No Manners Night

We had a 'No Manners' dinner tonight for FHE. It was hilarious! The kids have looked forward to it for months. The rules were if they used manners at the dinner table every night for the past few months then we could have one night of pure chaos and fun. No silverware, stuff your mouth as full as you want, blow bubbles in your milk, dump a little on your neighbor's head... it's all good! Soon enough spaghetti, green beans and pudding were flying! Brenner thought we had all gone a little crazy!

In the beginning everyone was a little timid but that didn't last long!








After everyone had eaten MOST of their food then anything was legal!







After things had slowed down a little we played one last game: chubby bunny. One of the funniest things was listening to Porter laugh while Dave awed them with his chubby bunny skills. 18 marshmallows! Serious record I'm sure!



Everyone posing to show off who was a bigger mess. We all felt pretty messy!






Brenner gets the prize for staying the cleanest, a first for him at meal-time!


Dave hosed everyone off before baths and bedtime. Porter begged if we could please do this every night! It was definitely a memorable evening!

(I got this idea from THIS cute mom!)

24th of July

The kids dressed up as pioneers and rode on our ward's Primary float. It was a small parade that only went a few blocks but they thought it was GREAT! They were so darn cute waving to everyone lining the streets. And Dave, Brenner and I got lots of candy, we had to laugh because all the children in the stake were in the parade so no one was there to scramble after all the candy.

Making Cookies

One of my favorite things to do is make cookies with Porter. He loves to help make anything in the kitchen. On Saturday he asked if we could make cookies, just he and I, and because I'm trying to say yes more often than no, I told him sure! It was fun. He wanted to make sugar cookies and use our holiday cookie cutters, so we had lots of pumpkins and Christmas trees. We licked the beaters. And ate lots of dough. He asked "Why?" after everything I said and it made me laugh. I love you Porter! You are so good at helping me stop and enjoy these moments being a mom.

Brenner unwrapping the butter, it kept him busy for a minute!

Licked Clean!

Lasagna anyone?

Tin Cup

We participated in the 2nd Annual Tin Cup Family Fun Run last Saturday. The kids all made it to the finish line of the 5K. I was so proud of them! Lexi walked and ran the whole entire way with no complaints! Great job sweetheart! Porter rode in the baggage compartment of the stroller the last 2 miles, but he made it walking the whole 1st mile. Good job Porter! And Kyler made it the whole 3 miles with a few resting breaks in the shade. Great job buddy! So proud of my family! And now we all have these awesome matching gold T-shirts, even Dave. What a bonus!

A Few of Brenner's Favorite Things

Brenner loves frozen blueberries poured on his tray right out of the freezer. One of his favorite treats!

One of his other favorite things is markers. He has mastered the skill of twisting the lids off and I've seen several of his marker drawings on the hardwood floors and tile (not to mention his hands and face). After he was drawing on the floor one day I gave him some paper and Lexi showed him how to draw where he's supposed to. He thought he was pretty big!


His latest accomplishment was decorating our leather footstool when he found a stray pen laying around.

He can also say a few words.

Grandpa = "pah-pah"
Bird or dog = "ah-ah"
Hot = "ott"
When we say Soft he pats his hand softly on something.

Oh, and he loves to climb. Here he is on a little bike that he climbed up on himself. When he gets up on things he is so proud he does a little dance and bounces up and down with a huge cheeser. And he thinks he's just as big as the other kids and likes to do what they do - especially jump on the trampoline. We hold onto him and he stands on the edge and bounces and loves it.

Sunday

It is a chore on Sunday mornings trying to get Porter ready for church. Most Sundays everyone is ready to walk out the door but Porter is still running around in his undies even after repeated warnings for him to get dressed. But last Sunday cute Porter got ready all by himself. It melted my heart and even though it wasn't what I would have picked for him to wear of course I couldn't tell him to change. I wonder what his Primary teacher thought, but I was so proud of him for getting ready all by himself, crooked tie, wet-swooped-over-bangs and all. Good job Porter!

Brothers

I came into the kitchen one afternoon last week and saw Kyler and Brenner up on the kitchen counter looking out the window. Brenner loves to see birds outside and says "Ah, ah!" when he sees them. I thought it was funny how they were standing in the window sill. Kyler is such a good big brother and loves to help take care of Brenner. I looked out the window this morning while I was making breakfast and saw that Kyler had taken Brenner out to play in the rocks. It was such a cute moment I risked burning the french toast a little to run out and take a few pictures. Cute boys. How I love them!








(Kyler - almost 7, Brenner - 14 months)

Feet

I love Brenner's feet. I love how soft and squishy they are. They're just plain cute to me! When I looked back and saw him asleep with his feet crossed I had to snap a picture. I love when he does that.

Frosting Monsters

Don't you love what happens when 3 boys are alone in the kitchen?


They asked if they could have frosting on graham crackers, I said yes, finished talking to someone at the door, and this is what awaited me in the kitchen. Silly monsters!

This Baby Loves Popsicles

I love how he holds on for dear life, slurps, and won't let go!