Time, where do you go?

On December 6th, TEN years ago, me and this man were married. It has been an interesting, fun, trying at times, productive, and successful 10 years, full of proud moments and accomplishments. Our most proud moments are sitting with us in this picture. I love my family and my husband and I am grateful for how hard he works to provide for us and make our lives comfortable. He is my best friend and a man of his word. If he says he'll do it, you can bet he will and he will go above and beyond to do a better job than expected. I love that he is trustworthy and that he holds the priesthood in our home. He is smart and doesn't give himself enough credit most of the time. He is a great dad and tries hard to teach our boys how to work hard, be honest and trustworthy, and to grow up to be missionaries and strong men. I am proud to call him mine. I look forward to the next 10 years and the 10 after that. 

Love you always B.

I am thankful for . . .

 FALL

I am thankful for my sweet boys and the joy and laughter and happiness and love and craziness and faith they bring into our home. They are mine and I am thankful for that. I am not committed enough to write something I am thankful for each day of the month of November but I will write a few things while I wait to change the wood chips in my smoker. I am most thankful for my Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ. I am thankful for their guidance and direction and for their incomparable love. I am thankful for parents that instilled in me a testimony of my savior. I am thankful for their examples and for everything they gave to me. I never went without and I am thankful for that. I am thankful for my Joseph B. and for his love and support. He has worked hard to provide for this family and has done an amazing job at making our lives comfortable and at making us feel loved. He has made it possible for me to stay home and raise our boys and I am so so thankful for that.  It has been a gift he has given me that I can never repay. I am thankful for the temple and eternal families and music and baking and my siblings and for my in-laws. I have much to be thankful for and I am glad that I have Thanksgiving to remind me of the amazing people and things I have in my life.

"BLUE"

So after a week of trying to say "Z" which we found out is a really strange and awkward letter or name in this case to say and just doesn't work, we have changed our puppies name to "BLUE". It fits and is a ton easier to say. So she is now "BLUE".

Five Little Pumpkins and "Z"

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said "Oh my its getting late"
The second one said "There are witches in the air"
The third one said "But we don't care"
The forth one said "Lets run and run and run"
The fifth one said " Its time for some fun"
Then "Woo-oo-oo" went the wind 
and out went the light
and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight. 

I was so excited when Tad brought this poem home from school as one of his craft projects. I remember learning this poem when I was his age and for some reason, I have no idea why but it has always been my favorite Halloween poem. 

  We carved pumpkins this last week and before I could get a picture of them, their faces shriveled up and they are not very appealing anymore. We roasted the pumpkin seeds and Joe and I made ourselves sick eating to many, to fast, but they were SO GOOD!!!

THIS IS "Z"

 

A few months ago we had gotten a puppy and we named her Liv and we loved loved loved her. She was the BEST dog! She was our first dog Sis's clone I swear! She looked just like her and had the same disposition and mannerisms. She was smart and learned fast. We had her for about 4 or 5 months and she was chasing after Doc one morning who was chasing a rabbit across the street and she got hit by a truck and died. Taffy, the dog we inherited with the house got sick in August and she died too so I was wanting another pup to replace Liv mostly. We found her on craigslist and I had to have her. She has been great so far. She is a fat little toad but is playful and smart and so much fun. She has earned the name "Z" cause all she does is sleep. She can be in the middle of playing with you then just lay down and fall asleep.  She only gets real excited in 5 minute bursts. ha ha ha then she's done for a few hours. I am really hoping she turns out to be a good smart dog. The boys just love her to pieces already.

I don't know about ya'll . . .

But in our neck of the woods, this is the best kind of playground you can get!!! ha ha ha

We bought this slide during the summer and the boys have bugged Joe non stop to build them a club house so they could put the slide up too. The clubhouse has yet to be built but we did manage to get the slide up for their entertainment after unloading the firewood out of our trailer. All three seemed to enjoy it!!!

We are loving these crisp fall days!!! Joe and I have both decided that FALL is officially our favorite season. Our leaves are falling and the air is a cool reminder that Halloween and Thanksgiving are near and winter is just around the corner and with winter comes Christmas and snow and baking and traditions and decorations and wonderful aromas in my home and music!!! 

I am most excited for these holidays!!!

6

Six years ago, we were blessed with "Boogs" my 7lb. 14oz. wonderful surprise. When I got pregnant with Tad, it was not planned for sure but was a pleasant surprise. I would get so mad when people would call him my mistake. He is no mistake, he is a surprise. The same feelings of denial I felt on Darrells birthday, I have felt with Tad. How did he grow up so fast?! Where did six years go and how have I kept him alive and happy for that long! ha ha ha He has been a blessing to this family for sure and we wouldn't trade him for anything! I started calling Tad "Boogs" when he was just a baby. He always had a runny nose and I was constantly wiping it. I would tell him all the time to get his little boogs over here so I could wipe his nose and the name just stuck.

A little about TAD

My little sugar pie! He is the sweetest kid you will ever meet.He has always been the quieter child. He has always been content to just look at a book or draw or just play quietly by himself. He is a smart little boy and has a great mind and imagination. He is all boy for sure and loves spending as much time as he can with his brother and dad outside in the mud, on the four wheeler, on the tractor, or even just in the sandbox. He is very creative and has loved drawing since he was little tiny. At the age of one I would find him on the couch with a pen and a pad of paper drawing circles or lines or just scribbling. It didn't matter what he was drawing, he just wanted to draw. He has created some pretty creative and neat monsters and trains and things since then. He has always been a sweet child that cares about others and their feelings. He is pretty shy and quiet but once you get to know him he is CRAZY! He loves to wrestle his brother and his dad and ride his bike. He has an amazing little spirit and loves to go to church. He loves spending time with his cousins and playing soccer. He loves to spend time with his dad in the field and with animals and if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he will tell you either a worker or a farmer or both, he cant decide yet. ha ha ha I am so thankful he picked us to be his family. I love being his mom and I love that he is mine.

WE LOVE YA BOOGS!!!

First day of school

 Our first day of school was August 13. The boys both got teachers that they have LOVED so far! Tad started kindergarten this year and is really liking school. He has become a little more shy now that he doesn't have Darrell there all the time but he is doing really well. Darrell loves first grade. He loves the fact that he gets to stay longer and eat lunch in the lunch room and he gets two recesses now. He tells me how awesome that is all the time. Ha ha ha

 The boys helped me make cookies and these cards to take to their teachers on meet the teacher night.

Darrell was given a blank piece of paper shaped like a person and was told to make it look like him. What he wanted to be when he grows up or what he looks like now. He decided he wanted to make him look like a train engineer because that is what he wants to be when he gets older. He had to be creative and find all the things he needed himself so he found some old hay that was bleached out by the sun and used it for his hair and some old buttons I had for his eyes and found some fabric that looked like an engineers overalls so we cut some overalls out of it. He colored the rest and had me draw a train for him to cut out and hold. I asked him why he was coloring his teeth grey and he said I'm not coloring all my teeth that color just my dead tooth! ha ha ha he turned out pretty cute though, I thought.

 Tad wanted in on the crafting too so this is the monster he made for me! I thought it was pretty cute too! He cut all kinds of shapes and glued and colored and he was really proud of his monster. I was proud of his creativity! He made the tail out of fabric so it could swish and hit other monsters and dinosaurs. Ha ha ha

Ninjago and Ben 10 were a must for their attire this year and they were so excited to get to finally wear their shirts!

I just can't believe how big they are and that both of them are in school now!

It is a fun adventure for sure!