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!

Our Garden

I am burned out with my school work, so I thought I'd blog for a minute because it is more fun. We put in a garden this year, and I'm really glad. We've eaten a lot of fresh veggies. It is not a pretty sight...half of it is still weeds, but I have big plans for the future. I have three boys who are going to need some yard work to do to keep them out of trouble. Along with the rest of our yard, we will get it done in phases.


I already knew zucchini went a long ways and now I really know. I've been up to my eyeballs in zucchini. When I don't pick for more than about a day this is what I end up with. The boys have been pretty excited to go tromp around in the mud and help me pick stuff. We've also watered it by hand all summer, so they both like to use the hose in dirt...which of course makes mud.


Cowboy Luke doing the work. For a while we had an infestation of squash bugs, and we were on a mission to kill them. He worked pretty diligently with me for several days in a row to get the "bad bugs." We had them by the bazillions. During one of our killing sprees a huge thunder/hail storm started, and we had to make a run for the house. Luke had on his rubber boots and ran out of them/fell down on the way. I was pretty much just thinking of myself and running for cover, but I did end up going back to help him at the same time Jer came out to assist. We all got completely soaked in a matter of seconds. He now insists on wearing boots that are "better for running" while gardening.

We've had tons of tomatoes and Jer and I have had lots of BLTs this summer...actually they are usually just BTs or BATs (avocado). Very good. We've had to race our neighbor's chickens to the ripe tomatoes and that has resulted in a very unhappy Jer at times, but we've had plenty. My mom and I spent a fun afternoon chasing kids and making salsa which turned out really good. That's my canning effort for the year. Now when I have extra stuff I just take it to my neighbors whether they want it or not. Next year I'm definitely putting in some berries. I took Seth to my neighbor's house to pick raspberries the other day and he was in heaven. I could not get them in the bowl faster than he just ate them.

Sidenote: When Luke brought Seth into the house the other night looking like this the first word out of his mouth (before I could even ask) was "nothing!" I think I know exactly what kind of "nothing" happened to Seth.

Park City

I have been meaning to post about what we've been up to the past few weekends but just haven't got around to it. Before I give a quick travel log I just wanted to say what a great kid I have. Saturday I got the worst migraine...it was my run that started it, but it turned into one of those I only get every year or so. Jer had to leave about noon and by about 4:00 I was so sick. Luke was the best helper ever. He brought me an ice pack for my head and helped tend Ian without me even asking. He was really so sweet. He asked me, "When moms are sick do kids get to watch movies?" I wanted them inside where I could keep track of them, so about 6:00 he and Seth settled in to watch Madagascar. I did manage to get myself off the couch to pop them some popcorn and then Luke told me he was going to get them some more snacks. He came over with a huge tupperware of fish and fruit snacks each for him and Seth...really huge. I was just glad he was taking care of everything. Anyway, they were all great boys and took good care of each other and me. About 8:30 when I felt like I could move again I was about to put them to bed, Seth asked innocently, "Eat dinner?" Oh yeah, dinner. So they had cold cereal and headed to bed. I probably won't be mother of the year, but they were boys of the year. I'm pretty lucky!

Labor Day Weekend we stuck around home, but the boys played hard. Friday evening they headed up P Canyon with Jer on the 4-wheeler and then we attempted to sleep out on the deck. We didn't head out until almost 10 pm but once our motion lights turned on it chased out the wasps living inside them, and we literally had hundreds swarming. That put an end to sleeping out and a couple of disappointed kids headed back to bed inside about 11:00. We will try again. The next day the boys spent all day with Jer up at grandma and grandpa's house. They went out in the boat fishing with Jer and his dad and had a great time. Luke caught two fish. Luke held up his hands to show me the size and then said the other one was "five feet more bigger." We're still working on that grammar. They didn't get home until almost 9 pm after a day of fishing, biking, and playing with cousins and they were exhausted. We headed back up Sunday for Tucker's blessing and by then Seth was so tired he almost couldn't function. Monday we went to the Founder's Day parade and festivities and barbecued with the Dattages. They wrapped that up with another ride up P Canyon with Jer and my dad, and they were both so tired they fell asleep on the way down. It was a great weekend spent with family. We are lucky to have such great family on both sides!

Last weekend Jer and I took the boys and used a few days at my family's time share in Park City. Here's a bunch of pics...I couldn't decide.


Anytime there's a pool, kids are happy. We swam and swam and swam some more. Ian was a champ to hang out in his stroller on the side, so we were all able to swim together a lot. Luke is becoming quite the little fish.

We went to the Olympic Park and watched the aerial jumpers practice. Jer and I thought it was awesome. The kids thought it was pretty neat too.

Ice cream also equals kid (and dad) happiness. Seth managed to get his on everyone in the family somehow.

Ian was great as usual!

I wanted a few pics with the kids but getting them all together was difficult. Luke was cooperative though.

Seth...not so much (although at 2 I couldn't get Luke in a pic for anything so there's hope).

This says a lot about what Seth was up to. We were right by a bookstore and the owner came out and asked Seth not to chase his cat...I kind of thought he should keep the cat inside if he didn't want it chased!

This was the main attraction. Seth yelled over and over as loud as he could, "Enbuddy (anybody) here?" It was cute.

This is Seth's face when he says "tigers coming."

What kid can resist?

A ride up the gondola to hike around.

The hiking got rained out, but the kids liked the ride anyway.

My boys...I sure am thankful for them.

Jer and his mini-me. See the resemblance?

Thanks to all my boys for some great memories. Love you.

Oh Seth

This post is dedicated to my cute Seth. He's up to lots lately, and I wanted to record it for him. I'm amazed looking at the picture below taken at the beginning of the summer how much he has changed in just a few months. He's definitely two and sometimes it can be a bit terrible, but he is also so much fun. He keeps me literally running around all day. He is super active but also very loving and cuddly if you can catch him. Often when he is naughty he gives me this little sideways look/mischievous smile that is hard to resist. Jer and I often find ourselves trying not to laugh while disciplining him. So here's what Seth is up to at this age and stage.


Seth loves all things wheeled and/or motorized. If they have both that's even better. Seth brought his scooter in from the garage and was enjoying some fruit snacks in the photo. If you are what you eat, Seth would be fruit snacks and chocolate milk. I may have to get a child proofer for the pantry because Seth tries to help himself a lot! Seth is awesome at riding his scooter and the little tiny bike we have with training wheels. He even usually wants his "helnet on." Safety first. As far as motors go, Seth loves going on 4-wheeler or motorcycle rides with Jer, and I mean loves it. He will just go out in the garage and get on the 4-wheeler and say "ride wheeler" over and over (and turn everything on and kill the battery).

Here are a few places Seth has been discovered lately (and like any good blogging mom a photo has been taken prior to discipline):


In his bedroom closet with an Otter pop and scissors.

In the kitchen eating Quik with a spoon...and spilling it!

At the bar helping himself to some Lucky Charms.

In the fridge helping himself to some orange juice. This one was not so funny...he spilled almost the whole thing and made quite the sticky mess.

When Seth isn't up to something he's...sleeping. That has been quite the change this summer as well. When we moved Ian into the crib, we borrowed a crib from my parent's house for Seth. Less than a week later he was climbing out of it. I considered a crib tent but decided to just bite the bullet and teach him to stay in bed. Most nights it's not that bad. Sometimes during his naps (which he is trying to give up on) I hear loud thumps and he is in there playing with toys and rearranging everything. Jer also found him under his crib one night eating popcorn from a bag he scavenged out of the garbage can! A few weeks after his new found ability to get out of bed, we took the binky away. We had a few rough times, but it has been almost a month and it hasn't been that big of a deal. For a week or so he switched to band-aids for comfort and was crying out for them when he should be sleeping. After going through several boxes in one week, yes he was helping himself a lot, we had to put the stop to it. I was making just as many trips into his room to apply band-aids as I did to retrive the binky! I think we need to save a few band-aids for an actual injury.

One of the most amazing developments with Seth this summer has been in his speech. He was slow to speak, and I've had some concerns but he has made such progress lately. We have been working with him, and it is really taking off. He now has all the speech sounds a kid his age should have, and he is putting endings on most words. It is so fun to finally hear him speaking to us in little phrases. Luke has to watch it now because now he can tell me "Luke punch", etc. He also uses phrases like "stop it" and "go away" quite liberally. When Ian was born he called him "E" and then a month or so later it was "Ea" and now he actually says the whole name. Luke has also graduated from being called "Lu." I have been so relieved and excited about his progress. Two common sounds he doesn't make yet are "s" and "f," so this leads to some pretty cute pronunciations. He is always laughing and saying things are "yunny." He's obsessed with wearing his "running dues." His name gives him all sorts of trouble still because "th" is not in his repertoire yet either...that doesn't leave a lot to work with.

I'm sure I'll think of more later but for now this is what comes to mind about Seth. He goes through life like a bowling ball, and is definitely my child most likely to tip over a huge display at the store or something. He makes life very interesting and just tonight Luke told me he was so "glad Seth was part of our family." I couldn't agree more. So here's to our little "bull in a china shop." All things edible or fragile beware!