Agony of Defeat

Not a good football day overall for our family. Reed's team had their first loss of the season (and only the 2nd loss in his last 4 seasons of football) They got routed 46-6. He had a pretty good game personally, but it was a really hard loss.

Then Oregon got beat by Cal 31-24. Actually Oregon got beat by Oregon.

On a positive note, BYU won their game tonight. Go Cougars!

Sleepy Heads

Why don't they ever do this on MY watch? The standing joke at our house is that Hank emits some sort of "Sleep" aura. It seems the minute I leave and Hank takes over caring for the children, they all magically fall asleep. I can't even get Little Guy to sit still, let alone lay down and fall asleep. Although, he doesn't really look like he was sitting still when he fell asleep...he looks like he was in the middle of an acrobatic move.

You think I'd learn...

This is what happens when Daddy is watching a football game and Mommy is having a "discussion" with big brother about why she doesn't think "Balls of Fury" or "Mr. Woodcock" are appropriate movies for him to go see. (Thank you, Parent Preview!)

Memo to self: DON'T LET LITTLE GUY OUT OF SITE!!!!

Animal House

Montana stayed home sick from church today and this is what she worked on. She made a little dwelling for a random few of her stuffed animals. These are the "couches." Not shown in the picture are 4 tons of tissue paper, stuffed into shoes, hats, etc. to be used as their "beds."

P.S. I know she doesn't really look sick, but she has a horrible, croupy cough that would have freaked people out if I had taken her.

Ready for Bed

Binkie? check

Blankie? check

Hat? check

Sunglasses? check

These are Little Guy's latest bedtime necessities.

Reality Check

Do you ever feel like the line between reality and fantasy gets a little fuzzy when you read other people's blogs? What I mean is, after reading a complete stranger's blog for a considerable amount of time, do you start to have this idea that you actually know them? And all of their family members?

The other day my teenage son was buying a song by Maroon 5 from i-tunes. I got all excited and said to him, "Maroon 5? I know someone in that band!! I mean, I know someone whose brother is in that band. Wait. I mean, I know someone whose brother is married to someone whose brother is in that band. OK Wait. I don't actually know ANYONE associated with ANYONE in that band! It's just that I read CJane's awesome blog every single day of the year and I feel like I know HER. But I really don't. But her brother Topher is married to Lisa, whose brother is in the band Maroon 5. There.

See? I get all confused about who I know and don't know. But I guess that's the beauty of blogs. You "get to know" lots of people and make lots of "new friends."

Hey there, Delilah

So my kids love "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's. They know all the words and sing their hearts out. It's one of the sweetest, sappiest, most sentimental songs I've ever heard. I have to admit I like it, too.

"Girl, tonight you look so pretty, Yes you do. Time Square can't shine as bright as you. I swear it's true"

"Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar, We'll have it good. We'll have the life we knew we would. My word is good."

"If every simple song I wrote to you would take your breath away, I'd write it all. Even more in love with me you'd fall. We'd have it all."

My favorite line, however, has to be this one:

"A thousand miles seems pretty far, but they've got planes and trains and cars. I'd walk to you if I had no other way."

The other day I mentioned how I really liked that line. JJ said, "Yeah, but where would he sleep? He could't walk 1000 miles all in one day!"

Hank's comment was, "I'd walk 1000 miles to see you, but then I would shower before I hugged you." Isn't that sweet? Delilah, you've got nothin' on me.

Labor Day on the Beach

First, a hike up the dune

We made it!

Little Guy LOVES the beach!


Collecting sea shells with Dad



Grandma and Grandpa in the "Fort"
(it wasn't as cold as Grandma looks)

JJ got buried in the sand

Reed on top of the dune

The Saga of Steve (Sara) Shortlegs

The girls found a caterpillar outside and begged me to let them keep it as their "pet." As an allergic Mom, who will never allow a cat or dog in the house, a caterpillar seemed like a pretty harmless way to let them have a pet.




They named him Steve Shortlegs and made a habitat for him. They didn't know what to feed him, so JJ suggested sugar water. They made a little sugar water trough for him and also put dropperfuls of sugar water around the bottom of his "house" for good measure. They also put a few leaves in there for him.

JJ and I went on an errand and while we were out we got a phone call from Montana:

Montana: "Mom? Can I talk to JJ?"

Montana: "JJ? I have some bad news. The caterpillar is dead!"

JJ: "No, Montana, he's just sleeping. O.K. Bye"

When we got home, we checked on Steve Shortlegs and sure enough, he looked pretty dead. He was just sitting there in a pile of his poop. JJ remembered that in school she learned that caterpillars breathe through their bodies. We thought maybe he had drown in all the sugar water. So the girls cleaned out the tank, put the caterpillar on the cement outside, and pretty soon Steve Shortlegs was moving around.

The girls were ecstatic! They couldn't believe their eyes. "He's the luckiest caterpillar in the whole world!", they said. They got busy making him a new habitat (without the sugar water everywhere.)

At some point, they decided Steve was a girl and renamed him Sara Shortlegs. She kept them busy most of the day! Thank you Sara Shortlegs!!

Sunday Quiet Time

Doesn't he have a pleasant sleeping face? I think it's because he LOVES sleeping so much!

This is what Sunday Quiet Time looks like at our house. I love it. In fact, I think it's my favorite part of the entire week. There's nothing quite like a Sunday nap. You would see a picture of me asleep if I knew how to take a picture of myself asleep. (And if my sleeping face looked as good as Hank's) I would probably have drool coming out of my mouth or something.