Long sleeves, jackets, plants...HERE WE COME.  It's fall and the only thing that makes me happier is that Kent's month long active duty tour ends in THREE DAYS!!

I love getting out the fall clothes and seeing my kiddos in clothes they haven't worn in months. This little dude is pretty cute. Too bad we had a major face plant with blood gushing from his mouth. We haven't had a bloody mouth for quite sometime and I thought we made it past the face plants. Not so it appears.

Today for playgroup we took lots of wheeled toys and let the kids run wild in the church parking lot. Who would have thought it would be such a hit?!  The kiddos loved it.

Zeb especially loved riding down the handicap ramp that leads to the door.  He has been the perfect child today. I really think he knows that Kent is coming home soon and he's happy about it.

Happy Labor Day!  We celebrated with a good run, nice naps (while I finished mockingjay!), and a fabulous picnic in the park with lots and lots of friends!

Ike somehow found a sucker. He LOVES suckers. I HATE them. They are sticky and make messes and only create madness.  But Ike had a fabulous night. He ran around trying to play frisbee and soccer with all of the big kids and adults!

Zeb found his FAVORITE dirt pile and played there for a few hours.  The kid loves dirt and mud.  I bet he spends at least 3-4 hours a week in this very spot at swan creek park. 

This week is our last without Kent!  Only five days to go and I'm so happy. I'm crazy busy with seminary starting up again and all sorts of other stuff.  I'm hoping it FLIES by.  I'm so sick of talking on the phone to him!!  I just want a real conversation face to face!!

See you so soon, муж!  Don't get stuck in the hurricane and make sure to keep your rental car is something crazy happens on Saturday :) !!!

Last year I ran the boy scout half marathon and loved it. This year I decided not to run it because Kent's been gone all month and I didn't think I'd be able to get ready. Plus I didn't know what to do with the kiddos and I didn't want to run it without Kent there to cheer me on and rub me out afterward :)  After a slew of friends (from church and The Y) decided they were going to do it- I decided it would actually be a great month long distraction while Kent was gone!  I put in some extra runs this month and ran the race yesterday! I ended up hiring a babysitter and left the kiddos at home to sleep in.

It just happened to be the coldest day since May (definitely an answer to my weather prayers!!) and it was cold and PERFECT.  Well- besides the insane downpour that hit us at mile seven and the gale force winds that tried to knock us down all morning :)  It was pretty crazy for awhile out in the corn fields- but I prefer the rain to the heat and humidity.

Here are my pals from church! 

I beat my last year's time by almost five minutes! I ran with some friends for the first few miles and then decided to find my own pace.  I settled in near a random girl who looked to be running the speed I wanted.  I asked her where she was from and she answered 'Idaho'.  It turns out we went to Ricks together. She had driven up from Columbus where her husband is going to Dental school! And she graduated high school with my cousin, Zack. Crazy small world when you're mormon.  We ran together for the next eight or so miles and then I had to pick up my pace so I could reach my goal!

Alison said that her husband has some 'great action shots' of me and  I'm a little nervous about them!  I'll post them later if they are presentable :)

Surprisingly I am almost not sore at all- so it's not as bad that Kent's gone.  I really missed him with the boys cheering me along the course, though. Luckily there were some other people to cheer us along! Thanks, Cyndi!

grubby little hands

We have four little hands in our house that cannot seem to stay out of trouble.  Let me share some examples of our grubby little finger woes.

Zeb learned to open the car door while we are in motion. His first time was on the FREEWAY.  Child lock was swiftly clicked into place and did wonders until this week. Zeb unrolled his window and it never went back up.  I had to get all white trashy and DUCT tape the window into place so that the rains we had wouldn't saturate our car.  Then yesterday morning the car wouldn't start. This takes us back to child lock. We had to switch cars and drive Kent's and I forgot to put on the childlock.  At least this time when he opened the door he let me know that I needed to quickly shut it because he didn't want 'his brains squished all over the road'.  The first time he did it I told him that would happen if he opened it again.

and this monkey. my, oh, my. His little hands are terribly naughty. Yesterday morning I found him standing at the toilet dipping his hands in and then rubbing them crazily all over his head. Toilet water was dripping down his neck. Then at costco he threw his train into the toilet while Zeb was peeing. Then as I was washing the train- he escaped and ran off into the men's bathroom where I found him with his hands in a URINAL.  And then to top it all off, at the pool, he threw my entire bag into the water. We won't even discuss it's contents.  Luckily I was sitting at the pool's edge when he did it and quickly retrieved the bag. Nothing was irretrievably damaged- just wet :)

I can't tell to whom these fingers belong.  These boys are looking more and more alike.

goodbye summer! hello beautiful fall days!  I shouldn't be cursing myself but I think today was the last day of heat and humidity.  This summer has been near hellish and I can't wait for the crisp fall days, the beautiful colors, and the amazing outdoor runs through swan creek.

We spent this morning out at our pool with friends for playgroup. It was a really good pool day and we had lots of great snacks.

Ike is SUCH a turkey about water. If he's not in it splashing around then he throws EVERYthing in it. 

I only got this post-pool pic of Zeb lounging in his undies. Little boys in undies are pretty darn cute.

With Kent gone we upped our cell phone contract to include unlimited texts for the three months and I've been sending lots of cell phone pics to him.  I think that's why my blogging decreased so dramatically. I've been texting him constantly and talking to him on the phone for at least an hour a day- so he gets the updates and I don't have as much post kid bedtime to blog.

But- here are a few of the picures I've sent to Kent.

Just this morning I told the kids to give each other a hug and I'd send Kent the picture. They totally rammed heads and went into hysterics.  Made for a much better picture at least.

Here's one of Ikey with his 'bobos'.  He has named all of his stuffed animals 'bobo' and it's adorable when he asks for them. There's a pediatrician that kent worked with a few times named Dr. Bobo- and every time he got paged Kent says he'd imagine a giant brown stuffed rabbit coming down the hospital hall.

And look at this all grown up kid. He's giving his 'thumbs up' about the tool belt.  I love this picture of Zeb. Just today a friend commented about how much older he looks lately- and I'd have to agree.

And here's Ikey at the dentist. Contrary to the look on his face in this picture- he actually did a really good job and enjoyed his visit!

At the Y(mca) somebody told Zeb they liked his shirt and he responded; "It's from a yard sale!".  It's been a wonderful yard sale summer and I'm sad that it's coming to an end.  Here's the Ikester in an entire yard sale outfit.  The slippers are Zeb's- but he loves to wear them.





































 I think Kent is going to be surprised with kiddos when he gets home.  At these ages they change so much in such short periods of time.  Ike has picked up a whole lot more words in the past few weeks!  Today I burped out loud after taking a drink and Ike walked up to me- put his hand over my mouth- and said: "excuse me".

So- I guess Kent misses us and my atrocious blogging isn't helping matters. I think Kent was hoping for everyday pictures and updates but I'm afraid I've severely disappointed. I was so good for awhile there- but having him gone has put me in a funk.  He, in fact, has done a far better job with his blogging.  So, here we are ralph :)

It's Sunday night and the most exciting news I have is my FIRST TOMATO! straight off the vine today. I'm going to eat it tomorrow.  I'm really proud of it- but I'm not sure if it was worth the effort.  It looks like I may get four or five more. Maybe when I harvest those,  the daily watering and arranging for babysitting while we went on vacation won't seem so outrageous.

oh- and the boys both went to bed at 6:15.  I really REALLY hope they don't wake up until morning.  No naps and a few crazy days just wiped them out. That means I'm pooped, too. Plus, I'm re-reading 'The Hunger Games' books so that I can read number three with a fresh memory of the earlier details. I want to finish one tonight and read two tomorrow because I'm next on the hold list at the library for #3.  I can't WAIT!  I forgot how much I LOVE the first one.