M is for Mom

As Bentley handed me a handful of his sticky M & M's I asked "What are these for?"

"They are for you. See M for mom. All ones with M are yours."

Why didn't I think of that?

Let the sandman come

How is it possible when they are the naughtiest they can also be the sweetest and cutest.

Like right now, it's 10:30 at night and Bentley should have been asleep hours ago. When I put Lincoln in bed Bentley met him with a very loving "Hi Gink." And now he is sitting in there telling stories and talking to Lincoln.

And Lincoln, who should also be asleep, is lying in bed listening to his brother and making sweet little noises.

How can I get mad, when they are so stinkin cute, even if I would rather be asleep myself?

Strawberry Trees

I've often heard that Americans are out of touch with where their food comes from. I always figured they were talking about people who lived in large cities and had never seen a cow except on TV and in books.

As I was checking out with my InstaClear Jel the girl/lady asked what I was making.

"Strawberry jam."

"Oh, do you have a tree, or did you buy them?"

I didn't have the heart to tell her strawberries don't grow on trees.

And then as we were painstakingly removing bindweed from our garden, I heard the son of a neighboring gardener ask if they planted pumpkins.

The dad replied yes, and the boy then asked if pumpkins you grow yourself grow with faces already carved in them. (I actually thought this was pretty clever of the boy).

I know there are cows around here, visible from most roads coming and leaving town--so what's the deal?

Make it Stop!

Today Lincoln went from lying on the floor to sitting. All by himself.

And then in the tub the little guy pulled himself up to standing.

When I told him that was naughty and he was too little and should sit down, he looked up with his big brown eyes and gave me a little grin that said, "You aint seen nothing yet."

Dad's Day

This man, with his handlebar mustache, has left an everlasting impression of what a dad should be. Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Still on the wagon

There's a recovering addict in the family. Lincoln had the nerve to take her vice into her home and spent the last 2 days tempting her at every turn.

Paci-anonymous must be working because she resisted.

Here me comes

There are very few days that I feel like I am a good mom, let a lone a great mom. But when you do this and then end the day with Hide and Go Seek here, well, that leaves me feeling like I'm not so bad after all.

Pioneers make good sleepers

After a day as a pioneer, Bentley's prayer goes something like, "Please bless I can go to sleep. Amen."

Pioneering wears a kid out.There are games to play.


Gold to be panned.

And a girl for each hand.

If you can't say nothin nice

I've never professed to be a good singer, or even an okay singer. It isn't my thing. And I am okay with that. Usually.

As I was singing to Bentley he told me to stop.

"Why?"

"Just stop."

"Don't you like my singing?"

"No."

"But I'm a good singer."

"No yous aren't."

"Who told you this?"

"No one, I just know it."

First, he insults my cooking, and now my singing?

I think I liked him better when he didn't talk.

Monkey hear, Monkey do

Lincoln has turned into a little mimic.

Click your tongue and he will click his.

Say "bababababa" and he says "bababababa".

If Bentley laughs, Lincoln laughs.

Tonight as we were eating dinner there was a magpie doing its thing. Soon Lincoln was doing the magpie's thing too.




What a little cheeser.

42 degree water...brrr

I asked Bentley what we should do today (since it wasn't raining).

"Go to beach!"

I thought that sounded like a great idea, but living in a landlocked state doesn't provide easy access to a beach. After a little thought and a phone call to Chod an evening at Bear Lake was planned. We packed a picnic, picked Chod up from work and headed through the canyon.

Then Bentley informed us that we needed a boat.

Don't push your luck kid.

Lincoln spent his day preparing to be an old man tourist with his white socks and shorts, he will
be an adorable old man.

Both boys fell asleep on our way over and we wasted time driving around locating our cabin for an upcoming family reunion. Soon clouds were rolling in and the wind was starting to pick up. We decided to eat our dinner on the church lawn instead of the beach, just as Bentley woke up.
He was fine with eating on the grass, but we still had to make a stop at the beach. Chod ran him over to the water and he got his feet wet.

Good enough, until we have a boat I suppose.

For rude

Bentley spent his afternoon showing me our appliances and describing what each of their roles in our home is.

Washing machine: "This washes ours clothes."

Dryer: "This dries ours clothes."

Dish washer: "And this washes ours dishes and things."

Stove/oven: "This burns ours food."

"You mean cooks our food?"

"No, burns ours food."

No more Idaho fishing for me

Yesterday I faced my fear, gathered the necessary documentation and headed back to the Office of Driver's Licenses. I entered ready for a fight, but the whole process went rather smoothly. The kind lady verifying my address, didn't even bother to open my mail to look at the dates. They took my money, issued the test and took my picture and it was all over!

So it only took 1 year, 5 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day and 3 trips to the Office of Driver's Licenses for me to officially be a Utah resident.

I am so legal.

Clepto-maniac

Monday the boys and I headed to JcPenney with our $10 coupon in hand. We left with 2 pairs of shorts and a shirt for Lincoln. Our grand total was $4.66. I was pretty proud of myself and the 90% I saved.

If only I would have known Bentley's method for money saving then.

Today I pulled the stroller out of the trunk and saw the basket underneath full of socks.

It took a few seconds of backtracking to realize these socks had never been paid for. I had a stroller full of stolen black and white women's socks, thanks to the helping hands of a 3 year old.

I really saved 98% on Monday plus one drive back, a return, an apology, and an embarrassed little boy.

Just Say No to Buffalo

Come home. Bentley misses you.

I'll give you 1 guess

Guess who:

has 3 teeth
likes to bite
says "babababa"
an occasional "dadadada"
but never "mamamama"
rolls like a champ
swims like a speedboat
hasn't met a food he doesn't like
loves backrubs
and footrubs
and kisses
has killer eyes
and killer thighs
is 9 months old
and the happiest little man around



Give up?



LINCOLN!

Bugged

The boys did a great job of infecting both Chod and me. Our house has been an infirmary for the last week. Chod stayed home from work sick Friday and Monday, and we stayed sequestered during church too. It was a very, very long weekend, but thankfully it looks like we are all going to make it. Unfortunately, Bentley recovered before the rest of us, so he has been a ball of energy bouncing from wall to wall, asking question after question, driving me crazy and crazier. My patience have been worn very thin.

After a morning of much crying and whining and demanding from the 3 year old, I sent myself to my room. We have a house rule that whining, or excessive crying should happen on your bed. So when Bentley walked in and started in with more questioning, and saw me sitting on my bed and asked what I was doing. I answered, "I feel like whining and crying so I am sitting on my bed."

"Oh, I see." and he walked out.

I wonder if it will always be that easy.

Lincoln had a followup appointment with the doctor today at 12:15. Yesterday, they called and asked if we could be there at noon.

So we were.

At 12:45 the we still hadn't seen the doctor.

Doctor's are not exempt from my lack of patience today.

The point of changing my appointment, please?