Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!A Baby and A Boy. Apparently this is as dressed up as it gets around here.

My boy, the boy

This may be the Halloween that wasn't. Bentley, the boy who wore his turtle costume all year long, is refusing to dress up. For the past couple weeks I have been trying to get him to try on his tiger costume.

He flat out refuses.

So we pulled out the turtle costume, thinking he would easily put it on.

Nope.

I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween.

"A Boy."

Can he still go trick-or-treating?

Breaking News

The fish was found floating belly up this morning.

He was flushed.

Mountain Goat

Years ago, long before grand kids were even a thought, my mom had a vision. Her vision involved her, Karisa, and myself hauling 27 truck loads of rocks in and building a rock wall along 1 side of her yard. It was a lot of work, but she had a vision and insisted it would look good when it was done.

It does.

But what none of us realized as we were loading, unloading, and stacking these rocks is that 15 years later this wall would be perfect for a 2 year old rock climber.


He has spent the last two days climbing up and down these rocks, without a belay--he is brave like that.

Squeaks at 7 weeks

Look who is almost 7 weeks old.

My handsome little devil.


I say he is going to be tall, dark and handsome. His Aunt Deidra says she'll buy the dark and handsome, but doesn't believe for a second he will be tall.
That makes Lincoln sad. He really wants to be tall.

He started cooing this week. We love having this baby boy (as Bentley calls him) in our home. He is a sweet little thing.

Fall Party

Last night we had a neighborhood fall party. Complete with bobbing for apples, three-legged races, eating donuts from strings, pumpkin seed spitting contest, and a ring toss.

The doughtnuts on the string was the most popular attraction.

Two year olds didn't have to play by the rules.

The pumpkin seed spitting contest was pretty popular with the male/dad demographic. Chod didn't win.

It was a fun night to spend outside getting to know our neighbors a little better.

Then there were 4

Once upon a time there was a family of a mom and a dad and three girls. They were happy as a family, but something was missing.

The dad was still holding out hopes for a boy, but his boy turned out to be another girl.
It didn't really matter to him, he still called her his "boy".
And although she hated it, she kinda was/is.
Even if she can hang with the boys, she is also the most girly of the all the girls.
The family would not be complete without our little sister--the girl who knows who she is, what she likes, and doesn't let anyone change her mind. The aunt who watches WeeSing in Silliville on Friday nights with her nephews, eats lunch with her brother-in-laws, the giver of the goldfish, participates in family activities even when she thinks they are dumb, radiates inner and outer beauty, and today leaves behind the teen years.
Happy Birthday Tameka!

We love you!

P.S. I'm glad you weren't a boy

P.P.S. Yes, I stole most of these photos from Facebook.

So long garden

Tonight we dug the last of our potatoes, brought our pumpkins home and cleaned out the garden. At times I think our garden was a huge disappointment. I mean, our zucchinis produced just enough that we could keep up, the winter squash never produced, we only got 2 pumpkins, our onions were ridiculously small, and the watermelon died at the very beginning.

Isn't that what my degree was in?

And then I remember that this garden survived the neglect of a pregnant lady and the abuse of a two year old, and I am impressed that it did as well as it did. It also gave us time together as a family and gave Bentley a little taste of what work is.

And aren't those more important than supplying the neighborhood with zucchini?

Dad's helper.

Yes, that's a small potato. It's called a fingerling.

Bentley insisted that the orange pepper on the left was a baby pumpkin. He loves his pumpkins. And babies.

Picnic for the Cousins

The dad's had choir practice all day today (what a way to ruin a Saturday), so Bentley invited Kaayl on a picnic.

It was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying our peanut butter sandwiches.

Bentley had lots of fun playing in the leaves.

This bed of vinca turned into their favorite place to play.

And the moms learned that these too are completely un-cooperative when it comes to picture taking. But this picture does have all 4 eyes in it, and that's as good as it got.

10 years to life

On of the reasons we held off moving Bentley out of the crib, was that he really liked it-and so did I. Some mornings I would go to get him out of his little jail cell and he would tell me he wanted to stay in. So I would let him, and when he was ready he would call for me.

Weird but true.

I was afraid a big boy bed would give him the freedom to run wild through the house at nap time.

But apparently Bentley wasn't ready to give up his jail cell either.

When I put him down for a nap or bed he doesn't open his door. Ever. He will play in his room for hours, but will not open his door once I shut it. He is very capable of opening it, just doesn't. In the morning he waits for me to open the door and let him out.

Yesterday, I was in the middle of some stuff when I heard him playing after his nap. I thought I would hurry and finish what I was doing and then go and get him.

A few minutes later he started knocking on his door.

So I opened it and he walked out.

We didn't get rid of the jail cell, it just got a little bigger.

Another Fish Tale

Shortly after I had Lincoln, Chod's grandma came to visit. Among the gifts she brought there were three fish bath toys. Bentley quickly claimed them as his and spent a few minutes playing with them.

Then he moved on to collecting all the fish in the house and bringing them to show Grandma.

He first went upstairs and retrieved his old fish toys from the bathtub. Grandma oowed and aawed and Bentley set off to find more fish.

His fish shirt was brought downstairs and Grandma gave him the reaction he wanted.

Next, he opened the pantry and brought in the bag of Goldfish crackers to display.

After the Goldfish were put away and Grandma and I were talking, I heard clanking in the kitchen and went to investigate.

What I found was Bentley on the counter with a measuring cup trying to fish the fish out of the bowl so he could show Grandma.

And that is why only responsible people (not 2 year olds) should have pets.

I really wish this fish would die.

Fish for Sale

I sat Bentley down, with his peanut butter and honey on wheat, for lunch and went upstairs to change Lincoln's diaper.

When I went back downstairs Bentley was standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Eat."

"You are supposed to be eating, get back in your chair."

"No, fish eat."

My responsible two year old had remembered to feed his fish, and he did it all by himself.

The entire contents of the jar of fish food was in the fish bowl, with a little on the counter and floor of course.

There was so much food in the bowl that the fish was quickly running out of swimming space. I rescued it as quickly as I could.

I'm hoping it ate too much and is floating belly up in the morning.

I'm a horrible person.

Lincoln's day

Today was Lincoln's big day. His blessing day. Chod blessed him and thankfully got the name right. We practiced last night (just to be sure) but I was still nervous when they went up.


These are Lincoln's "I am a Child of God" cupcakes. It was all about him today.

The food must have been good, you don't see these three complaining.

When we decided to have him blessed on the 12th of October, we never thought our company would have a big snow storm to face. It took my parents 5 hours (usually a 2 hour trip) to get here yesterday, and our family coming from Eastern Idaho faced yucky roads this morning. We are thankful they all made the trip safely. We had a full house, but there is nothing better than to be surrounded by people you love. Lincoln is a lucky boy.

Brotherly Love

Bentley loves to love on Lincoln. Poor Squeaks is going to be bald from his brother rubbing his head and saying "He cute." Bentley also likes to kiss on him, so this afternoon I attempted to catch it on film.

Aren't they cute.

Seriously mom, this isn't fun. Save me.


Ahh! There it is! Things quickly went south after this little kiss.

"Who loves Lincoln?" "ME DO!"

Lincoln at 5 weeks. He's getting chubby.

I know you are probably wondering why I let him wear his skeleton shirt to document his love for his brother in. Well, first of all it is his bones shirt, and second it glows in the dark. You tell him he can't wear it.

And this is a classic Bentley look.

I love these little boys!

Musical Beds

Chod has been at a conference this week, meaning I am left to handle night times by myself (with a newborn and a two year old who was just moved out of his crib), while he gets a full nights sleep without interruption.

Last night went a little something like this:

Bathe and put Bentley to bed. Use the Super Nanny's moves and continue to return him to his room every time he escapes.

Feed Lincoln.

Go to bed myself.

Wake up to Bentley screaming. Climb in bed next to Bentley to calm him down. Fall asleep in Bentley's bed.

Wake up to Lincoln screaming. Feed Lincoln. Change Lincoln.

Put Lincoln back in bed. Get back in my own bed.

Wake up to Lincoln screaming. He has wiggled free of his blankets and is cold.

Put Lincoln in bed with me.

Wake up to Lincoln screaming. Feed Lincoln.


I need to find me a conference to go to.

New Bed

Bentley took the Grandma Express to Burley to play with his cousins this weekend. While he was busy playing (and they were busy canning and still canning), we made a little switcheroo in his room.

Out with the crib.

In with the big boy bed.

Lincoln loves Mom

Last night as Chod was holding Lincoln on his shoulder, he was telling me how much Lincoln likes his dad.

I disagreed, saying I was pretty sure Lincoln liked his mom more.

This banter went back and forth for a few minutes.

Every time I would talk, Lincoln would throw his little body back in my direction with his mouth wide open.

Yeah, he likes his mom.

And he may have been a little hungry.