Happy Birthday Craig

32 Reasons Why I Love You:

 

1. You are my Best Friend Forever and Always

2. You genuinely care about people

3. You are a great father and love spending time with our kids

4. You like watching our daily TV soap as much as I do

5. You work hard everyday to provide for our family's needs and wants

6. You are comfortable with being you and don't care about what others think

7. You don't judge me when I eat a big bowl of ice-cream and then go back for seconds

8. You stay in shape no matter how many bowls of ice-cream you eat (jealous!!)

9. You value family and family relationships

10. You aren't afraid to express how you feel & forgive me when I have a hard time doing that

11. You are always willing to lend a helping hand to others

12. You take the dogs out to potty in the middle of the night (most of the time)

13. You let me be in charge of the money and how it is spent

14. You convince me it is okay to splurge and make some big purchases once in a while

15. You clean the house just as much as I do (if only I could get you to take over the laundry too)

16. You make friends easily....so much so that anywhere we go you run into someone you know

17. You will watch "chick flick" movies with me and even enjoy them most of the time

18. You think I am pretty even if I am in my sweatpants with no make-up on

19. You share the same values, beliefs and goals for our family that I do

20. You support me in whatever choices I make or the things I want to do

21. You don't get mad that I left the shower cream in the shower again leaving another rust mark

22. You get excited about Nintendo games just as much as a kid does

23. You still have an endless amount of energy even though you are getting "older"

24. You can talk to anybody so easily and effortlessly

25. You think I am perfect even though we both know I am not

26. You have a positive attitude about life and don't let things bother you too much

27. You are a good friend, good listener, and try to be there for others

28. You are much better at discipline and keeping our kids behavior in check

29. You are frugal like me and perfectly content taking a sandwich lunch sack to work everyday

30. You still tease me with "Braums" ice-cream when you want to get me to smile

31. You sign up for a soccer league saying "this will probably be my last season cause I am getting to old to do this anymore"......which you believe until the next opportunity comes around.

 

But most important.....



# 32. I love you because you are YOU!!

 To celebrate, we went to the OSU vs. Texas Basketball game.

And Austin came with us.
He actually watched and enjoyed the game and we had a fun time together!





Scripture Power Success

 In December, we met our goal of 200 days of scripture study and so on New Year's day we decided to celebrate that.

 First we went out to eat at Olive Garden

Then we went to the AMC movie theaters and got to watch a movie in these reclining chairs. The movie screen was enormous, it had great sound, and these seats were fantastic!!

We saw the movie Frozen and this movie was one of the best Disney movies we have ever seen. We loved it!! We are already listening to the music on a daily basis and can't wait till it comes to the dollar movies so we can go and see it again!! 

New Years Eve

We decided to do it pretty simple for New Years Eve. My family came over and we had ate some yummy food and played games.

 The favorite game of the night was "The Peanut Game"

 Austin had a lot of fun trying to capture everyone's peanuts.

Craig enjoying his favorite spot in the house

Happy New Year!!!

7 years old

 Somewhere in the craziness of the Christmas season, Austin turned 7 years old. Hard to believe this kid of mine is getting so big. There are so many things that we love about Austin.

• Austin holds a special spot in our family because he is the oldest child. Most of the time he is a big help to his sisters and sets a good example for them.
• Favorite toy: his large Lego blocks that he will use to create whatever thing he is currently interested in....those Legos are the best investment in a toy that we have every made. 
• Favorite things to do: soccer, computer games and Nintendo games with his dad (they are currently playing Zelda together)
• School: favorite thing is recess but he is also very good at math
• Achievements: this last year Austin has made the most improvement in his reading skills...it is fun to see the world of words open up to him and watching him read to his sister. He was obsessed with the Magic Tree House Books for a while and wanted to check them all out at the library. He still enjoys them but is content now with having just one at a time.
• Austin is very well behaved most of the time.....I always hear praises about him at school and church and know that he is respectful to his teachers and a good listener.
• Austin has a kind heart and thinks of others. He wanted to use his birthday money to purchase a gift for each member of the family. We went to the dollar store, he got his own shopping cart, and I stood back and let him do his own gift picking and purchasing. He was super proud of himself. 

At the end of the year Austin participated in an indoor soccer team down in Tulsa. It was fun having Braxton back on his team. Almost every team they played was a year older than them but the boys tried hard and still had a good time. 

 To celebrate his birthday, Austin wanted to go laser tagging (not sure why he didn't make it in this picture). Several of his cousins were in town for Christmas so we had a big group which was lots of fun. Everyone had a good time and the adults had just as much fun as the kids did.

Austin wanted a "Battlefield" birthday cake so I let him pick out the stuff to put on top of the cake.

Happy Birthday Austin!!

Bastings Family Fun

 The entire Bastings family came into town for Christmas and were here for an entire week. There was family dinners almost every night, lots of game playing for the adults, lots of cousin bonding time, and lots of hanging out. It was a week straight of family fun.

 Cousin Sleepover and Polar Express Movie

 

We also took advantage of everyone in town and took some family pictures:

 Our entire family

(minus Eric and Jennifer and their kids)

 

 "The Original Bastings Bunch"

The Bastings kids with their mom and dad.

 

Merry Christmas!!

The kids opened up their new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Santa's Goodie Plate

So excited for Christmas!!!

Christmas Morning---Santa Clause Has Been Here



 

 We enjoyed having Brian and Angie participate in Christmas morning with us.

 



Baby Bristol opening her gift from Santa

Brooklyn looking good in her soft Christmas pj's watching all the excitement.

Looks like Brooklyn was a good girl this year.

 





 

Our Christmas excitement continued as we all got together at Dave and Debbie's house.

 We all got our traditional socks and candy.

 Kayla waiting her turn to draw her candy out of the big box.

Then the unwrapping begins!!

 Then our Christmas continued at Vicki's house.  

And while we were there, we got a surprise visit from Dave and Debbie who came to present one last Christmas gift along with Vicki and Dennis.

Each of the Bastings siblings received a book filled with pictures of them growing up along with stories and humorous captions. Craig's parents had been secretly working on this project together since July. It was a complete surprise, some tears were shed, and it was the best Christmas present he has ever gotten!

We ended Christmas Day at my parents house and the kids were thrilled about their skating gifts.

Merry Christmas To All!