Good job #32!

We went to Pocatello last weekend to watch Randall's little sister compete in the Idaho State Junior Miss pageant. Maureah did wonderful and we really enjoyed watching her (especially Lainee :) A big thank you Paul and Joni for taking care of Cooper and Carson both nights!

There just happened to be an old car show in town while we were there. The boys loved it!

This is the way we brush our teeth

Brushing teeth is part of our bedtime routine, and quite possibly Lainee's favorite part of getting ready for bed. It's so cute to watch her brush. For a 7 month old little girl she does a pretty good job; she's got the brushing action down pat!

A visit from Uncle Kade & Aunt Amy

Kade & Amy stopped for a visit this weekend. They are very-well liked at our house, and Cooper & Carson were thrilled to have some extra attention for a few days. Thanks for stopping by Kade & Amy!

Lickin' the bowl

My kids love to help me in the kitchen. This was the end result of our chocolate-zucchini muffins.

Funny faces

All three kids were sitting on the couch the other day and I just had to snap this photo of Cooper and Carson making funny faces. The funniest part, though, was that Lainee pulled a funny face just as I snapped the picture. Priceless!

Fruit Stand

After we got back from our camping trip, I hit the local fruit stands for peaches, pears, apples, and other yummy goodies. This particular fruit stand is fun for the boys because they have a little wood car for the boys to play on. The fruit looked so good and was a great deal, so I ended up canning peaches, pears, applesauce, peach/raspberry jam, carrots and tomatoes from our garden, and earlier in the year I canned apricot jam. I'm about canned out, but my shelves are full of healthy home-canned food. Yum!!! I like to home can for a couple of reasons:
1. It's very rewarding. It is a lot of work, but when I'm done I can look at those pretty jars on the shelf with a sense of accomplishment. "I did that!"
2. I know exactly what is going into my food- I can control the amount of sugar and salt, so I know my food is generally healthier than what you can buy in the store
3. It tastes soooo much better than anything in the store.

Last camping trip of the year

We made a quick trip down to Utah Labor Day weekend to see our friends Paul & Joni (and Sam, of course!). We had a beautiful camp spot up American Fork Canyon. It was a lot of traveling to go camping, but we had a wonderful time spending time with our good friends.

Carson, Randall & Lainee just hangin' out

Carson is most definitely a watermelon man. He loves this stuff!

Sam

Sam, Paul, Lainee, & Joni

Carson--- Cheese!

Melissa & Lainee (Randall was making fun of Lainee's little outfit, but she stayed nice and warm, and that was the whole point!)

Sam, posing for the camera!

Cute little Lainee Bug

We went on a little (ok, long!) hike, and Carson got a bit tired. Randall put him on his shoulders and pretty soon he was asleep. So cute!

Cooper, Melissa & Lainee (who can't see because her hat is covering her eyes :)

After several miles, Joni and I headed back to camp with Sam, Lainee and Carson. Randall, Paul and Cooper went on to find the lake. They took a picture to prove they really did find it :)

Cooper's 1st day of Pre-Kindergarten

I took a few pics of Cooper's 1st day of school (August 31, 2009) Randall was out of town, so this was the only way he got to see the event. Cooper just loves school. He loves the socializing and he has a wonderful teacher--- Mrs. Draper. He attends Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 3 hours in the morning.






I like this picture, mostly because it makes him look so little still. It makes me sad to think he's growing up and will be headed to ALL-DAY kindergarten next year :(


Carson didn't want to be left out- he had to have a backpack and get his picture taken, too!


My two silly "school boys"

Funny Cooper-isms and Carson-isms

This post is all about the funny things that have come out of Cooper and Carson's mouths lately.

Holy Smokes!
While picking raspberries at my Grandma Wilcox's house a few weeks ago, I gave Cooper and Carson each a bucket to pick into. Randall was holding Lainee and didn't have his own bucket, so he was putting whatever berries he picked into Carsons' bucket. When we finished, Cooper was pretty proud of the amount of berries he had picked and came running over to show me. Then he looked at Carson's bucket and said, "Holy smokes! You did good Carson!"

It was so funny! Even funnier was that even though the bucket was about 1/2 full, most of them were from Randall. Carson had picked very few of the berries in the actual bucket- he ate pretty much everything he picked :)

After you old man!
When we were at the cabin for Randall's family reunion, all the boys were sleeping in the bunk bed room. One morning the boys all woke up and were playing in the bedroom before breakfast. Cousin Tyler, who is 1 year older than Cooper, decided it was time to get down and told Cooper to go. Cooper replied, "After you old man!"

Just one more thing
Randall has been gone a lot lately, so before bedtime I let the boys call up their Daddy on the phone to tell him goodnight. When we tell Cooper his turn is up and its time to go to bed, this is how the conversation goes...
Cooper: "But Dad, I just gotta tell you one more thing."
Randall: "Ok, what do you need to tell me?"
Cooper: "Um.... well.... " (Then he has to come up with something, because he really didn't have anything else to say)

Yummy Blackberries
We discovered some wild blackberries growing down by the river not too far from our house. So one evening we ventured out to pick some. I warned Cooper and Carson that the bushes were VERY poky and to be very careful so they wouldn't get hurt. The boys each had a little bucket to pick into, and while Cooper managed to get a bottomful of berries in his bucket (while still eating at least that many), Carson ate ALL of his. We picked for about an hour, and the whole time I kept hearing, "Ouch! Mmmmmm... These are really good blackberries mommy!"
After a really prolonged "ouch" from Carson, I told him to go play and not pick anymore. Carson replied with, "But I not done, Mommy!" Meaning, he wasn't done eating them!

Pretty Girls in Purple

While Randall was on a business trip to Texas, I was telling him how cute Lainee looked for church. He was sad he couldn't see her, so I decided to take a picture to show him :)