I must say I'm definitely in the thick of "raising boys" right now. Although little Ben will always be the baby, sadly we're leaving the extremely needy stage for a very bold, stubborn, demanding, overly independent stage. So this coupled with an "ALL" boy big brother makes for many extremely exhausting days for their Mama.
I'm ever so grateful for boys as I know girls in the teenage years may have proved more than I could bare, but right here right now I find myself questioning whether moms were even meant to raise boys... I mean really, I find myself more than a dozen times a day questioning their choices and thinking if they were female they would be a bit more sensible. Haha! I find myself over thinking everything when it comes to entertaining little boys, I forget that they are so SIMPLY entertained, and I mean SIMPLY.... like throwing rocks in a puddle simple... no need for lengthy tea parties here!
I recall the other day asking Jeromy why oh why does Colten have such a hard time using his words (when he wants something from his brother before snatching it..for example) and his response was... "Because he's a boy!" Ughhh how on earth am I supposed to raise these little people.... when we don't even understand each other!!
Thankfully they have a wonderful dad to help in those areas but somehow I've been put in charge of the greater majority of the job! Mothering boys is nothing someone can prepare you for... I often think of mommies I know that raised 3 or 4 of them... kuddos to you ladies!! I may sound like I'm complaining... I'm not... just overworked and paid in muddy laundry, squished bugs, a ring around the tub and buggers! One lucky Mama... I know!
So onto what's been going on here...
A few Fridays ago, we went on our very first field trip of the school year!
Our local Post Office! Sooo fun! I encourage you to take your little ones sometime...
Colten was able to have all of his questions answered... you know the important stuff like....
He especially loved purchasing his own stamp... ringing up his postage on the register was quite a thrill for him!
We threw in a lesson on Thankfulness when we got home and made a giant batch of cookies to take back to those sweet generous people!
A little broccoli thief! Hey at least he took a giant bite before returning it!
No shortage of apples here... time for apple stamping of course
I'd say they are enjoying themselves! You never can tell with boys... I know they'd secretly rather be painting themselves with mud! (well at least Ben would)
Time for a nature scavenger hunt...
A great boy adventure...
(FYI: I've learned that any activity involving a clip board is especially "Official" and super fun)
Hmmmm "something smooth"
Our sweet new friends... Clementine, Paisley, and Sadie
We'll hopefully get some closer shots soon...
They're a little shy
Impressed with his focus!
Well aren't you just a little country boy!
We happened to be down the driveway at just the right moment... County workers putting in new reflectors!! AWESOME!
We got front row seats for the whole process!
Rice is so great! and CHEAP!
Ben requests his rice tub regularly!
Cheeese... Wait I mean ORANGE!
Before I passed out from anxiety I made sure to capture this sweet moment...
Every 5 year old should be schooled in chimney sweepin.... right?!!
While Mama was away on her second girls weekend of the month (spoiled right? I have a great hubby what can I say) the boys informed me that they were either going to a gun show or fishing... I'm thinking Papa picked the more sane of the two outings! And I'm ever so grateful for these sweet shots he got before leaving!
Evidently picture time was impeding on some male bonding time... thanks for tryin to be a good sport Colten! Upon returning from my girls day I learned they almost lost all their gear to the swell of a big ship going by and that Ben was stung by a jellyfish... so bummed I missed out of this crazy adventure!
Our little soccer guy is quite the player this season! So fun to watch him out there... well I haven't seen a whole lot of any of the games as my very active Ben doesn't just chill in a stroller for game time anymore.... sighhhh...
High fives for coaches!
Sometimes I wonder who's havin more fun out there!
Pretty serious stuff out there!
So while that was all going down, this is where I was...
Thankful for a bizarre day of sunshine and near 70 degrees!
Ben said he didn't have time to watch no silly soccer game...
He needed to build a house for Mama instead...
I scored 4 goals Mom!
Times when I know Colten is just completely exhausted... too exhausted to fight with his brother, so they just cuddle instead! Ok now this is more my style!
Ahhh yes something I'm still not totally understanding... a boys need to touch and play with totally gross substances!... We made slime, I'm pretty sure it was almost as great as Christmas!
Three bottles of elmers later... How'd of known slime making was so easy?
Between slime making I found the time to throw in a little baking... (it's what I do!)
These Quinoa Breakfast cookies, turned out pretty yummy!
Here's a link to something similar to what we made Cornstarch/Arrowroot Slime
I had to substitute some of the cornstarch for arrowroot powder due to a cornstarch shortage...
Colten enjoyed this recipe ALOT! Weird stuff!
Ben had to get in on the fun after his nap...
No joke this stuff was everywhere... but extremely easy to clean up!! THANKFULLY!
A visit to a friends house scored us some very sweet homegrown pumpkins to decorate!
Ben's focus was amazing.... I know iftwas only a matter of time...
Colten decided to go with a red, white and blue theme!
Ok that's more like it... at first I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well...
Yep we couldn't possibly keep the paint on the pumpkin or maybe on the paper table cloth...
One day they will both not want to paint pumpkins and then I'll be sad there's no mess to clean.... RIGHT?!
Mom's... note it only has polka-dots on one side... because bath time was imminent...
Cuz there's nothing I love more than dangling the 30+ pound toddler out in front of me and dashing to the bathroom, where my shower curtain and bathroom walls now adorn that same beautiful purple color!
Unfortunately the story that goes with these incredibly muddy Mom pants was not recorded with pictures... the weather was not appropriate for my camera, but believe me the hike through the forest will not be erased from my memory bank anytime soon....
It was misty out, the boys were getting restless and I knew I needed to put on my big girl panties (and multiple layers) and take them outside..where most all little boys belong of course! We started our journey into the woods behind our house in search of owl pellet... (charming right?! Remember life of a mom of boys, it's just what you do!) Of course there was no trail to walk on and much of the area was very overgrown except for the occasional deer den or raccoon path. I carried that much to heavy toddler most of the way because his legs kept getting stuck in vines and well he just wasn't feeling much like walking! After beating our way through what felt like a mile of brush I looked over to see our shed in plain view... ok so maybe we only made it a few hundred feet... what? you carry that kid and tell me how far you can make it! haha We decided to turn back because that mist had turned into the real stuff... this is when the adventure got real good! We came to a spot where the ground was a bit soft... (this is the understatement of the year!!) with the weight of the little cling on I instantly sunk up to the very top of my boot.... I screamed! Which made the cling on panic and start crying... Colten came running back asking how he could help... Very sweet but at this point I'm thinkin you and your brother might as well head back to the house and make a snack, and just let Papa know where I'm at when he gets home! But eventually the panic wore off and I gently tossed Ben off the side and somehow managed to wriggle my calf free... traumatizing.. Yes! but a little dirt never hurt right? ask my washing machine that one!!
At our house we feed the dinosaurs...
Ohhh my... another amazing creation!
This one happened because the same place those pumpkins came from, so did a baggy of homemade granola bars... somehow they went missing before the hubby even had a little crumb...so I knew I had to DO something... Here's the link... I changed it a bit but hands down delish for sure!
Oh and thought I'd share another fun little snack... toasted coconut chips...
Recipe: sprinkle unsweetened coconut chips on cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes at 325
DONE!
Kids LOVE THEM! (so do Moms!)
Big news!! Our "babies" have started laying!! It's so early! They are only about 16weeks old! We are totally excited to start fillin up our egg cartons... our older hens have slowed down quite a bit these days!
A talk about compost prompted a leaf clean up project, which prompted leaf pile jumping of course!
I'm not sure how many times I was requested to bury them under the pile...
Colten says this is his favorite time of year...
Just like summer is his favorite when he's in the pool! haha
And well.... I'll leave you with this!!!!
Did I mention that there's no more babies around here anymore?
This might very well be one of the happiest mom moments thus far... the glimmer of hope...that we may be very very close to no diapers soon!
Happy Fall Ya'll!
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