Ode to night-time feedings

So in my late nights up with Dallin - I have rediscovered old favorites on TV and newly discovered a really cool show! I've come to the conclusion that really it is the simplest things in life that make me happy. :)


First is the old discovery: Friends. Like me or hate me for loving this show It matters not! - this show puts a smile on my face every time I see it and reliving old episodes in the middle of the night has had me laughing my brains out while trying to stay in "night mode" for Dallin to stay sleepy. What funny creative people put this show together! Seriously so funny!

Second is a show on the Food Network called Ace of Cakes (I think Marie told me about it and then I decided to TiVo it). They do the coolest cakes ever! If I lived in Baltimore (or close) I may someday get one (when I can afford a minimum of $1000). They are unbelievable. Here are a few pictures. These are so realistic!! Oh to be so talented....

Some Dallin Pictures

So we have survived one month. Dallin is great! I can honestly say it's not having him that has been hard but adjusting to the management of 4 children has been the challenge. If that makes sense....??? In my head it makes perfect sense. Here are a few pictures of him recently.

This one is to compare the size of the zucchini we found in the garden yesterday....it's huge!


I love this bean bag...and my kids all look like it sucks them in when they are on it...but especially Dallin.

Gwendalin has been a huge help with the baby. In fact she loves babies so much she won't leave her babies anywhere. She carries at least one around constantly.

We call him the "Texas"

When Lucky (Grandpa Chesley) first came to visit after we had Tyler - he started calling him "T" Tyler Texas and it stuck. My kids call him that, and occasionally Travis calls him "The Texas" or just "Texas." My nieces (Tricia's girls) were thinking outl oud of my kid's middle names and when they got to Tyler they told Trish his middle name was Texas. Anyway, the little dude is one of a kind. He likes to sit in the bottom of the bassinet where I store diapers and blankets, and he loves to be on anything that looks like a challenge. I have captured a few of these precious moments on film. Yesterday I sent Hutner and Gwendalin to put away laundry and Tyler wanted his own pile to put away...he struggled, but did make it at least down the hall. There is also a few pictures of him on top of the bean bag when I had it upright to re-fluff the insides...he looks like a bird in a nest.

My love of hunting preparation

I can't see the counter or the floor in my laundry room and every corner of my room has been used to store something of great importance. :)








So, I have mentioned before how much I adore the prep time and the coming home time of the glorious hunting season. I decided to take only a few pictures of what has been laying around my house UNTOUCHED for the last month or so. Somethings (granted) have moved from place to place, but overall the clutter has been consistent and drives me INSANE. I hate clutter. I just wanted to remember all the wonderful memories :). I don't hate the hunting, but I do HATE the clutter and junk EVERYWHERE!

A trip to Donnelly

This last weekend we went up the mountain as a family and with Tricia and Matthew's family. Travis and Matthew had a job they had to do in Donnelly ( I don't quite know how to spell that.) We stayed in the cabin where the job was and lucky for us the job only took the boys about 1 1/2 hours to finish so we played the rest of the time. The kids made "Snake traps" and played pool and fished in Cascade Lake (The property backed up to it)- gorgeous! Dallin slept soo soo great...4 hours the first part of the night and another 4 after that...and we weren't even home. :)
Tyler loved playing outside and managed to get all the way down the hill and was standing next to the water on the dock all by his lonesome. I freaked and don't think I've ever run down a rock path that fast. That kid is such a free spirit...maybe it comes with being the third child...am I a free spirit?

I am happy to report that I did beat Travis in a game of pool even if I never hit one ball in! Lucky for me, he hit the "eight" ball in and I won!

The only bad part about this beautiful cabin (probably $$Millions) was that these people must have dogs and there was dog hair every where! I had to do buckets of laundry when we got home. Here are a few pictures of the fun adventures!

Long Rambling Post

Such random thoughts have gone through my head lately about what to blog about this week....hmm...

First I have been craving cream of wheat cereal a lot lately. I don't know if it's becuase I really like it ( I do of course) or if it simply reminds me of simpler times as a kid. We always had some sort of hot cereal growing up and only got cold cereal on the weekends...which we looked forward to. Now that I am in the mother shoes I stink the breakfast thing. My kids eat yogurt or cold cereal they don't like hot cereal. I should've started hot cereal long ago, but that means getting up earlier and at the moment, not something I can do very well.

Why is it that men seem to have hobbies that continue even after they get married? I don't resent them for it, I just wonder what happened to all of mine after I got married, except that I realize my new hobbies are my kids. This thought occured to me a few years back when Travis' grandfather died. On his headstone it had a picture of an airplane ( he loved to fly) and a picture of an elk (he loved to hunt) and a few years later when his grandmother died she had a picture of the temple on hers. She had made the comment shortly after her husband's death that there would be nothing to put on her headstone because she didn't have hobbies like he did...and then she said - " I guess my family is it." Thus, the temple picture on her half of the headstone. I wonder what will be on mine? Hot cereal perhaps? A temple? A lawnmower? (I love mowing the lawn). My husband loves to hunt and this is the season he looks forward to all year...Elk. He has been getting his pack ready for about 6 weeks now and it's contents: Clothes, first aid, gear, etc are strewn about my whole house. Now this part of his hobby is not my favorite...it's cluttery and it lasts forever even after he gets home and it doesn't get immediately put away. Anyway, he is also exercising like a maniac to be able to be "in shape" for the BIG HUNT. I love his ambition, but sometimes I guess I am a little envious that he can just get up and go without the guilt that I would feel if I had such a hobby. It's good for him, he enjoys it and comes home refreshed and renewed. I would be worried about my kids the whole time, so it would not be enjoyable for me. Anyhoo, back to the hobby thing. I used to take piano lessons and I practiced every day. I was okay at it, nothing to brag about, but it was a good outlet for me. Now, I am lucky to play/practice only when required for church or something. It's interesting how things change as your priorities change.

Hunter started frist grade last week. He now goes to school all day. He loves eating lunch at school and getting FOUR recesses. But he comes home so tired and thus the emotional roller coaster begins until bed time. He's a darling boy and loves his social life, but I can tell it's going to take a while to get used to being there for the whole day.

At the bus stop.

Hopping on...he looks so little.....

Gwendalin is doing two days a week of preschool and that is heaven for me. I only have 2 kids at home on those days and it's so quiet. She loves it and it gives me a bit of a break from entertaining.


Tyler is a tank. The kid is solid. He has to be the most laid back sweet boy ever. He can entertain himself all day any day. He needs no one to hang out with - he finds Pie-ders and eats sand and laughs at the dogs. He's a doll.




Dallin is perfect. He is a spitter through and through - last night we went through 3 blankets because he had soaked them to the core with puke. He sleeps pretty good if I play my cards right and he is content almost all of the time. I love the little dude and fall in love with him more every day.

I caught him "sleep smiling"- I love it!



Other rambling thoughts...I have none...I have rambled long enough...if you are still reading: bless your soul.