First Irrigation of the Season

I was mowing the back yard when I heard water flowing in the irrigation. I thought I could stay ahead of the water so I hurried and mowed where the water was first going to hit, then I ran and turned on the water.



Boy was I wrong. The water pressure was awesome so I had to postpone my mowing, darn it. It is a real good thing I didn't plant my garden right after Big D rototilled it (I couldn't because it rained for the next three days after he got done).



I don't know what it is about mud and kids but they are two magnetic forces that refuse to stay apart. And yes, I did tell them not to get mud on their cloths. Too Late!



Beaner was kind enough to build this bridge out of stepping stones so no one had to get muddy. The boys didn't listen, but Bug thought she'd try it since she didn't want to get dirty.



Needless to say it didn't last long. I "accidentally" pushed her in, can you see the tude all over her face. You can't tell she's a tweeny, can you?



That white shirt is not going to last long, why do I bother getting them cute cloths? Oh well, they're only kids once.



I think Bud was the first to dive in. I'm just happy he decided to change out of his school cloths first.



I had all of them line up on the stones so I could take a picture of their dirty toes. Personally I don't think you can see any of their toes. Afterward I had Beaner pull all those stone out before dad gets home from Pittsburgh and tills my garden again. Maybe this time I will be able to plant it.

If you thought that a little rain made it difficult to plant, wait till you see what the kidfactor did to the garden.

Chivalry Isn't Dead

I took Bear with me Visiting Teaching the other day. My partner is about 85 years old, she is the cutest.

Margie, my partner, was bragging about what a big helper Bear has been calling him our future priesthood holder.

He showed her how to open her car door, he would hold her hand as we crossed the street to help steddy her, plus, he would run up to the door and push the doorbell for us.

She was quite tickled with him.

As she was bragging to one of our sisters about Bear's chivalry she looked at Bear and asked, "If you already do all this great things now, what are you going to be when you get older?"

Bear looked at her, tilted his head and without a beat he said, "Five".

Hold Your Shorts

Ann, Bear, and I went to Costco for a minute to pick up some sugar snap peas. We thought we'd walk around for a minute before we went to walk the dogs.

Ann stopped to look at the books and I thought of some thing I wanted to check out real fast. I started walking away with Bear hanging onto the side of the cart. I told him to say good-bye to auntie Ann because we were leaving her.

He got a bit panicky and started screaming, "No, Hello Ann Hello". Before he had a total melt down I said, "Hold your shorts, we're just going to go see some thing really quick and then we'll go back to her."

He calmed down and I made it to the other side of the store. I was looking for what I wanted and Bear said, "Mom, I can't hold it any more."

I got a little panicky this time and asked, "Hold what? Do you need to go potty?" He said, "No, I can't hold my shorts any more."

I looked down and he was hanging on to the cart with one hand and his shorts with the other. I laughed and told him he could let go of his shorts.

He then asked why he had to hold his shorts. How do you explain to a four year old what an expression is?

I tried and failed.

Three-year-old Genius

I was playing a game with my kids this morning. I would hold up shape flash cards and then call on one of them to tell me what shape it was.

Beaner blew me away with being the only one who knew what a trapezoid was.

I held up a card and called on Bug, "Octagon" she said. Nope.

I moved on to Bud, "circle" he said. Nope.

"It's on the tip of my tongue," said Bug.

After about thirty more seconds of guessing Bear pipes up, "It's an oval". Sure enough that was it.

I was laughing so hard. My three year old schooled my fourth grader. She was a bit embarrassed. I think Bear might be a genius, and if not he sure is cute.

Who Said Watching TV Makes You Fat?

Apparently, whom ever said that never watched TV with my kids. I was watching "Biggest Loser" last night with my kids and they all jumped up and started working out. I was so proud of them, they stuck with it through the entire show even during the commercials.

I think it might have been a conspiracy now that I come to think about it. They were making me laugh and I forgot about bed time.

Big D came home from school and asked what we were doing: working out, hello.

At one point Beaner said she'd ran up and down our stairs 100 times, personally I think it was more like 20 or 25 but I'll let her think it was 100.

Bud had his sword on the floor jumping over it back and forth. He would get going a bit too quick and fall over. A couple of times he jumped and farted and they were loud farts.

I started razzing him about the tooting and he said the farts made him go faster. I laughed and said, "Just be careful that you don't fart and slam yourself into the wall." So, of course, he started throwing himself into the wall to get some laughs.

I swear I am living with a whole troop of goofs.

Getting Kicked Around

Big D took today off from work so he could study for his big test tonight at school. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to get much studying done with having me and Bear around. He was thinking about going up to the school to so he wouldn't be interrupted.

I wasn't worried about me because I have tons of homework to catch up on but I know Bear loves to play with his dad.

Bear went to school which gave a two hour window to get some good studying done, but now he's home and he can't leave his dad alone.

Big D thought he could put a movie on for Bear and have that entertain him for and hour or so.

First Bear changed his mind on the movie, he didn't want to watch Chicken Run he wanted to watch Cars.

Big D and I both have desks in our Quiet room, our chairs sit back to back.

I turned around and Big D is not studying as he's suppose to be, he's watching Cars with Bear.

I told him if he didn't get back to studying I was going to kick his butt out of the house. Bear replied with, "Oh yeah, I will kick his butt back in the house."

As a parent you just never expect that response from your three year old. Of course, it doesn't curb his sass when we both laugh at him either. He's going to be a fun teenager if we keep this up.

Mice in My Wheels

Bear and Bud have these huge dump trucks they got for Christmas two years ago. They love these trucks and play with them almost every day. Being winter the cold has hampered there dump truck play time so Bear has talked me into letting him bring his inside.

Keep in mind they filled these trucks with numerous loads of dirt in the summer and now they are full of snow. I don't know if you know this, but when snow melts on top of dirt, it makes mud. DIRTY!!!

I have used many wipes to wash these trucks and now are deemed clean enough to be brought in the house, as long as they don't run into the furniture.

Bear was pushing his truck around and running to me to tell me all the times he almost ran into the furniture but his great driving skills saved the day right in the nick of time.

After about the tenth time of telling me about his close call he told me his wheels were making a funny noise. I asked him what it was and he said, "I don't know, but I know it's not mice."

I looked at him a little funny and he went on, "You know that mice live in the big cars wheels. That's what makes our car go, when the mice run around the wheels."

What a creative way of looking at vehicle propulsion. I love it when he lets me in on what is going on in his head. It is so much more entertaining than my own.

Love At Home

I love love love it when my sisters come home to visit. We have so many great stories and laughs to share that it makes the time go by too fast.



If you look closely you can see Bug standing behind me doing the bunny ears. Big D, taking the picture, warned me what she was doing so...



I brought her to the front to take a picture with us and she did it again, the little Turkey!

We keep razzing my sisters to move home, Big D's the worst about it and they aren't even his sisters. I understand their reasons for wanting to live so far away, we are an all consuming family. They would not have any sort of social life outside us, oh wait, they don't down there any way.

You guys really need to move home. I miss you!!!

What Did You Say?

Bear and I stopped to get gas the other day. It was freezing even with the sun shining. After pumping the gas I hoped back in the car and said, "I was scared I was going to turn in to the abominable snowman out there." Bear looked at me and asked, "Why would you turn into the bottom of a snowman?"

What did you say?

I got a bouquet of flowers from my girlfriend Jen for my birthday. Bear would point at each flower and ask what kind it is. He pointed at a Carnation, I told him what it was. He moved on to the Gerber Daisies and said their name. Bear then looked at me for a second and said, "That sounds like a booger flower."

What did you say?

I was helping Bug with her homework. We were adding suffixes to base words. There was a list of base words and a list of suffixes. We had to go through and see which suffixes worked and which didn't. We came to the word "empty". Bug asked me if "emptier" was a word, I told her she should look it up in the dictionary. This was the answer I gave her every time she'd ask me to just give her the answer, she was getting a little tired of this response so she concluded it was a word, without looking it up. I knew she was just guessing so I asked her how she knew. She said, "Because when I go to the restroom and you don't, I'm emptier than you."

What did you say?

Scripture Study At Our House

Every night we do scriptures and prayer before bed time. The boys like to take advantage of their audience. It makes scripture time fun, but not very spiritual. Of course, I don't know how you can be spiritual with two monkeys living in the house.



Bear and Bud like to play off of each other, try to out do each other.



Bear kept getting closer and closer to the camera. I had to ask him numerous times to scoot back.



Isn't he cute!?!



Bear would crowd in front of Bud to steal the spot light. Little stinker! You can see Beaner and Big D in the background trying to read. I think they gave up on the scriptures though.



Bear is our stand up comedian. He loves to make us laugh. Bug wasn't any help. She was sitting back by me watching the boys laughing and egging them on to be funnier, like that's possible.



And when we do laugh it just fuels the fire.



I think they get the poser genes from their Uncle Lowell.

Smarty Pants

Big D took Bug to Wal-Mart to get a few last minute provisions. At Wal-Mart Big D ran into someone he knew and after they were done chatting Bug asked her dad how he knew the guy. He told her they went to high school together.

She looked at him and asked, "Why does he look like he could still be in high school and you look thirty?"

He chuckled and asked if he wasn't aging well. She smiled and said, "Let's just say your age is catching up with you."

I think she thinks she's funny.

Naughty List

Bud and I were picking Bear, and his friend Little Jon, up from school. The boys were telling me what they did at school: they decorated a Christmas tree and made an ornament.

They got on the topic of Santa when Bud chimed in, "There is no Santa".

Wow, that set Little Jon off. Pretty soon I had a screaming match between all three boys.

"There is no Santa!"

"Yes there is!"

"You're on Santa's naughty list!"

I had to quiet them before someone ended up in tears.

I guess for the next couple days any time Little Jon would do something bad he'd look at his mom and ask, "Does that mean I have to be on the naughty list with Bud?"

We have taught our kids that there is not a real Santa, but that each of us can be Santa for someone in need.

We wanted our kids to focus on the true reason for Christmas and that is Jesus' birth. This Christmas we are actually focusing our gift giving around Christ.

We frames some beautiful pictures from Greg Olsen and Simon Dewey for the kids bedrooms. We bought them each a CD player and some Primary song CD's. For the girls we got them a bit older music. They all got brand new church cloths and games that center around the gospel.

On Monday we are getting together with some families and doing a Secret Santa ding dong ditch for a family in our ward who have been out of work for awhile.

We've done the Secret Santa for the past three years and we've really enjoyed it. We like to tape our delivery so we can watch and laugh later. One year Big D hid inside a big box on the porch when he rang the door bell. When the family got close to the box to check it out he jumped up and bounced off the railing as he ran away. We love to talk about that and laugh.

I pray our kids grow up loving Christmas for the real reason. We worry that by telling them there isn't really a Santa that we are depriving them of the holiday magic. I just pray they feel of that magic in other ways.

I personally feel that one doesn't truly experience the real magic of Christmas until they have children to share it with. They are so magical!

Out To Lunch

Every once in awhile Big D calls us up and asks us to lunch. We love those days, for one I don't have to cook or clean up.

This day we went to Taco Bell. Bud started making funny faces and I took a picture. Well, that started everyone making funny faces and wanting their pictures taken. I'm pretty sure the other patrons of the restaurant didn't realize they were going to get entertainment with their lunch that day.



Bud started us off with the goofs.



Of course Big D was quick to jump on board that band wagon.



Bear needed a little help with his face, but I think he pulled it off.



My niece, Lynn, kind of looks like a frog here.



Let's pray Bug's face doesn't freeze this way.



Beaner looks like she's thinking too hard.

Disciplining Other People's Children

I was watching my brother Lowell's two boys the other night so Lowell and Rae could get some Christmas shopping done.

We were all have a great time, the boys more than anyone. I went in the toy room and you could not see the floor, the boys were jumping on the couch, and screaming at the top of their lungs.

I asked the boys not to scream and they all complied with my request, except Lowell Jr. I had to ask him at least two more times until I realized he wasn't going to quit because he wasn't taking me seriously. After the third or fourth scream I picked him up and put him in time-out.

I usually leave a kid in time-out one minute for their age. But since this was not my kid I decided I'd better just leave him there for one minute, I didn't need a full tantrum.

After a minute I sat down on the foot stool in front of Jr. and asked him why he got put in time-out. I like to make sure they understand I'm not trying to be mean there is a reason they have to sit in the chair.

So I asked Jr. if he understood why he was there, he looked at me and said, "Meow". I asked him again and got the same answer, "Meow". I told him I would check back when he was ready to talk.

Every thirty seconds I asked him again, and again I got, "meow". I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

Five or ten minutes later my brother showed up. I got a little panicky because people really don't like it when someone else is disciplining their children and I didn't know if I was going to tick off my brother.

I explained why Jr. was in the chair instead of playing with the boys and when Jr. saw his parents he got excited and tried to jump down from the chair and run to them for a pardon. Lowell stopped his son and told him he wasn't done with his time-out yet. Jr. turned to me and started talking to me.

I was so proud of my brother, and relieved I didn't offend him. I'm pretty sure all my nieces and nephews think I am the mean aunt, and I think I'm fine with that.

Hot Dogs

I was making some lunch for the kids the other day: hot dogs sliced open with mashed potatoes and melted cheese on top. It's one of our favorites.

The kids were having a nice conversation when I heard my son, Bud, say, "Do you know what hot dogs are made out of?"

I don't know who answered him but they said, "No".

"They are made from wieners," said Bud.

At this point I started laughing and said they were made from cows and pigs.

"Yeah, cows and pigs wieners."

Of course I am laughing so hard at this point that he won't quit repeating himself. I think we have a little comedian on our hands. Like that's all our family needs, more jokesters.

Boys Will Be Boys

Today I had two visitors in my home: Lowell Jr. and his handsome brother Hyatt. They came over to play with Bear, and to give their expecting mother a nice rest.

All three boys are relatively close in age. Bear is six months younger than Lowell Jr. and Hyatt is about a year younger than Bear. They all get along great, some times a little too great.

Today I heard some strange noises coming from the other room but when I went to investigate I could not find any of them. I called their names and nothing. I walked into the frontroom and heard them say, "Shh here she comes."

Funny me thought they were just playing hide-and-seek from me. So I came over the top of the couch and growled like a grizzly bear. They all screamed and we laughed.

That is until I saw what they were doing.



I had three little angels that looked so pretty.



How could anyone be angry at these faces.



Even after I found lipstick all over the back of my white couch. Sometimes being and aunt is just as much fun as being a mom.

Lowell Jr. vs Kitchen Aid Slicer Blade

Bug and Beaner are taking piano lessons from Auntie Rae. We showed up for our weekly lesson yesterday to find Lowell Jr. not very happy. He decided to stick all five fingers through the end holes of a Kitchen Aid slicer blade and use it as a gun. Rae was able to extract four of the five fingers but his tall man was being a bit stubborn, and chunky.

When I first saw him in his predicament I thought it was a tooth brush holder which would have been no big deal to cut off. It maybe cost $5 go down and get a new one. But on closer inspection I noticed the real identity of the captor, an expensive blade Rae got for Christmas from her parents.

Lowell Jr. has had a fascination with guns for a little while now. His dad decided to try and teach him not to shoot his brother by putting stickers of "bad guys" on the walls and letting him shoot them with a Nerf gun. I think this fueled Lowell Jr.'s obsession and now every thing that can be used as a gun is used as a gun, including slicer blades.

Lowell Jr. was getting a bit frustrated by the time I arrived. His mom had tried butter, ice, soap, ice again and nothing was working. His dad, Lowell, came home from work early, about five minutes after I got there, to help with the situation.



Lowell tried every thing he could think of to not have to cut the blade off but to no avail. It took a little while to cut through the stainless steel blade without cutting his son. After all was well Lowell informed his son that he wasn't getting his allowance for a very long time.



Rae should write a book about her two boys and their creative amusements. She said it would probably make other mothers feel better about their own situations. The book would definitely would not be boring.

One time when I went up to pick up Bear from being baby-sat, Lowell Jr. had drawn a race track on the carpet in marker. I helped Rae scrub for over an hour and we still didn't get it all out. If you look closely you can still see remnants of his red race track.

Lowell Jr. and Hyatt are the cutest boys I know, that aren't my own children. I think it's good they are so cute because that may be the only thing keeping them alive sometimes, but they are a never ending source of entertainment for the rest of us.

Silly Stinkers

I am home with both my boys today, Bud and Bear. Thank goodness for Bud not having school today, Bear almost did me in yesterday.

I had to go get groceries last night and Big D had school last night. I waited for him to get home from work so I could spend some time with him in his two hour break before school. I had to get out of the house and get groceries an hour before Big D left because if I'd stayed home for a minute longer I would've fallen asleep and not gotten any food. And trust me when I say we needed groceries.

Today with Bud home to entertain Bear I've been able to get some chores done: dishes, watering the garden, and taking a shower.

I love watching the boys play together they are hilarious. At about one in the afternoon I asked the boys if we shouldn't get out of our jammies. Bear said yep and started taking his PJ's off right in the quiet room. I started laughing and asked if maybe taking his cloths off in his bedroom wouldn't be a better idea.

I think everyone is finally dressed today except me. I'd better get my buns into gear or it will be time for bed before I get some decent cloths on. At least I got my kitchen clean today, that makes me feel good no matter what I'm wearing.

Kids Say The Darnest Things

Those of you who have children understand when your children make you bust a gut laughing. The other day Bug said the funniest thing and she wasn't even meaning to be funny.

All the kids were over at Uncle Brook's house when Brook came in and said, "It's time to go over to Aunt Tiff's so I can go Home Teaching." Uncle Brook has been inactive for almost twenty years and has never gone Home Teaching before. Bug looked at Uncle Brook and said, "That is the worst excuse you have ever used." Brook being a little flabbergasted said, "No really I'm going Home Teaching." "Yeah, whatever." said Bug rolling her eyes at him.

I got a good laugh out of that one.

This weekend my kids were out at Papa Guy and Grandma Honey's house. Bear asked Grandma Honey if she knew who Lowell Jr. was and she admitted she did. "Why doesn't he get to come out here then?" asked Bear. She laughed and said that next they will have to invite Lowell Jr.

Out of the mouth of babes apparently comes raw truth.

Goblins On The Loose

My kids are the luckiest kids in the world, they have the best Grandma and Papa. My dad and stepmother enjoy taking their grand kids for days at a time. When the grand kids come out to their cattle ranch it's like another world, a magical world that allows their imaginations to go wild.

We listened to "Fablehaven" on our vacation so the kids have been into fairies and goblins a lot lately. In Yellowstone we bought the kids some magical stones that helped them to see fairies and fight off goblins. We also purchased some for their cousins because we knew they'd be spending so much time with them through out the summer.

Beaner and Bug went out to Grandma Ria and Papa Guy's house after we got back from vacation. In other words they've had back to back, nothing but entertainment all summer. They were joined out there by three of their cousins all ranging in age from seven to ten.

Out at Grandma's they are allowed to let their open minds to roam without many boundaries. They hunted goblins and searched for their fairy friends. Bug was bit by a goblin on one of their adventures.

On one of the days when Grandma and Papa had to run some fence, the kids got a little bored. After bombarding their grandparents with whines and requests Grandma had had enough. She barked at the kids and told them that she didn't hear one of them asking what they could do to help so they could get done quicker.

Let me make this very clear, Grandma never barks at the kids. She dotes on them hand and foot. So when she barked it took the kids off guard. A little while later Beaner came up to Grandma and said, "We all went behind a tree and prayed that they goblins would bring back our grandma. We know the goblins took her because our grandma would never talk to us like that." Well, that made Grandma feel horrible.

Needless to say, the goblins returned grandma, however, I think they have taken my daughter, Bug. She came home and now she expects me to entertain her. She informs me that she's bored and there's nothing to do and boo hoo. So I informed her she needed to practice her piano that she's neglected for the past three weeks, and she needed to read for thirty minutes, and she has chores to do. I don't think she realizes there's no time to be bored around this house, because if she's bored I will give her something to do.

Hopefully the goblins return my daughter soon because I think this new Bug is going to go stark raving mad living in my house for too much longer. Who knows maybe this new Bug will be trainable and I can teach it to do tricks, like wash the dishes. I have to confess that being a parent is too much fun sometimes.