Halloween critters

For months Bentley wanted to be every Halloween costume he saw. We looked in magazines, in stores, and online. Every costume was either "me be this" or "Linky can be this".

Then a week before Halloween he wanted to "just be nothing". Remembering the boy costume from last year, I really thought he would once again pass on Halloween. Then a few days ago he announced he wanted to be a monkey.

And what a cute monkey he was! Lincoln was an adorable little turtle.
Bentley didn't want to go Trick-or-Treating, but after we told him of Lincoln's height dilemma he agreed to come along just to ring the doorbells. And then surprised us by actually saying "Trick-or-Treat" and "tank you!" at doors instead of hiding behind us.

After the first piece of candy, Bentley was ready to head home and eat it right then. We hit about 6 houses before calling it a night.
Happy Halloween!

Walk of the Pumpkins

Monday night I remembered the Pumpkin Walk was happening. We quickly threw on coats and headed out the door. To what would be the first Pumpkin Walk for 3 of the 4 of us.

One and one half hours later we had parked, waited in line for the bus, walked to the end of the line, waited in line long enough to realize it could be hours before we made it in the gate, rode the bus back, and walked back to the car. 1 1/2 hours and we didn't see anything. I offered that we go back Tuesday night as soon as Chod got off work.

This time we parked in front and walked right in. There were only about 10 other people there with us.

The fact that is was a blizzard really cut down on the crowd.

The boys still had a lot of fun. Lincoln loved putting his head in the cutouts with the Wild Things.
This was my favorite exhibit. Whoever did this is genius. When I see something so creative, I think they must have had a lot of fun coming up with this. But maybe it was just a lot of work and stress. But to me, it looks fun.

And now we can all say we have been to the Pumpkin Walk.

Brotherly Choke Hold

And if I try to get the 2 of them in the same frame.

Fall Photos

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

I entered the family room after hanging clothes to find abandoned toys strewn about, Bentley sitting on the couch, and Lincoln no where in sight.

"Bentley, where's Lincoln?"

"Him just playing in the blinds."

We have those annoying vertical blinds in the kitchen, so I headed that direction.

If only he would have been pulling blinds down.


Instead he was playing in the baking center and emptied my entire container of gluten. See it laying there empty? It is hard to see in the picture, but there are dunes of gluten on the floor.



And I wonder why I get very little accomplished in a day.

Kicking back

This kid knows how to kick back and relax. He's our loungy-loungerton. Lincoln acts like he was made for a Lazy-Boy. Since there isn't a recliner within these walls, he relaxes with his head on a pillow, arms behind the head, and ankles crossed. All he needs is a game on TV and a cold bottle [of milk] next to him.

It's a rough life being Lincoln.

Lesson #57

Learned from the 3 year old. Instead of becoming frustrated with craft adventures that don't turn out,proudly announce, "Look Mom! My ghost has an ear!"

Where is the moon?

He says the funniest things.

Like as we are walking out the door, "Linc, let's roll."
Or right after he gets up in the morning, "Mom, me just gived up."

This morning he asked a girl out, on what could have been his first date. "Aunt Deid, come over. We will watch this movie." As he held up Mr. Roger's at the Circus.

And tonight he asked where the moon hides. I answered, "Sometimes it hides behind the clouds." And he rebutted with "but now it is hiding in the earth's shadow."

Okay mister smarty-pants, when did you grow up?

A muzzle?

Have you seen Bentley's back? He is scrawny, so it is all skin and bones.

Can someone explain how Lincoln was able to get a mouthful of flesh and bite him on the back this morning? He left a nice bruise as well as teeth marks.

And can someone else let me know what to do with a biter? This is not his first offense.

hidden security camera

We've long known that Lincoln will be our agitator, button pusher. You can just see it in those eyes. Bentley's going to need to buck up and ignore him, cause it is going to be a long road.

I know.

Thanks to my camera being handy and the rear view mirror allowing me to watch the lcd screen to make sure both boys are in the picture, I learned what goes on in our back seat.

Rock-a-bye, Go to Sleep

Mom hires me to put her yard to sleep for winter. She likes to refer to me as "her gardener". I got a chunk taken care of this week, but it is a yard that keeps going, and going, and going.
The boys always have fun at grandma's house and they took full advantage of the warm days by helping. Lincoln ate enough dirt to make himself sick and Bentley's boots were filled with leaves at the end of the day.

Drive by shooting

With centerpiece supplies in the trunk, the boys and I headed to my parents yesterday. Not long into the drive my passengers were snoozing and I was starting to get sleepy. Luckily, I had read Marta's post before leaving and loved the part about drive by shooting.

Before pulling out my camera I thought, "is this safe?" I concluded that, no it most likely wasn't, but it had to be better than driving drowsy. I snapped my way home. Held, point, and shot without ever looking.

Out of the 100+ photos I took there were a few blurry ones, but most were surprisingly good. And most importantly, we arrived safely!

For the time being

Once again our cars have been neglected. Wet swim noodles, sacks of garden produce, dust from harvest, and parking under a tree have all left a mark. Not to mention the various jackets, water bottles and gloves that were cluttering the backseat.

While Bentley was at Joy School I spent the time vacuuming, washing windows, and cleaning it out.

As Bentley was climbing in after school he exclaimed, "Mom, whose car is this!?"

If only it would stay clean.

What if the doorbell rings?

I have a confession. It is almost 10 am. And I am still in my pajamas.

Days like these make me feel like, because I am not dressed, I haven't accomplished anything.

After just asking myself "what have you been doing all morning?" I've realized that the pajamas may be a clue to a really productive morning.

Fixed lunch for the crew in Preston. With Karisa's latest developments I have turned into the meal boss. Little did I know last week that my assisting was actual training for this week.

Did some laundry.

Read that Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. Is this for real? I hope not.

Fed and dressed both boys.

Found and ordered boots for Chod and myself for the upcoming wedding reception.

Ordered the goods for the reception centerpieces.

Cleaned 1 bathroom.

Uploaded and ordered the wedding announcements.

I may not be dressed, but I sure have spent a lot of money this morning! And now I think I'll get showered and dressed before Lincoln wakes up.

Am I all alone here?

While Bentley was getting out of the tub and ready for bed tonight, Chod decided it was time he learn about the boogie man.

Bentley came running and crying to me that he was scared.

"Of what?"

"Me scared of the boogie man!"

I told him that we had special boogie man spray that would protect our house from boogie men and as soon as his jammies were on we could spray the house.

He told Chod all about the special spray.

"Oh, I'm glad we have special boogie man spray, because I really didn't want him to come and take you."

"BOOGIE MAN WILL TAKE ME!? NO! ME NOT WANT HIM TO TAKE ME" with more tears.

Thanks Chod.

We sprayed. The house smells good and the boogie men are gone.

Sisters in Zion

Tonight, as Chod headed to Priesthood Session, I remembered that I went to the Relief Society General Meeting last week with Deidra. After an oddly stressful day, walking with a sea of sisters was just what I needed. Hopefully the Priesthood session was just what Chod needed too.