The chair

Who knew a chair could be so fun? Okay, even I have fun on this chair. The boys love it. The video below is Max just being cute. Notice the real quiet whisper of "I love you" at the end.

Boys are clueless

A couple weeks ago some of my friends were telling me about the crushes that their kindergarten and first grade girls were having on the little boys. I was shocked. Seriously? Then it happened. Today when Ben got off the bus he showed me a Star Wars card that flips through different pictures. This is our conversation:

Ben: Today this girl brought this to me.

Me: Oh, that was nice. (I wasn't going to ask further, but my thinker started and I became curious) Who was it? Was it the nice girl on the bus?

Ben: No.

Me: Was it a girl in your class?

Ben: Yes.

Me: What is her name?

Ben: Umm. Brianna or something.

Me: That is very nice of Brianna.

Ben: Yeah.

Me: Did you tell her thank you?

Ben: Well I said, "cool" and that meant thank you. I showed it to Mrs. Fields.

Me: What did Mrs. Fields say?

Ben: Cool. I think.

Luckily for me, we had parent/teacher conference today. So, I asked Ben's teacher about it. She looked very puzzled when I said it was from Brianna. Turns out it wasn't from Brianna. It was from Aubrey. Poor little girl can't even get credit. Boys are so dumb!! I can say that because it's my son....don't you guys start rippin on him. :) Mrs. Fields said that she asked Aubrey about it after Ben told her and Aubrey blushed, smiled, and turned her head. So CUTE!!! Later tonight I had this conversation:

Me: So Ben, it was Aubrey that gave you that Star Wars card.

Ben: Oh yeah, you're right, it was Aubrey. That's her name.

Me: You need to make sure that you go to school tomorrow and thank her.

Ben: Okay Mom.

I wanted to take a picture, of course!! I told him to hold the card and smile. He kept asking me why. I said because you are cute and I want a picture. He was rather annoyed. Boys are so stinkin clueless!!

For those of you that are curious....parent/teacher conference went great. He took me to the library to introduce me to the librarian. It was hilarious. He said, "Hi Mrs. Sue. This is my mom, Abbie, and this is her baby, Max." She knew EXACTLY who Ben was, but in a good way. She knew him so well, that I thought I should enquire. She said that he was great and loves to read. Then he went on to talk to her until I peeled him away. He talks to people so much, you would think that he never gets to talk at home. A couple weeks ago he introduced me to the office staff. He is a smooth operator. He compliments the staff and they all think he's great. If they only knew.....

The things that make you pull out your camera...

**Note the placement of the office sticker on the middle magazine. I don't really want to get political on here, but.....at the beginning of September we took Max for a surgery follow-up appointment. In the middle of liberal Portland, I found this in a doctor's office. ;)

Max turns 2

Max-10 days old. I still want to call him baby. It's amazing how fast they fill up their crib. Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet Maxibear. I love his cute giggle, big eyes, curly hair, sweet kisses and hugs, shy personality, and how all of a sudden he is calling me Monny. He is our little love and we love him so much!!

Ben, Grandma Jo, and Max with his adorable train quilt made by Grandma Jo.

Handing Ben all the little pieces of "trash".

Just before this picture was taken, Max was sitting down. Ben came over with this big present and Max opened his arm for a hug and said, "WOW".

Jeremy helped me with the cake this year. I love the weak candle blowing of babi....big boys!

I love love love this picture!!

And this one....cute brothers!

Seaside

We got away!! Jeremy took me away to Seaside, OR. It was beautiful! We had a room with an ocean view and the weather was amazing. We thought it was going to be colder, but it was sunny and warm. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and watching the boys so we could enjoy this time together!

Our view

The next day we drove down the coast. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. The cheese was great, but the ice cream was fab. They had some flavors I didn't know about and they were yummy!!

Cannon Beach....where part of the movie "The Goonies" was shot.

Everyday

I pulled out the Thomas costume that we had and Max was thrilled. He, like his big brother, is a huge train fan!!

I am a lucky girl. Look how cute my group of boys are!!

Because Ben always request a "funny one". Here is the funny one.

This is what happens when you ask Max to smile.

This is my baby. I don't want to stop calling him my baby!

The coyote

I am not afraid of coyotes, until they are not afraid of me. The other day we were waiting for the school bus and I looked about 30 yards down the road to see this coyote running after us. I told Ben to run home and I turned and grabbed Max. At that very moment, a lady driving down the street saw the coyote and slammed on her brakes. She popped up out of the moon roof in her car and yelled, "is that a coyote?" I yelled, "YES!!" and she started to yell at it. He saw her car and turned and ran away. I will never forget the look on that mutts face when he was running towards us. He was not scared of us or our size. I called animal control and they said that city coyotes are becoming less and less afraid of people. People are feeding them, or people are feeding squirrels not realizing that they are also feeding coyotes and the coyotes stay around and are not afraid. I don't know what was on that coyotes mind, but I feel so blessed that I didn't have to find out. I am so thankful for the sweet lady driving by that took the time to stop and help us. With the advice from the animal control and police I now go to the bus stop with pepper spray.

Jeremy's last Q200 flight

A little career update: The airline Jeremy works for is in the process of phasing out the plane he flies. It has been good and bad. Good because in the last 5 months Jeremy has been home 90% of the time. My boys have no idea what a job is. Ben thinks we get money/paid because we are nice. Bad because our paycheck has been drastically less. But that is all over soon. He is currently in training for a different plane. It is very similar to the old one, but fits twice as many passengers and is twice as long. He is anxious to get back in the air, but sad to be gone again. It has been really fun to have him around so much!


My cute husband. Please do not turn on the prop!

Boo!

Halloween is upon us and it's time for a good scare. Ok, it's time for a good laugh for Mom and Dad. Jeremy jumped out and I snapped a picture. Poor Ben. Actually, he loved it and the picture below is "The Scare", take 2, because he asked us to do it again.