Animal Control Needed

So lately we've had more messes showing up in our house then before. And to my surprise the culprits seem to be ...
Pongo and Perdita Brylie's imaginary pets. Brylie doesn't have any imaginary friends just the two dogs and they go everywhere with us, she wants me do everything I do for her for them, and she buys them things at the store, pretend of course. When they first joined our family they seemed to be no bother, just an occasional walk for them. But now, when I ask Brylie who made the messes I find their names seem to be first on the list. I guess I'm going to have to have a talk with Brylie that if these two don't ship up, they are going to have to ship out. That or she's going to need to tell me who really made the messes the first time I ask.

Good but Hard Day

We made it back from Disneyland in one piece last night (more to come on the trip later). I always dread the day after a trip. There is so much that needs to be done to recover from the trip and the kids have to get back to a normal routine. I was dreading but also really looking forward to today since it's the day Brandon re-enters the working world. That's right his unrequested sabbatical from work is over and he is once again employed!!

I was thinking of making this a big day for him, but I couldn't pull myself out of bed when he left to get to work. There are a lot of changes that we all will be making, but they are so worth it. No more sleeping in for me during the week and no more daddy being constantly home for Brylie and Beckam, which also includes no more second set of hands to constantly help me during the day. (I think the kids will have a harder time with their adjustment then I will with mine.) It's almost time for Brandon to be home and Brylie has only had a few come aparts and requested one phone call to Brandon. I just hope this first day is going to be the hardest.

Crazy for the Cougars

When Brandon's friend offered us tickets to yesterday's BYU football game we quickly accepted. We got enough tickets to also cover Brylie so we decided to make it a family event. This was the first football game we have gone to with both kids and with no other adults to help with the kids. I'm glad we had the experience and Brylie finally got to see the marching band. Beckam wasn't to thrilled with the small space he had to move around, so I ended up taking him out to walk around right after the 1st quarter. Brandon came out a couple of minutes later and we discovered the trick to keeping Beckam happy...ice cream!! We've never given it to him before and boy was I happy when it kept him happy.

We stuck it out to the beginning of the third quarter and left when Brylie announced she wanted to go home. My sisters were leaving at the same time so we were able to meet up for a few minutes. I'm so happy to have both of them at BYU this year.

In hindsight I now realize how crazy we were to think we could take the kids to a game by ourselves and expect to watch it. But hey, you do crazy things to see the team you love play in person. And Brylie learned the end of the fight song perfectly and now goes around the house cheering for BYU all the time. It's music to my ears!! (And just for fun, see what a difference a year makes?)

Family Reunion

(Do you see the resemblance)

After our little tiger incident earlier this week, Brandon and I decided, when we found ourselves with a little free time yesterday, that we should take our "tigers" to visit their animal family members and other animals friends. Brylie was so excited to see all of her animal friends at their zoo home and we we were able to visit all the animals except the snakes. (She was really pushing to go see them. I bribed her with a ride on the carousel to get out of it.) We even got to see a baby monkey.

I am happy that the kids behaved more like kids then wild animals during our visit. They did swap get around modes for a little while and I noticed the weight change in the stroller. Beckam enjoyed walking around and didn't object too much to his "backpack." (I swore before I had kids I would never use any kind of leash device with them. I have since had to eat my words because the doggy backpack has become a necessity with my always on the go, don't hold my hand, I'll do it myself kids.) Brylie enjoyed sitting on the elephant's trunk on our way out.

The kids had a fun day and I guess it was pretty tiring as well because Beckam fell asleep on the way home without even finishing one chicken nugget. (He's still holding part of it in his hand.)

Wild Animals

After bringing up wanting to go to the zoo for the last few days I guess Brylie got fed up with waiting and decided to bring some wild animals to us. I was woken up from a morning nap by Brandon asking where the camera was. (Beckam had a very early start this morning and I needed some recoup time.) I asked what was going on and he said, "Come see what your children did." Before I knew it I realized that I no longer had two children but a couple of tigers.

And since no two tigers have exactly the same stripes, I quickly noticed the different markings on both. Tiger Beckam had a lot more stripes on his face with some on his neck and head along with a stray one on his back. Tiger Brylie had a few thick stripes on her face with some on her hands, legs, top of feet, and quite a bit on the bottom of her feet.

I was glad that with a little soap and water I could change the tigers back into my kids and needless to say the unsupervised marker privilege has been revoked. Just when I thought it was pretty safe to let Brylie do what she wanted without constantly checking on her something like this happens. There is never a dull moment with Brylie or Beckam around.

Mother of the Year

Today I was looking at Beckam and thought one of his front teeth looked a little weird. Upon closer examination I realized he had chipped his tooth. I have no idea how he chipped it or when he chipped it. With him only having seven teeth I should have picked up on it sooner. Needless to say I'll be calling a dentist tomorrow to see what needs to be done. (Guess I can kiss Mother of Year goodbye.)

Remembering

September 11th - Healing Fields

Seven years ago September 11th happened. Every year this field of flags goes up to remember what happened and those who lost their lives on that day. I hope to visit this memorial every year and when the time comes explain to my children what happened that day and how it changed our nation.

Farmer Wheeler

Last week the kids and I had the chance to get out and play with our friends Viv and Britton. Brylie had been wanting to go to Wheeler Farm, or Farmer Wheeler as she calls it, so that's where we headed. After getting our duck food we started our fun. Of course feeding the ducks was first on the agenda.

After the duck food was gone, we headed over to see the rest of the farm animals. There were a couple of calves that cooperated with Brylie wanting to pet them. We quickly moved through the rest of the animals (chickens, pigs, sheep, and goats) with the kids trying to pet whatever they could.

This was the first time I let Beckam just kind of wander around during an outing and he enjoyed it. It gave him a chance to explore and discover new things one of which was rocks. He was happy to show me the big one he found.

With my animal loving daughter and give me some space to roam son, I'm sure we'll be making a return trip pretty soon. And with the duck food being the biggest expense, Farmer Wheeler can't be beat!!

First Day

A day Brylie has been waiting for all summer arrived. Today was Brylie's first day of Preschool. Ever since I told her I signed her up for preschool she has asked when she is going and what her teacher's name was. We went to the open house last week and Brylie was ready to start the next day. I was able to hold her off a little bit by helping her finish this "assignment" we were given to bring to the first day of school.

When I dropped Brylie off she went right inside and didn't look back. When I picked her up she proudly showed me all of the projects she did and told me what else she had done with Ms. Linda (her teacher). Preschool was a hit and Brylie can't wait to go back. Monday can't come soon enough!