Turkey Day

Lilli made it for Thanksgiving!! I love having all my kids under the same roof!  And you can tell by the sleeping arrangement that I'm not the only one that has missed her.

I love that my family gets together for holidays.  It give the grandkids cousin time.

9 of the grandkids were able to make it for dinner.

Grit got some time with Uncle Matt.

Boone is just like my sister, DJ.  He sleeps with his eyes open.

I love that they just pile on top of each other all the time.

And pretend to be sleeping to avoid pictures.

Grit - 11 Months

Weight - 19 lbs

This little man isn't growing very fast, but he's so happy.  He brings joy to all of us!  He loves Boone, and Dad.  Give the best snuggles and always has a smile on his face. He's still nursing but loves big boy food too, that's what confusing on his weight.  He is always eating.

Fright Night

Duke found a cat skull outside.

Such a perfect find on halloween!

For costumes, Duke was willing to wear his Army guy suit again. He kept saying he already wore it for preschool so he needed a new costume, but in the end, he put it on.

Hoss is getting to the stage where dressing up is a bore.  So we convinced him that being a farmer wouldn't be so bad.  He humored us and went with it, not sure how much longer he will.

Grit, our cute little tiger.

And Boone, the football player.

Then we got a big surprise when we received this picture of Lilli dressed up. Makes my heart happy!

The Fall

Whenever Sexy Farmer leaves for extended periods of time bad things happen. Like family members being murdered, miscarriage, stuff like that. I should have known something was coming. I never look forward to Elk Hunting because it just means trouble is on the way. This isn't as bad as normal but still sad, and sooner than expected because we're still a month away from hunting season. It's also why moms can't go to the bathroom. The boys left the back door open and Grit crawled right outside and fell off the porch. 3 feet down. It was really bad yesterday and looked pretty good this morning when I took this picture. However, tonight it's getting really red and bloody again. Poor guy. Yesterday he had scratches all over the left side of his face and today its mostly just his nose. So, I didn't get much done today other than snuggling. But snuggles are good so we're happy and healing.

Grit - 10 Months

Just got his 2nd tooth

Super Speed Army Crawler

LOVES Dad (can't blame him)

Joy to all

Grit - 9 Months

This little man bring me so much joy.  He snuggles, gives kissed, hugs, and smiles.  His little dance moves are the cutest.  I adore him. Babies are a beautiful thing to remind you of the simple things in life.

Height - 28.5 inches - 51%

Weight - 18.14 lbs - 48%

Head Circumference - 17.75 inches - 48%

Worker Bees

I am so proud of these boys!  They worked their tails off getting our corn in the freezer. They all chipped in to help, never asked how much longer, or to go play somewhere else.  They stayed until the job was done, with smiles on their faces!

 Even this one.  He was on Tess duty.

Grit - 8 Months

Grit isn't growing very fast, only half a pound, but he sure is adorable! He had quite the fun with his brother's cookie on the way home from swim lessons the other day.  I love his smile!

Height - 27.5 lbs

Weight - 18.7 lbs

Family Visit

Also over the 4th of July Holiday we were able to hang out with lots of family.  Shane & Katie blessed Tommy here in Vale so it brought all of Brandon's family together.  We all enjoyed the Lumberjack competition together.

Grit and Tommy are 4.5 months apart.  At their age right now, it seems like a huge difference, but soon, you won't be able to tell who is older. 

I went outside to grab some food from the freezer and came inside to catch all these cuties snuggled in dad's chair together.

Tommy looked adorable on his blessing day.  They wanted to invite everyone back to our home after the blessing for a little lunch.  Katie was busy in the kitchen, so I begged to help her.  Grit's blessing day is still all too fresh in my mind and I didn't want Tommy's to be anything like ours.  So I made her put me to work.  Hopefully they have better memories.

They gathered all the Great Grandkids that were present of Brandon's maternal Grandma for a picture.  

They also got a 4 generation picture.  Brandon's Grandma, Mom, siblings, and their kids.

Grit - 7 Months

Weight - 18.5 lbs

Height - 27 inches

Head Circumference - 17 inches

Where do I even start with this boy?  He is such my little cuddle bug.  I have always wanted a baby that snuggles and I love that Grit has made that happen.  We tested the waters with baby food and he's really not a fan.  He would rather nurse and snuggle.  He enjoys going to the pool and playing in his little floatie.  He chews on anything and everything and is getting pretty good at sitting up.  He still loves Boone and makes the cutest little sound when he laughs.

Swim Lessons - Round 1

Some things I really like about swim lessons in Vale.

Like #1 - The Baby Pool...

I can take Boone and Grit in the baby pool while the older boys enjoy their lessons.  Which makes it nice for all of us.  A great way to beat the heat for the little guys.  Plus, Boone has a blast pushing Grit around all over the place.

Like #2 - It's a 5 Minute Drive...

   I like being able to leave my house and get to the destination 5 minutes later.

Duke was signed up for public lessons and had Kayle Kelso and Grace Jacobs.  

Hoss got private lessons with Allee Ewing.

Since it's a new pool to us for lessons with all new teachers, we repeated the gifts.  I guess that makes it Like #3....

Muddy Mess

We hauled out lots of scrap metal and burned lots of random stuff, the next project was to rip out stumps.  We pulled up around 15 different stumps around the property.  While doing so, many of them left some pretty big craters in the ground.  It's at this point that I am so glad I married the man I did.  He's so good at taking pictures of things that I normally get mad about and don't think I'll want to look back on later and laugh.

 The boys realized that the big craters would be perfect for a swimming pool.  A big muddy swimming pool.  They grabbed the hose and filled those craters right up with as much water as they could.

 Then, a few days later, when we were moving the goats around we noticed Boone was gone.  Then I saw him dumping dirt on something.  Panic struck in when I realized that Grit was the target.  Sexy Farmer ran over there and found this.  Grit was super happy about all of it, which made it easier.  But look at the poor guy.  I didn't grow up with any brothers, so boys have been a whole new ballgame for me.  My patience is tested daily.  At the end of the day, I'm just happy nobody died.

Grit - 6 Months

Height - 26.5 inches - 40%

Weight - 16.7 lbs - 40 %

Head Circumference - 16.75 inches - 25%

Grit loves to spend time in his walker.  He's gotten pretty good at running into people on purpose.  He's sitting up and loving it, and starting to enjoy tummy time.  He's a big momma's boy, but 6 months is the time when Sexy Farmer starts to get more involved.  He's not much for the infant stage, he says he can't do anything and feels like he's gonna break them.  He's more into the age when they start moving.  He cracks me up!

He loves to play in the grass, which is funny because none of my other kids really did.  He's definitely an outside boy.  He loves to go out and help feed the goats, stroller rides are one of his favorite things.  He loves to nurse and didn't like the baby food we gave him at all.  He's a good sleeper and napper, which is heavenly.  Nothing compares to his snuggles though.

May Outtakes

I ran over Duke's bike.  It was a long time ago, when we lived in Ontario.  He parked it behind the van and I backed up to pick up Hoss from school and take him to scouts, and smash.  I didn't even see it.  So, it's been out of commission for quite a while.  Sexy Farmer got all caught up on his spray jobs and was able to locate a tire of the same size, for MUCH cheaper than purchasing a new replacement from John Deere.  It's doesn't match, but Sexy Farmer is also a pretty talented automotive painter.  We'll get there....someday.  But until then, Duke has a functioning bike again.

I think all the lack of sleep has caught up to me.  This video shows it.  I honestly didn't even know Boone was recording this.  He gets my phone multiple times and takes pictures.  I assumed he was just looking at and talking to us through the camera function.  I had no idea until I uploaded everything to the computer.  Please don't mind the sleepy mom in her jammies.  

This is what 3 boys in a tub looks like.

Hoss has trashed his scout book, so we went to Staples to get it bound.  While we were waiting, we explored the aisles.

And when one finds something fun, they both have to try it.

For Cub Scouts, we had the boys make bird feeders for their mom's for mother's day.  We got them each a flower and some bird food to complete the gift.  I found this picture on a blog that one of our mom's updates for their family.

South Fork Adventures

My parents invited us to go to South Fork with them for some 4 wheeling.  They were making a camping trip out of it, which we weren't able to do, so we just went up for the day.  We packed a lunch and headed out.  My parent's were gone when we got there, so we just sat and had lunch while we waited for them to return.  It was only  5 minutes and then they showed up.

After we ate, the boys all loaded up.

They got some pretty scenery pictures

And Duke spotted some deer.

Grit and I stayed behind and played.

When everyone returned, they cleaned up in the river.

And Boone made himself a hotdog.  Adorable.