We Have BUNKBEDS!

I believe Rulon's words were, "um mom, keep it down since I am sleeping please." doesn't everyone sleep with one hand on their Pontiac?
Hey mom look what I can do! Mads thought sleeping was boring, so he did a few tricks (even in such limited space).

Oh yes, this is even better, BUNKBEDS. Hmmm, where are all the toys boys?????? OH, all over the place, cool, just checking.

I'm ready for school mom!

Hmmm, is 1 1/2 too young for school? Mads thinks Rulon is the cats meow, or the lions roar more likely, so he does everything Rulon does. He wanted so bad to wear Rulon's back pack -But Rulon has not decided to share that treasure yet. Soooo, when Rulon was napping....

uh, and then there's the not so ready for school look.

Nice Buns!

I finally got up the guts to try to make Mona's delicious buns!!! I decided they would be a great gift for the neighbors this Christmas... AND THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD. I am happy to say that I did a good job, Chester even says so.

Here's the set up, big bowl of dough (after 1 hr rising) and buttered pans ready & waiting.

Ooooo, aaaaaaaah, buns all ready to rise again for an hour and then bake.

MMMMMmmmmmmmm, so golden-soft and delicious!

Packaged and ready to go to neighbors!

WAIT, taste test first...
Yup, they are good!

Can't resist showing what Mads was doing while I was baking, no big surprise, he HAD to find SOMETHING to do :)

Rulon the red nosed reindeer

Rulon is in a play group with 3 other boys and it was at our house this morning. I decided on a craft last night (late of course) and I really think it turned out cute... the boys had fun and left with reindeer shirts with their own hand prints.

Got milk?

I was putting groceries away and turned around to this... man he's cute!

Hunting with Dad

We just spent a GREAT week in Canada. The highlight for Rulon was hunting for the first time with his dad. Rulon, Chester and Steph drove to the top of a big coulee (top of a ravine) and when they got out it was so windy Rulon said, "I just want to get back in that truck!" With some bundling, he was fine and they were off through the brush. They shot at some birds and when Chester lined up a shot at a rabbit Rulon said, "Why do you want to shoot that rabbit? Maybe he has some fun things to do and wants to get some lunch." :)

Rulon even got down on his belly and inched up to the edge of the coulee and lined up his own shot!!! He shot the 22 a few times and called it the quiet gun, you know as opposed to the shotgun! Needless to say he had a great time with his dad!

Mmmmm tastey chips on the drive home.

mmmm yogurt

Mads is getting pretty good at eating with a spoon, some good thick yogurt is great for learning! He just doesn't like it if I take his yogurt before he's done... watch.

Julie's Birthday

My birthday was great! Chester got a babysitter so that we could go shopping and get a bite to eat (I am wearing my new shirt, jeans & necklace) and then when we got home we had cake & ice cream with a few friends and then the boys played some Rock Band.. All in all, 33 isn't so bad :)

Round 2 of candles so the kids could huff and puff and blow them out, FYI that's Christie's son & daughter by Rulon for my fam who cares.

Sleepers

Real sleeper...
Fake sleeper...

both cute!!

Dirt & Worms

Some of you may know about the dirt and worms... it is the trick or treating "treat" from our neighbor Lyn to our boys. Last year it was only Rulon (Mads was waaaay too little) so Rulon was the sole recipient of a HUGE bucket of edible dirt and gummy worms... This year is was a more manageable medium sized cup of the treat for each boy... mmm, delicious!?

Halloween Round 2

Even though Chester worked Halloween night, he dressed up and had his co-workers speechless, well- they had no words only laughter!! He was an over zealous Parks Canada ranger fully equipped with harness, rope, water bottle, bear spray (ok, not really), and a pure love of the outdoors!! If only the picture did his shorts justice, the whites of his legs were painfully visible with those daisy dukes. We visited him at work for some giggles and pictures.

Mads was fascinated by all the glowing jack-o's along the trick-or-treating path.

I had my awesome neighbor Lyn with me to help with the craziness of carting the boys through the neighborhood to gather sweet halloween loot. She loves us to peices and was excited to be a part of the trick-or-treating and even dressed up as a witch, what a good neighbor!! The boys don't even realize how spoiled they are with a cart ride from door to door instead of walking - actually, it's the only way to keep Mads heading in the right direction!

Halloween Round 1

Trunk-or-treating at the church was crazy but GREAT!! Rulon was a fireman (minus the hat, he wasn't havin it) and Mads was a pillowcase ghostie!!! AND THEY WERE THE CUTEST KIDS THERE, dare I say they are frequently the cutest kids ANYWHERE, but that's another story.

Mads loved his costume and did not mind having his face painted or his hair colored... what a good little ghost. It only took him a minute to grasp the idea that at each car someone was going to give him a treat for his bag! He was faster than I was.

Rulon was concerned about his candy being taken by his little ghost brother, so he guarded it with serious focus of a good fireman.

You should have seen the ring around the tub when these two yahoos got done bathing, sheesh, and we're doing this again tomorrow??

A visit from Melissa!

I miss my sisters sooo much, so when Melissa and her two youngest flew out to visit it was a BIG DEAL! She even treated me to lunch as an early birthday present, and let me tell you, we TOTALLY LOVED IT! Moms do not get to enjoy too many meals planned, prepared and cleaned up by someone else!


Our kids had a blast playing together and it was so nice outside we even played hopscotch and other back yard games!

There was no keeping the little ones away from and out of the fire pit, why are kids so attracted to a pit with black rocks in it... oh, because it's dirty!!

Boys in Action

Rulon has recently picked up the skill of galloping like a horsie, be sure to notice his shrill little "whinney"!!

Mads cannot pass up a chance for a bath, he can even climb in all by himself (scary) that is not such a feat unless you have seen our extra tall/deep tub in person.

Cutie Whitney

Well, in following Brittney's lead I found the 4th picture in the 4th file on my computer... what a GREAT picture to land on. I think Whitney was the first baby to have a sleepover at my house, she is the olders daughter of my younger sister Lindsay. Whitney was my "lovebug" as I used to call her when she and her family lived in Provo. She always made me feel like a million trillion bucks when I would see her with her big hugs and smiles. One time when Chester and I stopped by (this was years ago, Whitney was small, like maybe 3 or 4) Whitney answered the door and Chester said "Hello, Whitney how are you?" in an unusually serious voice to which Whitney said, "hmm, are you a robot?" It was just funny. I miss Whitney and her whole family!!

The last of the nice weather

With the nice weather fading away we have spent a little while each day outside... pretty soon wimpy mom won't be so eager to go out and play. Ugh all the bundling and boots and coldness, hrmph. Soooo, we went over to our neighbor Lyn's house yesterday and played in her grass, rocks, leaves, and water...

This tub catches rainwater and is like a boy magnet. Very soon after this picture Mads was soaked from head to buns since Rulon felt the need to splash him mercilessly. Of course Mads is not one to protest much so I guess it was ok.
We sure love the nice weather and any chance to play play play!

Meat Eaters

um, let's see... whose boys are these??? CHESTER'S!! You know they don't get gnawing on beef bones from Julie!

September fun at the park

Today after Rulon's nap he was having a hard time shaking the toddler blues... so we packed up and went to the park, for it is true blues medicine! Rulon played on the big playground stuff and was a FIREMAN putting out fires and yelling "Emergency, emergency!" He even had a little friend to give commands and fight fires with for a while. He kept calling her "that girl" (he'll learn, give him time) In the brief moment that he rested from his emergency responding he made a killer Steak angel - as in snow angel but in a movie a lion had a dream in which he was doing an angel in a bunch of cascading t-bone steaks. He is truely his fathers son! And Mads thinks he is big enough to do anything he wants, he tried so hard to get up this ladder. Check out his serious face.
AND THEN what did we see pull into the distant parking lot???? TWO HUGE FIRE TRUCKS. We hurried over so Rulon could see them close up and then it got even better...
...the fire fighters came over and shook his hand , turned on the flashing lights and let him sit in the driver's seat and "drive" the fire truck. 7th heaven I tell ya, what a good day it turned out to be! Thank goodness we didn't just stay home with the blues.

Sick boys??

If anyone wonders if childrens/infants Motrin works in real children... both of my boys have temps of about 102 degrees but had taken their medicine like good boys and this was the result.

A day at the zoo.

With so many appointment in Salt Lake, we decided to make one of the trips fun and head across the street (literally) to the Hogle Zoo. Rulon had never been there before and was so excited to see Alex the lion (that's the lion in one of his fav movies) Well, who knew the Hogle Zoo's lion died a while ago and there is no replacement... oh well, he loved all the other animals and the carousel too!!