corndog hangover

Once again, it has been quite a while since my last post. Between crashing our cars, Rodeo Weekend, class reunions, and trying to write, blogging has definitely been on the back burner.

Many have asked about how we like Idaho Falls, and my best answer is "I'm not really sure, we haven't been there much, but I love the house." I think we've spent about 10 nights there this month. Anyway I thought I would post a picture of the house we're renting. They haven't laid sod yet but it is promised to come soon, so we are counting down the days for that. It is much bigger than our house in Logan and brand-new, so you can't beat that.
That beauty on the left in the driveway is my new mommy car. We ended up buying our silver truck back from salvage, and then we bought my dad's truck from him- which is a great deal for us. I have always loved this truck, and while it is slightly odd to be a 2-truck family, I really really enjoy "my" new truck.

This past weekend was one of my favorites of the whole year. RODEO TIME! It's "That Famous Preston Night Rodeo" (that's really what it's called!) All the carnies come and bring rides and delicious food, there's a parade and a fabulous rodeo. I eat as little as possible the days before the rodeo so I can stuff myself with hand dipped corndogs, rodeo-burgers, and fresh squeezed lemonade. I practically have to roll myself out of that place. This year we attended the festivities Thursday AND Friday. Brenner was dressed in his official cowboy outfit and we stayed up until the wee hours eating and screaming at the buckin' bulls. We again had the pleasure of having Aunt Jana, and cousins Blake, Tanner, and Hannah, although this year Jana failed to teach Brenner some amazing expletives like last year. Real expletives were replaced by the less offensive "FREAKIN-A!" which actually doesn't end up sounding less offensive when it comes from a three years old's speech impeded mouth. The teacher of said "new phrase" is still under investigation.


Brenner has a REALLY hard time keeping his eyes open in photos these days. It's annoying to try and take a million to get one with his eyes open so I've given up on that.
Clark slept through the whole thing, but he sprouted another tooth, which I'm sure was a result of all the excitement. He also learned how to crawl up and down the step under the chairs around Grandma's kitchen island.





As you can see, he is one of those kids who has their tongue out a lot. This is new since the teeth have sprouted. He has to feel up the new one for a few days and so the tongue stays out. After initiation of the new tooth, the tongue goes back in until another rookie tooth appears.

Saturday we attended Travis's 10 year high school reunion (I know, he's an old geezer) Following the reunion we drove to Grace and went through the flume at Last Chance Canal. For those of you who have never been "fluming" I will explain, but sadly, I have no pictures. Farmers have big metal flumes for irrigation purposes, and these flumes run above roads, through mountains, etc. The flume itself is a canal about 10 feet wide in a half circle of sorts. The bottom usually gets all mossy and slimy, making it easier for the "flumer" to float down without getting hung up on anything. The flume at Last Chance goes through a mountain about 5/8 of a mile. It's dark and quite frightening for the average ninny. (me) When we exited the mountain we had Trav's mom drop Brenner in and he clung to Travis the rest of the way. When you get to the end you usually have to walk on some boards that people have rigged up along the top of the flume, and at Last Chance, you're what seems like hundreds of feet in the air. I know I have made this out to be scary and dangerous but it really isn't, and we had a lot of fun.
We ended the spectacular weekend with fresh raspberry shakes at Big J's and a few extra pounds on our bodies.

See you next year rodeo. Until then, I'll be thinking of you.

River & IP

We love Island Park and Ashton in the summer. We spent a week at the cabin in IP with my Mom, and she entertained and fed us 'til our heart's content.

If there are gloves or a screw driver anywhere in the vicinity of this guy, he'll find them and keep them in his fist until bed.

Yeah, he's cute.
Grandma's shadow.


Then we had a small hiatus at home.
Then on to the river.
The 4th at the river is something from my childhood that has carried on into adulthood with my husband and children. I love it there and it's especially beautiful and green this year from all the Spring rain. This year we had the pleasure of being a part of the Ashton parade, and had a float for our two businesses. We ran out of candy about 2/3 of the way through, so next year we'll plan better and bring out the big guns.
Nicky and Eric getting Eva's swim togs on. This little girl makes my kids look like big time fatties.

Brenner the fisherman.

The three amigos.

The Haps.

It's been almost a month since my last post, and I know Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles are having Brenner and Clark withdrawals, so here we go.
A lot has happened to our little family in the last month. We started with moving. I never imagined myself as an Idaho girl but Travis thinks Idaho is IT. So we packed up our goods and moved to Idaho Falls to be closer to Trav's work. We found a great house to rent with more space than our house in Logan. I dig the new house, but I'm still getting used to the area. I really loved our neighborhood in Logan, so it's hard to move somewhere new. When we got married, we had prospects of moving to California or even Japan, and I told Travis as long as he is making a good living for us, I would move wherever he needed to go. Idaho Falls wasn't exactly my idea of greatness, but I'm sure we'll all grow to love it here.
Shortly after moving, we managed to total both of our vehicles. We were "t-boned" in our truck, then the next day we were rear-ended in the truck again. About a week and a half later, I was driving north around 9:00 with the boys sleeping in the back and I hit a deer in our car going roughly 78 mph. It's been a bad few weeks for our poor cars. Thank goodness for insurance.
Intermingled in these crazy events, we have been having some summer fun. We went to the annual Nucor Lagoon day, went to the river for the 4th of July, spent time at the cabin in IP, did some boating, and then Clark cut his first tooth. After going through the pictures, I decided there were way too many good ones to try and squeeze them into one post, so I'm going to split it up.
So that's the haps with us, I'll leave you with this guy. It could be Brenner, but it might be mistaken for Burt Reynolds.

Shenanigans!

We have been up to some serious shenanigans lately! It's been quite a while so I'll be brief:

Brenner's third birthday shenanigans:

This was one of three parties for the birthday boy. Here he is seen blowing out the candles on the traditional confetti cake.


Puss in boots shenanigans:

Trav's Mom and Dad have this little cat that B loves. I assume he couldn't find his shoes so he grabbed the next best thing: Grandpa's pipe boots.

Pre-bath-time shenanigans:

These cutie-pies now have a nightly bath together. It's quite the deal.

Dad and boys shenanigans:

Thanks Brenner for the super smile.

I have also fallen into some writing shenanigans! I have recently been hired as a freelance writer for a fitness website called 3fatchicks.com. The pay isn't amazing, but I am now a published writer and I get to choose my topics and write from home, which I think is great. So we are happy about that.

Mild Obsession

This is what Brenner had for lunch:
Organic peanut butter and home-made jelly sandwich on home-made whole wheat bread.
Apples.
Yogurt.
Water.

This is what I had:
Yes that is the Carl's Junior Kentucky Bourbon Six Dollar Burger, A.K.A. my current obsession. It's coming in dangerously close to my current favorite: a fresh seaweed salad from a sushi joint.

I was running errands with the boys this morning, minding my own business when BAM! The craving came from no where and I found myself pulling up to the CJ's drive-through. I'm not even really a burger person but these guys are pretty darn tasty. I am tempted to look up the nutritional information for the Bourbon, but I think it's best left alone. I am aware that it's probably double what my caloric intake should be, but to my credit, I don't get the combo and I enjoy water on ice in the privacy of my own home. I know it's cruel for me to not at least get Brenner some of those disgusting processed chicken nuggets shaped like stars, but believe me, he has his share of kid's meals. So for now, I'll eat up the deliciously unhealthy stuff and make sure my kid is eating healthy.
Thanks for the calories CJ's, see you soon.
P.S. I'm not an organic health nut with my kids, the organic peanut butter was on sale. However, I do think that if you want to eat only organic- go for it, someone has to.

Before and After

This week has produced some "before and after" moments that I think are worth mentioning.

Saturday I decided to make a cake and let this guy help me.
Before:

After:

He grabbed this little bowl from the counter and it came crashing down onto the tile. Normally a broken dish wouldn't have me up in arms, but I was a little put out as this bowl is part of a set of nesting bowls, and now they just won't nest the same ever again.

Don't worry though, he was "Sorry Mommy!"

Brenner has finally learned to ride his bike. Monday we spent a considerable amount of time in our driveway with him practicing his pedaling and turning skills.

Before:

After:

What you can't see under the enormous bandage is road rash in it's finest form.

Finding a band-aid to cover the wound was a trick and I only have two this big, so I guess I'll put "giant band-aids for current and future road rash" on my grocery list.

And I can't just post the big guy, I have to have a picture of this little cutie-pie in the middle.

Pay no attention to the fact that he's the only one looking at the camera. Brenner has been... less than cooperative with picture-taking as of late. Also pay no attention to my mommy hair. I know you can't see it that well and I'm partially glad about that. Since it was falling out in mass amounts I got it cut, and having hair this short has taken some getting used to. Some days I like it and some days it's such "mommy hair" But look at Clark... honestly, he is so cute.

These Days...

I am grateful for tired boys at 8:30.
My sons are sick this week, and with Brenner, it always seems like it's "again".
Tuesday he woke up in the night and was hot so I took his temperature and when I turned it to the light it read 105.7. Horrified I took it in the other ear: 104. I gave him Tylenol, held him close, and he was asleep again in seconds. These sicknesses sneak up on us all the time with B, and I find it so discouraging. His pediatrician was out when I called the next morning, so we went to a "substitute" that ordered chest x-rays, pulse ox measurements, nasal swabs, and the whole shabang. We were a little taken back but went along with everything. In the end Brenner had pneumonia, a borderline oxygen level, and the doc was considering admitting him to the hospital. We decided to take him home, thinking recovery would be better there and it has been. He responded well to the antibiotic and his oxygen levels are back up.

Out of the park?
Yeah right.

Today I was basking in the sunshine in our backyard while Brenner talked through the fence to our little neighbor girls (he was the king and they were a queen and princess) Clark was doing his best to slime the entire blanket he was laying on when I got a phone call from our Doctor's office
"Hello this is so-and-so, from Budge Pediatrics. We got the panel results back and Dr. Brown wanted me to let you know Brenner tested positive for RSV"
Yikes! I asked about the baby and she said "Oh yeah he probably has it too"
Wonderful.
Despite all this, they are both doing well and Brenner is back to himself, although he coughs like crazy when he runs. The "subsitute doctor" also made an appointment for us to go to Primary Children's to see an allergy specialist, but it's not until July so we will see what the future holds with that.
Tonight I am tired. My Moms have been helping me as Travis is working out of town, which I appreciate so much. I even went on a run today while Trav's Mom was here- it felt amazing to be outside alone, just running down the road past the cows.
Tonight after the boys were sleeping soundly, I was about to hit the shower when I came upon these guys:
Every night Brenner brings his menagerie of animals into the tub and when it's time to get out, he lines them up on the side so they can dry and be ready for adventure the following morning. Yes they all face the same direction and generally they touch nose to tail unless I'm rushing him.
I love my oldest child. I mean really really love him. I know all his little quirks and what he likes and dislikes and when he gets hurt he runs to me and I have the magic touch and kiss to make it all better.
It makes me happy to be a Mother.
I'll end with a few of my favorite recent pictures of my favorite boys.



On a side note, Clark is sick too but doing great and sleeping and eating like normal. He is a happy baby and his head seems to get fuzzier every day. I love love love him.