Quietness

This morning my sweet husband awoke with the boys and allowed me to stay in bed! What a wonderful guy he is. :) They are out having breakfast together and then have a bunch of errands to run. It is so rare to be in the house all by myself! I fixed myself some breakfast and coffee and sat down and ate in peace while reading my Bible. This week has been sort of rough as I have not felt very good and let's just say the 2 year old is really pushing. I love my boys so dearly and even just having them gone for 1 hour so far makes me sit back and realize how great that I do have it. I get hard on myself every once in a while and think that I am not doing a good job with the boys. I know that it is just satan trying to get me and I also know that for me it is also a reminder that I need to be spending more time with my Lord so that HE can help me. Today I was reading in Proverbs, "Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3 Thanks for the reminder Lord, I need to commit my work (raising my children) to Him and that is all that I need to succeed! I am off now to do some organizing of the boys rooms while they are not here, a much easier task without them underfoot.

Pumpkin Patch & Hunting

Did you see that first picture of my big boy! I never thought the day would come so quickly that he would be wearing his Cabela's hat and holding a gun (that is just a BB gun) while hunting with daddy! Michael, Papa Brown, and Logan went hunting last Friday. Logan was so, so excited and talked about it for days to everyone he saw. They awoke early and Logan was ready to go. They did not get anything but had a great time exploring and spending time together. Michael had so much fun being able to take Logan and I know that they will become great hunting buddies over the years. We have been to the pumpkin patch twice this year. We went with Logan's school and had a great time petting and looking at the animals. We also got to go on a tractor ride out to the patch to pick pumpkins. It was fun for me to see Logan in action with all his buds from school. Last year he was really a shy guy but this year he is really opening up and has made himself a buddy who also goes to our church so it has been fun to see them interact. We also went to the pumpkin patch with our best buds and had a great time. There was lots to do and the hightlight for the kids was feeding the goats! Our family really enjoys fall time (especially Daddy) and it has been fun to start some new traditions now that the kids are a little older. I cannot believe that October is almost over and we will soon be celebrating Thanksgiving. I hope that you are all enjoying your fall and that your families are all well.

Doctor Day

It has been a while since I have posted so I thought I would sit down tonight and write a little. Today was a busy day and a little crazy! Last week I scheduled a doctor's appointment for Logan because he has been complaining for some time that his tummy hurts. I have kept my eye on it and tried to figure out the times that it is happening but there really has not been any certain times that it happens. Since we were going for Logan I also took Luke because he has had a cold and has been playing with his left ear and telling me that it hurts, so I thought I should also have him looked at. I always feel so funny bringing both boys in with issues but our doctor is amazing and always makes time for both of them. So, Luke has double ear infections which is always a bummer but has started on antibiotics and hopefully will bounce back soon. Doctor could not find anything when he felt Logan's tummy but sent us for an x-ray to check things out. I was a little nervous to be taking both boys to the imaging place as Logan usually gets very nervous at new things and well, Luke is 2 and somehow taking him to the imaging place with ear infections, no lunch yet, and oh having a poop in the waiting room was just not my idea of fun! The Lord heard my prayers on the way there because Logan was amazing and actually acted like he was having fun getting his pictures of his tummy. Luke was also very good and we all made it out of there in one piece. Off to Burger King for a special lunch since Logan did so well then to Costco for antibiotics. The doctor called and Logan is FULL of poop! Sorry to be so graphic but its the truth. Poor guy, I never would of expected this because he is so regular but I guess not enough. So, back to Costco for some MiraLax which we will give him everyday for a couple of weeks until he is cleared out. I love my little guys so much and hate it when they are sick but I am so thankful for our great doctor and thankful that there was not something horribly wrong with Logan's tummy. The boys are in bed now and mommy is tired! Michael has now caught the cold that the boys have had so he is not feeling so hot. I am praying selfishly that I do not get it because I head out Thursday afternoon until Sunday for Woman of Faith up in Portland. I am really looking forward to the weekend and am thankful to my wonderful husband for taking over this weekend. I have never been gone from them all this long but I know that they will all do great. Hope you are all enjoying your fall.

First Day of School & Syrup!

Ok, so I am a little late but Logan had his first day of preschool Tuesday the 9th. He went to the same preschool last year so I think that he was pretty comfortable and so was Mom! He enjoys his time there but it is very weird for me to have him gone. I know that it is good for him but I just really miss having him around. Luke is more aware this year that he is gone, so he walks around for the couple hours that Logan is gone saying "Gogan?" I do get to have some fun one on one time with Luke and that has been good. I thought this picture of Luke was so cute. Gotta love every last bite of syrup!

More Camping

Two weeks ago we headed out on Thursday afternoon for camping. We went about 40 minutes away to a campground called Wiskey Springs. We planned on picking huckleberries and just having a fun weekend. The boys were so excited for our adventure and our dear friends would join us on Friday so we were looking forward to that. The first night was a little rough. I did not pack enough warm clothes because I did not figure that it would be freezing cold the end of August! Luke woke up at 3:30 in the morning and let's just say I was up for the day, or night, or morning whatever it was! He did not fall back to sleep until 5:30 and then Logan was up at 5:40 so that woke Luke up and oh my was it cold!!! We snuggled in our beds as long as the boys could handle and then begged daddy to build a fire. We warmed up and then headed out to pick some huckleberries. That was fun until Logan got a bee up his sweatshirt and got stung two different times. That ended that trip for the day because he was pretty upset. We had a fun afernoon exploring and riding bikes and then after dinner we waited for the Riders. They arrived around 7:30 and our kiddos were so excited. We got there tent set up and all the kids were in bed by 9 or so. Time for daddy's and mommy's to relax around the campfire. Sleep was much better in the Brown tent and I was so thankful for that. It was not so cold the next night so that was a good thing. Breakfast in the morning and then off huckleberry picking again. The kids had tons of fun picking and there were no bees this time. Lunch and rest, well nobody really rested but then we headed to Willow Lake for swimming which was also a blast! Everyone was pretty tired by Saturday night so off to bed after smores and again some down time by the fire. Even though you never get much sleep camping, everyone is always very dirty, and the facilities are not that great, it is still so much fun. I love that we have built such great memories for our kids and that we will remember the fun that we had. Since we have been back we have been peach picking, blackberry picking, oh and did I mention that Michael is also a fire fighter in his spare time. While picking blackberries last week at some friends, the neighbor had a burn barrel get out of hand and they did not even know it. Michael raced over and began using the garden hose to try and get it under control before the fire department got there. The neighbor did not even know that his fence and a bunch of decking was on fire. Michael saved the day! Now summer is coming to an end and the mornings and evenings are a little cooler. Logan starts preschool on Tuesday and we will be getting back into a routine. Fall is one of our families favorite time of the year. We already went to a football game this evening. Hope the end of summer finds you all well and that as we enter into a new school year and such that you all enjoy this time with your families.

Busy, Busy

Summer sure is flying by. I posted for Luke's B-day but have not had the time to sit and post since then. The week before Luke's B-day we had my two nephews, Drew and Ethan here from Portland for the week. They came last year for a week in the summer and we had such a great time so we decided to do it again. I cannot tell you what a great week we had with them. They are such wonderful boys and Logan and Luke loved having them here. Drew and Ethan are so good with my boys and even though my boys are much younger they are so patient playing with them and also helping me with them without me even asking. We did lots of swimming at friends, we went to the Lake one day and on the last day "Uncle Brownie"(that's what Drew and Ethan call him), took the big boys fishing and they had a great time. The week wrapped up quickly and I was sad to see the boys go. I think I could do 4 boys, what do ya think? I had to show of the cakes that I made for Luke's Birthday because it was so fun to make them and I was really happy with the way they turned out. We head out this afternoon to go camping for 3 days. We are looking forward to a fun weekend and our dear friends will join us tomorrow night so we are looking forward to that. Hope you all enjoy the last weeks of summer!

Happy Birthday Luke