camo parachute cord. The boys were either really into them or couldn't care less. I just like to have something to do while waiting for everyone to arrive.

He loved his nametag...and loved that Mr. Lance and Miss Morrell helped him draw an armadillo. Can't believe how much this almost-three year old smile resembles his brother's at this age.

Then it was time for the activities. We started with an animal tracks scavenger hunt. I had painted rocks with animal tracks for deer, bear, bobcat, turkey, duck, and otter. We gave each kid a checklist that included the picture of the track, a crayon to mark off as they found the track, and a small drawstring bag to keep their rocks. It was a big hit! And, we are still finding rocks in our front yard. After the tracks activity, we did target practice in small groups. Mr. Lance manned the blow up deer and the foam bow; Buck armed the Nerf pistol and camo covered cans; Uncle Ben manned the tissue paper targets and Nerf crossbow; and Doc manned the bear and Air Warriors. I think the boys all had fun.

No good group shots. But Small Fry picked this of all times to look straight at the camera. Ha!

Then it was time for cake (plus goldfish and lime Jello jigglers). 

The duck hunting cake was precious.

But not nearly as precious as Small Fry singing every word of Happy Birthday to his beloved big brother.

Such happiness celebrating such a great kid.

Hope your wish comes true buddy.

After cake, we did a photo scavenger hunt to the goody bags. It didn't work out as well as last year, though I'm not sure the kids realized it. Some of the boys just started grabbing pictures wherever they saw them so I was running around trying to keep the hunt moving like it should. The last picture was of Small Fry and the boys had to find Small Fry who had hidden with Buck with a bag full of goody bags. Then we just enjoyed some free play in the backyard and with the basketball goal to end the celebration. It was a fun afternoon. And most importantly, it made Fawn so very happy. It was exactly what he wanted for his birthday! Happy Birthday sweet boy -- we love you!

You will always be the person that made us parents and taught us to love in ways we couldn't imagine.

You are an awesome big brother.

You teach me something every day about love, kindness and acceptance.

You keep us smiling and laughing with your antics.

PS: The grandparents were very good sports.

2014 Reading Recap.

I love to read! Love it -- and I certainly spend enough time at the library to pick up lots of great books. Per tradition, my favorite five books of 2014:

1. Unbroken -- A MUST READ! I have been begging Buck to read it and will insist that the boys read it when they are old enough. 

2. Somewhere in France -- A great historical fiction set in WWI. Loved every page and hope the author writes something else soon.

3. Mrs. Lincoln's Rival -- A companion book to the Lincoln book I read last year and loved. I think historical fiction is my new favorite.

4. Grace for the Good Girl -- A book that I felt was written for me and to me. So encouraging and real.

5. The Book Thief -- Disturbing from page one (the narrator is DEATH!) but a good read and one that makes you think, as the best books always do.

And, so I don't forget, I also read the following: The Dawning of Indestructible Joy by John Piper; A Christmas Journey by Douglas Webster; Sheer Abandon by Penny Vincenzi; Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson; Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding; We Are Called To Rise by Laura McBride; All Fall Down by Jennifer Weinert; The One and Only by Emily Giffin; The Girls of August by Anne Rivers Siddon; The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand; Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand; Driftwood Summer by Patti Henry Callahan; Tempting Fate by Jane Green; The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt; Roses by Leila Meacham; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline; Somerset by Leila Meacham; Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman; Mrs. Lincoln's Rival by Jennifer Chiaverini; The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks; Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand; The Red Book by Deborah Kogan; The Purchase by Linda Spalding; Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

New Year's at the Farm.

For the second year in a row, we've spent the week between Christmas and New Year's at the minilodge. It was fantastic! Buck headed down on the 26th and stayed until January 3rd -- certainly a well deserved break for our daddy who works so hard. I took the boys on the 28th -- we stayed in town to visit with out of town family on my side. We also got the house mostly un-decorated and cleaned so we wouldn't come home to a mess. And, we took Grandmother's Christmas money to Bass Pro Shops to buy fake shotguns. Lovely, but they are pretty cool (the shotgun shells actually eject) and the boys love them. We ended up having to make two trips to BPS (very crowded, busy trips I might add) because Fawn's gun was not properly ejecting shotgun shells and he was so sad! BPS to the rescue, though -- they were happy to give him one that was working.

We had really good weather until New Year's Day when it got rainy. We spent tons of time outside -- just playing and having fun. There was lots of hunting too. Duck hunting in the morning -- one morning they even killed a goose. And deer hunting in the afternoon. I actually took Small Fry on his first ever deer hunt and we saw three deer. What are the chances? He was so proud to tell everyone what he saw.

Though it was bowl week, we really didn't watch much football -- and only the first half of the disappointing Alabama game. But, we had plenty of good family time and the change of scenery was perfect.

This is a throwback from the weekend before Christmas. Too cute not to save.

This cutie patootie and I love taking walks on the pond road while the big guys are hunting.

The farm is his happy place.

We also pretend to shoot imaginary things.

Proud of Daddy's duck.

Until he saw the inside.

Gross.

I can hardly handle the expression on Small Fry's face.

Happy brothers.

So proud.

Small Fry's first -- SUCCESSFUL -- deer hunt on pond field.

Trying to climb out of the shooting house. He had had enough.

Goose.

No trip would be complete without a two-year old temper tantrum.

Happy New Year!

Merry Merry Christmas Day!

Fawn is at the perfect age to love Christmas. He's still young enough to be captivated by the magic of the season. But, he's old enough to start to understand the significance from a religious perspective. Advent was a special time with him for so many reasons and in so many ways; and that definitely culminated on Christmas morning. He bounded into our room ready to go -- he had seen the presents in the family room and was thrilled to report that Santa had indeed come. Only problem...our night owl Small Fry was still snoozing. We tried to keep Fawn occupied for as long as possible. I got him to help me in the kitchen getting his baked bacon going and we chatted. But finally, though I hate to ever wake a sleeping child, at the late hour of 6:45 I sent Buck to fetch Small Fry. Fawn was actually very patient and was thrilled when his brother came down the stairs and the present opening could begin. Fawn was slightly concerned that Santa had forgotten the stockings because they weren't hung on the stairs, but once he saw them on the couch all was well and the excitement continued. We started with opening stockings and then moved on to their three big Santa presents. Santa also had a few tricks up his sleeve this year and left some presents for the boys to take to the farm.

Waiting patiently.

Discovered the stockings!

Sleepyhead.

Look what I got!

Lego minifigures!

Dynamic duo.

Even more presents waiting.

Loving his new bulldozer.

The year of the fake weapon.

Merry brothers.

The crossbow was a huge hit.

Priceless.

And now not allowed indoors -- it's so powerful he's going to break something!

Only one child wanted to pose with Mama.

And try to shoot Daddy.

We took a break from present opening for a quick breakfast, then it was back to it to exchange family presents. The boys each got four presents from us...A toy you want, a thing you need, a fun surprise, a book to read. They gave each other a present which was so cute to watch. And together they gave Mommy and Daddy a present. It was a super sweet morning -- absolutely magical in just about every way possible. Oh the joy! 

We spent the rest of the morning visiting Mimi and Pops and the Nichols. It was great fun and we made great memories with our extended family. Small Fry and Buck slept the afternoon away while Fawn and I built Legos, built Legos, and built more Legos. Wow! Then we headed to Mema and Abou's to say Merry Christmas to them and the entire Trafton clan on Christmas afternoon. We headed home for a casual supper -- homemade pizza for the kids and southwestern chicken soup for Buck and me. Buck and I capped off the night with a viewing of the 90s classic The Santa Claus. Watching a cute Christmas movie was a fun way to end a fabulous Christmas day.

This guy carried around his puppy guitar from Mommy and Daddy.

Mimi and Pops gave the boys (among other things) duck noise makers. Very funny. Pops says it's the best $2 he's ever spent. 

They also got camo crocs and marshmallow guns.

Merry Christmas from the four of us!

Small Fry got a basketball goal and Fawn got a compound bow and target at Lulu and Doc's house.

It was a Merry Merry day.