Halloween

Yeah, I know, a pile of black yard-trash bags is NOT what you expected to see, right? Well, let me explain. My sister (and her family) moved to Richland today, and so last night we pawned our two boys off on family, and Jeff and I went up to Newport (where they moved from) to help DeAnne and Justin pack their U-Haul. We got to their house and were greeted by a yard full of leaves. Justin asked us (expecting us to say no) if we wanted to rack up their leaves. So, as you can see, Jeff and I set out to get all the leaves racked and bagged up before dark. We bagged up a total of 16 bags, and the two Maple trees still have about half their leaves on their branches. Racking and bagging all those leaves helped me come to the conclusion that I never want huge Maple trees.

Our cute Firefighter went trick-or-treating with Jared, Michelle, Ethan, Britany, and Michelle's family. Thanks again for letting Mason tag along!

Mason, Ethan, Kimber, Khloe, & Kelsey

Our cowardly Lion helped Grandpa and Grandma Borders hand out candy to their trick-or-treaters. Cooper also spent the night with his grandparents, he did really well and he even slept through the night. Which if you know Cooper, you know that is a rare occurrence, although it is one that is happening more. Thank goodness.

Here are our cute little guys together.

When we returned from Newport, we went to Jared and Michelle's to pick up Mason. We stayed for a while and ate some yummy home-made caramel popcorn and played "Clue". Britany won the game. It was Miss White, in the Conservatory, with the rope. I was way off!!!

Breakfast conversation

This morning we were all sitting at the table together, eating breakfast. Out of no where, Mason says:

"Hey guys I have a story....so....a boy was walking down the street, with his dog. Then a dina-hourse (dinosaur) came up and went RRRROOOOAAAAARRRR!!! The dina-hourse scared the boy. The End"

Little Monkey's at it again

(If you have not read the previous post, read that first)

I walked into Mason's room this morning and there was Cooper on the ladder of Mason's bunk bed again, only this time he was on the top rung.

Little Monkey

Seriously, what am I going to do with this little monkey? I came into Mason's room and found Cooper on the second rung of the ladder. So, I "spotted" Cooper while he climbed up the ladder the rest of the way by himself. I could tell by the look on his face that he was pretty proud of himself when he got to the top. It's like he was saying, I can't walk, but I sure can climb!

I guess it's time to take the ladder off...

Helpful little boys

As most of you know, I have my sister's three boys on Mondays and Tuesdays. At times it can be stressful, the time between lunch and nap is one of those times. Today Benjamin needed to eat, Cooper was cranky, and Zachary, Cooper, and Benjamin all needed their diapers changed. To cope with all this craziness, I made a bottle for Benjamin and had Connor hold Benjamin while he ate. After changing the other two diapers, I can back to the living room and found, Connor, Mason, Cooper, and Benjamin all trying to hold Benjamin's bottle. It was super cute! I just wish they would have stayed in the same position I found them in so I could snap a picture of it.

Or not..and I bet...

There are a few things Mason has been doing lately that I thought I should write down so I can always remember them.

First, when Mason asks us a question, he now gives us two options.

For example:
Do you want the light on or off? Are you going to work or staying home? Are you going to take a shower or not? Are you cooking dinner or not? Are you making cookies or not? Can I watch TV or not?

Pretty much every question he has is followed up with "or not". It's pretty funny, I wish I could get it on video, but it is really sporadic when he does it.

Second, is something I started doing with Mason. When I told Jeff my new idea, he told me I was going to turn Mason into a gambler. "Oh, I don't care", I thought, "as long as he does what I need him to do." But now that Jeff has seen my brilliant idea in action, and has seen that it works, he has jumped on the "gambling" wagon with me (and Mason). When Mason says he is done eating dinner but Jeff and I want him to eat a little more. We will say, "I bet I can finish my dinner before you!". Mason will then say, "no, I can finish first!". Then he will finish all his dinner. When we want Mason to help clean up his play room, we will say," I bet I can clean up faster than you!". Which, Mason will then say, :no I can clean faster than you!". Then Mason will help clean his play room. When Mason doesn't want to go up to bed we will say, "I bet I can get up stairs before you!" Mason will then say, "no, I can!" Then he will run up the stairs.

So, you get the idea. Yeah, it's brilliant, and we love it!

The Fireman

Mason's Newest Movie

Look what I found

While I was finishing getting myself ready this morning, I heard Cooper talking in his room I decided to leave him in his room for a little bit. When I went in his room to get him, this is what I found.

I guess he thought his pj's looked better on the floor.

Chuck E. Cheez-its

This afternoon Mason, Cooper, and I went to Chuck E. Cheez-its (as Mason calls it) with some friends from our ward. Neither Mason or Cooper had ever been to Chuck E. Cheese. They both had a great time and Mason can't wait to go back.

Mason and Cooper riding in the off-roader. Mason didn't like it when the truck moved up and down, side-to-side, or back and fourth. What did he expect? The ride to sit still or something?

Cooper can't wait until he is sixteen so he can really drive!

Mason and I played a game of air hockey.

Karaoke Hour

For awhile now, Jeff and I have been singing songs with Mason and Cooper before they go to bed. Mason is remembering more and more of the songs we sing together. Here he is singing the first verse of "I am a Child of God"

Guitar lessons

Mason is always wanting to play Daddy's guitars. So last night Jeff gave Mason a "basic" guitar lesson, if you can even call it that. Here is Mason showing off his newly learned skills.

Funny face

Cooper is always making this funny face and it makes me laugh.

Cooper's first steps

Cooper took his first steps on Tuesday! He took about three steps before he would fall. By the time we got the camera out, he wouldn't take more than one step. Darn him.

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight for FHE we had Jared, Michelle, and Ethan Patsfield and Kevin, Corrine, Allen, and Carter Meagher over for dinner and pumpkin carving. We had a great dinner, if I do say so myself. (No, I'm not bias or anything, being the chief and all) And we had lots of fun carving our pumpkins.

Allen and Mason, excited to start carving.

Jeff and Mason cut open the pumpkin and scraped out all the guts.

Mason, Jeff, Michelle, Ethan, Allen, Kevin, and Corrine

After the pumpkin was gutted, I had the honor of carving it.

Mason showing off our pumpkin!

All our finished pumpkins! From left to right: Corrine's, The Borders', Kevin's, The Patsfield's.

Project

Yesterday morning, Jeff caught me off guard by asking me if I wanted to install a folding table in our laundry room. This is something I really wanted to have, but I figured it would be A LONG time before Jeff became motivated to put one in.

So we went to Lowes and picked out an already assembled base kitchen cabinet, a sheet of plywood, brackets, vinyl tiles, and a piece of trim to finish up the edge.

Here is the (almost) finished project. All we have to do is put in a back splash and we will be done.

I have already used it to fold laundry. It is a really proficient way to get the laundry done. All I have to do is take the clean laundry out of the dryer, turn around and plop it on the table, fold it, and get it put way. I LOVE IT! Thanks Jeff for all your hard work!