Sock Boy

Laundry. My arch enemy. My nemesis. Did I mention... not my favorite chore! When I do a load a day, and keep on top of it, it isn't so bad. However, these last couple of weeks, I've been so busy that laundry is LAST on the list. So I have to take a day every once in a while and try to "catch up" if that's even possible. I took all the laundry up to my bed to get it all folded, and half-way through that adventure, Bryson came upstairs to see what I was up to. I was trying to separate all the socks so that I could have one of the girls pair them up as one of their chores. Well, Bryson and I proceeded to have a sock fight. It was really funny. We were both laughing so hard throwing socks at each other. Once we had finished throwing socks everywhere, we gathered them up and I piled them on top of him. We had a great time, but all good things must come to an end... soon it was bedtime, and time for me to finish folding that stinkin' laundry. I still haven't caught up. I'm not sure I ever will. But I will definitely have a sock fight with anyone who wants to!

Zoo Babies

Our kids love to go to the zoo. I love to go especially when there are baby animals to see. There are quite a few right now. They are SO cute!

The kids love to get a map and figure out which direction to go...


I love tigers... they are my fave! We were excited to see the cute babies. They were so funny. There were three of them, and they kept trying to sneak up on their mom. It was so cute.


Baby giraffes are so cute. They always seem so little when they are standing next to their mom, but when you realize that they are over 6 feet tall, they don't seem so little anymore.


When we went to the zoo in August, we were told that the female elephant was in labor, so we were super excited to be able to see the new baby this time! She was the cutest! Like the giraffe, she looked so tiny next to her mom, but I don't think 250 lbs. is all that small. She played with her ball, and tried to reach something through the fence... it was fun to watch her. And the mom kept reaching up for a bite of hay, and she would lift her one front foot - so graceful.

And of course, the cutest babies at the zoo belong to me!

We had Jared's brother Matthew and his cute family visiting from Virginia. They were here for the week, so we talked them into coming to the zoo with us. Their cute little Kylie had fun, I think. She liked the carousel.

Jared's sister Marie and her husband Jeff were there too. Some of us didn't manage to get in any of the pictures. We had a really fun day at the zoo!

WaCkY dAy!

This week in preschool, the boys have been learning a little about Dr. Seuss. Tuesday was "Pocket Day." My nephew had the most pockets, coming in with 14 (I think). His mom is super cool! I got to her house to pick up Justice, and of course I had forgotten that it was pocket day, but Jana had remembered, and had sewn a ton of pockets to his shirt, plus he was wearing cargo pants... so he definitely had a bunch. Luckily we had a few minutes before they had to be at school, so I quickly and sloppily sewed a few pockets onto Hayden's shirt. He didn't have quite as many as Justice, but came in second with 10 pockets (counting his five pocket jeans). I didn't get any pictures that day, because by the time I picked him up, his pockets were falling off. Oh well. Thursday was Wacky Day. I remembered that it was "wacky" something, but I couldn't remember if it was just wacky HAIR day or what, so I called Jana to get the 4-1-1. Thank goodness she has her October Newsletter handy (I have misplaced mine) and she let me know that it was just plain "Wacky Day!" So we got right to work finding some wacky mismatched clothes and creating quite a wacky hair-do. We felt the goggles added just the right Napolean Dynomite touch. We had to get some fun pictures of the two little buddies when we went to pick up Justice. They were hilarious! As we were getting in the van, Hayden yells, "Wacky Preschool, here we come!" What a funny kid.

Halloween is on it's way!

Wasn't it just August last week? That's what it feels like! In fact, I still can't get my head wrapped around the fact that we are a week into October. Maybe that's why I forgot to call and let my parents know about the School Fall Choir Concert that was last night. Just a couple of hours before, I had Eryn call to invite them (I know... I know... Sorry Mom and Dad!) Being the awesome grandparents that they are, they came even with the short notice. Eryn has always been our little "singer." Even before she could talk she was trying to sing. She chose to take choir this year, and is loving it. I am so impressed with her teacher. She has learned so much, and has even started harmonizing with songs on the radio. Her concert was so fun. I did record some video, but it's rather long, so I don't think blogger will even let me post it, but we really enjoyed the fun fall/Halloween music. They had these cute "monk" costumes that were made from bedsheets, and they came in singing a cool chant with their hoods up and holding fake candles. It was pretty cool, and very Halloweenish. They sang a fun fall song in Old English, then some songs from the Nightmare before Christmas (definitely Halloween songs), the other choir performed, and then they all sang "Oh Fortuna" which was VERY cool. You'd recognize it if you heard it. Here is a picture I snapped just before they sang one of their songs.

Mopping Machine

Backwards, too small T-shirt? CHECK!

Green sweats that are too small, too? CHECK!

4-yr-old who picked out his own pajamas and dressed himself? CHECK!

New mop-head and a dirty kitchen floor? CHECK!

Atleast he still wants to help! I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. I let him mop for as long as he wanted to, then I finished up. He was really scrubbing hard, too. Love this kid :)

Bryson, finally...

Starting in July, I began taking my kids out one at a time to take some pictures of them. I did Eryn first, then had a couple of crazy weeks before I could take Kaitlyn. After Kaitlyn's we had some more crazy weeks before I could take Hayden (and we took his when the other kids were in school) then MORE craziness - soccer, school, and my first wedding, for which I did engagements, bridals, and the wedding pictures all within a month. Like I said... CrAzY! Finally, it was Bryson's turn. He is my best model. He is my little photography buddy and budding photographer. He is the one who takes my dad's old Film SLR and says "okay, mom... stand here like this. Oh wait, let's find some better lighting... there! Perfect!" and pretend-snaps all kinds of fun pictures of me. He is the one who ALWAYS volunteers when I say "could one of you come outside and sit for me while I figure this new flash thing out?" when everyone else huffs, puffs, and quickly walks away... He's the one that says "Hey, mom... can you take a picture of me?" He is so great! So when I told him that I found a place that I wanted to try out for pictures, he was actually excited! He is funny. He loves to come up with his own poses, and "spots" to pose. Hayden came along, too, but of course was much more interested in picking up sticks and old pieces of cement. Anyway, here are Bryson's 6-yr-old (6 months late) fall portraits... finally! When I look at these, I can't believe how big my little buddy is getting. 1st graders are just so grown up! (And don't mind the good 'ol watermark... I already had them sized and stamped to put on my photography blog, so I just used the same ones. :) )

And, of course I have to post a few of Bryson's own, original poses. When your kid is saying "here, take a picture of me doing this..." how can you say no?