Thanksgiving At Our Home Away From Home

We stayed home this Thanksgiving without visitors or anything.  Nonetheless, we had a really lovely Thanksgiving. We made the turkey with lots of other grub including Bens delish cranberry sauce ~ yum yum! We watched some of the Thanksgiving parade, Ben tossed the football around with Brandon outside (until Brandon was fed up with not being able to catch it), we had a little treasure hunt for Brandon (which I think we'll make a tradition because he loved it!), we expressed our "Thanks",  and ate some of our HUGE turkey. Later that evening we went to the Boise Botanical Garden with some friends, and that was a lot of fun too, we got all bundled up and walked around the garden path looking at all the twinkling lights, drank hot cocoa, ate cookies, warmed ourselves by the fire barrels & looked for the non existent Santa Claus that we told Brandon would be there but wasn't but should've been :/ Afterwards we had our friends over for Ben's made from scratch chocolate cream pie and attempted to have the kids watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving but in actuallity they were loud wild beasts running and playing in Brandons beloved blanket fort. Yesterday was a day that made it easy to see that we have so much to be THANKFUL for, even when I lost my freakin' phone at the freakin' parking area of the freakin' botanical gardens, it was still a remarkable day :) Full of family, friends & love :)

UPDATE: Phone has been found and all is well.

Beware of the Banana Moon

Last night, Ben took Brandon out to eat for a nice father son dinner. {What a guy!} While they were out Ben told him that when there is a full moon he'll turn into a werewolf, Brandon intrigued replied, "well, when there is a banana moon I'll turn into a ghost!" 

What a funny boy!

This Past Week

Whats been going on at our house you ask.

Bridger splashing in a toilet containing a pale yellow liquid (provided by older brother)

Three sickies all weekend

Booger crusted faces every morning

Booger "rags" scattered throughout the house

Vasaline globs smeared all over Brandons face, hands, legs and wall. That was fun to clean! Yay!

Red mustache on Brandon's face from so much nose wiping

Brandon asking for meds all day because they taste too delicious

Ben so sore he can barely move from working out at a new gym (I practically had to dress him this morning - not complaining :)

On the bright side:

I feel magnificently great and healthy (knock on wood) and Ben (with the help of Brandon) made a yummy apple crisp dessert that could brighten anyones day. Plus Ben and I laughed so hard last night it made me cry and Ben double over in pain :) Isn't it the best to have a good laugh until you cry once in awhile?

Bat-Bridger!

Well, here it is. Here is the video you have all been waiting for. Sit back and enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

We had a lot of fun this Halloween. We did a little too much I think, but Brandon had a blast. He was a Kangaroo and Bridger was a frog. We went to a little Halloween party at a friends house where we ate lunch and Brandon got to decorate halloween cookies with a bunch of other kids. Later, Brandon had a Halloween carnival at his preschool, which threw him off a little, he wasn't sure what to think of his teachers all dressed up in costume. Then, we went to Trunk or Treat, which is always a lot of fun and a good way to give & get a lot of candy fast. Then Ben and Brandon went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Brandon was seriously on the biggest sugar high! He was a mad man. He loved passing out candy to trick-or-treaters and I loved sticking some of Brandon's candy in our pass out bowl. Hope you had a good one too!

The Zoo

We went to the Zoo last week with some friends. It was a lot of fun for the kids. They loved to play and climb on everything. They barely seemed interested with the animals though, they just kept asking where the giraffe slide was. Silly kids :)

Bridger wore these goggle thing for at least a half hour at the zoo it was really cute.

Brandon's Awesome Pumpkin

For Preschool, Brandon went to a pumpkin patch with his class to go on a hay ride and pick out a pumpkin. Each kid had to pick a pumpkin they could carry to take back home. I just had to laugh when I saw Brandon's pumpkin sitting next to all of the other kids pumpkins. Brandon's was by far the smallest, all of the other pumpkins were perfect looking pumpkins, about the size of a bowling ball and perfectly orange with a nice little stem. Brandon's teacher told me that Brandon had told her that he was going to be looking for a very small pumpkin for Bridger, so when he found this one he was very excited. I just love it, it is the coolest funniest pumpkin and Brandon was pretty proud of it.

Linder Farms Pumpkin Patch

The kids and I went to a local pumpkin patch this weekend to pass some time. Ben is in San Francisco taking his PE Exam to become a bona fide engineer. Anyway it was kind of fun. Brandon was really excited to go on the big blow up slide, but it was crazy busy and Brandon isn't really into crowds, but he really wanted to go on, so as soon as he steps on some big girl slams right into him. K- Brandon cries if he's barely nudged sometimes, so we had a nice big showy cry. It was uphill for Brandon after that and kind of downhill for Bridger. Bridger can't walk yet and weighs more than I can stand to carry for long, so he kind of had to stay in his stroller a lot which he really doesn't like. Brandon rode the barrel train ride which he really liked and they had a little kid straw bale maze that he LOVED. He went through it about five times. Bridger found some fun playing in the straw while Brandon went through the maze. So, by the end I was annoyed and sweating, but the kids had fun overall, so that's why it was just 'kind of' fun. 

Cute Bridger Pictures

Transformers

These are Brandon's new favorites. He just LOVES Transformers. He spends hours a day playing and pretending with these things. He gets kind of frustrated with Optimus Prime (the red guy) though, he's hard to transform. Thought I'd share.

TAG! You're it!

So, I've been tagged.

1. I've never had a perm. Their are a lot of things I've never done before, but I'm just so glad to say that I've never had a perm. No awful perm pictures. (for those of you, my friends, that have had perms - well, I bet you have some pretty funny pictures to look back on, right?)

2. I have a habit of biting my nails and cracking my knuckles. 

3. I am way better looking in person, than in pictures. At least I like to think so, otherwise there is definitely something wrong with my camera, especially the camera on my phone. If that is how I really look - then thanks for being my friend anyway.

4. If I take a drink upsidedown - hiccups gone.

5. I love to cook for friend gatherings  - we don't do that much anymore, but both Ben & I really like to cook gourmet-ish food and finding delicious new recipes to try.

* Here is an extra - I just watched The Notebook for the first time. It was on TV - umm I was bawling... So that is what I was doing tonight, watching an embarrassingly mushy romance and bawling.

So I TAG: Bonnie, Jennie, Wendy, Nina, & Pam

Here are the rules:

A. You have to list 5 things/habits about yourself

B. Go to 5 of your friends blogs and leave a comment informing them that they have been tagged.

C. List at the end of your posting who you have tagged.

YES!

Okay, so this is pretty much "Lori's" blog.  But we share everything (except toothbrushes, and clothes and a ton of other things) so I didn't think she would mind if I added my little corner of fun...

I am sure she will be totally fine and I will let her keep the whole rest of the blog.  Just please let me keep my corner of fun for anyone who visits and wants a little bit of "guy" time?  Lori...?  Okay guys, don't say anything to Lori.  She will let me keep it for sure.

PS - Lori, I totally figured out how to post AND edit the blog on my own.  Mad props!  And the movie of Bridger falling on his face, totally fake.

October is here!

Like most, I love this time of year, it's the best! I've had the urge to make something pumpkin for the last couple weeks, but I told myself to wait until October, when it is more appropriate :). Mmmm... I am so ready for pumpkin bars. Those are my faves so I'll start with those.

I made a Halloween craft - a Halloween sign. Both Ben and I have a thing where we don't want to store a lot of decorations for any holiday's, but I still love holiday decor, so I don't know, the sign is small and not a big deal to store. I got the idea from an etsy store that make really cute signs.

So, last night, I went out with some friends, which was so fun! Anyway, Ben graciously stayed home and took "care" of the boys while I was out. This is how Ben takes "care" of the boys while I'm out.

Bridger was actually fine, poor kid. Besides that they had a great time together & I had a nice break away :)

Brandon in Preschool & my New Haircut

So I haven't posted in awhile, not much going on. Brandon started preschool earlier this month. He LOVES it, I mean really loves it, he asks to go everyday. Here he is ready for school with his little lunch box and a big smile. Such a cutie.

I got a new haircut. I really love it! This picture is a little crummy, I took it right before bed last night. My new hair cutting friend Bonnie did it for me. She's awesome! Thanks Bonnie!

Brandon turned 4!

Brandon turned 4 yesterday!

Seems like he has grown up so much in this last year. Brandon was kind of funny this year. He still doesn't quite get birthdays. He would kind of get mad at us if we got excited about it being his birthday, but he came around at the end of the day. In the car, while playing with a new gift, he told Ben and I that he loved us... because we give him presents. Probably his favorite was a little transformor that turns from a robot to a car, he played with that little thing for at least 3 hours straight yesterday.

Brandon helped me decorate his cake. I know what you are all thinking - amazing cake! Yes, I know :) I especially love the 4 candle right next to eachother at the edge of the cake.  

Brandon wouldn't let us light the candles, still a bit afraid of fire (probably because of the marshmallow incident).
We were going to have a friend party for him, but after the Cali trip I was a little pooped to get something organized, kind of a lame excuse, but we made it up to him by taking him to the classic Chucky Cheese's (where a kid can be a kid). :) Oh yeah, we go all out for our kids.

After having such a great time at one of the Balboa arcades, we knew he would love this. He had the BEST time & we did too actually.


Happy Birthday Brandon!

& Happy Birthday Parker!

California Trip

We had a chance to fly down to California last week for a few days. We had a lot of fun! It was really great to get a chance to see my Dad & Alexis and Todd. Brandon couldn't get enough of all of the attention! 

Brandon excited to be on the airplane.

Brandon blowing bubbles with Grandma Gibson and little cousin Jasmine.

Riding the ferry boat to Balboa.

Balboa Beach

We went to the same old arcades we used to go to when we were kids and Brandon learned how to play skee ball.

Bridger sick of being in his stroller.

We went and visited my Grandma. I just love going to her house. It hasn't changed much in all of these years, so it is a nice feeling to be there. She made us a huge meal with such delicious food. I love my Grandma!

Grandpa Bob holding Bridger. 

We all went to Hansen Dam (near my Grandmas house) after dinner. This is the fishing lake that we we're quickly told to get out of after taking this picture.

On our way home, they had this display in the Ontario Airport. What the.... freaky. 

Brandon and Bridger did pretty well with the 4-5 hours traveling each way. Overall, we loved family and spending some time together. I hope we get to do it again soon.

El Cheapo

Well, Bridger turned 1 and Brandon almost 4, so I thought it was time for a little photo shoot. I couldn't get myself  to want to go all the way down to the mall and pay kind of a lot for some pictures at Kiddie Kandids. And the one time I went to Walmart I didn't think they did a good job, so here we are taking pictures at home. Some pictures cute, some silly, some blurry. Taking pictures of Bridger is hard work, but taking pictures of Brandon was a lot easier, so it kind of evened out, except that by the time I was done I wanted to pull each and every one of my hairs out. So here are some pictures of my cute & crazy kids.