october is a blur (part one)

I was grateful tonight when a lady ran up to me in the parking lot and said, "Ma'am, is this your purse? I thought it might be the woman with the three kids. You left it in the basket."

Wow. I have three kids.

And no brain.

I really miss it, actually.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in urgent care with JP and his broken arm. The kind nurse, looked at me and the three boys, then with a chuckle said, "my mom had 8 boys until she had me. Then she stopped." Is that supposed to be encouragement to keep on trying?

Actually, I love my life with these boys, but man, this past month has been C.R.A.Z.Y.!!!

To recap the month......

Thank goodness for my dad. I got a lot of sleep done while he was here.

Then he left.

And it's been chaos ever since.



While he was here, he painted, and painted, and painted.

I did manage to let "the help" out for a day off to see the beautiful fall colors and patterson farm.

We were so sad to say goodbye. He was here for almost a month and it made me realize how hard it has been living so far away from family. We truly appreciated all the help he gave us. I don't know how I can ever repay him. Dad, are you sure you don't want to move in?

The broken arm.



Apparently an air mattress DOES NOT make a good bridge from the ping pong table to the futon.

Who knew?



In his own words, "next time mom, I think I'll use wood to make my bridge".

Good call, buddy.




The fall in Ohio is BEAUTIFUL.

I just wish it lasted longer. Especially this year. I spent so much time inside the house , I didn't get to enjoy it the way I usually do.



We also love raking up the leaves once they make their way to our front lawn.





With two gigantic trees in our yard, guess what we are still doing. And have done--3 times already.

why it's not a good idea to watch a show about snipers with wes

After dinner, I was quickly gathering the stuff from the table to take to the fridge, when out of nowhere a yellow dart came flying through the air and smacked itself right into my left eyebrow bone. I screamed and then looked to see which boy it was that tried to take his mother out. Then I saw Wes, in sniper position on the floor, barely poking out from behind the door frame.

After screaming and yelling something about how you could make someone go blind, and "we don't shoot guns at people", and throwing the dart gun in the garbage, and time out-- I decided to sit down and have a talk with Wes.

It went something like this.....

Wes, you really could have hurt my eye. I don't want you to accidentally hurt someone. That's why we have rules about guns. We never shoot at people. Ok?

Wes, why did you shoot the gun at mommy?

His response,

Mom, I was trying to shoot the wall and you got in the way. You should have asked permission.


Oh. I see.

It's all my fault.

a short post

Holy cow. How do people do it with lots of kids? I'm not sure if I'll ever have time to blog again. Though, I will try. So much is happening and I have no time to document it. Truman is 5 weeks old, and still a complete angel. Can I stop holding my breath yet? I keep waiting for the insane amounts of crying like we had with Wes, and yet nothing. Oh, this is a tender mercy from a loving God. And I can't express my appreciation enough.

Truman and The Bear
1 month

check this out-- a give away

A friend's husband, Ryan Harper, is doing a giveaway on his blog. He does photography for fun and has some really great pictures. Go to his site before Oct. 30th and to try to win one of his great photos. I know, I know, by sharing this information I'm lessening my chance of winning, but that's just how thoughtful and caring I really am. :)

http://www.ryanharperphotography.com/blog

Here are some of my favorites:

This one is of the tetons. It reminds me of home.

This one reminds me of the lighthouses I fell in love with when I was a missionary in Michigan.



The Salt Lake temple, where we were married.



Bryce Canyon, where we honeymooned.

What Do You See?

Should I be concerned about my kindergartner?

(Actually, I found out it's a bat and those are his wings.)

on being a big brother

These two boys can't get enough of their little brother. They adore being the big brother. Wes has been waiting a long time for this status. When we brought Truman home, Jud took the pleasure of teaching the boys the fine art of big brotherhood. This is what he said,

"When you are the big brother you get to tease your little brother.

That's just how it goes.

But what happens if someone else starts to tease your little brother?

You know what your job is?

You beat them up and say, 'Don't mess with my little brother'!"

3 obstacles to a good nights sleep