Child Find

So I had a parenting first yesterday. I lost Seth. Not for a long time but long enough. I made the huge mistake of not putting him in a cart when I was running into Smith's Marketplace for a minute. He ran away from me back by the baby clothes/toys and then hid. I called for him and looked all up and down the toy aisles and then through the most crowded kids clothes section in the world. I guess I should have been worried about kidnappers or something but we were practically the only ones in the store, and I was 99% sure he was hiding from me.

After my unsuccessful search I asked a clerk who announced that they had a "child find" in progress and then proceeded to describe him over the intercom. Less than 30 seconds later another employee saw him and then he ran to me. He had the most mischievous look on his face, and all he said was "hiding." I then attempted to put him in the cart, but he was extremely uncooperative and would not put his legs through the holes. He's not exactly the tiniest kid, so we were struggling and it kept making the cart roll away. At this point the same employee asked me if she could help me. I was by now embarrassed and sure only psychiatric help or a spa getaway would be of any help, so I gave her a quick no thanks and sat Seth in the front part of the cart sideways and headed for the checkout. Two-year-olds!

(I must note that the only other time I let Seth go cartless he ran away and I was chasing him round and round a check out stand at Walmart. Yes, I have been beaten in this game by a two-year-old...twice. I think it's some sort of IQ test I'm failing.)

Fall Festivals, Farm, and Foliage

Cheesy title, I know. I figure I better post about our latest goings on before all of the Halloween picture madness begins. I hope my kids don't look at this blog and think our life was just one big outing. I assure you there's been plenty of everyday life...you know...diapers, meals, dishes, homework, chores, playing with friends, laundry...the list goes on. None of that is very picture worthy though so here goes.

Jer has been working hard to build our shed the past few weeks, but he took a break to take the kids to Hardware Ranch for the Elk Festival. They had a good time. They did a bunch of stuff including shooting guns and bows, and it was free so you can't beat that. I enjoyed a few blissful hours of quiet while Ian was sleepng. I am the family photographer so no pictures were taken during that one!


Mandy and I have taken the boys to the American West Heritage Center the last two years, and they had a blast! This year it was even more fun, and we were practically the only people there.


Mandy took a ride on the train with the boys while I waited with Ian.



All sorts of hay to climb and jump in. At one point Jace was trying to help Seth up a big hay hill. "Lift with your legs" was my advice for him.

There was also a slide you slid down on gunny sacks. It went really fast and you slammed into hay at the bottom. I need to get the pics from Mandy, but I know I was pulling some crazy faces while I was going down with Seth. I'm pretty sure if that was anywhere else you'd have to sign a wavier and wear a helmet or something! We had the place to ourselves, so the kids did it a bunch of times.

This was what we got when we asked for pirate faces at the pirate hay maze.

My mom and I also headed out on a little expedition to The Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was a long drive, but the kids had a blast. There were about 15 inflatables--slides, bounce houses, etc. and they climbed and jumped for hours. Seth was such a trooper and was by far the youngest kid going on the big slides. He wants to do whatever Luke does. He only needed help a couple of times. I had to join him in one that had this wall with ropes to climb and after I got in I couldn't really get out, so I had to continue and slide down the big slide at the end where all the parents were waiting for their kids. Luckily no one felt the need to catch me.

There were also a ton of carnival style games. Seth was so tired at this point he could barely keep his eyes open. It was such a warm day I was practically sweating--that does not happen in Cache Valley this time of year. We ate some Cafe Rio food under a tent in a wind storm and then headed home exhausted.

Ian was once again super baby and had some time to love on grandma while I chased the boys around.

Last Sunday afternoon we headed up the canyon after church, and it was such a beautiful day. Our kids love to hike, and we had a blast. We did the Limber Pine trail which is just a really easy nature walk, and it was so fun.

Luke was carrying bottled water and snacks for him and Seth. Seth also had to have a backpack but his was mostly empty with a few toys.

Seth was always lagging behind doing his own thing and shooting things with his stick gun.

Ian was just along for the ride taking it all in. Good times.

Skins.

Boys! We have some serious boy power in this neighborhood (this is just a sample). What is it with boys and wrestling? And did they not get the memo that it's October in Cache Valley?

I think there's quite a bit of truth to the old "boys will be boys" saying.

P.S. No one was hurt (not too bad anyway) in the taking of these pictures although things got quite fierce. Luke just started a junior wrestling clinic at the high school--he wants to learn some of Grandpa Steve's sweet moves.

6 Months Old!

Ian is 6 months old now which is totally crazy to me. He is the sweetest, happiest baby, and I can't believe a half of a year has flown by. I took him in for his check-up today, and he is doing great. He is getting pretty skinny though, so I'm going to supplement more. Unfortunately, my milk is not hanging in there that well anymore. Everyone in our family gets all mushy when they see "little E." You can't help but give him some love.

He has been eating solids for a while now and loves it.

He doesn't have much hair, but he's starting to get more. It is so blond and soft like baby chick hair.

He spends lots of time on his tummy and rolls all over the place.

I don't think that milk tastes so great the second time around.

Ian loves his brothers who always make him smile. He is cuddly and ticklish, and we'll keep him!

One Man's Trash

Looking back I haven't posted anything about Luke for quite a while, but he has been a busy boy. We've also been up to lots of fun stuff the past few weeks, so hopefully I can post again soon. Luke is a quirky kid with lots of little habits that crack me up. I'm a pretty particular person and I'd say Jer is borderline OCD about some things, so I'm not sure he had much of a chance. Luke is such a junk hound. Everything is a treasure to him. Every week or so we have to dejunk his backseat of the van where he has collected precious objects like cup lids, wrappers, straws, pamphlets, and any other little thing he's been able to get his hands on. To him none of that is trash...it can all be played with. He has a backpack filled to the brim with "hunting stuff" including the heaviest rubber snake in the world, one sock, his hunting paper and single marker, a whistle, several balls, and a plastic pocketknife just to name a few. He also loves to get geared up. He can often be found wearing an old Batman cape, gardening gloves, goggles that are minus the lenses, a bright green sweatband, rubberbands, and some sort of hat, give or take a few items. I'm sure someday Luke will look back at this stage of his life and laugh. I know our neighbors who have seen Luke riding his bike around wearing the above mentioned get up topped off with his bike helmet have. Luke is a fun kid with a great imagination, and I appreciate that he can find entertainment and value in just about anything!




Luke can be a terrible tormenter, but he can also be the best big brother ever, and he often says how glad he is that his brothers are part of our family. His brothers both think he's the best thing ever.


Luke played fall soccer this year and had lots of fun. You had to be five, so he was one of the youngest and definitely one of the smallest out there. It took him a while to get in the game, but by the last few weeks he did great.

Note the sweatband. That went just about everywhere we did this summer or fall. I asked him once why he was always wearing it. He looked at me like I had rocks in my head and said, "in case I get sweaty." I am super slow sometimes. It may make a mysterious disappearance this winter.

Luke in action.

I still can't believe Luke is in kindergarten. He is loving school and doing great. He is learning a lot and has already improved so much with his writing which is something he has always kind of fought me on. I get to help out in his class every other week, and he is so excited to have me there. I know his face won't always light up when I arrive at his school but for now it does! We usually have a little time together in the afternoon while his brothers are sleeping to work on his homework and talk about his day. (Okay, I ask a million questions and get an answer here and there if I'm lucky!) We've even had a few days cold enough for some afterschool hot chocolate. It doesn't last long until he wants to be off playing in the neighborhood with friends, so I have to steal these moments while I can.

Speed Racer (And Going Private)

Welcome fall (and winter)! I love fall, but it doesn't last long enough in this neck of the woods. We had snow on our lawn yesterday morning. Here's my little Speed Racer. He thinks he's so cool now that we put the training wheels back on and this bike is officially his. He's pretty good at it, but don't turn me in for bad parenting...we try to get the helmet on most of the time. This time he insisted on "goggles on."


Also, after thinking about it forever I'm going to make my blog private. There are just lots of weirdos out there. If you want to keep reading just send me an email jen.jer.family@gmail.com, or my hotmail if you know it, or comment here with your email, or message me through facebook, and I'll invite you. Thanks!