Winter Wonderland

It may not be December 21st, but winter has officially begun in the 'Burg. This morning I woke to go to the gym and went outside to start the car (for those of you who live in warmer climates, living here requires letting the car warm up for at least 5 mins before you drive) and when I got to the car it had 2-3 inches of fluffy, powder-like snow covering it. I have mixed emotions about the snow. It's kind of a love hate relationship. It really is beautiful and peaceful when it snows, but it's awful to drive in and taking the boys in and out of the car is no fun when it's snowing. I know my parking lot doesn't do it justice, but here's a picture from this morning.

Jackson, Wyoming 10/2008

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. It always seems like I get really busy and neglect my blog, then I repent and have a bunch of pictures that I need to post. So here we go... a couple of months ago Sam and I took the boys on a day trip to Jackson, Wyoming. It's about an hour and a half drive from our apartment in Rexburg. Both Sam and I had never been there before. It was beautiful. The drive there was amazing. We drove through several little farming communities and parts of the Targhee National Forest.

Here's a pic of me and the boys at the famous town square with the antler arches.


Ben saw this huge stuffed buffalo and kept calling it a bear. He was pretty excited about it.


After we saw the buffalo Sam took Ben into a candy shop to get some gummy bears, which he loved. While Sam and Ben were in the candy shop Tom and I waited outside. While we were waiting Ed Harris (the famous actor) came up to Tom and kept saying how cute Tom was, and what a great smile Tom had, and what adorable cheeks Tom has. It was incredible. I've never really talked to a famous person before. It was really cool. By the way, he's a little shorter in person than I thought he'd be.

Public Service Annoucement

I just wanted to tell everyone about this exciting thing I discovered. I hate cleaning the bathroom, but it has to get done. My least favorite part is scrubbing the shower. I have a fiberglass tub and shower surround and soap scum build up really easily and quickly. So I discovered that if I use a degreaser it cleans up so easy!!! It's incredible you hardly have to scrub and it gets it cleaner than Clorox Clean-up. (I know this totally sounds like an info-mercial, but I feel strongly about making things easier when you're cleaning.) The best degreaser and overall cleaner is Rinso WOW Degreaser. You can find it at the 99 Cent Only Store. (You know the chain store, not those random ghetto 99 cent stores.) Anyway, I felt like it was my duty to share this info. Everyone loves a clean bathroom, but no one likes putting in the time. If you're like me you'd rather spend your time doing better things. That's why you got to try this.

Happy Halloween!

Last month I decided to dress the boys up as Tigger and Pooh. I went to K-Mart and Walmart ('cause that's all we got here in the 'burg) and couldn't find either costume. So I did the next best thing, I called my mom, she always knows what to do. I asked her to look around at the local stores in her area for the costumes, and she couldn't find them either (except for really exspensive at the Disney Store). Being the kind,crafty, (in a good way, not like when you're clever and cunning) and all around awesome granny, she went ahead and made these costumes for the boys. Aren't they great! They look totally professional. Thanks mom, you're the best.

It's getting cold.

The other day in the afternoon I was going stir crazy in the house, so I bundled up the boys and put them in the stroller for a walk. It was probably about 40 degrees or so outside, but I was desperate. We didn't really get too far because I felt bad about taking the boys out in such cold weather. How cold is too cold? I don't know, but since they're recovering from colds we only walked to the end of the street and back. Don't they look cute in their beanies, blankets, and jackets? Ben reminds me of the little brother from that movie "The Christmas Story".

Grandma's love was felt in Idaho.

Yesterday Sam received a package from his parents' for his birthday. Enclosed was a card and Grandma's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Have you ever tasted heaven? Well if you've tried Ginger Knecht's cookies than you can reply in the affirmative. These cookies are bliss. Sam was nice enough to share them with me and Ben. Ben was loving them.
Thanks Grandma, you're the best!

Happy birthday to the most fabulous, handsome, super-terrific Sam ever!

Happy Birthday Sam!!!! I love you. You are such a wonderful husband and father. Thankyou for being so kind and compassionate. What would we do without you? Thanks for: changing lots of poopy diapers, dealing with me when I'm cranky, making us laugh, doing the "high laugh", always sharing your mom's worlds' best cookies, playing with the boys, letting me sleep in some mornings, getting me medicine when I need it, being a fantastic student, being really good looking, and most of all just being good. I hope the next 30 years will be just as good or better than the 30 you just finished.
Love, Stacy

Sunday Best

My boys are so cute. Sam took these pictures a couple of weeks ago before church. Our ward doesn't start until 1:30pm, so we're usually ready in plenty of time before we have to walk over to church.

This is for the Newsies!

Sorry I haven't posted lately. But I'm back in business now. I thought these pictures were cute. Tom loves smiling and being happy. He thought it was great when Sam put his hat on him. He's got a long way to go before he can fit into daddy's hat. Ben on the other hand . . .





Ben has recently found this little hat that he used to wear as an infant. We used to call it his "Newsie hat". His head is so big that the hat is like a little skull cap. I tried to take it off of him and he started throwing a fit. So I put it back on him and got these pics.

Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone . . . and other stuff.

This morning I loaded the boys into the stroller for a walk. I gave Ben his sippy cup and his new puppy dog, which he got for being a good boy while we were at Target last weekend. We were all set, or so I thought. We started off and about an hour into our walk Ben starts yelling "puppy pleassssssse!!!!!! Mama, puppy, puppy pleasssssssse!!!!!". So I stop the stroller walk around to him and I see that he no longer has his puppy. A couple of thoughts went through my mind, "I can be a good mom and retrace my steps to see where he dropped it." or "tough luck buddy, you should have been more careful." Fortunate for Ben I was in a good mood. So back we went. I looked everywhere to no avail. When we got back to our apartment (an hour and a half later) what was sitting on our door step? The puppy. Well at least I burned a few more calories and Ben still has his puppy. The moral of the story, the puppy is not coming on the walk again.



This past weekend we introduced rice cereal to Tom. He was pretty cute sitting in the high chair. Now that he's in the high chair we've moved Ben to a booster seat. I think he likes it. He seems to be doing really well up to the table and using a plate. My boys are growing so much.






Ben is a pretty quick learner (hey it's my blog, and I can brag on my son if I want to), so we decided that he'd have fun learning the days of the week and the months. So I bought a calendar set and hung it. Every morning during breakfast we sing the months of the year (thankyou Katie) and we talk about the day of the week and the weather. I don't know if he's having fun, but I sure am.

Phi Slama Pajama

Take a look at Ben's new threads. We've got to keep the boy warm during these unforgiving artic nights.



















In unrelated news, Ben and I had a fun time coloring today. Check out one of his first masterpieces.

My Bouncer

I love this picture because it's a very typical site at our house. Tom loves being in the bouncer and so I love the bouncer. I don't know what I'd do without this beautiful piece of equipment. Look how satisfied and content Tom is. He's such a good boy.

At the Park

One of my favorite things to do with Ben is going to the park. He loves being outside. So I figure while we still have decent weather we better get out as much as possible. Porter Park is the closest park to our apartment so Sam and I decided to load up the boys and walk over. Tom stayed in his carseat the whole time, all bundled up and cozy. (He's had a cold since we left California, so I didn't want him out in the cold air too much.)

Ben loved being on the swings. We tried to get him to smile for the camera and this is what we got. Isn't that a great face.

Ben The Big Boy

Since we've been back in Rexburg I realized that Ben needed a few essential pieces of clothing, long sleeve shirts, jeans, and "Big Boy Shoes". I had forgotten in my California naivete that in Rexburg fall actually starts in September and so does the weather. We have already experienced several cool blustery days, as well as a few rainy days. The little soft leather shoes that Ben has always worn won't hold up well in this type of weather. So I broke down and bought him some velcro Elmo shoes. He loves them. He can't wait to put them on and when he does he likes to tell you all about it. It's great.

Although he looks adorable there was a little part of me that was sad to see that my little boy was starting to look like a big kid. I don't know if I'd say that I miss the time when he was a baby, but I don't like the idea of him growing up and being too cool to kiss me whenever I want.

I decided to start my own blog in efforts to keep people informed. So here it is. I'll be posting more soon, probably this week, once I get organized.