A Grand Accomplishment

I just want everyone to know that our puppy can finally go down the stairs off the back deck! I have spent almost 3 months taking this little dog to go potty NUMEROUS times a day. NOW if I can get her to understand she needs to go down them to go potty.... We will see. Winter is close. Wish me luck.

The proud mama with the video camera

Laugh Out Loud

All right everyone, this is seriously the funniest thing I have seen in a long time, as you will be able to tell by my obnoxious laugh! I was literally on the floor dying. Please remember Braxton WANTED to wear these shoes!

START WITH THE LAST VIDEO FIRST

One BIG Blog...Don't get lost in it!

Last week I took a spur of the moment trip to Spokane...it was very relaxing and much needed. While I was there I was able to get in an early morning hike with my Dad, spend time with my sister, eat at all my favorite restaurants, see my bestest and brother Tim and stay at their new home, check out Nordy and the Rack, AND get a massage at the Davenport. I downloaded 2 books on tape for the way there and back and it was a wonderful idea since it's hard for me to find time to read these days! Also, the main reason I went to Spokane was for my good friend Darcy's baby shower. She and her husband Aaron are having their first baby, which happens to be a boy, in November. I'm soooo HAPPY for them and I really wanted to show them my support because they have always been great friends to me. The miles between us have hardly dampered our relationships, every time we see each other seems the same as always:) Thanks for inviting me you two! I had a great time and miss you dearly!

Darcy and me at the baby shower

A few of the girls in front of the baby room...it's decorated with camo and bears!

This was a picture of the hike with my Dad...we just went to see the Bowl and Pitcher, it was veryyyyyy early but nice and calm.

I love this picture...the sun was just up and shining on the river.

Here is my Dad! The only picture I have of him on our hike and he has his eyes closed! Sorry Dad!

Me! I was bored outside the outhouse:)

Here is my sister Katie, she kills me because she is exactly like me when I was in Highschool...the dinner table was not pleasant to say the least! (I never understood why I couldn't stay the night and my friend's houses every night of every weekend either Kate:)

Well everyone, this is Gus. He is a dark faced little man so it's hard to make out that sweet thing. Gus is Sam and Tim's new bubs. We spent a lot of time together and we even took a nap while Mom (Sam) was at work.

This night Tim and I went to meet Sam after she got off work and have some pizza. We watched a little football and had a great time! I miss laughing sooooo hard every time we are all together!

Obviously...

Poor brother Tim, I know it is very hard to put up with us, it's kinda like having 2 wives!


Well enough about me! Braxton has been a very busy boy lately. We watch BINGO, OLD MCDONALD'S FARM, and ABC's daily at our house and I'm starting to find myself humming them alone...I know sad. We have also been having as many play dates as we can get in before winter, going to the children's book reading at the library on Friday's, preparing the yard for fall, and decorating for Halloween! The snow came a little too early for us last week so I will be taking full advantage of this nice weekend ahead to make sure everything is done!

Story of our lives.

Reading group, we go with Audrey, Patrick, and Matthew. First it is reading and song time, then toys!

Here are all three of the boys playing. They are so cute together!

After the Library, we bring the boys to this little park to swing and slide and eat lunch! It had been such a good idea to let them run wild and then take them home for a much needed nap!

The Spider!

So, my Dad sent me home with Braxton's birthday gift in the trunk when I was in Spokane. He was a little nervous that Braxton might not like it but who are we kidding?! This kid is PURE boy and loves bikes, trucks, cars, motercycles, etc. Braxton was very excited after about 10 minutes of sitting on it ( it was early in the morning and he wasn't sure it was his yet:) He has been sitting on it and trying to ride it around the house ever since. He is a little clumsy and falls off a lot so it will stay indoors until next summer. I don't know if a helmet would do much saving the way this kid crashes!

The lovely new bike!

MUSCLES!

Decorating for Halloween, pulling all of Great Grandma's handmade decorations out veryyy carefully.

Gotta hand it to child photographers, it kinda makes you lose your sanity trying to take a picture of a two year old and 3 dogs on the front porch to show off his Halloween sticks in the flower pots!

Good Job!

So every couple of weeks Braxton gets to pick out something from the dollar section at Target because it's the only area he is allowed to be out of the stroller! This week we got Thumper a winter coat..haha! We thought since she is so little this will keep her warm when it snows!

Side Profile:)

We also had the Hermanson's over to watch a little Sunday Football last weekend. The boys all wore their Packer gear, then we found out the Packers weren't playing. Woops! Thanks for coming over.

TAKE CARE EVERYONE!
Lauren

Lauren: "Happy Birthday to Kylen" Braxton: "No, Braxton!"

Braxton is sure a crack up these days, he was so excited to go to Kylen's house today for his party, but he wanted it to be " Braxton's" party...not Kylen's. Bubba didn't care a whole lot about his second b-day party, but now he want's every party AND present to be his. What a rough life our little guy has:) Either way, we headed to Kylen's house today for a 'Climb the Rock Wall" birthday bash. The party was from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Normally I wouldn't blog the time of our adventures, but this is the EXACT time of our daily nap. So needless to say, Bubs is running on empty:) Mitrianne had a great sport themed party and Braxton had a ton of fun while wearing Bj and me out...I think we needed the naps! Here is a quick snap shot of their dog Tequila. She at one time belonged to Bj, but he had too many dogs and gave her to Dan and Mitrianne's family for Christmas! She is a very small toy pom, very well taken care of, sensitive, and spoiled!

This is the rock wall that has been driving around Billings lately making lots of money for doing kid parties...well let me correct myself...the operator said the weight limit is 360 so adults can rent it too! I told Bj he has to wait till his next birthday:) The kids spent the afternoon climbing up and repelling down...even the little ones caught on!

Thumbs up! (That's what he is trying to do)

Braxton enjoyed climbing the wall too...but it takes a lot of energy for the young ones!

Braxton giving Kylen his gift so we could leave and get some sleep:) We had some fun with glitter, glue, decorative scissors, tape, and markers on the wrapping paper. We even had all three of our dogs put their name's (paw prints) on the card.

What a great party! Now I need some sleep after posting all these new blogs! I have been holding off since we had so many fun things going on this past week. Take care!

Family Pictures

Sunday morning we all ventured off for family pictures with Bj's parents, his brother, and his sister's family. It was a great time and the weather was cool crisp fall weather that felt great! I brought my camera along to snap some pictures during our walk across the park. We won't get our family pictures back for a little while so here are some I took of just our family.

I love love love love this picture...I had to snap it in bad sun but Braxton's face is still worth a million bucks! Bj was running all over this hill and Braxton looked like a bull rider flying around on his shoulders. I was convinced at the time that Bj was going to slip on the wet grass in his dress shoes, but I seemed to be the only one all morning who came across a pothole:)

Here is Bubba going down the slide face first...what a great time for me to be standing there!

This was the end of our picture day. It was a great thing to do before saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for coming to see us! We miss you already! ( I especially miss the laundry being folded by Grandma and all the help with Braxton during my healing of this torn chest muscle I have!)

Babysitting

On Saturday night, Bj's sister and her husband as well as Bj's parents went out of town for a friend's wedding. We took on his sister's boys and their new puppy. This means Bj and I had three boys under the age of 4, two adult dogs, and two puppies who were all ready to party! We didn't think this would be that difficult, except it was! The boys were crazy and a lot of work, but after dinner and playing, we put all three in the tub and got ready for a movie. We made popcorn and juice cups and made the treck down to the basement to watch 'The Incredibles.' They actually all went to bed quite well, two during the movie and one after:) This is Braxton and their youngest son david. He will be two after Christmas.Here are the bean bag boys! They sat here and literally ate a whole entire bowl of popcorn. I was amazed...so cute:)

I had to try very hard to get this picture of Bj...he doesn't like all my picture taking I have been doing lately...

Here is little David running through the sand at Pioneer park. We had family photos Sunday morning and the adventure ended at the playground for the boys to unwind.

Here is silly Simon...he goes by Slymot. Last year when we went to visit them in Hamilton, Bj asked Simon to spell his name with the alphabet letters on the fridge...it came out 'Slymota', we shortened it to Slymot!

We can all be happy that Bj's sister is planning on having another baby or babies, because as you can tell we are all surrounded by boys!! This involves dirt, sand, rocks, dinosaurs, trucks, balls, guns, and swords. We are ready for the color pink and bows!

Play Date

While Grandma and Grandpa were here, we had our friends Patrick and Matthew over to play. They are our friend's Audrey and Roger's little boys. Bob and Carol, Bj's parents, stayed a little longer before they ran errands to see the boys. Bj, Audrey, and Roger all went to school together so it's fun for Bj's parents to see their children. This is their youngest son Matthew, he is 9 months old. He has the best chubby pinch me cheeks! This is Braxton and their oldest son Patrick. He is about 41/2 months younger than Braxton. They have been great buddies since Patrick was born and they been through quite a few learning experiences together, such as beating eachother with child size golf clubs on the landing of a stair case, Braxton biting Patrick's nose and drawing blood, watching each other get time outs, etc. But they do play well together, honestly!

This is Braxton searching through the rolls for Matthew's belly button...jk!

I have a feeling these play dates will get better and better, as far as the boys being able to play without constant supervision!!