Horsey Barns and Horsey Castles

Most children color with crayons, mine...

Most children build towers and knock them down, mine...

Most children go to bed at a decent hour, mine makes horsey barns out of beannie babies... (Yes, I still have all the beannies I collected. And NO, I'm not embarrased... I knew they would be put to good use one day!)

P.S. Happy late birthday MOOSE!

Max and Grandma Leen testing out the new car rug

Addicted to Chicky

Max is addicted to his "Chicky". Ever since Max was a baby he has loved rubbing his face on soft things. Once he came across Chicky last January they have been inseperable.

Poor Chicky has been dragged around and slept with for many months now so I decided that it was time for a bath.

Before bath

During bath

After bath

While Chicky was in the dryer

Max and Chicky reunite

Sunday Mornings

Not my favorite.

Sunday mornings, Jer is off at meetings and I have the enjoyable task of getting a 1yr old and a 3yr old ready for church and out the door by 8:45. If we arrive at church by 9:00 alive, it's a success. (Never mind the boys' hair that stick straight up no matter what I do!)

A couple weeks ago (the morning I had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting) I let Tanner watch Horseland (his favorite show) while I went to get Max and change his diaper. A two minute task. Well, I returned and found this...


Super Nanner found my lipstick. Needless to say, by the time I arrive at church I'm always ready for a nap!

Our Rockstars

Both boys love putting on shows for us. This guitar was worth every penny!

Things you learn at Grandma Leen and Papa Bob's House

When we went on THE CRUISE (see post below) we left the boys with my parents. When we returned, it was obvious the boys had learned a few things...

1. Max learned what cookies are and how to eat them...

2. Max also learned exactly where the cookies are hidden...

3. Tanner learned how important it is to make sure the horses are clean too...

4. Tanner also learned how important it is to make sure that horses get naps too...


When we were away on "Mommy Daddy Boat" (as Tanner called it) we received daily emails from my Mom. Here are a few snippets:

• "By 9 PM, we both feel like we have already run a marathon."
• "Help!!! What do you do with Max's hair? It is standing up all over and out of control. Tonight before FHE I glued it down, and it popped right back up."
• "Tanner thought he could also use the stool to go pee pee. It was much higher, and through off his aim. He got the floor and the wall. Oh well!!!"
• "I think Max eats when he is lonely, or anything out of the regular. You will probably think he has gained 5 lbs. He eats a lot."
• "At nap he [Max] had a major case of diarrhea, maybe I don't get the diapers on right. It was everywhere. I had to bathe him, change and scrub the bed and change my clothes. It was a mess."
• "Well, he [Tanner] kept hitting the lock button on my keys, which honks the horn. I kept saying, give me the keys, then he hit the panic button and it scared him, so he threw the keys and I couldn't get to them. We will all have a few more gray hairs when you get home."
• "We are pleased to announce the boys are still in one piece, no broken bones or stitches, yet."

I have to admit, Jeremy and I got a pretty big kick out of these emails... especially since we were THOUSANDS of miles away. Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with our two little monkeys!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some fun pics we took this week...

Trunk-Or-Treat.


Painting Pumpkins.

Showing off pumpkins.

I was a moose at work. (This is what I come home to everyday... aren't I lucky!)

The purple dragon and the pirate checking out their loot.

This is a quick clip of Tan Trick-Or-Treating in our neighborhood. He held his hook in his left hand and his pumpkin in his right. Since he was tired of waiting for his slow parents and his hands were full, he decided to start knocking all by himself... with his hook. One lady even said after answering the door, "I thought that sounded like a hook". Jer and I thought that was pretty funny. We've never seen Tan so excited. He ran so fast from house to house and his pumpkin kept getting fuller and fuller with candy. After 2 streets it got so heavy that it was throwing off his balance and he started falling over.

Mini Jeremy

Tanner is entering a new phase where he likes to imitate EVERYTHING we do. The other day I heard a lot a ruckus coming from our bedroom. As I got closer I heard a lot of frustrated grunting noises. When I arrived this is what I saw…

This is Tanner exercising just like Daddy. This was his first success at getting his shirt off by himself (hence the frustrated grunting noises).

Jer got home shortly after I found Tanner on the treadmill. We were having our normal after work chat to catch up on the day. Jer walked by me and gave me a couple little love taps on my derriere. Tanner followed closely behind doing exactly the same thing. Jer saw it from the corner of his eye and said, “Did he just...” and we both started dying of laughter.

We’re learning quickly that we have to mind our P’s and Q’s if we want Tan to do the same.

Here we go again!

Wow, I feel like we just went through this with Tanner... oh wait, we did about 18 months ago!

We'll our happy little guy started doing the super crawl and pulling himself up all in the same week (this was a couple weeks ago... I'm just a little behind). He has entered a new world and loves to explore. His favorite things to do are: Climb the stairs (and scare me half to death), walk in circles around the coffee table, pull off all the books on the bookshelf, and empty out all the toy boxes. As you can tell by the pictures, he is VERY proud of himself. Now that he's figured out how to get around, he can't hold still.

Tanner is loving this new stage Max is in. Every time Max starts crawling towards Tanner, he thinks they're playing chase! It's great... Tanner get's really excited and starts running in circles around the house. Finally, someone else can play chase with Tanner!

A WINDY Day at the Beach

Well, we went to Longbeach with my parents yesterday. We love Longbeach! You can drive out on the sand and it's usually the perfect place for flying kites, window shopping and eating great food. This has become a tradition to go to Longbeach so this was our 3rd annual summer trip. Each trip to Longbeach has given us many hilarious memories, and this one did not disappoint. We drove into town car packed with kites, buckets, shovels, chairs, a canopy to protect us from a full day in the sun, a picnic, swimsuits, towels... and the list goes on. The town was packed with tourists...this was our first sign that no on was at the beach. After a delicious stop at the bakery we ventured out to the very desolate beach. We opened the car doors and instantly knew why we were the only ones out there! Dad and Jer's hats blew off, Tanner got blown over, sand blew in mom's eye and the door slammed shut onto my leg. Needless to say we were all back in the car within 3 minutes.
Despite the wind and rain, we still enjoyed our time in Longbeach. We did some window shopping, Tanner rode the marry-go-round and we all got some ice-cream... and yes, Max LOVES ice-cream! Tanner loved his ice-cream too... he wanted cotton candy ice-cream... yummm! Max and I shared a blueberry cheesecake cone! Look how excited he is!

Not quite the same as a picnic on the beach, but at least it wasn't windy in our front yard!

The FAIR

Last night we went to the fair and we all loved it! We loved the noise, the people, the chaos, and the smell of cotton candy in the air...ymmmmmmmmmm!

We spent a lot of time with the farm animals... apparently too much time, seeing that Tanner is now afraid of pigs! We watched a cowboy do some cool rope tricks, ate an elephant ear, and Tanner went on his first horse ride! I was thinking we would just go look at the ponies but all of a sudden I see Jer unbuckling Tanner and getting in line for the pony ride. I know, shocker! Jer is not one to spoil, but Tanner must have put on the right face ... because he sure got what he wanted. It was so fun to watch. Here's a little clip.

The main reason we went to the fair last night was so we could watch the MOTOSPORTS show. Since Tanner loves motorcycles we thought he might like this... and he did. Every time there was a pause in the show he kept saying... "More, More". There was a lot of air and a lot of cool tricks!

Nana & Papa’s Visit

Well, we were recently lucky enough to have Jer’s parents come visit from CA. Being Spring Break, I was off work, so we were extra excited and we made sure to plan a lot of fun, new adventures and outings. The weather forecast was looking promising and the day they were to arrive was getting closer. And then Sunday evening I GOT SICK. A long 24 hours later I started feeling better and JER GOT SICK. A long 24 hours later and he started feeling better and TANNER GOT SICK. The next day was Wednesday and they were to arrive at noon. They arrived and we decided to stay at home for Tanner’s sake. The next day was Thursday and Tanner was filling better (at least his diapers weren’t as toxic). We decided to venture out to a Park and to Chipotle for dinner. The Park was a blast, and Chipolte… not so much. Let’s just say poor Tanner’s stomach wasn’t quite ready for beans and rice… it wasn’t a pretty picture and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get kicked out next time we show our faces there. Anywho, the next day was Friday and NANA WOKE UP SICK. She stayed in the guest room all day and all night and was soon greeted by PAPA WHO GOT SICK that same day. We felt so bad they got sick, but Papa kept saying, “we knew what it was when we picked it up.” Anywho, after everyone returned to their full health we were able to squeeze in a few yummy snacks that our stomachs could handle and a few games of Clue, Yahtzee, Mormon Bridge, and Phase Ten. Even though we didn’t get to go on any of our fun adventures, we still had a blast hanging out with Nana and Papa. Maybe one day we’ll be able to look back on this and laugh.

Movie Review - VANTAGE POINT

RATING
Jeremy: ***
Missy: ***
(out of ****)

We were able to get a babysitter last weekend and actually go on a DATE! We went out to dinner and a movie. The movie was very entertaining. We definitely recommend it.

Girls, please remember to look at the sign on the door before entering the restroom. I was excited when I chose a stall with the seat up, thinking "Yeahhh, this toilet must have just been cleaned". But as I was rushing to wash my hands, I noticed I was standing beside a man! I tried hard not to stare or crack a smile, but I felt really bad for him and thought "This poor goof accidently went into the wrong restroom"... then as I exited, I realized it was me! I won't be doing that again!