scouty boy

N. earned his cubscout Bear award. I'm glad he has fun with the scouts once a week and is learning some fun stuff. My regret is that parents have to attend Pack meeting once a month. Not fun. Not even sort of. I understand wanting to recognize the scouts achievements, I dont understand the torture aspect. Noise. Chaos. Stuffy room. Cheering. I am obviously a party pooper. Maybe its more fun if you are the actual scout.

Long shadows and Swimming?!

Although I complain of Logan being Arctic it really is a beautiful place in the Fall.
The sun still shines bright, just lower on the horizon.

The leaves and flowers are gorgeous reds, oranges and yellows.

The best part though is the crisp air just perfect for running through sprinklers?!

Kids are stoked the slide and tramp become water features once again for one last water party.

I'm not stoked about the smell of winter in the air so I cooked up some Apple Dumplings that smelled much more nice.

As frost was soon approaching N. knew his cabbage was as full grown as it would get. It made a tasty stirfry that he wouldn't try(its a vegetable you know), but he was satisfied with the experiment results. How big can a cabbage grow?

Time to get rid of the toys

I figure if the kids are having fun with the containers meant to hold the toys as well as or more than the actual toys it is time to chuck them.

(Chuck the toys that is, not the kids)

Storm Troopers

I thought his shoes were stinky before, it took days to dry them out. 

a beautiful mother

This is D., the husband of this wonderful person that keeps you all updated on our family. I just wanted to say how much I love my wife, and how beautiful she is. She is such a good mother, and friend to me.

I also wanted to sneak this picture that I took of her and our baby S. on the blog, she doesn't get as much coverage on here as the rest of us, because she is the one taking the pictures most of the time.

I Love you honey, and hope that we can continue to have a great life together.

Labor day campout fun

This is the only giant bug we found.

Gma B. and Gmpa P. joined us in their new tent.

Grandpa took us on a beautiful hike to see the river head.

The kids loved running ahead and back and the cool log bridges above waterfalls and the river.

Nap time for Babes, what better place than in strong daddy arms.

Favorite camping past time, roasting 'mallows!

T. really doesnt want to eat the crispy brown parts, who could tell those eyes no anyway?

In case normal camping isn't dirty enough the kids found a giant hill to hike up and slide down.

The river was a close hike from camp, just far enough to be out of mind, but close enough to be part of camp.

Camping is the Best!

Z.'s donation

Couldn't be happier with her new self, even made up a new name till she got used to seeing herself in the mirror(which was often in the first 2 days).
Of course mom just couldn't help herself and had to see what the baby would look like with some hair. T. wasn't about to be left out of the fun but agreed it looked like a girl braid on him.

13 Years

So for our anniversary this year I talked D. into camping with the kids. He would have preferred something that involved alone time with his wife but it really was our last weekend to camp and he didn't have another gift so, why not?
For all of those who have wondered why we ever got married and how we have stayed together , I don't have a simple answer. I don't even have an answer in words just feelings. Yes, a bipolar Black Cloud can marry a babied Fun Seeker and survive 13 years + a whole lot more to come.

Although D. is more like his mom as far as a lot of things I knew when we were dating what kind of man he would grow into by looking at his dad.

I think I had an idea that it would take a long time but I was hoping I would have enough. He has already succeeded in proving himself with me and the kids and it can only get better from here.

I am so glad to be married to someone so full of love and for the 13 years we have already had.

Hamock=Happy

..except the fights between the kids to see whose turn it is. Letting them fight it out didn't seem safe, one or two at a time would flip off and thump onto the grass which is covered with hard small apples(apple trees holding it up). There is nearly always someone on it  before school getting a few swings in, after school for reading or any other time in between. Big thumbs up to hammocks.

mindboggling

N. has always had a different view of how he sees things than most people around him(which is mostly his family). He's okay with that and thinks weird is cool.
Cool.
For example , as a preschooler he tried to teach me how to look at a line. I see a line in my mind as a flat object, not having any shape. He described it as a 3d object that could easily be round, so a line can be round even when its a straight line.
Ummm, I'm still working on that one.
And then again this week we were playing a game where you draw a few simple shapes on a paper and then describe to someone else how to draw it on their paper. You cant look at each others papers. Because I hadn't specifically told him not to put shapes inside of each other and hadn't specified the size, our drawings looked totally different. His followed all the directions I had given , just how he imagined it.

Well he loves to take the camera to his favorite spots and attempts to give me a visual idea of just how his mind works. These were from the park yesterday. I got pictures of kids, eye level or above swinging, sliding, whatever. N. came up with a tall cliff. His shoes just overhanging the precipice. Below are giant items like rock, logs and such that have fallen to their destruction.I can see it if I really try but my mind always sees the tree stump half turned to bark chips sticking out of the grass.

The other is him lifted off of the ground , sucked up by supernatural winds that may die at any second throwing him down to the grass far below.

What a kid!

Reeses and Oreos

make for the BEST birthday presents ever.
So, I turned 33 (!) and haven't given up on my favorite foods(crispy cremes and Slurpee's are harder to wrap that's why they aren't included).
I surprised a neighbor by stuffing an Oreo (okay 2..... at the same time) in my mouth a few weeks ago after dinner.
I can deny my kids their ice cream fix till the weekends but come on, oreos are totally an anytime food!
Thanks family and friends for the gifts and well wishes.
It was great!

"Gas hobbers" are eating my flowers

...but if they can also cause happiness to toddlers I shouldn't be judging them so harshly.S. watched me pick one up and decided she wanted a turn. These fall variety grasshoppers are slow, small and weak (the only reason I would pick one up) so they're great entertainment.

T. helps in the search effort. This sunflower is the only one that made it(bike tires and fragile plants don't mix) but still is holding out on the whole "flowering" idea.

The pointy, effort tongue comes directly from her daddys genes. Who goes around sticking their tongue out without knowing it most of the time?!



Love this shot when she finally caught one and jumped back a foot in surprise. Not sure she would do it again!


T. tries his one eyed mommys gene face but needs some practice to be as good as his aunts and uncles. Also showing off the new horns growing in(mormons ya know). He wishes it was true, it probably would hurt less than the 2 near fatal run ins with the door above each eye, in less than a week. Horns could come in handy as weapons too when his arms and legs finally give in to overuse.

S. 'n S.

They both walk now but find it funny to crawl together down Gma's hall.

Gmpa calls them his "salt and pepper" because of the difference in hair color.

S. had her first birthday while we visited so the kids caused some noise and confusion just for her.

S. loved the kitty hat. Happy First, S.!