Bonfire 2009

The family bonfire at the farmhouse was few in number this year, but we still had a great time. Perfect chilly weather, roaring fire, hayrides, s'mores, donuts, and cider all added to the fun.

Big O helping set up with Daddy and Pa.

Loading firewood.

Playing in the trailer of hay.

Playing with cousins, S and C.

The kids got a hayride before eating.

The ride sent O in to a state of paralysis. I think we need one of these!

W will someday grow in to the clothing size marked for his age. He's so cute.

Cousin E came with her family. It was great fun to have them there.

Uncle G and his girls, E and C. They enjoyed the hay.
And in C's case, she enjoyed some grass and leaves as well.

Daddy helping E with her hot dog.

O devouring his food. His brother's plate was beside him and as W walked away,
O ate most of his food. He also took W's sippy cup.

W returned in shock to find his plate practically cleared of food. What?

Look at that face! The horror! He then tipped his plate too far and the few chips he had slid off into the hay.

W-Can you believe this guy??!!! O-Trying to go back for more.

The girls ate together.

E has always been good with BIG bites. Even when she was tiny, she fed herself big bites. My grandma got on me once about that saying she'll grow up to eat like a man if I allowed her
to eat like that now. Don't worry Grandma...we'll keep an eye on that.

Our batteries died near the end of the evening. Thanks G for capturing our family on the hayride. All the little kids got pumpkin lanterns as we piled in to the trailer. Pa took off through the woods. Thank goodness we had our lanterns as we mysteriously stopped in the deep dark wood with only the night sounds surrounding us! Ooooooooo.......

We always end the evening with a few rounds of Ghost In The Graveyard. It was hilarious to see the boys running around out there in the dark. E, surprisingly, played the ghost this year...with Mommy's help.

Off To Germany!

My brother-n-law joined the military a few months back and is now stationed in Germany. My sister and her family will be moving soon and we're all a little glum to see them go. E loves playing with her cousins...building towers, playing ball, riding in a rocketship...she'll greatly miss them. Good luck in Germany!

Quality Time

Spending some quality time together on the back threshold...sharing a rock or a bug, I'm sure.

Here...you've got something on your face. Let me get it.

You've got something on your lip...go like this...let me get it.

Thanks. No problem. Thank you. Anytime.

A Strategy Hopeful

A had a few of his strategy games out and E decided she wanted to play. This was unknown to A because he was at work, but I also didn't know about it. She was contently playing at the bottom of the stairs...I let her play. IF I knew she was in one of his strategy games, I may have stopped her because there are a million pieces in the game.

When I discovered she was playing Lionheart (similar to Risk) I had to laugh. It wasn't anything like the game...no army, no attack, no conquering of land. E had been playing with the horses, putting them to sleep, feeding them, and decorating them with pretty flags.

A was so proud. Early exposure is good.

The Kids in September

My cutie pies

E sleeps with many friends and several of them are dressed in pajamas just like her. She's going to LOVE her Christmas present from Grandma.

Sooo close to reaching his bear.

O and his favorite blanket, which is usually around the back of his neck, draping over his shoulders.

Let me have that.

Playing with her cars. That's right...the boys are NOT allowed to touch them. She took ownership of A's childhood cars when she found them in the garage. I didn't think anything of it, but later found out that the police car and Ferrari were model cars from Italy that his brother gave him after serving a mission there. Oops. She has since added a Dukes of Hazard car and his Pinewood Derby car to her collection. She's been playing with these cars since she was two and loves them. She flips out when the boys come near, so she only plays with them when they aren't around.

Playing in the backyard. Attempting to give O a ride.
We now have a simple fence up around our patio and a portion of our grass to keep our animals in one spot. Life just got a little easier.

Figuring out how things work.

They look cute, and they are, but O was just moving in on W. He does this when he is about to physically commandeer the vehicle. There's a lot of screaming involved and occasionally someone gets hurt.

I often find them half undressed in the morning, if not completely nude...O.

Putting air in her tires. Check out that outfit...striped shirt, halloween pants, and boots.

Our little princess.

Girls Night Out

I took my favorite girl out on the town. E was so excited to go to the party. She held the gift, she ate h'orderves, drank lemolade, stayed out passed her bedtime, and held my hand the entire time. We attended a wedding reception and E really got a kick out of seeing the bride in her pwetty dwess.

She's excited.

The girls.

After the reception, I took E to Cook Out for a shake. She thought it was pretty cool to eat a shake with me, but even better in our van.

That's Not Good

Everyone was playing nicely, so I decided to take a moment to use the bathroom. Mommies, you know the drill. This is the time when one of your children, if not all, will try to get away with something. In this case, O climbed up onto the table and got a glass. We usually clear them from the table, knowing O's history, but this lone glass had been forgotten. E did a fabulous job and took it away from her curious brother. She then placed it on the kitchen counter and went on her way. He followed her and retrieved the glass that was taken away. I heard the glass slide across the counter and knew something was going to happen. I rushed into the kitchen just after he dropped the glass. It scared him, of course, and he tried to flee only to be crippled by glass in his foot.

As I'm wrestling O and his bleeding foot, I discover that W had been at the scene of the crime for at least a second. I see him running through the house with THIS piece of glass. Yeah...
E stood back and said, "That's not good."

Hey...Watch This!

Every time I see this picture, I have a good laugh. Look at him suck in his gut trying to balance on the exersaucer. As you may have guessed...this didn't end well.

Musical Chairs, Birthdays and Chick-Fil-A

Musical Chairs- We gather for Labor Day every year for brunch and games. Our traditional game of musical chairs was just as rambunctious.

Running with small children.

Pushing and or tripping others...Right J? Didn't you trip him?! Hee-hee

There's always a scuffle over a chair...this one got ugly.

Look at us...down to the last three.

We won!

O collecting shoes.

Playing with baby C. They both constantly giggled as E pushed her around the house.

The boys in Carolina gear. O's shirt says I'm the little brother and W's says I'm the big brother!

Birthdays- I share a birthday month with my mother-n-law. We surprised her with one of her favorite treats (M&M's) and stuck a candle in it.

Then she surprised me with a cake. Look at her beltin' out Happy Birthday! Gotta love it.

E helped Daddy make me an ice cream pie.

I like this shot because, yes, it shows my fabulous ice cream pie, but if you look at W in the background, you see he's wearing his cheese.

A surprised me with a homemade bench that will someday be in my large foyer or mudroom. He and a friend from the ward made it for me. It's really nice and the seat opens up for storage.

O loves the bench. He climbs on it and hurts himself often or he squats down inside the seat and can't get out. Recently, he balanced himself on the bench arm, fell forward to hold onto the kitchen hutch, and slid a piece of paper his way. The paper had E's crayons on it. After falling off of the bench, he took it upon himself to decorate my bench with several colors. I think I sucked in too much air when I walked into the kitchen and then my heart stopped for a second or two. Things like this happen when mommy goes to the bathroom.

You may have noticed that we were all in our Carolina shirts on for Labor Day. We were excited to strut our favorite team for the Chick-Fil-A give away. They were giving out free sandwiches if you wore a team shirt. So, we piled the kids in the van and got ourselves a free lunch. Then on our way home from festivities, we stopped for dinner...and then again a few more miles down the road. Mmmm...we love Chick-Fil-A!