Boots

A famous costume worn around our house isn't complete unless you have some good weapons. Some strong and sturdy ones. Weapons that are powerful and unassuming. Boots.

Asking to see Nathan's tough face is like asking a cow to lay an egg. Hilarious.

The Boy Who Turns Four

Justin and I stayed up until to wee hours of the morning after the kids feel asleep blowing up balloons- Justin, and tying them off- me. I found this idea on one of my favorite sites, Pinterest and knew we had to do it for Kendall. His room was transformed into a magical fairytale land.

That morning at 3:00 AM I felt a little tap on my arm. It was Kendall telling me that his room was magic and it was his birthday. I took him back to his bed and we laid down together and talked all about what was going to happen when he woke up....again. Then something strange happened.... He fell fast asleep and I did not. I was so excited for him that I seriously could not get one ounce of sleep. It was a bit strange, almost like Christmas.

I finished putting all the final touches on the table where he would eat his gourmet birthday breakfast of Fruit Loops, his favorite cereal as of this year, and a Hershey's Kiss for good measure. I gathered his gifts and set them out and attempted to fall asleep. No luck but morning came anyway.

He opened his presents from us and immediately fell in love with his little dog that barks and opens and shuts its eyes. The name Belle was instantly given to his new friend, the exact name of his cousins' dog (he informed us that his Belle was a boy).

Then it was off to get ready for his monkey party. He has wanted to to a monkey party for months so keeping it as simple as possible we tried to pull it off.

Justin ran the jungle obstacle course, and cheered the kids to the finish line where they received their prize, a caramel apple sucker.

Mammy had Sniklefritz tell a Curious George story and by the time it was over had the kids in hysterics. I think she might have a new job.

Presents were opened, hugs were exchanged and cake and ice cream devoured. Happy Birthday, little monkey!

Ice Cream

Seriously, is there anything better than an ice cream cone when you are little? I wish I could keep these two yummy things in my pocket at all times.

These two are cousins and they love each other...most of the time.

Kendall kept telling Tessa, "You go get your baby (Austyn) and I'll go get mine (Brigg)."

Mr. B

I am feeling very melancholy at the moment. We got to watch my cousin's little guy for the past week and loved every minute of it...that is until we had to give him back.

My boys kept asking me if we had to give Brigg back and why can't we just keep him. They have been dreading Sunday all week. Now, when they say their prayers, I hear them asking if they can have a baby brother and his name be Brigg.

Everyday the boys would wait and wait for Brigg to wake up. They tried to wake him up on several occasions and succeeded on a few. I loved that morning bed head flapping around and those little feet running in the kitchen for a sippy of milk. I loved how everyone bent backwards to make sure he had the favorite toy or book. I loved how Brigg got so excited when he saw a football or his blanket or when no one was looking he would steal an extra chicken nugget. I loved how he would squeal when he would get chased and the feeling of picking him up and kissing him to death. I love the age of 18 months. I miss all of this.

I knew I loved him but am surprised at how empty and sad I feel now that I have given him back.

Hopefully something of his was left behind and we will have to return it tomorrow.




I thought this picture was so sweet. He was looking at a picture of his parents and kept kissing it.

Manly Bonding

I guess being surrounded by boys I better get used to a good ole car show. This was actually the first one I have ever been too and to tell the truth... I secretly loved it.

My Dad and Justin took the boys around to all the different "hot spots". Justin loved showing the boys all his favorite cars and I loved hearing their plans of how when the boys are older, they will be re-building a car together.

Papa spotted a car, (I think it's called a GTO) that he used to drive in high school. According to him, the thing could GO! Boy was he excited!

I'm so glad that while the boys bonded, I had my mom. We walked around and looked at all the vendors. We sampled salsa, listened to bands, and watched the bubbles while getting out our 5,000 words for the day.

When Justin's Away....

The boys will play. We were all in the car waiting for Justin while he was on an errand. It seemed he was taking forever so I pulled out my camera and the fun began.

The boys were making silly faces, telling jokes, and cracking each other up. Time flew! And before we knew it...Justin was back.

The Before and After

Mr. Mullet man cut off his blonde locks just in time to take his class some juicy doughnuts for his birthday. He told me he could feel the wind at 38 MPH blowing through his hair. Hmmmm, good to know.

The Secret Garden

Mammy and Papa's garden is where TONS of magic happens. The boys spend hours in there exploring, having adventures, and eating the harvest.

This day just so happened to be all about carrots. They dug out hundreds of baby ones and washed them to perfection so that everybody could taste their sweetness.

Then it was time to construct a trap and try to catch a rabbit since rabbits love carrots. They quietly worked on their project and when we went to the front yard we found their plan in action:


Uncle Todd took a wild Boar skull and put it in place of the carrots. When Kendall peeked under the bucket the next day, he flew back and said, "What the HECK is that?!!"

We all died laughing!

Change of Plans

We had been preparing to do a little camping for the weekend but after checking and rechecking the weather, we knew it was no longer an option. Rain in the forecast. Longing for a camping adventure before the summer is over, we did the next best thing.

We loaded up our camping chairs and blankets, went over to our favorite park and lit up the hibachi.

I had a great talk with my mom about being in the moment when you are doing things. Anything.

It was so fun to hear her describe what was happening. The evening was coming to a close and getting dark. Everyone tightened their sweatshirt and pulled up their hoods. Rain was starting to threaten our coals ember yellow and orange colors. It was borderline cold. Soccer practice was going on in the distance and swings squeaked off to our left.

The boys were happy playing with a coach's Husky named, Rocky. In between games of peek-a-boo and fluttering glow sticks that Justin pulled out as a surprise, we roasted marshmallows. We handed out the roasters Justin got from Father's Day and jammed two puffy ones on each roaster. The boys had a contest to see who's were the best and then which ones stayed on fire the longest. I was just happy to be the judge.

We sat under a huge pine tree and tried to lick off the chocolate before it dripped down our sweatshirts. Our s'mores had an added feature. Reece's peanut butter cups. I could write all day how good they tasted but then it just might be the fact I haven't had much sugar lately. The rain started sprinkling and we hoovered around the coals, trying to keep warm. The the glowing coals, of course put us in a trance or maybe it was watching Justin help the boys. I took pictures of Mammy spell out words and then it was time to go.

I hope with everything I do, I will be present in the moment. I'm going to try real hard, even if I have brain fog.

Keep Going

My friend had this quote on her blog and I really love thinking about it. It provides me with much comfort:

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain. "

-Richard G. Scott

If we can just endure, trust, eat Martha's coconut cake, watch a little firework show in September, and try our best to enjoy the ride.... I think we just might make it.

Enjoying

What an experience it has been to have so much one on one time with Kendall ever since Nathan started school. We have hours and hours together and I have learned so much from this little guy, like:

"Did you know penguins swim in rivers and sharks swim in ponds?"

"When you are totally starving...it just means you need to eat."

"You make cookies with powder and sugar."

"When I grow up, I want to be....a dog!"

We have talks about dangerous stuff according to Kendall, like how you don't climb on fridges. Another favorite is having samples at Costco and re-telling Mammies stories to get a gut busting laugh.

My current favorite is when he brings out some books and blankets and we hang out on the couch and in between yawns decide that we will have a shot ten minute rest and it turns into an hour and a half sleep with him snuggled in my arms.

It's fun to take him on a bike ride and listen to all his questions he asks as he timidly pedals. We have spent lots of time at the library picking out the perfect book and a Friday night movie.

I feel like time is my enemy, robbing me of this little person, speeding up the growing up process because just yesterday he was a baby and I was wondering what he would be like when he was four.

Cake Pops....

Todd and Martha are expecting a baby. They live way to far away at the moment. But we got to feel a tinge of their excitement today, as they found out they are having a BOY!!!

Martha had these cute little cake pops made so that when we all gathered together at the Garlic Knot and bit into them, they would revel the gender of the baby! They were in Idaho on speaker phone and we happily enjoyed the yummy news here.

Wait, Wait!

Even though I love fall and can smell it around the corner, I'm not ready for it to take over long, warm, sunny evenings.

The boys had a massive water balloon fight and then Papa bumped it up a notch and showed them the beauty of spinning a large, cold, white, egg through the air and if you don't skillfully catch it...

You've got a mess.

Almost Roses

Kendall has been dying to go to school for a long time. He has had his backpack ready for weeks. He ate his favorite cereal for breakfast, got on his favorite outfit, sang and skiped around all morning. On his way to school he called GG and talked with tons of excitement, ran into Miss Melody's house and gave her a big hug.....

Then he hung onto my leg for dear life, squeezed out tons of tears and told me he had changed his mind, he wasn't stayin' for school.

Miss Melody peeled him off my leg and I left with a lump in my throat.

When I came to pick him up, he ran out of her house and talking 100 MPH told me all about his day. He LOVED it!

"We play with play dough. I got it on my shoe. My teacher and the Papa (Mr. Tom) at my class used a tiny knife and he got the play dough off my shoe!

We readed Mr. Froggy book who flied. We read two frog books. And played a frog game where the frog jumped in the water!

We got to go to the playground like Nathan has at his school. There is a gate that you go and I got to play on the tire swing and I pumped and pumped on the regular swing!

I had muffins and cupcakes for snack. and milk. They were white and green. And then that is all. Then you came and picked me up!

Oh, and I get to paint next time. Oh, and my favorite song was, motor boat, motor boat go so fast! Motor boat, motor boat, step on the gas! And we went round and round on the tire swing, so fast!"

Whew! Glad it went well.

Labor Day

I love weekends when it is slow paced and you window shop because tons of people are on holiday enjoying their families. We peeked inside the lollipop shop and took a gander at the little spice store. We made a promise that at a future date the girls would return and have tea and Miss B's house.

The boys hid behind foliage and tried to scare all who were in our company. We were bit by the fall bug as we scanned cute Halloween decorations and elaborate autumn ones. We worked up quite an appetite which ended us up at a hamburger stand. Sweet potato fries, a nap and a movie ended most of our day...but then we got a bee in our bonnet to go look at baby stuff for my new nephew on the way.